Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:51 AM, Stephanie Whiting [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I got the welcome mail asking me to introduce myself, I'm Stephanie Whiting and I am a 24 year old American citizen, who intends to move and settle in Kolkata, India in around a year's time as I have met and fallen in love with an Indian guy. Right now I am working on finishing my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, with no idea what to do with it. Right now we are working on figuring out exactly what visa I need to get in order to arrive (whether to come in on a simple tourist visa and apply for a entry visa or what not) and be able to stay in India after we marry. I worry about the culture shock and the learning the language (bengali specifically). Stephanie...welcome to the silk list, and to our country as wellOf course there will be some culture shock, how can there not be? But the fact that you are making the decision to move will, in my opinion, make things a little easier. You might even find more to relate to here than you might think! I have a daughter (also on this list) who did this in reverse; she is the US, married to the American (as someone said, an American American, and also on this list, talk about nepotism!) and still suffers bouts of homesickness after 12 years of living there, but has learnt to appreciate what's good in the US, too. Also in my opinion, Bengali is an easier language to learn than some others..because of the habit Bengalis have of speaking no other language when they meet...so instead of having conversations that are half, or more, in English, you will get a chance to absorb the language faster. Kolkata was, and is, a city that might initially repel, but later grows on you considerably. Soonce you move to India, set yourself reminders every six months or a year, and see how much you are able to integrate in that time frame...! Wishing you the very best. Being with the person you love is worth a LOT of difficulties! Where are you doing your degree in Criminal Justice? Manhattan? Cheers, Deepa.
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
Eugen Leitl wrote, [on 9/17/2008 12:34 AM]: How bad are things in India? Feeling the chill yet? Things are definitely better than in the US so far. OTOH, some financial institutions here some non-trivial exposure to tainted paper: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14617894 Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I got the welcome mail asking me to introduce myself, I'm Stephanie Whiting Stephanie, welcome to India :) about the culture shock and the learning the language (bengali specifically). hmm... most folks i've known have a tougher time getting used to the Indian habit of littering, spitting and defecating in public. I kid you not. Also in my opinion, Bengali is an easier language to learn than some others..because of the habit Bengalis have of speaking no other language when they meet...so instead of having conversations that are half, or more, in English, you will get a chance to absorb the language faster. Are you kidding me? Not withstanding the similar trait they share with Malayalees, hearing my Bong friends speak in Bengali has me imagining they are arguing and fighting over something, always. Kolkata was, and is, a city that might initially repel, but later grows on that samosas (with chutney served in mud pots) and 'rosogolla' was available in every nook-and-corner was yu...
Re: [silk] introduction...
svaksha, On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 12:36 PM, . [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snipped that samosas (with chutney served in mud pots) and 'rosogolla' was what sacrilege!!! its *shingara*... samosas otoh is a north-indian monstrosity... ;-) cheers -indra
Re: [silk] introduction...
At 2008-09-17 16:48:10 +0530, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: samosas otoh is a north-indian monstrosity... ;-) Yes! Would you believe people put *paneer* in them in Delhi? Ugh. -- ams
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wednesday 17 Sep 2008 10:51:35 am Stephanie Whiting wrote: Right now I am working on finishing my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, with no idea what to do with it. Welcome to Silk. There's always a culture shock when you move out from India or into India from elsewhere. I have often advised young Indians how it feels when they go out, but I have never done that to someone coming to live in India for the first time. I believe the thing to do is to undertstand that India, unlike the US, is full of social strata. For you I am guessing that this means that there wil be a group of English speaking Indians who speak and dress like you, whom you are most likely to meet and socialize with. This is likely to be your husband's social stratum - probably at or near the top of the heap as strata go in India. But there will also be many others who essentially belong to social strata that they consider lower than yours (even if your mind does not work that way and you do not see them that way) They will want to do things for you - such as carry bags, run errands, open doors, cook, clean etc. It is likely that you will look at this latter group and worry about what you see as their poverty. India always finds people to act as guards at gates to open and close gates, supermarket boys who will carry bags to your car; a woman who will sweep and clean your home, and someone who will iron your clothes for you. You won't lose an arm and a leg paying for them. Its the stratification of society that is most puzzling to someone unfamiliar with India I guess, and the scenes of poverty the most shocking. By nature Indians tend not to hide or be embarrassed about either poverty or ugliness. These things are considered an essential part of being. I'm not defeinding either, but I can't do a lot to change it myself. And finally, India is a hot, humid country and that means molecules of volatile organic matter are always in the air - so there will be plenty of new odors that you never knew existed. The think to do is to accept theings as they are and not try to question or fight things that appear strange. India will sink into you gradually. Having shot my mouth off = perhaps some of the others on silf who came to india for the first time to stay may be able to give you a better idea. shiv
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
On Tue, 2008-09-16 at 15:24 -0400, Perry E. Metzger wrote: The times is wrong. The fed is loaning money to AIG. in return for warrants for almost 80% of the company and full management control. actually, i'm not so sure it's that terrible to have a US-taxpayer takeover of the US finance sector, since while the AIG management for instance took enormous risks, the risks were to the benefit of millions of irresponsible US... taxpayers! normal govt subsidies of big companies may be like subsidies from the little guy to a big company but in this case it's to cover the big company's losses that were caused by the little guys not paying their bills. and being protected by government regulation from being forced to pay their bills. -rishab
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Things are definitely better than in the US so far. http://www.google.co.in/trends Do you see what I see? There is panic... at least today. -- 9DB8FF06 : CB80 0BA6 7D13 B10A 6FBB D43E B4D2 28AD 9DB8 FF06
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
Sajith T S wrote, [on 9/17/2008 6:13 PM]: Things are definitely better than in the US so far. http://www.google.co.in/trends Do you see what I see? There is panic... at least today. I see a bunch of searches for corporate firings/layoffs. Doesn't invalidate what I said. Kunstler's predictions seem to be coming true in the US. http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2008/09/a-ripe-moment.html Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
[silk] RAND: 11 emerging challenges
The essays can be read at the URL below. Udhay http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/summer2008/horizon.html RAND Review Issues over the Horizon Eleven Emerging Challenges To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the RAND Corporation and to uphold its tradition of taking on the big issues of tomorrow, a call went out to all RAND staff around the world, inviting them to propose essays on “important policy issues not currently receiving the attention they deserve in the public debate” — issues, in other words, that might be on the back burner today but will likely become front-burner issues within the next five years. More than 100 issues were raised. The final product: the 11 essays published here. These were selected either because they highlight major public policy problems that have eluded the mainstream media radar or because they point toward major public policy solutions that have been likewise overlooked — or both. Despite the wide range of topics, from corporate malfeasance to antimicrobial resistance, common themes emerge. The biggest one is the shaky financial footing that threatens to undermine several pillars of the public interest: Medicare, Social Security, roads, bridges, water systems, power grids, elections, military operations, diplomatic endeavors, and public health. At the same time, there are national and global reasons for hope. There is even a concluding vision of a new and better form of statecraft. Readers might be tempted to connect the issues outlined here with those being debated on the U.S. presidential campaign trail, but that is not the intent. Our goal is to raise public awareness of several salient issues that will likely grow in prominence regardless of the election outcome. —John Godges * The Aging Couple * Corporate America’s Next Big Scandal * Innovative Infrastructure * The Day After: When Electronic Voting Machines Fail * Reality Check for Defense Spending * A New Anti-American Coalition * The Future of Diplomacy: Real Time or Real Estate? * Corporate Counterinsurgency * Beating the Germ Insurgency * A Second Reproductive Revolution * From Nation-State to Nexus-State -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 06:13:38PM +0530, Sajith T S wrote: http://www.google.co.in/trends Do you see what I see? There is panic... at least today. i don't see what you see. what i see is that google trends is not a good guide to very much. yes, i actually did click on the articles that show up for the search terms. maybe some searchers on google are worried about infosys firing but the company just released excellent results and it's stock price was up 4% in a day, other IT firms were up too. ONGC was up 2.7%, ranbaxy was down 8% but that had nothing to do with the economy but because of a US ruling on its generic drugs quality control. random data points with no context do not a useful trend indicate. of course markets will fall everywhere when the engine of the world economy slows, but the financial troubles in the US are because of real problems - too many loans given to too many people who didn't repay them - that aren't such problems is many other parts of the world. -r
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Doesn't invalidate what I said. Kunstler's predictions seem to be coming true in the US. http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2008/09/a-ripe-moment.html I think it is telling that recruiters swarmed around the Lehman building to hand their cards to people leaving. A friend of mine who has been having great trouble finding systems administrators for his firm stood outside with a sign saying Help Wanted, and got into the papers as a result. I'm not very pessimistic for the overall economy. I *do* worry about the future of the finance sector in New York, but that's a much more personal worry. Perry -- Perry E. Metzger[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [silk] RAND: 11 emerging challenges
* The Aging Couple * Corporate America’s Next Big Scandal * Innovative Infrastructure * The Day After: When Electronic Voting Machines Fail * Reality Check for Defense Spending * A New Anti-American Coalition * The Future of Diplomacy: Real Time or Real Estate? * Corporate Counterinsurgency * Beating the Germ Insurgency * A Second Reproductive Revolution * From Nation-State to Nexus-State I'm fascinated that AI and nanotechnology are not mentioned at all. Even the emerging revolution in biology isn't mentioned. As usual, people have difficulty looking beyond what they are used to -- Generals fight the last war, futurists predict the present. Perry
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
Rishab Ghosh [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: random data points with no context do not a useful trend indicate. Umm, I was only wondering why would so many people search for large software services company firing in a single day. If that isn't a sign of a lot of people panicking -- rationally or irrationally -- what is? What's really going on here? But then I also wouldn't know if this is the case everyday. ;) -- 9DB8FF06 : CB80 0BA6 7D13 B10A 6FBB D43E B4D2 28AD 9DB8 FF06
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 06:56:33PM +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote: http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2008/09/a-ripe-moment.html i think that's a naive and silly article based on the 'market cabal' fallacy that's also popular to explain the high price of oil: it's those fat cats that are secretly setting prices for X, buying jets while robbing us poor honest folk. use too much energy, and the price goes up. take lots of loans you don't earn enough to repay in the hope that other people will take loans too and prices will keep going up and, well, when people stop buying so many houses things collapse. while it's true that poor regulation helped this happen in the US - poor regulation that allowed companies to act irresponsibly - it was also over-regulation in some areas that created the problem in the first place by allowing individuals to act irresponsibly. eg: the US is one of the few countries where if you can't repay your loans, as an individual, you can just declare personal bankruptcy and even get to retain many assets; if you stop paying a mortgage, at worst your home can be repossessed, even if it's not worth enough to repay your loan. i suppose this is the US's safety net though the european welfare states do a better job of making it transparent, and providing safety in a way that does not mainly reward irresponsibility... best, rishab
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 07:28:08PM +0530, Sajith T S wrote: Umm, I was only wondering why would so many people search for large software services company firing in a single day. If that isn't a sign of a lot of people panicking -- rationally or irrationally -- what is? What's really going on here? did you notice that google says these searches were mostly from bangalore? with some other IT cities added on? nothing, e.g., from mumbai or delhi. maybe people from IT cities periodically worry that they'll be fired from their IT jobs (when they're not busy thinking of quitting themselves). -r
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
If a single project suddenly ends some on the proj are benched or laid off In lean times the bottom 20% rather than 15% get asked to leave. Both can provoke some googling -- srs ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Sent from my Nokia E71 -original message- Subject: Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there From: Rishab Ghosh [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 17/09/2008 7:39 pm On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 07:28:08PM +0530, Sajith T S wrote: Umm, I was only wondering why would so many people search for large software services company firing in a single day. If that isn't a sign of a lot of people panicking -- rationally or irrationally -- what is? What's really going on here? did you notice that google says these searches were mostly from bangalore? with some other IT cities added on? nothing, e.g., from mumbai or delhi. maybe people from IT cities periodically worry that they'll be fired from their IT jobs (when they're not busy thinking of quitting themselves). -r
Re: [silk] RAND: 11 emerging challenges
\ On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 7:24 PM, Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: * The Aging Couple * Corporate America's Next Big Scandal * Innovative Infrastructure * The Day After: When Electronic Voting Machines Fail * Reality Check for Defense Spending * A New Anti-American Coalition * The Future of Diplomacy: Real Time or Real Estate? * Corporate Counterinsurgency * Beating the Germ Insurgency * A Second Reproductive Revolution * From Nation-State to Nexus-State I'm fascinated that AI and nanotechnology are not mentioned at all. Even the emerging revolution in biology isn't mentioned. I am surprised that water isn't on the list Deepa.
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
Rishab Ghosh [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: i think that's a naive and silly article based on the 'market cabal' fallacy that's also popular to explain the high price of oil: it's those fat cats that are secretly setting prices for X, buying jets while robbing us poor honest folk. The price of oil one was especially risible, since a large fraction of the problem was and still remains massive subsidies on oil consumption in places like China and Indonesia where the official price is not linked to the world market price, thus meaning vast numbers of poor honest folk have no incentive to reduce consumption when shortages occur. while it's true that poor regulation helped this happen in the US - poor regulation that allowed companies to act irresponsibly The GSEs (Freddie and Fannie) were a big part of the problem. They were created forty years ago to get a bunch of debt off the government books -- LBJ's accounting trick spawned a disaster. i suppose this is the US's safety net though the european welfare states do a better job of making it transparent, and providing safety in a way that does not mainly reward irresponsibility... I'm not sure about that. In much of Europe, people have little incentive to take an undignified job if they can't find any other sort of work. Here in the US there is much more pressure in that direction. Perry -- Perry E. Metzger[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:36:00AM -0400, Perry E. Metzger wrote: I'm not sure about that. In much of Europe, people have little incentive to take an undignified job if they can't find any other sort of work. Here in the US there is much more pressure in that direction. Much of social security has been eroded (see Hartz 4 in Germany). This is almost certainly going to fuel the fringe parties (ultra-left and ultra-right) in the next election. -- Eugen* Leitl a href=http://leitl.org;leitl/a http://leitl.org __ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
Eugen Leitl [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:36:00AM -0400, Perry E. Metzger wrote: I'm not sure about that. In much of Europe, people have little incentive to take an undignified job if they can't find any other sort of work. Here in the US there is much more pressure in that direction. Much of social security has been eroded (see Hartz 4 in Germany). This is almost certainly going to fuel the fringe parties (ultra-left and ultra-right) in the next election. Meanwhile, here in the US: http://www.wwd.com/business-news/#/ That picture of the guy recruiting outside of Lehman's offices is a friend of mine (I mentioned it earlier) who is having real trouble hiring qualified people. In spite of the current issues here, it is still hard to hire a decent sysadmin or programmer, and there are lots of other labor shortages. Unclear how this will all play out. Perry -- Perry E. Metzger[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [silk] introduction...
Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Shiv! what a great description that is. I yam yimpressed! :) except for calling this list silf...you mean, we are all slender and silf-like, or we are silfish? Shellfish people are far too crabby. Perry
Re: [silk] we're slowly getting there
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:36:00AM -0400, Perry E. Metzger wrote: I'm not sure about that. In much of Europe, people have little incentive to take an undignified job if they can't find any other sort of work. Here in the US there is much more pressure in that direction. yes, but a transparent welfare regulation that acts as an incentive for laziness can be less dangerous and certainly more predictable in its outcome than a hidden welfare regulation that acts as an incentive for irresponsible risk-taking. -r
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wednesday 17 Sep 2008 8:21:59 pm Deepa Mohan wrote: On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 5:10 PM, ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Having shot my mouth off = perhaps some of the others on silf who came to india for the first time to stay may be able to give you a better idea. shiv Shiv! what a great description that is. I yam yimpressed! :) except for calling this list silf...you mean, we are all slender and silf-like, or we are silfish? Deepa. Deepa - at 24 Stephanie is a tad older than Pooja (my daughter) and the dad in me came pouring out :) shiv
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 7:55 AM, Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Shiv! what a great description that is. I yam yimpressed! :) except for calling this list silf...you mean, we are all slender and silf-like, or we are silfish? Shellfish people are far too crabby. Stop it! I have had it up to my gills being bash(1)-ed in the head with these shell references. Thaths -- I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode. I think it was called, 'The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down'. -- Homer J. Simpson
Re: [silk] introduction...
Dear Stephanie, What you read might sound like it is about me and not about you and you would be right. But it may also tell you about being in a new place. Deepa was right when she said it means a lot to be with someone you love. I should know it. I absolutely detested Canada when I arrived but I also met my husband to be in the first month of being here. I received an offer to join FTII(pune film institute) the day after my husband proposed to me and had second thoughts. It took a whole lot of swallowing of pride here to find a job that paid half what i was paid before. The hardest thing to take was the ignorance of people visavis India as it is today. One employer told me that she doesn't like Indians owning shops in tourist locations since they don't represent Canada-this after indians have been living here for 100 years (some older families were connected to Indian independence revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh). there were others who expressed reservations about the quality of software work in India-I could only defend ignorantly as I am not a software engineer nor am i knowledgable about other aspects of that business. Then there is the actual state of the Indian community-Indo-Canadian street gangs, older Sikhs working below minimum wage on farms and being exploited by their own countrymen more often than others, the class consciousness they carry from India and that becomes further entrenched in Canada. Practical difficulties: after 12 years of owning a credit card, i had to restart my entire history all over with a secured credit card just because i didn't have one in Canada. The banks charge you $6 per month for a chequing account - at least I had savings from living in the US, what of those who had just emigrated for the first time? One still finds newspapers that refer to the colonies without even gracing them with their names. Queen Victoria's birthday is a holiday and to be a Canadian citizen requires one to take allegiance to the queen of England. I refuse. To top all that Vancouver has so many homeless people, drug-addicts and the like and so many racists that it makes me sick. The physical beauty of the place and it has a lot of it with mountains, ocean and skies, is still not enough to help me overlook these aspects of living. Even those who are moderate, like my in-laws, have reservations that are mostly just stereotypes, about a place they have never been. yet, i am expected to like Canada just because it is developed and feel somehow that I have arrived. I have told Mike that if he should not be there, i would not be in Canada. but this is the place where Mike is. He is the kindest, most loving husband a girl could ask for. Living, learning and traveling is a joy with him. As a landscape architect job opportunities for him in india are limited unless he starts a private practice. what advantage would he have compared to locals who know the place and environment really well? He is one of those rarities as well-a modest North American. Everytime I come across something else I dislike I try to focus on Mike and all the priceless experiences he has given me. I remind myself that it is what i do that makes my life interesting not the place alone. And I am trying to use my anger and resentment in a neo-Naipaulesque way;-))) so I wish you the very best in your new life in India. To paraphrase my favorite poet Kavafis, may you never reach India, may your journey be full of excitement, new people, excitement and yes, sometimes danger for the journey itself is your life. And if you feel like sharing your thoughts in person, i will be in Kolkata over New Year. Cheers and happy thoughts. Radhika On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 8:33 AM, ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Wednesday 17 Sep 2008 8:21:59 pm Deepa Mohan wrote: On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 5:10 PM, ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Having shot my mouth off = perhaps some of the others on silf who came to india for the first time to stay may be able to give you a better idea. shiv Shiv! what a great description that is. I yam yimpressed! :) except for calling this list silf...you mean, we are all slender and silf-like, or we are silfish? Deepa. Deepa - at 24 Stephanie is a tad older than Pooja (my daughter) and the dad in me came pouring out :) shiv -- Radhika, Y.R. Project Manager, Centering Women project, Sri Lanka International Center for Sustainable Cities 415 - 1788 W. 5th Avenue Vancouver BC Canada
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 10:21 PM, Stephanie Whiting [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I got the welcome mail asking me to introduce myself, I'm Stephanie Whiting and I am a 24 year old American citizen, who intends to move and settle in Kolkata, India in around a year's time as I have met and fallen in love with an Indian guy. Right now I am working on finishing my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, with no idea what to do with it. Stephanie, Welcome to Silk. Congratulations on the planned wedding (and graduation and move) Having straddled the globe with one limb in India, another in the US with occasional forays into SE Asia and East Africa for 15 years, my advice on retaining sanity: Keep an open mind. Resist the urge to pass judgment. Take small, concrete steps to change the things you do not like. And when you are frustrated by an alien system (as you inevitably will be from time to time), try and look at the glass that is half-full. Change what you can. Let what you cannot change go. Be kind and gentle to others, and equally importantly, to yourself. I confess that these are all platitudes. And hopefully you can look back at this thread in a couple of years and the (unsolicited) advice given sounds more specific. I am reminded of a USian friend of mine who spent a year on the hippie trail in India. I asked her what her thoughts were as she was about to leave. I am surprised it works, she said. Thaths -- I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode. I think it was called, 'The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down'. -- Homer J. Simpson
Re: [silk] introduction...
Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 7:55 AM, Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Shiv! what a great description that is. I yam yimpressed! :) except for calling this list silf...you mean, we are all slender and silf-like, or we are silfish? Shellfish people are far too crabby. Stop it! I have had it up to my gills being bash(1)-ed in the head with these shell references. Do oysters using Unix run csh? -- Perry E. Metzger[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:15 PM, Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Do oysters using Unix run csh? Suggestion : another shell pun and the perpetrator be locked up inside an rsh :-P -indra
Re: [silk] introduction...
Indranil Das Gupta [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:15 PM, Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Do oysters using Unix run csh? Suggestion : another shell pun and the perpetrator be locked up inside an rsh :-P Only an ssh would be strong enough to hold them. Perry
Re: [silk] introduction...
At 2008-09-17 22:22:47 +0530, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Suggestion : another shell pun and the perpetrator be locked up inside an rsh :-P You've bourne all you can today? -- ams
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:39 PM, . [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ... they clam into perl. But they don't knit? (Blasphemy! Non-tech-geek code on Silk) C -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages http://www.linkedin.com/in/ravages http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/ +91-9884467463
Re: [silk] introduction...
bonobashi --- On Wed, 17/9/08, . [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: . [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [silk] introduction... To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Wednesday, 17 September, 2008, 12:36 PM On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I got the welcome mail asking me to introduce myself, I'm Stephanie Whiting Stephanie, welcome to India :) about the culture shock and the learning the language (bengali specifically). hmm... most folks i've known have a tougher time getting used to the Indian habit of littering, spitting and defecating in public. I kid you not. Also in my opinion, Bengali is an easier language to learn than some others..because of the habit Bengalis have of speaking no other language when they meet...so instead of having conversations that are half, or more, in English, you will get a chance to absorb the language faster. Are you kidding me? Not withstanding the similar trait they share with Malayalees, hearing my Bong friends speak in Bengali has me imagining they are arguing and fighting over something, always. Kolkata was, and is, a city that might initially repel, but later grows on that samosas (with chutney served in mud pots) and 'rosogolla' was available in every nook-and-corner was yu... See? Some of us get it. Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/invite/
Re: [silk] introduction...
bonobashi --- On Wed, 17/9/08, Abhijit Menon-Sen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Abhijit Menon-Sen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [silk] introduction... To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Wednesday, 17 September, 2008, 5:02 PM At 2008-09-17 16:48:10 +0530, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: samosas otoh is a north-indian monstrosity... ;-) Yes! Would you believe people put *paneer* in them in Delhi? Ugh. -- ams Oh, I don't know. A-Bangalis don't get the subtleties, not being real foodies. Just so long as they make generally nice noises. Unlimited freedom, unlimited storage. Get it now, on http://help.yahoo.com/l/in/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/tools/tools-08.html/
Re: [silk] introduction...
At 2008-09-17 13:19:09 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: that can be awkward, or so it is sed. Oh, cut it out. There's no col for that sort of thing any more. Less talk about something else, man. Apropos of which, it horrifies me to observe that: $ ls -1 /usr/bin|wc -l 2219 -- ams
Re: [silk] introduction...
--- On Wed, 17/9/08, ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [silk] introduction... To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Wednesday, 17 September, 2008, 9:03 PM On Wednesday 17 Sep 2008 8:21:59 pm Deepa Mohan wrote: On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 5:10 PM, ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Having shot my mouth off = perhaps some of the others on silf who came to india for the first time to stay may be able to give you a better idea. shiv Shiv! what a great description that is. I yam yimpressed! :) except for calling this list silf...you mean, we are all slender and silf-like, or we are silfish? Deepa. Deepa - at 24 Stephanie is a tad older than Pooja (my daughter) and the dad in me came pouring out :) shiv Quite right, Shiv. Natural reaction, and all that, old bean;after all, it wasn't silf-started. Unlimited freedom, unlimited storage. Get it now, on http://help.yahoo.com/l/in/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/tools/tools-08.html/
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:53 PM, Charles Haynes [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [.] Second, notions of personal space are quite different, and queuing is honored more often in the breach. When waiting for a lift, for example, you would be well advised to get used to being surrounded elbow to elbow with everyone else wanting the lift, and when it arrives, do not politely wait your turn - you will miss the lift. roflmao. Must have : atleast the basics of one martial arts... very handy when you have to elbow the groping creep in the ribs and step out of the lift cool as a cucumber. I would re-examine my attitudes about the aspirational nature of a career versus a job and my judgemental attitudes about the value of traditional women's work - but I'm not, and I don't think their husbands are either... Indian husbands != Indian American husbands ... but then you knew that didnt you ? -- .
Re: [silk] introduction...
ok ok ok!! maybe i should have specified a bit more...I have no idea what I'm going to be...lawyer...naah...as for martial arts...ahhh once taught that...so i'm good in that area...and shiv...if i am the same age as your daughter, likely you wouldn't like me to say that the man in question is quite a bit older than me...and its a shame i won't be in kolkata until middle of august of 2009 at the very earliest, as the last day of school is august 12...alas... Stephanie
Re: [silk] introduction...
On Thursday 18 Sep 2008 12:07:41 am Stephanie Whiting wrote: ..if i am the same age as your daughter, likely you wouldn't like me to say that the man in question is quite a bit older than me Well your husband's age doesn't really count - except that if he's a lot older I susepct he may be able to insulate you a lot better from the culture shock. OTOH you may never have to walk on the street searching for pavement to step on :) In any case - whether you search for the real India or not the real India will work out a way of finding you. shiv
Re: [silk] introduction...
IG: Your quoting style is making it impossible to figure out what you're saying (quite apart from other difficulties in this area, to quickly forestall Ram and others). Please quote ONLY THE RELEVANT parts of the mail you're replying to. crabby, Udhay Bonobashi wrote, [on 9/17/2008 10:56 PM]: --- On Wed, 17/9/08, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [silk] introduction... To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Wednesday, 17 September, 2008, 5:14 PM all true, but calcutta and bombay are extreme even by indian standards... On Wed, September 17, 2008 5:10 pm, ss wrote: On Wednesday 17 Sep 2008 10:51:35 am Stephanie Whiting wrote: Right now I am working on finishing my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, with no idea what to do with it. Hmmm. I suppose a job as a criminal lawyer is too bizarre to contemplate? Welcome to Silk. There's always a culture shock when you move out from India or into India from elsewhere. I have often advised young Indians how it feels when they go out, but I have never done that to someone coming to live in India for the first time. I believe the thing to do is to undertstand that India, unlike the US, is full of social strata. For you I am guessing that this means that there wil be a group of English speaking Indians who speak and dress like you, whom you are most likely to meet and socialize with. This is likely to be your husband's social stratum - probably at or near the top of the heap as strata go in India. But there will also be many others who essentially belong to social strata that they consider lower than yours (even if your mind does not work that way and you do not see them that way) They will want to do things for you - such as carry bags, run errands, open doors, cook, clean etc. It is likely that you will look at this latter group and worry about what you see as their poverty. India always finds people to act as guards at gates to open and close gates, supermarket boys who will carry bags to your car; a woman who will sweep and clean your home, and someone who will iron your clothes for you. You won't lose an arm and a leg paying for them. Its the stratification of society that is most puzzling to someone unfamiliar with India I guess, and the scenes of poverty the most shocking. By nature Indians tend not to hide or be embarrassed about either poverty or ugliness. These things are considered an essential part of being. I'm not defeinding either, but I can't do a lot to change it myself. And finally, India is a hot, humid country and that means molecules of volatile organic matter are always in the air - so there will be plenty of new odors that you never knew existed. The think to do is to accept theings as they are and not try to question or fight things that appear strange. India will sink into you gradually. Having shot my mouth off = perhaps some of the others on silf who came to india for the first time to stay may be able to give you a better idea. shiv -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] RAND: 11 emerging challenges
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 7:24 PM, Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: * The Aging Couple * Corporate America's Next Big Scandal * Innovative Infrastructure * The Day After: When Electronic Voting Machines Fail * Reality Check for Defense Spending * A New Anti-American Coalition * The Future of Diplomacy: Real Time or Real Estate? * Corporate Counterinsurgency * Beating the Germ Insurgency * A Second Reproductive Revolution * From Nation-State to Nexus-State I'm fascinated that AI and nanotechnology are not mentioned at all. Even the emerging revolution in biology isn't mentioned. I agree that nanotech definitely needs to be in there, as does water (which I think will be the cause of the next round of wars). I am a little more ambiguous about AI - especially since we don't really have a good definition of what the I in AI is. OTOH, this[1] is thought-provoking: Kevin Kelly making the points that a) the web is only 5000 days old, and who knows what will happen in the next 5000; and b) the number of transistors currently linking online has reached about the same number as the neurons in a human brain. Transcendence, here we come? Udhay [1] http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] introduction...
For those still finding much to giggle over shell humo(u)r, here's one more: 12-gauge, which pwns all other known shells, electronic, organic and others. (Yes, I know there are larger/more destructive gauges. Don't make me bring my howitzer.) -- Sumant Srivathsan http://sumants.blogspot.com
