Hey Everybody, How is she cutting? (as they say in newfoundland for asking how are you)
I finished my first semester in Canada this month. I got to know the education system of western countries better then i had known ever before. My friends might take it as a joke, but i really worked hard acadimically. This was partly because of my previous knowledge which was almost zero (thanx to my 4 year holiday at IIT) and partly because i wanted to maintain an 80% this time. I almost succeded. Results just came out and i got 81% , 79% and 72% in 3 subjects i took making it a total of 77% approx. Not bad for me seeing my previous record for sure, but i will try harder next semester. The goal is 80%.
If i compare the organised university education system in canada and india now, i get a feeling that west is still way ahead. My collegues in india were by far smarter then most of my collegues here in canada but the amount of research that goes in at university here and the superorganised industry-acadmia collaboration dazzles me. In a broder perspective, it dazzles me that how a country like canada of size 3 times that of india and population 3% that of india maintains itself so beautifully. As i often say to my friends here, even the wilderness seems organised in Canada.
Anyways, i will keep trying to break the code, as always. As of now, i have decently acclemetised with the climate here. I have come to term with life in sub zero temperature. It sucks to sit in house all day because its freezing outside, it sucks to sit on the freezing toilet seat everyday, it sucks when i wake up every morning because the house heating dries my throat and choakes me when i am in sleep, but ... i am doing just fine!
I am coming to terms with life of canadians which used to freek me out when i came here. This whole society is obsessed with individuality, but somehow i find them most unindivisual (not sure if its a correct word). Capacity of canadian, westerners generally, to follow intructions is amazing. I dont know how to explain myself, its just that the longer i am staying here, the more critical i am becoming of western society. Everytime i compare the beliefs of hinduism with beliefs of westerners, it becomes evident that hinduism is by far the most mature religion. It is becoming evident to me that for hinduism, most for the things/thought processes/events that are happening in west are 'been there, done that' kind of thing. I can see christianity slowing dying here, i can see how cool it is for residents here to say that they don't believe in god, i can feel why so many civilizations/beliefs/religions came to earth and disappeared and now i can understand why hinduism stayed for ever and will stay for ever. As its famously said in india 'kuch to baat hai ki hasti mitati nahi hamari (there is something in india which makes it never lasting)'.
Sitting in this remote corner of the world, i miss home. I have good friends around and i am learning a lot academically but i know for sure that i will not stay here for more then 2 years. This life is just too comfertable for me. I dont like the differences that exist in the world. I dont like it when i see that ppl working as waiter/waitress here can afford to fly/travel around the world/use blackberry phones/ have cars where as my father who is working as a doctor from past so many years has to think so many times before doing/using anything similar. I dont want india to become like west, not at all, but i am just very uncomfertable with the differences.
Signing off,
Karan
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Hi one, Hello all :)
hello europe! (cape spear)
I will describe my 10 days in new"fun"land in short...
I took my air canada flight to st. john's from montreal at 2pm (montreal time) on 5th Sep'09. The flight was usual one and as i had expected, i met few new international students going to join MUN. One guy from india and one from china, both of their name i don't remember now, were sitting around me. Chinese guy was very interested to see outside the window and hence, tough i had a window seat, i exchanged seat from him.The indian guy who was sitting just behind me had become friends with a japanese girl by now, who was coming to st . john's as a tourist. Few days later when i met him, he told me that they toured around st. john's for 3 days together. We reached st. john's at around 5:30 pm local time. So after compleating the formalities at airport and after meeting the university representatives, i took a cab to my previously arranged accommodation. I am going to stay ("surf the couch") for coming 2-3 days with a couchsurfer. For more details, visit: http://www.couchsurfing.org/. When i reached his doors, he warmly welcomed me. We talked about ins and outs of life, had dinner and retired for the day. For coming 2 days he helped me to find a permanent house, showed me around city, made me a honourary newfoundlander by getting me screeched in. I am very sure that i am the first international student of this year to take part in this ceremony.
the battery :)
Now, the place where i shifted used to be a youth hostel (mentioned in lonely planet travel guide) for travellers and the land lady recently converted it to student residance. They still have a dorm for travellers. So almost everyday when i come back from school, i meet someone from a different corner of the world. And there are full time students from canada and nigeria living here. I think it is a great way to live.
10 days here and i have already seen cape spear (the most eastern point in north america) and quidi-vidi brewery and have done a hike around fresh water bay. Till now the experiance have been amazing but i am not at all comfortable with the dropping temperature. People have already started telling me the tales about terrible winter. Window's will break, main door will not open and u will have to jump from the window, your ass will freeze, you can snowboard from your home to the university etc. etc. huffff i am kind off affraid ... but we will see ... we will join hands and keep moving :)
I have started playing basketball, today i signed up for juggling and fencing classes, i have met my supervisors, i have attended classes and i am in full spirit to cherish life as it comes.
Wisdom Unlimited ...
Karan
hello europe! (cape spear)I will describe my 10 days in new"fun"land in short...
I took my air canada flight to st. john's from montreal at 2pm (montreal time) on 5th Sep'09. The flight was usual one and as i had expected, i met few new international students going to join MUN. One guy from india and one from china, both of their name i don't remember now, were sitting around me. Chinese guy was very interested to see outside the window and hence, tough i had a window seat, i exchanged seat from him.The indian guy who was sitting just behind me had become friends with a japanese girl by now, who was coming to st . john's as a tourist. Few days later when i met him, he told me that they toured around st. john's for 3 days together. We reached st. john's at around 5:30 pm local time. So after compleating the formalities at airport and after meeting the university representatives, i took a cab to my previously arranged accommodation. I am going to stay ("surf the couch") for coming 2-3 days with a couchsurfer. For more details, visit: http://www.couchsurfing.org/. When i reached his doors, he warmly welcomed me. We talked about ins and outs of life, had dinner and retired for the day. For coming 2 days he helped me to find a permanent house, showed me around city, made me a honourary newfoundlander by getting me screeched in. I am very sure that i am the first international student of this year to take part in this ceremony.
the battery :)Now, the place where i shifted used to be a youth hostel (mentioned in lonely planet travel guide) for travellers and the land lady recently converted it to student residance. They still have a dorm for travellers. So almost everyday when i come back from school, i meet someone from a different corner of the world. And there are full time students from canada and nigeria living here. I think it is a great way to live.
10 days here and i have already seen cape spear (the most eastern point in north america) and quidi-vidi brewery and have done a hike around fresh water bay. Till now the experiance have been amazing but i am not at all comfortable with the dropping temperature. People have already started telling me the tales about terrible winter. Window's will break, main door will not open and u will have to jump from the window, your ass will freeze, you can snowboard from your home to the university etc. etc. huffff i am kind off affraid ... but we will see ... we will join hands and keep moving :)
I have started playing basketball, today i signed up for juggling and fencing classes, i have met my supervisors, i have attended classes and i am in full spirit to cherish life as it comes.
Wisdom Unlimited ...
Karan
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
How did it happen?
Hi everyone :)
This September, I am going to do my masters in naval arch at memorial university of Newfoundland. Now when everything is ready and settled, I thought I would tell you all the story of how it happened!
My effort to study abroad started 2 years ago. From the first day, this decision was motivated by all other things except actual real studies. In final year, I tried desperately to get into a university abroad. I applied for courses ranging from masters in civil engineering to masters in coastal engineering to masters in management to masters in social entrepreneurship. Absolutely aimless academically. Then something happened and I quitted all my plans … lost … tired… dead!!!
After I finished my final year, I was lucky enough to arrange an internship in France (probably the only one from IIT to do an internship abroad after final year). The experience of living in France was fantastic …. But I missed India … and as always made plans of purposeful work that I will do when I am back.
After coming back, I joined Pipavav Shipyard Limited. It’s a shipyard in the remotest possible location in the Indian subcontinent. I joined the company with the motivation of contributing towards the booming shipbuilding industry of India. But immediately after joining the firm I realized that the chaos and un-organization that paralyze the Indian manufacturing sector was also an integral part of this firm. Ideally I should have worked harder to find remedies of these problems, but instead, I started planning my exit from the firm. Within a month I was back to my study abroad obsession … as aimless as before. This time, the fields where even more diverse. I decided to apply for project management, observational oceanography, global innovation management and naval architecture. Such was my madness that I travelled across the country to get recommendation letters from my professors. The naval architecture course I was planning to apply was in NTNU Norway. So I took recommendation letters for all the four courses and was planning my travel back. I don’t know what came to my mind, I requested my professors to give me one extra recommendation letter for naval architecture without specifying the university name. And they obliged.
I came back and applied to all the four courses. I still had one reference for naval arch course with me. One day when I was doing some online research, I came across memorial university of Newfoundland. One of my friends had mentioned before about naval arch course in this university, but I don’t know why, I had never given it much attention. Well, just because of my habit, I emailed a couple of professors asking them about graduate student opportunities. Off course, there area of interest became my area of specialization in the email. And voila … I got a positive reply!!! Blood rushed and sleep flew. All of a sudden, I could see that this is the place where I stand real good chances of admission with full scholarship … infact much better chances then all the other applications I had already made. Within 2 weeks, I completed all the application formalities. This is my general tendency, when I am on something, I am on it with all I have. But the bottom line is that I could make this application, because I took that extra reference from my professors … ahhh what an idea sir ji!!! Now the wait for the final decision from the universities started.
Surprise Surprise!!! … Life is such a surprise ….
My boss in the company asked me to go for a 3 months training in china, from January to march. I was asked to sign a service agreement bond according to which, after I return, my company will expect me to work for at least 3 years with them. If I leave in between, I shall pay them Rs. 8,00,000 or 16000USD (which they said they are expecting will be the total cost of the trip). Fuck … I was out of sleep again!!! … So much effort in past 6 months for university applications … and all in waste … because if I leave the company after coming back from china… I can’t even imagine to pay this huge sum of money… what shall I do?? What shall I do?? I can refuse to go to china but it will not put a great impression on the company in these times of recession … and I am still not sure if I will be selected in any of the universities I applied … so what shall I do … what shall I do???
Few nights of thinking, few hours of Google research, some discussions .. and BANG! … I have a plan. I calculated that whatever I do and how ever expensively I live, the total expenditure on trip will not be more then 2,00,000 Rs. Or 4000 USD … which is 25% of what my bond amount is. So what I did is, I went to my boss and made a genuine request. I asked him to put a clause in the bond that I will pay either 8,00,000 Rs or the actual cost of the trip. And they obliged easily because they didn’t expected them to be much different.
Tough this amount (4000USD) is also big; it was well inside my payable range. And I calculated that it is approximately same as 3 months of my salary. So it will become a kind of self financed 3 months trip to china. This idea was much relieving. And now slowly, as preparations for china began, excitement started gripping!
I was already 2 months in china when I heard from memorial university of Newfoundland that I have been selected with full scholarship! Rest all universities either rejected my application, or provided me partial scholarship. Pffff … one extra reference letter can do miracles.. hehe … rest all that happened in china is mentioned in my previous posts.
I returned from china in the end of March and joined my firm. My company knows nothing yet. I cannot tell them anything before I get my visa … because what if I tell them and then my visa is rejected?? … So then followed the ugly paper work and everything else that goes into getting the passport stamped with visa. I received it in the beginning of June. It was time to inform my company that I want to leave. Telling my boss on face that I am leaving was the toughest exercise and a good experience. The information was passed, the awkwardness generated, the financial formalities completed and the resignation was given. 30th June was decided as my last day in the firm. After bidding goodbye to my friends in the company, on 4th July, I reached home!
So, now after all the ups and downs, all the planning and chaos, all the randomness and aimlessness, I am ready to go to Memorial University this September. Visa is ready and plain tickets booked.
But why I am going there? This question still prevails. I can give many answers but none of them satisfies me completely. I am definitely not passionate about ship building or naval architecture or even engineering. I prefer admiring the beauty of engineering by looking at the grandeur of it rather than by playing with it. If I work as an engineer, it will always be to make a living. Then why I am going to do masters in engineering? May be because I think by becoming super specialized in one field of engineering, I will be able to take an year off to travel in India and search for business opportunities and things and I want to do in my life. This master course is to give me more confidence that if I take a year off after I finish it, I will not be screwed if I end up with nothing concrete after a year of wondering. For this to happen, I shall study hard.
Strange as it may sound, this is how I am justifying this decision at the moment.
Peace! :)
Karan
This September, I am going to do my masters in naval arch at memorial university of Newfoundland. Now when everything is ready and settled, I thought I would tell you all the story of how it happened!
My effort to study abroad started 2 years ago. From the first day, this decision was motivated by all other things except actual real studies. In final year, I tried desperately to get into a university abroad. I applied for courses ranging from masters in civil engineering to masters in coastal engineering to masters in management to masters in social entrepreneurship. Absolutely aimless academically. Then something happened and I quitted all my plans … lost … tired… dead!!!
After I finished my final year, I was lucky enough to arrange an internship in France (probably the only one from IIT to do an internship abroad after final year). The experience of living in France was fantastic …. But I missed India … and as always made plans of purposeful work that I will do when I am back.
After coming back, I joined Pipavav Shipyard Limited. It’s a shipyard in the remotest possible location in the Indian subcontinent. I joined the company with the motivation of contributing towards the booming shipbuilding industry of India. But immediately after joining the firm I realized that the chaos and un-organization that paralyze the Indian manufacturing sector was also an integral part of this firm. Ideally I should have worked harder to find remedies of these problems, but instead, I started planning my exit from the firm. Within a month I was back to my study abroad obsession … as aimless as before. This time, the fields where even more diverse. I decided to apply for project management, observational oceanography, global innovation management and naval architecture. Such was my madness that I travelled across the country to get recommendation letters from my professors. The naval architecture course I was planning to apply was in NTNU Norway. So I took recommendation letters for all the four courses and was planning my travel back. I don’t know what came to my mind, I requested my professors to give me one extra recommendation letter for naval architecture without specifying the university name. And they obliged.
I came back and applied to all the four courses. I still had one reference for naval arch course with me. One day when I was doing some online research, I came across memorial university of Newfoundland. One of my friends had mentioned before about naval arch course in this university, but I don’t know why, I had never given it much attention. Well, just because of my habit, I emailed a couple of professors asking them about graduate student opportunities. Off course, there area of interest became my area of specialization in the email. And voila … I got a positive reply!!! Blood rushed and sleep flew. All of a sudden, I could see that this is the place where I stand real good chances of admission with full scholarship … infact much better chances then all the other applications I had already made. Within 2 weeks, I completed all the application formalities. This is my general tendency, when I am on something, I am on it with all I have. But the bottom line is that I could make this application, because I took that extra reference from my professors … ahhh what an idea sir ji!!! Now the wait for the final decision from the universities started.
Surprise Surprise!!! … Life is such a surprise ….
My boss in the company asked me to go for a 3 months training in china, from January to march. I was asked to sign a service agreement bond according to which, after I return, my company will expect me to work for at least 3 years with them. If I leave in between, I shall pay them Rs. 8,00,000 or 16000USD (which they said they are expecting will be the total cost of the trip). Fuck … I was out of sleep again!!! … So much effort in past 6 months for university applications … and all in waste … because if I leave the company after coming back from china… I can’t even imagine to pay this huge sum of money… what shall I do?? What shall I do?? I can refuse to go to china but it will not put a great impression on the company in these times of recession … and I am still not sure if I will be selected in any of the universities I applied … so what shall I do … what shall I do???
Few nights of thinking, few hours of Google research, some discussions .. and BANG! … I have a plan. I calculated that whatever I do and how ever expensively I live, the total expenditure on trip will not be more then 2,00,000 Rs. Or 4000 USD … which is 25% of what my bond amount is. So what I did is, I went to my boss and made a genuine request. I asked him to put a clause in the bond that I will pay either 8,00,000 Rs or the actual cost of the trip. And they obliged easily because they didn’t expected them to be much different.
Tough this amount (4000USD) is also big; it was well inside my payable range. And I calculated that it is approximately same as 3 months of my salary. So it will become a kind of self financed 3 months trip to china. This idea was much relieving. And now slowly, as preparations for china began, excitement started gripping!
I was already 2 months in china when I heard from memorial university of Newfoundland that I have been selected with full scholarship! Rest all universities either rejected my application, or provided me partial scholarship. Pffff … one extra reference letter can do miracles.. hehe … rest all that happened in china is mentioned in my previous posts.
I returned from china in the end of March and joined my firm. My company knows nothing yet. I cannot tell them anything before I get my visa … because what if I tell them and then my visa is rejected?? … So then followed the ugly paper work and everything else that goes into getting the passport stamped with visa. I received it in the beginning of June. It was time to inform my company that I want to leave. Telling my boss on face that I am leaving was the toughest exercise and a good experience. The information was passed, the awkwardness generated, the financial formalities completed and the resignation was given. 30th June was decided as my last day in the firm. After bidding goodbye to my friends in the company, on 4th July, I reached home!
So, now after all the ups and downs, all the planning and chaos, all the randomness and aimlessness, I am ready to go to Memorial University this September. Visa is ready and plain tickets booked.
But why I am going there? This question still prevails. I can give many answers but none of them satisfies me completely. I am definitely not passionate about ship building or naval architecture or even engineering. I prefer admiring the beauty of engineering by looking at the grandeur of it rather than by playing with it. If I work as an engineer, it will always be to make a living. Then why I am going to do masters in engineering? May be because I think by becoming super specialized in one field of engineering, I will be able to take an year off to travel in India and search for business opportunities and things and I want to do in my life. This master course is to give me more confidence that if I take a year off after I finish it, I will not be screwed if I end up with nothing concrete after a year of wondering. For this to happen, I shall study hard.
Strange as it may sound, this is how I am justifying this decision at the moment.
Peace! :)
Karan
Monday, May 18, 2009
A trip to an island :)
Last Sunday, I, with 5 other juniors from my university who are in my company these days as summer interns, went to an Island. This island is called Shial Bet. Here is the island on google map:
View Larger Map
During the mumbai terrorist attacks, an article in times of india suggested that terrorists might have halted on this island while coming from pakistan to mumbai for refueling. So we were a bit careful :)
What an amazing island it was!!!... life on one side, barren on another ... waves crashing on the steep cliffs... beautiful small beaches with kingfishers ... and lots of solitude ...
View Larger Map
During the mumbai terrorist attacks, an article in times of india suggested that terrorists might have halted on this island while coming from pakistan to mumbai for refueling. So we were a bit careful :)
What an amazing island it was!!!... life on one side, barren on another ... waves crashing on the steep cliffs... beautiful small beaches with kingfishers ... and lots of solitude ...
The only way to the island, the mighty "Jai Chaamunda"
Sun dried fish/prawn ... anyone? :)
One of the few pics which make me believe that ignorance is a bliss ...
BoOm Shankar :)
found some friends :)
mystic ...
capturing the beautiful shoreline
juniors jump with excitement :)
the power of technology ...
the ugly port cranes in the background
:)
Every great trip in Gujarat ends with a chagda ride!May peace be with you :)
Karan
Karan
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Encounter of a close friend :)
Finally one week break from work. Many memorable things happened. Booked my train ticket online. When reached the mentioned station, locals told me that the train i am talking about comes at a different station which is 15km away from here there is no road and no conveyance in between. WTF ... i will definately write an email to indian railways soon ... thank god that i had one hour in hand, somehow convinced a chagda to drop me there by paying extra bucks ... what an amazing ride ... cruzing through villages in this colorful machine :)
esp. gujarati road transport :)Finally got the train ... reached ahmedabad at 3 in the morning ... took a hotel ... slept ... elections in gujarat today ... very caotic and roads filled with police and army ... reached VFS office at 10 in the morning ... closed because of election!!! how clever i was to keep an extra day in hand .... my train ticket from ahmedabad to delhi was next day evening ...
Met a couchsurfer, a textile businessman from ahmedabad and went for dinner with him. He told me how textile industry in india works and effects of recession etc. etc. ... very interesting!
Applied for visa next day and after watching a 3rd class movie, left for delhi (my ticketsgot confirmed minutes before the train departure time). Travelled in first class for first time in life... ahhh royal it is! ... on one side of my coach, there was general unreserved class coach ... atleast 200 people in there ... all in sweat and uncomfertable ... in my coach, which is of the same size, there were 30 people, in there own personal cubicles, air conditioned and with plenty of servents to serve. I didnt liked this difference very much ... but satisfied myself by varifying that i bought this so expensive ticket (only slightly les then flight) because of unavailability of the same in other cheaper classes. Is this a general capitalist mindset?
Anyways, reached New Delhi. My very good friend Aakash is giving a party to celebrate his marraige. He is the first of my friends to get married ... it was strange at first to digest everything ... too much for me ... cant think of getting married now ... to much turbulance in life ... anyways gifted the couple Kamasutra for a happy sex life :) ...
With the couple ... hehe ... lovely people!Left for gurgaon the same evening. Met few old friends like Hansu, Gangwal, Yogi etc. Had a drink with them in a trendy bar specially for cricket fans over some silly IPL match. Gurgaon is the ugliest area i have ever seen ... a concrete jungle with no flavour .....
FriendsLeft back to ahmedabad. Again spent a day in the city. This time met a photographer couchsurfer. Amazingly he had met jorunn in delhi almost 3 years ago (the one who took you from delhi to gurgaon in bus and helped you in buying spices!) ... now how to discribe this??? Nice guy, showed me around the old city ... 3 darwaza ... juma masjid ... lasssi and shopping ...
ended the day with a hollywood action flick fast and furious 4. Left for work next morning.
Couple with familySo, as of now back to work ... but hopefully not for long ...lets see ... keeping fingures crossed!
A heartfilled hug to all the readers :)
Karan
Sunday, March 22, 2009
A tryst with China - Part 4
This will be my last post from china most probably. I am leaving back to India on 31st of March. For initial 2 months here I was so bored that I was ready to leave any day and the irony is when the time has come, I am not 100% confident if I want to leave. This is partly because finally I have made some real good Chinese friends in Nantong and partly because I am afraid of what’s ahead for me in India. But anyways I know I have to return so I am not thinking about this anymore. In my 11 weeks (read 11 weekends!) of stay in china till now I have been to yangzhou once, to wuxi once, to suzhou twice and to shanghai thrice. During left 4 weekends, I hosted couchsurfers on 2 and had fun with Chinese friends on other 2.
The English names of my Chinese friends in nantong are as follows:
1. Polo
2. Bill Gates Senior
3. Bill Gates Junior
4. Ice Girl
5. Cherry
6. Orange
:) Amazing isn’t it? :)
Polo my darling :)Chinese friends, Indian dance :)
As a foreigner in China, the question which I was asked maximum times is “You are living in china from 2 months. Why don’t you have a chinese girl friend?” … hehe … every time I am asked this question … I am left speechless … because I know the person who is asking this has a different definition of girlfriend then me … so I don’t try to explain … and let them understand that there is some problem with me! Actually I met a beautiful girl few days ago who fell for me slightly but I refrained from taking it any further as I knew I am leaving soon. Pufffff … “the thing” between opposite sex and me is like that only! :)
The Chef :)
The ultimate chinese self-cooked dinner!
Anyone?
Eating something very hot and sweet ... hehe :)
Posing on the stage of chinese classical opera :) Last weekend I invited polo and other friends to my apartment. We watched hindi video songs together and even danced! They couldn’t stop wondering on the songs (esp. songs from Lakshya like “agar mai kahun” with Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta). And then there was a declaration from one of them “Indians must be happiest people on earth” :)
Eating spicy food in Wuxi!
Hiking in an orange farm with Chris from Canada :) All in all I had good time in China. I made friends for life, understood the most populous country in the world, enjoyed cooing and eating chinese food, hated the work, learned few Chinese words, watched a lot of DVDs and wondered where our human civilization is leading … I am returning home better informed and satisfied but my journey towards “wisdom unlimited” continues …
Few things I like about china:
1. The respect and proud they have for their culture (except morals and values. These dimensions keep on changing depending upon whether it bring prosperity or not!)
2. Amazing food (yes you can enjoy Chinese food even if you are vegetarian!)
3. Slim, beautiful, amazingly charming, sexy and mysterious chinese fairer sex
4. Chinese government knows what they want. They want to be rich and powerful, and they are going for it … everything else is secondary!
5. Beautiful Gardens
Few things I hate about China:
1. They can’t mix with other civilizations, I don’t really know why! A simple proof is the existence of china town in every other big city in the word. So it’s difficult to feel at home in china.
2. They really don’t care about the environment. They use infinite amount of plastic and are polluting atmosphere with every harmful gas discovered by humans till date. To justify themselves they give example of the industrial revolution period of the western world. And I am sure they will not change their mind.
3. A new soulless younger generation is emerging. I have never encountered youths who are so empty in any other place. China’s one child policy and ban on practicing any religion are major culprits I think. Religious places are nothing more then tourist attractions today.
4. Their obsession with America. I wonder at the speed china is Americanizing and the cultural confusion/shock this phenomenon has created here! Every developing country in the world has westernized to an extent, thanks to open market policies, but China has crossed the limits. Somehow, I think moral policing in India has saved us from this blunder, and I am glad.
I will remember the time i spent in china ...There are many things to say but as every proud traveler does, I remember more then I write and I write more then I remember. The excitement of future, tensions of present and memories of past are taking over me.
Peace Out!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A tryst with China - Part 3
Love is my freedom,
Work is my play,
Art is my expression,
Creativity is my passion,
Joy is my emotion,
Sole is my boundary,
Relax is my style …
I saw these lines written on the glass door of a stylish shanghai leather goods shop. I couldn't stop myself from noting it down. It expresses so much of me that is hidden inside me …
I have been to shanghai 3 times now. It’s great to feel the world’s largest city. People from all corners of world reside here. Most of them are here for business, some for teaching languages. There are around 3 million foreigners in this city, 1 million out of which are Indians. The night life of the city is one of the most vibrant in the world because of these foreigners. They earn according to there living standards back home, in $, while residing in china. That makes almost everyone of them capable of going out and partying.
I lived with an American couchsurfer Matthew, exactly my age, a computer science graduate from
I went to a Chinese university to meet Jo, a Norwegian couchsurfer, where she is doing her internship. The vibe of the place reminded me of my days at iit kharagpur. The excitement, the buzz, the die hard wish to live … not to make a living, gives the university environment a special charm that no other community has. And I realized that I would love to go back to a university as a student … not because I have any interest in studying or academic research, but because I want to live this life again. And I am glad that I am going there very soon!
There is this huge hype in the media from past 2 days about slumdog millionaire wining 8 Oscars. Some are wondering on why it won, and some are wondering on why
As far as my life in china goes, I am not working at all, I don’t give a damn about shipbuilding, I surf on internet all the day, I spend all the weekdays planning my weekend … and I have been having really nice time till now :) … and I have realized that I am not a self driven person … it would have been the same if I would have been in any other field and someone would have left me completely free for 3 months expecting me to learn something!!! … if you want some work from me … you will have to stand on my ass … leave me free and I will fly … to see the world from my own angles!
Here are some pictures:
Just listen to the music! :)
chinese kiss!
Look who is hiding? :)
I have my piss in the waters of Canada, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Malaysia, Germany, UAE, Nepal and India ... what an amazign feeling it is :)
:)
Pagoda jump!
Chinese english! :)
Jo, lost among thousands of wishes...
First chinese friends :)
Can there be a kid more cute then him/her :)
With love, as always ...
Karan
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A tryst with China - Part 2
Well, I was getting a spiritual thought, so I thought I should write it down before it disappears. During my travels:
This is one of the important reasons why I like the couchsurfing concept.
Regarding my recent adventures, experiences and travels, I will just paste a photo gallery here and will leave the rest for you to wonder!
With Shanghai CS Ambassador - Philip
One fine morning in china :)
After solving a puzzle in a beautiful shanghai cafe!
Shanghai KTV :)
Clubbing @ Shelter in Shanghai! :)
Result of playing truth or dare after a Chinese hot-pot meal: Sing "My heart will go on" with a Chinese girl holding her hand :)
Zo!
After eating duck, frog, chicken, pork, shrimps, mule, jelly fish ... its time for an octopus meal! :P
Lots of love and keep rocking!
Karan
1. I saw 2 young Chinese kids fighting like sumo fighter, imitating as much as they can remember from tv, just as I used to do with my brother when I was a kid.
2. I couchsurfed in shanghai with a Chinese guy of my age, his parents took care of me as if I was their son. They cooked for both of us with equal love, his mother put quilt on my feet when it got displaced at night, just as my mother would have done.
3. I saw a young Chinese couple seeing into each others eyes conveying everything they want to say as if their souls were talking with each other through the medium of their vision. It’s a language which only lovers know and speak all over the world.
4. I saw a serious street fight emerging from simple ego of 2 Chinese car drivers.
5. I saw a father helping his son in burning fire crackers during Chinese New Year Festival.
2. I couchsurfed in shanghai with a Chinese guy of my age, his parents took care of me as if I was their son. They cooked for both of us with equal love, his mother put quilt on my feet when it got displaced at night, just as my mother would have done.
3. I saw a young Chinese couple seeing into each others eyes conveying everything they want to say as if their souls were talking with each other through the medium of their vision. It’s a language which only lovers know and speak all over the world.
4. I saw a serious street fight emerging from simple ego of 2 Chinese car drivers.
5. I saw a father helping his son in burning fire crackers during Chinese New Year Festival.
All this makes me feel like I am a part of one big human race, one fraternity, with one common reason of creation and one common god. Generally we see or hear people from a distance and make a general notion about them, like for example: Muslims are orthodox, Chinese are dumb headed, Japanese follow the rules, all Indians can dance, all white westerners are sex starving etc. etc. … these all are just the projections of their material self which is highly governed by events which happen in their life and how that relate from ours. You live with them and you realize, we are all the same, one big race … humans! This is definitely a much stronger feeling then for example being an Indian or for that matter, Hindu.
This is one of the important reasons why I like the couchsurfing concept.
Regarding my recent adventures, experiences and travels, I will just paste a photo gallery here and will leave the rest for you to wonder!
Shanghai CS meeting-28th Jan'09, representatives from China, India, US, France, Norway, Australia, Canada, Germany, Latvia :)
With Shanghai CS Ambassador - Philip
One fine morning in china :)
After solving a puzzle in a beautiful shanghai cafe!
Shanghai KTV :)
Clubbing @ Shelter in Shanghai! :)
Result of playing truth or dare after a Chinese hot-pot meal: Sing "My heart will go on" with a Chinese girl holding her hand :)
Zo!
After eating duck, frog, chicken, pork, shrimps, mule, jelly fish ... its time for an octopus meal! :P
Lots of love and keep rocking!
Karan
Monday, January 12, 2009
A tryst with China - Part 1
Hello readers. Greetings for 2009! After being away for quite some time, I finally decided to write. A lot happened in between, many different things like many chapters of the book. I can just say that it was not the best time for me ... but ups and downs are part of life no? ... Presently i am in China and will stay here for 3 months. This is a change that I desperately needed from my monotonous life back in India, and i am really glad i am here.
I landed on shanghai pudong international airport on 1st January 2009. My Malaysia Airlines flight took off at 11:55 pm on 31st December from Mumbai. At midnight, I was right on top of Mumbai. Imagine what scene was in front of my eyes. Mumbai, a mega metropolis, was shining with red and yellow lights till the horizon. As the clock ticked 12, the pilot form the cockpit, in English spoken by only pilots, wished happy new year to all the passengers. But my attention was somewhere else. I was seeing the Mumbai midnight fireworks from the top. I leave the rest to be imagined by the reader (actually I don't want to underestimate the aura of that moment by describing it in my strangely broken English!)
Well, just to make a point, Malaysia Airlines is really very comfortable with good food and sexy air hostesses in very traditional Malaysian dresses. Point to note: They serve guava juice in flight which I liked a lot!. I had a break journey with flight change at Kuala Lumpur. I changed 10 USD into Malaysian currency, got 44 ringgits and ate a croissant with a regular coffee in a French café at the airport. I wanted to buy a souvenir but couldn't decide in the short time I had, so planed to take something when I return. I boarded the flight for Shanghai. To my surprise both the flights from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur and from there to shanghai were almost empty. I felt glad that they weren't cancelled.
Pudong international airport of shanghai was also completely empty. This really surprised me because after all, it's china. How can any place be empty? Anyways, I changed my currency, collected my baggage, cleared the immigration and got out of the airport ….. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee what the f**k …. It's so coooooold. After wearing five layers of clothes, I was regretting that I didn't had sixth. I found a driver waiting with my sign board on the airport (lol, it was funny, it made me feel like a rich man!). As we drove towards nantong, a city 120 km from shanghai, were I am supposed to live for the coming months, I was confused. And it was because the roads were also empty. For a moment I thought that I landed in some other country. I couldn't discuss this with driver as he didn't spoke a work of English. We reached my hotel in nantong in 2.5 hours.
Well, just to make a point, Malaysia Airlines is really very comfortable with good food and sexy air hostesses in very traditional Malaysian dresses. Point to note: They serve guava juice in flight which I liked a lot!. I had a break journey with flight change at Kuala Lumpur. I changed 10 USD into Malaysian currency, got 44 ringgits and ate a croissant with a regular coffee in a French café at the airport. I wanted to buy a souvenir but couldn't decide in the short time I had, so planed to take something when I return. I boarded the flight for Shanghai. To my surprise both the flights from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur and from there to shanghai were almost empty. I felt glad that they weren't cancelled.
Pudong international airport of shanghai was also completely empty. This really surprised me because after all, it's china. How can any place be empty? Anyways, I changed my currency, collected my baggage, cleared the immigration and got out of the airport ….. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee what the f**k …. It's so coooooold. After wearing five layers of clothes, I was regretting that I didn't had sixth. I found a driver waiting with my sign board on the airport (lol, it was funny, it made me feel like a rich man!). As we drove towards nantong, a city 120 km from shanghai, were I am supposed to live for the coming months, I was confused. And it was because the roads were also empty. For a moment I thought that I landed in some other country. I couldn't discuss this with driver as he didn't spoke a work of English. We reached my hotel in nantong in 2.5 hours.
Chinese KTV (Karaoke TV)
.
Hotel was amazing, probably the best and costliest I have ever lived in. I expected the hotel staff to speak English but they didn't, not even a word. I ate noodles my first night in china, which I later realized, had beef extracts. Though almost no one speaks English in china, I realized it very quickly that it will be easier to communicate here then in France. This is because as a foreigner you get a lot of attention and people look forward to talk to you. When people stare at me here, I realize the cause of ultimate frustration which some foreigners have in India … and I blame no one … because I understand why I myself stare at a foreigner so hard back in India. It's a strange feeling and you have to belong to India or for example China to feel that.
Next morning, after meeting my boss, I headed to meet a couchsurfing friend. Her name is Eveline, she is from Cameroon in Africa. Her family shifted to America few years ago and she then came to china to teach English. China hosts a huge number of foreigners, esp. from English speaking countries, who come here as English teachers. We met for lunch. I ordered something without giving much attention to the menu and later realized that whole lunch was priced 22 RMB and a regular black coffee was priced 33 RMB. WTF!!! A Chinese friend of Eveline, QiQi (pronounced chee chee) joined us during lunch. She is also an English teacher, and a GenX Chinese for sure. She told me that only foreigners drink coffee in china and so to make money, it is almost always over priced. Now after living 10 days in china, I realize how money minded these Chinese people are. The whole nation seems obsessed with earning money. People don't even know right, wrong, ethical, unethical, important, unimportant … nothing … they just want to make money. QiQi helped me to buy a local china mobile sim card (100 RMB including 100 RMB talk time). I spend the rest of the day reading a book which I bought at crossword in Mumbai “China Road” by Rob Gifford. Next day, with the help of my boss I rented an apartment for 3 months. It cost me 1400 RMB per month + Electricity + Water + 400 RMB broker charge. The apartment is really nice but is surely overpriced. My boss told that it's difficult to get an apartment for 3 months so quickly. I had to shift immediately as I was staying in a very expensive hotel (300 RMB a day), so I took it.
Next morning, after meeting my boss, I headed to meet a couchsurfing friend. Her name is Eveline, she is from Cameroon in Africa. Her family shifted to America few years ago and she then came to china to teach English. China hosts a huge number of foreigners, esp. from English speaking countries, who come here as English teachers. We met for lunch. I ordered something without giving much attention to the menu and later realized that whole lunch was priced 22 RMB and a regular black coffee was priced 33 RMB. WTF!!! A Chinese friend of Eveline, QiQi (pronounced chee chee) joined us during lunch. She is also an English teacher, and a GenX Chinese for sure. She told me that only foreigners drink coffee in china and so to make money, it is almost always over priced. Now after living 10 days in china, I realize how money minded these Chinese people are. The whole nation seems obsessed with earning money. People don't even know right, wrong, ethical, unethical, important, unimportant … nothing … they just want to make money. QiQi helped me to buy a local china mobile sim card (100 RMB including 100 RMB talk time). I spend the rest of the day reading a book which I bought at crossword in Mumbai “China Road” by Rob Gifford. Next day, with the help of my boss I rented an apartment for 3 months. It cost me 1400 RMB per month + Electricity + Water + 400 RMB broker charge. The apartment is really nice but is surely overpriced. My boss told that it's difficult to get an apartment for 3 months so quickly. I had to shift immediately as I was staying in a very expensive hotel (300 RMB a day), so I took it.
With a chinese couple during their wedding banquet!
I will summarize my china experience till date point wise:
1. Went to lot of nice bars in the city like Heavens bar, Angels bar, Tiger Tiger bar etc. The good point of going to a bar is everyone speaks English (made esp. for foreigners remember?) so you can have some nice chat with people there, most of which are foreign English teachers, travelers, business men with lot of great stories to tell.
2. Chinese food is not as hostile as people tell you back in India. Believe me, being a vegetarian (well … almost!), I have gained weight in 10 days. They have lot of great vegetarian verities too. It's just difficult to figure out if you don't speak Chinese. It's a different story that I have tried jelly fish, 54% alcoholic chinese wine which burns your throat more then chivas regal and few other things which are better left unmentioned.
3. Chinese people have 2 names, one Chinese and one English, they have 2 birthdays, and they host their marriage parties 2 times!
4. Went to a Chinese wedding. Obsession of Chinese people with karaoke is also eminent in marriage celebrations. Many sing and speak for the happy life of couple. During a meal, Chinese people can do cheers as many numbers of times they want. It's really funny.
5. The most important observation I had in china is that how obsessed they are with the western civilization. It seems that the sudden opening of china to the world and the ultra rapid development after that has taken Chinese people with the storm. There are ultra modern roads but they don't know how to drive, they were the costliest brand of western cloths (those brands which have not even entered India till now have showrooms even in second hand Chinese cities) but they don't know how to carry them, they live in ultra modern houses but have a very poor personal hygiene. The whole country, the young, the old, the rich, the poor … just everyone is swept away by something that is happening to china. They were never allowed to make decisions and suddenly they have so many choices in front of them. They are confused with this quick positive change with no one to guide them. And I think this is why the world is afraid of china, if you understand what I mean.
With QiQi :)
My wish to travel distant places has somehow worked during the past few years. I have gained and lost many things during these times. I made friends for life, fell in love, lost it (really? ... ehh ... not sure!), drank and ate some most auspicious dishes existing on planet earth, visited engineering and natural marvels, learned a lot professionally and did what not! On the other side, I learned the importance of keeping association with my motherland and my family where ever I am in the world. I learned to accept the differences that exist in this world as just another form of reality.
Overall I have realized one very important thing about my life. I am not born to be an engineer for sure. Somehow I am not able to convince myself that I am born to built ships!!! I love to live in my virtual world with my abstract ideas. Maybe I would become a teacher or a journalist one day … the holy search continues!
With Love,
Karan Bhawsinka
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