It has been really long time that I did  a post on 5nongringos. I know it’s not acceptable on my part since I am the one proposed and setup the whole thing. Answer is, I don’t know. May be I was losing motivation? Had been really going through the project status, bugs and a lot of update. New responsibilities and commitments. My personal work, messed up wordpress intallation, new apps on palm pre or new ideas that are crawling in my mind. I am not sure. 

Finally I am able to pool some time and making my mind to do the posting. I have couple of ideas floating on my mind. Lets talk and decide further. Here we go.. 

1. We must clean the blog and make it more pretty. May be shell few bucks to buy a news tempate and implement it. 

2. We should do few changes to the rule and make more posts and with out limit on word count. It could be as simple as sharing a funny youtube video or a engadget article. It’s absolutely legal to post articles of other sites as long as we mention the source and excert it. I am talking about putting more ads. 

Lets find some time and talk about it. I am sure that will motivate us todo more in the future. Bye for now. 

I think it was 5 years since I had a chat with Gabe about getting in to using a digital assistant. He was kind enough at that time to loan me his Palm M505 pda to try for a week. I was really amazed with the capabilities that this little thing had. From then on I am not alone any more. Though Gabe is no more kind, I have to thank him a million for his help.

Since then, I been using a pda and finally in this smart phone era, Pal Pre. I love this devil which is capable of doing so many things. I use Pre basically for, email (personal & work), games, chat, sms, blogging, notes, calender, facebooking, chat, music, internet radio, tasks, photos and many more. Can you believe that I am posting this from my pre?

My friend’s house in PA is in a very remote place and there is no Sprint signal. I was really really holding my self from coming out of the house in search of signal and finish mails and SMS.

Just because of my Pre, I was able to use facebook app and getting in touch with my very old friends that I lost touch. This friend in PA got in touch after 15 years and it happened just because of my Palm Pre.

I always loved Dell computers and peripherals during My stay here in United States of America. My first Dell machine was of 5 years old. I think I spent about 1200 USD for a powerful PC. Still My Dell rocks, except few humming noises from hard drives. My machine is accessorized with 24 inch ultra sharp monitor, 4GB RAM, 1GB Video card. Since I need a powerful machine because of the nature of My extensive photo related batch processes, I have been thinking for an upgrade to next level.

I did a post on October 2008 on this upgrade confusion. I can’t believe I waited this long for an upgrade. Finally 2009 holiday season broke the ice and I finally placed My upgrade with Dell again. Its an awesome machine and I would like to share the specks here.

• Intel Core i7
• 8GB RAM
• 1GB nVidia card
• 1TB 7200 HDD
• 22 inch Full HD Monitor
• 2 yrs warranty
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit

And all for 1000 USD + NY tax. Right now the price of this machine is at least 1400 USD. I placed My order on Dec 9th 2009 and waited for a week expecting that it would get delivered in a week time. I waited for 2 weeks and status is still “In Production” Waited for 2 weeks and its still in production. Finally called the support and the rep updated me that Dell received a lot of orders for the holiday season, I need to wait for few more days. Finally after 4 weeks, 4th Jan 2010, the status got updated to ‘Preparing for shipment’. Finally! I am receiving the shipment on 14th Jan and I can’t wait to test the monster.

You all know that I love food and I love biryani a lot. Last Wednesday my wife Rani was lazy and wanted me to get some outside food and I had been to latham biryani restaurant and brought lamb biryani. My belly was full that night and Rani gave me the left over as my lunch for Thursday. The moment I arrived to office, I saw a tray full of chicken biryani and satya brought it. You guessed it right, I had 2 plates as my breakfast. That day lunch is my lunch box and it’s biryani.

I had a plan to leave for NJ and celebrate new year. We arrived NJ at dinner time and guess what they have prepared, biryani. Thursday night is biryani night. Friday morning I had nothing because of heart burns and for lunch I had leftover biryani. There was still more biryani left and that was my dinner. I slept Friday night with heart burns and I am tired of eating biryani.

I bought a new app for palm pre with which I can post blogs on the go. I posted this post using the app. All is completed in 15 mins while waiting in the car for family. Since I am doing this on mobile and there is no way to check spelling please, please, consider taking out spelling mistake clause.

I have been looking at the mobile devices here in my village and they are all outstanding. Each one have a bright awesome screen, mp3 player, video player, blue-tooth with A2DP, dual SIM Cards, dual video, TV, WI-FI, above 3 inches screen and so many other exciting capabilities, all of these for just 3000 Indian rupees or $65. What can I say, I just could not resist myself to get one. My plan is to get a mobile and use it as media player. With in my small village I could see at least 10 mobile shops who are selling these china mobile. I was able to find a device I like but with out TV. When I asked them about the TV capability, the answer is ‘Its a old model and no stock’

My search for the mobile device with big screen and TV capacity could not succeed but I found a similar device for $35 in one of the 10 stores. That is called, I-PAD not I-POD. This little cute point and shoot camera style device has the following

1. Clear 2.8 inch screen with 2GB internal memory and expandable SD card memory up to 8GB
2. Audio player
3. Video Player for MP4, AVI and more
4. Digital Camera
5. Digital camcorder
6. Video recorder
7. Voice recorder
8. E-Book Reader
9. Other utilities.

I could not control and bought it. When I took home, I have realized that it has a separate charger not a USB charger and the charger has pins compatible to India. I had to request a electrician to change the round pins to flat pins so that it can be charged in USA. The cost for this big change was $0.50. I actually wanted to bring a handful of these devices but unfortunately there is only one piece left.

I tried 3 times to post on Monday but failed due to electricity failure. I am making this post as my second post and I hope team will accept it.

I could not resist to post yet another item. Life is soo exciting here and every day is long. When I was leaving for India, Aravinda handed over a box to me and wanted that to be sent to his place by courier. Initially I thought its a 5 mins job and surprisingly I am wrong.

4:30PM
I took a auto(local cab) to a place where I thought would find a shop to send the parcel. Finally there at the shopping  complex and looked at the building and its fully covered by shop name boards and after 5 mins find the shop. By the time I am inside, there are already 3 customers in line and I am the fourth one. While I am waiting for them to get finished, few more people came behind me and with out any hesitance moved to the front desk and sending their mails. I had little patience that time and waited for them to finish and thats my turn finally.

Front Desk:  whats in the box?
Me:  ’I think its a gift.’
Front Desk: Gifts, cloths and liquids are not allowed sir. Next!

I have no words to respond and asked one more time and the same stereo answer came and I am out of ther and realized that I spend 30 mins there.

5:00PM
Asked a road sider if there is any courier services near by and luckly there are couple in a mile distance. I took  one more auto and reached there by 5:30Pm due to traffic jam.

5:30PM
This time it is a individual shop by the road and not difficult to find. So asked that dude if they allow gifts. Dude answered me ‘Yes’ and I was soo happy that the quest is going to end and again I am wrong.

Dude: What is inside the box
Me: I am not sure what it is but I think its a gift.
Dude: Before I proceed, I need to see the contents.
Me: What ?
Dude: Yes Sir, its the policy.
Me: Fine

And he started opening the box and finally looked at the item and wanted me to estimate the value and I said, it might be 5000 INR (100USD). Finally he looks satisfied and repacked the box and before proceeding to bill, ‘Sir, We do not deliver to this postal code (zip)’ I really cursed aravinda at that time for living in one home village. I took the box back and asked if there is another courier station near by. There is one othere company few blocks away and I was happy again.

6:00PM
I walked there and it is a small counter in side the complex and 2 people waiting before me. While waiting there one more dude rushed from my behind the leaning on the counter to send his parcel. I literally lost the patience that time and waited till he is handing over his items.

Me: Don’t you think I am in line you should wait?
Dude: How do I know you are waiting ? ( we do not accept mistakes)
Me: This is courier counter and no one here is watching a movie!!!
Dude: Ok sir.

And then he let me proceed. At the counter first I asked if they deliver to this one house village and to my surprise answer is yes. The same questions repeated and I opened the box one more time and I need to fill a declaration form with 20 fields to fill in and declare the value of the box. Finally she need a photo ID to complete the process.

I am out of there at 7PM and my journy for the courier finally ended with a diet coke celebration.

I really don’t want to post at the same time get a sticky star. So here I am with my week one post, from my Mother Land, India.

Starter at 6:30 pm Saturday from Newark Intl Airport. After an awesome dinner from Air India, slept for 3 hrs and then waited for the first destination, Frankfurt, Germany. Flight landed safely at Frankfurt at 8AM local time. Usually there is a 2 hrs stop there to clean the flight and passengers will not get down. This time we will have to get down to the gate and wait for an hour and half which is awesome. When I got down first thing came on mind is ‘where and how to smoke?’ While everyone in the queue waiting to re-enter, I have walked back looking for smoking area. I saw a guy standing a corner and guessed that he smokes.

Me: Do you speak English?
Guy: &%&&^#$?
Me: Showed my hand as smoking.
Guy: Took out the smoke box
Me: Nodded my head and said where to go?
Guy: Smiled and want me to walk with him

At 100 ft distance there is smoking oasis and I had my first smoke after 9 hrs. Happy soul back to flight.

9 more hrs to Mumbai and safely landed and I was excited because I am in India, my mother land and I will find a way to smoke. In Mumbai, there is a transit from international arrivals to domestic departures and the mode of transit is bus. The moment I got down from the bus at domestic airport everyone started moving in but I looked for a place to smoke. I saw a security guard walking away. I called him to know if it is ok to smoke here. That dude could not hear me and I wanted to take a chance.  Lit my smoke and took 2 puffs and I saw the same guard with a gun (think Ak-47) running towards me with a real harsh face. I got really pissed off. Conversation is in Hindi, English.

Guard: Put down the cigarette!!!
Me: I was really tired and in that pissed off situation, I lost my voice.
Guard: Putttt Down !!!
Me: I finally put it down
Guard: How dare you to smoke in airport. It’s a smoke free zone.
Me: I am sorry, I am returning after 3 yrs and I thought its allowed outside.
G: Come with me and you will be fined and  I need to talk to his manager.
M: Relaxed by then and walked with him inside the airport.

Inside, there is one stronger dude with a gun and looking at me with a wicked smile. I had thought that I will be starting my first day with bribe. Then the manager came and asked me why you did this and I explained that I am not aware of the rule here since I am back after few years and I am sorry for what I did and ready to pay the fine. Manager wanted the guard to get satisfied and I looked at the guard and said.

” I am really sorry for what happened and I am ready to pay the fine” rather than offering him some money. He is still thinking and then manager wanted me to rush to the gate since I need to get a transit. Thank god I am out of there.

After finishing the security checks at Mumbai and I am finally back to 4 hrs wait and final flight to Hyderabad. I wanted to smoke again and went to a bathroom. I saw a supervisor there and asked him if there is a place to smoke. He smiled at me and coolly answered, 100 rupees and If you go to a different gate its 150 rupees. I was happy, super happy.

My contact number in india is 9642137847

This is the continuation to my previous posts

Post 1

Post 2

Let me talk about few more customs/Beliefs.

Bad sign if a cat crosses you while getting ready to go out.

Bad Cat

Cat is the most ignored animal in India and reason being the belief that its a bad sign. It is really hard to find a Indian who have cat as a pet. My daughter has been requesting me to buy a cat but this belief that we had is stopping us though cat is allowed in out apartment complex. I was going through my local language show and there was an explanation for this belief  and its interesting.

Cat’s favorite food is milk, butter and yogurt as per Indians and I am not sure for real. Now, we do store all the above items in fridge and safe. In olden days its totally different. We do store milk, butter and yogurt in pots and store in the closets. So, if you see a cat crossing you when you are leaving house then it might be entering your house or leaving from your house. So it is treated as a bad sign to alert the house owner to go back into house and check. Over the generations this have evolved as a bad sign.

This belief is so strong and as per my knowledge its really really strong in southern part of India. There are so many stories where people postponed even very important things just because a cute cat has crossed the person while going out.

As I have close to my 300 words, I will conclude this post. Next week I will be talking about few more exciting customs from my land.

• Why do Indian women wear red dot on forehead ?
• Why do Indian women remove the red dot from forehead when she become a widow?

I have started a post long back about various customs from India. Been a long time since I have touched it and here we go.

Eating on the floor

Sprinkling water around the plate before eating.

Its a age old custom for Indians to sprinkle little water around the plate or banana leaf before eating food. It has been centuries that this custom is followed all over India. Let me take this opportunity and explain the real reason behind this belief.

All most all the customs that we follow are backed with some reason. This reason is usually related to health or hygiene. But every custom or believe is actually covered with some god or fear to make people believe. The same rules are applied for this tradition too.

Banana Leaf

This custom is very much followed by Hindu religion. Before the British rule we are not exposed to any of the modern living style. Using dining table is a modern style of eating for us. Before these changes we are used to sit on the floor and eat food, usually in a banana leaf or a plate.

When you are eating on the floor and there is possibility that ants or any bugs crawling around you would come on to the leaf. So, when you sprinkle water around the food, chances of these bugs coming close to food are less.

This tradition is now a days mostly followed by many people even though we do not sit on the floor when eat. I know many people that sprinkle water around their plate even though they are eating in a hotel.  It may look little weird for many people if they know that Indians eat on floor. Well, here are the benefits of  doing it.

When we eat on floor, we usually sit on a 2 inches high base.

1. Because you are eating in a sitting position, your stomach is little squeezed and you will definitely eat less compared to eating on a table.
2. Since the type of food we eat demands no silverware, you have bend for each time for food.
3. Eating in a banana leaf is a healthy concept too. A green leaf still has life in it and oxygen is still coming out of it and that makes the food even better.

Let me know your comments.

As you all know that my wife is scheduled to be here on 25Th 2:30PM at JFK Airport. So I had a good sleep on Friday night and started my journey to JFK Airport at 10:30 AM. I went to Eestgreen Bush’s Dennis and had a nice breakfast and hit the road at 11AM. By 12:30 PM I am already close to I-95. All of a sudden the traffic became terrific. Bumper to bumper for 2 hrs. I am really frustrated with this. Finally I end my trip at 2:30 PM and entered into terminal 4 to receive my wife.

Flight has already arrived by the time I was at the gate and I saw people coming out. As usual, first you will see citizens and green card holders and I was expecting my wife to be out of immigration check in 45 Min’s. Mean while I saw passengers coming out with files in hand and I am pretty sure they are coming through H1, H4 or paroled. Its all ready 3:30PM and no sign of my wife. PA announced 4 more international arrivals and out flow has increased. Rani is coming by Emirates Airlines and I was observing the bag tags. Since there were more flights coming in and its becoming hard to keep an eye on them. My idea here is to see if the passengers from Emirates are out completely.

Its already 4:00PM and wife did not come out yet. I had no lunch yet and I don’t want to lost the sight of the gate to get some snack. Since Rani’s cell phone is out of charge, I am sure she wouldn’t call me. I was getting really worried about her thinking that there is some thing wrong in immigration. Its 4:30 PM and I am thirsty, tried, legs hurt, and head hurts because of no food. I do see no more passengers with Emirates tags. Its 4:45 PM and I could not take is any more and rushed to the inquiry. Asked them for assistance and they wanted me to wait for 30 more minutes and then come again.

The moments I turned back and I see Rani searching for me. She was waiting for immigration check and there were a lot of people in Que. I was really relaxed at that moment and all the happiness is gone the moment we hit the I-698. I was stuck again in the traffic for 2 hrs and the real happiness is back the moment I saw I-87.