The Virtue of Idiocy

Remember those days when NDTV was THE definition of good media in India? Atleast for youngsters like us, it was definitely the hip thing since it was fancied and very westernized. Rajdeep Sardesai, Arnab Goswami, Shivraj Parshad, Maya Sharma, Barkha Dutt and so many more. Now I think NDTV and Indian media are paradigms of what I call "The Virtue of Idiocy". (Where I got the title from, will be explained later). "The Virtue of Idiocy"- the act of making sure that one is deemed idiotic constantly for their pleasure.

My American readers (if any) will not relate to this but thank you for reading anyway. The reason I am so bitter, if not evident, is due to the recent extensive/intensive and unwanted coverage of the "Aishwarya- Abhishek" marraige. She is a former Miss World, he is a Bollywood actor; son of a very famous Bollywood actor- never knew that this would be a cause for loathing their existence. So much is the hype, that a couple of my Biology labmates asked me whether the marriage was over or not, and whether she wore the sari she was supposed to wear or not- this coming from Americans sitting in Houston, Texas who in no way whatsoever should be affected by this asinine of a scenario.

The day after Virginia Tech went through their massacre, I went on to NDTV.com- like every other NRI to check upon news back home in India. And to my utter surprise (all pun intended), I found the exclusive on the intricate details of Aishwarya Rai's sari. To the side of it, apparently Top News, but evidently very small and easily overlooked, news about Minal Panchal missing. Why are we glorifying something that all of us know is not going to help us in the future or for that matter in the present? We are not entitled to that sort of vicarious pleasures either! So WHAT IS THE POINT? And then of course, we come to know about the horrifying scandal about human trafficking being conducted by an Indian politician, and that news also finds its place in the Top News section that again is blinded by the Exclusive News.

Why is it so hard for us to cover news that actually matter to the public in general? The gala affair, if not anything, portrays the ever increasing bridge between the rich and the poor and the fighting middle class in a forever developing country called India. The rich get to strut their stuff, the poor think why they are poor once again, and the middle class wonder how come they end up paying for all this, since it is after all a lot of taxes. Important news is hyped in India for exactly a week or even less for a while, and then boom its gone, and who do they blame- the judiciary system (Not that things here aren't the same, but not as bad, atleast I think that). What happened in Noida, is beyond human comprehension- a whole hype, outroar of what were the Police and the Politicians doing? Questions asked, answers demanded- the outcome- Moninder Singh, the prime accused in the gruesome killing and organ transfers of now god knows how many children is acquitted. On the other hand, his accomplice, the house keeper, is being charged for the murders allegedly committed by Moninder Singh. He doesn't have a political pull and he pays the price for it. Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal are potential threats to the Communist government in that state. It is an ultimate test of capitalism in a communist state. How many of us care? Not a whole lot because it doesn't effect us. But for some odd reason, Ash getting married to Abhishek does. Most of us have absolutely zilch idea of our foreign policy. Fine if that is too far out, we don't even know what is going on in the grass root level. Our justification to our ignorance- they are all corrupt. My suggestion- look into the mirror when you are by yourself in front of it. The whole concept of NETWORKING is a fancy way of saying that I know someone that can help me in the near future to get something important done- ring a bell, yes CORRUPTION again. Maybe not in the crude form, but superficially atleast. Ask an Indian kid what they think about the history of India and unmistakeably their response is -" That boring subject that we had to once write an exam for". That definitely should not be the attitude. Important days in history are overlooked by news agencies because it will most definitely increase their TRPs. What will is poll- poll if Sachin should play, if Ash should stay with the Bachans, if India should have two cricket teams, not if the MP should have been sacked, not what people think where India stands in the global market.

How long will something like this continue? We sit at home and nod our heads in sheer frustration of the ever falling and failing system, but what else can we do? We whine about these situations, but any step we take is stubbed by CORRUPT officials that do not want "things" exposed for fear of more unwanted news coming out. Where do we draw the line of tolerance? When do we cross that thin line? Or have we become so insensitive and self- absorbed that living vicariously off of someone else has become more pleasurable than finding ourselves in the real world?

Shreya

P.S The title was inspired by Ayn Rand's book The Virtue of Selfishness where she talks about how being selfish is not evil and is actualy worth one's while. A must read- she is the height of libertarian values- a little too radical though.
P.P.S I am not going to deny though that these problems exist in the media here too. But like I said, they seem to be transluscent here. I could be wrong.

The Indian Moose: Virginia Tech

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2007/04/17/sot.nikkPublishi.giovanni.convocation.cnn&wm=11

This is a heart warming speech by Nikki Giovvani, a professor at Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech

To all those who have lost their loved ones our heart goes out to you. Words are not enough to provide consolation. All we can do is to hope to survive this.

"No woman, no cry"

As I sat trying to finish my differential equations homework today, I remembered a great song I had once heard as a kid- "No woman, no cry" by the invincible Bob Marley. And it made me think how futile my homework was proving to be. What good is phase plane portrait going to do to the world?

That song portrays the epitome of hope. "Everything's gonna be allright" he sings and that is the entire motive behind life. Live it because you hope- just not for yourself but for everyone around you, that they make it through the day and do something good- for themselves and for the world. When a reality check occurs we become conscious of our surroundings and after a while its back to square one- your monotonous life. Remember the forgotten not today, not tomorrow but forever so that they get the respect they deserve.

Stop for a moment and think why you exist......

~Shreya

Is rational thinking that difficult?

You wake up Monday morning looking forward to another week-exams, quizzes, projects and that lovely Friday beckoning you to party it out again. And then out of nowhere you face death-of no fault of your own you stare into the eyes of death,knowing that this is the last time you are going to ever see broad daylight.

33 dead at Virginia Tech including the shooter. He lined some of them against the wall and shot them to death. Two shootings with a gap of two and half hours. The first one took place in the dorm and the campus was not locked down, an email was sent to the students that a gunman was on campus. Two and half hours later, another shooting in a classroom.

Students were allowed to get to campus even after the first shooting. How stupid is that? Sending out an email? How many of us on a monday morning waking up late get to the email? Why was the university not shut down after the first one itself? Officials say "they had reason to believe that the shooter had left campus" and hence no more measures were taken. It should have been taken more seriously.

I know the incident took place at Virginia Tech but I cannot hide the fact that I am shaken too. More like a jolt of reality. It could have been any of us over there. It could have been any of our campuses. I hope everyone you know up at VT is safe. It is hard not to be scared, but at times like these all you can do is stay strong and show that hope is the pushing factor in life.

~Shreya

Discussion, a.k.a Devil?

Why are we scared of discussing? Democracy at its best is in fact the art of discussion. Atleast, thats what I think. You vote because you form opinions about issues, and what better way to do so than discussing with peers to provide a strong foundation to what you believe in. Today's Daily Cougar had an interesting article in the Opinion section : " Religious debate should be encouraged". The issue here is not talking about religion again, its rather the notion that there are things that are non-discussable(oh here I go with forming new words).

Off-late we are all frightened of having discussions/ debates because sensitive people might take offense to it. Their loss if they don't want to talk to you after that, you will definitely find someone else better! We go around banal topics just to save ourselves the trouble of finding topics that drive close to home. Are we scared that discussing issues might change us? I am sure some of you can relate to this. I, myself, find myself in situations like these. When some of us from the economics dept sit around and talk about things, the discussion somehow leads to free vs. fair market. Participants in the discussion include- a confused liberal Indian, a.k.a moi, a libertarian, a moderate conservative and a couple more here and there. We have the most random conversations and come out with changed or stronger opinions. Hell, we even sit in class together and whisper free or fair market (Yes that's a little too much, but you get the point). You learn more that way. Now, I am not going to go preaching that join our group, cause more often than not, you would be disgusted with us, but do not be afraid to discuss important things. How long are you going to discuss Anna Nicole's baby drama? Or the fact that who's going out with whom, or where are you going with your life? I am sure you are not actually interested in them. The worst are those that have no opinion at all since they think its a waste of time. Why say that, when we are all aware of the advantages of talking through things? Only when things affect us, are we more aware or rather finally aware of the situation we find ourselves in- and then we perform the classic act- BLAME GAME! At that point, such people need to really shut up and bear the consequences of their ignorance. Its never too late is just a feel-good phrase. Don't make it your lifestyle. "What do you think of such and such" is not a scary question. Answer it, and it will make you feel better. You might not always be in the mood to talk about certain things, but you certainly can talk about it sometime.

I don't know if any of this made sense, but I guess thats that.

Shreya

I drag my feet on the empty street,
Not knowing where life will take me.
Earphones plugged in, Johny Cash playing,
Cell phone in hand,
I remain oblivious to the passing land.
What am I thinking, or am I thinking at all?
The courage I lost, I try to regain,
But the inner self makes me refrain.
What have I done all these years, I ask
The answer though evident is not lucid.
My heart wants to stop for a while
It is tired from taking this stride.
Don't get it wrong, it wants to go on,
But a little rest would help.
Why do we deny it that luxury?

The selfish ME emerges
I am on a lonely street and I still want to be alone
Loneliness is a crowd by itself
Does earth have a place for people like me
Society has killed me- I have turned into a fake being

Oblivion though haunts me naught.
For it is mysterious and adventurous
Tie not your life with unwanted chains
Help me for I am not lost,
I have not found anything either.
I just want to live
No one has found out to live means
Help me be the one who does.

Umm today my ramblings are going to be very less.....

What I wanted to do though......http://www.youtube.com/EmergencyCheese
The website has videos of my mentor from Georgetown analyzing the presidential campaigns. Its a nice little political geeky analysis. He was recently on CNN and the Post! So check it out and have fun! And yes I am very proud I was his mentee! He's a lot of fun...and here's his own website www.jameskotecki.com

Have Fun!

Shreya

God or no God? The worst that will happen is that I will die, but oh wait- I will be dying some day no matter what?

The reason I am talking about God today (yes surprising since I don't bring this topic up too
much), is because a friend of mine up at UTD made me read A Modest Proposal for anonymous reasons. One of the articles talked about how America would be a godless nation once the Democrats came to power in 2008. Since when did Liberalism become non-godism? Not that I am preaching that all of us should get down to our knees and acknowledging the existence of god(I am better off not doing it), but what gives one the right to say that deny his/her/its existence will be the doom of our existence? Here's another of my REALITY CHECKS- believing in god questions your inherent capabilities and also acquired skills. "Believe in yourself", its really not that hard! God exists or not is a whole different scenario! Go ahead and believe in him but don't shove it in my face or for that matter that of the others if we don't believe that. If it really were true that God was responsible for the happenings on earth, oh boy would we have actually had a different landscape! People would be EQUAL, opportunities would be EQUAL, hell life would be better. And if you(ardent believer in God) are denying this and saying that we create our own lives, then hell yes you are already contradicting yourself--> you make your own decisions, you are responsible for your sins, you are responsible for your good deeds. I am not asking you not be a God-believer, just stop hating me for questioning God's existence or rather not believing in God.

Shreya

The recent much-awaited exit of the Indian cricket team from World Cup 2007 (no sarcasm intended) brings me to be creative again. I love how failure gives us things to talk about. So yes a country with 1. whatever billion people and not to mention the rest who are stationed outside, all geared up to watch a disappointing finale (again). WASTE OF TIME and MONEY, and this is not coming from an economics major this is coming from anyone with a tad bit of common sense. All the hype for no good reason. Why do we even compete anymore? Just for some vicarious pleasure?

This brings me to my new definition of Indian democracy- CRICKETOCRACY. We are not a democracy anymore, we just vote for the hec of it. Had it been cricketers running for government, we would have 100% voter turnout. Don't smile at this, it doesnt seem too far when this is going to be true. Saurav Ganguly kicked out of the team! Result--> PARLIAMENT ADJOURNED!!! What the hell....Politicians are discussing why he should be on the team and not how to eradicate that ever lasting poverty rural India has found itself for god knows how many years. Power play never has and never will get us anywhere...Cricket my friend has become a power play. And whats this all about killing yourself over their loss? You weren't part of it! If someone should feel guilty it should be the team and not you, so save your life and live it. Don't give it away for no good reason, especially if its something called SPORTS! And what's this new thing about two teams? One seniors and one for the newbees! We seriously need some other distraction in India. Find one, or induce one! Its pathetically ridiculous. Why cannot we flow this sort of unwanted attention to the greater part of the economy? Crores of money spent towards nothingness! And little attention towards the shaking foundation of a nation's mixed economy.

Shreya

So the day after break as usual half the college is TRYING to get back on track. But thats a whole different ball game. As I picked up my dose of The Daily Cougar, my saving grace during boring classes since it has Sudoku and the Crossword, something very regular during this time of the year caught my eye. "SFAC report: increase fees" This is an oft repeated headline during spring semester since the University works on the budget. SFAC, for those of you who are wondering what it is, is the Student Fees Advisory Committee. They have proposed a 5.11% increase in the fees. While this might seem not too much to a few of you, imagine a University with more than 30,000 students and wonder how much revenue that would increase. Still guessing- its going to be a whopping $687,516. The first time I read it, I went oh my gosh, these undergrads next year are going to be oblivious to what hit them, and was delighted about the fact that I wouldn't be in that situation anymore since I was graduating. But then it hit me that I was still going to be a student in some University and was going to have to bear that brunt wouldn't I?

Here's my question. Why is it that all of the revenue making policies are guided towards students? It's not like we are making money like the faculty and staff. Almost all of us are on some loans of sorts. The more the tuition and fees increase the more we have to bear the brunt. The chair of SFAC expressed his regret towards not being able to curb the rise, but that is not going to help. We hear the same whine every single time, and we have always seen atleast 5% rise in the fees, to do what? Increase the number of buildings, give faculty and staff the pay raise they get every year? Yes faculty and staff get some sort of a rise, some bonus sort of situation! Ask them to donate to fund raising groups on campus, and a few handful will be glad to do it.

EDUCATION HAS BECOME A BUSINESS (those of you are denying this fact, you need some SERIOUS reality check) and it is irrespective of where the educational institution, which is one of thre reasons I have begun to hate the whole institution of learning, atleast the way we are used to it these days. If you can pretty much base a school/college and charge the students, you are on your way to having a decent amount of moolah. You cannot get a degree if you learn by yourself, since you weren't part of a reputed school. What the hell does a college/university have to do with your degree- all they do is basically guide you. If you really had the will and urge to learn, you would do it by yourself. Yes I am being cynical about the situation, but can you blame me? We go to school/college since its the thing to do. A typical question-" What would you be doing otherwise?"- my answer to that- Living life the way it should be lived. I can learn when I want to, when I dont want to. And more over why does learning have to be only through books? Explore the world and you will learn more, I promise. Which is one of the reasons I loved D.C. All those conversations I had with people, helped me "find" myself.

They say that life is a vicious cycle- what goes around comes around? But this present system of education defies all norms. If saying that one fine day, us sucking out the marrow of money from the students is our payback, then I have to say that it is sick! Us kids today are scared of education- we just hate to admit it since we are all part of it. Will save it for later!

Shreya

(Having lived in India for 13 years, I have seen India "progress" through the years, and visiting India last December after a mere span of three and a half years, it definitely shocked these pair of eyes)

I was reading Atanu Dey's blog on India's Development, and this one particular post about Employment vs. Production got me thinking- so what is India essentially doing wrong? We've been hearing that the country is a developing country, but for how long? I know this is not an easy task with a population of 1.04 billion and still counting, but we should be doing something right to show hope to these people, or is it too much to ask(and here's where my free traders hate me, since I am trying to be fair)? To sum up what Dey was saying (and I could have misconstrued it) was that India needs to start focusing more on production rather than employing people for a while since only with increased production will we have increased output to distribute to the people to help the country in general develop more. Agreed! Sounds like a good plan (and no sarcasm intended whatsoever), but in a country with such a huge population with an ever increasing work force, how do we solve the problem of employment? We talk about enhancing the IT sector to push the economy towards being more organized, but then what are we going to do with the unemployed? (I know this is a circular problem where a clear cut solution is not possible, lets consider for a while that we are all in a Devil's Advocate situation, or atleast I am).

As banal as this might sound, why is creation of jobs a forgotten concept? Didn't FDR do it when the US was spiraling downwards during the Great Depression? FDR's motto- "Find some job". If not the sole reason, it did help bring the nation back on track. And how much of this employment drain is due to outsourcing of jobs into India? Is specialization just another trait that needs to be forgotten, or is it needed even more so that we can screen the all rounders and make monotonic workers? Is finding something to do and getting paid minimum wage that hard to do in such a big country? Like I said, I am all for advancing tech and R&D, but what about those people who get replaced by hi-fi computers, by machines that INCREASE production in a matter of minutes? We definitely have to find them some decent replacement, or maybe we could start giving them unemployment insurance? Well then again, we are going to have some serious drain on the funds, because a work force this large, with so many unemployed is going to chew away those funds in no time!

So yes, what is India doing wrong? India Shining went down the hills like a setting sun, never to shine again! It doesn't seem like we have an economic policy that is going to help the poor rise from the ashes! We talk about Africa being under a poverty trap, I think we need to look in our own yard first. We have a huge population that is living under the poverty trap. But no matter what we do, the middle class has been and will be paying the price for a while. Every bit of their hardwork, either goes to helping the downtrodden or surviving themselves or making up for the mistakes that the rich have committed? Do we stop insourcing or augment it? Multinationals have been gaining increased access into the country, but other than increasing consumerism, aka, materialism, I don't see any util of their investment. (Again, please correct me if I am wrong in this analysis!) We are all about the cliche ideas, but implementing them is way out of the league. We are always competing but never stepping back and looking back if any of our policies are working or not. A couple of people the other day were mentioning how India had grown 9% in GDP, but completely forgot to mention the 5.6% inflation that India faced in the last quarter! An alarming fact but completely forgotten, since we are trying to mask the flaws~ the number of chain mails I receive saying India is going to be a super power by 2015 or something (the year keeps changing everyday), it drives me nuts. Poverty is not going to run away in the next 8 years, its a near impossible task~ be it allowing the markets to work on their own or have government intervention. You cannot be a super power if over 30% of your population is under shackles. You need to bring the people be at a comparable range of standard of living. 2015 or 202o is nuts for that matter. Its like the Millennium Development Goals wishing that by 2015 all of the poverty is going to be washed away like it were some dirt that was stubborn and thats it. No! Thats not how it works! But that is a different story all together!

I am actually running out of things to say, and am sorry if this all seems incoherent, but like I mentioned before these are ramblings but with due thought in them. So bear with it please.

Later
Shreya

If someone said travelling was tiring, waste of time and money, that person is completely out of their mind. Yes it is tiring, I mean how can it not be, but it is definitely worth it. No matter where you go, you need to embrace its existence. Be it a small town, a big town. Everytime I go somewhere, I learn something, well that would be an exaggeration but it definitely gives me a different outlook to life.

I was at San Antonio and Austin this past Sunday. I know two cities in one day but it was awesome! My friend from back home, now a Sun Devils (hehehe Krak had to put it in there), was down in Houston and it was fun! We were reminiscing old school days back home and boy o boy, was it something. We go through these stories every time we talk, but it never seems to grow old. It was definitely a good weekend.

Was in Longhorn Land for about an hour! And boy was I thinking about what would have happened if I were there. Krak, his dad and I were walking through UT land on a day of spring break, and both of us in unison go "Where are the geeks?"- to which Krak came out with a great but very strong answer- " Go back home and look into the mirror, you will find them"... So it got me to thinking, we are geeks on campus arent we? The more I deny it, the more someone or the other points it at me. I have to thank Annie for de-geeking me since I met her....That girl is crazy....Oh yea Annie used to be part of Longhorn Land, before she moved to Cougar Land. So yea before that all I had was school-work-home-school-work-home..and the same routine over and over again. Until Fall 2005, when I met these wonderful crazy people in Linear Algebra, aka, misery. We got to be such great friends, it was perfect. I am so glad we've been friends for a long time now. I might be the youngest among them, but they definitely de-geek me like I said.
So yea I think I have de-geeked myself now too, since I am procrastinating during this spring break...even though I wake up every morning going...I need to do something and then some friend either from India or wherever the time difference is more than 6 hrs, pops up online and talks to me and I forget my misery of being a workaholic. And yes I have been sleeping more than 5 hrs, isnt that awesome?

Oh well I have run out of things to ramble about...
Later!
Shreya

So I wake up on this bright and beautiful Saturday morning hoping, and I mean really hoping that I would not have to do anything that fits in the definition of productive work. But most definitely that could never be true for moi. I had to do so much cleaning, it wasn't even close to being funny anymore. Fungus in the food- yes explain to me that one. How/ when it happened, I have no idea at all. So I am sitting there thinking how to tackle the situation, as if there is some CIA stuff involved in it. But I think I have been successful enough to leave the kitchen smiling....and what's the dealio with laundry....Does it have to be that much....seriously!!!!! Well enough said about my chore choke

I am trying to find something to talk about today and I think I am going to boast/whine about graduation a little more today. I got a letter yesterday in the mail, saying that I have been nominated to be a student commencement speaker , so I have to enter this competition and might actually end up speaking in front of a lot of people. Am not counting on it, but the thought of it kinda sounds nice. So if the university has recognized me after all these years, I mean come on, can no good school recognize me either? Yes I am a 20 year old graduating in three years, but that doesnt mean you can reject me because I am that young. So if I stayed in school another 4 years, meaning a total of 7 years, graduated with a GPA of 3.5 or above, changed majors n number of times, and then finally decided to do something, accumulated all the loans I could have, then maybe I would have had a better chance at getting into a good school? Irony of life....and I hate to put that cliche there, but apparently it is true. You cannot be good enough until you have seen failure. Wow! I am impressed with the double standards!


Spring break has officially started, which means I am mastering the art of SLEEP!!!!!!! So good luck to me on that


Shreya

Oh my gosh! So I finally recovered my account details and everything and am back to blogging.

So a lot has gone down since the last time I on wrote here (as is expected). The big news is I am graduating this semester!!! Yes finally, even though that seems like an irony since I am finishing a year early and should not be using the word finally. It's so nice to realize that you are actually finishing one part of your life. But the other side to this coin- trying to figure out what to do next, is definitely a brain hutter. I am currently in this spot where I don't know if I want to go to graduate school and be a 24 year old with a PhD and no work experience or go into the work field and go back to school after a while. Oh well! These kinds of things are most definitely frustrating but I guess you have to live out of it.

I did apply to graduate schools. Got a conditional acceptance from Oxford- yes the one in England, and not the one in Tennessee, USA. The condition being that I have to have a certain GPA by the time I graduate, and guess how off I am ......done guessing? I am off by 27/1000 of a point. I hate them for it, but I guess it gives me added incentive to study during this last semester! Brown University (up in Rhode Island) and Columbia University (New York :) ) have skillfully rejected me. So this week has been going worse than usual. Surviving it though....atleast I have convinced myself about it.

But I have to go now since I am at work (and hardly working).
I promise I will be updating this place like crazy from now on!!!
Take care!
Adios
Shreya

I don't know what happened to the previous post, I have no idea as to what happened to that font! College started on the 21st, which was Monday(yesterday). I think I had a good first day of school. As in it began at 8 and did not end until 4 and then of course Annie kidnapped me to go to Bennigan's which was the highlight of the day. Today wasn't bad either. All my professors did today were- handed out syllabi and then we were let out. Aa those good ole days. Wish they came back

Then of course I hit the gym. I had to do it. I am sitting on my ass and getting fatter and fatter by the day. It is just not right!

Little tired today, so the post is going to stay small.
Will post later
Shreya

I woke up this morning not knowing what to do and all of a sudden Jon was online. As usual, I began to bug him and he sent me an email with this link ( I am not going to put the link out here)- but it got me thinking about personal liberty. I am going to be a little too extreme about this so please bear with me ( and of course comments are more than welcome).

The website was an online resource of personal information. You could search anyone on that website and get any information you would want. And yes when I say any, I mean it. For a price, you could be entitled to their Social Security Number too, you could do a Search by Social Security Number on that dreaded website ( as if it were an ISBN number or something). It scared the hell out of me in the beginning, but then upon close examination, I did realise that it could be a good resource( I am playing devil's advocate with myself, I am definitely against that website). I am sorry I am going offtrack. Here is the thing, do we need to start a more rigorous regulation of the internet today than ever before? Some people are going to ramble about infringement of personal liberty, of civil rights, but what if we definitely need a regulation because other people are at risk. When the phone tapping incident came out, I was all for getting an answer as to how my privacy was being intruded upon. And yes I was offended, and trying to justify as to how other people were ok with this. It struck me ridiculous. I don't want to be offensive, but that is definitely a violation of my right to privacy.

And even so why are we in a state of racial profiling in the 21st century? Just because we get threats sometimes?Like my friend Jad Elias from Lebanon said in our class once, that we have forgotten the distinct distinction between Radicalism and Islam. What about those who are innocent and are as disgusted as us with the current situation? Why shouldn't they be given a chance to explain their viewpoints?

I don't know...I have to let this post go now, cause I cant write anymore but I will
Shreya

Yes I remembered the promise to keep up. So I know a lot of you guys have been asking me what I have been doing these years since I left India in 2003. I think ever since I have left, I have never been the same again. The first year was the hardest. It took me a while before I could adjust to the surroundings but I did it, and I am damn well proud of it. I was in Lubbock, Texas for a year, where I did my senior year of high school at Lubbock High. As crazy as this sounds, I loved that city. It was such a loveable city, I am not even kidding. That is like my point of reference sometimes. I can go on and on about that city, but I will not.

Well then by a series of (un)fortunate events, we moved to Houston in 2004. Hate the city till date. I did not want to come here, but I have indeed lived here for the last two years. I go to the University of Houston. I am working on my Bachelors of Science degree in Economics with a minor in French. So far, school(college) has been good. The first semester turned out to be decent enough. I was most definitely not one of those lost freshman, absolutely clueless. I had a game plan and I am glad that I have stuck with it. I do not intend to change majors, I am dead set to do economics, and economics it shall be. What am I going to be doing with that degree? Great question!!!! I am a little confused as of now too, because some people have been asking me to go to law school. I must admit that I am definitely skeptical about law school. I am not sure if I have got it in me to be committed to law school, but that is still in the near future. But I am planning to go to the UNICEF(United Nations Children Fund). I want to work with the UN and help third world countries get out of their poverty trap. It is not an easy task and it is definitely one of those young-generation-ideas. But I have decided to do it, failure or success.

I am currently working at the Scholars' Community at UH as a Mentor/Tutor. Some hard core job let me assure you. But the people are awesome. I know I am going to make friends for life over there. I am glad that that egg shell I was in, has finally broken and Washington D.C. is responsible for that. No more scared to do stuff, I have finally taken the step to not be such a wuss.

Umm have I changed? Yes, most definitely. I am still the person you could talk to 3.5 years ago, but I am sure you will find discrepancies here and there. I have become liberal, I do not know how much of it, but yes liberal. It has swung pretty often, moderate liberal and very liberal. But yes at this point of time I am definitely a Democrat. Washington D.C. and all the stuff that goes on in there, has let me come to that conclusion. I did think that I was a conservative in the economic standpoint, but after a lecture at Georgetown on Free Market Economy, I have decided never to hit that road ever again. I don't think that I want to run deficits, but definitely no free market economy for me. Which means Univ of Chicago is out of the question. For those of you who are wondering why, its because it is a free market school. I don't think I can work with the Austrian School of Economics anymore. Yes I still admire Hayek, but I cannot pursue it. Hayek will still be my God for economics, because he was the first economist I read.

I will have to take leave right now. I don't know how effective blogs are, so I am going to leave it at that . I am trying to upload a pic on here, so bear with me.

Adios
Shreya

Well as I wait for the picture to upload, let me remind everyone, whoever has remotely kept up with my blogs, that I was the one that hasn't kept my blog updated like I had promised to. I was on xanga and I decided that it wasn't worth it. I don't know I ended up in this rush to start blogging and all that but now I think I will switch to blogger. Xanga is not appealing anymore to me.

This summer has been great! Those who will see this through facebook definitely know what I am talking about. It's been one of the best summers I have ever had. I think the only comparable summer was the one after the 10th. For those of you have been asking me about what I did, and why I was so busy, it was because I was in Washington D.C.. It is definitely the place I want to go back to in the future, or actually maybe New York , but yes Washington D.C. will definitely see me sometime in the future. Look at that place! THE WHITE HOUSE MAN THE WHITE HOUSE! Its not like I always will agree/disagree with the decisions that are being made that every day, but hey- who would not want to work over there!

I was also at the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States of America- it is where pretty much all the monetary decisions of the economy are made. I was sitting at that Board table, and trust me( yes its a highly biased comment), but that place was exhilarating. That experience was exhilarating. I know I will be there some day, will be a research assistant to some economist, cause that is what I want to do. I can still work at the White House but definitely will have to do this, I am determined.

I don't think I will start writing about what I have been doing these years, ever since I left India. I will in the next post and it is a promise.

I will have to take leave now. I hope I will be able to keep up with blogging.

Peace out(if this gets too cliche, do tell me-will stop it)
Shreyasee(shreya)