3ck

Third Culture Kids (abbreviated TCKs or 3CKs or Global Nomad) "refers to someone who [as a child] has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture".

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miniflicks

For your mini desi fix.

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Tiffinboxes

Shoes that make me wanna do back flips

My new pumas are red! Very Red if you didnt notice. And the possess this bizarre power of convincing me to do backflips, cart wheels and other gymanastic stuff my pot-bellied body really cant deliver on. I've walking around NY, and whenever I catch their reflection on a store window or bus, I make a zinging sound, similar to two swords sliding on each other during battle. Kinda like shuwingz. Anyhow, I love them!

My favorite phobias

Fear is a fascinating sensation. I have never been so aware that I am alive as when I am fearful. Like racing down a highway at 90mph on a 55mph zone and seeing the grill of a car cop 30 metres in front of you. I dont really have a strong un-affinity to anything except maybe failure in life. But I can still see the oddness of some of these phobias. I know some of these are serious issues for people, but I mean, come on....its weird. My smart ass comments are in green. I can change it to some other color if you are scared of green.

-Androphobia — fear of males. ( Would that include toddlers?)
-Coulrophobia — fear of clowns (What about Cirque du Soleil clowns?)
-Erotophobia — fear of sexual love or sexual questions. (Sex does change everything)
-Genophobia, Coitophobia — fear of sexual intercourse. ( No Comment)
-Gephyrophobia — fear of crossing bridges. (Dont move to Venice)
-Gymnophobia — fear of nudity. (Taking a shower must be interesting)
-Heliophobia — fear of sunlight. (So wear sunglasses?)
-Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia — fear of the number 666. (What about the number 999, and the person is standing on their head. And why such a long name?)
-Paraskavedekatriaphobia, Paraskevidekatriaphobia, Friggatriskaidekaphobia — fear of Friday the 13th. (Frigga=French Black person?)
-Heterophobia — dislike of heterosexuals. (Damn heteros, making babies, parading in their non-gay parades)

How is this Freedom?

Major kudos to the Iraqi descent fellow trying to board out of JFK with "we will not be silent" written in Arabic and English on his Tee. Chaos ensued as other passengers who were scared by the Arabic script complained to the airport officials who asked the man to change his shirt.
How retarded is that? What if another American of say Latino descent complained to officials about how a Tee-shirt that read " Welcome to America, now speak English"offended him, would he be asked to change a tee. Or if an old person was offended by a GILF (Grandma i'd like to F***) T-shirt.
I am stunned at the double standards. BBC Reports>>

Disaster Tourism

I suppose it is imperitive for a modern nomad to travel the 4 corners of the Earth looking for an experience rush. What could be more of a rush than to visit man-made or natural disasters that have left a blemish on planet Earth, the third planet in the 8 planet solar system (That sounds so weird). I know one of the most visited sites in NYC is the WTC remains, which is now a big concrete empty space where trinkets of the buildings are sold at 4 for a $1 (Sick!) and where I think they should hold nightly indoor cricket or soccer tournaments. But I can see how that might bother some people.
FP lists the following as places where today’s intrepid (and voyeuristic) explorers are increasingly making their destinations of choice.

Aroma Therapy and a Suitcase Full of Adventures

My father returned last week from his annual trip around the world. Destinations on the route this year were, London, India, Singapore, Tanzania and Uganda. Before he officially ends his journey, he’s making a quick stop here to drop off all the trinkets he collected for me on the way.

He got in late on Thursday, so he decided not to unpack till the following day. This was like torture to me. Here was this suitcase filled with treasures and all I could do was hope my x-ray vision could burn a hole through it. In my attempt to seem grown up, I didn’t make a big fuss, but in my head I was so excited I was running in circles and jumping on furniture like a kid on a sugar high.

The next day I made it home from work in record time. My dad had left one of the two suitcases unpack, like a present for me to unwrap. I unlocked the bag as fast as my butter fingers would allow. Click, click, click, click. Damn these locks, I thought. Finally I pried it open and whoosh; I was hit in the face with the very distinct and familiar smell that is India. If you’ve been to India, you know what I’m talking about. It’s a mixture of flowers, spices, earth and a little bit of tea. I have tried all my life, in vain, to figure out the source of this smell! I’ve smelt it on cloths, paper, in retail store, in grocery stores…every where! Truly, there is no memory like that of smell. In that one weef, my childhood trips to India were as vivid as the taste of mint after brushing your teeth.

it's official... I'm moving to singapore

As part of its Intelligent Nation 2015 program, the island nation will be able to boast of countrywide Wi-Fi coverage in a few months, Bill Chang, executive vice president of wireless service provider SingTel, said in a recent interview.

"At the end of the year, Singapore will be one mega hot spot," he said. "They are breaking Singapore into three regions and looking at ways to maximize coverage."

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What if Columbus had GPS?

I was watching Russel Peters at 3am on a Sunday morning, and although he wasn’t as funny as I remember him being, he did make an interesting comment. He wondered what would have happened if Christopher Columbus would actually have found what he was looking for?: India.

Would Riaz be opening up a casino in the middle of his reservation? Would Payaal be selling trinkets at local flea markets? Would the story of my ancestors be depicted in the Kevin Costner movie, Dances with Monkeys? Would I even be around to write on a blog?

What if the European settlers would have to come to India and imposed their power on my ancestors. Agreed that it would have been harder to make a race as large as that of the Indian subcontinent extinct, the possibility in retrospect seems real. It really makes me wonder how the history of the world would have been written if Native Americans still ruled their land and the European settlers came in the boat full to Asia. I understand that Europeans did come to my part of the world in the 1700s but Columbus came to North America in 1492. That would have given the Europeans a 200 year head start to invade Desi-land.

This brings me to my second point. The American holiday of Columbus Day: Celebrating the biggest boo-boo in the history of humankind.