Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Blip..

At the end of the day, its important to realize and admit that you have a big, wholesome and loving family..

even if they are a little quirky and dysfunctional at times.....

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Middle class

What is so middle about it ?

I think it should be called the confused class :p.



The middle class in india has evolved beyond words and means in todays times.. There was a time when my grandpa proudly used to say - "We are middle class people, we are like this only". Now a days he is confused. He's not too sure about what is middle class anymore.


Especially in a cosmo/metro city like bangalore the definition is ever changing. Not too long ago, we used to think people who lived in flats/govt quarters working in public sectors and some in private sectors were considered middle class. Not only have occupations changed big time, also the demographic difference between jobs.
There has been a lot of economical reforms. The so called middle class has more buying power now..



There was also a talk about lower middle class and upper middle class and thats when it gets all the more confusing..



I think there are lot of perception issues. With the advent of IT/ITES jobs, the pay scales have changed overnight. But is that what gave people that buying power?



Or is it the fact that with the emerging techy class (as I would like to call it), many avenues have opened for a plethora of sectors to rake in the moolah.



Whether its the banks who offer loans (worth lakhs) at the drop of the hat! (Sir, just the visiting card if enough sir, as long as we can see the company logo and you name..)



Whether its the EMI schemes that are available for anything ranging from a water filter system to high end home theatre system (Not to mention EMI schemes for bikes and cars which have only added to the existing traffic woes of the city.)



Whether its the absolutely insane real estate prices, where people don't even pause to wonder why a teensy weensy 2 BR flat is costing them half their take home salary or bringing them twice their take home salary (depending on the end of the spectrum you belong to i.e whether u r a renter or rentee)



At the end of the day if you consider an average techy lifestyle, nothing is cheap. There is a cost associated with that lifestyle and it takes most of the high end pay package to maintain it..

Consider this, you are a 27-28 years old male working in a well known IT company in bangalore. A guy next door if you must, with a good/mid sized group of friends, likes to go out with friends kinda guy.


His apartment (own or rental irrespective) will cost him around 10K minimum. In fact if hes paying off premiums for the housing loan, I bet it will be double of that.


He must be still paying off the premiums for his car which takes him wherever he wants to go and drinks insane amount of gas waiting at every nook and corner due to the crazy traffic situation.
He must be spending at least 5 k for the house including utilities and groceries.


He must be spending another 2-3 K per month just on entertainment whcih includes an occassional drink with buddies, a movie or 2 at the local multiplex, a few dinners and a few dates.
That itself added to 20-25K rt ?
And believe me, I am downplaying it quite a bit! My so called bachelors friends in bangalore, don't flinch at spending 2-3k on just a saturday night..



So, where is the so called bank balance which gives them the so called higher salaried, upper middle class (if you must) existence? I think the older generation was more well planned and stable than we can ever aspire to be. And I personally think thats due to the saving/planning habit that they had.

Every purchase was planned and thought out, every vacation was only after the cost was saved even if it took an entire year to save up.. Now a days we take vacations at the drop of the hat. The irony is that we may not even call it a vacation, its a weekend getaway.. Its a break from work.. We have fancy terms for it.. We buy flight tickets at the drop of the hat.. We take those weekend getaways with whatevers there in the bank and then survive for the rest of the month on credit cards :))

We have all done that...



My generation has hardly any savings so to speak of ( Pardon me for making a blanket statement). Any saving if at all is with a definite purpose- car, apartment, siblings marriage etc etc..



Beyond that, where is anything to show for the enormous salaries we take home? I wonder....



My mum is so confident that no matter how much ever i earn, I will always have a hand to mouth existence..

I don't have the heart or the humility to admit that she is right :)

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Post lunch read (I had to blog this!)

Being so far away, it becomes a challenge to keep up with whats happening baq home. I use the term home loosely. What I do mean is good ol' bangalore :)
I bug people online about whats happening and whats new but there is very limited info that trickles thru (an no, thats not even coz the so called frnds are not aware of nu places, its just that for them a lot of things/places around become passe!)

So, apart from -Dude tell me whats new in b'lore man!, You have to resort to keeping tabs on various metro blogs and other interesting stuff online..

One of the finds for today was this . It may be old news to some but believe me, for people like poor ol' me anythin like this is super cool :)

I think it was just a matter of time when we would see a lot of people from the so called Indo silicon valley wud be innovative enuf to create/host websites like these :)

The site though is quite interesting. Apart from the obvious service they provide which is free online ordering, menu browsing and even reserving tables at the restaurant of your choice, they have quite a few other interesting offerings..
They have a recipe section where you can browse for recipes when you feel quite brain dead to think of something to make..
They have coupons of all kinds, interesting articles and tit bits regarding food items and even help you plan parties :)

All in all a good find..

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

I got...

Satin sheets !! :))
and Satin comforter set :)))

Its all silky and satiny for now.... :p

Blip..

I want to believe..


in all good things
in love and all that it can conquer
in honesty and self righteousness

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Blip...

My mum taught me (quite non verbally) when I was a kid that- Adversity is the greatest teacher, it will teach you most of what you need to learn in life. Whether its about how to derive that strength when you feel the weakest or about the rationale to decide right and wrong when wrong is the most desirable and convenient.

What she forgot to mention is how adversity teaches different people different things. You may think that similar events may trigger similar behavioral pattern. Certain types of situation results in certain types of behavior.. I did...

But I was wrong.. I think I have slowly come to realize that any form of adversity teaches you to be a better person only in the realm or sphere of whats relevant to you. Anything beyond that is just not a part of your psyche..

Did not understand what I meant? Take for example, a childhood thats predominantly about tight purse strings and too many other constraints can result in many a different kinds of adults years from now.. To consider a few...
There could be some who grow up to acknowledge the fact that things can go wrong and always be prepared and play safe..
While others who will be grateful for every good day and live life like its the last of its kind...

No matter what you think, these two kinds of people/adults are quite mutually exclusive.

Which one do you think you are?

Monday, November 13, 2006

CA

A lot has changed since I last wrote something like this ,about close to 3 yrs ago..
I guess I have changed a bit too, definitely a lot less self conscious, moved around quite a bit, met about a zillion more kinds of people..
All in all , I will say good times and some not so great too...

So, anyways. moved into a new city.. Sunny California :) I guess I always wanted that in some quirky way, wanted to stay in CA before leaving for good.. And like they say, be careful what you wish for :P

Moving cities is not easy, but being in the kind of job that I am in, you tend to get used to it.. At the very least, you learn to get over it and stop fussing :)
But nonetheless, when i moved last, i swore i will never ever move again and i wanted to stay put, enjoy the settled life..

But here I am.. another city, moving yet again.. At the brink of that, I really wonder if I wanted this along.. Obviously no one likes the whole irritating moving, packing bit. But I slowly realize that I do like being on my own..

Of course I also like to work and the whole not working bit was driving me crazy and in turn making hubby crazy.. So, with the realization that I did miss being on my own, I concede to my fate...

There is a bit of me which thrives on being independent, being on you own, doing your own thing.. Its a really weird thing to say especially in the sub context of being married..

I love being married mind you, something I recommend for everybody.. But I think its just .. Well.. theres something about being on your own.. Being with someone is great.. But i think for the kind of person I am, i tend to lose myself. I get all too consumed by the relationship, associations that a marriage brings to your life and just the day to day routine of being with someone. Its nice and I guess something that every girl wants, comfort and security of being in a relationship..
But there is a part of me (at least deep down), which has seen how difficult it is to bounce baq to being your own person, gathering surviving friends and just simply salvaging whatever's left of you at the core. Its a cynical side of me no doubt.. A self preservative side of me..But its also something that keeps me from driving myself crazy and helps me maintain my identity as me and not just as someone's better half..
So, in the celebration of being so called single again, I tell myself that this time I will not restrict myself to conventional life. Life is too short for that. And shocking as it may seem, I think close to 3 years down the line since I wrote that blog, I will eat some words of my own.. I think it takes a lot of grit to set out all by yourself. You need to shed a lot of inhibitions.

Well, considering that the town itself is not a hip hep busy city but a suburb, the options themselves are limited.. But nonetheless, I did venture out to a bar all by myself last friday. It felt weird.. It felt incomplete.. But I had to do it for myself, maybe proving a point to myself.. That I am not as archaic as I may seem to myself sometimes.. I can go out of my way to try new things.. I think its the beginning of getting out of the rut..