Image by quinn.anya

Introduction

Accurately remembering names is one of the simplest yet most important components of interacting with people, no matter in what capacity. A person’s own name is the single most important word to him/her; it is intimately tied to his/her identity as an individual. How you deal with people’s names can have a profound effect on their impressions of you: Think about the times you’ve felt special when someone you admired addressed you by your name in a sincere tone; or think about the times when you’ve felt belittled when someone negligently called you by the wrong name, or worse, maliciously made fun of your name in front of you.

This article presents some tips I’ve acquired over the years with regards to remembering and using people’s names. There are many far more reputable professionals who have written about this topic, so I am not claiming that my tips are novel. However, such professional ‘human interaction gurus’ are often targeting their advice to a business-minded audience, giving tips on how to socially network, schmooze, or otherwise impress people at work. In contrast, I am writing based upon my own experiences growing up as a technically-minded kid without much in terms of schmoozing or popularity-acquiring skills, so hopefully other nerds and geeks can better relate to my advice.

Tip 1: DO remember someone’s name the FIRST time he/she tells it to you

Here is the most important tip of this article, so pay attention!

Unless you’re the Unabomber (or some other hermit living in isolation), you will have to make hundreds or even thousands of introductions to strangers throughout your lifetime. Like death and taxes, personal introductions simply cannot be avoided, so it’s wise to remember the most crucial bit of information that comes out of them: the other person’s name.

Unfortunately, most of us totally forget the other person’s name as soon as the introduction is over. Here is how a typical scenario plays out:

1. The other person says to you: “Hi, I’m Sasha”
2. You respond by presenting your own name: “Nice to meet you, Sasha. I’m Philip”
3. A split-second later, you totally forget Sasha’s name because your mind is too pre-occupied thinking about the next thing you’re going to say to carry the conversation forward, or too focused on listening to Sasha talk. Likewise, Sasha also totally forgets your name.
4. The conversation might proceed for a few minutes, and then by the time you and Sasha part ways, neither of you can remember the other’s name, but you’re both too embarrassed to ask for it again. Game over.

This has happened to me dozens of times, and it still continues to happen, although less frequently now that I’m more conscientious about remembering people’s names. The main lesson here is that if you don’t make an active effort to remember someone’s name the first time he/she tells it to you, then it’s really difficult for you to get another chance to do so.

One simple way to elide this awkwardness is to later ask a friend who knows Sasha to remind you of her name. But I feel that a better way is to try your hardest to remember names the first time around. Let’s revisit our same introduction scenario again:

1. The other person says to you: “Hi, I’m Sasha”
2. As soon as you hear her name, start repeating SASHA in your head loudly a few times — SASHA, SASHA, SASHA. If you want to practice saying it out loud a few times, ask her about her name. “Sasha, that’s spelled S-A-S-H-A?” or “Sorry, I’m not so good with names. How do you spell that?” The purpose of these questions is to simply get you and Sasha to repeat her name a few times to help you to remember. This step should only take a few seconds at most, or else it can start feeling awkward.
3. Now introduce yourself: “Nice to meet you, Sasha. I’m Philip.”
4. Unless you have something desperately urgent to say, let Sasha talk, and as you listen to what she has to say, keep associating what she says with the name SASHA. Think creatively about how you can clearly associate that name with her face. If you know someone else with the same name, try to associate that person with Sasha; or if you know some clever mnemonic or memory aid to help you remember her name, then use it, no matter how absurd it might seem.
5. When you finally part ways, mention her name to her! e.g., “Great talking to you, Sasha, I’ve gotta go meet up with my friend now.” This has the double benefit of making her feel good that you remembered her name, and also helps you reinforce her name in your head even deeper.

With some practice, you’ll notice that you will become much better at remembering people’s names, without appearing at all awkward.

Tip 2: DO make extra efforts to learn foreign-sounding or unconventional names

Most people you’ll meet will have conventional-sounding names, like Steve or Rachel (if you live in America). However, you will inevitably meet people with unconventional, foreign-sounding, or hard-to-pronounce names (with respect to your home culture). These folks are used to people forgetting or botching up their names, so you will make an extra good impression if you can accurately recall their names. It’s obviously harder for Americans to remember a name like Ramachandran than George, but that’s not an excuse for not trying.

My main advice here is to (apologetically) ask the other person to repeat and clarify how exactly to pronounce their name: “Sorry, I can’t hear too well with this noise in the background. Could you repeat how to pronounce your name?” These people are used to having to repeat or clarify their names, so they likely won’t mind, especially when you are meeting them for the first time. Don’t worry at all about how to accurately spell their names, but rather focus on making up a phonetic spelling that’s easy to remember. For a name like Chakravarty, you could think to yourself, “CHALK – AHHH – VAR – TY, rhymes with party” And when you address them by their names again, you can ask for them to repeat it a few times, with something like “Pardon, did I pronounce it correctly? I want to make sure I get it right.” At the very least, they will appreciate that you are making an effort.

Tip 3: DON’T make any remarks about people’s unconventional names

Everyone with an unconventional name probably remembers being teased as a kid in school over his/her name, so such insensitive behavior during adulthood (even if not maliciously intended) can bring back less-than-fond memories.

You risk sounding ignorant, xenophobic, and bigoted if you make dismissive or insensitive remarks about people’s names that happen to be unconventional by your local definition. For example, “Boy, those Asian names are so hard to remember! Sheesh, I can deal with Dave or Mike, but Yamamoto, damn!”. Or even something as innocuous as “Whoa, that’s pretty weird-soundin’, dude! Where did that come from?!?” Even if you don’t actively intend to be prejudiced, such statements make you sound so. This is especially true if you’re a member of the majority group, i.e., a white person in America.

Remember, in most countries, your name sounds weird!

Tip 4: DON’T call people by nicknames or alternative forms of their names if they haven’t first sanctioned it

Play it safe by always addressing someone by the exact name he/she used when introducing him/herself. Hearing someone call you by an unsanctioned nickname or name variant can be mentally jarring, since you’re simply not used to responding to it. Even worse, it shows disrespect and arrogance on the part of the caller, since he/she seems to be asserting the right to modify your own name in front of you. Someone named Robert might not want others calling him Rob or Bob or Bobby-boy, or might have reserved those variants only for use by close friends or family members.

This action becomes even more offensive and bigoted when the other person has a foreign name. For example, if you meet someone named Katsuyami but you say something like, “God damn! What a weird-soundin’ name! How ’bout I call you Kat instead? You cool with that, kid?” What a fucking insult.

Tip 5: DO use people’s names occasionally in conversation, and especially when saying hello and goodbye

Once you remember someone’s name, the great thing about using it in conversation is that it can develop better rapport (since everyone likes hearing their name) and can also help you remember it even better. Of course, it’s gratuitous and phony-sounding to preface every sentence with mention of a name, but I’ve found that you should at least use names when saying hello and goodbye to enter and exit with a pleasant impression, respectively.

Tip 6: DON’T ever call people by the wrong name

Hearing your name mispronounced can be annoying but forgivable, especially if lots of people find your name hard to pronounce, but hearing someone call you by the wrong name is always infuriating! Out of all facts that someone can possibly misremember about you (e.g., your job, college major, or ethnicity), getting your name wrong is the ultimate insult. It simply leaves a yucky visceral impression that the other person doesn’t give a damn about you.

Thus, if you’re not 100% certain that you’ve got someone’s name correct, it’s probably better not to address them by it, and instead immediately find some covert way of re-learning it (e.g., asking a friend or even apologetically asking that person to re-introduce him/herself to you).

However, don’t just give up and not make subsequent attempts at learning someone’s name just because you didn’t get it the first time around. Hearing someone call you by the wrong name is horrible, but knowing that someone most likely doesn’t know your name and isn’t willing to learn it is also fairly irritating.

Tip 7: DON’T misspell someone’s name in writing

When you are writing emails to people (or letters, if you’re old-school), the single most important word to spell correctly is their name. Typos everywhere else can be tolerated, but people will reflexively cringe if they see their names misspelled. A person sees his name in writing probably more times than any other non-trivial word, so any misspellings will immediately pop out.

Many people have misspelled my name as Phillip in emails, even when my emails to them clearly spelled it Philip; this is one of my personal pet peeves, and I can’t help but notice every single time it occurs.

A brain-dead-easy way to get someone’s name correct in writing is to simply copy-and-paste it from a previous email they have written to you; the chances of someone spelling their own name wrong is far less than you spelling it wrong!

Tip 8: DO try to learn the names of important people surrounding your conversation partner

You can build even greater rapport with someone if you can remember the names of his/her significant other, spouse, kids, or even parents. That way, instead of sounding generic with something like, “So, how is your wife’s art project going?”, you can appear more personable with, “So, how’s Deborah’s art project going?”

Don’t stress as much about these names, though, since they are less important than getting the person’s own name nailed!

[Via - Lifehacker]

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In order to not lose the momentum of their movement, TRS is working hard to gin up issue after issue till the Srikrishna Committee finishes its work. According to The Hindu August 20, 2010, KCR said that “…citizens all over the world enjoyed the right to celebrate the freedom of their homeland. But, people of Telangana alone were unlucky on this front. The Independence Day on August 15 was not a matter of celebration for them. On the contrary, they got their real independence from the clutches of Nizam’s rule on September 17”.

In my view KCR and his TRS cohorts should grieve on September 17th and not celebrate.

In the modern history of Telugus there are three salient events- 1) Formation of Andhra State 2) Liberation of the Hyderabad State 3) Formation of Andhra Pradesh (Vishalandhra)

In my view all three should be celebrated, by one and all. However, no more government, bank, or school holidays- they wreak economic havoc on common man.

Andhra State was formed on October 1, 1953. The state came into existence, after a struggle that started in 1904 when Young Men’s Literary Association was formed in Guntur. This organization transformed into Andhra Mahasabha. Father of the Andhra State movement Konda Venkatappayya fought hard for over three and a half decades for a state that will unite Telugus scattered across different regions. After the death of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu, Nehru conceded to the creation of Andhra State.

Now coming to the Hyderabad State, half of the state was made up of Telugu people, while Marathi, Kannada, and others constituted the remaining half. Initially Persian and later on Urdu became the official language of the state, despite Telugu being the most spoken language in the state. Telugu people were not even allowed to speak in their mother tongue in public forums. Telugus tired of discrimination under Nizam formed Andhra Mahasabha. Respectable figures like Madapati Hanumanth Rao, Survaram Pratap Reddy, Raavi Narayana Reddy led this organization. Later on the organization came to be dominated by Communists who have organized the peasants in an armed struggle against Nizam and his feudal lords, who have committed untold atrocities against civilians. Over 4,000 people died in that armed struggle and over 2,000 from the Nalgonda district alone. This movement shook the foundation of Nizam’s rule. During this struggle against Nizam, friendly relationships developed between the Nizam Telugu districts and the Madras Telugu districts, which laid the seeds for a future Vishalandhra.

After India’s independence from the Britishers, almost all the 600 odd princely states merged with either India or Pakistan, while Nizam toyed with the idea of staying independent. On September 13, 1948 Nehru ordered Operation Polo, which was one of the easiest wars Indian army ever undertook. Andhra Pradesh state came into existence on November 1st 1956 according to the desires of majority of the Telugu people of all the regions. Burugula Ramakrishna Rao sacrificed his CM position for Telugu unity.

Therefore, Andhra State formation on October 1st, Hyderabad State Liberation on September 17th, and formation of Andhra Pradesh on November 1st should be celebrated by all Telugus.

For current day separatists, millions of peasants that suffered under feudal atrocities under Nizam’s rule are not so material. It doesn’t matter that Hyderabad was built for elites, with the blood sucked from the poor farmers who had to endure 26 different kinds of taxes including taxes such as levy- which is what farmers had to pay irrespective of the output on the land, dispute tax to have a dispute settled between two parties, ash tax to cremate loved ones, war tax to finance the British in the 2nd world war. While Nizam ruled from Hyderabad and gave over 80% of the government jobs to Muslims, feudal lords reigned over rural areas running their own fiefdoms and fleecing poor peasants. Janna Reddy Pratap Reddy of Suryapeta owning 1.5 lakh acres of land, Kalluru Deshmukh of Khammam owning one lakh acres, Visunur Deshmukh owning forty thousand acres gives an idea of how dire the situation was. While Nizam derived approximately 8 crore rupees annual revenue, the feudal lords combined revenues were around 10 crore rupees. As a result of this robbing, Nizam became the richest man in the world with 27 palaces in 7 different countries.

However, separatists look at this past very differently.

TRS chief KCR at a public event on June 19th 2007 said “Asaf Jahi rule of Telangana is a golden era”. Responding to those that criticized him for praising Nizam, KCR on November 29, 2007 said that he would praise Nizam’s rule a thousand times. He said that during the Nizam rule, Muslim kings sent pearls to Lord Rama in Bhadrachalam and jewelry to Kanaka Durga in Vijayawada. He said that when there were floods in Musi, Nizam performed prayers according to Hindu rituals. KCR claimed that any development in Telangana was only because of the Nizams. Osmania University, the Medical College, the Nizam Sagar project, and the Nizam Sugar Factory were all results of Nizam’s benevolence.

There are several other intellectuals in the separatist camp that subscribe to this position. Prof. Kodandaram, the head of the JAC, wrote: “Before the merger with Andhra State, Telangana, which was part of the Hyderabad State, was doing well in terms of agricultural and industrial development.”

If Nizam’s rule was a golden era and if the region was doing economically well before Police Action, why does KCR and the separatists want to celebrate September 17th as a “Vimukthi Dinotsavam”? Shouldn’t they be grieving the end of Nizam’s glorious rule?

Save Andhra Pradesh!

Nalamotu Chakravarthy
http://www.myteluguroots.com
http://www.facebook.com/people/@/226703252445
http://twitter.com/nalamotu
http://www.amazon.com/My-Telugu-Roots-Telangana-Bhasmasura/dp/0984238603/

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1. Numbers do not Support Separatists’ Wild Claims
2. Nizam Telangana State Demand is NOT Over 50 Years Old
3. Why Telugu Land is Called Andhra Pradesh? (Restored)

There is nothing better than comedy, a well delivered comedy to drive a strong point across. It applies to one of my pet topics: Focus on the fraud perpetrated by the for-profit colleges in US. In last night’s episode of Colbert Report, Stephen reinforces my arguments against the outfits who soak students with excessive debt for worthless pieces of paper as ‘degree.’ Stephen makes a connection that I could not make earlier – a connection between Goldman Sachs and the for-profit education

If you are in the market for a degree from College Inc., this is a must watch video.

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I don’t need to write much – just watch this ABC news undercover video and see confirmation of whatever I have been saying for a couple of years. These guys at Universities of Fraud are worse than vultures. Look at the bold-faced lies by the senior official at the university. [This comes to you via Huffington Post]

Following the recent revelation that for-profit college recruiters often use deceptive tactics when reaching out to potential students, ABC News decided to go undercover and see if that was still the case at the University of Phoenix.

Short answer: Yes.

A University of Phoenix recruiter guaranteed an undercover producer that, after completing a bachelor’s of science of education program at the school, he would be able to find a job as a teacher in New York or Texas. Additional research by ABC proved otherwise.

University of Phoenix President William Pepicello responded to the sting: “Can we do better? Absolutely.”

Related posts:

1. This is Very Painful: Students of For-Profit Educational Outfits Turn to Stripping
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3. For-Profit Education is the New Sub-Prime

Textbooks are ridiculously expensive, and publishers love to pull tricks to force the purchase of new editions whenever possible. This school year, save loads of cash using these textbook-buying methods.

Photo by quirkyartist

In a nutshell, you’ve got four ways of obtaining textbooks; from most expensive to least expensive, you can: buy new, buy used, rent, or copy. Chances are you’ll need to combine a couple of methods based on availability and other issues you’ll encounter. Regardless of which method you’re employing, you’ve got plenty of ways to save money.

Buying New

Photo by GoCollege

The best strategy if you want to pay the most money when buying a new textbook: Go to your campus bookstore. Avoid this at all cost. There is rarely a situation where you can’t find a better deal through an online retailer like Amazon or even a local bookstore (although they may have to put in a special order). Whether you’re ordering online or in person, keep an eye out for coupons and deals to save a little extra.

If you do end up buying a brand new textbook and you want to make some of that money back, there are several places that will purchase your used textbooks. Your college bookstore is likely one option, but online textbook sellers like Amazon, Chegg, Barnes & Noble, BookByte, Cash4Books, and Alibris (which is Chegg-powered) are just some of your many options.

Buying Used

If you’re still set on owning your textbooks but don’t need a book that’s never been touched, buying used is a good way to save but comes with its own set of issues. With so many options online, you’ll want to pay attention to sites that have quality ratings or let you inquire about the quality of the textbook. While a mildly beat up book will serve you as well as a shiny new one, you want to be sure you don’t end up with a torn-up book spine or pages filled with cartoon penises. Also be sure to check the store’s return policy for those special occasions where you do, indeed, end up with a spineless, genital-ridden textbook and need a replacement. On the plus side, virtually every used textbook retailer is pretty careful about the used books they buy for resale, but once and awhile something will slip through the cracks. Additionally, in some cases you’ll find the best deals directly from another person and there won’t be an intermediary. It never hurts to double-check.

While a Google search will turn up a nearly endless supply of used textbook retailers, sorting through them all is a bit of a chore. Here is a semi-short list of your options:

• Amazon
• Valore
• Half.com
• AbeBooks
• eCampus
• Alibris
• Biblio
• Bookbyte
• Textbooks.com

Regardless of how you’re buying you’re going to want to find the cheapest price. Searching a bunch of sites individually can be a pain. CampusBooks and BigWords let you search several textbook stores at the same time for a real-time price comparison. BigWords also has an iPhone app for comparison shopping when you’re in, for example, your overpriced campus bookstore, though it’s missing a handy barcode scanning feature. CampusBooks has apps for both Android and iPhone with that feature. SnapTell (iPhone and Android), can also handle barcodes but will work from a photograph as well.

Renting

Textbook renting is becoming a more popular option these days, with Chegg sitting pretty as the (self-proclaimed) top textbook renting site at your disposal. Chegg lets you rent and return them, plus they’ll plant a tree for every rental. Chegg isn’t the only rental option you have, though. Valore, Textbook Rentals, BookRenter, Campus Book Rentals, andTextbooks.com are other possible options. Some colleges have even started renting textbooks directly. In some cases, they’ll even buy the book if they don’t have it available for rent. Check with your school to find out if that’s an option and plan ahead so they can order the book for you if necessary. If you’re going digital and want a rental option as well, check out CourseSmart. It’ll let you read online or via a copy-protected PDF. While they have iPhone and iPad apps available, support for other mobile platforms and eReaders is currently unavailable.

If you plan to sell your books once you’re finished with them anyway, you may as well rent. The important thing to remember is to avoid marking up the books or degrading their quality to much. If you do, you could end up paying a fee. Renting will save you money if you can take good care of the books, but since they’ll inevitably find a new home once you’ve finished you will need to keep them in the best shape possible.

Copying

Things get tricky when you want to copy. While you can potentially get a free textbook by photocopying or scanning the pages you need from your school library (or a friend), it takes a lot of work. If you have a day to get the job done (and you have free access to a photocopier or scanner), this may be a worthwhile option. Photo by DHagen

Photocopying is simple and sometimes serves as the best option. If you invest in a large three-ring binder, you can potentially store all your textbook pages in one place. You’ll want to contact your professors before classes begin to find out what chapters you’ll be covering so you can avoid copying more pages than you need (and wasting paper in the process). This can help you consolidate your reading material into a simple, smaller, and lighter solution. If you really want to be svelte and keep the weight out of your backpack, you can always leave textbook pages at home and swap them in as needed.

If you’d like to avoid the paper altogether and go digital, scanning textbooks is another option. This is an easy way to create PDF files that you can put on your laptop, ebook reader, or iPad, or sync with your Evernote account for free optical character recognition (OCR) of your textbook scans. For more information on digitizing books, check out our guide on digitizing your life and stay tuned for a guide to digitizing textbooks coming up later this week.

Getting the Right Book

Photo by r-land

If you’re not careful, you might end up spending good money on the wrong textbook. New editions generally reconfigure the chapters even if little new content has been added. While the book might still be usable it can be a pain to find what you’re looking for when the rest of the class has their book in a different order. Ensuring you order the correct volume(s) is also important, as each volume contains different chapters, and you can easily end up missing the material you need if you don’t check carefully. If you have the ability to contact your professors before classes begin, ask them for the book’s ISBN number to ensure you’ll find the right copy. If you can’t reach your professors, often the campus bookstore will have this information. If you’re really pressed, don’t feel you need to take the risk of buying the wrong book. Often you’ll find a copy of the book in the school library and can use that until you can get your hands on the right copy

[Via - Lifehacker]

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Chickens are coming home to roost at for-profit schools whose shares are publicly traded.  For the last several weeks, the stocks have been week. Last week the stocks have take a turn for the worse. Today Strayer University was down as much as 15% . The impetus for this downfall is a report from the US Department of Education. (Via WSJ)

Earlier this summer, the department proposed a rule intended to measure how well for-profit schools train students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation. Late Friday, the department issued its calculations on loan- repayment rates for more than 8,000 schools in an attempt to preview the rule’s potential impact were it to be implemented. Schools could “pass” based on student loan repayment rates, or by maintaining a debt-to-income ratio below a certain percent.

The schools could face tough new regulations stripping them of access to federal funds if their students are found to have heavy debt burdens and if they don’t land jobs earning enough to handle the debt. The regulation sets a 45% repayment rate as the threshold to qualify for student aid. Some argue the department is punishing schools for having graduates enroll in loan-deferment programs that the government itself supports. [Full story]

From Strayer’s 8-k filing today:

>>> If we are found to be in noncompliance with any of these laws, regulations, standards or policies, we could lose our access to Title IV program funds, which would have a material adverse effect on our business. In the 2009 fall term, approximately 72% of our students participated in one or more Title IV programs. Findings of noncompliance also could result in our being required to pay monetary damages, or being subjected to fines, penalties, injunctions, restrictions on our access to Title IV program funds or other censure that could have a material adverse effect on our business.<<<

It is about time! The sooner this sham exposed, the better.

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It looks like every Telugu entertainment channel (including TORi) are promoting voting for Sriram as the next Indian idol. I just informed TORi team to change the campaign to “don’t forget to vote for Sriram – if and only if you believe that Sriram is the best.”

If you don’t believe in the product – don’t buy it or don’t promote it. It is very discriminatory to vote for somebody just because he is ‘one of us.’

Related posts:

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దమ్ముంటే Costco!

అమెరికాలో ఉన్న తెలుగు వాళ్ళ దగ్గర షాపింగ్ టిప్స్ చాల చాలా తెలుసుకోవాలని మా మామగారు అంటుంటారు.
నా ఫ్రెండ్ సుబ్బారావు ఇంటిపేరు ఏమిటో చాల మందికి తెలీదు. షాపింగ్ సుబ్బారావు గా పిలువబడే అతని ఇంటిపేరే షాపింగ్ అన్నమాట. షాపింగ్ టిప్స్ లో competition అంటూ ఏదైనా ఉంటె, అందులో సుబ్బారావు అలవోకగా నేగ్గేస్తాడు.
మీరేమైనా సుబ్బారావు తో షాపింగ్ టిప్స్ మీద పందెం కడతారా?
అయితే, దమ్ముంటే Costco!

————————–

ఇంతకీ ఎవరీ సుబ్బారావు ఏమాతని కథ?
సుబ్బారావు పేరు చెప్పగానే, అతని ఫ్రెండ్స్ అబ్బో అంటారు. బ్రతక నేర్చిన వాడు. తిమ్మిని బమ్మి చెయ్యగలడు. పది డాలర్లతో ఇరవై డాలర్ల విలువ గుంజగలడు. అమెరికాకు వచ్చిన ఈ  అయిదేళ్ళలో, ఇక్కడి జీవనాన్ని కాచి వడపోశాడు.
Money management లో Reserve Bank Governor సుబ్బారావు గారు, మన సుబ్బారావు ముందు దిగదుడుపే.
Alan Greenspan గాని Ben Bernanke గాని సుబ్బారావును సంప్రదించితే ఈపాటికి అమెరికా ఆర్ధిక వ్యవస్థ ను పునరుద్ధరించగలిగేవారు.

చాల రోజుల తర్వాత మొన్న సుబ్బారావు ను Costco లో కలిసాను.

• సుబ్బారావు: మురళి గారు – ఎలావున్నారు.
• ఆ సుబ్బారావు గారు, surprise surprise. New Jersey లో కదా వుండటం. Visitకు వచ్చారా?
• సుబ్బారావు: లేదండి ఇక్కడకు move అయ్యి ఒక నెల అవుతోంది. వచ్చి కలుద్దాం కలుద్దాం అనుకుంటున్నాను. మా ఆవిడను కూడా పరిచయం చెయ్యాలి కదా మీకు. మీ ఫ్యామిలీ అంతా బాగున్నారా? అన్నట్లు, ఏమిటి తల అడ్డంగా shake చేసుకుంటూ వస్తున్నారు? ఎవడన్న కేసు తగిలాడా?
• ‘తగిలాడు’ కాదు . తగిలింది. పావుగంట పైన తిరిగితే ఒక పార్కింగ్ స్పాట్ దొరికింది. అందులోకి పుల్ చేయ్యబోయానో లేదో, ఒకావిడ ఎక్కడినుంచో పరిగెత్తుకుంటూ వచ్చి ఆ space మధ్యలో చేతులు అడ్డంగా సాచి నిలబడింది. ఇండియాలో మనం బస్సులో సీట్ రిజర్వు చేసుకోవడానికి కర్చీఫ్ వేసినట్లుగా. అసలూ….
• సుబ్బారావు: అయ్యబాబోయ్. ఆగండాగండి.. అదిగో అక్కడ returns దగ్గర purple చుడిదార్ వేసుకొని పాపను ఎత్తుకున్నావిడేనా?  ఆవిడే మా ఆవిడ – కవిత! తను వద్దు అంటూనే వుంది, నా గోల పడలేక…

ఇంకేమంటాను? వెధవ మొఖం ఒకటి పెట్టి అవును కాదు మధ్య తలూపాను. ఇంకా నయం, నేననుకున్నదేదో బైట పెట్టేశాను కాదు. బ్రతక నేర్చినవాడు కదా – తనే మాట మార్చాడు.

• సుబ్బారావు: మురళి గారు – ఇతను నా cousin కామేష్. ఈ  వారమే ఇండియా నుంచి H1-B మీద వచ్హాడు. అమెరికాలో షాపింగ్ experience ఎలావుంటుందో చూపిద్దామని తీసుకొచ్చాను. షాపింగ్ అక్షరాభ్యాసానికి Costco కంటే  మంచి ప్లేస్ ఏముంటుందో చెప్పండి.

PHD తొ కలిపి  నాకు నాలుగు డిగ్రీలు ఉన్నాయి. అయినా,  షాపింగ్ పరిజ్ఞానంలో సుబ్బారావు తో పోల్చుకుంటే నాకు అ ఆ లు కూడా రానట్లే. నాకప్పుడు అనిపించింది అప్పారావు గురించి ఇన్ని కథలు చెబుతారు, ఇతగాడి షాపింగ్ తీరు ఎలా వుంటుందో తెలుసుకోవాలని. నేనొక ఈగలా మారి తన షాపింగ్ కార్ట్ మీద వాలిపోయి కామేష్ కు ఏమేమి టిప్స్ చెబుతాడో చూడాలనిపించింది

అలా అనిపించిందో లేదో…… [sound effects]
[with echo ] Boom! – నేనొక ఈగలా మారిపోయాను. ముందు భయపడ్డాను నేనేదో అయిపోయానని. ఇంతలో గుర్తొచ్చింది. మొన్న దేవుడు గార్ని మా ఇంటికి భోజనానికి పిలిచినప్పుడు, మా ఆవిడ చేసిన వంట ఆయనకు విపరీతంగా నచ్చేసి, మమ్మల్ని ఏదైనా వరం కోరుకోమన్నప్పుడు – నేను అప్పుడే అవతార్ సినిమా చూసోచ్చానేమో నేను అనుకున్న రూపంలోకి మారిపోయే వరం అడిగాను. ఆయనేమో సరే అన్నాడు. మా ఆవిడ ఏమడిగిందో మీకు తర్వాత చెబుతాను. నేనయితే ఆ వరాన్ని ఇదే 1st time  ఉపయోగించడం అన్నమాట. నేను ఈగలా మారాక సుబ్బారావుకు కామేష్ కు నేనేమయిపోయానో అర్ధం కాలేదు. బుర్ర గోక్కుంటూ షాపింగ్ కార్ట్ నెట్టుకొంటూ electronics వేపుకు వచ్చారు. నేనేమో, వాళ్ళ కార్ట్ మీద వాలి ride చేస్తున్నాను.

• కామేష్: ఏందన్నఈ  మూలనే ఇన్ని కంప్యూటర్లు కెమెరాలు, టీవీలు ఉండాయి? మనకాడ హైదరాబాద్ లోగూడ ఏ షాప్ లోను ఇన్ని ఎలేక్ట్రోనిచ్స్ ఉండవే. అసలు షాప్ సూడు ఎట్టా జిగేల్ మంటందో! షాప్ అంతా ఉత్తినే తిరగనీకి ఓ గంటన్నా పట్టేట్టు ఉండాది.
• సుబ్బారావు: దీన్ని wholesale warehouse అంటారులే. ఈ  Costco లాగానే Sam’s Club, BJ’s అని ఇంకో రెండు స్టోర్స్ ఉన్నాయి. అవికూడా ఇలాంటివే గాని, మన తెలుగోళ్ళు ఈ  Costco కే ఎక్కువ వస్తుంటారు.

అలా కృష్ణుడు అర్జునుడికి గీతోపదేశం చేసినట్లుగా చెబుతూ Digital cameras దగ్గర ఆగారు. Nikon SLR camera information పరిశీలించి, దాన్ని కార్ట్ లో  పడేసాడు సుబ్బారావు.

• కామేష్: [రాయలసీమ యాసలో] అదేంటన్న మొన్ననే మనింటికి ఇట్టంటిది ఓటి పోస్ట్ లో వచ్చింది గందా. మళ్ళీ కొంటండావేంది? ఈడ అన్ని తిరిగిచ్చేయొచ్చు అంటావుండావు  గందా, అది ఇచ్చేస్తండావా?
• సుబ్బారావు: మనింటికి వచ్చింది refurbished item రా.  అలాంటివి all sales are ఫైనల్. అందుకే, అది అమ్మినవాడు తిరిగి తీసుకోడు. కాని ఈ  Costco వాడు తిరిగి తీసుకుంటాడు.

కామేష్ అర్ధం కానట్లు చూసాడు.

• సుబ్బారావు: మనం ఏమి చేస్తామంటే, ఆ mail order లో వచ్చిన  refurbished item ను ఈ  బాక్స్ లో పెట్టి Costco లో తిరిగిస్తామన్నమాట. అంటే, refurbished item cost కు మనకు కొత్తది వచ్చింది.
• కామేష్: అట్టాగూడ  చేయొచ్చన్నా? ఇలాజేస్తే ఎంత మిగులుద్దన్నా?
• సుబ్బారావు: ఓ ఏభై డాలర్లు
• కామేష్: అంటే – రెండువేల రూపాయలకు పైనే.

ఆ క్షణంలో నాకు అనుభవం అయ్యింది ఈగకు తల తిరగడం అంటే ఎలా వుంటుందో. కామేష్ తన అన్న వంక గర్వంగా చూసాడు. విశాలమైన ఆ అంగడి లో వాళ్ళ పయనం కొనసాగింది. Furniture aisle దగ్గరకు రాగానే – సుబ్బారావు కామేష్ ను పురమాయించాడు.

• సుబ్బారావు: కామేష్, ఆ పెద్ద కార్ట్ తీసుకురా.
• కామేష్: ఎందుకన్నా?
• సుబ్బారావు: Next weekend పాప birthday party పెట్టుకున్నాం కదా. ఒక ఇరవై కుర్చీలు నాలుగు tables తెసుకెళదాం.
• కామేష్: ఇయన్నీ పెట్టుకోడానికి చోటే డదన్న  మనకాడ?
• సుబ్బారావు: ఒక వారేమే గదరా. పార్టీ అయిపోగానే తిరిగిచ్చేస్తే సరిపాయే

నాకయితే ఇది ఎక్కడో తగిలింది. బక్క ఈగను కదా – కొంచెం తట్టుకోలేక పోయాను.
వాళ్ళ Next stop – bakery . రక రకాల breads samples పెట్టి customers ను ఆ breads కొనమని ప్రోత్సహిస్తోంది ఒక sales మహిళ. బ్రెడ్ ముక్కలు తీసుకొని రెండు కామేషుకిస్తూ అన్నాడు సుబ్బారావు:.

• సుబ్బారావు: ఆకలి అవుతుందిరా వదిన పాపను తీసుకొని బాత్రూం నుంచి వచ్చేలోపు ఒక శాంపిల్ రౌండ్ కొట్టి వద్దాము రా.

శాంపిల్ రౌండ్ అంటే మందు అయి వుండదు, రోడ్ మీద తిరిగి రావడమో, దమ్ముకొట్టి రావడమో అనుకున్నట్లున్నాడు కామేష్. అతని ముఖంలో confusion చూసి సుబ్బారావే మళ్ళీ  అన్నాడు

• సుబ్బారావు: శాంపిల్ రౌండ్ అంటే, వీళ్ళు  పెట్టిన food samples అన్నీ ఒక సారి రుచి చూసి రావడం. షాపింగ్ చేసేప్పుడు రెండో రౌండ్ వేస్తామన్నమాట.

అలా ఒక శాంపిల్ రౌండ్ వేశారు. Second round నడుస్తుండగా fruits దగ్గర ఆగారు.

• కామేష్: ఇందేందన్న, ఈడ ఈ  సీజన్లో లోగూడ మాగాయలు అమ్ముతార? చిత్రంగా ఉండాదే. ఇయ్యి మన బంగనపిల్లి అంత బాగుంటాయ?
• సుబ్బారావు: బంగినపల్లి అంత బాగోవు కాని, OK

మామిడికాయలు తొమ్మిదేసి ఉన్నాయి open-boxes లో. పండబోతున్న మంచి కాయలున్న బాక్స్ ఒకదాంట్లో కాయలన్నీ బాగా కుదించి, పక్క బాక్స్ లోని  ఓ మూడు కాయలను ఇందులో సర్దాడు. ముక్కున వేలేసుకున్దామనుకున్నాను. సుబ్బా రావు ఏమి చేస్తున్నాడో నాకు తెలుస్తోంది.  ఈగకు ముక్కు, వేలు ఎక్కడ ఉంటాయో తెలియలేదు. ఈ  సారి రూపు మార్చేముందు గూగుల్ సెర్చ్ చేసి ఆ జీవి anatomy పూర్తిగా తెలిసి మరీ మారాలి అని నిశ్చయించుకున్నాను.

• కామేష్: ఈడ మన చిత్తూరులో లాగ లెక్కెట్టి అమ్ముటారా లేక హైదరాబాద్ లో లాగ తూకమేసి అమ్ముటారా?
• సుబ్బారావు: రెండూ కాదు – అక్కడ రాసి వుంది చూడు. బాక్స్ లెక్క.
• కామేష్: మరయితే ఆటన్నిట్లోను తొమ్మిదే ఉన్నైగా మరి గిదేంది, నువ్వు పన్నెండు ఎట్టుకొచ్చినావ్?
• సుబ్బారావు:ఇష్…. మెల్లిగా మాట్లాడారా, వాళ్ళెవరూ లెక్క చూడర్లేర. అంతే కాదు, మనం self -checkout లో వెళతాం. గేటుకాడ వాడు పట్టించుకోడు.
• కామేష్: వామ్మో… నీకాడ  చాల ట్రిక్కులున్నాయన్న
• సుబ్బారావు: అందుకేరా నన్ను షాపింగ్ సుబ్బారావు అంటారు. [గర్వంగా]

అప్పటిదాకా నన్ను స్టోర్ అంతా వెతుక్కుంటున్న మా ఆవిడ అక్కడకు వచ్చింది. నాకయితే మహా సరదా వేసింది. నన్ను చూడలేదు, చూసినా గుర్తించలేదు. అనుకున్నాను అలా. కాని నా వంక సూటిగా చూసింది. చూసి నవ్వింది. ఆ నవ్వులు కోటి అర్ధాలు. అన్నింటికన్నా మిన్నగా – నువ్వెవరో నాకు తెలుసులే అన్నట్లు ఉండి ఆ నవ్వు.  సుబ్బారావు ను పలకరించింది. నేను కనపడి మాయం అయిపోయానని చేప్పాడు. ఇక్కడే ఎక్కడో ఉండి ఉంటారు లెద్దూ అని తను స్టోర్ లో మరో వైపుకు వెళ్ళిపోయింది.
సుబ్బారావు, కామేష్ తర్వాత Diapers సెక్షన్ దగ్గర ఆగారు.

• సుబ్బారావు: ఇవేంటో తెలుసా?
• కామేష్: పిల్లకాయల డైపర్లు గదన్న? ఇప్పుడు మనకాడగూడ దొరుకుతున్నాయి గందా? అన్నట్టు నాకో డౌట్ అన్నా.
• సుబ్బారావు: ఏమిటో
• కామేష్: మరి నువ్వు రెండేళ్ళు వాడిన furniture తిరిగి ఇచ్చేసినా అన్నావ్. ఇందాక వదినేమో సగం తినేసాక కుళ్ళు orange వచ్చిందని oranges బాక్స్ తిరిగిచ్చేసింది. ఇలా అన్ని తిరిగిచ్చేయోచ్చుకందా? వాడిన దిఅపెర్స్కూడా ఈడ తిరిగిచ్చేయోచ్చా?
• సుబ్బారావు: చాల్లే ఊరుకోరా. ఇస్తే తీసుకుంటారేమొగాని  కాని, వీళ్ళు మాత్రం బ్రతకోద్దేమిటి?

ఇది సుబ్బారావు కామేష్ కు ఇచ్చిన  షాపోపదేసం. ఇందులో ఒక కొసమెరుపు మిగిలింది…
వాళ్ళు అటు  చెకౌట్ కు వెళ్ళాక, నేను చిక్కుల్లో పడ్డాను. ఏమైందో తెలుసుకోవాలంటే తరువాయి భాగానికి వేచి ఉండండి.

—————-

Ending (as part two)

వాళ్ళు అటు  చెకౌట్ కు వెళ్ళాక, నేను నా మానవ రూపం లోకి వచ్చేదామని నేలమీద వాలాను. ఎన్నిసార్లు మనిషిగా మారాలని విష్ చేసుకున్న కాలేక పోయాను. ఒకవేళ మంత్రమేమన్న మర్చిపోయానా?   హాం గ్రీం ఫట్… ఫ్రం  గ్రీం హట్. తూం తాం తస్స్ … చస్ ఏ మంత్రం  అవసరం లేకుండానే ఇది పనిచెయ్యలే? నాకు పిచ్చి టెన్షన్ వచ్చేసింది. ఈగకు చెమటలు పడితే ఎలా వుంటుందో మరో సారి మీకు చెబుతాను. కాని అప్పుడు  మాత్రం నాకనిపించింది కనీసం ఫోన్ అన్న చేసుకో గలిగితే దేవుడు గారిని పిలవచ్చు ఏమైందో కనుక్కోవచ్చు. నా అదృష్టం బాగుంది. ఇంతలో దేవుడు గారే వచ్చారు ఆవుపాల నైవేద్యం కోసం – Costco లో పాలు చాల చవక అని అక్కడకు రెగ్యులర్ గ వస్తూ ఉంటారంట. [Put Echo for voice of God]

• స్వామీ స్వామీ  ఏమిటిది. నాకేమయ్యింది? మీరిచ్చిన వరం ఎందుకు పని చెయ్యడం లేదు. ఎందుకని?
• God: భక్తా.. నేను నీకు మాత్రమే కాదు, మీ ఇద్దరికీ వరాలు ఇచ్చాను, కదా?.
• అవును స్వామీ అవును
• God: మీ శ్రీమతి  అడిగిన వరానికి నువ్వు మనిషిగా తిరిగి మారక పోవడానికి సంబంధం వుంది.
• స్వామీ అసలే టెన్షన్ లో వున్నాను మళ్ళీ ఈ  teasers ఏమిటి మహాశయా?  అంతేకాదు ఇప్పటిదాకా నా commentary అంతా echo లో వస్తే మీతో మాట్లాడేటప్పుడు నా మాట మామూలు గా వినపడి మీకు మాత్రమే echo వస్తోందేమిటి?
• God: చూడు బాబు, నువ్వొక ప్రశ్నల పుట్టవు.  సౌండ్ engineers ఎప్పుడూ నేనిచ్చిన రూల్స్ పాటిస్తుంటారు.  నా వాయిస్ ఎక్కడ వినిపించినా echo లో వినపడి తీరాలి. నేను సూపర్ బాస్ ను కనుక, మిగతా ప్రాణులకు, స్వగాతాలకు ఇచ్చిన echo నాముందు పనిచెయ్యదు అన్నమాట. ఇక వరాల విషయం – నువ్వేమో  ఇచ్చా రూపం కావాలని కోరుకున్నావు. మీ ఆవిడేమో, ఒక్క వరం కోరుకోమంటే ఆ వరంస్థానే తెలివిగా రెండు వరాలు కోరుకుంది.
• ఒరినాయనోయ్. నాకిది  తట్టలేదే. ఎంతైనా తనవి కృష్ణ జిల్లా తెలివితేటలు. ఆ… మరి ఆ రెండు వరాలు ఏమి కోరుకుంది స్వామీ.
• God: నేను non-disclosure sign చెయ్యలేదు కనుక చెబుతున్నాను. తను కోరుకున్న మొదటి వరం నీ మనుసులో వున్నది ఎప్పుడూ తనకు తెలియాలని. రెండవది, నీ అభీష్టం మీద తనకు veto పవర్ కావాలని.
• అడ్డడ్డే  మొగుళ్ళ అభీష్టం మీద ఆ veto పవర్ నువ్వు ఆడవాళ్లందరికీ ఇచ్చే పంపించావుకదయ్యా!
• God: అనుకో. కాని, మీ ఆవిడ chances తీసుకో దలచుకున్నట్లు లేదు.
• అంటే ఇప్పుడు నన్ను ఈగ గానే ఉండిపొమ్మని కోరు కొంటున్నదా తను?
• God: లేదు. అది కృష్ణ జిల్లా వాళ్ళమీద  నువ్వు నోరు పారేసుకున్నందుకు నీకు కొంతకాలం పాటు తను విధిస్తున్న శిక్ష. నువ్వు నిజంగా పశ్చాత్తాప పడితే తనకు తెలుస్తుంది అప్పుడు నిన్ను క్షమిస్తుంది. సారీ మురళి, ఇప్పుడు football players prayers విని ఏ team ను గెలిపించాలో నిర్నయించాలి. వస్తాను.

వారి బాబోయ్. కృష్ణ జిల్లా వాళ్ళు losers అన్నందుకే ఇంత గోలా. ఇంకా నయం, తెలంగాణా వేర్పాటువాదిని చేసుకున్నాను కాదు. చేసుకునుంటే, KCR ను దుయ్యబట్టినందుకు నాగతి ఎమయ్యివుందేదో.

Related posts:

1. చిన్ననాటి తీపి గురుతులు. రండి, సరదాగా నవ్వుకుందాము.
2. My Telangana
3. (Podcast) Encounter with Shopping Subbarao

Turn up the radio: Time to bond

by Padmini Copporapu

Increasing Number Of Radio Stations Based Abroad Are Dishing Out Programmes With A Telugu Flavour Aarti was going for her morning walk when she heard the unmistakable strains of M S Subbalakshmi’s Venkateswara Suprabhatam streaming out of a house in her Dallas neighbourhood. She did a double take, wondering if she had heard right – she was still in Dallas, Texas wasn’t she? Upon inquiring, Aarti found that the local Indian radio in her area broadcast the desi programme. Ever since, she has regularly tuned into Pravas Vani and Yuva, the two most popular desi radio stations in Dallas.

Those who think radio is passe have obviously overlooked mana Non-Resident Telugus (NRTs) in the United States. Like Aarti, they frequently tune into their favourite Telugu language-based radio programmes. So much so that passionate entrepreneurs have set up many such radio stations. These are fast evolving from being mere entertainment avenues to significant platforms of community bonding, helping local Telugus share, showcase and voice their ideas and concerns.

Madhavi, an RJ from New Jersey who hosts a popular Telugu show on Dhoom FM elaborates, “While entertainment is our basic fodder; I wanted to add more texture to the show. Radio is a clean and effective forum to air our views, gather vox populi and connect with the local community”.

Clearly there’s more to these radio programmes than just music and chitchat. For instance Sridhar Dadi’s Radio Hungama in Houston also started off with popular music-based programmes (Aa Patha Madhuralu), but it now boasts an eclectic portfolio including infotainment, game shows, kids’ talent shows (Pitta Koncham, Kootha Ghanam) and interviews of notable personalities.

While interviews of celebrities such as A R Rehman, S P Balasubramaniam and Sobha Naidu earn these stations an obvious patronage, other programmes serve a more utilitarian purpose. Shows such as ‘Ask your lawyer’ and ‘Dial a Doctor’ are immensely popular, say broadcasters of Radio Hungama and Yuva.

Raghu Malladi owns Pravas Vani a station which broadcasts 10 hours of live programmes in Telugu everyday including literary programmes, interviews, chat shows, call-ins. He says that while he didn’t expect Pravas Vani to be such a huge hit but now that it is, he wants to utilise it to the maximum to help serve the community. Most radio stations also help in publicising activities like Ugaadi celebrations organised by Telugu associations.

Even as the scale of their operations and the degree of their popularity varies; these pioneers claim that they ventured into radio more out of passion than of any commercial interest. Most run on a ad-based revenue model. While some seek to recreate the grand old days of All India Radio, others are giving the traditional radio a modern makeover.

Unlike radio stations which are bound by city limits, TORi (Telugu One Radio on Internet) enjoy seamless coverage. These are webbased radio channels; each with an estimated global listenership of 40-50 thousand people per month.

Not content with conquering the internet, 3G equipped smart phones are his latest target. His team has developed a free Iphone Application and is moving onto developing the same for Android phones.

TORi has made its own tech start to cater to its vast audience base. “Any of our RJs can host a live show, simply with a broadband internet connection and a good headset,” says Mohan Venigalla, host of TORi’s most popular call-in live show ‘Mohana Murali Gaana Lahari’. In fact, some of his loyal listeners have now become RJs themselves.

While this phenomenon is widespread over the US, radio stations in other nations are dishing out prgrammes with a Telugu flavour. The Mauritius Broadcasting Company, for instance, has several programmes such as ‘Bhakti Ranjani, ‘Manam, Mana Samskriti,’Ya Evam Veda Sri Guru Paduka’ and the likes which are very popular with Telugus there. The call-in programmes are especially popular as people get a rare opportunity to interact in Telugu with other Telugu speakers, says the host of a show.

Likewise, the national radio of Malaysia, Minnal FM, broadcasts one and half hours of song-based shows everyday where classic Telugu songs are played. Radio stations in Australia, South Africa and the Middle East too are gaining in popularity by broadcasting Telugu programmes.

Related posts:

1. Great Job Mastaru!
2. Music Director – Koti’s – Live Show – @ TORI
3. How to listen to TORI on a SmartPhone

One of my passionate topics, which I often discuss on this blog is the fleecing of students by for-profit higher education institutions. Whenever I see news like this, I feel angry and hurt. I can certainly hope that the likes of University of Phoenix are shut down for good – sooner, rather than later. This comes to you via Huffington Post:

After graduating from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Carrianne Howard hoped to find a job in the video game industry.

She did — kind of. For $12 an hour, she worked as a recruiter for video game companies. And then her position was eliminated. So now, she’s working as a stripper.

According to Bloomberg, Howard spent $70,000 on her degree from the for-profit Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, the parent company of which is owned in part by Goldman Sachs. She told Bloomberg that upon a pre-enrollment visit to the school, a campus tour guide “made it sound like [she] was going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Howard’s story is not entirely unique — and experiences like hers are driving the government’s investigation into the efficacy and recruiting practices of for-profit colleges.

This week, a Government Accountability Office report detailed how for-profit recruiters often promise potential students unobtainable jobs and high salaries, and tell them to lie to procure more federal financial aid. [Full Story]

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1. MapQuest 4 Mobile Brings Free Turn-by-Turn, Voice-Guided GPS to iPhone
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3. Stay Away from those “On-Line, For-Profit” Schools

I have been working on getting my book translated for over 3 months and the work on it has completed recently. I was originally planning to release before July 27th the Telugu version of my book titled “Mana Telugu Talli- Asatyala Punadula Pai Nirmithamaina Telangana Verpatuvaadam”. Friends have advised that I shouldn’t do given the prevailing tensions associated with the elections, and I heeded. Then I was again advised not to release when the election results are coming out given the prevailing tensions. I finally decided to release the book on August 2nd as I have been away from my wife and kids for an extended period and I was not willing to postpone my departure date yet again.

As a precautionary measure, I’ve requested for police protection and informed the police about my plans. They cautioned me to do the release on another day. I told them that the invitations have already been sent out and I can’t change the date. The event was held at the Press Club in Somajiguda. There were two doors to the room where the event was held- one in the front and another in the back. A.B.K. Prasad, K. Rajshekharam, Dara Sambaiah, C. Narasimha Rao, and C. Srinivas were the guests. First Narasimha Rao garu spoke, then A.B.K. Prasad garu released the book and started speaking.

As the speech was going on, a couple of people in the back started shouting slogans and tried to rush towards the dias. Venkateswarao garu, Punnam garu and others who came in our support stopped them from reaching me. While all this was going on, one of the protestors managed to come through the front door, and threw a book at A.B.K. Prasad garu, but it didn’t hit him. Then the same person tried to assault me. Punnam garu and Venkatewsarao garu standing near the dias immediately pounced on him. The protester at this point managed to throw the book at me with force, which landed straight on my head. I was slightly hurt, and one of the lens from my spectacles fell off.

There were about 5-7 protesters. After about five minutes of pushing and shoving, people who came in my support have managed to push them out of the room.

By then some of the guests have left the room to watch the unfolding scene outside. What happened outside has been for the most part captured on the cameras and has been aired on TV.

I told the people in the room that I intend to finish the book release function and refuse to leave without exercising my fundamental right to express my opinion. Someone in the audience went out and asked the guests to come back in. The press also came back into the room. We’ve all again sat on the stage and I talked about my book for about 10 minutes, then I condemned the assault on freedom of speech and how everyone should notice what has happened. I urged people to fight for their fundamental rights. After this Srinivas garu gave an inspiring speech and told how he respectfully disagreed with my position. At this point we ended the function.

The press people refused to leave and insisted that I give an interview. In the meantime one of my friends came in and told me that I am not obligated to give an interview as this is a book release function, and not a press meet. He suggested that I should leave immediately as the crowd is building outside. Punnam garu suggested that I take three questions and leave. That seemed like a decent compromise, but the press people protested saying that three is too few. I said that I will take three questions and that’s it. First question came from a journalist and he went on rambling for 5 minutes about how Nizam region suffered without asking the question. I interrupted him a couple of times to ask the question, but he wasn’t in a mood to ask, but tell. Then I moved on to a second journalist, and his question was- “meeru telangana dopidiki guri kaledu ani enduku antunnaru?”. At this point I realized that these journalists are not interested in an interview, but to drag me into an argument. I got up and left the room.

When I got out, an army of media people pounced on me. They didn’t let me go and started accusing me of all sorts of things imaginable. There were a group of 20-30 police, but they didn’t dare to rescue me. A lone police officer waded through the crowd, approached me and said I should leave right away for the sake of my safety. I told him that that is exactly what I am trying to do, but I am unable to find my car in the crowd. He said first get in my jeep and leave, we will find your car.

The press pounced on the police officer accusing him of interfering with freedom of press and hurled all sorts of regional insults at him. He said he was not helping me, but protecting me. They then shouted at him asking why then has he asked me to get in his jeep. At this point, the police officer backed off. I was again left to myself to find my car as the journalists continued to harass me. I eventually found my car, but the press people refused to let my car go and blocked it. I got in my car and shut the door. They forcibly opened the car door and would not let me close it. The police officer who tried to help me earlier, again came to my rescue. He pushed the people blocking my car aside, shut the door and asked us to leave immediately and we did.

This is what has happened on that eventful day. Contrary to the media reports, we in fact have finished the entire book release function and only then left the press club.

A couple of quick clarifications on some of the allegations.

• There has been a lot of noise about where I come from. I refuse to be identified by region, as I believe these divisions and regions have been created by invaders. I have never claimed myself to be a Telanganite, I’ve only said that my native place is Nalgonda. So, here is everything I know about my roots. I was born in Hyderabad. My father and mother were both born in Nalgonda district. My father was born in my native village near Nalgonda, while my mother was born in a village near Kodad. My paternal grand father and paternal grand mother (nayanamma) were also born in Nalgonda district. My great grand mother (my paternal grand father’s mother) came from a village in Guntur nearly hundred years ago. On the other hand, my nayanamma’s family is from a village near Miryalguda. Her father and forefathers were village patels and that tradition is continuing to this day. My nayanamma’s family members still act as village officers in their village near Miryalguda.
• A TV channel has been carrying a vicious campaign that I am promoting Samaikyandhra to protect my Rs. 300 crores assets in and around Hyderabad. I can categorically state that my assets are not even worth a fraction of that. On top of it, common sense dictates that if I really care about my assets, I should stay quiet and not stand up to fight.

Last few days events have only increased my resolve to fight against separatism with all my might- and this will not be the last time you will hear from me. The fight will go on.

Save Andhra Pradesh!

Nalamotu Chakravarthy
http://www.myteluguroots.com
http://www.facebook.com/people/@/226703252445
http://twitter.com/nalamotu
http://www.amazon.com/My-Telugu-Roots-Telangana-Bhasmasura/dp/0984238603/

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In the year 1905,  partition of Bengal took place in order to suppress the Bengal Hindus participation in the governance,  but this  triggered an religious rift between Hindu’s and Muslims.  It almost created a national anti-British movement that involved non-violent and violent protests, this was undone in the year 1911 by the new governor, Charles Hardinge.  This was the first action of retract, though the turmoil still existed in people they were slowly realizing the strength in united struggle.  In parallel, the thought process of people in Bengal was also being influenced by the writings  of Aurobindo and Baghvan Das whose articles delivered a message of not only a non-violent struggle  but also the need for unity among Hindus and Muslims. These are just a record of  few events which happened during that time.

Just imagine the state of mind of the people when they got a chance to play against the British team.  Today just a cricket test match is enough for us to stay awake at night, wonder what level of anxiousness the viewers had who watched the game ! And the happiness of the victory they had felt, it was just not about the game; it was about their Freedom!

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According to me I believe that though you always have a choice from which you decide, we look at it as a single option.  Though we consider decision making as a “VARAM”  the ability to use it is always a tough task.  To stay back in US or go back to India are two choices we have,  But we consider them as only one option i.e what are we presently used to and what would we loose if we leave US.  Cant one think that this is an opportunity to gain back what they have lost?  those are the only precious and  priceless things which we have lost during the journey to the false paradise !

The other day I had listened to a talk given by Sheena Iyengar in TED about art of choosing (I have given the website link below) and was really surprised about the people’s perspective of looking at their choices. I wondered if its related to our decision to stay back and yet have a dissatisfaction of not being in our country.  Though the statement can be implied other way too !

Satisfaction and Happiness is something more than comfort and enjoyment.  I would like the readers to give it a small thought !

Watch Sheena Iyengar’s TED talk below:

As a part of my initial effort to write an article,  I would like to thank TG for giving me this opportunity. I hope  you find my first article interesting ! 

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Though it is large — more than 30,000 students and nearly 3,000 faculty — the Chronicle of Higher Education reports that employees at the Virginia university maintain a high rate of job satisfaction.

Full list at Huffington Post

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I am extremely happy that summer is here, but sad that it is so quickly coming to an end.  Living through the cold, somewhat dreary midwestern winter has given me a new appreciation for warmth and sunshine.  I grew up in Colorado, where there was never any shortage of sunshine, and I always took it for granted.  In the Midwest, sunshine is a commodity in the winter.  Generally, the outside world is gray, and it is the type of weather that makes me want to stay in bed all day.  Unfortunately, I’m in school, so winter hibernation is never a feasible option for me.  I get up every day and drag myself to school, cursing as the wind blows through my five layers of clothing and gnaws at my bones, and all the while, I’m wishing that summer would get here faster.

There is something magical about the warm weather and the feeling of freedom that I always associate with summer.  That might have something to do with the fact that I’ve never had a full-time job.  For me, summer has always meant a welcome change from the drudgery of the rest of the year.  Whether it is liberation from the strict schedule of school or the prospect of an exciting adventure, summer has always been my favorite time of the year.  This year is no different.  I’ve been looking forward to the summer since last November, eagerly anticipating all the fun I’ll have and all the new things I’ll learn.

I always try to be outside as much as I can during the summer.  It makes me happy to see the bright sunshine and enjoy its warmth.  I can’t quite tell if that is the Vitamin D starvation talking or a genuine love of the sunshine, but either way, I am much happier and more energetic during the summer than I am at any other time of year.  The city is alive and I feel more like a person and less like a skeleton wrapped in twenty pounds of insulation.

Now that the summer is nearing its end, I feel like I haven’t enjoyed my vacation to its fullest.  I’ve been busy working and doing other things that are required of me, or so I tell myself.  As school comes into sight, I realize that I’m not ready to go back to the bitter cold and long days of studying inside our dungeon of a library.  So, I’ve come to a decision.  No, I’m not moving to the Bahamas.  I’m going to make a vow to do one hour of fun things a day that I will not be able to do after school starts.  Whether it be reading a book on the beach or playing tennis outdoors, I’m going to store up some summer happiness to get me through the rest of the year.

It is estimated that over 30% of adults in the United States are Vitamin D deficient*.  Deficiency can cause symptoms of lethargy and depression.  Getting a few minutes of sunshine every day can help your body produce sufficient Vitamin D.  So, I hope you’ll enjoy the warmth and sunshine of summer while they last!

*Holick, MF. High prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy and implications for health. Mayo Clinic Proc. 2006; 81(3): 297-299.

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