Tableau Certification

I got my very first  Tableau desktop certification in 2017. Since this certification from Tableau is valid only for 2 years, I renewed it again in 2019.
Below are the steps that I recommend in the given order to pass the Certification exam.
Title: Tableau certified associate : Desktop

Cost: $250

Time Limit: 2 hours

Question Format: Multiple choice, multiple response, true/false, hands-on
Number of Questions: 36
Passing Score:75%
Recommendation - At least 5 months of hands on experience before attempting the certification

    Makeover Monday / Workout Wednesday in lieu of hands on experience

1. Free bite sized videos provided by Tableau   ~ 10 hours
https://www.tableau.com/learn/training

2. Sample certification on Tableau site

https://mkt.tableau.com/files/DesktopCA_ExamGuide.pdf

3. Lukas Halim course – Udemy ~ 5 hours

https://www.udemy.com/tableau-accelerate-your-career-and-get-certified

4. Solve the two full-length Tableau Certified Associate Certification included with the Lukas Halim course on Udemy
5. More practice questions https://learningtableau.com/qualified-associate-quiz-1/
6. In addition to hands on questions there are quite a few knowledge based questions involving data sources, extract ,spatial files , newly released features during the exam ,

although use of google search is allowed it can be a big drain on the 2 hour time limit, especially if you are a first timer or have less experience using the tool
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/gettingstarted_overview.htm

7. In the  2019 exam there were a lot of questions on statistics (features available in analytics pane) ,so any time invested in understanding concepts like

Reference band ,cluster , trend ,forecasting , regression will be well worth

8. Congratulations ! You are now exam ready and you can register for the exam

 

Major frustration : You are not allowed to extend your display beyond your own screen. so, practice by taking the full length practice tests with only one monitor.

The virtual machine is running Windows, so expect lag.

Good to know: Although you take the exam from the comfort of your home, you are monitored for the entire 2 hours.(webcam)
You will have to demonstrate that you are alone in the room with no help like books ,cellphones, calculators or notes.

Mommy, Who do you love more ?

“Mommy , who do you love more? Kashvi or me ? “ enquired my 7 year old Son.

I knew that “I love you both EQUALLY” was not going to fly with him anymore.
So I told him “Obviously I love you more my dear Ady” while I continued to roll the chapattis.

As expected he countered “Why me? “  
“Ummm…because I have spent more time with you , I love you more” I blabbered .

His face lit up on hearing my response and he teased his little sister in his classic tune “Mommy loves me more , she loves you less na na na na boo boo” . The little 1.5 year old sister on seeing her brother happy and excited joined along in the celebration clapping her hands. (Happiness is contagious!)
 I breathed a sigh of relief and felt proud of myself for giving an answer so perfect that both the kids were happy. Now, I thought I could complete cooking dinner peacefully.

After a few minutes another question popped...” Mommy whom do you love more? Daddy or me? " Now this is tricky I thought.  Before I could say anything, he responded “Obviously, you love daddy more because you have lived 10 years with him and only 7 years with me”.  

“Exactly!!” I replied as I breathed another sigh of relief.
This time I was more proud of myself as I discovered that I had just invented a fool proof no fail answer to the most tricky “whom do u love more ?” question.

But my happiness was short-lived …My little genius asked next “Whom do you love more? Your mom or my dad? “  I was stumped.  He insisted that I reply sooooon. I tried to redirect him but he didn’t budge, he was looking into my eyes waiting for a reply. I was in trouble I thought , he kept insisting and in the moment of pressure it slipped from my mouth " I love daddy more."

He was flabbergasted.
His eyes opened wide and mouth even wider (an entire burrito could fit in). “How can you love anyone more than your mom?"  he demanded an explanation . I tried to explain,  it didn't work. Then I almost denied that I ever made such a statement. I even tried to withdraw the answer,but the damage had been done. He told me he was going to call grandma and tell on me.

And so he did ….Luckily , Grandma told him that she wanted mom to love daddy more. (Aren't Moms life savers?)

And all was well I thought when he asked …”So when are you going to ask me to love my wife more than you ? “   ( I almost fainted!!)

Did my little one just grow up ?

Ady was the star student this week at his school. As part of the project ,he was required to fill in a "Tell - us - about -yourself " questionnaire and take a few pictures to show to the class.
Thanks to the digital world we live in , I hardly had any prints of his pictures. I somehow managed to locate 2 printed pictures and asked him to take them to school. The below being one of them...

I did notice an uncomfortable look on his face on seeing the picture . He kept looking at the picture for a long time as if trying to make his mind over something.
Finally he came to me and muttered "Ma,  I do not want to take THIS picture to school".  I was both suprised and worried. Worried,  because I didnt have any more pictures for him to take
( we were out of time ) and surprised, because he never is choosy about stuff.
I began persuading him on how great the picture was and how it validated his answer "Mom" to one of the questions on the questionnaire  " The person you admire the most - Mom".

He very softly replied  "My friends will laugh at me for kissing my Mommy!!" .
I tried to reason with him saying "You are my baby it's ok for you to kiss me", "Dont you love me ?" "Dont you kiss me everyday before going to school? " , "You dont have to care about them"

Apparently he had made up his mind, he didnt want to be a laughing stock in front of his friends.
He firmly told me that he will not take that picture. The Mommy in me even tried to emotionally black mail him , but fortunately I gathered my senses and decided to give in , to respect his wishes.

I will be honest, that night I had a little trouble sleeping , was this incident a window into the future?
I knew this was coming but didnt know it would be so quick , like NOW!!
Do children really grow up so quick.... like in less than 6 years?

 

What Women Need

We have had a Film, couple of books,dozens of jokes and hundreds of Men ruminating over the Question “What Women “Want” “?
While I agree that it is a million dollar question but has anyone ever wondered what women “need”?
I guess I found the answer to this one...Read on to know…:-)

Ok, so here is the flash back…

Last year around this time I was attending a 5 hour class on defensive driving, a mandate for obtaining drivers license in the state of NY.
There was a break of 20 minutes in between the class.
It was frigid outside and I didn’t have company so I decided to stay back in the class.But the teacher wouldn’t allow anyone to remain in the classroom during the break.

So I walked up to the supermarket in the next block to idle away my time browsing stuff.As I entered the store I saw a man smiling at me.
“American culture- You smile at strangers” I thought and returned the smile.
I went to the Indian grocery aisle and was looking at some stuff…when that “smiling” Man came over and asked-“Anything I can help you with, Mam”
I replied “NO thanks” and continued looking at the items on the shelf.
He then asked “Are you married?”… Now I was dazed.
I gave him a stern look and said “Sorry?”
He went ahead and remarked “You are beautiful”
What followed was a gush of adrenaline…I flee from that scene. Yes, it was the “flight hormone”. But the man kept repeating “excuse me- tell me are you married”
I immediately called husband and told him to come over to this place ASAP.

Later when I reached home I was contemplating over what had happened.
I always though I was independent and self sufficient.
But that day I felt like I wasn’t and my immediate response to the situation calling for husband proved that I was so much dependent.

It wasn’t that something like this never happened to me before,
(For that matter almost every women faces this kind of situation at some point in time, intensity varies)
So what was different this time….it was the first time in USA and also after a long time which got me all flustered.
When I discussed this with Pamela, my friend from college- she told me that it has happened to her in the USA many a times. She also added that reason it had happened to me the first time was because probably it was the first time I was alone, without husband near by. And I realized it was so true.
So what was preventing me from being completely independent, I pondered?
what was it that was lacking ?

It was then I found the answer to the Question “What women need”
“A karate course and pepper spray” !!

Life is short....Live, Love, Be Happy!

I was all excited about the long weekend (Labor day)-had reservations for Lasvegas,I had been researching and planning meticulously for one week for "the trip" -Had an hour by hour itenary to visit "the vegas strip" ...but as fate would have it it turned to be a heartbreaking weekend.

I got the news on friday that my uncle(father's first cousion) expired.He was 43, survived by his wife (38) and 3 sons ,the youngest is only in the 8th grade.
Apparently he was all well and after having dinner had gone to bed,at night, at around 11 he complained of chest pain and got all sweaty,he was taken to the hospital immediately and he passed away while he was talkin at around 11:20...jus 20 minutes...and he was no more.

I couldnt believe my ears when i heard the dreadful news,I asked again to reconfirm and yes that was a reality-mannu uncle(as we fondly called him) was no more:((

He was such a lovely person, always cheerful, spreading his infectious smile, even his employees were in tears when they heard the news and told that he always treated them with respect and care.

Every morning when I wake up I so much wish that it be a bad dream...but it just not is. :((

The one question which keeps haunting me....
why has life got to be so unpredictable?!...when he would have risen on that fateful day he wouldnt have known that it was going to be his last!

Someone has truly said,begin each day as it is goin to be your last,One day you are going to be so darn right!!

So go ahead... say I love you more often to your spouse,care enough for your children,make your parents feel special,patch up with your relative who hasnt been good to you,call up an old friend and most importantly smile more often and laugh really hard...because ,"kya pata,kal ho na ho"
Life is short and I guess we shouldnt waste it frowing and getting troubled over petty things. Instead we should do enough good and spread enough cheer so that when we are no more people remember us fondly!

By unkown...
"When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying."

Recession-Job loss- Furloughs

All of us have been reading about millions of job cuts across the globe, and the word “financial meltdown” is sure become a cliché . We feel awful about the recession and its repercussions when we read and hear about it, but we don’t feel the heat of it unless we have a close encounter with the downturn ourselves.

Yup u guessed it right…Vishal’s office announced that all its employees take a 5 day unpaid leave. (Did I hear the word leave-Hurrah!!Yes, I am so worked up by his long work hours-thanks to the blackberry and a 2 bedroom apt one of which is his "home office" as he calls it...and I say "home office" that's not even a word...oh yes,its an oxymoron i'd say)
Being an optimistic that Vishal is, he says that the furlough is something that the company needs to impose in order to survive and that he needs a break himself.

Even the salary hike wasn’t great this year in spite of him being a star performer.
On confrontation, the management told that they had two options
1. To terminate low performing employees or
2. To give a low to moderate hike to everyone in the organization.

And everyone vouched for the second option, Vishal and I vouch for it too, at this hour of distress we need to be sensitive and empathize with all those we can.

MindSet

I recd this a few weeks ago as a forward with the subject "Mindset"...
before continuing to read ,Click on the picture above to view it clearly!!
(Click the back browser button to return to this screen)

I was more amazed at the mindset of the trainers (than the elephants) who think that the elephants would never try to break free from the rope??Just to give an interestig twist to the story...
What if one day an elephant out of the blue(or may be after reading this story;-) LOL) breaks open and runs causing a chaos?? Then what would the moral of this story be?? Never take the opposite party lightly :P or any other suggestions??;)

Old age-Are we prepared?

USA has many remarkable facilities; one among them is its public libraries.Members can borrow Books, DVDs, CDs, browse the internet- all free of cost ...yes not a penny (no membership fee either).As long as you don’t loose the items borrowed.

Lately, if some thing goes missing I immediately call out for Aditya (my 2 yr old son).When he understands what I am asking for, he brings it from somewhere (am yet to find where his hiding place is) and hands it to me. Otherwise simply gazes at me. As luck would have it he decided to hide one of his favorite DVDs “Baby’s busy day” and was refusing to give it back.

So I went to the library and told the librarian- an old lady, that I don’t seem to find the DVD at my home ,so she told me I would have to pay the fine to which I agreed.She then started looking up on her system for that DVD record, scanned my library card and then I thought she would ask me for money, and the job is finished.(yes I have been through this process a couple of times earlier too)
Instead she kept doing something with her system for about 10 minutes. I began loosing my patience .As I was waiting there looking at her face – I discovered she was having difficulty reading the screen. She also kept murmuring “I don’t know if I am doing this right”. After about another 10 minutes she decided to get help from her colleague. She called “Sophie can you help me...”
So Sophie peeped into her system and remarked…”Anne you have deleted the record and it cannot be recovered”
Sophie left her with a “you-do-this-every time” kinda look.

Poor Anne didn’t know what was to be done. So she started scrolling the screen up and down. I was feeling sorry for her. I started imagining my grandmother in her place. My grandma is so protected that she wouldn’t leave the home without anybody with her and this old lady here was all alone in this situation to earn a living.
Finally Anne mustered up her courage and asked for another colleague Jane.
Jane also looked very disappointed but at least she tried explaining to Anne what the alternative way could be.
Anne was so nervous that she was struggling to sort the coins and give back the change, didn’t remember what the date was; she even forgot the spelling of the word busy. She was not able to follow the instructions of Jane and was fumbling for words while talking. After she completed all the formalities, I looked into her eyes and told her thanks and to take care with a smile. I could see a sense of relief on her face.

It is an undeniable fact that faculties get weaker with age. So what’s the way out I thought- personally when I get old I don’t want to be in Anne’s situation.
And that evening I saw Baba Ramdev’s yoga on TV and there was this sense of enlightenment. He preaches that if we practice prananyam 30 minutes a day then we can live up to a 100 with all our senses intact.
30 minutes a day - definitely worth - to avoid the embarrassment, feeling of helplessness in the later days...what say??
And yes, not to forget the other important aspect to survive in older days-Financial planning! Good luck with that too :)

Mystery Solved!!

One fine morning of November 2007, when I woke up-the clock was ticking 9:00 Am (Sunday sure does bring some respite ;-)) Vishal was still asleep, so i thought why not surprise him with bed tea. I gathered myself up and proceeded towards the kitchen.As i was passing through the hall I discovered something strange, the timepiece of the set top box (verizon) showed 8 Am. Just when I began to wonder the inconsistent time display between the room clock and the set top box , I realized my brain was in no mood to take any load...all It needed was hot morning Tea,so I entered the kitchen and boooom another mishap there-the clock of my microwave showed 9:00Am.
Ah! How strange is that ...i began to wonder???
Did someone sneak into the house last night just to change the time of my clocks to stump me, (as everything else was intact, the way I had left it the night before)
I couldn’t help thinking what was going on while I was making Tea.
And just then I remembered I had to go online to chat with my mom in India.
As I switched on my laptop, I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing, the time on my system showed 8:00 Am .I was perplexed.
Were the clocks malfunctioning due to normal wear and tear or were they possessed by some evil spirit or were it just some bad coincidences. How could two watches show 8:00 Am and the other two 9:00 Am? So I checked my most loyal wrist watch and it showed 9:00 Am, the next moment my phone showed 8:00Am. Now I was befuddled to the extent that I started scratching my head. How on earth was I supposed to know what the actual time was? I couldn’t take the mystery anymore. I rushed to wake up Vishal and told him about the ambiguous timings the various devices displayed. In half closed eyes he told me “it’s called Daylight saving”!
Things were crystal clear now, I had heard about daylight savings, but never experienced them. :)
The time on the set top box and phone automatically updates itself through the cable network. And the laptop was set to incorporate the day light savings automatically as well. So now I had the task of adjusting my wrist watches and microwave clock manually.As I was adjusting my watch,I was thinking whoever said “No one can control time” :)

And then there were a spurt of questions running in my head, the most predominant being how does the travel industry make provision for this.
For example if a flight is scheduled for 12 Am .Now assume If the time change is scheduled to happen at 1 Am .This means after 12:59 it would be 12 Am again. So will the flight take off at the first 12 Am or the second one?? When i asked vishal this question he chuckled in his half closed eyes… I thought I had asked something stupid, but I breathed a sigh of relief when he said…my brain is no mood of taking this load right now:)

PS: Daylight savings is the practice of moving back your clock an hour in winters and advancing it an hour in summer so as to maximize the use of sunlight.

Exam time Again!

Hello Friends,
Am Back again after a long long time…or so do I feel.:)
I cant believe I was missing blogging.Initially,I was so skeptical to take it up, thinking that I might not be able to do a good job, or I wouldn’t have anything to write about.Most of all I didn’t know if I would enjoy doing it.
Thanks to Vishal who suggested that I take up blogging and reassuring me that I would enjoy it. A special thanks to Kanu and Arun, as well who encouraged me by telling that my first blog was good, which motivated me to write more.
Ok now the reason that I was away...I was busy preparing for a Microstrategy certification.(a reporting BI tool),did a good job there...narrowly missed the centum mark and finished the 75 minutes test in 40 minutes flat! That evening I was treated to delicious Chinese food, at a restaurant.
Vishal like a very supportive husband helped around the house and with Ady.
So a million thanks to him, and this time I would want to take the privilige of changing the famous adage - "Behind a successful Woman is a Man" :)

Indian Food- Foreign Palate

Last month, there was an annual international food festival at Vishal’s office. During this fest (read feast) everybody brings a dish of his/her native country for everyone else to taste or relish as the case may be.After a little deliberation, we freezed on Aaloo bonda and tamarind chutney.I got up really early (Yes, 6:00 Am is really early in my case) and prepared them.I Had Vishal taste one and he said they were excellent. (Well, it couldn’t be otherwise)

When the dish was placed at the table along with the others, it came to be known as “Indian meat balls” While, I don’t know how that name originated, nevertheless it was very innovative. Being a vegetarian that I am, I don’t know whether it’s a compliment, if I can make a vegetarian dish taste like a nonveg one.
Vishal told me it was amusing to watch people eat this (the only one) “spicy dish”
Someone commented “One of these could take a week to clear from the digestive system”.
While I was having a hearty laugh at this one I was reminded of an incident in a train while we were traveling to Venice. We were feeling very hungry and luckily my mom had packed lotsa food and pickle. (Vegetarians can sure have a tough time in Italy).An Italian was seated in the next compartment. He came to us and asked if we were having Indian food, to which we replied in the affirmative. He again asked if it was pickle, we were surprised that he knew the name of an Indian delicacy.He appeared again after 5 minutes, which had us thinking that he has a liking for Indian food .we were jus about to offer him when he told the smell was so pungent that it was making him giddy.!!

Some Embarrassing moments...

It takes lots of courage to laugh at one’s own self. Very few people have it in them to do so.And today I choose to be one of the few ;)

There were 15 looooooong months between my engagement and wedding.And like any other engaged couple, we used to send each other dozens of messages every day. Once, while I was busy at office, I suddenly had an attack of hiccups, and I wasn’t able to get rid of it even after drinking water. Now it is said that if you get hiccups it means that someone is missing you. So I had this immediate urge to send a sms to Vishal “Bahut hichki aa rahi hai honey…are you responsible?” .After a few seconds I got a reply “Pani kyu nahi pi leti”(how about some water??) I was shocked as this was a totally unexpected reply from Vishal. Only later did I discover that I had sent that msg to a cousin whose name also begins with V and it was his way of retorting.And to this day he teases me about it.

I was narrating an incident to somebody the other day. In my eagerness to use new words/idioms/phrases, I told her “I smell a fish” (I guess it came from the word “fishy”) for conveying “I was suspicious of something”. Only after blurting it out I realized that this expression is not quite right so I immediately corrected and told “I smell a cat”… smell a cat?? I still kept wondering if something was amiss. It was only after she left, I realized that all I wanted to say was “I smell a rat”!!!
She must be thinking if I had just returned from a pet store.

When it comes to embarrassing moments, all parents will vouch for the fact that their kids bring them many of those. I heard this one from Vishal’s grandma…
She told me that once there were a few guests at home during summer and she served them nicely cut mangoes. Now the kind guests wanted to be loving to the kid (Vishal) as well, so they offered him to eat the mangoes. Without missing the opportunity, he started eating them saying” andar jaunga toh sirf gutli hi milegi ”(I will get only seeds later)
I just hope Ady doesn’t take after his father: D

The Three Most Important Men In My Life

The First Man in any girl’s life whom she adores completely is her dad, and am no different. My daddy strongest!!
I am what I am today, because of my dad. I had taken science group in my 12th grade aspiring to become an engineer, and by the time I could finish it, I was so besieged with physics chemistry math and what not, that I didn’t have any courage to go ahead and take up the Engineering entrance exams. My dad made me understand that life is not a bed of roses and that perseverance always pays off. He was in no mood of letting me quit. He wanted me to pursue my dream. He told me to take the entrance exams and that it didn’t matter if I clear it or not. An important lesson there “Karm karo phal ki aasha mat karo”-Bhagvad Gita. (Do your deeds don’t but don’t expect results)
And here I am an engineer today …!
When people asked me what kinda guy I’d wish to marry I’d say “He” must be jus like my dad…

And so entered Vishal in my life (though he is not like my dad completely)and life became all the more beautiful.It has been a wonderful 4 yrs of this companionship which I cherish deeply.He is not just a husband; he is also a friend, a guide and a great connoisseur of food ;). Of course, we have had our shares of misunderstandings and arguments but that doesn’t stop us from learning and understanding each other even better. In fact, every time we fight and then make up we feel more in love.
And so here we are inspiring bachelors/spinsters to get married…!

And the third little man is … my dearest Ady, my lill bundle of joy.
He rules my world, it sometimes amazes me that how this 2 feet something lill being could make me happy and grouchy both at the same time. There are times when he messes around the house and I get really overwhelmed with his naughtines. He amazingly senses it- looks at me with all the love and innocence in the world ,that I cant help but laugh .He acts as if he deserves all the sympathy and love one could give. But he is a complete brat. He showed me the new side of me, which I thought never existed…Never imagined I could sacrifice my ‘8-hrs-mandatory’ sleep for someone, cry at someone elses’ slightest pain (like that of a mosquito bite) ,miss someone terribly if I didn’t see them for an hour.
And so here I am a proud Mother…!

I guess life is all about growing up and donning new roles…First a Daughter, then Wife, and now a Mother. Am glad I have lovely people to share my life with.

Slumdog Millionaire

It has been a wonderful weekend, quite refreshing –jaunted out after a long long time (thanks to the freezing weather).We had been to CT for skiing. Though, I didn’t try it, Vishal did and he enjoyed the experience. So what was wonderful in it for me?? I Got to eat yummy home made food (which was not cooked by me) and watch a movie in the cinema hall (yes, I love watching movies only in the hall) after about 10 long months. Thank you- Kavita and Manjunath

The movie hall was full of Americans, only the two of us (Vishal and I)were Indians. We sat there in pride as this was the movie (from India) which had won 8 Oscars.But our pride soon converted into embarrassment as the movie progressed.The way we are embarrassed, When we have surprise guests at home and they catch us in the midst of a disorderly house (thanks to my lill one who is out to ransack the house every minute of the day).It felt exactly the same way watching my home country depicted at its worst, amidst American guest.

I didn’t know if I wanted to request all my American friends there to shut their eyes & ears or to order the cinema operators to quit playing the movie immediately.
Vishal was so overwhelmed that he wanted to declare to everyone there “This is not true”. Am sure that, the majority of Indians wouldn’t have seen that face of India just like the way Vishal and I haven’t seen it before.
But as we got ourselves together we began to appreciate that this is real...it’s no fiction! And we ought to accept this fact no matter how disgusting it is.

For all those of you who haven’t seen the movie let me tell you something so that you will reckon with my feelings better. The makers of the movie have left no stone unturned to portray every negative that exists in India. Starting from the unhygienic and poverty struck slums they take you through the communal riots, red light area, child abuse, tourists being swindled, impure water sold as mineral water, child labor, police torture, local goons ready to kill innocent people for a few bucks.

At the end of the movie, it was hard for me to believe that there were no better movies to win the best picture Oscar award?? (Or was there some other reason)
I have definitely seen better movies than this one, haven’t you?


PS: If I for one feel that I would do anything to take this movie off screens …why doesn’t the government of India share the same feeling. On the contrary, I have heard that this movie has been made tax free!!

Happy Valentines day

Not a day passes by when I don’t say “I love you honey” or “I’d die without you”.But he seldom responds,sometimes never even looks at me.He seems to be in his own world,quite contended with himself and his laptop or TV.Sometimes I feel if it is one sided..why doesn’t he reciprocate that often.But one thing that I know for sure is that I wouldn’t trade this love for all the diamonds in the world.

Then there are days when I want my space and he wouldn’t let go off me. He holds my face with both his lovely hands, look into my eyes and without saying a word says a 1000 lovely things. He smells my hair, gets lost in them,gives me the most cuddly hugs.That feeling, I must say, is truly blissful. I Live a 100 lives in those little precious moments.
There are times when he doesn’t feel his best or when he gets frustrated,There are times when no one or nothing in the world can satisfy him.It is in these moments that he needs me..and its then, when he makes me feel so important.It feels like I mean the whole world to him.
I definetly know, this is more than love..its love before the first sight…its truly unconditional..its between a mom and her son…between me and my dearest Ady.I love you my valentine…and I always will.
Now if V is getting jealous…pls don’t be..you are our valentine too.We love you with all our heart and our world is incomplete without you.

Indians adopting alternate homes

I was reading a blog posted by one of my Friends, where he seemed disappointed by the fact that Indians are migrating to western countries for the following reasons
Traffic obedience, serene/clean environment, respect for others, hardly-seen beggars, Social security...which he says are not justified reasons for migration.
I started commenting on his blog but it turned out to be lengthy and hence this blog!
With due respect to his patriotism, I would like to pen down my experiences and thoughts around the reasons.
The traffic discipline in India is appalling to say the least.
I was shocked at the callous attitude of the traffic there…may b my stay at the US highlighted this fact. People in India(particularly Blore) acted as if they were colorblind, no matter what color the traffic light showed the action was always “GO”
People with 2 wheelers were driving on the footpath!!! And by two wheelers I don’t mean just bicycle.I was party to this sight…A traffic policeman was screaming his lungs out to control the traffic as they were not obeying his hand signals… and then he helplessly let them go 'as they pleased' because his voice instructions also fell to deaf ears. Such disregard for rules!!!!It was a pitiable site.A few of my frnds who have returned to India from the US say that they have stopped driving their two wheelers and travel only by cars because they are petrified by the traffic.
I think Discipline in the citizens is the key to making a country progress.
Making India clean and green is also a part of discipline too.
People in India throw garbage on the roads ,while in US the same people of india pick/gather all the garbage and throw it in the trash.
The reason is the roads are so clean in the US that no one wants to carry the guilt of initiating throwing garbage around. Another important reason being that in the western countries you would find a trash bin within the range of your sight no matter where you are standing. In India you will not find any for miles, hence the roads are always unclean.
While visiting restaurants/malls/stores in the US , People stood, opened the door and allowed me to pass by before they passed because I had a kid in my arms.
When I went to India for a vacation I was reaching my 3 AC coach through a 2AC coach and it took a few moments extra for me to close the door as I had a kid with me. I was rebuked for wanting to stay longer in a 2AC at the cost of 3AC ticket.
I was really disappointed. teh reason being after getting such courteous treatment from foreigners how could I deserve a treatment like this from people at home??
Social security and lack of beggars are interlinked. While I do not understand how the Govt manages the Social Security I am sure it has something to do with people paying their taxes honestly.
So I guess these are the reasons that people living in the Western countries don’t want to get back to India.
Ofcourse there are 100s of reasons why people do want to go back home from the west…which may be I will write about some other time.

To Be or Not To Be

The one BIG question haunting all new mothers is .......
To Be “A Working Mother” or Not To Be…
I know of a few friends and acquaintances who did not have to think twice about it… they decided to shun their careers forever.Apparently their kids were their priority.If I think of it that way , then perhaps the term “Working mothers” would never exist because for a mother there cannot be anything more precious than her child.So then the next logical question is what makes the “Working Mothers” get back to their profession.
I guess it must be the passion, the zest, the ardor to go out and prove to the world.
It must be the Sense of pride they are filled with , when they think that they are contributing to the world’s economy albeit in a minuscule way
It must be the sheer delight that they are not restrained within the four walls of the house waiting the whole day for their spouses/kids to get back home.
It must be the justice they owe to themselves and to their talent & education....
the right to live and work like their counterparts...the “Working Fathers”
I am here not cribbing of the discrimination society dons between men and women;
rather trying to point the fact that both men and women bear the bruntof the same competition yet ending in two different places, one in the kitchen and the other at the desk.

Living in the USA- Perspective of an Indian

No Pollution, No Electricity cuts, No Pests,No Crowd, Non bumpy clean roads, Beautiful Foliage and the list can go on…
During my stay in the USA, I discovered this handsome face of the world and I kinda fell in love with all the luxuries that this ‘Country of Abundance’ had to offer.
But Somewhere deep down in a corner of my heart I felt that something was not right somewhere and as I started contemplating I realised the following.How could one justify the use of such large and extra large cars carrying only one person each?Every member of a family has a car. Now this is what I call Luxury, and luxury never comes cheap. But in the USA it does…Easy loan availability, cheaper fuel prices coupled with poor public transportation and high speed on road people use their cars even to travel from one state to another. Not to forget these cars ought to be heated during winters and cooled during summers as the high speeds prevent sliding down the window glasses(in summers).No wonder while US has only 4.5% of the world’s population its fuel consumption is more than double that of India which supports more than16% of world’s population.
Why talk only about cars, even houses are conditioned all the 12 months of a year.
Most  houses in the USA are carpeted.I am still not able to figure out the reason though!This means that if you have babies and toddlers at home you have to keep them in diapers 24 hours a day.If on an average it takes 2 years for a baby to be potty trained ,a single baby would use 3650 diapers.Now here is a disheartening fact-A diaper take 500 years to decompose,can you believe this?
While in India, people use the cloth line to dry clothes under the sun, it’s against the law in some places of US to dry clothes outside.Now, when ‘Going Green’ and ‘Conserving Energy’ are the buzz words ....what kinda law is this?
Everything here is either "new" or "to be disposed"...there is NO Thing like "to be repaired"
Extensive use of Halogen Lights(as against Florescent Lights), daily drinking water packed in 500 ml bottles, tissue papers, disinfectant sprays, Hundreds of Use and throw items, houses miles away from shopping complexes and the list can go on…
Life, my dear reader is undeniably, a lot comfortable in the USA,but the price being paid is far too colossal. I would say the comfort and the luxury is at the expense of the future generation to come.