Back to Salsa.

(Whilst being a blog-modified version of an email to a friend. All personal references removed, sorry).

Kinda crazy, but I ended up joining a salsa class today on a whim. You know, just to see how it'd feel to do something arty *without* being affected by feminine pathos. Or perhaps, I was trying to do at least one thing in life finally without playing the role of the tragically troubled romantic hero with a mysterious past; this is a temptation that, must admit, I often find difficult to resist.

So yeah. I think I survived pretty well considering, well, that I seemed to have dropped by a 30-something gathering of professionals. In fact, one of them seemed to be as old as my grandmom, a feeling reinforced by the fact that the grandmom lady couldn't, as it happened, resist sermonising on my non-existent dancing skills; I want to see you next week, she almost said, wagging her finger, but only after you've practised the salsa basic in the confines of your room.

Now, you have to understand that the last someone told anything to me in that tone was, of course, in class 10th; Ms Jagannathan always believed that the way to rote-learn all those inorganic equations was to "practise" them. So when I was grinning at her (Salsa Grandmom, not Ms Jagannathan) suggestions, I wasn't simply laughing at her, but also at myself; it's a difficult world, you'll have to agree, when your salsa partners start reminding you of your 10th class chemistry lecturers.

The instructor was better than my previous one, but was sneaky in that he tried to sell his salsa compilation CD when I asked him if I could borrow it to rip it into mp3. As usual, there were more women than men, somehow, a long-standing tradition in these parts. One of the guys did try to flirt with one of the gym instructors which, I thought, wasn't loserly, but practised; both his and her responses seemed as matured as, I don't know, yesterday's chicken chop in my fridge that my flatmate surreptiously sneaked in some time today morning. Juicy, unexpected, unhealthy and none of my business, but unavoidably noticeable.

And oh yeah. This was in the middle of the gym, so we made quite a scene. A blogdom acquaintance who did greet me on that after the session; didn't know you were into salsa, she seemed to say. I don't know exactly what she said; was not only tired, but also feeling slightly elated for some unobvious reason. Yup, been salsa-ing for a year now, I said, just feeling a little blue.

Blog Alert:- Forsaken Places.

And the blog of the week award goes to: Forsaken by Society - Places! In particular, check out the pics collected for Auschwitz and for Eastern State Peninciary.

The H1Bee Rock.

Another reason why I've never fully liked the idea of working in the US; all the stereotyping involved with it. Not that this one's particularly bad though; self-inflicted humour is always fun.

I find their player more interesting though. And here's where you hear it in action.

(As featured on IndusTel and Sepia Mutiny)

The Chindian Menace.

More aspiration for Asia and perspiration for the West (Businessweek via Rediff):

As Cisco's Scheinman puts it: "We came to India for the costs, we stayed for the quality, and we're now investing for the innovation."

I'm unimpressed, however, for all the regular reasons; loads of fluff and what-can-be's, with insufficient analysis on why present trends will be sustainable in the future.

(Crossed posted on IndusTel)

Ganpati Boppa Moriya!

Ganpati Boppa Moriya!
. Early morning Ganesh Chaturti festivities in my room. వినాయక చవితి శుభాకాంక్షలు!

(And oh, తెలుగు వికిపీడియాకీ జై!)