I had a glimse of the American way of life this weekend... I saw the womens US open final in NY this weekend ... followed by a game of American football between the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys.... while the US Open was tame, the football game was all american... I have never seem such a boisterous crowd in my life... walking on the road my friend (who was a Dallas fan) was chided and told to go home.... there was screaming... and the crowd was so loud that I thot my ear drums would break..... and I topped it up by having authentic junk food - hot dog!

I also got a feel of what it is like to be an American citizen.... at these sporting events security remains a hugs concern ... and taking care of so many people who were converged in one place is no joke.... but I have to say that the police, NYPD , metro personnel did such a fantastic job of it.... in particular one incident stood out... a handicapped person had got onto the wrong platform.... the metro personnel went out of their way to help the handicapped person... they stopped the train a formed a bridge between the trains and then ensured that the handicapped person got out safe and sound... if this the attention that every citizen gets in this country, I would have to agree that America is truly the leader of the world in terms of democracy.... when will politics in India bring the citizen back into the equation? It is also perhaps telling that while corruption exists in the US, the corruption is limited to really big important deals... it does not affect the common man.... I think India should aim to graduate to that form of corruption .... rooting out corruption is not really an option....

There is one more thing I like about America - it is enshrined in their constitution.... it recognises the "pursuit of Happiness" as the right of every citizen.... Now that is refreshing....