I think I went crazy for few hours today... from tracking my passport to planning my NY trip, to booking my flight to London... it was crazy... not to mention the packing, the last minute goodbyes, the shopping, the scare of how I will get across so many things to London.... its far from over but I have decided to take it easy... I went and got myself another suitcase cos one of my suitcases looked really pregnant from both sides.... so now I have three suitcases which is something which I hope will not attract too much attention from the airlines....

In a business meeting today I met with a senior person ... he was of Indian origin and looked like a good ole grandfather ..... and like all grandfathers he loved talking.... I was quite benign throughout the conversation.... until he started talking about India... in his analysis of the CWG fiasco he rightly blamed the Indian politicians... he was absolutely right and I endorsed the feeling of shame that I had in seeing my country build the ground for insulting itself in such an international manner..... then he said something which was not at all warranted or in my opinion not true... he called the Indian electorate "Stupid"... and "uneducated" and "not as intelligent as the Americans".... that burned my ears... okkk you can criticise the wrongs in the country but you cant call the people of India stupid... nooooo way... at least not in front of me.... so much against my better judgment I muttered up courage to say "I do not agree with that Sir. I think Indian electorate is emotional but definately not stupid".... Luckily my voice was so low that he didnt hear it I think - cos he went on again and again...

I mean the Indians are not the ones that voted George Bush to power - and that too twice! And for all the criticism of family run Congress party I would like to point out that attachment to familhy is a human phenomenon not an Indian characterstic... so you have several cases of fathers and sons becoming Presidents in the US... and I can bet my bottom dollar that if you have a kennedy stand for election he will win too....

Anyways I think I know enough about American to state that they are way ahead in terms of democracy and taking care of its people... and I am grateful to have seen that ... and set that as a bar... but I am not going to criticise the people of India as being stupid... we have something like a white man hangover...