Two hours in Philly

Okay, what would you do if you had two hours in the downtown area of a massive city like Philadelphia if you were driving a Chrysler 300 (look up the size of the car if you have no clue about it).

(1) Smash your head against the wall for being a retard. There is no space to park. Ever! Or at least until the next step takes place.

(2) After performing the aforesaid (everything prior to the exclamation mark), find parking.


(3) If you have managed to perform the parking-finding action, congratulate yourself. You have achieved the absolute impossible! One thing though; more often than not, this spot that you find might have an attendant, who will look shady to you, and will ask you for your keys so that he can park your car. You have no choice but to trust him. Good luck!


(4) Walk around the streets of Downtown Philly. They're awesome. Almost as awesome as those in SF, CA. A million parking-spots will also materialize in front of you. Automagically!!

(5) Walk in to some random stores for no reason at all. That's the best, I tell you. 'Cause you might spend money even if you window-shop...

(6) There are no Starbucks in Downtown Philly for some odd reason. Well, I'm lying my buttocks off. In the 10-12 streets that I crossed, there were more than 20 Starbucks. You walk a 100ft and you find a Starbucks. All have the same menus as the one on Tech Square, Atlanta, GA. All the Starbucks I came across in Philly were full of customers btw. Don't ask why. I was as confused as you will be. In fact, it still does not make any sense to me. :S

(7) Walk some more through the alleys and "gully-alleys" in the area. Do this during the day, of course. Unless you have a death-wish. I did this during broad-daylight. Tendulkar has, after all, yet to retire, right?

(8) If you are a meat-lover, grab a Philly Cheese Steak. They're supposed to be absolutely to die for.

(9) Go find the lot where your car is well-hidden. Hope that it's still there. The ar, i.e.

(10) Congrats, you have found your car. It still has the radio in it. Drive around a bit during peak hour traffic. If you're as Indian as I am, you'll absolutely love it!!!

(11) Go to Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. You have about 30min remaining, and therefore, no time to stand in a 3-hour line. Yes, my Masters in ECE at Georgia Tech is worth something! Woohoo! Drive around these areas. You will be able to see the Bell through a glass-window. That's the max you'll get. If you are luckier than i am, you will find that the Hall is not under renovation.

(12) Drive around some more.

(13) Lucky number 13. Catch I-95S to the International Airport. Give back your extremely fuel-efficient and parking-efficient Chrysler 300 at Enterprise.

You will want more of Downtown Philly once you're done with this 2-hour tour.

It was like San Francisco almost.

Only that, it was 2-hours and not 2-days.

Oh well.

One more down.

Many more to go.

A month of unity....

All,

It has been an eventful month since my previous ranting. In that post, I had tried to put into context the purpose of individual votes adding up to something meaningful, something that can force our corrupt leaders out and bring in fresh minds to drive our country forward. I certainly have not been the first one to say those words, and I certainly will not be the last.

I do not want to say too much on the obvious "awesomeness" that Hazare possesses, but I do want to highlight the unity he has suddenly created in the country. He has single-handedly achieved something that Indians have been craving for six decades in the post-Mahatma era. He has certainly played his part in ensuring that democracy continues to live in India, something that I had tried to state in my previous post as well - democracy is literally the sole way of bringing our country out of the dark period of corruption that we have seen in the past 12-months.


Apart from the Hazare movement, 28 years of World Cup misery were finally put to rest in Mumbai a couple of weeks back. At the same time, it was also the perfect setting for Tendulkar, who finally received the Winners' medal instead of a Man of the Series or a Runners' Up medal. It ended up becoming one of those things that brought the country together - just hope we do not have to wait another 28 years for such an event to take place again!! As C. P. Surendran spoke of Tendulkar way back in 1998, "Batsmen walk out into the middle alone. Not Tendulkar. Every time Tendulkar walks to the crease, a whole nation, tatters and all, marches with him to the battle arena. A pauper people pleading for relief, remission from the lifelong anxiety of being Indian, by joining in spirit their visored saviour."

The past month has shown that given the right stimulus, this country still unites without thinking twice. Imagine if such unity is seen more often, especially if it comes against those danged politicians! If only we did not need a 72-year-old fasting unto death or a 38-year-old walking in to a cricket field relentlessly for 21+ years in order for such unity to happen, life in India would be much, much, much easier... If only...


Sidenote: With every Hazare and Tendulkar, and I will digress a wee bit from the purpose of this post, we also have those who show up in public in order to stoke their egos and increase TV-coverage. Take for instance, everyone from the film industry supporting the Hazare-movement while they discreetly (or not-so-discreetly maybe?) make "black money" from movies and real-estate projects. Or take for instance, the Sonia and Rahul (I will NOT use their entire name, as using it just tarnishes the word "Gandhi") duo showing up in the World Cup as part of the "aam aadmi". Please don't fool us, I bet you were surrounded by under-cover and under-paid cops.