If there is nothing to say then one should shut up. But momentum is something that propels one to continue what one is doing. So substance abuse is going to happen now - search anything and write about it.

Do you know that this weekend I liked UK? Thats because I went for a lunch birthday party organised by Venkat's friend for his son's 1st birthday in a restaurant called Masala King, offering Sri Lankan and Indian cuisine very close to the 'high street' of Ilford. And there were some Indian colleague cum friends of his there, all except 2 of whom I met for the 1st time. And there were wives with small children who were being very well taken care of by their fathers too, which made me glad, they represented a new generation which participated increasingly in the maintenance of its next generation. So sitting around the table, the normal party conversation was doing the rounds. Inevitably, 1 of the girls, or should I start talking about people around my age as 'ladies'(?) asked someone else if she liked it here?

'Noooo', she groaned, ' Nothing like Indiaaa'. This was replied by the girl who has been living in London (Croydon) to be exact and working in Wipro here for the past 3 years.

The other one instantly agreed.'Yea, isnt it?'

'Its very boring - nothing to do here'.

I heard this and felt quite irritated because cribbing has become a way of being for Indians who choose to live outside their country. Its true India is vibrant, the comfort level is higher, we can talk, dress, be the way we want and not bother about being judged by anyone, there are friends and family surrounding us and we dont need to really worry about socialising or children adjusting in society. This was another concern of the ladies there, that once they return, how well will their kids be able to adjust in India.

The kind of crowd we associate with has these things in common - like us they have come to 'foreign' countries to work, that too after gaining some experience working in Indian and India based  companies, and have every intention of returning back. We are different from some other kinds of Indians living abroad, like those who come to US (mostly) for their MS or something, then work there for 5 or 6 years and return, or those who never do. They are more receptive to this place and learn to love the place genuinely (I think). But people like us, who come mostly only to make money and get international experience just get stuck with India and its glorification. Its quite irritating. The conversation, typical to many Indians living in various foreign countries pushed me to try to not crib. I mean, one can crib and complain, but we cant have a negative view of the society here. And the funny part is people who do complain also go for European holidays to Paris and Switzerland and post photographs on their orkuts or picasa and send links to relatives 'back home'.

Well, its not like I have never cribbed. We were in Singapore for 2 years before this, and I have cribbed big time about it. I somehow dont like it, didnt like it, and cant think of going back and settling there. That society is weird, and I can devote a big blog to dedicated to my dislike for it. But its about people there being tooo uptight, the place is too small, the newspapers are too boring, nobody complains about anything, though nobody seems to be happy either, though there seemingly seems nothing to not be happy about. The houses are big, the transport is comfortable, the roads are clean. Oh I prefer Britain any day. People compain naturally, the government is always on the defensive, you sometime come across drunken people on the streets or the trains, and the bus drivers drive rashly ocassionally, and things are not perfect. It shakes one out of zombiness which is great!

Oh yes, nowadays there is this big movement in stores and chains to indulge in fairtrade practices and sell freerange eggs and chicken and what not, and lower carbon emission trail and all that. And recycle material and try to prevent the environment from getting destroyed sooner than it would. Most Indian phooh-phhooh all these attempts of the country here, branding it as hype, a big hullaballoo about nothing, etc. And we continue to live in our self-created smug world.