Monday, March 30, 2009

My Personal Recession...

The Recession is everywhere. People have nothing else to talk of at social gatherings and meetings. Even at weddings and funerals, it is the hottest topic of discussion.

But on a personal level, how has recession affected me?

First of all, we have quita a bit of money tied up in stocks. Though we do not exactly have a cash crunch, it wouldn't hurt to get that money back and invest it in land. Yes, we have been wanting to buy some land. But are not very comfortable about getting a loan for the big amount. Who knows, kal jobs ho na ho?

Our Bollywood obsession has been scaled down. Not because of the economic recession. But because of the recession in the quality of products being churned out at the moment. So it's been 3 weeks since we were seen at a multiplex! Can't blame the producers....it's exam time na!

Eating out has considrably gone down. Again, it is for the lack of good eating places in Kanpur. We have yet to find a place we absolutely love. So yes, we are trying to cut corners here. We have not been to a really classy restaurant since the Valentines Day. That's okay really, coz I prefer the street food or Domino's pizza anyway!

Our holidays have really been affected. Dinesh is extremely tied up at work. More importantly, he does not want to take off for a holiday in these times. So no travelling, no vacations, no fun for the last couple of months. I have been wanting to go to Haridwar for so long...but we just keep stalling.

On the positive side, we have been participating in a contest run by Big Cinemas all over India. The contest is such that you have to provide a funny caption for a picture (scene of a famous movie) given in their magazine. We have won this contest 3 times in as many months! Seems like we've really got the best-est sense of humor in this country! So every time we win, we we get 2 tickets to any any movie at any theatre of Big Cinemas in India. Isn't that so cool?

Canada, The Other Side Of The Fence?

Di and I discussed it for a couple of years. Finally in 2007 we filed our application for immigration to Canada. We make a pretty decent income in India. So money was not the motivator here. We wanted to go to the West for other reasons like better quality of life, cleaner places, better equipped to deal with global warming etc etc etc. All these reasons seemed enough in 2007.

But things have changed now. WE have changed now. The same reasons seem to be nothing but CRAP today. Yes, Canada may be cleaner than India, and cooler, and it probably will provide many facilities that we don't enjoy in India. But are these things really worth it? Worth being a "2nd Class" citizen in a "1st Class" country? I am not so sure.

We were fortunate to spend a few months in Doon last year. That has changed our outlook. India can be beautiful and clean too. Doon enjoys great climate BTW. The civic environment is better than in other cities. People are mostly educated and civil. Crime rate in negligible. But most importantly, it's India. And I love India. I love my country, with all its imperfections and flaws.

I have noticed one thing amongst all emigrants from India. They look down upon their home country and in doing so, they develop a twisted version of the ground reality in our country. They start seeing things they want to see, and become oblivious to things they don't want to see. We can't blame them. After all, if they don't look down upon their country, how will they justify their decision of living abroad? I don't want to become such a person. I don't want to start looking down upon my roots. I don't want to get so caught up in an alien culture that I start hating my own.

I don't know whether I'll finally go to Canada or not. We have postponed the decision till the time comes. As of now, Canada's chances seem pretty grim. Even if we do fly out, it will only be for a couple of years. Just to have an experience of the West. But home will always be here, right in India.