Relax. This is just Neo’s opinion, but vast majority of patients who go to good Indian hospitals probably get well and go home, without feeling the need to tweet, blog or post on Internet forums. There is probably a smaller, unhappy minority is much more motivated to let everyone know (sort of like one (ok, [...]
BRIC countries for the move. Brazil was eliminated because Mrs. Neo thought Neo has an unhealthy appreciation for the beauty of Brazilian women. Russia was eliminated because Mrs. Neo thought Neo has an unhealthy appreciation for Vodka and China eliminated because Neo really wanted to be able to write this blog without the Great Wall [...]
Image via Wikipedia Mrs. Neo’s friend “Amit” in the Bay Area always tells the Neos to “stop sweating the details and look at the big picture”. Amit’s “big picture” plan for returning to India starts with how the US-India nuclear deal and the crash of the US Dollar, coupled with the linking of the rivers [...]
(Speaking of joys, here’s one of Neo’s other big joys in life – his maid getting him the “perfect breakfast” – “keggs organic” single-egg omelet sunny-side-up but flipped over once so it’s not “runny”, with no salt but a sprinkling of pepper, 2 brown bread slices toasted lightly, freshly made non-fat lassi with the cream/froth [...]
(The Neo family has had a bad week thanks to a viral fever. Regular blogging will resume when the fever has been vanquished. Meanwhile, Neo’s been browsing through his overflowing photo collection all week). Goa has always been one of Neo’s favorite places to visit in India (once he figured out how to avoid the [...]
Not one to shy away from the occasional delusions of grandeur, Neo often gives his “we choose to move to India not because it is easy, but because it is hard” speech to the sundry relatives and friends who visit Neoville. But last weekend, instead of giving him the usual blank expression and heading towards [...]
The most frequently asked question that this blog’s contact form gets isn’t “Are you really sure Neo isn’t single?”. No – that distinction goes to “How much money should I save up before returning to India” ? (While on the topic of being single, here’s a good rule for married men to follow in pubs: [...]
Feminists had it wrong all along – the Hindu moral policemen are not waging a war on women, they’re actually waging a war for women – as in literally to get women to marry them. But college changed everything. You never really figured out why the girls despised you so much. You were nearly kicked [...]
“Why aren’t you in a more interesting business ?” is not the sort of existential question Neo expects to answer, especially coming from someone interviewing at his company for an entry-level position. But after spending two years in India interviewing people, he has learned to be prepared for anything. Neo always goes in well-prepared for [...]
2. Asking for the check instead of the bill, and then saying “oops hahaha” – Every waiter in India knows about the check and the bill thing. So pick either “check” or “bill” and stick with it. Or just raise your hand and make that “writing” gesture. They get it. There’s not too many things [...]
Most people will get a total of 88 weeks of paid vacation in their lifetimes. Neo just wasted 2 of them on a “vacation” with his extended family that has left him feeling more stressed out than if he had simply stayed at home and gone to work as usual. 3. Holidays are busier than [...]
Update: It just so happens that today is National Cleavage day (hat tip: Vicki Boykis) Neo has always been a regular at the gym, in both the US and now in India. He’s the sort of obsessive-compulsive guy who has three identical sets of gym clothing, so that one can be washed while the other [...]
There are probably only 5 Indian-Americans in the US who haven’t yet bought a flat (or three) in India. Neo was one of them. He likes to brag in parties that he saw the bubble coming, but Mrs. Neo invariably chalks it up to his laziness. So for the other 4 people who will be [...]
Neo thought he’ll play an April Fools day prank on his readers by announcing that he was ending his stay in India and moving back to the Bay Area. But, like any responsible blogger, Neo tests all his pranks on his hapless colleagues at work before releasing them on his higher-valued blog readership. So he [...]
It is sort of obvious in hindsight – happy people generally stay that way and recreate their state of happiness around them no matter where they stay. And those who are unhappy (usually because of a deeply hidden sense of entitlement), keep finding out that there are plenty of new (and valid) reasons to stay [...]
It’s no secret that Mrs. Neo isn’t the biggest fan of Neo’s sense of humor – but her decision to make Neo sleep on the couch for the past 3 days seems very harsh indeed. In India, Neo’s in-laws make multiple, shorter trips and are more independent than in the US. They take the car [...]
Image via Wikipedia Update: This calendar has been updated with the latest schedule after the event moved to South Africa. All times are in IST. Every cricket fan in India knows that there is no better way to celebrate quality family time than to watch the DLF Indian Premier League every evening, on every single [...]
Bangalore’s traffic has finally cured Mrs. Neo of acute “backseatdrivingitis”. Now Mrs. Neo no longer forces Neo to get directions from scary strangers. Not because she suddenly realized how bitterly humiliating the experience is for Neo, but because she realized that almost no one in Bangalore has any clue on how to give directions. Most [...]
You sit there in your cube, thinking – “How hard can it be for Hindu Moral Police to talk about Indian values and judge others all day” – Well you are wrong in several ways. It is much harder than your techie job: