My aversion to the best friend of every woman..

"Diamonds are forever" it is often said. But lives are not.
We must spare people the ordeal of war, mutilations and death for the sake of conflict diamonds."

- Martin Chungong Ayafor, Chairman of the Sierra Leone Panel of Experts

The other day, my friend who just got engaged, was inquiring about the price of a diamond ring at Macy's. He sure earned more than a few appreciative glances from the women around him. After all, the Diamond is the woman's best friend and here was a guy, who wanted nothing but the best that Macy's had to offer, to take home to his beloved. After an hour of shifting thru stones, one of them finally managed to catch his eye. He looked at my face for telltale signs of appreciation, which I duly showered on him, without any inhibition. Hell, my stomach didn't really care about stones and all it needed was some food(which btw, I could only dream of, until I got casanova out of the women's section and to the nearest taco).

Later on the way back home, he made a casual point that very soon, the tables would be turned and I would be the one doing the stone sifting at Kay's or Macy's. I laughed it off but was totally confused. Would I ever do it ?

I have this big aversion for a diamond beacause I feel that every buyer is indirectly contributing to destroying a life, far away on another part of the world.

Approx 49% of the world's diamonds ,originate from the African continent - notably Sierra Leone, Angola and Congo. These stones are then sent off to the international trading centers, notably Antwerp, where they are sold off. They then undergo a process of cutting and polishing in smaller centers in Asia - notably India(Gujarat), Thailand, China etc, before they hit the display shelf.

But what about the real story of a diamond ? Does a buyer ever care about the impoverished hands of the child slaves that first sifted and picked the diamond from a pile of dirt. Do they even know that the hands who transform the diamond from dirty uncut stones into a thing of beauty that melts a woman's heart, are those of a child, who has lost out on his right to education ? Does anyone ever realize that countless people have lost their lives, in another part of the world, because there is a booming market for a shiny stone ?



From the 1990's until the early 2000's, the extraction of two-third's of the diamonds in Africa were controlled by insurgents and rebel groups. Notably the RUF and the UNITA. It took more than a decade for the governments around the world to take action and come up with the conflict diamond campaign. The Kimberley certification scheme, which was signed subsequently, was made to stop the blood diamonds or the conflict diamonds from entering the market and to assure the buyers that the ones that they purchase don't have a bloody history to them.

Alls well ? Unfortunately NO. The Kimberley process still has got a number of loopholes. It still manages to list the Diamonds from Zimbabwe, as "conflict free" inspite of the fact that the Zimbabwean military under President Robert Mugabe is using forced labor, murder, and torture to keep production going. It also doesn't do anything to prevent the use of child labour in the third world countries, where the stones are cut and polished.



While sipping a coffee at Starbucks, I pictured myself in the shoes of a guy, trying to impress the woman of his dreams. Would I go ahead and get the stone or would I try to drill my thoughts into her ? Option 2 certainly seemed the more sensible one but I have heard gruesome stories of hubbies being tortured and subjected to military diets involving leafy vegetables by their spouses. Their crime being that they watched a certain Di Caprio movie and said no to buying a diamond.

My decision. This one is a no brainer. I hate leafy vegetables. PERIOD.

What not to do on a Friday

Characters:
Deep - Mr. Soccer is renowned for coming up with some crazy ideas, which are bound to keep changing every hour or so.
Raj - Mr. Chef prepares some of the best dishes, this side of the town and is one of the core reasons why I look nourished.
Sus - Mr. Rejector is the Man Friday for every purpose imaginable.
Ab - Smart, handsome, single , brilliant..I could go on, but you must, by now, have realized that it's me.

A typical Friday in the Hartford office
10.00 am(Breakfast time):
Ab(Helping himself to Raj's breakfast) - I am freaking bored..Lets go for a trip..
Sus & Raj: I am game
Ab: Kewl..Where to ?
Sus: Hmm, the nearest state where we have never set foot. That way, we can increase the "state count" in USA.
Ab(opening Gmaps on his laptop): The possible options are Michigan, Georgia, Iowa
Sus: Shall we goto Florida ? It's just 24 hours away
Ab: Not sure, if we can come back by Monday. We will be tired $hit
Raj: What bout the ticket prices ?

After 15 mins of checking the ticket prices @ all possible sites on the net

Ab(deep in dumps): It costs like a fortune..Those bastards have upped the prices
Sus: Yeah and I have like 200$ with me. Lets drop the FL plan or else, I will be broke next week.
Ab: What other options do we have ?Say a long drive ? say, 16 hours or so ?
Sus: Yeah baby, I am on. We could book an SUV from hertz. Deep is, after all, a Gold card member.
Ab: Let's check with Deep & Raj
Raj: I am game(for the 2nd time)
Deep: I am not in the mood for a drive
Ab: Why so ?
Deep: I want a break
Ab/Sus in unison: You dumbo, you were resting on your arse for like a week. From what invisible force, do you need a break from ?
Deep: I said I am not in the mood. End of discussion

2.50 PM( coffee break)
Ab(brings up the topic once again): So, what do we do tonight ?
Sus: What about a movie ?
Raj: I am game( for the 3rd time)
Ab: Any new ones @ Rave cinemas ?
Sus(opens his flixster app in iphone): hmmm... yeah, Movie X, Movie Y and Movie Z
Ab: X should be senti stuff. Y has a hot actress and Z is all action. Your votes
Sus: Y it is..
Raj: Y, Y, Y !!!
Deep: Y ..
Ab: That's so juvenile..I have some perverts for friends.. hmm, my vote for Y.

4.00 PM(on messenger)
Deep: Lets goto Mohegan Sun casino
Raj: I am game(for the 4th time)
Ab: Anything special out there ? I mean, like a show or something
Deep: Dunno, we could walk all over the place
Sus: Eh, so what about the movie ?
Deep: We can catch the movie after that ? Lets say, the 2.00 AM show
Raj: I need to sleep
Ab & Deep & Sus: Don't be a ninny. Losing a few hours of sleep will not kill anyone
Raj(reluctantly, starts of with his typical drawl): Edaaaaa, I got up @ 6.00 in the morning.
Sus(interrupts him): But you usually sleep from 4.00 to 7 in the evening. You will survive.
Raj(with a long face): OK, I shall try.

7.00 PM:
Raj on the phone to A: Wake up dude, I am just thinking of a new recipe
Ab(driveling and wiping the spit from his mouth): huh..Whats that ?
Raj: It's a pretty complex dish. Made from...blah blah blah..
Ab: Sounds interesting..But weren't we supposed to catch a movie or something like that ? or was it a trip to mohegan Sun ? I can't remember
Raj: I don't have a clue. D hasn't arrived from his football match. Sooo, what do you think about the dish.
Ab: Mate, you are just about the best cook I have seen in 26 years. Go ahead, it would be a hit.
Raj(elation evident in his voice): Thanks da.. So, come over soon.
Ab: Sure I will.

7.15 PM:
Ab calling Sus:
Sus: Yo buddy, whats up ?
Ab: Weren't we supposed to go somewhere ?
Sus: I guess so..However, I just can't recollect the last decision that we made.
Ab: lets conference D in
Deep comes on the line
Ab & Sus: Dude - Where are we going to, this evening ?
Deep: I have a great idea. Let's hit some kewl pub, where we can have a few drinks
Ab: What ?????????? What about the other plans ? Mohegan Sun/film etc ?
Deep: Not in the mood
Sus: ok.. When do we go ??
Deep: Come over to 635, will start immediately


8.30 PM:
Ab(after a 30 min harrowing drive) enters the apartment. Raj is in the kitchen, turning over the chicken. Deep is in his lungi, hunched over his laptop while S is lying on the couch.

Ab: Eda, I found this perfect Irish pub in Hartford. Looks to be great, as per the reviews. We can down a couple of beers and catch a late night soccer game.
All 3 stare @ Ab, without any response
Ab: Btw, why aren't you jerks dressed up ?
Sus(with a wide grin): Hey buddy, there is a slight change in the plan.
Ab(groaning): What now ?
Sus: D wants to sit at home and catch a movie on the tube, play some cards and have a couple of drinks and eat Raj's preparation.
Ab: WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ????????????? %^&*(*^&*()(*&^%$%^&*

The messed up life of an engineer

Is it just me or is it the common consensus that the Sofware engineer is the most misunderstood living creature after the Lycosa Tarantulas ? After 6 years, I should probably be getting used to those sympathetic but insensitive glances, that one usually reserves for the sacrificial goat about to meet it's "divine" end on Eid. To be honest, I never felt awkward with them, but it's the lack of understanding that kills me.

I tried to put myself in the shoes of a layman and think from his perspective. To him, a sw engineer's life is all about staring at the dimly lit screen(which often carries on till unearthly hours), trying to come up with innovative thoughts to fix issues and to back stab others during appraisal time. Part of the blame should definitely goto films, where a completely insensitive version of an engineer is presented out to the public. He is always portrayed as the "America returned Maappilai' who is supposed to get married to the heroine. She of course, is deeply in love with the hero, who by the way, is that ragged, unshaven scumbag whose only job is to pick ticks from his hair. Minutes before the credits roll, the hero makes a clean shaven appearance and snatches the bride under the eyes of her relatives, mouths a couple of punch dialogues and earns the applause of the audience.

How could they be so insensitive to us ?
Have you spared a thought for that unlucky "Groom to be', who had
1. Fought with his manager for his 3 weeks of vacation, in order to get married
2. trained his backup for weeks to make sure that he is productive during those 3 weeks
3. created extensive documents to ensure that his backup will never have an issue
4. spent all his salary on procuring those gifts for the entire household, including that lovely diamond pendant for the heroine, who later elopes with the hero in front of his own eyes ??? The least said about the time spent in the women's section of Macy's, the better(Yech !!!!!)

The average SW engineer never earns the respect of the common man. He is always the soft target for those devious, hawk eyed auto drivers who easily hoodwink him on some or the other pretext. No sane girl(apart from those cursed to work along with him) would ever want to spend quality time with him. The bus conductors derive immense pleasures when the engineer mouths the name of an "incomprehensible" destination(We usually work in some god forsaken part of the country and have absolutely no clue about the dialect spoken by the locals). It is one of the greatest mysteries of modern times that how the well mannered, polite & responsible Engineer always ends up being the least liked in the society.