Growing up in India we were fed a steady diet of patriotism which I would, at this point in my life, term xenophobia. I am of course referring to the toxic mix of the equation that every Indian knows by heart : Pakistan = Evil.

No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the issue, it was the patriotic duty of every Indian to passionately hate every Pakistani. Be it a debate on war, politics, cricket or mangoes, every kid and every adult knew that India is better than Pakistan. And I followed this version of patriotism fervently. Even now at the mature age of 39, I have an inner monologue going on with the Pakistani hating version of myself. Thankfully that idiotic part of myself has calmed down a bit especially after tasting some heavenly mangoes from Pakistan.

By late 80s, this passion to hate Pakistan had died down a bit amongst the citizens of India. Not sure why, but the politicians saw that their rabble rousing against Pakistan was not really getting them the power they wanted and so patriotism somehow morphed into an ugly sub-version called Nationalism especially Hindu Nationalism. This religious version of patriotism was simmering for sometime and had a great following in Maharashtra. The leaders of this movement were able to export it to the national stage (through poor management by the Congress party, I might add) during the Barbari Masjid episode. And suddenly, to be a true patriot, you had to align yourself to defination put forth by Hindu nationalist leaders which was always one sided and quite violent. I was stupid but not a moron. I firmly resisted this version of patriotism that was sweeping amongst my friends and family. And this left me a little disillusioned. I wanted to be identified an Indian but not as one that required me to align myself to a “certain” kind of Indian. And so life went on blissfully where I just kept silent whenever the subject of patriotism came up because I found out that my voice would easily be drowned out by patriotic zealots.

And now I am in Canada which I have adopted as my country. Here things are radically different than they are in my country of birth. Democracy is practised with a transparency that does not exist in India. There are numerous flaws in this version of democracy as well but atleast there are great ideas floating out there and there is rational discussions on those proposed changes. There is however an under current of intense loyalty towards the flag that is becoming more vocal with each passing year. This group insists that to be a loyal Canadian, you have to SHOW OFF your love for the country (a decidedly US version of patriotism). And the only way to do that is to wave the flag, take part in the activities during Canada day that every Canada loving individual is doing i.e. drinking beer and attend fireworks displays and making sure that you have a Canadian flag pin on your shirt. This kind of patriotism eludes me. I mean I love Canada but to put it on my sleeve so that everyone knows I love this land is beyond me.

Another problem, I have an affinity for Canada as much as I have for India. India was my past and Canada my future. Why in the world do some true blood Canadians insist on me forgetting about India because it’s a country ”I have forsaken”. I don’t understand why some people refuse to understand that a person can love two or more countries at the same time. Utter nonsense.

Here’s my version of what it means to be a loyal Canadian.

> As a Canadian I am committed to the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedom.

> As a Canadian I am committed to ensuring that I contribute to the Canadian economy.

> As a Canadian I am committed to helping fellow human beings (Canadians and non-Canadians).

> As a Canadian I am committed to opposing, peacefully, elected politicians and officials in power.

> As a Canadian I am committed to paying homage to fellow Canadians who have died making this a country worth dying for.

> As a Canadian I am committed to opposing the forces that want to disrupt our way of life.

> As a Canadian I am committed to caring for my brethren in Canada AND the world.

If this in anyway steps on other Canadians’ version of patriotism, then, thank god I live in a country where I can tell them, very politely, to fuck off.

“To papa I just what to say happy father’s day to you I love you so much that happy father’s day from’rhea
psYou are cutie.”

I have read this 20 times already and it still makes me feel all gooey and a little tearful.

Been a few changes in my life in the past 1 month or so. First and foremost, my wife has completed her education in New York and is back permanently in Canada. Now begins the arduous task of finding a job. It is not easy, I have to confess. There are jobs for dentists in GTA but in the last few years, Dentists have become a dime and dozen in this area. I havebeen trying to push her into trying for jobs more west of Toronto so hopefully she will get a good job in a month or so and I breath a sigh of relief :)

This is the year!!! This is the year I finally go for a visit to India!!!  Man, whenever I think about visiting India I get the chills. I am planning for a trip to India sometime in end of November for 3 weeks with my daughter. One of my cousin is getting married in December so it would be fun to attend the wedding and Rhea would get a chance to meet the whole family as it gathers under one tent. I have started the application to apply for dual citizenship so the process has begun. Woohoo!

Made a change in my job. I am now working at the IT department for a international bank in downtown Toronto. The work is pretty good so far. I can chalk up a new technology on my resume. Colleagues are nice andfriendly and diverse! White guys, brown guys, black guys, yellow guys……but severe lack of women :(

Running is going on well. Not as good as I had expected. I had thought thatonce my wife is back I would be able to focus on myself but things have not got back on track on the home front. We are still trying to figure out howto live together after 3 years apart. It’s a challenge and my theory is that it will remain a challenge until my wife gets a job.

Football World Cup 2010!!! I wait for this event every 4 years and followit fervently. I have no clue about the teams, the players the odds etc. I just want to watch the game. And it never fails to excite.

Will turn to regular blogging soon.

1) Broken Social Scene (Forgiveness Rock Record)

Finally!! Finally!! They have released an album. Woohoo!! I heard this album a little while ago when it was being streamed at spin.ca, so I had an idea of how good the album sounded. But listening to it multiple times has made me realise that this album is probably the 2nd best in their arsenal (the best being You Forget It In People). And yes, I have included the “solo” efforts by Brendan Canning (excellent album) and Kevin Drew (amazing album!!).

The album has everything that can be expected from them….foot thumping music, spacey guitar work, dreamy vocals, completely mismatched songs, cacophony up the yin yang and power chords where required. The continued presence of more commercially successful artist (Emily Haines, Leslie Feist and Amy Millian) in the album makes it sound better and delivers on every note. All songs work but then again, I have been a big fan of BSS so I am biased. Highly recommended.

2) The Pack A.D. (We Kill Computers)

I had been listening to CBC radio 3 top 30 on my iPod and I was barely paying attention to it. Radio 3 does that sometime. Even though the focus is on indie music scene, sometimes, it is boring and dull. And that’s what was happening on a lazy afternoon when all of sudden BOOOOM. Pack A.D.’s song from their new album came on. I forget which one it was but all I could think of listening to that song was, man, I have to get this album.

After downloading their previous effort Funeral Mixtapes, my respect and love for this band was reinforced and after giving their latest album a few listens, I have become a big fan of this band. Definitely  in my top 5 Canadian bands in the last two years or so.

The album is packed with power riffs, big drumming and LOUD vocals. Never a dull moment in the album even when it slows down for a couple of songs. They have been compared unfairly to The White Stripes and  The Black Keys. As far as the format is concerned, yes, it’s a duo with only a guitar and drums like the other two bands. But that’s where the similarity ends. They are not as bluesy as The Black Keys and they are not as eclectic as The White Stripes (not yet). And even though I love Meg White’s drumming, the drummer of Pack A.D. is far more superior to Meg White’s drumming. All I know is that  they CAN play a mean tune and I am sure their worst critics tap their feet along with their music.

To be continued………

As Rhea was narrating me the story, I felt a pit in my stomach and my first inclination was to abandon my work and reach her as soon as possible. But my next thought was “no”. She is a strong independent girl and she will handle it herself. And by all accounts (the way she was talking to me and at the same time telling me of the new J. Bieber song she was listening to) she seemed fine. Then what in the world was she doing at my in-laws house in the middle of the day?

Turns out that the school had called my in-laws (who live very near my daughter’s school) and they immediately went and picked her up. For a few moments I was REALLY angry with my mother-in-law. But then I realised they are just being grandparents. So I let it go.

Reason number 234 why I want to be working nearer to home and not 1 hour away.

And everyone is angry about them. Actually I should say all the non-runners are angry. Therefore, there are numerous plans afoot to amalgamate, split, merge and dissect all these marathons because the non-runners are terribly inconvenienced by all these marathons.

As an amateur runner, I find this argument to merge and dissect all these runs….well…quite incomprehensible. I mean, each run starts at 7:30am to about 1:30pm on a Sunday. And these are the marathons I am talking about. The short runs are over by 10am or so. Hence my incomprehension at the anger over the runs. How bad are the businesses affected by closing down the roads in town on Sunday morning? How much of an inconvenience is to the general public on a Sunday morning? And, BTW, the roads are closed and opened in stages. So, at the start once all the runners have left, the roads are opened to the public. And this staggered approach is followed at each stage. So when I say the roads are closed, it is not really for the entire duration of the marathon.

Moreover, thousands of runners come from across Canada and the world to participate and spend money in Toronto (and yes because of the way the marathons are spread out, most come for both Toronto and Scotiabank Marathon) and the non-runners and bureaucrats want to close down some runs because of the inconvenience factor. Like I said, incomprehensible.

UPDATE : And let’s not forget the numerous parades in and around town and the obligatory strikes each year that shut down the city for days. And the non-runners and bureaucrats are crying about the city being shut for a few hours. Nonsense.

Brief synopsis of the book : the story follows three people (Noah (a descendant of native Canadian), Joyce (a descendent of Canadian pirates) and the book’s narrator). Each of these characters have had an odd upbringing and are connected to each other by a book that has been sown together from three books. In the end each character continues on a new adventure away from the drudgery of their current lives.

I love books that have parallel stories going on and have a thread of commonality between the stories especially when the authour holds off on the link right till the end. On that note, this book really delivers!

The pace of the book is remarkable. The book reads like a wave – sometimes it’s smooth sailing, sometimes turbulent and sometimes scary. By the time the authour had introduced us to the characters’ quirks and obsessions, he tells us how they are living their lives (one is idling away in a bookstore, one is selling fish by day and pirating (credit cards, etc.) by night and the last one is in some island digging up garbage for analysis). But you can feel the restlessness of each of these characters. They have a yearning to move on but they are completely lost and would have stayed that way but thanks to circumstances beyond their control (or because of it) they find a new lease on their lives.

The prose of the book is sublime and easy to read. I mean, I don’t really read a book very fast but I was able to read and absorb this book in 5 days. By absorb I mean, I would go back a few pages every now and then to try and get to the meaning (another reason why I don’t read books quickly).

On the whole a very satisfying book which will keep bouncing in your head for a few days.

BTW, my trepidation on buying this book from World’s Biggest Book Store stems from the fact that the book industry is represented by Indigo here in Canada. That’s it. There are no other big names and it really irritates me that they dictate the industry. The only challenge is from Amazon and that leaves me unsatisfied because I LOVE book stores so I go to only the small book stores for my purchases (New books). Therefore, when purchasing this item from Indigo I felt like I was committing a crime but the book was at a discount ($10!!) and it was signed by the authour. A deal that could not be overlooked.