New home

So after a real hectic move in a very short time I am finally in California!

There's a lot to be excited about. Being near J, new job, lovely weather, city life with public transport and actual restaurants. But the thing that I am most excited about is that there is a hindi movie theater just walking distance from my new home! :D

I think I can live here :)

The mother-in-law gene

Yesterday I went to lunch with my host family (a local American family who volunteers to help international students during their stay in this university). The family consists of an old lady (S), her daughters, son and daughter-in-law (V).

Now S is a really nice person. She is extremely helpful, never judgmental or interfering, always politically correct, highly intellectual and well-read (knows much more about Indian history and current affairs than I do!) and an activist for social and environmental causes. In simple words, she is someone whom anyone can instantly respect.

V was my fellow PhD student who completed her degree just couple of months ago.

During our lunch yesterday, I was amazed to see that S kept making V feel bad about the fact that she does not have a post doc offer and highlighting that I have one. I know how bad it feels when you don't have a job and people ask about it, let alone compare with someone else. I can only imagine how bad she felt when a family member was embarrassing her in front of an outsider. V just sat there quietly.

Its not that S has reasons to be ashamed of V. V is very intelligent (she actually made me nervous with her knowledge during a class we took together and she even co-authors a paper in Nature!!). Its just that she can afford to be picky about the job (she doesn't have to worry about visa issues) and so she is taking her time to find the best possible option.

The thing that made me angrier is when one of her daughters came back to town couple of years ago after resigning from her job, S was just too happy to have her back and even let her stay with her for many months.

I would think someone like S will be equally nice to her daughter and daughter-in-law, but I felt that the mother-in-law gene can get activated even in the nicest women. Sigh!

I got what I really wanted!

Five signatures on a sheet of paper that says I have a doctoral degree now. :D
Yipppeee!!!

Do you know what you really want?

Asks Jessica Alba in a very motivating tone. She answers her own question. She says what she really wants is a foundation that matches her skin color.

Wonderful thing to achieve definitely, but hard to believe that's all she wants :D

I wish we girls had such simple needs. Really!

Physics

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

What happens when the distance decreases?