January 25, 2006
In Charlotte, my appartment and daily life
Houses in US are quite well equipped and modern compared to India. It makes living very simple.
Let me list out things which comes along with the house for the house rent which we pay. Refrigerator, dishwasher, air-conditioner/heater, electric stove. There is an automatic water heating system here to which all the taps are connected. Water gets heated automatically. All the taps are designed to control both quantity of water flowing and the temperature of water. The floor everywhere has got carpet which comes with the house. House is wooded.
Kitchen and bathrooms have got required furnishings/cabinets. We have two bedrooms & 2 bath-rooms. Both have bath tubs. The drainage system here is quite advanced. Kitchen has got 2 sinks. One of these sinks is designed even to take extra kitchen waste & food material. Even if waste material gets stuck, the sink hole is fitted with an electricity powered device which can suck the waste material to the drainage! Even in bathrooms, the drainage is designed in such a way that all small materials other than water gets sucked into the drainage unlike in India where we need to keep cleaning. Its time that we improved the drainage system in India I guess.
We have got an open kitchen (no wall separation from other parts of the house) which makes the house look big. I kind of liked the way the houses are designed here.
I have got two other housemates here. Ashish is from my company, he was with me in Bangalore office. Rahul works for Microsoft US. There are lot of other equipments in the house which were bought by Rahul. We have lot of kitchen equipments (other than what comes with the house) like microwave oven, rice cooker, etc. We have also got TV with cable connection. & also got broadband internet of 56 MBPS ! Got a landline (which works over internet). We pay $25 for the phone every month & can make unlimited calls throughout United States!
We have also got washing machine and drier. Even if we didn’t have that, there is a location in the apartment complex where we can pay and use washing machine ($0.75) and drier ($0.75).
Photos related to this article can be got here –> Photos from Charlotte, daily life
Food is never a problem here. Shopping for groceries is done generally once a week (mostly in Wall mart). Typically refrigerators in US are filled with lot of things. Our refrigerator is filled with lot of fruit juices, Soya milk, milk, egg, vegetables, frozen vegetables, chocolates, beer, frozen chicken (not for me) etc. Normally people cook food for many days at one shot & store it in the fridge. But we don’t do that. Microwave makes life really very simple. Morning I can heat the milk and eat cornflakes with milk. Just takes a min to heat the milk. Microwave oven is normally always on everywhere (at office also). It is also very useful to heat food if it has got cold. Also helps in cooking. I can cook vegetables in the microwave oven within 10 minutes before using them in making Sabzi or Sambhar. I never used to cook while in India, but I am really enjoying cooking here! Even others are loving the food that I cook, especially the ‘Sambhar’. The Sambhar which I made independently for the first time in my life became very famous. Even neighbors came to my home & tasted the Sambhar!
I go to office in public bus. They are quite good and are available in regular intervals. Commuting to office has never been a problem. But, if we need to do anything else its quite difficult without having a car. Cars are quite cheap here. 2nd hand cars are available at throw away prices. My room-mate has bought a Hyundai Elantra (comparable to Mitsubishi Lancer seen in India) in a very good condition for just $2200 which is lower than a months salary! I am planning to rent car on weekends. But first I need to get familiar with traffic rules and driving fundas of US.
My apartment complex is spread over around 100 acres of land. Its very well maintained with Gardens & lawns. We have swimming pool, gym & tennis court here. Once could see lot of cars parked all over the apartment complex. But if you walk around you can hardly spot anybody! People just come out of house sit inside car & just zoom off! You won’t find people walking around. It almost looks like ghost town! A ghost town which is very neat & clean!
Typically everybody reaches office very early, mostly before 9 AM and beyond 5 PM its difficult to spot people at office! Even I need to leave early because my last bus is at 6:00 PM. I work on laptop. I carry it home. Since the internet connection speed here is very high, I can connect to the office network from home using VPN. So, working from home is as good as working from office! Lot of people skip coming to office many times & they work from home. Also, since people can’t depend on others they need to be present at home to look after kids, etc. after the evening. So, they leave early & work from home if necessary & many times skip office & work from home! Here personal life is respected and given great importance unlike in India. In India sitting in office for long hours & working on weekends is quite common. It never happens here. And working from home will happen either during emergency situation or for compensating absence in office. It’s quite clear here that "We work to live & not live to work".
I shouldn’t forget to mention the weather. The just love the weather of Charlotte. It’s not as cold as other places in US. It’s cool & not cold. It’s more like Ooty weather "& myaaan…, am just lovin it!"
Quality of life is just amazing here. Everything is well organized. But, I do miss my friends who are in India. I just wonder if all the friends just appear in Charlotte, how much fun we all can have here!
Comments
January 26, 2006
Pacchi said:
Even if waste material gets stuck, the sink hole is fitted with an electricity powered device which can suck the waste material to the drainage!
Its called “Disposer”.
basha said:
I can feel as though in US from here……..keep writing…..! Njoy to the max….
mahesh said:
Great Shesh but I am sure you will miss India soon:)
A special request, do write an article on how retailing works in US. Just observe the new/emerging retail culture there. write abt walmart, ur shopping experience, chains of starbucks, Mc Donalds, retailing models like big Malls, restaurants…etc
Your article shud target Indian Businessmen in Retail domain…..
mahesh said:
Houses in India are well equipped with deep emotions of love, care, friendship and a sense of brotherhood. They are not modern but eternal. It makes living lively.
Let me list out few things which are really not mandatory for the house. Air Conditioner, No No, we prefer fresh air and moreover AC adds to Ozone layer problem. Automatic water heating, No No, we are gifted with good climate unlike US where it’s too cold. Hence we prefer taking bath in natural water that comes to our taps. Carpets, we are optimal in using carpets and use it wherever required. House is not wooded as we don’t encourage deforestation. Bathtubs, an unwanted luxury, when we know there are people who die without getting a drop of water to drink.
We do have necessary facilities and amenities like broadband, telephone, Microwave etc. And Food, Indian food is the Best. There is hardly any country in the world which doesn’t have an Indian restaurant.
May be the day is not far, when houses in US are so well equipped that a machine will walk up to you and wake you up from the bed. Then it will brush your teeth and take you to the toilet and after you feel a little light may be do the cleaning also. Next it will rinse you in the Bathtub, dress you up, spoon feed you the breakfast and drop you at office. Finally at the end of the day it will take you to the bed and check that your heart is still beating before popping few sleeping pills and tranquilisers in to your mouth. You are now asleep and it may be assisting you in breathing and pumping blood too which you won’t realise. The only thing you would have done yourself in the day is make more such machines.
As generations advance may be US will make machines that will in turn make more such machines to equip you. And So on. There is no limit to this. This may make the life in US very simple but not lively like the life in India…
Shesh said:
Mahesh,
I appreciate your observation & future vision
January 27, 2006
vishwas said:
mote, what ur talking abt is a mom for a baby and not future!! put u to sleep, wake u up, brush ur teeth, bathe u?? but yah, somebody might be coming up with something in this gadget country!!
mahesh said:
Vish, The machine is apparently same as ‘mom for baby’ but there is a subtle difference. It will not have emotions of love, care and sacrifice which a mom has.
One night when it finds me dead it will not drop a tear but will be programmed to burn me off!!!
Vishwanath T B said:
Shesh,
Whatever maybe the amenities, the things i liked are these:
“personal life is respected”
“We work to live & not live to work”
In India, there is lot of double standards. There is no dignity of labour and there is huge economic divide. Probably, the booming economy can bring a change.
M.K. Ravindra said:
shesh,
good to hear about all the facilities @ a typical american home. I really liked your 2 lines “personal life is respected” & “We work to live & not live to work”. njoy ur stay…..take care…
January 28, 2006
Ramesh said:
Shesh,
It is true life is made very simple in these so called developed contries..but wathever Mahesh says is true,all the required basic amenities are found in India..may be you find extra luxurious things there which may make you sick after some time..
Love and affection which you get from you loved ones in india is definitely missing in materilistic country like US..
anyways enjoy with your stay and keep posting your experiences… BTW donot forget to purchase microphone this weekend..
January 29, 2006
Shesh said:
Ramesh/Mahesh,
I don’t know how you got the idea that love doens’t exist in US. I thought love was independent of Geography.
Maybe the loved ones for you and me are in India, so you get that feeling.
I am not trying to compare with India. I feel people here are very loving. Most of the people love their family very much. In my office, in most of the cubicles I see photos of wife/husband and their children. I also see many greeting given by children or spouse in their cubicles. People here are quite concerened about their spouse and children, that’s how they leave early for home from office.
People here are very expressive. Hugging and kissing is very common. Doesn’t this tell that love and affection is very much overwhelmingly present here?
People here give smile to strangers when eyes meet. They even greet with Good morning/evening & also ask “How are you doing?” to strangers!
I am not trying to tell people here are better than people in India, it’s for you to decide. I am just tring to tell that there’s nothing wrong with people here when it comes to love and affection.
mahesh said:
u r also correct shesh.. it’s just that we need not become so materialistic.. materials generally give very temporary happiness
But I feel Indian’s have better family/cultural values than West…
January 30, 2006
Harsha said:
Moral values in India are less. Americans have higher moral values. This can be seen by the fact that politicians, bueracracy, police etc are more corrupt in India than in USA.
Sushil said:
Shesh,
Nice article man..
January 31, 2006
Sudheer said:
Richer countries, dude!
February 7, 2006
Photos from Charlotte, daily life | Not another brick in the wall… said (pingback):
[…] [This is a photo article] Here are some of the photos taken during my daily life at Charlotte. You might also like to read this article In Charlotte, my appartment and daily life because the photos and the article are related. […]
February 15, 2006
Raja said:
Shesh’s ultra artilce.. Gopu’s niccceeeee comments makes this page a must read…
I think its all indivisual perception at the end… but you are always a paraya… in any land other than yours….
May 23, 2006
spot said:
did you forget to write,… how you crapped? mention about the mugga(u brought from india) for h*gga. Btw, you should write a new topic “mugga with western bogs”. The possibilities of water falling while cleaning your a** on the wooden floor. How you take a paper and clean it up… (which you never did anyways).
Shesh said:
Hey Spot,
May be you should try writing one 
I got the mug cos’ it was in the ‘purchase list for US’ given by somebody. The purpose was not for h*g*a!! As such I never used that mug, so can’t really write the article which you suggest
October 4, 2006
amar said:
hey shesh u have done a beautifull job by creating ur own website.. the info that u have given about the happenings in ur life is really mind blowing. nice creative job shesh i really appreciate ur work here. ok nothing more to pen have a adventureous life bye tc..