Haircut

An haircut - a simple 15/20 minute "task" - but a great stress reliever. And if you happen to be in India  (I do not go to the "salons" where you may end up parting with INR 200-400, but not have all the small things that a smaller establishment has to offer), an additional 20 Rs will get you a nice head massage - leaving you completely relaxed and fresh after you come out of the shop. And if you tend to visit the same barber shop each time, an haircut becomes the perfect place to catch up on area gossip, cricket news, and how-xyz-should-have-played type of arguements. Also, if you are a "regular" , you also enjoy the the tea brought by the neighborhood "baarkya". And those "Mayapuri" magazines giving you the latest gossip of Bollywood. Sportstar (generally old editions, purchased from a 2nd hand book shop) are found - you can get to catch up on the older news. Also, an additional 10 Rs buy you a perfect shave

Alas, you cannot enjoy these simple pleasures in the US. A typical barber is a "She" instead of a "He" - unless you go to the old fashioned barber shops on Main Street that are run by old African Americans.

The thing that irriates me is that you are foreced to have a conversation about things (how are you, and the weather, and the Bears and the Sox - No God, I just want to relax for a few minutes without spending time in meaningless talk) that you are least interested to discuss while you are getting a haircut. And then you part with a tip, which is not really deserved. Well, these US-Barber-shop discussions lack the passion that a Sachin Tendulkar discussion would generate back in India.

Anyways, you do feel "leaner" and "younger"- as if you did loose a couple of pounds  after an haircut, whether done in India or the US!!

Trip to Richmond, Virginia - WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Virginia  -This is where the seeds of the soon-to-be "United States Of America" were sown with the Jamestown settlement of 1607. It was the same timeframe in history when the English were courting with the Great Mughal (Jahangir) to get trading firmaan (permit) to establish trading outpost or "factories" in Surat, India - then the most busiest port in India, though monopolised by the Portuguese.

This is also the heart of the US Tobacco Industry - Tobacco was the leading crop of the southern colonies of the original 13 - before it was replaced by cotton.

Tobacco is still a very big industry - Philip Morrison has its headquarters here in Richmond - though the cigarettes were not "cheap" in Virginia by much - YES - they were cheaper than what it takes to buy a pack in COOK County, Illinois ( 4.X $ in Richmond vs 7.x $ in Cook County)

Visted DC as part of the 2 day trip - spent a day visting the attractions around the Mall - all the "Patel" value activities that a Indie tourist usually does.

3.17% (6 out of 189 )

Now moving on to countries...the number of independent countries, as recognized by UN varies from 189 to 195 - I am using the lower number (to improve percentages)

These are the countries that I have visited ( or transited) -

India  (Home Country)
Germany
USA
Switzerland
UK
Netherlands

And while we are at it, I do have a 100% - touched the water of all the 3 major oceans (Indian, Atlantic, Pacific)

29.41 % (15 out of 51) - 3 more to come

No.. this is not my examination percentile. As I move back to India, a random thought came to my mind - how many of the 50 US states (plus DC) did I ever grace with my visit -

Ranked below are the states (based on the  date of the first visit - there are states that I stayed/visited multiple times. Also, D.C is counted as a state though its not really a state)

Illinois
Ohio
Indiana
Missourri
Pennsylvania
New York
California
New Jersey
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Florida
Michigan
Virginia
Washington, DC

So lets see what the future has in store - will I ever complete 50 :)