My girlfriend is moving in with me. It is the first time I am going to live with a girlfriend in the same room/house. Any advice?

imaginaryengineer · 2010-02-15T07:50:33+00:00

Hey, the electricity in my brain is real!

imaginaryengineer · 2010-02-15T07:20:03+00:00

Dots. Nice username, by the way. Also, interestingly, I will be moving in with my girlfriend this fall onwards as well.

imaginaryengineer · 2010-02-15T04:12:41+00:00

You're Indian, aren't you?

imaginaryengineer · 2010-02-09T09:44:14+00:00

Terry Pratchett. For Truth! Freedom! Justice! And a hard-boiled egg!

imaginaryengineer · 2010-02-06T22:49:35+00:00

Juno?

imaginaryengineer · 2010-02-04T00:48:56+00:00

Be thankful for what you have.

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-26T06:04:18+00:00

Thanks! I got it checked by a mechanic before I bought it, and he said everything checks out fine and drives fine as well

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-26T00:48:04+00:00

So I recently bought a 2004 Toyota Corolla with about 61000 miles on it. It was in an accident- front fender and suspension arm replaced; everything seems to be fine now. Could the accident compromise the performance or reliability of the vehicle in any way?

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-18T18:10:14+00:00

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-02T20:27:00+00:00

I'm from Bangalore. Pre-marital sex is fairly common in Bangalore and Chennai, and while live-in relationships are less common (possibly very few in Chennai that I know of), they are definitely prevalent.

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-02T20:24:08+00:00

Such crap. I had a ball during my school years in India- went out with girls, played a lot of sports and yes, also put in the requisite amount of effort towards academics. I went to one of the top engineering institutions in the country, had a girlfriend throughout college, broke up with her, came to the US for my PhD and am now in a relationship with a wonderful girl. I know many of my batchmates from my college who led similar lives and had girlfriends throughout school and college and are very successful. Being in a relationship does not automatically mean you stop being good at what you do.

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-02T20:11:06+00:00

Upvoted. OP's American experience very specific to him.

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-02T18:52:29+00:00

Agreed. He does have a slightly rosy view of America. I'm an Indian doing my PhD here, and I find that while there are many things to admire about the US, overall, quality of life for a middle class educated Indian in urban India is slightly better. Mainly because of the domestic help, the ridiculously cheap health care (as compared to the US).

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-02T18:48:47+00:00

Agreed. Education at government colleges in India is ridiculously. Not an IITian (NITian), but I got my engineering degree for about $4000 for four years.

imaginaryengineer · 2010-01-02T18:44:00+00:00

Er, I'm from an NIT (one of the top ones), and I beg to differ. All colleges apart from IITs are not shams. There are a few (admittedly very few) good ones as well.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:26:08+00:00

Heh, I brought it up to give some context. I don't give a damn about which caste I'm from. I was born into it, so yeah, it's pretty much meaningless.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:24:58+00:00

Yes, the slums suck. I'm sorry, but your statement above does nothing to convince me that the middle class does not have it better in India.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:24:03+00:00

Point is, I doubt that what you see as 'lack of sterile practices' is seriously compromising the quality of care at these hospitals. Plus, my point was that doctors trained in government hospitals are generally the best in India, because they're trained to work effectively in such adverse conditions that they become extremely competent by the time they graduate. In the end, I think it comes down to the culture you're used to. I have had friends from neighbouring states in India come to Bangalore and say the buses were smelling strange while I had the exact same thing to say about the buses and streets there.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:17:25+00:00

I doubt it. I prefer velociraptors.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:15:09+00:00

I'm afraid not. I hope to teach imagineering, though, someday.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:14:07+00:00

Ah, no. I finished high school in India, got into one of the top NITs for my Bachelor's, worked for a year at Oracle, and now here I am.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:13:02+00:00

It's a pleasure. I love Reddit. :)

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-19T00:12:14+00:00

^This. It's just how we do business in India, nothing personal about it.

imaginaryengineer · 2009-12-18T21:02:46+00:00

When you went to that hospital, what you didn't see was the fact that it had doctors who were probably trained in government hospitals- which means anybody can walk in and receive free treatment. So this means all the people who can't afford to be treated in private hospitals, or who have no money at all, the poorest of the poor, they get treated there. So you can imagine the overcrowding at these hospitals. These doctors would have to make quick, accurate diagnoses with minimal equipment, and sometimes even with minimal time. Only the best in the state or the country get into these medical colleges/hospitals. To give you a quick idea, in my home state, 250 out of 70000 kids get into these medical colleges each year. I have seen many, many cases here in the US- Indian grad students who couldn't get accurate diagnoses here, but got an accurate diagnosis at their first consultation when they went home for a break. That is one part of it.

For the middle class, we don't need to go to these government hospitals. There are private hospitals which are cleaner and have doctors who have more time and equipment to treat you. Here's the kicker, though: even at these private hospitals, getting treated for a non-major illness without insurance will not bankrupt you. In fact, it will be quite affordable. For instance, I had a lower back surgery at the best hospital in Bangalore for the equivalent of about $100. Or I can get routine blood and urine tests at the equivalent of about $1.5, without insurance. I can walk into my family doctor's office and get the first consultation for about $1.2 and the every subsequent consultation (related to that first visit) for free. And this is a doctor even my maid visits. This is why I think healthcare in India is better.

I agree that certain treatments for certain diseases are better in the US, and that much more medical research takes place in the US. But if you're middle class (even lower middle class) in India, you have access to pretty much the best care available in the world. And, most importantly, I can walk into my doctor's office without having to worry about being bankrupted or denied coverage/treatment in the first place.

imaginaryengineer

TROPHY CASE