My Canvas ...

A culture of hospitality, but missing common courtesy

2011-04-02T07:45:00.003-05:00

Indian culture has traditionally been known for its hospitality. As you step into airports, train stations or inter-city bus stations, posters of Incredible India, pictures of the traditional folded hands – the “namaste” greet passengers. However, these symbols of hospitality seem to be relegated to hoardings and Indian tourism propaganda.

For a culture that prides itself on its hospitality, majority of the population seems to be lacking common courtesy. Anyone who has seen the traffic in India (in effect this means anyone who has set foot outside any port on Indian soil) will agree when I say that traffic here is congested and chaotic. Courteous driving seems to be an alien and unheard of concept. Traffic rules are merely considered as guidelines and not always followed.

With the advent of the tech boom, a young and educated workforce now has the means to enjoy the latest gadgets and gizmos while indulging their tastes for food, clothing and consumables from around the world. This has led to a spurt of malls carrying high-end luxury brands from around the world, all-in-one grocery stores aka Safeway, Marks & Spencer, Whole Foods mainly catering to the reasonably well to do, and based on their economic status, a literate and educated strata of society.

A recent visit to one of these stores was an eye-opener. This store was stocked with the latest electronic goods and gadgets, groceries, packaged foods, fresh fruit and vegetables and was spread well over 30,000 square ft. Some areas of the store expectedly were busier than others. However, the sheer lack of politeness and courtesy among the shoppers was appalling. People were pushing and shoving each other to select abundantly available onions and potatoes. When I held out a bag for the shopper next to me (yes, some of you may call me an idiot for this), she grabbed it without so much as an acknowledgement in my direction and went on to elbow me in her rush to bag her choice of vegetables.

In other parts of the store, I noticed younger presumably college going shoppers, bumping into or pushing the elderly to get ahead. I understand that people can be in a hurry and most of us have schedules to keep, but is it so difficult to excuse ourselves as we pass another?

Have we become a nation of that is merely literate but uncultured? Of people who have the money in their pockets to buy whatever catches their fancy but lacking the courtesy and politeness that form the core of being human?

Cricket fever ...

2011-03-31T08:21:00.003-05:00

Being in the Indian sub-continent during cricket season is exciting, but being here during the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament, is an experience not to be missed. India is a cricket crazy nation, and having sent in a team that is winning matches has exponentially increased the interest and following for the "Men in Blue", the nickname for the Indian cricket team. The cricket matches have resulted in roads being rather empty and in some cases, offices declaring a half day holiday to enable people to enjoy the matches!

Back in India ... three years later ...

2011-03-22T23:52:00.003-05:00

Bags packed, boarding pass in hand, I made my way to the aircraft that would take me from Chicago to New Delhi non-stop. The flight was smooth and uneventful except for me needing an extra copy of the Indian Disembarkation form since I interchanged the day and month of my birthdate. (Yes, I know – lame!) But I did find myself wondering – why can’t governments use a standard DD-Mon-YYYY format in all their documentation? Like we create common standards for internet access and telecommunications, why not have them for governments across the world? Wouldn’t it make life easier for everyone? But then I think – Was the concept of government created to make anything easier for anyone? Oh well…

All was smooth until it was time for me to retrieve my bags from the baggage claim. For those used to announcements indicating the baggage claim when they are disembarking from the plane, forget it. All that was announced was that the baggage would be available in the baggage claim area (as if you were expecting it outside the plane, or delivered to your seat). Locating the baggage claim was simple thanks to a map of the terminal posted in the arrival area. As I hauled my bags off the conveyor belt, one of the baggage “helpers” approached me and asked if they were my bags. Not quite understanding the context, I indicated that they were. The next set of actions was a reality check. He went on to tell me that the customs officers were inspecting each bag through the x-ray screener. Not having anything to hide, I shrugged it off. He then went onto to say that iPads, cameras and LED TVs were on the “hot” item list and if had any of these and wanted to clear the terminal without waiting for the next 2 hours and paying the customs duty amounting to thousands of rupees, I could pay him $50 and walk out. After 18+ hours of travel and being jet lagged – I opted for the easy way out. I negotiated the $50 demand to $20 – and walked out in the next 5 minutes. It was a harsh welcome to reality.

As I write this, I wonder – why did I opt to pay that money? Self-preservation? Did I value 2 hours of my time more than the $20 in my pocket? Or did it simply awaken the dormant but inherent trait to work around the system?

Reconnecting with my paintbrushes ...

2010-10-02T20:12:00.004-05:00

A long hiatus from blogging ... it's been a hectic year. A few weeks ago - I took a week off from work. Yes - a full week!

I found that reconnecting with my paintbrushes helped me relax and get my head out of the 24*7 work/ run/ scramble-for-something mode. Here is the end result ....

The sky turned out decently well, but as you can see, the landscape leaves a lot to be desired.

A weekend in Boston ...

2009-05-26T14:50:00.008-05:00

Thursday evening I found myself taking a flight to Boston for a relaxing weekend with some friends and attending a cousin’s graduation.

I should have known – “relaxing” weekend would be far out of the picture. After the usual delays that Boston’s Logan airport subjects its passengers to, I made it there in time for a late dinner.

My first view of Boston was that of a city with some tall buildings a rather lot of winding roads. Strange for a city – I thought. The ways of the city are seemingly apparent even before you set foot there. The landing strip at Boston airport is almost on the water – so aircrafts have to make a loop over the Boston harbor and the Atlantic ocean before being able to land. Once you are on terra firma and making your way to downtown Boston – a strange realization strikes you … none of the roads run straight. The usual grid structure that can be mapped to streets in other American cities – is completely absent. The traffic swerves in and out of lanes in random motion intervals, drivers honk and often – to go right you need to make a left turn on the street. I had heard stories of the roads in Boston were originally cow paths created by grazing cows that were later formed into roads. As we navigated through the roads, I whole heartedly agreed and confessed to my friend that I would be sure to get lost driving there. I now have a new found respect for all the drivers who drive around Boston.

The next morning was my venture into the city of Boston. I met my cousin at the station and we decided to offload our bags at our hotel before proceeding on our tour of the city. (The picture shows a view of the Boston harbor from my hotel room.) This was my first ride on the Boston T, and it brought back fond memories of the London Underground. The subway trains, the color coded section lines, the intersections and interchanges without having to step outside the station and the style and model of the stations would make a Londoner feel right at home.

We navigated a few of the lines and made our way to Harvard, home to arguably one of the world’s most famous schools. Harvard square has an eclectic collection of shops and cafes and is a charming place. As we walked through the wood paneled halls in some of the buildings of Harvard Business School – I could almost feel the years of tradition and knowledge around me.
Leaving Harvard we met up with my cousin – the graduate to be and a friend at Boston Commons. It was a warm and sunny day and the park was full of people enjoying the weather. After walking around, taking in the sights – the Capitol building with the golden dome, the malls, theater areas and shops, the many statues that pop up at streets and squares, it was time for dinner. We picked a recommended local chain of seafood restaurants – Legal Sea Foods. It was a rather long wait, but the food was well worth it. They claim to only serve fresh seafood, and after tasting their fare – I’m inclined to agree.

As we walked back to our hotel – I realized that Boston is definitely a city where you should leave your car behind and explore on foot.

Saturday morning found us en route to a town called Eliot on the Green Line of the T – making our way to the first of my cousin’s graduation ceremonies. Why first … ? Well – since he was getting his Master’s degee in Management, and his Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering, all in a span of 4 years! Weird ? Yes, I’m inclined to agree. He is like that. After meeting the rest of the family attending his commencement, we drove to Babson School of Management where he completed his Masters. The graduating class comprised several hundred graduates and was a rather long and tedious ceremony – with one exception. The commencement speaker was a man called Erik Wiehenmeyer – the only bind man to scale Mt.Everest. He is a rock climber, skier and mountaineer in addition to being blind. He spoke about motivating oneself to always climb higher, and not let anything come in the way of achieving your dreams. It was inspiring and humbling to listen to him narrate his experiences and share his thoughts.

We made it to a quaint family run steakhouse called Ken's Steakhouse. This place had the authentic old-time feel to it with wooden beamed ceilings and floors and the food lived up to our expectations. Given the huge portion sizes, I was more than happy to split my entree with one of my cousins.

The next day, we were up and off to attend the next graduation ceremony. This was far more relaxed and chilled out and I enjoyed meeting my cousin's classmates and watching them rejoice at having graduated. This ceremony was for a batch of 70 students and each one of them had picked out a sentence 15 words or less to be read as they walked on-stage. Most students had picked lines expressing their gratidude and inspirational thoughts .... but one of them was different. There on stage - he asked his girlfriend to marry him. Phew ... talk about pressure! After a 2 second pause where the girl probably picked herself off the chair she'd fallen from - there was a resounding "YES"! The entire audience cheered .... That incident made the event even more memorable!

After dinner at a Japanese restaurant, we headed back to our cousin's dorm room, helped him pack his things as we drove back to our hotel.

Monday morning, driving through Boston was nightmarish, but I made my flight on time thanks to some Bostonian driving by my uncle. All in all - an awesome weekend!

Basketball in Indy - Pacers v/s Bucks

2009-01-28T21:14:00.005-06:00

Just back from a fun basketball game at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where we watched the Indianapolis Pacers play the Milwaukee Bucks.

It was my first visit to an NBA game, and the Club level seats that we had ensured that I could enjoy every bit of the action. The atmosphere in the crowd was electric and I couldn't help but join the cheering fans. All my cheering resulted in a hoarse voice by the end of the game. As you can see it was a fast paced game - here you can see split second shots of the ball in the basket!

When the action on the court took a break, the cheerleaders and mascots ensured that the timeouts were entertaining.

The Pacers have two mascots - Boomer (a cat) and Bowser (a dog). In the picture you see Boomer making a basket after jumping off a trampoline. That explains the height he has when shooting.

These guys kept us entertained throughout by cheering from the sidelines and getting the crowd pumped up to cheer. An action-packed, entertaining evening!

Christmas in Portland

2009-01-12T16:30:00.008-06:00

Early December - just as I was wondering what I should do over the holidays - I had a call from my uncle inviting me over to spend the last week of the year with all of them in Portland.

I gladly accepted the invite and eagerly looked forward to my trip to the West coast. Having visited Portland in the past, I quite knew what to expect - but this would be my first trip there in the winter.

A few days before my journey, a major snowstorm blew through the Pacific Northwest and most of Washington and Oregon received about 12+ inches of snow. Since these are places that don't usually get any snow - the airports and towns are not equipped to handle it. For 48 hours, Portland airport (PDX) was closed to all traffic. Hundreds of flights were cancelled. Amidst all my holiday excitement - I could only hope that my flight made it to Portland as scheduled. On my day of travel, the airport was functional, but there were severe weather delays. Thanks to the delays, the gate agent's holiday mood and my numerous flights on United Airlines for work - I was upgraded for free! Sitting up in First class - eating a good meal, watching the clouds and stars, made the 5 hrs whizz by... Definitely a great way to start the holiday...

Getting around Portland was a challenge, since the public transport system was hampered by the snow. Met up with my cousins at the train station and got home in time for a late dinner. Dinner ... phew - here's the spread ... raspberry salad, veg pulao, some amazing grilled Pacific salmon (yes, this tastes much better than the commonly available Atlantic variety), carrots & cranberries and some soba noodles in ginger soy sauce. Despite my meal on the flight - I tucked into the sumptuous dinner. As expected, this was the trend throughout the holiday ... delicious meals and relaxation ...

The next morning - was Christmas Day! After an awesome breakfast - we exchanged gifts amidst a lot of excitement. A truly memorable Christmas for me!

NY Wishes - 2009

2009-01-02T02:05:00.001-06:00

The other day, we had a severe snowstorm. In the span of an hour – the weather worsened. The pathway below my apartment was invisible. Public transportation was paralyzed. Offices announced closures since no one could get to them. Airports were forced to cancel flights and shut down. TV channels flashed regular weather updates warning viewers to stay indoors to avoid danger of accidents and frostbite. As the day progressed, the snowflakes continued to fall until the entire landscape was covered in white. Unfortunately, as I discovered the next day, much to my chagrin – so was my car! But, for that day & night, as the snow fell in soft white flakes – it was blissfully calm and quiet. The scenery looked right out of a picture postcard. The weather gave everyone an opportunity to spend some good ol' family time, away from the rush of the ticking clock and endless to-do lists.

I think it was Mother Nature's way of granting us all, the gift of a much-needed break from the frenetic activity that goes on through the year. What gifts would I choose for all of us as we step into another trip around the sun?

1.Peace. Yes – that quiet feeling that creeps from within when your mind is not chasing strings of thoughts around. Not quite as encompassing as world peace, but as we all know – it can be just as elusive. May this be the year that you find peace within.

2.Health – Most of us are seriously work-life imbalanced. And as I navigate through each day, I find that the one thing that manages get lower down the priority list is my time to exercise and maintain my body to do all that I want to do. May this be the year that we spend more time being well, than worrying about it!

3.Discovery – We often walk the same path each day, without discovering and exploring the things and changes around. Seasons come and go, and another year rolls by. I've learnt that people also move in and out of our lives. It is up to us to discover them and make the connection. Exchange thoughts & ideas; explore the world. Who knows, that stranger today may happen to be your good friend tomorrow! May you have the chance to discover many such fulfilling relationships that enrich your life.

4.Time – The greatest gift of all. I've seen that it's not always about keeping schedules. Abandon that watch. Share your time with those you love. I was surprised how giving this to someone I cared about made a positive impact on my day. May you have and receive thisfrom those near and dear to you.

These I wish for all of us!

Weekend in Vegas ...

2008-11-17T19:46:00.009-06:00

Last Thursday I met up with Aarti in crazy Las Vegas for a fun weekend. After an on-time flight from Indy (thank you Southwest airlines), I found myself at the very 80s looking McCarran airport.

I had already heard of Las Vegas being called the gambling capital of the world, but I was unprepared for the sight of rows and rows of slot machines that entice the most risk averse person to bet a few cents and try his luck.

After picking up our bags and a rather long wait for the cab - we headed to our casino hotel. A quick check in and we were out to check out the casino.

Las Vegas is a wild place - but I didn't know that yet. The next morning, my brain was in inertia, and had a late start to getting onto the strip. The first sight I remember was the replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris casino ...

Over the next few days - we walked the malls, saw an amazing water ballet show at Bellagio called "O" from the famous Cirque Du Soleil troupe. We had front row seats and ended up getting completely soaked during one of the water acrobatics. Brrrr ... that was rather wet and uncomfortable, but the show was awesome. The acts underwater and the somersaults ... phenomenal.

Vegas by night is a colorful, glizty place. The "strip" as the Main Street in Vegas is referred to is full of people in a party mood.

Vegas is a crazy party place - but for some reason, I'd be happy to stay away from it. It felt dated and sleazy rather than vibrant ... am sure the many gambling enthusiasts would disagree, then again - to each their own!

Healthy Lunch ...

2008-07-26T16:13:00.009-05:00

This Saturday, after finishing up some chores - I came to my question of the day ... What do I cook today? Happened to see an ad on TV featuring avocados, and since there were a few sitting in my fridge - decided to whip up - Avocado Bruschetta for lunch.

It was easy to make, all I did was -

Chop up some onions, grape tomatoes, green chillies.

Add a teaspoon of lime juice & salt to taste.

Let the mixture sit in the fridge.

In the mean time - Brushed some bread with olive oil and rubbed a shredded garlic clove on it.

Toasted the bread in the oven.

Chop up an avocado and added it to the onion-tomato-chillies mixture. Add some finely chopped corriander and mixed it up to let the flavors mingle.

Once the bread was done, layered the bread with the avocado mixture and garnished it with a sprig of mint. Voila ! A tasty healthy meal was prepared in minutes. :)

Weekend in Colorado

2008-07-09T08:55:00.004-05:00

Off to Denver ... A long awaited weekend with my cousins. Four of us had planned to meet up in Denver and drive on to Aspen. Since this tied in with the 4th of July Independence day weekend, it was perfect timing.

Two of my cousins were flying in from Portland, while one of them drove from Snowmass to Denver to pick us up.

The flight was delayed by a bit, and so was my cousin who drove to the airport to pick me up - so it was perfect timing.

Inspiration ...

2008-06-08T20:25:00.005-05:00

This weekend - I was suddenly inspired to pick up my brushes and paints that had been packed away for a while ...

Still reminiscing of my peach picking trip - here is a picture of the painting inspired by my visit to the peach orchards.

Doing my bit for the community ...

2008-06-06T19:13:00.005-05:00

Up at the crack of dawn ... I found myself scrambling to get to office to be there in time to participate in a community service day planned by my organization.

It was hectic but a good experience. We visited one of the Chicago inner city schools and taught students about the importance of doing their bit for the environment. When reading through their curriculum, I realized that I could do some of the things that I was teaching about ...

Simple things - turn off the lights each time you leave a room. Switch off the TV if no one is watching it. Unplug devices once they are done charging. Simple tasks - but if all of us do our bit, it would definitely make a world a greener place!

After this day spent working with the children, I'm determined to implement the green tips in my own life. :)

Eating like there's no tomorrow ...

2008-06-04T15:35:00.003-05:00

The title of this blog is not what I did at this restaurant - but the possibility that I could. The name of the restaurant - Fogo De Chao. Their specialty - grilled meats. This is a chain of Brazilian style steakhouses, serving various kinds and cuts of meat. For the vegetarians reading this - stop here, lest the rest of this writeup gross you out.

For the others - this is an experience not to be missed. The experience begins as you enter the restaurant and are greeted by a extensive salad bar. The salad bar in itself could suffice for a restaurant. This is well stocked with the regular greens, dressings, mixed salads - but also has a sampling of Mediterreanean style tabouleh, feta, mozarella & fine cheddar cheeses, fine cold cuts of meat. It's easy to go crazy here. Some of the others with me had been to one of these restaurants earlier - so warned me against filling up at the salad bar.

At the table warm rolls of melted cheese centered bread awaited us. Again - very easy to fill up on these too!

Now for the main course - Each diner is given a coaster with 2 colors - red & green. When you are ready to eat - turn the coaster to the green side up. As if by magic, waiters bearing seasoned grilled meat of various kinds on trays and skewers appear at your side. Each one explains the kind of meat they are serving. Gauchos are the traditional Brazilian skewered meats, racks of lamb, grilled lamb chops, beef ribs, filet mignon, chicken drumsticks, seasoned sausage, grilled chicken slices. Each table also has unlimited sides of polenta(type of fried potato), fried bananas and mashed potatoes. The fried bananas are used to cleanse the palate between different styles of meat.

Once you think you have been served for the time being - turn the coaster to red and the food stops bombarding you. Once you think you are ready for the next round, switch to green ... A prompt waiter replaces your plate and the onslaught begins.

At the end of it - beef ribs, the lamb chops and the sausage were rated the winners. However, this was not the end of the meal. Desserts - flan, molten chocolate cake and papaya dessert followed. The papaya dessert is supposed to be a digestive (how something mixed with ice cream can aid digestion is beyond me). My vote for the best dessert went to the flan. It was awesome.

So - to all my carnivorous friends ... if you are getting on the Atkins diet or just craving some good grilled meat ... Fogo De Chao is the place to go!

Peach picking in Alabama ...

2008-05-25T20:31:00.007-05:00

Memorial Day ... Whew a long weekend finally! This time I was off to serene Birmingham in Alabama. Visiting my friend A, who decided to move here. This time I will even get to see A's sprawling new house that just completed construction. I'm looking forward to the weekend - and although I think it will be hectic (which weekend with friends isn't?) This time the plan is ... that there should be no plan. Try to keep it as laid-back and chilled out as possible.

So far, it has been a peaceful relaxed weekend in Birmingham, Alabama. Yesterday we found ourselves driving to Clanton county for a day of peach-picking. This area is popularly called the Peach County given its abundant peach orchards. As we drove in, we were greeted by rows of peach trees laden with ripe red peaches. Some of the trees were so laden with fruit that they had split the tree in half.

We were fairly large number of people, since A has this knack of coordinating and organizing poeple, so that you always end up with a big group. Overall, with kids running amok in the orchards the result was pretty chaotic. The orchards were awesome, you could pick and eat as many peaches as you liked. Biting into the first (albeit unwashed) peach was not only delicious, but refreshing as well. After this, I ate more peaches than I put in the basket! It was a rather warm day - and in a few hours we were all ready to get into a cooler place.

We stopped by a wayside deli at Durbin farms to pick up a quick bite - the sandwiches here were surprisingly delicious. Headed back laden with peaches - we had a lot to show for a day of peach picking!

The day the river turned green ....

2008-03-16T01:07:00.006-05:00

Spring is finally in the air ... After hibernating through winter, I ventured downtown on Saturday with a friend. The occasion was St.Patrick's Day, the day they dye the Chicago river green! As you can see - they pick the brightest green dye and add lot of it into the river. Am told that the river retains the color for about 2 weeks.

Despite the clocks moving into summer time, the weather still seemed rather wintry - with cold wind blowing across the river. Since both of us had left our hats behind, we found ourselves in the nearest Walgreens' picking woollen hats with "Chicago" written across the top.

I would have really liked to get a green St.Patrick's Day hat - but, hey when your ears are freezing off your head, choice loses the battle with comfort in a minute. Check this tree - what do you think is the background ? Green grass - take a closer look ... its the green Chicago river.

Welcoming 2008 ...

2007-12-31T23:45:00.000-06:00

As I sat down to compose my wishes for 2008, I couldn't help but think of the year gone by. I closed my eyes and the fun filled memories of my vacation in India, our family camping trip to Pokagon … visits to Portland and Ann Arbor, flooded my mind. They were followed rather closely by images of my attempt at baking a cake - which, predictably, ended up overflowing and flooding my oven.

Opening my eyes, before I got to the part where I had to clean up the mess, I decided to pen my thoughts. Retrospectively viewing these very experiences, the good and bad alike, has helped me chart my course for the future. Analyzing the experiences that subconsciously drive us, and I believe we are the product of our experiences, has truly helped me better understand myself.

At this stage, I'm already thinking of my objectives for 2008. And trust me, it beats cleaning up a cake that has blown up in your oven. Back to the subject at hand, I believe that while setting goals it's important to remember that the experience of working towards the goal is the most important part. Meeting the goal itself is secondary to the lessons we learn in getting to the summit.

As you work your way through your goals, don't be overly critical of yourself – remember, hindsight is always 20-20, take each day as it comes, and when things come at you too fast, it's okay to cry. The important thing is that you learn to end those tears with a smile or a laugh at how silly you feel for taking life so seriously. Let these experiences inspire you to jumpstart yourself when you are wondering whether to begin that new project, or do that wild and crazy thing that you always wondered about but were too afraid to try. Life is about risk and adventure and looking at the world around you and taking that deep breath ... and rather than being overwhelmed by it, stretching your arms out to embrace it. As Henry Ford said – "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right." Choose to think that you can – and you will.

Earlier this year, I saw the movie - "The Pursuit of Happyness", which got me thinking. The movie is based on a true story about a man who has to surmount great adversity in his quest to attain success. Despite his troubles, the protagonist continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces. Life is about believing in oneself, not losing sight of your goals despite the troubles that threaten to undermine your very existence, and using each experience as a lesson to better yourself. For yourself, in your reality, pursue happiness. Step up and do what makes you happy.

I guess I'm putting down a little of the advice I need to be taking. This year, all of us have new mountains to scale, new oceans to sail, new experiences to appreciate, new people to meet, new ideas to think and all this one day at a time. To all of you reading this - make 2008 the year you pursue "happyness"!

Christmas Eve in DC

2007-12-24T23:43:00.000-06:00

The past few days have been spent shopping, sampling the food, and unwinding in and around Washington DC. Here are 2 shots of the Washington Memorial - the first one shows how dark it really was, and the other (clicked 10 minutes later) is the result of my tweaking with the shutter speed and the exposure settings on my Canon S3 IS. Among the point and shoot non-SLR digital cameras - I have to say - the S3 IS rocks! :) See for yourself.

                    Standard night shot                                                                       After tweaking camera settings
Details - Date: Dec 24, 2007, Time: 8:37 pm Shutter                   Details - Date: Dec 24, 2007, Time: 8:47 pm Shutter
Speed: 1 sec, Focal length: 10 mm, Lens Aperture: F/3.2,        Speed: 12.88 secs, Focal length: 9mm,
Exposure Compensation: 0                                                                     Lens Aperture: F/3.2, Exposure Compensation: 2

Pacific coast, Oregon

2007-10-16T08:03:00.000-05:00

The next morning, after a sumptuous breakfast of chicken & pita bread sandwiches with some fresh fruit – (By now I had realized why my aunt had packed that huge amount of food … we needed it!) It was time to head out. The journey was a drive around the pacific coastal route, the famous Hwy 101. This route is amazingly scenic. Scenic cliffs, beautiful sandy beaches, the white foamy waves crashing on the cliffs and the sand – these were sights I could gaze on all day … I don’t know what it is about the ocean that is so relaxing. I always find myself refreshed after gazing at the ocean. Moving on, we saw a part of the coast where the water had carved out a hole in a rock and when the waves rushed in – the water spouted out like a whale spout – Here it is!

Continuing north towards Portland along the coast, my cousin mentioned that a visit to the Tillamook cheese factory was mandatory! So off we went to Tillamook. After a tour of the cheese factory and samples of the cheese, I was told they have some of the best ice cream around. Ate that too … By now I had long stopped thinking of the words “calorie count” …
We continued further north to the haystack rock – famous rock that finds itself on most of the Oregon posters and tourist pictures. The sunset and the rock at the beach was a picture perfect setting … The 80 mile drive back was over rather too soon, and I realized with more than a twinge of sadness that my vacation was almost over. Tomorrow, I would be heading back to Chicago. As I was thinking of getting back to the routine, I realized I would always have all these awesome sights and memories of my time spent with my aunt, uncle and cousin to reflect on whenever I wished – in the blink of an eye! Isn’t that awesome?

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

2007-10-16T07:59:00.004-05:00

On Saturday morning, we headed out from La Pine State Park to my most awaited part of the trip. Crater Lake National Park … As we headed towards the lake, the panoramic view took my breath away ... My first glimpse of the lake was the North Rim in all it’s splendor.
It was a bright sunny day, but there was a cold breeze blowing – one that made you glad you had a jacket on.
Crater Lake was formed 7700 years ago, by a volcanic eruption that left a huge crater after the explosion. This is a land locked lake, there are no rivers that run into it. As a result, this is one of the cleanest natural water sources on earth. The only water that feeds this lake is from the rain & the snow that falls into it. Truly, the water is a hue of blue that could match the sky on a summer evening. I tried my best to get pictures of it, but none of these pictures can do justice to the actual view of the lake.

In this lake is a tiny island, called Wizard’s Island – the result of another minor volcanic eruption that created a mini hill in this lake. During the summer months, they also have ferry boats that take visitors to the island for a day trip. Unfortunately, we were 2 weeks too late for the ferry. However the view from the rim was awesome!

Various volcanic rocks in all their interesting shapes were by the lake. Here is one that looked like Smoky the bear, while another looked like a native Indian tribal chief completed with headgear!

We drove around the entire rim of the lake, and each section looked as awe inspiring as the previous one. Check and see if you have a favorite view!
Soon, it was time to move on to the next part of our trail – the western coast of Oregon. It was night by the time we reached the Umpqua Lighthouse campground. However, with a renewed burst of energy, we set up camp (including the tent) in a record time of 20 minutes, and were all set to go view the lighthouse!

It was the first time I was seeing a lighthouse at such close quarters. It reminded me of all the mystery stories about smugglers and fishermen that I’d read as a child … The flashing lights did look rather mysterious and sinister.
My photographs of this lighthouse are pretty bad, and I only have my lack of skills to blame. Need to spend sometime improving those before my next trip!

Inspiring marathon ...

2007-10-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Oct 07, 2007 - The day dawned bright & clear. It was the day of the 30th Annual LaSalle Chicago marathon. It was last time the marathon would be run with the "LaSalle" name, since the bank has now been bought by Bank of America. It was also a special day for me since I was one of the volunteers who would be serving drinks at the event.

One of my friends was visiting from St.Louis, and he agreed to volunteer as well. Up bright and early, well - by weekend standards, we boarded the train to get downtown. As we stepped out of the station, a truly inspiring sight met our eyes ... Contestants in wheel chairs & runners in the 75 deg heat (the mercury would later climb to 87 deg by noon) and people lined by the sidewalks with banners, placards and pom poms - cheering the runners on their way! It was like all of Chicago had turned up to cheer them on.

We walked the 1.6 miles from Union Station to Grant park, most of the main roads leading to the venue were blockd due to the marathon. On the way my friend stopped to pick some free headgear courtesy Energizer that looked like pink bunny ears! Cheering the runners along the way, we walked on to our destination, where we were part of the beer tent. Our stall was supposed to serve out beer to the runners that made it past the finish line.

The first set of runners that crossed the finish line, were mostly professionals and athletes who were training seriously for other marathons. When offered a beer, they just looked at us in disbelief that we were serving beer at a marathon!

At this time, I was wondering if we would ever serve out the beer we had with us. However, this was to change shortly. Within an hour, the next batch of runners - amateurs who had trained and made it across the finish line were at our stall. These were people who had trained hard for weeks to be able to run the marathon and had made it!

Our camp was making up slogans like "You trained all year, now have an ice cold beer!" Quite noisy with our slogans, we attracted a lot of attention and soon had runners flocking to our stall. All of us volunteers were just running back and forth with cups of beer. The beer dispenser had 5 taps and we were just letting the beer flow out. Moving the cups out in an assembly line fashion - they were disappearing faster than we could serve them!

Never had I seen so much beer in my life ... flowing like water. It was an experience of a lifetime! For about 4 hrs - we served beer non stop. The runners were glad ... Most of them blessed us or thanked us, and expressed extreme gratitude in some form or another. Just watching their expressions as they downed the ice cold beer, the sheer contentment that you could see on their faces ... was worth enduring the heat to serve it.

Central Oregon

2007-09-27T21:38:00.001-05:00

Friday morning, we were off on our camping trip to travel around the state. It took about an hour to just load the car. The SUV was loaded with a cooler that contained food, a box with more food, utensils for cooking, a stove, basic provisions, a first aid kit, sleeping bags, pillows, water and a tent. By the time we were done, it looked like we were setting out on a 10 day expedition, not a 3 day camping trip!

The first stop was at Mt. Hood. This is a mountain that is snowcapped in summer, and is used by the US Olympic Ski Team for training. It was a beautiful drive to this mountain, and by now I was fast learning that such phenomenal views are considered normal in this part of the country. Here is a long range shot of Mt.Hood.

As we drove through Central Oregon, I noticed that the rocks had interesting formations. Check this picture - this one looked like a bunch of crayons were stacked together!

As we drove, we stopped by a scenic spot, called the "Crooked River" canyon. This is a rather crooked channel of water making it's way though a 300 ft valley. This place actually had signboards prohibiting pets, and mentioned that many dogs have jumped off the cliff and died! Once you see the canyon, you can see that for anyone who jumps off - survival would be next to impossible.

Off to Oregon ...

2007-09-27T21:26:00.000-05:00

Day 1
It’s 5 am Central Time, September 20, 2007.
Here I am, all packed and ready to leave for my vacation to Oregon. During this time, I plan to visit family in Portland, and then drive down with them to Crater Lake National Park in Central Oregon. Crater Lake National Park, was on a list of the “1000 places to visit before you die”. Let’s see if I can confirm that claim.
I’ve packed my Canon S3 IS camera, carried 3 GB in memory cards, and a newly acquired lightweight tripod. This trip should be a good time to use it.
It is a much awaited break for me – Also, I will finally get to see firsthand, the famous Oregon coast and the haystack rock.
In an effort to totally cut myself away from work, I’ve decided to leave my laptop behind. The entries that follow will be scribbled and typed in later. Yes, yes – I know that is against the concept of blogging, but then I can call it a travelogue and get away with it!

After a delay at O’Hare (why can’t flights from ORD ever be on time?), my flight takes off. It lands in Minneapolis a full 9 minutes before my connecting flight is scheduled to depart. Thanking the good sense that made me wear sneakers, I sprint from one end of Minneapolis airport to the other where my next flight is about to take off. I run to the gate, sprint in … My seat is in the first row by the door. Just as I sit down, the gate attendant closes the aircraft door and retracts the aerobridge. Whew! Talk about “just in time”.

Flying over the Rockies was a beautiful sight … Despite it being summer, the mountains were snow capped.

Soon, it was time to land into Portland. I had my camera ready, and here are some aerial shots of Portland - mainly of the Wilamet river.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

2007-09-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

The last few days of summer ... Summer in Chicago is way too short. It rolls in around the end of June, just as you are getting out of the jackets and coats it's July, August is when you start enjoying the long days and sunshine, and before you know it - it's Labor Day - signalling the end of summer!

Evenings have started getting cooler ... In an effort to make the most of summer, I drove down to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Thanks to the heavy Chicago downtown traffic, the short drive was quite a test of patience.

Nevertherless - the sight that met my eyes once I got there was well worth the drive. The beach, like most beaches was crowded with people frolicking in the water -and some gulls flapping around.

This place has a lot of sand dunes, Most of them are fenced as you can see in the picture. This one was clicked from the beach. This is one of the dunes that is by the lakeside. Notice the trees growing here I was surprised to see large trees in the sand, but this is quite common here.

The largest of these dunes is called Mt. Baldy. The most interesting phenomenon about Mt. Baldy is the fact that it is a moving dune. It is 123 feet tall and is called a "wandering" dune. It moves about 4 inches every year, and is referred to as a "living dune". Infact, the parking lot has a notice to people asking them to tread carefully, since at the current rate - they expect the dune to take over the parking lot in the next 20 years! The picture clicked here is from the top of Mt. Baldy - a mere 0.7 mile hike from the parking lot, but feels like a lot more since you are walking uphill in the sand.

Despite the warm day - there was a cool breeze blowing on Mt. Baldy. This part of the beach was rather deserted compared to the crowded lakeshore swimming area. Further along, I could see traces of the Indiana industrial belt - you can see the evidence of a factory in the picture. Looking back, it was fun to have met this "living" dune!

Chai Ki Dukaan …

2007-08-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

There is a plain ol' "chai ki dukaan" (tea-shop). The USP of this place is the kinds of tea they prepare - masala tea w/milk, plain tea, lemon tea, ginger tea. On occasion, they can also whip up some inspired ginger-lemon tea.

This "chai ki dukaan" consists of a "Maalik" (owner), "bhai" (chief tea-maker), and four "Chotus"(tea-servers). Maalik takes the orders, Bhai prepares the tea, While the 4 chotus serve them.

Additionally, Maalik is responsible for handling the cash register, Bhai for coming up with the various tea variations, and the 4 chotus are responsible for mopping up any spills, and cleaning the tea cups without breaking (well, atleast not too many) of the cups.

One day - a man strolls-in ... Maalik can see, from experience that this man is rich. He drives a fancy car, talks into a fancy-looking cellphone, and has two seemingly bratty youngsters with him. The man has a flat tire, and while he is looking for someone to fix it, Maalik asks if he would like to order some tea. The man is content with plain ol' tea, but Maalik goes into his sales pitch of selling the best tea made in the area, so the man decides to order some exotic chai tea latte. Maalik is happy, and figures he can double the price of the tea, by giving it an exotic name. So he asks Bhai to prepare some "chai tea latte". Now Bhai is an awesome tea-maker, but even he doesn't know the meaning of "chai tea latte". However, before he can open his mouth to put his foot in it, Maalik shushes him and explains that he only needs to make the normal milk tea with a dash of ginger. Grumbling about people who don’t know the first thing about preparing tea trying to make a simple task complex, Bhai complies.

Now since this is a rich customer, Maalik orders 2 of the Chotus to get a table ready, and ensure that all the tea cups are sparkling clean. Chotus wonder – how can a 5 year old teacup possibly look sparkling clean, especially when they have just have some lemon and ash and a bucket of water to clean them in? However, seeing that Maalik is in no mood to be argued with, they meekly set about their task.

Soon the tea is ready, and set out before the customer. He sips it and is happy -
Maalik sees this as a golden opportunity to sell him some more tea, and decides to explain all the various beverages (teas) that he sells in his teashop. In his enthusiasm, Maalik also tries to offer tea to the youngsters with the customer.
Promptly, one of them asks for a ThumsUp float and the other asks for a mango milkshake. Now Maalik is stumped. He has never ever heard of a ThumsUp float or a mango milkshake in his life! But he knows that he has just spent the better part of an hour waxing eloquent on the many qualities of his teashop, and all the beverages that he & his able team can whip up.

Petrified that he is way out of his league, Maalik quickly confers with Bhai – who admits that he knows nothing about a ThumsUp float, but guesses that a mango milkshake requires mango & milk. He explains to Maalik that if he can get him some mangoes, he will try his hand at making it.

Maalik calls one of the other Chotus – who has so far been sitting in a corner scrubbing some pots, and asks him to run down to the market and buy 2 mangoes and return ASAP. Now Chotu (3), has never seen a mango in his life. Maalik explains what a mango looks like as best he can, and after reprimanding chotu for not being better informed, sends him on his way.

In the meanwhile, the other Chotu(4) – is asked to figure out how to make a ThumsUp float. Chotu (4) tries asking the neighborhood paan tapri, and the sabzi-wala as well – but no luck. No one knows what it is. Even Bhai admits to being flummoxed. Since Maalik has warned Chotu (4) that he better come back with an answer or be prepared to lose his day’s pay – Chotu (4) is frantic for an answer. Desperation makes him bold, and in a last ditch effort – he hesitantly asks the youngster who requested for the drink, how he would like his ThumsUp float. The youngster, incredulous that a cook who doesn’t know such a drink exists – looks at him and says – “with vanilla ice-cream” of course! All along, Maalik has been talking about his team of expert mixologists, so the youngster has no way of knowing that Chotu (4) essentially just cleans the tables and vessels.
Happy to receive some answer, Chotu (4) lets out a sign of relief, and runs to Maalik to inform him that a ThumsUp float needs vanilla ice-cream.

In the meanwhile, Chotu (3) returns with the mangoes. However, they are not the ripe mangoes that Maalik had explained, but rather raw ones. Chotu (3) explains that those were the only ones available for the money he was given. After berating Chotu (3) for being a hopeless negotiator, Maalik gives those mangoes to Bhai for his milkshake. Bhai freaks. How is he supposed to make milkshake with semi-ripe mangoes ? Maalik tells him to double the amount of sugar and make the drink. As this is happening, the youngster who requested for the milkshake comes by and asks if he can have some whipped cream and raisins in his milkshake too. Now Bhai is raving. He threatens to quit the job. He is after all, a tea-maker and now he is being asked to prepare some weird exotic drinks. Maalik, does a quick take on the potentially explosive situation and promises Bhai the much needed, long awaited vacation soon – provided he prepares this well. Bhai – enticed by the thought of spending long leisurely days away from the tapri, agrees grudgingly. Knowing that he now needs to procure raisins and vanilla ice-cream, and that the customers have been waiting for a while – Maalik orders Chotus 2 & 3 to get the ice-cream, raisins & ThumsUp1 from the nearest store, and even lends them his bicycle for the same. Chotus 2 &3 are thrilled, and jump at the opportunity.

As luck would have it, the store is out of ThumsUp. They have to settle for a Pepsi instead. After cycling a distance, Chotu (2) realizes it is not all that easy to pedal away in the sun, and switches places with Chotu (3). Huffing and puffing, they get back with the ice-cream, Pepsi & raisins. The raisins are quickly added into the milkshake and sent out.
Alas, due to the sun, some of the ice-cream has already started melting, and the Pepsi is warm. Without thinking too much about the drink, Bhai hurriedly dumps the ice-cream & Pepsi into a glass and asks Chotu (1) to serve it out before it melts any further.

The customers, now rather irritated at having to wait so long for his drinks, change their mind & order. They refuse to drink either the milkshake or the ThumsUp float.

Instead the customer asks Maalik for the recipe of the “chai tea latte”, and the exact quantity of the ingredients that need to be added into it. In addition to this – he asks for a complete list of the places where Maalik procures his milk, tea, mangoes and other supplies. He tells Maalik that he needs to train his entire team to be certified “mixologists” and not just tea-makers.
Chotus witnessing the conversation, shake their heads sadly. Each one, is re-running the part he played in making the drinks in his mind, and they all look at each other and commiserate - at a great team effort that amounted to nothing. They take back the milkshake and the ThumsUp(Pepsi) float, and tell Bhai that they are now going to aim for certifications in ‘mixology’ …

In our daily transactions - I see the occasional ray of humor, and this was an attempt to share it.
Over the years - an insight into the working of a typical software organization led me to form the analogy. Please note – the above story was intended to relieve your stress and laugh a little. It was not meant to degrade or poke fun at anyone.

Nature Walk @ Pokagon

2007-07-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning was a clear and sunny day. Since it had been rather warm - we had removed the rain cover from our tent. Thanks to this, I happened to wake up as soon as it was light outside ... around 6 am! Unfortunately, everyone else was sleeping/ snoring peacefully. One of my cousins is an early riser, so he was awake too.

We decided to walk around the campgrounds and enjoy the woods. As luck would have it - we met the Park Inspector For Pokagon State Park - Fred Wooley while we were strolling. He invited us to join his team on a bird watching walk, and even lent both of us binoculars so that we could enjoy it. Thrilled at this - we gladly joined in.

Fred took a party of 8 of us through the Pokagon woods where we saw some of the most awesome birds. Being located near a lake, makes Pokagon a place where you can see water birds too. We started off with seeing a mourning dove, and some sparrows, and moved on to see the great blue heron - a bird that is famous in the area.

In addition to the binoculars, Fred also had a spotting scope.When focused on the birds, it's high level of magnification allows you to see each individual feature of the bird. The color of the beak, the eyes - everything!

At this time - I was cursing myself for not carrying my camera ... Luckily, Fred had one with him, and focused it on the birds ... Here is a picture of the heron as clicked by Fred.

Walking on we saw many other birds - a bright red cardinal, the indigo bunting - a bright blue feathered tiny bird. Fred would imitate the bird calls, and that would often draw the birds out. We also saw a Yellow Warbler eating his breakfast (with a bug in his beak), a red bellied woodpecker, some turtles, green herons & wood ducks (featured in the photograph) and Canadian geese in the lake. Clicking these pictures required special skill to get the camera lense to focus through the lens of the spotting scope, but then - a picture speaks a thousand words!

Thanks to meeting Fred, this walk was the absolute highlight of my visit!

Weekend @ Pokagon State Park, Indiana

2007-07-09T18:05:00.000-05:00

Last weekend - was a special family reunion weekend spent at Pokagon National Park, Indiana. Seven members of my family were meeting up for a weekend camping trip.
One of my cousins had booked the campsite, while me & another cousin planned out the food and camping gear to be carried there.
As always, our trip began at Walmart - the one stop for all the camping gear we needed ... a tent, sleeping bags (one brat cousin asked me to pick his sleeping bag as well!), charcoal for grilling .... By the time I was done with this shopping - it seemed more like living in a tent with all the usual things, rather than surviving with basic necessities!

We drove to Pokagon on Friday afternoon - hitting the peak Chicago traffic en route. After a few stops to pick up a snack and such - we were at the campground by 8 pm. Luckily, it was still daylight - (isn't summer just awesome?) and we soon pitched a tent with my neice and nephew helping out as well.

Getting a fire going was tricky, but we finally managed to get one going and were soon grilling kababs on skewers. Canned tomato basil soup completed the meal.

The next morning was spent hiking (well, walking actually) on a few of the park trails. It was cool in the woods and fun to meander along. We were back to our campsite in time for lunch. (Of course!) Went to the beach in the afternoon - this was one crowded place ... Headed back to the campsite and started the fire again (we were getting better at this by now...) and grilled some chicken over the coals. This tasted awesome! There's something about food cooked over an open fire that is just so tasty! :)

We happened to leave 2 covered boxes containing our provisions for the next day outside by our table, thinking they were safe. Well - we were wrong! Raccoons made a meal of it. We heard them outside at night - and even used a torch to check them out - but none of us was daring enough to walk out and scare them off. We decided it was better to let them have the bread and muffins, than risk our limbs! ;)

Home and back ...

2007-06-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

I had a short span of 10 days to visit Mumbai and Pune. In this time, I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Mahabaleshwar. After the customary paani puri and bhel puri rounds with friends and family in Mumbai - all of us headed to Pune for some more fun.

Pune had a lot more malls since the last time I remembered it - a lot of road construction projects, and the same crazy traffic. The fun about driving in Pune is that you don't really need to remember which side of the road you need to drive on. A lot of people drive in the opposite direction - leading you to wonder which side of the road you should actually keep to!

I had my fill of mangoes here .... Every meal had mangoes in some way, shape or form. For all my friends who missed eating the 'alphonso' mangoes - I ate your share too! :)

Driving to Mahabaleshwar - a town about 200 km(125 miles) from Pune was a pleasure. This is where you can see the new & improved roads which do cut down your travel time drastically. You do need to pay a fairly steep toll to use these, but they are well worth it.

As soon as we finished the steep climbing drive and entered Mahabaleshwar, it was like someone had turned a switch and a refreshingly cool breeze greeted us.

Compared to 40 degC (100 deg F) temperatures in Pune - MahaB was cool enough to wear a light jacket in the evenings! Trekked around to a few of the sights - one of the pictures here is the "Elephants Head" rock. I was skeptical about this one, but once we got there - I had to agree - it did resemble an elephant's head!

We also trekked to the Pratapgad fort for a taste of history, and after listening to all the stories - I was glad I was born a couple of centuries later!

The 'Sahayadri' range of mountains - presents an extremely picturesque view from this point. These mountains are made of igneous rocks, and every once in a while you can see the colors on them. It would be fun to climb these (of course, I'd need to visit the gym a lot more seriously before I can even consider that!)

Before I knew it - it was time to board the flight back to Chicago. The flight back was interesting only because we flew right over Greenland. This was the largest mass of ice that I had ever seen! With a hope to visit it someday, here's a glimpse ...

In rockin' Mumbai

2007-05-15T22:12:00.000-05:00

Aahhh … the thought of not having to work on a Monday morning is a luxury in itself. The past two days have been spent shopping. Am visiting Mumbai after more than two years, but it so many ways, it feels like yesterday. The same crowded streets, people rushing about in a hurry to get somewhere, the polluted dusty air. Yes, the traffic has gotten to be more insane (if such a thing was possible) but that’s about it. The title of this blog is inspired by the huge amount of road constcruction underway in Mumbai - all the roads are lined with concrete blocks - and the ride, be it in a car, auto-rickshaw or a bus is positively rockin! :)

While en flight– I managed to click a picture of the view from my seat. These are some clouds at 35000 feet. My flight was uneventful, I was fortunate enough to have both my bags arrive with me – intact. After having heard of various horror stories from people – I heaved a sign of relief when I saw both my bags on the conveyor belt!

I’m still waiting for my taste of the authentic Mumbai paani-puri & bhel, since none of my family or friends are willing to take me for some until I have “acclimatized” myself to the environment. I’m being made to drink mineral water – something that I absolutely detest. But then – as one of my aunts put it – “It’s better to walk around with a bottle of drinking water, than have to run around for water!”

Snow Day ...

2007-02-17T22:36:00.000-06:00

Recently, we've been having a few really cold weather weeks - with occasional snowstorms. A snowstorm means having to clear the snow off your car in sub zero weather, with gloved hands that have gone numb, and toes that you remember were once part of your feet! Each time you have to do this - the wind decides to blow in the direction that you happen to be facing!

This morning was similar - it had snowed overnight. However, the pleasant difference was the sunshine that greeted us this snowy morning. It was bright & clear sunny winter day - with absolutely no wind! Anyone who has ever visited Chicago in the winter will appreciate this weather, and understand that it is indeed a rare occurence. (The fact that the temperature was hovering around 18 deg F is a minor technicality - but after a week of below zero degrees Fahrenheit - it felt heavenly.)

Three of us friends - planned to go out for a drive - but as we stepped out of the building - the sunshine was so welcoming, we decided to build a snowman instead.

Off we walked to the lakeside and began building a snowman. We soon realized that this was no easy task - also that scooping out the snow was an exercise in itself. At this point - I remembered the snow shovel I'd tucked away in my car, and we brought it out to scoop snow better. Soon we had a nice lump of snow, but shaping it was a finger numbing task. We quickly decided to scale down the size of the orginally planned snowman - so here it is - one that looks like a snow baby.

Since it was a sunny day - we gave him some snazzy sunglasses. Mardi Gras being just around the corner - we gave him some beads to wear around his neck, and he looked like a snowman en route to New Orleans. A hat for his head, a cinnamon stick for his nose, pepper corns to form his mouth and a warm woollen muffler completed his attire.

After we built the snowman - one of my friends suggested that we move him to a mound of snow so that he (the snowman) could have an elevated view of his surroundings. Wonder of wonders - we managed to transport him to the mound of snow intact. (Am sure watching the three of us transport him must have been a funny sight - but since all of us were helping to pick him up - we don't have any pictures of those!) Here is a picture of him after we moved him to his new location.

Last time we checked - he had reduced a bit in size - but still looked cool with the sunglasses perched on his cinnamon nose! :)

Drenched day @ Universal Studios

2007-01-07T00:58:00.000-06:00

The next day I drove back to Orlando to visit the Universal Studios Theme Park. Aarti, Aniruddha & Aadit had left for Detroit, so I was left to spend the day by myself. After a bit a encouragement from Aarti I decided to venture out to Universal Studios on my own. Armed with a camera, I was hoping for another bright & sunny day. However, the weather had other plans and it rained pretty much the entire day after I got to Orlando.

Walked around getting soaked was really not much fun, but I did manage a few rides. The 'Revenge of the Mummy' ride was a disappointment, since the ride broke down just as it was my turn ... ! :( Oh well - guess I should count myself fortunate that I was not in the car that was stuck!

Magical New Year

2007-01-07T00:16:00.000-06:00

New Years' Day found us driving towards Orlando for my first visit to Disney's Magic Kingdom. After checking & rechecking maps and last minute instructions from Aniruddha, Aarti was all set to drive the huge rental mini-van all the way to Orlando. Since both of us were new to the area, I took my role as the navigator quite seriously. Fortunately, the road from Tampa to Orlando is well marked and Aarti was totally confident at the wheel. Aadit was all charged up to meet Mickey Mouse and all his friends too. As we neared Orlando, I could hardly sit still in my seat - and I could see an expression on Aarti's face that wondered if she would have to deal with two kids in Magic Kingdom!

My first glimpse of Magic Kingdom was the huge arch that welcomes you to Disneyworld. The parking lot to Magic Kingdom is simply huge. We parked in the Minnie Parking lot 40, about 1.5 miles from the entrance to Magic Kingdom. An open bus took us from the parking lot to the ticket center. A monorail brought us to the gates of the Magic Kingdom. It was amazing. It felt like I was transported into Fairyland. The quaint looking shops, the stone houses, and the entire setup felt straight out of a fairytale. As we walked down Main Street, there was a show in progress at Cinderella's castle. This show was called 'Believe in your dreams' and had most of the Disney characters in it. It was a well synchronized skit that was enjoyed not only by us, but also by 2 year old Aadit.

After the show, we walked to the Mad Tea Party ride. This ride consists of spinning tea cups that move. I am not too fond of spinning rides since they make me dizzy, but this ride had a controlling steering wheel - which let you control how fast you want your tea cup to spin. (I thought this was a really neat feature.)

After this ride, we went into a 3D show called Mickey's PhilharMagic orchestra. This was my first taste of the real 3D effects .... for example... when Donald fell into the water - the audience also felt droplets of water on them. Aadit loved all the musical instruments flying at him, and all the effects too.

Magic Kingdom has places marked Pinocchio's house, Toontown (where Mickey lives) and other setups from Disney stories. After waiting in a rather long line, we also met Winnie the Pooh & Tigger. Meeting Mickey was the highlight of my visit. To meet a character who I've known since I was about a year old - made me feel like I was child again.

We also saw the Disney day parade. This parade has floats with most of the Disney characters. I had always heard that the cast members at Disney(no, they are not called staff) go out of their way to make the experience memorable for the visitors. I had an opportunity to witness this first hand. During the parade, I was clicking pictures. One of the people I was clicking was a cast member dressed as Walt Disney riding a bicycle while drawing a cartoon. When he realized I was trying to get a picture - he came right by where I was standing - posed for a picture perfect photograph, and moved away only when I had acknowledged that I got the picture. It might have been a small gesture on his part, but it made me feel a part of the Disney magic.

After a lot more rides, it was time for the night parade - this has lit up floats and the procession dances with glowing lights and waers lit up costumes. As usual, Mickey gets pride of place in this parade and has his own float too. Everyone else shares their floats with other characters. The lights and music only add to the magic.

This feeling stayed with me throughout the visit - I did not feel like I was in a park for kids. Instead, it felt like I was a part of the magic, the enchantment and was sorry when it was time to head home for the night.

What better way than this to spend New Years' Day !!!

New Year Wishes ...

2007-01-01T07:15:00.000-06:00

Something odd happened the other day. In the middle of all the metallic yammering that goes on, the phones, the faxes, the e-mails, the beeps and buzzes of modern office life, everything stopped. The power went off. My phone connection on the conference call went dead. The computer went blank. The entire office went silent.

Nobody did anything. Nobody yelled down the hall asking what's happening. Maybe it was my imagination, but I sensed everyone took a deep breath, savored the peace, and were happy not to be going at a breakneck pace for a few moments. Too soon, whatever caused this to happen reversed itself, the conference call was reconnected, and everything began whirring again.But just for a moment, it was an old-fashioned gift to everyone in the office.

If I had the power to give ten gifts to my friends and colleagues, what would I give?
Here are my wishes for all of us.

Ten Wishes ...
1. Quiet
Have you forgotten what it sounds like? Gotta get the morning news on radio or TV, mix up a milkshake, start the car, listen to the traffic report. I live in an urban area and I can hear sirens and dogs and cars whizzing by. When I walk by the lake, especially at night, sometimes I hear nothing. It's blessedly peaceful. It's refreshing. I wish you all moments like this.

2. Sleep
I, like many of us, feel thoroughly sleep deprived. Weekdays (or rather weeknights) are full of crazy offshore calls, being woken up inthe middle of the night to provide some data, early morning wake up calls that ask you to resolve some issue. If you have a production support beeper, it seems to go off just as you dropped off to sleep. Weekends pass in even more of a blur. Unending household activities make you wonder where the weekdays end and the weekends begin, only to have the week start all over again. For all my friends with lives as crazy as this, I wish you a peaceful night's sleep. May your beeper & phone remain silent - to allow you this basic necessity which is fast becoming a luxury.

3. The Ability to Listen
I'd say if you're in a co-ordinator/manager role, you talk too much. I talk too much. In my mind, I'm halfway through the thought I'm goingto express next before the other person has finished his or hers. We interrupt, we make our point, we congratulate ourselves on our witty stories and we move on. I know a colleague who, when you meet him, looks you in the eye and asks, "How are you?" Then he listens. He really listens. He's interested. You're thrown off at first, wondering what his angle is. Then you warm to it, knowing the rareness of his ability to listen and hear. You feel cared for.

4. Appreciation
Appreciation is a much-underrated quality that can get us through some rough waters. Not the long client appreciation mails that we are often asked to engineer, but the simple things. Please. Thank you. That was kind of you. I appreciate that. I appreciate you. When someone is doing everything they can to ruffle you, try seizing the higher ground; lay on some courtesy and see what happens. You will probably startle everyone. That's a good start. When others do something nice, it's so easy to let them know how much you appreciate the things they do for you, for the profession, and for the community. We need to let others know that their efforts have not gone unrewarded.

5. Perspective
As we get involved in projects or issues, it is easy to become myopic and have tunnel vision. Perspective is the ability to remove ourselves from the frame of reference we are in and see things as they reallyare. As an example, the work request I didn't give myself much chance of completing at the outset invariably becomes better as I go along,to the extent that, prior to the system test code drop, I just don't see how I there could be a defect. It is true that on some occasions this may be justified, but in many others it is not. We all need a reality check at some point, not only in our daily tasks, but in our lives in general.

6. A Sense of Humor
Caught in our daily routines, we often consider ourselves the center of the universe. Our work, our clients, and our thoughts make the world go around. When challenged, we become defensive. Are we really that serious? Is there not humor in all but the most serious aspects of life? We all need the ability to laugh, not only at situations, but at ourselves. When I think about it, I do some funny things, many ofwhich are not intentional. Hey, I'm a pretty funny person. Aren't you?

7. Integrity
Although we may have a good career and wonderful technical skills,when we come right down to it, our reputation is the most important thing we will ever have. I see this all the more in our day to day activities with friends and colleagues than anywhere else. Fame is fleeting, but integrity is enduring. It is our signature. To one's ownself be true; then you can't be false to anyone.

8. Good Friends
A few months ago, I met up with five of my classmates from school. Wehad been together all through 13 years of school. We had since moved to different places, pursuing our careers and families. We hadn't seen much of each other over the years. But as we chatted, the years just melted away, and it seemed like we were all in school together again. What a wonderful way to renew old friendships and to reminisce about some things that happened and some things that probably didn't. I am blessed to have such good friends. I wish you many such friendships.

9. A Winning Lottery Ticket
No–you all can't have one(I don't have one right now either!), but maybe one of you will be the fortunate one. If you were, I am sure you would do a lot more traveling, but would you give up working? I hope some of you would not, but that you would take time to smell the roses. Come to think of it, I wish we all could take the time to smell the roses. I wish you enough financial success to buy yourself the gift of time.

10. A Platter of Your Favorite Meal
Need I say more?

These gifts I wish for all of us. May the New Year bring us all health, happiness, and wisdom.

Parasailing @ Clearwater Bay ....

2006-12-31T19:43:00.000-06:00

Day 2 of the trip to Tampa was spent at Clearwater Beach. We rented a cabana on the beach - this is like a half tent with some lounge chairs where people can relax. After paying $20 for being able to sit on these chairs for 4 hours, we decided to have fun in the water. The waters at this beach were surprisingly clear ... It was a deep green hue that greeted us as we waded in. The first reaction on wading in was the coldness of the water. It felt soooo cold, but we soon got used to it and started playing in the water. Every wave would make us shiver with the cold, but it was fun jumping over them and watching them break. In the afternoon, we stretched on the lounge chairs by our cabana - and totally chillaxed !

Later in the afternoon, we decided to go parasailing. This was an awesome experience where we got into a speedboat that took us about a mile off the coast and launched us into the air. Since we'd requested for a dip, the captain ensured that we had a freefall into the water where we got our legs wet and then pulled us into the air again. It was an awesome experience. I thought that the winds higher up would be gusty, but they were not. It was a surprisingly serene and quiet sail through the air. The Tampa skyline and the green waters of the Gulf of Mexico below us, and the sky above - it was phenomenal. The sun was setting, and I regretted not carrying my camera up with me to get a few good shots. Had I known that the air above would be so peaceful - I would have definitely carried it along.

After parasailing - it was time to head to Britts cafe for a quick bite before driving back to our hotel to end a long day. Fun in the sun - chillaxed to the core - this was a day that I will not forget for a long long time ...

Florida for some fun n' sun ...

2006-12-29T12:55:00.000-06:00

Here I am - a few hours away from my much awaited vacation to Florida. A few days of fun in the sunshine, away from the chilly Chicago winds - sounds heavenly. Although, in all fairness, I must say that winter has been quite nice so far.
Florida - I envision a warm tropical breeze, glorious sunshine, beaches as far as the eye can see, palm trees, and those umbrella drinks that look so good in pictures. Well, will write more about it when I actually get there!
Ciao...!

Politically Incorrect ....

2006-11-26T16:53:00.000-06:00

My thoughts that can range from extremist to liberal, and casting political correctness to the wind.
Why am I writing them down? I suppose I'll want to recount these someday – a written account would help repaint the memories morevividly.
I recently saw the movie "Rang De Basanti". It has a storyline about ayoung British lady, drawn to visit India by reading accounts of theIndian freedom struggle, namely the revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajguru, Sukhdeo, Ashfaqulla Khan from her dead grandfather's diary. She plans on traveling to India and making a film on the memoirs. On reaching India, she meets a group of college students/ drop-outs/students who have graduated but still hang around the campus, and there begins her tryst with the realities of modern India. She repeatedly attempts to cast her new found friends into the patriotic roles only to be rebuffed and told that 'patriotism' is now merely a fashionable word, and that the meaning has been long lost. Among these friends is an air force pilot, who stands up for being a patriot and is willing to lay his life for the country although the rest of his friends scoff at his ideas & thoughts. When the pilot is killed in an air crash and politicians attempt to blame the crash on pilot error rather than get embroiled in a scandal that could expose the extent of corruption in the state & defense forces, the friends are transformed into revolutionaries seeking revenge on the corrupt ministers. They plan & plot to assassinate the guilty minister and make the scandal public. The plot to kill him is successful, and they also succeed in taking over a radio station to broadcast their message. Of course, the rest of the politicians send in the SWAT team which mercilessly kills the defenseless, unarmed students.
Discussing this movie with friends later – I was intrigued to see the various points of view that were tossed around.
1. The solution to the problem – killing the corrupt minister was wrong. They should not have taken law into their hands. If everyonetakes the law into their hands, we would have anarchy.
2. We are citizens of a nation that has a policy of non-violence. An eye for an eye – is not the solution. Gandhi was a great man who achieved freedom for India using the doctrine of 'ahimsa'. (I don't quite know how Mr. M.K. Gandhi was dragged into this, but given that they are someone else's views – I've recorded them here.)
3. They did a wrong thing by killing the minister, but killing them using a SWAT team was wrong. After all, they (though murderers) also deserved the right to a fair trial.
4. Considering that theirs was a crime committed in retaliation against the corruption in the state machinery – they should not have been killed like they were terrorists.
Interesting as the views were – I couldn't help but have some of my own. Since they are my thoughts – they've rambled far beyond the scope of the current discussion – but here they are …
I think the students/ friends were right. Unless today's generation sends a clear message to the crusty old politicians that corruption will not be tolerated, the mess in our country will not ever improve. Leaving the country for greener pastures, like most of those privileged to do so – is not going to help. It is like attempting toignore a particularly offensive odor. Coming to the part where India being a staunch believer in non-violence, and followers of Gandhi. I think it is time we stopped applying one cure to all maladies.
There was a time when oppression had to be stood up to, injustice from foreign powers had to be retaliated against. Given the resources and the prevailing political situation, non-violence was the perfect solution. The doctrine of non-violence is revolutionizing and great. No doubt about it. The civil disobedience movement launched shook the core of the British regime in India. Yes, true. But times have changed. Circumstances have changed. We are no longer fighting against a foreign enemy. We are struggling to stay afloat in competition withour own countrymen, friends and neighbors. Some of these people are part of our immediate society – but they are far from the model citizens we read about in our text books. Everyone is intent ofextracting their pound (or tons – in some cases) of flesh from the resources of the country. Why? When did we change from a country of patriotism to a country of indifference?
At times, I can't help feeling that this inclination towards non-violence(which is often translated into non-confrontationalism) has perpetrated the indifferent attitude. Here is an example – you observe a situation to which you may retaliate with a violent angry/ sad emotion. But, you've been drilled to be non-violent. However, the situation is gnawing at you –triggering a reaction, but you are not allowed to retaliate violently.What do you do? You school yourself to ignore it – since you cannot cure it, you endure it – there in sowing the seeds of indifference.
Our neighboring countries encroach on our borders, send terrorists to blow up innocent citizens, but what does the state do? We exercise restraint, thereby prompting the average citizen to fine tune his indifference. I wonder if India would have been shaped differently had the revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Azad survived the freedom struggle. Would we have adopted a stricter policy against encroaching neighbors? Against illegal immigrants? Against corruption? I wonder …and the optimist in me, hopes that we will eventually come around to such a policy, someday in the near future. Optimism or merely wishful thinking? Only time will tell…

Football - Michigan v/s MSU

2006-10-08T12:32:00.000-05:00

On Friday a friend of mine living in Ann Arbor emailed me that she had managed to get tickets to the Michigan (Wolverines) v/s Michigan State (Spartans) NCAA football game on Saturday. This game was to be played at the Michigan stadium.

Saturday morning, I found myself driving the 280 miles to Ann Arbor on I-94 ... It was a warm afternoon - perfect sunny weather to watch a football game. Here are some pictures from the game ...

For someone like me, totally new to the concept of "American" football - I had a crash course on the rules of the game before I watched it. I was skeptical about following the game, much less enjoying it, but to my surprise, I had an awesome time. The atmosphere around the stadium was charged. A crowd of 111,158 had turned up to watch this game - the stadium was Maize, with the poor Spartans quite sparse in the crowd.

At half time, the cheerleaders and the team bands had some great sequences that entertained the crowd, while the players took a much needed breather.
Check the cheerleaders jumping ... I am thrilled that I've managed to capture the spilt second jump on my camera!

As expected Michigan (blue & maize - no it's not called yellow, it's maize as I learnt during my crash course on football!) kicked MSU (white & green) during the game - almost out of the stadium. :)
The final scoreline ... 31-13.

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

2006-10-04T18:50:00.000-05:00

A few days ago - I visited Lake Geneva in Wisconsin with a friend who was visiting Chicago. It was a typical overcast but not overly cold fall day. As we neared the lake, here is the sight that we saw ...

A deserted lakeshore, and all the sailboats docked for the day. A thunderstorm was predicted for the evening, and everyone was packing up for the night. Except for people like us, who were strolling by the lakeshore that evening!

It was fun dodging the rain, picking up sandwiches from the nearby Potbelly's for dinner and ducking for cover before the storm really rolled in. Here is a pet parakeet that was enjoying a visit to Potbelly's as well!

Driving in that thunderstorm was a crazy experience, and I was glad that I had just changed the wiperblades on my car a few hours before we embarked on this crazy hare brained drive!

Nevertheless, the scenery was worth it all ...

Fall Colors at Starved Rock

2006-10-03T23:31:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I decided to head out to get some pictures of the fall foliage. I went to the nearby Forest Preserve with a good book, some water and a jacket (just in case!) to enjoy the morning sunshine. After spending some time there - I decided that I needed to head out to my favorite State Park in Illinois - Starved Rock.

This is a 200 mile roundtrip drive, but I decided to venture out in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day and after the spell of pathetic gloomy weather that we had in Chicago - it was difficult to sit indoors for long!
En route the clouds made some interesting patterns, so had to pull over for some pictures. :)
Once I got to Starved Rock, it looked like I was too early for the fall colors.... Most of the trees were still green, but a few that had changed color, made the drive totally worthwhile!

Notice the few trees that have turned yellow and red - don't they look beautiful?

The picture posted here on the right - is not a tree adorned with red flowers, but that of a tree with a creeper that has changed color! There were a few such trees, and it quite made the usually green hued forest burst with color. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, the crisp air - walking through the woods - getting some much needed exercise while enjoying the change of scenery. Imagine such glorious weather all year round, and you kinda realize why people flock to parts of California!

If anyone knows of places for good fall colors around Chicago, please - leave a comment with the details!

Tornado at work ...

2006-09-23T08:55:00.000-05:00

Last evening, as I was preparing my status report for the week - I heard a few sirens in the background. Since I had heard such sirens in the past, I ignored them and continued to work. It being Friday evening, all I wanted was to finish my work and head out. However, the sirens got louder and the next thing I knew was an announcement on the office's public address system, informing us "A tornado has been sighted in the area. Please move to the emergency shelter immediately." So abandoning my work, I walked to the emergency shelter. This place was a stairwell in our office. We stood their for about half an hour - hearing updates of the tornado's progress. It was supposed to sweep all over the Chicago area, moving in from the South-Southwest to the North-Northeast. After a while, when told it was relatively safe to move out, we drove home ... and the status report?? Sigh - It's still pending.

The story of the tornado didn't end there. At about 9:30 pm, I got to know that a friend of mine who was scheduled to fly from St.Louis to Chicago and onward to Delhi - had missed her flight connection! This was at about 10 pm. Off I went to the airport to pick her up. The weather had totally calmed down by then, and it seemed impossible that we had even seen any thunderstorms during the day, let alone a tornado!

As usual - Chicago airport was a mess. The 2 mile drive from the freeway exit to the terminal took 20 minutes. Cars, cabs were all stuck in the bumper to bumper traffic. People waiting on the sidewalks looked harried and tired. Finally, after a crazy search at the Departure and Arrival terminal and some phone calls to find her exact location, we met up. This entire search had taken almost an hour!

Past midnight, parents and significant others back home were informed that she was safe and would be staying at my place. Dinner at IHOP and it was time to finally call it a day ....

Come to think of it, if it were not for incidents like these, how could any of us claim to lead a charmed life? ;)

Elephant bar

2006-09-18T22:50:00.000-05:00

Dinner on Sunday night was at one of Bala’s favorite places – a restaurant called the Elephant Bar. This restaurant has an African animal theme. The first things that greet you are the elephant handles on the doors. As you walk in, the ceiling and décor has elephant, giraffe and zebra motifs all along. We met my friends Disha & Narayan for dinner here. Bala, being a veteran here – ordered for us. We had some spicy fried calamari with grilled vegetables and a shrimp adventure platter accompanied by some mango raspberry smoothie.

All the food was presented with flair and tasted as good as it looked!

It was fun catching up with Disha and Narayan. Narayan has lived in California for the past 5 years and had interesting stories of life in the Bay area to tell us. Disha and myself caught up on general gossip, news and friends.

Mystery Spot & Santa Cruz beach ...

2006-09-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

Three days in San Jose. Visiting this place felt like visiting Bangalore in India. Tree lined roads – similar chrome & glass office buildings, commercial spaces with Indian food joints and the many Indian/Asian faces on the streets! It almost felt like being back in Bangalore.

Yesterday – we visited a place in Santa Cruz called “the Mystery Spot” This place is affected by some strange magnetic field, which makes it appear that you are leaning when you are actually stranding straight. It sounded too strange to be true – so off we went to check it out. The place is located on a hill, and is affected by a strange magnetic/ gravitational field. This actually affects all objects placed in the area – where you see objects rolling uphill. We actually saw a pool cue ball, a dry cell battery and a cigarette all roll up a flat plank placed at a 45 degree angle with the ground. Check the video out ...


A place where the gravitational forces seem to work in such a way that objects roll uphill instead of downhill !

Vegetation in this area is also affected. I found trees in this area growing away from sunlight. Also, there were no birds chirping or any animals to be seen in this area. Our tour guide informed us, that the magnetic field interferes with their natural sense of direction, and hence they stay away from any place where they might find themselves getting lost. Humans on the other hand – walk right into it, and even pay money for it! ;)

After visiting the mystery spot – we drove along CA – 1 North. This route goes along the ocean cliffs and offers breathtaking views of the Pacific. We stopped at one such place. This was cove by the cliffs – and getting there involved some agile climbing down a mountain cliff. Nevertheless, since my friend Bala had been there before, I was confident of making it down the cliff with my limbs intact.

Once on the beach – the view was spectacular. I tried clicking a few pictures, but the lack of a UV filter on my camera made it difficult to capture the breathtaking scenery in pictures. Here are some attempts …

There was a section of the cove where the waves would crash on the cliffs had carved out a path that joined two beaches. Since the tide was coming in – we had to run across the sand when the wave was going out, to avoid having to swim back! It was great seeing an un-spoilt (well almost) non-commercialized beach. Sitting on the rocks watching the waves crash in, was a serene peaceful experience. Just the sound of the waves and the wind, watching the waves crash onto the shore rhythmically was calming.

On climbing back up the cliff – we walked farther along to view the beach and the cliff and here are the views ...

Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39 ...

2006-09-17T11:05:00.000-05:00

Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39 by night ...

Lombard Street & Oracle Headquarters ...

2006-09-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

Pictures of Lombard street and Oracle headquarters at Redwood city ... Notice the database shaped - cylindrical buildings!! :)

Pacific Ocean

2006-09-17T11:01:00.000-05:00

Golden Gate bridge n' Fisherman's Wharf

2006-09-17T10:58:00.000-05:00


Pictures of the Golden Gate bridge, the Pacific ocean - on a Sunny day.

On Saturday morning, we drove down from Sunnyvale to San Francisco. We were driving along, and before I knew it - I found myself on the world famous Golden Gate bridge! Supposedly one of the 7 modern wonders of the world! This bridge is huge. For a change it was a warm sunny day in San Francisco. Clicked a lot of pictures, but only a few were worth keeping. :( I really need to explore the features of my camera better.


View of the San Francisco Bay, from the Golden Gate Vista Point

From the Golden Gate vista point - I had a fantastic view of the Bay. It's a dream to sail there someday. :) Just watching all the sailboats there, felt great.


View of Alcatraz ... the most famous prison in the world

Also saw the Alcatraz prison from a distance. This was one place I was not keen on visting. Not my idea of sight seeing to go visit a prison! :)

Westward ho ... Off to SFO ...

2006-09-16T03:30:00.000-05:00

Finally, a much awaited weekend break - off to San Francisco. :) For a change my flight out of ORD was on time. As I boarded, I realized that it was a Boeing - 777 aircraft, with seating as 2-5-2. As luck would have it, I had the center seat in a row. Fortunately, was too tired to think of the uncomfortable seat, slept through most of the flight.

This was one of the newer flights equipped with XM Satellite radio. As I wore the headphones, the DJ announced generic details about the flight - for a second, it was like having an in-flight DJ. Of course, I figured that this was probably a recorded program for United airlines. This was confirmed when my next connecting flight - Denver - San Jose, also had the same DJ making the very same announcement and playing the same songs! :)

Time to turn in - SFO awaits ...

Cruise down the Ohio river & fireworks ...

2006-09-07T21:29:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, I found myself on a cute steam boat cruising down the Ohio river in Cincinnati. We'd planned to cruise down the river – anchor there, enjoy dinner on the boat and watch the Labor Day fireworks display. The Ohio river borders the states of Ohio & Kentucky. Our boat was docked in a marina in Ohio, but we anchored near the Kentucky bank.
Navigating & dropping anchor in these waters was tricky – especially since it was so crowded, but my cousin's friend (Israel) – who owned the boat and his son Andrew did an excellent job. The rest of us alternated between following instructions to help out and staying out of their way.

It looked like half of Cincinnati and part of Kentucky was on the river that evening! Just look at all those boats!

There were quite a few small planes flying overhead with banners endorsing local businesses, but one I found interesting was a Cincinnati bell banner on an airplane, protesting against outsourcing. Innovative style of protesting!

It was great to sit on the boat deck and watch the sunset. As it neared dusk – the city lights were reflected on the waters of the river and I totally regretted not carrying a tripod for the night shots. The swaying of the boat, the delayed shutter speed required for the night mode, and my amateur handling of the camera resulted in some shaky & blurred pictures.

B'day Blog ...

2006-09-07T21:07:00.000-05:00

Yes, it has been a while since I last wrote here, and the entries here are going to appear in a flurry. What with my birthday – always a big deal for me … ;) I mean – another year older, has got to be an event…! This followed by the long Labor day holiday weekend. I was too busy having a good time to post blog entries!

My birthday started off in great style at midnight – with Lata, Dharini, Sudipa, Aseem, Mukesh & Neel at my door with a huge black forest cake. In true "tradition" I had cake on my face but they thankfully spared me the birthday bumps/kicks/bashing. You can see pictures of the cake here ...

After a relatively short day at work, I took a flight to visit my cousin & her family in Cincinnati. At the airport, the lady at the security checkpoint, on checking my ID, wished me a happy birthday as well! That was indeed a pleasant surprise. The flight to Cincinnati was thankfully on schedule. After boarding the aircraft, I was so tired that I immediately went off to sleep even before we'd taken off and woke up only when we had touched down. It was great meeting my cousin, bro-in-law, niece & nephew. After a sumptuous meal – I got to cut yet another cake. This was selected by Natasha & Nikhil.
It was an ice cream cake, made up of chocolate, choc fudge & vanilla ice creams! It was the first time I was eating such a cake and I was totally thrilled with it.

All in all, a brilliant day!

Tall Ships 2006 ...

2006-08-16T19:09:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I visited the Tall Ships festival at Lake Michigan, Chicago. A tall ship is any sailing ship that has at least two masts and is square rigged. These ships had docked at Navy Pier for a few days before continuing on their worldwide voyage.

My friend Lipika, was visiting me that weekend, so off we went to see the ships. It was a beautiful sunny evening with a cool breeze charateristic of a typical Chicago summer day. Navy Pier was crazily crowded that evening. Seemed like all of Chicago had turned up to see the ships.

The ships looked majestic with their tall masts. Unfortunately, the ships were docked and their sails were tied up. I did manage to get a few pictures of one that was sailing across the lake.
Just watching the ships seemed to take you back in history, to the times when sailboats were the only mode of transport over the seas. Giving in to flights of fancy, it reminded me of Pirates of the Carribean, and the pirate memorabilia on sale only added to the effect.

Weekend in Bloomington & Champaign

2006-07-23T20:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend I drove down to Bloomington to visit my friends Preeti & Vikram who were moving to Pittsburgh for Vikram's new job assignment.
I got to Bloomington in time for dinner where Preeti had made these awesome mushroom & cheese hors d'oeuvres. After a long day at work and a seemingly longer drive through the traffic - these were the best surprise and truly heavenly.
The next morning I drove to Alok's University in Urbana Champaign. We met up for lunch and ended up going to the Red Lobster for some awesome grilled lobster and shrimp. After some more delicious tiramisu cake at Moonstruck the local U of I cafe with Alok & his friends - I headed back to Bloomington, for some good Thai dinner at a place Preeti and Vikram had stumbled on. It was good. :)
After dinner we went for a drive to Leroy in Preeti & Vikram's Jetta. The road to Leroy is lined by corn fields on either side. The Jetta has a fantastic sun/ moonroof. I stood up in the car and peeped out of the roof - It was a fantastic feeling. The cool wind on my face, for a moment - it felt like riding a bike with the wind in your hair and watching the stars in the sky, smelling the fresh corn fields of grass and corn and the typical meadow scent - far away from the city, far away from everything ... Just being able to stand up in the car and look out through the roof, was amazing and it seemed to blow any negative thoughts away.

Visit from the STL-ians...

2006-07-17T20:49:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, two of my friends from St. Louis, Aparna & Shantanu finally drove to Chicago. They were joined by two more friends, Parry & Avanti. Avanti was visiting Chicago for the first time, but Parry had been here before.

They reached here on Friday night - and then we were chatting until the early hours of Saturday! Managed to drag ourselves out of the house by noon, and made our way to a place in Wisconsin called Lake Geneva. This is a picturesque lake, but it was a too hot a day to really enjoy the lake front. En route - we stopped by to pick water and juice and ended up buying enough stuff for an army! Since we'd skipped breakfast, the provisions were put to good use. :)

Lake Geneva has a lot of speedboats and water scooters, but sadly, most of them were booked for the day. After checking some out - we walked into a nearby restaurant for lunch. This was a non chain place, where the ambience was relaxing and the service extremely hospitable. Sitting there - watching the lake, and the boats go by was an experience in itself.

After this leisurely lunch, we looked out for some boats to rent, but didn't find anything suitable. Since Parry had to meet a friend in Chicago downtown for dinner, and Avanti had still not visited the typical tourist places like Navy Pier we decided to head back.

After we got home, Shantanu, Aparna, Neel & myself decided to stay at home and relax after being out in the hot sun the entire day. So we cooked some chicken gravy - ekdam Indian style (It turned out decent - guess I can cook chicken ;)), some delicious Bengali style daal - (recipe thanks to Shantanu) and rice. Parry missed this dinner. :( That was ironical, since he was the one who had requested that we eat home-cooked chicken atleast once when he visited and here we were eating some awesome chicken curry without him! After a relaxed dinner we decided to walk down by the lake. The gentle summer breeze was refreshing.

Parry & Avanti got back by 1 am - after a short stint of wandering the streets of Chicago (when trying to get onto the correct freeway) - with a bit of online help (thanks to google maps) they were soon on track.

The next day - we decided to go shopping to a mall in Aurora. Aparna, Avanti & myself left for the mall while the guys decided to get there later - after giving us about 3 hrs of a head start. :)
Shopped for clothes, and then I spotted Rocky mountain chocolate factory - famous for it's chocolate dipped strawberries ... Since Parry had missed the Taste of Chicago festival, when I told him about the chocolate place, he was thrilled. After munching on these delicious treats (yes - I really need to learn to make these at home), it was time for Neel and myself to return to Chicago, while the rest went to St. Louis. A memorable fun weekend - spent with friends, with some good food and shopping too ...! :)

Taste of Chicago

2006-07-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

This weekend we went to the Taste of Chicago festival. This is a food festival in the heart of downtown Chicago.
Walked around a lot - just soaking in the charged up air - it almost feels abuzz ... you see people of all ages from 5 to 75, enjoying all the various kinds of food.
The atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant aromas of food wafting from each stall ... I even got a tatoo! (Well, a temporary one, the ones that wear off on washing) It was great. Ate a variety of dishes ranging from the Indian Samosa to the Middle Eastern humus to grilled shrimp. Also had some heavenly chocolate dipped strawberries - these were just phenomenal - and I need to learn the art of making these at home. They were heavenly. (Come to think of it, how could a combination of chocolate and strawberries ever taste bad?? - but whatever ... )

New York Reunion

2006-07-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

The next morning - or whatever you can call it after 3 hrs of sleep ... Avni reached Adele's place right on schedule. Thanks to the minimal sleep, we were quite groggy and barely made it to the station on time for the rain to NYC.

We made it to NYC by 12.00 pm. Adele barely made it... in her excitement to get to the mall (where we were all supposed to meet) Madam looks in the wrong direction of a one-way street and happily walks into the path of an incoming bus! After dragging her back to safety. we literally ran towards the mall in our excitement. Meeting everyone else was fabulous. Disha, Shameen, Kinjal, Shilpa...they all looked fabulous! Shameen and me immediately whipped out our cameras... Avni was the designated gal who accosted random New Yorkers and Chinese tourists to take our group pictures. We then proceeded towards a Mexican place for brunch. I think they guessed in advance that we were going to create a racket...because they gave us a table as far away from the other patrons as possible :)

After a couple of hours of reminiscing and drinking Mimosas we finally got our brunch! We went through some old pictures that Disha had brought along. Really funny to see the old "puffy" hairstyles ... Adele has threatened everyone with dire consequences if we post those pics online! We then walked over to Central Park, where I accosted some more people to take our photos. Unfortunately as all good things do... this had to end too. Shameen and Disha split up to get Coach and Gucci bags (oh yes .. talk about living in the lap of luxury) . The rest of us went to pick up magnets (75 cents) and I LOVE NEW YORK T-shirts ($3.00) from Times Square. Walked around in Times Square. It was so hot - we all felt rather dehydrated. We kept stopping in all the "air conditioned" showrooms to avoid the heat. I am sure we had suspicious cops following us after a while... We then went our own ways with promises of another reunion soon. Shameen has offered to host a chaat party in Boston if the rest of us can make it there!

The funny part if that it did NOT feel as if we were meeting after 13 years! We were all so comfortable and completely at ease with each other....it was great.

New York By Night ...

2006-07-07T23:47:00.000-05:00

Armed with directions and train route information from Adele, I got onto the correct train and reached Perth Amboy station by 8:30 pm. Adele was at the station to meet me with a big grin on her face. She was driving a huge SUV and I must admit I was paranoid to see her drive it. Looked like a small kid trying to control a hulk of a vehicle!

Met Adele's fiance Steven and we both shared our paranoia over Adele's driving skills and pulled her leg about it. We then decided to go into downtown NY (again ???) for dinner. After driving through the notorious Jersey traffic, we were back in Times Square by 11pm. After a quick dinner of some delicious Kathi rolls, we went to a nightclub to sample the NY nightlife. I found the place rather loud, and so did Adele, so we spent the time sitting in the lobby catching up. Once we were done - we got back to our parking lot at 2:30 am, only to be told that the lot was closed until 6 am. Now we were stuck. Left with no other option - we decided to spend the night at 33rd & Penn station. There were a lot of people like us, either stranded or just waiting for their train there. I spent time there chatting with Avril, Steven & Adele.
Soon it was morning, and we strolled out at 5 am, to the nearest MacDonalds for a sumptuous breakfast. Got back home at 7 am ... Had a mini school reunion planned for brunch, but just could not help catching up on a few hours of sleep .... :)

New York - Day 1

2006-07-04T09:36:00.002-05:00

The visit to New York city, the next day began with a train ride from Connecticut's New Haven terminal to New York's famous Grand Central station. The first impression of Grand Central is just awe inspiring. This terminal has about 130 tracks that serve routes all over mainland USA. The main lobby is this huge expanse of space - that could probably contain a station in itself. It has some neat decorative motifs on the ceiling - the pictures don't quite do justice to that(but I've added them here just the same)

We walked from Grand Central station to Times Square - passing Bryant Park and the New York public library (another huge building) on the way. As I walked along the sidewalk - the first thing that hits you is the sheer number of people on the street. It is crowded and noisy and for someone from Bombay - feels just like home! You have hawkers selling their wares on the street - selling stuff ranging from hotdogs & kababs to water bottles. Some other selling sunglasses and caps and other NYC memorabilia ... It has a very Mumbai downtown feel to it!

Times Square - The place where the New Year ball drops - a phenomenal area that buzzes with activity round the clock. This place has some of the most amazing stores and restaurants, most of the "trendy" chains and some others are here. You see Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood jostling for space with MacDonald's and other burger and pizza places. Around the Times Square area - you also have a few kebab and grill places tucked away into corners.

After a quick run through of Times Square - we headed out to do the No.1 touristy thing in NY - visit the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is located on an island, and you need to take a Circle Line ferry to visit this one. After a long long wait in the hot scorching sun - we finally got onto a ferry - one of my friends referred to it as a rat box since it had a lot of people crammed on it. After a 20 minute ride - where you can see some breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, we reached Staten Island. This island has the huge imposing Statue of Liberty. This statue is made of copper and was originally brown in color, but oxidation of the statue has now turned it green. Any coincidence that US dollars are also green? ;)

Since the tours to the top of the statue - into the crown are no longer permitted, we clicked pictures from the base of the statue and moved on to Ellis island in another ferry.

Ellis island was the first immigration port in the US. This place is now a museum with pictures of immgrants in the 1900s.

Walked around Ellis island and boarded the ferry back to mainland NY. Once again - the view of the Manhattan skyline - is awesome. It is like the skyscrapers are all competing with each other to gain your attention. I've tried to get some decent pictures of this - but the overcast day didn't quite help my cause. Switched to black & white effects on my camera in the effort to get some different kind of pictures instead.

The next thing we did was walked down to the famous Brooklyn bridge. This bridge looks rather unimposing compared to the other large bridges around, but has its own charm.

After walking around the Hudson river area, it was time for me to take a subway and head out to Adele's place for the much awaited school reunion. I was going to meet some of my classmates after 13 years ... wow!

New York Tales ....

2006-07-04T09:21:00.000-05:00

Yes ... Finally managed to plan a visit to New York city! Started out on Friday, June 30 ... The previous weeks had been quite crazy workwise, so was more than ready for a holiday.

For a change, my flight out of Chicago's O'Hare airport was on schedule. I mean - isn't that rare? Well, I wasn't complaining.... :) After about 90 minutes of flying, I suddenly saw this airstrip that ends into a river! Yes, that was the one we had to land on. La Guardia airport is located such that you almost think that the aircraft is going to land on water, but miraculously - they make it to the runway. Well, talk about precision flying! The flight attendant on this Delta flight was one with a pretty good sense of humor. He kept up the wisecracks right until we disembarked... Some of them - "We hope you have enjoyed this flight and thank you for flying Delta." followed by "If you have not enjoyed this flight, we thank you for flying Continental!" When reminding passengers to take all their belongings with them, his announcement was - "Please ensure you remember to take all your belongings with you. Anything left behind will find it's way into Renee's garage sale tomorrow. (Renee - being the other flight attendant.)

Met one of my friends at the airport and was driven to New Haven, Connecticut. This is the place where you find the famous Yale University. This town has a typical college feel to it - quaint restaurants and cafes, roadside art shops selling some work by student artists - It almost gives a British rather than the typical stereotyped big block monotonous American impression.

Chicago Blues Festival ...

2006-06-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

This weekend found me travelling to downtown Chicago to visit the Chicago Blues Festival. My friends Preeti and Vikram were going to meet me there, so I opted to take the train into downtown to avoid the pain of negotiating the traffic and the parking woes that plague Chicago. A mile from the station and I found myself in a huge traffic jam with only 10 minutes left to catch the train. Trains in this place are weird - on weekends, you have a train into Chicago once every 2 hrs!! If I missed this one - I was done for until the next one decided to trundle by.
Luckily for me - the train was also 15 minutes behind schedule and I managed to get into it rather comfortably. Soon, I found myself at Chicago Union Station ...

The city of Chicago has free trolleys that run in the summer to ferry people from Union Station to the various tourist spots. I boarded one of these and went to Grant Park - the destination of the Annual Chicago Jazz Festival.
The place was rocking and jiving and humming with activity. You could hear the Jazz bands from a distance - Saw some bands from Louisiana and some from Mississippi too in addition to the ones from Chicago. The music was so catchy that you found yourself swaying to the best even though you didn't know the song! The was a series of jam sessions where they would play music and each musician would try to out do the other - kind of like a "jugalbandi". Watching these performances live, cheering and applauding the musicians was a great experience.

And of course, there were the promotional Food stalls - Connie's pizza, Billy Goat's Tavern, Siam kitchen to name a few. All the big names in beer were there too - and those stalls were crowded!! People were having a chilled out great time.

Levi's had a Signature Fit machine on display as well. You had to walk in and stand in a kiosk that gave you the name and size of the Levi' fit that fit your body the best! For someone like me, who can never find the perfect fitting jeans - this was awesome!

After trying out the custom fit machine, we walked into a Livestrong booth where they were giving out free Power bars ... these are a new kind of cereal bar that was being promoted there.

BP also had a promo, where I won a Tshirt! Wow! This was in addition to the various beads and necklaces that were being handed out as we walked around.
Great music, good food , and awesome weather .... What else could I have asked for?

Visit to Smoky Mountains - 2

2006-06-09T18:28:00.000-05:00

The next day we decided to trek on some Trails in the Smoky mountain National Park. After getting off to a rather late start - we headed out to the highest point in the Smokies.

This is a asphalted trail more like a road - that lets people with disabilities enjoy the trail and the view too. I appreciate this thoughtful approach towards ensuring that everyone can enjoy the wonderful sights that the moutains have to offer.

This was a rather long, and hot walk to the top. Temperatures were touching 90 degrees Fahrenheit and we were glad to fianlly reach at the top and enjoy the cool breeze. The view from the top - needless to say, was extremely picturesque.

Next, we decided to head out to another trail called the Rainbow Falls trail. This is a 2.6 mile walk through the woods. This was like an actual trek and great fun. Denish, Parag and myself were leading the pack followed by the others. En route Denish spotted a deer, while Aparna encountered a snake! This trek took us over an hour to complete and the waterfall at the end was worth the long walk. Just hearing the birds chirp and walking through the woods along the river hearing the water gush down was enjoyable. On the way we also saw an owl - fast asleep in his hollow.

It was rather late as we were climbing up and since we did not have any torches on us - I had smartly left mine in my backpack in the car!! We moved as fast as possible and soon we were at the Rainbow Falls.

The falls were probably named such because of the sun rays that fall on them and create a rainbow effect. However, we were too late to enjoy that view since the sun was setting by the time we got there. The setting still provided a great view and after enjoying the refreshingly cool water of the falls - we headed back. By this time it was getting darker by the minute and the thought of bears inhabiting these woods was foremost in my mind. Denish took the lead and was soon out of sight, while Parag & myself were next. Tiredness was catching up with us and all of us were stumbling and tumbling down the trail.

Back at the cabin - it was time for some good tandoori style grilled chicken. Shantanu & myself prepared the marinade while Alok & Parag pitched in with the grilling to get them done uper quick. This was combined with corn on the cob so that the vegetarians could enjoy it in addition to their cooked meal. The chicken was a super hit and we also had some veggies converted to chicken-eaters who appreciated it!

The drive back the next day was rather uneventful, and as I drove across the Chicago Skyway toll - thoughts of work and office started drifting in. But it had been a wonderful 3 days - ones that I would always like to recollect at leisure!

Visit to Smoky Mountains - 1

2006-06-09T18:27:00.000-05:00

On the Memorial Day weekend - my cousin Alok and some of my colleagues decided to head down to the Smoky mountains for a long awaited and well deserved break. Alok had just completed his graduation and was all set to chill out with the rest of us.

We left Chicago on Friday afternoon - equipped with maps and directions to Pigeon Forge in Tennesse. We had to drive 600 miles SouthEast of Chicago, and would be crossing over into Eastern Time.

The drive out of Chicago was crowded and needed a lot of patience, since the first 75 miles took over 2 hours. Luckily, Neel was at the wheel, so thing were calm. Once we headed out of Illinois, it was clearer - and after crossing Indianapolis, it thinned out considerably. The rental Hyundai V6 gave us lousy mileage, but a decent pickup - so driving it was a pleasure. We also enjoyed the scenic view through the plains of Kentucky. After a quick halt for fuel and food and change of drivers - we continued on our way. Midway through the jungles and wilderness of Kentucky, after having been on the road for over 8 hours - Alok decided to talk about ghosts and the supernatural and horror movies. Since I abhor horror stories of anykind - I totally discouraged the topic .. but my brother - persisted. After about 11 hours of driving we reached the sleepy town of Pigeon Forge. Well, since we reached there at about 3 am - the town had every right to sleep anyways! We checked into our hotel - and got some much needed sleep.

The next morning - we were woken up by phone calls from the rest of our friends who had reached from St.Louis and we quickly headed out to meet them. After a quick breakfast at their cabin, we headed out to Gatlinburg for some white water rafting. This was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. We rafted on the Little Pigeon river - this is a relatively calm river, but does have some Class 4 rapids to boast of.

On reaching the raftin point, we were kitted out in a lifejacket, helmet and a paddle. We also got a quick crash (not literally) course on rafting safety and basic moves. We had a very experienced rafting guide with us. Anthony had been rafting across the world for 11 years and has also been on the US national rafting team. He had a ton of information about rafting, rivers, wild life habitats and the like. He taught us how to spin through a rapid, paddling through, steering and also a technique called surfing. Surfing a rapid is when you turn the raft into the rapid such that the water is coming into the raft. This technique requires a lot of experience and practice and we could do this only because Anthony was with us. We also saw a girl from another raft topple over into the river and the guide of her raft was quick to throw the pull in float to her and pull her back in.

As the waters got calmer, some of us jumped out of our raft and enjoyed a swim in the river too. The water was chilled and a good way to combat the 83 deg heat. It was an unforgettable experience.

Back on firm ground - we picked some food to eat, and headed back to Gatlinburg. After some wandering around in Gatlingburg - this place is a typical hill station with local attractions being touted as the "best" in the US, I picked up a souveneir fridge magnet while everyone else was wandering around - and we headed back to Pigeon Forge.

Picked up some groceries for dinner and headed back to the cabin. The sun was setting by the time we reached the cabin, and here is a view of the sunset over the Smoky mountains. (Remember - you can click on the pictures to make them larger.)

The dinner plan was for the veggie people to cook the vegetables - while the rest of us omnivores made some chicken. Now chicken - took longer to cook than the veggies, and with everyone being ravenous - I could hear more than a few questions of when the chicken would be done. Infact, we tried all sorts of stunts with the cooker that the chicken was being cooked in until the lid opened. Finally, the chicken was done, and everyone tucked into a great meal.

At midnight, we had Alok cut a cake for his birthday. Poor guy also got some smashed on his face, but since he didn't know the people too well - he escaped the birthday bumps.. :)) After the party - we headed back to our hotel for some much needed sleep.

Tulip weekend ...

2006-06-09T18:22:00.000-05:00

A crisp sunny Saturday morning - a 180 mile drive to Holland in Michigan to visit a tulip farm. A great drive and fantastic tulips.

(Remember - you can click on the pictures to make them larger!)

On the way - a stop at the Big Red Lighthouse on Ottawa beach. This is a beach formed by Lake Michigan. Looking at the water, you almost forget that it is a lake. It is this huge vast water body .... that goes as far as the eye can see.

Pictures of a Forest Preserve

2006-06-09T18:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday - when I left office, it was a warm but windy sunny day. I decided to go to the gym for a workout, but on the drive home I figured it was too good a day to waste in the gym. On the spur of the moment, I decided to head out to a nearby forest preserve with my digicam. Here are pictures of some of the sights I witnessed.
This is a panoramic view of the main section of the preserve. The tree with the white blossoms provided an interesting focal point to frame this picture.

A close up shot of some of the white blossoms on a tree. The yellow background as observed between the blossoms is the reflection of the bright sunshine off the green grass. Fancy that - the grass looks like yellow blossoms thanks to the sun! The sharp focus on the flowers has helped enhance the diffused effect of the sunlight.

This was a huge tree that was laden with blossoms. Notice, the leaves are almost invisible....
Here is an interesting looking yellow dandelion. Yes - a weed, but looked very pretty sitting amidst the geen grass, and that was is reason it currently holds pride of place as my desktop wallpaper!