Flashes Of Darkness
Tears of joy?
Tears of sorrow?
No, no,
Tears of spite.
Bear no ill,
Not vindictive,
Mayhap a twinge of envy.
Desire -
But a step forward,
After so long,
But then, why?
Flashes of light,
Light?
No, darkness -
For where else is a devious mind?
A quick silver laugh,
Turned on the crow,
By vipers more potent than nature's of kill-
The forked tongue lurking behind.
Those silvery tinkles,
But hisses of ruin;
Pats on the back
But bites of hate;
Myths explode -
of goodness in any.
No return for help?
Perhaps this hope is wrong;
But what else is human life?
What? Injured feelings?
No, too much for mere injury!
Trusts betrayed -
Whose but mine?
Blinded by -
Shiny mists and glamorous clouds,
Who but me?
A streaking flash,
Knife in the back;
By wolves in friendly hues -
Are there really such as they?
Them - the wolves,
Do no strings of lofty love
Tug ever at their hearts?
Do no kindly emotions
Stir within their beings?
Or is it only for the crows?
No, no - not mine to censure -
For what unknown lurks in me?
Believe to believe in goodness yet -
Can I?
This is how I expressed myself at age 16. :-) This one is a bit special though - actually won the poetry prize in a competition held by the East Cultural Association in Bangalore.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
"Born To Run"
Scott Jurek was in trouble. He was at mile 55 of the 135 mile Badwater Ultra Marathon and he had just collapsed on the road in exhaustion. He had 80 miles to go and two of his closest challengers were several miles ahead of him. This was 2005 and Scott was the premier ultra-marathoner in the US. He had won the Western States Ultramarathon 7 times in a row and had come down to the Death Valley just two weeks after his latest victory. As a trail runner, he had had almost no training on road, let alone for the extreme dry heat of the Death Valley in July. He lay on the side of the road, contemplating almost dispassionately what it would take for him to win the race - Get up and run the remaining 80 miles faster than he had ever run 80 miles. And do it in conditions he had never experienced before. He then proceeded to do just that - smashing the course record by almost 2 hours.
Scott Jurek's is one of the featured stories in Christopher McDougall's book, "Born To Run." The author is somebody who loved to run, but beset with chronic foot problems set out on a personal quest to figure out "why his feet hurt." He is aided by an assignment from Runners World to track down and write about the Tarahumara, an almost mythical and mysterious tribe that lives down in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. The Tarahumara, whose native name is the Raramuri, or the "Running People" are famous for their prodigious running abilities. They are known to run continuously for 2-3 days at a stretch, engaged in a game of their own fashioning. They don't train, have very basic nutrition, and run up and down steep, unpaved terrain with essentially home made sandals. They are also very hard to find. The search for the Tarahumara coupled with the author's own search for answers to his running injuries forms the core of the book, but the narrative carries on well beyond those pursuits.
McDougall makes contact with the Tarahumara early in the book (with several near misses with disaster thrown in) and then spends several chapters introducing several mavericks of the ultra running movement. An ultra marathon is typically 100 miles, but the length is only the half of it. Several events have some twist - like the Leadville, which is run in the town of Leadville, CO, which at 2 miles above sea level is the highest town in the US. The thin air at that altitude forms the starting point of a race that only continues further into the mountains. Another extreme version is the Badwater, that not only goes 135 miles, but also conducts the race in peak summer heat. The stories of the main characters in McDougall's story (and indeed whole tale hangs very well together) are compelling and by themselves worth the price of admission.
McDougall is not satisfied with just telling a good story - he devotes lots of pages to some of the 'alternative' science of running - I say alternative, because a good bit of it goes against the conventional grain of "running is bad for you, but if you must run, get good shoes; have a training program; eat protein to build muscle, etc, etc." The experts (running coaches, scientists) he gathers turn out to be surprisingly credible and the book almost becomes a page turner as you wait for the next myth to be exploded or for the next fallacy to be laid to rest. See here for a related post.
The most compelling discussion is the namesake of the book - the theory that homo sapiens survived as a species because our bodies are uniquely adapted for running. McDougall traces this theory back to the 1980s when a graduate student in the University of Utah stumbled upon this as the only explanation for several anatomical features in the human body. Our body has a large collection of tendons which with their elastic nature are peculiarly suited for running; one particular example is the nuchal ligament that is on the back of neck and whose only purpose is to stabilize the head while running (and is found only in other running animals likes dogs and horses). We have short toes, which further make running easy. Contrast this with the toes of a chimp or gorilla, both of whom can barely run. And on and on. But note - According to this theory (called, predictably the "Running Man" theory) we not built for speed or racing, but in fact for endurance running. In other words, it is in our DNA to run marathons.
The book is not just a collection of stories of runners and theories about running - instead, it builds up towards an amateur 50 mile race, deep in the Copper Canyon of Mexico between some ace runners from the Tarahumara and several invited racers from the US, including the author, a character named "Barefoot Ted" (whose name should say it all), and Scott Jurek. The race is the brain child of "Caballo Blanco" or the "White Horse" who is a American who was so enamored by the Tarahumara runners that he followed them into the canyons and essentially settled there. The race is recounted with some drama and its conclusion is poetically justified.
I am betting that even folks with no interest in running will find this a compelling read - you will be certainly be entertained, but more importantly, you will be informed and provoked to think.
Scott Jurek's is one of the featured stories in Christopher McDougall's book, "Born To Run." The author is somebody who loved to run, but beset with chronic foot problems set out on a personal quest to figure out "why his feet hurt." He is aided by an assignment from Runners World to track down and write about the Tarahumara, an almost mythical and mysterious tribe that lives down in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. The Tarahumara, whose native name is the Raramuri, or the "Running People" are famous for their prodigious running abilities. They are known to run continuously for 2-3 days at a stretch, engaged in a game of their own fashioning. They don't train, have very basic nutrition, and run up and down steep, unpaved terrain with essentially home made sandals. They are also very hard to find. The search for the Tarahumara coupled with the author's own search for answers to his running injuries forms the core of the book, but the narrative carries on well beyond those pursuits.
McDougall makes contact with the Tarahumara early in the book (with several near misses with disaster thrown in) and then spends several chapters introducing several mavericks of the ultra running movement. An ultra marathon is typically 100 miles, but the length is only the half of it. Several events have some twist - like the Leadville, which is run in the town of Leadville, CO, which at 2 miles above sea level is the highest town in the US. The thin air at that altitude forms the starting point of a race that only continues further into the mountains. Another extreme version is the Badwater, that not only goes 135 miles, but also conducts the race in peak summer heat. The stories of the main characters in McDougall's story (and indeed whole tale hangs very well together) are compelling and by themselves worth the price of admission.
McDougall is not satisfied with just telling a good story - he devotes lots of pages to some of the 'alternative' science of running - I say alternative, because a good bit of it goes against the conventional grain of "running is bad for you, but if you must run, get good shoes; have a training program; eat protein to build muscle, etc, etc." The experts (running coaches, scientists) he gathers turn out to be surprisingly credible and the book almost becomes a page turner as you wait for the next myth to be exploded or for the next fallacy to be laid to rest. See here for a related post.
The most compelling discussion is the namesake of the book - the theory that homo sapiens survived as a species because our bodies are uniquely adapted for running. McDougall traces this theory back to the 1980s when a graduate student in the University of Utah stumbled upon this as the only explanation for several anatomical features in the human body. Our body has a large collection of tendons which with their elastic nature are peculiarly suited for running; one particular example is the nuchal ligament that is on the back of neck and whose only purpose is to stabilize the head while running (and is found only in other running animals likes dogs and horses). We have short toes, which further make running easy. Contrast this with the toes of a chimp or gorilla, both of whom can barely run. And on and on. But note - According to this theory (called, predictably the "Running Man" theory) we not built for speed or racing, but in fact for endurance running. In other words, it is in our DNA to run marathons.
The book is not just a collection of stories of runners and theories about running - instead, it builds up towards an amateur 50 mile race, deep in the Copper Canyon of Mexico between some ace runners from the Tarahumara and several invited racers from the US, including the author, a character named "Barefoot Ted" (whose name should say it all), and Scott Jurek. The race is the brain child of "Caballo Blanco" or the "White Horse" who is a American who was so enamored by the Tarahumara runners that he followed them into the canyons and essentially settled there. The race is recounted with some drama and its conclusion is poetically justified.
I am betting that even folks with no interest in running will find this a compelling read - you will be certainly be entertained, but more importantly, you will be informed and provoked to think.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Kodak Moments
A blog post with a difference - just a few recent photos.
Abhi and Arjun model some Haloween props that they got as a party favor. With their recent haircuts, its almost hard to tell who is who...
The Ironman and Red Dragon Ninja are all set to go trick-or-treating...
And some selections from a weekend photo shoot at home....
Abhi and Arjun model some Haloween props that they got as a party favor. With their recent haircuts, its almost hard to tell who is who...
The Ironman and Red Dragon Ninja are all set to go trick-or-treating...
And some selections from a weekend photo shoot at home....
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Ghosts, Goblins, & Superheroes
Halloween is upon us and little ghosts and goblins are going to be roaming the neighborhoods demanding a sugar fix. For the past few years, we have made do with 2 costumes - a clown costume that Arjun wore for a couple of years and was then handed down to Abhi for the last two years. In the meantime, Arjun got a race car driver outfit that he has worn for the last two years. The costume required various adjustments to facilitate a better fit and it is only now that Arjun has grown enough to fit in it without any alterations. Of course, he is bored with it now. They both have new costumes for this time - Arjun is going to be 'Ironman' while Abhi is outfitted to be a 'Red Dragon Ninja.' This is a character of rather dubious provenance, but goes well with Abhi's recent closely cropped haircut. He could join Robinhood's gang with nary a raised eyebrow.
We got the costumes on Monday and they have been wearing it every night till it is time for bed. They can hardly wait to go out trick-or-treating. In fact, on Monday they were almost too excited to fall asleep, all in anticipation of Halloween night. Abhi's costume has a lot of loose folds and today we discovered that it fits Arjun just fine (& in fact probably actually has the intended look) - this is going to a be first for us - a hand-me-up: next year, Arjun can be the Red Dragon Ninja.
Arjun likes Pomegranate juice and I had bought the big bottle from Costco upon his request. Couple of days ago, I was pouring the last of it for myself. Abhi, who was drinking his milk was apparently following this closely and called out, "Why did you finish that, acha?"
Me (somewhat confused, since Abhi is not a big juice drinker): "Why, do you want some?"
Abhi: "No, but aeta likes to drink that juice." Arjun who was sitting nearby, nodded his head in confirmation.
I poured the juice back and wondered where this fraternal caring was at other times. Abhi got a pumpkin from his field trip, but has been protesting every suggestion of getting one for Arjun, coming up with one creative reason after another including insisting that Arjun had told him that he does not want a pumpkin. In this case at least, he would rather deny his brother.
We got the costumes on Monday and they have been wearing it every night till it is time for bed. They can hardly wait to go out trick-or-treating. In fact, on Monday they were almost too excited to fall asleep, all in anticipation of Halloween night. Abhi's costume has a lot of loose folds and today we discovered that it fits Arjun just fine (& in fact probably actually has the intended look) - this is going to a be first for us - a hand-me-up: next year, Arjun can be the Red Dragon Ninja.
Arjun likes Pomegranate juice and I had bought the big bottle from Costco upon his request. Couple of days ago, I was pouring the last of it for myself. Abhi, who was drinking his milk was apparently following this closely and called out, "Why did you finish that, acha?"
Me (somewhat confused, since Abhi is not a big juice drinker): "Why, do you want some?"
Abhi: "No, but aeta likes to drink that juice." Arjun who was sitting nearby, nodded his head in confirmation.
I poured the juice back and wondered where this fraternal caring was at other times. Abhi got a pumpkin from his field trip, but has been protesting every suggestion of getting one for Arjun, coming up with one creative reason after another including insisting that Arjun had told him that he does not want a pumpkin. In this case at least, he would rather deny his brother.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Natural Born Runners
"Running shoes may be the most destructive force to ever hit the human foot." Thus starts Chapter 25 of the book "Born To Run", by Christopher McDougall. (The book is more narrowly focused on 'ultra' runners and the Mexican tribe of Tarahumara, who are called the 'Running People,' but often discusses running in general. I plan to write a review of the whole book soon after I finish it.)
The author then proceeds to list a whole bunch of research that has essentially come to one conclusion: the more cushioned/supportive the shoe, the worse it is for your feet. A very influential book for the pro-shoe lobby was "The Runners' Repair Manual" by Dr. Murray Weisenfeld, which made the case that the foot is the one part of the body that stopped evolving when we started walking on land and hence is imperfectly suited for running. He even went as far as to recommend surgery to remove cartilage from the knee to create the "runners knee", but most people who had the surgery came out with a painful condition that precluded any running.
One strong argument comes from a study published by Dr. Craig Richards in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2008 (Summary, Authors Blog) in which he found no evidence that high tech running shoes provide any reduction in foot injuries. In fact, the author went so far as to challenge any shoe manufacturer to produce such evidence, but nobody has responded so far. More about this later.
As in many other aspects, I was struck by the prescience of our yoga teacher Shashi. I find his insights into life and the human body to be very deep and powerful and have opined about this before. One of his bugbears is shoes - the manner in which they insulate and isolate our feet from the sensory experience of walking on the ground. He makes us do several exercises that are meant just to stimulate the foot. This knowledge is also used in Accupressure, of course. Contrary to the claims of Dr. Weisenfeld, the human foot is a marvel of engineering. The centerpiece is the arch, which as any civil engineer will tell you is the greatest weight bearing design ever created. The genius part is that an arch gets stronger under stress - the harder you push down, the tighter its parts mesh. Supporting the foot's arch is a web of 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 tendons, and 18 muscles, all stretching and flexing as required. The argument for barefoot running is very simple: the foot and the human body already know how to adjust to the impact of running. Shielding the foot with a highly cushioned sole is tantamount to cutting off the feedback loop. Sports car drivers call this having a "feel for the road." A sports suspension is tuned to allow you to experience every bump in the road because that directly translates to a more skillful driver. Every shoe store employee and several doctors (including mine) recommend replacing running shoes every 3 months. The research in fact shows the opposite: using older running shoes (the ones that have lost their cushioning and are essentially a flat piece of rubber that work only to protect you from stones/thorns/glass) are in fact much better at preventing injuries than brand new shoes.
I could on and on about this - the research, the anecdotes, the various big name runners who ran bare feet or with bare-bones shoes, but I will leave something for the potential readers of the book. Lest anybody think that I am questioning running as an activity, perish the thought! I am firmly in the camp (along with many researchers and doctors in the field) that there is no better aerobic activity than running. Done properly of course.
Is this all propaganda from the anti-Nike (the inventors of the modern running shoe) lobby? Hardly. Nike themselves know this and have implicitly acknowledged it.
In 2001, the highly respected coach of the Stanford track team (Vin Lananna) started training his athletes in bare feet, despite being a recipient of Nike sponsorship. When challenged by the Nike reps he simply countered that they had fewer injuries this way. To Nike's credit they did not play ostrich and proceeded to study it on their own and like any good business tried to find a way to make money off the 'barefoot movement.' After a few years of research and study Nike introduced a new shoe, the 'Nike Free.' A shoe that has almost zero cushioning and is meant to allow you to run "naturally." In true Nike style, the shoe was accompanied by an enticing marketing campaign with a very catchy slogan for the shoe:
"Run Barefoot."
Friday, October 9, 2009
Mr. Abhi Goes to School
Despite all their similarities, Arjun and Abhi have very distinct personalities. Arjun is the earnest one, Abhi is the interesting one. Arjun is driven more internally while Abhi is the reactive one. Many of his likes and dislikes seem to suspiciously mirror those of Arjun's. Going to school was no different. Arjun pretty much took to school (both Scripps Montessori and PV Elementary) right away, making friends and being totally involved and dedicated to his school work and activities. He is a bit of a perfectionist (total mystery to us of course) and gets very upset if you try to suggest that he is not doing something the correct way (once again, a big mystery).
Abhi could not wait to start school. He wanted to be just like his "eatta" and given his multiple visits to Arjun's class in Scripps, he was raring to go. The first week was fine and then the glow seemed to vanish. School was not just fun and games. There were lessons to be done and stuff to be learned. You had to repeat the same lesson and even worse, you had to remember what you had been taught. He adopted the tears strategy - as soon as his teacher (Ms Ada) asked him to do a lesson, he would burst into tears. She soon cut back from 3 lessons a day to just one. We would elicit promises from him every morning that he would not cry that day. Ms Ada was rather puzzled because he seemed to pick up stuff pretty quickly. Given his exposure to Arjun's learning and Malini's efforts, he was clearly ahead of where Arjun was when he started.
When I asked him why he didn't want to do the lessons, Abhi said that it was because, "I know I can't do it." Maybe our actions have something to do with this: We would often get upset when Arjun would make mistakes or be slow in doing some of his home work. So this may be Abhi's way of avoiding all that unpleasantness. Of course given that this is Abhi, I wouldn't put it past him to have computed that this is the easier way to get out of doing work!
Through all this, Abhi's natural instincts continued to shine through. Once after a bout of crying he told Ms Ada, "Don't tell my parents I cried. Its our secret." Another time, he asks her,
"What time will my amma pick me up?"
Ada: "11.30."
Abhi: "When will it be 11.30?"
Ada explained how the two clock hands would be positioned at 11.30. Then Abhi asks her:
"Can you please get me a small clock so that I can keep it with me? I want to know when it is 11.30."
Thankfully, things are looking up a bit. He has been better the last few days, going so far as to actually ask for lessons to do. He has worked his way up to 4 lessons a day and seems to enjoy (or at least tolerate) school much more. He would still like to be done though: Yesterday he wanted to know why he could not graduate like Arjun had earlier this year and then supplied the answer on his own: "Because I am not a big boy."
What gives us more cause for hope though is what he did in class yesterday: Out of the blue, he told Ms Ada that he wanted to sing a song for her and then proceeded to sing a made-up song which he refused to divulge to us. Starting to see their teachers as equals to their parents is a big milestone in a kids schooling life. Has Abhi reached that point? Maybe, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Abhi could not wait to start school. He wanted to be just like his "eatta" and given his multiple visits to Arjun's class in Scripps, he was raring to go. The first week was fine and then the glow seemed to vanish. School was not just fun and games. There were lessons to be done and stuff to be learned. You had to repeat the same lesson and even worse, you had to remember what you had been taught. He adopted the tears strategy - as soon as his teacher (Ms Ada) asked him to do a lesson, he would burst into tears. She soon cut back from 3 lessons a day to just one. We would elicit promises from him every morning that he would not cry that day. Ms Ada was rather puzzled because he seemed to pick up stuff pretty quickly. Given his exposure to Arjun's learning and Malini's efforts, he was clearly ahead of where Arjun was when he started.
When I asked him why he didn't want to do the lessons, Abhi said that it was because, "I know I can't do it." Maybe our actions have something to do with this: We would often get upset when Arjun would make mistakes or be slow in doing some of his home work. So this may be Abhi's way of avoiding all that unpleasantness. Of course given that this is Abhi, I wouldn't put it past him to have computed that this is the easier way to get out of doing work!
Through all this, Abhi's natural instincts continued to shine through. Once after a bout of crying he told Ms Ada, "Don't tell my parents I cried. Its our secret." Another time, he asks her,
"What time will my amma pick me up?"
Ada: "11.30."
Abhi: "When will it be 11.30?"
Ada explained how the two clock hands would be positioned at 11.30. Then Abhi asks her:
"Can you please get me a small clock so that I can keep it with me? I want to know when it is 11.30."
Thankfully, things are looking up a bit. He has been better the last few days, going so far as to actually ask for lessons to do. He has worked his way up to 4 lessons a day and seems to enjoy (or at least tolerate) school much more. He would still like to be done though: Yesterday he wanted to know why he could not graduate like Arjun had earlier this year and then supplied the answer on his own: "Because I am not a big boy."
What gives us more cause for hope though is what he did in class yesterday: Out of the blue, he told Ms Ada that he wanted to sing a song for her and then proceeded to sing a made-up song which he refused to divulge to us. Starting to see their teachers as equals to their parents is a big milestone in a kids schooling life. Has Abhi reached that point? Maybe, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Nobel Peace Prize to Obama
The blogosphere must be going crazy today, especially the right wing ones. When Al Gore won the prize, Fox News suggested that he should have rejected it because the prize was tainted by the previous award to Yaser Arafat. Wonder what they are saying about Obama's win - I am sure Jon Stewart will have an outtake.
I thought I would weigh in before I read any of them blogs (not that I follow any) or hear from the TV pundits. I was shocked to hear about the prize being given to Obama this morning as I am sure the vast majority of people were. It still doesn't make sense to me. Does it dilute the prize or does it put enormous pressure on Obama? After all the Nobels have historically been given to recognize actions that have been deemed a success. Obama's election victory is certainly of historical significance to the US, perhaps even to the world given the prominence that the US holds in the world. However, is historical significance sufficient?
Then you flip the coin over and consider what message the Nobel committee may be trying to send. Perhaps they believe that the change of tone in the manner the US engages with the rest of the world is a sufficient achievement. In a round-about manner, perhaps they are trying to take the pressure off of Obama - "You are already a success, you can relax a bit now." Or maybe it tells us something about how Obama is viewed in the rest of the world - as a world leader who has fundamentally changed the way the global dialogue is held. His Cairo speech, the recent address to the UN, the attempts to engage with Iran, the backing off from the missile shield for Eastern Europe, are all signs of a more open, flexible approach to the world. After all the arguments have been aired and all the words are thrown back and forth, this will remain a choice that can only be vindicated by the passage of time.
The person I feel for most is Bill Clinton. He has been on the short list for a while and with his recent headlining activities, I would have thought that he would have been a good choice. One more Clinton aspiration dashed (hopefully only delayed) by Obama!
I thought I would weigh in before I read any of them blogs (not that I follow any) or hear from the TV pundits. I was shocked to hear about the prize being given to Obama this morning as I am sure the vast majority of people were. It still doesn't make sense to me. Does it dilute the prize or does it put enormous pressure on Obama? After all the Nobels have historically been given to recognize actions that have been deemed a success. Obama's election victory is certainly of historical significance to the US, perhaps even to the world given the prominence that the US holds in the world. However, is historical significance sufficient?
Then you flip the coin over and consider what message the Nobel committee may be trying to send. Perhaps they believe that the change of tone in the manner the US engages with the rest of the world is a sufficient achievement. In a round-about manner, perhaps they are trying to take the pressure off of Obama - "You are already a success, you can relax a bit now." Or maybe it tells us something about how Obama is viewed in the rest of the world - as a world leader who has fundamentally changed the way the global dialogue is held. His Cairo speech, the recent address to the UN, the attempts to engage with Iran, the backing off from the missile shield for Eastern Europe, are all signs of a more open, flexible approach to the world. After all the arguments have been aired and all the words are thrown back and forth, this will remain a choice that can only be vindicated by the passage of time.
The person I feel for most is Bill Clinton. He has been on the short list for a while and with his recent headlining activities, I would have thought that he would have been a good choice. One more Clinton aspiration dashed (hopefully only delayed) by Obama!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Too Trusting By Half
Harini shared this story at the RD-Bhoj taco party on Saturday and I am repeating it here without permission. The talk had circled around to kids asking to have pets and ways to say no to them (at least in most cases), when Harini mentioned that they have a goldfish. The crowd was a bit surprised - You have a fish tank? Well, it's not much of a tank - just a little thing really and Harini gestured with her hands to indicate a small box. How many fish, an enquiring mind wanted to know? Oh, just one. And is it doing well? Yes, but....oh good, there was a story here. So apparently what happened was that when the fish came home, the kids (or was it Harini? I forget) took it out of the water and left it on the counter top "momentarily" before dropping it into the tank. The fish seemed fine and the kids went to bed happy to have a new friend. Soon after though, Harini saw the fish doing the belly-up float, which fish in the pink of health are not wont to do. Siva was promptly dispatched to WalMart which fortunately is open at 10.30pm. He came back with a fish that sort of looked like its predecessor - only a bit more orange and a lot more plump. He went in the tank and down the toilet went the first guy.
The next morning, the kids ran to check out their new pal and there he was - swimming along just fine. Pranav though, noticed a difference and commented to his sister, "Wow, see how much he has grown in just one night?" His older and wiser sister was quick to dismiss him: "No you silly, he is not any bigger. Its just the light - see how much more orange it makes him look?"
Little did it occur to them that a switcheroo had taken place - after all who would do such a thing?
The next morning, the kids ran to check out their new pal and there he was - swimming along just fine. Pranav though, noticed a difference and commented to his sister, "Wow, see how much he has grown in just one night?" His older and wiser sister was quick to dismiss him: "No you silly, he is not any bigger. Its just the light - see how much more orange it makes him look?"
Little did it occur to them that a switcheroo had taken place - after all who would do such a thing?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Why I Will Never Buy A Kindle
Knowing my love of books and reading (there is a distinction), not to mention, gizmos, many friends have asked why I don't have a Kindle. My answer was always that I would at some point, just not now - I wasn't quite happy with the current form and functionality. Last week's New Yorker has an article about the Kindle that is very negative. Some of the complaints the author has ("Text is greenish grey") seem rather petty, but even after filtering those out, it crystallized my discomfort with the Kindle.
The best part of the Kindle, I have always felt, is the wireless connection that is always available and for which there is no explicit fee. This wireless connection is enabled by Qualcomm and that of course has an added appeal. In fact this model is considered so revolutionary, that it has coined a new term in the industry - "Kindlize," which is basically to add seamless wireless connectivity to a device and not have the owner pay a recurring service fee. And there are the usual pros about e-books: can have a whole library with you, reading a big book doesn't come with the challenge of holding up 4 lbs of paper, etc.
But, I dislike the Kindle - sometimes with a visceral intensity. It is in some ways a most cynical expression of locking the owner into a closed system under the pretense of freeing them from the shackles of traditional books. The Kindle uses a proprietary format for its books that can only be read on the Kindle - there is an open format, but Amazon decided against that. Until the DX, they didn't support PDF either. The books you buy for the Kindle, can only be read on your Kindle (or your iPod) - you cannot lend them out, cannot give it away, cannot donate it to a library after you are done, cannot resell it. One of the joys of books and reading for me is to share the experience - talk about the book and allow somebody else to enjoy it by loaning them the book. You cannot do that with a Kindle book. This is not just about borrowing books from your friends. Think about it - you have all your books locked in your Kindle - what is the trigger for your spouse, your kid, to pick up a book from the shelf or the nightstand and start perusing it, perhaps reading it all the way through? How often has it happened that you are at a friend's house and notice a book lying around and it piques your interest? Or maybe you notice what somebody traveling with you is reading? Recently P&V announced that they were going to get a Kindle for S. I wonder - how will little s be able to pick up and read a book that her older sister is reading? In fact, how will she even know what book is being read?
Even economists ("Freakonomics") have made a case for the value (in terms of positive impact on the kids) of just having books in the house. Where goes that value when all your books are trapped in a little plastic box that makes every book look the same?
The Kindle does many other things to destroy the reading experience, but they are common to e-books in general. Page numbers have no meaning, the physical feel and heft of the book are lost (I often picture the actual book in my head when I think about a favorite book - what happens with an e-book?), but I know these are aspects that will cease to have much importance over a period of time.
RD announced recently without an hint of irony that the new Kindle almost made him want to read a book. I do see the value in e-books and maybe there will be some future incarnation in which the pros will outweigh the cons. The Kindle is not that.
The best part of the Kindle, I have always felt, is the wireless connection that is always available and for which there is no explicit fee. This wireless connection is enabled by Qualcomm and that of course has an added appeal. In fact this model is considered so revolutionary, that it has coined a new term in the industry - "Kindlize," which is basically to add seamless wireless connectivity to a device and not have the owner pay a recurring service fee. And there are the usual pros about e-books: can have a whole library with you, reading a big book doesn't come with the challenge of holding up 4 lbs of paper, etc.
But, I dislike the Kindle - sometimes with a visceral intensity. It is in some ways a most cynical expression of locking the owner into a closed system under the pretense of freeing them from the shackles of traditional books. The Kindle uses a proprietary format for its books that can only be read on the Kindle - there is an open format, but Amazon decided against that. Until the DX, they didn't support PDF either. The books you buy for the Kindle, can only be read on your Kindle (or your iPod) - you cannot lend them out, cannot give it away, cannot donate it to a library after you are done, cannot resell it. One of the joys of books and reading for me is to share the experience - talk about the book and allow somebody else to enjoy it by loaning them the book. You cannot do that with a Kindle book. This is not just about borrowing books from your friends. Think about it - you have all your books locked in your Kindle - what is the trigger for your spouse, your kid, to pick up a book from the shelf or the nightstand and start perusing it, perhaps reading it all the way through? How often has it happened that you are at a friend's house and notice a book lying around and it piques your interest? Or maybe you notice what somebody traveling with you is reading? Recently P&V announced that they were going to get a Kindle for S. I wonder - how will little s be able to pick up and read a book that her older sister is reading? In fact, how will she even know what book is being read?
Even economists ("Freakonomics") have made a case for the value (in terms of positive impact on the kids) of just having books in the house. Where goes that value when all your books are trapped in a little plastic box that makes every book look the same?
The Kindle does many other things to destroy the reading experience, but they are common to e-books in general. Page numbers have no meaning, the physical feel and heft of the book are lost (I often picture the actual book in my head when I think about a favorite book - what happens with an e-book?), but I know these are aspects that will cease to have much importance over a period of time.
RD announced recently without an hint of irony that the new Kindle almost made him want to read a book. I do see the value in e-books and maybe there will be some future incarnation in which the pros will outweigh the cons. The Kindle is not that.
Abhi Makes Progress
It has been a while since I blogged and it is not for want of things to write about - time has been in short supply. Anyway, I am going to try and get a couple of things out quickly.
Abhi recently achieved a significant milestone - he is riding his bike without training wheels! The purchase of a bigger bike (20") for Arjun seemed to be the trigger and he put aside his hesitation and got it down in a couple of sessions in our local park. Now he is eager to go riding everyday and most evenings both Arjun and Abhi ride to and from our park. It is possible the recently concluded Tour De France had some influence as well. All of us (yes, including Malini) watched each day's race with great interest and the boys absorbed a lot from the coverage and commentary. Just before he managed to ride without his training wheels Abhi would ask if he could ride in the TDF once he learnt to ride. He took to calling himself 'Alberto Contador' and would only respond to that name, but only while he was on the bike. As they ride around in our cul-de-sac, Arjun keeps a constant running commentary going about an imaginary bike race in which he is involved.
Arjun likes Boost in his milk and we ran out last week. So I mixed in some Horlicks for both of them and after some reluctance they both drank it up. When I asked how it was, both replied "good." I was eager to press it home (since we have about 3 kgs of that stuff accumulated), so I asked if they would have it every time with their milk. No response. Arjun was watching a show, so that was understandable - it typically takes a 6.4 earthquake to break his TV focus. I asked again. This time Abhi gives me a considering look and replies, "It is good, but not that good."
One of my pet beefs is the amount of toys all our kids have. This abundance and variety of toys stymies their natural imagination. Notice how much fun kids will have with a cardboard box and some foam pieces if that is all they have to play with. Giving kids a whole bunch of toys has basically the same effect as sticking them in front of Cartoon Network all day long. We pretty much stopped buying toys for the boys about 3 years ago. It doesn't really seem to bother them - they play just fine with the ones they have and often create new games from whatever is around. A recent example is "TT Golf." This consists of a fly swatter (the club), a sketch pen (the tee), and a TT ball. It is rather fun and safe to play indoors - you should try it sometime.
Abhi recently achieved a significant milestone - he is riding his bike without training wheels! The purchase of a bigger bike (20") for Arjun seemed to be the trigger and he put aside his hesitation and got it down in a couple of sessions in our local park. Now he is eager to go riding everyday and most evenings both Arjun and Abhi ride to and from our park. It is possible the recently concluded Tour De France had some influence as well. All of us (yes, including Malini) watched each day's race with great interest and the boys absorbed a lot from the coverage and commentary. Just before he managed to ride without his training wheels Abhi would ask if he could ride in the TDF once he learnt to ride. He took to calling himself 'Alberto Contador' and would only respond to that name, but only while he was on the bike. As they ride around in our cul-de-sac, Arjun keeps a constant running commentary going about an imaginary bike race in which he is involved.
Arjun likes Boost in his milk and we ran out last week. So I mixed in some Horlicks for both of them and after some reluctance they both drank it up. When I asked how it was, both replied "good." I was eager to press it home (since we have about 3 kgs of that stuff accumulated), so I asked if they would have it every time with their milk. No response. Arjun was watching a show, so that was understandable - it typically takes a 6.4 earthquake to break his TV focus. I asked again. This time Abhi gives me a considering look and replies, "It is good, but not that good."
One of my pet beefs is the amount of toys all our kids have. This abundance and variety of toys stymies their natural imagination. Notice how much fun kids will have with a cardboard box and some foam pieces if that is all they have to play with. Giving kids a whole bunch of toys has basically the same effect as sticking them in front of Cartoon Network all day long. We pretty much stopped buying toys for the boys about 3 years ago. It doesn't really seem to bother them - they play just fine with the ones they have and often create new games from whatever is around. A recent example is "TT Golf." This consists of a fly swatter (the club), a sketch pen (the tee), and a TT ball. It is rather fun and safe to play indoors - you should try it sometime.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Simple Matters
Another July weekend and another birthday celebrated, this time mine (next week will be my father's turn). 
The minor twist on the birthday meal was Malini asking me to come home for lunch on Friday and she had prepared an elaborate Kerala style meal with lots of my favourite dishes. The coup de gras was the jackfruit jam 'payasam.' I ate rather well and it was a struggle to dig myself off the couch to return to work. To complete the Kerala touch, Malini had served the lunch on banana leaves. As she was getting the leaves ready, Arjun inquired why she was going to use leaves.
Malini: "That's how we used to eat in Kerala for special occasions."
Arjun: "Why? Didn't they have plates?"
Seeing them struggle to eat rice with their hands I was struck by how different their upbringing is in some of these details.
Malini has been having a dry cough for more than a week now and it seems to ebb and flow. Tonight as she was putting the boys to sleep, she broke out into a prolonged coughing fit. Arjun was concerned and suggested "Amma, you should go to the doctor." Abhi was equally concerned, but for a slightly different reason: "Then who will put us to sleep?"
The minor twist on the birthday meal was Malini asking me to come home for lunch on Friday and she had prepared an elaborate Kerala style meal with lots of my favourite dishes. The coup de gras was the jackfruit jam 'payasam.' I ate rather well and it was a struggle to dig myself off the couch to return to work. To complete the Kerala touch, Malini had served the lunch on banana leaves. As she was getting the leaves ready, Arjun inquired why she was going to use leaves. Malini: "That's how we used to eat in Kerala for special occasions."
Arjun: "Why? Didn't they have plates?"
Seeing them struggle to eat rice with their hands I was struck by how different their upbringing is in some of these details.
Malini has been having a dry cough for more than a week now and it seems to ebb and flow. Tonight as she was putting the boys to sleep, she broke out into a prolonged coughing fit. Arjun was concerned and suggested "Amma, you should go to the doctor." Abhi was equally concerned, but for a slightly different reason: "Then who will put us to sleep?"
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Sporting Weekend
The July 4th weekend turned out to be a rather good weekend for people interested in watching sports. Friday was uneventful in that regard although there was a spirited discussion about death and sports at the Jothi residence during a potluck dinner gathering (deserves its own blog). Saturday morning I headed out early to take part in a 10k run, part of which was around Miramar lake. I hadn't run this distance in some time and while I was confident about finishing, I did a conservative pace most of the way to ensure that I could finish strongly. Eventually I managed to come in just under my usual 9-minute pace. July 4th was also Day 1 of the Tour de France and the race was once again interesting with the return of Lance Armstrong. With Armstrong in retirement after winning his 7th Tour, I didn't follow the race much the last 3 years, especially after the Floyd Landis (a San Diego guy, btw) doping scandal. Last year a whole bunch of riders got thrown out during the race and it was a big turn-off. Of course a big factor is that the only time I pay attention to professional cycling is during the Tour (or 'Le Tour' as the French call it) and without familiar faces/names in the race, it is not very interesting. For those who don't follow cycling, multi-stage races like the Tour de France are very much a team event. There is a lot of strategy involved and typically all the riders on a team (usually about 9-10) work towards getting a victory for the presumed leader of the team. This automatically means that even before the race starts there are probably only about 10-12 people who would even contend for the overall prize. They do give out a number of other awards such as the best sprinter, climber, rookie, time trial, etc. The overall leader of course has the privilege of donning the yellow jersey, but each of the other categories also have designated jersies of their own. Armstrong used to ride for the US Postal Service team, which was disbanded soon after his retirement. Now he rides for Team Astana, which has at least two other contenders for the overall prize - Alberto Contador (Spain)and Levi Leipheimer (USA). This has made for some controversy - Astana is the overwhelming favorite for strongest team, but who is the leader of the team?
July 4th is also Malini's BD and this one was a bit of a milestone. I caught some flak from Vanitha for not having done anything special to mark the day. She even showed up with some rice dish sample for Malini. Being July 4th there are lots of fireworks to watch, but this year I wanted to catch the one in the SD bay. Trying to account for traffic and parking, the Murthys and us left around 4.30pm and drove to Harbor Island. Parking turned out to be not a problem. Prem & family showed up later after picking up dinner and a cake for Malini. Arjun, Abhi,Bhavana, and Pallavi were riding their scooters up and down the board walk pretty much the whole time. It was a beautiful evening, although it got a bit chilly once the sun went down. As darkness fell, Malini cut her BD cake (to some Nadaswaram music from Prem's iphone) and we were ready for the fireworks. It was quite a show, although I couldn't fully enjoy it focused as I was on trying to take pictures!
Sunday morning brought stage 2 of the Tour, but more thrillingly, the Wimbeldon men's final. It was an appropriate game for a grand moment - Federer going for his 15th grand slam with all the greats of recent years - Sampras, Borg, Laver, etc looking on. Roddick gave it a good fight - I was really hoping he would win, but in the end Federer prevailed.
After this came the final round of the AT&T Congressional golf tournament. In the final pairing were Tiger Woods and Anthony Kim. Kim is considered the next challenger to Tiger's throne and was the winner of this event in 2008. The course was playing difficult and it was engrossing to watch Woods think his way around the course and finally win the tournament by one stroke.
What made watching these events more fun was the interest both Abhi and Arjun showed. Arjun has always been interested in watching sports (especially golf & football), but both of them were clearly enthralled by the cycling - perhaps it is the one thing they can also do and hence is much more accessible to them. I am looking forward to the remaining 16 stages of the race!
July 4th is also Malini's BD and this one was a bit of a milestone. I caught some flak from Vanitha for not having done anything special to mark the day. She even showed up with some rice dish sample for Malini. Being July 4th there are lots of fireworks to watch, but this year I wanted to catch the one in the SD bay. Trying to account for traffic and parking, the Murthys and us left around 4.30pm and drove to Harbor Island. Parking turned out to be not a problem. Prem & family showed up later after picking up dinner and a cake for Malini. Arjun, Abhi,Bhavana, and Pallavi were riding their scooters up and down the board walk pretty much the whole time. It was a beautiful evening, although it got a bit chilly once the sun went down. As darkness fell, Malini cut her BD cake (to some Nadaswaram music from Prem's iphone) and we were ready for the fireworks. It was quite a show, although I couldn't fully enjoy it focused as I was on trying to take pictures!
Sunday morning brought stage 2 of the Tour, but more thrillingly, the Wimbeldon men's final. It was an appropriate game for a grand moment - Federer going for his 15th grand slam with all the greats of recent years - Sampras, Borg, Laver, etc looking on. Roddick gave it a good fight - I was really hoping he would win, but in the end Federer prevailed.
After this came the final round of the AT&T Congressional golf tournament. In the final pairing were Tiger Woods and Anthony Kim. Kim is considered the next challenger to Tiger's throne and was the winner of this event in 2008. The course was playing difficult and it was engrossing to watch Woods think his way around the course and finally win the tournament by one stroke.
What made watching these events more fun was the interest both Abhi and Arjun showed. Arjun has always been interested in watching sports (especially golf & football), but both of them were clearly enthralled by the cycling - perhaps it is the one thing they can also do and hence is much more accessible to them. I am looking forward to the remaining 16 stages of the race!
Friday, June 26, 2009
A Fleeting Life
6-year old Arjun to Malini: "Amma, what happens when somebody dies?"
Malini: "They go back to God."
Arjun (after mulling over it): "When does he send them back?"
Malini: "He doesn't. He keeps them with him."
Arjun (in tears now): "No! He doesn't keep them! They'll come back!"
How do you respond to that? All Malini could do was to try and calm him down with some platitudes.
When I heard the above exchange, my immediate thought was that at least in this respect Arjun takes after me. Malini was a bit startled hearing this, but matters of aging and death have always bothered me - even as a kid. Very early I sensed the transitory nature of life and this used to affect me greatly. My sister and I grew up in various cities outside Kerala, but would visit most summers. Those were carefree days and I would look forward to spending days and days playing with cousins and other kids in the village. Then one summer everything was different: the same games that had so fascinated us just a year ago seemed juvenile and uninteresting. The kids I used to play with, all seemed to have other interests and didn't care much to hang out with this once-a-year visitor. One of my favorite cousins was several years older than me and I could sense the distance that developed as she reached 'marriageable age.' I can still recall the sense of betrayal I felt when I learnt that she had been secretly seeing somebody. I realize now that I was being selfish and should have been supporting her instead of being upset. Not that my support would have counted for much - her family opposed that marriage and she eventually married somebody else. Her story is one of life's unexplained tragedies - she is bright, goodlooking, loving, and with nary a character fault, but the thwarted marriage was only the start of her miseries. They continue even today.
For several years after Malini and I were married, I was ambivalent about having kids. Sure, I enjoyed playing with children and I could charm almost every child I met, but was I prepared for all the non-fun stuff? I had a clear-eyed view of what having children meant and was not convinced that I was up for it. There was always pressure from parents and relatives of course, but I could resist that. Then my BIL gave me a reason that resonated with me: Its through our kids that we renew ourselves. Suddenly I found a way to deal with my always-present undertow of melancholy over the changes that time wroughts.
And that is what happens now: As I watch Arjun and Abhi do their antics and enjoying life, my worries about the passage of time fade to the background. Of course they never really go away - Attending Arjun's kindergarten graduation, I had to fight my thoughts about how he was changing and would soon be ready to fly the coop. Malini sometimes tells the boys, "I just want you to stay like this and never grow up." A sentiment expressed by and shared by many a parent, for sure. At such times, I keep silent - I know exactly how she feels, but the pragmatist in me refuses to give voice to such thoughts.
Much has been made of the 'power of now' (something our yoga master Sashi often alludes to), but there really is no better way to live life. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Malini: "They go back to God."
Arjun (after mulling over it): "When does he send them back?"
Malini: "He doesn't. He keeps them with him."
Arjun (in tears now): "No! He doesn't keep them! They'll come back!"
How do you respond to that? All Malini could do was to try and calm him down with some platitudes.
When I heard the above exchange, my immediate thought was that at least in this respect Arjun takes after me. Malini was a bit startled hearing this, but matters of aging and death have always bothered me - even as a kid. Very early I sensed the transitory nature of life and this used to affect me greatly. My sister and I grew up in various cities outside Kerala, but would visit most summers. Those were carefree days and I would look forward to spending days and days playing with cousins and other kids in the village. Then one summer everything was different: the same games that had so fascinated us just a year ago seemed juvenile and uninteresting. The kids I used to play with, all seemed to have other interests and didn't care much to hang out with this once-a-year visitor. One of my favorite cousins was several years older than me and I could sense the distance that developed as she reached 'marriageable age.' I can still recall the sense of betrayal I felt when I learnt that she had been secretly seeing somebody. I realize now that I was being selfish and should have been supporting her instead of being upset. Not that my support would have counted for much - her family opposed that marriage and she eventually married somebody else. Her story is one of life's unexplained tragedies - she is bright, goodlooking, loving, and with nary a character fault, but the thwarted marriage was only the start of her miseries. They continue even today.
For several years after Malini and I were married, I was ambivalent about having kids. Sure, I enjoyed playing with children and I could charm almost every child I met, but was I prepared for all the non-fun stuff? I had a clear-eyed view of what having children meant and was not convinced that I was up for it. There was always pressure from parents and relatives of course, but I could resist that. Then my BIL gave me a reason that resonated with me: Its through our kids that we renew ourselves. Suddenly I found a way to deal with my always-present undertow of melancholy over the changes that time wroughts.
And that is what happens now: As I watch Arjun and Abhi do their antics and enjoying life, my worries about the passage of time fade to the background. Of course they never really go away - Attending Arjun's kindergarten graduation, I had to fight my thoughts about how he was changing and would soon be ready to fly the coop. Malini sometimes tells the boys, "I just want you to stay like this and never grow up." A sentiment expressed by and shared by many a parent, for sure. At such times, I keep silent - I know exactly how she feels, but the pragmatist in me refuses to give voice to such thoughts.
Much has been made of the 'power of now' (something our yoga master Sashi often alludes to), but there really is no better way to live life. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A Few Obama Musings
Obama continues to be in the limelight - at this point in their presidency the shine had faded from both Clinton and Bush Jr, especially so with W, given his dubious assumption of the presidency. A few thoughts on some recent events:
Date Night seems almost a case of hubris. Surely there was a lower key way of taking his wife on a date to NYC? How about doing it when you are already in NY for some official event? He must be going there often enough what with the UN headquarters being there.
A little reported study is about the media's fascination with Obama. Sure, we have the rabid right wing that is willing to throw the man under a bus for anything that he says or does, but that limits their credibility severely. Sure, we should expect the media (& us the public) to view Obama differently given the historical context (both in his personal self as well as the state of the economy and world politics). But I tend to agree with the results of the above study that the main stream media is not being sufficiently objective.
The most recent splash is of course the speech at Cairo University. Given the occasion, the setting, and the person delivering it, it was bound to succeed on a oratorical level and it did. However, I wonder what difference it is likely to make? Yes, the elevation of the Palestinian cause to the same level as the Israeli one was noteworthy, but the call for a "new beginning" had me mostly yawning. There is a lot of symbolism in calling for democracy when you are being hosted by Hosni Mubarak, who heads one of the many 'quasi' democratic regimes in the region, but substantively what impact will such a call have? Of course, the big difference is in the person making the call - Obama with his muslim and African heritage has so much good will around the world that local politicians are forced to at least take him seriously. His repudiation of Bush-era rhetoric and policies cannot hurt either. I can only hope that this capital that Obama has today will be expended in a productive way.
Date Night seems almost a case of hubris. Surely there was a lower key way of taking his wife on a date to NYC? How about doing it when you are already in NY for some official event? He must be going there often enough what with the UN headquarters being there.
A little reported study is about the media's fascination with Obama. Sure, we have the rabid right wing that is willing to throw the man under a bus for anything that he says or does, but that limits their credibility severely. Sure, we should expect the media (& us the public) to view Obama differently given the historical context (both in his personal self as well as the state of the economy and world politics). But I tend to agree with the results of the above study that the main stream media is not being sufficiently objective.
The most recent splash is of course the speech at Cairo University. Given the occasion, the setting, and the person delivering it, it was bound to succeed on a oratorical level and it did. However, I wonder what difference it is likely to make? Yes, the elevation of the Palestinian cause to the same level as the Israeli one was noteworthy, but the call for a "new beginning" had me mostly yawning. There is a lot of symbolism in calling for democracy when you are being hosted by Hosni Mubarak, who heads one of the many 'quasi' democratic regimes in the region, but substantively what impact will such a call have? Of course, the big difference is in the person making the call - Obama with his muslim and African heritage has so much good will around the world that local politicians are forced to at least take him seriously. His repudiation of Bush-era rhetoric and policies cannot hurt either. I can only hope that this capital that Obama has today will be expended in a productive way.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
California Special Election Ballot Measures
Turns out there is a special election going on today and 6 ballot measures are up for vote. All of them are supposedly meant to address the huge budget deficit (42 billion at one point, now expected to be closer to 50 billion). After a bit of forced reading here is how I plan to vote today:
1A: Extend tax increases, etc. Negatives are that it extends the tax increases already in place (income, VLF) by two years for a total of 4 years, but this is also the positive in that it actually addresses the deficit head-on. Other aspects to this measure (establishing a rainy day fund, soft limits to spending programs) are noble, but are really not the main issue. I am voting YES.
1B: Guarantees some money for school even in lean years. Just put in place to avoid the teachers unions from campaigning against 1A - for 1B to take effect, 1A also has to pass. I am going with NO.
1C: Selling future rights to lottery proceeds. It sounds like a reasonable initiative and may be worthy of an YES vote. However, based on principle (I don't like lotteries), I am going with NO.
1D: Divert tobacco money from 'First 5' program to other health and child related services. Both causes seem good. Vote YES.
1E: Divert money for mental health programs to some other health programs. I think there is already too little attention paid to mental health issues. Vote NO.
1F: No pay hikes for legistlators in deficit years. I see this as a sop to the voters - a way for them to vent their frustration and means very little in practice. I am going with a NO vote.
1A: Extend tax increases, etc. Negatives are that it extends the tax increases already in place (income, VLF) by two years for a total of 4 years, but this is also the positive in that it actually addresses the deficit head-on. Other aspects to this measure (establishing a rainy day fund, soft limits to spending programs) are noble, but are really not the main issue. I am voting YES.
1B: Guarantees some money for school even in lean years. Just put in place to avoid the teachers unions from campaigning against 1A - for 1B to take effect, 1A also has to pass. I am going with NO.
1C: Selling future rights to lottery proceeds. It sounds like a reasonable initiative and may be worthy of an YES vote. However, based on principle (I don't like lotteries), I am going with NO.
1D: Divert tobacco money from 'First 5' program to other health and child related services. Both causes seem good. Vote YES.
1E: Divert money for mental health programs to some other health programs. I think there is already too little attention paid to mental health issues. Vote NO.
1F: No pay hikes for legistlators in deficit years. I see this as a sop to the voters - a way for them to vent their frustration and means very little in practice. I am going with a NO vote.
The Reverse Brain Drain
NPR had a report this morning about what they called the "reverse brain drain." Basically, Indians going back to India. Here is a link to the audio file: Listen
There is the usual talk about the (x+1) syndrome and some inane stuff about this lady who is making her kids pick up their own toys and not ask their maids (yes, in plural) to do so. Why? Because, "You are American, and this is not how I am bringing you up." What caught my attention was the story of the family that moved from San Diego to Chennai (to a beach front bunglow, no less). The husband is somebody whose parents are settled in the US and was actually born and brought up in the US. Now that he has moved to India with his family, his parents who have remained in the US (with the rest of their extended family) are asking him when he is going to return! There are no easy answers in life, are there?
There is the usual talk about the (x+1) syndrome and some inane stuff about this lady who is making her kids pick up their own toys and not ask their maids (yes, in plural) to do so. Why? Because, "You are American, and this is not how I am bringing you up." What caught my attention was the story of the family that moved from San Diego to Chennai (to a beach front bunglow, no less). The husband is somebody whose parents are settled in the US and was actually born and brought up in the US. Now that he has moved to India with his family, his parents who have remained in the US (with the rest of their extended family) are asking him when he is going to return! There are no easy answers in life, are there?
Sunday, May 17, 2009
"What is this red thing, acha?"
I was working on the New Zealand photos on my computer and Abhi was playing on the carpet behind me. He wasn't doing anything particular - just messing about. At such times he tends to keep up a constant patter which I have learnt to respond without really paying attention. I could hear that he was asking some question, but didn't turn around. The question was repeated, "What is this red thing, acha?" I ignored it again, hoping that he would either lose interest or figure it out himself. He asked again and something in his voice made me turn and look. Sure enough, there was some red stuff all over his fingers and with a start I realized that he had been playing with my photo trimmer. The trimmer has spare blades which I had taped down to prevent accidents, but our man had peeled them off and cut his finger in the process. But he didn't seem to be in any pain, just mildly concerned about the "red thing."
I, of course, was a tad bit more perturbed and jumped out of my chair and started making a fuss, calling out to Malini in between. In my defense, his fingers looked quite bloody and it was hard to tell what the injury was. By now he had cottoned on to the fact that something bad had happened to him and that he should be upset and was bawling away. I lead him to the sink and rinsed his fingers - thankfully it was just one cut - it was a bit deep, which explained all the blood. He continued to sob through all this until Malini reminded him that his finger was not actually hurting. Once the band-aid was on, he calmed down immediately, although he made a show of feeling sorry for himself.
Just another reminder of how kids will take their cue about how to react (even for something that happened to them) from parents and other adults. Of course, adults are prone to this as well...
Friday, May 15, 2009
A Primer to our New Zealand Trip
Its been 3 weeks since we returned from our trip to New Zealand and it looks like folks have given up on me writing a blog or even posting the photos. 
The reasons for the delay are two-fold: lack of time and the sheer magnitude of the task. I took over 2400 photos and it took more than a week to cull them to 1600. That was just the start - I shoot RAW, so the photos still need to be processed and in any case, who wants to flip through 1600 photos? A few days ago I had an epiphany - I don't have to do it all in one shot! I am sure everybody has experienced this - putting off a task simply because you don't believe it can be done in smaller chunks. Of course, one has to be careful not to make the chunks too small or you run the risk of ending up with a series of weightless accomplishments. Anyway, I managed to select and upload photos from the first few days and many of you have already seen them. (All links are in the blog.) As for the blog, I decided I should at least do an overview, so that folks looking at the photos have more context. So here goes.
We were in New Zealand for 13 days - arriving on the morning of April 12th and departing late evening of April 24th. We flew on Air New Zealand out of LAX - direct into and out of Auckland. Good airline, good service. My sister (Padma) and family (Husband -Ravi, Son- Siddarth (13), daughter- Smriti (16)) also joined us from Bangalore and we arrived within half hour of each other.
New Zealand is made up of two islands - North & South - and lies off the south east coast of Australia in between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The two islands are approximately of the same size. They are very sparsely populated - in a land area about the same size as the UK, New Zealand has only 4 million citizens to the 60 million in UK. The south island is particularly sparse - less than a million people. People of European descent make up about 75% of the population, the native Maori make up about 15% and the rest are Asians and other pacific islanders. The majority whites and the native Maori are much more at peace with each other than say in neighboring Australia. Most places retain their original Maori names and some places are reverting back to Maori names. Incidentally, the Maori name for New Zealand is 'Aeotara' or 'Land of the long white cloud.'
Day 1 in Auckland (nickname - 'City of Sails') was spent wandering around near our hotel, which was close to the waterfront. Many places were closed since it was Easter Sunday. We took a city bus tour, but were mostly fighting sleep due to jet lag. We did visit the Auckland museum and a greenhouse. The highlight of day 2 (April 13th - my sister's birthday) was of course skydiving. It is hard to tersely describe the experience (needs a longer blog), but I am glad we did it. We had just the right set of circumstances to make it happen. None of us freaked out and we all had good jumps. In the evening, we had dinner at the revolving restaurant atop the Skytower, which is one of the highest points in the southern hemisphere.
Day 3 we rented a minivan and after some juggling managed to load 8 people and associated luggage. We drove south towards Lake Taupo. In between we stopped at Waitomo, which is famous for their glowworm caves. These are caves whose ceilings are covered with these worms that glow by burning up their bodily waste. You go into the caves and then on a boat that is tugged along in complete silence. It is almost pitch black and the show above you is wonderful. No photography permitted. It was late evening by the time we reached our 3-bedroom apartment in Lake Taupo. Next day was quite busy - jet boating in the Huka river (thrilling), visit to the Waiomongo thermal area (similar to Yellowstone), and finally luge in Rotorua. Rotorua is a big tourist destination, but we had time only to do the luge, which everybody enjoyed enormously. Drove back to our Lake Taupo apt for the night.
Photos Part 1
Day 5 was mostly travel - first back to Rotorua to drop off the rental van, then a flight to Christchurch (South Island) where we rented another car and continued heading further south - destination for the night was Lake Tekapo. With lots of stops on the way it was almost 8pm by the time we reached the Lake Tekapo house. It was a beautiful house! Immaculate and very well done. We all just wanted to spend time in the house, but it was only a night halt. The next morning we regretfully left the house and after driving around the lake and up Mount John for the views, we continued the drive to Queenstown. The scenery which had already been spectacular, got more so and we were compelled to stop many times. We managed to reach Queenstown in time to get to their luge, which was not quite as much fun as the one in Rotorua. We checked into our hotel after dinner.
Queenstown bills itself as the 'adventure capital of New Zealand', which is saying something since all of New Zealand seems to be crazy about extreme activities of all kinds. Queenstown also is home to the most number of 'Lord of the Rings' sites - this trilogy was a huge deal for them. The world's first commercial bungee jump site is in Queenstown. This is also the access town to the vast Fiorland National park, which is famous for its hiking trails (they call it 'tramping') and the fiords, of course. We did a day trip to one of them ("Doubtful Sound") - this took the entire day and involved a 2hour drive to the starting point, and two separate boat rides interspersed with a long bus journey. Doubtful Sound opens into the Tasman Sea and while the scenery was uniformly stunning, the mood was more sombre given the severely overcast skies throughout. On Day 8 (April 19th), we spent a good bit of the day browsing around the town and then drove north along the west coast. Our destination was the glacier area along the west coast. The road was full of curves and hills and valleys and it was late by the time we got to Franz-Josef.
Photos Part 2
The next day (April 20th - my brother-in-law's birthday) was bright and sunny and we set out to visit the glaciers. There is one in Franz-Josef and one about 20km south - Fox Glacier. We decided to do a helicopter tour - that was a fun experience, especially being able to land on the glacier and play in the snow a bit. In the late afternoon, we did a hike around Lake Matheson which is mostly famous for its iconic reflection of Mt Cook - New Zealand's highest peak (see my adjoining photo). The hike was very pretty (as seemingly every place in nz is) and watching the golden rays of the setting sun play off the snow covered peaks of Mt Cook made for a pleasant end to the day.
Day 10 had us driving up further north to the junction with Route 73, which cuts across to the east coast, ending in Christchurch. In between it passes through the high alpine pass called, 'Arthur's Pass.' There are some mining towns along the way and we made a number of stops and arrived rather late in Christchurch. We had booked ourselves into a somewhat pricey B&B for the last 3 nights in nz and the house turned out to be a beautiful mansion sitting on a 10-acre orchard that grew almost every imaginable fruit and vegetable. The owners are a couple and the wife did all the gardening on her own including maintaing the vineyards - they bottle their own wine and olive oil. We could have spent a lot of time just wandering the grounds. She did give us a tour of her orchard with lots of sampling of fruits and berries. Everyday we had a proper sit down breakfast in a beautiful kitchen overlooking the gardens. We had an early start the next day for our final activity for the trip - a day long, 'Alpine Adventure.' It involved a 4-wheel drive through a nz sheep station (farm), followed by an hour long, scenic jet boat ride, lunch, a drive upto Arthur's pass, and finally the return journey to Christchurch in the Tranz-Alpine train - supposedly one of the top 6 train journeys in the world.
Next day was the only mandatory "chill day" and I was planning to play some golf (lot of inexpensive courses all over nz), but the family prevailed upon me to skip it. We spent the day browsing around Christchurch town and the only activity was some putt-putt golf for the boys. In the evening, we dropped my BIL to the airport since he had an earlier flight. The next morning, my sister and kids left. After that we took the boys to a local wild life park and checked out some NZ critters. There are very few native animals, bird, or plants in nz - pretty much everthing is introduced. As a result, they hold the Kiwi bird in high regard over there. In the afternoon, it was our turn to leave and after one final cup of tea with our hosts, we left for the airport. First a flight to Auckland and then onto the overnight flight to LAX.
Photos Part 3
New Zealand is not an expensive place to visit, although the activities can get pricey. Hotel accommodations are very affordable and the people are very friendly. Food costs a bit more than in the US, but its a haven for lovers of fruits and vegetables. They take a great deal of pride in their country and every place and town we went was immaculate. Great scenery abounds and there are more lakes than you can keep track of. The mountains are all over and while they are not too tall, the roads criss-crossing them tend to be rather curvy. We were very lucky with the weather - we didn't see rain even once! Late fall is a great time to visit - tourists are fewer, the days are cooler, and the fall colors are spectacular.
The reasons for the delay are two-fold: lack of time and the sheer magnitude of the task. I took over 2400 photos and it took more than a week to cull them to 1600. That was just the start - I shoot RAW, so the photos still need to be processed and in any case, who wants to flip through 1600 photos? A few days ago I had an epiphany - I don't have to do it all in one shot! I am sure everybody has experienced this - putting off a task simply because you don't believe it can be done in smaller chunks. Of course, one has to be careful not to make the chunks too small or you run the risk of ending up with a series of weightless accomplishments. Anyway, I managed to select and upload photos from the first few days and many of you have already seen them. (All links are in the blog.) As for the blog, I decided I should at least do an overview, so that folks looking at the photos have more context. So here goes.
We were in New Zealand for 13 days - arriving on the morning of April 12th and departing late evening of April 24th. We flew on Air New Zealand out of LAX - direct into and out of Auckland. Good airline, good service. My sister (Padma) and family (Husband -Ravi, Son- Siddarth (13), daughter- Smriti (16)) also joined us from Bangalore and we arrived within half hour of each other.
New Zealand is made up of two islands - North & South - and lies off the south east coast of Australia in between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The two islands are approximately of the same size. They are very sparsely populated - in a land area about the same size as the UK, New Zealand has only 4 million citizens to the 60 million in UK. The south island is particularly sparse - less than a million people. People of European descent make up about 75% of the population, the native Maori make up about 15% and the rest are Asians and other pacific islanders. The majority whites and the native Maori are much more at peace with each other than say in neighboring Australia. Most places retain their original Maori names and some places are reverting back to Maori names. Incidentally, the Maori name for New Zealand is 'Aeotara' or 'Land of the long white cloud.'
Day 1 in Auckland (nickname - 'City of Sails') was spent wandering around near our hotel, which was close to the waterfront. Many places were closed since it was Easter Sunday. We took a city bus tour, but were mostly fighting sleep due to jet lag. We did visit the Auckland museum and a greenhouse. The highlight of day 2 (April 13th - my sister's birthday) was of course skydiving. It is hard to tersely describe the experience (needs a longer blog), but I am glad we did it. We had just the right set of circumstances to make it happen. None of us freaked out and we all had good jumps. In the evening, we had dinner at the revolving restaurant atop the Skytower, which is one of the highest points in the southern hemisphere.
Day 3 we rented a minivan and after some juggling managed to load 8 people and associated luggage. We drove south towards Lake Taupo. In between we stopped at Waitomo, which is famous for their glowworm caves. These are caves whose ceilings are covered with these worms that glow by burning up their bodily waste. You go into the caves and then on a boat that is tugged along in complete silence. It is almost pitch black and the show above you is wonderful. No photography permitted. It was late evening by the time we reached our 3-bedroom apartment in Lake Taupo. Next day was quite busy - jet boating in the Huka river (thrilling), visit to the Waiomongo thermal area (similar to Yellowstone), and finally luge in Rotorua. Rotorua is a big tourist destination, but we had time only to do the luge, which everybody enjoyed enormously. Drove back to our Lake Taupo apt for the night.
Photos Part 1
Day 5 was mostly travel - first back to Rotorua to drop off the rental van, then a flight to Christchurch (South Island) where we rented another car and continued heading further south - destination for the night was Lake Tekapo. With lots of stops on the way it was almost 8pm by the time we reached the Lake Tekapo house. It was a beautiful house! Immaculate and very well done. We all just wanted to spend time in the house, but it was only a night halt. The next morning we regretfully left the house and after driving around the lake and up Mount John for the views, we continued the drive to Queenstown. The scenery which had already been spectacular, got more so and we were compelled to stop many times. We managed to reach Queenstown in time to get to their luge, which was not quite as much fun as the one in Rotorua. We checked into our hotel after dinner.
Queenstown bills itself as the 'adventure capital of New Zealand', which is saying something since all of New Zealand seems to be crazy about extreme activities of all kinds. Queenstown also is home to the most number of 'Lord of the Rings' sites - this trilogy was a huge deal for them. The world's first commercial bungee jump site is in Queenstown. This is also the access town to the vast Fiorland National park, which is famous for its hiking trails (they call it 'tramping') and the fiords, of course. We did a day trip to one of them ("Doubtful Sound") - this took the entire day and involved a 2hour drive to the starting point, and two separate boat rides interspersed with a long bus journey. Doubtful Sound opens into the Tasman Sea and while the scenery was uniformly stunning, the mood was more sombre given the severely overcast skies throughout. On Day 8 (April 19th), we spent a good bit of the day browsing around the town and then drove north along the west coast. Our destination was the glacier area along the west coast. The road was full of curves and hills and valleys and it was late by the time we got to Franz-Josef.
Photos Part 2
The next day (April 20th - my brother-in-law's birthday) was bright and sunny and we set out to visit the glaciers. There is one in Franz-Josef and one about 20km south - Fox Glacier. We decided to do a helicopter tour - that was a fun experience, especially being able to land on the glacier and play in the snow a bit. In the late afternoon, we did a hike around Lake Matheson which is mostly famous for its iconic reflection of Mt Cook - New Zealand's highest peak (see my adjoining photo). The hike was very pretty (as seemingly every place in nz is) and watching the golden rays of the setting sun play off the snow covered peaks of Mt Cook made for a pleasant end to the day.
Day 10 had us driving up further north to the junction with Route 73, which cuts across to the east coast, ending in Christchurch. In between it passes through the high alpine pass called, 'Arthur's Pass.' There are some mining towns along the way and we made a number of stops and arrived rather late in Christchurch. We had booked ourselves into a somewhat pricey B&B for the last 3 nights in nz and the house turned out to be a beautiful mansion sitting on a 10-acre orchard that grew almost every imaginable fruit and vegetable. The owners are a couple and the wife did all the gardening on her own including maintaing the vineyards - they bottle their own wine and olive oil. We could have spent a lot of time just wandering the grounds. She did give us a tour of her orchard with lots of sampling of fruits and berries. Everyday we had a proper sit down breakfast in a beautiful kitchen overlooking the gardens. We had an early start the next day for our final activity for the trip - a day long, 'Alpine Adventure.' It involved a 4-wheel drive through a nz sheep station (farm), followed by an hour long, scenic jet boat ride, lunch, a drive upto Arthur's pass, and finally the return journey to Christchurch in the Tranz-Alpine train - supposedly one of the top 6 train journeys in the world.
Next day was the only mandatory "chill day" and I was planning to play some golf (lot of inexpensive courses all over nz), but the family prevailed upon me to skip it. We spent the day browsing around Christchurch town and the only activity was some putt-putt golf for the boys. In the evening, we dropped my BIL to the airport since he had an earlier flight. The next morning, my sister and kids left. After that we took the boys to a local wild life park and checked out some NZ critters. There are very few native animals, bird, or plants in nz - pretty much everthing is introduced. As a result, they hold the Kiwi bird in high regard over there. In the afternoon, it was our turn to leave and after one final cup of tea with our hosts, we left for the airport. First a flight to Auckland and then onto the overnight flight to LAX.
Photos Part 3
New Zealand is not an expensive place to visit, although the activities can get pricey. Hotel accommodations are very affordable and the people are very friendly. Food costs a bit more than in the US, but its a haven for lovers of fruits and vegetables. They take a great deal of pride in their country and every place and town we went was immaculate. Great scenery abounds and there are more lakes than you can keep track of. The mountains are all over and while they are not too tall, the roads criss-crossing them tend to be rather curvy. We were very lucky with the weather - we didn't see rain even once! Late fall is a great time to visit - tourists are fewer, the days are cooler, and the fall colors are spectacular.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Sanjay Gets a Job
I had promised Keerti that I would blog about this and it should be quick, so might as well start with this one.
A few weeks ago we were gathered in Chez Anands for a round of poker. The boys were watching a movie and while Arjun tends to watch everything with deep concentration, Abhi tends to be easily distracted. So he starts jumping around and comes running into the living room to announce that the couch is broken. This had of course happened a while ago when RDX had had a little accident with that couch. So this announcement doesn't cause any great concern, but Keerti decides to play along:
Keerti: "Oh no Abhi, how did break?"
Abhi: "I don't know. It just broke."
Keerti: "Oh, what do we do now? Do you know anybody who can fix it?"
Abhi (after giving it some thought): "No, I don't know anybody."
Keerti: "How about Sanju-mama? Maybe he can fix it?" (no doubt in consideration of SK's carpentry skills)
Abhi's eyes light up and he responds in the all-knowing tone he takes in such situations: "Yaah! Sanju-mama is a plumber."
A few weeks ago we were gathered in Chez Anands for a round of poker. The boys were watching a movie and while Arjun tends to watch everything with deep concentration, Abhi tends to be easily distracted. So he starts jumping around and comes running into the living room to announce that the couch is broken. This had of course happened a while ago when RDX had had a little accident with that couch. So this announcement doesn't cause any great concern, but Keerti decides to play along:
Keerti: "Oh no Abhi, how did break?"
Abhi: "I don't know. It just broke."
Keerti: "Oh, what do we do now? Do you know anybody who can fix it?"
Abhi (after giving it some thought): "No, I don't know anybody."
Keerti: "How about Sanju-mama? Maybe he can fix it?" (no doubt in consideration of SK's carpentry skills)
Abhi's eyes light up and he responds in the all-knowing tone he takes in such situations: "Yaah! Sanju-mama is a plumber."
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
It's Simple Really
Sometimes we as adults complicate things by trying to make more out of a situation - fortunately I get regular reminders from my (& other) kids....
As the Karaoke session was in full swing during Arjun's BD party Abhi came to me and whispered that he had to do the "big" job (or "big potty" as I have heard some others call it). These are usually high alert moments, so I quickly sprang to attention and took him into the downstairs toilet. Typically we would leave him there until we heard his, "Alllll done, achaaa/ammaaaa" announcement. However, since the party was going on, I stayed inside and shut the door.
Soon my over-sensitive olfactory senses were being assaulted and instead of waiting, I quickly flushed. Then I asked Abhi if he was done. He shook his head in the negative, but still seemed inclined to get up. So I asked, "Why don't you put fully then?"
Abhi: "But you already flushed." (See, we normally flush only after he says he is done. By flushing early I had apparently sent the message that he is "done.") Not wanting to accept responsibility, I attempted to throw it back at hime with, "Oh, that was only because I couldn't take the smell." He was going to have none of that and responded, "Well, you should have stayed far away then."
As the Karaoke session was in full swing during Arjun's BD party Abhi came to me and whispered that he had to do the "big" job (or "big potty" as I have heard some others call it). These are usually high alert moments, so I quickly sprang to attention and took him into the downstairs toilet. Typically we would leave him there until we heard his, "Alllll done, achaaa/ammaaaa" announcement. However, since the party was going on, I stayed inside and shut the door.
Soon my over-sensitive olfactory senses were being assaulted and instead of waiting, I quickly flushed. Then I asked Abhi if he was done. He shook his head in the negative, but still seemed inclined to get up. So I asked, "Why don't you put fully then?"
Abhi: "But you already flushed." (See, we normally flush only after he says he is done. By flushing early I had apparently sent the message that he is "done.") Not wanting to accept responsibility, I attempted to throw it back at hime with, "Oh, that was only because I couldn't take the smell." He was going to have none of that and responded, "Well, you should have stayed far away then."
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Arjun Turns Six
Can numbers tell the whole story? Lets give it a shot, shall we?
06: Age Arjun, born in '03, turned in '09 (meanwhile Abhi, born in '06, turned 03 in '09
3: Cakes baked by Malini for Arjun's BD
2: Cakes cut by Arjun (one at school & one at home)
1: Cake ("Molten Chocolate") promised to the BD boy, but not baked until yesterday.
6: Portraits of Arjun used at his school party (one of each year)
6: Classmates who got to ask Arjun a question (not including Eshu who was real disppointed at not being called upon by Arjun)
2pm: Time at which we arrived at the New Children's Museum Friday afternoon
5: Activities the boys did at the museum - clay, climbing wall, print making, bubbles, shadow puppets
4.30pm: Time back home from NC Museum.
6: Bakugans that Arjun got (& 1 Ben10 watch that was mostly claimed by Abhi)15: Adults invited to the party (making a total of 17 counting Malini and me)
14: Adults who actually showed up (RD had a psychosomatic reaction to the proposed Karaoke and called in sick)
10: Kids at the party, including Arjun & Abhi
2: Guests who arrived ahead of any Murthy (Prem & Sanjana)
35: Minutes that the Murthys were late by (we are still in shock)
4: Guests who ignored explicit requests to avoid gifts
4: Courses (Appetizers, Pani Puri, Idli-sambar, cake, not counting tea)
2: Appetizers ('sundal' - steamed chick peas w/ raw mango & grated coconut; nachos & roasted garlic salsa from TJs)
56: Idlis made (8 left over)
6: Litres of Sambar made
8: Tomatoes chopped (also 3 onions, 2 carrots, and 1 bunch of corriander)
12: Cups of tea made
5: 1 Zin, 1 Cab, 1 Merlot, 1 Grenache, 1 Pinot Grigio
1: Guest who refused all liquids (Vanitha)
2: Guests who were still not done with dinner at last check (Sanjay & Latha)
60: Paper bowls/plates saved by using glass bowls (& washing them between courses)
50: Plastic spoons saved by using steel ones (had enough to manage w/o washing in between)
2: Glasses broken by Malini (including 1 wine glass)
3: Days over which the cooking was spread
3: Options for post-dinner entertainment (Karaoke, Poker, Film Fare awards)
1: Person who was really bummed about missing out on FF awards show
2: Desperate poker players (Hari & Prem...I joined them briefly)
50: Estimate of songs attempted on the Karaoke (in almost 4 hours)
40: Estimate of songs murdered on the Karaoke
1: Song that got a zero score (for the one english song attempted by Dev & Rahul)
2: Singers who stood out (Donna & Sanjay)
1: Tamil song sung by Vanitha (tough Roja song, pulled off successfully)
0: Photos of the singing
10: Minutes of video of the Karaoke (to be uploaded later)
1am: When Arjun & Abhi finally hit the sack
2am: When the last guests left (Anands, Putchalas, Bharadwajs, & Bhoj)>
3am: When Malini went to sleep
4am: When I went to sleep
50%: Readers who made it this far.
75%: Reactions that began with "What the..."
TBD: Comments received for this post. :-)
5: Fillers for pani puri, not counting veges: Peas curry, sweet (dates) chutney, hot (mint) chutney, Sev (from Surati - only store bought item), & of course, the Pani.
3: Variations on the theme - pani puri/masala puri/dahi puri (not counting the 'interesting' combinations that Prem & Latha were creating)
14: Adults who declared that they had over-eaten
??: Number of satisfied guests (to be fair, pretty much everybody left with declarations of "great party"... some were repeating it many times)
And one more before I stop:
400: Puris rolled, cut, and fried.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
From the Mouth of Babes....
Being surprised at the level of maturity displayed by today's kids is nothing new, but the following two examples are still somewhat startling.
Couple of nights ago, I am loading the dishwasher after dinner when Abhi comes by campaigning to play some game. (Arjun is totally engrossed in a coloring project - as he has been ever since getting a new set of sketch pens and stencils.) After I found that I was not able to distract him, I said, "Just wait for some time. I'll finish loading and then play with you." He gives me a frustrated look, clamps his palms over his eyes and with a foot stomp proclaims, "This does not work for me!" Apparently he learned this from his big brother. Figures.
Last evening I was shopping in Target for a specific toy requested by Arjun for his birthday - a "Draganoid" Bakugan.
I was having no luck scanning the shelves full of various Bakugan offerings. I was about to give up when a kid walks up and starts examining the toys with a knowing air. Turns out he is heavily into Bakugan and starts educating me (apparently the Drago characters have 'evolved' - into what, I have no clue) and points out the different characters. He is trying to give me some of the back story, but is clearly getting impatient at this old geezer who is just not catching on. At one point he shows me a multi-pack and suggests that I could get that. I ask (with perhaps unnecessary naivette), "Why, is it better to get this multi-pack?" And the kid, who is no more than 7 years old, pauses, looks up at me and in all seriousness replies, "Only if you want your child to have more of them." I swear, those were his exact words.
Couple of nights ago, I am loading the dishwasher after dinner when Abhi comes by campaigning to play some game. (Arjun is totally engrossed in a coloring project - as he has been ever since getting a new set of sketch pens and stencils.) After I found that I was not able to distract him, I said, "Just wait for some time. I'll finish loading and then play with you." He gives me a frustrated look, clamps his palms over his eyes and with a foot stomp proclaims, "This does not work for me!" Apparently he learned this from his big brother. Figures.
Last evening I was shopping in Target for a specific toy requested by Arjun for his birthday - a "Draganoid" Bakugan.
I was having no luck scanning the shelves full of various Bakugan offerings. I was about to give up when a kid walks up and starts examining the toys with a knowing air. Turns out he is heavily into Bakugan and starts educating me (apparently the Drago characters have 'evolved' - into what, I have no clue) and points out the different characters. He is trying to give me some of the back story, but is clearly getting impatient at this old geezer who is just not catching on. At one point he shows me a multi-pack and suggests that I could get that. I ask (with perhaps unnecessary naivette), "Why, is it better to get this multi-pack?" And the kid, who is no more than 7 years old, pauses, looks up at me and in all seriousness replies, "Only if you want your child to have more of them." I swear, those were his exact words.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Tale of Two Birthdays
A few weeks ago RD was telling me about a Karaoke device that he had brought from India for some friends of his. Both of us agreed that this was a novelty and of limited interest to us. The experience of last Friday night might have made me feel different.
It was the occasion of Vanitha's BD party, organized slightly ahead of schedule by Prem. The party was going along in routine fashion - good food - pasta, salad, cake from Champagne bakery (although the Menage a Trois was questionable :-)), and kids running around helter-skelter. Poker was not on the cards in honor of the BD girl and instead the plan was to watch a movie streamed from Netflix (I picked Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels). Before that could happen, Keerti started encouraging Sanjay to sing a song for the group. The rest of the group had to push him a bit, but eventually he got going. A couple of folks hummed along and soon folks were suggesting other songs to sing. Malini had heard MGD sing a Kannada devotional song (Gajamukhane Ganapathiye) in the temple and tried to get him to sing that one, which he eventually did with great gusto. Then Vanitha was prevailed upon to sing a popular Tamil song (Illaya Nila). One song led to another and very soon it became hard to stop. Sometimes we sang the entire song, but mostly it would peter out after the opening lines. Every so often, Latha would startle us by jumping into a high falsetto, but it was all par for the course. It was mostly old Hindi songs and there was a lot of shared nostalgia reflected our choices.
Antakshri was suggested and after some more general singing, we started a game of antaskshri and that went on till almost 1 AM. The game was a bit unconventional in that we did not stick to just Hindi songs - Vanitha contributed some Tamil songs and towards the end, Murali broke into some Kannada songs for the guys side. For some reason I was not allowed to sing any ghazals on the narrow technicality that they weren't 'movie' songs. The guys were a bit more into the songs themselves - between Sanjay, Rahul, Murali, and myself, we knew a good bit of the lyrics of our favorite songs and insisted on singing them all the way through, which caused some aggravation to the women who were more competitive and wanted to get through the songs quickly. Malini and Keerthi knew a lot of the newer songs which was a distinct blind spot for the guys, but we managed to keep pace. Through all this, Prem was a rather bored bystander, serving up two rounds of tea and desperately scouting for a cell phone to play some games on. He seemed truly bewildered that the rest of us knew all the same songs. To his credit, he tolerated us rather well. Hari must have had a long day - he was desperately trying to grab some shut-eye with Alekhya in his arms enveloped in singing of often sketchy pitch and tune. The older kids, who were still playing would come and stand at the end of the room and look on in some puzzlement before heading back to their games. Finally we called it a draw and an unusual evening had come to an end.
The first thing that almost everybody mentioned the next evening when we met for Murali's "surprise" BD party was that they had the songs running through their heads for a long time after we broke up the previous night. The strong hold these songs have on our collective conscious is quite remarkable. I am humming even as I type this!
Latha had organized a potluck dinner for MGD's (35+x)th birthday. It was to be a surprise, but mostly in that the first person to show up would yell 'surprise!' and that would be that. Not your traditional surprise, but much, much, easier to plan! The BD boy was in high spirits as usual and he was only more uplifted when Hari showed up with a bottle of 'Gila', straight from TJ. The food was uniformly very good (or maybe I was just really hungry after skipping lunch while playing golf :-)) - Malini had made potato bondas (with a secret stuffing of chilli pickle), there were roasted sweet potatoes (RD), fruit platter & bruschetta (Sanjay), daal (Keerti), Chicken (Keerthi), Eggplant (Vanitha) and of course Latha's outstanding cheesecake. She wanted me to compare that with the Bisibele baath, which also she had made. I never did give my verdict, so here it is - cheesecake by a length.
This being MGD's BD, poker was a given and we got started early. We broke up for cake cutting and then dinner. We played some more, but after some ups and downs, Latha went broke and we called it a night. There was no singing, but the tunes from the previous night were still, as the Eagles sang, "calling from far away." I wonder how long it will be before somebody shows up at the next quarterly with a Karaoke machine.
It was the occasion of Vanitha's BD party, organized slightly ahead of schedule by Prem. The party was going along in routine fashion - good food - pasta, salad, cake from Champagne bakery (although the Menage a Trois was questionable :-)), and kids running around helter-skelter. Poker was not on the cards in honor of the BD girl and instead the plan was to watch a movie streamed from Netflix (I picked Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels). Before that could happen, Keerti started encouraging Sanjay to sing a song for the group. The rest of the group had to push him a bit, but eventually he got going. A couple of folks hummed along and soon folks were suggesting other songs to sing. Malini had heard MGD sing a Kannada devotional song (Gajamukhane Ganapathiye) in the temple and tried to get him to sing that one, which he eventually did with great gusto. Then Vanitha was prevailed upon to sing a popular Tamil song (Illaya Nila). One song led to another and very soon it became hard to stop. Sometimes we sang the entire song, but mostly it would peter out after the opening lines. Every so often, Latha would startle us by jumping into a high falsetto, but it was all par for the course. It was mostly old Hindi songs and there was a lot of shared nostalgia reflected our choices.
Antakshri was suggested and after some more general singing, we started a game of antaskshri and that went on till almost 1 AM. The game was a bit unconventional in that we did not stick to just Hindi songs - Vanitha contributed some Tamil songs and towards the end, Murali broke into some Kannada songs for the guys side. For some reason I was not allowed to sing any ghazals on the narrow technicality that they weren't 'movie' songs. The guys were a bit more into the songs themselves - between Sanjay, Rahul, Murali, and myself, we knew a good bit of the lyrics of our favorite songs and insisted on singing them all the way through, which caused some aggravation to the women who were more competitive and wanted to get through the songs quickly. Malini and Keerthi knew a lot of the newer songs which was a distinct blind spot for the guys, but we managed to keep pace. Through all this, Prem was a rather bored bystander, serving up two rounds of tea and desperately scouting for a cell phone to play some games on. He seemed truly bewildered that the rest of us knew all the same songs. To his credit, he tolerated us rather well. Hari must have had a long day - he was desperately trying to grab some shut-eye with Alekhya in his arms enveloped in singing of often sketchy pitch and tune. The older kids, who were still playing would come and stand at the end of the room and look on in some puzzlement before heading back to their games. Finally we called it a draw and an unusual evening had come to an end.
The first thing that almost everybody mentioned the next evening when we met for Murali's "surprise" BD party was that they had the songs running through their heads for a long time after we broke up the previous night. The strong hold these songs have on our collective conscious is quite remarkable. I am humming even as I type this!
Latha had organized a potluck dinner for MGD's (35+x)th birthday. It was to be a surprise, but mostly in that the first person to show up would yell 'surprise!' and that would be that. Not your traditional surprise, but much, much, easier to plan! The BD boy was in high spirits as usual and he was only more uplifted when Hari showed up with a bottle of 'Gila', straight from TJ. The food was uniformly very good (or maybe I was just really hungry after skipping lunch while playing golf :-)) - Malini had made potato bondas (with a secret stuffing of chilli pickle), there were roasted sweet potatoes (RD), fruit platter & bruschetta (Sanjay), daal (Keerti), Chicken (Keerthi), Eggplant (Vanitha) and of course Latha's outstanding cheesecake. She wanted me to compare that with the Bisibele baath, which also she had made. I never did give my verdict, so here it is - cheesecake by a length.
This being MGD's BD, poker was a given and we got started early. We broke up for cake cutting and then dinner. We played some more, but after some ups and downs, Latha went broke and we called it a night. There was no singing, but the tunes from the previous night were still, as the Eagles sang, "calling from far away." I wonder how long it will be before somebody shows up at the next quarterly with a Karaoke machine.
Another Triumph for Petit
A quick update to my post-Oscar post to note the best documentary win for Man on Wire. If you were watching, the guy who ran up to the stage after the producers was the man who pulled off the high wire act - Philippe Petit. He gave a short, joyful speech, did a little magic trick with a coin that one of his old friends had given him and ended with an impromptu stunt - balancing the Oscar statue on his chin. Doing street magic and juggling acts is of course how he paid for his various 'unauthorized' tight rope walks.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Slumdog Rules!
I have not seen "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and it is quite unlikely that I will actively seek it out. It is not the sort of movie that immediately appeals to me and its trailers and early reviews left me disinterested. However, as I watched the Oscar ceremonies last night (fast-forwarding through a Tivo-ed version), it was obvious that the evening was essentially a showdown between 'BB' and Slumdog Millionaire, which I wrote about. Any category in which only one of them was present was almost always won by that one - the significant exception being of course Brad Pitt (who was at most third-best - behind Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke). And when they went head-to-head, as they did in almost every significant category (except all of the actor/actress ones), SM came out the winner.
This year's Oscars had a predictable quality to them, with most of the winners being fairly obvious. Heath Ledger for best supporting actor, 'Jai Ho' for best song (the other nominees were another SM/Rahman number and a lukewarm offering from Wall-E), Kate Winslet for best actress, and Wall-E for best animation were all pretty much a given, with the only suspense perhaps being the presence of Meryl Streep in competition to Kate Winslet.
It was exciting to see AR Rahman win twice and close out his (decidedly tepid) acceptance speech with a dedication in tamil. His invocation of the "Mere paas ma hai" dialog probably left most of the audience mystified, but was intimately familiar as the recurring rejoinder to our poker-time banter. Equally heart-warming was the award for sound mixing that went to a well-spoken Resul Pookutty, who Malini informed me is from Kerala. It is probably safe to say that these are the first people from Kerala or TamilNadu to win an Oscar.
I attribute this clean sweep by SM to a couple of reasons: The lesser one is the conventional quality of the competition - it was hard to see any of the other nominees (other than BB, of course) winning. They just were not 'big' enough. And my guess is that even BB faded when pitted against the exuberance of SM. The greater reason I believe is that it is the perfect feel-good movie for these troubled times. While SM is not a Bollywood movie, it is very much in the style of one and Bollywood has been perfecting the art of feel-good escapism for many decades now. Of course, it could just be that it is a very good movie.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
29 Palms - Winter 2009 Quarterly Outing - Pt 3/3
I opened my eyes abruptly at almost exactly 6am the next morning. I saw that sunrise was imminent and had to take some shots. I pulled on some warm clothing, went over to the other house to retrieve my camera and tripod and proceeded to take some photos. When I returned to the house, I was startled to see a head pop up from the sofa - where no head had been when I left. Turned out to be RD, who had heard me leave and had come down from his bunk bed (in the room he shared with the Biddanurs) to check out the sound. He decided it was too much effort to climb back up and just settled on the sofa.
I tried to sleep some more, but eventually got out of bed. Akshaj was up and about and Latha was watching him. We could have used one more restroom in the place. Akshaj and Latha were in the bathroom and I was pacing, waiting for them to come out. Suddenly mgd comes out of his room and makes a beeline to the bathroom only to realize that it was occupied. He sits himself down on a chair and then notices me pacing.
MGD: "Do you need to go? Is it urgent?"
Me: "I do need to go, but not super urgent. Do you have to go now?"
MGD: "That's why I am sitting down."
Me: "I can wait. You go."
One by one we headed to the main house. Most folks were up and about there. We got some coffee and a group decided to try volleyball. It was quite cold and rather windy. The ball seemed to be extra hard and many of our forearms and wrists were still sore from the game on Saturday. After some time we realized it just wasn't the same, we gave up on the game and headed in to play some TT and pool. After some of that, it was time for breakfast.
In all these weekend outings, I am usually on the hook for one breakfast - omelets. Prem tried to relieve me by offering to make fritatas, but the crowd wanted omelets, so I got started. After some false starts with the pans, I eventually got a handle on the process and started serving up breakfast. A game of poker was already underway and kids were watching TV. After breakfast there was some desire to start another poker game, but we decided to clean up first. Of course by the time we were done, folks were pretty much ready to leave. There was a plan to stop at an outlet mall on the way, so there was some desire to not delay much longer. So, around 1.30pm, we all headed out.
The wind had been howling all morning and as we reached the town of 29 Palms, the rain started and it was quite heavy all the way to Hwy 10. 10 West was crawling and while the conditions were unsuitable for shopping (it was an outdoor mall), we exited at the mall mostly because of the traffic. We got coffee and folks explored some stores. We gave up soon and headed back onto the highway. Luckily the traffic eased up quickly and we had a largely uneventful drive back home. We saw a couple of bad accidents on the way, but otherwise it was fine. We had dosas for dinner and after a cup of tea, hit the sack.
A sign near the main door of the house read, "Dedicated to Dignified Loafing" - an appropriate motto for life in the high desert. It had been a fun, relaxing trip.
The setting and the house (even with all its shortcomings) were certainly part of it. I was actually quite sore from the volleyball and ping pong. Kids had had a great time - being able to run around in an unstructured place full of interesting things to explore, fall over, and run into was enjoyable to all of them. During the drive back Abhi kept campaigning to return to the house and after we got home, refused to come out of the car for a good 20 minutes for the same reason. Even now, he is quite ready to head back. And so are, I believe, the rest of us.
29 Palms - Winter 2009 Quarterly Outing - Pt 2/3
Prem, Rahul, and I were planning to go for golf early morning on Sunday, but Rahul dropped out in the last minute. Prem and I left around 6.30am, but had to wait till almost 8.30am to start playing because of frost on the ground. It was quite a nice course and being just the two of us with nobody in front, we played quickly and were done before noon. The wind kicked up for the second 9 and made playing quite challenging. In between we had received calls from the home front and we decided to sync up at the entrance to the park. We met everybody else at the visitor center and after some discussion decided to head into town (29 Palms) to get lunch. That turned out to be mini saga into itself. All the places we tried were either closed or unsuitable for some other reason. Denny's became the fallback choice, but Malini and I decided to just do a carryout from Little Caeasar's since pizza is one of the easier things to feed our boys. After lunch, there was some loss of interest in visiting the park. A parking lot discussion ensued, and eventually the Anands & RD headed back home, while the rest of us went into the park.
Much of the park is at a higher elevation and the temperatures were quite low. We stopped at the Cholla Cactus garden and then made our way to the Barker Dam 1-mile loop hike. It was in low 40's here, but we warmed up with the walk. I didn't have my camera and while somewhat disappointing (the overcast day provided excellent light for people photography), there was also a freedom to just look around and not worry about missing the shot. The vistas and landscape were familiar from our visit almost 8 years ago when we had spent a lot more time in the park. I was still fascinated by the almost moonscape and the abrupt rock and boulder formations that would rise up from the valley floor. These formations of course make Joshua Tree a huge draw for rock climbers. Sadly, many of the Joshua trees themselves seemed to be dying out and in many areas, it almost looked like a fire had swept through. After the hike, we returned back to the house. Interest in volleyball was low, so we just chilled. Dinner was nominally tacos, but all kinds of stuff seemed to precede it - chilli bajjis from Mgd, Chilli tofu from Malini, Some tandoori chicken from previous night, etc. By the time tacos were actually made, I was quite full!
A robust 'discussion' on LTE broke out, with MGD taking no prisoners in his stand that LTE was going to rule the world. His passion was admirable, although nobody was quite sure about the need for such fervor. I am sure the Cab, Zin, and Pinot had something to do with it! Eventually dinner was done, and the table was once again cleared for poker. This time the game went on longer, but a little past midnight folks started fading. MGDs, RD, and us headed to our sleeping quarters, but the tea we had had during poker kept us awake. MGD and RD soon had a game of ping pong going and Latha started racking the pool table. I also joined for some TT, but eventually was too tired to keep going. My early start for golf and golf itself had taken a toll. Even as I sank (literally) into the roll-away the pool game was still going on and the sounds of crashing balls faded as I drifted off into a deep sleep.
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