Inwards and Onwards

Shyam at Livermore Temple

2010-05-15T22:39:00.000-07:00

Shyam took his second trip to the Livermore Shiva Vishnu temple, this time with his ammumma and appuppan.

Shyam in Big Basin

2010-05-15T22:20:00.001-07:00

We visited Big Basin Redwoods State Park to see the giant Sequoia's with my parents and Shyam last Saturday. Some pictures from the trip.

Amma, Achan and Shyam in Big Basin

Shyam's Annaprashan

2010-04-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Shyam, as baby of two cultures, will probably have two of many ceremonies. Here is his second feeding ceremony, this time at Ishani's parents' place in Guwahati.

The irony is in spite of two ceremonies and many people putting many spoons to his lips, he is still not on solids.

Shyam Annaprashan

Updated with minor tweaks to the language of the post, removing improper pronoun reference: "A baby of two cultures, I expect Shyam...." which suggested I was a baby of two cultures. Vestige from the GMAT days.

Shyam's Choroonu

2010-04-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

Today we had a ceremony for symbolic feeding of solids for Shyam. He has a teeny taste of a mash of rice, banana, payasam, papad and salt. He also got to dress up in a kurta and wear some jewellery. He was a well behaved baby through the entire ceremony and even did some singing at the end. :)

Shyam choroonu

Shyam!!

2010-01-10T00:32:00.000-08:00

Most of you know, so will just add a link to the photo album.

The first impressions

Baby Dictionary

2010-01-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

Bonding

Main Entry: bond·ing

Pronunciation: \ˈbän-diŋ\

1 : green baby poop overflowing from the diaper on to the father's jeans and polo shirt while the father tries to burp the infant

Sleep

Main Entry: 1sleep

Pronunciation: \ˈslēp\

1 : the natural periodic suspension of consciousness allowed by lack of baby's crying, and parent taking a break from obsessively looking at the sleeping child, downloading pictures and blogging about it.

2 : is overrated

Food

Main Entry: food

Pronunciation: \ˈfüd\

1 : material to be demanded from the mother at the threat of heartbreaking wails, every two hours.

2 : the wonderful creations of the mom's mother sustaining the grateful parents

Baby

Main Entry: 1ba·by

Pronunciation: \ˈbā-bē\

1 : a feeding-pooping machine in a cloth bundle

2 : also refers to a little bundle of joy

("main entry" and "pronunciation" from Merriam Webster)

Halloween, Babyshower, Birthday and Two Launches..

2009-11-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

.. quite a week. Though no excuse for me being awol from my blog for a long time, it has been quite a busy few weeks, culminating in this one crazy week. While the work week was consumed in making search more social and musical, the weekend was for Halloween themed baby shower and my birthday. My last minute Halloween costume choices were a monk and Che. I decided to do them both - Che who was a monk. And someone at the party aptly named my setup as Chesus. Ishani dressed as a pumpkin and gets more credit for custom self made costumes.

More pictures to come, but here is a sampler....

Matrimony packages for Pakistanis...

2009-05-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

Could not pass up the opportunity to blog about this. The International section of a prominent and serious Indian news papers, The Hindu, had an article about how online Indian matrimony sites are putting together "packages" for our neighbours across the border in Pakistan.

It was also interesting to diverse set of Google ads all around the article. The users have three ads targeted at Muslim. One for Iyengars, if that's who you are looking for. Either way, you could also get on to a cruise to Europe. :)

Assam Road Trip 2008 Map

2008-12-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

I created a custom map with the locations we visited as a part of the road trip in Assam. The locations indicated with the blue markers are places we visited. We are also using this map to add locations associated with the family in Assam. For example, Ishani's grandparents on her mom's side live in Moran (green marker).

Guwahati
Tezpur
Kaziranga National Park
Jorhat
Sibsagar

View Larger Map

Fish for Lunch!

2008-12-14T03:01:00.000-08:00

An advantage of living close to the ocean is that you get fresh fish closeby. We got some King Fish (locally known as Vajram) from the market and then recorded amma cooking fish curry and fry.

I put together a video of that below. The ingredients of the paste were not very clear in the video. I have listed them below:

Paste for the fish curry - coconut, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, shallots and curry leaves
Paste for the fish fry - pepper, fennel seeds, shallots, chilli powder.

Visit to a construction site

2008-12-12T23:52:00.000-08:00

This morning we stopped by a home construction site as Mike and Bernie were interested in observing how buildings are constucted here. Mike was true to his reputation, climbing up the rickety ladder to check out the top of the building.

Here are a couple of pictures shot on my G1.

Pimli's Birthday

2008-12-12T23:41:00.001-08:00

hmmm cake!

Three Too Many!

2008-12-12T23:28:00.001-08:00

Q. How do you work on 4 computers at the same time?

A. This is how!

Q. Why do you work on 4 computers at the same time?

A. Well, because you can!

Arrival

2008-12-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

Mike and Bernie arrived at Chennai last night. But you never truly arrive till you've had something to eat!

Its been 3 years - let us feast!

2008-12-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

This is the first time we have been back home for our wedding anniversary. Is there ever a better excuse for stuffing our bellies with food. Here is a traditional Kerala lunch being laid out on banana leaves.

Corn Roasted Over a Flame

2008-12-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

Walking by the Bay of Bengal, strong sea wind, great time for some corn roasted on a vivid flame and rubbed with lime juice and spices!

An embedded Google Map for those who are curious where this place - Elliot's Beach - is located.

View Larger Map

Bird Feed - Freshly Served

2008-12-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

Turns out that Ishani and I are not the only people who flew in to get some food from my mom. This crow has been a regular companion ouside my mom's kitchen (across a screen) since it was little. It follows my mom, jumping from one side of the window to the other as she moves around the kitchen. When it was little, the crow used to caw till my mom put some food out there. But now, it is well behaved and just waits the turn.

My mom explains in the video that the crow does not like rice as much as the thick layer of milk fat (left behind when milk is boiled and cooled, as seen in video) and egg yolk. Also, she is visited by 4 pigeons later in the day for more food.

O'Reilly on Obama's National Security Team

2008-12-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

One of the drains on my time over the last months has been the never ending presidential election campaign. As a news junkie, I try to get multiple view points. I try to watch O'Reilly Factor once in a while, cringing through a lot of it, as I want to get some conservative view point.

I figured given Obama's choice of a centrist team, disappointing some who voted for him, it would be interesting to see what Bill thinks. After all, Bob Gates from the Bush administration is staying on as Sec. of Defense. And Jim Jones a formar NATO commandant, who disagreed(s?) with Obama on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, as National Security Advisor.

How would O'Reilly make this consistent with his theme of 'I am fearful of Obama'? Easy. By not saying mentioning these two gentlemen in his review of the team.

Does my desire to get opposing views extend to watching Hannity and Colmes? Nah! I switch over to Hardball for this hour, as Chris Matthews asks his guest if the left feels betrayed by these choices.

I long to take refuge with Jon Stewart.

Back!

2008-12-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

It has been about 6 months since I blogged. Not because time stopped, but because I slacked.

Given that the last time I blogged was when I visited India, I am making another (feeble) attempt, given that we are visiting home again!

Ooops!

2008-05-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Came across an interesting article in Time of India this morning.

"Tough times ahead for techies in India. Pretty soon, they may have to carry tissue paper to office, for the US recession seems to have entered even the toilets of Indian software firms."

The TOI website takes for ever to load this article and so here is a link to the same article in Economic Times. But if you seek instant gratification and would like to see the cartoon that accompanied the article only in the print version, here is the scan:

Larry About Innovation and Risk

2008-04-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

It is not often that Larry talks in length to the press. Here is an interview in Fortune magazine where he discusses how to change the world. (Hope the link still works.)

He said lot of interesting things, but here is something about risk aversion and innovation

Even when we started Google, we thought, "Oh, we might fail," and we almost didn't do it. The reason we started is that Stanford said, "You guys can come back and finish your Ph.D.s if you don't succeed." Probably that one decision caused Google to be created. It's not clear we would have done it otherwise. We had all this internal risk we had just invented. It's not that we were going to starve or not get jobs or not have a good life or whatever, but you have this fear of failing and of doing something new, which is very natural. In order to do stuff that matters, you need to overcome that.

ब्लॉगर Transliteration

2008-04-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Just playing around blogger settings and noticed the transliteration feature and thought I will give it a shot.

Hindi - आती क्या खन्डाला? (Will you come to Khandala?)

Tamil - இது ஏப்படி இருக்கு? (How is this?)

Malayalam - എന്ടെ ഗുരുവൌരപ്പ! (My lord!)

That was easy!

Disclaimer - I think the above is mostly correct, though the scripts I studied are slightly different from what is generated on a computer screen.

Cool Pottery Videos

2008-04-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

Pottery is hard, but we are getting better. I thought I will share some YouTube videos I came across when looking for some inspiration.

An awesome Japanese pottery video demonstrating tea pot and cup.

More comprehensive (and long) video from Irish pottery maker, Stephen Pearce, going through the entire process - making clay all the way to modern pots.

Pottery Class

2008-04-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Too excited to share this with everyone!!! Here's unveiling our first pottery collection! Not sure if Murali blogged about this, but we joined a pottery class last month and our first set of glazed pots just got done today. Here are some pictures.

They are by no means anywhere near perfect, but we still love them!

(update - uploaded the images again from a PC)

Vishu and Bihu celebrations 2008

2008-04-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Murali kept asking me to post something as a guest blogger and so here I am, blogging about our regional cultural experiences here in the Bay Area!

In a fit to reconnect with our roots, I decided to become a member of the Malayalee Association of Northern California as well as the Bay Area Assamese Community. I joined the groups in April and this was perfect timing as we were able to attend the New Year celebrations!! (Note for our non Indian readers: Different parts of India celebrate New Year's following the harvesting season, around the 14th and 15th of April).

So, first up, was the Malayalee New Year celebration - Vishu. As I was getting more and more excited about finally getting a chance to wear my Mallu saree, Murali was getting into weekend inertia and debating the need to get up and spoil a perfectly jobless weekend attending a social event. I kept bringing up the "free snacks" piece and eventually came up with another brilliant strategy of getting Frank (our Malayalee friend) involved in the whole deal. The idea was that the two Malayalee's can give each other moral support, while this Assamese girl enjoys the event :)! It worked! The cultural program was complete with Thiruvathirakali, Mohiniattam and Kathakali performances. The pictures below will show the highlights, including a picture Murali sleeping through the event!

The bummer was - most of the free snacks that I kept talking about was all gone before the boys could make their way to the snacks station. We nevertheless managed to get some deep fried banana and a couple other deep fried items :)!

Murali then came up with a very sincere plan of visiting the Livermore temple. This is one of the bigger temples in the Bay Area. I was kicked by the idea, especially with the thoughts of getting some free food in the temple (am I not sounding like a poor girl who rarely gets to eat good food? Well, people who love free food will know exactly what I am talking about). So, we dropped Frank off (he had other free food plans cooked up through his family connections) and drove some 40 mins to Livermore. After visiting the Gods, I pushed Murali to what I thought was the kitchen area. As soon as we entered, we were seated and served about 15 different side dishes with mouth watering sambar, rasam, potato sabji and payasam!!! It was definitely a Saturday well spent!

Vishu Celebration

Next up, was the Bihu celebration the following Sunday. This one was an easy one - just as Murali was getting started with the regular complaints of spending yet another weekend in another social event, I played the cultural balance card - the need to participate in my cultural events, as much as I participate in his (though his reasons had nothing to do with it and more to do with his love for the couch and CNN + other news channels)! The function was held at a restaurant that was reserved for the event. It was a nice space (though much smaller than ICC) and the food was alright. The highlights definitely were the Bihu dances including a Husori ( a form of dance where village elders move from house to house singing Bihu songs and blessing each household). Murali did not fall asleep this time. I also met many new families and hope that we will receive some dinner invites soon!! The pictures will tell the rest of the tale.

Bihu 2008

So this is all the news from the Bay Area. I promise to keep the readers posted with more cultural news and more stories of my successes dragging Murali out from his beloved couch on perfectly sunny outdoor-sy weekends!

Christmas at Irvine

2008-04-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

Frank, Ishani and I visited Archana and Nishanth for Christmas. We all got gifts and made an 'honorably late' visit to the Christmas mass!

Trip to LA - Christmas 2007

Bernie and Mike's Visit

2008-04-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

We hosted the Minnesota couple for a few days last week (too short!). Ishani and I (for some part) made the most of it - Big Basin, Point Reyes, San Francisco, Google visit, birthday! Quite a list, huh?

More pics below in the photo albums (yes, what you are seeing is a whale!).

Big Basin State Park

Pt Reyes with Mike and Bernie

Holi

2008-04-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

We played holi; my first time. It was messy, but fun! Pictures tell the tale better.

Holi 2008

Long Time

2008-04-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

Inertia, laziness, more-work-less-time, along with some half finished weighty posts meant that I have not posted for a long time. The last post was in early Nov. Since then:

We visited Minnesota and Chicago for Thanksgiving
Celebrated Christmas at Irvine with Nishanth and Archana
Monee died in early January
Archana and Nishanth visited Mountain View
Mike and Bernie visited Mountain View

I will start with a few photo albums about these visits and hopefully I can start blogging more regularly.

Monee

2008-01-18T15:12:00.000-08:00

He had been sick for a few weeks now and my parents were tending to his every needs, carrying him up and down the stairs. But by the time he reached the hospital, it was too late. He had tumor in his stomach that had spread to many internal organs. The doctors gave him no more than 3 months. But even that was not to be. He died in the hospital, with my parents by his side.

I was hoping to go see him early this year as he was getting very old. But now, I will (have to) grieve from far.

Helium Hysteria

2007-11-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

We got a late-night-knock-on-the-door-birthday-surprise visit from Sumanth, Supriya, Satish and Amrita. They were on their way back from a Halloween party.

On the topic of Halloween, I went to work dressed up as junkie. I have attached a self capture above.

Kanan and Pradyumna visited this evening and tried on the wig.

Then we got down to business on some helium balloons and had some silly, silly, hysterical fun. Videos below:

Spooky!

2007-10-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

It was about 8 pm tonight. I was alone at home. Upstairs. Fully focussed on an interesting investigation for work.

Then, I heard someone crashing into the apartment wall. Things fell. There were heavy footsteps running up the stairs. More running. More banging on the wall. My adrenaline surged. I screamed at the intruder, letting him know that I was home and warning him to leave. Then, I slowly walked down the stairs gearing for someone to jump out at me. I opened the apartment door and stepped out. It looked like all that noise and commotion had brought some of my neighbors to their doors too.

I had just experienced my first earthquake!! Welcome to California!!! Happy Halloween!!!!

This weekend's barbecue

2007-10-29T00:47:00.001-07:00

We hosted a group of our friends yesterday for barbecue. Apart from all the food we grilled, we also got to eat a wonderful cake Ishani baked for my birthday (later this week). It was fun having our smallish living space packed with friends.

Aaron took a bunch of wonderful pictures. I combined those with a couple we took into a video. I was playing around with different soundtracks for the video and found it funny how people look serious when the music is haunting, though the mood was light.

(Music from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, tracks 18 and 11 - Forward to Time Past and Hagrid the Professor)

Eventful Weekend

2007-10-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

In stark contrast to some of the recent lazy weekend, this weekend was kinda packed

Watched a mallu movie - Classmates
I and I took a long lazy hike in Portola State Park

Portola State Park

Watched a Poirot episode after a long long while.
Watched Kimster pull off an improbable win in the formula one drivers championship. Top three driver scores - 110, 109, 109. And we might not have heard the last word on this championship. What a crazy year.
Watched Chak de India
Bought and assembled a Weber gas grill

In other news this weekend, JK Rowling declared that Dumbledore is gay and Google home page turned black in San Francisco in support of the city's Lights out San Francisco. Note, setting the home page black apparently does not save power, particularly on LCD monitors.

Internet People: A crash course on buzz videos

2007-10-08T00:49:00.002-07:00

A friend recently pointed me to this cool video called Internet People.

It is a clever compilation of some of the memorable characters in the Internet world. I recognized a few videos, but realized I did not know most of these characters. Therefore, I set about identifying the characters that were called out in this video. I found some funny, some outright mean (and passing as humor), some pointless, but the vast majority entertaining. As I watched the videos, I was struck by the low-tech/low-cost production of most of these videos and the millions of eyeballs that have feasted on them.

My favorites are Evolution of Dance , Ok Go and Lazy Sunday Rap. If you are in the mood for some sillies, may I suggest Peanut butter jelly time, Sneezing baby panda and Tom Cruise kills Oprah!!.

I am not sure if I got the right videos for some of the characters and for some I dare not provide a link (Ishani and I got a shocker of a lifetime when we brought up goatse). It is safe to say that you might want to avoid watching many of these videos at work, particularly the ones I've marked "expletives". But if you are looking to kill some time, or catch up on the events in the Internet buzz world, enjoy!

Dramatic prairie dog
Starwars Kid
Numa Numa
Back Street boys lip synch
Napster bad (expletives)
Winnebago Man (expletives)
Jib jab (sample)
GI Joe cartoons (sample)
We like the moon
Superbowl is gay (expletives)
Ask a Ninja (sample)
lonelygirl15 (sample)
Average Homeboy
House of Cosby
Chad Vader
Lazy Sunday Rap (very very cool!, SNL)
The kid from brooklyn (expletives)
Bubb Rubb
George Lucas in Love
Kramer's rant (expletives)
Myspace movie
Chunk Norris Facts (sample)
Telling it all (geriatric stories)
I kiss you
Stanley Kubrick audition
Leroy Jenkins doesn't listen
Homestar runner (sample)
Grape stomp (mean)
All your base are belong to us
Ok Go (Cool!!!)
Shining trailer recreation
Sneezing baby panda
Dick in a box (explicit, SNL)
Rocketboom (sample)
Yacht Rock (?)
Snakes on a plane (music video, expletives)
Angry German Kid (expletives)
Otters holding hands
Dax Flame (sample)
Bride cutting hair
Steven Colbert roasting Bush (part 1)
Little superstar (and the real one too!)
Lightning bolt
Kelly shopping for shoes
Tom Cruise kills Oprah!! (way cool!!)
White and Nerdy (fun)
K-Fed Popozoa
Washington washington (explicit)
Ashley Simpson unsynched
Boom Goes the dynamite
Lily Tomlin in a fight (?)
Peanut butter jelly time (stupid, hilarious)
Christmas lights set to music (cool!)
Cptn Kirk singing Rocketman
Evolution of Dance (the best)
Chocolate Rain

Google Offsite

2007-10-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks back, I joined a group of coworkers participated in an off-site team event. We hiked in the morning and after cooking and eating lunch we sat around and discussed all things Google and web. As a new member of the team, it was great to hear some old time stories and get some more background on the company's culture and its evolution.

Here is an experimental video of our "brainstorming" session. I was not able to get my laptop to control the camera and shoot time-delayed shots. Instead, I took manual shots over a few hours and made this rough movie.

Did you spot my fancy hat?

The Step Children

2007-09-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

I am not a hockey fan, don't remember the last time I watched a game. I've followed a great many cricket games, but, I am not sure if I qualify as a fan. Definitely not in comparison to some individuals I know.

The context is, India won the T20 championship, rather unexpectedly and the country has been ecstatic. Among all the press coverage about the celebrations, was an article about how the hockey team was left in the dumps.

While India celebrates the return of the winning Twenty20 cricket team, the country's hockey community feels that it has been passed over.

It recently triumphed in the Asia Cup, but its success did not trigger anything like the wild celebrations lavished on the returning cricketers.

Reading the article reminded me of an incident when the hockey team, after winning the Asian games in 1998,was treated down right shoddy by the authorities.

``I will never let my son play hockey at least for India,'' said Dhanraj Pillay, skipper of the Indian team which won the hockey gold medal at the Bangkok Asian Games, on landing in Mumbai last night.

Why would he? I hear he has mellowed down since and was also honored with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. But the the question still remains, why should he? Why do we watch so much cricket? Why does cricket get all the money and spotlight? Why are we a one sport nation?

I can think of a few reason why we all like cricket:

Most of us played cricket as kids, watching cricket let us holds on to that.
It is a very accessible game. As a kid, I've played with cricket bats made from the spine of a coconut frond and rubber ball, with lines drawn on a brick wall for stumps. We could play it almost anywhere, no tables, nets, courts etc.
All our friends could play - be it 3 or 25 people.
India plays lots of games and we win enough games to sustain the hope of the fans.
Some of our players are very good and we follow their fortunes and enjoy their skill with the blade/ball.
We had to, to fit in.

There are probably tons of other reasons why people like cricket. The question then turns to why don't we like other games enough?

We do not have the infrastructure to support other games (tennis, ping pong), and only a few,2-4, can play it at a time. But this is not true for football (yeah, the real one) or kabaddi, for that matter.
There isn't much exposure for the other games (TV, press, blogs).
There isn't much money from the sponsors. The ROI is higher with a cricketer, with fewer risks. Outside of Bollywood and rare exceptions like Sania Mirza, few individuals are able to convert success into marketable fame.
There aren't enough marketed successes.
It is a chicken and egg problem.

I do not have my ear to the ground about the latest developments in India relating to support for other games and superstars they've produced. I suppose I am part of the problem!

But, if the national hockey team feels let down after a big victory, well the other sports are the step children, compared to cricket, the pampered brat!

Bird's Eye View

2007-09-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

It was not too long ago when we as map users had to contend with poor quality maps that took for ever to load. Not anymore.

There are many cool options. Starting with the vastly improved UI, we now have the option of satellite view, traffic info etc. Then Google sent hoards of vehicles around the country to acquire photographs for the street view feature.

That kicked up some privacy concerns as some people found themselves on such maps.

I recently came across this video about Microsoft flying planes around the Europe capturing aerial photos, for better resolution and details than satellite images, particularly the 3D views. Looks cool!

With all this high tech images, it was refreshing to find a tangential piece in BBC about a new book with pictures taken from a kite in India. You can find more pictures from the book (India: A Kite's Eye View by Nicolas Chorier) in his website (under the Edition tab).

Ali G, the innovator

2007-09-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

During the hike the conversation turned to new product development (I don't remember why). I was reminded of Ali G's product innovation and his attempts to sell the idea to VCs. It is a bullet proof plan, with zen diagram, market size, revenue forecast and all that good stuff!

Would you buy an ice cream glove? How about a hovercraft?

Purisima Creek Redwood Trail

2007-09-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Early Saturday morning we took a hike in the beautiful Purisima Creek near Half Moon Bay. It was a rainy day and getting there through the narrow windy roads served as an apt appetizer for the actual hike. Ishani and I hiked with Kanan, Pradyumna, Kanan's cousin Abhijit, Aaron and Jayita.

The rain provided some hardship for the photographers, but it also accentuated the colors. Many of the pics I took were blurry owing to low light and my shaky hands. You can check out some pictures in the album below:

Purisima Trail

It was a lovely, though wet, 7 mile hike through the woods. We accidentally added some more distance to the trail by going the wrong way for a while before Jayita realized we were supposed to be going downhill instead.

By the time we were done with the hike, we were very hungry for some starch. We found some good quality starch at Pasta Moon Ristorante at Half Moon Bay.

Of the two bay area hikes (the other being Castle Rock), this was the best hike so far.

Sumanth's Birthday

2007-09-23T00:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we celebrated Sumanth's birthday. Supriya secured some tickets for a fashion show at the Santana Row. After witnessing models strutting their stuff on the walkway, we headed over to Maggiano's for a late lunch.

Sumanth's Birthday Album:

Sumanth's Birthday

Yuvirage

2007-09-20T02:08:00.000-07:00

I have not really followed much of the action from the T20 tournament, but Yuvraj's explosive innings changed all that. Did Freddie Flintoff ever regret his jibes more than he (hopefully) did today?

Espressoed

2007-09-20T01:24:00.000-07:00

I can't sleep.

After days of curiously observing colleagues at Google going through the steps of grinding, brewing, frothing, mixing and hmm..ing their way to an espresso/cappuccino, I made me-self a cuppa today. The drink was good, the timing wasn't. I dropped by late in the evening to check on something and undertook this indulgence.

Oh well, at least the coffee was good. So is the Tivo-ed Daily Show, with Jon Stewart trippin on OJ and Hillary!!

Jimmy drops by

2007-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is the last in the series of posts based on images long forgotten in Ishani's camera.

Jimmy came visiting the day before my parents left for India. The happy camper found some good food and a nice new shirt.

He looks happy!

He is wandering about in Europe at this present time, before joining the high octane consulting world in October.

Lady Shri Ram Sports Hall of Fame

2007-09-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

The only way I am ever going to get listed along with Arjuna awardees is if I create my own list.

Ishani, on the other hand made it just on her ability to handle the paddle.

On the subject of paddles, I have gotten a lot of grief for expressing an interest in watching Balls of Fury movie. I realize it is a B movie at best, but heck, why not? A ping pong ball on fire seems fun!

And then they left

2007-09-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

After about 40 days in the USA, amma and achan returned to India on July 16th.

A packed trip. A full agenda including:
1. Attended graduation in Chicago.
2. Visited NY and DC
3. Taught Minnesotans (a few of them) to make Dosai
4. Travelled 3500 miles across the country by road, visiting tons of national parks
5. Disassembled and packed; Painted, unpacked, assembled

All this on their first trip outside the country!

After spending such a wonderful time together, parting was very difficult.

I suppose it always is.

Another Birthday..

2007-09-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

.. a couple months back. We celebrated Achan's birthday.

We also had lot of excellent food that Amma conjured up.

Sumanth and Supriya joined the proceedings.

Ishani baked a wonderful cake, that lent itself well to a lot of feeding. :-)

Move Casualties

2007-09-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we moved, but I just downloaded some pics from Ishani's camera, including some evidence of the move damage. The movers dropped the bed frame and the dishes right in front of our eyes. Of course we could have filed an insurance claim.

Insurance: Human psychology dictates us over valuing the risk of big losses, ergo, movers insurance.

Inertia: But then, my laziness dictates the inertia against filing a claim.

I suppose if the damage was significant, it would have been different. Sorry, Flora and Francis, your gift trays were a casualty of the cross country move.

Labor Day at Archana and Nishanth's

2007-09-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

Irvine was hot!!!

Except for getting stuck in 5 mph traffic for 45 mins on hwy 152, the drive to Irvine was smooth.

With the weather proving too hot for comfort, we stayed indoors for most of the day, except for going out for some food (Yogurt Land, Thanh Vietnamese Restaurant, BJ's) and a walk by the Laguna beach at night.

We did not really have to venture out as Archana made yummy food - chat, pani-puri, pav-bhaji, dum aloo, dal makhni etc., and Nishanth had his barbecue hat on.

Other than that, we sat around and caught up on life, watched India beat England in Cricket and admired Discovery channel on our hosts' 46 inch HDTV.

It was, a vacation.

We left early on Monday to take the scenic route home. Unfortunately, we took the boring parts of the route and missed out on the more scenic routes because of traffic concerns driving out of Monterey bay on the labor day weekend.

We will save that for another time!

Visiting Archana and Nishanth in Irvine, CA

Birthday!

2007-09-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ishani's birthday was on a Tuesday this year. That evening, Ishani was attending a class and I hung out a bit at Google Dance.

Therefore, later at night we had a mini celebration, just Ishani and I. Slice of cake, single candle and flowers. Happy Birthday!!

New Look

2007-08-18T19:53:00.001-07:00

Ishani got herself some highlights!

Optimal Aspirations

2007-08-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

I referred to a recent article in the New York Times titled "In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich". The crux of the article being millionaires, who would fall in the top 1% of the economic ladder, feel poor in the valley. "

“Here, the top 1 percent chases the top one-tenth of 1 percent, and the top one-tenth of 1 percent chases the top one-one-hundredth of 1 percent,” he (Mr. Milletti) said.

“You try not to get caught up in it,” he added, “but it’s hard not to.”"

Did you say rat race?

This brought to mind something we discussed in a class in Chicago, an unlikely topic given the cold economist stereotypes - happiness. It was a straightforward concept, people who compare up tend to be more miserable (less happy) than those who compare down.

As I thought about it further, this seemed the perfect recipe for complacency, an ambition-killer. How is one to move on in life if one did not aspire for bigger things? I mulled over it a bit and then put it away in a pensieve.

Reading the article, the first thing that came to mind was, how sad! These guys and gals were quite successful and were still at it after $10 million. Then a friend reminded me that a million dollars is not much anymore, not in the Bay. That was crazy! 10 years back I was earning the equivalent of $1600/year, with no accumulated wealth, but life was good. Today, after two graduate degrees and after landing gainful employment, I have to aspire to be these 1%-ers, who as the article pointed out are after their top tenth and hundredth!

Lest I sound like John Edwards talking about two Americas, that is not my drift. I by no means am feeling poor, in spite of the tuition loans and continued lack of accumulated wealth after 10 years. I feel enriched to have experienced what I've over the last decade and am excited about looking ahead into the future with Ishani. I think I am trying to figure out what to aspire for. What is the optimum mix of ambition vs self satisfaction, pushing for growth vs enjoying the fruits? Who is my ideal role model?

Strangely enough all these questions are only getting me more excited as I foresee myself being somehow not limited by a role model, but being forced to fabricate a way forward as I stumble through life. If you take an uncharitable stance on this line of thinking, you could claim as Lewis Carroll did, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there". I think it is ok not knowing the road as long as one knows the general direction and realize when one has gone too far. I will take up a parallel thought of journey vs destination in another post.

Coming back to the subject at hand, I tell myself I will not be entangled in the scenario laid out in the article. But, seeing that the people in the article are smart, successful people, the challenge seems to be daunting.

The challenge of finding the optimal aspirations.

Top 20!

2007-08-16T19:22:00.001-07:00

I made it to the top 20.. well technically it is not me topping the chart, but given that it was named after me, why not bask a bit in the shine of being in the Amazon best seller top 20.

If you have no clue what I am blogging about, check out the Murali sandals at Target. Ishani had her short time of fame, once upon a time, as evidenced by the capture on the right. I got this image from a cached search result. I can't find the sandals anymore on Target - either all sold out or they had difficulty selling it. I think its the latter. :)

Castle Rock

2007-08-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

We set out early Sunday morning to a state park close by - Castle Rock. The drive there was short, and included some *really* curvy parts. We got there by 9:30 am and took on a ~5 mile trek. What started out to be a pleasant, light walk, turned out to be quite a strenuous exercise.

For those who could not join us, check out the album below for the riches in the state park.

Castle Rock

Goodbye Harry!

2007-08-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

It was the Summer of 2001 when I first read J.K. Rowling's creation Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was not the target audience; I got my book just 'cause of all the furore over midnight lines over the third (or fourth) book. Since then I've been hooked to the series and its wonderful characters.

I have given myself up to the wizarding world and followed it with a muggle's curiosity. Be it the unforgivable curses, the horcruxes, the mirror of erised, quidditch, thestrals, etc. Or the intense characters that betray flaws and demonstrate fierce friendships. As I read through the books, I noticed that interestingly, I still picture Harry to be the Harry from the book illustrations (as opposed to Daniel Radcliffe), but most other characters to be the ones in the movies. Either way, these characters continue to remain with me and my imagination.

So when I received my copy of the final book by mail on the evening of 21st July and after hours of isolating myself from everything, including my dear wife and valued sleep, when I finally got off the roller coaster of a book, I felt drained. That was it! It was finally over, reached a logical and complete conclusion. I realize there will be multitudes of tales in today's web-lore that will pickup where JKR left us. But, the conclusions were so satisfactory that anything else now would seem, for a lack of better word, contrived. I would rather relish what I have by reading it for the umpteenth time and reliving the struggles and adventures.

Given that the illustrated Harry has left such a strong impression, I thought it was apt to put together a short Harry Potter Illustrations video based on the book cover illustrations by Mary GrandPre, with John Williams' Lumos! ( Hedwig's Theme) as the background.

To J.K. Rowling and her team, thanks for your great work. Maybe someday my child and I will have a shared spark in our eyes as we relive these stories.

Till then, mischief managed!

Googler et cetera

2007-08-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

The last few months have been rather, let us say, carefree. There is something to be said for having minimal responsibilities. Some might claim that I've been in that state since full time business school. Whatever said, the utopia cannot last for long.

Time to descend to the real world!

I am not complaining, I am excited! Here are a few things that I am excited about:

Being a part of the Google culture, being a Googler, and the entrepreneurial brew of the valley.

(while you are at it, you can check out another Googler song)

Reconnecting with friends who live in this part of the world
The weather!!
So many national parks within a few hour radius
Great Indian and other food options!

Things that bothers me about this place

Silicon valley's redefinition of "well-to-do"
I-have-to-drive-to-get-anywhere syndrome, also known as limited public transport options (compared to Chicago, not Eden Prairie)

I am sure these lists will grow over time, hopefully the former than the latter.

Right here, right now, life is good!

Get together at Mountain View

2007-08-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

It has been roughly a month since we moved to Mountain View. It was about time to have a get together and meet our neighbors. Ishani cooked up some great food and the guest brought yummy stuff too. We were joined by old friends and new. We had a jolly good time.

Pictures from the evening:

Mountain View get-together

Road Trip Day 5: Grand Canyon, AZ to San Jose, CA

2007-07-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

"Check your engine oil every other gas stop, else you will be walking"

Last day of the road trip: Grand Canyon, AZ to San Jose, CA (Sumanth and Supriya's)

Total distance of about 750 miles.

This was the final stretch on this long drive. By this point, it was all about getting to the destination.

On the road trip, I checked the engine oil ever day in the morning before we started. The car needed oil only at the start of day 2. So, I was surprised when a motorcyclist shouted out the above warning to me about checking oil while driving through the desert; he claimed the oil just evaporates in the heat. Though I was quite skeptical about this message, I heeded his words and was glad I did. The oil level dropped from full to almost empty between two gas stops. We saw a few cars abandoned on the way and wondered if that would have been our fate too...

.. as it happened that was not the case and we made it safe through the cactus, the windmills and cattle farms. Yeah, we made it to the bay area.

Dinner: I've already blogged about it :)

Arizona to California

Grand Canyon to San Jose

Road Trip Day 04: Utah to Grand Canyon

2007-07-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

Day 4: Nephi, UT to Grand Canyon, AZ.

Total distance about 450 miles.

The drive was easier than the day before and spectacular views made it worth the effort of driving the extra 300 miles. We drove by the periphery of Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, drove past the vermilion cliffs, Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument, to reach the Grand Canyon.

Check out the pictures in the albums below to see how the color of the landscape changes from green/brown to brick red as we drove south/east.

We reached the lodge early enough to watch the sunset on the canyon and go to bed early for a good night's sleep before our longest drive (in miles) of the road trip, the next day.

Dinner: At Bright Angel Lodge, Grand Canyon (where we stayed)

Nephi Utah, to Grand Canyon, AZ

Utah to Arizona

Grand Canyon, AZ

Grand Canyon

Road Trip Day 3

2007-07-14T02:50:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Yellowstone WY, to Nephi, UT.

Total distance about 450 miles. We left Yellowstone early in the morning and made multiple stops within the park, viewing the geysers and other wildlife on the way. It took us several hours just to get out of the park and to drive through the Grand Teton National Park. The road was hilly and windy for most of the trip, till we reached Salt Lake City.

This was the most tiring day of the road trip.

By the end of the third day, I was looking to cut the trip short. We almost decided to skip the drive through Grand Canyon and instead go to Las Vegas, reducing the travel by a few hundred miles and seeking better comforts.

But, another look at the map of the Utah-Arizona border, with all the national parks on the way convinced me that it is worth the pain.

We also had a spider for company in our hotel room.

Dinner: Rice, sambhar, palak paneer and kesari!

Yellowstone Geysers

Yellowstone - Old Faithful and other Geysers

Yellowstone to Nephi, UT

Yellow Stone to Nephi, Utah

Road Trip Day 2

2007-07-14T01:27:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Hot Springs, SD to Yellow Stone, WY

Total distance about 560 miles. Stops on the way: Mammoth Excavation Site, Hot Springs SD, stop to view Prairie Dogs and Bison, and two fuel stops. On the road around 10 am, reached Yellow Stone at about 7 pm.

Lunch: Tamarind rice
Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan and some fish dish, apart from some heat and eats.

Mammoth Excavation Site: Great story about how tens of mammoths ended up in a natural pit, preserving their remains for 26,000 years.

Yellow Stone National Park (Hot Springs): Stunning, highlight of the road trip; pictures in the album probably do more justice to this site.

Flat Iron and Mammoth Excavation Site

HotSprings: Flat Iron and Mammoth Site

Yellowstone National Park - Mammoth Hot Springs.

Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs

Roadtrip Day 1

2007-07-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

I have been way too lazy to add any new text to the blog. But, I have been busy uploading pictures from the trip to the online albums. Finally it is time to unveil those pictures.

The first day of the trip: Today distance about 700 miles. Out on the road around 7:15 am from Eden Prairie, MN. Reached Flat Iron, Hot Springs, SD at about 9:00 pm. Three fuel stops.

<--- Google Map of the various stops along the way.

Badlands: Awesome, totally unexpected in South Dakota, scorching hot!!

Mt Rushmore: Did not enter, stopped on the side of the road for pics.

Lunch: Chapatti, jam, peanut butter, hot sauce.. (don't ask)
Dinner: Rice (carried a rice cooker), Dal Makhni (heat and eat), Ice cream (about the only store open at 9 PM)

Here are some pictures from the first day of the road trip (Click on the pictures to go to the album with all the pictures):

1. Eden Prairie to Bad Lands, South Dakota

Road Trip: Eden Prairie to Bad Lands

2. Badlands

Badlands, SD

3. Mount Rushmore (few, pictures, blurry presidents)

Mount Rushmore

The Snoring Me!!

2007-07-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

After a sumptuous meal prepared by Amma, we spent our Sunday afternoon snoring away like an orchestra!!

Here are the pictures, courtesy the two brats - Ishani and Supriya!

Minnesota Moments

2007-07-08T01:45:00.001-07:00

I lived in Minnesota for about 4.5 years and Ishani was there about 3 years. In spite of the harsh winters, we always liked the place, largely because of the people and the relationships. It was satisfying to provide an insight into those relationship to my parents.

We stayed at Mike and Bernie's in Eden Prairie from June 23rd to June 27th. Amma and Achan slept in the guest bedroom, while we used M&B's bed room; they crashed over at Trudy's.

Amma and achan found Eden Prairie a welcome change from the high rises of Chicago. They were able to go for walks on their own in the mornings and were also able to be closer to nature. They also met Flora and Francis with whom they were able to converse in Tamil. They were also happy to pet Trudy's pet dog, Mosby. To top it off, the Farrells and Trudy were great hosts. All this ensured that my parents really enjoyed their time in Eden Prairie.

Ishani and I caught up with lot of old friends over a few potlucks.

I have uploaded some pictures from our stay in Eden Prairie. Click on the picture below to view the album.

Minnesota Moments

Chicago to Eden Prairie (June 22 )

2007-07-07T17:19:00.001-07:00

Even before we got to Eden Prairie, as we were getting out of Chicago, the road trip started off rather uncomfortably. After the movers took most of our stuff, we had estimated that what was left can be comfortably packed into my car and can be taken along during our trip. What a mistake!!

Not only did we have twice as much stuff as we could fit comfortably in the car, we were running more than an hour late from our planned departure time and were getting well into the peak rush hour on a Friday afternoon in Chicago. We had to junk a few of the things that we had initially planned on bringing along and packed the car up. There was some serious debate among us about shipping some stuff to Eden Prairie, but we decided against it.

Thus began the road trip that we had planned for months, in the most unorganized fashion. We reached Mike and Bernie's a little past mid night.

We were glad to be home again.

Finished Product

2007-07-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

Given Vinod was so excited about the painting in progress, I felt compelled to post pictures of completed walls.

The colors are Wild Manzanita (bed room), Hawaiian Passion (dining), Pumpkin Patch (living room) and Lovely Lavender (office).

Vinod, I will also put in a good word with Sumanth about your requests.

July 4th in Mountain View

2007-07-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

We were all too drained with the road trip and painting to go up to San Francisco for the fireworks on July 4th. Instead, we watched the fireworks at Mountain View.

I forgot to bring the tripod along and so all the firework pictures are shaky.

Road Trip - Maps

2007-07-04T02:04:00.001-07:00

I plan on posting some maps related to our road trip.

Here is a Google Map satellite view of our road trip (click on the image for a better view of our way points).

Painting

2007-07-04T01:25:00.000-07:00

Today we got the keys to our apartment in Mountain View. We selected some paints from Home Depot this evening and started painting under the guidance of Sumanth and Supriya.

We chose very striking colors, always a gamble. We will find out how we fared after the paint dries out.

The process was fun, particularly as Amma was so enthusiastic about painting that she was competing hard to get the roller away from everyone else.

We ran out of couple of paints and have left those half way through to be completed tomorrow. I was surprised to find that the stores will be open though it is the 4th of July holiday here.

I will post more pictures after all the painting is done, but I wanted to share some work in progress pictures.

Time to sleep, its 1:53 AM on July 4th.

Dinner at Sumanth and Supriya's

2007-07-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

The food was so good that I had to post the picture immediately. All the dishes were big hits, especially the fish curry. In the picture below (R to L) are Supriya, Sumanth, Achan, me and Amma.

Reached California

2007-07-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

After being on the road for about 10 days, we finally reached San Jose, California, this evening. We are staying over at Sumanth and Supriya's house tonight. The plan is to pick up the apartment keys tomorrow morning.

The road trip was awesome and there are a lot of pictures to post. I will get around to it in couple of days. Here are a couple of teasers from Yellowstone.

Ciao Chicago

2007-06-22T02:46:00.001-07:00

I blog early this morning, partly because I had not blogged for a few days and largely because I am not able to sleep due to a cold.

It is already a beautiful morning outside. There are some dark clouds, but the buildings are towering mightily among them.

I am having a conversation with the lights of the city. The antennae lights atop the Sears tower are blinking, keeping the pulse of the city. At the distance, I see the lights shining on the pillars of the Field Museum, standing out in the middle of the skyscrapers. Lights are being turned on in the apartments opposite our window. The city is just waking up, perhaps eager to be done with the Friday and get to the weekend.

Even as I blog the buildings are getting a red tinge from the brilliant morning sun. And now they are bathed with a golden yellow glow. All the man made lights blur into the background.

What a glorious time of the year in Chicago!

I have mixed feelings this morning - soaking in the city, the sadness of moving out of here today and the expectations of what lies ahead.

It was only months back when we moved into the city, having made some very important and risky changes to our lives. We were nervous and excited. The big city took us in, embraced us into its arm and has left us wanting for more. There are so many things to like about this city - the public transport, the architecture, the diversity of people, foods, arts... I am limited by my linguistic abilities, but my mind visualizes a million other things.

I would say it was a fairly successful trip: we experienced the four seasons (including about 40 days of sub zero temps), the risks yielded rewards, and I got the chance to experience the city, first with my wife and and then also with my parents and friends. Most importantly, I was lucky to meet some decent people, who I now call friends. It makes it all the more difficult to move away from them, having spent so little time.

On the other hand, I think about what lies ahead, both in the immediate future, with the road trip and in a month, with the new responsibilities. I know there is growth in store from all these experiences. I look forward to it.

For now, for today, as we drive west, I will be thinking about my goodbye to the windy city.

Moving pangs, continued...

2007-06-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

Day 15-17

Why use words, when pictures do a better job.

During...

After...

Sivaji

2007-06-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

After waiting around forever for the movie, I found myself out of town the weekend Sivaji was released in Chicago. But I did not have to wait too long to check out the fruits of the joint effort between Rajni and Shankar. To make things better, I succeeded in dragging along Ishani (who had just had a long day at work) and my parents (who had not been to a theater to watch a movie in more than 15 years). We went to the 8 PM show on Tuesday 19 June in some decrepit theater 45 minutes drive away from downtown Chicago.

The local distributors of the movie (I am assuming) displayed yet another example of blatant capitalism by hiking up the ticket rate to $15. The local movies were about $8/ticket and I have never paid more than $10 for an Indian movie. This is not the rate a ticket scalper was quoting because the movie was sold out, this was the "legit" rate. I suppose it is besides the point: if one drives miles to watch the movie on a work day evening, it is not about the money, but about getting high on Rajni's histrionics. And as the governments (and drug dealers) around the world know, smokers (and drug addicts) are easy targets for extorting money; why should the distributors hold back. Anyway, I digress...

I have no intention (or the mental capacities at 3:56 in the morning) of presenting a review of the movie and spoil it for those who have not seen it. All four of us seemed to have enjoyed the movie at different levels. Ishani liked the movie better than the past few Rajni movies (aided by a running commentary/translation from me). My parents were entertained, though they wondered about practicality of the movie's message. Though I am an ardent Rajni fan, I pointed out the futility of looking for practical interpretations of his movies.

As for me, I cringed through couple of the scenes, but enjoyed it all the same. It was less outrageous than Shankar's earlier movie - Anniyan; for a movie with Rajni, that is saying something. Like many other people, I go into the theater after checking in my logical faculties at the door with the pure intent of soaking in the experience. The experience where reserved and silent individuals transforms into avid whistlers (or howlers, based on skill levels) and relive some small part of the childhood.

An online reviewer had written that Rajni movie was like home cooked food; it was not about the taste, it was about the heart. I shall not stretch the comparison to that extent, after all my mom makes some of the best food I've had. But this experience is definitely not about taste, it is about the heart.

More Packing...

2007-06-19T22:09:00.001-07:00

Day 14:

Nothing more to add for this day. We did not get out of the house.. just more packing.. as more and more of our cozy nest gets transformed into cardboard boxes, leaving the skeleton behind.

Ah! moving. Mike claims it is the real meaning of life.

New York, New York

2007-06-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Day 13 - June 17 2007

We reached NY city early in the morning with no plans whatsoever on what we are going to do in the city. The safest bet was a Hudson River cruise with the view of the NY concrete jungle. Amma was very sleepy during the boat ride, dozing off at the start. She was more alert after the first 15 minutes.

The Statue of Liberty is a sight to behold, particularly as the weather was very cooperative, like the weather the day before.

I was trying hard to get my parents, particularly achan, to smile for the pictures, with limited success. Therefore, I am having a harder time selecting blog-able pictures from the cruise.

We did not have any time to meet the politicians in DC, so we decided to make some time while we were in New York. They were only too happy to meet us. George W did not expect us to give him a petition and therefore looked a bit perplexed in this photograph.

Where there are politicians, there are celebrities. Here is Achan with J-Lo, Ishani with Superman and Amma with Madonna. As you can see the celebs try their best to be aloof.
For the uninitiated, these pictures were taken at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in NY.

Time Square, Rockefeller Center, Empire State.. yeah we were typical tourists...

By late afternoon we had enough of NY for the day. We took an early flight home to Chicago.

A Day in DC

2007-06-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Day 12:

Saturday was the day one of our two day trip to the East Coast, to visit the major landmarks of USA, before heading West to California.

The first stop was the US capital, Washington District of Columbia. We took an early morning flight to DC and planned our day around the wonderful DC Metro trains, directly from the Regan National airport. We got off at the Federal Central metro stop.

The US Capitol was the first stop for the day. Most of the places on our list was on one long walk from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. The weather was ideal - it was a glorious, sunny day.

We visited the National Air and Space Museum next. Amma and Achan are standing next to couple of giant missiles. My parents were most impressed with a show in the planetarium about "Cosmic Collisions", and how the moon was formed etc.

The Smithsonian museums are large enough for us to spend a whole day in each of them. Instead of doing that we decided to spend a short time at couple of them.

The next stop was at the National Museum of Natural History. Here we watched a short film about lions in Kalahari - Lions, 3D. Featured to the right are my parents and Ishani in front of an Easter Island rock sculpture.

The Washington Monument was at about the midpoint of our walk. Amma and Ishani are engrossed in a conversation.

Lincoln Memorial at the far end of the walk.

The Washington Monument and its image on the Reflecting Pool viewed from outside the Lincoln Memorial.

Final stop of the walk was the White House.

After visiting all the prerequisite touristy stuff, we took the train up to Bethesda, MD, where I had interned 6 summers back. The escalator in the station was along one as the station is quite some distance below the ground level. Achan was a bit uncomfortable with this ride.

To the right is another view of inside of the DC Metro station.

We ended the day by hitting the beds at the Courtyard Marriot at Crystal City, close to the Regan National airport. We had yet another early morning flight the next day, this time from DC to New York.

Dinner With Friends

2007-06-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Day 11:

Friday night we hosted some friends, Brooks, Margaret and Navneet, for dinner. The image on the left is an attempted stitch of two images. It looks funny as I changed my expression between the two captures.

Here is Brooks in his new kurtha.

The Art Institute of Chicago

2007-06-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Day 10:

The first time Ishani tried to get my parents to watch the Harry Potter movie, they slept through it. This afternoon they seemed to be ready to watch the first movie without dozing off. They did and they seemed to like it. Now, I can watch the other three movies with them too, and maybe go to the fifth one before they leave for India!!

After the movie, we decided to take advantage of the free admission into the Art Institute of Chicago on Thursdays. We started our trip with the Thorne Miniature gallery, with exact models of rooms from the past centuries. If I had not indicated these were miniature models, they would look like the real deal. You can probably pick up a reflection of someone on the glass if you noticed carefully.

Amma and achan are standing next to one of the exhibits in the Touch Gallery, designed specifically for the museum goers to touch and feel the sculpture. And if you missed it, achan has done away with his mustache. Here today, gone tomorrow! He figured most locals do not have any vegetation under their noses and decided to temporarily follow suite.

Here is Ishani explaining art to my parents... as if she has a clue :)

Among the other pieces we saw tonight was a sculpture of Hariharan (half Shiva and half Vishnu).

Finally we saw some contemporary art exhibits, which as usual, were way over my head. Its probably an indication of my ignorance of this art expression, but it seemed like one can get away with anything in the name of abstract art.

Packing

2007-06-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Day 9 & 10:

We have begun packing for our long move from Chicago to Mountain View. The book case in the left picture was reduced to the slabs of particle boards on the right.

The clothes are in suitcases and we have started putting books into boxes. It is great to have some extra help during this process. Pictured below are amma and achan busy packing the suitcases with clothes.
We are glad the movers will be loading and unloading as we continue to collect worldly possessions, mainly books from each of our degrees.

Buckingham Fountain

2007-06-13T19:20:00.002-07:00

Day 8:

We chilled out for a while after saying goodbye to Nishanth and Archana. In the evening we walked over to another stunning park in the center of downtown Chicago - Buckingham fountain.

On our walk back, we stopped for another photo with the lions of the Art Institute of Chicago.

GSB Photo op

2007-06-13T19:20:00.001-07:00

Day 8:

Nishanth and Archana were heading back to California today. We stopped by the University of Chicago, Gleacher Center and picked up some GSB memorabilia.

Earlier in the morning, we had started off the day with some yummy puttu, kadala curry and banana.

Navy Pier

2007-06-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Day 7

After all the activity of the graduation day, Monday was the day to relax and take care of mundane matters, like groceries at Devon. We also got some "chaat" from Devon and my parents tried pani-poori for the first time; they liked it, but they prefer the poori on its own. Archana and Nishanth were their instructors in the fine art of eating the paani-poori.

In the evening we walked to the Navy Pier and back. Archana, Nishanth and Ishani enjoyed a ride on the "Wave Swinger". I have placed an amateur line to highlight where the people of interest are in the picture to the right. The giant ferris wheel is in the background of the picture.

We had something to drink at the park, that made us sick and shrunk us down (ok, ok.. we were standing in front of a mirror with distortion).

And if you were wondering where we are at, the picture to the right will show you our location exactly.

The Navy Pier houses a collection of stained glass artwork which provided a nice backdrop for some touristy pictures.

Origamoney

2007-06-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

Mike could not make it to the graduation (would have been perfect if he had) as he was busy working on report cards.....

... instead he made the symbolic origami of a bow tie (which was a big hit at the after-graduation reception) and the elephant. He always amazes me with his wit and creativity. I was glad to have his work as a part of my graduation.

Graduation - Finally!

2007-06-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Day 6:

June 10th 2007
University of Chicago's 490th convocation
Graduate School of Business
Rooting for me on site:
Ishani, Amma, Achan, Archana, Nishanth, Bernie, Trudy

The pictures say the rest......

Architectural Boat Tour

2007-06-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Day 5:

We took a boat trip on the Chicago river. We had a great time soaking in the stunning views of the city along the river banks. The tour introduced us to 77 buildings in the 90 minute boat ride.

There were eight of us (R-L) Archana, Vinay, Moithree, Ishani, me, Amma and Achan.

<--- Nishanth, the photographer.

Aurora Temple

2007-06-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

Day 5 (June 8):

Archana and Nishanth arrived last night (June 8) to attend my graduation ceremony. They brought us goodies, wrapped beautifully.

The next day we visited the Balaji temple in Aurora. The day started off bad: my car battery died and the car would not start. That delayed our plans by more than an hour, but we managed to stick to our plans of visiting the temple.

It was a great day outside with clear blue skies, ideal for photography by amateurs like me.

Hats

2007-06-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

Day 4:

Today we decided to stay indoors and cook and organize all the stuff amma and achan brought from India.

Achan has started keeping a diary about the trip. Amma was busy today in the kitchen making a range of items - jackfruit kozhakatta, tapioca (kappa), shrimp curry, dosa batter, sambar, kottu, ada pradhaman... well she has been in the kitchen the whole day.

As you can see, we also messed around with some hats..

Millennium Park

2007-06-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

Day3: Today was warm and muggy - all round decent day for an evening walk in the park. One of my favorite Chicago locations is the Millennium Park. It has so much open space right in the heart of the city for great views of the city's skyline (Aon Center, pictured right).

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion (left) seems an ideal setting for open air concerts and events, though I haven't experienced one there.

On a warm day like today, the Crown fountain provides a fun way to cool down. It is almost like a waterfall when the water drops from the top of the structure. The pictures on the giant screens (there is another screen facing this one) keep changing in pairs. You can see kids drenching in the water spouting from the structure in the picture to the right.

The park also hosts sculptures by different artists around the year. Amma is seen in a swing that is a part of Mark di Suvero's art work.

My favorite part of the park is the Cloud Gate sculpture. I find it appealing in many ways - the shape, the surface and its location. These ensure great reflections of the city's skyline.

It also presents the reflections of self in many interesting forms and that is better explained in pictures than words. The picture to the left was captured lying on the floor right under the central part of Cloud Gate.

Here is one more pictures of the city skyline on the sculpture. The sculpture was designed by Bombay born, London based designer, Anish Kapoor.

Shedd Aquarium

2007-06-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Day 3:

Ishani and my parents are doing surprisingly well on the jet lag front. I did drag Ishani through the walk yesterday as she was sleep walking, but there is no way I am going to leave her alone at home, particularly when she has been looking so stunning!!

Sadly, we had to head out without her this morning. You see, she is constrained by a small technicality called a day job that I have blissfully kept away from for about a year now.

My parents have been curious about quite a few things they have seen already. Among that is the question of why everyone is carrying a white cup in their hands (Starbucks coffee). They are in awe of the skyscrapers and the way they are constructed. As a token, we clicked a picture in front of one of the many new buildings under construction in downtown Chicago.

Our first stop of the day was the Shedd Aquarium. It was a memorable experience for them, particularly the under water viewing of fishes, sharks and dolphins. As flash photography is prohibited I did not net many decent photographs, before the battery ran out.

We saw many strange creatures in there, but none as strange as the Alligator Snapping Turtle. The creature stayed vertical and so motionless that we initially thought it was a rock. The only mobile part in its body was what appeared to be a multi forked tongue in its wide opened mouth.

Evening stroll on Michigan Avenue

2007-06-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

Day 2: After Ishani was done with her work for the day, we took a stroll up Michigan Avenue, north of the Chicago river. To the right is the metal moose sculpture just north of the river.

We first got both amma and achan some walking shoes. Our walk culminated near the Hancock tower, pictured left, with some more shopping at Filene's Basement.

The city is beautiful at night and the walk was quite pleasant. The river and the University of Chicago, Gleacher center (the 6 storied building) in the background of this picture. I need to find better settings in my camera for nighttime pictures.

Stepping out

2007-06-06T11:45:00.001-07:00

After years of convincing my parents to visit me in the USA, they finally arrived last night to attend my graduation and experience a bit of the country, as Ishani and I get ready to move to California. This being their first time outside India, my plan was to make sure everything was taken care of.

Day 1: That plan got off to a bad start when I reached the airport late. Following that, our cab drive home was quite eventful, albeit annoying. The driver was acting silly and kept increasing the volume of the Arabic music he was playing when I asked him to keep it down. Apart from all his shouting and histrionics, he wanted Ishani and I to have a baby... as if we needed one more person to tell us that.

Rest of the evening, fortunately, was quite tame: unpack and unwind.

Day 2:

This morning we decided to head out to Devon to get some fresh veggies and desi stuff. Given my addiction for public transport, we chose the longer way of getting there. This helped them get a taste of the city's infrastructure and its people. An underground train ride and short bus ride later we were at the Gandhi Marg portion of Devon Avenue.

We visited couple of grocery stores. Every time I travel from Chennai, amma laboriously packs bags and bags of various spice mixes and goodies. I was never able to convince her that I can find most of that stuff at the Indian grocery stores here. But today she witnessed that first hand and were quite impressed by the array of available options. I hope that I have not shot myself in the foot by putting an end to future goodies; I doubt that.

Having filled our bags with enough to last us for the week we headed home, this time in a cab.

Ishani and amma busy in the kitchen.... posing.

Fighting slack

2007-06-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well, after the enthusiastic first blog, I am heading towards joining the community of bloggers who post once and disappear for eternity. To my defense, I just got done organizing a microfinance conference and was in the middle of my finals. Against my so-called-defense, so what?

I plan on taking a different approach to improve my blogging frequency. I am hoping to post regular updates on my parents current visit to the USA. I am also going to share my blog site with a few friends in the hopes of insuring against procrastination.

Seeking Dragons

2007-04-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to start blogging for a while. Given that I can type, have an Internet connection and do have some things to say once in a while, I am surprised I did not do it sooner. Ah! well, procrastination is a powerful concept. It takes a lot less to watch one of the Harry Potter movies for the millionth time, than to put together something intelligent.

I have to credit one of my professors to have finally convinced me to do so. Well, she was not trying to convince me; just couple of things she said left an impression, kind of like Gandalf nudging Bilbo out the door. One, as she eloquently put, having an opinion adds 50 points to ones IQ. Two, according to her, wisdom does not come from experiences, but rather from intelligent reflection on the experiences.

Therein begins my effort to verbalize and digitize my thoughts and opinions. As for any of it being intelligent, there is only so much any professor can do about it.

Bilbo went on to find trolls, orcs, Gollum, ring and a dragon, among other things. Having stepped out, its time to seek some dragons.