The Two Years

This day two years ago, April 29th 2011, we landed in Washington DC airport. It was a big sigh of relief when we set foot on the US soil. When we went back from Boston in Dec 2009 to India, it was with a hope that we will return soon. But one thing led to the other, and we ended up staying for almost 1.5 years.

During this 1.5 years, a plan was formed. A vague plan but with a definite outline. It will be an understatement to say that this plan was accomplished for it was not just completed but it was completed with a flavor that even I did not expect. One of the pivotal moves was to shift to California, a place that I had dreamed of staying once in my life, after having heard so much about it.

Surprising part of it is that me being the kind of person to move with the flow of Life, things could not have happened if Life itself had not offered the stepping stones which led to the remarkable turn of events. There was a reason why I had to come to US. There was a reason why I had to quit the company that sent me to US. There was a reason why I had to move to California. There seemed to be a reason for every thing that occurred, and yet it was all in-line with the plan. I just had to grab it and go with it.

Part of the plan was to stay for a minimum of 2 years. I always remember those who wished me to stay for this duration, for they blessed like angels. And today, those 2 years comes to an end. Another check mark. There were highs and lows, but it had to be done. Again, for many reasons.

As if on a cue, the three-week India trip planned in the coming weekend is almost like a celebration for accomplishing what I had set out to do. It just so happened that the India trip got planned exactly after finishing the 2 year continuous stint in the US. It is akin to a pat on my back, although it just happened so, like the flow of Life. The plan, the vague outline - it is all like jigsaw puzzles falling automatically into place, after much deliberation.

There is much to decide about the next two years. Perhaps the India trip will give me time to think this through. For now, just livuring India.

The Weather Journey

Ok, one more blog on weather, after a long time!

I am from Bangalore, India. Weather-wise it stays pretty constant: whether it is summer or winter or whatever month the Year churns up. So other than feeling a little sweaty in summer and little chilly in winter, ‘weather’ is a no-brainer. When the ‘weather’ section comes up in the news channel, it was time to change the channel!

I (bachelor) came to Marlborough, USA in March 2005. [Gosh, that was 8 years ago?!!] A huge communication mix-up and lack of patience on my part led me to make my own transportation from airport to home. As I drove in the cab, I saw white snow everywhere. It was a strange sight.

Gradually, I understood ‘weather’ in US. Which regions were colder, how colder, which regions were hot and how hot – and it wasn’t just about temperature. There were hurricanes, snowstorms, tornadoes and so much more that it just cannot be a ‘last section in the news channel’! It perfectly made sense to have a channel and website dedicated to US weather! A news channel that indicated how the weather would be for the following week gave an insight to the apparel that needed to be chosen. Trip plans were dependent on weather. Going for a stroll outside necessitated a temperature-check. Suddenly the whole life revolved around weather!

Cold was not just a thing to be annoyed about. There were many positives too. Such as snow. Fresh snow strewn over electric wires, over trees, over houses made the world look surreal. It made the world look pretty; it gave the eyes something different to see although it was the same neighborhood. Then there were the climate changes. October suddenly become a month to travel around seeing trees change colors. Whoever heard of trees changing colors?!! At least not me until the age 23!

These are not things which one gets to experience in Bangalore, nor does one even hear about. Here ‘weather’ was a real and “alive” thing, not just a theory mugged up to pass exams! Here there was a true meaning and definition to ‘seasons’ – it changed, and with it the wardrobe changed, stocks in retail stores changed, trees changed. Gosh, so many things changed! And it keeps changing quarterly in a year! It is suddenly fun, like being on a carousel where the view of things kept changing and repeating with a pre-defined frequency!

I was on and off US from 2007 through 2011 but whenever I was in US, I was within 100 miles of Marlborough. And then, we (family now) moved from the East Coast to West Coast in 2012. That celebrated state called ‘California’. I guess in some ways it was like a dream come true. I had heard so much about the state, had even visited SFO and LA during couple of long weekends. I guess one of the reasons I was so keen on moving to California was due to its weather too. Especially SoCal weather. It almost likened the weather in Bangalore. It removed the annoyance of wearing multiple layers of clothing from head to toe just to throw the trash out. Throwing the trash would take less than a minute, wearing the dress to venture out would take several minutes – including the time to dress up the little toddler who sees an opportunity to play with the snow outside and wants to accompany.

But, although the weather is great here, constantly in 60s and 70s, we almost miss snow and the changes that each of the seasons bring. Good thing though is that within a short 2-3 hour drive, we could experience pretty much all the things that each season boasts - especially due to the high mountains all around. There is snow, there are fall colors and there is even a desert nearby.

Here again there is no need to be so much dependent on weather. Most days, you will be fine even if you venture out in your shorts and sandals. Then it made me and my wife wonder. Folks from India who start off their US life in California will not find much of a difference in terms of weather. And then when they move out of California to the colder regions of US, they might miss California because of all that California offers. It offers cold when you want it & heat when you want it within a few hours’ drive, and ambient temperature at home town. In the other regions, if it is cold, it is cold all around unless you fly out far and if it is hot, it is hot all around unless you fly out far. There is not much of a choice.

Those like us, on the other hand, who happened to experience the East Coast before moving to California, can appreciate the ‘weather’ value of this state. It is like a pinnacle, an ultimatum that is attained after traversing through the harsh wilderness.

Of course, with comfort of the climate comes the discomfiture of the cost of living. And tax! And fuel prices!! It might or might not be related to weather, but it sure is jaw-dropping! I guess, in US it finally boils down to weather versus cost of living because both do not go hand-in-hand.

Anyways, this has been our weather journey so far. It might be the pinnacle but it might not end up being the destination. What cometh next is interesting to know…!

Medical Specialists

Often I wonder what makes a doctor specialize in one specific part of the body. What triggers anyone to want to look at people’s teeth all their lives? Or ears, or eyes, or skin? What makes anyone want to specialize on human body’s grossest part and become a proctologist? I doubt if it is because of the money or if it is because of the demand and lack of supply. Think about the dreams these doctors would have!

The thing that I don’t understand is this: was it a dream that they wanted to specialize in such parts of body or it just happened so? I can understand if it is the latter. What I call as “going through the flow of the river of life.” I can understand it because I relate to it better. Let’s say you are studying medical because that was your dream and you are as yet undecided what to specialize in – I can relate to this. You get average grades and the only specialized medical profession that accepts such grades is something that you cannot tell openly to your family and friends unless they talk about it to you because they are having a problem – I can relate to this too.

What I cannot understand though is that my experience with all these specialized doctors [either because I myself had a problem or I had to meet such doctors because of my family] is amazing. Their analysis and surgery is spot-on. Their humility is unsurpassed. Their confidence doesn't demand a ‘second-opinion’.

They cannot be doing what they are doing because they got into the profession by the ‘flow of river of life’ or because they got average grades. They are clearly doing what they are doing because they want to do what they like doing. This is what boggles my mind. This fact that the Supreme Being programmed a certain percentage of the population to aim for specialization in a unique part of the body to cater to Man’s natural “body” problems is what boggles me.

But for these ‘specialists’, it numbs the mind what would have happened to the rest of us.
But for these ‘mini-Gods’, ours could not have been a great world.

Other than just bowing inwardly and thanking the Heaven for these God-sends, there is nothing else to do when each time I sit helplessly in the hospital or in the waiting room of such doctors. Again, Saint Tyagaraja’s immortal words come to my mind:

Endaro Mahanubhavulu Andariki Vandamulu.

Loving, Doing, Living

Random questions during drive back home today...

To love what you do
or
To do what you love?

To live the way you love to
or 
To love the way you live?

To do what you love and not love the way you live
or
To live the way you love and not do what you love?

To love to live
or
To love to do?

Just love?
or
Just live?
or
Nike?

:-)

Health Check

Wheat bread instead of White bread? Check.
Daily green tea? Check.
Daily almonds? Check.
Taking stairs instead of elevator? Check.
Drinking lots of water? Check.

150 hours of moderate weekly exercise? Uncheck.
Keeping the brain challenged? Uncheck.
Brown rice? Uncheck.
Less sweets? Uncheck.
Saying “No” to Junk food? Uncheck.

Synopsis: For every good, there is an equivalent bad. This offsets Nature to either give a truly healthy life or a truly unhealthy life - and it all balances out in the end. At least, that is the hope!

"shun"s

When it is too hard to take a decision, 
It stays put as an indecision.
Indecision leads to inaction.
Then, the only course of action 
Is to let Fate choose the direction.

The Wishes That Never Came True

Here’s wishing Enginjo a happy married life and very best wishes…

I had said this in 2007, soon after her wedding.

And this weekend, I thought about her again, since she had her birthday.

Alas, my wishes never came true.

The Second Child

My wife and I are at that stage of life where we are often asked about planning for the second child. We are not too much in favor of it, and unfortunately I guess we are denying Tontu a sibling in the process. All those fights and wars and secrets and love along with it.

Of course, it is great fun to have a baby and is definitely a life-altering experience. There I was, thinking Been There, Done That, little knowing, I hadn't been anywhere nor done nor seen anything! A baby in the family and parenthood changes every perspective of life. There is something new to look forward to everyday. A small yet significant milestone of the little one. And the rate at which the little one grows is both stunning and saddening. Here you are wishing, she would start crawling, and there you are seeing her already running. When did she crawl? How were her first steps? Gosh, things happen so fast - like in a movie. It is as if - today is the day when she will do this and tomorrow, she would have grown out of it, so enjoy and soak in all of these today, for you might never get to see this nor experience this ever again in your life!! Before long, you start forgetting what all your child went through until you see the snaps and recorded videos. And then, when you see the snaps and videos, comes the blissfulness and the pleasant smile of 'Ah! What a time we had!' With that, comes the next thought - "Want to live through it again?"

Whenever I think about this question or when this topic comes up amongst conversations with third parties, the reply is mostly in the negative. But sometimes I wonder what is the right thing to do. I guess, at my age, I want to have more of M, T and E to myself and my wife to enjoy the freedom. But, I fear, as I grow older, this perception might change. As one of my older colleagues recently remarked, she wished she had given birth to many children during her time because it is so nice for her to have them all for lunch or get-togethers during festivals and holidays. This, from a person, who already has 2 children.

Even when during my many interactions with my grandparents, one of the main things they used to repeat was how dearly they needed our (grandchildren in general) love and affection and attention because it meant so much for them. I guess as you grow older, you feel more lonely and insecure in the world. Unless, of course, if you are within a close-knit large family. And a family can only be large when there is more than one child to start with.

Hmmm. It sure is difficult to plan for the life ahead.

The Additional Hour

After a long time, I felt there was lot of time at hand today. It was literally true. There was an additional hour gifted today because Time was pulled back by 1 hour at 2 am to get back into the standard time as today signified the end of daylight saving time. We did not change the time in the house clocks or watches so that each time we saw the time, we felt happy that it was actually an hour less. Imagine seeing time as 7 o’clock on a Sunday evening only to realize that it is actually 6 o’clock! Every additional minute is worth it on a day before the grueling week starts!

But a lot of things about changing the time doesn’t make sense to me. I read about it on the Wikipedia and it made some sense but the amount of complexity that a time change brings about in the world is enormous especially for those working on massive amount of data and related information-gathering. For folks who are monitoring a flight’s plan, lets say, the flight is at one location and altitude at 1:30 am. Now, the same flight will be in a different location and different altitude but at the same time 1:30 am! Many jobs processing output files will append file name with date and time considering that time is a unique fact. If these jobs are processing hourly, then there will be an issue of the second file overwriting the first file. A patient’s pulse monitoring between 1 am and 2 am will have two versions of truth for the same duration.

The scenarios are mind boggling and this concept of changing time twice a year is utterly unnecessary and self-complicated. Just to generate more employment, I guess. Like so many other things in this country.

Anyways, for now, let me enjoy the additional hour.

Weekend Workaholism

Nor did I in 2010.
Maybe couple of times in 2011.

But looks like it is all coming back with a vengeance now.
Already worked many weekends in 2012.

And currently working on the 7th consecutive weekend.
And have plans for working next weekend too.

:-(

Job Change Thoughts

As I said that day, I was having a myriad of thoughts. But it has now been 6 months since I quit my previous job and I can see a semblance of feelings: primarily being old habits, extraction, guilt, interactions and achievement.

Old Habits: My previous job was something that I had held for over 9 years. A user name which I had used for over 9 years to login to the computer – that is how my day in the office used to start every single day. So it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that sometimes even now I use the same login name to start my day only to realize that the mind has not fully accustomed to the fact that I am in a new job with a new login name and hence the old one is not valid anymore. The same happens to meeting audio conference number. The mind subconsciously tells the fingers to dial that same conference number which I was so used to all these years. After all, 9-year-old habits don’t die easily.

Extraction: It is amazing how much knowledge we would have gathered during our livelihood. We will only realize it when we quit and start transitioning it all to our substitute(s) in the job due to our departure. All the knowledge, all the processes, all the dependencies – it is like you are in the middle of a shrub that has fully grown and you need to now place this entire shrub onto someone else. Each time a piece of the shrub is extracted, there seems more to it than what it initially appeared. Finally when you feel you have done a good job transitioning, and on the last day you return the badge and the laptop and other official stuff, it is as if you are metaphorically dying – and leaving behind all you have known for decades. The next day is a new day, new job, new people, new place – as if it is a new life.

Guilt: I have to say that sometimes I feel guilty. Continuing the allegory - It is one thing to die naturally; it is another thing to end one’s own life. The same is with employment I guess. There will always be heaviness in one corner of the heart. For so many of the life-altering circumstances, for affording the luxury of life, for creating footprints in distant corners of the globe – one has to be eternally grateful to the company that provided the safety of the nest, taught the necessity of knowledge and gave the wings to fly.

Interactions: Colleagues, of course, matter a lot. All those wonderful people with whom you interacted for years together not only add to the guilt but almost stop the ultimate step to be taken. How much ever it is promised to ‘Keep in touch’, life will never be the same again. A high likelihood is that, you will never see your colleague-turned-friends never again in your life. That job and that office was the foundation for day-to-day interaction. Once that foundation is lost, there is no more interaction. And this interaction was the best part of the working life: be it time-pass chat over Instant Messaging or the discussion during the coffee break or the interesting conversation at lunch time. This interaction was what made the working day bright, and a stop to this chit-chat is a huge lump in the throat.

However, considering how everyone wishes you ‘Congrats!’ when you break the news to them, it is as if you have done an achievement and it makes you wonder why you have not done this often!!

What is money to me?

Scene 1: Saturday; Around 11 am; Rest Area on I-5 South; 1 hour from San Diego:

I went to a cool drink dispensing machine and punched the number corresponding to coke. Then put in $1.25. I was expecting the coke to be delivered but nothing happened. I kept punching the “Done” button but nothing happened. I tried retrieving the amount I had paid but there was no option to do that too. I thought something was wrong with the vending machine. So I went to the neighbouring one. Somebody was there. I saw what he was doing. He input the dollars and then punched the number corresponding to the drink. The drink got delivered. So I realized I was trying the other way – punch the drink number and input money, when actually I had to input money and then punch the drink number. Now since I had already input money, all I had to do was to punch the number corresponding to the drink.

Just then, someone came to the vending machine where I had input my money and input his $5. So now the vending machine had $6.25 and still waiting for a drink to be delivered. This new person then punched a drink number that was costing $1.25, got the drink and the machine returned back the change $5 to this person. This person was surprised that he got a drink for free, grabbed the drink and his money and went smiling away, thanking his stars. While all this happened in front of me, my mind was too numb to assimilate the facts and it shocked me that I unwillingly, like a stupid moron, donated a $1.25 drink to perhaps a very affluent person.

It just pissed me off real bad and I felt like tearing out my hair.

***

Scene 2: The Same Saturday; Around 1 pm; An Indian Restaurant in San Diego:

Paavani had slept off in the car and we didn’t want to disturb her. So we parked the car in the parking lot near the restaurant and thought it was better to order a take-out instead of going for the buffet. After I ordered the bare minimum that would fill our stomach, I realized that if we had waited till Paavani had woken up (which could not have been more than 30 minutes anyways) and gone for the buffet, we all could have had unlimited food with wide variety and for half the price.

This too pissed me off real bad and I felt like tearing out my hair.

***

Scene 3: The Same Saturday; Around the same time; The same Indian Restaurant in the same San Diego:

While I was waiting in the car for our order to be processed, I saw my dad coming out of the restaurant with the food. Since I had not paid yet, I ran towards the restaurant to fulfill the bill but my dad mentioned he had paid in cash since I wasn’t in the vicinity. Now it had just so happened that I had registered for 5% cash back for billing in any restaurant through my credit card. The only solace for this seemingly enormous bill was my 5% cash back and, thanks to my dad, this hope of a meager saving too vanished. If only I was waiting in the lobby instead of in the car, I could have paid the bill myself.

This too pissed me off real bad and I felt like tearing out my hair.

***

Scene 4: The next day; Around 11 am; A barbershop in Tustin:

What with all the feeling of wanting to tear my hair out, I thought I had enough hair to be cut anyways. So I went to a barbershop near my home. While I was getting my hair cut, the barbers were talking in great animation. Apparently the previous customer had not paid the money and had gone missing for almost an hour, with the promise that he will return back as soon as he got hold off an ATM. Since this barbershop accepted only cash, and the customer just had a card, he had excused to go to the ATM, get the cash and pay the barber back. Considering that the ATM was right outside the barbershop and considering that he had not come back even though it was almost an hour, the suggestion was thrown around that the man had escaped with a free haircut. And this caused great anxiety to the barbers because they were all well beyond their 50s and not used to being cheated out of their money like this. Apparently this customer was an Indian too. So my barber asked me if there were many people who cheat like this in India. It is a tough question and ‘many’ is a relative adjective. I dodged the question saying that I was sure he is going to come back and pay his dues.

For the rest of my hair cut, I kept waiting (like all the barbers too, I am sure) but this customer never came. Finally I was done and it was time for me to go. I decided on the spot that I would pay for the previous customer too and funded the full dues despite the barber’s resistance. The barber said that I was a good man, standing for my countryman, and made me promise that I had to return the next month. As I made my way out, I felt light and happy with what I had done.

***

These four episodes made me wonder. There I was, getting pissed off on losing few dollars but here I am, not minding paying completely for someone else. On all the instances, I became lighter on the wallet but few made me sad and one made me happy. So, the question which I could not answer myself was:

What is money to me?


Post Script: About a month later when I returned to the same barbershop for my next haircut, I didn’t have to pay anything (apart from the tips), as the Indian customer had returned and paid his dues immediately after my departure…

Just for the Love of the Granddaughter...

The first moments of their visits captured in video...

Paternal Granma; Aug 2011; Flew over 8130 miles.

Paternal Granpa; Jun 2012; Flew over 9025 miles.

Maternal Granma; Sep 2012; Flew over 9025 miles.

Such commendable love!!

A Long Weekend Thought

It is a long weekend & this makes me wonder if...

Tough-work, burning-midnight-oil, "I-hate-office", good-pay, exotic-vacation is better.
Or.
Easy-work, 9-to-5, "I-love-my-job", mediocre-pay, unaffordable-vacation is better.

Exit line:
"...Sighh...They say nobody lies on his deathbed wishing he'd spent more time at the office."
- Bill Watterson (Said by Calvin's Dad)

PS: Ironical though it may seem, this long weekend constituted of ["Tough-work, burning-midnight-oil, 'I-hate-office', good-pay, no-vacation-due-to-work"]

:-(

The Middle of the Intellectual Spectrum

Sometimes I feel it is so important to have highly intellectual people all around you. Even a simple conversation with such folks can be so enchanting and enjoyable.

On the contrary, having to interact with intellectually-challenged folks gets so annoying at times; you have to keep repeating over and over again to make them understand, and it disturbs your own productivity.

At the same time, I wonder how many people with whom I have worked till date have felt annoyed for having to repeat things to me over and over again as I may have sounded as an intellectually-challenged individual!

Well, thats the advantage of being in the middle of the intellectual spectrum of people. You can experience the irritation of being with lower intellects and the wows of being with higher intellects!

:-)

Time-crunched

Now that my wife has become mad about MAD, for the past few weeks I am the baby sitter for Paavani for roughly 6-8 hours per week. One of the best pastimes is to take her to a park where she sits on the swing for a long time. During our recent ‘swinging’ session, a woman aged mid- to late- forties came with her toddler daughter and placed her on the neighboring swing. 

As I pondered on her age and having a toddler at such an advanced age, I imagined all sorts of issues that she may have gone through to successfully deliver this toddler finally. Subconsciously, for some unknown reason, my mind had placed this toddler as her first born. So it came as a pleasant surprise when I saw a girl in early teen come to the swing and play with her younger sister. 

This made some sense now. But I still wondered why there was almost a decade gap between the sisters and why the parents had not planned it properly. The bored mind keeps wandering I guess, so my mind kept running to find answers. Just then, another girl came near the swing. This girl was older than the toddler but younger than the teenager. Now it all panned out right. “Equi-gapped” three children. 

The effort of bringing up a child in the modern day world is tough mainly because the families are tending to be more nuclear in nature than extended. If the families are extended, then there are more people in the household to take care of, or even be with the infants and the chore of bringing up a child doesn’t seem accentuated as compared to the mother alone (or day cares) attending to the baby as in the case of most nuclear families. With such a scenario, having 3 babies would take a toll on the mother in specific and both parents in general for almost 2-3 decades. With one toddler, it has been years since we went to a movie theater and we have cut down on vacations to a trickle. With a children every once in 3 years, parents have to do so many sacrifices till the children are on their own. Much of prime life would be done with by then!  

I remember telling many folks that I am just drifting along on the River of Life, going where it takes me and making occasional minor adjustments with no major goals or targeted achievements. With one child, this river has suddenly become swift; and it is as if I am river rafting now – barely able to be aboard the raft with waves crashing all over. There is hardly enough time in the day to work, to sleep, to relax, to play. The To-Dos keep growing bigger and bigger. And it will become hectic and hectic, what with the daughter’s extra-curricular classes (yet to enroll!) and school and what-not. I am beginning to feel the middle-aged time-crunch.  

How ironical it sounds. I am in the park on a weekday at dusk swinging my child on the swing and playing with her, and yet I feel I am time-crunched.

The Death Song

This death song is one of the best songs I have ever heard.

It makes me feel how life is both worthless and invaluable at the same time.
It makes me remember those whom I knew and have died.
It makes me immensely sad yet I crave to listen to it over and over again.
For the sake of the departed...

Evaporation of a hope

Today morning at 5 am, I heard the sound of soft fall of water outside the apartment window on the road. Even at that hour, even though it was a Sunday, I could not lose the opportunity of what could only be rain. I have been in this city (Irvine, CA*) for nearly 5 months, and have hardly seen any rain. I, who like rain so much, am missing the pitter-patter of a downpour and the cool freshness that comes in its wake.

And so, I ran to the window to see if the last few weeks of summer heat finally welcomed the much-needed rain. Alas, the sound was only from a sprinkler outside my apartment balcony. Saddened, I made my way back to the bed with thoughts of Ghanana, ghanana…

* City of Irvine belongs to The Irvine Company (a real estate development company) with average annual rainfall of 10-13 inches.

Reading Out

In my eleventh standard, the English teacher asked for volunteers to role-play a drama. Well, not really “role-play” but more of “read-out” the dialog from the book. There were multiple characters in the drama and each volunteer was asked to pick a character. I liked talking in accent and I chose to volunteer too. It was damn fun reading out my part and I enjoyed it thoroughly. In my “vocality” (!), I tried to bring about life and feeling into each sentence and the audience – I was later told - enjoyed it.

Cut to the present. Recently I was asked to read out a 30 page document that my team and I had authored as part of my project to a group of 20 odd senior executives within the stipulated one hour. I had to read out practically each word in the document to obtain the sign-off and approval from all the executives prior to moving ahead with the development and deployment of the software product. It went well and I was appreciated for finishing right on time.

It wasn’t all that fun though but when I was reading it, it brought out memories from that day 17 years ago…

Rat-Race?

I saw a spiritual notice recently about how Man nowadays is keenly involved in rat-race and how useless it is to keep garnering the materialistic riches. I wondered if this is really so.

Most folks work to ensure that they can lead a decent lifestyle all the way till their lives’ end despite
(a) the number of offspring that they may plan and expenses incurred till their children are on their own,
(b) 30% - 40% of their lives being led in retirement and
(c) plan for any illnesses that may come their way.
Add to this the nemesis of Inflation and one feels any amount of money that is being earned is less at any point of time.

So, in reality, all that Man is doing is Surviving. Hence, more than it being a race amongst the rats, it is actually a game of mere survival. Right?