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To New Beginnings.

What is it about this time of the year, that we inevitably tend to look back and wonder as to how we spent the year? Is it because we are so conditioned, that every new year, we often expect a clean break from the past and new beginnings. The ancient Babylonians first celebrated the New Year on January-1st about 4000 years ago and the Greeks and Egyptians used a baby to symbolize the new year. It represented rebirth as we embarked on another journey around our central star - the Sun.  In reality, it is anything but magical!  As we await to transit around the Sun one more time, we need to realize that we live in a vast expanse called the universe and in terms of the relative size, we are no more significant than a speck of dust in a vast desert.  Any potentially hospitable planet closest to us is probably 17000 light years away in another galaxy. If today if our planet were to meet with a cataclysmic end, it would not make any difference to the existence of the Universe. And yet, here w
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The Times We Live In!

The years from 1960s to 2001 was a period when United States established a period of phenomenal economic expansion. The Boomers were a product of the post war era and lived through a period which was probably the best period in US History in terms of Quality of Life. The opportunities were abundant and anyone with a fire in their heart and willingness to grind it out, could make it big! There were no big wars or calamities, except regional conflicts although of a relative smaller size, but they were byproducts of the Cold War. I am sure it was a great time to be alive, it was a good time to be a bon vivant, it was a time to be a dreamer..... it was a time of plenty.  Not so in 3rd world countries. There we were going through birthing pains. A lot of the families in India struggled to meet ends meet, even in this period of relative peace. India saw a few full scale wars too; one with China and a few with Pakistan. I was born a few years after the last full scale war that India f
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Waking Up To A New India - LS Elections 2019

Well Done India! For decades, a majority of Indians were divided on the basis of caste and linguistic diversity. They also gave it a catch phrase - "Unity In Diversity". What a boat load of crap! Economic prosperity was controlled by the governments (Socialism) and routed through middle-men, who took their own cut out of it. The caste-politicians benefited by keeping the citizen divided and away from a future where an individual controlled his own destiny. The majority never got out of of the psychological ghettos that separated them from the others to be able to see any kind of potential future where their aspirations could be fulfilled. We who were born into a 65,000 Years old civilization, were fed with a fictional version of the Independence Movement, provided with false heroes and deliberately abstracted from a glorious culture and history. An 800 year period of Genocide and Slavery was masked under a facade of manipulated glitter & grandiose of the "Sult
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Reflections Of India Trip - 2016

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How to describe my trip to India? A few words that come to mind - Camaraderie, Bonding, Shopping, Monsoon,  Flashes of Opulence, Sense of Disconnect,  Colors and Traditions, Flavors and Aromas,  Fleeting Moments of Tranquility, Places Frozen in Time,  A Metropolis Ripping at the Seams yet Miraculously Surviving Each Day..... The entry point to India (Mumbai Airport) which earlier used to be a nightmare that I wanted to quickly wake up from, turned out to be a pleasant experience this time around. The new Mumbai International airport is very artistically done and ensures a very smooth flow of passengers. They have to improve the services a bit more particularly the long immigration queues during departure which spoils the overall experience. But still excellent progress. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Hai Jeena Yahan,  Zara Hatke, Zara Bachke, Ye Hai Bombay Meri Jaan Translated: ( O my dear heart, life here is a struggle Careful and be wise, this is Bombay my love ) Song tha
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Closing The Curtains On 2014

Another eventful year comes to a close and the new one is already upon us. Life continues to bewilder us with its myriad colors and hues. The feast is done and devoured and only the crumbs remain as an evidence of the celebration that has been. As the lights dim and the glow of the embers in the fireplace die off slowly, it is time to contemplate and reflect on the year past. Close your eyes and imagine a backpack that allows you to save and carry limited memories and achievements from the year. You pick each moment and achievement that are most important to you and stack them within one by one. - The vacations, the outings and celebrations - Sounds / words and gestures of your little ones - Laughter, warm hugs, kisses and cuddles - Fleeting, stolen romantic moments - Achievements born out of your mind and spirit - Little things that turned out to be bigger - Painful blows that found your resilience So collect the key moments that sum up your life that you would want to r
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SriNilayam - The Crucible That Shaped My Destiny

We are the only beings on the planet that carry memories of events from the past inside us and allow ourselves to be enriched by these events. Events do not shape us, but it is the way we interpret these events in life that influence us on how we react in the future. Have you ever felt like one event or one phase of your life has left a profound influence on the rest of your life and has acted as a rudder for the rest of your journey? I bet most of you have felt that one time or the other... I am no exception to that, but mine was a period of 21 years that molded my attitude and outlook towards life. Was all of it pleasant? No, of course not, but I do tend to carry only the pleasant ones with me. As I stand and peel away through the layers of my life, I come to a stop  in the year 1983. That is as far back as I seem to remember. I was 10 years old and Kapil's Mavericks won the Prudential World Cup that year. I see a 10 year old boy standing in the balcony trying to listen
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The Wandering Mind!!

How many lives.... how many times.... how many dreams, have I seen myself wake up in the middle of nowhere to behold the  infinite mountains and valleys that stretched out in my view?  The pristine valleys lazing in the early morning haze, the fresh mornings sparkling with the dew dripping from the leaves, the sunlight peeping out of the clouds and from behind the peaks, the crisp morning air that I feel within my lungs, filling my mind with myriad possibilities and thoughts. Quoting the words of Marcus Aurelius - " When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. " Men have always been wanderers and adventure seekers since eternity, but with advancement of society and changes in lifestyle, this aspect of life is now more an aberration rather than the norm. I am not a follower of religious scriptures by any means but merely interested in it from a historical perspective. Often mytho
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