Neeraj Tandon : this & that ....

Ski Day

2011-02-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

Aayush and i spent a great day at kelso - approx 6 hrs with about 30 runs. What a day!!

Eventually Feels Like Canada, again

2011-01-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to a white pristine world of freshly fallen snow. I instinctly reached for my camera and we went for a short walk. The world seemed an amazingly beautiful place... We just need to respect and preserve what we have.The snow was still falling and as we walked I thought to myself, how blessed we were to be able to experience this day.

Happy New Year - 2011

2010-12-31T13:19:00.000-08:00

Here is wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

May the next year be everything that you ever wished for and more....

See you all in 2011

BTW: I clicked this at Times Square a couple days back-- missed the ball drop by a few days :)

The Glass Castle

2010-12-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

Just finished the Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. An inspiring true story that tells you that no matter how bad your situation is , there is always a way forward. The pic above is from Jeanette's second book - Half Broke Horses(which i have not read)but i think the cover is more appropriate to the Glass Castle. Jeanette is the one with the cat in her arms in the pic above.

Four kids grow up in abject poverty in Welch, a coal mining town in WV. Their survival instincts and dreams of getting on in life get them to "parent" their parents and push them for a better life. When all attempts fail , one by one the kids make their way out of Welch to find a niche for themselves in the world.

Most of us donot realize that the mere fact that we are sitting in a heated house today is something that raises us to a level that many ( i wont put a % to it as i dont know the %) in the world do not have. There is so much to be thankful for in our lives. Highly recommend reading...

Kenya Nov-Dec 2011

2010-12-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

Jumbo everyone. ( That is the Sawhali word for greetings) We made a trip to Kenya this winter and clicked this at the Thompson Falls on the outskirts of Nairobi. This is where the fabled Olympic Kenyan runners practice.. infact we did catch a glimpse of them jogging past in the distance while I was running to find a washroom ( I have a future - would'nt you agree)?

& that is the Thompson Falls.. its not going to solve the worlds energy problems but it was a pretty sight.. bad camera NOT bad photoghrapher.

I needed a typical African picture - acacia trees, Giraffes, and the undulating african savanah streatching away to the horizon-- well i almost got all of it -- almost

We crossed the equator too a couple times and got educated on a curious phenomenon-- In the northern hemisphere, water draining vertically downwards from a vessel drains with a clockwise circular motion and anti clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Dont tell me you knew this - we were never taught this AT ALL, right through grade school

We hobnobbed with the cheetah's

rode an ostrich

Fed a Kelly the Giraffe.

Incidently these Rothschild giraffes live in the backyard of a Kenyan resident. there are only approx 600 of these beauties left and this guy had 9 of them

.. and danced with the Masai

any one wants to see more pics???

A Walk through Eden Woods Park

2010-12-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I took a walk through Eden Woods, the park opposite our home. Soft snow fell , the ground was untrodden below me and with Robert Pirsig's famous "Zen & the art..." in my ears, it was what some people call -- 'living the moment'

Will it be a Do-it-Yourself World?

2010-12-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

Today if you want to do your plumbling or put up a shower door, where do you go? In earlier times you went to the yellow pages and called a tradesman. Today you go to Youtube or Home Depot, get the knowhow and attempt it with a fair degree of confidence. If you need technical help in an enginerring or a High School subject , you go to Khan Academy and get upto speed while Salman Khan ( The man behind Khan Academy) doodles you out of your confusion. I had mentally accepted this style of education and jested with my friends that I was Youtube educated but i was not prepared for what I saw in a Staples store today ( pic above)

If DIY books exist on seperation and Divorce , it truly reflects how volatile our relationships are becoming. This ties in well with what i had been reading about communities who inhabit the Canadian Northern provinces. As the ice cap recedes due to Global warming, the Innuit men stay back at home as they wait for the ice to thicken on the waterways before they venture out to hunt. As they stay home longer, frustration seems to rise and it gets directed at the family. Obviously relationships get strained. Did you ever have an inkling that Global Warming could have this kinda side effect? We all have heard that rise in sea levels could make islands like Maldives disappear, but this was a new one.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like in the future. Could it get even more modular? Say for example, your car stalls. The message on the dash says " Fuel pump faulty" . You go to the auto store , pick up the right part and the installation direction walks you through the install process. I think the Swedish furniture chain, Ikea started this with their DIY furniture. Suddenly there was an explosion in the consumer market place as goods started being sold in a semi ready state. Not only that ...If you need to file your taxes, a software wizard speeds you through the process. Furniture, electricals, house repair, gardening ... are all DIY now a days & I suspect it will get even more of a DIY world as the world tightens its belt as a result of the last recession. Then where does this leave all our specialist. Will they disappear? I suspect we will still need them but only for the really heavy stuff... surgery ( I doubt you can do a heart by-pass as a DIY) , car engine repair, complex litigation and so on.

For those of you who would like to get initiated to this new world , i suggest you go get yourself a tool kit today but try and stay away from the books in the pic above.

PS:Talking of a DIY world ... some of you may recollect years back , taking apart our mobikes and then while attempting to put it back, we seemed to have an unreasonable number of spare parts left over. The mechanic who was called to "fix it" went to work with a smug grin on his face-- a grin we would have loved to wipe off his face with a shiner to his nose.

My Friend Anand

2010-12-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

Anand passed away on Dec 05, 2010 of a massive stroke to the heart. He was a shade over 50 and still played squash.In fact from what I gather he was on his way back from his morning game. Does that make any sense? Staying in shape apparently does not guarantee a long life-- so what does??!!

I first met Anand during our degree course in 1983 and soon found a common bond in the game of Squash.Besides our daily game , the most memorable ones were the ones we played after a series of exams. Those were specially extended hard hitting and punishing games after which we sat exhausted in a pool of sweat, happy without a care in the world. After we finished the degree course , I never ever found a squash partner of Anand's caliber. The few times we met post our pre-mature retirements, he did mention that he was still playing and I did experience a twinge of envy , but i was very happy for him. He was just such a guy you would want to see happy always & share some time with and have him as a friend.

Anand & I once did a motorcycle trip from Pune to Mhow with a stop over at Devlali. We both rode different Yezdi machines and as it so happens in long distance rides, riders get seperated due to traffic & road conditions.This being before the cell phone era, I always found Anand waiting for me a few kms ahead with a worried look on his face. He always had this considerate streak in him which in those days i found irritating but today I can not, but respect.

His innocence and simple nature endured most of us to him all through our degree course and beyond. Most evening during the degree course, would find us congregating at some one's house. Anand would amble in help himself to a drink and somehow be the source of all the merriment and laughter. At one such occasion I recollect he had wanted gin and somehow picked up a bottle of vinegar. Anand being Anand did not notice this till I went back tothe kitchen and realized what had happened. Till then Anand was oblivious and happy with his "drink".

The last I spoke to Anand was around the middle of Nov this year after a long time. The tele conversation lasted for an hour and we laughed a lot recollecting mutual friends and incidents of days gone by. We ended the call promising to keep in touch, little realizing that this was the last call I would ever make to my friend.

Today Anand is no more. He died doing what he loved best ie playing squash. Our hearts go out to Neena and the kids , Karan and Raman. We wish them strength in these trying times. All of us have lost a great friend & like I read in an email from some one -- he was a true Officer and a Gentleman.

Rest in peace, Anand.

Virtual Boarding Pass

2010-11-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever walked confidently to the check in counter at an airport and realized that you have misplaced your boarding pass that you printed out at home? I faced that about an hour back and was racking my brain as to how to get out of this situation and still catch my flight. I suddenly remembered that I had taken a picture of the document and i fished out my camera from my carry-on and showed the desk clerk the picture of my boarding pass on the LCD of my camera. Half expecting a lengthy discussion and delays, i was amazed that without a blink she checked the picture and handed the camera back to me. She quickly printed off a fresh boarding pass and had me on my way.

It assured me that we really are in the 21st centenary. Apparently while discussing this with a few co passengers, this is pretty normal. Did you know this?

Fifth Ave Collections

2010-06-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ladies! if you want some great bargains on jewellery-- hook up with Sanchita. You could do the straight forward thing ie to "Buy" or alternatively you could "host" a show. Either way there are spin offs that could make you nod your head that it was an evening well spent.

This evening as the large gathering of women "ooh-ed & aah ed" and preened themselves in front of mirrors I realized that the feminine mindset considered the process ( read discussion and chatter) of buying jewellery to be part and parcel of the experience of owning the piece of jewellery.

Guys, do not feel forlorn and shy away from the event -- learn to indulge your lady :)-- (Hopefully that's a few brownie points for me from Anita)

Renu & Kulu- 25th Anniv

2010-05-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

On May 23, 2010 , Friends and Family converged onto Waterloo for Renu & Kulu's 25th wedding anniv. The venue was Zeeks.. their family run restaurant which they have managed so efficiently for the last few years. More on that later & now back to the anniv. Our ties go back 25 years when their wedding anniv preceded ours by two days and Renu and Anita go back even further to their high school years. Our lives took a divergent path till they decided to come to Canada in 2005. Prior to that in the non email era we mostly got away with attempts at telepathy and rare telephone calls. When they landed in Canada we were in touch right away and it was so heartening to see them get going almost right away. They scoured the area for a business of their choice and homed onto a winner. Today as I see them pull into our drive way in one of their snazzy cars-- one can easily say that they have well and truly "arrived" .

Renu & Kulu: Many Happy Returns of the Day. Congratulations for the great partnership and for raising two superb sons. Here's hoping to see you grow & prosper even more with happiness and health when we congregate for your 50th.

Alfredo -- once again

2010-05-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Some of you might recollect reading about Alfredo earlier last year
http://neerajtandon.blogspot.com/2009/09/alfredo-cabbie.html

Guess what - A few days back , I hailed a cab just outside Atlantis in Nassau and I could not believe my eyes--there was Alfredo once again. I zapped him by calling him by name and his smiling face smiled back even more when i recounted to him about the cab trip we had with him many months back. We chatted easily during the ride and Anita casually asked him to drive us to a pay phone as we wanted to call our sons in Canada as it was mothers day and they had no way to reach us as our cell phones were turned off. Alfredo said nothing during the ride but when we reached our destination he pulled out his cell phone and told us to go ahead and dial Canada. Once the call had been made -it was a bit awkward when he refused to accept money for the call and said -- it is not about us getting a free call but about his ability to get God's blessings for the way he lives his life. As i reached into the cab to retrieve my bag, I spied a Deepak Chopra book lying on his dash. Silently I thanked Deepak for transforming so many men into Alfredo's who bring cheer and happiness to the world around them.
I said it before & i am saying it again-- if you ever happen to be in Nassau-- call Alfredo- taxi# 739

Yes, yes-- I forgot to take his pic once again but I got his business card. His pic on the card does not do him justice- so I do not wish to post it.

Then & Now

2010-05-11T19:06:00.001-07:00

Mhow, India, 1985

Miami, 2010

As you will observe from the pics above, over the years, I have managed to shed my uniform and don a pair of shorts, lose some hair and gain a few pounds. Anita of course, has remained unchanged. To celebrate our 25th we sailed aboard the Majesty of the Seas to the white sands of Coco-Cay and Nassau. The umpteen meals they served around the clock went straight to the "waste" -- how I wish i had more restraint-- but what the hell-- it was our 25th.While we lay under the sun during the day and gazed the stars at night-- we both concurred that we were truly blessed to have what we have and extremely thankful for the life we have had so far.

Magnificient Desolation

2010-05-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Just finsihed hearing "Magnificeint Desolation" by Buzz Aldrin the second man on the moon. The first three chapters are superb describing the journey to the moon. Some fascinating nuggets from the audio book
> The Lunar Module(LM) in 1969 had less computing power than a modern day cellphone
> The LM landed on the moon with 20 secs worth of fuel spare
> The LM was so cramped and bare ( to reduce weight) that the fuse boxes/ cables were not encased-- with the result while getting in/ out of the LM, Armstrong/ Aldrin with their bulky space suits knocked a fuse out of the fuse box ( the very fuse that was to fire their module back into orbit. Gingerly it was plugged back in place with Aldrin's pen.
> The astronauts almost got locked out of their LM on the moon surface if Aldrin had not had the presence of mind to keep the door ajar which would not have opened from the outside due to the air pressure inside and no pressure outside ( the door opened inwards)

I recommend atleast hear/read the first few chapters -- after that it is astonishing to know that Aldrin went into depression as no goal on planet earth was good enough to spark an interest in him and he became an alcoholic, broke up his marriage, got arrested and went through some rough years even tried selling cars at one point in his life-- Cant help feeling sorry for him as one cant help recalling the probverb-- "what goes up must come down"-- for Aldrin it is almost "pun implied".
Having won his battle on alcoholism and depression he is currently engaged in efforts to initiate space tourism and exploration of the planet Mars.

Life returns to Canada

2010-05-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

After a not so cold winter but nevertheless one that does take away the flora for a few months, we are beginning to see it all come back. The foliage is bursting out in all its greenery .. here is a closer look

On many days as I step out the front door, I marvel at nature in the fresh morning air which is crisp and invigorating. Its a blessing to be alive and well. Words from a movie ( forget which ) keep coming back to me-- "make each day count"
Most days I dont succeed but its "work in progress" :)

This Vehicle Stops at all Railway Crossings

2010-04-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

There is a limit to safety and I thought this morning I reached that limit.I was a wee bit late driving in to work trying to make it in time for a 9 oclock when I had to stop behind a bus which , you guessed it "stopped at all railway crossings". I was on a single lane road when the bus came to a full halt at the railway crossing. I counted to three and then another three and still the wretched driver did not budge. As I waited impatiently willing the bus to move forward, the railway crossing gates began to close. I could have cried but all I could do was sit there my knuckles white on the steering wheel listening to the gates coming down with that irritating ringing sound and--- wait. If the bus driver had moved on the first count of three we both could have been across the crossing. On an impulse I got out of my car and walked over to the side of the bus driver wanting to give him a piece of my mind. As I looked up I saw a beautiful blonde face smiling back at me. I stood there transfixed by her beauty till I realized it was getting awkward and blurted "Good Morning-- have a good day" and walked back to my car. It was a beautiful day.
I think its a good thing that Vehicles stop at railway crossings ;)

Tennis Elbow

2010-04-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months I have been living with an injury on my forearm termed as a Tennis elbow. This has resulted in me wearing a black band over my upper forearm. On being questioned by most well wishers, I have till now tried to respond as genuinely as possible but having tired of the same routine response, I try and hold a straight face while saying such things as ... "I am wearing a black band as my way of protesting against being over worked and underpaid" or ... "oops did my swastika fall off?" .. or its to remind me to be nice to everyone today -- even you"

Some folks persist and then not being of the mettle that actors are made off, I succumb to a smile and give them the actual version.(Tennis Elbow)

The problem with this injury is that it resfuses to go away and makes you incapable to doing even mundane things as giving some one an energetic handshake or lifting a mug of beer or picking up your laptop to go to work. Most of these actions result in a shooting pain and very soon I learnt to use my other( good) hand-- so much so that I am turning to be a lefty. The funny thing is that I did not get this from tennis. I suspect it is to do with spending long hrs on the keyboard and my resolve to go "paperless". I also do not use a mouse and my efforts to try and bring myself to use it has not yeilded any positive results. It (the mouse )simply lies there un touched till I snap shut my laptop and as i get up to walk away I find it dangling at the end of a cable. I eventually got rid of it and i am back to the touchpad which is not doing me any good , I know but i am hoping that somehow if i ignore it enough .. it will go away. Anyways..... Next time you exetnd your hand to shakehands and you find that I offer not my right hand but my left -- it is not because I am from the Scouts ( Scouts left handed hand shake) but because I suffer from lateral epicondylitis (thats what the docs call this damn thing).

Will Ford drive to Moscoe or drive out Moscoe?

2010-04-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

This morning while driving to work , I put on the "John Oakley Show" on AM 640. Normally I am plugged into an audio book but on an impulse I decided to check what else was on in the world besides the volcanic ash. John was on the air interviewing Howard Moscoe. For those not in the know Howard has been a city councillor for over a decade and is known for biting off more than he can chew. This morning he went the extra mile to stay in that league. I heard him say that the city councillors had hired a consultant for 50 grand of the tax payers money to confirm that the councillors who already earn a few $ shy of 100 grand a year, needed a raise in their wages. To be fair to the councillors I believe one can re phrase the objective for this consultant in many ways but what does a consultant "you"hire do??-- they WILL say you deserve a raise -- thats a no brainer. And then going along that same lines one tends to ask ones self as to how do councillors get to decide to spend 50 grand just to determine if they need a raise. I, and I guess most of us will have serious concerns on how our tax $$s are being (mis)managed in the hands of our councillors. Mr Moscoe ofcourse was oblivious of the fact that what the councillors were doing, was ridiculous.

Another aspect that struck me was who supervises these councillors?? It seems no one. Except for radio programmes like the one I was on -- The councillors seem to be splurging with abandon with what seems to be a clean conscience. If you ever decide to run for office, make sure you have killed and buried your conscience somewhere along the way. That makes me wonder as to how will Rob Ford survive his Mayorial years-- my vote is on him. I hope he wins and drives OUT the likes of Moscoe.

Mighty Volcanoes on a Fragile planet

2010-04-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

The news that has dominated the world over the weekend has been the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland. Travelers are stranded , businesses are impacted and the airlines are wringing their heads in despair. No one can predict how long this ash will continue to spill out into the European skies and literally bring all of Europe to a grinding halt. It makes one think how fragile our planet is where nature can without warning literally stop our civilized world. The ash which is pulverized rock a few mm in size is shot 5-8 kms vertically into the atmosphere when molten lava meets with sub zero temperatures of the glacial ice. The resulting steam which is due to such extremes in temperatures results in the ash being shot so high up into the sky. The higher it goes the wider will be its spread and the winds blowing eastwards have literally blanketed Europe and as far as Moscow. In the midst of all this is Poland trying to grapple with a national disaster of losing almost all its leadreship in one plane crash. A few years ago I recollect reading a policy where more than two national dignatories were prevented from travelling in the same aircraft. Today that policy makes a lot of sense in Poland. Imagine the logistic problems of having a national funeral without having the ability of air travel.

The last time I recollect nature reminded mankind of its awesome power and to a much more devastating degree was when the tsunami struck us the Indian ocean on Christmas eve in 2004.

As we follow the daily news I hear that KLM has flown a passengerless airplane through the ash and landed safely. I wonder will the airlines take on the responsibility of flying a plane load of passengers through the looming ash cloud based on this test or will they chicken out-- more importantly will you buy a ticket on such a flight even if the airlines said it was business as usual but is Eyjafjallajokull listening-- from what I last heard it was business as usual at Eyjafjallajokull as well.

BTW have you guys heard of George Kourounis of "Angry Planet" fame. He is the guy who goes chasing natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions. Next week he is going to be in Iceland and taking "calculated risks" to get as near as possible to the lip of Eyjafjallajokull to give us pictures of what goes on in the belly of the volcano-- I personally doubt it will be possible on an active volcano but Mr Kourounis has "been there done that" -- I am sure he knows what he is talking about.

Juniper Remedy

2010-04-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

Anyone know of a cure to save a Juniper tree. This one stands guard in front of our house and as the summer is around the corner,we are trying to spruce up the flora surrounding our home. It seems that the the tree is dying in parts ( the brown leaves) and still thriving in the rest of its plumage. Any advise is welcome.

Mergers/ Acquisitions/ Outsourcing/ Insourcing/Offshoring....

2010-04-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was in an discussion on Mergers and Acquisitions at a networking group. BTW, before I proceed those of you who frequent such gatherings did you notice that most of the folks at such sessions are predominantly from the IT/technology sectors? Anyways-- back to my subject; The emphasis in all such ventures, be it Mergers/ Acquisitions/ Outsourcing/ In sourcing/Off shoring-- they are all focused almost entirely on the legal and financial aspects only. Weeks, maybe months are spent on negotiating,bargaining, haggling.. (then it gets worse..) hood winking, downplaying, hiding, misrepresenting, .....lying.. and when finally getting sick of the exercise and running out of patience, Agreeing!! The merger is announced and the stock prices surge in anticipation of the boost that the economy will get from the new merger/acquisition.

Meanwhile..... guess what!-- no one has told operations. Months of deliberations have had no connections with Operations ( the very guys who ensure that the business rakes in the revenues that feeds your payroll). Now, when the merger is announced, the "VeePee's" and the "Pee's" all go off to play golf.. relying on the old Financial Times post adage-- When you’ve got them by their wallets, their hearts and minds will follow. Yes -- they "follow" as they need to retain their jobs and in order to do that the poor folks down in operations have to read through reams of the signed contract to make sense of it and see how it applies to them. Its like trying to service a train that is running a 100kmph with processes that have broken or are not valid. What happens next?? ...

Frustrations mount. Management expectations are in the spirit of the agreement and are now impatient that the operations folks have not yet aligned themselves to the "great strategic path" that the senior leadership has lined up for them. The most competent resources start to leave, others are actively scouring the job market and the situation simply goes South.

Sounds familiar? Those in operations would probably agree with me. I did some thinking and realized that the main cause is Communications. Who are the folks who populate our board rooms? MBAs,CAs and the like.. right?. Rarely do you find any technical manager sitting in on such meetings. And why is that? This is because, as a breed a typical techie is soft spoken, not outspoken at all, preferring to work with his hands and head rather than his mouth and hence he is usually represented by a manager who possess these verbal abilities. These managers swiftly work themselves up the ladder and very soon the touch with the techie is reduced to an electronic status update oblivious to the fact that advancements in technology have overrun his outdated ideas and thinking.

So, what do we need among other things to succeed at M & A's----We need in the board rooms of today, technical managers who are in step with technical advancements, who are articulate enough to convince and negotiate at mergers and acquisitions to include all aspects of operations which will ensure that the mergers/ venture being attempted is as seamless as possible.

Earth Hour 2010

2010-03-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Earth Hour came and went. In spite of my willingness to add my bit towards saving planet earth, I failed. I simply forgot. At the stroke of 8.30pm local time I was behind a wheel, driving as fast as i could, East on Eglington Ave, trying my best to make it on time to a friends dinner. As I recollect now the roads were pretty deserted and I made good progress. When I returned, my son asked me if I had remembered and i sheepishly had to say "no". I made a call half way around the world,to India, and my parents told me that they had barely any power the whole day. It was quite possible that the power outage at 8.30pm local in India could have coincided with the Earth hour.

Later at night I scoured the Internet to see how the Earth Hour had been observed around the world. Most pictures ran the standard "before & after" and though there was a marked difference in the quantity of light that was turned off, I could not help but feel guilty that I too could have been part of the movement had I stopped by the road side and did what was right.

How many of you reading this blog, remembered?

Aloo

2010-03-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today I drove down to the other side of the GTA to have coffee with my friend Raju. We do this every 35 years & I am hoping we can step up the frequency a bit now that I know where he is is "holed" up. Raju whom we all knew as Aloo in the academy, managed to slip under the radar and without anyone even getting wind of his move, he disappeared. Like most of us who leave our digital imprints all over, Aloo left no tracks/ signs & it was only due to the super sleuth Deeen ( DN Gupta) who tracked him down and put me on to him. Raju, armed only with his "gunner credentials" and an attitude that is worth a million, worked his way up diligently like a good immigrant and in his own characteristic easy laid back way has built a life for himself and his family in this distant land.
We spent the evening catching up on common friends and how life had treated us in the last three decades. There was only one down side ...Raju, that coffee was way to sweet .. ( anyone recollect when one visited remote posts in the field, the quantity of the sugar in the coffee was supposed to denote how welcome you were...)

Looking fwd to that lunch in Brampton, Raju.

Lawyers

2010-03-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

A few days back we got involved in making a will. While I was reviewing it to ultimately sign it -- here is a "gem that i came across....
Can you make sense of it? Read from the top of the page to the second last line ending with the word "duties". ( Double click on the image to read the text)That is part of a will -- God alone knows when the will needs to be executed what sense it will make to those entitled. What kind of grammar is this-- Iam sure none of us ever learnt anything like this. Who ever heard of a sentence which goes for half a page.Only the lawyers can keep their focus on what the initial part of the sentence said as it takes you through its loops and turns. When the sentence eventually ends you are glad it ended, never mind it made no sense. The relief is short lived as the next sentence is almost as bad , if not worse. Do you know what really bugs me -- they give you this drivel and ask you to pay for it as well. Remember all those lawyer bashing jokes-- go for it guys-- leave no stone unturned-- the murkier the better.
Take a look at the cartoon below-- makes you want to take a swing at them-- right?

Some great Audio Books

2010-03-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Just read ( heard) two great Ken Follets'-- "Pillars of the Earth" and "The World without End"
I wonder if I ever mentioned how keenly I have taken to audio books. Its a great way to keep up with reading which started off very well in primary and middle school with Enid Blyton -- all those Sudden ( Oliver Strange and the other guy-- forget his name-- My name is Green , James Green), Desmond Bagely-( never see those books anywhere now-- not even in Chapters) & later we moved on to James Hadley Chase and Harold Robbins for which some of us got caned ( that was 6 whacks on the rump by Bro Huges with his lack cane). As we moved into the big bad world --Somewhere down the line TV and our profession got the better of us and the "book" got dropped. This went on for many years during which i did read an odd book but it was rare. Suddenly I find myself visiting the library very often picking up an audio book I have put on hold. Today as I drive or even potter around the house I remain plugged in to an exciting audio. Just finished listening to two great epics by Ken Follet ( the ones on top) -- highly recommended to any one who has the inclination. Just be warned , that this is VERY addictive and could even get you into a spot of trouble -- any one interseted to know how?

A coursemate comes calling...

2010-03-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

Around two yrs back Shokin was here & at long last another coursemate, Anil Nanda made it to us in Canada. Anil was in the US on business and very purposefully planned his trip to Canada to come meet with us. Perhaps it was due to the momentum and energy that was generated due to our course reunion on Feb 13th that prompted this visit but it was great to connect with Anil and his son Ankit and nephew Anirudh who is a student here @ UofT. Anil was nursing a lingering cold and declined a beer ( else i would have served it in the porcelain momento we got at the reunion)and had to settle for some lesser beverage, (which he got in a cheap glass :)!!

To the Services 79 batch: Spring is around the corner, as you can see the snows are melting-- who is next???-- I promise you the finest local lager in the reunion mug :).

Holi in Toronto

2010-03-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Living far away from India, there is a high possibility of such festivals slipping by without one even noticing it------ not if you have Anita monitoring it via the phone, web and the regular temple updates. The usual Holi revelry that evening was interrupted by the famous Ice Hockey Olympic game between Canada and the US and the spectacular closing ceremony. I am sure Crosby will find himself a great niche in the Hockey hall of fame. We even caught sight of the Indian team in the closing march past-- I wonder what event did India participate!!

At the end of all the feasting and a couple of games we did indulge in a little bit of color -- the results you can see above

New Year's Day - 2010

2010-01-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

The New years has come and gone -- to all those who visit this blog-- wish you and your family and friends a great 2010. May all your dreams come true which implies that you must have a dream ( Can't win a lottery without buying a ticket -- remember)
Like most people I too have made some resolutions. I am following through for the last three days -- only 362 days left. Come tomorrow ( Jan 04th) and the world will kick into gear and that is when we will all go chasing our dreams.
Good Luck and make each day count.

"Aaall is well"

2009-12-31T13:25:00.000-08:00

We saw 3 idiots yesterday. As we drove up to Square One because of the Year end shopping craze, the parking lots were choker blocked. This caused some tension and if I had known of the "Aaal is well" mantra prior to the movie -- I would have used it then.

What a great movie! I have come to love Amir Khan & Boman Irani. The other two ( Raju & Farhan) were outstanding as well. The innovativeness of "Rancho" was commendable and I am sure every engineering student seeing the movie ( we have two in the house) wanted to emulate Amir & if not atleast everyone now knows what is a "vacuum delivery" thanks to the movie. Some great scenes from Ladakh made me reminiscence of my days at Dras and the great NH-1A ( the national highway from Srinagar to Leh)

As it happens with every movie I see, the effects linger on for a day and the effects of this one had me smiling away to myself for much of the following day. If you haven't seen it-- go see it and "aal will be well"

Skiing Day

2009-12-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

Aay and me made our yearly ski/snowboarding trip during the Christmas break. This time we chose the Kelso Glen Eden slopes in Milton as against our usual choice Chicopee, Waterloo. Kelso being closer won our business. Ant had decided to stay back as per his logic doing this just once a year gave him more aches than thrills. With just 39cms of snow on the slopes (Kelso had their snow making eqpt churning out the white stuff to compensate what global warming is doing to the skiing business around the GTA) and the wind chill factor hovering around the -20 degree mark I made 17 runs on a not so challenging slope and most of which I completed in a "snow plough" position. It was quite embarrasing to see little kids whizzing past with such superb skills and one could easily see that its the likes of these kids who will be representing us in Vancouver in Feb 2010. My careful snow ploghing and slow meandering ensured that I came away without a spill which was not the case with Aay who felt he must push himself over the edge to emulate what we all see on TV and not surprisingly he has come back with a sore behind. I tried to placate him with some piping hot choclate but with all my good intentions the hot choclate did not know which part of his body needed it most :)
I could not get too many pics -- obviously not -- it was too bloody cold to take off your gloves and stand there with exposed hands ,waiting in the feezing wind to get a pic which in all probability would come out a blur anyways.
Towards the end of the day we drove away exhausted, bundled up in a warm car, it had just started to snow. As I sipped my hot choclate I could not help think that this had been a day well spent.

Christmas Day

2009-12-25T17:26:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks of 2009 are finally here. Ant & Aay are back from Waterloo and in front of us are a whole string of holidays. On Christmas eve we lit a fire and settled down for Angels and Demons with some Pizza. Tom Hanks was great though many a times I found it too stretched when Tom looked at a sword/arrow held by a statute and took that to be the location where the bomb could possibly be. Very eerily the very next day we heard of the assault on the Pope in the Vatican. I wonder if they summoned Tom Hanks to get to the bottom of it!!
Holidays are a great time to indulge & there was lots to eat-- Anitas's famous burgers and "alo gobi"-- I gorged on cake and every time I ate some I knew i should'nt-- but then its Christmas. Later on Christmas day we drove down to the office where Ant will be doing his internship for the next few months. We found a Timmy's just below and we all trooped in to buy our own favourites ( English Toffee, French Vanila and double double). Its been raining all day.. Toronto has had a very wet christmas.

?

2009-10-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

I hav'nt written in a long while. I was trying to come up with a reason why that was so. I drew a blank. I guess too many things are happening right now and its difficult to track well in all areas. In the end I am sure the good old NDA training will pay off. Its hard for outsiders to appreciate what those three years did for me-- Those who know, know.

Noel da Lima Leitao

2009-09-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

This Sunday morning I received an email from my friend Victor informing me that our school friend Noel had died. Just like that. I read it a couple of times before it sank in. Slowly, I was hit with a sadness that weighed me down that I sat for a long time reflecting on a life that had just ended.

It was a cold wintry March day in 1967 at St Joseph's College, Nainital that I first met Noel. We were in grade 4. Life's success in those days was counted on the number of marbles one had or who had the best fountain pen ( we had just graduated from pencils to pens).I remember he had the biggest "bunta" Anyone remember what that is ?( the striker marble)

Noel was a natural athlete and this was evident not only on the "futta" and hockey fields but even in track and field. He always played full back for St Francis ( Nehru house), the house he eventually Captained in his final year. His kicks always crossed the half line. Little did we know that one day he would dominate the Indian football( soccer) scene as a commentator par excellence.In the evenings in the lockers after a gruelling games period one would find him working with the bull worker and he always had a witty comment on any situation.

He excelled in academics as well passing out with an enviable 7 points in the ISC exams. I recollect English essays were tough in school... I once got 35/50 from Bro O'Shea and I pranced about the class assuming mine was the best till I happened to glance at Noel's paper. It was lying on his desk and he was not even bothered and was busy talking with some one elsewhere in class-- he had been marked 39/50.

Noel was easily a class apart. Athletic supremacy, futta and hockey skills, academic brilliance, confidence and style. I would give him a 10 all through. Rarely does one come across such an individual. I last met him in 1985 in Goa and my wife described him as a character right out of a mills & boon when she saw him striding towards us dressed in full white from a six cylinder vintage car.

Today even as I write this, I know preparations are underway for Noel's funeral. Though we know that this is a fact but my mind refuses to accept the reality. It is hard to forget you my friend but we will meet again on the other side, only this time I aim to have a bigger "bunta" than yours.

Rest in peace, Noel.

Aayush leaves for the University of Waterloo

2009-09-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

It was a momentous day for Aayush. The day he officially starts life on his own (to an extent).There would be no more parental nagging to tidy up/ get up/ go to sleep /shower/ do his home work... this could go on & on. From this day on he makes his own choices (to an extent..:))

You can see him in the pic on top standing next to the van all loaded up just before we drove him to Waterloo

He started his day by staying with his best friend "Young" and judging by the fact that they were inseperable over the last 5 years -- it must be tough on both of them to arrive at this fork in their lives and experience the feelings of going their seperate ways.

Early in the day we played tennis @ Frank Mckenie. Aayush smashed me 6-0 ( I had the racquet with broken strings). Not sure when we will play next -- the good thing is that with a 6-0 loss I can only get better -- I have hit rock bottom.

The days leading to his departure for the univ were spent on chosing or discarding all the little pieces of trivia / books and clothes that have been part of his schoooling and teenage life so far. His small room was strewn with cartons which needed to be packed.. I could make out that it was not an easy job as he sifted through years of "stuff" each one bringing back some memories and then having to make a decision to retain or discard...

Later in the day when we dropped him at Beck hall, he was whisked away by the students and staff who got him involved with the initiation activities. Anita, Ant & me tinkered around in his room trying to set it up -- which we did but I later wondered if Aayush had any inkling of what had been so carefully stowed where in his new room. Like he said as he rushed off-- " I will figure it out with common sense..." and was gone

Hopefully we have guided him well so that he can stand confidently on his own in a world that is bound to present him with his fair share of challenges and opportunities.
Good luck Aayush!!

Alfredo the cabbie

2009-09-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while you meet a person who really appeals to you from the way he / she talks and conducts himself/herself. We met such a person at Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. As soon as we came ashore, we ran into a horde of cabby's all offering us a ride to the beaches and the world famous Atlantis hotel whose rooms were priced at an outrageous $25k a night. We walked through the horde and a little distance away stood a cabbie dressed as all cabby's were -- white bush shirt and a dark trouser. He came forward and said "Welcome to my country" The way he said that, mesmerised me and we did not even question the fare or the destination. We went with the flow. We got in and he started to give us a guided tour on the way to our destination. All through his monologue his genuineness came across loud and clear and we swallowed every word he told us. There was respect in his demeanour and when he dropped us off at our destination he advised us where we could get a ride back. To this day I kick myself for not taking a pic of him. He was by far the greatest cabbie I have had. If you happen to go to the Bahamas-- ask for Alfredo!

Ever Take a Real Vacation...??

2009-09-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a cruise vacation to the Bahamas on board the Majesty of The Seas

These ships are monsters - actually floating cities stacked 14 decks high with pools, shopping arcades, resturants, tons of sporting activities and more importantly -- bars in every nook and cranny

Here is Antrix trying to do a Daniel Craig,,,,

& then Aayush gave it a shot too

Anita found a picture perfect shot for herself at Coco-Cay-- I swear I have seen this in a calender somewhere before.

Back on board the Majesty of the Seas, I did some rock climbing ..( please note that I reached the top and rang the bell-- a round of applause please!!

Aayush and I did some para-sailing on Key-West

We also cycled past the Hemingway House-- Remember Ernest Hemingway of the "Old man & the Sea" fame. The house is cozily tucked away in Key West on Whitehead street

& finally we stood at the Southern most tip of the US before we took the ship back to Miami

Some stupid questions that first time cruisers asked of the staff on board
1. Stupid Q: Where does the electricity on the ship come from
Stupid A: There is a cable running from all the way from Miami to the ship...

2 Stupid Q: Do these stairs go up or down
Stupid A: ?!

3.Stupid Q: Where do the staff sleep while at sea
Stupid A: We fly them in on shifts from Miami

For anyone not initiated into the world of cruising-- take one -- I gaurantee you , you will be hooked. We cannot wait to take our next cruise.

Buying a Home

2009-08-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I was away for a spot of vacation...more on that later!

On Aug 08, 2009 I stood just outside the white doors of 6561 (above) while Anita my realtor & wife ( certainly not in that order) opened the lock box- I felt it in my guts that this was the house we would end up buying.We had not even entered but i just knew it. In a few minutes after entering I told Anita something I have never told her before--"Lets put in an offer"

We bought 6561 last week. Well it was not as simple as that -- Anita spent considerable time preparing the offer and doing indepth research on what price we should offer.Besides that there were the visits a couple physical and numerous virtual. We took the kids too and all of us were unanimous. We signed up .

Buying a house here is an experience that is unique to this part of the world. Its almost a "game" between the realtors while they go back & forth between the seller and the buyer trying to arrive at a middle ground( price) that is acceptable to all. The owner is perched cooly in his house while the buyer is sitting in a car in the driveway. Every time the price is adjusted there is a flurry of signatures and talk of "not nickel and diming" though every one is trying to squeeze every last $ they can out of this deal. Once they were able to reach a concensus it was only then that the buyer ( me) was called inside. There was much handshaking and congratulations and laughter another bigger and final round of signatures and lots of legal mumbo jumbo between the realtors. In the cachophony of noise and guaffs I wondered if i had settled for the right price and I am sure the seller must have had similar thoughts. He even shared his apprehensions of telling his daughters that the house that they had lived in for much of their childhood had been sold. That was indeed a tough one. Our job was not as tough-- we are to move in to this awesome home :)

Confused Recession

2009-08-15T08:32:00.001-07:00

1. The Bank of Canada has officially declared that the recession is over.
2. Malls are choker block full with shoppers.
3. Restaurants patio's are overflowing not because of the summer but because the indoors are jam packed
4. Real estate market is HOT HOT HOT. Every offer is getting into a multiple offer situation leading to a sale price exceeding the listed price.
5. Mortgage rates are at rock bottom
6. Workopolis is full of opportunities

1. Layoffs continue across North America
2. The company lunches and team building events are all self funded and NOT company financed.
3. Obama says that there is still ground to cover before the economy is back on track..
4.There is caution in investing

What do you make of this? Are we in recession? Should we be saving our $$'s for a ranier day than the present or should it be business as usual?

DONOT Say "Cheeeeeeeese"...

2009-08-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

I went to renew my driving licence today. A simple Ontario driving licence. This required the agent at the counter to take a picture of me. I was very surprised when I was told NOT to smile. At first I thought that she was joking but ironically this was not a laughing matter. She was dead serious that my mug shot had to be WITHOUT a smile. I hated waiting for the flash to go off without a warning, blinding me in the process. In anticipation of the flash and being told not to smile, made me scowl , so i guess the agent got what she wanted -- A no smile pic. Anyways I got it over with (I am very sensitive about my eyes)

Later as I was walking out of the office I thought to myself-- why is it that the agent insisted for a pic without a smile. The conclusion I reached ( I could not verify this from the agent as she said that these were her instructions-- Period.) This I thought had everything to do with what the law enforcing agencies wanted. Possibly a smile changes our faces and as we go about our business everyday, burdened with all our stresses and deadlines we generally do not smile. So the law authorities wanted a pic that closely resembles our everyday appearance ( a non smiling face)

What does that tell you ?-- we as a society or more correctly as a species have forgotten to smile. Somewhere, something has "moved our Cheeeese"

Really Inspirational

2009-08-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Really Inspirational

I came across this on youtube.
Really inspirationalseeing the spirit of the little boy displayed on the video.
Next time you see an obstacle-- just roll up your sleeves and get to work. Help will come....

Fake Alien Invasion

2009-08-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

Fake Alien Invasion

This really takes the cake in innovative teaching methods. The kids being terrified is where i think they went over. On the other hand the type of video games and movies that we have these days I doubt any of the kids were actually traumatised. I would have loved to have grown up in this sort of a learning environment. For quite some time we have spoken of education and entertainment convergence. This is surely a great example. I know some of you may not agree & you may be right....

The Pot of Gold @ Niagara Falls

2009-08-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

We did not actually find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but we spent a great evening together with Pankaj and Shalini at Niagara, sans kids. Shalini was gushing that it was the fist time they were able to get away alone as Neel and Niki were safely ensconced in a camp and they were on their own... did I mention how she jumped at all cell phone rings expecting it to be a call from Niki...

Anyways I must mention a gem from Pankaj. As we alighted from the shuttle that ferried us from the remote parking( its cheaper to park there) to the main visitors centre opposite the falls, Shalini and Anita headed for guess what.. the cafeteria!!!! Pankaj rightly said -- we seemed to be seasoned locals to whom the grandeur of the falls had little value. Nevertheless when we had got over the realization we all did find the falls spectacular and breathtaking.

While we walked around we saw that the "grass on the other side to be greener"-- that( below) is the view of the US side of the falls from Canada. The number of US vistors to the Canadian side proves the the point.

Another "first" on the trip was Anita and "one of us" decided to take a ride on the "pile driver" It was a ride in which you are taken approx 200ft into the air and then "dropped" giving you a free fall feeling. Eventually only Anita took the ride ( me being too chicken to accomany her having done my bit of stepping off the 10m board at the NDA pool)and besides some one had to stay back to take pictures-- right!!. You can see her in the midst of the ride here

I clicked some very beautiful pics from the side of the rainbow bridge

Later that evening Pankaj & Shalini walked across the Rainbow bridge to the US side and drove back to Pittsbugrh. We spent some more time walking the falls before we took the QEW back which was not surprisingly chocked all the way back home.

Antrix's Architecture Model

2009-07-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

This is Antrix's latest model.

Kids or No Kids ??!!

2009-07-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

No kids, no grief
A new manifesto argues that parenting is bad for your career, your marriage, your bank book and your love life

That is the cover page of the latest Macleans magzine.
Great idea for some nations like China or India but not so for most of the developed world. There could be an endless debate but the bottom line to MY mind is that this is a selfish attitude. Looking at my own kids who now are now adults ( or almost there ..) I can see the type of joy which they(the non parents) would never know, to which they would have totally given a pass. That to me is pretty sad.

The CAA - Afghanistan Connection

2009-07-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Firstly this is not about the CIA and Afghanistan but as correctly stated above -- The CAA and Afghanistan Connection.

After weeks of procrastination in getting my car ignition repaired it finally gave in. Every crank on the ignition lead to to a sickening click and nothing.... It had finally died on me.There was no choice but to get it towed to the mechanic.The CAA guy who showed up in response to my call looked East Asian, had a Canadian ( not sure what that means but I guess you get the idea) accent but with a Arabic twang. He quickly and expertly hooked up the car and winched it on to the trailer. As we rode to the mechanic we started to chat. Jabe ( name changed) was from Afghanistan who immigrated to Canada approx 10 years back. During his childhood he told me,getting to his one room school was an adventure. With rockets flying and road blocks preventing movement of pedestrian and vehicles , reaching school was an achievement in itself never mind what happened at school. To cut a long story short he never completed his schooling and he came to Canada as a refugee. As I looked at him while he adeptly handled his GPS and laptop I wondered if i could categorize this individual as uneducated??!! Not by a long shot...
I asked him of the situation in Afghanistan currently and his eyes welled up as he stated that there were solders and peace keepres from approx 80-90 countries in Afghanistan and all of them had their own personal agendas. He pinned a lot of responsibility on Pakistan for what has befallen his beloved land and talked about the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas and the safe haven provided to the radical elements by the tribal belt on the Pakistan border. He wished the world could leave Afghanistan to itself and possibly the Afghanis could start a new life of their own.
His voice came through with so much pain and anguish that I wondered if he had ever known happiness in his life..... so i asked him ....if he was happy in what he currently did. His face lit up and he said -- Ever since he was a child on the streets of Kabul he used to wonder what made all those automobiles move and that fascination had never left him. Through sheer interest and effort he learnt the trade and today nothing gave him more satisfaction than nursing a troubled vehicle back to life....he added ..."Every man should do what makes him happy". Looking at his grinning face I realized that he had successfully not only made the transition from Kabul to Toronto but also given a meaning to his life which could have very easily ebbed away in strife torn Afghanistan

A Signaller comes calling...

2009-07-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

After a long time we were visited by a fellow ex Signaller, Col Sumesh Kumar and his wife Namita. The world is small indeed as we had discovered some time back that Anita's colleague @ work, Savita had a sister Namita. Namita had taught Antrix in Noida back in 2003/2002 and through her husband we had a Signals connection. Not only that Namita and Anita had taught at the same school as well. There were obviously a lot of connections and while we talked there were some common friends that surfaced and were refrenced. As the conversation turned un-avoidably to be more Signals oriented, I hoped Surrender did not feel leftout.

It was a nice evening we had and it would be suicidal if I did not mention that Anita churned out some great food ( as usual) and my statement claiming to have had a hand in the cooking did not seem to be taken seriously at all ( wonder why????)

New Owners for 5623 Cosmic Cres

2009-07-05T19:23:00.001-07:00

After four long years ( I have never stayed this long in any place- -three yrs has been the max) we signed on the dotted line today to sell our house to a Cuban couple Idael Rey and Yadelys Dominguez. We had quite a line up of realtors and their clients outside our house, all vying to get the deal. It was quite an experience. In the pic above ( left to right) you can see yours truly, our Realtor Anita, Idael and Yadelys and their little daughter who has given Anita firm instructions not to sell the house to anyone else now!!

Since we missed the buyers realtor, Alfredo, who clicked the picture above here is another pic with Alfredo Lorenzo and the new owners

Father's Day in Pittsburgh

2009-07-03T16:33:00.001-07:00

This should have been posted almost two weeks back on Fathers day but a series of events prevented this from happening. The first was that my laptop hard drive crashed and with that went all my pics that we had clicked during our trip to Pitts. I was able to salvage a few which still lingered on my camera but the majority were reduced to digital nothingness-- next we decided to sell our house which resulted in Anita imposing "cabin cupboard" conditions on us. ( Those who have attended a military academy would know what is implied) -- everything is spick and span ready for an inspection and the environment is least conducive to a normal living..... lastly getting into the cabin cupboard condition required some back breaking effort on part of the whole family.....Anyway back to Fathers day... Both Pankaj and me got identical shirts

and we also cut a cake ( a doughnut with a candle)

Though you do not find Shalini and Anita in the pics -- I am sure you could guess that they had a big hand in getting Fathers day off the ground & like i said earlier -- I lost their pics in my laptop crash. Lastly on behalf of Pankaj and myself , I wish to thank Neel, Niki Antrix and Aayush for the presents and making Fathers days so memorable.

5623 Cosmic Cresent is on Sale

2009-07-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

After 4 years we decided to put our house for sale. The decision was followed by almost two weeks of unrelenting activity when we had a team painting the house and another doing up the floor. Infact to get the floor done we were "sent out" of the house for three and a half days. This was followed by some intense cleaning and scrubbing. You would not believe the amount of trips Ant and Aay made between the basement and the second floor moving furniture/ clothing / luggage and tools. As the walls and the floor were freshly done we had to be careful of all the nicks and scratches that could potentially come up on account of the movement. When it was all done it looked like this
http://www.Obeo.com/548073

.. and btw as the showings continue everyday we remain exiled from the house. Thankfully to Satish Prasad well timed vacation we are able to "camp" at his place which is just a two minutes drive from our house.

Aayush gets a new MacBookPro

2009-07-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we drove to the Apple Store at Sherway Gardens with the intent of buying a MacBook Pro for Aayush's Engineering Course commencing this fall at the Univ of Waterloo. Apple having priced their machine a good $500 above the standard fare in the Intel class have hit upon a winning strategy to grab market share. They offer a student discount of a $100 along with a free itouch. Its no wonder that students flock to the Apple stores in droves where now to even talk to a sales person you need to take an appointment. To give them ( Apple) their due, they have three categories of staff on the floor in the store. One is the Concierge with Orange shirts, then are the sales persons in dark blue and finally the techies in light blue. The Apple store on 5th Ave in New York is seen to be believed. Reminded me of the Louvre in Da Vinci Code. I half expected to see the inverted pyramids !!!

Canada Day: Jul 01, 2009

2009-07-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Canada Day

Today being Canada Day made me reflect for a few minutes on what does being Canadian mean? Suppose I was to go live elsewhere for sometime, what would I miss most about Canada? So here are a few that come to my mind

Tim Hortons

Tim Horton's Coffee: Something most Canadian's relate to and love. There is even a Tim's in Afghanistan Bagram airport & on my last trip to the US I felt a tinge of sadness to see Tim's coming up on the southern edge of the 49th parallel.

Camping

Camping: Though over the years we have been here I have not gone to too many camps but I love camp life -- sitting around a fire nibling /drinking.

Kayaking

Kayaking: In 2008 Anita gave me two kayaks for my B'day. I have come to love the sport and have spent quite a few afternoons paddling up the Credit River. That is Antrix in the pic above. On most days I take an audio book along and my camera. Stowing a beer under my seat is standard practice -- I am exploring a way to keep two bottles. The only thing keeping me from doing it is the need to take a leak if i drink too much fluids--- & no I have not sunk to those levels yet. ( doing it over the side)

Cultures

Caludron of Cultures: Canada has immigrants from all over the world. The spirit of accomodation to embrace one and all is to be experienced to be believed. The team that I belong to at work has a Russian, a Guyanese, Egyptian, Romanian, Chinese, Indian,Irish and a Britisher.I have never seen so many cultures and nationalities living in perfect harmony.

Final Inspection

2009-06-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

For those of you with a Soldierly streak in them -- I stumbled across this recently.

THE FINAL INSPECTION

*The soldier stood and faced God,* *
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you ?
Have you always turned the other cheek ?
To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear..
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'
*
Author Unknown~

Fence Repair

2009-06-14T13:29:00.001-07:00

This Sunday afternoon, with Anita and Aayush being away , Ant and me decided to fix up a broken fence in our backyard.

This is how it looked after we were done. The gaping hole you see is the one we are going to tackle next

Celebration of Life

2009-06-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended an event the likes of which I have never attended before. A friend's father passed away. They had the funeral and follwed that up a few days later with a afternoon event called " Celebration of Life" for the person who was no more. Instead of the natural greiving and sorrow that usually symbolozes death, this event was focused on bringing out the good life that my friends father had lead. There was a slide show playing and members of the family mingled among the guests sharing the times they had cherished with the person. Somewhere midway during the afternoon my friends mother read a letter she wrote to her husband. It was very emotional and it added the solemn touch to the evening. It was so refreshing to look at the passing away of a family member as unquestionably an unredeamable loss but also as an opportunity to celebrate the fullfilling and joyous life that had now come to an end. I had taken a ride to the event with a colleague and as I was driven back I sat in silence. Was the silence due to the refreshingly new outlook to a life that had just ended and had me dumbstruck or was it because in my own way I needed to stay the course in respectful silence?

Archirectural Models- Aquatic Center

2009-06-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Every few days Antrix goes "underground" culminating in a week at Cambridge and eventually surfaces with a model. The last one he completed yesterday of an aquatic center is shown here ..

and finally the final model which got a bit "unsettled" in transportation

Fauji Kids

2009-06-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

I got this in an email .. seemed very appropriate.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A PURE BREED FAUJI KID IF:

1. You were born in a Military Hospital
2. Half your toddler years were spent being looked after by Bhaiyas ( no
explanation here)
3. You went to school either on Bhaiya's cycle or in a Shaktiman
4 .You know what a shaktiman is. ( No! it isnt the TV serialabout half man
and half machine starring AB lookalike)
5. Jeeps & Jongas dont excite you - they were your regular mode of
transport!
6 .The only alternative to the Central School was the Army School.
7. You always called Kendriya Vidyalaya Central School. Gosh even today
that sounds better!
8. Your entire family could survive in one room temporary quarters with
25 trunks, wooden crates, the dog, the bedroll and two bhaiyas flitting
around.
9. The smell of Brasso & shoe polish was regular staple.
10 .Mess was not what you created in your room, it was where you went
every Friday for the free "english" movie.
11 .The "English Movie" was very often a western and you couldnt follow a
word! Sometimes you just went for the samosas and the local
drink that they insisted was Cola.
12. At the end of the month your dad had to pay for many pink slips
showing how many samosas and local drinks that they insisted was
Cola you had consumed. They never missed any!!!
13. You attended many May Queen Balls before you knew what Miss India was.
14 .Your mother regularly got dressed, perfumed and dissappeared for the
Ladies Club.
15 .You knew towns like Mhow, Wellington, Deolali and Bhuj
16 You werent a millionaire but hey you had Swimming, Horse Riding,
Squash, Tennis and Golf!!
14. You thought the main reason to have a Golf Course was to have a Holi
Bash.
15. You can still take one quick look at the epaulets and figure out the
rank.
16. You discussed wednesday's Chitrahaar in the Shaktiman.
17 .You can still recall the special & particular smell of the CSD canteen!
A special prize for the correct concoction - mine is - it was a mix of
Hamam Soap, Ponds Dreamflower Talc & Surf i think. In some corners it had
overtures of Brooke Bond red Label as well.
18. Your vacations were a package deal consisting of D-forms, Sharma Uncle
Ka jonga and Army Mess ka kamra.

Aayush made it for kayaking today

2009-06-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

As usual Aayush is photo shy but I managed this pic

While Aay went out to the lake I paddled lazily up the Credit river and snapped up some dream properties on the riverline

and while I clicked away I was surprised at how easily this rower powered through the water with such ease..

..another property that I liked but my batteries ran out before I could get the pic I wanted. You can see the blue tip of my kayak in the picture.

Sunshine + blue skies + right temp = Kayaking

2009-06-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

With Anita at work, Ant & Aay not able to make it, I headed out to the lake. The water was a bit muddy but the water front activity was in full swing. It is the first week of Jun so it was not surprising at all. Rowers, kayakers, anglers and just a lot of people on the water front confirms the summer is in and everyone is making the most of every minute of sunshine.

... but on the other side of the world.. its a different story. My mother called this morning and told us how hot it was in Lucknow. This planet is so small when viewed from outer space but on this planet the climate varies so much that life styles have given rise to cultures that make this world so different. View this from a point on this earth and it is not difficult to imagine but if you were an astronaut on board the space shuttle -- it gives you a different perspective.

... and it crashed once again..

2009-06-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

What is Dell producing now a days ????

Aayush is headed for Waterloo

2009-05-31T20:12:00.000-07:00

A few days back Aayush decided to commit himself to an Engg course at Waterloo. A hurried trip to Waterloo last Saturday followed by a trip to U of T in the afternoon culminated in the decision.

The last week has been hectic for him as he tries to make it to his innumerable breakup parties. It is well deserved and well earned. I hope he is having fun.

Crashed Hard Drive

2009-05-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

I wonder how many of you have experienced the loss of your hard drive? I lost mine on fri May 29.The tech attending to my laptop cooly said " I am unable to recover your data but I will try to reimage your machine". He said this with a flat tone. Some one with no emotions. As I listened my mind raced through the contents of my hard drive trying to gauge what was "gone" and what could be salvaged through email and USB sticks. I was not even listening to the tech on the phone who was repeatedly asking me permission to re image my hard drive. I mumbled my "OK" as I sat in a daze wondering what I was going to do. How was I to complete my deliverables and in what manner could I afford to be isolated from the digital world? I have no answers as I struggle to go through a weekend without a laptop.
Anyway ... the long and short of it is that I have lost all my personal data & no I did not back up all my personal stuff but managed to save all the work related info on a shared drive but my pictures and the audio books and the "other stuff" is lost forever. On Monday I will possible get my laptop back with a "clean" HDD ....Life begins again....

This is being posted from Anita's machine while she is away at work....

Antrix's Portfolio

2009-05-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Have a look at Antrix's Portfolio. The model in the initial pages has been done single handedly in a 2-3 days almost non stop effort. This I believe is typically done by the full support of an Architectural organization. The organization that Antrix worked with in Japan, unfortunately did not do models but which is almost de rigour here in North America.

Antrix's Portfolio

Decision on Choice of University

2009-05-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

Deep discussions on which University to go to

Some brotherly talk on what is good and what is not...

Some additional help is sought...

Antrix advises to look far into the future and decide...

Aayush decides to work it out on his own...

For a teenager , its not an easy decision....

tomorrow when the sun rises... we will know if it is Waterloo or Toronto...

Thirst, by first principles

2009-05-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

I was doing some yard work today in some great weather. As I mowed the lawn I became increasingly thirsty and went in for a drink. The cool water along with some ice surprisingly did not satisfy me and I suddenly thought of the long forgotten "surahi". I longed to taste that earthen taste but I guess no one has even heard of it in this part of the world. I desperately needed a glass of "ghara" water. Anyone remember drinking the last bit of water from a ghara and along with it some loose clay as well? The cruncy taste I still cant forget. I think the nearest ghara would be approx 8k kms away in India. Next time some one asks me what to get from India, I might take him/ her on with a request to get a "Ghara" & if that is too much I might settle for the slimmer version - a "Surahi" :)

I did not have a picture of a ghara so I "stole" it off the net -- I hope the owner forgives me.

Lecture @ Univ of Toronto

2009-05-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

This Saturday morning I went chasing some PDU's ( Professional Development Units) which is a criteria to retain my certification. This was the second time I did this where a room full of approx 50 PMP aspirants attended the 4hrs lecture. I thoroughly enjoyed myself delivering the presentation but I am not sure about those poor guys.. they sat as a captive audience as I blabbered on & on. For those of you who are keen on a little more detail- the talk was on "Quality Mgmt".
I remembered the time I had attended this lecture as a student many years back and asked the same questions I was asked today -- life comes a full circle!
I hope they make it on the exam. All the best to them..

Kulu & Renu's new Home

2009-05-18T13:10:00.001-07:00

My mind goes back to 1985 when we had first met the two of you at our own wedding in Pragiti maidan. The years went by and we kept in touch off and on as you travelled the world and we travelled within India & then when you had first come to Canada in 2005. I recollect how you both calmly worked your way through those turbulent first few months, never doubting your own ability yet being indulgent enough to sit through meaningless suggestions from us without a touch of impatience and annoyance. Right there, if one had been looking out for, one could have discerned the markings of an entrepreneur. While most of us chose the relative safety and the well trodden path of an employee, you were adamant that you had to run a business.
The acquiring and successful running of Zeeks is by no means an ordinary feat and it should serve as a shining example to all immigrants who come to this land and show them as to what can be achieved when you pit your mind to what you want.
Today as you stand all set to enter into this magnificent home, Anita, Antariksh, Aayush and I wish to convey to you our sincerest good wishes for a life full of love, health and happiness. The rest will follow.

Charlette Royale

2009-05-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

On May 16, Anita surprised us all by making a Charlette Royale Cake. She does this once in a few years and it just happened to be the day. For those of you who are not initiated into "the" cake, it is made of Lemon Souffle, swiss roll and rasberry jam. If any of you are planning to run off and try the reciepe-- need I remind you that some one needs to provide you proportions as well & its not going to be me. Anyways--needless to say I dug in well and proper. Ant & Aay did not have much of a chance. Quite a few people rang up to commemorate the day the cake makes its appearance. To all those who rang up and commented on Facebook-- Thank You so much!

Where is the Captain?

2009-05-16T10:44:00.001-07:00

I spoke to my parents in India today who updated me on the election results. It is so nice to hear my father speak on politics. His anguish comes out loud and clear. The Congress party has apparently come out on top as the popular party to take the nation forward. What does that mean to the man on the street and infact to everyone who holds India as something precious and dear to his/ her heart? To me it means that the Manmohan Singh will potentially continue his role as the PM and wil be the one man who has the power to push India to its true potential-- and we all are convinced that India has tremendous potential with its long string of intellectuals who have earned a name for themselves around the world.
This election has no meaning to me unless a true leader steps forward and takes charge. Can we be sure that India will not be victim to another terror attack like 26/11? What policies are in place to avoid another Satyam? How can we ever get rid of corruption in Government offices. How do we ensure every that child gets primary education and health care? How doe we stop Bangladeshi influx into WB? How to account for every man woman and child that represents India? How do we.....

I don't think having an intellectual as a PM will help. Some one who can rally the best subject matter experts to focus on vital issues concerning the nation, is what we need. Some one with a vision who gets every major functionary in the nations governing machinery to converge as per a national vision. Some one to rise above politics and petty sensibilities to address the ultimate goal of a prosperous nation. We need this leader to come take the helm. Some one who can stand on the ramparts of the Red Fort and instill in the people of India that the "best is yet to come"( Ted Rogers' famous words) & show them the way.
Currently we have the ability to staff the boat with a great crew but we lack a Captain.

Facebook?

2009-05-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

I cannot fathom why I have begun to "facebook"
Two days -- two posts. Our friend Renu must be proud of me.

A Green Garden

2009-05-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

I returned from work today and as i stepped out ofthe car , i was amazed at the surrounding greenery. It had rained in the morning and having mowed the lawn the day before, the surroundings around our house looked as if it was a painting. -- Have a look. See the grass color? If you are not impressed , blame my camera.At times like this you send a silent prayer and thank God for all that you have.

May 09, 2009

2009-05-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

It was our wedding anniv today and it turned out to be a wettish windy day. We bought an assortment of cakes. Surprisingly Ant and Aay ate very little and I ate most of it. I promised myself that the next day I would "run it all off" and since it is a weekend I would probably be able to swim some of it off as well.. we'ell see -- tomorrow is another day. We decided to take a couple of pictures as well , various shades of smiles and relaxed poses.. finally Anita approved one ( the one on top) . We breakfasted at Paneera which let us down a bit but made up for it with its attrociously priced hazlenut coffee with honey. In the evening we saw "State of Play" a movie which was ummm OK ( 3 stars) & then since it was Canada where eating joints close at 10 or earlier on a saturday, we ended by eating from a Subway.

to Facebook or not

2009-05-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

I have "almost" taken a decision to get out of Facebook. My fingers go into knots ( something like being tongue tied in front of an audience) when I log in and nothing happens, so I need to quit where I should never have been in the first place.

Anyone any objections? Speak now or forever hold your tongue. (Tongue seems to be the operative word today)

Cherries are on their way

2009-05-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

Its summer again and both the cherry trees in our backyard have started flowering again. In a couple of weeks now...

Santa Fe

2009-04-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

This week Atanu and Shoma came down in their brand new shinny black Santa Fe. Shoma brought a plate of Accordian Potatoes for us, which she had very thoughtfully spent the morning preparing for us. I felt guilty of having pushed her into making this dish for us , but what the heck-- I absolutely love the potatoes. I mumbled my congrats for the car but my eye was on the plate of potatoes. Later I got a chance to ride the car as well and the insides were as impressive as the outside. Atanu mentioned these cars are made in Alabama not in Seoul . I wonder why they named this car after the capital of New Mexico!!!

Atanu & Shoma -- wishing you many happy hours with the car.

A beautiful Summer Day

2009-04-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

The temperartures rose to a gorgeous 20 Deg Celcius and everyone tried to get outdoors to catch the sun. It was a bit windy but not the type that "bites" into you but the type you love to have blowing through your hair and in your face.

I tried to click a few pics (something my family does NOT like) & I managed to grab a few stills.

Later in the day the weather turned nasty and we had a thunderstorm-- seems like good times are always short lived.

Daffodils

2009-04-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

The first few daffodils have started to "peep" out of the ground.
The summer is finally here.
The sun is shining and I wish I had a convertible....

Its good to be alive

2009-04-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

I walked out of the office this friday evening. The pressures of the week were behind me and as I stepped out of the double doors, a refreshing breeze hit me. The sun was still shining, the time was approx 1730hrs and my body was alive with the freshness ofthe environment around me. The temperature were around 15 deg celcius. The walk from the front doors of the office building to my car on the extensive parking lot was filled with the joy of being there in that moment and on that day.

Maybe everything did not go as planned during the week, there were challenges of every nature but during that walk in the parking lot, I focussed on that experience.

I was happy to be there.

Elora village

2009-04-11T16:32:00.001-07:00

Today on the long Easter weekend Anita and me made a trip to Elora. Not the one in Maharastra like Ajanta & Elora but the one in Ontario, Canada. Its kinda a difficult to believe but the history of Elora, ON is that one scotsman, Capt William Gilikinson named this town after the Elora caves in India. Another freaky bit of trivia was that the inventor of the Cannon camera was from this town.

The Elora village is a quiet quaint place where home based resturants and craft shops lined the tiny down town area. Missing very conspiciously were the Tim Hortens / Macdonalds.. that sprout everywhere in an urban setting. The weather was much too cold to walk outdoors but short well bundled ventures were doable. Having just recovered from a bout of congestion and cold you can see both of us well layered in the pic on top. The sun being out was not of much help as the wind seemed to blow all the warmth away. The drive to and fro was extremly nice. Miles of rolling farmlands recovering from the melting frost. We saw quite a few "bed & breakfast" joints and had half a mind to drive in and spend the night there ( tomorrow being sunday) but we put it off to later this year.

This summer I plan to go back there -- the camping ground seemed very nice. Maybe that's where we will take everyone for Canada Day.

Fixing the Financial Problem

2009-04-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

I recieved this email doing the rounds & addressed to BO -- just sharing it with all those who care to read it..

Dear Mr. President,
There are about 40 million people over 50 yrs in the work force;
Pay them $1 million each in severance, with these stipulations:

1) They leave their jobs imdtly. There will be Forty million job openings - Unemployment gets fixed.
2) The new blood in the work force buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry gets fixed.
3) The same people either buy a house or pay off their mortgage- Housing Crisis (a large portion, at least) gets fixed.
All this is still cheaper than the "bailout".

Now is'nt that brilliant!!!!

ADD

2009-04-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

I wrote this some time back but did not realize that I had not published it.....

ADD......That's Attention Deficit Disorder, not ADD as in arithmetics. Over the last few weeks I was convinced that I had it. The inability to stay focused. This weekend I decided to give it the litmus test. I had set myself a clear aim of sorting out my documents--the mounds of paper just piled on my desk in my den which needed filing or discarding. Every time I approached the task I found myself being side tracked into surfing the net or running off to the basement to fetch my tool set (why cant they have homes all on one floor like in India?) or just stopping by the fridge for a quick snack and ( since I was snacking ) checking "what else is on TV" while I devoured the junk.

Today, Sunday was different. I decided to forgo my jog in a beautiful 11 deg celcius weather to sort out my desk-- Anita was down with a running cold and while I did my bit of trying to give her fluids and fruit and saline water , she kept me at arms length, so that I would not get the "bug". I then decided to give my ADD a test. As I eyed my over burderend desk of papers , Antrix came up on Skype from Kyoto. He filled me in on the absolutely beautiful world that he was living in and we chatted for some time. He told me of this concept of capsule hotels in Japan-- what a concept. I then took the laptop over to Anita who was sniffling away in bed ( there are bugs all over my keybrd now)-- so that she could chat while I could get back to my "task". As I snuck away -- Anita demanded tea. Off I went to make some tea. Now team making in our home is a "process" First you microwave the water, milk and tea bag with ginger for 3 mins, then you wait an indefinite time and then re microwave it for a shorter time. Then you strain the tea bag and add just the right amount of sugar ( more for me and less for Anita) and serve the tea with "Brittania cookies". As tea as most of you know is a social thing & hence it is never consumed in isolation, so it was back for tea with Anita..

Once tea was done, I bounded back to my desk and had just about got the first few papers stacked correctly when there was a call for breakfast....
I guess you get the drift. Wheather it was ADD or just the fact that there are multiple things happening at the same time in our usually quiet home , completing simple tasks at home has become quite challenging.

The "Purse"

2009-04-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Ever noticed a lady's purse? I mean really noticed it? -- and I ask this of the guys! She treats it as something VERY personal. It has all the nick knacks that one would need while on the go. You need a clip & she will produce it. Pens/ scribble pads/ stickies/ rubber bands/ loose change ( all in a nice little bag) , comb, sticky tape, glue.... besides ofcourse all the girly stuff that is strictly "hands off" for us guys. When I got married, I had this habbit of never carrying a wallet and since I was expected to pay the bills now, I talked Anita into carrying my wallet in her purse. In those initial years you can swing anything & so my seemingly innocent but "laden" request went through without a ruffle. Up until very recently my wallet resided there( in her purse) -- easily reachable and yet avoiding me the agony of sitting on it on long drives, had I had to carry it in my hip pocket.

Over the years I have found my own "purse". My laptop bag. The bag goes where I go and it bears my precious "stuff". My swiss army knife (its quite a weapon) , BB cable, reading glasses, sunglasses and ofcourse my wallet. I have been trying to get my camera into the bag but it is a bit too bulky to find a home in the bag.From time to time some other little pieces of temporary interest find their way into my laptop bag but then get jettisoned as soon as they finsih their role.

There is only one thing that bugs me about the ladys purse. It is how women tend to carry their cell phones. When you want to reach them 90% of the time all you will get is their VM. You see the cell phone is usually in the purse and the purse is under the chair in another room. The litmus test to check for an efficeint woman is to see how she carries her phone-- if it is hitched to her belt or on her person -- put her down as "efficeint"-- if the phone is in her bag, - dont even bother leaving her a VM. ( Anita has hers hitched to her belt 24/7 -- well not 24/7 but atleast 10/7)

BTW: apologies for the poor pics on top -- I was lazy clicking them ( which is what I should have done) & simply took them off the net-- not very efficient eh!

Joggers

2009-04-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

For almost two years or maybe more ,every morning we jogged past each other. He on his side of the road and I on my side. A friendly nod or a wave was given and acknowledged. We jogged on .. to take on the challenges of the day ahead of us. We did not exchange a single word -- ever. I had secretly named him the 'nodder'. The name was given because of the way he nodded his head while he ran. It was very peculiar and I looked for the nodder every day. Sometimes my wave did not catch his eye and i would wave again .. I had to have to have the acknowledgement. i could not pass him with out that wave or nod being reciprocated. Then for almost a year/ six months I did not see him -- maybe he changed his beat or maybe he moved. There was no way I would have known..I missed the 'nodder'

Today, after so many months -- I suddenly saw the 'nodder' again. He was not jogging he was walking & that too with a limp. Without a thought I crossed the road and greeted him. The joy in seeing each other was mutual. We spent the next several mins exchanging names , addresses and such preliminary info that normally should have been known to us. The jog was forgotten and a friend was made. It came out that he had had an accident and fractured his thigh. He had been in a cast and now the meds had allowed him a short walk. He indicated where he lived and I revealed where my home was located. With both of us needing to get back we parted company feeling very nice and happy.

Tomorrow, when I cross him , should I jog past with the normal wave or should I cross the road to say hello again?? Not sure what i will do -- i will probably "go with the wind"

Aayush's Self Portrait

2009-03-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

This is what Aayush did -- he made a self portrait from his graduate picture. What you see above is a pencil sketch of himself. I plan to get mine done as soon as he has the time to do it.

Spring is here

2009-03-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend though forecasted to be wet and rainy turned out to be sunny with some great tempteratures( atleast Saturday was). I didn't do what my neighbour does at the first sign of summer -- he starts to wash his cars. Seeing his gleaming cars right through summer does give me a complex but I cannot somehow bring car washing up on my priority list-- it just does not happen. I remember in Noida we had some one do this for us on a daily basis and with the result we had spotless cars (inside and outside). Not many folks invested in this and it was impressive whenever I offered a ride to any one.

The weather was so nice today ,I was contemplating a quick kayaking trip down to Port Credit but I decided against it when I thought of the the icy splashes from the waters. It will take another few weekends to be warm enough to get on to the water.

Up on top you an see Aayush and me in front of our house. The snow has gone but the grass is still brown from its dormancy through winter. The camera is on our car in an auto mode ( our neighbour was washing his car :))

The Drive to Work

2009-03-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Every day ( well not every day, but on weekdays) I undertake a 14 kms drive to my work. It used to take approx 25- 30 mins going North on 410. I smiled all the way to work as the South bound traffic was really jammed bumper to bumper. There are lesser businesses in Brampton as it is more of a residential town and hence there is high volume South bound in the morning and North bound in the afternoon. Both times I am driving against the traffic and like I said , it is a commuters dream. Now, it takes just 15 mins to get to work. The roads are "clean". The impact of the recession can be seen as fewer people hit the road each day and my commute time decreases. I no longer smile as I think of the disrupted lives as we all know that layoffs increase everyday.

My constantly decreasing commute time is juggled between listening to the John Oakley show on 640AM or calling my brotherPankaj ( also on his drive in at that time , on I89 South in Pittsburgh) and my parents in Lucknow. Sometimes official conference calls take priority and its a wonder I have not ended up in the ditch trying to read / write messages on my BB while driving. A few months back we heard that Ontario was going to ban the use of cell phones while driving following the example of Quebec which has made it into a law. Fortunately the premier, Dalton M ruled against it and Torontonians can now make good use of their time while they commute on an average 60 mins ( one way) to work.

After coming to Canada, i have got hooked to audio books and its a great way to keep abreast with reading. I just heard the classic -by Napolean Hill and Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) all over again-- a book I had read when I was around 20 along with a few Ken Follets. Though you may look like a "zoned out" teenager with ear plugs -- it makes a lot of sense to go for audio books.

BTW: I forgot to mention that the pic above is of our Highway 401 which is 16 lane wide near the airport. During the peak hrs the traffic moves at snails speed.

A Call from Down Under

2009-02-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

A few days back I got a call from an old friend. A "friend", is putting it mildly. When you go through 3 years of NDA the relationship can only be understood by the word "buddy". Its been 30 years since we had sat side by side through academic classes in NDA while we tried to fight off sleep and hunger as some of our instructors tried to impart some knowledge to our dulled brains. Today in hindsight I believe they were successful as we seem capable of handling most of lives problems adequately. Just goes to show that if you have some one droning on & on to your sub-conciuos mind, the message goes through.

But that is not what I wanted to write about. It was the value of the call I got from my friend EBSV Saradhi. He is now known as Vijay Eyunni. It is as if EBSV took on a new identity after he immigrated to Australia. Typical of Vijay he kept me on a guessing game when he called and inspite of my scrapping my memory I could not nail him down. Our conversation went way back to the mid seventies and the "blip" of a year that we spent in IMA, the friends we grew up with and lost track off till the Internet came along & it seems to have brought all of us back together. Some of us are on facebook, most on the course yahoo group but a few can only be contacted by the POT( Plain old tele). As name after name came up for discussion it was incredible how we could recollect every fine detail of events long gone. I can imagine similar conversations between the many names we remembered and what a thrill it must have been for them as it was for us. I believe in Dec of 2008 there was a Diamond Jublee celebration at NDA. I would have loved to be there but geographical challenges prevented such a trip.

Anyways for those who havent seen the ex Gurkha lately-- there he is on top , without his Khukri looking lean & mean ( well maybe not that lean) as he takes on some sort of a Martial Arts stance...

Milldog Sluminore

2009-02-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

Last night we eventually saw the movie. I felt a bit confused when the movie got over and as is customary, we asked each other if we had liked the movie. Anita did not like it. I liked it but I was not happy with it. While it was a great story and every one does love a rags to riches story but the way India has been depicted is what holds me back from backing this movie in full . In a way, it was the truth but it is difficult to allow the rest of the world to see India in that light.

One change in the story I would have liked is for Latika to have answerd the Three Musketeer question correctly. Dont ask me why-- but that is the way I would have liked the story to have ended as against the guess that Jamal resorted to. Afterall is'nt the story line about Jamal using his life's story to address the questions??

Aayush who joined us at the fag end of the movie was so captivated with the movies final question climax that he ended up seeing the movie all over again from the start.

Definitely worth seeing!! but just for the record ---It does not beat "Wednesday"

Pankaj/ Shalini visit Feb 2009

2009-02-15T15:12:00.001-08:00

Pankaj/ Shalini , Neel & Niki drove up from Pitts this weekend. Their trip was long overdue and we all looked forward to it. Canada is on a long weekend on account of "Family Day" on Feb 16, while the US has Presidents Day and they too have a long weekend ( atleast for the kids schools) . We did what we love doing together - ie going out for breakfast. Very appropriately "Panera" has opened shop very near square one and that was the obvious choice. During the day all of us spent some time at the Y playing squash and a streatch of walking/jogging on the indoor track. Late at night we took in a movie-- "' Jane do, Jane Na" -pretty nice and strongly recommended for family viewing. As the weather was still pretty cold for any out door activity we spent time on a board game interspread with some great food that Anita had pre prepared in anticipation of their visit.

I am looking forward to their visit this summer when we can do some kayaking..

Here is Pankaj enjoying an Orange ( not in pic) after a game of squash. As per him this is what he loved to do whan he came to the US many moons ago.

Feb 12: Aayush's Birthday

2009-02-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Today is Aayush's birthday. We started the birthday as has been customary every year with a small cake cutting ceremony at midnight. This was accompanied by calls from India & Japan. Actually we had already had a small cake cutting ceremony on the night( Feb 4) Antrix left for Japan . In the evening Anita organized a surprise party for Aayush. We requested Young to muster three other friends at 7 pm this evening. We organized some choclate cake and pizzas for the boys but I am not too sure his friends had not let the cat out of the bag and the surprise was not really a surprise. In the pic just above you can see from left to right -- Young, Aayush, Sayed and Sid. The pic in the middle is Anita thinking Aayush is still as small as he is in the snap right on top-- alas!!

Happy Birthday Aayush -- hope the year ahead brings you lots of good tidings, health and happiness.

Antariksh off to Japan

2009-02-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

Last week Antariksh left for a three month Architecture internship at Tokyo. You would not believe what all areas the recession has impacted-- the Engineering interns at the Univ of Waterloo were hard pressed for a coop opportunity as most firms were hunkering down for the recession and trying to save every dollar they could. As options dwindled the search was intensified and it is to Antrix's credit that inspite of the odds being against him, he persevered till he found a position in Israel and Japan. We had to rule out Israel as during those days Israel was at war with Palestine and it did not seem a safe place to travel to. Japan was the other option and a quick call to the Japanese Embassy enlightened us that a visa was not a challenge. Morale & spirits rose from then on . A recent communication from Antrix indicated that working a 11-13 hrs a day seems normal. All these years when I heard that the Japs were workoholics, that aspect seems to get confirmed now. The last few days while Antrix geared up to leave for Japan , he tried to pick up some rudimenatry Japanese. Though he a did do a good job at picking up essential phrases but I guess a large part in language learning is pronounciation. I am sure he would have ended up murdering their langauage the first time he must have attempted a conversation.

By the way have a look at his portfolio-- seems a bit sci-fi to me.
Portfolio: > http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/portfolio/atandon/portfolio_.pdf

We wish him all the best for his coop term in Japan

Snowman

2008-12-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

After a lot of planning and procrastination,we eventually got down to making a snowman. We have had 2 major snow storms and a few minor ones but as the rain depleted the snow banks we decided to wait no more and get down to it.

The hands are part of a dismantled scarecrow for our cherry trees and the hat is an inverted flower pot. Hopefully there will be a snowfall tonight to "whiten" the snowman and the grass patches that have appeared

What to expect in 2009

2008-12-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

As we move to the end of the year most people reflect on the year gone by and mull over the ups and downs in their lives. I think it would be more relevant to do some crystal ball gazing into the future...

This is how I visualize the year 2009

Change : Barack Obama has promised the US that he would bring change; and through his change he would bring change to the world at large. I see the world being so entwined financially and hence politically that every country (almost) would be impacted by the moves of the other-- which is a good thing as most contries would want economic prosperity and that would drive better economic cooperation.

Auto Bail out: The US has decided to bail lout the ailing auto industry. Who are they bailing out? The North American auto companies, namely the BIG THREE ( GM, Chrysler and Ford). These companies are in trouble because for years now their assembly lines have been churning out cars that no one is buying. The companies arguably provided jobs and sustenance for approx a million plus citizens in US & Canada and its any ones guess how this spilled over to the ancillary industry which was surviving because of the auto industry. To my mind the bail out will stabilize the situation for a few months but as the consumers continue to buy better cars from Japan, Korea & Germany the Big Three will be in trouble again. More fuel efficient, more green, more hybrid is the need of the hour. It's not difficult to guess who is winning on this score currently. Infact I urge you to google a company by the name " Better Place". This company ( surprisingly American, based out of PaloAlto in CA) is selling mileage in place of cars. A bit like you sell talk time on your cell phones. You dont buy a car any more you buy a mileage plan ( like talk time), the car comes free. I think the US is bailing out the wrong auto industry!!!!

Canadian Auto Connection: Connceted with the US auto industry is the Canadian arm of the Big Three. These Canadian workers also face a bleak future incase the US firms go down. The Canadian Govt has done well to bail out the Canadian arm else the US companies would have been forced to close their Canadian operations. Remember what i said before, incase these North American auto companies do not make better products, sooner or later they will be faced with the same situation once again.

Canada: Canada is impacted by the US recession as 90% of our exports go to the US. A receding US economy implies the export volumes go down which implies that Canadian manufacturing and assembly lines need to slow down so that they do not build beyond inventory/ stocking limits-- which leads to closures/layoffs. Though this is largely beyond Canadian control what otheralternative does Canada have?

Mackenzie Gas Project: Ever heard of the Mackenzie Gas Project? Apparently there is tonnnnnns of oil under the frozen grounds of NWT ( North West Territories). A proposal to build a 1220 kms piple line connecting the oil feilds in NWT to the North American markets has been doing the rounds in Ottawa but has been embroilled in red tape. This project if sanctioned would open up the economy in Canada( like a game of scrabbles when some one provides an opening to a whole new side of the board) . It would not only provide new jobs but also build infrastructure for the vast open spaces of Canada's northern states. This project is so vital that it could kick start the Canadian economy and also provide an alternative to the "Better Place" technology ( I talked about earlier) - at least in the short term by giving a shot in the arm for the North American auto industry while they revamp their operations to take on the Japanese / German cars on quality. In effect the Mackenzie project would

Open the economy by providing new jobs
Build Infrastructure for the vast undeveloped open Northern provinces
Provide the North American auto industry a chance to survive and revamp operations inspite of superior auto products coming from outside the North American region

I hope, some one in Ottawa is listening!!

Dec 08, 1984

2008-12-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Exactly 24 years back I met Anita at Delhi. I must have been 25 (if I got my maths right). Indra Gandhi had just been assasinated in Oct and the country was on fire and we were impacted as well. Our wedding which could have been in 1984 was pushed out to the summer of 1985. Those were pre cell phone and email days. Communication was via the plain old postman and "trunk calls" ( any one knows what this was?) were made from the telegraph office and communication was done through letters ( paper and pen stuff). It was during those days that we looked as we did above.

Panera Breads

2008-12-06T20:33:00.001-08:00

Panera : Being "almost" vegetarian in Canada is a bit of a problem and it was a pleasent surprise to see a Panera open up near Square One. Pankaj & Shalini had introduced us to Panera breakfasts during many of our visits to the US , so having spied a panera in the neighbourhood , Anita & me drove down in a fair bit of snow for a bite around dinner today. We were immediately impressed with the warm ambiance and subtle lighting. Though predominantly a breakfast joint we relished the soup and sandwich along with some Hazelnut coffee. We would have liked to linger on there but had to hurry back as the kids were locked out ( they had forgotten to take the house keys).

Antrix: Antrix came down forthe weekend today. Having got over some major assignments he seemed a bit relaxed and was happy to be back and looking forward to some home food as well. To make sure he got his fill of home cooking, Anita spent a great deal of time cooking up some delicious things. I believe a cake is on its way tomorrow.

The world has become very IT/ Internet dependent and I could see the helplessness in Antrix who was grappling with a faulty graphics card on his Mac. It was as if he did not know what to do with himself without his laptop. Fortunately a trip to the Apple store at the down town Eaton Center assured him of a replacement within a week. Meanwhile ofcourse he has to make do with some random behaviour on his laptop.

Winterizing the Garden in -5 Deg Celcius

2008-11-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, though the sun shone bright, the temperatures were well below zero. We pruned some rose bushes and the cherry trees. There had been a snowfall a few days back and you can still see some snow on the grass. The same tree which is now bare (pic below) can be seen with a bright yellow plumage in the top picture. We spent a good part of the morning racking leaves and tending to the yard

Univ of Western Ontario

2008-11-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to London. No, we did not cross the Atlantic --- all we did was drive 2.5hrs to London, ON, where the Univ of Western Ontario is located. The weather was really crappy as it rained all day and though the roads were empty the drive was a bit slow due to the slippery roads. (Aayush's pic on top had to be taken in the rain and I had to persuade him to stand in the rain before i could take the snap-- hence the grumpy face.) At Western we visited the Richard Ivey School of Business where they run the much reputed HBA ( Hons Business Admin)program. A Harvard educated dean gave us an introductory lecture and succeeded in impressing us. We did get a feel of the richness and the highly interactive nature of the program. Another wonderful option we found was the ability of engg students to graduate after 5 years with a degree in Engg and an HBA. As parents who want the best for their kids we obviously wanted to grab the opportunity but I feel we need to exercise caution at these seemingly "fabulous" opportunities.We fail to take into account the load on the kids as they attempt to grapple with two majors.

We also had the good fortune to meet up with Gureet and Buneet while we were there. Gureet gave us some sagely advise on the way we should prioritize the universities for Engg & business. Given the way the Univs market their own it was nice to get a first hand info from Gureet who was uniquely positioned being an alumni of Queens and a current student at Westen.

The engg program at Western also offered a common first year for all disciplines where students could confirm what they actually wanted to persue as against the "gut" feel option that they are forced to adopt in most other places of learning.
After a quick tour of the Spencer Engg building, we were very thankful to Gureet, who dropped us off to the parking lot and saved us a walk in the torrential rain.

I am not sure which univ Aayush will eventually make it to, but as a parent who has been involved with the process I feel most Canadian Univs are "almost" the same. It does not really matter -- what matters is that the course & location he selects "fits" in well with his aptitude and aspirations. Time alone will tell what is in store for our son Aayush.

Queen's Univ Open House

2008-11-08T15:28:00.001-08:00

This week was the open house at Queen's Univ in Kingston. We woke up early to make the 3.5hrs drive down to Kingston and having bundled a sleepy Aayush along with some food ( aloo parathas) and drink we hit 401 E. The drive has always been something that I look forward to and today was no exception. The 401 was traffic free, it being a weekend and we were there in approx 3 hrs. The first thing about Queen's is that it looks like you are in England because all buildings are built like English castles. Later in the day when we found it was a Scottish Univ with an Eastern campus located across the Atlantic in UK, it sort of all fell in place. We found the staff and the students extremely friendly and in fact the introductory lecture was hilarious( in a good way and may have given me some ideas for my Toastmasters lectures). We took the campus tour and visited the Commerce and Engg faculties. I was educated by a 4th year student of the difference between Commerce and economics which my education thus far had equated as synonyms. The commerce faculty is quite revered and I believe a sought after course for many a high school grad. Aayush is quite likely to apply for the commerce course at Queens

Aayush drove us back from Kingston in 3 hrs and though he kept telling us to relax and take a nap while he drove -- both Anita and me we were wide awake :) we still consider him a new driver!

I forgot to mention the univ is beautiful and lends itself to photography. I had to implore Anita and Aayush to sit on a bench while I captured the pic above..

Univ Of Waterloo

2008-11-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

This weekend we drove to Univ of Waterloo. The aim was to show / get any additional info that was needed to help to Aayush make a decision on his Univ selection next year. We attended the Engineering and the Science open houses where we focuesd on the Mechatronics and the Business and Science options. Later we drove to Antrix's room at Cambridge to stock up his fridge. Here (above) you can see him in his room stowing away all the food. Antrix stays on his own and is managing an individual existence. The difference from the time almost 30 years back when I did my engineering is vast.

Driving to the Waterloo and back is scenic and one realizes that the winter is almost on us. Last week we had a few flurries and it seems that the "white stuff" will be coming down very soon.

Here is late afternoon pic from just outside our home and one taken on the Diwali weekend-- ( shows you the conditions under which we played Diwali)

Halloween

2008-10-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

Halloween fell on a friday and we had tons of kids knocking on our door asking for a "trick or treat". Really little trick or treaters ambled up being prodded by their doting parents barely knowing what was going on. Some of the costumes were outstanding and unfortunately I did not have the camera ready. It is strange how customs differ from one part of the world to the other. Halloween and Diwali fall around the same time every year. While Diwali requires you to clean up the house and decorate it with lights to attract the Godess of wealth , Halloween needs you to portray the home as if it was haunted with cobwebs/ vampires and witches. As per gaelic myth it is a day when the line between the living and the deceased becomes blurred and as a token of appeasement to the dead spirits treats are offered. It never ceases to amaze me that on one planet different cultures have different beliefs and customs that are so contradictory.

Luckily today we have Antariksh at home for an overnight stay. Aayush is possibly on his last Trick or Treat trip ( last year in high school).

Diwali Weekend- U of T Open House

2008-10-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Diwali is this Tuesday. Oct 28. I was informed that I need to take some vacation days -- perhaps three. With the bulk of my annual vacation still intact, that was not a problem and Don (my boss) has been advised that I would be away ( not that it makes any diff). While in India the smells and the slight change in temperatures would be indicative of the arrival of the festive season, here in Canada the beautiful fall colors are natural Diwali usherers. The pic below is of just outside our home. While it shows the fall colors to some extent but its more an indication of how quickly the winter is creeping in on us. The trees have started to go bare ( see the fallen leaves on the lawn)

While Diwali is around the corner we also had a Univ Open house for U ofT. Anita and I along with Aayush went down to the St George's campus embedded in the down town core. We visited the Engg faculty and the Rotmans school of commerce for business studies. Interestingly like Waterloo which has a Co-op program ( work 6 months and study six months) U of T offers a PEY ( Professional experience year) for 12-16 months after the 4th year. The pros and cons were explained to us and like all good parents we took it all in unsure how we were to effectively utilize the info. The wealth of info gathered has been added to the spreadsheet that will be utilized to finally select the course for Aayush

On Sunday afternoon we gathered together for a Diwali party and had the usual fun and games, besides the delicious Indian food. Anita and Mala were co-organizers (with Mala doing most of the spade work and ofcourse Mini without whom we would not have had the room) and they quickly got the party off to a good start by Beny initiating the introductory game. Quite a few folks at the party were new to each other(mala's Doha connection) and the game helped in getting the crowd talking. There was an elderly couple who regaled us on how they got married and sang a few songs before they caught a flight to NJ.

One surprising aspect of party's in Canada is how a party moves into an empty room at a particular time, sets up the furniture, the food moves in, decorations are done , the guests move in , the music starts- mikes appear, games are organized, food is served and consumed. At the time the room needs to be vacated, everyone pitches in to wind up and the room is left bare and tidied up the way it was when we entered. Compare this to an event in India!!!

Later we all drove to a park next door and burst some crackers. The wind and the cold was not a deterent but after 30 mins it suddenly started hailing. That prompted us to call it a day and wishing each other a happy diwali we all rushed back to the warmth of our cars. Though our party got over I realized that the actual Diwali function is still to come up on Tuesday. We expect Antrix back for a few hrs on Diwali day for the puja. It will be good to be all together again albiet for a few hours.