Idle musings

My wife and I were in Mysuru from 20-Jan-2018 to 22-Jan-2018 to attend a friend's wedding. We visited the sand museum and the sea shell museum. My impressions on these places and Mysuru in general are shared in this blog post. We caught a regular KSRTC bus to Mysuru at 10 a.m. Our driver believed in the "horn and drive" philosophy. Every time he changed lanes to overtake, he would blow the horn, put his hand out to indicate and then overtake. If we were sitting in the middle rows of the bus, I might have applauded his caution. As it transpired, we were in the second row. The blare of the horn constantly assailed our eardrums ! "I feel like I am in an ambulance !", quipped my wife. "If the noise continues, I will have a heart attack and then this may become an ambulance !", I remarked ! Near Srirangapatna, our road was blocked. A tractor with a trailer overloaded with sugarcane had toppled. "This must have happened just now. Look, a wheel is s...

From 10-Sep-2016 to 23-Sep-2016, I visited Cleveland, Ohio, America on work for two weeks. This blog post contains some memories and experiences from the trip, most of it personal and not work related. NOTE: As usual, I have avoided names as much as possible in this blog post. The links provide context and background information and need to be visited, in my opinion. My colleague and friend in Bengaluru who has made several visits to Cleveland prepared me well. To begin with, he had told me about the pre-clearance counters in the Abu Dhabi airport and warned me that Chicago airport can be confusing while returning. His advice helped me in both Abu Dhabi and Chicago. While returning, I did not see signage towards the international departure terminal in Chicago. Since my friend had warned me about this, I asked the airport staff for directions, who guided me to take the train. Secondly, I got to know my hotel better thanks to my friend: there was a small kitchenette and a refrigerator...

On 8-Jun-12, it was my last day in a company that I worked for 11.5 years. Personally, the duration means little to me. My father worked for around 30 years as a scientist in a cotton related laboratory ; my maternal uncle has also worked for a comparable duration in a private organization and my brother has completed more than 20 years working for a private airlines organization overseas. In comparison, 11.5 years is little to talk about ! However, there are two factors that change the situation, now. First, the generation gap : my father and uncle belong to a generation where opportunities and options were few. In today's world, particularly in cities, the options for a graduate are many. Engineering and medicine were the major streams open to students until the '90s. Now, an enthusiastic student can take up animation, finance or dabble in electronic media if s/ he chooses to. I am sure there are other options also, like opportunities in the retail sector. Second, peop...