Spike in Blog Viewership

 Spike in viewership. Of this blog. Even if 10% of this is genuine, non-bot readership, I am happy. 

This month13696 (there's another week to go in this month-June 2023)

Last month2120
Not sure what explains this sudden spike. It has happened a couple of times before. When I started blogging, it grew steadily and settled at around 100 views a day. More recently, it has ranged from 30-50 a day. Maybe Chat GPT got interested in finding out what I write about? (P.S. As on 26 June 2023, the cumulative views -since 2009- have crossed 800000)

Wonders of My World

 I don't buy the fact that there are just 7 Wonders of the World, and that too, just monuments. My list would include people I am grateful to- just for being in my life. And that's going to run into hundreds, obviously. I have had a long life...

1. Parents, aunts, uncles, cousins. We were a large family, with my mother having several sisters and a brother, and my father with two brothers and some cousins. So we had a ball, meeting in vacations or get-togethers, weddings and so on. At Nagpur a few years ago, we celebrated the 75th birthday of our seniormost maternal cousin. A great event.

2. Teachers- starting from the nuns in class 1, to high school teachers at Hyderabad, or profs. at IIM Bangalore in India, and at Clemson University, USA, they played an important role in shaping me.

3. Colleagues at work in companies, or academic institutes. They have been a source of joy, and learning. Including my non-teaching staff, teaching assistants and almost everyone who worked in various offices- even accounts!

4. Classmates in school, college (we have a group called Hum Nahi Sudhrenge), IIM Bangalore buddies, and a couple of Ph.D. seniors and mates at Clemson-Ron Green being one, Masoud Abessi another

5. Students and ex-students..mostly the second, as I have graduated to admin. roles these last two-three years again. I am amazed at having so many wonderful people just a facebook post or WhatsApp message away. We also meet when we can. You guys are amazing!

6. Food and Drink.. with people you like. You can never have enough.. just like Lays says in its ad.. so much to explore. Just having Moong bhajiya in today's rain, or a Biryani at Hyderabad (with Pratima, my biryani friend), or sipping a cocktail- Ravi and I made a few in Calicut when I lived there. Had a coffee with Prabhakar at UB city recently, and shared many stories.

7. Fun and Games- Karaoke, Golf or Antakshari ..music in any form, actually.

Ok, managed to classify them into 7, after all.. am I forgetting something?

Beauty and the Beholder

 Why is it said that beauty lies in a beholder's eyes?

Mainly because beauty has multiple definitions. The skincare companies would like you to believe it's skin deep, but that's just one (visible) aspect. What about the beauty of the mind, which is creative, inventive, imaginative? 

A particular body shape may look attractive at first sight, but that too is subjective, depending on which part of the world you live in. Again, the fashion mags would have you believe that what they propagate as the shape (forget the clothes) is fashionable, as a body type.

Ask a person in love. It could be a gesture, or the way she/he carries herself, or almost anything that creates the beauty in their eyes.

Or ask a child. To him, his mother would be the most beautiful creature. Likewise, a mother would think the same about her kids.

Look for beauty beyond the obvious, and if possible, appreciate it too.

Monsoon Very Soon

 One of the most anticipated events in India is the onset of the monsoon rains from the South-west. This usually happens around June 1st in Kerala, and over the next two to three weeks, spreads across the country. This year, there has been a delay, though there were unseasonal rains in April and May at many places including here at Indore, in central India.

Housing about a sixth of the world's population, we need to grow a lot of food. And the crops are diverse, including the major grains we consume. Though irrigation has improved, the rain influences the output significantly. Therefore, the importance of rains during this season, which support the major growing season. 

Also, a relief from the hot summer! What fun it is to smell the earth in the first few showers! And for kids, to play in the pools that form everywhere naturally, or make paper boats and float them in the water. Wo kagaz ki kashti, wo baarish ka pani, as Jagjit Singh once sang.. a reminder of our own childhood, for many of us.

US Memories

Wannabe Mexicans.. in L.A. with Anil Lahoti and Satish Nargundkar

Indian artefacts and us..

Arizona, one of those landscapes.. near Petrified Forest National Park, and Painted Desert.
 

Random Ramoji Studio Shots

 Some more shots from the Ramoji Studio tour

Father's Day

 It's funny, but my daughters and I had an impromptu chat over WhatsApp just the other day. So that felt like Father's Day, though their Mother was also a part of it. The father in a typical urban family has been variously described as an ATM, a genie who fulfills every wish of his kids, a provider of bread (and cake?) , and so on. Which is all true, to an extent in a typical family where the mother is a housewife. My parents were both working all their life, so we were atypical, in a sense.

Now both my daughters are independent, more in line with today's women, so I am not really into 'getting them married etc.' It will happen when it has to, as per their wishes. But just reflecting on the years of fatherhood while they were still at home and dependent, it feels like a joyful roller-coaster of the type you see at Disneyland. Disney did a pretty good job of simulating life through those. There are many moments-some captured in photographs and some not-worth remembering. The birth, the birthdays, and the first day of school, or college, for example. Their perspectives on life, from time to time. Boyfriends, and breakups included, these days.

It's a nice experience, with them becoming your technology tutors in return for your teaching them A,B,C.. They did not get me on the blog, but they did get me on facebook, and I am happy they did. I got in touch or maintained touch with so many people, through just fb. 

Just some reflections.