Digital De-tox

We just came back from a short 3-day vacation at Kodaikanal - a beautiful hill station in Tamil Nadu. Had a great time doing absolutely nothing for 3 days. I was determined to take a complete break and managed to pull it off. I did not carry my laptop and switched on my Blackberry just to set the wake-up alarm! The kids could not manage a complete withdrawal from their digital toys but lost their music and games within a day when their iTouch devices ran out of power. True detoxification from the digital world!

We were staying with Marsha - Mona's childhood friend who teaches at the international school in Kodi. So we were practically living on the beautiful campus. The only intellect-challenging activity we did during the 3 days was to address a group of high school students at the school who wanted to learn about the university education system in the US. Rest of the time we spent strolling through the charming town, taking a boat ride in the lake and hiking a small but beautiful Coakers Walk.

We also had a couple of brief encounters with wildlife. Returning from Coakers Walk, we were chased by a couple of cows who appeared to be seriously interested in the roasted corn that I was eating. A neighbor's dog tried to steal Mona's sandal which I valiantly rescued! Ayaana was attacked by a bee and I jumped to her rescue.

So I guess I can categorize this one under the nature adventure tour - right below the Tanzania safari that we did last year.

Angry Birds!!!

No, I am not talking about the best selling, highly addictive game about birds, pigs and slingshots. Rather I am talking about the nasty pigeons in our building that insist on resting, roosting and romancing on the windows and balconies of our apartment. These guys have become a real nuisance over the past few months. Mona and I tried multiple ways to get these pigeons to stay away from our apartment without much success.

We tried covering the windows with newspapers and plastic bags. We hung old mops over the balcony thinking that these might scare the persistent pigeons. I even installed a mask on the balcony - sort of a scarecrow! But guess what - the pigeons found the head to be a convenient place to hang out.

After a few frustrating weeks of battling with these birds - Mona came up with a brilliant idea of covering the open windows with a mesh. We managed to install one today and SUCCESS! Just goes to prove - where there's a will, there's a way!

And as far as the actual game is concerned - yes, we are all addicted to it.

Moving closer to the cup

India played Ireland yesterday in the 2011 world cup tournament at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Mona and I were guests of our friends Ritu and Alok (Managing Director, ESPN Sports) at the ESPN box and got an opportunity to see a live cricket match ... after nearly three decades! And it was worth every minute.

The atmosphere in and around the stadium was electric. Street vendors selling Indian flags, t-shirts, posters etc. added to the festive look and feel of the event. You could get an Indian flag painted on your face as you stood in line to get into the stadium. But despite thousands of fans arriving to watch the game, everything was well organized.

It was a treat to watch cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar, on the field. The match itself was a lot of fun. When India bowled Ireland all out for 207, it appeared that this would not be much of a contest. But after the quick and steady loss of a few Indian wickets, the teams looked evenly matched for a while. There were no explosive batting performances but Yusuf Pathan provided some entertainment towards the end with a few big hits.

The crowd was awesome! And you quickly realize why all the teams love to play in India. Their enthusiasm is infectious and they will not hesitate to cheer the visiting team and boo the home team if required. Great music and a huge hosted dinner spread made the evening a memorable one.

India won and moves to the top of the table!

Fight On in Bangalore

The world is getting flatter by the day! A high power delegation from our alma mater, University of Southern California, completed a week-long visit in India. The broad goal of the visit was to build sustainable alliances in various fields such as medicine, engineering, arts, business etc. The delegation was led by president, Max Nikias, who was accompanied by the deans of various schools including Viterbi and Marshall along with a couple of trustees.

The level of mutual interest in deep collaboration at this level was evident from the fact that President Max met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during this visit. Ratan Tata, who is a member of the board of trustees of USC, played host for this visit.

We had the opportunity to attend two events in Bangalore. The first was a social event to celebrate the opening of a Viterbi office in Bangalore. This office will serve as a platform from which USC can manage it's collaboration and recruitment activities in India. The following day, USC hosted a panel on Innovation and Globalization. It as a fascinating discussion with an impressive list of panelist focusing on the opportunities and challenges for the world ahead and underscoring the need for greater collaboration in government, industry and academia across the globe.

A summary of the visit and photos have been posted here.

2011 World Cup Fever

The 2011 Cricket World Cup started yesterday. We were here four years ago when the last world cup was held but we had been in India only for a few months at that time. Now we are able to fully experience the feverish pitch and enthusiasm around the tournament. Indians are probably the most passionate about cricket - so your experience based in India is unlike anywhere else.

India is also projected as the front runner this year. The country has not won a World Cup for 20 years. So there is a lot of pressure on team India this year. The media is going crazy with polls, predictions and analysis. Times Now (a leading TV station) is running a GLI (Good Luck India) campaign. Religious heads are performing rites and ceremonies for team India's success. And of course the fans are wishing and praying for the team's victory. It is a frenzy!

Teams from 14 countries are competing for the cup this year. The tournament is being hosted by and played in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. Yesterday, India played the first official match of the tournament against Bangladesh and won by a huge margin of 87 runs. Let's see if team India is able to maintain the intensity and focus to bring home the world cup this year.

A new bruin in our family!

Today was a memorable day for Aanish. He received his acceptance letter from USC this evening. He has been working extremely hard on his college applications for the past 2-3 months. He applied to a total of 9 universities in California but USC (Mona and my alma mater) has always been his top choice. So there was major excitement in the house today when a courier from DHL delivered a package from USC. A loud cheer from Aanish confirmed what we were anxiously waiting for - the admissions confirmation letter.

A week later (I am editing this post after an interesting turn of events), Aanish received his acceptance letter by e-mail from UCLA. Along with his acceptance letter, he received multiple scholarships. Subsequently, he received scholarships from USC as well. But by then, he had decided to attend UCLA. All of a sudden, USC became the University of Second Choice!

It is a proud moment for Mona and I and we are relishing every minute of it. Just yesterday we were going through some old baby pictures of Aanish and Ayaana and now he is off to university. Don't know where the years flew by! But he is clearly ready for the big league.

We wish him the very best and hope that he will fulfill all his dreams!

Off with the training wheels ....

You feel that you are moving one step closer to sending your child out into the world when he/she starts learning how to drive. The symbolism about preparing your offspring for life in the big world out there is unmistakable as you watch him/her get behind the wheel.

Our moment has come! For a couple of weeks now, Mona and I have been giving Aanish driving lessons on the weekend. Today, he managed to get most of the complicated steps right and was able to nail the basics down - starting, moving and stopping! It is like watching your infant take his or her first steps (except this one involves a big machine and a misstep could land you in a hospital). But we were lucky. No major mishaps.

The lessons are on the service road in front of our building. We try to do them early in the morning when the traffic is light. We were pleasantly surprised to see a couple of other beginners learning to drive a car and felt the unspoken bond among us.

This is probably going to last several weeks and the experience is one of mixed emotions - pride and sadness!

The Big Fat Indian Wedding!

Over 6000 (yes, I meant six thousand) guests, a dozen different rituals spread over a week, hundreds of out of town guests, choreographed dance performances and more! Move aside, Toula Portokalos. This is the real big, fat wedding.

We just returned from the wedding of Mona's niece, Shivangi, in Anand (Gujarat) and what a wedding it was. I had been wanting to attend a family wedding since we arrived in India over four years ago and we got an opportunity to do so last week. It was a unique and memorable experience for all of us.

Weddings are huge family affairs in Gujarat and this one was no exception. I met several of Mona's cousins and their families for the first time ever. But it seemed like we have all known each other for decades. The incredible warmth and the hospitality by all was overwhelming. We had a really good time getting to know each other and became really close during the days we spent together. This is a real boisterous and fun-loving family. The very first evening, we got together for what turned out to be a talent show. Everybody's (including mine) hidden singing talents were discovered that night.

The other fascinating aspect of the wedding were the number of interesting rituals that took place. These rituals are full of detailed tasks assigned to people with specific relationships to the bride and the groom. I couldn't imagine how somebody could remember all the details. But strange as some of the rituals seemed, all of them had a meaning and purpose.

There is lot of singing and dancing at a Gujarati wedding. These range from traditional Gujarati folk music and tribal dances to modern bollywood music and Bhangra! The bride and the groom along with a few dozen of their close family members also performed choreographed dance numbers during one of the events.

The other striking thing about this wedding was the medley of colorful outfits that everyone was wearing. The women looked stunning in their bright and colorful dresses while the men sported a combination of traditional suits to ethnic men's wear. All of us got into the spirit and were well equipped with special outfits that we had bought for the event. Ayaana probably had the best time of all as she really got into it and went all out to get dressed up and made up - all of 14 going on 18!

It was four days of unbridled fun and excitement. I can't wait for the next one!

The day the sky bursts into colors!

If you have not celebrated Sankranti in Gujarat, put it on your "100 things to do before I die" list! This is a must-have experience. For the uninitiated, Sankranti or Uttarayan, is a festival to celebrate the harvest season. The highlight of the festival is the flying of kites by thousands of young and old, women, men and children all over the city. Residents of the state of Gujarat are serious about this festival and we were fortunate to spend it this year in the cities of Anand and Baroda.

We spent the day of the festival (January 14th) in Anand with a number of Mona's cousins, nephews and nieces. The day was mostly spent on the terrace of an old house in Mona's ancestral neighborhood. The sky was dotted by thousands of kites of different colors. It looked like the entire population of the city had found it's way to every inch of a terrace of every building. Many of them had even setup their music system and were providing free entertainment for everyone. Of course, food, snacks and drinks were in endless supply.

None of us had much experience with flying kites but Ayaana seemed to have a natural talent for it. But all of us tried our hand at it and had a blast doing it. As the sun started to set and it began to get dark, paper lanterns with a small flame started to float in the air. We set out a couple from our terrace as well. As night time rolled in, the sky started to come alive with spectacular fireworks. It was an awesome sight and a fitting end to a memorable day.

We were fortunate to replicate this experience in Baroda on the next day. This time we were on the terrace of Ami (Mona's cousin) and Mayur's (Ami's husband) house. This time we had lots of their friends and neighbors for company. We spent a few hours flying kites and releasing paper lanterns in the sky.

Some Khaana and lots of Gaana

A group from Mumbai puts up a musical show each year in Bangalore called Khaana (food) and Gaana (songs). The show features live performers singing songs from the Golden Era of bollywood music (40s, 50s, 60s - hey, I was born in the 60s and 70s!). Mona and I attended the show last night and it was a blast!

First - the food! The food was organized by type (chaat, snacks, south indian, chinese etc.) and was being prepared and served at different stations. You could sample anything that was being served out there and almost everything was delicious. Snacks ranged from Mumbai's famous vada pav to Gujarat's fafda with green chillies. Since this was in Bangalore, there was an extensive selection of south indian offerings. Several options were available in the buffet for a full dinner. The dessert selection was extensive ranging from hot jalebis and kulfi on a wheel (!) to interesting selections like tawa mithai etc. You could top the dinner off with hot badam milk (served with style and flourish) and a paan (served straight into your mouth by a live paan-wala!).

The show itself was awesome! It started a bit slow with songs that were unfamiliar to us but soon picked up as the artists started to sing popular numbers. The singers were all amazing and their rendition of songs by the yester-year greats like Mukesh, Rafi, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar and Aasha Bhonsle were on the mark. The 30+ member orchestra was a masterpiece. The show was supposed to conclude by 11pm but it was still going past midnight when we left.

Quite an evening to remember!

Pay per use toilets next?

The airline industry in the US earned over $4B in fees from "extras" last year. I realized where this was coming from when I was traveling with the country a couple of weeks ago. The industry claims that it is simplifying the fare structure by unbundling various amenities that were included in the fares. This gives greater flexibility to customers who can pick and choose the services they want in proportion to the fare they want to pay.

We all know that we had to pay for peanuts and soft drinks. But now, there are fees for check-in baggage, pre-boarding (yes, for an extra $10, you can board early), headsets and premium seats (nope - these are not bigger seats with more space. Some of the regular seats are now designated as premium seats, such as ALL window and aisle seats!). It's a pretty creative pricing structure and the possibilities are endless. Consider the following possibilities:

1. Choice of passenger sitting next to you: $20
2. Experience level of pilot: $75
3. Watch the in-flight movie: $5
4. Watch the final 10 minutes of the in-flight movie: $25
5. Newspaper: $5
6. Water: $5
7. Cold Water: $10
8. Pillow: $5
9. Reading light: $5
10. Usage of toilet: $10

In the winter wonderland

"From the frying pan into the fire" is the thought that went through my head as I walked out of the Dulles international airport in Washington DC. Weather seemed to be as cold or colder than London. Thank god for the pair of gloves that I picked up in London and my ski cap! But I have to admin, it felt great to be back in the US. There is something about the familiarity of a place built over two decades. Plus Washington DC - the seat of power! As Todd and I were driving to the city for a breakfast meeting, we passed by the Pentagon. I have been to DC before but have never seen this legendary building (is it the largest office building in the world?). Quite a kick!

I am in Rochester, New York now, where the temperature is several degrees colder and there is white cold stuff all around us. Can't wait to get to Los Angeles (78 degrees on the weekend).

Feeling exhausted and still struggling a bit with jet lag. But having a blast eating my favorite food. We stopped in at the Five Guys in Washington DC. This is the burger joint that hit the headlines when Obama stopped in to pick up a Cheeseburger (video). I tried one here and I can see why the Prez favors this place. Had great ribs last night in a barbecue joint in Rochester. My favorite Cheese Cake in London and Mexican at a new hot chain - Chipotle! Boy, packed quite a bit (literally!) in a couple of days that I have been here.

What is COLD? London in December.

You have not experienced cold until you have spent time in London in the month of December. I am in London at the moment and am experiencing the coldest weather that I probably have experienced in my entire life. We are talking about bone-numbing cold, you-can't-feel-your-fingers-within-minutes-of-being-outside cold! It is so cold out here at the moment that the code to access wi-fi at the hotel is ... you guessed it right ... COLD!

I can't write anything more on this as my fingers are frozen.

Bangalore - I miss you!

A confluence of cultures

Last week, the Overseas Women's Club of Bangalore hosted their annual India Night event at the Taj West End. This is the second year that I have attended this event. Nearly 200 people from different parts of the world come together to experience and participate in all things Indian. It is absolutely fascinating to see this confluence. Men and women, old and young from Canada to Indonesia arrive dressed in the most elaborate and beautiful Indian outfits and taste a slice of India through various cultural, culinary and entertainment experiences. Of course, I got yet another chance within the last few weeks of going ethnic again!

A wide range of activities were organized for the guests including Mehendi art, palm reading while artists in traditional Indian costumes mingled with the guests and provided photo-ops. Food was a variety of the finest Indian cuisine with some international fare thrown in for good measure. Entertainment included a medley of local tribal dances. And no such evening is complete without a Bollywood influence. An instructor from a dance studio was on-hand and led a group of international guests in a dance session set to popular Bollywood songs.

What was most interesting to observe was the enthusiasm with which everyone participated. There were no cultural barriers and people were open to new experiences. Clearly a key to understanding and appreciating different cultures, celebrating differences and finding ways to collaborate!

Obamania in India

US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle arrived in India for a 3-day visit on the eve of Diwali. While there seemed to have been limited media coverage for his visit in the US, the Indian media just could not get enough of the first couple. Most TV stations virtually carried his visit live round the clock. Talking heads went nuts analyzing every word spoken by Obama and every action taken by the first couple.

At the end of the day, this 3-day visit seemed to be primarily a sales visit. A growing economy and a rising middle class is turning India into a desirable market for companies in the West. Obama was accompanied by CEOs of large US companies including Boeing and announced deals valued nearly $10b. He sent a strong message back home about the positive impact of these deals (50,000 new jobs).

What was interesting was that the first couple spent a lot of time with children and young adults during their visit. Given that nearly 60% of India's population of 1 Billion is below the age of 30, India has an edge in the upcoming decades due to a large and growing workforce. Clearly the youth will be shaping the future of this new global power in terms of innovation and consumption and Obama was attempting to reach out and connect and engage with them.

It was fascinating to observe all of this from this end!

Festival of lights brightens another year

India celebrated Diwali this weekend. This festival of lights has become one of the biggest festivals in the country and is celebrated by all regardless of age, state or religion. The evening skies are lit up by fireworks as friends and families get together to celebrate in unison. Buildings are lit up around the city, sweets and gifts are exchanged and blessings of goddess Lakshmi (symbolizing wealth & prosperity) are invoked.

But as with everything in India, the festival is about building connections and strengthening relationships. Diwali brings families and friends together in a joyous celebration. The association in our building had organized a two-day celebration. The first day was celebrated by the residents by bursting firecrackers together. Nearly one hundred residents, old and young, got into the spirit of the festival by lighting up sparklers, rockets, ground wheels and ear-deafening bombs. Day two was another fun-filled evening that started with a cultural program organized and presented by the residents. Only in India can you find an hour-long program where you get to see a table recital, kathakali dance performance, a bollywood dance number and a rendition of Shakira's FIFA theme performance, Waka Waka! The program was followed by dinner and dancing. This gave Mona and me an opportunity to go ethnic!

India had a special guest this Diwali. US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are in the country and celebrated Diwali with children at the Holy Mary school in Mumbai.

With the country registering a 9% growth, there is plenty of other reasons to celebrate and celebrate we did!

Mr. Mom - part deux - DISASTER Strikes!

48 hours left for Mona to be back in town. We had almost made it through the month without any major mishaps. All of us were starting to lose it a bit but the end was in sight. I was feeling pretty good about myself. Finally on Saturday, disaster strikes.

I took Aanish and Ayaana out for brunch and we left the apartment without taking a key with us! Had a good brunch, stopped by the library, picked up some groceries and came back when we realized that we had no way to get back in the house - 2PM. Well, not such a big deal. Mona had left a set of keys with one of the neighbors (bless her - she anticipates the impossible). But luck was not on our side. The neighbors were not home. They were away at a resort and were not going to be back home until 7PM. OK. Our housekeeper, Pushpa has another set (thank you, Mona) and she has to be in the building somewhere. I head to the security to find out that she has already signed out and left the building. Mona had left her cell phone number with me so I called her - turns out that this was not the correct number (and given the state of the things, probably I was the one who took it down incorrectly!). I know Pushpa also works in apartment 401. They must have her contact number. Guess what, nobody's home. I rush to the Home Care office to see if they can help us get in the apartment from the roof - no such luck.

So now we are stuck outside - with no options left. I have bags of groceries that need refrigeration and a couple of cranky kids. Ayaana came to the rescue and tracked her friend down in the building who volunteered to store the groceries in her refrigerator. We decided to head to the mall for a movie. We had to kill time until 7PM. I realized that I did not have sufficient cash for movie tickets but had my ATM card handy. No problem. Stopped at the bank but could not remember the pin for the life of me. Wait, wait. Before you pass any judgment on me, I don't use this card very often. Well, I had my American Express and figured we can get through this.

We get to the mall fighting traffic along the way, make our way through a long line of cars making tight turns in the parking lot at the Forum (my favorite activities, all of them) and get there. There were no English movies playing at any of the theaters around that time. Our only choice was the Tamil movie, Enthiran and nobody voted for it. So we killed some time at the mall (eating cookies & popcorn, browsing at Landmark, shopping for a laptop cover) before we decided to head back - 5PM. Drove back to a Coffee shop near the apartment and hung out for an hour - 6:30PM. Tried reaching our neighbor but no luck.

Came back to the building and spent an hour in the game room playing table tennis with the kids until our neighbor called announcing that he was in the building. Hallelujah! Finally got into the apartment around 7:30PM, ordered some pizza, started watching Harry Potter 6 with the kids and passed out.

As it turns out, it was actually not a bad day at all!

Transformation?

It's been nearly four years since I have been living in India and finding the right balance between my desi-self and American mindset continues to be elusive. These years have helped me a lot to get back in touch with the Indian in me. Two decades in the US (especially during my 20s and 30s) had made a complete American out of me. As Americans, we value our individualism and personal freedom. I love the ability of Americans to be self-critical and laugh at themselves. We also tend to be direct and to the point. We are focused on execution and getting things done. We like order and structure in our lives.

India on the other hand is defined by relationships. You can't help but not be connected to the larger whole (whether you like it or not!). As Indians, the feelings, needs and emotions of others are very important to us. Indians have a sense of humility and an amazing yearning for knowledge. The journey is more important to us than the destination. We thrive in chaos and make things happen inspire of lack of order and structure (the 2010 Common Wealth Games will stand as an example).

Yesterday, I moved a step closer to my Indian-ness. A couple of colleagues at work helped me in this shift. Somebody remembered a comment that I had made at a recent event about the elegance of a South Indian outfit for men - Pancha Katcham. It is white/cream in color. It is a 5-yard strip of cloth that is draped around the waist and sort of looks like a skirt. It is knotted in five places (for safety?). This is worn with a white shirt. My colleagues not only purchased a complete outfit as a gift for me but helped me put the outfit on (believe me, you need help doing this). It was a fascinating experience for me and I was touched at their thoughtfulness. They were as excited to see me in this new outfit as I was to put it on.

A symbol of transformation? Maybe.

Trojans in Bangalore!

Yes, you heard it right. USC has opened offices in India - Viterbi in Bangalore and Marshall in Mumbai. Few months ago, the dean of Viterbi, Yannis C. Yortsos, was in Bangalore and an event was hosted for the alumni resident in Bangalore along with prospect students. I couldn't believe the number of Viterbi alumni who showed up for the event. I had no idea that so many alumni from USC were living in Bangalore.

Last weekend, associate dean Raghavendra hosted a dinner for the alumni at the Taj West End. Saw a lot of new faces, met a lot of interesting folks and made a couple of new friends. Raghu ran us through a brief presentation on recent changes at the university. The place looks nothing like it did in '86. It has also moved up in the US News and Word Report rankings (even beat UCLA!). His presentation was followed by introductions of the alumni. I was asked to talk about an interesting anecdote from my days at USC, which I did (not fit for print!).

BTW - I was the second oldest alumnus ('87) at the event! Hard to believe that Aanish is now applying at USC for his undergraduate program. My, how time flies!

Being Mr. Mom

Mona's been gone almost 2 weeks and I am playing the role of Mr. Mom (a lot better than Michael Keaton did in the 1983 film if I say so myself). Managing the house and kids has really not been that bad. Aanish and Ayaana are old enough so I don't really need to worry about them getting home from school and making themselves a snack and perhaps even order pizza for themselves.

What is challenging and continues to amaze me is the number of little stuff that one has to keep track of - such as turning off the water heater, leaving the bag & coupons for milk outside the door, watering the plants, remembering the schedule of music classes etc. etc. Multi-tasking at work just does not seem as challenging but my brain seems to morph into jello the moment I arrive home. Luckily there hasn't been a major disaster yet and I hope it stays that way for the next couple of weeks. We seem to have managed fairly well and have not blown up the house yet.

But I do miss Mona - especially dumping my woes on her after a particularly challenging day at work. It's not the same without her :(