My recent obsession - March 2010

I have already written a post under this title in 2009. So, this one is titled "march 2010".

1. "Vinnaithandi Varuvaya" album - Everyone said the songs were good. I had been visiting "Music World" almost every night that I came from office by 9. Those guys never had it in stock (Dude..why dont you reserve a copy for me!!). Finally, I got it from a different shop on a weekend. On the first hearing, I was disappointed - especially with the lyrics. But eventually...got addicted to the album. As Veeru put it, first 'Aromale' sounded the best, then "Kannukkul"...now "Mannippaya"..Rahman is a genius. All movies for which he composes should be translated in English just to compete at Oscars.

2. Shopping - I have been on a shopping spree ever since I landed in Coimbatore. Had to buy new clothes, shoes..lot of books and DVDs. Using my credit card to the fullest extent..

3. IPL 2010. I thought I would never have any interest in Cricket again. Per Seshu and Srikk's advice, I retired from cricket :) - even from watching it. But we have a fun game at office, where we predict the winner of a match and get points. Just for the sake of it, I have been following the scores....not to the extent of knowing who hit how many sixers, like I used to before.

4. Weekend jobs. Wondering what this is? We have been having some problems with our application jobs that run during the weekend. Since it is a new team, I am having to get involved every week...(once I was in the movie hall attending a conference call!!).

5. Commitment worries - My mom is in the look out for brides. After all these years, I still am worried about getting committed.

6. The Spiritual self - a perennial obesession this is. A recent visit to Isha yoga ashram to visit Suren and Anitha has rekindled my spiritual exploration. (Not to be confused with visting temples, reciting mantras, fasting and worshipping an idol). This is more on the lines of being in harmony with nature.

7. Bikes - I have never been the macho kind that knows about every bike in market..what's the CC and what's the mileage. I have been wanting to buy one and have been reading some reviews and noticing every bike that passes by. Have shortlisted Honda Shine, Passion Pro and Discover. Mostly, will go for Pro..just for the looks.

8. The mountain view from office campus - I am yet to find the name of this mountain. It is on the edge of the horizon as seen from office. There is so much mist in the locality that, the mountain is not always visible. On some days it is visible and some days it is not. Infact for the first 2 or 3 days, I didnot even know that it existed. One morning I was surprised to see that there was a mountain right in front of the canteen(at some distance ofcourse)...it was like how suddenly a mountain pops up in fantasy movies. From then on, I make it a point to see if the mountain is visible that day or not.

9. Food outlets - I have been experimenting the 'Economy' category food joints around Gandhipuram(CBE). They are all good - except for one. My picks are Anadha's and Arya.

10. IPod - Recently I asked my friend Ananth to delete everything from my ipod and load with the ones in his. It has a good collection now including some books. I liked one chapter in "The natural mind". Rest of the book was boring. Yet to listen to the other books. Great thing about Ananth's collection was that it had "Rock On" and "Delhi-6". After Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, all time favorites are "Rehna Tu" and "Yeh Tumahari Meri Bathein"....and "Wicked Games" (purchased from Apple Store - courtesy Siva).

11. There's a 11th one too. I used not to give a single rupee to healthy beggars under the pretext not to encourage lazy men/women. I realized lately that I myself havent contributed a minute for world peace or quantum physics inspite of having no trouble with education or opportunity. So, I am always on the look out for beggars - especially after dinner (ha...ha..roll drums)!

What's up with me!! - Part II

This post was supposed to be a continuation of "What's up with me" after I returned to India featuring my days so far at Coimbatore. When I was half done with it..I realised that it had no 'reader attractive element'. So, decided to skip it.
(It was boring to the extent that even Srikkanth would not have wanted to read more. Usually, he is the one who asks for more).

What's up with me!! - Part I

To the dear and finite souls that continue to read my blog...due to shortage of time and unavailability of net connection, I havent been doing much in the name of writing except for the official emails that start with "Hi" and end with "let me know if you have any questions". So, here is an account of what's been happening since I left Appleton soil (covered by snow for the most part).

Landed in India expecting some kind of vibration, theme music, nostalgia etc...then realised that they happen only in movies. Chennai gave me a "very warm" welcome soaking me with sweat, the moment I stepped out of the airport - at 2am in September. Well..Chennai can't change itself just because one of its Returning Indian is used to sub-zero degrees. Let us cut here and open at Coimbatore airport where my dad and mom were waiting to receive their proud son. As I came out of the luggage area my mother snapped a photo with our old Canon film-roll camera.

Soon I was back on Indian roads, the car being driven on the left. Reached home to a hearty reception by my aunts, uncles, cousins, nephew, niece, neighbours, friends, (no Romans) and country men. The next couple of days went in distributing the gifts and chocolates, and giving accounts to the eager minds, about the food, transport, weather, rent, price of cabbage, pin code format etc in US ("What(surprise version)? No mosquitos in Appleton!!"...."Yes, but we had bed bugs"..."What(shock version)?).

Fast forwarding to the early morning arrival at Chennai - I was received by the taxi and auto drivers whose only objective that early morning was to serve me with pleasure. At Triplicane(according to my friend)/Chepauk(according to the auto driver), I got down and paid 70 Indian Rupess applying Duckworth Lewis formula for distance between Triplicane and Chepauk.

My friend took me to the mansion where he was staying with 3 other guys in a room. Being the guest, I was given one of the beds. I woke up late (excuse - "let others get ready and go to office"). I was going to report only on next Monday, but had come to Chennai earlier to follow up on some pending activities like checking my investment returns (hey, doesnt that sound big), changing the communication address in my bank account, applying for a new debit card ("Sir, there is an annual fee for the card, whether you are in IT field or in the Bermuda's magnetic field"). Visited Seshu at his home. Met some college friends and friends at work ("why did you come back? Recession"..."No I came back for the love of my motherland, to serve this nation and its poor people and to be served by the costly Chennai restaurants").
On the very first day, Seral and Suren took me across the lengths of Chennai, from TNagar to Mount Road to Besant Nagar to Marina.

Finally, went to office to the looks of "who is this phony guys?".."here is the scoundrel who moved my cheese". My seat and task1 was already waiting for me. I had a big list of to-do, the most important of them being to choose, form and train a team that will support from Coimbatore, the applications, for which I was one of the SMEs. Yes you read it right - COIMBATORE - shortly, CBE.

Choosing the team was more like choosing players for Lagan team ("Can I ask you a DB2 question?"..."No Dont"). The first few resumes were very disappointing. As days went by, I had to change my expectations and was happy to have finally found the "chosen few". Let us cut it short with some quick hints..."Srividhya leaves the team - Baskar leaves the team - Ravee leaves the team - BID project construction starts - TPM rewrite project work starts - Still recovering from the aftermath of OTC project - Weekend jobs run late - KT continues - Triplicane is one of the best places to live in Chennai,at least from food perspective, if you leave late every night from office.

Suresh returned from Hyderabad, Macho came to Chennai on vacation, Vinayak got married, Seral was getting ready for marriage, Suren shifted to Coimbatore and got married, Srikk came for vacation and got engaged, Kamesh got married - that was winter of 2009.

Ok, before we move on to Coimbatore (at this point, I decide to add "Part - I" to the title), a short note about my friends at the Triplicane mansion:

Thoughy my stay at the mansion was for a very short time (3 months) and within the 3 months I was in the room only to sleep, the folks around were very nice to me and very friendly. If I had fever(quite a few times), they took me to the doctor, arranged for "rasam sadham", hot water - things that I have not done to my best friends. If I returned early from office, they were more happy than me. The weekend before I travelled to report at CBE, they arranged for a trip to Pazhaverkaadu. We went on a boat to an island which reminded my SFO trip which was the last in US. I missed my Appleton friends, but these guys made up for it.

To Appleton - with love

My flight to Appleton was cancelled due to fog and heavy winds in Chicago. After spending a few anxious hours in Chicago airport watching a couple more flights going "CANC", eventually, I got a seat in the last flight of the day to Appleton. When the flight reached Appleton it was very late and damn cold. I was supposed to call Roopesh to pick me up, but his mobile number was not an Appleton number and hence could not call him using the courtesy telephone (only local calls allowed). I did not have a single cent in change. I did not know where my lodging had been arranged. While I was wondering how to reach Roopesh, an Indian lad walked towards me and asked if I was from Chennai. I asked him if he worked for Cognizant too. We both were glad to have the company of an Indian at that point.

"I am Saravanan. I just got transferred from Knoxville"

"I am Bhupesh. I am...uh...first time to US"

"Where will you stay?"

"I dont know. My accommodation is arranged, but Roopesh knows the details"

"Roopesh..?"

"yes"

"and you are..?"

"Bhupesh"

"I plan to rent a room at Candlewood Suites and also a car. Would you like to join?"

If you have ever been in such a situation, you will understand, how happy I felt to hear that. Saravana rented a car and found our way to Candlewood Suites. "This is the first time I am driving in US"...he said. Having not eaten for more than eight hours, I was absolutely exhausted to say anything at all....I didn't even mind that he was driving on the left - until he realised it himself!! Saravana took me to Wal-Mart. Only after encashing my Travellers Cheques, I got a little easy.

In those first few hours at Appleton, obviously, I could not form any opinion about the town. I slept the rest of the night.

When I woke up on the morning of April 4th, 2007, the roofs of the nearby buildings were all white. 'Some regulation' I thought...until realizing that the whiteness was due to snow. We were in office at 8am. I was introduced to my supervisors and team-mates. ("I am Sarada Kanth. Call me Sarada Kanth!!"). The office looked the same everywhere. Everytime I got out of my desk, it was tough to find the way back to my desk. So, I stuck to my desk mostly.

Due to the uncertainity in Siva's tenure at onshore, I, Jai and Saravana rented Apt #6, McCarthy Creek, 1485 North McCarthy Road, Appleton which was to be our abode for the next 2.5 years and also served as our cricket pitch for about 1 year (even after Jai broke the ceiling lamp while enjoying the follow through of his cover-drive).

Siva stayed with Aravind, Sathya and Ranjeeth. The first few evenings were spent in their apartment - three reasons - 1. They were the only guys we knew 2. They had internet connection 3. Aravind made sure the fridge was filled with snacks, Indian and Western. In office, most of my time was spent in trying to stay awake and occassionally attending some knowledge transition sessions when Esai and Saradakanth did not have time for it. In those days (and probably in the entire history of Appleton), we were the only clowns who walked through Wisconsin and College avenues. Jai started his first accounting task when he calculated the money we spent for taxi and discovered that it would be beneficial to rent a car. We rented a Corolla. From then on he was the finance minister for our apartment and most trips.

Within the first 10 days, I witnessed snow for the first time in life. Well...actually, I witnessed burgers, exits, huge parking spaces, etc for the first time.

It took a while to settle down with an SSN, bank account, internet, microwave oven and a casket for the cooker. We used to go to Ifti's apartment every weekend, watch some movie, take dinner prepared by Mani, Ifti and Ananth. Our other favorite hang out place was fox river mall (others enjoyed, while I usually was very anxious about the production support call, I "might" get).

Soon Ifti got married. Siva went back to India (only to return in 4 months and join us at #6, 1485). Mani shifted to our apartment temporarily. We learnt to cook, shop, plan trips and order pizza by watching Mani. We went to the tennis court regularly (but the only court that Mani showed interest in was "court"ing Geetha over phone).

Regular production support calls, Oshkosh in 20 minutes drive, Milwaukee in 2 hrs drive, Chicago in 3 hrs drive, Dells City in 1.5 hrs drive and with Mani around, weekends were always eventful. As Mani used to put it, we were involved in some "activity" always.

Once Siva and Jai got cars, there were very few places in and around Appleton that we did not explore. Movie halls, restaurants, dance floors, bowling alleys, shopping malls - just to generalize a few. As months rolled, we had more Cognizant folks coming to Appleton and our group got bigger, each one bringing a different dimension to the group.

A big group meant, lot of OC food, poker nights, constant leg-pulling, arguments and discussions (courtesy - Srikk, Seshu and Ilavenil). When the weather allowed, we planned for trips outside Appleton. Overall - great fun.

I was a mini-Gajini in that, I planned to return to India a dozen times, before the management was finally convinced that I could go back, after the OTC project went live. The date was fixed as September 13th, 2009. On the morning of the 13th, Prashanth rang the door bell, sticking to his military precision at 4.45am. I was anxious about being in time for the flight and the luggage weight....and did not think much about leaving the place that I dwelled in for 2.5 years. When I finally crossed the security check and sat at the gate1 waiting area, I felt a chill in the heart...because I was leaving the place where I had a warm stay, in spite of the cold weather. The feeling of seperation was second only to the one I had while leaving the college campus after the 4 years. That was 5.5 years back. Back then, I thought my best friends were the ones I acquired in college....but I enjoyed equally great and greater friendship at Appleton. I boarded the flight with the hopes of travelling again in the fox valley cabs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The trips:

My first big trip was the one to Chicago on 27th May, 2007, when I witnessed sky-scrappers for the first time. Can never forget our entry into the city with 'Desert Roses' playing the stereo and the rain drenched walk, through the streets of Chicago Downtown.

Niagara was on the top of my list 'to visist' in US. I was lucky to visit twice...the first time with Bhaskar, Aravind, Ranjeeth, Santosh and Murali and the second time with Siva, Srikk, Kamesh and Jai.

Dells City - the home of theme parks. It is always fun to stay drenched in water, may be something we carry from our childhood. We went two times and both times to Noah's Ark. The visit to the mystery castle was fun. Thanks to Krithika for all the pestering and gathering the crowd.

New York - Our most tightly packed trip. We covered, Times Square, Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge, Wax museum in a single night - mostly by walk and then stood in the queue for almost 2 hours to visit Statue of Liberty the following day.

Nordic Hills - The snow tubing trip at the end of winter, that expanded my friend's circle.

Minneapolis - Hevay snow fall, Christmas eve, Chevy Impala, an excited Siva and the 100mph drive with poor visibility. Add, 'I am Legend'.

Las Vegas - Again a spot that I visted twice - Fremont experience and Stratospehere 'Big Shot' being the best moments.

Grand Canyon - Didnt live upto the expectation, especially because of the exhausting, low altitude flight journey.

Yellowstone - Top of them all. 2 days with natures inc.

SFO - the last and final tour in US. I got to set foot on the beaches of pacific.
Cant forget the 'presidio' that we almost visted :) (the road diverted near the entrance to the presidio and led us out of SFO). We made it to the flight in the last moment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few spots in Appleton, that I wanted to write specifically about:

China Moon - Most of the time we used to start late for dinner on Fridays/Saturdays. China Moon was the only restaurat that was open after 10pm and served likeable vegetarian food. Most times, the restaurant owners were the only people who gave us company there. More than me, Siva will remember me ordering 'Lemon Chicken'. The waitress came with a huge lemon in a bowl and chicken in a plate.

Burger King, Taco Bell (College Avenue) and Chipotle - When Sriram or Srikkanth did not invite us for dinner, and we were lazy to cook (read - "most of the time"), these two places were our fast food choices.

Confucius - Siva's permanent choice because of the Russian waitress there.

Sairam and Indian Darbar - On occassions when Seshu was persistant about Indian restaurant...well...no other choice.

Roopesh' apartment - Roopesh and Sushmitha always invited us for Indian festivals for lunch or dinner. Though I am not a religious person, I did not want to miss the "kozhukkattai", "sundal" or "pongal".

Wal-mart Supercenter (MutualWay)- This was the first store I went to in Appleton and the last but one.

Great Clipps - There were places that did hair-cut cheaper, but preferred my hair to be handled by the same set of people.

Noodles and Company - My personal favorite. One of my goals was to try everything in their menu at least once. When I left Appleton, I still had not tried two of their items.

Olive Gardens - Universal favorite for our group - especially the minestrone soup.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Claimer: There were more friends in Appleton than the names I have mentioned in this post. I hereby claim that each one of them is important and I cherish them all equally :)

Allies in Wonderland - Part IV (The one from Chicago Airport)

http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/07/allies-in-wonderland-part-i.html
http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/08/allies-in-wonderland-part-ii.html
http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/08/allies-in-wonderland-part-iii.html

After a busy and tired, day1, we exited the park discussing religion and science. After a quick dinner, we reached our motel which was very close to the west entrance of the park. We enquired the landlord regarding the best time and place to see wild animals. He suggested that we start early in the morning to be able to see some wolves at least, if not bears. We planned to start at 7 in the morning.

Those of you who are familiar with our group, especially the ones who invited us for food, would have guessed what time we started next day. 8am. The sun for some reason, was very excited and was shining bright that day. So, the opportunity of seeing wild life ruled out, we took a very good breakfast (which we still refer as Nagma breakfast, because the girl who served resembled actress Nagma) and geared into the park for our second day in wonderland.

The first major attraction for the day was 'Mammoth hot springs', but we decided stop on the way for anything other than Geysers. After we crossed Norris point, we found a vast grassland. There was a snow capped mountain at the horizon. The morning was very serene and the scenery was picture perfect. We took many snaps and experimented some poses. One of them was the 'Khalbali' shot - like the one in Rang De Basanti. Seshu clicked at the right moment and the result is what you see below. (The elaboration is because this one is my favorite shot of the trip).

We drove through many hair-pin bends. We stopped in between for the occassional small water falls, streams and valleys.

We reached hot springs...if that place were to be discovered on the day we went, they would have probably named it 'Hot Summers'. The Mammoth Hot Springs is made of what they call 'Terraces'. The rocks ooze out hot water in the terraces which flow down and in combination with clacium carbonate, algae and bacteria taint the rocks with different shades. The place should have been more beautiful in the past because some of the springs have not been active recently. I will let the photos speak for the beauty of the hot springs.

The scorching sun was testing our perseverance. We got some really great pictures. Then, we stopped for lunch - a good one. Next destination was Tower Falls. We had to trek a bit here again. The steep path took us closer to the yellowstone river bed. But, this path was still under construction and did not take us close enough. I am sure, we would have had some great photos, had we gone closer to the banks.

Next, we discussed the possibility of visiting Tatton park. Considering the geography, we decided to drop it from the plans and instead, try our luck at Lamar Valley (wild life). On the way to Lamar valley, we found a guy with sophisticated cameras, watching something keenly. We learnt that there was a Coyote on the hills. I thought Coyote must be a variety of tree, because my eyes showed me only trees. Srikk, used his public relations skill and managed to get us all preview of the coyote through that sophisticated camera. Srikk, Siva and Seshu said they saw it and I believe them :)

Then we ventured further into the valley. It was a sunny evening and the valley was green. The only animals we could see were yaks and one deer.

After whiling away some time there, we returned towards the exit gate. We still had some time left before the last show in the Yellowstone iMax theatre. Siva suggested that we go to the 'Artist point', which we decided to skip the previous day. We followed the signs and reached the artist point. It is called so because, some artist had painted a view of the lower falls from this point and that is what increased the popularity of this place, prompting the Government to make it a national park. So, what is so special about that point...? We had the same question, until witnessing the below:)

With full satisfaction, we drove towards the exit. We made it for the imax last show on time. When we came out, the sky was full of colors. It was independence day in US and there were fireworks to celebrate that. It gave a finishing touch to a well-planned, full value trip. We went to bed, hoping to get up early and start towards Salt Lake city.

When we went for the trip, I was thinking that would be my last long weekend in US....but then within the next 2 weeks, I came to know that I had to be in US for another long weekend. After discussing many options, we decided to go to Las Vegas and SFO. Hopefully, Jai or Seshu will write about that trip :)

Allies in Wonderland - Part III

http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/07/allies-in-wonderland-part-i.html

http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/08/allies-in-wonderland-part-ii.html

We were at one of the many Geyser Basins in Yellowstone National Park (YSNP). There was steam coming out of the soil in whichever direction we turned our neck. That, with the smell of Sulphur made us feel as if we had entered the chemistry lab of the earth. As we were wondering about the marvels that this wonderful world keeps amusing us with, Seshu indicated that such Geysers are present in Tamilnadu too and he said Kalki has written about them. This is what we notoriously know as 'Kollivaai pisasu' :). We let some of the steam precipitate into our cameras and camcorders. We were wondering what would happen to these hot geysers on a rainy day. Our cloud of thoughts must have hit the clouds hovering above us....it started to drizzle. By that time, we had already walked some distance away from the basin.

Back to the car and Jai drove towards our first scheduled destination for the day - "Old Faithful". This is a natural fountain that faithfully pumps out water to an average height of 140 feet at predictable intervals and is a major attraction. We added ourselves to the crowd that had already gathered around the geyser. It was giving signs of an erruption as the sky started to drizzle. After teasing a couple of times the faithful started pumping out water to about 40 feet height and long enough for a few snaps and a good 5 minute video. The sky's counteract was no match. The fountain weakened finally and went into hibernation.

There were geyser's all around the place. This is called the Upper Geyser Basin. The land here is (in YSNP) highly sensitive and hence we were asked to use the designated pathways. As we walked past geyser after geyser - small, big, eye shaped, bee hive shaped, blue colored, green colored - we began to get bored. There was a small path that lead to the "Solitary Geyser". After hiking a 3 mile distance, it wasnt 'solitary' anymore. We were giving it company. A notice there said, this was an ordinary geyser and started errupting when they tried to drill pipes into it to supply water to the nearby areas. "Dont mess with me" was the message from mother nature, as the geyser started errupting every 7 minutes after that - even after the pipes were removed. We were about to leave when she made her "Dont mess with me" statement one more time with a 2 feet erruption. 'Point noted' - we said to ourselves and left her back to her loneliness.

The chemical equations within our body, lead us towards the sign 'Food'. We had a good lunch at the designated food place in that area (vegetarians do have a few good options). Now we had to choose between checking in at the motel or continue our exploration. Much to the disappointment of Seshu, we decided to stink through the rest of the afternoon and continue with Siva's schedule. Next destination was west thumb basin. Having had enough of the H2O + H2SO4, we decided to skip it and asked the GPS to direct us to Yellowstone lake.

(Anti-clockwise: Jai, Srikk, Siva, Me)

"Here I am. This is me. There's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be.

..

It's a new world. It's a new start. It's alive with the beating of young hearts.

It's a new day. It's a new plan. I've been waiting for you"

....Bryan Adams was singing through the stereo as we let our senses dissolve into the beauty of the eco-system. It looked as if the sun would rest soon. We wanted to cover the Grand Canyon (the one in YSNP) that day. We were beginning to doubt if we could achieve that. As if to cheer us up, the sun came out shining. We felt as if somone ported us to a totally different latitude. To our right was the vast lake and bordering it were snow covered mountains. It was a stunning sight. But we coudnt get a good camera view of it.

We kept that road for another day and accelerated towards the yellowstone lake visitors centre. We had no information to be collected there....we just had to respond to Nature Inc's call.

The urea mixed geyser from within our body was no match to the sulphur version...but nothing can give a better feeling :). When we were back to the car, waiting for Seshu, there was a hail storm. The small ice pellets dropping from the sky was new to the Chennai folks (I had experienced it in Trichy before!). Inspite of its intensity, Jai, Seshu, Siva and Srikkanth ventured out of the car to have a feel of it. The hail stopped shortly. We reached the board that read 'Yellowstone River'. Took some 'we were here' snaps.

(Me, Siva, Seshu, Jai)

We consulted the maps, Siva's schedule, our watches, the sunlight. We decided to push Tatton park to the next day. Had yet another tensed discussion over which was north and which was south. Then rolled the wheels towards our next major destination - the canyon. We knew the canyon had different views, but had not done the homework properly. So, we did not know which one to visit first. Since we hit the road to upper falls first, we pulled over there. The upper falls is yet another place where water proves the worth of perseverance. The massive gallons of water, through years of negotiation, cut through massive rocks forming a canyon and then fall with a heavy noise, force and magnitude to form the upper falls. The green tint and sharp turn just before falling were yet another treat to the sight which our cameras could not capture at all in whatever angle we tried. Seshu even climbed about 8 feet of a cliff to get a good shot. The water in its different forms and rich content had painted the canyon walls with orange, yellow, brown and green shades. We said a thousand 'Wow!!' and moved towards the car half-heartedly.

We referred the maps again to find the direction to the lower falls. After having seen the upper falls, the lower falls was just an academic interest to us. We reached the parking space for lower falls. The sign board there said we had to hike about 3/4 miles and a few feet down. The path seemed steep. There were kids who were climbing up the steep path after visiting the brink of the lower falls. They were our inspiration and we began to carry our not-so-young bodies towards the brink. It was tiring....very tiring....until we saw the best scenery of our life so far. Suddenly we forgot all the tiredness and hopped around to take pictures. We were standing at the point where the lower falls dropped a good 350 feet and the stream rushed through the Canyon. Grand it was!! As a kid, we all would have drawn a river flowing in between two mountains. May be we all got a copy of that picture installed in our brain from here. We had begun to forget the amusement we had at the geysers, at the old faithful and the just visited upper falls. The sight here topped it all. After treating our senses to the sound, scene and harmony the brain enjoyed at the spot, we began to climb the altitude back.

(Above: Seshu and the canyon in background)

We decided to go to Lamar Valley next to watch the wild life....and drove in that direction. The route was through a hilly area with practically no protection on the steeper side of the road. We were tired, it was getting late and weren't sure if it will be safe to ride through a hilly road. So, we decided to get back to the town and check in at the motel. On our way back we got to see some deers, bisons and elks. But they were not in a group. Mostly alone or just a couple.

We spiralled through a hilly path getting a glimpse of the snow capped mountains again and of some lean stream of water. We were immersed in thoughts of what a day it had been. Sunny, drizzling, hail storms, geysers, snow caps, fountains, waterfalls, canyons, rivers, lakes and wildlife with a GMC, GPS, iPod, iPhone, Canon, HP and Nokias.....whoo.

When we were in the final roads to the exit, Srikkanth threw the question - "what is the difference between faith, belief and hope". The discussion slowly and inevitably turned towards GOD. Srikkanth, Seshu - two orthodox guys - pitched against me and Jai - who have different kinds of belief or as others would say 'non-belief'. Siva had a head ache and even otherwise he generally stays away from the thick of discussions like this. As we exited the park, our points and counter points still continued....while the water bodies, animals, trees and the hot lava underneath were doing what they have been doing for millions of years. They didnt have a need to understand science or god to stay in harmony with the laws of nature. Absolutely contrary to man!!

(The best part is yet to come - watch out for Day2)

வ(வா)சிக்காமல் விட்ட பக்கங்கள்

அந்தக் காலாண்டிற்கும்

'சிறந்த பணியாளர்' விருது வாங்கி வந்த இரவில்,

அறையில் இரைந்து கிடந்தன

காது மடிக்கப்பட்ட பல புத்தகங்கள்.

Allies in Wonderland - Part II

Travel the first day in the park with us here:
http://vyakyanam.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-going-to-be-daunting-task.html

Allies in Wonderland - Part I

The flight kissed Appleton good-bye and took off towards Minneapolis. It was July 2nd, Thursday, about 7pm. I was at the window seat, near the wings trying to recollect aerodynamic theories that "might have been" in my engineering syllabus. The sun was having a long summer day giving my mortal eyes, the experience of Raman (Sir CV) Effect.

Earlier, it had taken some marketing to convince Siva, Jai, Srikkanth and Seshu to go to Yellowstone National Park for the 4th July long weekend. The term 'Park', obviously, did not sound "long weekend'y". They trusted me(may be) and their google results(mostly) and accepted my project proposal. With sincere thanks to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, I booked the flight tickets and the motel rooms, in early June. Thus started our "Allies in Wonderland" project.

The plan was to take the connecting flight to Salt Lake City(SLC) at Minneapolis and reach SLC by 11.30pm; rent a Chevy Impala and drive towards West Yellowstone. We reached Minneapolis, said 'Cheese' a few times to Nikon S560. The monitors in concource F said that our flight to SLC was late by about 90 minutes. All the 'Cheese' melted immediatley, except for the frozen ones in the camera. Anyways, that gave me a chance to get back to Michael Crichton's "State of Fear" after almost 3 years. After 5 chapters for me, a few games of chess in iPhone 3GS for Srikk and Jai, our flight was declared ready for boarding.

I was at window seat again. After thanking the pilot deep inside my heart for the successful take-off, I started peeping outside for a glimpse of the golden stars below and silver stars above. 'மின்னிய'polis, I said to myself. The flight was travelling at about 550 miles per hour and the moon was travelling along outside the window almost as if it wanted to give me company through the journey. "So cute", I thought. I wasn't romantic....I was just sleepy...sleep...slee....zzz....

I heard "Cookies?" and wanted to say "Damn, turn them off", but then realized that the word was uttered by the air-hostess. I took one of the "Made in Belgium" cookies. Munchingly, I began to become aware that, I could not stretch my legs freely...almost at the same time, Seshu, having attained enlightenment after the short sleep, spoke to me the best words of the whole trip....."HM...Chevy may not be comfortable for a 6 hour journey and the drive inside the park there-after". Suddenly, "leg S P A C E" seemed to be next only to cleanliness. An upgrade to SUV (for car-illeterates, "a bigger car") would still be within our budget. When we reached the rental car place, Jai got us an SUV and Siva heard his best sounds of the trip, when the lady in the counter uttered, "it will be a GMC, gentlemen". Just that week, he had told me that he wanted to drive GMC in one of our trips.

At about 1.30am on July 3rd, we hit the highways of Salt Lake City and the stereo played 'Mukundha Mukundha'. Incidentally, Mukundha means, "Giver of freedom"....very apt for a July 4th trip. Our first destination in West Yellowstone was "West Yellowstone Airport". As a cost-cutting measure, we had decided that we would take the motel room only on Friday night and it was my master-mind that suggested that we use the airport restroom for refreshing on Friday morning.

At around 6am, the GPS said, "Arriving at destination". So, we were in the airpo....wait did someone rob the airport? All we saw was a board that read "West Yellowstone Airport" pointing towards a wooden building that looked slightly bigger than our car garage in Appleton!! And there was...there was a...thing...like a mini-aeroplane with it's wind shield(?), covered by a cloth, as if it were just out of an eye-surgery. The road to the airport looked better than the run-way. There were a few indications of people having lived in that place, somewhere in the past. We looked at each other's face....I think everyone had a short flash of my email "Friday morning: Refresh at West Yellowstone Airport" - What a great idea!!!

We got back into the car, and knelt in front our Oracle, the greatest invention that man ever made - "GPS". We searched for the nearest petrol station and accelerated towards it. For those of you who are not familiar with 'travel in US' - petrol stations are where road travellers in US stop to fill the car's stomach (may be) and empty their bladder(mostly). Our car had enough petrol.

The problem with restrooms in most gas stations (petrol bunks), is that only one person can use at a time.....so we went in one by one....trying to ignore the sarcastic look of the shop-keeper - not because ignorance is bliss....but because emptying the bladder is more blissful!!!

The primary task of the day having been fulfilled, some of us changed the dress inside the car and filled the morning breeze with some axe effect. That done, we went back to the GPS and asked it to direct us to the west enterance of Wonderland - aka - "Yellowstone National Park".

(The journey will continue...)

(Note: 'Yellow' woods and now 'Yellow'stone - please be assured that, I am not becoming a 'yellow'maniac).

Yellow Wood - II

"Every decision made is interleaved with another, causing all the happiness and disappointments in life. Every decision small/big has butterfly effects that are small/big. The decisions could be good or bad. What is good for one could be bad for another. What is good for one could be bad if taken two days later. What is good for one in US could be bad for the same one if he/she were in India.
But, it is decisions that run this world. One cannot run away from decisions.

So, what is it that one should consider while making decisions?"
(From http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/04/yellow-wood.html)

• It is going to be difficult to avoid the 'advice' tone in this post...I am going to try my best.

• My thoughts below are not towards materialistic decision making ("Canon Vs Sony" type decisions).

• I am no expert...but to me there are just three steps in decision making.

1. Knowing what one wants.This is the first and biggest step in decision making. More often than not, decisions are made based on what the society/community expects from one. At least in India, one blanket rule that applies to decision making is "what will people think or say if I choose to........." and so majority of the decisions don't even involve much thinking. For example, most people from a well-to-do family choose Engineering or Medicine as their career-path. That is a tailor made decision. (Before someone else points out - I chose engineering not because I liked designing modern machines, devices and business applications, but because I was perceived to be a bright student who should 'wisely' 'choose' to do engineering).

'What one wants' does not stop with that. It has different sub-steps - 'wants now', 'wants in 5 years', 'wants in 10 years'.

Prioritizing: Let us assume that 4 or 5 opportunities have presented themselves. The choice that keeps one closer to what he wants, should be chosen. Say one wants to start a new business and also wants to pursue studies and for some reason (say, money), both can't be done at the same time. The business opportunity may not knock the door again.

Timing of the decision: This is a fast-paced life. The world evolves at every degree of its turn. It does not present the same face to the sun everyday. There's always a next person trying to grab one's opportunity. Decisions are expected to be made at the spur of a moment. It is very difficult to make a choice without knowing what one wants. Sometimes, it is best to postpone a decision and wait for the next opportunity - rather than taking a hasty decision. But in the meanwhile, be assured that you will again face a similar situation and better be prepared to make a decision then.

Research: Wherever possible, sufficient research should be done on the object of decision. It is not at all good to take a decision because most people took it. An attempt should be made to relate the choice to one's own aspirations.

Prioritizing, Timing of decision and Research all require the knowledge about oneself. Knowing what one wants involves lot of self-analysis. It comes with practice. And it need not be very specific to the point of wanting to be a ".net programmer working for a multinational company"...it can be as generic as "working among youngsters in an air-cooled office".

2. Never Regret. It is a waste of time. Once a decision is taken and when it is late to pull back, just move forward with it. This will require some compromising - which is better than regretting and getting all the energy drained. To that point, do not make a decision that might disturb you later, emotionally.

3. Watch Out. Whether you have decided to postpone a decision or you know that you have a taken a wrong decision, watch out for the next opportunity. One of my friends wanted to be a teacher....but because of family situation he had to look for a better paying job and became a programmer. He was looking for an opportunity to switch to a similar line of job. He became a trainer in his company. Now he gets to teach and also pursue his programmer job.

Well...that's my chicken soup for the deciding mind. As I stated before, one cannot run away from decisions. It is best to train the mind with small small decisions....wherever possible. When there is a choice between two restaurants, do not shy away with a 'anything is fine for me'.....when you have to choose between Canon S110 and Nikon S630, do not buy what your friend bought without doing sufficient research...when you have to choose between red dress and blue dress, don't take all the time in the world to decide. Small decisions like this which don't have a big impact to your life, will train the mind and ease the process of big decision making. So, use every opportunity to make a decision, make it fast and be prepared for the big occasion. Have a blast!!!!!

Added on June 21, 2009:
Comment left by Vinayak:
"But, we might not always get a chance for step wise decision making. You sure yours works for selecting a life partner?! Your post just misses about instinctive decision making!
I take most decisions on instinct, and have never regretted so far"

Bhupesh:
I am sure there's more to decision making than I have written.....and I agree with Vinayak that for many people instinctive decision making works. Frankly, the post did not take the direction that I wanted it to because I found myself less-equipped than what the topic demanded.