6 March 2022

Another poem by Amir Khusro

(The following is what I have learnt from different internet resources. I do not understand either of the languages)

This poem is written in Persian and Brij Bhasha. Brij Bhasha is a Dehaati Zabaan (country tongue) and a dialect of Hindi. In the first verse, the first line is in Persian, the second in Brij Bhasha, the third in Persian again, and the fourth in Brij Bhasha. This particular rendition I listened to was by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Zehaal-e-miskeen makun taghaful,
Duraye naina banaye batiyan.
Ke taab-e-hijran nadaram ay jaan,
Na leho kahe lagaye chatiyan.

Translated… (again, not my translation)

“Do not overlook my misery,
by blandishing your eyes and weaving tales,
My patience has over-brimmed, O sweetheart!
why do you not take me to your bosom.”

Category: Music/Poetry | LEAVE A COMMENT
6 March 2022

Winding down this weekend – Chori Chori

I am sandwiched between a great celebratory trip to Costa Rica with my office colleagues who earned it by delivering an incredible 2021 AND a trip to India remembering my dad’s one year since he left us forever. The high fives at work last year can only be appreciated against the background of my dad asking when was I going to come to see him. (We were deep in the pandemic and I was waiting to get vaccinated to make a trip; he did not wait that long)

Seemed like “Chori Chori” was the perfect mood for the evening.

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6 March 2022

“TKV”

Very few of us called him by his name Madhusudan. Most of us called him TKV and then towards the end, I think he had earned the nickname “King”. We studied Computer Science together in IIT-Madras (Chennai) and were a few doors apart in our hostel. I believe he was room number 247 and I was room number 239. That would make us about 8 doors apart.

My recollection of him includes how hardworking he was (he used to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the computer lab to work and block time for the rest of the day), how well he used to do academically and that two wheeler he had! I think it was a TVS Suzuki but I am not totally sure.

The last time I saw him was in 1989 when he left for the US. I had heard about his illustrious career in Sun, Microsoft and Facebook but got to meet him for the first time after 33 years this weekend in Atlanta. He and his family were in town for a wedding and Aluru and Suman took the initiative to put together a lunch meeting.

The credit goes to them for making this happen. I simply showed up. Pretty much like those Computer Science classes. This time, I brought the two wheeler though!!

Category: Intersection Points | LEAVE A COMMENT
5 March 2022

You can never get over your first love!

At the young (ha!) age of 51, it struck my completely dysfunctional brain that learning how to ride a motorbike might be a good idea. The line that the frontal cortex would not let me cross was eventually breached by a lot of brown alcohol and the company of Magesh.

Phoenix was my first motorbike. I was scared as hell. But I fell in love with riding. Phoenix has been witness to too many newbie mistakes and been the not-so-silent companion in my quiet solo rides in the mountains. More importantly, Phoenix opened my eyes to the social aspects of group riding.

About 4 years and 21K miles later, I had to say goodbye to Phoenix. Very reluctantly, I might add. Pegasus is home.

I hung on to Phoenix as long as I could find space in the garage. As I transition to the empty-nesting house, it became evident to me that I could keep only one motorbike.

I realized that Phoenix needed to be set free. Instead of idling in my garage, she will bring joy to her new owner – whoever he/she is.

That picture was my last ride out of home with her.

She is mine no more!!

Category: Motorbiking | LEAVE A COMMENT
4 March 2022

A recursive lake

Flying back home from Costa Rica. Right now, we are over Nicaraguan territory. Directly below us – if you see the picture below – is an island. If you carefully notice, it is actually a volcano – Volcan Maderas is the local name. The waterbody around it that you can see is Lake Nicaragua (Lago Cocibolca is the local name). If you carefully follow the volcano contours, you can see the crater – unfortunately, from my angle, it is somewhat covered by a cloud. In any case, the crater is filled with water and is a lake itself. If you zoom that area, you will see a dark shaded area around the light shaded cloud shadow. I do not know the name of that lake. But that lake is a “recursive” lake.

It is a lake in an island which is in a lake!!

For the math geeks – the longest recursion is in the Philippines. Imagine what you are seeing here… just that there is a small island within the crater. And remember, the Philippines is an archipelago. So, you have an island in a lake in an island in a lake in an island!!

For the non-math geeks, understanding recursion is easy. First you understand recursion, then the rest is easy!!

Category: Vacations | LEAVE A COMMENT
4 March 2022

A connection to childhood

The hotel property had a lot of flowers. Many of them I recognized as flowers that I grew up with in India. In fact, they were there all in our house itself. I guess these thrive in tropical climates. My Bengali friends will recognize “rongon”, “korobi”, “kaathgolap”, “purish” in the picture.

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4 March 2022

Those Big Ass fans in Liberia airport

It was 2013 November. The two Roy families from Dallas and Atlanta had landed in Liberia airport for the first time. As we stepped out, one of the first things that caught our eyes were the humongous fans in the ceiling. Upon closer inspection, we found out that they were called Big Ass fans! I did not know then, but later realized that it is an American company based in Lexington, KY. The original CEO used to carry a business card that said Chief Big Ass! The name created some controversy too in its barely twenty years of existence. As an example, postmasters in my state Georgia refused to deliver their letters citing obscenity!!

Adreesh, Aneesh, Natasha, Nikita, do you remember those fans? Today I collected a few more pictures of them!

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