6 April 2014

One more intersection point…

What good is a vacation if not to see somebody you have not seen for over 12 years? Found out that Vijay Ramachandran lives within an hour of where we are vacationing. I did not have a car but he was gracious enough to drive down with his family. Had almost four hours of great time with his family.

Talking to Vijay after such a long time, I was reminded of one of the core reasons why i2 had succeeded – it had one heck of a bunch of really smart guys. Vijay was Exhibit A!!!

It was great to meet his family who I had never seen before. Sitting with his daughter and son on the boardwalk of Hollywood Beach eating pizza reminded me of an identical situation when my kids were that age and Sharmila and myself had pizza at the same place nine years back!!!!!

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3 April 2014

One more Nikispeak

This morning I wrapped up office early and came home to pack up. We were leaving for Florida for spring break.

Finished packing and all travel logistics and still had time in hand. So, I slipped into my night clothes and hit the bed to catch some sleep. (Readers of previous post must have sensed the additional satisfaction I had of having the whole bed to myself 🙂 ).

Sometime later, Nikita came back from school. She was not expecting me at home, far less sleeping at that time. Upon seeing me, she went back downstairs straight to Sharmila and asked “Did he lose his job?”

🙂

Category: Family, Humor | 12 Comments on One more Nikispeak
31 March 2014

Early morning Nikispeak

Since Monday is a non-run day for me usually and my first meeting was close to home, I did not start very early this morning from home. And thanks to that, I experienced something interesting. I heard Nikita’s alarm go off – multiple times – once at 6:00, once at 6:15 and then again at 6:30. Interestingly, the three alarms were completely different tunes.

When she came down, the following conversation took place:
Me: “Good morning! Had a good sleep?”
She: “It is Monday morning. I never have enough sleep on Monday mornings!”
Me: “Hmmmm.. seems like you need to go to bed earlier on Sundays. By the way, why do you have three alarms?”
She: “The first one says ‘Time to get up’. Second one says ‘Get up now’. the last one says ‘GET UP ALREADY'”
I am totally amused by now. So I pressed on:
Me: “So much focus on organization! Can you not apply the same skill to go to bed early?”
She: “No”
Me: “Why not?”
She: “Dad. You won’t get it. It is a young people thingy.”
Me: “Really? Ok, tell me this – why different tunes for different alarm times?”
She: “So that when I slam the alarm off, I do not have to open my eyes to check what time it is!!!!”
I stopped there. Again, so much thought process and planning…. Why not go to bed half an hour earlier? One of these days, I am hoping to catch up on this “young people thingy” – whatever it is!!!

Category: Family | 6 Comments on Early morning Nikispeak
28 March 2014

Making new friends…

As most of you know, I am nothing if not making new friends on the road, get to know “their story” and create intersection points. Sure beats airline delays, long waits at queues and such. Also personally enriches me as I get to know different perspectives that people have.

This morning, I had a very early breakfast meeting at Four Seasons in Atlanta. Reached there a little early to beat the Atlanta traffic. It was a good thing too. I got a chance to make friends with the manager at the restaurant there – Megan. Lots of interesting stories.

First, her dad is the developer of an app I use in my iPad extensively – “Notability”!! How cool is that? I do not think I have ever met anybody who has actually developed an app that I use in my day to day life! Made a note to meet him when I am in the West Coast next time.

Found out that Megan has recently moved from Boston to Atlanta. If you remember, before I moved to Atlanta seven years back, I used to work in a Boston based company!! And get this – that company was founded by a professor from her college!!!

One thing that amazes me about young folks these days is the clarity of thought they have around what they want to be. I had my usual “What do you want to be when you grow up”? question. (As you also know, I keep asking this since I am still looking for some good ideas for myself – I am still open to growing up and making something of myself).

I compared her ability to articulate her goals to mine when I was her age. I find the same superior maturity of thought in my soon-to-be-16 year old daughter too. Growing up, I did not have that many choices. I did whatever the guy from the previous year or batch did. There was never much thought put behind it. Partly because I grew up in a country with a lot more people running after very few resources and partly because taking risks was probably not inherent in me.

And then I had to leave to go to my day meetings….

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25 March 2014

The Buck stopped here ;-)

After a day’s worth of work, met good old C.S.Devasish aka “Buck” from my MBA days who had stopped by Atlanta for work. I had met him in Boston last year after many many years. Therefore, a lot of unfinished stories were finished today. Buck was one of our super smart guys in MBA days. So I am always intrigued by his points of views.

Today, our topics de jure included politics – American politics, Indian politics and overall geopolitics in general. From how gerrymandering is poisoning American politics to the Modi effect in India to the possibility of Balkanization of India to the greatest post President statesman Jimmy Carter to the fear of US of pushing Russia too close to China – we covered all topics under the sky 😉 The other common interest we have – big data and it’s social effects took up the rest of our time.

Before long, his ride had arrived and we had to part ways. Hoping to get the two families together this summer…

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Category: Intersection Points | 1 Comment on The Buck stopped here ;-)
22 March 2014

Nikispeak early in the morning!

Early this morning Niki and I woke up and we sat in her bedroom chatting in hushed tones so the rest of the house would not wake up. During the one hour chat, the topic came up about a livecam set up by Berry College in an eagle’s nest that she saw. (You can show your kids, it is very cute : www.berry.edu/eaglecam).
In any case, she was excitedly telling me about the egg hatching and the mom taking care of the baby eagle, feeding it and all that. Then, she mentioned that in the evening, the “husband” eagle flew in.

Barely concealing my amusement, I asked her how did she conclude that it was the “husband” eagle?

Niki just shrugged her shoulders and said “Oh! It was constantly fighting the mother eagle”!!!!

I conceded that no further proof is required 🙂

Category: Family, Humor | 15 Comments on Nikispeak early in the morning!
17 March 2014

An evening at Milton’s

Every Sunday Sharmila and I have our date night at Milton’s. When you go to the same bar every week for years you tend to get to know the folks at the bar and their families and many of the regular customers (and Sharmila too 🙂 ). And that is part of the charm of our date nights. Without Milton’s our date nights would not be as memorable.

Case in point: Today’s featured singer Jamie was merrily singing and I was focusing on my Bourbon, when a small kid – he could not have been more than three years old – escaped from his parents and strolled into the bar area. As if on a cue, Jamie started singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. As the kid watched Jamie mesmerized, all the folks in the bar spontaneously gathered around the kid and Jamie and joined in the song. Eventually, the harried dad who must have realized his son was missing appeared on the scene too!! After the song, everybody clapped loudly and went back to their seats laughing!!!

It is these impromptu moments in life that gives you what scripted schedule can never give you – they sense of some unique moments that probably will not repeat again!!

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Category: Family, Musings | 3 Comments on An evening at Milton’s