15 December
2023
13 December
2023
I am fairly sure I am the only one among my friends
13 December
2023
Hoover Dam!
That bright white spot you see (about half a centimeter long with the distinct arch) about one fifth the length from right edge of the picture and one fifth the height from the bottom edge of the picture – that is Hoover Dam! Check out the huge Lake Mead it has created by stopping that water. When full, that is the largest reservoir in the USA. River Colorado runs thru it. And right in the middle of it is the boundary of Nevada and Arizona.
13 December
2023
Vegas!
13 December
2023
A clean shot of San Francisco airport
11 December
2023
Meeting a true independent thinker
Deepak Rammohan Bharadwaj!
I had not called out that name in a long time. Deepak was one more of those incredibly smart young kids (well, then he was a kid) that I got a chance to work with in the then startup – i2! The first thing that comes up in my mind when anybody mentions Deepak’s name is “independent thinking”.
Even in those days, he would come up with an angle of thinking that would often be missed by the rest of the team. Often ran contrary to the group’s thinking.
Then one fine day, in the middle of his career, he decided to go back to academia and get another degree.
Subsequently, in his career, he has switched fields and domains a few times.
While I have not been as successful in thinking independently and just being brave in taking life decisions as he, I have always wanted to sit down with him and have a long session of understanding what his life lessons have been.
Today was that day! I was in San Francisco for a day. As anybody knows, traffic from the outer cities to SFO is a bear in the evening. I had offered to meet him straight out of the airport before coming to my hotel.
“No. You have never missed in wishing me on my birthday one single year. This time I am coming over to see you!”
The evening started by discussing one of our common loves – mixology. He has stuck to the classical drinks while I have experimented with fruit juices a lot. One thing we both agreed on – James Bond really messed up the classic martini for everybody with his vodka version and that “shaken not stirred” thing. Martini has become Deepak’s go to drink while Old Fashioned is mine. That is how this evening started too – although we switched to softer red wine with our dinner.
“So, what drives you to think independently and act independently?”, I asked him.
Deepak thought for a moment and offered “Trying new things keeps me excited”. We discussed the challenges one faces in following an independent path. The friction (of straying from the herd) that one has to overcome in the society, friend circle, family… and so on.
Finally, before he left, I asked him my tombstone question.
“So, what do you want be written on your tombstone?”
“Just that he was a nice person!”
“That you are, sir! That you are!!”
11 December
2023
The clouds looked like they were shooting from somewhere in the horizon
11 December
2023
Remember these?
About two years back, I had posted a picture of these and then from some of you I had learnt that these are actually salt beds. Today, they looked resplendent in the sunset colors!
11 December
2023
View from the window seat
11 December
2023
That was interesting… and a bit embarrassing!
If everything goes to plan, this should be my last trip this year.
We were still standing at the gate. Most passengers were on board. I had settled down in my window seat with my laptop in my lap shooting off some last minute emails. Thru the corner of my eye, I could see two more passengers walking down the aisle.
“Mr. Roy?”, I heard somebody ask.
I looked up. It was those two passengers. Except they were not passengers. They seemed like security folks. White shirt, all sorts of badges, formal headcaps etc. etc.
“Uh! Oh! What now?,” I muttered to myself. Got a bit worried.
“Yes, sir!” I replied.
Too many things happened. First, in my mind, I was racing fast. These could not be security folks. They wore short sleeve shirts that did not look exactly like law enforcement uniform. And were smiling too broadly for this to be a security situation. Maybe they wanted to move my seat?
It took me 30 seconds to sort it out.
It was actually the captain and the first officer of the plane. They had come out of the cockpit to congratulate me on being a 360 member.
That was a moment rich with embarrassment. Every passenger around was looking at me. I just kept profusely thanking them. Really, I was so confused and relieved at the same time that if one of them had asked “So, where are you going?”, I would have said “Thank You!” instead of some smart Alec “What? You do not know where you are taking us?” or something like that.
That episode ended soon with smiles all around.
The contrails, however, lingered on.
The gentleman next to me asked “Are you a corporate big shot who comes on MSNBC?” I was not sure how to feel about he being so precise and yet being so off. I assured him nothing could be further from the truth.
Another gentleman across the aisle asked “So, how do you become a 360?”
“I really do not know.” I told truthfully. “I have asked a few Delta staff – nobody seems to know.”
I now suspect there is a cabal of Delta executives who pick every year a few hapless passengers like me to embarrass!! You remember that incident when they had the balloons and certificates? Or when we were traveling with our friends and early in the morning, a whole bottle of champagne was delivered?
As embarrassing as it was, I give more than full points to Delta for creating some of these special moments for me in what would have been otherwise a litany of tiring journeys in a small aluminium tube six and a half miles above ground!
Gotta thank Delta for that!
