17 November 2021

Gift of a lifetime!

The lady you see in the picture – also the elder of the two young kids – is my friend Deval. The gentleman in the picture is her dad Girish M. Swami. He spent his life in three different continents – Africa (Tanzania), Asia (India) and then North America (USA). If he were alive today, he would be 80. Unfortunately, he left the world at the age of 60.

Sitting with Deval this week over dinner, I got to know the life journey of her dad. And the values that he had instilled in his daughters. While he had no formal training in music, he listened to a lot of classical Indian music.

And I have to say – he had great taste in music. Or at least, it was remarkably aligned with mine. You know how I know that? Because, Deval and her sisters have gifted me the entire vinyl record collection of her dad!!

Just glancing thru the old LP records of Ghulam Ali, Farida Khannum, Saigal, Bade Ghulam Ali and the likes, I was simply mesmerized. This was like handing candy to a kid. I knew right then and there which would be the first record I will start with!

Thank you Deval, Krupal and Rachana for letting me be the caretaker of your dad’s passion! Wish I had met him once to discuss Indian classical music!!

Category: Music/Poetry | 1 Comment on Gift of a lifetime!
16 November 2021

Meeting a real smart lady

Meeting Kiran invariably means I need to sharpen my brains. The topics of discussions are usually fairly deep and requires a lot of thinking. This time, the talk was about bias and the importance of being able to listen to the other side of the story. One thing we marveled about was – be it politics or religion or Covid vaccinations for that matter – how we quickly divide folks into one side or the other. But in reality, most people lie in a vast grey zone in that spectrum.

Great discussions!!

Category: Intersection Points | LEAVE A COMMENT
14 November 2021

Maiden ride on Pegasus

First things first… the new bike has been christened “Pegasus”. Sharmila named this one. The first one was named Phoenix by Natasha.

Second, the maiden trip included a stop at my best friend’s (Amitesh) house first . He, being a man of high standards had made himself scarce when I showed up. After having a brief conversation with his dog across a glass window – a la in a prison – I proceeded to my ultimate destination – the hospice I spend time in every Sunday afternoon.

The first realization of novelty hit me moment I got off the bike. I had no rear bag. Or any face masks for that matter that I carry in it. Fortunately, the hospice gave me a couple!!

Category: Motorbiking | LEAVE A COMMENT
14 November 2021

This is why I do not like going to grocery stores

The place is filled with illogical things. Plus I have this penchant for spotting everything under the sky other than the one thing I went there for.

All I needed was some juice. I kept spinning around the place looking intently, but unsuccessfully, for it. After a tip from a fellow shopper that there are two different locations for fruit juices (one for refrigerated and the other not so), I finally drifted in the right direction.

Except that I stopped cold on my way and strode back a few steps to confirm that I saw what I thought I saw. Now, you can see for yourself.

You cannot put Rogaine under “Shaving Needs”. Rogaine does not participate in any part of the shaving process. In fact, it does quite the opposite of the general concept of shaving. Which customer seeking Rogaine makes a beeline for the “Shaving Needs” section?

For a fleeting moment, it occurred to me that I should mention it to the girl at the check out counter. Then, thought the better of it since the lady who had given me the tip was standing right behind me in the queue at the counter. I did not want her to publicly point out that I did not where the juice was either!!

And that is how I survived this morning’s grocery shopping.

Category: Humor | LEAVE A COMMENT
13 November 2021

Revenge is best served at sub-10 pace

Somewhat humiliated and frustrated by the fall, decided to go for another 4 miler today and try to see if I could run at a pace that I was comfortable with when I was five years younger. Today, my comfortable pace is more like 11 min/mile. Checked my running records from when I was 50 and it seemed like most of my runs were at 10 min/mile.

I cannot say how much my body is going to hurt later today, but I did match (and beat) my pace from the five years younger Rajib. After the warm up first mile, each subsequent mile came at around 9 min 30 seconds.

Coming to think of it, I really do not care now how much my body might hurt today. Somethings are done just to prove the point that you are too obstinate to accept the obvious!

Category: Running | LEAVE A COMMENT