4 October 2020

Morning run with Bill and Molly

The last time we ran together was over four years back. Bill put in 10 miles, I put in 14 miles and Molly put in 30 miles that day! And my legs hurt.

Compare that to today. All three of us ran 4.5 miles. I bust my left calf muscle. Had to drag myself the rest of the day. And Molly is getting ready for her “Oh-thirty-plus”th marathon/ultamarathon in under a month and half.

It was great fun to catch up with Bill and Molly. They always have funny stories. Also, Molly still has the habit of wishing Good Morning to any runner/walker who passes by…

3 October 2020

Late night out

One of those event that is getting rarer and rarer in my life – late night out. I still try – usually successfully to be in bed by 10PM. Last night was DJ, PJ, Sudakshina, Rai and Sharmila.

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3 October 2020

From the pen of Nasir Kazmi

“Naye kapde badal kar jaun kahan
Aur bal banaun kis ke liye

Wo shakhs to shahar hi chhor gaya
Main bahaar jaaun kiske liye


Jis dhup ki dil ko thandak thi
Wo dhup usi ke saath gayee

In jalti bujhti galiyon mein
Ab khak udaoon kiske liye

Wo shahar mein tha to uske liye
Auron se milna parta tha

Ab aise-waise logon ke naaz
Main uthaun kiske liye

Muddat se koi aaya na gayaa
Sunsaan padi hai ghar ki faza

In khali kamron mein ‘Nasir’
Ab shamma jalaun kis k liye”

The rendition for this evening was by Ustad Gulshan Mir – dad of the Noorani sisters.

3 October 2020

Motorbike ride with the other three

The “Cuatro Sinko” group – Avi, Rakesh, John and myself took advantage of the afternoon sun and nice temperatures and hit the road to check out Burnt Mountain overlook. On the way, we stopped at Ellijay Coffeehouse for some coffee. Total of a little over 125M (200K) ride.

It was a completely clear day and the view from Burnt Mountain Lookout point was clear all the way to the horizon. One of the rare days where we could see Stone Mountain from there.

2 October 2020

Different kind of Friday evening music – part 2

Late evening “adda” with Avi at the local cigar bar. In the previous post, I was mentioning how I do not understand anything about Western music. Got a good history lesson of Western music from Avi. I can even now enumerate the top few genres. The discussions continued to Sufi music from the middle east and the different kinds of folks music – especially “palligeeti”, “baul sangeet” and the fishermen’s music from Bengal in India.

The discussions interestingly covered what money as done to music (single source like kings in the olden days and multi source like today’s audience). And how the vagabonds/wanderers – gypsy tribes like Roma in Europe or Kalbeliya in Rajasthan – often have great music since that is the best form of culture they can carry with them. All other – paintings as an example – will add to their luggage when they have to move.

I have never heard the music of the gypsies from Eastern Europe. Will put that in my list. Do you know of any good source?

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2 October 2020

Different kind of Friday evening music – part 1

This was in Featheredge Winery. The wine this time was not bad at all. I remember last time I had gone there the only thing I had liked was the cheese that had wasabi in it. It was a cool day outside and Sharmila and I enjoyed the local singer. Of course, I absolutely know nothing of any Western music – but I liked the way the guy was playing the guitar. Nice, evening to ramp down from the hectic week.

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