Skip to main content

What's the damage?

I was led to believe that I was born about this time of year over four decades or so ago.  There is this moment in time when one gets to ponder what their life has been and that day is their birthday.  That if memory serves can be an interesting exercise esp not knowing what the future holds because -

1.  No one knows what is round the corner;
2.  What is round the corner or at an angle from the corner may or may not be as exciting or worthwhile as what already has been.

Now I am told that I was extracted from my mother's womb by an aunt who specialized in such matters and assigned a name which in Sanskrit (language) translates to the "Dawning".  A lot of things true to that nomenclature are still dawning on me so all is well there.

While it can be said that the first two decades I was growing up I was in India the latter couple plus to date were in America, where I continued growing except laterally.  I plan to address that as part of the coming few years before I might classify as round.

So going back to reflect on the past some decades I also was hit by this fact that as a species we really do not know anything about our beginnings nor our end.  When we are born is a fact that we know nothing about.  People tell us our birthday and the atmosphere that prevailed at said time and how the general populace in the vicinity may have reacted on hearing the news of your arrival.

The same about death.  If I completely stopped right now, as in ceased to exist I could not know what time this event happened because as it happens I am already dead.  What knowing there is comes between the time we begin thinking (for some it can be few days after birth and for some a few years) till we stop (for some it may be few years before they officially cease).

So I decided to do some of that amazing activity as I began writing this blog.  All in all it has turned out all right.  Began with some basic education followed by an archaic process of earning a couple of degrees from institutions that may or may not have any vested interest in the kids they graduated.

A marriage and a child followed along with several years of servitude to bosses in various types of corporations that may or may not have any vested interest in our existence.   Speaking of the child we both (spouse and I) share a common interest in ensuring her well being and provide her with enough ammunition to launch while removing obstacles that might seem non-essential to her progress.  I personally remember mosquitoes were a big part of the non-essentials when I was doing the growing up.  Fortunately where we live those pesky critters are not a factor but Facebookers might be.

On paper I am an engineer with a business degree but neither seem to have influenced in the life choices I made nor the career path I trode.

So there is a nagging question of 'return on investment' - the time investment that is.  Of course left to my devices I found art, whether written or multi dimensional (as in structures) or places to visit with history and character, food to dissect and enjoy or criticize and in all that shared the joys with the family.

That in the final tally was worth while and might if I get lucky continue to titillate round the corner.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...

You are important to us

Followed by piano music.   Followed by 'we are experiencing heavier than usual call volume'.  Sounds macabre like bleeding during menstruation or after a ghastly attack with a weapon on a hemophiliac.  Sorry Mrs. Johnson but it appears little Gertrude here has been bleeding heavier than usual what with her night time activities competing with the woodchucks in your neighborhood. Some services even go as far as to pick a random day to say - 'if you were to call us during the Chinese lunar month when the moon is axiomatically hugging the polar star with Jupiter intravenous when call volume is light'.  Well I will be damned.  I thought  I had checked with my astrologer before I placed this well focused call but  I guess this is what you get for listening to a quack. Umph! I am not sure which marketing genius came up with this personal touch concept of informing the caller that you are really a jackass for actually calling the customer serv...

Peru, South America - Week well spent

Growing up in India the only Peru I knew of was a tropical fruit (Guava for those whose lingua is English).   Not until high school did I discover that it was also a country in the South American continent. So it was this early April week that we decided to hit up Peru - the land of the once glorious Inca people that lived 500 years ago.  Today Peru is the third largest country on that continent with a diverse geography that stretches from the drier Pacific coast plains to the high mountains of the Andes and the Amazon river valley to its east. Our trip was primarily a pilgrimage of sorts to visit the last remaining, lost (now found and documented), large scale, mostly undamaged, city of the Inca nobility, called Machu Picchu (MP).  The Inca were great architects and builders.  MP is a UNESCO world heritage site affording it high visibility to the tourism trade and therefore crowded year round.  Our timing was not quite high season allowing us...