Brown Motion

"take me out..." is a  100 plus year old song that is as American as Apple Pie.  It is part of the traditions of the game of baseball to blast it around the stadium during the 7th of 9 innings when two professional or major league teams duke out. So on a balmy San Francisco spring (work) day the organization that I work for decided to treat the entire team of around 60 odd people to a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers played at the Giants home base here in the city by the bay. ATT Park so named for the telecom giant that owns the rights to the (15 year old) ball park name, was the venue for the season opening series of games between the two west coast rivals. We had seats in the bleachers which for the rabid fans is a no no because you can barely see the action (and the ball) which is a speck on the green inside the diamond that is in the middle of the frame (above). However the team was there more as a matter ...

A rather stimulating documentary on the tube last night.  Or technically on cable.  Or cloud.  Or whatever it is that I pay for unbeknownst to me (what with autopay) and causes shows to show up in my recorded list. Chai - the caffeine fix that I long for each morning - not the Folgers in my cup.  Far from it - in fact mine is named for a goat and tiger since the package says Wagh Bakri.   I vaguely knew that the origins of this wonder drug lay somewhere in the Orient.  Just not exactly.  So it turns out that Tea or Chai is the second most popular beverage in the world after water. The beverage we know of as Chai or Tea (and some moronic brands in America also make it a point to call it Chai Tea) comes from the leaves of a shrub that grows in cool climes.  The shrub is called Camellia Sinensis (sure recipe for sinus trouble but it actually refers to - as from China (sino)). Originally thought to have grown in the mountains of Southe...

Yeah right! Catchy title though don't you think?  In organizations big and small, from third world to first world, from government to privately run the scourge and perhaps a form of entertainment to an extent is the phenomenon of office politics. It is as omnipresent as staplers.  Or people with BO.   Or this misguided notion of work life balance.  It is just there.  It is part of the psyche or the fabric of the organization.  It is mostly a result of lack of trust amidst the employee pool within and across organization boundaries.  It is what becomes a source of anxiety for many, to the point it affects morale and also productivity and therefore profitability. Could it be possible to end office politics? It is like saying can people always be held to a high standard and be guided by a moral compass? Not possible!  Deal with it.   Many a cartoon strip (Dogbert et al) and TV shows have made an appearance t...

No holds barred review.  It is my blog after all so I can say what I like.   If it was not for the famed hill with the amazing architecture (aka Machu Picchu) dating 500 years ago, IMHO people might not flock to this country in South America.  Peru therefore is a one trick pony (or Llama to keep it PC) and the tourism bureau sure knows to milk its teat for all its worth.  Great job on that front.   Every place draws a crowd because it has something unique to offer, at times it is a combination of things that make the whole canvas.   Our motivation to visit this place came from a paper our kid did on the lost civilization of the Inca.  Otherwise this would likely have been way way down on the bucket list.   So what makes a place attractive? Cost - logistics en route; on the ground (lodging, food, conveyance) Time spent in planning the trip (if that is your thing rather than have an unknown business manage that aspect of the jo...

Cuzco was once the seat of the Inca Empire.  Spain sent explorers in the early 16th century and one Mr. Pizzaro was the first to arrive and be smitten.  By the geography, by the gold (that the Inca paraded much like a desi bahu on wedding day) and decided to beat the crap out of the Incas and take it all. That was the basic plot.  What is left today is colonial architecture in the form of large cathedrals, fountains, cobbled streets, plazas, along with a bunch of Inca themed statues, some native Inca descendant population that is relegated to hawking goods and souvenirs, and a host of tourists invading this quiet mountain top village of around 250,000 people. Here then are some of these sights ... Ban Darwaja Khol De (Open the closed door) - Doorway to a local church, Cuzco, Peru, April 2015 Pride in ownership - local dwelling with blue balconies, Cuzco, Lima Inside Courtyard - common to many dwellings in Cuzco Gali ke kutte (Street mutts...

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...