Brown Motion

The Pope was jealous of Narendra Modi aka NaMo.  You could see it in his sad look as he traveled on the east coast and did not get to meet the valley elite.  Both lead over a billion people, each of different faiths, both sport four letter call signs and yet the contrast in their visits was palpable. Even Lord Ganesh who was the Silicon Valley Idol until last weekend probably had a feeling of being let down (in the SF bay and otherwise) as the fickle crowds switched their chants from Om Ganesha to NaMo. The Indian Prime Minister flew in on his own havai jahaj aka an American made Boeing 747, painted with colors of Air India to its maiden flight into San Jose International Airport right in the middle of the techno campii (plural of campus maybe). He spoke in Hindi (translated by some traveling babus to English and making for a very confusing message) to the cult of ex-pats that went to greet him and that surrounded him like no surround sound ever did, chanting his n...

but I do like mithai (Indian sweets), I like seafood,  and to see food, I like travel, I like to read about travel and food, So like it's ironic like. Oh almost forgot - I dislike the idea of 'like'

VW screwed up.  The people's car or Volkswagen is the world's largest maker of automobiles according to sales figures available for 2016.  Based in Germany it was a company originally founded by none other than Ferdinand Porsche, the creator of the eponymous sports car models. Popular among the younger generation and females more than males, the sedan is an attractive low cost option for a German car driving experience when a BMW or 3 pointed star is out of reach. Thusly there are lot of VW brand vehicles roaming the streets of Anytown, USA.  As of mid Sept a revelation was brought to the public's attention where the company engineers had installed software in its engine computers to cheat on pollution control tests run by the American Environment Protection agency. But the tests tripped VW up.  Something I guess was not adding up.  VW finally pleaded mea culpa costing the CEO his job.  People chimed in on national TV and internet saying they were ta...

In American lexicon these two words carry a lot of import.  Both scenarios are common place as in - 1. People want to attempt to lose weight and the rear is big on the watch list - they will go to all manners of extremes to ensure that a method involving giving up large sums of money will reduce the rear end size from X to Y (latter being many sizes less than X) 2. Car accident - People rear end other people all the time.  As in while texting and driving or simply not understanding the laws of physics or being in a state of inattention due to a variety of factors too long to describe in a blog. I had a close encounter of the second kind last night.  As we left a public parking lot in a mall in the burbs I started to back my vehicle out slowly watching the rear view mirror.  As I was almost done with my reverse I saw a massive Suburban (large vehicle that could double as a bomb shelter or a tourist bus in many third world countries) back out at high veloci...

First there was nothing. No time. No man. Then came man. Then time. Then man put time on his hand to see if he had time on hand. Then came the cell phone with time keeping. So man decided to get rid of the watch. Then came a smart watch.  And time went back On hand. So now there was a cell phone and a watch but no time.  For anything other than to work. So time just passed without a pastime.

O Lord Ganesh - I pray to thee. That is the literal translation of the title.  Lord Ganesh being the highly acclaimed and universally (for people from all over India) known of the deities being worshipped.  Part elephant and part man he represents a good start.  As in people believe in prayers to Ganesh before beginning a new venture, a journey or a relationship at times. All that said it also follows that in India which largely thrives on god worship as one of its largest industries, there are street festivals and celebrations to praise the Lord's doings or 'to be' doings.  As in the blessings that all and sundry seek to get them going to do the doing, which oft times happens to be a lot of lazing.  May be that is my perspective but then again I am not doing any of that praying so who knows. Now Ganesh prayer and special celebrations abound in the Fall when the Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with much fanfare.  It was originally crafted in the late ...

I don't follow politics, never understood it and don't vote. It is my right to Not Vote.  Therefore I cherish democracy. As the buffoon parade related news gets in the way of my day to day activities I could not help notice that an egomaniac by the name of Donald Trump (both parts of the name could be open to lot of humor) is actually ahead in the early polls where the American public thinks he is a viable candidate for President. For anyone who knows anything about this guy he does represent what made America - brash, hungry and full of oneself and ability to package it so that the slow witted part of the bell curve buys into the magic show.  Majority wins. I have always wanted private sector thinking to seep into the public governance space but one has to be careful what one wishes for.  There are so many shades of grey there and this arrangement might be the darkest. Hey - someone once famously said, 'people get the government they deserve' and if he wins...

It made headlines.  Because it was a big leak.  It was sitting in a woman's purse at a Starbucks inside a Starbucks and even then, all of a sudden, people noticed it. The purse had got wet and there was a foul odor accompanied by a trickle oozing and then dripping faster than what the baristas were pulling from their imported coffee makers. All the techies gawked, along with the millennial gen who hitherto were involved with rapid fire texting and OMG and LOLS.  What in the world was this? Even the utility crews who fancied an occasional thrice a week splurge on pricey caffeine that were not planning a visit that day stumbled in from their site as the odor overpowered them and one of them fell out of his perch near a transformer.  He wasn't transformed but the odor dragged them to see what gas this was. Meanwhile the gal from the restroom whose purse it was shows up and gets agog at the brouhaha surrounding her carryall.  Who's in my 'coach' she...

Labor Day weekend.  Last hurrah of the summer days in Northern America.  We decided to spend a couple of the sunny days hiking the mountains that make Lassen Volcanic National Park about 120 miles due north east of San Francisco. Located in Mineral, CA, it is named for a Danish immigrant and the tallest peak at 10,500 ft is Mt Lassen.  The volcano is the southernmost of the chain of volcanoes that inhabit the Cascade range stretching from British Columbia in Canada to Northern California. Volcanic because the entire landscape happens to be situated on an active Pacific Ring of Fire with the last eruption only a 100 years ago.  There are several geo-thermal vents in the park area that showcase the earth's amazing power and yet only yards away is pristine alpine lakes formed of melting snow. The best part of this hike was that inspite of gasoline being at its lowest in a decade there was not a mad rush on the highways and byways as we drove to and from this moun...