Stepping back in time - my India visit 2015

I visited India in the halcyon days of pandemic free travel. That was almost six plus years back. Summer on the sub continent. A constant 40 degree Celsius. Humid most times. Heat index was unbearable at times.

Yet the solitude of travel does wonders. Below are some memories of the time I spent on the road - in the southern state of Tamilnadu and its surrounds. Most temple structures made of local clay or brick are 1000 years old.

Fun signage along the way added to the otherwise scorching episode.

Realizing the temple etiquette for India (of forbidden items) I had donned excessively long jeans which in hindsight served to protect my heels as I draped them under, during my walks over hot bricks in the temple complex

This type of nourishment certainly helped maintain my sanity along with cold treats

Guess you do not need much to share with another human

11 feet tall Nandi or Bull guards the door to the Gangaikonda Cholapuram complex of temples in Tanjore

I ventured into a former French colony called Puducherry, along the coast to take in some unique architecture. A few foreign students still visit for seeking something that they cannot find in the west. Who knows what that might be.

French are long gone and now replaced by today's capitalists including the Colonel from Kentucky USA

common flower arrangement in front of local homes in Pondicherry (now Puducherry)

The orb in Auroville - Matrimandir - a meditation spot established by a French woman who became an ascetic

This structure was still being constructed during my visit after which it was completed in 2008.

My travels were made possible by Indian Rail

Comments

A few good books

On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...

Back in DC

This time for a tech conference in the realm of what else? AI. But applied to an oft neglected space called Knowledge Management. The latter is a community of practice that focuses on analyzing, organizing and making available reams of data that have been gathered over time by various functions within an organization for anyone in the company to utilize. This function or process is ripe for applying AI agents (or agentic AI framework) and optimize for better outcomes. It was informative. More rewarding was getting acquainted with folks who practice this craft as well as learning of what they see in the corporate or public sectors. Since the venue was Washington DC it also afforded me the chance to take evening strolls albeit the weather was trying. With wind chill in the single digit it still is a glamorous place to perambulate through history absorbing what this country has been through since its founding days. I was able to visit the place Lincoln was killed along with his monument t...

Costa Rica

Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry. Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while. Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...

Brown Motion

Search This Blog