You

Hey you, yes, you.

have you figured it out?

this journey, the path you're on

meaning of life, all that jazz.

who are you?

you. not your masquerade,

not your wannabe, phony, fake façade

but you:

deep inside, under the moss

gathered over time,

sweet innocence, a touch of naïveté.

I see you,

gentle, warm,

under a blanky, comforted and reassured,

a gentle palm squeeze.

I feel you.

dust off the cobwebs of time,

grow your roots,

spread your wings.

I hold you.

in my arms

and my hands.

I am you. Complete. Unfettered.

About mornings and more

What does morning smell to you? Fresh, crisp, sunny and slightly polluted because let’s not kid ourselves, that romantic haze is just suspended smoke particles, but I digress..

 Mornings have the distinct advantage of having very few humans about and therefore, not having had the opportunity to contribute to daily chaos, tend to be calm and the perfect time of day to take a moment, a breath in. (for yoga too, but that’s another blog for another day). 

So you take that breath in, in all it’s gloriousness and then as you exhale, all the chores of the morning flood your foggy head, you swear, hop out of bed and multi-task the heck out of your morning. Because serene mornings are great and all, but brekkie doesn’t make itself , lunches don’t pack themselves and AI hasn’t gotten so fancy that it can get you showered, fed and out the door on time. 

This gets you thinking - if you could take over project planning for AI , forget fully-automated cars - parenting, household chores and scooping pet poo would be top of the list. Personal lives need fixing and who else but machines to fix ‘em? We’ve tried, haven’t we? And we fail, every day, ever so slightly, but the ever enthusiastic life training of getting on with it ensures we scrape through. Now if those useful little tools could take up all the peskiness of life and leave the good stuff for humans - we could indulge in all our pettiness with the unabandoned fear of being late, behind on chores et al. 

In this world, imagine a fresh and sunny morning, then inhale in and as you breathe out,  since everything’s been taken care of, you hit snooze and hit the sack again! Because calm mornings are great and all, but sleep, my friend, is divine!

The opportunity costs of an email stinker

This is the saga of the Great Email Stinker. For all those who have worked long enough, you know what I'm talking about. Before continuing though, I will say - it will be my fervent effort to refrain from a great deal of sermonizing. So here goes..

I was once part of mass-participated email stinker that had several over-zealous participants - and as such things usually go, it started with a comment of no particular consequence - to which the afflicted took great offence. And thus started the long series of stinkers exchange - all a result of some serious exaggerated amount of labor of  thought - long, detailed and well-phrased statements of probably what would have been months of build-up.  Of course, there has to be underlying tension which will trigger such outbursts, otherwise we're just as likely to let it go. And there is a moment before the ill-fated mail is dispatched - should I ? Which promptly gets the reply - of course you should, you can't be letting anyone get away with it, now can you?
Does the deep breath work? Nope, you take one, then the next, take one more look at the offensive mail - and there you go!
Does the Del work? I'm tempted to say yes. Temporarily, deleting the repugnant mail actually will reduce the possibility of a stinker emanating - but the problem is, there's still the niggling acrimony to deal with. It will come out, one day or the other. And likely the more gruesome it will be.
We're all stepping on each other toes in some way or the other - and lets be fair - we always will. If everyone walks on tiptoes, it wouldn't be half the fun anyway. And its that toe that gets stepped on a few too many times which will probably flare up.
Some of the most productive relationships have had their fair level of intensity, which goes to show there's also something propitious that can come out of friction.
So..... should I?
The answer, probably, is balance. (And isn't this the answer to all the questions in the universe!)

Have your friction and think about the possibility of eating it too! If  you  have to let someone know how you feel and the intensity of that feeling - by all means do it, but remember your words have ramifications - as long as you're prepared to accept them. So along with the should I , add in - am I prepared to face the heat?

And maybe, just maybe, you might want to tone it down a notch before hitting send - because it is in fact, not the two-headed monster you think it is, at the receiving end, but a person, with as many feelings and shortcomings as yourself, but maybe not the same ones.




Dedicated lovingly to all those who've inspired me.




P.S - To all those whom I have written stinkers and to all those whom I have not yet written stinkers please read disclaimer below.

Disclaimer - All events described in this blog do involve real people but it isn't you, and neither is it what you think. My advice, though well-meaning and stocked with all good intentions of being of service to mankind, is entirely the result of the meanderings of my idle brain, so take it at your own risk. I do not, in any way, proclaim to follow the advice I dispense.

Life and vagaries of Seattle weather

For a writer of travel blogs, it never occurred to me to write a blog on a place I lived around for two-odd years, until now, that is, almost a year later, nevertheless, here goes...
Before I traveled to Seattle, I was curious to know how the weather would be like, to prepare for appropriate clothing et al.. but nothing would prepare me for the vagaries of the weather defining my life here.

In Seattle, it rains. Enough said.
It drizzles, it rains, it pours, just to drizzle again. Add in grey clouds, cold winds and  an average temperature of 10C and you have a perfect picture of almost any day in Seattle.
So what does one do in such a situation?
You move to California.
Or you plan your life around the weather just like you would plan around an infants' sleeping-burping-feeding times.
Seattle seasons go something like this -
Spring - April to May is when you still bundle up and stay indoors and do essential outdoors only. Like taking pictures of the beautiful blossoms outside. By late spring they'll bloom and you will get your sunny days, albeit @ 5C, but by this time of the year you'll thank such blessed days!
April is also time to visit the tulips in Skagit valley, which is open the entire month.

Tulips @ Skagit Valley

Blossoms in full bloom

June is rainy is when you want to do the plan-by-the-hour scheduling of your day.You plan your day according to the hourly forecast on www.weather.com, right down to cloudy and sunny changing to sunny @ 11 a.m. means an outing to park , and ensuring you make it back in time for sunny changing to cloudy with rain @1 p.m. And forecasts being as they are, also means being on your toes to be prepared for change from a sunny @ 11 a.m. to dark, depressing and looming clouds @ 11.15 a.m.

Chism beach park 

Another must-do indoor activity is a visit to the Museum of Flight, which houses many aircraft's  including the supersonic Concorde and Air Force One.

Autumn - September,October is fall and chilly, but make the time to go out for some amazing views of the fall colors in bright cold sunlight.

Summer - July and August is when you should live outdoors. Literally. Because that's about the only time you're going to see the sun, so live it up! Fishing, barbequeing, beach volleyball around the Lake Washington, trekking in Olympic national park, around Mt Rainier or up the Cascades,definitely Family 4th on Lake Union, feed giraffes in Woodland zoo or visit the Bavarian-themed town of Leavenworth, or fish and chips at Alki beach- take your pick, just don't sit at home. And there will also be one day in this season when it'll get so hot you just won't be able to sit at home. How's that for contradictions!

Giraffes out for a feed@ Woodland zoo

Leavenworth - the Bavarian themed-town

Alki beach

Fireworks on July4th

Winter - November to March stock up and hibernate. Say goodbye to your neighbours whom you'll meet in spring. There will be the one day, of course when you must bundle up and come outdoors - for the black friday sales @ Macys or the premium outlets at Tulalip, and the traditional picture with Santa!

Snow late winter

But I will say this - given all of the above, there will be many a bright-chilly-day when you'll drive through WA-520's Rosellini floating bridge , from Medina to Seattle, with Mt Rainier in the background, and it'll  still be one of the most spectacularly beautiful places to live in.

A touch of divinity near the coast

So here goes my blog on my visit to Udupi and Kollur..

Udupi is an only an overnight train away from Bangalore, and yet million light-years away from the maddening rush of the city. Narrow winding roads with no traffic, trees are greener, heartbeats slower. The sleepy little train station gives you the feeling of having got off  a time machine. And its so consoling to know sleepy peaceful towns still exist and indeed, may it always be so!
First stop is the Mitr Samaj on Car Street for brunch  - yummy, tummy-filling fare and yet light on the stomach! It doesn't get much more value-for-money  at 30 Rs a plate either!
A half hour drive from Udupi train station is Malpe beach - be warned though, staying near the beach is a lot costlier but you can't beat the convenience of getting soaked on the beach and a warm bath only a few minutes away! Evenings bring a small crowd of folks to the beach, some venturing out for para sailing and riding on speed boats. Its still an enjoyable way to spend the evening watching an orange sun playing hide-and-seek with the clouds.

Para-sailing in Malpe beach

Post-sunset is also a great time to visit the famous Sr Krishna temple surrounded by eight mathas - darsan during deeparadhana is a truly spiritually enchanting experience as the lit diyas and smell of incense together engulfs you in a little bit of divinity in the tiny stone and wood temple - and as you gaze through the window to see the deity  its as if Lord Krishna has come down and blessed you Himself. An absolute must-go in Udupi.

                                             Paradise Isle Resort on Malpe beach

The next day was our chance to visit the Mookambika temple in the tiny temple-town of Kollur, an hour-and-a-half drive from Udupi - the route into the temple is lined with street-sellers selling toys and artifacts. The temple elephant gives out blessings quite charmingly in the outer courtyard of the temple, much to the delight of onlookers. And I was lucky(!) enough to get a bit of whack from the elephant (a rap for some sins, eh?) Outside, there is a neatly stacked shoes rack and clean bathroom for the convenience of the pilgrims. Being off-season, there was a short queue to go in, and men do have to remove their shirts before entering. The Goddess Devi adorned with pink flowers is truly beautiful and  radiates a powerful energy to the lucky who make it here. Priests of the temple will recite prayers and devotees can repeat-after - truly personalized and surprising to find in an old temple such as this! Sarawathi pooja for little ones happens every day and takes little under 10 minutes, do bring your cameras for this, as you can take pictures of the ceremony!

                                                       Enroute to Kollur

Last stop before taking the night train back to Bangalore was the tiny and somewhat off-the-beaten-track beach of Kapu, 10 kms from Udupi. White sands is characteristic of the area although the main attraction here is a 19th century lighthouse  standing atop rocks by the seashore. Not a very tall one as far as lighthouses go, but as one goes up the winding stairs, one's legs tend to get a wee-bit wobbly and yes, though the view from above is quite breath-taking, the somewhat tiny space does give the faint-hearted some very frozen legs! A very much must-go for a truly old-school attraction, although personally, I'll be taking a break from scaling any lighthouses! At least for now.

And therein ended our journey, my first to coastal Karnataka, and a truly enchanting one!

                                               Kapu beach lighthouse

                                               Kapu beach

Kapu beach - view from the rocks

Kapu beach - view atop the lighthouse

Kapu beach - view atop the lighthouse

Kapu beach - view atop the lighthouse

This is Noo Yawk baby!

In my teens, growing up on endless episodes of sitcoms, America, to me, meant New York and New York meant only one thing - F.R.I.E.N.D.S! (okay, there's also Bruce Willis dangling from rooftops in Die Hard)
I do realise how shallow this sounds but hey, shallow see, shallow do!
And when I did land in the city, all bedraggled from one missed flight and one sleepless night, boy oh boy was I thrilled to bits - This was Nooo Yawkkk!! I had finally arrived. Er, literally speaking.
There was Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State and the other tall buildings with those fire escape stairs hanging behind them and Fifth Avenue and Times Square and oh-my-oh my there it was - Central Park . Now if only I could find the coffee shop with the over-sized mugs and maybe also get a How you doin' I'd be pleased as punch.
New York is all this and much more, most of which, I didn't see. The trip was short and it was like getting a whiff of your favourite food as it cooks. It gets you all delirious just standing there.
New York is huge, crowded, filthy, vibrant and colourful. Takes your breath away, it does. And the subways offer the best and worst the city's got -  you can find everyone from everywhere (along with the drunks, singers, weirdos, blue heads, everything under the sun and some from Mars too)
Whatever else you do, don't miss this one. And, yes, I will find out if there's a FRIENDS tour of New York.

Tulips and more!

Its a bright and sunny Saturday in April and if you live in Seattle, you know that doesn't happen very much. That's just understating it really, more like a freak accident. So there it was, bang in the middle of the wonderful rains and clouds came a shocking shiny blue day and we decide to chug off to see the flowers! And what a ride it was  we chugged and chugged but got, not too far! It seemed the whole state had decided it was time to see those tulips! Now what are the odds of that happening!

Three hours later we actually do manage to reach Skagit valley, in what should have a been an hour's (or so) worth of ride, but guess what? Oh yes, you would have to fly across the row of cars waiting to take exit 226 and you still wouldn't be able to land!

Two miles to the tulips and no way is sight. It was nothing short of a miracle that we actually got did reach. And what a sight for sore eyes those glowing fields of tulips were! Extraordinarily set in the valley beneath the Cascades, rows and rows of endless beauty!

And so ended our day in the sun. Wondering how was the ride back? Just over an hour. Makes you want to smile, doesn't it?