Rediscover The Day - 7 Years Ago

These are moments I also rediscover my love for Google.......how it can capture moments that have stories attached, and enable that one added nostalgic smile.

There's loads and loads of pictures on the phone, and for it to pick something just once in a few months....it's quite amazing how intuitive it is.

This was the 2011, ICC world cup that we'd watched at home, and it brought back how Google had created the mood for us, and on a spur of the moment decision, we'd just carried the mood home that day.

That's rest of the pictures it sent alongwith the collage. Lalitha and Hrishi (on the floor), Kiran, Tina, Preetha, Kiwi and me .

Lalitha having a moment with Kiwi

That's Google getting us into the mood. Here, me trying to control that smile, as he said 'don't move' :)

Raising the cheers to the win !

Closing the evening with Pizza and leftovers from the fridge...and I think Hrishi singing away :)

This gives me inspiration to enable the rediscover for this round table as well. Kiran, help !

As Good As It Gets

A story that's as touching as it's engaging... smart, funny, intense. It revolves around three difficult characters, who develop a most unlikely friendship.

As the tagline says 'brace yourself for Melvin', and in him we have a complex character, an arrogant misanthrope, strangely enough a guy who writes romance novels, and one who struggles with severe OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).  Somewhere in between you know is his true self, and you're willing to wait for it to surface, and surface it does.

There's Carol, (Helen Hunt) his waitress, the only one he will eat from and the only one who will tolerate him. She's a single mom with an asthamatic son, a tough nut to crack, but then again as the relationship grows you see facets and more.

We then have Simon, a gay artist neighbour, who has this adorable dog. Melvin hates the dog, but when at a point he is forced to look after him he finds himself developing a surprising affection for the dog, and this seems the turning point for him to even know he's capable to feeling real affection.

As the relationship between the three grows, you find yourself penetrating their tough walls and understanding the inner layers. 

A movie with smart dialogue, funny but not light..... fractured personalities.... engaging dynamics.....one that tries to go into rom com when it's a hard fit. If you like Jack Nicholson, you could definitely watch, it's one of his best.

A Rite of Passage for Late Life

An soft and timely....interesting and inspiring, 6 minute watch

Vishakha - On Forbes Cover Page

Such a thrilling feel to see her there.

Also brought back the journey...... a bystander view. 

Becoming CEO was no default occurrence. 

Back a few years....I recall the conversations. Ones where she thought through if she even wanted to aspire for CEO, 'Should I.....shouldn't I' was something we spoke of quite a bit. Until the moment when she said 'here goes, I'm saying the word aloud okay'. :)

She knew it wasn't going to be an easy dream to fulfill, neither the getting there, nor the being there. And sure enough it wasn't. For starters, she faced gender bias in the very appointment process (it's in the Forbes story), and there are stories and more stories.

Once there, she knew it would take over her life. But then, even as head sales she was putting in fourteen hour days and crazy extensive travel. She loves her work with a passion. I've seen her puzzle over the question she often gets asked "what are your interests, what do you do for fun?". She'd be stuck for an answer. Her work is her passion see....her thrill is in the doing and seeing the company grow. She could do it twenty hours a day and not tire. Not to say it's easy or fun....I've seen moments of such extremes, of near break down, of emotional turmoil....that there's times I've wondered at how she handles the stress. Then again, that's what she thrives on and that's what drives her. If she's a known tough task master, I've seen her be as hard on herself.

The company's growth under her leadership stands testament.

Back to story.........the first hundred days could have been a book. That's how intense the experience was, an experience worth capturing for posterity. Over the years, she's led not by trying to be 'as good as a man', but by being a woman. I believe she leads with her heart, though she likes to believe she's primarily practical and pragmatic. Believes in consensus over authority, details alongside big picture, adaptation as principle be it board room or townhall,  not afraid of wearing her emotions on her sleeve, and always asking 'what's right for the company'. Clear first principles. 

If that's ongoing process, and it's crazy tough....outcome is there for all to see. Fortune India's top 50 Business Women, and now Forbes Top 25 Women Trail Blazers.

On a more personal level, a cute moment happened last week.

While she'd sent me a picture of the cover page on what's app, and said she had a copy for me, the real thrill was buying it off the magazine stand, especially doing it with her.

Three days back she's here and we're doing a walk in KBR and I said, let's check the newspaper guy outside, and she's like 'it's Forbes, might not be on a footpath'. But surprise surprise, it was. As I bought, I told those guys that it was her on that picture, and it was so fascinating to see how they kept looking at the picture and up at her, again and again and again, and she's like, 'gosh, this is embarrassing'. Then came the hug, guess to say it was an embarrassment that was worth it's while :)

Vishakha, in addition to the Congratulations and Proud of You's....So happy to have shared, and be sharing the journey.

Pune - Express Book Service

Like we have food cravings, Diksha suddenly had a book craving....very specific, she wanted a Ruskin Bond short stories. We were already at Camp, and this is one craving I don't need a right mood to align into, so off we went.

Lucky for us, GPS gave us options alongside the landmarks and crosswords....and what we picked turned out to be this really quaint book store 'express book service' which enriched the whole book buying experience.... and in more ways than one.

Such a quaint street

It's a store stacked with books just about everywhere. And what's more, it's run by these two ladies, Lalitha and Sheela, a mother in law and daughter in law duo (kind of apparent from the dynamics playing out)

Lalitha, the elderly lady was a total surprise package (blame it on Gujju saree bias). It felt like she'd read half the books in the store, she really knew her books and was able to offer diksha a spread of what she was looking for, Ruskin Bond and beyond.

She's been running the store for over forty years, and she spoke about the issues and the real uphill task of keeping the book store going, and how she prefers sitting here to being cooped up in her apartment and sometimes she'll even stay over..  'she likes to just breath the air of Camp' she said. Was wonderful to get chatting with her.

I asked them both to turn around, and while Sheela gave me a sweet pose, Diksha chose to fully ignore my ask :)

A big bonus.... almost a scream aloud moment...seeing the magazine stand with The Forbes, with Vishakha on cover page! 

While she'd sent me a picture, seeing the actual magazine on stand was a whole different experience (separate post coming up :)

Book buying done, it was raining bonuses.... I'm telling Diksha we should go visit Marzorin, this cute little cafe, and GPS says '3 min walk'.....Wow !

With a chicken sandwich and cold coffee... needed that picture to capture a magic moment

We left, fulfilled and satiated...all cravings met :)

Layers of Experience

I sat down this morning to write, and I realized I'd lost chronology. I'd done trips to Corbett, Delhi, Pune and Bangalore, all in March...... had managed to write some on Pune in between, then again gotten interrupted by Bangalore.

And when I sat down today, I found myself sort of stuck....I'd lost the flow (on the travelogue I mean :)

And that's when the question came up. What is this flow? What does it do?

Ofcourse I remember the trips, each incident too I'm sure.....but I'd blurred on the feel. And that's what influences 'flow'. A flow is like an enhanced experience.......a space where the connect is at multiple levels...........when not just the 'happenings and incidents' are the narrative, but also the thoughts and feelings 'about' the happenings and incidents.

It's this that adds the underlying, or should I say overarching, aura to the experience. 

This holds true for anything. When we write, or talk 'about' an experience, we make it more personal, more real.....the narrative is more wholesome, stuff that touches the heart...... be it to others or even to self.

Pune - The Trip

While the visit to Pune was in essence for Dhruva's convocation, it became special for another reason as well. 

Dad and mom going with us. 

Why that's super special is because, at 83 and with a bad knee, dad had decided last year that he wasn't going to be doing any more travel. This was yet a conscious exception, one he wanted to do for Dhruva.

End of trip, we're walking up to the house when I asked how he had held out, he said 'maybe a little strained, but more significant is that I'm feeling more confident and rejuvenated'. That was not just wonderful to hear, but so inspiring. 

A little anecdote on that. In addition to the convocation, he also accompanied us to the Bhuleshwar temple. At the temple when dad was sitting outside, just enjoying the view (as he couldn't do the steps into the temple), apparently there was someone who came and touched his feet saying 'it's equivalent to touching gods'. Looks like he drew that same inspiration as well. 

I saw this with mom too, when we went to Amritsar recently, and now again. She literally did some minor level acrobatics to enter the sanctum sanctorium, as the steps were too steep. A reiteration of what one will, and can do, if we set our mind to it.

And this trip brought that out again, with both of them, that one notch deeper.

The trip in pictures:

Boarding

Hotel Majestique where we stayed had this lovely view, with a railway track too. Was enough for Dad to happily stay in (he has a mad love for trains, even today) ,when the rest of us went about doing our own thing.

Cheeku the totally adorable and friendly hotel doggy

Lunch at Majestique

The hotel had some flowers which we initially thought were artificial.....that pretty

With the hotel being on the outskirts, (near MIT), we could actually do walks through long stretches of nurseries (which are so well known, they export world over), and the picturesque countryside of Pune.

Enjoying some ganne ka ras (sugarcane juice) on the way

Going on countryside drives with dad is, as always, a lesson in geology :).

He spoke of how this mountain was black basalt, rock formed of lava from the earths crust and how there were different layers clearly visible, each separated by maybe about 10,000 years (the fertile black soil of Pune comes from the lava rock too)

A popular part of the city, Camp, is so rustic and beautiful, giving such an old time feel...... banyan trees, colonial bungalows, quaint cafes, book shops.......has so much character, that just being there is a fun experience.

A quaint little cafe with a sweet and cozy feel and some amazing food

Some charming old time houses we came across as Diksha and I took a walk searching for a book store ( and we found one that warrants a whole separate post :)

Way back, Pune airport, Dad enjoying the runway view as we waited for boarding. It was interesting how the wheelchair guy left him next to our seats, and he had me wheel him upfront for view of the runway.....privileges of the wheelchair he said :)

Daddy and Ma, so so touched and happy you did this trip with us.....means much, and will remain cherished for ever more.

Bhuleshwar Mandir, Pune

A temple that takes your breath away

Ancient, like eight hundred years old.....atop a hill.... stone structure....intricate architecture....exquisite sculptures.....simply beautiful.  

It was built in 1230 by Krishnadevaraya. It was interesting, as it's the priest in the inner sanctum sanctorium who told us the whole story......he seemed more intent on the history than on ritual, a nice change.

He told of  how it was built as a temple in the thirteenth century, and then in the seventeenth century the peshwa built a fort around it, and because of the fort it was attacked by the moghuls and part destroyed......he then showed us two holes from which apparently came out so many scorpions that the mughal invasion of the temple had to be abandoned.

The temple is mostly intact, except for some sculptures within, and you can still see remnants of the fort walls and the bastions around the temple.

The design is intriguing......in fact looks more mosque than temple from the outside.

The temple while being quite small is multi leveled, and has these seemingly long pillared corridors, giving it a perspective of depth and penetration of some kind. You enter the garba griha by first climbing and then going down some steep steps. There's also natural light and artificial lighting making the play of light on the pillars and corridors fascinating.

One side of the temple has sculptures from the Mahabharata and the other side from the Ramayana. The sculptures are so detailed, you can spend half a day there just looking at each.

Rest in pictures:

It's now under the archaeology department, and we can only hope they don't whitewash the other domes

Intricate lattice work on a very Islamic architectural dome

Steep steps up the temple

The play of light is fascinating

One of the most beautiful nandis I've seen

A scupture panel from the mahabharatha

The sculptures which have been destroyed

Deep and mysterious looking corridors

A huge trishul at the entrance to the sanctum sanctorium; it's a shiva temple

Mom and Diksha with the nandi

Enamoured by the corridors

An interesting picture I thought

Diksha ofcourse had to find a kitten even there, they both looked so focused on each other that I didn't dare try to move that trashcan out of the picture. She even went all the way back to the car to get it food.

Mom doing some acrobatics to get into the sanctum sanctorium, as the steps were too steep to do standing

Another panel, likely from the Ramayana

It had a massive bell that when rung seemed to reverberate across the mountains

The bell itself

Ruins of a masjid wall outside

An obelix looking structure

View from the top

Dad sat here patiently waiting while we went to the temple. He had his own interesting stories from there.

Visiting the Bhuleshwar temple was real bonus, as it's off the touristy or religious circuit. We'd never have known of it, except that Dhruva was taken there from college to understand background design, and he said we should go.

If you're visiting Pune, strong recommendation to visit. It's about 50 kms from city, and off the Pune Hyderabad highway.