From Lanka Gate to Visvesvarayya...

As far as trips down the nostalgic memory lanes go, this is the biggest for me!

After almost two decades, visiting the place where this boy became man, or at least half a man if my classmates would agree..




The video says it all, but here are some pictures as well of the brief ride into the past!

Oh, what a trip!


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Technology in action

The old external hard drive which was purchased a few years ago to have all photos, videos, etc. backed up from 2002 became full last weekend. All 300 GB of it was filled up with mostly photos and videos starting from San's baby shower till now!

That meant a hunt for a brand new drive.

Thanks to a friend who works at WD, got a nice new "portable" drive with 500 Gb space on it. The difference is just amazing. Shows you how technology just makes you go "wow".




1. Do not need to power it up separately with a power cord

2. Can carry it in my pocket

3. reasonably fast for the size and storage

4. password protected and encrypted!

Nice huh?!

Next thing we know in two years we will have a 10 Terrabit memory in a box the size of a chewing gum stick. It can happen....

I used to think that the days of memory shrinking are over. Well, the concept of memory shrinking just got one more happy customer right about now!

Also saw this interesting technology design marvel. There are designers and ergonomics experts and overall box shrinkers who play as much a part in bringing us better goodies in smaller lighter packages as the technology guys who shrink more devices into smaller microchips or put denser features on disk drives.

Hats off to all of them!

On a side note, is there a simple small timer that can be put between the wall socket and plug for say night lamps, Holiday lighting etc. to enable turning on and off the devices on a set daily/weekly schedule?

That will come in real handy for things like night lamps which are always on in darker corners of the kids room in daylight, or Christmas lighting when we are not in the house, feeding the fishes when we are not around etc.

Considering this stuff is already there in our home heating system controller and in our water sprinklers, it should be easy to put it in a "compact universal timer box" and simply be able to turn any device on or off at a programmable schedule. Might save power on our entire entertainment system.

We have a TV, a DVD player, a Satellite box, a desktop, a bunch of chargers perpetually plugged to wall sockets, etc. all powered up all the time when we don't use them. A system like that would save lot of standby power.

If you know of something like that out there, do let me know.

Technology still holds that charm for me...



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Happy 29-n-th birthday

Wishing Sangeetha a happy twentyninenth birthday!

The love of my life, who does a diving catch time and time again, to save this idiot from self destruction.

We are still getting over Thatha and the birthday plans are all canceled, but Surprise!







You didn't know I had these pictures of you, did you?

For my part, I will stop depressing the kids. For their part, they will surprise you by eating their breakfast on time (they have promised)

Happy birthday,

Your dear hormonal hubby!



ps. These photos were taken 29+ years ago..
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Wish list

A day with my dad where he gets to talk and I get to keep quiet for once

A day with my grandpa and grandma, put my head on her lap and sleep for a minute, even if only a minute, just like when I was a small kid, put my ear to grandpas tummy and listen to rumbling noises and giggle

a trip to kapalishwar temple in mylapore with grandparents, share a goli soda with my brother, a paalgoa for each of us with a transluscent paper with the kapali temple on the paper in bright red, some kaara sevai from the ambika appalam depot, a stop at RUBY stores to buy a chandamama or champak, watch grandma bargain with the vegetable vendors

a trip to the marina with my brother and sister and some soan papdi from the cute bell jar

a jackie chan movie at alankar with my brother

walking around the srigery mutt temple behind my mom

perform topaz blade surgery on my sisters dolls with my brother as assistant surgeon

watch my dad bargain with an autorickshaw driver for 15 minutes for a trip that might take him only ten

fold clothes from the clothesline on the terrace and watch the kites

eat pori kadalai from Kapali kadalai Nilayam and savor it one rice grain at a time, and marvel at how some pori tastes a little bland, some a little salty and once in a while that single grain of arisi pori just tastes perfect!

etc.

etc.

etc.


Some of these might come true soon in some form or other. The rest will be retreived from permanent memory, savored in otherwise sad times, and be neatly tucked back in, for the sights, sounds and smells of a time long gone are still in the head, with definition better than any blue ray disk can offer, better than any photo or video ever stored.

Life takes you places, but sometimes when it takes you to the same place, there is a certain magic to it!


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City of Brotherly Love

The last weekend saw us travelling through Philadelphia (phil-adelpho::love-brother). My plan was to show my wife and kids the city, through the eyes of someone who lived there for almost three years!

Everytime I used to come back after some trip in those days, seeing the Philadelphia skyline, used to make me feel "I am home". It was in effect a home away from home. I visited the city after 9 years! We got into the city at 9AM on Labor day and the streets were deserted. Just as we got near the 30th street station, San said "stop somewhere soon. I need hot water to mix with the baby food and I said "I know this place like the back of my hand!".

For some reason, the human mind thinks that the world it considers rosy and safe is always frozen in time and place. At least mine does and when I have spoken to a few close friends, they agree that they too have been duped by their imaginations in the same way!

Here are a few examples:

On our recent India trip, I went through the Mandaveli area to show Jr. where I played hide and seek! Duh! The entire street was full of apartments and I could not even recognize the area.

This inspite of a previous experience in 1998 when going home after three years, I went to meet my cousin. Expecting a little boy in his baniyan and a little shorts, I was surprised to see someone who had grown to be my shoulder height! My aunt told me "Just because you go to America, kids here dont stop growing, you know!".

That pretty much sums it up. The Madras I left has changed so much, even by name.
The Philadelphia I left has changed so much! Where food trucks used to stand between two buildings on 32nd street has now been converted into a private university garden of sorts! There are high rise shopping complexes everywhere. 30th Street station has a multi story parking garage and a food court that is just plain amazing!

All the houses, apartments I lived in are still there! Took pictures of them, but the high rises are encroaching and it is only a question of time before they also become a memory.

Why does the mind so something like that? Tuck in your happy places in a "freeze frame" section of your head?

Is this the same reason my mom sees me as a kid? I must have been a good kid at 10 or 12 or whatever it was!

We did have a great trip though. Here is to memories..

The second window on the 3rd floor.. a dark room.. a huge spectrometer..sleepless graduate student..




The little ones get to see the main entrance of Drexel University..




The parking structure that was not there 9 years ago. Today a building like this gets raised in a years time!




Inside the 30th Street station. This main area has not changed one bit!




Chestnut Arms! Initially I thought this was also demolished to convert into a shopping complex. The old dude who sells incense sticks on the pavement on 40th near market was still there!




The liberty bell. I have given the guided tour to so many friends who visited me in Philadelphia. Now they have a brand new display center with extra security checks. Hell, they moved the bell from where it used to be. I walked the wife, kids, MIL and cousin around the old historic area and a guy tells me "They moved the bell now! You go through security to see it". It is not just Philadelphia that has changed!




Got this shot from the moving horse carriage ride(we went on the horsie around the historic area) just to see the new contrasting and dwarfing the old! The buidling on the foreground is close to 150 years old and the highrise is new.




If taking the wife and kids to Philadelphia can give me such a wonderful experience, what will taking them to Banaras do?

We may have to send notice to all professors of goosebumpology to witness new scientific evidence that might be uncovered when Sundar goes back to Banaras!

Have a great week!


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Taming the PhD high horse

The Visitor requested that I respond to this post, on taming the Indian PhD high horse.

Here is a demo from Jr. and the little one on how to tame the PhD high horse (or elephant) as the case may be!




This is the short answer. The long response will come later this week.

My grandfather, who is the most influential person in my life, is fighting it out in ICU in Chennai. Hope he can get up and see this photo, and bring back memories of how he used to carry me and my brother on his shoulders day after day!

Get well soon, Appa!

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A new beginning...

I was not kidding when I said :

"Jr. is probably the most video'd kid in history!" on a previous post.

It has been a tough search for that old CD backup of Jr.'s first few weeks, but I finally found it and without further ado..lets make the little girl happy!!




All this was from day 1 to day 14. Making this video made me cry a few times with joy over the last 24 hours. My wife and mother-in-law have probably concluded that I have gone nuts, but hopefully they will understand my recent erratic behaviour when they see what I was doing in such secrecy!

and a big thanks to the little girl for making it all worthwhile!!



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