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Musings

Week 2 – Coronavirus

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Week 2 – March 16th

Sunday we announce everyone to work from home and not report to office. Office will still be open to come and collect anything they will need.
I go to office today and bring my stuff – Decathalon party table which I use as standing desk, my external monitor and keyboard. Also pick up San’s laptop charger. 
I take my mother and son to Star Bazaar. It is closed. Govt has ordered closure of all Malls and movie theatres. Star Bazaar does not qualify as a Mall but still they were closed. We went to Big Bazaar. It was crowded as usual. Saw lot of people wearing masks. I got a doubt, perhaps its not a good idea to bring my mother and son.
Monday, in my team half had come to office. We do the standup – some online, some physical. Around 11:30 AM I go to office to discuss a few things and also tell my team mates to not come to office from tomorrow. 

Also meet a few from Sales team – they argued cannot work from home, how can we not meet customers. Valid point – but no other choice.
Tuesday – in Tech we all meet online. Try Zoho Conference, Prime time – and then settle on Zoho meeting. It worked pretty well.
San meanwhile is still in quarantine. She gives a scare saying she is having headache. I quickly check and its not one of the symptoms of Covid. She is glued to her phone all the time – in umpteen whatsapp groups. All the news we read is also very depressing. And also overdose of facts. She loves plodding through such information overdose. It’s over use of her phone.
I ask her to stop using phone for a few hours and headache goes off. I don’t let her touch the phone for extended periods of time. Phoo – close call.
Wednesday morning I feel a bit sore in my throat. Previous night had eaten a guava. Or could be all the news I keep reading. Mind can do wonders. Damn you.
Feeling went off after a while.
Work from home is tiring. I keep getting ping after ping – from all the teams. At office also I constantly get pings – but its not this bad – I sometimes go into meetings and I cant be reached that time. Here they all know I am available and pings keep coming.

Had just put this last Friday. Things got overwhelming.

Prithvi is having the time of his life. First couple of days we let him out – then we realised its a bad idea. Lockdown for him started from Wednesday. He plays this online game – Roblox – with his friends. He chats with them on whatsapp and plays some 5 – 6 hours. Evenings he starts drawing something. 
His mom has hung a thread and has started collecting his artwork.

On Saturday I setup Xbox – and stop all online games. Prithvi loves Minecraft – its purely offline. We come up with 4 to 7PM game time.

Rest of the time he listens to music, or reads comics – All Amar Chitra Katha comics are available for 1 month free.  
Prime Minister Modi announces Janatha Curfew on Sunday. It’s a brilliant idea. It might temporarily pause the spread of the virus. 7AM to 10PM. 5PM we have to make lot of noise.
Sunday we do just that. It is lot of fun at 5pm. I take out my djumbe and beat the hell out of it. I was afraid Sufi will be scared but she was fine. 

Modi addressing the nation and Aaj Tak showing a terrible Underwear Ad. Ughh.

Link to Week 3

Musings

Week 1 – Coronavirus

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Week 1 – March 9th – things started going south. Fast.

First Italy and Iran hit the roof. Case after case started piling up.
One Italian tourist was quarantined in Jaipur. Along with him the people he came in contact with. Another Indian who travelled from Italy and landed in Delhi – he went around and infected a few.
I heard murmurs of – oh this is all a conspiracy to quell the CAA protests that are happening. This virus wont come to India. Saw Whatsapp forwards of how this virus does not last in hot weather.
By Wednesday couple of cases in Karnataka got identified. In Bangalore. Rumour mills were working over time.
Someone from Dell had tested positive. Some 2606 humans have come in contact – the newspaper said. Wow – we could calculate with so much precision?!
Thursday schools in Bangalore started closing. Parents wanted schools to close without exams. I was little confused. Just last week I had started the drill of making Prithvi study. He was reading one chapter a day in History. He finds it hardest to memorise the dates, or the family lineage of the Kings.
I was relieved. Now the drill will be only in September. Phoo!
Thursday he came home with all his books. His 6th grade was over. Vacation starts now – 3 full months. Or might be more?
I get a call from one of our investors – as of tonight ( Thursday night 12 mid night ) – all international flights are going to be stopped.
San had a return booked for Friday. I called her and said you come tonight. Being Bootstrapped all the while – she tried calling the airlines to reschedule the flight. She was going for a meeting and was distracted – said will book later. Had to convince her to let the return flight go but book a new one. Also cleartrip had a message that on cancellation they will refund. Prices hadn’t soared yet. We are still waiting for the refund btw ( Mar 22 ).
She relented, and booked her for Thursday night. She would land morning 2:30 AM on Friday.
India had banned entry of all Indian borns who are now Foreign nationals. Apparently Indian Citizens would still be let in. San was fine – but now she could work on Friday – otherwise it would have gone in travel.

5 years go, same day we were in a Goa beach. I have this journaling app – Day One – which sends these this day long time ago messages. Wish could go to Goa and sit there in a beach shack right now. Hmmmm..

Meanwhile, in our tech team we kept debating whether to work from home the next day – Friday – just a trial run to see if our team can work from home.  Discussed with a few but many were against it. We were working on couple of releases and  lot of interaction was needed.
I let it go – so tomorrow, Friday we will work as usual.
Friday, I woke up at 4:00 AM and saw the message from San that she is out and is waiting. I did not want her to take the airport bus – which she typically takes or an Uber. 
During this week read a lot about Social Distancing. There were so many forwards and they clearly explained the importance of not infecting others or being infected – just by keeping away from as many people as possible.
By traveling by bus – San has the chance of risking infection – what if someone from Italy just sat before her – or if she is infected, she should not spread it in the bus.
I reached around 6AM, picked her from the curb and we reached back home. She said in airport they did a thorough screening – 2 rounds of checks – they checked her temperature and also enquired where all she has been. She had to fill a form. A week later she will get an automated IVR call to check if she has symptoms. Someone had painstakingly entered all the data – and that too accurately.
San decided to self quarantine for 2 weeks. 
Our maid and cook decided not to come. Someone advised them that if someone has travelled international the risk of them contracting the virus is higher.
My mother was a bit upset but we felt that it is practical.
Saturday we took stock of things. We discussed a lot about the power of social distancing and how it is important for all of us to act responsibly. We called for a meeting of Team Leads and we decided to announce work from home for the coming week.
Musings

Week 0 – Coronavirus

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And here we are.

2020 has just begun.

Human race experiences another challenge. Nature plays its hand now. A virus has got loose from animals and is now spreading among humans.
What is your move Humans?
I will be documenting my journey through this phase of my life. I am in Week 2 as I am blogging this – looking back how Week 0 and Week 1 were. [ I am a programmer. Things start at 0 🙂 ] Not sure how Week 4 and on will be. Historians – you are going to study this phase of Human Civilization – here is the story as it happens from the view point of a Bangalore Bootstrapped Entrepreneur. 
This is my Week 0. Today is Monday, March 2, 2020.
Friday is Board meeting. San has booked tickets to go to Dubai – she has lined up few meetings. We are debating whether she has to go. She messages some UAE friends and they are saying things are fine. Things are as usual. No cases found.
We are worried, what if she lands there and she get quarantined and becomes incommunicado? Or when she gets back she gets quarantined. 
San decides to wait and watch.
Tuesday,Wednesday we keep watching the world slowly turn towards chaos. China things go from bad to worse and they lockdown Wuhan. Iran Italy names are coming in the news.
Thursday evening its decided that I will visit Chennai – to meet a few strategic customers. I decide to drive down instead of taking the train. 
I start dreaming of doing Shambhavi Maha Mudra (SMM for short ) on the beach. Few weeks back we both had learned Angamardhana – a kind of yoga – and these days in the mornings we go to the terrace around 5:00 AM and we do Angamardhana there.
Friday morning we both do Angamardhana and SMM on the terrace. On Board meetings we have to handle quite some questions ( topic for another day – perhaps a book someday ) – time ticks to lunch time and meeting is going on. San takes the investors to lunch and she sets me free. Venkat is driving to Chennai for meetings tomorrow she explains. I come home have lunch and take a nap.
Feel a bit drained, and I hit the road. Download Paula Hawkins, Girl on the Train – and get immersed in it. Forget about the virus or the board meeting.
Morning I wake up and go to Beasant Nagar beach. They are having a rally – its International day of Childhood Cancer. The beach is being cleaned and plogging is happening. 
Sat on the shore and did my SMM. Felt good.

Ploggers.

A modified tractor to take out trash. Beasant nagar was cleaner than I expected.

First meeting is at 11:00AM and it goes on till night 8:00 PM – 4 meetings. One of them, the clubhouse is locked down for 2 weeks because of Coronavirus. We sit inside the clubhouse for the meeting. I see some Koreans walking outside.
Return I had not booked any stay – continue driving towards Bangalore and before Sriperumbudur I find a roadside inn. I see the form with Chinese like characters along with English – I ask them is this Chinese – they say Korean.
Have a fitful sleep. I typically don’t go for demo meetings and I have exhausted my 2020 quota in one day!  I keep running over the meetings – wish I had said this instead of that. Introvertish brain –  always keeps overanalysing.
I try some meditation and doze off close to midnight. Wake up at 5ish and take bathe and go to Kanchipuram. It was just 45 minutes from the place I stayed.
Go to Ekambareeshwarar temple. Stand in the free Darshan line. I keep thinking – this is not good. We are standing way too close, I keep thinking – perhaps this is not a good idea. Think I stayed in a hotel where Koreans are staying. Am I going to contract the virus? 

This was a 3D painting in the hotel I stayed. The camera does not do justice to it – parts of the car are real steel tubes and its blended beautifully.

Later have breakfast at Saravana Bhavan – the first one – historic one. Reach home for lunch


I don’t know going to temples will take me to heaven, but having Saravana Bhavan Breakfast certainly will put me in heaven for some time.

Meanwhile San had reached Dubai – things fine there, and she has got busy.
Musings

2019 Books Round Up

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Here is my own Yearly Tradition!

Every year I start my first blog post on the books I read the previous year. Here is the list from 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 2018

Here are the books that journeyed with me in 2019

Science Fiction

1. Dark Age ( #5 of Red Rising Saga )
 

The first book in the series – Red Rising – I started on a solo drive to Chennai sometime in 2016. The book has a solid platform and interesting characters – everyone’s favourite Savero is missing in action in this part. Other characters are developing very well – Lyria for instance and Pax – our Hero’s son is evolving too. When I started I had forgotten the plot of Book 4 and took some time to get back to the story. And it gets better and better. There were parts where I had tears while listening. 45 hours on audible. Eagerly waiting for #6.

2. Endymion (#3 of Hyperion Cantos )

Very enjoyable read. They should make a movie of this so everyone can enjoy the story / plot. The mind game battle between the Commander and the little “messiah” girl was quite interesting.

Fiction

3. Beartown




Sometimes I watch a movie and say – this is like reading a novel. This book is the inverse – while reading it felt as if I am watching a movie.

I picked this book because I wanted some sports story – sports is the backdrop but there are some very deep character portrayals and plots. The story moves in a steady pace and culminates in a very riveting climax.

This author has a good style and has flow. Best discovery of 2019 for me.

4. A Man called Ove

After Beartown wanted to read another book from the same author – Fredrik Backman – and picked his best till date.

It started slowly, Ove trying to commit suicide, and a Persian family moves next door and how he continues being a grumpy old man but becomes the central character around the entire neighbourhood.

At times it drove me to tears – both with laughter and emotion.

This is a beautiful book – a masterpiece – in my opinion

5. The 7 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Every day – in the end Evelyn Hardcastle gets shot and killed. Every day – the narrator is born as one of the inhabitants of that castle. Whatever the narrator does – he cannot stop the murder. The same story gets unravelled from different angles. Till the narrator solves it in the end.

It’s like Agatha Christie got drunk with Sherlock Homes and solved a mystery together.

This is not for the faint of heart. It is a difficult read – but the joy is in the grind when it comes to tough books

6. Raavan 

This book was quite dark and was siding towards mild pornography. After Ram and Sita I was expecting a different portrayal of Raavan ( who is this kind misunderstood soul ) – but here Raavan is portrayed as Raavan we all know of. Not sure he did not want to take risk – or – the publishers wanted another best seller – so write how the masses would want.

Disappointed.

Work / Productivity

7. Delivering Happiness

Have heard of Zappos on its exemplary customer service. This book gives a good insight into it. Picked some good lessons.

8. Business Sutra

Was interesting in the beginning, but got boring towards the middle. He has drawn interesting parallels with Indian Mythology – not sure how much I could use or adapt.

9. Start with the Why

Highly recommend this book. It helped us spell out our company’s purpose clearly. Anyone running a startup – the sooner you read this the better it is. The “Why” forms the nucleus – everything else evolves from that

10. 12 Rules for Life : An Antidote to Chaos


The author is a Canadian Professor of Clinical Psychology. He had written this quota post ( https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-valuable-things-everyone-should-know/answer/Jordan-B-Peterson ) which was quite popular and the book picks 12 of these rules.

The first chapter is fantastic – why we should stand straight. After that now when I think back do not remember the 11 other rules.

However, I only remember the essence – it is about creating deep and meaningful relationships – with everyone – your spouse, your parents, your co-workers.

There is lot of references to Christianity – and I could sense some patterns

Life is a struggle – and we can make it enjoyable by playing it well.

Its not an exciting read but would recommend for the lessons it teaches.

Biography

11. Swami Vivekananda

I bought this in audible, ( even though could have returned ) and sat through it. This one is very boring – like a History book – with too many dates and facts.

I love visiting Belur Math in Kolkata and was curious about the origins. This book had all the details how Vivekananda established this place.

I was looking more for a philosophical treatise which sadly this book missed. However did pick up some interesting facts – I thought Vivekananda is from Tamil Nadu – given his popularity in this region. Apparently he was a Bengali but had developed a huge following in Tamil Nadu.

12. I am Jackie Chan

I loved this one. The first movie of his I saw was Armour of the Gods ( or was it Police Story? don’t remember correctly ) and I will never miss any of his films.

His early childhood ( which was quite miserable ) and how he became a star after multiple failures – and how he recovered from a spoilt rich star – love this personality even more.

Spiritual

13. Inner Engineering by Sadhguru

Even if you don’t believe in Guru’s or God – you should read it. It questions some beliefs and shines some light on the power we Humans have – and how we are wasting it in petty things and not going for Greater Glory.

14. Mystery of Death by Swami Abhedananda

The entire book is the interpretation of conversation between Yama Dharmaraja – the God of Death – and Nachiketa – a smart young man. The more books I read on Spirituality – the mind starts seeing some patterns repeating in all these – be it Hinduism, Chirstianity, Buddhism… I am yet to read Koran or Islamic discourses – in my todo for this year.

15. The Secret of Secrets – by Osho



This is an audio compilation of Osho’s talks. His discourse derives from Tao and Buddhism. He makes controversial remarks – if one can ignore it – one can appreciate his philosophy. This is some 50+ Hours. I am half way through – I turn this on now and then. Will sail through 2020 also with this.

Comics

16. Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco

Riveting. I thought Comics was only for children, or adult children who dreamt of super heroes. Did not know this can be used effectively to portray the Croatia-Serbia conflict. How this little piece of land got cut off and how their inhabitants struggled for years. It will make one sad  and wonder why? Want to some day visit this place – hopefully it turns peaceful. Many times we read about car bombs going off or genocide happening – I really feel sad for the people going through this. The world depresses me.

Ciao.

Musings

Welcome Failure. Work towards a glorious failure

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I got this video forward on Whatsapp – by a Teacher giving advise to her kids – might be on graduation or a reunion. It was in Tamil.

Here is the gist of her talk which resonated with me.

“I wish you lot of problems. Life is not easy. I wish you failures. You might wonder how come I am wishing you failure. There is a reason.

Success does not teach you anything. Success puts you in a drunken state and you will settle for less.

Failures will keep pushing you forward.

Go after a bigger challenge. Bigger competitor.

You should fight big and fail. It is ok if you do not get the Trophy at the end but you should have fought hard.”

I totally agree with her.

If I brand myself a failure and say I keep searching for bigger and bigger battles to fail – how awesome it will be.

I have seen this from people with early success in life – the toppers from colleges.They do not take risks as they are afraid to fail. They are not ready to take a cut on their salary to work on a challenging project. Instead they are stuck at their current job – being paid well – but a boring job.

If you brand yourself as a failure, then there is no pressure in failing. This sets you free to go after risky battles.

Want to enter a territory with your product where you are going to be killed. So be it – give a fight. What if you survive?

Want to release a crazy feature which you believe will give 10x productivity – and only some customers will love, but majority might reject. So be it – build it. What if it becomes mainstream and majority would start using it?

Fight risky battles with no pressure of becoming a success. Then your focus is on fighting the battle and not the outcome. The outcome will come on how good you fight the battle – not by pressurising yourself that you want success.

It is a mind shift.

It is like a negative feedback. In control systems Negative feedback is what makes the system stable. Positive feedback makes it race and runs towards instability quickly.

Failure is like the Negative feedback. Success is like the Positive feedback.

If we can embrace failure – it is similar to negative feedback. It ensures stability. It will help us in focusing better on the problem and working on it.

If our end goal has to be success – we will not take the risks that are needed sometimes. It will put undue pressure on ourselves.

I embrace you failure.

Now I go conquer the world or might fail spectacularly.

gratitude, music

Thank you AR Rahman

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We were watching one of the live performances of Hotel California on YouTube. 


The boy was with me and we were seeing the crowd go crazy.


Being a responsible Dad have to use every opportunity to  show him the path. 


I told him, “I want you to be a great guitarist or musician and form a band like the Eagles. But on one condition.”


He asked what.


I said, “If you become a star, you are not supposed to get into drugs and commit suicide – because most musicians cannot handle the fame and fans and do stupid things.”


Pat comes the reply – “Nana, But not AR Rahman. I will be like AR Rahman.”


Thank you AR Rahman. 



Musings

Sikkim Tugs My Heart

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Our vacation revolves around school vacations. Last October 2018 during Dussehra I had planned a trip to Darjeeling. Booked tickets but people discouraged saying Darjeeling is over crowded and has lost its charm.

So changed plan to Sikkim and re-booked rooms in Gangtok ( pro tip : Agoda allows free of cost cancellation upto a certain point ).

Took Yeshwantpur-Howrah Duronto Express. Love long train journeys. Can sleep as much as you want and read as much as you want. I had off-lined a few movies in Prime – and family were entertained. I saw Dhalapathi with San – after 26 years – what a kick-ass movie. Last time I saw Dhalapthi was in my 10th standard summer holidays – a 2nd show that too in a movie theatre near Railway station. To kill time because we were to board the Cochin-Howrah express at 3:00 AM in Coimbatore. We were going to Cuttack, Orissa. The Howrah Connection!

Started Sunday 11:00 AM Bangalore. Reached Monday 5:00 PM Howrah.

We took a break. There are lot of trains to NJP – New Jalpaiguri. Could have booked a train for 8:00PM but we have a 60+ Young lady and a 10ish Old man.

Took the train Tuesday evening 5:00 PM. It was going to Assam, we got down at Jalpaiguri Wednesday 6:00 AM. Brushed teeth and we get out of the station.

There is a Pre-paid Taxi stand. Best is to go via this – there are lot of these Mahindra and Tata Sumo. They charge around 250 or 300 per head. It takes 4 – 6 hours to reach Gangtok from here by road. Entire way the beautiful greenish Theesta river accompanies you. Lovely site.

We break for breakfast on one of the road side dhabas. Momos are there everywhere. They have a healthy vegetarian offering called Thakkali thaali.

There is a simple alternative now – if you are short of time can take a flight directly to Gangtok – a new Airport is opened now. Otherwise on Train + Road it takes 2 nights and 2.5 days from Bangalore.

Notice the folded 10Rs. note – all cars have this!

Thakkali Thaali

At border they check for Indian identity. Foreigners are not welcome in this state. They have to register separately and more paper work for them. 

This is nothing for Bangaloreans. Last few kms took more than an hour. 

 Day 1 :

Immediately after checking in – via the hotel – gave aadhar copy, passport size photos for registration. This has to be done before 4PM – so they can get a pass for visiting Nathula Pass ( India-China Border ). Also one day of the week this is closed. Please check before making travel arrangements.

Mahatma Gandhi Chowk.Vehicle free street. Lot of shops and eateries and trinket shops. Nice place to hang out. The place looked so good they could have held a concert there. Then I later found – public speakers are banned in this state. Sikkim is unique in many ways. Kept uncovering interesting facts about this wonderful state.

No Vehicles for almost a km section. 

This is towards one end – half the road is for Pedestrians. 

Day 2 : 

We had to leave around 7:00ish. There is a ban on SUV kind of commercial vehicles from entering Gangtok during office hours – Being the capital + tourist place – it is seriously messed up.

There is a package. Nathula Pass, Baba Mandir and Tsongpo lake. Will be a full day.

Amit – our driver cum tour guide. These guys listen to Bollywood songs. We had a blast. Also Amit arranged for Jackets and gloves on rent for Rs.100 each.. so need not pack heavy duty stuff. These operators make some extra money on the side.

These trucks are from China. Trade happens via this pass. 

The border. There is a treacherous( explained below )  walk + steps to the top 

Treacherous walk. The altitude is (only) 14k Feet. [ Mt.Everest is 29k. Hence the only] The air is very thin. Since we were comfortably cruising in the car body did not adapt itself. So even if you take a few steps briskly Oxygen doesn’t refill quickly and you will get dizzy. Have to walk slowly and take deep breathes. Was weird at first. 
Photos are banned at the top. We can see the checkpost and Chinese guards on the other side. Indian side has lot of paintings bragging about our deep cultural heritage. Chinese was very bare bones. Also there were no Chinese tourists. Developed new respect for our Armed forces. They had to be here in such an inhospitable climate. I shuddered thinking of Siachen. 
Airtel does not work here. Only BSNL works. Note to self – Have to get a BSNL SIM card for travels. Has better coverage in remote locations. 
Also my phone connected to Chinese Network and picked its Time. It is 2.5 hours ahead of us. Interesting fact – China does not have timezone! How do they manage?! 

These 2 nut cases were from Jharkand. My kind of guys. Have to pull this off someday. We started making plans how to do a ride in our bikes. Fire lit in our hearts.

Baba Mandir

There is an interesting story of an enlightened Jawan. How this Jawan died in a water accident, he came in a dream of his friend and told the exact location to find his body. This shrine is in his honour.

Highlight here is at 12noon they play National Anthem and we all can sing together. San started crying here. It was an emotional moment.

Tsongpo Lake

It was just after 2pm and mist started enveloping the mountains.

Those Black Rocks are Yaks.

Day 3 : 

You can stop any small taxi ( Santos or altos ) and they will give you a 7point package for Rs.1000 for half a day. We decided to visit 2 places in the package – wanted to drink Sikkim deep.

Ranka Monastery

It is not one of the famous monasteries. Picked this because this was uphill ( downhill if we go then we had to spend 1 hour to enter Gangtok on the way back).

It was totally deserted. Had green tea in a cafeteria inside the monastery compounds near parking. Richard Gere, Aamir Khan – lot of celebrities have visited this place. Also they were serving Chicken moms – What Sacrilege!?

I did not take pictures in their sanctum. No one was there, I just opened the main door and walked in. It was like in some KungFu movies. Sat and meditated and studied all their paintings and the Beautiful Buddha statue and so many Gods ( later found out who they are all – another blog post ). It was a moment I will never forget – it was so quiet and magical.

It started raining today. Was thinking of the Jawans at Nathula pass.

There is a large Prayer Wheel in the middle

Next stop was the waterfall. Banjhakari waterfalls

The climb to the falls is well setup with Gazebos, and statues etc. The waterfall was a little disappointment – as it is little – but the entire walk was well made. We had lot of fun at the falls too – it was like walking in a Japanese Movie Set.

Got back, had a late lazy lunch and then took the Ropeway that runs across Gangtok.

Next day we returned to Siliguri, over night bus to Kolkatta.

While researching on Sikkim found that the Northern part of Sikkim is untouched. The place where Teestha originates is a site to behold.

Sikkimese are very kind and loving people. They speak with a smile and are very courteous. There is no fleecing in the taxis or the shops. There is a kind of gentle peacefulness in this place. There were absolutely no foreigners. All prices are moderate and not inflated like in other Touristy places.

I sound like I am marketing but found a totally different state of mind among Sikkimese.

Also I saw lot of posters for an Organic state. They are banning pesticides throughout the state.

My kind of place.

Will be visiting again definitely. Not done with this cute little state of ours. Might even live here for a few years – who knows!

Musings

2018 Books Round Up

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Here is my own Yearly Tradition!

Every year I start my first blog post on the books I read the previous year. Here is the list from 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 2017.

Here are the books that journeyed with me in 2018.

Tamil

  • Ponniyin Selvan – 1st Part

This is a must read for anyone who loves Tamil. My sister had gifted all the 4 parts and I had some false starts earlier. It was difficult to read at the beginning but the flow kicked in and I was reading at a good pace. The story and plot is intricate and thoroughly enjoyed it. Reading in one’s mother tongue is a totally enjoyable experience. 2019 planning to add more Tamil Titles to my reading list.

Fiction

  • Angels and Demons – Dan Brown

I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code and wanted a breezy read. So picked it up. Man it was exhausting. Story moves so fast and there is so much of information on European sculptures and churches. Good time pass. If I am going to visit the Vatican will re-read this book. Can enjoy the city.

  • Dawn of Wonder – The Wakening
The best book of 2018. Loved every moment of this. Eagerly waiting for the next part. It might be childish at places – but overall the book is brilliant. All the right elements are there – Adventure, Revenge, Love…
Productivity
  • Tribe of Mentors – Tim Ferris
 

I have lot of Gurus and one of them is Tim Ferris. Started reading it in a book shop for time pass, and ended up purchasing it. Full of tips, tricks, hacks from high achievers – entrepreneurs, musicians, olympic athletes. Loved the format of the book – classified into Healthy,Wealthy and Wise.

  • Talk like Ted
 

Read this book before our Annual Company wide Get together – Chaos 2018. Helped me focus my thoughts and keep my talk short. If you have a public speech coming up – read this book. Your audience will thoroughly enjoy your talk.

  • How to fly a horse – The secret history of Creation invention and discovery
 

It was a fun read. We are all creative and we should look to introduce creative methods / hacks in our day to day life and work – and somewhere a breakthrough might happen.

History

  • Innovators – How a group by Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
Journey from the first computer onwards. All the stories are there – Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Linus Torvalds, the pioneers of Chip Fabrication, how Internet came into being, Artificial Intelligence. If you are a worker of this new age ( Information Age ) – it is nice to know how this era came into existence.
Science Fiction
 
  • Iron Gold – #4 of Red Rising Series
This is a series I have been reading since 2016. The entire series is brilliant. Awaiting #5!
  • Ubik by Philip K Dick.
 
This is another classic from the author of Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep. A good portion of the story happens after the protagonists die. It is in an in-between state – where the living can still communicate with the dead. If you love Sci-Fi – this has to be in your reading list. Pure Awesomeness this is.
  • Hyperion by Dan Simmons
 
The plot is really good. 7 Pilgrims are on their way to Hyperion to their certain death. There is this creature – called the Shrike – The God of Pain – that does not obey Physics Laws and kills people left right and center. Each of the pilgrims narrate their story as they travel to the Shrike’s temple. One of the pilgrim’s – a professor is carrying his daughter who has a condition called Merlin sickness. Time travels backwards for her. It is very touching and this brought tears reading this part of the story.
  • Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
I had to pick the 2nd part in the series. Was so sucked into the plot. How it all unravels. Highly recommend these 2 books.
  • Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Humans kill themselves – the entire species – ( yes we are a talented race and we are idiots ) – save for a Space ship and another solo BioScientist stranded in a capsule orbiting a planet in a far away galaxy. The BioScientist injects the planet with an advanced Virus which helps evolve Monkeys into Humans at a rapid pace. There are no monkeys apparently in that planet – but the virus infects spiders. It is a fascinating journey how the spiders take over the planet and their interaction with the Humans.
  • A big ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White
 
Loved the imagination of this author. In the future people cast magic spells and shields. Fascinating read. They should make a movie of this – would be a fun watch.

Diamond Age



Another master piece from Nepal Stephenson. Difficult read but the joy is in the grind like his novels. There is an AI book – at the center of this story which can teach a little girl everything and grows along with her. One has to wonder at the breadth of Neal Stephenson’s imagination – the elaborate lengths he goes to describe the AI book and how it works.

Biography
  • The House that Jack Ma Built
 
How did this short puny little man become this super successful entrepreneur. Did he get favours from Chinese Govt? How did he build his empire – not one but 3 – Alibaba, TaoBao, Ant Financials. His philosophy and what makes him tick. Fantastic read.
  • Notes of a dream
The first authorized Biography of AR Rahman. It was 1992, I was studying for my School Board Exam. People were watching Oliyum Oliyum in the TV. I was a monk during the last few months – so did not bother with the movies / music. I was studying in the nearby room and heard something new – sounded like an Ad – and it was Chinna Chinna Aasai. It was love at first hearing – and there was no looking back. Grew with AR Rahman’s melody and beats. It was a nice breezy read. If you love the man, his music – you should read this book.
  • One Life to ride – A Motorcycle Journey to the Himalayas
 
A ride to Himalayas is the ultimate bike ride. That too solo – a level above. And that too in an age before Internet and Google – multiple levels above. This is a story by a Dentist from Pune. I think this ride happened before Kargil war. Interesting read.
  • The Monk of Mokha
If you love coffee you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It is about Yemeni coffee – how our hero – Mokhtar Alkhanshali – went from a doorman to the CEO of a company that imports Yemeni Coffee. His near death experience and single focussed mind. Irony is this was one of the last books I read in 2018 and immediately after that quit coffee temporarily starting this year – as an experiment to see if I can survive.
Spirituality
  • Awareness by Anthony De Mello
 
This book is written by a Jesuit Priest. Concepts are a mix of Eastern and Western philosophy. Superb light read. This might be the easiest and simplest Spiritual book I have ever read.
  • Teachings on the Bardo – Zurmang Gharwan Rinpoche
 
I picked this book for Rs.100 in a Sikkim Monastery. It has some crazy s*it in it. Sorry do not have any other way to describe this book. It is about the Bardo State – what happens when the soul transitions from Life to Death and Death to life. The sights a soul will see, the colors, the gods and devils that come to invite the soul to their lands, how to avoid the wrong choices that will make the soul be reborn as an animal or in lower dimensions – and which phase comes after how many hours / days all listed like a manual. Buddhism prepares you for death like no other religion. I have read the Tibetan Book of living and dead which is like a starter. The Bardo book goes very deep – it is the main course.
  • Direct Expressions – Namdrol Rinpoche
 
This is a free book you can pick it from ThekChen Choling in Singapore. A small but beautiful temple which is open 24×7. I was staying in a hotel nearby and ended up attending one of their English Prayer evenings – happens every Thursday evening. This Guru talks in a very simple manner and is very practical. A nice light weight introduction to Buddhism.
  • Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic – Osho
 
We only know about the controversies the media writes about Baba’s. They like to write sensational nonsense – that is what sells. Which the masses forward and laugh in Social Media. I had an incorrect impression of Osho earlier – not any more. His teachings, techniques were pretty good – more in tune with the Buddhist Philosophy I keep discovering. One of his meditation retreats the participants were to laugh all week, next week were to dig out the sorrow and bring it out, and third week spend in complete silence. Would love to experience this some day. As per the book Osho was poisoned by America – not sure if it is true – if it is – it is quite sad.
Thats all folks. Still having some unfinished books I have carried into 2019 – meet you in 2020 Jan with them.