Many thousand miles of travel - III

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Continuing the 2008 and 2007 tradition, here's the 2009 edition:

Jan: Hawai'i - probably my best vacation ever! Went to Oahu and Big Island. The beaches, the ocean, the volcano. Amazing. Hawai'i feels so spiritually uplifting. The people are so nice. There's peace in the air. There's nothing like it.

Mar/Jun: Washington DC. First to meet Guruji, next to do TTC! :-) I'm a YES!+ teacher now.

Sep: Univ of Virginia at Charlotesville and Shenandoah National Park. Was cold, rainy, foggy, but we ended up having a good time anyway! Shenandoah drive is awesome.

Oct: Fingerlakes region. Obligatory fall trip to see fall colors! This was a quick one though and we never ended up staying in Ithaca. Brilliant fall colors though.

Nov: Las Vegas. What a riot. Great trip, very memorable. Had so much fun, I don't want to go back again, coz it'll be hard to beat this trip! ;-)

Nov/Dec: India (Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad): 3 weddings. What fun. Met everyone I know and honestly, didn't feel like coming back. Explored South Mumbai and loved it!

Dec: Walt Disney World, Orlando. My first visit to a theme park! Was a lot of fun. New Year's is a great time to be there and enjoy the festivities!

Other trips: Bear Mountain, New York

Celebrating Ideas!

Friday, March 06, 2009

This blog post is inspired by an article from one of my favorite blogs.

And I would like to post something really interesting today: motivation and ability.

Motivation comes naturally in 2 cases: when you are new or when you see a huge gain. When you are new in a field, new in an organization, new in a team, you are highly motivated. It's obvious if you look at it the other way: you are trying out something new because you are motivated. You are full of expectations and have a strong desire to perform and succeed.

You are also motivated if you see a huge gain. Maybe at the end of the task, or maybe as a result of the task. But somewhere you know that you will get more than what you put in.

Ability also comprises of two parts: one is your knowledge and two your experience. The funny part is that when you are new to some task, you have motivation but almost no ability. You probably have prior experience or prior education which has convinced the leader that you will perform well in this task but you have yet to demonstrate the ability.

Now look back at a time when you quit a long running project (or a hobby/task). You clearly had a lot of ability. The only reason to quit is lack of motivation.

So to sum up:
In the beginning: high motivation + low ability.
In the end: low motivation + high ability.

Successful people understand and realize this fully. When they lose motivation, they try to develop it back, or they quit quickly. The trick is to quit quickly. Only you know yourself. Make the decision now. Do something new which motivates you. Don't fear the jump into the unknown. You have the ability already or you'll develop it along the way anyway.

Thoughts about The City

Thursday, January 29, 2009

I ♥ NY. But adjusting to NY and enjoying it is not easy. Not natural at all.

Here's a great article on NYTimes.com (where else ;): Newcomers Adjust, Eventually, to New York

I think the City has a mind of it's own. You can't have it on your terms. Exactly when you think that you are in control and have it all figured out, things can go wrong. If the City does not feel like amusing you, it won't! And no matter how much you fight, it won't budge. Money Quote from the article:

There also usually comes a time, early on, when newcomers must accept that the city is a power greater than they are.

And yet, this is the only city where while lazing at my friend's at 11:30PM my friend says: Let's get something to eat - I'm hungry. We walk down and there's a great place open right around the corner. (No, not a McDonald or some other chain, this is a proper good restaurant). We go, sit there for a while thinking what to order when Rita says: Don't they have fries? It was a classy Italian place, so the answer was unfortunately, no, they didn't.

We three look at each other and say, hmmm - so let's go get good fries! We hop into a cab, takes us 5 mins to get to Lucien which has some of the best fries in NYC (we always ask them to be made well done) and hang out there till 1AM. And when we come out, we still have options to go places, to have fun. The avenue looks like it's daytime. So many people on the street at 1AM!

Tell me any other city where you can do this. Not SF, nor London, nor Mumbai. The reason to love New York is that although it's a whimsical city with a mind of it's own, it has everything to offer and much more. If you play by it's rules, you'll have the most fun of anywhere else.

Another quote from the article:

Every day you encounter situations where you have to step out of your safety zone, and it’s really kind of a self-discovery experience

Many thousands miles of travel - II

Monday, December 29, 2008

Just like 2007 (see this post), I'm posting my 2008 travels:

January 08: India. And not just that, got married in India. :) If you ever have an option to get married anywhere in the world, choose India. It's amazing to be in the middle of a couple of thousand people when you get married.

February 08: St-Mathieu-du-Parc, Canada (near Montreal). The cold. The snow. The Guru. What else can I say? :)

May 08: Rocky Mountains & Arches National Park. Amazing trip with Smitha. Arches is so lovely. Rocky was cold. This is probably the only place I went to twice in two years! Yes, it's _that_ lovely.

July 08: St-Mathieu-du-Parc, Canada (near Montreal). The beauty. The Lake. The Meditations. The Guru. What else can I say? :)

August / September 08: Upstate New York. The ever-lovely Cornell, the ever-enchanting Ithaca Falls, the ever-beautiful wineries. The blue Seneca Lake and the intriguing Watkins Glen. The Corning glass factory and museum. We did it all. Also went to Vraj, PA Srinathji temple.

September 08: Las Vegas / Bryce Canyon / Zion. Amazing. Bryce Canyon is so delightful, and IMHO way better than Grand Canyon. The sunrise and sunset at Bryce is breathtaking. Zion was also beautiful. Las Vegas was exciting!! The Gondola ride at Venetian and Eiffel Tower at Paris are must do!

October 08: Vermont Fall Trip. The fall colors here are so unbelievable. It's like a painter has splashed some color here and there. The bouquets of yellow, red, orange and all shades in between are guaranteed to enchant.

November: LA - to meet our dear friend Viraj. Had coffee at Intelligentsia! I liked this trip to LA. Of course Santa Monica is impossible to dislike anyway! We also went to Encinitas to pay a visit to Paramhansa Yogananda's ashram (or whatever they call it). It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The California coast is a natural wonder in itself, and the spiritual energy at this place is guaranteed to stir your inner spirit. You feel the energy and the presence of an enlightened being there.

November: India Home food, rest and relaxation. Relaxing and nice trip to home, filled with love! (unfortunately, this was the same week as Mumbai attacks)

Stay tuned for more adventures in 2009!

List of good friends who've left NY grows longer

Friday, October 24, 2008

Is NY meant to be the city where good friends leave? :(

1. Aakash
2. Viraj
and now 3. Tom ...

Sigh. All good things in life must come to an end, I guess.

You will be missed Tom, you'll be missed a lot.
Guitar Hero,
coffee (especially Grumpy),
bridge (Mongolian Flannery is unforgettable),
go,
pumpkins,
Indian food (remember the bulk orders in 1440?)
and most importantly Faulkner ... the list is endless.

Life, probably, will never be the same.

Now this is commitment

Friday, September 05, 2008

Excellent article: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/05/grafter200605?currentPage=all

This is what the guy does: http://www.flickr.com/photos/edyson/46106499/

Fascinating, isn't it?

Met Paul Auster today!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wow! I got a copy of Paul Auster's latest book "Man In The Dark" when he came to talk here at Google. Later, he signed it for me. Now that's cool, isn't it? List of Paul Auster's books is here.

I spent two days learning and _living_ this ...

Thursday, June 26, 2008

This article sums everything up perfectly:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/66/mylife.html?page=0%2C0

(Hint: go to print version if you don't want to click on next page every now and then)

I just did a 2 day course where I learnt and lived this ... in a classroom with like minded people, this changes your life - visibly and forever.

My NY restaurant map

Friday, April 04, 2008

Alright, a lot of people have asked for it, and here it is: My personal restaurant map of NYC. These are the restaurants I want to check out. The ones I have checked out, I mark as green (like it) or yellow (OK) or red (avoid). The ones in blue are the ones I plan to check out sometime.

Of course, this omits a ton of restaurants I already like and I plan regularly. I will add them as I remember them. I will keep updating the map over time so keep checking often.

The good thing: ALL of them are veggie friendly, of course!

Feel free to suggest more in comments.

Click here to see my map


Other links on this blog related to food, etc:
Pizza like no other
China, Ghana and SoBro
Chaat at Gujju Restaurant

Two videos

Thursday, January 03, 2008

OK, you guys know that I don't really post videos on this blog, but I gotta make an exception for this hilarious one (_please_ watch it till the end for the punch line):




and this foot-tapping 'Gotta digg' song:



which is a symbol of the world we live in:

A video song
Regarding a website
Posted online on a video sharing site
Linked on a blog
Listened to and watched on a (i)phone (or computer if you are old school!)

... exactly what part of 'revolution' don't you understand?

The geek goes midnight shopping

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

I must say, my attitude towards shopping, clothes and fashion in general changed after I saw The Devil Wears Prada. Ever the geek uninterested in clothes and what I wear, I suddenly realized that there is actually something to it and is kinda an art form! The conversion was complete with a rite of passage a few days before Christmas ...

A couple of days before Christmas Eve was quite memorable. Me, Cathod and Rita did the unthinkable (well, at least for me): We shopped for the whole night. We entered Macy's at around 10 PM and came out at 8AM the next day. Can't believe it, but yes, we did it! So what did we really shop? Clothes for me, accessories for a bunch of people, sweaters for moms, Jeans, shoes ... :)

Now I'm not saying that I have completely changed or anything, but yes, my approach has definitely changed. Gone are the rags of yesterdays which I would happily wear out of the dryer. No more clothes which are 'ok fit' - now I will buy something which is a really good fit only. The credit goes in large part to my Rita as well. In fact, I think it would go wholly to Rita.

Here's to New York City and midnight shopping!

The tale of two subways

Saturday, December 15, 2007

New York and London - two cities which would die without their subways (tubes!). Here are some differences I noticed:

Frequency: Hands down London wins. A train every 90 seconds in rush hour. Wow!
Crowd: London is more crowded.
Cleanliness: London tubes are unbelievably clean! The tracks seem to be made yesterday. New York subways are notoriously dirty. Even the mice in New York subway are bigger than in London. I guess they are just Americanized!
Hours: London is a massive disappointment. The subways stop around 12:30 AM or so. That effectively puts an end to night life. Sigh! NY subways of course never sleep.
Fare: The tube is really expensive. At $2 per ride, NY is a bargain!
Express Trains: They are a boon in New York. There's no such thing in London, which means you have to visit every station along the route.
Ease of use: The tube has a slight advantage here. The touchless entry makes a lot of sense. I've seen many a frustrated card-swiper at NY unable to figure out what the exact speed of swiping should be. Also, your oyster card for the Tube can be recharged online. Nice.

The bottomline being, although the Tube is a better experience, you have to shell out more but even worse, the fact that it doesn't run round the clock dampens the fun.

Many thousand miles of travel

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Back to blogging after a long time. Let's see how long I can keep up ...

Can't help but look back at all the nature travel I did in 2007:

January '07: PCH 1, California : Call it by any name, it's the best road trip ever. PCH 1 is all you can ask for in a road trip - cute li'l towns (think Carmel-By-The-Sea), beautiful towns (Santa Barbara), and the fantastic road which winds through steep mountains on one side and oh-so-blue sea on the other. The Big Sur coast line is breath taking. Bixby bridge is awesome! An unexpected highlight: Seals! Ending in LA is another experience though. I can't wait to do this again!

March '07: Death Valley, California : Hottest, Driest, Lowest. This was so much fun ... terrible heat, but I will never forget Zabriskie Point, Devil's Golf Course, Badwater, Artist's drive ... it's another world. The best point hands down though is Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

June '07: Rocky Mountains, Colorado: about 8 hours before boarding the plane, me to my friend (who I was gonna join there) - "I should be flying to Denver, right?" That might give you an idea of how stressed out I was and how badly I needed this trip. And I had never thought Colorado would be so much fun! Did whitewater rafting for the first time ... thrilling! The rockies are so beautiful. Highlight: Pike's peak (both by cog railway and road)

July '07: Yellowstone, Wyoming (and Idaho and Montana): They don't say "This is the first and the best national park" for nothin'! Wild bison < 10 ft away from you? Check. Breathtaking lakes? Check. Hot springs of various colors and shapes and sizes? Check - everything from a notorious 2 ft spring to 150 ft high. Fabulous camping? Check. Highlights: I saw wild wolf, bear, elk, bison and numerous birds. The Grand Teton National Park is great bonus too.

August/September '07: Las Vegas/Grand Canyon/Yosemite: I can write reams about this. From the Sin City to the torrid Grand Canyon, it's a journey of showy flashy Vegas with fantastic fountains at Bellagio and nifty Ceaser palaces to the Grand Canyon - vast, empty and deep. Yosemite rocks. The sights are so wonderful! I can bet that every single person who has ever visited Yosemite has been impressed. Lonely Planet puts it best: "Yosemite is the Taj Mahal of all national parks".

November '07: Stay tuned for Shan's continuing adventures in Londonland!

Not to mention other small (but equally delightful) trips in this year: Niagara falls, Ithaca and Delaware water gap!

+++

This post is inspired by Tom's blog : http://existentialtraveller.blogspot.com/

Pizza like no other...

Thursday, December 21, 2006

After being dished some of the worst possible pizzas by a number of companies coming on campus for interviews, I vowed never to touch another slice of pizza again. I guess it takes a trip to Brooklyn to fix that.

So here goes - the list of the finest Brooklyn pizza I've had (in chronological order of discovery)

1. DiFara's: There simply can't be a better introduction to Brooklyn pizza than this. The train ride (Q train to Ave J) is long, and the wait at this small pizza joint can try anyone's patience - but believe me, it's entirely worth it! DeMarco runs a one old-man show at this old joint and dishes one excellent pizza pie after another 364 days a year (I've heard). Three types of cheese are imported from Italy every week to make the perfect toppings on a hand made dough and garden-grown and carefully picked tomatoes. There's magic in his hands. Every bite more delicious than the previous one ...

2. Fornino: The wood fired oven here bakes supreme pizza slices. Extremely accessible, I've found this place having the shortest wait. Nice decor, friendly waitresses coupled with yummy pizza will make your evening!

3. Grimaldi's: There's more to Grimaldi's than just pizza. The best way to make your evening is to get down at Brooklyn Bridge (4,5,6 trains) and walk across the magnificent bridge marveling at the sights of the city (and the Statue of Liberty far away). At the other end on the river bank lies pizza heaven called Grimaldi's. There's generally a wait of about 30 mins at this super-crowded joint, but pizza lover's don't mind that at all. The walk should've whetted your appetite enough for a whole pie! :)

4. Una Pizza Napoletana: Widely regarded as the best pizza in Manhattan, this place is every bit Manhattan-ish as compared to the above Brooklyn pizza joints. Expensive, sophisticated and highly pretentious (make sure you read their pamphlet to appreciate all their Italian ingredients), this is a good place to take someone special. The magic is in the salt. Really, shake the salt on your pizza. It's no ordinary salt, it's a special sea salt imported form Italy! Delicious pizza, completely fresh and made with no artificial ingredients whatsoever, you can eat as much as you want without getting the 'I am stuffed' feeling you normally associate with pizza.

5. Lombardi's: Very famous Little Italy pizza joint. Their margarita is to die for. Highly recommended!

6. Viva Herbal Pizza: This is a quirky pizza joint ... not only is it 100% vegetarian, it also has vegan pizza! It's a refreshing change and very healthy too!

Of course there are more to discover, but one thing's for certain - I'm a fan of pizza now! :)

Updates: Added 5 and 6 in Nov 07

A very nice article - The Tyranny of Choice

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Been a while since I posted something ...

Stumbled upon this excellent article - The Tyranny of Choice

Nicely deals with why too much choice and the maniacal need to find the best deals actually makes you unhappy.

Happy Thanksgiving and oh yes, happy Black Friday - may you find the best deal - that of contentment. :)