Lego Landscape

Visit to the BrickFair 2010 in DC was indeed a remarkable experience - a platform where one could see a combination of a variety of Lego products. From optimizing the company's products to intelligent use of simple technology and more importantly, the pure stimulation of effort driven by passion. Below are snapshots of some of such a drive -

More pictures can be viewed here.

An Offline Experience

A typical day that begins with checking the weather forecast on iphone to friends' mood swings on facebook to updated news on twitter and those multiple inboxes and then to repeat the series every hour or so – this digital age does keep me informed no matter how mindless these unfettered browsing might sound at times. I do love the internet – feels like I am connected to the world at large and while I may be a miniscule part of it, I love being a part of it; love that it keeps me informed, in touch and love the fact that everyday I do learn something new. Yet, I wonder if this orgy of digital routine is turning into a growing addiction and that I am actually idling away my time in trivial pursuits. So yesterday, I took the day-off off the internet and leapt into the offline world. This meant no online applications on the phone, no gmail, no twitter, no facebook, no blogs, no TV. The computer was only limited to work-related emails (aka outlook) which could not be forsaken in this economy and to make it easier on A, I did owe him two calls – one when I reached work and the other when I was leaving from work as an assurance that my water had not broken yet.

Considering this offline experience was for but a few hours only (one day ain’t much of cleansing the digital delight), in all honesty, the hour clock seemed to be stuck for long. I mean, I wondered what exactly I would do at work – like the times when you switch between videos windows or those few minutes when I check on tweets while some hideous sized files simply take their own time to open. Instead, not being able to do so gave me a bit of an opportunity to be proactive and also be able to delegate work hours without dawdling.

The day, after all did go by in some mindful activities, a positive feeling towards the end that it did belong to things I wanted to do rather than being slipped into the mundane mechanics of the digital world I so love to be a part of. I also realized that more often than not, with this monotonous browsing I got a lot of information on a variety of things, people, places and still, its meaning was lost in the midst of precision. While I missed out on reading some of the daily blogs, checking my daily posting of C&H and the fact that my iphone kept showing 100 odd unread mails was enticing, I was glad that I felt like leaving them alone.

In this day and age, we do have numerable tools to communicate, to stay informed and they are only multiplying by the day. It somehow breeds in us a sense that we ‘ought’ to be in constant ‘refresh’ mode that there is some urgency to it and we better get to it. But it also means taking the time out to filter the information absorbed into our brain and stocking them in its various compartments in a manner that can eventually be translated to true knowledge. Yesterday was a realization that I do need to take such recesses and that such ‘urgencies’ can wait indeed!

Will I do it again? I do not know that but what I do know is I now have the power to switch on and switch off this digital world when I want to.

Colors of Chaos -splendid!

Just spotted a magnificent semi-circled rainbow on our way home from the metro. Wish I had my SLR to capture this moment, nevertheless, a breath-taking view that my iphone 3G merely attempts to shoot. Sharing some of these shots -

It was beautiful to see how everything beneath this miracle shone to glory to protect a world of its own.

"Life is indeed like a rainbow. You do need both, the sun and the rain to make its colors appear"

Name Game

Of all things challenging that come as part of parenting, the one to top my list right now is the task of naming my child. Maybe that is because it is the first official act to be committed by us and hence that extra precaution. Yet, in all earnest, this one for sure is to the child's detriment and no matter how hard you whack your brains to ensure the name is most suited to your child and one that will not be mocked at, (s)he is one day going to ask you, "What made you name me __________?" implying, "What were you thinking?"

So as parents, A & I (it is weird how suddenly our perception is transforming from 'being the chid' to 'being the parent') would have to do our due diligence which so far for me has merely involved a reference check to see if that name is available to open a gmail account (an easy substitute for a bank account I'd say!). That part, what does one look for in naming their child? How does that shape a child? Or does it?

According to this article on CNN about a month ago, "names have consequences for a person's job, residency and school grades". If we do go by this, then it automatically adds more pressure to ensure that our kid is not overlooked or considered non-achiever due to his/her boring name - something shortsighted by the parents is it? So in this age of obsessive-compulsive parental acts, we are indeed led to get into the rut of deciding a name that positively, and with all certainty, influences our child's future accomplishments. Easier said but is it required? And what about the gut-feeling that follows with certain names?

And if simply naming wasn't sufficient, there is also an increasing trend of adding a flavor to it - by 'spelling' it differently. So that means, they would be left with clarifying over and over again, to the likes of "It is A-N-O-U-S-H-K-A and not A-N-U-S-H-K-A". Would altering the spelling of the name make the child's personality 'unique' and 'exceptional'? Isn't it asking too much of the child when giving them names that already symbolize such 'uniqueness'? I am not as opposed to such trends, infact, it is quite exciting to go over the whole gamut of naming industry and more importantly, it tells you a little about the pride and love that parents instinctively feel towards their little one.

Yet I doubt it can have any predictive powers over the child. And while I will only get one shot at painting this empty canvas with my choice, I hope it to be simple, pure and uncomplicated.

The Magic of RAHMAN

"If music is food for the soul, then my soul just binged thanks to Mr. Rahman!"
That was A's tweet last night after being mesmerized to the tunes of 'Chaiya Chaiya', 'Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera', the oh-so-popular 'Jai Ho' and what better treat than a tribute to the King of Music with a rendition of 'Black or White' by our very own Mr. Allah Rakha Rahman.

The beat, rhythm and heart-rendering music all led led to a ballistic audience at the Patriot Center here in Virginia and goosebumps could be felt throughout the event. The 'Jai Ho Concert: Journey Home World Tour' started bang-on with Rahman right there - no drama, no show, no lip-sync but straight two odd hours of his voice along with a crew to sing along, dance along and provide a great orchestra to this complete desi spectators. One hit after another without any break kept us all enthralled - variety of singers performed to Rahman's tunes and we simply loved the way each of the crew performing on various instruments was given his/her due credit - special kudos to the violinist!

Some of the exceptional moments were when, during the performance of 'Lukka Chuppi', the presence of Lata Mangeshkar was brought in - close call to a human hologram and simply awesome:



And the percussion of violin, flute and table during 'Barso Re Megha' was pure delight to the soul -



Unfortunately my camera batteries died down and hence could not capture some of the other performances - one where all singers presented a fusion of songs, the 'Jai Ho' act, a melody of religious cum festive songs, the way Rahman started singing the song 'Humma Humma' with the letters HUMMA lighting up on the screen in perfect synchrony and the adrenaline rush during the finale act of 'Maa Tujhe Salaam'.

All in all, this was one humble, splendid concert and despite the fact that I could not related to some of the non-hindi songs, in the end all that mattered was the magic that A R Rahman created around him with his sheer Music.

Long Gone...but Back!

A complete and utter shame that I haven't blogged in a long long time. I had actually resolved to 'write' quite a bit in 2010 but the year is half-way through to all that has transpired till now. To think of it, I have indeed missed out on a lot - Indian escapades, snowmageddon in DC, the IPL controversy, Icelandic ashes, job uncertainties, home-coming of Jessica Watson, general reflections on fairness, making change, life, death, family and to top it all, the on-going perspectives (newly acquired) on venturing the parental journey in a few months' time!

My saving grace so far has been the fact that not many visit this blog and with such lags, would be duly justified; yet, I am aware that all that is ever on the web is there to stay on a permanent basis so I rather keep myself on the right foot. My main aim of starting this blog was to express thoughts that would help me sharpen my thinking, provide positive reinforcement and that, more than the readers, it would enable me to get insights into all that I write about. So to all those who have occasionally glanced through this page, I do apologize for such a lag and hope to not let it occur in the future.

When I started this blog, I began by proclaiming myself to be a destiny's child. While I still strongly believe in being one, I often wonder whether I am purely a result of my own destiny or do we drive ourselves through free-will to get at where we are? This has been an age-old dialogue with never a black-and-white response yet I have heard it many a times that 'if we do not decide what we want to do (or do not want to do), someone else will probably end up deciding for us'. This and much more to blog about with the hope that what I write would eventually emerge into a platform for insight, perception and dialogue.

Maximum City

Sealink in the making

Haji Ali - at Sunset