Rang De… (The Color of…)

Poetry Part 1 March 29, 2007

I’m not really a huge poetry guy, but this short poem that Anamika picked up somewhere along the way on a postcard has always resonated deeply with me…

The story of my life

written in the

sands of time

buried in the

warm dunes

– how many more

caravans will

move on

without noticing

the faint shadow

this ripple creates.

- Satish Gupta

Let me know what you think about it!

The dilemna with stray dogs March 26, 2007

This piece had me giggling to no end….

Stray dogs

(P.S. Guess how many dogs there are in India? 100,000? 500,000? 2 million?

No, no and no. If you guessed 28 million, you’d be right!)

The Demise of the Morning Paper March 26, 2007

The blogosphere is buzzing about the future of the newspaper industry (here and here) — circulation is down, years of layoffs have really hurt the quality and depth of coverage (particularly local coverage), the papers have underinvested in technology and are left with archaic systems and terribly cluttered and unreadable websites, NO one is clicking on their non-contextual display ads and MANY PEOPLE are finding uber-effective classified alternatives like Craigslist.

I miss the feel of the old Sporting Green in the morning, but now I read SFGate every morning for free.  I’ve come to realize that I don’t read as many boxscores as I used to because they’re not as easily read on SFGate (and frankly it’s not as fun to peruse online as in the print edition). What’s worse (if you’re a Chronicle shareholder) is that it feels like even SFGate is starting to take a backseat in my morning reading routine to the high quality bay area sports blogs like Athletics Nation, Golden State of Mind, Fast Break (actually an SJ Merc blog but written by an everyday fan) and Niners Nation.   The community behind these blogs are more deeply knowledgable, passionate and more active than anything I get in the Chronicle, plus I can engage with them directly.  Check out the annual interviews Billy Beane gives to Athletics Nation, note how authentic, personal and insightful the content is, and then think of the last time you read something like that in your local paper.

It’s rough times for the newspaper industry, but I’m hoping they come to their senses and take advantage of the richness of the internet and use it to their advantage by posting full length interviews online, arming reporters with handheld digital videocameras and encouraging dialogue and a sense of community on their sites.  As an avid devourer of content, I am rooting for them because, hey, more great A’s and Niners content is a good thing.

Legging out a triple in the desert March 23, 2007

A dream from Saturday morning at Amit’s bachelor party in Vegas….

I’m up to bat at the kickball game.  And I really want to kick the sweatest kick possible. What is it? What IS it?  Oh snap, I’m going to wait for a slightly bouncy pitch, then kick it on the outside half of my right foot on the down part of the bounce, slicing it just inside the first base bag and down the right field line, rolling away from the desperately pursuing right fielder.  I bust out of the box, triple on my mind.  Half way to first, I’m thinking of kicking it into third gear, but damn it’s hot in Vegas.  And dusty. I round first and see the right fielder’s futile chase and decide to kick it into fourth, looking ahead to my third base coach.  Damn, third base is a long way away.  Are these extra long base paths?  I’m parched too.  And hung over.  Why the f*** did Akhil plan a freaking kickball game in the middle of Area 51??   I think I’ll stop at second.  And catch a cab back to the hotel….

Recovering… March 22, 2007

Bachelor parties in Vegas never get old, they just change their feel.  They used to be about the electricity of the moment, the excitement of the chase, the forming of a group identity.   And it was fantastic.

These days?  It’s about the escape from pleasantville, the redefining of one’s self so drastically versus every other normal day, the mischievousness and getting into trouble, and of course gambling with much higher stakes.

Sadly it’s also about taking off the costume at 1am on Saturday night instead of  7am, so that Sunday isn’t a writeoff when you return to pleasantville…

Inspired by John.. March 14, 2007

John Adams said to his son in 17XX, “Going through life without writing down your thoughts in a journal is like a boat skipping across the sea without creating a wave.” Or something like that.  Herein lies the inspiration for my blog….

Daughters rule… March 14, 2007

In the blink of an eye, Jiya grabbed my blackberry and tossed it into the sink with the water running.  I screamed, got angry, saw this little sad look on her face, then (in less than the blink of an eye) started apologizing to her and giving her kisses.  She knows not what power she wields….

A Native San Franciscan Indian American March 1, 2007

I originally thought I’d name this blog, my first real blog, with something related to identity. Identity is a current that runs through every facet of my life. Am I Indian? Am I American? Californian? (Na, San Franciscan is much closer….don’t really want to associate myself with SoCal.) Or forget race and location, maybe my primary identity is my job – which by the way I can’t even really bucket into a nice meaningful one or two word response like doctor or lawyer. What the heck does Value Engineering mean anyway? Or Business Development for that matter. But I digress….

Maybe my identity is centered around my family status – at last count, I’m a son, husband, father, brother, uncle and son-in-law. (BTW good luck trying to prioritize that list).

Friends? Such an important thing for me, that’s a (TBD)