Social Graces

A few important reminders: I've met some absolutely crass, boorish people who don’t follow any of these social graces .This is for them: ( borrowed from a childhood friend who often does things very right 😉)

1. Don't call someone repeatedly if they don't pick up; assume they have something important to attend to.

2. Return borrowed money before being asked; it demonstrates integrity. The same applies to borrowed items like umbrellas,books, pens, and sundries 

3. Avoid ordering the most expensive dish when someone treats you to a meal.

4. Refrain from asking awkward questions like marriage status, having kids, or financial matters; it's not your concern.

5. Always hold the door open for others, regardless of their gender or age. Kindness in public doesn't diminish you.

6. If a friend pays for a taxi, offer to pay next time.

7. Respect differing opinions; what's a 6 to you might be a 9 to someone else. Second opinions can be valuable.

8. Allow people to express themselves without interruption; listen and filter their thoughts.

9. If teasing someone isn't enjoyable for them, stop and avoid repeating it.

10. Express gratitude when someone helps you.

11. Give compliments in public and offer criticism privately.

12. Avoid commenting on someone's weight; instead, say they look fantastic.

13. Don't swipe left or right on someone's phone when they show you a photo.

14. When a colleague mentions a doctor's appointment, express concern for their well-being instead of prying into their personal matters.

15. Treat everyone with respect, regardless of their position; rudeness isn't impressive.

16. It's rude to stare at your phone when someone is speaking to you.

17. Only offer advice when asked.

18. When reuniting with someone after a long time, avoid asking about their age and salary unless they bring it up themselves.

19. Mind your own business unless you're directly involved.

20. Remove your sunglasses when speaking to someone on the street; it shows respect and allows for eye contact, which is important.

21. Avoid discussing your wealth in the company of those less fortunate, and be sensitive when talking about children around those who can't have them.

22. After reading a thoughtful message, express gratitude by saying, "Thanks for the message."

Remember, showing appreciation is a simple way to receive what you desire.

Coming Soon - The Maritimes Summer of 21

Hello there, Staying home the last 18 months with all our outings in this beautiful country restricted to a once a week hurried and sanitized trip to the grocerer. This was coming especially with the eligible in the family getting our mandated two jabs. So, as we fold the maps, organize the bookings, load up the car and strike off the to-dos before cranking up the engine, here it is...Coming Soon! Our Summer road trip to the Canadian maritimes across Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia .Hopefully, I will find time to record this trip at least with some pictures - And, just like that we are on our way to everywhere!

 

The Route

Mississauga,ON --> St. Eulailie,QB --> Moncton,NB --> Charlottetown,PEI --> Cavendis,PEI -->Moncton,NB --> Cape Bretton,NS-->Halifax,NS-->Montmagny,QB--> Mississauga,ON

Le plus beau voyage c'est celui qu'on n'a pas encore fait

The simple rules of the Game

An old song to feel positive

The moon belongs to everyone
The best things in life are free
The stars belong to everyone
They gleam there for you and me
The flowers in spring
The robins that sing
The sunbeams that shine
They're yours, they're mine
And love can come to everyone
The best things in life are free
Honey, the moon belongs to everyone
You know the best things in life are free
And the stars, they belong to everyone
They're shining up there for you and for me
The flowers in spring
The robins that sing
The sunbeams that shine
They're yours, they're mine
And love can come to everyone
The best things in life are free
The best things in life are free

CFTRI Mysore, An Institution, so revered...

All of my formative years were spent attending school spending after school hours at the Central Food Technological Research Institute campus in Mysore. This large wooded campus housed my school in addition to my dad's workplace where he spent his entire career in his lab reading,researching and experimenting. Spending 8-10 hours each day schooling,swimming and playing Tennis and Table Tennis at  this campus influenced a lot of my own love for the outdoors (a privilege if you grew up in Indian cities) while teaching us a few life skills in a tropical forest (yes, we had a few acreage of dense forest cover adjoining our school campus with a lot of  wildlife and very old trees. This campus was a gift to the country by the benevolent Maharaja of Mysore in 1948 which Jawaharlal Nehru accepted on behalf of the government of India. Anyone who has had a chance to visit or experience this prestigious institution will probably agree with me about the beautiful environment this campus creates to nurture science and creativity. It is also worth remembering the vision our founding fathers and the Maharaja had towards institution and nation building that was evident in their thoughts,deeds and actions. I have been impressed by HH Maharaja Sri Jaya Chamaraja Wodeyar's ( A well rounded personality with a fine flair for science, arts and literatur) speech (reproduced below) on the occasion of Opening of CFTRI,Mysore

Speech of His Highness Maharaja Sri Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar Bahadur, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Mysore, on the occasion of the Opening of the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore.

Saturday, the 21st October 1950 at 5-30 p.m.

HONOURABLE SRI RAJAGOPALACHARI, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

I FEEL it a privilege to preside on this historic occasion when the auspicious ceremony of formally inaugurating the Central Food Technological Research Institute will be performed by one of the makers and leaders of Independent India, the Honouiable Sri C. Rajagopalachari.

I am indeed happy that this Institute is located in Mysore, and this feeling is born not from any sense of narrow provincialism, but out of a realisation of the service we owe our motherland and the opportunity that the location of this Institution here has given us to render some measure of that service in a special and more intimate manner. Our thanks are due to the Government of India and my Government for this achievement which, on merits and from the point of view of the efficiency and future development of the Institute, has received the approval of the savants concerned. We are under a special debt of gratitude to the Honourable Prime Minister for the keen personal interest he has always taken in the advancement of science and applied sciences' in our country and in this Institute in particular. We cannot forget how he did us the honour of coming over to Mysore and receiving in person the Cheluvamba -Mansion for the location of this Institute.

I do not wish to dwell on the technical aspects of the work of the Institute, the tasks in which it is engaged and the problems which it will attempt to solve. The Annual Report and other papers published in this connection will give full and impressive information on these matters.

Food, clothing and housing are three of the basic necessities of life. The importance of food cannot be overemphasized in a poor under-nourished country like India. The solution of these problems is as important as maintenance of our national security; and, in fact, security and national progress are inter-linked. They are two facets of the same reality which constitutes the fullness of our life and its uninterrupted progress to higher, and yet higher, levels.

This Institute is one amongst the many enterprises that are evidence of the innate constructive genius of our Nation. Our Government, since the advent of Swaraj has been trying to liquidate the arrears of centuries in the matter of scientific, industrial, and material progress. Think of the many research laboratories it has organised; of the many dams and reservoirs it has planned for the conservation of waters needed, in our dry and droughty land; of the many power stations that are in the stage of planning or actually under construction for the improvement of the economic condition of our people ; of the encouragement it has given to ship-building ; and of the many research laboratories—Pure and Applied—it is establishing all over the country and the stimulus and support it has given to research and creative activities generally in a number of University centres. History finds few parallels for such a record of constructive power and effort.

If only the situation from the point of view of peace—internal and external—had been happier and less exposed to possible storms, we could have concentrated, as suits our racial bent, on schemes of prosperity. But alas, the skies not only over the frontiers of our own land but over the world at large, are still overcast, and we can only hope and pray that they will clear to give us a very long spell of assured peace and unassailable security.

Our people, generally speaking, are excessively conservative. Under all the circumstances of their historical background, it could hardly be otherwise. It is only recently that a new life and a new spirit, a new outlook and a new activity, have sprung up and are beginning to spread amongst the masses. So, when substitutes for rice or for milk or for any of the foods we have been accustomed to, have been discovered, the people at large are apt to be very reluctant to utilise such products, no matter how convincingly their value has been proved scientifically. There is therefore a call on the educated people and the upper strata of our society to set an example by betaking to such products themselves first and openly. Conduct spreads by conduct, and leadership in thought must be sustained by leadership in action, for social conduct flows like the purifying and fertilising Ganges from the heights to the plains below. The educated classes have thus an. imperative obligation to see that their ways of life are conceived and directed by social objectives and values.

Our students are sensitive to the call Of the Nation and of Patriotism. It seems to me that there could hardly be better material for the propaganda which will surely be needed by this Institute (and its branches and affiliations to be organised in due course) than that which the colleges and college hostels of our country will afford. Considering the short time that has elapsed since the foundation of this Institute and the inevitable initial difficulties in gathering the necessary personnel and material, putting up additions and alterations to the buildings and fitting up the laboratories, we may perhaps feel satisfied with the progress so far achieved both in organisation and in functioning, but I do fervently hope that in the coming years its progress will be striking and on an ever-ascending scale. 

It is indeed our good fortune that today Sri Rajagopalachari will he performing the inaugural ceremony of this Institute, and in that act will be giving it the inspiration and strength so necessary to its healthy growth. Could there be any finer example of service to the country than that set by our beloved Rajaji who, having crowned a great political career by occupying the highest position in our Nation, that of Governor-General, did not rest on his laurels, but considered it his duty to continue to strive in that service in the Cabinet of the Honourable Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, To my mind that noble act in itself illustrates how, under Independence, function has a far higher value and attraction than position. I remember reading in the History of Greece of Epaminondas who was Commander-in-Chief of the Boeotian Army; but who, when he had to relinquish that position, rejoined the army as a private soldier. In a similar way, Rajaji has set an example of patriotic duty that all should emulate but which, perhaps, none could excel. He has shown that, under Independence, function is more than position and service more than career. 

I have now much pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, in requesting the Honorable Sri C. Rajagopalachari to inaugurate the Central Food Technological Research Institute and to launch it on its uninterrupted and unlimited course of research, discovery and invention, redounding to the material betterment of the Country and its strength. 

Growing up in Mysore

This article is a reproduction of many a forward on my WhatsApp messenger. Nostalgia and nothing else each time I read it. Thought of saving it here for posterity.

Mysore or Mysuru, cannot be experienced in holidays or weekends. Like a creeper growing and encircling the bark, you have to live, and grow with Mysore to experience it. You have to be with the ajjis who have seen you from the time you were soooo small, where the maid who works in your house is your family maid, your ajji had “recruited” her mother.

When you go on an evening walk, and the pujari of the Ram Mandir, stops and chats with you, and moves on saying there is a puja at 5 next morning, that’s Mysore for you.

When you walk a little ahead and the librarian says he has the latest copy of “Kasturi” or “Mayura”, that’s Mysore for you.

When the milkman sees you on a walk, and delivers an extra half litre without being asked, that’s  Mysore for you.

Mysore is when you board a bus at the bus stand and conductor-uncle gives you a ticket without asking. Mysore is when you collect little red ‘gulganji’ seeds on your way back home from Kukkarahalli Lake.

Mysore is when you come by the Tipu Express, and you find someone going in your direction to drop you off without hesitation.

Mysore is when elephants are marched in from the forests for Dasara.

Mysore is when the English movies are only at Rajkamal. Or Sterling.

Mysore is when you wait for your copy of Star of Mysore,Mysuru Mitra or Sadhvi

Mysore is when you look for your KEB uncle to book tickets at Woodlands.

Mysore is when there are student body elections in Sarada Vilas. Mysore is the eternal SJCE-NIE feud. Mysore is when Jayciana is in full swing.

Mysore is when you got your project report bound at Venkateshwara Binders in Saraswathipuram.

Mysore is having grape juice at RTO Circle.

Mysore is buying vegetables at Agrahara. Mysore is buying plantain leaves in Nanjumalige, savouring the aroma of the agarbathi factory behind.

Mysore is eating ice-creams at Phalaamrutha or Penguin. Mysore is eating dosa at GTR or Mylari Hotel. Mysore is having biriyani early in the morning, near St. Philos Church. Mysore is drinking sugarcane juice near Kukkarahalli Lake. Mysore is munching corn-on-the-cob in the Palace foreground. Mysore is masalpuri at Ballal Circle and Shetty churumuri.

Mysore is when I grew up in Mysore. My Mysore.

Good Bye eBay India

A Trillion Dollar testimony

Apple this week achieved a milestone that no corporate had achieved so far when it became a trillion dollar enterprise. Garage start-upto greatness in precisely 42 years and a vision to do the right things and deliver  products that are awaited year after year by an aspirational consumer base. Productization has been the cornerstone of this journey right from designing the core product, packaging and user literature - all top class and most of us in the IT product and services industry have struggled to achieve but with mixed success. Design and a functional one along with the focus on exclusivity in positioning every product is in my view what makes Apple sell their devices at a Priceline that many cannot afford yet most decide to buy.  A $1000 phone is no longer something successful executives carry but could be seen in the hands of millennials which explains the popularity and the value people associate with the brand. Personally I would like to see similar sentiments in the mechanical wrist watch industry that the Swiss have dominated by their unparalleled design and precision engineering
After all anything that's small, designed and engineered well is a joy to behold and treasured for life!

Spam your customer

My day job involves helping my customers enhance the shopper and engagement experience of their customers when they shop online or at their stores. A lot of effort and resource is invested by my customers to understand as much as possible about their customers through intelligent analytics, personalized offers, understanding the customer preferences and customizing offers that suit individual tastes, choices and budgetary considerations. Data is right at the centre of all these initiatives and often forms the core of their marketing and promotional strategy. Typical sources of such data collection are social media streams, feedback surveys, and transactional data from the multiple channels that customers use to communicate with the brand. This, you can probably imagine has shifted the power of control from the business owners to the customer.

I have been involved in testing data analytics of various hues and complexity for about 18 years now and the journey that began with Excel based analytics tool that could do everything you needed to do back then viz. summarise, visualise and manipulate data as part of basic day to day analytics. With data becoming more valuable and an expensive commodity that many enterprises run on today, the need for tools that can analyse this data providing you the right context and knowledge required to address a business problem.  I have since spent much time working on architecting and testing solutions using IBM Cognos, Splunk, SAP BO, Apache Spark, SAS Enterprise Miner and Visual Analytics and Tableau for retailers, consumer goods, Digital marketing companies and High street banks and Insurance companies

After many years in this industry, I often reflect on my own experience as a customer and how my data is being used by the numerous businesses that have almost unrestricted access to my data all the way from a simple cookie on my browser or that a data broker might have collected and shared with digital marketers. A recent instance of usage of this data triggered a number of questions in my mind. Recently my  mobile service provider of nearly 20 years sent me a barrage of text messages luring me with an offer of a chance to win a possible trip to Goa (an exotic seaside location in India) and a hundred thousand rupees along with gold (yes!) thrown in if I subscribed to a caller tune service (A caller tune service is fairly popular in India where subscribers can choose what music/song your caller can listen to until their call is answered) – Nothing wrong with the service as such. However what baffles me is the fact that after 20 years of providing me a mobile telephone service, how much of my needs does my service provider understand when they flood me with such offers – For one, I could do with international roaming and extra mobile data that helps me conduct my business when traveling and equally importantly be connected with my family. Now, this would be really clever if only they understood my needs from the data from my service usage every time my phone recognizes a foreign mobile network when I am outside my city, state and country over trying to induce me into buying a service that I or my callers would ever appreciate .

So why does this not work as envisioned – Are all the intelligence built around these technologies proving to be an irritant? I would tend to argue that there has not been sufficient effort to understand the human aspect of data analytics as it is too tempting to believe that numerical science over human fallibility and even data can be subjective. So a 40 something mid-management professional would need something more relevant than machine driven ‘artificial’ intelligence. In the meantime, just call me and ask!

 

Gandhi would have been unimpressed

I have now worked and lived in Britain for a full two years and have taken a liking for everything and anything that has a link to the erstwhile empire and particularly anything remotely related to my homeland, India. The Parliament Square in London now has a statue to honour the Mahatma. Call it mature politics or simple admiration of a man who represented a nation that was once oppressed. Britain  honored the Mahatma with a 2.75 metre statue which was unveiled at  the Parliament Square by Mr Arun Jaitley in the presence of Mr David Cameron and Mr Amitabh Bachchan. The statue was apparently inspired by a photograph of the Mahatma outside 10, Downing Street in 1931. This is significant when many believe that the passion, conviction and the inspiration from modern politics is all but gone.
Watching the unveiling of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, home of his one time oppressors, one could only marvel at the undiminished strength of the message that is his legacy. I am looking to get to Parliament Square soon to see Gandhi and Churchill see eye to eye!
Thanks to everyone who made this happen and reminding this generation of the greatness of Gandhi and his message to mankind. I am impressed!

Stupor wisdom

30 Good Laughs

A good 30 laughs at Dilbert's one liners:

1.  I say no to alcohol, it just doesn't listen.
2.   A friend in need is a pest indeed.
3.   Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.
4. Work is fine if it doesn't take too much of your time.
5.   When everything comes in your way you're in the wrong lane.
6.   The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train..
7.   Born free, taxed to death.
8.   Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.
9.   Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.
10.   Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.
11.   If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you'll have trouble putting on your pants.
12.   It's not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.
13.   I love being a writer... what I can't stand is the paperwork..
14.   A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.
15.   The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was the genius.
16.   The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.
17.   In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?
18.   If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one?
19.   Beat the 5 O'clock rush, leave work at noon!
20.   If you can't convince them, confuse them.
21.   It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end.
22.   I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
23.   Hot glass looks same as cold glass. - Cunino's Law of Burnt Fingers
24.   The cigarette does the smoking you are just the sucker.
25.   Someday is not a day of the week
26.   Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
27.   To Err is human, to forgive is not a Company policy.
28.   The road to success.... Is always under construction.
29.   Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does Milk.
30.   In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don't need it .

Moods of our lad

Mr. Lungi - I look cool don't I

With Nanda Ajji, Wonder who is teaching whom

In our language, we call him a 'Kapee'

Poser

Bob thei builder

With Amamma at Bannerghatta National Park

Silly fella

At Aniruddha's Birthday

Voice Biometrics

Read this morning that the current  hot technology is to pioneer voice biometrics where one can use their voice as a spare key, talk their way through security and sign contracts vocally. Is Ventriloquism the  skill i need next to stay relevant in this knowledge intensive industry? As a software tester, I already feel like a parrot trying to emulate. A Nerdy feeling indeed!

Loom bands and the Inner Child

Pradyumna, our 2.5 year old son is not so picky about what he eats, unlike like most 2.5 year old are. He likes most of the things that Ranjini or my mother serve for lunch or dinner.Pradyumna is now developing a certain affinity to the screen and can happily be glued to the telly or the laptop for hours.
Samiksha, our eight year old loves art projects. She draws and paints and cuts paper and sticksthings together. She doesn’t like the cleanup part,staying away from the telly though, and will often get quite upset during that part.Samiksha also doesn’t like going to bed in time or eating her veggies either. She thinks she should stay up quite a bit later than she does and eat selective vegetables and often ensures that we know about it through lots of grumbling before mealtime and bedtime.
Each of them have strong impulsive desires. There are things that they should be doing and there are things that they want to be doing. When these things don’t overlap, it becomes very difficult very quickly. Fortunately, Ranjini reads these signs much better than I and therefore the situation is normally well under control
They want to justify doing the things they want to do and, at the same time, justify not doing the things they don’t want to do. Both Samiksha and Pradyumna eventually do what we want them to do.

In other words, they understand that doing the thing that isn’t enjoyable and they’re often driven by impulse, and that impulse almost always steers them to whatever choice is most enjoyable at that time

I understand that impulse.Do I deeply understand it?
Even now, it’s sometimes tempting to spend money with reckless abandon on whatever it is I want (although not always for myself) at the moment. Why would I otherwise buy 3000 rubber bands for my daughter or a 100+ Staedtler pencils(of course Tesco had an unbelievable  markdown) or the two Hornby Train sets. It’s tempting to skip out on cycling on the weekends or to eat a tasty but unhealthy meal. It’s tempting to put down a challenging but thought-provoking book and pick up a page-turner(took me more than half a dozen attempts before I could get to the back cover of Dr Taleb's 'Black Swan'. It’s tempting to not “bank” some articles for the career upskill and instead follow near and not so near ones on fb or whatsapp
That impulse is the exact same thing I see on the face of my children when they’re caught between a good choice versus a happy choice. I know that they’re shaping up to what it takes to be a mature and hopefully rational person who can control their urges– but they’re still kids - well their dad is one too..

I’m an adult, of course, but that child is still alive inside of me.Some say conclusively that you try to do as an adult what you couldn't achieve in your childhood. Childhood deprivation is also attributed to this. I had a good childhood with our parents always trying to get us what we deserved in those technology starved days. The friend network was stronger which meant access to a friend's Atari or Nintendo,Archie Digests,tonnes of Amar Chitra Kathas and the never ending inflow of Russian publications that made their way to our home.One of the sadder part of growing up being Navakarnataka publications no longer have anything to do with Moscow. Even now, it’s that child that shouts at me to do whatever it is that’s most fun in the near term without thinking about the future.That explains my rather careless spending on all matters philately, expensive entries to museums and a general splurge on travel.I have temporarily fixed the latter urge by getting myself a yearly membership to the National Trust that allows me free entry to conserved properties across the UK. Is it worth? Probably not as I would not be able to distinguish between two noblemen from the Victorian era whose lavish lifestyles I pay to see in the form of conserved mansions,estates etc. It is this inner child that pushes me to spend money,sometimes needlessly because I’ll enjoy whatever I buy now.Did I tell you that I am, these days scourging sunday markets and car boot sales these days trying to find a bargain Kodak Vest Camera that was also called the soldiers' camera from the 1913-1920 war era. Can I leave without it? Absolutely!!
I am well aware that these pursuits could all be worthless and only a self reminder of containing such impulses can help.Sometimes, I listen to that inner child. It can be fun and very soul satisfying. That inner child is impulsive and he’s going to lead me toward something that’s enjoyable right now. Hopefully the adult in me knows that I’m going to listen often and has prepared a budget that allows for some “free spending” once in a while
So, over the years I have learnt that never, ever shut out that urge to spend/buy. Instead, learn when you can listen to that impulse and know what you can do in advance to make some impulsiveness possible.Hopefully I listen to the inner call  :-)

The Cotswolds - Area of Natural beauty

The Bridge, Bradford On Avon

One of the many joys of a consulting assignment is the joy of traveling to newer places. It was the Rhine Valley in Germany before I came to England and before that the Yorkshire Dales again in England and even before that was a good 3 months at the big apple communting between exchange place and 34th Street,NYC.

This assignment brings me to to South-Western England to the county of Wiltshire and specifically to the town of Swindon. I was destined to be in Swindon for 2 full years more so probably because my providence decided to link me to this town that has such a bit of railway history and I have definitely admired European trains and the history behind these massive connectors in a unitedly fragmented continent. I live fortunately close to the Great Western Railway yard which is now a sprawling and ever expanding retail outlet village.. Also near where I live is another attraction that I have started to love visiting numerous times now.

The Cotswolds is an area in south central England containing the Cotswold Hills, a range of rolling hills which rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment, known as the Cotswold Edge, above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone which creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK, and which is quarried for the golden coloured Cotswold stone. This gives the quaint houses in this area a soft golden colour.The area, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, is considered to have unique features derived from the local Cotswold stone; the predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, historical towns, and stately homes and gardens - Oh! tell you what, every village I have been to now is so charming. The villages in the Cotswolds are typical stone villages and are so full of charm from Stratford-upon Avon to Bath in the South. After my first visit although on a recommendation from a friend, we have fallen in love with the landscape which is a mix of golden yellow stone villages, rolling hills and meadows and rivers the size of brooks and streams. The Cotswolds have some of the most charming English Villages I have seen and tops on my list of all things English - The Dales, Lake District. It has now become a weekend past time to be in a village in the Cotswolds and the favourites have been Bourton-On-The-Water, Moreton on Marsh, Bibury, Lechlade-on-Thames, Bradforn-on Avon,Broadway, Lacock ,Castle Combe, Snowshill, Winchcombe and Stow on the wold,. The favourites being Bourton-on-water wich has been voted as one of the prettiest village in England so many times. There is so much to do in each of these villages -quaint little shops,museums (The motoring museum at Bourton), stone bridges, old and welcoming churches and little rivers throughout the most charming countryside where unspoiled fields and natural woodland complement the expression of rural England - Truly straight out of a picture book.

Get there if you are anywhere nearby anytime soon. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Will add more soon.

With Arun ,Windrush Riverside, Bourton on the Water - Aug 2014

After a good walk, Bradford on Avon - Aug 2014

Air Tattoo, RAF Fairford

Bibury,Cotswolds

Broadway Tower - A historic folly

The Arlington Row,Bibury

The abbey at Lacock

Blackberries while biking

Bourton on Water

Posing with the Transall C-160D German Air Force Transporter

High Street,Broadway

Wye Valley view from Symonds Yat (Forst of Dean)

Sunday morning exploring Lechlade on Thames

My Favourite view of the Arlington Row

Snowshill

The Romance of the cream teas

Perfect German start

What a perfect start to yet another world cup campaign by Germany walloping a hapless Portugal 4 goals to nil. The German team probably has the most impressive line up in this years championship. And what a great game they played this evening against the Portuguese. Even the world's best player in Ronaldo couldn't do much other than almost helplessly watch a well oiled German machine clinically demolish a world class team both morally and hopefully not psychologically. The attack was trademark German blitzkrieg with Thomas Mueller scoring the first hatrick of this edition of the world cup. I have always been impressed with German football as their clubs have contributed to talent grooming and producing players who have made the nation proud. Something probably the English may want to emulate with all their rich clubs. England, though have been more than impressive this world cup. Living in England, I can't imagine that an expensive TV connection and licensing is the only option to catch the games live. Even India currently ranked 154 by FIFA telecasts world cup matches almost free!
What high expectations the Germans must be having from their team so full of stars but all so grounded and groomed under the watch of such veterans who identify and groom talent at clubs such as Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke, Leverkusen, Koln, Hamburg...
Germany no doubt has some of the best talent and have played delightful football in the past. Unfortunately they will have to do without Marco Reus, their most dangerous forward, and also hope Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller can produce enough to make up for his absence while being well supported by Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng,Phillip Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger. A win in Brazil would then prove the world that Germany have strength in depth.
Ein land, Eine Mannschaft, Ein Traum!!

Back on the Road

After 2 months of driving around the UK with the family, I finally got back to my wheels this morning but not before a bit of preparation and motivating myself to get back on the bike once again. The day began with getting the bike ready - inflating tyres, checking the gears and completing cooking for the day. The most important bit however being to get Vikrant also sign up to hit the road. Vikrant has just seen off his wife and kids to India and Mahesh and I certainly wanted him back to his cheerful self after his family left. This was very much the same feeling a couple of weeks ago when Ranjini and the kids went back to India. An expats loneliness!
Today we also welcomed another new member to our cycling fraternity - Zakir Yellala. Zak decided to cycle with us on Sundays and has recently bought a swell of a bike with all the springs and coils in the right places,a gleaming red Bandit.Our first ride after the rather long hiatus was a 14 mile ride this afternoon through the swindon borough countryside taking us through Shaw Forest, Moredon country park and finally towards Cricklade passing through the little but beautiful village of Purton. The village pub was very tastefully decorated with the English flags and world cup buntings. If only the chaps in Brazil do some justice to the millions of English fans by first getting out of the group and then achieve a recent best show if not win the title. The bikes held well through the ride with just Vikrants bike once stalling due to a loosened chain sprocket. We gave ourselves a few short breaks for rehydration (South west England is quite warm these days). At the end of it, it was all very satisfying to complete today's ride (with sore backsides) but the real thrill lay in the fact that we got back to the roads after such a long break. A little dirt on the shirts, chain grease on the hands and sweat on the brows..but what better than crisp wind on our faces and a mind that just refuses to age..until the next big ride..

Reflections from a tough week

Hindsight makes sages of us all, if only we had a working crystal ball. Tired and drained after a 60 hour week

An Evening at Wembley - Pics from the England-Denmark Friendly

With Dave Prescott,Wembley 2014

Final Score England 1(Daniel Sturridge)- Denmark 0