Race tracks have an aura about themselves. There are not merely random asphalt spaghetti laid down between patches of field and grass. But rather, they string together a heightened sense of danger and anticipation that no other normal road can. As you approach a race track, you become aware of the clings of automotive wrenches[…]
At work we often struggle to convert subjective qualities of vehicle performance into measurable objective variables. Even if we do it successfully the results tend to surprise us. It is a necessary evil that automotive engineers like me have to deal with. Lately I have been convinced that the Aston Martin DB V12 vantage is[…]
The beginning My earliest vivid food memory goes all the way back to my very young sunny days in Nashik. I would return from school in a three wheeled contraption that would miraculously and very unsafely transport over 10 kids to school and back. My favorite spot was of course next to the driver on[…]
I am driven by fear. It can be of the irrational kind, emotional or sometimes raw unadulterated fear that leaves me in a state of stupendous shock. And when it hits me, I cannot wait to overcome it or have it dissipate. Yet, strangely just as soon as I return to a state of predictable[…]
I had long romanticized the lack of an agenda when it came to vacations. I cannot blame the lack of opportunities since I traveled a fair bit in my last country. But every time it came down to the execution of the vacation plan, I would start frantically looking for my notebook and the closest[…]
Implicitly red, white and blue It goes without saying that I miss you incredibly. I loved you. At random times, I find myself thinking about you and what I left behind in your stars and my stripes. Yet this year, today would mean something else. I can no longer look back and recall the blackout[…]
It is vaguely worrying how cloyingly hopeful I have now become. I am convinced that I was benchmark case of quarter life crisis. I believed that I would transition from one crisis to the other as I grew older. As painful as the last few years were I am beginning to see their point and[…]
You will have to imagine a much older and a simpler Mumbai. It was called Bombay back in those days. To get the timing right you will have to work hard to consciously eliminate the color from your heads and picture the next few sentences in pure monochromatic black and white. If you are older,[…]
Charting euphoria If I must be honest, when I first heard of this concept at a cultural training seminar I was fairly skeptical. The skepticism stood fast since I hardly went through such a curve when I moved to the US from India. And secondly, I strive to be non-average in such a vigorous fashion[…]
In the last three months or so, that I have moved here, many of my discussions with the Germans have revolved around how they have mastered the concept of quality of life. They speak of their exquisite vacation and work policies that lead to healthy and pleasant living. Coming from the States I was almost[…]