Category: Life

Another day, same feeling! ☹️


Australia’s dominant victory over India in 2023 Cricket World Cup final took me back 20 years. Beginning of 2003 saw me move to Madison, Wisconsin for work after a few months in India with parent Indian company in the 2nd half of 2002. I wouldn’t advise January as the best time to visit Madison, especially if traveling from warmer climes. Wife and son joined me in Madison after 3-4 months. The interregnum was mostly like bachelor life as most of my project team were young guys (in their 20s) and single which meant project work till late in the evening during the workdays and activities as a team during weekend that also included playing cricket. For a very short period initially, during a very short stint, I was the vice-captain of a cricket team we had formed (Over the past 2 decades that team is now one of many teams that are part of a Midwest cricket league). 😊

In 2003 the Cricket World Cup was hosted jointly in Africa, in February-March, by South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. 14 nations featured in that World Cup and they were split into 2 groups of 7 each with the top 3 from each group advancing to Super 6 stage, to determine the semi-finalists and on to the final which was played on March 23, a Sunday. India and Pakistan were in the same group of 7 and their group match was on March 1, a Saturday. India-Pakistan matches generally have a lot of edge to them and attract huge crowds. With time on our hands and cricket fully in our hearts and minds we (co-workers and me) decided to go to a downtown place in Madison where the match was being aired live. We trooped into the place on Friday night and it was jampacked with India and Pakistan supporters. The atmosphere was electric, the excitement palpable and the result very satisfying to Indian supporters as the team easily cantered to victory. 3 weeks later India stormed into the final with Australia as their opponent on March 23. 👍

Arrived the day of the final and duly arrived we at the same downtown place with high expectations due to very strong performance by India earlier in the tournament. The match in itself turned out to be a big disappointment as Australia scored a very dominant victory on the back of sensational batting by their captain and another player who rose to the occasion. The wind was knocked out of Indian team’s sails by the time it was India’s turn to bat. On big occasions, like the finals of an international tournament, the Aussie team do not play just to win. They play to make a statement and so it turned out then. And 20 years later…..thus it turned out today! Some differences in the script though. Australia batted first then, India batted first today. Australia were the undefeated team prior to the final then, India were the undefeated team during this World Cup, prior to the final. Back then I watched live, this morning I just followed the score occasionally. Back then I was a more passionate supporter, now I am more of a dispassionate observer (supporting my team, of course, in a quiet manner). No matter, same result. Another day, same feeling. If it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be. Life is about acceptance. Sport is fun and feels more invested and fun to identify with and support a team while the competition lasts. There are more important things in life though. I now look at sporting feats as more of an opportunity to see and appreciate the possibilities expand when individuals and teams pushed themselves to achieve higher and better! 👍🙏

Happy Diwali! 🙏

Happy Diwali! 🙏
Have a great time with family and friends! 🙏👍

For all the hardworking folks, message with a “light” twist at the end! 👇

Punching above your weight,
All day and night,
Nary an end in sight,
Ever wonder why you see no light?

Try as hard as you might,
For a future bright;
Life is much more than just a fight,
Why not relax and sit tight?

When the time is right,
Sure as day follows night,
Fright will turn into delight,
Just switch on the Diwali light! 😊👍

Temporary High!

In one of my recent posts I had mentioned about my interest in coins getting rekindled when I got a Wheat Penny (pennies produces between 1909 and 1958 that feature two ears of wheat on one face of the coin). That led to me taking a look at the loose change that got accumulated over the years and some coins I had either bought or kept aside because they looked interesting, either because of their craftmanship or beauty or theme (historic events, people and places etc). One good certainly resulted from the effort to locate the coins at home: I took them to my bank local branch, used the coin sorter and deposited to my account. One big load off my shoulders (and wrists and elbows too)! The coins I had retained I sorted based on their denomination and stored in separate containers. Some old coins I cleaned so that my old eyes could see the details of the coins (like the year and the mint in which they were produced) to determine whether to keep them or get them into circulation by using them.

Did some basic research on coins by googling for more information. What I found about the value of some of the old coins (in ebay and other websites) was astounding! Made me think I am sitting on top of a goldmine containing deposits of metals like zinc, copper, nickel and silver 😊 I said to myself “What the heck am I doing working a daytime job when I could just rake in the moolah by just trading coins and make myself a decent pile! Retirement beckoned but I resisted the temptation to tell my employer that I was putting in my papers 😉 I heard a voice in the background telling me something, but I was too engrossed in living out my dream to pay attention to the voice. Few weeks later I took my stash to a local coin and jewelry shop to get their value appraised. Got to prepare for retirement too, right? 😂

I announced my arrival at the coin shop by saying I had some old coins that I wanted to find the worth of. I placed the containers on the table for the shop person to take a look. First, he unloaded the container with pennies to his palm, then the nickels, followed by dimes and quarters. Boom, boom, boom, within no time he had them all appraised and gave me his 3 cents on the value of my coin collection. First the good news! Of the pennies I had the three that were wheat pennies he valued them at double their face value. i.e. One cent value = Two cents each! Great start I said! 😊 The nickels, dimes and quarters he valued all of them at their face value. Seeing him on a roll I fished out some more coins from my jeans and said, “While you are at it, take a look at these coins too”. Same result! Just worth their face value 😂 Hmmm, not the news I was expecting to hear. Man, the value appreciation did not even cover the effort and the cost of vinegar+salt I had spent in cleaning some of the coins. As a final twist of the dagger, he added there were 8 billion quarters minted to mark the bicentennial year of Independence, so what appreciation could I expect? I had a few of those quarters too. Anyways, no worries. It was a temporary high, was good as long as it lasted! No harm, no foul! None of the coins had lost their value. 👍

As I sat in my car with my stash of coins in the passenger seat, I heard the same familiar voice I had heard earlier when I got started on my coin research voyage. It was God! 🙏
God: ‘Sup, son? (God is chill, likes to keep it light!)
Me: Hey, boss!
God: You were lost in thought. Anything bothering you?
I related to God how I had to scupper my plans for retirement after visiting the coin dealer.
God: Retirement? Ha, ha, ha! (God likes to have a hearty laugh)
Me: What’s so funny, boss?
God: For most people retirement is a pipedream. Just do what you like to do and don’t worry about the future.
Me: Yeah, you have a point. With so much social insecurity, can’t bank on Social Security either and it’s capped too. There are also doubts whether it will stay when I qualify for it.
God: Did you see the good in what happened today?
Me: Yes, I did! I can spend my coins without thinking I might be spending a fortune 😊 and the lightened load will be easy on my wrist and elbow too!
God: There you go, you see the good. You are a quick study, son!
Me: Of course, with you as the master what else did you expect? 😉
God: Good try, to butter me up 😂
Me: I try 😊. Hey boss, how is it up there? Any tension with the other Gods? There is so much anger, hatred and violence happening here in the name of God.
God: Oh son, absolutely no problems! Unfortunately, my creations are the source of some of my biggest disappointments. Sigh!
(I thought only humans have to learn with their disappointments. It was revealing even Gods have their disappointments)
Me: Good to hear all is good there
God: Listen, just came by to check on you. Got a lot of work to do. Come to think of it, mine is a 24×7 job forever with no breaks and no pay. I just do it and I have more on my plate, son.
Me: Yeah, your portfolio is much bigger than mine 🙏 I couldn’t do that job.
God: You got that right! Take care, son! (God then disappeared with a beatific smile on face)

There you go, some good always results. One just has to carry on and look forward. That reminds me, I got to go now. No, silly, retirement is not beckoning 😂, got to do my laundry for the work week ahead. Take care 🙏

Oppenheimer movie – My thoughts

Few weeks ago, watched Oppenheimer movie in a movie theater. The movie has outstanding performance by many well-known actors. I knew a bit about Oppenheimer as I have read entries about him, Fermi and other scientists in Wikipedia. Before watching the movie I googled Gen Leslie Groves and Lewis Strauss too as they appeared to be couple of important characters in the movie. Overall I really liked the movie.👍 If I have to describe the movie in 2 or 3 words I would say I would describe it as “fascinating and disturbing”. Let me explain

What did I find fascinating about the movie?
Oppenheimer was an intense man and an interesting personality. Highly intelligent, he was a brilliant theoretical physicist and clumsy in practical physics. You could say he was more a thinker and less a tinkerer! His interests and knowledge also spanned fluency in multiple spoken languages and it appears he learned Sanskrit to read the Hindu holy book “The Bhagavad Gita” in its original form. His famous quote “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” is from the holy book. While teaching at UC Berkeley he appears to have come in contact with left-leaning people and might have developed an interest in knowing about socialism and communism. This association would come back to bite him later on. At Berkeley he mentored quite a few students and some of them went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Before leading the Manhattan project he had not led very big teams and being chosen to lead a massive project of critical national importance was an interesting choice. Apart from being knowledgeable his being in academia, contacts with other scientists and ability to articulate passionately and convincingly about the subject might have tipped the scales in his favor. Leading a “dream team of scientists” would not have been a dream job per se as they would have had their own ideas, strong opinions and way of doing things. It’s to the credit of Oppenheimer and the team/s he led that whatever their differences they delivered big time. Physics was my major in my undergrad studies and I got a kick out of seeing the importance that the physicists got for their important role in the project.😊 I know what you are thinking but didn’t claim to be a great student or even a good student. 😄 I must add I did like nuclear physics when I was pursuing my Bachelor degree. 👍

What did I find disturbing about the movie?
The way Oppenheimer got treated after the bomb creation. Having taken up the leadership of the project as a challenge of solving a difficult problem (lot of theory that was being to put to test during the development of the bomb) and in national interest, Oppenheimer was horrified by the havoc and destruction caused by the usage of the atom bomb. So, he voiced his opposition to development of the more powerful hydrogen bomb. Little did he know of the trouble he would get into for taking this stance as he was taking on people in politics and the military with a lot of power and say. By voicing his reservation he had in effect cooked his own goose. The hearings on his security clearance were a sham as the powers that be had already made their decision. They resorted to the favorite method of discrediting a person at that time. Calling someone a “Communist” or a “Commie sympathizer” effectively derailed career and upended life of anyone targeted. A little bit of hubris also on Oppenheimer’s part for thinking he could convince people in politics to hear his arguments against developing a more powerful bomb and rethink their position. That thinking was probably influenced by the freedom enjoyed in research and success in convincing and recruiting some of the best scientists for the Manhattan Project. A stint either in the military or even in the corporate world might have led to the realization his opposition would go unheeded and he would be shunted to a position of much lower profile. I have read that Oppenheimer’s research on black holes was worthy of a Nobel but he never won that prize. Hopefully politics did not play a part in that. In recent times there has been so much discussion about assertation of the First Amendment (for freedom of expression) and the Fifth Amendment (the right to remain silent to avoid incriminating oneself) I wonder if those Amendments ever figured when the decision to revoke Oppenheimer’s security clearance was taken. The stress of publicized and high politicized hearings and revocation of security clearance would have taken quite a toll on the man. That’s sad 😭

Bouncebackability! 🙏


Last week was quite a week and witnessed a few firsts!

India successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the moon and in the process becoming the first-ever mission to land near the moon’s south pole! 👏That’s cool as scientists believe water ice deposits exist near the south pole of the moon. Kudos to the scientists and all those who had a role in making the mission a success! 👏

Last Sunday, in one of the best matches in recent times, Novak Djokovic won the Western & Southern Open title in Cincinnati with a victory over Carlos Alcaraz in a three-set match that lasted almost 4 hours! Setting aside the # of majors won IMHO Djokovic is the GOAT for a simple reason: He has played so many thrillers in majors with other contemporaries who have been part of the GOAT conversation and has now already played a few classics against the best of the next generation.

What do India’s lunar mission and Djokovic’s recent victory have in common?

One of the qualities I have great admiration for is bouncebackability. Failing after coming very close to success and then overcoming soul-crushing setback/s to emerge victorious takes special strength, focus, ability and willingness to learn from unfavorable outcome/s of the past. 👍

India’s earlier moon lander and orbiter attempt in 2019, Chandrayaan-2, was a mix of success and failure in that orbiter was successfully put into operation but the lander was lost in attempt to land. That makes the Chandrayaan-3 success sweeter! 😊

Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in 2023 Wimbledon men’s tennis final in a 5-set thriller after losing to Djokovic in the 2023 French Open men’s tennis final in a bit of a disappointing end to a match that was shaping up to be a thriller (due to cramps Alcaraz suffered after winning the 2nd set). Both Alcaraz and Djokovic’s have shown amazing ability to bounce back after crushing defeats and we can expect some more great tennis when they play again. 👍

There were other historic firsts too last week but that’s a discussion for a different time 🙂

Honey, I am going on a darkness retreat! 😂


In recent times before my weekend afternoon nap, I make an announcement to my wife “Honey, I am going on a darkness retreat!” 😉 Hey, darkness retreat is not just for the Jet Set and it’s an apt term for nap under layers of comforters in Wisconsin winter, eh? 😄 Besides, I head for a nap with retirement in mind and emerge from the experience with my mind fresh, clear, active and ready for action!🥰👍
I take news of Rodgers heading to Jets philosophically as the Packers-Rodgers relationship had run its course. Mutual trust and respect are fundamental to a sound relationship and in the past few years the relationship had frayed quite a bit🙏

Noted Carnatic vocalist TV Sankaranarayanan

Noted Carnatic (South Indian Classical Music) vocalist TV Sankaranarayanan passed away couple of days ago. Wanted to share my own TV Sankaranarayanan (TVS) personal experience. Dates back to early 1980s. Classical music used to be played regularly at home, on radio and cassette player, as both mom and dad are classical music lovers. In addition a local music association in my Mumbai suburb, Mulund Fine Arts, used to arrange concerts by professional musicians one weekend in a month. At that time I was more into old Hindi movie songs, not that I did not like classical music. Movie songs offered instant satisfaction similar to fast food whereas classical music required some patience and more discerning taste to enjoy fully, similar to a multi-course meal. One weekend dad was either out of town or had some other prior commitment and he couldn’t attend that weekend’s concert. The performer scheduled to perform was TVS. Typically concerts started at 6pm and ended by 9pm. So, mom went by herself and asked me to reach the concert venue before 9pm for the walk back home after the concert. I went there before 9pm and waited outside. By then the singer had sung the more elaborate songs and was moving into short pieces (tukkadas) which, like desserts, are very tasty and crowd pleasers as those pieces can be appreciated even without technical knowledge. TVS was singing a familiar song (Srinivasa Thiruvenkata) starting with a prayer called viruttam. In the context of a meal viruttams are like free bread or chips and salsa offered to set the stage for the pièce de résistance, the main course, to follow. I like viruttams quite a bit (just as I like the bread/olive oil, chips/salsa and wouldn’t mind eating them as entire meal 😃). I digress. As TVS sang a familiar viruttam (before the main song Srinivasa Thiruvenkata, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpzI3BpCmU8 , I stood transfixed. As the singer moved to the main song I found myself drawn into the performing hall to hear even closer. That song was followed by another favorite of mine song “Eppa Varuvaro” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVMkzDWhMII ) and followed by the popular English note (starts at 2:16:35 of this video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjegI6T9JJc ) . I realized then even a classical song can be enjoyed without much technical knowledge if the lyrics are divine and the singer is inspired. At the end of the concert as we were walking back home I was speaking with an elderly gentleman from my neighborhood who had more knowledge and finer taste than me. I mentioned to him I really enjoyed the concert and he said it was inded a fantastic concert. Sometime later I remember reading it was one of the best concerts organized by the organization, Mulund Fine Arts. The concert venue was an open hall in a pre-school (called Shishu Kunj). Not exactly a location that was acoustically designed! TVS probably has sung better and in better venues but his singing that night was special for me. In the intervening period of 35+ years some things have changed (music is now available on demand anytime, anywhere 👍), some things haven’t changed (my knowledge is still the same as is my love for fast food 😂) but some memories are indelible 👌. Thanks for creating that moment for me, TV Sankaranarayanan. Rest in peace 🙏

Paradise Lost!

Playing Scrabble against a Grand Master rated computer opponent, after couple of consecutive wins I tried to make it a hat trick. At one point trailing 264-309 I found the perfect opportunity to take the lead when I hit the jackpot! Or, should I say I found paradise? 😊 With the word “paradise” I hit both the TWs (Triple Word score) at the right top. The result: I got 158 points (12 * 3 * 3 + 50) to zoom to 422 and take a handy 110+ point lead! Generally the computer blocks opportunities to score big by somehow finding words to place in squares with point multipliers. The reason I got an opportunity this time was because the computer struck the dagger first by playing “soulmate” and scoring a 50+ point word in its previous turn! We were both trading haymakers rest of the game. Things appeared to be going swimmingly for me as my score reached 487 with 5 pieces remaining for me to play and I had a 80+ lead till right before computer’s last turn (as it turned out). Astonishingly the computer not only managed to strike a dagger it managed to twist it for good. Using all the 7 pieces it had left it scored 83+ points to take the game 491-487. The win was also aided by the fact computer got credit for all the points in the 5 pieces I still had left to play. Another high scoring thriller turned into a heartbreaker. Such is a game and such is life! 😭 How did I feel afterwards? What I felt must have been akin to what Smokin’ Joe Frazier might have felt after his “Thrilla in Manila” battle with Muhammad Ali! Battered and bruised, fighting a bigger and more fancied opponent, an opponent with a bigger reach (in Scrabble terms more expansive dictionary) as Smokin’ Joe was getting ready to fight the last round his corner threw in the towel as both his eyes were shut with the blows taken earlier in the fight and he had been fighting practically blind the earlier rounds (He did not have vision in one eye in his fighting career, in this fight the other eye was swollen and shut with the blows taken). A practical move that ultimately might not have been needed! If Joe had been allowed to fight the last round he would have won the fight as Ali collapsed with exhaustion as he as he got up from his stool ready to fight the last round. Did not matter. Joe’s corner had already thrown in the towel. 😢
Yes, like Joe, I felt a bit robbed 👎and it felt like “Paradise Lost!”. Would be poetic justice if I could the word “paradise” again in another game and win. That would make it my own version of “Paradise Regained!”. 😃
Sorry, John Milton ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton ) , did not mean to appropriate your work in any way and you can rest assured the chance my version of “Paradise Regained!” working out is slim to none! 😊
Life lesson: Results may not always match effort, expectation or seem fair. Doesn’t matter if one is able to get up with determination to fight after being down. 👍🙏

(Un)fun words of the day: Beerier, Sorptive, Vivat!

Let’s take a look at the meaning of words of the day.
beerier: 1. smelling or tasting of beer. 2. given to drinking beer
sorptive: 1. The process of sorbing 2. The state of being sorbed [Back-formation from absorption and adsorption.]
vivat: A cry wishing someone long life and prosperity

I am not going to try to use beerier, sorptive or vivat in a sentence. Those words are not part of my regular vocabulary and will not make for interesting read. A story is more interesting though! Here we go!
What is life without a challenge? Dull and uninteresting, right? That was my thinking when I decided to take on grandmaster rated computer opponent in Scrabble word game. How has the experience been? I have been getting schooled pretty much every game 😃 Good old fashioned country ass whooping would be a fair and more colorful description. 😂 Akin to a chess enthusiast playing a chess grandmaster. Let’s take a look at one of the games (picture attached to the post). It started promisingly when I started with a 50+ score for the word, ralline (which means of, relating to, or resembling the rails), a word I was not aware of but tried in desperate way to start strong and apply pressure. How did the computer respond? With back to back 50+ scores playing the words “wargamer” and “ukuleles”, sending me staggering back. The coup de grace came when the computer played “yatching” for a triple word score with a 50 point bonus thrown in for all using 7 seven letters in a turn. Against lesser rated opponents one or two 50 point bonus scores and final score of over 300 is good enough for a win by a comfortable margin. Playing against the grandmaster it’s just good for a crushing defeat. Some games after scoring over 400 I have found myself losing by over 100 points! Overall it’s been a humbling and learning experience for sure. In one game finding myself trailing by quite a bit spotted an opportunity to play the eff word. No luck, the word used to express a wide range of emotions was not recognized by the game even though it’s a valid word and supposed to be a Scrabble word 👎 WTHeck doesn’t pack the same power as WTF. Sounds unfun, eh? Sorry, mate, we are out of luck there too. 😡 Unfun may be a valid word in urban dictionary, meaning lack of fun, but it’s not a valid scrabble word.

With just a lone win and dozens of losses to show why do I still play against grandmaster rated computer opponent? That’s a valid question as it seems like a lost cause. Few reasons. Playing against stronger opponent is a way to measure one’s level, improve and stay humble. It’s just a game and unlike real life where at times all may appear to be lost when one’s words may get twisted, one’s intentions may be doubted, one’s actions may be questioned. By people who should know better. For no good reason. In real life perception and emotions reign supreme, right or wrong. Life still goes on. 👍 You play hard but fair, you win some, you lose some. There is something to be said about losing with dignity. Nothing is lost if dignity stays intact IMHO. That’s a great life lesson and worth learning 🙏