Joshua Tree National Park

Recently finished a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP). First went to San Diego. Spent around one and a half days in San Diego and then went to JTNP. What a beautiful city San Diego is. Well, being a huge fan of oceans, most probably I would fall in love with any city that has an ocean. We did not have much time so we had to select few to visit in San Diego. San Diego has thousands of beautiful things to visit, enjoy and relish. And no time is sufficient. So, during the one and a half day stay in San Diego, we decided to spend some time at the beach, a little time at Balboa Park and a little time at the Border Field State Park. The choice was partly random and partly motivated by the desire to spend more time in the midst of natural wonder than man made wonder.

Border Field State Park (BFSP)

BFSP is right on the USA and Mexico border. At this time of the year, that is winter, it is not very crowded. In fact it was very desolate. I was very eager to check the border too which is right on the oceanside.  There was a metal border fence. It was funny and weird too. Weird feeling how its just humans on both sides yet separated by walls. But I guess borders are needed to maintaining an order and functioning of countries.

The weather was beautiful. It was around a mile and a half walk from entrance to the beach. The beach was totally desolate. The sky was cloudy. Weather was warm. There was a slight drizzle. 
There is a monument over there called Monument Mesa considered to be a freedom monument.

Balboa Park

  

Balboa park is huge. We took a tram to just watch around. but did not have time to see everything. There are just so many things that one would need a whole day to spend at Balboa Park.  One can plan their lunch and everything at balboa Park as well.

Shubho Bijoya

Shubho Bijoyar preeti shubhechha and bhalobasha dear friends.

I have always considered myself so lucky to have been born and raised in West Bengal. The culture of love and hospitality I grew up in has been unparalleled. It has been an embodient of pure selflessness. 

One such epitome of selflessness and love was the time of Bijoya, starting with Durga Pujo. 

Bijoya would be the days following the 10th day of Durga Puja. And it would continue till Lakshmi Puja. Well kind of unwritten rule.  

In addition to the four days of Durga Puja, we kids would be eagerly looking for Bijoya. While the four days of durga puja would be super exciting, hopping from pandals to pandals, eating everywhere, an unlimited carnival of fun and bliss, Bijoya was of a different league. 

During Bijoya, the festivites would reach home. Every day we would go to our neighbors's homes, touch the elders' feet, take blessings and get ready to be fed the delicacies. No appointments needed. We would just hop from home to home. It was like a ticket to a house. We would be carefully using that ticket. Not too many tickets to be used in a single day 😃 . Nothing would be more exciting than Bijoya to kids. We would go in bunches. 

While it was not surprising as a kid, ever since I have wondered in amazement how the awesome kakimas kept a perennial supply of narkel nadus (both sugar based and jaggery based), limkis, pithes, freshly made ghughni and payesh all the time? Just how did they get that energy to do it every day ? This love, this celebration has been unparalleled. And thats what makes me nostalgic every year, the beauty of durga puja celebration. 

As the Bijoya would end with Lakshmi Puja, Lakshmi puja would be another elegant affair. So many families would invite my dad and ask him to bring family along, we would hop on dad's scooter, excited to go to different uncle/aunty's house. Excitement of the yummy khichudi, cabbage torkari and tomato/date chutney. Rule of thumb : Eat little at each place. So many houses to cover :-)

Yes, I know its all about food. But believe me, one of the beauties of Bengali cultures is the love for food. Everyone is expected to show that level of hospitality. 

Dont know how many years since I had been to Bijoya. 

Feeling like going back to home town, knock on some random door and say "Kaku Shubho Bijoya. Kakima, Shubho bijoya".  

And I am sure the kakima/kaku, without even knowing me,  will say "Oh shubho bijoya. Ashirbaad kori. Esho esho. Ektu ghughni aar narkel naadu kheye jaao ? " That love. Unparalleled. That Durga Pujo season. Pure bliss. 

Durga Pujo eshegelo. Durga Pujo Choleo Gelo. Nostalgic. Nostalgic. 😔 

Happy Diwali

Every year, I like to wish everyone a happy diwali by writing a small poem or some random jottings. I was thinking how should I wish beyond the five little words this year.

One thing I must say and this is purely based on too much social media exposure I guess. Even on the occasion of such lovely festivals, we have come to a state of too much of mental and psychological intolerance. Intolerance towards other's thoughts and opinions. Some will like fireworks, some will not. But it seems there has not been a calmer way to educate. Its all pot calling the kettle black situation. It has been as if the meat eaters have lost the right to express their concerns for animals. Its as if all people lighting the firecrackers have become the most insensitive people. And finally its all name calling and surely religion makes it entry too.

Thats not Diwali.

Diwali is way above and beyond it. It is the celebration of relationships, it is the celebration of love and it is the celebration of friendships. Diwali reminds me of the fondest memories of lighting up the candles all around the roof of my house as a child, and then lighting diyas all around the roof of my hostel at IIT. And then stand back and immerse myself in the beauty of the splendent lights.
Diwali reminds me of the love with which the neighbor aunty would feed us snacks. The innocent childishness with which we would hop from house to house to eat nice food, and get the blessings of the neighbor elders.
Diwali reminds me of the fondest memories of roaming around the streets with friends and hopping from pandal to pandal and losing track of time .
Thats diwali. The message of love. A festival that would bond us together, not divide us.
Dont get bogged down by the cursing mode. Cursing the other side just because they have a different point of view. In the middle of all this noisiness of abuses and curses, love in general is lost. And this noise has given birth to a silence. The silence of the hearts that no longer communicate.

And right when I was thinking about this, a song started playing in my headphones :

खामोशियां
आवाज़ है तुम सुनने तो आओ कभी
छूकर तुम्हे खिल जाएंगी
घर इनको बुलाओ कभी
बेकरार हैं बात करने को
कहने दो इनको ज़रा
खामोशियां।।। 

खामोशियाँ
एक साज़ है
तुम धुन कोई लाओ ज़रा
खामोशियाँ
अलफ़ाज़ है
कभी आ गुनगुना ले ज़रा
बेकरार हैं बात करने को
कहने दो इनको ज़रा
खामोशियां। 
खामोशियाँ
आकाश है
तुम उड़ने तो आओ ज़रा
खामोशियाँ 
एहसास है
तुम्हे महसूस होती है क्या
बेकरार हैं बात करने को
कहने दो इनको ज़रा
खामोशियां।।। 

Happy Diwali to all you friends.
May peace rule our minds. May love rule our hearts.

Travelogue on the Beautiful National Parks of Utah - Part 1

Its the time of spring break. And my little son's school was off for the week. One of us had to take day off to stay at home with the kid. One option was to stay at home and get stressed out. The other option was to go somewhere. Since, we don't usually get 5 days off (mandatory no choice), we decided to rather use it and go somewhere. So where could be go ? This is always the most challenging decision. There is no scarcity of places to visit in this world. Prioritizing is always the challenge. And there is the money factor. How can we travel with the cost shooting through the roof? And then the planning. The flight tickets. The hotel stay. The car rentals. The food. How can we buy each of those in the most optimal way? After analyzing multiple options, keeping in mind off seasons, weather conditions and many other factors, we decided that we embark on the travel to the beautiful national parks of Utah.  The goal was to travel to the five national parks in Utah namely Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Canyon Lands National Park and Arches National Park.

We were nervous. Will we be able to do it with a 2 year old ? Is it going to be stressful ? We were not planning to be adventurous. All we wanted was to have relaxing time in the parks while trying to do mild hikes and assimilating ourselves in the beauty of nature.

So we started.

Our flight was from Dallas to Salt lake City in the middle of the night. The flight from Dallas was at 10:00 p.m and would reach Salt Lake City at 12:00 in the midnight. And the car rental agency would close at midnight.

After the flight landed, I just ran to the car rental agency with which I had a reservation.  Fortunately the agency was still open. Quickly I finished the formalities and got the car keys. Then I came back to the terminal to pick up my family and luggage.  Next was get a night's sleep before starting the road trip next morning to Zion National Park. We chose a cheap and simple hotel which was around 2 miles from the airport. We wanted to avoid any unnecessary travel to a hotel since it was going to be just a fe hour overnight stay. This hotel cheap, simple and had free breakfast. Hey that is nice isn't. One step closer to budget travel.  So, went straight to the hotel Airport Inn and slept off. Realized while checking out the car that it was a 2 door car and going to be very painful in taking the kid out and put him back in the car seat. So, called the car rental agency and requested for a car swap. They immediately gave an alternative car. So, had our breakfast next morning and went back to the airport to get a 4 door car. After getting the different car, came back to the airport, checked out of the hotel and started the road journey to Springdale where Zion National Park was located.

More on Zion National Park in Part 2.

The challenge of Writing and Blogging

Blogging and writing is a challenge. It needs a frame of mind, a state in which the mind relishes writing and doesnt feel overwhelmed. And when all the other tasks take over to an extent that mind has no time to even sit back and think, writing and blogging becomes a mere formality and doesnt show the class and quality.

And I guess that has what happened to my blogging. I am not even able to spare some time on my blog. And the result is obvious. No blogs, no writing in ages. Blogging is indeed rejuvenating. It gives a satisfying feeling of having communicated with the world around you.

Hence it is critical to make time for blogging and writing your thoughts even if it feels like a trivial non rewarding activity.

Its the 10th year of my blogging and wow it indeed has come to a trickling frequency. There is no scarcity of thoughts to express, no scarcity of wisdom to share.

Then whats the problem ?

So Why did Democrats lose?

A lot of democrats and their supporters seem to be in shock over the shellacking that they got in the senate elections where they lost control of it to republicans. So, the question that naturally arises is why did the democrats lose? Did they completely lose track of the reality? Did they fail to understand the voters' minds? Were the voters stupid not to see the democrats' accomplishments? 

There might not be a single answer to the above questions. But if we are still forced, only one answer comes out. And that is, voter mindset and voting process involves very complicated psychology. And if you can understand it, you can script the perfect story to tell the voters. 

While prediction is very difficult, there is no scarcity of analysis. And there are tons of articles on that. This is also one such article. But I guess this is a rather pedestrian, simplistic view adopting article. 

So, why did the democrats lose? 

If the economy was doing great, why did the democrats lose? If the stock market was breaking records, why did the democrats lose? If the unemployment was down, why did the democrats lose? 

The bottomline is, from a voter's point of view, I don't give a hoot to whether stock market is breaking records or not. I know it definitely benefits the CEOs. What I care for is, is the improvement in economy mapping into my prosperity ? Is it raising my wages? If it is not, I am not impressed. Being thankful for having a job is not enough for the voter to vote for incumbent. Status quo is never a reason. So, if I have a job, I dont care. If I dont have a job, I am bitter. Economic wellbeing must map to personal prosperity. That definitely was not on the discussion table when statistics and unemployment data were presented

I think, people have started getting tired or weary of the wars. While scare tactics like "there is some enemy out there" and "you are at risk" charge up the voters, things like bringing back troops, not starting wars are not taken up as achievements, particularly when the opposing party is also not. They are seen as expected actions. The difference would have definitely been there, if republicans were war mongering and democrats were truce speaking and actively highlighting the costs of wars, monetary as well as emotional.

Then comes immigration. While voters are kind and welcoming, everyone is strongly against illegal immigration. Inspite of that, people seemed  very welcoming about those who illegally entered not on their own but with their parents when they were children. Somehow, democrats could never create a strong story about their immigration initiatives. And to add to the frustration, they seemed to be tagging the legal and illegal immigration together causing a lot of disdain to the skilled legal immigrant communities. They never seemed to be working on this problem with full energy. It seemed like suddenly they would raise the issue and the issue would gradually die down causing severe frustration amongst communities. I wonder if this played a role in losing some significant Asian votes in this election. 

The people in this country have a strong stand on their individual freedom, privacy and space. Somehow, with all the snooping news coming out, it left a bad taste in several minds. And it felt like the Government is being heavily intrusive in personal lives. While the government talked about freedom and abolishing snooping, more revelations that suggested the intrusion that happened, left a bad taste. 

Democrats could not create a strong story on Net neutrality. Instead the net neutrality was painted by opponents as an act of Government overreach which was a dubious point.

Voters hardly care for things like Climate change which are not of immediate consequence to them. 

While the voters might have made a serious mistake, its the democrats who should blame themselves for being butterfooted on several issues and not displaying spine. 

Voters will realize that net neutrality is in their own benefit, climate change is a reality, no kid left behind is in their benefit, education is in their benefit, but the prominent thoughts that might have significantly influenced their minds and subsequent decisions are the thoughts : 

• Republicans can move things forward
• Republicans can bring individual prosperity

I hope they are right. Tea party noises dont paint a rosy picture though

Outraged Again?

Did you know that getting outraged is a habit in India ? Every now and then we become outraged.

We become outraged when a scam gets unearthed.
We become outraged when a blast occurs.
We become outraged when a girl gets raped.
We become outraged when a drunken driver mows down pavement dwellers.
We become outraged when a maniac passes hate speech.
We become outraged when an idiot passess idiotic speech.
We become outraged when the politicians watch porn in the assembly.
We become outraged when the politicians flout all rules and trouble the common man.
We become outraged when media colors the information.

And we continue becoming outraged. Outrage. Outrage. Outrage. An abundance of outrage.

The news media uses that outrage to fuel further outrage.
Then media forgets.
Then we forget.
Then everyone forgets.
Life moves on.

Then it happens again. And we are outraged again.

The cycle repeats.

How long can this go ? This cycle creates a gradual depression in our hearts and we blurt it out "Is Desh ka kuchh nahin ho sakta".

This keeps happening because of the sense of impunity in the minds of the offenders.

The attackers think they can easily attack India in a crowded place and can get away. Poor lives lost.
Rapist thinks he can get away with it.
Politician thinks he can get away it. 

Until....

We put a stop to it. We put an end to it.

We got to do something more concrete than just getting outraged. We have to exercise our vote. But it doesnt just end with vote. We have to be courageous to support the good folks who are willing to take up the battle. We have to use the tools we have to use the law. Until that happens, things will continue to happen and we continue to get outraged.

India and Indians need to teach the culprits a lessons.

One Mulayam Singh Yadav should not be able to get away with remarks that completely undermine the basic fundamental dignity of a woman.

One Azam Khan should not get away by bringing religion in the way of nationalism.

One Swamy cannot utter rubbish to disturb the communal harmony of the country


The country should not just get outraged. It should get outraged to such an extent that their political careers must come to a stop. Can the people do so ? Can they do so through their vote ? Can they give zero votes and throw them and their parties out ? Thats when the outrage will have any value and significance.

We are outraged with the caste politics, religious politics, reservation politics and many other kinds of politics. But what use is that outrage when we do not show the courage to throw out those playing such politics and not give a chance to someone else who doesnt play such politics even if it means they are new.

It is not always important to only look for experience and stability all the time. Then there is nothing different and nothing unconventional. More important is to stand for principles even if it means deviating from the traditional path. If we cannot show the courage to take a new different untested path, we cannot expect new different results.

In such context, how can one expect new results if they keep selecting between the options of traditional politics of Congress and BJP? People have to give an opportunity to the new challengers like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to give the change a chance to show itself. To give the hope a chance to prove itself.

I was talking to a lady who tells me "I am confused about what is AAP doing. I dont know whom to vote. Congress, BJP or AAP"

I said "When something is hopeless we dont expect much. But when we see something positive, we over expect without giving a proper chance. That is what is happening. Are we being over impatient with AAP? We gave 60 years to Congress and BJP. Cant we give 5 years to AAP to show the change they intend to bring in? I think we must."


So, go for it. Go for the change. Embrace it with hope. Dont worry about mistake. By embracing the change you will be teaching everyone a big lesson that nothing in this world is permanent except change.

Until then we will continue to get useless outrage against corruption, criminality and despondency.