Travels and thoughts

I remember a small headline - a news item in the 80s when I was 15 - a Christian evangelist shoots down John Lennon screamed the paper.  While the world was upended, those words barely caused a tremor in mine. My Beatles journey hadn’t yet begun. My foray into Western music coincided with my Engineering college entry. From then onwards, I listened in rapt attention to the undeniably inspiring words and sounds of several great artists, including The Beatles. Music stayed with me throughout college, marriage, and kids. Our son developed a great interest in Western music, and interestingly, he didn’t seem bogged down by the decade or genre. He listened with a keen ear, curiosity, and a now-alien youthful desire to provide wide-eyed commentary on the artistic liberties used by each musician to produce that work of art. A repeat flick here, an innovative bass line there, the intricacies in each piece of work were dwelled upon and appreciated.  In 2023, he returned to India for that...

"When nothing seems to be going well, call your Grandmother” So goes an old Italian proverb. In my daughter’s life, she was juggling too many things - a change of job, a relocation, a move to a new city, and resumption of physical workspace. As an immediate solace to still her mind, she called her grandmother (Patti) and hosted her! The USA is my second home. My family stays and is spread from coast to coast in the USA. Thanks to Arvind's long tenure with the airline industry, we are never short of tickets to travel. It was time to visit my daughter Shruthi yet again. What made the visit memorable was I was traveling with my mother. Welcome to Patti  My mother is 82 years old and is full of life, energy, and enthusiasm that can be infectious. She has always been a quiet lady who worked tirelessly in the house without complaints. I have rarely heard her whine or express a desire for anything materialistic. Her solace was always cooking, music, and keeping a neat home. Ice cream...