India Trip 2008

My previous two visits to India (in 2000 and 2004) were three week affairs. This month, however, I stayed over for only two weeks. A reduction of friends in my hometown and the realization that Boston has after all been my home for the past 13 years justified a shorter trip.

Chennai seems to have gotten worse with each of my visits. I am talking, of course, about traffic and air pollution. There were just so many new buildings, both commerical and residential. In terms of quality of life, I won't be surprised if something goes horribly wrong there in about a decade or two. I met up with my friends Santosh and Ganesh and their families in Chennai. I had a lively, practical conversation with my Periappa and Periamma (the latter being my Mom's elder sister). I enjoyed that and was pleasantly surprised to learn that my Periappa was an atheist just like I. When I left Chennai, I wished I had had more time to have spent with them all.

I visited my Chithappa and cousins in Vizag, a relatively clean town. My time with them was extremely pleasant. We did a bit of shopping and visited some local spots. Again I felt I could have spent more time with them.


A new park has been established with assorted stuff like these huge sculptures on top of a hill outside Vizag. Possibly the park is an effort to make the town marketable.

I travelled to Madurai, my hometown, from Chennai on the Guruvayur Express. It seems that anytime I travelled to a location in India, there is always a family or two with a bawling kid in the mode of transportation I used. Again, I couldn't quite shake off the feeling that with the population there growing at an alarming rate, something had to give somewhere...sometime. On a positive note, the highlight of the trip was a dusky beauty that got on board with her Mom at Trichi. She ignored me until it was time for me to disembark in Madurai, where as I got up with my luggage, I felt her eyes checking me out. I left the train feeling a little wistful.

Madurai has not changed since my last visit there in 2004. I met up with my friends Suresh, Sahayaraj and Vijayabaskar briefly. Plus I made a short visit to my high school English teacher's house. She quipped that she didn't want to see me the next time unless I showed up with a wife. She, of course, didn't realize that such comments only strengthened my resolve to not bow to certain aspects of tradition.

My Dad's neighbors (of his new house), whom I met for the first time, were very friendly and helpful. His sisters and their families had all convened to celebrate the kumbabishekham of a temple he had helped build in Koodal Nagar. It seems like there is a temple on every street corner in India. Personally I think that such a task as building a temple will feel unnecessary when one is comfortable in one's skin. But reason usually fails before conventional thought :) Anyway I wasn't there to preach. It was a unique experience and I made use of it in my own way.


A lot of the locals showed up for the Kumbabishekam.

Before I left Madurai, I made an early morning visit to the Meenakshi Amman temple, took some photos and relived memories of weekly visits to the temple with friends back when I was in high school.


The Golden Lotus tank.


They have been standing patiently for centuries...


The thousand pillar hall. Outstanding!


From these hallowed outer corridors, several centuries of history looked at me.


A day trip to Rameswaram proved interesting.

I flew Air France for the first time. Their service was not in the same class as Lufthansa's but it wasn't too bad either.


Calorie-rich airline food. I skipped dessert and any juices provided with the food.

Locally, I flew Kingfisher Airlines from Chennai to Vizag and back. Kingfisher is the cleanest airline I have flown. Plus I have never seen so many slender Indian women as I did in the local airports. I am talking, of course, about the flight attendants of the various airlines that have popped up in the last few years.

Did I have a good time in India? I think so. It was nice seeing those friends who were still there, some new neighbors and, of course, my extended family. There were also some unpleasant moments. But all of that happens when one travels. So I am not going to fret over it. All in all, a good trip!

Time to facsia it

Let's face it. People make resolutions every time a "new" year is around the corner. I have never understood this. Personally if I decide change is needed in some aspect of my life, I would set about making the change right away. Why wait for a "new" year to "start"? Anyway, I guess making new year resolutions is as sacred to some people as certain celebrities' tendencies to be in a constant state of waste.

Well, I have got something that you might want to take an interest in in this "new" year: your body's soft, connective tissue or the fascia. Fascia hold almost everything (muscles, organs, etc.) inside your body together and can be found from head to toe.


The red area is the fascia.

People spend so much time attempting to "tone" their muscles that they ignore this very important component of the human body. I spent quite a bit of time in the last few months attempting to better the quality of my soft tissue and I expect I will continue to do it for a long time to come. I have a strong feeling that quality fascia also contribute to maintaining a firm skin tone. Rather than talking more about fascia, I will simply refer you to the following two outstanding articles:

1. The Fascia and Muscle Link by Chad Waterbury: This article has a very simple, brief and articulate explanation of the fascial system.

2. Feel Better for 10 Bucks, Self-myofascial release: no doctor required! by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson: This article illustrates, with plenty of photos, how a cheap foam roller could be used to properly maintain your fascia at home!

This will likely be my last post until the end of January after I return from a two week trip to India.

Without faith

I was reading (on Livescience.com) some interesting findings on how Americans feel about the use of Creationism, Intelligent Design and Evolution in classrooms in the US. Being Atheist, I have always been bemused by religious systems. I mean, it always amazes me that people who are otherwise intelligent and educated would continue to believe in stuff that continues to cause the three Cs around our planet: concern, consternation and carnage. On a positive note, I can understand someone using a particular belief system as a form of meditation. Hey, whatever to improve the quality of your life, right? But...I believe that religion is an effective tool only when used to attain personal well-being. It easily has the potential to become a monster when imposed on others. Because doing so seems to evoke the same emotions that come pouring out when one attempts to impose one's taste in movies, humor or music onto others.

Despite all my misgivings on this very sensitive topic, I go to extreme lengths to avoid discussing it (guess I am contradicting myself with this post). I feel that it is more important to prevent inflammation of any sort than trying to prevent my ego from getting bruised. We have enough problems on this planet related to this subject and I believe that it is our responsibility to avoid further escalation of such problems.

A while ago a close friend of mine, who is a devout Christian, asked me if he could take a few minutes and talk to me about Jesus Christ. It made me uncomfortable immediately. It is not that listening to him would have made me lose 15 lbs of hard earned muscle. I just would rather not talk about certain things. But its hard to say no to a friend for fear of upsetting him over what was essentially a subject of importance for him. But to his credit, he didn't pursue it once he realized that I wasn't being very receptive. He did, however, ask me if I did anything to take care of my soul (the same way I take care of my physique) and what I would do if I ever felt confused or lost. A valid question. People think that stress is only negative. But stress can also come from positive happenings. Anyway, I gave him an answer that I have presented as a graphic below.



I should add though that, having successfully shed the shadowy influence of any religion or my own Indian culture (it's impractical traits, at least), I have evolved a thought process that is very minimal in its implementation. I wanted to use the word "primal" instead of "minimal" but can a primal nature and rational mind go hand-in-hand in civilization?

As the years roll by, I am finding out that, given my background, it has indeed been worthwhile to have taken...the road not taken!

Transformers (A Brief Movie Review)

Dios mios! What a boring movie! The lead character was so annoying! Check out the way the hot girl ends up teaming up with him. She is casually going by on a cute scooter in a part of town that she normally wouldn't be in. Alright? It so happens the lead dude was being pursued by a monster robot at that time...in that part of town. Alright? The lead dude and hot girl run into each other and then start running away together from the monster robot. And what's with the other hot girl with the british accent who is an expert on signals (as in communication technology not as in body language) and has a fat black fella (played by a ditzy Anthony Anderson) for a buddy? I have yet to see that combo in Beantown. I thought that british youth were only good at one thing: boozing. The fact that I was spending time thinking about stuff like this while watching the movie should tell you about the quality of its screenplay.

The robots had more personality than the humans. I understand that this movie is about special effects but I have had too much of movie special effects in the last few years. After about 5 minutes the novelty of seeing beeeeg robots quickly wore off. And anyone who wants to see a huge robot (and lots of heart) should look up the Iron Giant. So...2/3rds of the way into the movie, I gave up. And I am glad I did because Namaste Yoga was on.

The Luna Poem

So I have come up with a poem for Luna, who is my friend Raina's tabby. Along with Bill and Soon-Il (both of whom I have since lost touch with), the five of us once shared a blissful home in Watertown...and, no, the house wasn't made of chocolate although it had a few memorable cracks and wedges.


Me with Luna in 2004. That was an era a long time ago when I wore my hair long and did a bunch of crazy things...

So without further ado...

Oh ye fancy fancy doggie,
Who is so into cans of tunie,
Ogie ogie ogie,
Oh how you can smell a ratty,
Hoagie hoagie hoagie,
So often full of baloney,
Boogie boogie boogie,
Stop breaking my hearty,
My loonie loonie loonie.

Now this is what I call a Loonnet because it has nine live...lines. Well, I hope that this makes me a "loonateer" and brings out my romantic (the definition of which I have not grasped in eons) side.

Good Morning!

One of Prabhu Deva's most memorable...

Song: Chikku Bukku
Album: Gentleman (1993)
Language: Tamil

And a more recent one that he choreographed...



Song: Main Aisa Kyon Hoon
Album: Lakshya (2004)
Language: Hindi

Planet Earth - A Monday morning rant

I am familiar with how the US Fish and Wildlife Service conserves habitats by controlling the population of flora and fauna. A lot of people don't realize this but hunters, for instance, are allowed only certain bag limits for certain animals in certain regions/counties in certain times of the year. A lot of the revenue from annual hunting licenses is actually used in such conservation efforts. And I know at least one family in New Hampshire that lives on meat from a whole deer during deep winter.


Apparently a redneck with a DUI conviction...according to an email that is going around.

Did you know that various states have hatchery programs using which they grow fish and then use these fish to stock local bodies of water? So next time you see a bunch of guys fishing in a pond, they likely aren't overfishing that pond.

A lot of developed countries do have such infrastructure in place to monitor habitat use. But developing countries do not have the resources (or the deep-rooted passion necessary) to regulate environmental use. Take India as an example: the Tiger population continues to dwindle owing to habitat loss, poor oversight of poaching by forestry officials and ill-equipped/ill-trained rangers. And, again owing to habitat loss, people here in the US are having more frequent run-ins with wildlife (like mountain lions).

Here are some photographs from earlier this year:

"Sea Shepherd crew in a small inflatable boat throw smoke bombs onto the Japanese whaler Kaiko Maru. February 12, 2007. (Photo courtesy Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)."


I think that they are both idiots.

"The Sea Shepherd ship Robert Hunter, left, and the Japanese whaler Kaiko Maru collide in the Southern Ocean. February 12, 2007. (Photo courtesy Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)."


See what I mean. 'twas a good thing this accident didn't lead to a fuel oil spill.

I do admire these "doers". But in a way, extreme environmentalists remind me of religious evangelists. They are both, in a word, annoying!

The following is a projection of human population all the way to the year 2050:

Year Population(in billions)
2010 6.8
2020 7.6
2030 8.3
2040 8.9
2050 9.4

The United States Census Bureau has projected that there will be around 419 million people in the US alone by the year 2050.

And this is why when conservation groups talk about restricting fishing on "overfished" seas and stopping real estate development on wilderness, I put on a sardonic smile.

9 billion people by the year 2050! No wonder I don't see any point in restricting myself as to how much fish or meat I eat today. Sure I could go vegan but how will that help feed 9 billion people in 2050? Going vegan today so that there can be enough fish for some jerk born into a royal asshold 30 years from now sounds ludicrous. It is f**king ridiculous to worry about people who are not even born. And if everyone does go vegan, wouldn't there be a higher demand for land use so that all the soy and assorted grains eaten by vegans can be cultivated? And what happens when more land is cleared for agriculture? Wouldn't more species go extinct then?

"Let me in! I gotta go save some tuna!! But first I need a shower 'cause I smell like one..."

No. I am convinced that its a simple supply and demand issue. We can either lose species or regulate human population growth more tightly (and we know that the latter is a losing proposition). We have enough people today who have evolved into something that has little resemblance to a once robust species, a direct result of the heavy reliance on the comforts of technology (and watching too many ballgames). Add a strictly vegetarian diet and you probably will end up with humans with hoofed feet. If that is how we are destined to evolve, fine.


"As you know, we are festively plump."

Anyone who wants to know the sad state of human affairs need look no further than the myriad of costly problems (from a bloated public education system to greedy unions to a huge deficit) being faced in California. That American dream state has had these problems for years and there are no solutions in sight (too much partisan politics). I am quite sure that they have time to worry about a bunch of tuna at 35° 41' N 139° 46' E.

Who knows. Maybe a meteorite will crash on Earth and put a full-stop to everything (too bad the planet does not have a reboot button like that on a computer). Then maybe, just maybe, the planet might re-generate life...perhaps without organized religion this time around.