The Great Ganesha

Today’s NYT is chock-full of articles about aamchi Mumbai. Well, not quite chock-full – that’s my Bombayite exaggeration surfacing – but there are two of them. Both pretty elaborate and interesting. Here’s a synop-analy-sis (remember – you heard this word here first!). The First Article The first is in the Travel Magazine (called T) by [...]

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[Originally on Desicritics] One section of the capital of Puerto Rico – San Juan – has cobbled streets, brightly colored buildings and beautiful sculptures. This part, called Old San Juan, shows the strong influence the Spanish had on Puerto Rico, and also has several historical monuments and forts. The old city is very small and [...]

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We are in sunny Puerto Rico this week. I’m chairing a session at a conference here (and giving a talk). We got here on Sunday and had a little, shall we say, “adventure” on the way to our hotel. Having recently been introduced to the wonders of the navigational GPS, we decided to get one [...]

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All right people, all posts have been edited, embellished and enhanced with the pics. And all pictures have (finally!) been posted for your viewing pleasure. Well, I hope it’s pleasure and not torture. But I’ll leave you to decide. Also, to make life easier for you, I’ve created a text box in the sidebar with [...]

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Folks, I’m in the process of putting up all the pics from the road trip. I decided the best way to go would be to just post them alongside the blog posts from each day, since this would make for easier reading and provide a nice report on the whole thing. I also plan to [...]

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We finally made it! 3,537 miles, 14 states, 7 days, 2 national parks, a national monument, 2 and a half borderline schizophrenic episodes and 1 a/c compressor later we arrive in the Bay Area to (blech!) hit traffic at the Bay Bridge. We made it home, however. Just about. That six-digit number up there is [...]

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Fatigue We started late. The fatigue of driving 8-10 hours a day is getting to me now, I think. But we’re getting used to it. Wake up in the morning, get in the car, make note of the miles, the time and the place we’re in. And then drive. Followed by some more driving. Ending [...]

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Mount Rushmore The day started with a trip to Mt. Rushmore from Rapid City. One word summarizes it: Overrated. I guess seeing it around a hundred times in pictures and movies takes away from the awe that one would expect seeing it face to face (pun intended) for the first time. Also, the fact that [...]

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Car Breakdown So, I must confess, last night was not as peachy as I made it sound. It ended with smoke coming out of the car’s hood. After the usual panicking and water-pouring, everything cooled down, the smoke settled and so did our hearts. Although the car worked fine, the power steering didn’t. So we [...]

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Breakfast Not At Tiffany’s We started the day with a hearty breakfast at the Baker Hill Pancake House Restaurant in Elgin, IL. A local Greek diner, we started chatting with the owner about the abysmal state of coffee that one gets in most local places. The owner was sincerely empathetic, and sometime after the conversation [...]

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