My Digital Thoughts : Shashi's Diary

It is never a good thing when your  phone rings at mid-night. Yesterday Dec 19th 2014 we got the news that my father-in-law E Gopal Reddy passed away after almost two years of a struggle with  leukemia . When your friends, colleagues and the community  participates in fund raising for cancer research you support their efforts  and never think that this will strike home so close. In 2012 when we heard the first diagnosis, We rushed to be supportive to him and our family. It was a trying time for him a perfectly normal individual who loved being with people to suddenly struggling with his own health.  What is the ROI of life? You suddenly realize that all you wanted was the ability to continue to experience life the same way.that you are familiar with. The first thing that you think of is how do we go back to status quo where everyone was happy meeting regularly and enjoying success and experience of living.  My father in law was always kin...

There are moments in life when you hear something and your mind subconciously thinks about being in that place. I firmly believe that these subconcious thoughts plays a role in your life and the decisions you make. Make sure you have the time to dream, switch off from everything a couple of times a day to let your dreams free, thrive on imagination and your dreams will come true. Kitty Hawk Sitting cross-legged on the floor listening to a lesson or maybe even a wooden bench in elementary scholl, the memory and description of the first flight from Kitty Hawk is vivid in memory. Years later the visit to Kitty Hawk would connect with that memory and another bucket list item crosssed off. Hey there is a beach and a lot of water close by to add to the vacation. Picasso, Gaugin, Van Gogh and Renoir I do not possess much knowledge of the arts but having heard of all these great masters, I was fortunate enough to see their works of art in the National Gallery of Art. This pa...

I must have been in elementary school and visiting our ancestral village for the summer in the late 60's when I was lucky to watch a village lit up with electricity. Yes, the lights and power, air conditioning, microwave did not exist at one time and I remember how life changes when it does. Before electricity the ancestral village in modern day Telangana had oil lanterns and "Petromax lights" that were lighted at sun down till bed time.    I was not a stranger to electricity as we lived in Delhi, the Capital of India. Large cable drums delivered cables to the village and electric poles were erected to being power to the village. In the absence of electricity, radios were battery operated. Life was focused on dawn to dusk and on special occasions more lanterns were hired. Later progress would come in the form of electric pumps, until then, bullocks would move in a  forward and backward motion drawing water from wells in a tire and the water would flow to the fi...

My brother Dr. Giridhar with my uncle the Late B. Keshava Reddy ( photo taken in 2013) On Father's Day we should also remember those who influenced our fathers. This month my dad's brother Bellamkonda Keshava Reddy passed away in our ancestral village which is in the newly formed Telangana State ( Formerly part of Andhra Pradesh) in India. He was 93 years old. A deep believer in the Gandhian philosophy of simple living, he was a farmer always looking for innovation in farming - trying sericulture, growing crops that were new and treating everyone with respect and equality. Continuing his good work even in death, he had asked for his body to be donated to a Medical college doing a great service even after death. I had mentioned my uncle in a commencement speech I gave to the Georgetown School of Continuing Studies last year.  Here is an extract of the talk that refers to my uncle: I went to India recently to visit family and my Dad’s brother who is over 90 years ...

India will swear in it's next Prime Minister Narendra Modi  and the Economist featured him on the cover this month with the words - " An Indian growth miracle would be a great thing not only just for Indians, but also for the world" I  listened to this story on NPR yesterday  " A Look At India's New Leader, Through The Lens Of Literature"  by Akash Kapur author of   India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India. Akash mentions a book by V.S. Naipaul " India: A Million Mutinies Now " that he read 24 years ago. This brought a lot memories back to me. I met V.S.Naipaul when he stayed at the Hotel Ashok, in Bangalore where I worked in the late 1980's when he was researching this book. One of my good friends M.A.Deviah, at that time a journalist for The Indian Express introduced me to V.S.Naipaul and he is mentioned in Naipaul's book several times . I am glad Akash Kapur mentioned V.S.Naipaul's book and brought these memo...

The best thing your parents can teach you is common sense and on Mother's Day, I am sharing with you a few simple things that I learnt from my parents, speically my mom. Buy Only What You Need : When you decide to buy anything a simple common sense check will save you. Do you really need to buy it?  Conserve Resources   Switch off lights, Don't keep water running beyond what you need.  Practice Discretion As human beings we overshare and I am not sure I follow this advice but it is important to always "speak in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information" Eat Fresh Food I appreciate this advice very much. Michael Pollan would be happy. A lot of us would like to go back to the times when food was freshly cooked and the family ate together. Always Be Prepared When you are in India you have no option. You have to be street smart, master the art of negotiation ( Haggle), always be careful of your surroundings and safegua...

I was reading this letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal yesterday (Thu 3rd April 2014) discussing the topic of reduced attendance in Movie theaters. This particular letter writer said that he missed the ushers the most. Ushers made sure the experience was great and maintained civility in theaters. The other letter writer said sound (loud) was the reason he stopped going to movie theaters. I agree with the sound issue  When we first took my son to a theater , we scared him, even as we went to see a kids movie. It's taken a few years to take him back again. What do you think? Do you still go to movie theaters? Why not ? How should theaters improve to get more folks in?