Coorg

Coorg is a scenic locality in Karnataka filled with rolling green hills under clear blue skies. I went with a group of friends and friends of friends to the "Scotland of India" during a weekend escape from Bangalore. Most of the time was spent relaxing in a secluded cabin set amidst a verdant valley.

We took an elephant ride around a park, climbing onto the pachyderm by means of a stairwell that ended where the the giant beast's backside began. Bylakuppe, the second largest Tibetan settlement in India, was located nearby. We had lunch at the local monk hangout. The monks at Namdroling Monastery were quite modern, shelling out rupees at the corner store for such earthly delights as toilet paper and India’s favorite soft drink Thums Up.

*****

"Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man: yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hair's breadth of time assigned to thee live rationally, and part with life cheerfully, as drops the ripe olive, extolling the season that bore it and the tree that matured it." ~ Marcus Aurelius

The Garden of Ten Thousand Beasts

Not to be confused with the Beijing Subway, the Beijing Zoo is one of the city's more affordable attractions. An imperial manor in the Ming Dynasty, a small menagerie was first established in the park in 1906. Now the 219 hectares of gardens and ponds has the largest collections of animals of any zoo in China. After purchasing my tickets, I followed the crowds to the wildly popular giant panda pavilion. Groups of pandas jostled in the artificial playground that had been created for them, while others enthusiastically chewed strips of bamboo.

The cafeteria doubled as the rhinoceros viewing area, so customers could eat lunch and watch the giant creatures laze about simultaneously. The tiger collection was another highlight my visit. One Chinese man repeatedly popped up behind me every time I saw one of the magnificent creatures. "Tiger!"he would shriek into my ear. I said "Yes, tiger." the first time, politely nodded the next few times, and then ignored him for the remaining few episodes.

Meanwhile, a small Chinese child saw a dark and hairy beast roaming freely outside of the enclosures. The toddler shrieked and clung tightly to his mother's left leg, one tiny finger pointing at me fearfully. I gave a friendly scowl and continued onwards to see a bear being enticed by a local to eat yogurt from his cup.

*****

“Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings.” ~ Evan Esar

Beijing Auto Show 2010

The largest auto show in the world takes place in the far reaches of Beijing, about 2 hours away from the city center. Nevertheless, throngs of spectators still flocked to see the attractive models on display at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. After they were done, they turned their attentions towards the cars. Having a vehicle is a status symbol in China, although with 4.5 million cars in Beijing alone, it is not a particularly exclusive one.

I walked around for a couple of hours, paying particular attention to the concept cars and those being unveiled to the public for the first time. The numbers were staggering - 800,000 visitors, 1000 vehicles, and 100 international debuts. Not only were all the foreign brands out in full force, but dozens of Chinese manufacturers were also present. The local automakers are yet to make an impact on the global automotive scene, but they still dominate the low budget segment of the Chinese market.

I was ushered into BMW's VIP suite after I explained to the beautiful hostess who I was. A stone faced guard moved aside on her signal and I strode up the stairs. Several exclusive models were on display. I smiled at them before continuing on to the dining area. I sipped a coffee, watching the crowds milling about below. I then enjoyed a sumptuous lunch along with other members of the glitterati who had been granted entrance to the VIP area. After the meal, I rejoined the masses to hurriedly visit the booths of the remaining vendors. It was the last day of the motor show and the workers started to drive the cars out of the exhibition hall well before closing time.

*****

"A car for every purse and purpose." ~ Alfred P. Sloan

Cliffhanger

Amidst the modernity of a fast developing nation, it is always possible to find fascinating traces of the past. 100 kilometers from Beijing lie a series of ancient caves carved out of the cliff side at Guyaju. The original inhabitants of the largest cliff dwellings discovered in China lived here over a thousand years ago. Not much is known about the cave dwellers, with both their origins and disappearance from the region still a mystery. Archaeologists have made guesses on which cave was a temple, which belonged to the village chieftain, which was a stable for horses, and which was a storeroom based on clues such as size, location, and shape of the specific cave.

Although the rock is soft, life was hard for the residents of Guyaju. Not only the walls of their homes, but their tables, beds, and tools were all made of stone. Carefully climbing the steps etched into the cliff, I examined a small sample of the over 120 caves in the complex. From atop I could see the odd modern day reconstruction of a town from the American West down below. This development, ostensibly to allow wealthy Chinese to have vacation homes where they could imagine they are living in 19th century America, is called Jackson Hole.

*****

"Here we stand in the middle of this new world with our primitive brain, attuned to the simple cave life, with terrific forces at our disposal, which we are clever enough to release, but whose consequences we cannot comprehend." ~ Albert Szent-Gyorgyi 

TPM

When today's tech savvy toddlers were posed the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" one of the most frequently heard answers was "Technical Project Manager". I live that dream.

My job as a Technical Project Manager (TPM) at Interone allows me to work in a creative environment, alongside art directors, designers, copywriters, and developers in the online division of the advertising agency. What exactly do I do as a TPM?

• I oversee the technical design, development, and launch of multilingual websites in multiple countries simultaneously, always having to be aware of the statuses of dozens of projects at once
• I supervise the technical staff, which includes developers (who write code) and content editors (who upload content to the  website), by explaining to them what tasks have to be completed and when, providing guidance on how to accomplish these tasks, checking that they have all the materials they need, and helping them when they are in a bind
• I evaluate business requirements and alternate solutions, provide cost estimates, and schedule resources
• I coordinate with third party vendors and service providers
• I identify, report, and fix bugs
• I star in the occasional movie
• I interview potential candidates and perform other day to day managerial tasks

It is a multidisciplinary job that requires not only top notch technical skills, attention to detail, devastatingly gorgeous facial features, and a sharp intellect, but a 360 degree understanding of what needs to be done in the minds of various stakeholders and the ability to bring it all together into a combined product that can be launched under tight deadlines.

******

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu