I spent a significant amount of time in 2023 living in Washington D.C. While a lot of the year was spent on managing a steep learning curve at work, traveling to conferences and shuttling between Atlanta and DC, I managed to explore DC a little. I had visited DC a few times before, but living here gave me an opportunity to explore it in more depth. I absolutely loved taking the Metro everywhere. It reminded me of living in Mumbai and I felt comfortable and absolutely safe. I took the Metro at all odd hours, even taking the last one at midnight a few times and never felt unsafe. There are several advantages to using the Metro in DC. It connects different neighborhoods in DC very well. The few times that I took an Uber/Lyft, I was stuck in traffic for long enough to regret my decision. On the weekends the charge is a flat $2 each way, no matter how far or close you are traveling. So, it seemed like a no-brainer to use the Metro. Safety tip: When traveling by myself, I generall...
I am currently reading V.S. Naipaul's "India: A Million Mutinies Now". When I first started reading, I thought I knew a lot about what he was describing in the book. And it was true to a large extent. I think I already had a good understanding of what he was describing. But the way he was describing it, was so beautiful. If I had to talk to someone about India, I don't think I would be able to describe it like this.... even though I can talk about all the things that he talks about. My most favorite part so far is his theory about Calcutta. We all know about the plight of Calcutta.... He explains the state of Calcutta as the death of a city and says "This is what happens when cities die. They don't die with a bang. A city dies when everyone suffers everyday". He goes on to describe this in more detail, but I think you get the gist. Although I agree with this description and wanted to say exactly what he did, I don't think I would have ever described ...
Like I had decided quite some time back, I rented Saawariya DVD to enjoy the movie on my widescreen HiDef TV (seriously, it's much better than the Indian theater that I went to last time). First of all I hated Salman Khan. He looks like he froze when shooting one of his older movies.... the same expression (or lack of any...) plastered on his face ALL THE TIME. I of course LUVED Ranbir Kapoor, liked Sonam Kapoor, much better than Deepika Padukone (that brouhaha about her was just hype I think...or maybe a good strategy by SRK!!!)... When the movie ended I thought, this can't be it.... all this for nothing???? I was disappointed... I guess I was expecting a miraculous change of heart and Sakina falling head over heels in love blah blah blah... I was expecting the usual Bollywood drama and romance, but SLB style.... meticulously made, beautiful to the last detail.... which it was sans the usual happily ever after ending... I mean we have seen tragedies (Vasu Sapna and Raj Rashmi...
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