On top of the world ... literally !

I have been bitten by the flying bug !

There, i have said it.

It started with a demo flight in May '07 in Phoenix ... where the instructor literally gave me the aircraft to fly once we were in the air. We flew over Chandler for about half an hour, and it was simply amazing. I was hooked !!

Then this summer, i was in New Jersey for some meetings and one of my colleagues, who i have been badgering for the last six months, offered to take me up in his plane. Of course, i said YES ... and off we went ...

This is his plane ... its a six seater Cessna with retractable landing gear ... he is an ex-navy pilot and he flies quite regularly ... at present he is the VP Strategy for our aerospace business, and so this fits in perfectly !

Its an expensive hobby ... it costs about $ 70,000 for the plane ('70s vintage) and then about $ 6k for the hangar, $ 2k for the insurance and another $ 3-4k for maintenance ... but on the other hand, for less than a $ 100k, you can have your own plane !

We drove to the airport where he has rented a hangar, took the plane out, jumped in and took off ! It was amazing how quick and simple the process is. At the airport, there were at least 50 other planes parked. The route that he plotted, took us over New Jersey, towards Manhattan, up the West Hudson upto Tapanzee Bridge and then turned back towards the airport in New Jersey

Along the way, we saw Manhattan up close and personal, some helicopters (probably owned by news channels), central park, my old client office (Amex), the site of the Twin Towers, my old office (9 West 57th Street), the Empire State building ... the weather was perfect and in the late afternoon light, the city was gleaming

We did an hour long flight ... i did not get to fly myself ... but it was a magical hour ...

Thanks Justin for making it happen

I envy the sure footed ...

These days i am exploring business ideas ... the theory is that everywhere i look around, i see Tom, Dick, Harry, and their distant cousins starting something new ... the key word being "starting" ... i don't have any delusions that some start-ups succeed while the majority will keel over and die ... but i will never know unless i try

So lets start at the very beginning ... a very good place to start !

The Idea - Ideas are a dime a dozen right now ... and thats why i envy the sure footed - they have an idea that they are passionate about, and they go for it - at least, then the focus is on execution ... i am still on the idea stage

I have been talking to people, and while on one hand its illuminating, on the other hand its damn confusing ... everyone has a point of view (that may or may not be correct, or palatable, or in agreement with each other), and if i take all of them in aggregate then its all over the place at the moment !!

The trick, i guess, is to plod on ... and at some point just shift gears and move into execution !!!

Will keep you posted

cheers
P

Six months past ...

The other day, i was reflecting on how quickly another year seems to be going by ... and i realised that by last post was December 31, 2006 on this blog ... so here is time to do a quick six month update ...

January
Great start to the year. Went to Orlando for work ... it was the annual kick-off event for the business - what a show !! Also, saw Sea World and played 2 rounds of golf !! Went to my brother's place ... for the first time i really spent 1-1 time with my little nephew and i fell for the little chap ... he is a charmer !!

February
Pretty uneventful ... turned another year older ... RG came for her bi-annual visit ... VJ decided to return to his old employer

March
Prashant came to India with Ishaan for the first time ... spent a lot of time with him ... he is such a sweetheart. I think the creator of C&H got it right - kids seem to have their own world that they live in !! Also, we went to London for a short break ... stayed at the apartment ... had such a relaxing time that we ended up extending by another 2 days

April
Must have been uneventful ... cant remember anything worth mentioning !!

May
Went flying in Phoenix ! Its an amazing experience ... I still can't believe it !! Just on a whim ... did some searching on beapilot.com, found a flt school near the hotel. Flew a Cessna 172 with Garmin 1000 cockpit ... the trainer was very cool - he got me sitting in the pilot seat, and first taught me to steer with the rudders on the ground. Then we took off, and he handed over control to me. Key takeaway - flying is tough !!! There is so much going on - in the cockpit, on the radio ... the plane was jumping about because of the heat over Phoenix !! I flew for about 20 mins before we headed off for the return. The return was interesting ... because we were coming back towards population and losing height at the same time ... the instructor took over for the final turn and the landing ... all in all - a wonderful experience !!

June
Went to Paris for vacation ... truly the most charming city that we have gone to. Stayed in St Germain area ... lots of cafes, small alleys, museums ... would love to go back. I have also decided to give my entrepreneurial ambitions a fair shot - currently working on business ideas as well as networking ... hope to have some idea on way forward by July

All in all - an eventful first half of the year ... looking forward to the next half !!

cheers
P

OCD - II

Its been a week+ since my young bro-in-law came back ... while on a regular basis we are seeing a lot of improvement, with behaviour as a normal teen, there have been episodes where the stark reality hits us. There are abrupt mood swings, and very aggressive behaviour, times when he does not care about anyone in the room ... its very scary to watch. At these times we realise how difficult it is to ensure that we do not take any wrong steps with him. We are all working with him and praying that he gets better soon

This last week, i have come to realise how fragile the human mind is ... and how we have been impacting the mind through the environment we are creating and also through substances like medicines that we use in our everyday life. My wife has been having mood swings due to some medication that she is taking - one day she is cheerful and the next in the throes of depression.

Nothing cheery about these days i guess ... cheers

OCD

We just learnt that my young brother-in-law (all of 15 years old) has been diagnosed with OCD (Obessessive Compulsive Disorder) ... he has obsessive 'thoughts' all the time - its tiring him out, and he is all the time trying to do activities to distract his mind ... its a very tough thing, and we cannot even imagine what he must be going through !! Its when such things happen that you realise that while a physical illness/ truama looks challenging, mental problems are so much worse - there is no timeline for getting better, no guarantee on the extent of recovery and no understanding of the long term impact ... he is, after all, only 15 - what would this mean to the rest of his life !!!

At the moment, we are working to get the 'cow out of the ditch' ... the only therapy prescribed by the doctors are to give him lots of love, and to give him what he wants. can get tiring for the adults - but the family has rallied around to ensure that he gets better.

Its in moments such as these, you realise how different everyone is - how we cope with this, how many changes we have to make to our behaviour and to our daily schedules to ensure that we can contribute to the recovery, and not assist the problem instead. Human beings are most complex creatures - emotions, behaviours, personalities, reactions to different circumstances ...

Will keep this blog posted as we get this cow out the ditch ...

A week in costa del sol

Took a decent vacation after a verrrrry loooong time ... we went to the south of spain, near Malaga last week. To put it simply - it was GREAT ! We had an apartment and a car 10 minutes from Marbella. Re-discovered the joys of being together ... Himani made breakfast, something new everyday ... we went grocery shopping ... i cleaned up etc etc - felt like a normal, young couple ! Some pictures of our apartment ...

Its 1 am ... in office ?!

Have never worked this hard in my 8 year-long career as I have in the last 6 months ... not in consulting, not in business, never

India has finally caught the fancy of the US companies, and more importantly their investors ... so its a long trail of visitors (most of them first time), and presentations, and more of the same ... still, it seems to be more talk and learning and less action ... Guess it will take more time for that

At the same time, when i look around India still remains a paradox and a mass of contradictions ... we are modern and yet traditional; we are sophisticated and yet crass; you can still be surprised when you drive to work in the morning - guy in a suit and tie, driving a fancy car ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD ... can't blame it on the person's exposure, lack of education, lack of awareness of the risks of breaking the law etc ... and then you get stuck in a jam and before you know it, you are contemplating doing the same !

Brother just had a baby ... reminds you that there is more to life than just the routine of work and home ... to round up, here are some pictures ... cheers