Aug 16
I haven't really had much time to explore the city. Pittsburgh is a small college town with a lot of young people. Students are given special privileges and the cost of living, i am told, is very affordable when compared to bigger cities in the country.
The people are very friendly. An old man walking on the street stopped me and asked if i was from the 'land of vishwanathan anand'. When i told him i was, he promptly gave his chess club brochure and told me that i had to come visit his club. I promised i would.
There is a quaint little coffee shop with about 5 things on the menu. But it is the most inviting place with free wifi, shelves of novels and comic books and a wall adorned with letters and postcards that people have to written to the coffee shop. People sit there for hours just reading or watching the evening go by. Time ceases to matter and ergo, it is my current favorite place in town.
The weather has been uninviting and the food, repetitive. But Carnegie Mellon has been great. Endless possibilities.
Jul 25
The last week has been okay. It has been complicated driving on the other side of the road and it's funny greeting everyone with "How's it going?" (How's what going? where it is going to? Wasn't it happy where it was?). It's been frustrating getting used to the american way of doing things which is, as far as i gathered, diametrically opposite to the simple way of doing things. The food could have been better, as could have been the weather. My internet connectivity has been spotty at best with no computer / phone and a bunch of traveling. The painful long flights in cramped seats haven't helped one bit.
It has been a great last week. Wonderful people so full of enthusiasm and sheer happiness, fairs with myriad sounds, a fantastic butterfly park and a spectacular aquarium, a hike up a snow-clad hill and a vintage car show. The evenings spent looking at the skyline and the afternoons at the busy markets.
But the highlight was a magical hot air balloon ride up to the heavens. It was a little bit like stumbling onto a rainbow when all you were looking for was a waterfall.
Jun 26
I had to go to work today and i decided to carry along my camera. SAP Labs is one of the most beautiful campuses in town and is always teeming with wonderful wildlife. Lizards are gorgeous (as are agamas). Exquisite skin color and texture, inquisitive beady eyes and patient posing make them ideal for portraiture. The complex patterns on their skins complement the intricate social interaction they share; I spent about 20 minutes engrossed in a standoff between two males over territory.
Jun 10
After two wordy posts, decided to go quiet in this one.
Shots from Kabini.
May 22
Just got back from the trip of a lifetime.
No internet, no computers, no email, no facebook, no twitter, no chat. No phone, no conversations, no sms, no people. No television, no electricity, no news, no cricket. No toilets, no bath, no shaving, no bed, no roof. No deadlines, no meetings, no reviews, no coffee-corner chats. No vehicles, no rush hour, no conveniences. And yet, unbound joy. The Himalayas have a way of forcing you to rethink what you always thought was indispensable.
Still coming to grips with the low altitude oxygen levels.
