The Infernal Diurnal Journal

I have often pondered over the downside of having too much money-not that I am guilty of it- but it is merely a thought experiment enhanced by observation at close quarters of people who are guilty of it.  In the first instance you need to expend a lot of effort to manage it properly- and invariably it will mark the entry of all sorts of intermediaries in your life who will want to sell you any thing for a  sales cut. Even before you have money, in countries like India you get used to an ecosystem of intermediaries- service providers of every possible flavour. Managing this is a full time job. Now imagine if in addition you had to manage multiple rental properties, private banking stooges, other businesses you have invested in and so on. How will you make time for what is really fundamental to your life- spending time with atleast your kids if not your wife- and unless you are fortunate enough to be a rabid talentless philistine, you will have a hobby or two to pursue. Somethi...

Boracay- The first full day here. Traveling solo for the second time..the first was to lake Taal in Tagaytay. I have no idea what to do in this beach resort by myself. I woke up at 9.16 am- just about in time to get the buffet breakfast that came with the room rate. It was not raining so that was a relief. I sauntered over to the beach side cafe attached to the hotel and found a table overlooking the beach. It was the first proper sighting for me, given my previous evening arrival to a rainy and dark waterfront. The day time view was much nicer- a proper beach- with a large white sand trim and azure waters beyond. Beachcombers were present although fewer in number than I had anticipated. The buffet was better than the El Nido spread.. but still nothing to write home about. I cant wait to go to India and stay in a five stat hotel there- just imagine the breakfast buffet spread! Alu parathas, idly dosas and then all of the standard western stuff. The egg station had some variety here- pr...

The first thing I saw when I awoke this morning was my fb feed.. loads of pictures of a house party where my dear wife had hosted a number of friends both old and new. One particular post was of a video where one of the guests had been playing guitar and singing Jamaican Farewell. I wished she hadn't posted it. And I told her so- this led to some slight tension filled exchanges but by the time I had finished my lunch ( which was bangus sisig for the first time) things had settled down amicably. The bangus sisig was much better than I had thought- I had been avoiding ordering this from the room service menu for a while- because I thought it might be too fishy for me.. bangus was milkfish - not one of my favorites. But the fish was well fried and crispy and with the onions and tomatoes tasted all right.   Following lunch I began to feel drowsy again so I lay down for a bit, reflecting. Soon I arose and checked cricinfo on my phone.  What a shock- South Africa had crashed out wit...

It has never been quite an October such as this. I have been undergoing an intense weekend routine- and the intensity only increases with every passing week. The first weekend was a family of four, ours to be exact, flying out to India to attend my parent’s 50 th marriage anniversary. I had insisted that we do something for this and not just let it slide by like another day. It is never easy for me to insist on something like this. I never have any energy to push for an event let alone be bothered about organising it. But with each passing year one’s mortality was beginning to reveal itself bit by bit- and it was time to make memories by marking everything that needed to be marked. Often in the past, it always seemed that this could be done another time as there would be time for everything. As far as I am concerned I had summarily stopped believing this. So whatever needed to be done had to be done- and now not later. “Kal ho na ho” was suddenly a bit more than a tacky line from bolly...

I arrived last night, worn and tired after a 9 hour flight. It was my first return to China after 10 years. I still recall the various early trips to China starting in 2007 when I had just joined my previous employer. I have several old blog entries waxing eloquent about the level of development in China- how anyone that compared China to India had never actually been here else they would never bother to do so. This time the sky in Shanghai seemed much clearer than I remember it- all of china used to be one dense smog about a decade ago. Some time has certainly passed and a few things have transpired not the least of which is Covid. While the sky seems to have cleared considerably, some other not so positive things have happened. Almost all US websites or apps are now banned. I was worrying about internet connection quality in the hotels here- I needn't have to. Fat lot of good my connection is, given I cannot access Whatsapp, Youtube, Facebook, Google Maps, Google Translate or Gma...