O P o t B

At the risk of giving away my age, not that that is any real secret, I was reminiscing about the time when I started in the field of IT.  Eons ago before the venerable desktop but not quite as far back as the punch card or patch board, but never the less far enough.  Far enough for me to have witnessed, what was probably the last, Punch Card Operator.  For those of you who are wondering, the Punch Card Operator was the person who took your coding sheets, yes we wrote our programs on special paper called coding sheets and in the process wiped out a huge number of forests, and a Punch Card Operator, using a punch card machine, punched holes into a card of approximately 3x6 inches.  These cards were then read in by a punch card reader and translated into a stream of characters which could then be viewed on a screen, edited and turned into a computer program if you managed to get it compiled. I was fortunate enough to skip this era of computing and arrived when monitor...

"The best sandwich bar in Mumbai", he said closing the door.  He muttered some instructions to the driver and we were on our way along the backstreets of Mumbai.  Out of the business come residential area through a slum.  Piles of filth dot the sidewalk just out of reach of the stalls selling tea, food and other odd and ends.  A pool of oil in front of a motor cycle repair stall.  Helmets decorate a stall selling motor cycle assessories.  Goats plunder the piles of filth seeking something to eat.  On the left, a river and on the opposite bank shacks, two or three stories high skirt the edge of the bank.  Sewer pipes reach out from the shacks and terminate in mid air dumping their load into the river below. Over a bridge and into an area where the stores are decorated quite tastefully. Through narrow winding roads and finally under a freeway.  The vehicle comes to a stop and I slide open the door.  I avoid a pile of dirt and mud the mon...

"How much for the watch?", I ask looking at the watches spread across the table.  All the brand names are there, Rolex to Tag and everything in between. "Number one copy", mutters the store owner. "How much?", I enquire. "Don't worry I will give you good price", he replies. My friend and I rummage through the watches being laid out on the table.  We pick out a few and settle on three.  The look in my friends eye tells all, he has taken a liking to one of the three. "How much for these?", I ask pointing to the selected watches. "5000", the store owner replies. "Too much", I start walking away. My friend reluctantly turns to follow. "Wait, 4500", the store owner calls. "Too much", I counter. "Look, it has moon phases, second hand and date", picking up the watch my friend has taken a liking too. "How much do you want to pay?", he says. "2000", I counter. ...

Through the crowded streets of that most famous of Indian cities, where the multitudes flock in the hope of fulfilling their dreams, of being discovered, and, hopefully, finding a way out of the existence to which they were born. An existence which is typified by shacks which slowly morph into permanent dwellings with narrow lanes and the piles of detritus which merges into the landscape. The have and have nots interspersed creating a contrasting landscape of emphasized opulence with squalor of basic human existence. For the have nots, a treadmill, seeking whatever means is available for a couple of rupees to stem the hunger for a day, or for the more fortunate, saving and betting against the odds of creating a better lifestyle.  Of moving into one of the high density apartments, which form the core of the residential quarters, that make up the city. Stores and stalls of all shapes and sizes compete for space as the myriad of entrepreneurs fight to lure the throngs that are con...

I am back, back from the country of my origin and straight back to the grindstone.  Travelling and seeing the monuments that have existed for some 450 years or more has left me in awe of the rich culture and heritage which bore my roots, it has been a humbling and soul satisfying journey. To experience the full extent of tradition that has shaped our behaviour and thinking is something to experience.  It makes plain my own mindset and explains my certain rather odd behaviours and or quirks, which are, in my opinion, somewhat inherent in my genetic programming having evolved over hundreds of years. The inherent business acumen that is prevalent of Indians throughout the world, proof being given by the economic contribution of the Indian populations in countries across the world.  The love for congregating with family and other figures of society, the love of spicy good home made food, the tendency to look for the best value for money item and the look and feel of most ...

Nothing can prepare you for it.  No photograph, no book, nothing.  Not even the monuments that lay claim to being the precursor to this.  None can prepare you for its majesty.  It is as if all others built before have been built, to iron out the imperfections, so that this could come to being. Entering from the Western gate, the red sandstone, so familiar from other places rise up to approximately six meters.  The gate, a large wooden door shaped like an arch, split down the middle and hinged onto the pillars of sandstone that support an arch, above that pillars supporting white domes.  Entering the first court yard, the expansive gardens bordered by red sandstone walls that support buildings and are bisected by the East, West and Northern Gates, the paradoxical sense of intimacy and open spaces fills my heart.  To the South the main entrance, with its twenty two domes one for each year of construction. Walking through the main entrance is like dra...

A two lane thoroughfare that has turned into a six lane freeway jam packed with motor vehicles, motor bikes, scooters, tuk tuks, a cauldron of chaos as cars turn and squeeze their way through the traffic.  Taxi's and tuk tuks, eager to get their fares to their destination as quickly as possible are by far the most aggressive, in the hope of securing a return fare. Buildings in various states of repair and disrepair, recently painted or bearing the signs of damp and the damages caused by damp, line the streets. Newly constructed buildings with a network of bamboo scaffolding reaching to the heavens dot the landscape, modern in design and stick out like sore thumbs between makeshift shacks and older buildings.  Stores squeeze into every nook and cranny and any unclaimed land is home to shacks and teaming with those eking a living from a city that never sleeps.  Vendors selling street food, tea, cigarettes and various other wares occupy the excessive spaces on the sidewa...