Two Years

 It's been two years since I got the news, and my brother and I rushed to India in the height of the COVID outbreak - dad had suddenly passed away. I will be ever-grateful to all those who stepped up and helped out as our mother and us brothers went through the aftermath.

Today, as we perform the puja for dad's passing's second anniversary, I am thinking of him, and the values he instilled in us - not just through word but also deed. I am also thinking of the thousands of other Indians who lost loved ones during the same outbreak - including friends who lost parents, and hope that they are doing well.

Om Shanti. 

Life, the Universe, and Everything (and my plan for the next year)

I turn 42 today (for those who got the H2G2 reference), and it's impressive to see that my previous blog post was 7.5 years ago!

To catch you up, a lot has changed in that time, since we moved to Southern California: Anjali is now leading her team at ASSC, and myKaarma (the company that my friends started and I joined) has grown by leaps and bounds, and I continue to have fun as the head of the R&D+Engg.

On the personal front, I recently started surfing, and can even catch small waves and stand up (pop-up, in surfer-speak) now! It has taught me a lot about the value of persistence and tenacity, and of being with nature - even on bad days, watching the pelicans fly in formation overhead, and the occasional dolpin is worth waking up early :-).

Perhaps the biggest struggle for me has been a scatterbrained mind and failure to follow through in projects I started (and the subsequent guilt). FWIW, this blog post was originally planned for Jan 1, 2023!

So here's the plan: my mantra for this coming year will be simple and straightforward: 

                        make mistakes. 

I've been blessed with enough cushion (material and social) in my life that small to medium-sized mistakes won't matter, and hopefully while trying things (the first step making said mistakes), sometimes I'll succeed, thus starting some virtuous cycles.

That's it for this post; hopefully I'll be able to write more often. Or maybe this was a bad idea, but isn't that the point? ;-)

So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish

As we celebrate our second wedding anniversary, the bittersweet time has come to begin a new chapter. In a few weeks, our Paris adventure will come to an end, and a new one will begin in LA! 

We are excited about what the relocation will bring: an exciting opportunity for Animesh's career, the opportunity to re-jump Anjali's, the next step in building our future, and the chance to spend more time with family. Plus, living in a place with constant sunshine and warm temps will definitely be a welcome change after Paris' frequent wet, cold weather and gray skies!

At the same time, we will sorely miss fresh baguettes, the beauty of the city, traveling across France and Europe, the continuous stream of visitors, and dozens of subtle things about daily life. 

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AP - BACK TO THE FUTURE

Above all, I will miss the supportive and warm friends I made in Paris, and my brilliant colleagues at Inria, some of whom have been with me for all of the past 7 years! Since my future role will involve travel to India, I hope to plan layovers in Paris and catch up with you all :).

I am thrilled with my new role as head of Kaarma Labs, the (no longer secret) R&D division of Kaarma, and look forward to continuing as an academic, albeit with a more industrial focus. Collaboration will be a key component of my position, and so I am glad that there is scope to continue working with many of you!

Of course, the presence of friends and family in LA where I spent 5 years of my life is a major bonus. :) Not to mention the beach!

This is but an announcement; a longer post should follow shortly on my (soon-to-be revived) blog. :)

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AS - FROM THE CITY OF LIGHT TO THE CITY OF ANGELS

Having spent most of my adult life on the East Coast, Southern California seems as much like a foreign country as France! [Albeit an English-speaking one, which will certainly make life easier! ]

Yet, I am certain that adjusting to a place with a gym and kale juice on every corner won't be difficult for me, and I imagine being surrounded by beaches (and new friends) will ease the transition. :)

Finally, a huge thanks to all those who have extended their friendship to me these past two years in Paris; hope to see you soon, whether in the city of light or angels! 

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P.S. We enjoyed this comparison of the two cities: http://cassavafilms.com/list-of-9/nine-comparisons-between-paris-and-los-angeles

P.P.S. We hope to see everyone at our farewell party!! https://www.facebook.com/events/870497959703004/

The action is at G+

Hi all,

Thanks to all of you who have been tracking this blog, and/or have followed a link to this blog from elsewhere on the web. The regular posting from me are now at my Google Plus page at https://plus.google.com/+AnimeshPathak/posts . This includes my regular #standingdesk bollywood mixes, photos, and more.

Someday, I will come back to this blog, when the tools at G+ end up being too limited from what I want to express.

Until then, au revoir from le blog!

So, what are the names of your circles?

So I've had google plus for about a week now, and am loving most things about it - from its unidirectional relationship model (which in my opinion models real human relationships very well, as we had in our papers on the yarta mobile social middleware), to its very useful mobile app. Looking forward to the upcoming features.

However, with the coming of circles comes the question: what do you call them? Do single word common nouns really suffice in representing the multiple groups in which we categorize those we know?

Personally, I don't think so. I mean, I have friends from work, friends from Paris, friends from LA, .... then colleagues from several working groups... the list is endless! And then there is the question of coming up with names to determine "closeness" to a person.

Therefore, I think I might settle on a content based naming scheme, especially for the second challenge above; after all, isn't the whole use of circles to (restrict) share(ing) of content?

So, here is a suggested list of circles, in increasing order of closeness :) :

1. knows-my-name (basically, public)
2. knows-my-profession
3. knows-name-of-my-wife
4. knows-name-of-my-girlfriend
5. knows-name-of-my-crush
6. knows-name-of-my-boyfriend (!!)

So, what are your ideas for circle names?

[mobilePic] at the Rath yatra in Paris : they are actually puling the chariot!

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[mobilePic] My first knitting project: a case for my android tablet :-).

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