Even though I do not know much about video games, I’d like to make a video game analogy to make my point. Why? Because some people I wish to get through to know a lot about it. If I am not exactly right about the granularities, do cut me some slack and go with the broad flow.
Imagine you are a gamer who has been playing regularly but not making as much progress as you’d like. Then, a friend suggests a tactic/strategy to try. You do it and it works. You keep dong that, or a slight variation of it, and you keep winning (or at least doing better). Then, the same friend, or another friend, tells you another strategy and that helps too. Over a period of time, you have accumulated a bunch of strategies and tactics and you have become much better at the game.
This was written on the April 12, 2020 and published here a few days later.
If you are the kind of person who likes to shoot the messenger that brings unpleasant news, I’d suggest you stop reading now. I am not going to pretend that I know the answer. I will try to create a back-of-the-envelope map of the territory we currently occupy and chart the possible routes ahead. You should make your own inferences.
Over the years I have done commercial photography assignments for advertising agencies ranging from cars to switch-gear. I have taken on commissioned photography and film projects from commercial media, international bilateral agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.
I am involved in multiple long-term projects, but I am happy to work on commissioned multi-media assignments. I prefer working on travel related projects or projects related to not-for-profit organizations/causes.
Note 1: This started out as a letter to my daughter who goes to college this year. But once I started writing I thought that others who go through the college application process (and their parents, perhaps) might find it useful too.
Note 2: I have no specific qualifications to comment on college or children, other than that I went to college once and have had the pleasure of growing up with two kids of my own. Since I lack credentials I make my argument by drawing on the work of others who have real credibility.
Some years ago I had posted a packing list that I had used for my Manli-Leh cycling trip. That post generated many thank-you’s and even more follow-up questions. The Manali-Leh trip was my first major multi-day self-supported cycling trip. Since then I have done many more trips and I am now more settled on my packing list. And my approach to packing for a cycling trip is more refined, or so I’d like to believe.
It is five in the morning and still pitch dark outside. But I am up and ready to face the winter morning chill, which admittedly, is not at its peak yet. My camera bag on my shoulder and my trusty hat on my head I am ready to leave the comfort of my hotel room. While this is a nice hotel, it is old style. No digital key swipes, just one key for an old-fashioned lock. Therefore I need to wake my wife to let me out of the hotel room and lock the door behind me.
Residents of Delhi, even those not terribly interested in history, are likely to be aware of the Safdarjung Tomb. Not because it is a particularly grand tomb, as mausoleum go, but perhaps because it is physically a prominent landmark, on a major road, in the middle of upmarket central Delhi.
This morning I had an hour to kill, and I decide to make some pictures there. While wandering there, two things occurred to me:
At age 40, in the middle of raising venture funding for my second tech start-up, I had a massive heart attack. It’s a long story, but in essence, while I was lying on the cold OT table and wondering why they were trying to freeze me to death, my loved ones were waiting outside desperately hoping and praying that I make it through. Surprise: I did make it through.
In just a few days I will make it all the way through to 50. Bloody impressive, eh! And cycling across America is closest thing to a celebration I could plan. This is kind of a ’teerth yatra’ (pilgrimage) for an old man. And hopefully along the way I will discover America. Or at least a part of it. Okay, seriously, at the minimum, I will discover if I have the legs and the mindset for long distance cycling.
At 4,420 meters Sach pass is not among the highest ‘motorable’ passes in the country, but it is certainly one of the steepest and one of toughest to bicycle across. A couple of years ago, Punit and I failed to cycle across it (read about the last attempt to cycle across the Sach pass here. What are the chances that I’ll do better on a solo attempt?
It is a little after 4:00 pm and it has already been a tough day of cycling. I still have the energy to push along for a couple of more hours, but am not sure if that would be good enough to get me to Bagota (no, not the capital of Colombia, but the little tarp cluster short of Sach Pass in Himachal Pradesh). Not finding shelter for the night at this altitude and in these inhospitable conditions is not an option. Time to stop cycling, catch my breath and assess my situation.
![Packing list for multi-day self-supported cycling trip [Version 2.0]](/images/IMG_1317-2-l_hu_c33b5b0c9e025dc8.jpg)
