Eat your view

Read Omnivore's Dilemma over the break. Not to mention that my break is still going on until the 10th of January. It is one fantastic read. In the top 100 all time non-fiction list. Michael Pollan tries to answer the question of what we should eat.

He starts with corn and it's omnipotence in the industrialized food system. He mentions CAFOs and its big role in making meat cheap and available to common man. He doesn't spare the government of its policies to encourage growth of subsidized corn and make fast food prevalent.
If you want to find out the food chain and its dependencies right from farmers growing corn OR grass (in case of organic foods), animals eating it, droppings turning into manure, animals being killed for meat and humans being at the far end of the food chain finally consuming the meat, this is your book.

'Eat your view', is a line in this book that caught my attention. After some thought I realized how true it is. It signifies how your decisions and choices - be it buying from a fast food joint or from whole foods or from a local farmers market or hunting for your meat - determines what part of the food chain (industrial, organic, pure organic) you are encouraging and contributing. In the end you are eating your view.

Break time

Can't wait for the holidays to begin! I am thinking of taking off till the 11th, but let's see. Things I am going to do during the holidays

• Take my mom out to SF. All she has done after she came here is try different cuisines and a small trip to Big Sur. Now since Anya has started to adjust to the outside world, taking mom around is certainly top most on the agenda.
• Resume gym. Have stopped working out for about 3 months now. BAAADDD!!
• NOT think about work at all. NOT going to open my mails for one.
• Read some books if I find time. This is a new hobby of mine which I regret not having earlier.

Read Freakonomics. Except the rationale for the abortion laws causing a decrease in crime during the 1990s, I am not sure if any other argument was as convincing. Or it might be the other hidden sides were just too obvious to me. For instance information (over the internet) has taken down prices for all services/commodities, school teachers cheating because of a conflict of interest w.r.t standardized testing etc. I would rate it a 5 out of 10 :)

Blink

I liked Outliers so much that I had to read Malcolm Gladwell's other book - Blink. The book is about intuitions, hunches or our unconscious self, how they help us in making better decisions - better than a more thoughtful process and how the mind can adapt and develop these hunches through experience and learning.
An interesting book, not as good as Outliers though. He makes his argument in the first couple of chapters, reiterates the point through different stories (as in Outliers), but the stories are not as interesting. One of the chapters that talks about how different facial expressions could be analyzed to figure out individuals actual emotions is just a bit too detailed and long. It wasn't that bad though and I would still love to read his best-seller "The Tipping Point".

Beijing Part 2 & Outliers

This was my second trip to Beijing. Stayed at J.W. Marriott. It was neat. Never stayed in such a high end room before. The one feature I loved - TV right above the bath tub. Lot of amenities too!! Sure enjoyed the stay. Came back only for the better though. Have 9 days off from work. Took the Monday and Tuesday off along with the extended long weekend the company mandated for Thanksgiving. Finally loads of time to spend with Anya. :)

Read a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It is a must read. Highly recommended. He starts by explaining how Roseta, Pennsylvania has low rates of heart related problems amongst its population. He also explains why major league players for NHL in Canada have more players born in the first quarter of the year. He then goes on to illustrate how Bill Joy (co-founder of Sun) and Bill Gates were successful because of several intangible factors in addition to their hard-work and determination. It talks about how a combination of ethnicity, the demographics and failure of white-shoe law firms to accept takeover litigation made successful lawyers out of some Jewish immigrants including Joseph Flom. It also tries to explain why Asians are good at Math (however that was not as convincing as the other outliers). He also convincingly explains why Korean airlines had more crashes before the 1990s. A really awesome book.

The Soul of a New Machine

This book was nice. The title does sound geeky, but believe me, it's far from that. Its an account of Data General building their first 32-bit mini-computer during their hay days. A really engrossing book that briefly touches the politics involved in higher ups, emphasizes the grueling hours put in by the hardware engineers, talks about the thrills and trauma of being a manager with unrealistic deadlines, the satisfaction and enthusiasm of getting the job done, and a sense of void in the engineers after the exhilarating journey ended.
The book won a Pulitzer Prize. One thing/term I learned from the book. "Mushroom theory of management".

Anya's blog

Anya is in her sixth week. Its already been an exciting journey so far. She used to cry a lot during her initial two weeks. She is starting to settle down now. Her mom and her grand moms are taking very good care of her. Lucky girl!!!
I am trying to do my part. Maintaining a blog that captures her growth, and keeps her grandfather, aunts and uncles tuned in. http://sumera-ankur-anya.blogspot.com/. It is fun maintaining that blog.
Enjoying fatherhood. Smooth and bumpy ride. :). Never know whats gonna happen next.

Welcome Baby Anya

It is inexplicable. The feeling when you become a father. A few days ago I was anxious, apprehensive and scared. Now I am proud, confident, responsible, happy and eager. Proud to be a father to 'Anya Pal'. Confident of taking care of the baby and assuming more responsibilities. Responsible because a small little life is so dependent on Sumera and I . Happy because I just love her. Eager to hold her every freaking time.
Sumera and I had a daughter on 5th September at 5:45 pm. She was 8.7 pounds and 20.5 in. Labor was of course not a pleasant experience, but it wasn't bad either. All we do, talk and care about right now is Anya. Life does change a lot. But believe me, it is for the better :).