Walking on a sine wave

A few of my favorite pictures taken while exploring Santiago De Compostela. The city is well preserved and takes you back to the medieval centuries. I spent 1.5 days walking every street, taking a Tapas tour, historical walking tour and also attended the morning mass.

87.27 miles, 190,243 steps and 6 days later I made it to my destination of Santiago from O Pedrouzo on this rainy day at 11.15 am on Aug 28th. What a sense of accomplishment and gratification! This verse from my favorite movie Zindagi Na milegi Dobara summarizes my state of mind as I stand in…

22 miles, 45279 steps in 8.5 hours with two 30 minute breaks! My personal best of walking from Melide to O Pedrouzo. Mind over matter 🙂 Today was the most intense day in my itinerary and even I had my doubts if I could walk this much in one day. Started the walk at 6.45…

7 miles and 15K steps in 2.5 hours from Palas to Melide. Today was rest day so I kept the walk short. Started at 8 am on a very foggy day and reached my destination by 10.30 only to find out that checkin was at 1 pm. Spent the next few hours checking out the…

16.2 miles and 36800 steps today as I walked from Portomarin to Palas De Rei. Lovely 60F weather with light drizzle for the most part. Walking was enjoyable today as the sun was not burning my skin. Listened to the Hindi music playlist my son made for me the entire 7 hours. Humming to Shahrukh…

13.91 miles and 29700 steps Started in Sarria and the goal was to reach Portomarin 13.91 miles away. Yesterday I saw a total of 7 people, today I think it was 700. Sarria is the most popular starting point for the Camino and I am glad I started 15 miles north east to experience the…

15.25 miles, 35067 steps, 6 hours Started the Camino in Triacastela which is 135Kms from Santiago. It took me an entire day to reach the starting point after landing in Madrid. The train to Sarria was 7 hours after my flight landed and I used the time to explore Retiro Park in Madrid as well…

Once in a while, we all have THAT day when at the end of it, we think about everything that happened in the last 24 hours and feel extremely content. This past Sunday was THAT day for me. I woke up to a packed agenda wondering how I was going to manage all my commitments…

For almost a decade, my then company’s annual meet coincided with my birthday which would push the celebration out. This changed a few years ago when I changed jobs and since then I always make it a priority to celebrate it on the day of my birthday. This year, we decided to combine the celebrations…

Continuing our Wyoming National parks trip, we made it to Jackson, WY late in the evening to start our Grand Tetons National Park adventure for the next 4 days. These mighty mountains make you gasp when you first see them. They are majestic, serene, vast, powerful and as my daughter said – Bejeweled (the patches…

Yellowstone National park was on my list for many years but I always wanted to visit it with ample time to experience the natural wonders of this 2 million acres of wilderness. One of the first trips I booked this summer was our week in Wyoming combining Yellowstone with The Grand Tetons National Park. This…

My walking buddy during COVID always had a spiritual bend. Like all of us who nurtured our interests during the first year of the pandemic, she decided to learn more about yoga and Hindu scriptures. I remembered how excited she was when she signed up for an online Gita learning course offered by one of…

My cousin was returning back to India and suggested all cousins meet up the night before for one last get together. We met at a local creperie and decided it wasn’t what everyone was craving with the rains outside. We then headed to our favorite Mediterranean restaurant and spent the next few hours discussing the…

I love hosting! Whether it is having people over for brunch, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner, I love the excitement of planning a menu and preparing the dishes to be enjoyed with our guests. Over the last 6 weeks, I have hosted 3 pool parties, 1 family brunch (Paranthas for Papas) and 2 dinner parties…

Modern lifestyle is all about efficiency and productivity. All of us keep trying to squeeze in more and more to tick off check boxes everyday. We want to spend time with our kids, take them to a bazillion activities, have a picture perfect house with an envious yard, take the most unique vacations, attend parties…

When my husband asked me to join him for a business trip to NYC, as a recovering Type A planner, I said YES without hesitation. Being a smart man that he is, he booked my ticket before I had anytime to even think about it. Lo and behold, we were on a flight 3 days…

I always prefer taking the subway when in NYC. It’s efficient and fast compared to taking a cab/ Uber and every ride comes with a side of people watching. NYC is full of interesting people and it’s subways are the best place to observe daily lives of its residents. It was during one of these…

My aunt and cousin are visiting us from India after 20 years. It’s a treat to have them here during my sabbatical as I can see them without juggling meetings and work travel. During one of our chats last week, we decided to take a road trip to Austin and San Antonio. Lo and behold,…

Last week my kids went to the only camp scheduled this summer. Everyday they got the lunch they requested because mommy had time in the morning to make whatever their heart desired. On Friday morning, in addition to the lunch request, I also got a request to watch Elemental in the evening. My first instinct…

This week we at SAAVETX EF advocated for issues important to South Asian Americans at multiple forums in Washington DC. We met with policy directors at the White House where topics ranging from #education, #healthcare and #bilateralrelations with South Asian countries were discussed. Our delegation also attended the Indian American Impact Project’s Summit on Tuesday and networked with elected representatives, Indian community…

Everyone who knows me will tell you that I am not a beach vacation person. I like history, culture, mountains and a vacation is not a vacation till there are at least 3 activities planned each day. our first summer trip was going to be no different till the unrest in Peru made us cancel…

My first job out of college reallocated me to a small town in South Texas. I did not know a single soul when I moved but was welcomed with open arms by my coworkers, some of who were transplants themselves. C was one of them, a bright mom of 2 kids who was like a…

This was the first time since my kids started their schooling that I was in town during the End of school year week and had an open calendar ( refer to blog post 1). So as they say when the bar opens once in your life , you…. ( you get the gist). Long story…

I love Spanish Guitar music and Rodrigo Y Gabriela since I first saw them in concert in 2012. I was 8 months pregnant yet that didn’t stop me from tapping through the entire concert. Their album Tamacun is one of my favorites and on my morning walk playlist. 10 years later I had the opportunity…

WFAA News 8 crew came over to interview my kids in the aftermath of the Allen mass shooting. I was impressed with how well my kids articulated their thoughts, feelings and ideas. Most of the content didn’t make the Final Cut but I am so proud of them for speaking up. Here is the final…

Today Rainy days always remind me of Pune and bring back happy memories from my years spent there. The sound of rain, the earthy smells, the chai and the savory snacks are nostalgic of a time when life was simpler and college friends were my family. Today the weather suddenly turned and the clouds burst…

Since the shootings, I have dialed up my efforts to drive meaningful change. Have attended vigils, memorials, press conferences and calls with national groups to stop this madness. Don’t know if any of this will make a difference in the near term but I can’t sit back. I owe it to my kids to ensure…

8 innocent lives taken on May 6th while they were shopping on a beautiful day at the Allen Mall, 3 of them children under 10. My heart aches for all of them and the families that were destroyed by the actions of a Neo nazi who targeted racial minorities and cut short their lives. The…