Category Archives: Personal Stuff

I Heart the 747 and the A380

Posted on by
2

If you ever saw me on a flight, you’d be convinced that I was a country bumpkin first time inside a plane. I look out the window (always a window seat, thank you) take pictures,  and always take videos of the landing and takeoff. On ground, I always look up when I hear jet engines. At the airport, I watch planes land and take off. I find airplanes fascinating — especially the big birds. The plane I love the most is the Boeing 747, the “Jumbo jet”, the Queen of the Skies.  Continue reading →

The UFO I Did Not See

Posted on by
16

UFO?

OK so this one’s going to be right out of left field, to use an American expression. It’s got nothing to do with economics or politics or whatever I usually discuss on this site. It’s strange, totally unexpected, utterly peculiar. And I did not see it coming. Had I been able to see it, it would not have been as mystifying. I would have noticed something moving slow across the sky but I could not have noticed something that flashed across the sky.  This is what happened yesterday (Wednesday) morning. Continue reading →

The Management of Air India are SEFs

Posted on by
8

As commercial airlines go, Air India is nothing to write home about. Air India ranked third-worst performing airline in the world, reported Economic Times in Jan 2017. Air India’s all-round dismal performance–customer service, timeliness, cabin service, heavy commercial losses, etc., etc.–is not surprising considering that it is a Government of India enterprise. Nothing that the GOI does is ever done competently and well. The bureaucrats and politicians are perhaps the least competent in the world, barring a few African banana republics.   Continue reading →

Maya, Moksha, Nama and Rupa

Posted on by
3

Maya

Pondering the fact of death, I am reminded that impermanence is a central feature of the world we live in. The phenomenal world — of things and events — is called maya in the dharmic traditions (namely Jain, Hindu, Buddhist & Sikh.)

The world is maya. Many people simply translate it as “ the world is an illusion” but that is incorrect. The world is real. Maya does not mean that the world is unreal or that it is an illusion. It means something like this: the world as we perceive it is not what the world actually is. We cannot directly perceive the reality that is at the foundation of what exists. That reality is given a word — Brahman. Most of us cannot comprehend the Brahman because we are limited beings. Continue reading →