in R2I
Brother or Best Friend?
My two-week whirlwind India trip was not touching Hyderabad. This was a bummer because my brother lives there. Since I had a 6-day continuous stay in Bangalore, he planned a 2-day trip to Bangalore to spend some quality time with me. I was really looking forward to it. My brother is older than me and …
in R2I
The Bombay Seduction
Two centuries ago, Mumbai (Bombay) was a small fishing village consisting of seven islands. Its natural harbour held an opportunity for investors, who realized that it could become an important trading center. The British era saw the creation of a bustling seaport that was used as a gateway to transport natural resources to Great Britain, …
in R2I
Searching for a forcing function
When I planned the 2-week trip to India, the objectives were simple. First and foremost, interview with as many companies (big & small). Secondly, meet as many people as possible to assess the overall liveability of the city in question. And finally, spend time soaking in the city in order to get a first-hand perspective …
in R2I
The two types of Indian immigrants
“When an Indian professional becomes a ‘Non-Resident Indian’ in the United States , he soon starts suffering from a strange disease. The symptoms are a fixture of restlessness,anxiety, hope and nostalgia. The virus is a deep inner need to get back home. Like Shakespeare said, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” The …
in R2I
Why did the Kurugantis immigrate to America?
Sometime in my 2nd year of engineering at BIT Mesra, I first dreamed of coming to America, getting trained as a computer scientist, doing cutting-edge research and becoming wildly famous – you know, the usual dreams that 2nd year engineering students have. 🙂 With a single-minded focus, I threw myself into the application process for …
in R2I
Why are we moving back to India now?
This is the first question our friends and acquaintances ask when they learn about our India plans. The first part of the answer lies in understanding why we immigrated to America in the first place. The next lies in understanding the Kurugantis’ position on the two types of Indian immigrants. Poonam and I were always in the should-we camp. Barring …
in Random
Why the urge to blog *now* ?
The itch to blog has been there for several years. But I’m more of a generalist than a specialist. I believe it’s much easier for specialists to blog regularly than generalists. Audiences are interested in reading and subscribing to blogs that have a certain theme, focus, and some level of predictability. The operative word is …
in R2I
Where in India are we moving to?
So we are moving to India but to which city? For better or worse, the list of candidate cities is fairly small. Before we get into discussing the merits and demerits of each city, let me outline the key V+P criteria (V=Vishy, P=Poonam) in evaluating the candidate Indian cities. In no particular order, here are …
in R2I
16 years later…
16 years? Well – to be more precise 15 years, 9 months & 5 days since I came to America from India. Chasing the American Dream I came.. first to the University of Houston to pursue an MS in Computer Science. Two quick years later, fate played a role in whisking me off to Chicago …
in Random
Etymology of ulaar
Back in my undergraduate alma mater (Birla Institute of Technology Ranchi, India), the ulaar moniker referred to students who were gentlemen of leisure, or in other words, displayed very little interest in scholarly pursuits. So how did these characters spend their time (you may ask)? A great majority of them indulged in inebriation, smoking and …
