Afternoon Drives
These days the weather in Austin is the best I have seen in this lifetime. It is bright, sunny, slightly breezy, cloudless and neither too hot, nor too cold. The weather coupled with the hilly landscape, lush green trees, smooth, empty roads, and absolutely no pollution (sound or air) whatsoever, makes it a driving experience beyond expression in words.
Last two days I was driving around exploring Austin. Around 3 PM, I would walk out of office, onto my car and drive – with no purpose… none whatsoever – all alone. I felt at peace. I would take whatever turns I felt like. Somehow, my sense of direction seems to be taking care of itself, as I have yet to get lost even once. But getting lost is relative – I drive out to explore – if there is a destination in mind, I can get lost. Going way off from where I want to can be termed as getting lost. But not starting with a destination in mind leaves me with no concept of getting lost. It becomes about exploring.
Driving in the absolutely blank roads around Austin with no particular purpose or destination in mind is a very peaceful experience. I feel relaxed and at ease with myself. It refreshes me like no afternoon nap has ever. I have heard so much about road-trips in the US. It is known to liberate. I get a sense of that. I hope to try a longer road trip sometime.
Evening I sat at the poolside. Met two people. First was a Canadian who had come to Austin on work. He owns an IT training company. The other was an Austin resident who was between shifting homes. She works at University of Texas, coordinating with the innovators, corporates and the Government. What was interesting was that both had traveled quite a bit, but never to India, or Asia for that matter. For them anything beyond Europe was all the same. For them, China was a manufacturing center, and India… a call center.
The Canadian guy knew more about India. He made an interesting point on why the US is what it is. The infrastructure here is not only about roads, airports, dams, electricity, and the basics of life taken care of. It is more than that. It is education. It is a mindset for innovation. There are 300 MM people thinking of how to make life better. California does not have the best minds of the world – it, however, has a culture for innovation, of people changing things. No wonder it has produced some of the biggest technology companies of the world!! This cannot be replicated over night. It takes years to build.
But we all agreed that if there is one place you want to be in the next 10 years, then it is India!!
Last two days I was driving around exploring Austin. Around 3 PM, I would walk out of office, onto my car and drive – with no purpose… none whatsoever – all alone. I felt at peace. I would take whatever turns I felt like. Somehow, my sense of direction seems to be taking care of itself, as I have yet to get lost even once. But getting lost is relative – I drive out to explore – if there is a destination in mind, I can get lost. Going way off from where I want to can be termed as getting lost. But not starting with a destination in mind leaves me with no concept of getting lost. It becomes about exploring.
Driving in the absolutely blank roads around Austin with no particular purpose or destination in mind is a very peaceful experience. I feel relaxed and at ease with myself. It refreshes me like no afternoon nap has ever. I have heard so much about road-trips in the US. It is known to liberate. I get a sense of that. I hope to try a longer road trip sometime.
Evening I sat at the poolside. Met two people. First was a Canadian who had come to Austin on work. He owns an IT training company. The other was an Austin resident who was between shifting homes. She works at University of Texas, coordinating with the innovators, corporates and the Government. What was interesting was that both had traveled quite a bit, but never to India, or Asia for that matter. For them anything beyond Europe was all the same. For them, China was a manufacturing center, and India… a call center.
The Canadian guy knew more about India. He made an interesting point on why the US is what it is. The infrastructure here is not only about roads, airports, dams, electricity, and the basics of life taken care of. It is more than that. It is education. It is a mindset for innovation. There are 300 MM people thinking of how to make life better. California does not have the best minds of the world – it, however, has a culture for innovation, of people changing things. No wonder it has produced some of the biggest technology companies of the world!! This cannot be replicated over night. It takes years to build.
But we all agreed that if there is one place you want to be in the next 10 years, then it is India!!
posted by Animesh Kumar at Thursday, March 02, 2006
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