Macro

So many colleagues and peers that I worked with in my initial phase of career at my current company are leaving or have left. Feels like in the last 3 months itself i have seen so many exits its not funny anymore. So much wonderful talent lost. These are people who were some of the smartest people I worked with. Stupid RTO tactics coupled with (cough, horribly implemented DEI) has all but ensured that a lot of terrific talent has just left all together leaving behind not-so-great talent. Its a vicious cycle at this point. Its quite saddening.

Met up with a close friend whose company works closely with federal govt on non defense related stuff (so think usaid etc) and it was honestly depressing and brutal to hear DOGE stuff from him and the absolute massacre they are doing. First hand experiences on how demeaning and horrible these gen z doge employees are. Ooof.

I flew Virgin Atlantic premium economy this time to India and I am absolutely sold on it. I had heard iffy stories about Virgin Atlantic, but I found the flight and service impeccable. The food was so-so, but everything else was top-notch and comfortable. Plus, they have delicious cappuccinos! I don’t remember the last time airline offered cappuccinos.

Just like the USA, Starbucks is the worst coffee you can have in India also, especially considering that the local coffee shops chains are leaps and bounds better than anything in Starbucks. Bangalore in particular has best of both worlds, because Karnataka as a state largely prefers coffee over tea, but because its so cosmopolitan they have it all. You cannot beat filer kapi, period and this is coming from a chai person!

Two nights of absolutely blissful sleep in my own sweet bed and blanket. I do however miss the fresh air with fan of India – not much fan ac/heater closed door systems here. Once it gets a bit more warmer at night will be nice to open windows here also.

I don’t get it – as an Indian you came to the USA to do your PHD in urban planning at Columbia, but instead got yourselves entangled in protests and demonstrations about Gaza and Israel, and now lost your visa and was deported back to India. Was that even worth it? I hope it was because none of the three countries involved cared about you and you ended up back in the country you wanted to leave.

I micro-blogged a lot about my Bangalore/India trip, but here are the things I did not blog about.

Of the insane traffic in the new Bangalore and how a complete collapse of critical infrastructure is playing before your eyes. Strangely, the old Bangalore has no such problems, and collectively the local administrators have decided that new Bangalore where Kannadigas are the minority should be subjected to brunt of torture. The good thing is metro is now fully functional and helps, but does it really though? What once used to be a garden city is now concrete dystopia with absolutely no sign of stopping. How will the residents of 2040 travel? How will they get electricity? How will they get water? Absolutely no solutions, just one grand community being built after another, and each community handles their own problems. Richer the community, better handle they have.

Of the casual discrimination against Muslims. As my close friend told me, its an unspoken rule in every tech workplace not to hire Muslims. A Muslim could crack the tech interview, but more than 90% of the time panel will reject him/her because they are Muslim. Of course no one says so explicitly, but it is well understood not to hire Muslims in their teams. I am talking companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and all, not some random companies. I guess more privileged you get, more you want to exercise it. I see USA descending the same trope in a few years where hiring a brown/minority will be discouraged, but no one will say anything because its all “understood” that whites should hire just whites. India is just a glimpse of where USA is headed.

Of how the cities have become the great attractors. Cheap labor exists for a reason and its because of demand. The influx of migrants from all over India into cities shows. The house nanny is from a remote village in Himachal who stays in Bangalore with our family looking after my nieces so she can give a better life to her own kid back in the village. But why leave your kid and come to Bangalore? Because there is no work for them to back home in their villages and even if there is, it pays peanuts. So while my father in law perpetually struggles to find labor to attend his areca nut fields in his village, all that labor has simply moved to Bangalore because we all love getting things delivered under 10 minutes, and they get to earn way more than they’d ever earn in the village. The great migration to mega-cities like Bangalore is not stopping any time soon.

Of the insane scale at which tech solutions exist but do we really need them? I love getting BlinkIt deliver me anything under 10 minutes, but do I really need it in 10 minutes? Would 15 mins make it any less safer for the driver? This has created an ecosystem where everyone is getting things delivered all the time. Hot food? 10 minutes. Anything from grocery? 10 minute. Need a document parceled from another part of Bangalore to your house? 1 hour. The concept of visiting a store for your essentials is almost non-existent. You BlinkIt and move on. With traffic in Bangalore the way it is, why not just get things delivered?

Of the only entertainment that truly exists for anyone in Bangalore: Mall. The mall is the place for you and your family to spend your time on weekends or weekdays. Bored? Mall. Want to catch a movie? Mall. Want to eat? Mall. Want to buy something? Mall. Want to take a stroll outside your community? Mall. Want to meet your friends? Mall. The mall has become the singular meeting place for everyone. Its no wonder malls are popping up every fucking place. And every mall has the same fucking stores. And how does Tata own half the fucking brands and store in every mall? I stopped counting the number of brands Tata owns after a while. But Tata is still better than Ambani or a Adani am I right?

I generally blogged only positive things about my stay there (i mean I did not go there to crib and whine did I? I could have stayed here instead). So i wanted to post about all the things I saw and heard, but filed it away under not-now. [All things said and done, I loved my India trip and I will continue to always love India more than my current home].

The Bangalore T2 terminal is quite stunning. I love the way it blends the outside inside with all the greenery and forests integrated within the terminal experience itself. All these modern Asian airports are absolutely gorgeous and make all western airports look so outdated.

🍿 Emilia Pérez (2024) – ★★★★★

OK I went into this expecting to hate it but goddamn this was such a gorgeously mounted movie. The background score, the music set pieces, the acting everything just is perfect! It’s too bad it lost out on awards due to controversy, but this movie was such a great watch. And I need to hear the OST right away again.

🍿 Anora (2024) – ★☆☆☆☆

OMG what crap this was. I could get past 20 mins and even after that I fast forwarded another 20 mins to see if this crap picks up. Just gave up altogether.