micro

I have been a product manager for last decade and half but that hasn’t prevented dad from forwarding me articles on top skills I need as a PM to survive in 2023 😂. I am sure I am going to get gyaan on how to build software products in the next few days with random analogies to banking sector. Along the way I shall also be reminded of his friends and their sons in NYC who are also in banking and how maybe they build products too (no they don’t), ending with but why am I not building banking products!!!!

Imma gonna let you finish King Charles but there is only [one true king](https://youtu.be/-O8sGj9x1LQ).

A critical lesson we learnt last night was to never visit a Mexican restaurant on a cinco de mayo night. First off it was difficult to get a reservation at many places but we found one – get there and we are told they are running so full they cannot seat us for a while. They eventually sit us 30 mins later, and then when we ordered food took them 60 minutes to get the appetizer. Upon asking and cribbing they got out our food another 20 mins later but messed every one of our orders. We kindly asked them to take it back, checked out and came home to eat Maggi at 11 in the night. Never ever again.

Between Succession, Ted Lasso, Better Call Saul S6, Rocket Boys and The Diplomat, our TV schedule feels full! So much content to see and consume.

Two episodes in and Rocket Boys based on Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Baba seems fantastic! Heard a lot about this series and looking forward to finishing this series.

Other two windows also in and now our living room went from being a man cave to a light filled orchestra – so much light that I can tan myself indoors 😂

Mysore Pak in my opinion is a luxury sweet. While I prefer Kaju Katlis and all, there’s something about Mysore Pak that screams luxury & royalty. Maybe its because the very rich amount of ghee thats used to make the dish, or maybe its roots are in the Mysore palace, either way this is one sweet that always sits above the rest for me. Also, very very hard to make it at home without knowing what you are doing – maybe that adds to mysticism of it. Its actually a very simple recipe, but so hard to make it.

Another week another substandard Ted Lasso episode. At this point feels like i am watching the show only because i have watched the show and I can’t just abandon it. Thats the problem with the show – its not very good right now, but its also not so bad that you can just dump it and stop watching. And I find it very annoying!

4 days in and I feel like me & dad have run out of things to talk about already. This is not necessarily an indication of anything negative, but just where and how we are. I *like* my dad, but I dont think I *love* my dad. The thing is I’ve not spent time with him either growing up or beyond. At around 6th grade mark dad moved to middle east, but like most parents in those days he left me back in India for educational purposes so he could save money. Then few years later it was like why move me with them because i was in pivotal years of my educational life (12th grade, college looming etc), while my brother because of our 8 year age gap moved to middle east coz he was still in elementary. So school, college, masters and later, there has never been an opportunity for me and dad to spend extended living time together so I dont have many memories of him being around my pivotal growing years. With time & distance, along with mom’s passing I think our relationship is in stasis. He is always welcome here to spend as much time as he wants (heck, he has a green card now!), but I also know its very unlikely he would *want* to spend that much time with us.

He and my brother who are almost always constantly at loggerheads, also connect in a way that I dont and cannot. They can be constantly getting on each other’s nerves and yet start missing each other when one’s not around. Brother’s constant complaint to me is how dad’s eating his brain inside out, and yet within 4 days of him here he’s like OMG I can’t do XYZ without him around. My dad too is spending half his day facetiming with him and his other two toddlers lol. Its such a weird dynamic. My kid is almost 12 so she doesnt seek or need affection/attention that she as toddler once did. She is very content to be left alone, though she loves him a lot. First couple of times I used to freak a lot about dad spending time here and how we had to be on toes to ensure he was taken care of. We’d plan things, do things and go out of our way to ensure that he felt home.

Now, its more like this is your home too, and you should feel comfortable regardless of what we are doing. I feel more at peace knowing I dont need to keep seeking his validation and love all the time I kept seeking growing up. Maybe *like* is more than enough.

If I see one more person on LinkedIn with headline *harnessing the power of AI to…* I am going to flip