The Cab Driver

Almost all cab drivers that I have met, who are originally not from the US, have a love affair with India. Ali Dani, who took me to the DFW airport today, was no different. Only, he lead an immensely interesting life.

The conversation started with him talking about how he had rented his 6 bedroom house in Dallas to an Indian family who had frequent visitors. It had saved the family a lot of money and he had, in turn, found a reliable and  harmless tenant. He had "retired" a few years ago he said, and drove the cab for 5-6 hours a day. Only so that he had something to keep him occupied. He had taken a year off after retirement to do nothing and had gotten very bored sitting at home. He was so bored that he had taken to cutting the grass in his backyard twice a week! But then he kept a couple of lambs in the backyard which ate all the grass and he was jobless again. I don't know how much of it was true, but it made for an interesting conversation so I didn't interrupt him.

"I go fishing on the White Rock Lake", he says. "I have my spot. I take a tent and my radio and sit there all day long. Sometimes I go to another lake which is far from Dallas. It's an old radio. I also get an Indian channel here. They play Indian songs."

His 28 year old son lives in Boston. Working with an insurance firm. But he wants to become a criminal lawyer. He visits Dallas more often now since his girlfriend is here - Ali says with a smile. His other son is studying at SMU and wants to be a CPA. I ask him where he's from and how long has he been in the US. "Iraq.", he says. "15 years. But I've been in Dallas for only 6. I was in Seattle before that."

My curiosity heightened at this, I asked him what he was doing in Seattle. 

"I was a lawyer for the UN", he says nonchalantly. I'm in half a mind to believe him but for entertainment's sake, I urge him. "Very interesting.", I say. 

"Yes, it was a lot of travel. My body couldn't take it anymore so I retired."

"So, where were you before Seattle."

"I had to travel between New York and Seattle a lot. But I started with the UN in Geneva. Moved to Oslo for a few years. Brussels. Lot of travel, man. This was in the 80s. So they had different currencies. I was so exhausted that I wouldn't know where I was or what currency to use. Ha Ha."

"I've been to India too. Calcutta and Delhi."

"When", I ask.

"1989 and 2002. India is a very nice country. Nice people. Always ready to help. And I love the food. In England too, they love Indian food"

"Yes, I know. Chicken Tikka Masala is their national dish, I've heard"

"Ya, you're right. And the naan. It's so soft and tasty"

The customary Indian food chit chat behind us, he goes on to talk about his experience negotiating with Colombian officials on the Colombia, Venezuela border. And that Australia has fewer women than men so you're lucky to have a girlfriend there! He loves China too and thinks people are very polite there since the shopkeepers give back change with both hands and bow their heads. Also that he had been friends with a Chinese girl over the internet and she had come to receive him at the airport when he had gone there.

By this time, I'm just listening to him speak without asking any questions.

"So would you come back to Dallas", he asks after getting to know about my internship.

"Maybe." I say, realizing that we're at the airport.

"Alright man. Here is the US Airways Departure. Stay healthy and come to Dallas sometime again."

"Thanks. It's been great talking."

A Month To Go

At lunch today, a fellow intern said -"I'm ready to go back to school". No, she's not done with her project and I don't think she hates her work. And if I remember correctly, over the last week or so, I've seen the stray Facebook update from a couple of my Darden friends saying the same thing.  It got me thinking. Am I ready to go back to school? Like most things, I don't know.

I miss C'ville. I miss the energy and the familiarity. And a host of other things. But that is for another post. Next year, same time, maybe. 

At the same time, the summer has been an interesting experience so far. A self discovery of sorts. A perfect transition, as far as I can think of - from the no business, all coding software engineer to this mixed bag of technology trends, competitive analysis, consumer habits and the art of converting bullet points to fancy looking shapes which provide second order insights.

Getting to talk to heads of various divisions has been great. Product Management, Business Planning, Content & Services, Product Marketing. They mean more than just titles now. Also, the 'real world' aspect is becoming very clear. With everybody from the OEMs and the Carriers to the Content Generators and the App Developers trying to take a share of the same pie, so often, it's the framing, the positioning, the negotiations and the compromises which see a business proposal through. There is absolutely no dearth of innovation or crazy new ideas in this space. But not every idea is making a million dollars. Not every app is getting a million downloads. 

But enough of trying to sound intelligent and MBA student like. Dallas is like an oven now. And somehow, more than the temperature, it's just the brightness of the sun which fries my brains. There are no evenings. I mean when the sun sets at 9:00 PM, where do you squeeze in the evening?
More alone time has meant longer and more frequent emails to some of my friends. Then, apart from the Despicable Me's and the Inceptions, I've managed to watch an eclectic range of movies. The Visitor, Religulous, The Big Lebowski, Apocalypse Now (I also read Heart of Darkness after it which I thought was too wordy to enjoy or understand in one read).

Exploring good places to drink beer has been fun. And it's given me the opportunity to hang out with my friend from IIT. It's funny how having lead very different lives since our college days and pursuing very different careers, we still have so much to talk about. Some of it revolves round the very differences and trying to understand the other's perspective. Then there's recounting hostel days and people. A good part of it is about our current state of being - internship, bosses, decisions and  the changes ahead. And lastly, there's music and a bit of physics thrown in. I guess the alcohol helps a lot too. Particularly memorable was last weekend's chance visit to 'Bavarian Grill' - a family owned German restaurant in Plano. I had some of the most amazing tasting beer ever. So smooth. There was an old man playing the accordion close to us. Our waitress was super helpful in deciphering the German menu for us and suggesting beers based on what we liked. Even my 'not too hoppy, wheat, kinda light - yes, I like Blue Moon' was enough for her to suggest me a couple. Both of them were fantastic.

And lastly, I read this book. Loved it.

Updates From Dallas

It's my first time living alone. I've always had roommates before this. At undergrad, there were a bunch of us in the hostel (or dorm, as it is called here). After the first two years, we had single occupancy rooms but that hardly meant anything. Most of us would keep our doors open throughout the day and people would be shouting out and walking into each other's room every now and then. Then Bangalore happened and I was lucky enough to find three friends from college to lodge with. It became a mini hostel and anyone that we knew, who came to Bangalore, would stay with us. In fact, throughout the first year there were only a couple of months when only the four of us were staying in the house! Charlottesville hasn't been very different. A roommate, the occasional birthday celebration and the impromptu get together for beer, meant that my habit of having quite a few people to talk to, to eat dinner with or just to go out for a drink on a day to day basis, stayed.

Not anymore. And 3 weeks into this, I have mixed feelings. I'm leading a pretty disciplined life. Office, home, go out for a jog at times, watch football highlights while having dinner, read a book or surf the net and go to sleep. And I can't say that I'm bored or particularly feeling the need of having people to shout out about a FaceBook status message, a news item or some stupid joke. It's a little weird. For the first week, I would go to sleep really early for lack of anything else to do. So then I started reading and have managed to finish my first book in a year. About A Boy by Nick Hornby. Quite liked it.

Weekends are fun. Coincidentally, one of my very close friends from undergrad is also interning at Dallas. We hang out on weekends. I talk about my MBA experience and he updates me on the trials and tribulations of a PhD student.

Work's picking up. It has been a good learning experience so far. Just getting up to date with what's happening in the wireless industry and getting a sense of current and future trends. My day typically begins with going through endgadget, gizmodo and similar websites to keep up to date with the iPhones, the Droids and the EVOs. Have been able to see and play around with a few. And I must say, there's a new found appreciation for non iPhone (read Android) devices. No, I'm not switching anytime soon but it's a really fascinating and continuously evolving space. There are an insane number of things that are being done by the startups and app developers - from location based services to media streaming to content aggregation to social networking. Reading about them in itself has been an eye opener for me because prior to coming here, I  thought that I had a fair idea of what was happening in the Smartphone world. Turns out, I knew very little!

Haven't really explored Dallas much apart from a few bars and pubs. Weekends are pretty much spent watching the World Cup. Praying for an Argentina - Ghana final which Argentina wins 3-2 in Extra Time. Is it asking for too much ?