Sitar

Sitar has been my best companion till date. I cannot imagine life without it. I will forever be indebted to my dad for encouraging me into learning this wonderful instrument. I play hindustani classical music, and can play a few ragas. My favourites are Malkauns, Desh, Puriyadhanesree, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Vrindavani Sarang, Megh, Bairagi Bhairavi, Yamon, Darbari Kanara, Mia ki Malhar, Hamsadhwani, Kedar, ShivRanjani and a few others. An artist armed with indian classical music wields the power to evoke any emotion among his audience and immerse them in the same, whether it be pathos or elation, anger or calmness, restlessness or serenity. I hope one day I will be able to do the same. Here are some relavant links.

Photography

I started photography originally to create memoirs of my life. Photographs were merely intended to transport me into my past. Slowly as I took more and more photographs, I kept striving to improve their quality and subject; thus grew my interest in photography. Here are a few phototgraphs that I've taken. Each time I see a good photographs I realise I have a long way to go.

Hiking and camping

I love nature, and hiking in the greenary of the mountains is one of my favourite activties. There are umpteen hiking trails in and around los angeles. Infact you could go on a new trail every weekend and not exhaust them over a several years. I also love overnight camping trips, especially in a remote place where I can the sky full of stars, far from the maddening crowd. This link describes some of the hikes I've been to and some good links go hiking.

Squash

Squash has definitely has quite a bit of status elevation since its humble origins in the prisons of england. I started playing squash after coming to the US and fell in love with the game instantly. I love the intensity, speed and celerity of the game. Theres no better way to spend an evening than playing a few games of squash until you get absolutely dead tired, wait for some time and go for a brief swim. Here are some squash links.

Astronomy and Physics

Quarks and Gluons make the nucleons, nucleons and electrons make atoms, atoms make up molecules, molecules make up matter in the universe. There are planets, stars and nebulae which makeup galaxies. Galaxies make up super clusters of galaxies. Amidst all this in a galaxy among billions, near a modest star among billions, on a modest sized yet unique planet, are us, ambitious tiny organisms trying to understand and explain everything using their limited perception and minds and time. Theres quantum mechanics, theres the general theory of relativity, theres newton in between. Theres the esoteric string theory which transcends our perceptible dimensions and scale. Then there are countries at war, there are people trying to make money by exploiting others, there are people obsessed about their beliefs and rights and wrongs. The universe is wonderful place and each time I look at a night sky full of stars I am overwhelmed.

Scribbling

I love to write - mostly about events from my life or my thoughts. Since I was a chaild, it has always been my secret dream to be a writer one day, but I never really pursued it. So whenever I feel like writing something, I scribble. Here are some of my scribblings.