Home!

Went home after a year at the Institute. This is the first time after I got afflicted with the cycling bug, so most of my time was spent visiting bicycles shops in Mumbai, especially the specialist shops that I had only heard about online. Also visited fellow bicyclists who I've interacted with only online.

High point, literally, of the visit was a trip to the top of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. My old schoolmate is an engineer on it and was delighted to see me after nearly a decade. The feeling was mutual!

Mumbai is a horrible place for experiencing cycling, as it turns out, commutes are possibly the only thing possible. MTBing and road biking are really hard to do in the huge city. Also had an epiphany about why I always get charged up after visiting Mumbai -- the city is about "success". Every inch of advertising real-estate is devoted to achieving success -- be it academic or financial.

Visits home are always a good chance to catch up on reading, and this time it was Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt. The book is a collection of his writings and the story itself (which I still haven't read), but is worth it just for his writings. Highly recommended.