As part of the Grace Hopper Conference on Women in Computing, I attended a workshop on risk taking led by Dee McCrorey. The emphasis was on giving practical ideas for personal and professional reinvention.  It was a very thought provoking talk. 

Leaders need to be capable of navigating and managing “inflection points” (organizational & personal) in order to grow and sustain innovation. This requires the leaders to have the courage to take risks. The personal skills evolve with the times and conditions. New rules are needed for success. Risk taking in the new world needs collaboration and partnering with colleagues …

We decided to go “slow” the next day, if there is such a thing for us, travellers!

We planned to visit the Hemis & Thikse Gompas and the Shey Palace. Hemis is the farthest on this route, so we decided to drive up there first. As luck would have it, we soon discovered that we had a flat tire. While Tsiring, our driver, was working on changing the tire, Rahul decided to check-out something he saw at a distance. It turned out to be a hand-pump. The presence of the hand pump in the middle of the desert brought home to …

July 15

That was one really long night!

R was very sick in the night. It was an attack of the digestive system. He spent better part of the night in the toilet. There was no electricity and it was cold. We had a torchlight to find our way around the room. We managed to light a candle for the bathroom. We did not have the right medicine with us, since we forgot one of the medicine pouches at Leh. Not sure what had caused this stomach problem. Could have been the water or the food he ate during the day. R …

I have enjoyed reading “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie. It is an interesting tale of two teenage boys and a teenage girl (seamstress). The story is set in the time of the Cultural Revolution somewhere between 1966-1976.  The two city boys (Lou and his friend, the narrator of the book) are banished for completing high school and sent to the mountains for China’s Re-Education program, to live the life of peasants and “unlearn”. No one being “re-educated” is permitted to read any books except the little red book of sayings written by Chairman Mao. Instead, they …

I read “The White Tiger”, the debut novel by Aravind Adiga. This book won the Booker prize in 2008.

This fast-moving novel is written as a seven-part letter to the Chinese prime minister who is to visit Bangalore. Adiga tells his gripping story in a narrative style. He does a good job of striking a balance between his wretched life and the privileged masters that he serves. The novel expresses deep anger and hatred at injustice, corruption and power of the new India. There is no subtlety in his message. This comes across very strongly.

Warning….this is a spoiler …