So where were we? Ah, ha, the beautiful Canadian Rockies with clear blue skies and refreshing mountain water in the lakes with lots of hiking trails. Summers are wonderful and one can go camping and hiking. This immediately brings up the topic of bears. Now, I haven't seen any myself, but, I am told that at a campsite one must be very careful about food waste disposal since that the reason bears make their unwelcome visits. The other thing I have been told is that when faced with a bear never try to run away since they are strong runners. However if there are at least two of you and you are a good runner, it may work as long as you are not sorry for your companion, if you get my drift or the bear's drift.

Having survived the Alberta winters for 6 years, it was time to bid adieu in search of warmer places with better financial compensation - such as California. So, in 1996 on Canada Day we moved to California as I had got a job in Santa Barbara. I still recall a wonderful March day when I flew from snow covered Edmonton to picturesque SB - the flight from LAX was like a toy flight, hugging the Pacific ocean coastline as we got close to SB. The SB airport itself is rather ineresting, very small and quaint. Don't expect luggage carousels, the bags are brought by flat bed trolley and you get to pick your bags. The first winter in SB I walked around our condo complex in shorts telling my neighbors that it is like spring in Canada - they looked at me as if I was strange, given the East Indian color of my skin. As a golf lover, I even got to play at the famous Sand Piper Golf course that hugs the pacific ocean, in fact the 7th hole is a short par 3. A slightly longish tee shot puts the ball in the Pacific Ocean over a cliff!

A year and a half later, brighter job opportunities led us to San Jose where we spent about 5 years. This was more like a concrete jungle in an area that used to be orange groves about 30 years ago. Got our Green Cards and then we had the dot-com bust. Although I am not in software, I had joined a telecom start-up in the area of optical MEMS technology and the bottom fell. Moved to southern california and worked a different places as Director of Technology and Engineering and we got our US citizenship in 2006.

Throughout my career, I had always wanted to be a Professor. Towards the end of 2005 I took a 6-week trip to India and gave lectures at 7 different institutes/labs. I could see the changes taking place in India, the people had this burning desire to be the best in the world. They felt that they could achieve anything. And why not? The educated population are some of the brightest in the world. India was going through an economic boom, especially with the software industry, IT companies and now biotech firms. Getting laid-off in Silicon Valley, California is referred to as "have you been Bangalore-d"? And so, I am making plans on returning to India. to spend time with my parents. To feel the pulse of a vibrant economy that has reached a critical mass that there is no stopping.

Let's take a break and continue this journey.

Cheers

Nattusbs