Tank in Texas Military History Museum

Tank in Texas Military History Museum
Originally uploaded by srinidhilv.

Since childhood I have always been attracted to these large weapons/ vehicles of destruction. I don't know why, but I have been impressed by these vehicles sheer powerful and scary looks. When I was a kid I used think of becoming a soldier and work in the tank regiment and fight the enemy if an eventuality arises.

As I grew older, life took me on a totally different path and here I am in the US studying business management and looking for a job. The only thing I do which gets me close to war machines is when I visit military and war museums.

Visiting Austin - Texas State Capital

Last week we visited Austin, the capital city of Texas. This was one of the quickest visits for me. We left Dallas on Wednesday afternoon and returned on Thursday night, covering over 450 miles. Padma was invited to deliver a talk at a entrepreneurship seminar and so there we were in Austin. The talk was in one of the several small conference rooms inside the Capitol building, which is also the seat of the Texas State government. It could be compared to any state legislature building in India such as the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore.

I took this opportunity to capture some great images of the Capitol building and the statues in its gardens. Here they are for your information. The Capitol building is a majestic structure built of stone and concrete and has numerous halls, conference rooms, a cafetaria, souvenir shop etc. Anyone can enter the premises, there is no red-tape or unnecessary security hidrances. In fact the building administration conducts FREE guided tours of the building so visitors may get familiarised about the same.

This I feel is a great way to encourage tourism and generate revenue. After walking around the building, visitors are bound to buy some souvenir or trinket at the shop. Some of them may visit the cafetaria (which is not subsidised), bottomline is that the state government generates some revenue. Another way the state generates revenue from this huge building is by renting out its conference halls to private events. So anyone can just rent a conference hall and conduct meetings and other official events. The address would sound prestigious and the venue swank too. I think it is time Indian state governments thought up this plan and started additional revenue generation.



These are two details of the shelter around one of the statues. I liked the design as well as the message and of course how Texans embed their state symbol "The Lone Star" in every aspect of their life

Cold and wet and not a ray of sunlight

Since yesterday the weather has suddenly changed... it is no longer sunny and warm with heavy winds chilling bones... it is completely overcast with clouds, no sunshine at all... in fact not even a trace of sunlight... and occassionally drizzling... not to mention the biting cold which encompasses our body when we go outdoors.... definitely not a good time to trek or hike in the woods of flat-as-pancake-Dallas region...

I was under the impression that the entire Texas was a flatland, replete with cattle ranches and horse borne cowboys with guns in their hip and chest holsters... but no... Texas has all kinds of landscapes... flat plains, high mountains with deep valleys and the ocean too... It is amazing.... but life is a tad too slow for people who come from India... or any other big city of US. Vehicles move fast on roads but life seems to stand still... there are big roads and vast open spaces but without the undulations created by the mother earth it seems boring to walk straight. The scenery is the same.... houses, grasslands, and sometimes big lakes...

Oh yes Dallas has this unique distinction, like Bangalore once used to have few hundred lakes around the city, this city has 163 large and medium sized lakes/ waterbodies within a distance of 100 miles from the city. Each lake is amazingly well maintained and most of them have boat piers where one can rent jet skis, sail boats, paddle boats, power boats etc... Wish India had such facilities and people lived good lives. That is not so, even if one invests and creates such facilities it would be ineconomical to run them because there wouldn't be enough customers... who are willing to pay to avail such services.

Yesterday I visited the American Eagle Harley Davidson showroom... oh! wow... it was heaven... I hate working in the sales department of any compay but if I were to get a sales job here I would happily do that... anyway I will be happier in the service working on the engine and transmission of these iron horses... I hadn't carried my camera, else I would have been able to get some really good pictures of bikes and the way they get serviced. I have made friends with some of the staff including the service manager who assured me that I can come anytime and take pictures of the works.

Wait for them.. and believe me you wont be disappointed... these machines are simply beautiful and riding them over the open highways, through undulating mountainous roads, hurtling down the slopes and just enjoying listeing to the deep throaty drone of the V-twin engines is nirvana... I simply love being around these massive motorcycles.

But for now I better get up and start my day...... there is loads of work to do.... and I haven't even started...

Views of Austin and surroundings

I have covered more or less my experiences at Austin, the capital city of Texas in my previous post when I wrote about attending the 'Empowering Women Entrepreneurs' conference. Here are some pictures I took during my short stay at Austin.



The Capitol building where the senators and governors of state of Texas do their business of legislation, audit, expenses, taxation etc. This is one huge building with a 60 ft 4 level basement. The interiors are exceptionally modern and expansive. The wooden door frames and window frames of the building have a striking Indian art influence. I wonder why. I mean the frames have a three level round fresco, much akin to the Kalasha which is installed atop most Hindu temples.

We took part in a tour (free) of the building and I made it a point to the guide about the door frames and wood work. Unfortunately he wasn't aware of the same and said he could give me the name of the architect who designed the building. But by the end of the tour I forgot to follow him and get the name so I have to do some more research on google and find out the origin of the design.

Later in the evening we visited the The Oasis restaurant to meet Catherine and her family. The restaurant designed to give it a wild west look has several interesting metal sculptures installed in its courtyard. The vast and beautiful Lake Travis on whose banks the restaurant has been built is actually a dam built across river Colorado. Here are some views of the sculptures and the Dam or the Lake Travis whatever you prefer to call it.

Lake Travis Views
Visiting the Texas Military Forces Museum

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Conference

We are at Austin, the busy and crowded capital city of Texas. It is a wet day, a slight drizzle is spraying the city with tiny water droplets. Just the kind of day when one feels lazy and laidback with little or no interest of stepping out into the street, leave alone travelling 20 miles to attend a conference. But here I am at The Crossings, a location far removed from the hustle and bustle of the capital city and I am glad I came here. The setting is simply awesome and something that makes me feel one with nature. As we started in the morning I was skeptical whether I would enjoy or even be interested in the conference considering the title, I was wondering what would probably keep me from being bored out here.

But yes, the venue itself is enough to make me want to come here. I am quite sure everyone of you would know America and a large majority of you would know about Texas, the largest state in the US and which was formerly a sovereign republic before merging into the US. But I am quite sure very few would know Austin, the capital city of Texas and even fewer would have heard or visited The Crossings, a hilltop property located amdist the hill country outside of Austin. It is one of the few modern but very very eco-friendly properties I have visited. The Crossings positions itself as a boutique hotel, spa and meeting/ conference venue. Sprawling across an entire forested hill, the Crossings has 35-acre of grounds dotted with aromatic trees including juniper, rosemary and jasmine trees.

The view offered by the hilltop property is simply panoramic. I would say an ideal location for non-formal education and learning activities. The property prides in being 100 percent sustainable with only the most necessary human interventions. Buidings are built surrounded by trees and only the motorable roads are of concrete the walking paths are not paved but just metalled with gravel and rock.

I am quite sure we have similar properties in India which I am unaware of. I am aware of one non-profit organisation which has a property like this. Operating under the name of Navadarshanam, it is a eco-friendly community on the outskirts of Bangalore about 45 km from the city. But then the difference between this property and that is its access, here there is wide and easy road access and have convenient walking paths and motoring paths, while at Navadarshanam there are only foot paths and mud trails. It is definitely more rustic, but think of all the big thorns which would pierce through the soles into your legs. With a metalled or gravel pathway, this problem could be more or less eliminated.

One thing I have been quite impressed with the people here. When we enter a shop the sales person wishes us with a cheerful greeting and thanks you for visiting when you leave, irrespective of the fact whether you made a purchase or not. Absolute strangers wish you good morning or evening when you meet their eyes in the park or trail or even on the road. This kind of etiquette and courtesy goes a long way in developing business relationships and a positive image.

Shell petrol bunks in Bangalore have tried to inculcate this kind of culture. But the result has not been as good. The "Namaskara" they say is far from cheerful or friendly, it is more mechanical and just uttered. Just imagine if everyone in India were to smile and wish everyone else with whom they interact, how better our living experience would be. It will be difficult and people suspect initially, most or perhaps everyone will think that you have ulterior motives and that is why you are being extra courteous, but I believe in the ripple effect. It may take time but it will happen, the warmth you generate will only multiply exponentially.

I don't want to sound like a prude. I believe that "it is more important to be nice than to be important". This I heard from Swami Sukhabodananda when I attended a transformatory LIFE programme a few years ago. I learnt a few things but I need to learn a lot more.