Redefining Horizons

“You have seen more Canada than many in Ontario," said Sophia, when I finished narrating about the time we spent with our friends, Reji, Marina, Premod and Betty. My wife, her brother and I were  with Sophia, my wife's cousin and her husband Sherry for two days. “No, you haven't done the Thousand Island Cruise,” Sherry said. That’s how the four of us and Sophia's daughter reached Gananoque, the picturesque banks of the St Lawrence River to board the ferry.  Thousand Island is an archipelago of about 1,800 Islands, strewn along the St Lawrence River.  Some islands belong to the USA and the rest to Canada. The smallest island amongst them is the Hub Island, big enough to hold a small house and a few bushes and the largest among them is the Wolfe Island, approximately 124 sq kms and home to more than a 1000 people. One amongst the thousand is Heart Island, called so because of its shape. I'm not sure if the shape was nature's gift to mankind or the reverse through...

 Isthiri Poorniya?  Date - 05 Nov 2024. Time: 06:20 AM. It's cold and still dark outside. Place: Boylston, MA, USA. Mission - Catch the seven o'clock Logan Express from Framingham Bus Station so that we could reach the airport by eight o'clock. The journey from home to the Bus station typically takes about thirty minutes. Getting out of the car, getting the luggage and getting in would consume five minutes. By all calculations we had five minutes to spare. The bus typically takes about 40 to 45 minutes to reach the airport. That would allow us to be in time for checking ourselves in. The roads towards the airport get packed early in the morning with the Boston bound traffic. We had been caught in the traffic once earlier and caught the flight only because the flight had been delayed. The next bus would leave the station only at 7:30 AM. That would reach the airport only by 8:15, the earliest. I wanted to avoid gut wrenching adrenaline moments. Everything, so far, was goin...

Successful? You stand a good chance being ‘Pellattised ’ Not making much headway despite your best efforts? Are you being Pellattised? “Pellattised? There is no such English word. Did you mean, palletized?” “No. I said, Pellattised.” It is not yet in the English dictionary. I coined the word. There is a true story behind it. It happened in Ontario, Canada many years ago.  But, let me first tell you what led me to the word. My wife, her brother Issac, and I had gone on a vacation to Toronto. We stayed with Colonel Reji and his gracious wife for a few days. Reji, a fellow veteran and friend with a huge heart, was more than kind. Reji was incharge and he drew up our itinerary. The Welland Canal, an interesting feat of engineering, was our first destination. Through a well choreographed and remotely controlled process, the authorities let water flow in or out of portions of the canal called locks, to lift or lower ships. At lock number three, we witnessed a ship being lifted ten me...