The longitude problem

Am I a traveler? An adventurer? An explorer? Not even close. But the Atlas holds a very special place in my heart. The geography of every new place I visit, the smells, sounds, colors, languages, tastes and of course the sites are probably the most fulfilling things. Work and life have taken me to many fascinating places but most importantly it has given me a sense of 'wander'. As a family We have lived and worked in different countries, moved our family across the world on a whim and loved every moment of it. Living and working in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Calgary, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and many other short stints were instrumental in forging my relationship with Atlas. Visiting a place as a tourist is charming in its own way and I have fallen with love with quite a few of them that way. You will read about those stories in 'wander'. But what I really cherish are places where I have spent some time on a work stint. Because with that comes the added experiences of a political discourse from a cab driver or a reminisce; the morning runs that lets you bump into a local who shows you that secret trail; a coworker who eagerly gives you a tip to that special hole in the wall place which is not on any rating site but where all the chefs from the highly rated restaurants go; the opportunity to go see the same sunrise or sunset many times each with a different color or the magnificent skyline under a thunderstorm which you would have cursed on a tour. To know a place is to know its geography - why is it the way it is. The two most favorite places for me are the Greenwich Museum and Singapore . I am sure Paris and Vienna are more beautiful but Greenwich and Singapore are etched in my mind because of how deep their connection to geography really is. If you think of it Greenwich and the solution to the longitude problem it was probably one of the most significant scientific achievements of mankind. Because it is not just science but also the sheer ingenuity of the human mind. Dava Sobel captures this saga in her brilliantly written "Longitude". And it was another saga that started my love affair with Singapore. Amitav Ghosh's epic trilogy on the Ibis and the entanglement of history, geography, human, animals, plants destiny and fate. Singapore was not at the center of the Ibis Trilogy but I could see so much of the history through it. Every time I have spoken to an elderly cab driver in Singapore, I have got little threads of the Ibis story. If you have read the books you will understand this - 'building Lens and Atlas, sometimes I feel like Neel'. These two books (well a book and a trilogy) and these two cities have shaped my view towards new places in a different direction. I feel a need to connect to any new place that I go to - the stories behind the monuments, the poetry in the roads, the reason behind the colors, the source of the smells and sounds of a place. Over time we as a family have discovered some tricks that help us make these connections. Love with these cities also was a source for my liking for landscape and cityscape photography. I usually carry my DSLR and a single wide angle lens with a couple of ND filters and my tripod on my travels. Yeah it is a little bit inconvenient but with a little planning and decent carry on bag I have never had much trouble. And these days cell phone cameras do a decent job as I tried in Singapore.