Prior to leaving for India, I made plans to visit Delhi and Agra with two of my co-workers, Jeremy Gillick and Reena Bansal. Reena lived in Delhi for some time and she made a great tour guide. Thanks to accidentally perfect timing, we saw the new Bollywood epic Jodhaa Akbar just prior to visiting North India, and this gave us history on the sites we were seeing and really helped to bring them alive.

As great as that trip was, I really loved spending time in South India. The culture was simultaneously alien and completely familiar. There were more people and there was more activity than I think I’ve ever seen before, foods were completely unfamiliar, the language was completely unknown to me — yet I felt completely at home with the chaos and the people. For my free time in and around Chennai, the role of tour guide was filled by fellow team-member Guru Prasath. He did a great job of ensuring that I gained a greater understanding of the cultural, spiritual, and linguistic history and traditions of the region. And, with the help of Anitha, another co-worker, I gained some lovely Indian fashions, too.

I’ll admit that I didn’t know much about India — but one of the few things I knew, I learned back elementary school. For nearly 25 years an image has been stuck in my brain: that of a woman drawing an intricate pattern on the ground outside a home. The accompanying description explained that women in South India would wake each morning to draw kolams, or “painted prayers”, in order to bring prosperity to the home and family. Never did I think that I’d see one in real life! Now that I have, I’ve been inspired to learn more about the designs and to draw some myself (just on paper, so far).

Drawing a kolam is a wonderful meditative practice that I would suggest to anyone who needs to quiet one’s thoughts or develop greater concentration and attention to detail. It’s also a practice in generating mathematical patterns. In my further reading about kolams, I’ve seen them referred to as “spiritual mathematical patterns”, the practice of drawing them as “geometrical acts of kindness”, and the women that create them as “great female mathematicians who solve complicated line patterns every morning”. Kolams are so intriguing, in fact, that computer scientists are studying them. How’s that for ancient traditions mixing with technological advancements?

I guess that’s what appeals to me about India — the blending of old traditions with new technologies and outside influences to create something that is still uniquely Indian. As I see it, the people of India have one foot moving toward the future with the other rooted in the past, and I respect how they’re working to reconcile the two. I can’t wait until I return again, to learn more about what’s been and where they’re going. And next time I’ll be sure to rise early to witness the kolam ritual, and maybe even try some of my own.

However I’ve so far been pretty lucky. Northwest canceled over 800 flights at the end of June due to pilots running out of hours to fly, thanks to all of the air traffic control problems earlier in the month. I skipped that hassle thanks to having booked a flight on July 1 (it saved me about $300, too).

The few times I’ve been stuck with no flight, while disappointing and inconvenient, haven’t worked out all that badly. Only twice have I ever been stuck in a stop-over city (Minneapolis); the first time NW got me into a hotel that had jacuzzis in all of the rooms and the second time I had about 5 hours to go shopping at the Mall of America. All other times I’ve been “at home” — meaning someplace I could get back to easily, where I had my own bed, clothes, and food — so those certainly weren’t problems.

Northwest doesn’t give super-fancy upgrades like the one that Molly got, but so long as they get me home to Punky, my cat, what I’ve gotten is all I need.

Carolyn

When are you going home?

Me

Umm…

Carolyn

Well when are you going wherever? What time zone are you going to?

Me

Well… I usually just operate on Eastern Standard Time…

Carolyn

I think you should have your own time zone. Kimmie Standard Time!

I was too tired to have a decent exchange with Carolyn, but the KST concept is pretty funny… though with all of the time zone changes I go through, maybe it ought to be called Kimmie Non-Standard Time?

Come to the WaSP Annual Meeting where we’ll tell you what we’ve been up to, and where we’ll be Takin’ it to the Street on Monday, March 12 at 5 PM.

My AOL pals are doing another “How to Convince Your Company” panel, this time on embracing mashup culture. And Arun is also doing a browser wars panel, and I honestly can’t think of anyone else who’d be better at leading such a discussion.

I was surprised to learn that PayPal is also getting involved in SXSW, by sponsoring an evening event: the PayPal SXSW Showdown. I’m going to meet the organizer later today and find out what it’s all about. If you want to attend, be sure to RSVP!

Other stuff I’m looking forward to…

• Finally meeting fellow WaSP Steph Troeth
• Getting to room and geek out with Erica Rios (Xicanista) of the Anita Borg Institute
• Connecting with fellow Mawrter Sarah Tan, and
• Finding the perfect person to fill the Web Standards Evangelist position I have open at PayPal!

If you see me, stop me and say hello!

I’ve got many catch-up posts to make, but in the meanwhile, please check out these new photo galleries…

• Photos from last week’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2006.
• While at GHC, I went surfing! (Check another SuperViva goal off my life list!)
• Computing pioneers gathered to honor the site of the Eckert Mauchly Computer Corporation in Philadelphia.
• And going back a few months, photos from Ben Franklin’s 300th Birthday.