Going to College

I started a thread on LinkedIn about why attending college is necessary, and I received several responses, ranging from “a cost-benefit analysis needs to make sense” to “if you don’t know what you want to do, don’t go to college.” By the way, I have not met an 18-year-old who knows the meaning of the phrase’ cost-benefit analysis.” Looking around LinkedIn, I see people with a degree in one thing, doing something completely different. Now, maybe it’s just me, but I attribute that to poor parenting.

Your parent(s) or the older person you live with has one job. They teach you moral values based on some form of faith. Getting an education should be part of those values. If they are not, your parent(s) or the older person you live with has failed you. You know they say, “You don’t have to like your parents, but you do have to respect them.” To that I say, “Respect works both ways – I will respect you today, and you need to respect me tomorrow (after I have grown up and listened to everything you said).” That last part is hard to understand when you’re 12 or 15 years old, but I understood it at that age. Because my Dad put that in my head. I respect him today. It’s been 7 years since he passed away, but now it’s my turn to teach my 22 and 19-year-old kids all that my Dad taught me.

If you are going to spend time and money doing something, you need to make sure that you will benefit from that activity, either short-term or long-term. For that to make sense, your moral compass must be strong. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is part of that. Another key aspect is understanding what will ultimately benefit you. Earning multiple college degrees has not only helped me, but it has also enabled me to stay ahead of the curve.

My rule for my kids: you will earn a Master’s or Ph.D. degree, and you will have no student loans when you complete the process. Why? Because I will pay for everything. You’ll thank me later!

As for my retirement, it’s pretty clear that living in America is not a viable option. I will need to find a low-cost country to live in. Thankfully, I already know one that accepts US Citizens into their country. India! By 2029, it is predicted that the USD to INR conversion rate will be 1:100. That is not a typo. For every $1, I will get Rs. 100. Trust me when I say $1000 goes a long way in India!

Sunday, February 23

I woke up in the United States at 3:00 AM central time to watch the India-Pakistan cricket match live on Willow TV. This was India’s second match in the Champions Trophy 2025 tournament, played in Pakistan and Dubai. Why Dubai? Indians don’t travel to Pakistan anymore, at least not after November 26, 2008. If you don’t know the significance of that date, type 26/11 in Google to get your answer.

Unfortunately, I went back to sleep! I did wake up at my usual time—5:10 AM central time! After brushing my teeth, I went downstairs to watch the match. When the TV turned on, Pakistan was 124-2 after 28.2 overs. I later learned that Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. The following 95 minutes turned out to be very fruitful for India. Pakistan were all out for 241, setting India a target of 242 to win in 50 overs. India started batting after 7 am central time. Long story short, India won the match when Virat Kohli hit an unbeaten 100. For those who don’t know what that means, remember it’s terrific!

In the past, everyday Indians would consider this a victory and forget the rest of the tournament. You see, beating Pakistan at ANYTHING matters to most Indians. But we are in 2025. Beating Pakistan is excellent, but we still need to finish the tournament! India has enough talent to win the whole tournament! Chak De India!

The match ended a little after 10 AM central time, but the day was just getting started. At 10:30 AM central time, I streamed Peacock to catch the Manchester City – Liverpool match. A few minutes before 10:30 AM, I found out that Erling Haaland was not in the lineup for the match. I saw the Real Madrid match where he injured his knee. I really hope he gets better soon. As for the match, well, let’s just say that Liverpool beat Manchester City 2-0. After the match, my wife and I headed out to Triveni Supermarket in Katy for lunch. I started reading some of the post-match comments from fans. Most people are calling for Pep Guardiola to be fired. That would be a big mistake. Pep has already owned up to the mistakes made by the team in 2024 by not rebuilding the team during the summer transfer window in 2024. He, of all people, knows we need to rebuild. He started the process in January 2025 and will continue it in the Summer transfer window 2025. Losing 2-0 to Liverpool is not a bad thing. The team must learn from their mistakes. From comments earlier in the week, per ESPN, Man City will allow Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish, Mateo Kovacic, John Stones, and Ederson to leave the club this summer if they choose to do so. Kyle Walker is already on loan to AC Milan and will not be brought back to the club. Am I surprised? Not really, because every one of those guys is 29 or older. World football, or soccer, is a young person’s sport. As for this season? Man City has something to play for – a top 4 or 5 finish in the Premier League will ensure a spot in the Champions League next season. Man City can still win the FA Cup in the spring and the Club World Cup later this summer. Keep fighting team! I am here to support you!

All in all, a pretty interesting day. It looks like the last week of February is going to be fun!

Valentine’s Day

We normally don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. A box of chocolates for my wife is the absolute extent of it! Maybe over the years, I have splurged on a card or even dinner. But now with Vikram in high school, it’s kind of like “every day is a day to cherish the ones closest to you”.

Vikram is focused on school work and training for the BP MS 150. What is the BP MS 150? It’s a bike ride from Houston to Austin for, you guessed it, 150 miles. It’s normally scheduled for late April every year. So, Vikram has to train for it. This year, guess who he decides to pull in as his “training partner?” Yeah, you guessed it! Last Saturday, we did 22 miles. When we started doing this, I thought I was going to fall over after every ride. But I am really starting to get used to riding. I do enjoy the fresh air and I am getting much-needed exercise.

Which leads me back to my weight. At this time last year, I weighed in at 307 lbs. No, I am not proud of that. In fact, I am actually kind of embarrassed about it. But today, I am now down to 257 lbs. Not where I want to be, but 50 pounds lighter is still great. I feel great. I feel like doing things with my kids over the weekend. I don’t feel tired like I always used to. My annual physical numbers are so much better now.

Vinita’s team came in fourth in the FTC Robotics Finals for Houston. So proud of her! She really put in a lot of work to get to where she wants to be. Her grades are great and she’s starting to branch out to various extra-curricular activities like gymnastics and archery.

Hope to update this page regularly!