That is just one of many visceral emotions that I have been experiencing since yesterday, when I first heard of the attacks in Mumbai. It has been hard to watch Mumbai under siege from terrorists, victim of the kind of attack that brings back memories of a very bad day 7 years ago on this side of the world.

It isn’t that India hasn’t dealt with terrorist attacks before. Terror has been a part of life in India for decades. But these attacks, so well co-ordinated, at such a large scale and so brazen and directly confrontational, is the kind that escalates everything to a whole new level. The world we live in seems to be going straight to hell, and it is hard to maintain any kind of balance in one’s own thoughts in the face of such horror, which is the disconcerting part. Watching the images coming out of Mumbai, I find myself forming thoughts and positions that are alien to me, and that scares me.

Mumbai is in flames, and once again our world will change forever, not for the better. The election of Obama felt like a watershed moment for our world, but so does this day. It is a sad thing, to live without hope for the future. Lets pray we don’t get there.

This past week, I had to be in California for work at HQ. We decided to use the weekends sandwiching the week to spend some quality time enjoying the great weather on the west coast. Exciting, because this was going to be Arav’s first plane trip. And he was an angel on the flight, both ways. We didn’t give the rest of the passengers too much to complain about.

Having Arav in tow meant we had to figure out something to do at a leisurely pace, that incorporated the nice weather without being too rigorous. So, we headed up to wine country, our first time despite all the trips we have made to the bay area over the years.

We explored Napa Valley by driving up highway 29, which goes through the heart of the valley. Along the way, we stopped at a few wineries to taste the offerings and enjoy the lovely settings. A lot of the wineries (like the Robert Mondavi winery in the picture above) have beautiful buildings set in the middle of the vineyards, providing a great place to enjoy the beauty of the valley. We were there a few weeks after the harvest, so the vines were bare, but there was a hint of fall color in the leaves, which made for some pretty lovely views. Unfortunately, some of the wineries we wanted to tour were either full or wouldn’t let us tour with a baby, so plan ahead when you go. We also visited the “Old Faithful Geyser” in Calistoga, but it wasn’t very impressive, so save your money. Arav did enjoy seeing the animals that were on the premises though.

Going with Arav meant that we couldn’t go to the French Laundry for dinner, something Tanu has been wanting to do for a very long time. But we did try to do the next best thing and go to Thomas Keller’s other place in the valley, Bouchon. It is a much more casual dining experience, with a nice french cafe feel to it. And the food is quite good. We also have it on good authority that the pastries and macaroons from the neighbouring Bouchon Bakery are really good.

We ended up wanting more from our time in Napa, so we decided that we needed one more day there. That will be the subject of the next post.

The New York Times City Room blog has a great post about a panel discussion held at the Paley Center for Media last friday in which writers from The Daily Show were on hand to discuss “Writers Speak: A Potentially Regrettable Evening with the Writers of ‘The Daily Show’”. I wish I had known about it, I would have so gone to it with someone like my cousin Rajath.

It’s pretty cool that in the section where they talked about some of the more memorable moments from “Indecision 2008″, TDS’ coverage of the elections, they talked about their mockumentary of Obama’s biography (which I blogged about here) and their ripping into Republican hypocrisy (which I blogged about here). It was also fun to read the daily process they go through to put together the segments. 15-20 Tivo’s? Tivo should be using this in their ads.

The best line (I’m sure Rajji-B, who works at NY1, would appreciate this):

11:30 a.m.: The production staff members pop in and demand the material. The writers ask for five more minutes — which they are not given, but which they take, anyway.

The reaction to Barack Obama’s election is pouring in from all quarters, and there is a lot of really emotional, powerful stuff. My cousin Rajath Vikram posted a note on Facebook, and I am re-posting it here with his permission. He doesn’t write often, but when he does, it is really good.

It’s titled, quite simply, “America”

It is difficult, in this world, to believe in something.
We’d all have a much easier time being cynical, expecting the worst, being critical of others.

Our whole lives we’ve been told
that this day would never come.
There would be an American president
who is Black
who is mixed
who is from an immigrant family
who has a Muslim name
who spent part of his youth in another country
who was raised by a single mother and her mother
who’s wife and children look and sound like his do
who worked in the City as a community organizer
who has some friends and family who talk openly about parts of American history that we aren’t all that proud of
who believes that cooperation with every corner the world is the best way to lead
who believes that our role as a beacon of hope is the best way to shield us from harm
who believes that we are only as strong as the weakest among us

And… here we are in heaven.

Barack Hussein Obama appealed to our better angels
He asked us to be better than that
He never expected us to be petty
He never worried that we were too shell shocked by 9/11 to accept change
He never thought that different immigrant groups, religious groups, minorities and white Americans wouldn’t hold hands
and walk together
He never feared that we couldn’t handle the journey into the future.

He knew who America really was.

America is why Rosa sat
Martin marched
and why Barack ran
so our children will fly.

I may be young
but I’ve never been so proud to be American.

At 11pm on November 4th 2008, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America. You have no idea how much being able to write those words means to me. I remember a family gathering almost a year ago, where a spirited debate on the elections took place. There were quite a few people (even among my democrat-leaning family) who said that this day would never come, that this country was just not ready for Obama to be President. So today is vindication, the realization of an ideal, a hope, a dream.

One has to appreciate this moment for its history, for the significance of what it says about this country. America now has its first African-American President, a huge step towards the ideal of America as the melting pot, where all people (in every sense) are created equal. And who better embodies the American Dream than the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, growing up with a single parent and raised by his grandparents far from the American mainstream, making his own fortune through hard work and smarts, charting his own course in politics without the support of a political family, going all the way to White House?

In Obama, we have a transformational leader, one who understands the opportunity and mandate he has to unite this country that has been torn apart by the politics of old. He rose to prominence on the back of one of the greatest speeches of all time – “…there is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America – there’s the United States of America” – a message that resonated with an electorate hungry for vision and change. And he understands what America means to the world, and will do the right things to restore its place of honor in the global community.

His election will forever change how politics works, bringing back as it does the idea of government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. The community organizer understood the power of building a community, of using the power of the people to convince their neighbors. His campaign was more social movement than political campaign. These ideas of social marketing have already taken hold in the marketing and technology world, and will soon resonate in the political world, changing how political campaigns are waged.

The beauty of his campaign was that people felt personally invested in his election and, going forward, will do so in his government as well. That is how he will take this country forward, by making people feel invested in the future of their country once again. Nobody can bring about change on their own. But get people on the bandwagon, and anything is possible. Obama gets that, and he will use that.

For the next few days we will all celebrate. But then the real hard work of undoing the damage done by President Bush will start. Yet we have faith. Because the message is there.

Yes, We Did. And Yes, We Can.