Yeah, I went to the optometrist today for my yearly eye exam (In reality I just ran out of contacts and had to get an eye check up before ordering new contacts.)  Otherwise today was just a normal off day from work.  Completely mundane and filled with running errands like grocery shopping and paying bills.

College Football season is around the corner and I’m really looking forward to seeing how my Georgia Bulldogs do this year.  Regardless of what happens, Athens, Georgia is my home and will always be home.

With a three day weekend coming up due to our Labor Day holiday, I need to find something to or some rock to climb somewhere.  If all else fails, at least I can find somewhere to watch some college football.

. . . I love you.  I really love India and have fond memories of going there quite often during my childhood (I’ve been to India nine times,  4 times before the age of 11).  However, there are some issues that really, really bother me about this country of my parents.

Thanks to the The Young Turks I came across a great video hosted by AJPlus about rape victims in India fighting back against gender inequality and the sexist, rapist culture that unfortunately permeates India’s paradigm.  These women call themselves the Red Brigade and their actions are truly remarkable and brave.  As a spoiled American I’m probably not the right person to sit here and criticize India, but it is abhorrent that extremely young girls at the ages of 6 and 10 can be gang raped and have their innocence and childhood ruined and the perpetrators can go free.  It’s humbling to watch this.  I really have nothing to complain about sitting in my apartment and enjoying the mountain scenery in middle America.  I wish these women well.

Another thing that kind of bothers me is that medical care may not be as good in India as I thought it was at least according to this Vice Report .   I used to think that Indian doctors were some of the best in the world, but then again I’ve been wrong about other things before.  Medical errors and negligence are actually more common in India in comparison to other democracies and it mostly has to do with lack of accountability and responsibility as the article mentions.   And of course this leads to more terrible outcomes including unnecessary death.  Again, India is an overpopulated country and the caste system (India’s version of apartheid) is still strong, which is a barrier against education and well being for the poor.

Again, I love India and hope to come back soon to visit my relatives there, but things have to change quickly for this country to overcome these terrible things.  It’s the 21st century now, and India’s running out of excuses.

Hard to believe that it’s only been a few days since I left New York City.  I had a great time.  It was great to see a taping of The Nightly Show and, moreover, it was REALLY awesome to see U2 twice in concert.

Seeing Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen perform with the band was great in itself, but what was really special was that I ran into two friends who I hadn’t seen in ten years. They were standing in the same row I was in and after the show they approached me. Really unbelievable how small the world really is and how people can meet up after losing contact with one another.  We spent some time after the concert and exchanged contact info and promised that we won’t wait another ten years to meet again.

It was also pretty cool that Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were in the audience.  The two last concerts at Madison Square Garden felt like truly exceptional events and I’ll never forget it and feel fortunate to have been a part of it.

Also, I got to do all the fun stuff in New York that I didn’t get to do six years ago as a medical student.  I spent an entire day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and visited the Empire State Building and got to walk on the Brooklyn Bridge.  I also spent a day with a cousin in the city, so that was really cool, too.

With that said, I am happy to be back here in Colorado amongst the mountains.  I love New York, but I don’t think I’m tough enough to live there on a daily basis.  I am looking forward to my next visit, though.

And speaking of traveling, with all of these recent trips to Germany and New York, I wonder where (and when) I am going to make my next visit.  Hopefully, pretty soon.

Every free day I get here in Colorado seems to be spent outside.  Just finished my first so called Fourteener when we hiked up Mount Princeton .   It was tiring but definitely rewarding.

I went to Boulder, Colorado for the first time today and did some rock climbing at El Dorado.  Beautiful scenery and beautiful climbing.  While in Boulder, I found out that Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls are playing in October.  Maybe I’ll check it out to relive some Rock am Ring memories.

This week I’ll be taking a trip back to city life as I go to visit New York City to go see U2 in concert at Madison Square Garden.  Certainly looking forward to it.  I’m also going to attend a taping of the Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.

It’ll be good to back to NYC since I haven’t been there since I finished my initial med school rotations back in 2009.  Moreover, I’m happy I get to enjoy it as a traveling visitor this time around.

Had an awesome 4th of July hiking, camping, and climbing rocks,rocks, and more rocks.  Gonna’ end this nice long weekend with some local traveling around Colorado.

I know there has been a lot of really terrible things happening in the last few weeks in the U.S., but I’m happy that gay marriage got officially recognized by our Supreme Court. Granted, I don’t think marriage (hetero-, homo-, bi-, whatever) should be regulated at all by government authority, but I am happy for all of my gay friends and happy that they have the same rights we all do. It was a long time coming.

Hard to believe I was rocking out in Germany a month ago and that I’ll be adventuring in New York City in a few weeks.

Oh, and I love banana bread and coffee.

Like the title says and in the words of Bruce Buffer, “WE ARE LIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!”  It took me a while to organize my new little home on the world wide web, but here it is, and I look forward to making it better and sharing my experiences with all of you.  You can link directly to my twitter, facebook, and instagram from here.  You can also visit my store and buy a T-shirt.   All proceeds go to the “Get Dr. Babu out of medical school debt” fund (funny name for a charity, isn’t it?).   I hope to be adding more designs and products as time goes on.

As usual I hope to write about my experiences in traveling and learning about other languages and cultures and at times maybe expound some medical knowledge.  I may even post  auf deutsch or en español at times.  I recently came back from Rock am Ring in Germany, so for your viewing pleasure you should watch this epic performance from the Foo Fighters.