Blog
List of blog posts without previews.Ten tows in, never rentin' from this business
April 07, 2026
On Saturday, I went with three grad student friends to Amherst Agni, a Desi fusion dance competition at UMass Amherst. Our goal was to study how we might bring a similar event to MIT in the future and to enjoy some exciting fusion dance performances in the process. The trip was super fun and worthwhile.
After the show, we drove back to Cambridge, and I dropped off two of the three friends at their respective apartments. The third friend planned to meet some friends in Central Square, which was conveniently along the way to my graduate dorm in Cambridgeport.
Heading …
Two funny shows I watched last semester and sort of understood in languages I speak (Marathi) and don't (Hindi), and some reflections on speaking heritage languages as a third-generation immigrant
March 01, 2026
Mi Marathi bolato
In August, I was browsing Sulekha (as one does) when I came across a listing for a (well-known) Marathi stand-up comedian named Sarang Sathaye who was going to be performing in Boston. I was immediately curious about the prospect of attending a stand-up show in what is technically my first language, so I put it on my calendar (5pm on Sunday, September 14, 2025 at Melrose Memorial Hall in Melrose).
Unfortunately, the commuter rail timings for the Haverhill Line weren't convenient for a 5pm start time, so I'd have to get a rental car. Rental cars aren't …
I helped a couple get married more efficiently this morning by serving as a pop-up ATM
February 17, 2026
This morning, I stopped by City Hall to pick up a One-Day Entertainment License from the Cambridge License Commission for Boston Bandish, the new Desi a cappella competition that I'm organizing at MIT this upcoming Saturday. The One-Day Entertainment License is required for any event that involves live music or dancing and costs $50, and it's issued by a committee comprising the License Commission Chair, the Cambridge Fire Chief, and the Cambridge Police Commissioner. It seems the license exists to protect the licenseholder from any possible noise complaints or similar.
I applied for the license a few weeks ago and …
Garlic bread
January 24, 2026
I'm in Providence this weekend visiting a friend. We had initially planned to go skiing in New Hampshire this weekend, which would have conveniently allowed me to head straight to Bretton Woods on Monday morning for our annual MIT QuARC conference, but this plan got slightly derailed due to the cold weather. So I instead took the Providence/Stoughton commuter rail his way on Satuday morning. I disembarked at Attleboro so we could make a quick grocery run at the nearby Patel Brothers on the way to his house.
For late lunch, we had some leftovers, and he also suggested that …
How to put together an MIT Ohms 15th anniversary concert in Kresge Auditorium
December 18, 2025
Last month, the MIT Ohms hosted our semesterly end-of-semester concert. Much like every other semester, we performed our entire set, comprising twelve original arrangements (as well as one original composition). The theme for our concert was "Spider-Man: Hohmcoming," so our two script writers wrote an original story featuring Spider-Man (as an MIT student) and a cast of adversaries and villains. Our music was interwoven into the script, and we alternated, sort of like a musical, between performing scenes (starring the "micro-ohms"--our freshmen--in the lead roles) and singing our music.
Unlike most semesters, this one marked the group's fifteen year anniversary. …
Traversing the MBTA, one stop at a time
November 16, 2025
I'm a big fan of exploring public transportation systems and am on a quest to visit as many MBTA subway and commuter rail stops (or lines) as possible. I'm counting a visit as any time I exited the station after riding the line. My goal is to do something meaningful at/near/around each stop, rather than visiting just for the sake of visiting. This blog post will serve as a live record of my progress.
Red Line
Alewife. I took the Red Line here one weekend to bike around Fresh Pond, clear my mind, and enjoy the fresh air.
Davis. For …
How to put together a Diwali showcase concert
November 05, 2025
This past Sunday, my a cappella group--the MIT Ohms--put together a Diwalloween showcase concert. We booked Lobdell Dining Hall in the MIT Student Center (we've performed there at a few events in the past) and invited a few South Asian fusion music groups from around the region to perform with us. The event went quite well, and I now feel qualified to write about how to arrange such a showcase.
[forthcoming: post on the Ohms and why I joined]
The idea
The Ohms typically perform a few times throughout the semester, in addition to our semesterly showcase concert. These mid-semester …
Mile time trial on the MIT track
September 26, 2025
Previous snapshots of Om's running adventures: I half assed a half marathon
This past Monday, I ran a mile in 5:20 on the MIT track!
On Sunday evening, I found out from fellow runners in the EECS department that there was going to be a mile time trial on the MIT track the next evening. I thought it would be a good break from work and signed up immediately. I've been running a lot more recently, and I had done several intense track workouts in the prior weeks, so I was confident that I could break six minutes, and I …
Road trip to Quebec (plus a few landscape and food photos)
August 22, 2025
Last week, my sister and I took a road trip to Quebec City. It was a fun, relaxing trip with scenic landscapes, interesting architecture, high temperatures, and fortuitous restaurant discoveries. Below is a brief trip summary with some pictures. Delete "resized/" from the image link to view the full image.
She flew in on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning we picked up the rental car and started driving north. Our first stop was in Hooksett, NH to pick up some snacks for the car. Next, we briefly got out of the car in Lincoln, NH at the RiverWalk Resort …
Towards visiting the entire USA
July 18, 2025
Tracking my progress as I attempt to visit and do something meaningful in all fifty states (plus DC). Years and seasons mostly from memory, months mostly validated via Shutterfly. In map form.
Index: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming