About This Space

Hello and welcome.

My name is Kedar Gadgil and you can find more information about me on the right (if you are on a wide screen) and below (if you are on a handheld device).

Why Forty-Two?

Other than the obvious (that it is the Ultimate Answer, which, as anyone who knows that mice actually rule the Universe and dolphins are smarter than humans knows), there is another, more personal reason: I was exactly 42 years of age when the loveliest, most beautiful, thing happened to me. I became a father to a baby daughter. Kymaia (pronounced ‘Kim-Maya’) was born on 28 August 2014, exactly 42 years (to the day) after I was born. Yes, we share the same birthday! You could say I was reborn at the age of 42. The number 42, therefore, in many ways defines who I am.

This blog is like a diary that has randomly spaced entries on topics that touched my life but may have no connection to anything important, or even indeed with each other. You will find my political rants and my product, food, and film reviews here. You will find me introspecting on morality and holding forth on the virtues of a life without god. You will find me dissecting an issue that may have long lost its relevance (but was a hot topic in its days) as well as writing letters to my daughter to read when she grows up (hoping that the technology in which they are written will still be accessible and read by technology that will exist in her time). And of course, you will find me chronicling my journey with my Baby bear, my little bundle of joy, my Kymyko, my Michiko (because it rhymes with Kymyko), my Kym-Kym, my Tukul (why? Because she’s ‘too cool’), my beautiful baby. She is my reason to live. And hopefully, my one shot at immortality.

As you can see, it is all rather a mishmash of things. Or, if you want to glamourise it, a Charcuterie platter or a buffet table. Whatever it is, I have cooked it with great love, and hope it lights up your intellectual and emotional tastebuds too. Some of the early articles are written in a ‘stream of consciousness’ style which is very disconcerting to read, while the later ones have proper capitalisation, punctuation, and flow. Some have been the end result of much thought and research; some, just spur of the moment jottings; and many others, a mix of the two. The one thing I can promise you though is each of them gives an honest snapshot of my thinking at that point in history, and if you know why I write, you’ll know why this is so important to me.

Just to be clear, I do not know or indeed attempt to answer the question of life, the universe, and everything. I am simply a fellow traveller on this giant space computer built by mice to find out the Ultimate Question, and probably in the way of some hyperspace bypass, on the cusp of being destroyed any day. All I can try and do is have fun while it lasts. And hopefully, try and put things in perspective once in a while.

Welcome, once again. And enjoy your stay.

P.S: Buy me a coffee, if you think I made a small part of your day. I’d appreciate that very much.