A few months ago I had what felt like sudden inspiration to start this blog and make it about technology. I enjoy tech blogs, I enjoy using tech in various ways in my life, and I enjoy writing so I thought why not try a tech blog.
Well, that didn’t really work out. Apparently I’d rather read about and use tech than write about it, so nothing much happened after a few initial posts which I’ve since decided to un-publish.
But I still had this lingering idea and desire to write about something and couldn’t really figure out what that might be or whether I should just give it up and move on. Today I may have struck upon another bit of inspiration for the topic and content that I would enjoy writing continuously about. It all goes back to the name I originally picked for the site, noonchai.com, and how the place where I first tasted noon chai – Kashmir – has shaped and influenced my life in ways I’m still unpacking after moving back to the USA late last year.
I spent almost 14 years of my life in Kashmir helping to develop two small businesses and briefly experimented with a third one. I moved around a lot growing up so the next longest amount of time I’ve lived in one place is only six years. Kashmir is a place that always will be close to my heart and one of the places I consider “home.”
After being back in the USA for six months I’m continually processing and realizing how much those 14 years impacted me. They mark me and are an important part of who I am. This is not just true for me, but my family also. While I moved to Kashmir and had previous places I called home, for my kids Kashmir was their first home. The USA was a place they visited and enjoyed, but Kashmir was home. My wife and I are still understanding how that experience shaped our kids and affects their new life in this once foreign place called America.
So my idea for this blog is to write about my life in Kashmir. Not the business stuff so much, but the personal. What it was like to move and live there as an outsider. How much things changed in those 14 years. I’m thinking to start back in 2005 and go from there, highlighting moments as they happened. It will be a way for me to remember and process, as well as document for the sake of my kids this life changing period of time in my life and my family’s life. I wish I could write something weekly, but I don’t know what’s going to be realistic. I’m just going to start writing and see where it goes.
noonchai.com 