Fascinating facts about Ravi
www.ravib.com

 Specifications

Jun 2019
2019
 
Jun 2015
2015
 
Oct 2014
2014
 
Early 2010
2010
 
Ravi in Toronto
2007
 
Ravi @ Endeca
2003
 
Jet lagged
2001
 
In debug mode
1995
 
I'm not really this serious
1990
 
All things VAX
1987
 
Outlaw grad student
1984
 
Toast to whatever
1982
 
Pittsburgh, Fall 1980
1980
 
Musically inclined
1975
 
Renegade rock'n'roller
1972
 
Questioning 2nd grader
1965
 
Name:
Gender:
Height:
Weight:
 Ravi Bhavnani
 Male
 5' 10"
 2640 oz.
Sign:
Meyers-Brigg:
License Plate:
Email:
 Aquarius
 INTP
 VAX-VMS
 ravib@ravib.com

My brief life's history

On the last day in January at roughly an hour before noon, at St. Elizabeth's Nursing Home in Bombay, in a room I don't remember well, I came to be.

The event in itself was fairly routine, though I'm told I was a tad reluctant to greet the world.  I have since been more of a night owl than a morning person.  A pair of forceps used to encourage me to face the inevitable reality of birth was instrumental (pun intended) in damaging the muscles in my left eye.  In insurance-speak, this would be termed an "inconsequential claim", meaning that no insurance company would consider it seriously.

It wasn't until the eighth grade that it dawned on me that it wasn't normal to squint at the blackboard. Being taller than average, I was relegated to the rear of each class.  The reasoning behind this escaped me, and not being much of an agressor, I resigned myself to staring at fuzzy logic and doodling when I got bored.

This resulted in substandard academic achievement during my middle school years, though I could churn out an impressive rendition of Archie, Jughead and the Sad Sack with admirable ease.  This skill hasn't left me and is the source of much comfort when sitting in on conference calls that have long since degenerated into bouts of ego bashing, thinly disguised as software design reviews.

I managed to skip the first year of college by convincing an obviously ill-informed faculty that I possessed some amount of basic intelligence.  However, having discovered the joys of playing lead guitar with the Cosmic Junk during my tenure as a high school student, it was difficult to leave that creative environment for the musty lecture rooms of Elphinstone College, an institution of higher learning in more ways than one.  1975 was a year of student unrest in India, and I was eager to be enlightened by those who had led the way.

I skipped most of the first two years of college and developed a mean playing style armed only with tea, cigarettes, a silky smooth Vox VG-2 and the confidence that comes with being 16.  It was a delightful time.  In 1979, I decided I needed more than optimism to enter the workforce, and enrolled in a graduate program in Physics.  That led to a year of deep depression.  A brief relationship and an eventual exit to the United States turned my life around.

In 1980, I discovered that all I wanted to do for the rest of my life was to write software.  After graduating with a degree in Computer Science in 1984, I embarked on a professional career that has brought me untold joy.

In 2008, I decided to run for President.
 

My family and other animals

My parents are in their 80's and have been in a passionate relationship since 1942.  It's embarrasing but cute.  I have an older brother who is lucky to be married to an incredible woman.  They have two daughters and a dog named Chuckie and live in a quiet suburb outside Sydney.  My nieces think the world of me.  They are obviously a couple of enlightened individuals.
 

Things I like
 
  • Writing Windows software (PIMs, utilities and programming tools)
  • Chinese food
  • Snowy winter mornings
  • Dinky Toys
  • Seinfeld
  • Good pizza with very little cheese
  • Every episode of Fawlty Towers
  • Kindness
  • Soggy broccoli
  • Major 7ths and diminished chords
  • Dilbert
  • The Eagles, James Taylor, Mark Knopfler, Supertramp, Steely Dan
  • Cars from the 40's and early 50's (pre-fins)
  • Humor (dry)
  • Dave Barry
  • Computer based reasoning (specifically, diagnostic expert systems)
  • Howling wind
 Things I dislike
 
  • Dishonesty
  • Crunchy vegetables
  • Loud TV
  • Loud people
  • Getting lost


Most of the drivel at this site is copyright © Ravi Bhavnani.
Questions or comments?  Send mail to ravib@ravib.com