The Aral Sea, Yellowstone and the Curious Case of Delaware

I was reading about Samarkand and Tashkent, two cities who had centuries old connections with India and then out of curiosity searched for information about Al Biruni who came from a place close to the Aral Sea. As a kid growing up in India, one read about these “strange” places and people, rich with history, seeped culture and bold in conquest. ?

I happened to take a look at the map of the Aral Sea and was shocked at how small it seemed. I remember it being bigger, so I researched the matter. If you look at the map of the Aral Sea in 1960 and compared it to what it is today, you will be staggered. It was the third largest lake in the world and today it is just 10% of its 1960 size. While many seas and lakes have grown (including the Great Lakes in North America) due to glacial warming/melting, some have dried up and shriveled – Lake Chad, Lake Eyre, Lake Mead... A University of Virgina study says half the world’s great lakes in the US have dried up since 1990.

While I cannot decide if global warming is because of solar activity and human pollution, I can say this for sure - we are slowly wrecking this beautiful planet. I want to see as much of the world as possible before my time is over because this is the only gift which has no implied reciprocity, we humans will ever get – a blue planet of staggering beauty.

After I left BORN and TechM, so started to work on my promise to myself that I would visit at least 30 national parks (I’ve seen 10). So, off I went on a hike in Yellowstone National Park followed by one in the Grand Tetons. When asked, I have always said that Yosemite is my favorite National Park. A favorite is always a favorite, but I have to admit Yellowstone is utterly magnificent and has an edge over the lovable Yosemite. ?I had to come to terms with that adjustment. It’s like saying a Korean Pear is your favorite fruit for 40 years and then discovering a ridiculously tasty Banganapalle mango.

Yellowstone is a marvel – its geysers, landscapes, rivers, lakes and wildlife are without parallel. My guide’s son is an award-winning wildlife photographer and he gave me a link where I could buy some images to remember my trip. I bought a beautiful print (on metal) of an owl (picture above). I love owls – in part because they are cute, strange (they can turn their heads 270 degrees!), and in part because my dad graduated from the University of Cranfield and its mascot is the owl. I got a small inscription done and glued it onto the picture. It reads, “in loving memory of SC Keshu. His love and knowledge was as wide as an owl’s vision.”

After that visit, I was convinced that I had to incorporate my next business in Yellowstone’s home, Wyoming. A few internet searches later I had done it in Delaware. So much for my resolve.

Almost every company I know incorporates an LLC or a C-Corp or an S-Corp in the state of Delaware. If you have visited, that state has “nothing” special to offer (no offense to anyone). But its privacy, tax and efficiency are unmatched. But Wyoming and Nevada would disagree. They also have very investor and entrepreneur friendly laws. As of 2023, the numbers speak for themselves – Delaware > 1,400,000 companies, Wyoming > 70,000 and Nevada > 300,000. There are more companies registered in Delaware than residents! The state, named after James West, the 3rd Baron of De La Warr, is the lowest lying state in the US with a mean elevation of just 60 feet. If you worry about climate change, ice melting and oceans rising, that is not a state to live in but just one to register your business.

The two states with the least number of small businesses, Alaska and Wyoming, have the largest and most beautiful national parks, respectively. That’s an oblique way of saying, fewer people, greater beauty!

[As a side note, it appears there is an odd but interesting connection between Wyoming and Delaware. It turns out the term for giant meadows amongst Delaware Native Indians is maughwauwa-ma. The variations to this name were Wiwaume and Wiomie. And that’s how a group of Delaware Native Americans named Wyoming.]

I now have to just spend some time to find out if the Korean Pear had anything to do with Nandyal’s greatest creation – the Banganapalle mango! Who knows, there may be a connection.

I have no team to follow or lead these days but allow me to remain,

Your fearless follower.