Home - really good!

One of the best and most disturbing videos I've seen in recent past. I'd strongly recommend everyone to click through this link. Though embedding is disabled and the video is long, its well worth our time to even become aware of the extent of this issue.

I'm sure everyone knows about this issue (one of the most popular topics ever since I was in grade school) but the extent of impact, that is where this video scores. Lets do our bit to spreading it! Do share it with your friends and family as well to increase awareness.

Happy bday Daddy!

Dear Dad,

             I wrote about you three years ago and each word of it is still so true. You've proved it even more. Though I'm thousands of miles away from you and we get to talk only a few minutes every week, you still stand tall as my hero, the one person who I wish to imitate in every single thing, the one person for whom I want the world to be perfect. You still remain the "better than the best" dad in the whole universe. As I travel further in this world, meet more people and get more experiences, I see how well that title suits you :)  From being a parent to being a friend and confidante, I'm yet to see anyone who handles all with so much ease, so much elan as you do. Though miles away, I still imagine that I hold your hand when I cross some place difficult and the world again becomes easy to navigate.

           As A and I cross into adulthood, it becomes more apparent as to how difficult your job was and how well you've done it. We are lucky to stand on the shoulders of a giant, cradled by the love that still beats strong as it arcs across the entire world and soothed by the knowledge that wherever we are, we are still your daughters, your princesses for whom you made a magic world come true, a world that had the right amount of everything that a person can ask for. When the world turns dark and gloomy at times, I remember to take a leaf from your experiences and wisdom and hey presto! the world becomes fair and square, sunny and bright immediately. The support and faith you've shown in us, its mind blowing and hope we live up to your expectations and dreams. When I get treated as your daughter even thousands of miles away, I am humbled by the number of lives you've changed by your thoughts and deeds over these years.

            In the past three years, I've moved from the world I knew to a totally new one with completely different experiences. Through all that, one of the few things that has remained constant is the surety of your love and belief in my abilities even when I have doubted them, through all the trying and turbulent times. For all that and many more, thanks a ton! The journey so far has been beyond words and I'm sure Lady Future has more fun experiences in stock for you. And you, with your usual way of handling things, would add life and laughter to each of those experiences and show the world how they should be lived, making both the traditionalists and the modernists happy at the same time. Here's raising glasses to you and a happy year, a year filled with all your wishes coming true! And more memorable times together!! 

Happy bday Daddy! 

கண்ணும் காட்சியும்

கண்ணில் காட்சி தோன்றி விட்டால்
கற்பனை தீர்ந்து விடும்
கண்ணில் தோன்றா காட்சியில் தான்
கற்பனை வளர்ந்து விடும்

A sad day for speed-driving!

The first thing I see today morning is a link to an article that one of my friends forwarded. It was titled "As sure as night follows day, you are going to get a traffic ticket soon". Uh-oh! Not a good start at all... It looked like something B would say! But the mail was not from him. And I digged in. Before we go on, here is some background on my driving. I'm generally a safe but fast driver. I tend to think that if the driver and the car can handle it, then going faster is not wrong as long as you follow all the rules (excepting the speed limit rule of course!). Though I do drive fast, I always always follow the rules (especially the ones that are necessary/important). Never would you see me jumping a red light or do violent/crazy driving. Sure, I sometimes hit the pedal and do some zip zap zooming but all in such a way that the car is under my complete control. Almost all of my friends know it and I get teased for the fast driving now and then. 

Ever since one of my friends got his ticket, I've been tagged as "The next person in the group to get a ticket". Its even been predicted that I'll just surpass the officer's expectations and go to jail for speeding instead of getting measly tickets (oh God! no!!). And, as days went by, I kept hearing more and more stories of how someone got a ticket. Just the last weekend (yup! Memorial day weekend), a total of ten people that I knew got tickets (one of it was my friend's brother who was visiting - for not wearing seat belts in the back seat! Heights!!). And most were surprised that I hadn't gotten one. 

Now, me, wanting to hold on to non-ticketed state and not wanting the hassles of being ticketed (read: being a lazy bum), started following all the rules religiously (including doing a full stop before turning a right on red, B). Though this has toned down my driving considerably, it has also taken the fun out of driving. I miss the zip zap zooming and am afraid to actually take the highways for long drives for fear of just pressing on (and getting tickets).

According to me, the one thing that differentiates good drivers from great drivers is being able to drive safe AND fast. As far as I know, only a few people go on to become great drivers. Even among my friends, I am not comfortable with everyone's driving. Sure, I trust their driving. But not enough to sleep off in the car! I'm ever on alert mode to make sure things are fine. Sadly, that makes me a very light sleeper during car travels (either very short periods of sleep or longer periods of very very light sleep). So, naturally, I want to be one of the great drivers I know. I know I drive safely (read: don't do anything stupid, take calculated risks, handle situations without any issues, etc) but as for driving fast, I guess I'll have to stop that soon. And be stuck in the good drivers list for some time! Ugh! 

PS: I'm seriously considering not doing long drives/not using my car much AND/OR a trip to Germany (just for beloved Autobahn).

PPS: I'm also thinking of getting a GPS with the speed option on and training myself to drive looking at the GPS instead of the speedometer of my car. We should rather have the GPS speed-check in place of the speedometer. Oh bother!