Life in Corona

For quite sometime, I keep stressing the sentence in tamil to my friends: "Career vachi Tiffin Carrier Kooda vaanga mudiyaathu" meaning you cannot buy a tiffin carrier using your professional career. Off late, I am seeing lot of my friends and colleagues running behind to enhance or sometimes even save their career.

Come 2020, the entire definition of life and career has changed for many.

All IT Companies are accepting and stressing employees to work from home.

All the people who were running rat races finally spend time with their beautiful families.

Most importantly, this Corona lockdown has given good sleep to the sleep deprived professionals.

Overall, what (Corona) was once assumed as stress to life has now actually been a stress buster.

I hope people now realize how important is to enjoy life than running behind a useless career.

 

Losing a close Friend due to work stress

Off late, I have been distant to blogging due to a number of reasons. 2019 ended on a very bad note for me personally, as I lost one of my best friend due to excess stress caused by WORK. Yes, you read it right, W O R K.

Along with him, myself and 3-4 others formed what we call as the Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam in IT. Whatever the pressure of work, we make it a point to enjoy ourselves.

Advices are not for self, it is only for others - as my friend's father told me as he is still coming to terms with this huge loss of his son who decided to part away.

Some people suggested - He should have quit the company. Some others suggested - He should have taken sabbatical or asked for a low stress project. While some others suggested - He should have quit and started enjoying his saved wealth.

To all, only one thing is difficult to get rid from your head - it is the pride factor at work.

From my point of view - I suggest - Never have pride in your work - Anybody on any day can replace you.

As the old philosophy goes, 'Time will heal everything'. I am just hoping it will heal this huge scar from my heart.

-Amen

2019 - An year of shock and surprises

2019 - a year of surprises

2019 seemed to be dawning only yesterday and here we are - at the end of the year already.

This year had brought a lot of surprises and shocks to me personally and officially.

Personally, my dad underwent a major procedure and thankfully he is alright.

I am expecting my second child is another pleasant shock.

Officially, I gave up my freelancing to a more steady and safe permanent job. It does not mean I wont be in freelancing anymore, as I am working on how to start my own venture.

Another good thing was my family was on the press for the topic 'Indians in Belgium' and it gave me a good popularity ;-)

Another shock is I had quite a huge number of fights with 'so called friends' and had a strained relationship.

Eagerly awaiting what 2020 is bringing to the table.

Wish each and everyone of you a very happy new year 2020

Petta - A tribute

If you are coming here, looking for a movie review, I am sorry to disappoint you, as I am not a movie analyst.

‘Hero’ worship:

This term achieved real meaning in Tamil Nadu right from the days of MGR, who later on went to become the CM of Tamil Nadu.

Coming from the same genre of acting, Rajni entered the industry in 1975 much before Maestro Raja Sir Debut.

A man who cannot talk proper Tamil. A man who was very dark in complexion.

Everyone thought how long he will survive. But the fact is, he not only survived, he has ruled the industry for now 40 years like a King.

Doing commercial movie is not a joke and doing it with style and charisma for 40 years is definitely not as easy as it looks.

The man has the ability to reinvent himself. He is a Sachin Tendulkar of Kollywood will be an understatement. Sachin Tendulkar was in fact a Rajnikanth of Indian Cricket.

Having watched his movie Raja Chinna Roja, ask any kid of the 90s they say how they longed if they had an uncle like Rajni.

Rajni is a kids hero. And that will always work with everyone. My uncle used to joke in 1997 that If Rajni has to stand in elections, then all kids needs to be given voting right, otherwise he won’t win.

Now, that statement is partially true and the wait is now over, as all the kids have become adults and are still looking to Rajni as their superhero.

So, what has made him likeable all these years? I would say, his simplicity outside the sets plus his straightforward speech. One of my friend joked that Rajni cannot do a political speech. Who needs them? We only need a person who talks his heart out and not a person who talks rhymes in front of the mic.

The worship for Rajnikanth is a different level. And unlike other stars, he never uttered the name of MGR to garner fan base. Rather,the only big actor name he utters in movies is Kamal Haasan who was his direct competitor. Such is his humility and attitude.

Only actor who can give advises in life in a song and gets away without getting trolled has to be this man for he worked his way to the top, He is a self made man. And people like me realize the importance of the term ‘self-made’ as there are not too many people around to help you.

Every hard worker can realize a Rajni in him if you observe and the connect is what makes him the real Super Star. The energy which he manages to rub off on the audience is just unbelievable and a different level.

Everyone said, there was a Management Lesson on MS Dhoni. Not sure how many of you know that there was a management study once upon a time on Rajni isms..

Everything said, I am eagerly waiting for my day to do the darshan of ‘Thalaivar’ as he is famously known way before he announced his political entry.

There can be many Stars before and After him, But There can never be Another Rajnikanth.

The name is Sivaji Rao Gaekwad. Do NOT Forget. 

Mother Tongue Importance

               This is one area where every parent (including myself) need attention. Of late, I see many Indian parents don't encourage kids to talk in their mother tongue. While the parents' urge to master English as an international language when the kid is young is commendable, ignoring mother tongue at the expense of this language is not something that is advisable.

               I always believe that any child can best express his or her emotions in the mother tongue. In other words, kids get a better emotional connect with the parents and with the society that he/she lives in. Never mind, even if you are living in a foreign land. The language of the land will automatically come to the child by timely exposure to the native kids.

               It is here the Mother scores above the rest, as she is the one who should acknowledge the importance of making her kid talk in mother tongue at home. With proper exposure, the kid can easily switch to English outside. Parents should be ready to acknowledge this fact without a mindset block.

                We should always remember that English is a language which has destroyed many other languages just because of its fake attraction. Our very culture depends on our mother tongue that we talk to express ourselves. All said, I am not against making the kid learn English.

LEARN IT, DO NOT BREATHE IT.

Career - Success or Failure

Blogging my experience on request of my very good friend:

Being an Indian, It is very difficult for any kid to have desires. For example, when I was in my school, I aspired to become a cricketer one day. But I was forced to drop that desire, due to the break neck competition in sports field and my family's financial status.

Cut to 2018, where I am working as a freelancer in my client's place. When I started my career in 2005 in this never forgiving IT industry, I always had to come the second best. The break neck competition in the field has not dampened me a bit. I always say with pride, that I always had a good work-life balance by running my own race (or competing with myself). Yes, there were company standards, yes there were client demands, but that doesn't mean I will have to lose my sleep over a job which only occupies 8 hours of my daily life.

Being Different:

I still remember sometime in 2007 (almost 2 years after started working in IT), I asked my team mate as to where should I go to catch the night shuttle at midnight and the entire team burst out laughing, as they knew I will never lose my personal life come whatever may.

While all others were busy jumping from one project to another, to get on-site, I believed in persisting in the same project. Many of my friends and well wishers were not impressed with these decisions including my IT mentors who thought it was going to backfire as I neither wont get promoted not get any on-site assignments.

Attitude:

I see lot of people with 'can do' attitude when it comes to work. The same should be followed for 'outside work' as well. For instance, the 'can do' attitude can be shown to finish the work on time or searching a new opportunity or making your own path.

PS: In 2009, my best friend had asked me what eligibility I have to do a Manager role.

In 2015, when I was without a contract, my co-worker asked me if I need a salary without a job.

My answer to them was plain simple. 'I know what I need, so I will ask you when I need something'. A king always remains a king, remember when Alexander defeated Porus in the war and asked him how he wanted to be treated, Porus boldly said 'treat me like a King'.  The same goes to all of us. Each of us is a King/Queen in our own right.

We don't need others to lift us up in morale. We only need our own hero worship(self worship). And more importantly, we don't need to belittle others to project our achievements or to motivate ourselves.

Coping with Negative Yearly feedback:

This is the most trickiest thing for any employee. A negative feedback or an average feedback would mean the next promotion and a good salary increase is already postponed for an year minimum with all conditions apply. This is where our attitude helps in tackling this tricky thing. Through out my career, at least 1 year in every 2 years I got this type of feedback. While I don't see much decline in my performance, I personally feel it is clearly a stunt by management to keep employees working for 15-16 hours instead of 8 for increasing their revenues.

So in hindsight, promotion in IT industry has kept on evading me for the entire 9 years I worked.

Decision Making:

As an aspiring free bird employee, I needed to take really bold and tough decisions and be prepared to sit at home when there is no work. This could be possible due to the moral and financial support that I received from my entire family members including my in laws. My dad went to the extent of giving his retirement benefit money to me to support my financial needs.

Tasting Success:

As they say 'success is a journey and not a destination'. My journey of so called success started since 2015 Feb, when I started my career as a freelancer, one who decides where to work and how many hours to work etc. Many people call it sheer luck that I am here, while my best friends tell me how happy they were and how much hard work and stress that I had underwent to be myself all these years. Last year, I had lost my contract due to health and budget issues. Some of my colleagues told that I cannot make a come back anymore. But here I am live and kicking and still going strong after all the hiccups that I had faced.

Facing Challenges:

A person can oppose his manager, not the management to be on his own. That is the very success of corporates in keeping people as their slaves. Breaking the shackles needs lot of guts and an ultra positive mindset and attitude which luckily I had.

Road Ahead:

I know the road ahead is not that easy, but I will make sure I listen to only constructive feedback from people around me (no more negativity).

Running our own race and competing with our own self is the key to success in any field.

Even now, I leave it to the readers here to decide whether my career is a success or failure, but to me as I already wrote, I will always be a Lion, roaring positively.

Jai Hind!

NEET

During my post on 12th exam, I mentioned how we should not be running the rat race that all others run. But, for NEET, I don't know what to say. Its a entrance exam for aspiring students who wish to become Doctor.

For strange reasons, already students from TN have been allocated centres in the North. Already due to stress, we have 2 parents who died due to cardiac arrest. Each and every media covers the news. We have one set of people who always oppose the government come up with all stories and as usual the other side, is damn silent.

Of late, politics in India has been becoming vengance filled. When these dirty things end, we would have lost many more precious lives who are in no way related to the actual issue.

Paid Media

With the advent of social media, people are using it both to their advantage and for other's good needs.

But most of the times, the misuse always outnumbers the ethical use.

As a result, media act like they don't know some news. The Sterlite and Methane issues in Tamil Nadu are a grand example to this point.

Change is the only thing never changes, I hope one day everything changes for good.

12th exams and Motivation to students

As the Higher secondary exams get underway in TN, I got a little nostalgic.

From the time, I finished my SSLC (around 2 decades back), I lost interest in the ever competing world of education in India.

I still used to remember how my parents encouraged me to play cricket and see movie before the public exams. It helped me a great deal that I got a decent score in all the subjects without complaining about pressure or health much. 

Now, all fingers in the hand don’t look the same. I have a friend, whose mother always used to crib that he only gets 90% whereas she is expecting him to scale to the 99 mark. I used to giggle along with my maternal grandmother about that over ambitious minded mother. Don’t take anything away from my friend. He is a studious fellow. 

The point here is, the unnecessary pressure faced by the kid. Capacity and capability need to be differentiated in kids. My friend can get 90% easily – that’s his capacity.. whereas he is capable to reach 99 (by capable I mean, putting even more effort) – that means he/she will sacrifice his complete relaxation time plus sleeping time and eating time.

In India, there is caste based reservation = I agree. That doesn’t necessarily mean we have to put pressure on the kids to come out with flying colors. I was gifted to have a good parents and grand-parents who almost had a devil may care attitude when it comes to getting mark range of 90-99. I still ended up second best in that with around 84% marks. I didn’t run the race run by all my other friends. I ended up in a brand new engineering college whereas all my other friends ended up in Top Universities.

When it comes to career, then I said to myself – from now on, I decide where I want to be in the next 5 years and once I completed my engineering, I got placed even before all my studious friends.

Education and career need not always go hand in hand. Parents and immediate relatives should play a huge role in shaping the child’s attitude which decides its destiny rather than the useless first mark which is nothing to be proud of.

As I type this, today, I always say with pride to everyone including my in laws, that I have enjoyed my life to the fullest during my childhood which is a rarity for most of the kids due to the breakneck competition.

I can play cricket with more agility at this age than my cousin who is 14 years younger to me.

Macaulay education system doesn’t necessarily mean that all Indians are ultra-talented. I am still only seeing book worms around me in most of the cases.

The bottom line of this post is to convey best wishes to the 12^th standard students and remember ‘it is just another exam of your life’ and this won’t definitely decide your life.

Remember, People like me don’t just live to exist -  WE ARE VERY MUCH ALIVE AND KICKING, bringing end less energy to our work place.

Jai Hind!! 

தியரி ஒப் ரிலேட்டிவிட்டி - One of my post in 2008 December

வாழ்கையில் சில விஷயங்களை நினைத்தால் எனக்கு விசித்திரமாக இருக்கும்.

முக்கியமா சொலனும்ன நேரம் போறதுக்காக வெயிட் பண்றது

உதாரணம் பன்னிரண்டாம் வகுப்பு படிக்கும் சிறுவனாய் இருந்த போது பப்ளிக் தேர்வு எப்போ டா வரும்னு இருக்கும்.ஏன்னு கேடிங்கனா அப்போ தான் லீவ் ல நல்லா என்ஜாய் பண்ணலாம். தேர்வு ஆரம்பிகர்த்துக்கு முன்னால நிறைய நாள் விடுமுறை இருக்கும். அப்போதெல்லாம் லீவ் ல என பண்ணலாம்னு மட்டும் தான் யோசனை இருக்கும்.

தேர்வு நாள் நாளைக்கு நெருங்கிடும் அப்போ தான் தோணும் அய்யோ இருந்த நேரத்தை எல்லாம் வீண் அடசிடோமே னு :-)

தேர்வை முடிஞ்ச வரை நல்லா எழுதி முடிச்ச உடனே தான் கொஞ்சம் நிம்மதி  கிடைக்கும். ஆனாலும் மனசுக்குள்ள ஒரு சின்ன பீலிங் " நம்ப நல்லா படிச்சி இருந்து இருக்கலாம்னு '.

அதே மாறி இன்னொரு இன்சிடென்ட்

என் நண்பர் ஒருவர் வெகு நாட்களாய் ஒரு பெண்ணை காதலித்து வந்தார். அந்த பெண்ணும் என்னுடன் படித்தவள் தான். சோ எனக்கு அவாள்ள நல்லா தெரியும். கடும் எதிர்ப்புக்கு பின்பு அவங்க கல்யாணம் நல்லா நடந்தது. ஆனா நாலு வருஷம் காத்திருந்தவங்க கடைசி நாலு மாசத்துல நாள் எப்போ டா போகும்னு எண்ணிக்கிட்டு இருந்தாங்க :-)

நாலு வருஷம் வேகமா போன அவங்களுக்கு அந்த நாலு மாசம் சீகரமா போகலையாம் :-(

கல்யாணத்துக்கு முன்னால பீலிங் வேற :"நாங்க லைப்ல  என்ஜாய் பண்ணவே இல ஸ்ரீ" - அப்டின்னு என் கிட்ட வந்து போலம்ப்பல் !!!!அட பாவிகளா நீஙக எல்லாம் எப்போ தான் திருந்த போறீங்களோ :-)

இனும் ஒரு உதரணம்
எனக்கு வெளி நாட்டில் வேலை செய்ய வாய்ப் பு கிடைத்தது. நாட்டை விட்டு வெளி ஏறும் போது எனக்கு மிகவும் கவலை ஆக இருந்தது. சில மாதங்கள்  ஓடின. சற்று முன் கிடைத்த தகவல் படி நான் இன்னும்  நாலு நாட்களில் தாய் நாடு திரும்ப வேண்டும் என்று உத்தரவு. எனக்கு அதில் கொஞ்சம் மகழிழ்ச்சி தான். இருந்தாலும் இங்க கொஞ்ச நாள் இருந்து வாழ்கைய அனுபவிச்சி இருக்கலாமோன்னு ஒரு சின்ன வருத்தம். சரி விஷத்துக்கு வருவோம்!!! இங்க இத்தனை மாசம் சீகரமா போன மாதிரி இருந்தது. எல்லா வீகேண்ட்ஸ் நொடில முடிஞ்சா மாறி இருந்தது.

இது தான் எனக்கு இந்த நாட்டில் இருகர கடைசி வீக் எண்டு . ஆனா எனக்கு இப்போ  நேரம் கொஞ்சம் கூட போகலனு தோனுது.

இந்த பதிப்ப போடறதுக்கு காரணம் என்னனு கேட்டின்கன்னா நாம்ப எல்லாரும் வாழ்கைல கஷ்ஷ்டம் படும்  போது அந்த கஷ்ஷ்டம் எப்போ டா முடியும்னு இருக்கும் ஆனா முடிய போகுதுன்னு தெரிஞ்ச நமக்கு இனொரு பீலிங் வரும். அது என்னன்னா இந்த கஷ்ச்ததுல நாம்ப இப்படி டீல் பண்ணி இருக்கலாம்னு தோணும் :-)
இது தான் மனித இயல்பு.

இத பத்திப்ப போட்ற நான் திருந்துவேனா? இதுக்கு காலம் பதில் சொல்லும் :-) 
என டா இவன் மஹாபாரத சீரியல்ல வர கால சக்கரம் மாதிரி பேசறானே னு என்ன கோச்சிகாதீங்க.

வாழ்க்கை வாழ்வதற்கே!

கடவுள் நம் அனைவரையும் காப்பாராக!!

மேல் கூறிய கருத்துக்கள் எனது சிந்தனை மட்டுமே 

Running out of Gas or Luck?

This is what exactly I am thinking right now. Not sure where I am going. Feeling lonely even when every one is around. Suddenly the City gives me a look of a desert. Hoping things will be alright soon.

What goes away from you comes back to you!

I am a strong believer of GOD and that does not necessarily make me believe all the sayings of elders. But this one saying, I started to believe.

Especially my love for Europe is still budding as everyday comes. I never felt I would be back when I left in 2013, but due to my good friendship I have made yet another come back. 

Looking forward for a positive future! God bless!

Sabarimalai Yaatra - 2015

Since my return to India, there have been lot of good things happening in my life right from child until a new career. Hence we thought it was our duty to see the GOD in sabarimala and planned for a trip.

We were supposed to take the long route (Or the Periya paadhai) from Erumeli upto Sannithanam. My father and I decided to take the journey on Jan 4 and plan was to return on 8th afternoon.

Luckily, we got train tickets even while booking in the last moments. We had our Kattu Nirai at Anna Nagar Ayappan temple on the morning of 4th Jan Sunday.

We took the train on the same night around 7.45 PM and reached Kottayam around 8 AM and started from Erumeli from 1 PM.

This was my 10th yaatra and for dad, it was 29th.. Walk was relatively tough but we did manage to reach Pamba the next day 5th Jan at around 1 PM.

We were surprised to see the queue starting from Pamba itself to Malai. After our ordeal of 8 hours, we finally had a nice darshan. This was one of our toughest journeys but nevertheless it was an enjoyable one.

While returning, we noted that there was no Ghee Prasadam to buy and we had to wait the entire day to buy it. I then requested a Devaswom member to help me and finally after a wait of 1 hr, we got 2 bottles of ghee.

Whenever my heart forgets, God makes me remember him.

God bless us all

Swamiye Saranam Ayappa!

Road Rage

Being in Chennai recently, I observed something that stuck me... Road RAGE....

I have never been a fan of Chennai traffic discipline, but this time what stuck me was the number of fist fights that were happening on the road, plus the number of fatal accident even in a city main road (where you cannot accelerate much).

I have witnessed and I am witnessing a daily rage in our roads. Almost every cyclist or 2 wheeler behaves ultra aggressively and sometimes the other person is shown how strong he is....

As the work for metro rail stations started there is an increased tension in everyone right from the auto driver until a normal office goer, who prefers always the top gear in every road, whereas the possible limit is only 20KMPH that too inconsistently. Only God knows the fate of every patient in ambulance which is crawling through these roads.

Let us hope the traffic congestion is reduced and the people are cooled...

Hoping for a better behaved traffic.

How long is the tunnel?

During my childhood, we used to visit Ooty often for summer vacation.

I was fond of the toy train or the Nilgiri Mountain train. One striking feature of this trip from Metupalayam to Ooty was the number of tunnels that the train passes through.

As a child, Whenever the train enters a tunnel, I used to wonder, when the darkness will end, as I am not fond of the darkness.

Now, as an employee, I am awaiting for one such tunnel to end to see some light.

I hope I see it soon..

Trip to Black Forest

The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwesternGermany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres (4,898 ft). The region is almost rectangular with a length of 160 km (99 mi) and breadth of up to 60 km (37 mi). The name Schwarzwald(German for "Black Forest") derives from the Romans who referred to the thickly forested mountains there as Silva Nigra or Silva Carbonara because the dense growth of conifers in the forest blocked out most of the light inside the forest.

On May 16 2013, my family along with Douglas Anna Ganesh and co started our trip to the Black forests Germany. We decided to go by car and we rented a car from Airport (Brussels) and we planned to meet at 6 PM at the SIXT entrance.

As usual, I had some last minute works at office, and we arrived late :( making Ganesh and co wait.

We could get only Volkswagen golf  and not Audi as there was no stock and after some lengthy conversation with the Staff, we started at around 8PM. We were supposed to stay at a forest in Luxembourg. It was one of the most eventful drive in the forest at midnight as encountered Deer, Rabbit, porcupine playing right in the middle of the road.

Finally we reached hotel at around 1 AM and we slept in our respective rooms.

The next day we started at around 10 AM and we drove patiently all the way. Thanks to Padma, we had rice and sambar mix at our disposal for lunch :-) On the way, we stopped at LIDL to buy curd.

After a drive of almost 7 hours, we reached Triberg. We checked in and went to the lake and came back to rest.

The place was one of the most silent and greenish place I have ever seen. No wonder, many duets in Indian cinema have been shot here.. 

Ganesh was kind enough to give us the VIP Suite in the hotel. The room's backdoor was facing a beautiful view of the lush green grass field outside...

May 18 - 

We started early to the Triberg waterfall. we climbed 2 steeps. Arthi was showing enormous excitement for this climb.. not sure why :-)

After that, we went to house of 1000 clocks,we bought 3 clocks as a remembrance. We went to the place where Black forest cakes were famous. I must say, it was superb.

We then started back to the Lake Constance. The drive was one of the most awesome drives that I had in Central Europe. We clocked 220 kmph in our  Volkswagen Golf. 

We reached the place at around 4 PM and we started to board the boat straightaway. We visited one island which was awesome.

After spending some quality time, we boarded the car and started our long drive back to Triberg.

During the night, we were playing cards and pulled each other's legs with timing jokes :-)

May 19 - 

Our final day of the trip. Arthi was having tears as we were leaving.

We started slowly. I offered the car to Ganesh, who began his aeroplane drive ;-)
We first went to Freiburg, one of the oldest civilisations in German and to our surprise, it was not really that old as the buildings were all renovated :-)

We started back to Triberg to see the house of Cuckoo. Ganesh was driving like a F1 racer ;-)

Cuckoo house was not something to be excited about, but we took some good snaps and started our leave.

After a drive of alsmot 7.5 hours, Ganesh handed over the car to me at Luxembourg.

We reached Brussels at around 10 PM bearing in mind that the next day was a holiday.

This will be rated as the trip to remember for its driving and the sheer scenic beauty of German.

Special and Sincere thanks to Ganesh and Padma for their awesome Mixed rice varieties and cooking rice for all.

Hoping to be back there soon!!

2014 - a new beginning

Wish you all a very happy new year. As I step on to one of the most exciting new year of my life, I wish to look back at the past year.

Not much was achieved in terms of work ;-) (who cares if you are enjoying your work day in and day out).
It was an eventful year for me. I cleared my Belgian Driver's License practicals and held the license proudly.
At the same time, my stay was shortened, though the reverse could happen anytime soon...

Personally, I received a promotion as a proud dad. It was one of those unforgettable moments of my life, holding the little one on your hand and receiving smiles from it :-) We waited with excitement and prayers for 9 odd months for these moments. I should be thanking all my elders, friends and well wishers (in no particular order) for their prayers, wishes and blessings.

Overall, it was a profitable year for me personally.

Looking forward to 2014 with hope and confidence.

May God bless us all.

Chennai 2013

"Ladies and Gentlemen, in a short while from now, we will be landing in Anna International terminal" - On hearing this announcement, I was very excited to see Chennai after a gap of 8 months nearly.

All the excitement vanished once I arrived. There were absolutely no trees in almost most of the places - This, they say,is because of the metro rail construction. I remembered while studying for Civics exam in my 10th CBSE, I had written an essay about "Madras vision green" which was supposed to be completed in 2000.

Back to 2013 - there is no vision in Chennai now. Either buildings everywhere or bridges....

This is not a over build up of a foreign returned Indian but worry of a true environment lover.

I stayed in Chennai for 15 days, but surprised to see heat waves even in July.

Chennai turned 375, but who cares when there is no one to care for the environment.

For the 1st time, boarding a flight back from Chennai was a relief to me. I hope this remains the last as I am strongly for the good development in Chennai but not against the environment! Please!

Brugge

I have been to Brugge during my bachelor life (way back in 2008). Back then, I went to Boudewijn Sea Park.
After that, this time, we (my wife and I) were planning to visit the ice sculpture. We went by train from Brussels. The ice sculpture is located right at the entrance of the Brugge station .

The ice sculpture I must accept, was simply amazing.400 tons of ice were used and more than 12 sculptors were involved in it from different countries.

This time, the theme was based on "The Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter" and "Hobbit". The temperature inside was -6 degrees. Even with a proper sweater plus jacket, I was shivering inside (literally after many months).. But that did not stop us our enjoyment.

Some Sculptures were like Titans and some were literal palace like structure (even the chains were made of Ice). It was an amazing piece of wok!!!

Overall it was an amazing experience to visit and enjoy the sculptures.

Next plan is to visit Damme and the sea Park ;-)

Cheers!!

End of 2012 - Happy New Year 2013!!!

Yet another year passes.. This year was good to me personally.....Except for a few days...

There were lot of highs in this year for me - touchwood.

Right from car driving to exploring new places, I explored many new things...

Some people were predicting "End of World". For them, I wish better luck next time ;-)

For everyone else, I wish U a fun filled, happy, healthy, propserous and a blessed New Year 2013...

Cheers!!