No smooth rides!

I was driving tonight, on one of Chennai's 'prime' areas near my home. Having just overtaken a Premier Padmini which had been ambling ahead and frustrating me, I finally got a clear strip of road ahead, and started to speed considerably. Out of nowhere, at a lazy right turn, came a huge bump! By the time I could acknowledge it's existence and slow down, it was too late. The car bumped on top of it... fortunately no one and nothing was hurt. Ever since, I didn't dare exceed second gear till I dropped granny back at home.

This road is on the route of quite a few buses and one of the main roads in my area. If this city road is not smooth, one can wonder how pathetic other city and suburban roads would be. Can we expect decent roads from our babus at all?

Small consolation ;)

I've been hitting the gym for the past three weeks; and I'm already expecting tangible results. Of course, that may not happen since I've been working on considerably light weights [Thanks to my strong physique :D]

My regular glances at the mirror hoping for a Schwarzenegger to stare back at me have indeed yielded disappointing results [:)].

With no means to actually 'measure' the 'progress' made (if any :) ), I've taken refuge under a rather small shirt which I have with me. This shirt used to fit me rather well - it reflected my thin physique including my embarrassing tummy; nevertheless, it did fit. When I put it on now, the shirt's arms and chest seem to have tightened a bit around mine... Is it real, or am I imagining things? ;)

The value of an Indian life

After 16 terror attacks in the last four years [see pic] that left nearly 7000 Indians dead, we're yet to see any concrete steps to fight terror from our government. Every time an attack happens, all that our politicians do is take refuge in the 'spirit of the people' to recover from any attack, and 'promise' that 'strict action' would be taken against the perpetrators. That none of this translates into real action, is a fact well known. Lives aren't considered very precious in the relentless chase for money and power.


Compare this with how other nations, notably the US, deals with terror. Three instances come to my mind. The Kandahar episode where a single US citizen was part of the hijacked plane, hence inviting the interest of the FBI which ultimately filed a case. Then came 9/11 - and we all know the two wars thereafter. Now, the Mumbai attacks - the FBI was sent here immediately after 6 of their citizens perished. Such is the quality and sheer scale of their response, not to mention their security and anti-terror steps taken to prevent attacks in the first place. It is indeed amazing how every single American life is valued and treated.