Why is our system so bad?

Will we ever have any of the below implemented in our country?

1.When someone makes an accident while driving, he should be given a heavy ticket

2.Cases of fatal accidents, licence must be ceased....

3.Once you get 3 tickets , your licence is cancelled.... Go thru the complete process once more and get a fresh licence...

4.You have to first go and write the written test for driving licence and cant just sign a paper and driving school gets you the learner licence.

5.Planned driving road test must be conducted and paying driving school should never help you get licence as now....

I see all this as just silly dreams.... But sitting away from India, I admire each of these systems followed here. Everyone here checks for the speed limit in each area and drives. The first day it sounded shocking and then from day 2 I enjoyed that system and understood how much it reduces accidents and traffic issues :)

I am scared that very soon I will feel I should settle here in US :( Infact I am so eager to drive here these days :)

Different Places Different Feel!!

I felt so different landing in Washington DC and New York last week. To start with DC first, it was so organised and it had a style in itself. May be because all the places I visited were of high importance to the government (Pentagon, White House, US Capitol)and hence that way. I dint find big crowds on the roads except in places of tourism.

But when i landed in New York, I was standing on a Saturday night in Times Square near the ball drop area and I was shocked the most. I was just wondering if i was help up in Ranganathan Street. First thing that shocked me was so much crowd which I had never seen in the last 6 months anywhere in US. Second was "People were not following Traffic rules". Now its obvious i think of India :) Then in few places I was actually pushed by people... Now you will agree the Ranganathan St comparison. I saw so many people in salwar, sarees and so much of Hindi, Telugu and Tamil more than English.... Infact some of the areas like the Subway (Local Metro within the city) were indeed dirty and clumsy.... Don't you think the above things are not enough to feel I have got back to India and specially Chennai :)

Its been 2 extreme experiences in the last 4 days but at the same time very much enjoyable.

Ayan

This is the first Tamil movie I got to watch in a theatre here. I don't think I have ever been in a theatre where just 30 viewers were seated to watch a Tamil movie :) It was such a comedy with very less people around. But at the same time I was finding it so wierd to hear so many people speak tamil in a theatre. Infact Brooklin is the only theatre screening movies from Tamil, Telegu and Hindi here.

As such I liked the movie, though it dint have anything special. I had never listened to the songs before. So i was not too impressed with them too. But one thing for sure is that after watching short movies without songs here, its really hard to accept 5 to 6 songs in a movie. But I also guess my mind will change once I come back home :)

Hindu Temple in Maple Grove Minneapolis

This is the only temple in Minneapolis and mostly all Indian Hindus here would make a visit to this place. But since its far away people will have to plan the route well and drive. Specially the route suggested by google maps is pretty complex. I don't know why it dint suggest the better easier route. The route given in the temple website is better and easier.

The moment I reached there, I found it so new and weird. I have never seen a temple structure like this before. The entrance to the temple was also so different from the ones in India.

Being the only temple here, they had tried to have all gods sannidi. That way it felt good and nice. They had Vinayagar, Iyyapan, Saraswathi, Lakshmi, Durga, Shiva, Vishnu, Murugar, Balaji, Saniswarar and lots more. The inside atmosphere of the temple was same as all our temples. The peaceful place and regular chanting of mantras and prasadams, made us feel at home. It gave a peace of mind and happiness being around there.

Exam Fever.. Election Fever... IPL Fever.. !!!

First and foremost which of the above 3 is toping the list in Chennai/India now? I dont know. For every student the first one will decide his future career..... the second one is supposed to improve our country status to get us as a developed country and the last one is for our pride..afterall cricket is religion in India :) and I am no exception to that list of cricket lover :)

I wonder how the election fever is back home. I miss it this time... But how does it matter who wins... the problems of common men will never change... Traffic jam, bad driving, unsafe travel... Poor education system, education for money .... no punctuality in any sector.. no planning of work... pathetic broken roads, dirty mess everywhere in the roads , this is a never ending list :(

One thing is sure, when i go back to India, the first few weeks will be miserable to handle and get set with my old life :( But at the same time, one major factor pulling me back home is family :) So whatever is the trouble of living there, I will come back soon :)

A short trip to Chicago

I was jus looking for a one day outing and suddenly came into the idea of Chicago. When i did some research I realised its possible to cover most places in a day. But still the temple in Aurora is really far from Downtown and so is Devon Avenue (lots and lots of Indian Restaurants here). So if you are looking at covering things in a day, its either the temple or food :)

You have a lot of parks here around downtown but its better to pick couple of them and carry on. Millennium Park is one place which needs a visit sometime during the day to enjoy it best. May be Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain can wait for the evening as the fountain will be more beautiful to see in the night.

What you see below is just one pic from Millennium park. This place is amazing. Worth a visit for sure. So big so beautiful, maintained great in mid downtown :)

Cruises at Navy Pier are good and enjoyable. Just as London eye you have one here in Chicago. The speed boats in Navy Pier are amazing fun. Some interesting buildings to look at are around Michigan Avenue Bridge like Wrigley, Tribune Tower, Marine City, John Hancock Tower. The water taxi runs thru some areas and may be even that can be used to commute between places during site seeing.

How can I forget the most important place "Sears Tower". Infact I would say a visit to Sears Tower and John Hancock Tower is worth. In case you want to visit these, better to buy the Chicago One day Card for 65$ as you will get entry to number of places and these 2 also and it will turn out very cheap. Incase you dont intend to visit these places, you can opt for a one day pass which will let you take all buses and trains in Chicago with the one day pass. Beware you need a lot of planning to travel yourself just with one day pass :) One big difference I found after visiting Minneapolis San Fransisco and Chicago Downtown is, this place Chicago is so big and such a beautiful Downtown, may be I might like New York more. But as of now, this downtown is such a cool place :) May be a 2 day weekend trip would be more relaxing and fun.

Kamal's "Unnai Pol Oruvan"

I just got to see the short trailer today in utube and went on to read some articles on the movie "Unnai Pol Oruvan" remake of "A Wednesday" Why was that the movie named as "Thalaivan Irukkindran" renamed? Infact the name "Thalaivan Irukkindran" seems nice. I could never find anywhere the reason for the name change. Is it a sentimental feeling that changing movie name will give success or a way to get publicity? :(

But beyond all this, I wish to see yet another success from Kamal and waiting for the movie just as his other fans :) Infact as I watched the trailer today, I had a feeling " One person who reduces in age every yr - Kamal Hassan " :-)