Sorgame endraalum...

As I get ready to leave on an India trip after close to 2 years, just wanted to come up with some numbers and associate a target with each one of them. So, here are the 'targets' that I have in mind:

5 - number of cities I want to visit (I am sure I will be visiting Sivakasi, Bangalore & Chennai. Will have to visit just 2 more cities to fulfill the list)

10 - number of DVDs that I want to buy. My DVD collection is very incomplete bcos all I have with me are English movies that I bought here. The only Indian movies I have are Thalaivar's Chandramukhi and Lakshya. So planning to buy atleast 10 of my favorite Indian movies (Mostly classics like Mahanadhi & Mullum Malarum, Thalaivar movies like Johnny & Annamalai, all of Mani Rathnam's movies, couple of Hindi movies like DCH & Sathya ... thus goes the list. Does anybody know where in Chennai I can buy that collection of all Madras Talkies movies that Mani released a while ago?)

15 - number of Tamil/ Hindi movies I want to watch on big screen (I am not even sure if there are that many number of good movies that are running currently - Rang De Basanti, Paramasivan, Kanda Naal Mudhal, Thavamaai Thavam Irundhu, Sandaikozhi. That is all I can count for now. Would be great if Vettaiyaadu Velaiyaadu and Pudhupettai are released during my stay there. I will also probably watch Thalaivar's Chandramukhi over there, just so that I can say that I watched CM in India too :))

25 - different restaurants that I want to eat during the trip :) (Given my love for eating food and the fact that it is our Indian food that is I miss the most & Madurai is famous for its numerous eateries, it should come as no surprise if this target is breached in less than 3 weeks)

30 - friends to visit during this trip (I planned this trip mainly to attend weddings of 4 of my friends and we are also planning a class get-together of my UG classmates. So, this too should be possible)

and couple of numbers in the thousands

1000 - pictures that I intend to take in my digital camera (I guess this should be easily achievable since over here, we usually take close to 200 pictures on an average during a 3-4 day trip. So, 1000 pictures in 5 weeks should be easily possible)

2000 - kilometers that I want to drive our car back in Madurai (One road trip to Bangalore and I would have crossed the half-way mark)

This list may look so childish and even silly, but then as the date of departure nears, you do become a child, eagerly looking forward to and counting the days remaining for the trip. This is my 3rd trip back to India and ever since I booked the tickets way back in November, I was thinking that I will not get excited this time around, like the way I did during my first 2 trips. But then, with less than 2 weeks to go for the trip, things changed and all that I have been talking to everyone has been about my India trip.

Folks in India can contact me on either 91-452-2565150 or 91-98406-30480 from 31t of Jan. With loads of dreams, here I come, my sweet homeland...

On my return back, I have taken a scheduled break in Bangkok where I intend to spend 2 days roaming around the city (Does anybody have some suggestions on what to do in Bangkok. I am completely unprepared on what I am going to do over there). The only grouse about this whole trip is that I will miss watching the Super Bowl here (it is being telecast live in ESPN-India though) and all the fun that goes with it. And with the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, it has only made things more difficult. It would have been an amazing experience of being in the town whose team is playing in the Super Bowl. I will be missing it. Badly, very badly...