5. Own a property in Nilgris - Completed

There were only two major wants with respect to my real estate needs.  One land in Nilgris and One in Pollachi near the river..

I am happy to say that one materialized last month!!

Something about the Nilgris area always pulled me.  Not sure about the blue hue it has, not sure whether it is the greenery I see around, Not sure whether it is the peace that I get, Not sure about the clear air part, Not sure about the  fresh produce, Not sure about the chillness..  

But something for sure told me that I should find a place here.. build a small house and life few days in a month.. 

Got the place now in Kotagiri.  From the commercial Ooty to No-water Coonoor, I selected Kotagiri for two reasons.  Faster to reach.  Road is always better - Thanks to Amma's visit to Kodanadu!

I am very fortunate to stumble upon Ms. Buela Jancy during my MBA classes. She happened to have somebody selling a nice property overlooking a mountain and she and her husband Raja helped immensely in me achieving another "Zen's 1000 things to do.."  

Land done.. Building in couple of years..  

4. Go on a Limousine ride - Yet to complete

I have seen best of the Limos in the Los Angeles Area.  The best I could still remember is close to a 80 footer - Cadillac and around a 60 feet Hummer!   I have also seen a smaller Porsche Limo!!!  

It is not that I have to be on one of those..  A simple Lincoln Limo is fine with me!!!!

Some day, I need to take the trip in one of the Limo - Have some nice music on - Have a bottle of champagne - Have three lovely ladies next to me and Enjoy the ride !!!  

3. Drive a Hummer - Completed

07 01 2007 - This was when this TTD was accomplished !   Hummer - It is always a dream vehicle for many of the guys who loves the pleasure of power and muscle in a vehicle.  

The first time, I saw this Hummer was in a freeway in Los Angeles and it was the shiny yellow piece of machine going past me as if I was nothing.  That was the day, I decided that even if I don't own this vehicle, I should definitely take it for a spin!  

It was with my friend Vil Vijayan,  I made a trip in 2007 to US for a consulting assignment to  Fremont, CA.  When we were there, I expressed my interest on variety of things to do in US to him and Vil was one Super Jolly person who doesn't mind experimenting things.  

We checked on the rentals for the weekend !   It was 200 dollars per day for rental.   Obviously, needed to take a full cover of insurance for this and it came to another 70 odd dollars per day!!   For a two day trip, it would be close to 600 USD for rental.   Vil said that he was even  ready to take a share of it as well.  Many thanks to him for making this offer!  

Subashini (my sis-in-law) and Karthi (her husband) who lived in Redmond, CA took both of us to the airport to pick up the vehicle.   There, the rental person asked which color would I prefer and said that the options available are white, black and yellow.  We went to the stable and checked it..  It was yellow that definitely stood out - just like the one I saw!

Went on for a two day trip and I must say that it was a definite pleasure to be driving this mean machine!   We took turns to drive the Hummer H3 and we probably stayed more on the car than in the hotel :-)   The best of the feeling comes when you are on this Hummer and there are people in other "small" cars staring at "you and the machine" all the time on the road !!

One thing to warn the other Hummer Dreamers - I have not spent more on Gas (Petrol) till date for any other vehicle in US.  We had filled gas almost equivalent of rental !!!   It is an understatement to say that - Hummer drinks Gas... It guzzles !!

Now, need to buy a real life "model" of Hummer.  To some philosophy now.. What I have seen is that, if you say what you wish for to your friends and wish for it truly, it really happens !!!   Please try it!!

2. Eat Thirunelveli Iruttu Kadai Halwa ! - Completed

I like sweets and to top the list would be a good halwa!   Right from my early teens, I have heard of this Halwa from Thirunelveli which is very famous.   However, I had to wait till my age of 23 to eat my first bit of it !   Here are some facts about Tirunelveli Halwa (alwa)..

Tirunelveli is popular state-wide for its famous halwa (pronounced locally as alwa). The sweet dish is made primarily from wheat and sugar. Tirunelveli halwa is golden brown, has a jelly-like texture and contains a ghee (clarified butter), which gives it its distinctively greasy appearance. Best served hot, this popular sweet is generally enjoyed as a starter/dessert or even main course!!. Tirunelveli halwa is said to owe its uniquely rich taste to a special recipe of this region, blended with the renowned sweetness of the Thamarabarani river.

The best place to buy Tirunelveli halwa is around the Nellaiyappar temple and avenue leading to the central railway station. The most famous halwa store is Irutu Kadai Halwa (Transliterated as the Dark Halwa store), situated near the Nellaiyappar temple.  The name Irutu Kadai of the former store derives itself from the fact that the looks of the store have been kept unchanged from the date it was started. Till date, there are no bright electrical lights or even a board to display the shop's brand. 

My friend Anandaraman got me the first Alwa from his native town Tinnaveli in 1994 !   The experience is truly amazing..   Tip - You should heat it a bit and take a spoon and drop it in the mouth - You might find that it just lands straight into your tummy!   Warning - Too much heat can burn your lips, tongue and the entire passage too !!!! 

1. Participate in a Car Rally - Completed

From the time, my college mate "Bike" Senthil used to drive like an ace racer to take me to movies (after bunking classes) in his Yamaha bike, I had the idea of participating in a Organized Rally !   I must admit that I was bit scared when I used to see Senthil getting into numerous accidents in the process.

I would like to do a Rally (now using a car) one of these years.   When I spoke about this in the recent trek to Nelliampathy with my 10th Std friends, one of my school mates B Senthil (he is an ace navigator in the game) said that he could help me with it easily and was explaining the two types of Rally - Stage and TSD (Time Speed Distance).

I would like to take up the TSD rally for sure and hoping that it happens soon..   and preferably in my own car - Ford Ikon - Rally Sport !  (photo attached)

Finally, the day came...   B Senthil calls me and says that a TSD Rally is being organized by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club on Dec 19 and he said that I should take this up.  I was busy till Dec 17 with so many things and finally met Senthil to understand what this Rally is all about.  He gives me a dope for 45 minutes and asks me to program the TimeChart and Distance Calculator overnight!  Programming.. I said that I don't know as it is more than 13 years before I touched visual basic!  It is easy thambi..  just do what I say is how it started.. So, I take my laptop and find that I have only excel sheet with me as software !!!!!!

But, when it comes to this part of programming, suddenly some spark came and some  memory which was put idle came into play for me.  Worked 2 nights and 1 day to get the software to 80% ok and showed into Senthil.  He was happy, but asked for some simple practical features that I could not program in any way due to excel and my Home edition limitation.  Senthil gave up on me and said that he would adjust with it and we can proceed.   We called another friend of ours - Lakshmanasamy (Lawyer, who is now in the middle of going to sabarimala!) to be the co-driver/the speed controller.  Laks said that he would not budge for both first and then given the two evils, he would choose the driving instead of operating a computer!!

The day came and I was all set to show off my new jacket purchased in China!!   Wearing the famous "bud" jacket and thinking like I am driving NASCAR, I set out for the rally in my "RallySport"

Photo - Me in the jacket !!   Laks next to me and Senthil in Yellow T-shirt!

Reached CASC at 8.30 a.m.  We were given the number 29 !!   Felt so good to have the number on the car.

Senthil was giving both of us the last minute briefing about Tulip (which gives the route map, the intersections, distance etc.), the Time Chart which tells which speed to maintain and how many minutes to finish a sector.  

We were flagged off then and the race began.   It was a proud moment for me taking the car out !!!!  After 1 km in to the race, both me and Laks what it is all about and how important the job of a navigator and time controller is in this race.  The drivers skill is tested big time when we really have to catch up on time lost.   We switched job and I got to do the Computer job and realized that how important the software is in a race field!!!!

Just before the first TC (TimeCheck), we missed a turning because of a  yellow board or Yellow building confusion.  Lost couple of minutes in that leg and got really grooved in for the rest of the race.  There came a halt.  The race was stopped for few hours due to a traffic congestion near Annur and we had to go to a different start place as a convoy of cars (great sight for the villagers and definitely helps them to increase the land price)!   Waited for 2 hours and we were given the start again.   By the time, we were pros with what we do and what need to achieve!!  

When everything was going well for 15 minutes, the car stopped and refused to start in the middle of the road!  I was thinking of the Rajini movie where he talks to the car Lakshmi.  I call my car "Neelambari" and I was kind of talking to her to start.   Luckily, she budged and started and we moved on to catch up the lost 4 minutes.   Laks was amazingly great in the winding sector to make up for the loss .   We prayed that the TC should not be there on the way till we made up for the lost time.  Just when we made up the lost time, we got the TC.  We did the next TC in zero penalty..  yes ZERO PENALTY..  this means that we did the race not coming early (which attracts double penalty) or late (which attracts single penalty).  Note: Penalty is number of seconds you come in early/late.    

On to the next leg and we doing damn well...  We then  missed a left and took right just in front of my mama's house!   Realized the mistake after 1.5 kms and took a U  to catch up again.   Taking wrong turns makes the race really interesting for sure and gets everyone into tension.  Laks caught up quickly and was ready to take the last TC.  Again......., we took a wrong left  and had to back track.  We lost 4 minutes in this!   Checked in proper for the last passage (trap kept to fool you before a TC) and then on to the TC.  

We were told that we can now reach the final leg and there is no TC on the way.  We cruised on the Avinashi Road and reached back to the Stadium where we had to end the race.   Photo - After the race.    Evening, Senthil calls and says that we did 12th in the race.   If we had taken the right left before the last TC, we could have been within the top 6 !!!  

I was really really really happy with the result of the race.   I must really thank B Senthil  for his help to complete one of  TTD and making the day memorable.  When it comes to race, he really awes me with his IQ, the dedication and the urge to perform better even with his physical contraints.   I must say about Laks now..  As an "Aiyyappa sami",  he was thoroughly cool headed through out the race and cracked best of the jokes.  I could clearly see his sportsman spirit to win the race all the time.  He is a great driver and should definitely continue to race in future!   Thanks Laks for being a great sport and a great company!

Now.. Will I go for the next race?   12th out of 34 this time..   hmmm...  why not?

Finally, time has come to really think about what I would like to do in my whole life.. the things that interest me.. the people whom I like to meet.. the places I would like to travel.. the food that I would like to eat.. the experiences I would l like to have.. things that I would like to share.. etc.. etc.. etc.. Saw the bucket list movie and it also made an impact and gave a jolt to start this as early as possible :-)

Life in a way is bit too short when I think about it now.. I had no money to spend when I was young, but full of dreams... After I started working, I had good amount of money.. but no time to spend chasing the dreams..

Now.. almost at the edge of turning 40, I am beginning to realize that I have the time, some money and still the interest to do whatever I would like to do.. I give myself another 20 years of full health to achieve some of my dreams (things to do - henceforth will be referred as TTD)..

It is not that I have to start now for my 1000.. many of the things are already done/experienced/accomplished/enjoyed/lived and I would have to now bring it back to memory and scriblle it down here..

The question is - why am I writing it? The reason is that I would like to sit at the age of 60 and have an anchor to mull over the good times had in this life and purely for personal satisfaction.. For my children to get a perspective of what I loved and did.. For my friends to know that there was a crazy person who went after his 1000 things and share my experiences.. and most importantly - some of you who read this may help me achieve some of my dreams!! 

I would like to get photos/videos of the places as much as possible to give the real treat and would want to share what comes to my mind.. Disclaimer - All the views expressed here are my own views and not meant to hurt anyone in person or not.

Life is a open book.. My pages are being inked now !