Keep Walking!

Australia Day TL:DR - In Australia, we help each other even if they are strangers. Mateship is ingrained in our Australian culture. This happened on an Australia Day, few years ago. It was supposed to be a short drive on the beach at sunset. 8 people from 3 family with few children went on two vehicles (an Ute and an All Wheel Drive). The plan was to get-off the road, onto this remote, almost-empty beach and drive for few kilometres and get back home for dinner. After driving into the beach sand for few hundred metres, the Ute that went in front of us did not move any further and its wheels started spinning. Without a proper grip on the soft beach sand, the wheels of the Ute spun so fast and the vehicle dug itself to the ground within few seconds. Wheels of our car, began spinning too. But, I asked my friend, who was driving it, to stop accelerating and get out of the vehicle. We released air from the tubes (reduced the tyre pressure to half) and started the car. Now, ...

6-ஆம் வகுப்பு வரும்போதே, கற்றுக்கொடுக்கும் பயிற்சியாளரிடம் சொல்லிவிட்டேன், 'நான் ட்ரைவிங் டெஸ்ட் புக் செய்துள்ளேன்' என்று. 'ஆனால், நீ இன்னும் ரெடி ஆகவில்லை. உன்னால் பாஸ் பண்ண முடியாது. இன்னும் ஒரு கூடுதலாக 10 வகுப்பு ஆகலாம்' என்றார். 'நான் ட்ரை பண்றேன். பாஸ் பண்ணிட்டா நான் தனியாவே கார் ஓட்டக் கற்றுக்கொள்வேன்' என்றேன். ‘என்னது..? பாஸ் பண்ணிட்டு, கத்துக்கப் போறீயா?' என்று அதிர்ச்சி அடைந்தார் அப்பெண்.  அப்போது முப்பது டாலர்தான் ஓட்டுநர் தேர்வுக்கு கட்டணம். ஐம்பதுக்கு (x 10), முப்பது பரவாயில்லை, அதனால், ரிஸ்க் எடுப்பது சரி என்றே பட்டது! ஓட்டுநர் தேர்வில், இரண்டு வகை தவறுகளால் நீங்கள் தோல்வியடைய வாய்ப்பு உண்டு. தனக்கோ, மற்றவர்க்கோ பாதிப்பு ஏற்பட வாய்ப்பு இருந்தால் அது பெரிய தவறு - உடனடி ஃபெயில். உங்களை மேற்கொண்டு கார் ஓட்ட அனுமதிக்க மாட்டார்கள். எனக்குத் தெரிந்த நண்பன், இந்தியாவில் நீண்ட நாளாக சொந்த கார் ஓட்டிக் கொண்டிருந்தவன், இப்படி ஒரு டிரைவிங் டெஸ்டில் தவறு செய்ய, காரை (இங்கேயும் சொந்த கார் தான்) பக்கத்தில் நிறுத்திவிட்டு, டாக்ஸி பிடித்து வந்த கதை உண்டு....

 tldr; கார் ஓட்டத் தெரியாம, ஆஸ்ட்ரேலிய சிட்டிகளில் வேணா காலம் தள்ளலாம். ரீஜியனல் ஏரியாவில் நாள்கூட தள்ளமுடியாது. so, learn to drive as soon as you come to Australia, if not before.  முதல் வேலை கொடுக்கும்போது கார் ஓட்ட லைஸன்ஸ் கண்டிப்பாய்த் தேவை என்று சொல்லிவிட்டார்கள். பேப்பர் செய்யத் தேவையான மரங்களை விளைவிக்கும் வனவியல் (Forestry) நிறுவனம் என்பதால் இந்த கூடுதல் விதிமுறை. என்னுடைய வேலை என்னமோ அலுவலகத்தின்தான்; ஆனால், ஆறு மாதத்தில் கார் ஓட்டக் கற்றுக்கொள்ள வேண்டிய அவசியம். அடிலைடில் (Adelaide) இருந்த வரை பஸ், ட்ரெய்ன் மற்றும் நண்பர்களின் கார்கள் என்று சொகுசாய் பயணித்துவிட்டு மேற்கு விக்டோரியாவில் (South-western Victoria) இருக்கும் ஹேமில்ட்டன் (Hamilton) சென்று சேர்ந்தபோது, டாக்ஸி மட்டுமே போக்குவரத்துக்கு வழி என்ற நிலைமை. காடு மாடு தெரியாமல் ஓடியாடி, புல், பூ, கங்காரு என்று படம் பிடிக்கும் கலைஞனைக் (!), கூண்டில் அடைத்த காலத்தின் கோலத்தை எப்படிச் சொல்வேன்!  ஆஸ்ட்ரேலியர்கள் அவர்களின் வாழ்நாளில் 75%-ஐ காரில் கழிப்பார்கள் (Car is a moving home!) என்பது என் கணிப்பு. ...

Having a reliable car that doesn't give up on you at critical moments is a blessing, I say. By luck or some blessing, my cars always have been reliable at least to get me out of trouble. I bought my first car, which was a 1995 Mitsubishi Magna v6 for $2000 just after I got my driving license in Hamilton, Victoria. My housemate kindly agreed to travel with me by bus to help me choose a car in a second-hand car yard in Ballarat. With a limited budget, we narrowed down to a small, red (eye candy) car and a Mitsubishi Magna v6. We chose the shiny light blue Magna as it mechanically sounded better than the eye-candy, red car. In 2009, I was told that you would need to pay at least $5000 to get a decent, second-hand car in Victoria. We drove the car back and I felt good to drive and it had more power to the cars that I drove during my driving lessons. In this Magna, I learnt to drive without anyone overseeing me. Before getting this car, I used a mountain bicycle (push-bike or a ...

dis cover A us traliA ver 2.0 One year is over. It is hard to believe that it has been a year before I landed in Australia. The last 12 months have been so much eventful. I have not changed much; my English accent has not changed at all. I have not gained or lost weight (I checked). I still find it difficult to follow Australian's slang. I have no idea what's going on channel 7, 9 or 10. I have not made plenty of Australian friends as I imagined. I am familiar with just one Aussie family. May be I would've made 30 or 40 Indian friends. I have not travelled major parts of Australia (or even South Australia). Just I had been to Melbourne once for a conference. And when I think that one year has flown in my 2-year research programme, I am really scared. Hardly any months left to wrap up my things here. Wait, I am not going to complain all my things to frustrate you. Some things have been changed for better or worse. I read somewhere that you are sam...

(Courtesy:Google Earth) When I went home (India) a month ago, I visited a small departmental story (a tiny Woolworths or Coles) in my hometown, Kallakurichi. It is a small, business town having a population of 3 lakhs (Yes, 0.3 million. And our state Tamil Nadu's population is 63 million). I usually do not go shopping empty-handed. I am not obsessed with polythene bags which are difficult to decompose, so, I carry a bag whenever possible. After finished purchasing, I moved to the cash counter to pay. The person at the cash register asked me if I need bags to pack all the items purchased. To which I said, I have got my own bags to carry them. He told me it is the policy of that shop to discourage the use of polythene bags. If you bring your own bags, you will get a 5 percent discount in the total amount which I need to pay. What a good policy, I thought. Obviously, it is a cost-cut measure for that tiny shop. And, it is also friendly to the environment. I am thinking if this can be...

Royal Adelaide Show The tagline for this year’s show “Miss it and you'll have to wait a whole year” tempted me to visit the great Royal Adelaide Show . Really amazing, in short! Well, I couldn’t see the whole show (Just strolled around 50% of the show!) as I walked and walked alone. The battery also went dry in the camera. I managed to take some 70 odd pictures before that. Let me know if you like them. Since, I have commented below the pictures. Look at my album Royal Adelaide Show !!

Forum , originally uploaded by anitabora . Watched Anniyan movie yesterday! In a scene, the Director shows Singapore as an example (comparing to the size of Bangalore city!) Director Shankar must have been in coma for the last five years. There are many 'Potential Singapores' emerging (problems exist, still!)..Indian Cities are growing, but I agree with the people's lackadasical,care-free approach to the problems like corruption. Thanks Anita for such a wonderful shot of Bangalore!

'After 60 years of continuous service, Trams are going to take a short rest' – thus told newspaper advertisements. Trams connect between the city of Adelaide and a place named Glenelg (pronounced as 'lenel' – and see it is a palyndrome!). Glenelg is the place where first British settlers of South Australia set their feet in 1836. This is the place from which they proclaimed the state of south Australia. Since, the old trams are going to be stopped and will be replaced super fast, modern light rails, I decided to travel in the historic trams I went on tram and spent some time on white sandy beach collecting some pebbles and shells (couldn't resist!). Only mild, small waves in the greenish blue sea. Then, I went to a museum where I learnt some history and some interesting facts (The land for establishing the first city costed just 60 pounds!). I wanted to see the place from where the proclamation of South Australia was read. It was near unique, arch-shaped gum ...

I don't know - atleast not yet - much about the other states. But, I am hearing, reading, living in South Australia - The Driest State in Australia. Ken Duncan also agrees to this point that there are less varieties of landscapes available (only dry lands, what else?) in SA. But.. these guys are doing a wonderful make-up to project this as a truly fascinating "Festival State". How did it get that name? Adelaide is which is the capital of SA hosts Adelaide Art Festival , which is world famous once in 2 years. Begun in 1960, the Adelaide Festival of Arts occurs in Adelaide's warm autumn every 'even' year (2000, 2002, 2004 etc.). So, we will witness it next year. (By the way, did you check the fact that India is coming to Australia only in 2007 to play cricket?). So, I present in pictures about their tourism campaign, no more words. Want to discover the " Secrets of South Australia "? Visit http://www.southaustralia.com Wine Festival SA is famous for i...

I came across a wonderful coffee table book " The Great South Land". It's full of Panographs (a special kind of photographs which are wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide! angled). You can see lot of them in the photographer’s website http://www.kenduncan.com . It presents some stunning photographs of what I thought a " desert land". In fact, its amazing and unbelievable, the government promotes the tourism - such that you will never know that it is a desert continent. They say, if it's heaven on earth it IS HERE! IT IS RIGHT HERE!!!. So, every state has a tagline, for example South Australia - The Festival State. It is embossed in all the Vehicle Registration Plates. I used to wonder and curious about the other state's tagline - what it might be. I found the answer, when I was looking this book casually. I will tell you the story of Festival State (where I live) little later. So, here's the list! Western Australia - The Golden Sate. Queensland - The Sunshine Stat...

Australian Dream!

My visit to Victor Harbour I went to the tour of Victor Harbour (a coastal suburb.. beautiful place..Granite Island is located there!) , sadly it was drizzling and chilly winds were blowing..On the way to VH though, it was cloudy and we enjoyed the 1 hour drive in the bus! I was eager to see roos (Kangaroos).. or at least a roo .. adjacent to the road.. we saw ulamas, Australian Cows.. but no traces of Kangaroo. After the vist, we went to a wildlife park - where we saw Emu (a bird like Ostrich!) and a lot of Kangaroos - so exciting to see them and they stand up and pose for photograph also.. with you! I met a Canadian Girl of Indian Origin ..she sat beside me and eagerly asked about India! she took some of my pictures with Kangaroo.. and Kola bear..etc..

For the initial days, when we walk in the road, we look at the personin the road and used to say 'hey, he's looking like brett lee..' -'damn..god..he is exactly like gilchrist' like that.. cricketcrazy..(sadly, Pakis let down in the VB series, otherwise, AdelaideOval would've hosted the 3rd final with Australia..!). Australians arevery nice.. though I have to sharpen my listening skills a bit (I amwatching almost all the serials possible at home, X Factor, Who wantsto be a Millionaire, Crime Scene Investigation etc etc..apart from'daily a movie'). When I said I am from South India, theysympathetically ask, " Whether your areas hit by Tsunami, any of yourfriends or relatives were the victims...". They listen to you withutmost care. They are friendly and straight in their talk (Nobacktalk!). Soccer is followed , Rugby and Cricket take a back seat(Though, some Australians expressed "Oh India, Cricket.. , Sachin..")

I saw an advertisement campaign while roaming at Sydney Airport. It said like this, "Hillary had Tenzing" explaining how difficult it would've been for Hillary to scale the peaks of Everest, without the help of Tenzing who gave vital information, local knowledge etc. In the same way, you would a need a very effective partner in your vital missions. It ends with a punchline "Who do you have?". Very thought provoking. I used to think, I am good at everything and believe in doing all the things myself. I found satisfaction in doing a job myself rather than leaving it to others. I never wanted to delegate work to anyone. I had changed this mindset a few years ago in my workplace. It was an amazing change. From then onwards, I could find and entrust jobs to the persons who could excel in his own department, better than me. So, Going to find a home? Find a broker, tell your specifications, he will find a good house! Investing, Travelling why .. education..? So, it is ...

Now the time is 5:40 PM (afternoon), it is raining outside, after a hot yesterday! Just, for the record, this is the coolest summer - the Australians face after a 50 years time! So, let us begin the journey further... Though I am exploring the unknown birds, plants, flowers of Australia everyday, I came across the origin of the word Australia in a book. "Tera Australis Incognito" was the name of this land, which actually meant "Unknown Southern Land!". There is so much to explore here, Australians love this (Mountaineering, Bushwalking..etc..) as a popular activity.

When I was a child of 10 years old, it is fun to visit my village - I will be waiting for summer holidays to go and listen to our Grandma's stories at the night. Everyday, we used to live in a dreamy world full of Princes - who has to bring some medicine crossing seven hills and seven oceans, Birds , that could speak , Gods, Demons and Ghosts..Beautiful Princess..If I have some little of creative ideas, vivid imagination.. my Grandma deserves the credit, who had patience to tell the same story , sometimes even thrice! I told her, I am going to Australia - obviously she didn't know that I may have to cross seven seas to go there! But, she blessed me, wherever I go, I will come with success and gave 201 rupees as gift (How precious it is!) I took blessings from her. There are certain occasions in life, we cannot capture with camera, video or any other electronic gadgets..they have to felt in heart.. This is such one! I pray that she will welcome me, when I come home!

I had slept for nearly 10 hours at the first night. I had somedizziness (may be due to cold weather..cool winds.. for first 2 days..then it was OK! Just in front of our hostel a huge ground, tenniscourts were there, I used to walk around seeing some people playsoccer, rugby, cricket etc. I tried my hand in tennis later!Everything is huge and big here, Eucalyptus tree for instance.. andall the food is packed. You can find fresh cut vegetables, ready toeat food , neatly packed. It is easy to cook food here, bring and keepin Microwave Oven and your food is ready in 10 minutes.

At Mumbai It was a long wait for the bus, which transferred us to the International terminal. As I had waited for my baggage check to Qantas – I had already shortlisted in my mind how to convince them or what to throw off if they are stubborn. Before that, a lady was also experiencing the same excess baggage problem – and she opened up all to check again to transfer some to cabin baggage. An young Australian came up to me and took up my passport and asked 'are you going for study' to which I said 'Yes'. Apart from these, never been asked any questions – may be because of my student visa, I think! To my relief, my baggage weighed just 37.5 kg here (It showed 37.5 in exact at Sydney also - time to replace weighing machines at Bangalore airport!), and the cabin baggage weighed 6 kg (I didn't weigh at Bangalore). Qantas Flight It was not big, but really very huge - a Boeing 747! I didn't get a window seat, this time – which I desperately wanted to see the sunset / s...

The First Flight For a Bangalore to Mumbai Indian Airlines journey, I was there in the airport 2 hours early (The flight was delayed by another 1 hour, after that ;-)). Mainly, I didn't want to disappoint all of my friends who came to Airport to see me off (that to on a Wednesday!). I wanted to spend some time with all of them – most importantly to convince my father, mother and sister who already looked dull and down (I will bring them here and show this all, one day!). Actually, my parents were surprised to see – I have got so many friends! So, after spending all the 3 hours, I sent all of them off and went in – I tried to calm down myself, but couldn't. When I went to weigh my luggage, I was a bit more nervous – I had never checked the weight before! (I was damn sure that, I had nothing to match for 40 Kg... unexpectedly (?!!), it showed 41.5 kg in total – they security looked at me and said – No Problem, Chalo! I was already thinking what might happen when I board Qantas at...