My dad - My Hero !!!

Today is Father's day. And in another 10 days, my dad is stepping into a new phase in his life, yes, he will be turning 60. So, I think there is no other apt time to write a few words about my hero here. I know that whatever words I write here won't do good to give a complete picture of him and our relationship, but I will try my best.

My dad, A primary school teacher with a very simple life,I remember my childhood days when he takes me and my sister to his school in his bicycle singing some songs from the 60's and 70's all the way. When I was in school, just like any kid, I always make trouble to wake up and get ready. He is a man with lot of patience, he will try to wake me up with lots of love and affection, with ma brush in hand, will get the hot water ready for my shower, have my uniforms ready and shoes polished.



I don't remember a single incident where he raised his voice against us when we do mistakes. All he does is to give us a piece of advice with the same soft tone. When I was young, I always hate keeping things in order (well, even now I do have that bad habit to some extent) and he always was there to get them back to order. If at all I have developed some good habits in life, all credits goes to him.

Though he was a school teacher, he never tried to interfere in things related to our education and gave us all freedom to choose what we wanted. Whatever he says will always just come as a suggestion and not an order, leaving the final decision to ourselves. He planted the habits of decision making and saving money from the very young age, which I think is very much helpful when I started managing my own life.

He always stands with us to fulfill our dreams and he sacrifices a lot for that. Even during tough times, he always tried to make sure we get what we need in terms of our education and other things. I know how much he struggled to get me my first motor-bike just because I loved to have one and also he didn't want me to suffer traveling the hard way to my college.When I decided not to take a job but to pursue with my higher education, again, he extended his support wholeheartedly.

I am not sure whether I am playing my part right, but, one day when I become a dad, I know what I should do. And if I am going to play that part right, all credits goes to my dad...My Hero!!!



I know that I can't be there close to him when he turns 60 but we are always connected.

My Advance Birthday Wishes to U... Luv U Dad... :))

Go Green... Go Cycling!!!

Last Sunday(March 20th), TOUR DE TAIWAN road bicycle racing event (20 international teams representing 15 countries covering 1137.65Kms around the island)started successfully. Along with that, HSBC also arranged a leisure 10Km leisure cycling excursion for amateur bikers. GREEN was the theme with bikers meandering along the wide and shady Ren'ai road towards Zhongshan north road lined with Chinese sweet-gum trees.

My legs were a bit stiff from a 25Km cycling on Friday and 10Km running on Saturday, but I was very interested to join this event that I pushed myself to wake up around 5AM so that I can reach the venue by 6:30AM. The event started around 6:45AM. Weather was really perfect with warm sunlight sprinkling down through seams in the thickets of leaves above.

I could see thousands of interested bikers participating in the event. It was really nice to see the whole area filled with nothing but bicycles.



Bikers of different age groups, from the very old to very young were seen all around.Even some cute little buddies joined the excursion to show their support for the GREEN movement.



Cycling is a wonderful exercise to keep ourselves fit and it also helps us to be eco-friendly. I am sure that everyone who participated in the event might have enjoyed it and also passed the message to others to go GREEN .




You might also be interested in:
Pedestrian power for a greener future.
"Thirukkural" about vegetarianism.
Five reasons to be vegetarian.

My Drawings...

When I went home for a short vacation this time, I could find one of my old drawing book. Huh, it was nice to see all those stuff and took me back down the memory lane. I thought that it will be better if I can digitize them so that they can be preserved for a longer time. These were done some 12-15 years ago and the drawing book already started loosing their texture. Well, some pictures which I thought are worth sharing in my blog.





When I was young, cartoons like Mickey mouse, Tom and Jerry etc were more popular and I think Mickey is one interesting but easy figure to draw. I remember sketching Mickey in different ways and colors. I like this one because it portrays a runner.



I think this one is from the fairy tale, "Puss in Boots". The gleeful face of the cat brings in some joy. I have used some oil paint and sketch pens in this drawing.






My favorite character, "CHARLIE CHAPLIN". May be looks a bit "EVIL" here, huh, didn't come out very well, but not bad I believe.



I have used some water color and sketch pens to do this one.



This one represent the traditional marriage ceremony in India. I found it in a wedding invitation and tried to replicate it. I used oil paint for this drawing. I remember drawing it again in a big canvas and it was decorating(???) our living room for some years.



Its a very simple pencil sketch. I like this one very much. Other than some mistakes, I has come out quite well.









I like the simplicity with pencil sketching. Just with few pencils in hand, we can bring in a lot of shades. I learnt a bit from my friend Narendran to use pencils and charcoals in different ways to draw.



Lord Ganesh. One other figure which I love drawing. Very much like Mickey, I have tried drawing him many times in many different ways. We can use his figure to draw very simple drawings to very complex ones that we can imagine. Also, brings in a lot of happiness. This one is a very simple outline sketch in pencil.

I had one other drawing book with few more interesting stuff. But, I could't find it. I should search for it when I go home next time. This is one hobby which I liked the most at some point of time in my life, but pretty much lost touch right now.

Pencil Sketching