The significance of 12 -12-12

1.    Well, the world did not come to an end on 12-12-12!

2.    It was Indian Superstar Rajinikanth’s birthday on 12-12-12! Some joke to say  that perhaps that explains why the world did not end!

3.    I cleared my UK Practical Driving test on 12-12-12 at 12.43 pm! On a second attempt (much to my dislike), its finally a sigh of relief. My first attempt was in November and i should have cleared it – had it not been for some silly mistakes which cost me my license then! Anyways better late than taking “forever”! They say getting your UK Driving License is the toughest in the world. Perhaps right - i got my US Drivers License on the first attempt, which itself was considered highly unusual by my American colleagues in 2004!. 

4.    The win was well celebrated in the loneliness of my apartment with a Staffordshire IPA (local beer from Stafforshire) that a colleague and dear friend Guy Bradshaw had gifted me. I had ordered take-away food  from Michelin starred “Bird” Indian restaurant in Leeds. Playing in the background was the movie “Kes” – an old British movie recommended by Guy. Good one!

For Point # 3,

Thanks to my driving instructor Parminder Lyall – who has been a good coach for my driving. I took 2-3 lessons from Parminder way back in Jan’12 to get used to the road rules and driving temperament in UK. Starting October – took at least 20-22 classes from him before my driving test – once my Indian driving license was about to be invalid to drive in UK (you can drive on an  Indian license for a year after you land in UK). I flunked it once in November and appeared again in December to clear it. Parminder has been instrumental in helping me sort out my driving in UK and help me not carry forward the baggage of "driving rules" i carry from my three years of road experience in the US and baggage of  "following no rule" in India for over 15 years!

I am now getting tempted to start a series of “Global Driving Experience” on lines of “Global Haircut Experience”,that will help me share car driving experience across countries! Anyways, let me wait for some more time before i run out of topics!