Welcome 2012

The year 2011 was very nice to me. Compared to my 2010 or the previous years where I had a lot of struggling for my passport and many other reasons – 2011 had been very nice to me. The year I celebrated Diwali back home after 4 years! The year I got my first Android. Most importantly, the year I left Pune once and for all! The year I made a bold decision to quit a well ‘respected’ company just because they did not give me a transfer to Chennai.


The year India won the Cricket World Cup. The year Sehwag made 200 in a One Day International. The year Chennai Super Kings took over the IPL. The year, that’s special for India – Kabadi (men’s and women’s) World Championship, Asia Cup Hockey, South Asia Football Champions.

The year I saw most exciting movies – The King’s Speech, Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Hangover 2, Cars 2, Pirates of Caribbean 4, Fast Five, Final Destination 5, X-Men – First Class Etc. Although “The Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” came way before, I saw them only on 2011 and immediately regretted that I missed them earlier!

I could go on – and I wish the luck and the year to continue! Every beginning has an end, so I thank 2011 for being so nice to me! 2012 looks to be an adventurous year – who knows this may be the end of the world! Anyways, let’s hope for the best and pray that 2012 to be as nice as 2011!


So, 2012 is here – the year I may get my first tablet. The year I may get my 2^nd IT Job. The year my close friend is getting married. The year I am going to be back in Chennai! 2012 is a leap year and that’s an FYI to you! One of my school friends – Deepan has a birthday on 29^th February! This should be his 8^th Birthday!

The year I expect the GOD of cricket to score his 100^th 100 and his 50^th 100 (in ODI)! The year where we can expect an Indian win over the Australians in Australia. The year, I hope that the Indian cricket team can be No.1 in Test/ODI again. The year I want Punter and “Kallis” get the hell out of Test Cricket. The year Olympics is coming back! The year I fear may be the last of the GOD’s era.

As in 2011, I expect a lot of good movies in 2012 – The Dark Knight Rises (Batman 3), Men In Black 3, Ice Age: Continental Drift (4) Etc. This July 2012, a double treat of Dark Knight Rises and the Ice Age 4 comes together!

Another interesting day in this year would be the so said 27^th December (or is it 21^st December?). Let’s see what happens!

Picture Courtesy: Google

The "Collector"

After reaching my home with my 5 rupees collection (the new 5 rupees in gold color), I was ashamed to call me a ‘collector’ when my mother showed me a collection of her old coins. I’m getting more and more surprised when I talk to my mother about old stuffs! Some of my other Tamil readers would have read about my earlier blog about my mother. I’m sure everyone would have such an experience, but my mother is completely innocent and had never visited any other town other than our Tirunelveli (apart from a few vacations that I or my brother took her). When asked about how she got so many varieties of coins, she told me that either my father gave her or her brother, my uncle. Yet, it is so surprising that over these many years, I have never had a chance to take a closer look at her collection! Here’s a list of coins that my mother has in her collection!

Starting with – she has 2 Annas (1917), 1-4^th rupee (1918), 1 paise (1959 & 67), 2 paise (1973), 5 paise (1965), 10 paise (1959, 76, 88), 20 (1988, 1869-1948) and 25 paise (1975). Here are some pictures for the new generation who might not have seen these coins at all.

Most of you guys should have seen the 50 paise, but not this one – 1869–1948 coin with Mahatma Gandhi on the back side. The same goes with the 1 rupee coin – quite common these days, but not this one – yet another 1869–1948 coin with Mahatma Gandhi on the back side and a 1978 coin. A comparison of modern 1 rupee and the old one (1978) image below.

During the old times, there was no 2 rupees coin. So, I’m jumping to the 5 and 10 rupees coins. 5 rupees old and the new (gold one) are quite common, but have you ever seen a bigger 5 rupee coin? Nearly double the size of the recent coin, the one my mother has is from 1917–1984 coin with Indira Gandhi on the back side. A comparison below.

10 rupees coin – some of you might have seen the recently released 10 rupees coin from the Government of India. Have you seen a 1947–1972 10 rupees coin with the 25 years of freedom image on the back side? Let me show you! [My mother keeps telling me that the older 10 rupees is made of silver and I keep refusing that - judging from the color]

That’s it for the Indian coin collection – let’s move abroad. The nearest country to ours – Sri Lanka. My mother has the 25 cents, 50 cents and 1 rupee coins from Sri Lanka. They’re from 1965, 82 and 72 years respectively. Here they are for your eyes.

Other than these, she has 10 France coin (equivalent to paise – I don’t know how they call paise in France), 20 cents from Singapore, 10 & 50 UAE coins, 1 dime – USA and 4 other unknown coins which I could not figure out from which country/value. Here they are!

Here are the unknown coins:

I'm sure the actual coin 'collectors' would have a lot more coins like 1 Anna or something like that. But to me, this is a great collection and worth sharing. Come to Tirunelveli to see any of these coins!