mixed bag of emotions

the day started pretty nicely. My blog got a starting indirank of 76, and then my page visits crossed the magical 1000 mark with nearly 500 unique hits. Secondly, thanks to Jal, my blog now has a unique favicon (thanks again, Jal) which you can see in the address bar or on top of the window ... isn't it cool guys? (well Blogger may feel pissed off ... showcasing that W beside a blogger blog, but who cares about that ... )

But the sad thing that has weighed down on my mind, is the fact that my decade long friendship with my lovely Hyundai Santro has come to an end ... following a rather cruel deal between my dad and a #?#!!@. I had been dreading this all the while, and knew that despite the terrific efforts this little marvel made to serve us, it just had to go. During its 10 year-and-1 month-long stay with us, it had done things which not many cars in this country has done ... (click here to read a previous post dedicated to him) ... but the truth was, try as it might, it just couldn't go on like that. The good side to this is the fact that while all cars are sold at a price much below its cost price, this one wasn't !!! Know why? Well, my dad got this car when he worked in Price WaterHouse Coopers (relax, he left it 8 years back, and was no where nearby the Satyam thingy), and then had shifted to IBM as regional director, and head of the Global Delivery sector. Then suddenly, four or five years back, IBM decided not to pay for its employees' cars, and so my Dad had to buy it from IBM. But surprisingly, that amount was less than what we sold it for !!! Call that a car, faithful and friendly to the owner, as well as to the owner's pocket! (No, we didn't tweak the mileage meter, if you are wondering whether we did that.)

So that's the sad story of the end of a relationship that had blossomed into a tender friendship. As I look out of the verandah now, I don't see him anymore, and the lump in the throat tells me, that I won't see him there too ...