I am a friendly person who likes to dream big and watch cartoons. Here's more about me. Read it if you have leisure time...
For non Indians, pronouncing my name is a nightmare. So here's a mini quide: Vidhya is pronounced as "Vidh" and "yeah". It is a Sanskrit word meaning "knowledge". Navalpakkam is pronounced as "Naaval" and "Paakkam", it refers to a small scholarly village in Southern India that my ancestors hail from.
I like to dabble with singing and cartooning.
Read on if you can tolerate an emotional outburst. My family means a whole world to me! Okay, that's a cliche, but it's true, so I say it anyway. My parents spent a lot of time and energy in making me what I am. Appa (father in Tamil), with his ceaseless enthusiasm and optimism, encouraged me to dream big and achieve them. Amma (mother in Tamil), on the other hand, struck the balance by her gentle, but firm emphasis on moral values, discipline, and extra-curricular activities (singing, dancing, painting). Paati (grandmother in Tamil) was a living example of how to be loving, sensitive to others' feelings, tolerant and helpful. I still cherish the innumerable bedtime stories she told me. My brother inspired me by his calm and composed approach to difficult situations. I was lucky to spend a lot of time in my childhood with my extended family -- including my several aunts, uncles and cousins -- who taught me to share and care for each other. Later on, as I grew up, I found one of my best friends, Debo, who eventually became my husband. Debo and I can't be more different -- we speak different languages, eat different food, have different likes/dislikes -- but we are great friends and love each other for what we are! He continues to support me, and dares me to think in unconventional ways...
Here's where I get too idealistic. My ultimate passion is "World Peace". I am neither a super-model, nor Dalai Lama, but thanks to my grandmother's and mother's bedtime stories on love, I developed a strong interest in spirituality. In my spare time, I meditate to discover the inner peace and love, which is otherwise hard to feel in the intensely competitive world of science, work and politics. I strongly believe that "World Peace" comes when each individual (the basic unit of the world) changes to become more loving and peaceful. So I decided to start with myself, and am busy working at it. If you find me faultering, hey, I am not perfect yet!
Favorite books include the Alchemist, Lord of the Rings; and my favorite movies include Forest Gump, Lord of the Rings, Matrix. I am very fond of animated movies (Hayao Miyazaki is one of my favorite directors). Top choices include Spirited Away, Nausica - valley of the wind, Wall-e...