My short story attempt on Ammani's blog

Ammani had started an experiment. She wrote the first line for a short story. It was "Sandhu was 13 when she discovered the joys of exaggeration". And writers were invited to weave a story that started with that line. The story had to be in 200-300 words. I wrote one and it features on Ammani's blog now.

Click here to read the story.

Hope you liked the yarn that I had weaved. In case you have a story that you want to share with Ammani, please send your story to ammania@gmail.com. Best of Luck!

Bhupathi-Hingis win mixed doubles crown at Aus Open 2006

Bhupathi took his Grand Slam tally to 9, mixed doubles tally to 6.

Bhupathi's Grand Slam titles:
1997: French Open mixed doubles with Rika Hiraki of Japan
1999: French Open men's doubles with Leander Paes
1999: Wimbledon men's doubles with Leander Paes
1999: US Open mixed doubles with Ai Sugiyama of Japan
2001: French Open men's doubles with Paes
2002: Wimbledon mixed doubles with Elena Likhovtseva of Russia
2002: US Open men's doubles with Max Mirnyi
2005: Wimbledon mixed doubles with Mary Pierce.
2005: US Open mixed doubles with Daniela Hantuchova.
2006: Australian Open mixed doubles with Martina Hingis.

Bhupathi wins a Grand Slam tournament with a new gal each time. Any guesses on who might be his next partner?

For more: link-1 link-2

Crash - watch it!

A few months back, my friend recommended me a movie called "Crash". He briefly told me that it was a compelling movie about racism in US. We briefly discussed what it was and I registered the name of the movie at the back of my mind. I left it at that. Yesterday, I was down at the video rental store and leafing through the catalogue of some recent additions. The movie "Crash" featured in it. I remembered my friend's recommendation and decided to rent it out.



I watched this movie today. Man, does it blow my mind off! It is the directorial debut for the director Paul Haggis. And he has taken a very tough subject to showcase. The plot is deeply intertwining, each member of the cast is ultimately connected to other. There are not more than 2-3 major incidents in the movie and the entire plot revolves around those. Each character has been finely etched and the screenplay is amazing. The movie has its moments, amazing ones at that. Few of them that would remain etched forever would be where Ryan Phillipe speaks to his fellow beat cops to leave the black man alone after a hot high speed chase. Another scene where the Ryan throws his anti-racial convictions into thin air and shoots the young boy who just wants to show the same Zulu figurine that he has. Matt goes through his motions when he saves the same woman whom he had molested sometime earlier. A moment where Sandra hugs her housemaid and says she is her best friend. The realisation sets in her as her (previous) best friend of 10 years could not come to her rescue when she falls down the stairs and breaks her leg because that friend was taking a massage! And many more...

In the end, many of the characters realise the foolishness behind their peeves. The director has provided the answer to deal with racism in the movie itself. He asks each one of us to treat our fellow people with compassion and try to relate to them, even if it is only remotely plausible. I am going to reiterate some lines from the quote that I had mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts. "There is a lot of good in the bad of us, And there is a lot of bad in the good of us". Crash just shows that fact in a brilliant way!

Finally, there are films that deal with bold themes, and there are films that deliver a strong message. But seldom, a movie comes into the theatres that deals with a bold theme and delivers a strong message. Crash does that.

Watch it, if you have not already done so.

Greatness prevails!

I will forever rue my decision not to watch the cricket match and australian open men's final. Why? Superstition. And what might it be? That - If I sit to watch the match, then my favorite players will not play well enough. Hah!

And what happened? Irfan creates a world record by scalping 3 top Pak wickets off the first 3 balls of the first over of the 3rd test at Karachi. No one has done this faster. The feared "Y" factor - the batting duo of Md Yousuf and Younis Khan - did not click. It is also possible that Pathan got immensely lucky. It was his day today. The pitch was obviously good and much different compared to the flat and dry "chapathi" pitches in Lahore and Faisalabad. It seems Pak did that to deal with their fear factor of losing against India at home. But the Karachi pitch had a little green top on it. And the result showed. Pak in 1st innings - 245 all out. India were not far behind. At close of day, there are already 4 wickets down. And the night watchmen are the 2 southpaws who are actually vying for the same slot in the team! :-)


Pathan claims the fastest hatrick in test cricket history!

In another great match of the day, the supremo reigned above all he surveyed. Rookie Baghdatis did have his share of greatness by taking Federer down in the first set for 7-5. After leading 2-0 in the second set, his lordship would have taken a moment and paused to think - "What the heck am I doing? Shouldn't I be playing tennis??". And then, it happened. Federer gave it back to Baghdatis 7-5. And a bagel set followed. I love it when he steamrolls his opponent with bagel sets! And then a 6-2... and history is made again. Federer is the first after Sampras since 1993-94 to win 3 consecutive grand slams in the same year. And if he wins the Roland Garros too (which I pray that he does!), then he would emulate the great Australian Rod Laver's feat of winning 4 grand slams in the same year! Rod Laver did that twice, first in 1962 as an amateur and second in 1969 as a pro.


Federer and Baghdatis with their respective trophies.


Roger Federer with Rodney Laver after winning the Aus Open 2006 Cup

So there, a great day for the sporting world!

Pics courtesy: cricinfo.com and australianopen.com for respective events!

Former CM's son to become the future CM of Karnataka

Deve Gowda's master plan worked. All the melodrama that was played out in a drawn out fashion - the (crocodile) tears as his son betrayed him, then stating that he was with his son's decision, finally stepping down as the party president to make way for his son - everything worked out in his favour. I may even add, in his family's favour. Power sits within the family.

Today morning, Dharam Singh resigned and Governor T N Chaturvedi has invited BJP - JD(S) coalition led by Kumaraswamy to form the government. And therefore, BJP would get its first opportunity to form government in Southern India. Quite a dramatic one, that! (So was Atal Behari Vajpayee's first term in PM office!!)

In between all this, I guess, the only thing that we people can pray for is that the new government should pay attention to Bangalore's sagging infrastructure and implement concrete steps to improve it. Ofcourse there would be many more points in their agenda, which may also include improvising the power/electricity system so that we do not see as many load sheddings!

Let us just hope for the best!

Supremo vs. Underdog

I have not been posting enough for a quite a while now. Between watching cricket, tennis and work, I have not been finding the kind of leisurely time. Anyways, I do not want to talk about Cricket with what happened in the 2nd test at Faislabad. We have already read enough reams of print, numberous pages online and opinions about Pak 2nd innings from everybody who was a somebody once upon a long while ago. So, I would just take a break on that one.

Tennis! Now, here's some real game happening. So many wonderful matches. I loved the Baghdatis vs Nalbandian match the most. More because the former junior champion is finding his feet in the bigger version of the game. Unranked Baghdatis is giving everybody a tough time. Baghdatis had great crowd support, probably the loudest group too! He came back from losing 2 sets to Nalbandian and then win the remaining 3 sets straight.


Baghdatis exults after winning a point against Nalbandian

Tommy Haas and N Kiefer gave a great fight when they played the great Federer. Especially Haas. You should have watched that match. Haas probably pushed Federer the farthest. Just when we thought that Federer was invincible, Haas only showed that Federer too is human, though great! Federer has this uncanny knack to bring up his game to mercurial levels just when he seems to be going down, and then dazzle with the genius that possesses.


Federer acknowledges the crowd during his match with Kiefer.


The great Rod Laver was present during Federer vs Kiefer tie. They had a rendezvous earlier during French Open but did not interact. But when they met now in Aus Open, they took opportunity to interact with each other. A pic of them together.

Other great match this week was that of Grosjean vs Kiefer in the quarters tie. That was one of the best marathon matches to have graced the tournament.

Well, the Men's finals is coming up on Sunday. Federer vs Baghdatis. The Supremo vs The Underdog. I have sided Federer all this while, because I love watching him play. Baghdatis has had a great dream run this time around. Just for kicks, I would be rooting for Baghdatis in the final's game. Just to support the underdog. For all that we may speculate, if Baghdatis runs away with the Winner's title... it would be THE GREATEST UPSET of THE YEAR!

I have talked mostly about Men's Tennis, that is because I have not been watching so much of Women's Tennis. Maybe I would. Later. Another trend that I am noticing with myself is that I am gravitating more towards Tennis than Cricket. Who do I owe my thanks to? Maverick, Ferrari and Federer. :-)

All pics courtesy: Australian Open Web Portal.

Gas or N-Deal - choice is on India now.

US has categorically stated that India would have to vote against Iran if it has to continue with the nuclear cooperation deal.

Now it is a question of whether we need gas from Iran or look at nuclear technology cooperation from US.

Link: Vote against Tehran or N-deal will die: US

What do you think India would choose?

Finally somebody in US media speaks up against Musharraf

It had to happen someday. The honeymooning game that US and Pak were playing all this while does not seem to be bearing the results that US had expected from Pak. They are finally seeing Pak in the correct light, that which should have happened years back.

The Post called the Pak prez "meretricious". The label is so appropriate that there cannot be a better word to describe that despotic ruler.

Check this link for more: The Post blasts Musharraf's 'double game'

Macy's, Mark and Spencer - outlets in India

Macy's, Mark and Spencers are all going to be having their own outlets in India. Soon you can go to your neighbourhood mall and check out clothes from international brands in international stores.


Macy's store in New York City, it could be like this soon in Bangalore, Mumbai or Delhi

Check this article from TOI: Global brands can now own stores in India.

A faux pas by TOI. They say Nike bought Reebok, whereas it was Adidas that bought Reebok. :-)

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Dho(ni) daala!

First test match - it was Sehwag and Dravid who did it for India. Second test match - it is Dravid again and the man who we claim to be Sehwag's mould and Sachin's form of yore - Mahendra Singh Dhoni. At the time, India were looking down the pipe and our usual expectation is to see the infamously great Indian collapse. In comes the new pair after the exit of Sachin and Yuvraj. Pathan and Dhoni. After some recent fabulous knocks from Pathan, I must admit that I did expect Pathan to rock again, even if he bats for a short while. Dhoni is a big hitter. But it is equally probable that he might get out to a loose shot. But what happened thereon will be consigned to history books now.


M S Dhoni - 100 in 93 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixers.
Pic courtesy: Cricinfo.com

Dhoni hit a 34 ball 50 and continued on to score a 93 ball 100 (matched Sehwag's fastest hundred by an Indian Opener). And this came at a time when pressure was on India. For a debutante player in Pakistan, playing only his 5th international test match, this showed a lot of determination and character. And he did not face any side league bowlers. He faced a lot of Akhtar and the new Paki find - Asif. He played them with as much elan as would have Sehwag or Sachin in his hey days. Not to be outdone by Afridi's slam bam innings, Dhoni gave a fitting and matching reply by hitting 4 towering ones straight across the ropes. In the process, Dhoni along with Pathan saved India from facing a follow-on scenario. The scoreboard looked really ominous with 281/5, and the Dhoni-Pathan partnership took the scoreboard to a respectable 441/5, just 147 runs adrift of the target.

Also, it seems like the tourers are out to break and set records in Pakistan. While a dozen records tumbled during the first test, here are some for starts. With 116*, the knock is...
1) 3rd highest score by a debutante wicket keeper against Pakistan
2) 7th highest score by any wicket keeper against Pakistan
... and it is not over yet. I hope he would go on and on to cream more! Yeh Dil Maange More!!

For more, read this article on Rediff. Kapil Dev went on to claim that he is his hero! His innings also stood out because of the outrageously unorthodox shots that he played - and it can only be ably described by Prem. Here's something from Prem Panicker's match report on Rediff.

Kaneria got to bowl to Dhoni next over -- and was greeted with what a startled Dean Jones, in the commentary box, called an "upright paddle straight drive". That really is the best way to describe it -- Dhoni stood tall, reversed his bat and with tremendous bat speed, hit the ball straight behind the keeper. An over later, Dhoni got more conventional, going down the track to hit the straightest six of the match.

Pathan gave great support from the other end and batted well enough. At stumps today
, Pathan was at 49. This comes from one of India's ace bowlers. Now being groomed as an all rounder by Greg Chappel to fit into Team India's vision to lift the 2007 Cricket World Cup. And he is showing good signs. However, he is struggling with the ball. Maybe he would find the much needed form and sting before long. (The pitches are also not offering anything much, that also has to be borne in mind!)

Earlier in the day, El Capitano Dravid hit a belligerent century, second one back to back. The captain appeared in fine nick. He had to be gotten out the only way possible - which is what happened. Run out for a call that need not have been made by Sachin. He went back to the pavilion obviously disappointed at his dismissal. You could see him knocking over the cardboard flips kept on the boundary line. Quite uncharacteristic of a man who is mostly known as calm, quiet and unreactive. Another observation that I had is that of Dravid holding up his arms and hardening it up rigidly to show aggression when Dhoni completed his century. He may not really take his shirt off like his predecessor. But the new body language that Dravid has seems to suggest a much more stronger man than before. (Also that eye to eye showdown with Akhtar in the first test match)

Let's see what is going to happen tomorrow. As of now, the match seems to be heading for a draw. Hmmm...

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Experiences of a biped on a morning jaunt

Have you been to the Cubbon Park in the morning? Or, let me generalise that to - Have you been to your neighbourhood park in the mornings? If the answer is yes, and if you are wide awake while going through your regular amble, then you would admit that the park offers a plethora of experiences - ranging from sublime to, well, debatable. Upon occasion, I remember this song that has lyrics that goes like (many artists have their own renditions of this song, I personally liked the Sheryl Crow one):

Some will die for you; some would lie to you
There's all kinds of people in this world
Turn the world around, tear the borders down
There's all kinds of people in this world

A kiss of life, and the hand of faith
A boy grows up into his father's son
And he learns to love, he's been taught to hate
To carry on the way it has been done

Yes, there are all kinds of people in this world. Put on your walking shoes and set out for a walk in your neighbourhood park to find out. Am sure, you will return home well entertained.

Check this piece that appeared today on THE HINDU Magazine. Humorous and thought provoking. May it make you take that morning walk - just for the experience of it!

Link: Just a walk in the park

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Jet is now as big and wide as the Sahara

In a little over 12 years, Jet Airways has proved what it takes to be the best airline in India. Started at a time when aviation industry was just getting excited about the boom in air travel, Jet Airways had played a steady game, and improving its services through the time. So many players just closed shop as they could not hold their own in the face of competition - East West Airlines, Modi Luft and so many more that I do not even remember anymore. Jet, in the meanwhile, has been busy jetting through the Indian skies.



I have travelled with quite a few airlines within India - Indian Airlines (now called Indian), Jet Airways, Air Deccan, Air India and Kingfisher Airlines. Air Deccan and Kingfisher are fairly recent players in the Indian aviation markets. But before Kingfisher came on, I bet, Jet was probably the only airline that gave 5 star service in the skies. No other airline came close to service quality. Talk about warm moist towels to wipe one's face before take off, nice tasty juices and other pampering comforts. Ofcourse, Kingfisher is giving a tough competition on the service arena with great gourmet meals, inflight video entertainment etc. But it is not service alone that counts. Right?

Air Deccan, Go Air and Spice Jet are taking budget air travel to new levels each day. Just when you thought travelling by air is not that economical, these airlines are bringing down the cost to levels that were previously unimaginable. Jet had to contend with increasing competition from these budget players. But Jet has already created its niche. And looking at how the company has maintained itself through tumultous times and good times, I believe they will continue to dominate the Indian skies for a long time to come, budget air travel or not. And they are the only private airline (other than erstwhile Air Sahara) to offer flights to international destinations - London, Singapore, Colombo etc.

With buying out Air Sahara, Jet has made a master stroke. Regardless of Left parties complaining about Jet trying to get monopoly over the aviation market, I think this would create a better atmosphere for greater competition. Jet now has one of the biggest domestic aviation infrastructure, second only to Indian. A huge gain it has been. And all this has kept the man at the helm of it all - Naresh Goyal - down to earth. You have to read this biographical article to read his climb to prominence. It is very inspiring.

All the best to Naresh Goyal and his Jet Airways team - from an ardent Jet Airways fan, a Jet Priviledge member.

The Face of Love

As I am posting this piece, there are showing the movie "Dead Man Walking" *ing Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon on Star Movies. I am watching it for the first time, after hearing good reviews about this movie from my friends. As the titles were appearing, I could distinctly hear the strains of Indian music - notably strains of sitar and rhythm of the tabla. After paying attention carefully, I noticed that it was the golden voice of Late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. As is usual with me, I picked up my laptop and immediately googled for some trivia on the song. It happened to be the song "The Face of Love". The MP3 is available here on the internet. Download and listen to the same. Its brilliant. Here are the lyrics to the song. It is a duet with Edward Vedder (One of Bob Dylan's disciples):

jeena kaisa pyar bina [what is life without love?]
is duniya mein aaye ho to [now that you have come to this world]
ek duje se pyar karo [love each other, one another]
jeena kaisa pyar bina [what is life without love?]
is duniya mein aaye ho to [now that you have come to this world]
ek duje se pyar karo [love each other, one another]

look in the eyes
of the face of love
look in her eyes
oh, there is peace
no, nothing dies
within pure light
only one hour
of this pure love
to last a life
of thirty years
only one hour
so come and go

I am still humming the song in my mind. The song makes you introspect deeply. Many of Tim Robbins movies make you introspect. He is the same guy who acted in some of other favorite movies like "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Antitrust".

Herded away in fear!

You people have to check this story. All BJP MLAs from Karnataka suddenly went off to Chennai. Reason? To avoid getting "disturbed". And by who? Congress, they claim. The Vote of Confidence is due on Jan 27th. And BJP are scheming up their first chance to build a government in a southern state. They fear that the Congress may "buy out" some of the BJP MLAs to vote in their favour. And so what did they do? (I am still laughing out loud on this one!) They packed their MLAs away to Chennai. And they would be there in Chennai till 27th. If Dharam Singh resigns earlier, they would return earlier.

(Updated)
Have you ever come across this kind of a funny thing happening? corrected by shri420. This is not new to politics. Read shri420's comment...

The Hindu : Front Page : A contingent lands in Chennai

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Reflectarium: In the Wild - Tigers

A new post on my photo blog. Please take a look!

Reflectarium: In the Wild - Tigers

10 global trends to watch in 2006

I got the link to check this article from McKinsey Quarterly just yesterday via their new article alert subscription. Quite a good read. If you have access to McKinsey Quarterly, please check out the original piece. If not, check the rediff link provided below.

10 global trends to watch in 2006

Kudumbathla Kolaru!

Thats a line in my native tongue, Thamizh! Meaning - "trouble brewing within the family". With Deve Gowda's son defecting to BJP, and senior deciding to join his erstwhile arch rivals - Congress, what else do you expect? LOL :-D

There is enough being written about it in the media. Probably, the most simple of all of them are the following 2 articles on Rediff.
1. Gowda's son stakes claim in Karnataka
2. How the coalition unravelled in Karnataka

Funnily, the inscription on the Vidhana Soudha (The legislative headquarters of Karnataka from where the State Government works) reads "Government Work is God's Work" (close up shown below). With these kind of dirty, cheap politics happening, I doubt if that inscription has any meaning left at all! (Yeah! I know... as if they did any of God's work!)



Also - check a post from my friend, Prabhu on this recent development. He has some viewpoints that are quite valid ;-)

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Volvo City Buses in Bangalore

My friend, Maheshwaran, told me about the new Volvo buses being introduced in BMTC. I was initially taken aback. He showed me TOI Tuesday Jan 17th edition and on pages 10 and 11, there were 2 huge advertisements announcing the same. I quickly went over to TOI epaper website to download the images and share with you all. Here, take a look! Click on the images to download the original size obtained from TOI. Those of who are interested in the passes being distributed, please take a note of the advertisement from BMTC. To know some features of the bus, click on the advertisement from Volvo.

Advertisement from BMTC


Advertisement from Volvo


Now, thats a first for any Indian city! Wot say?!

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Topless on the top?

Forbes - one of the biggest names in media world - the one source that we all look forward to when the richest companies, richest people lists are compiled and published. It is also a huge source of business information. The title of their homepage reads "Business News and Financial News at Forbes.com". The same aura about this media company attracted me as well to regularly check various new articles at their portal.

Most recently, I went to their site to read about the collaboration between IBM and Sony to create the Playstation 3 (a.k.a PS3) which uses the IBM's Cell processor. And my eyes happened to see 2 broadly advertised boxes listing the most visited links for article and videos.

Check for yourself...



Is this what the world's leading executives are interested in? :-)

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New post on Reflectarium

Just posted some pics on my photo-blog. Please check here.

Please provide comments on that post. TIA.

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Govinda Govinda

Only He can save now. Govinda, Sharanaangadi!!



2 days back, this line screamed on all Indian news portals. "Amitabh Bachchan to offer jewels worth Rs 100 million at Tirupathi" - or something similar. Rs.100 million?! It took me a little while to count all the zeroes in that number. A 100 million questions came into my mind.

To what extent should we really take devotion to?
What is a better way to exhibit devotion?
What are the alternatives to such extravagance that serve no purpose other than creating a headline?

And many more. To me, it sounds like utter extravagance that is needless. A 100 million could do so much to the society. I understand that Amitabh was battling for life (or did he really? media hype?) and was indebted to God for having brought him back to good health. I like him immensely as an actor and also wish him well. Nevertheless, he could have donated the same amount in the name of The Lord to so many needy organizations. Many of these organizations find it difficult even to obtain funding for daily functioning. He could have donated the same money to so many old age homes where the elderly population of India lives because their children cannot take care of them. He is aged 63, he is also old. He could have thought a little about the plight of the many less fortunate old people living a sad lonely life, more so without their choice.

I vehemently oppose any such donations. Do good for your fellow human beings. Provide for the less privileged. True devotion lies there. His Godliness resides in one and all of us. Serving the less privileged means serving Him. And being able to do that is a deed of the highest order.

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Still the second best!

So, the much touted game on day 5 came to an end without any of the blitz that we were expecting to happen. Inzy must be heaving a sigh of relief for having seen the back of Sehwag walking back to the pavilion after getting out on 254 off a ball bowled by Naved Ul Hasan. He was ruing for having been made to bring his team out on to the field and just because India wanted to have a go at the 1st wicket partnership record. And if India had done that, he would felt so bad of having had to drag his boys to field.

The way Sehwag faced the last few balls before getting out was proof enough of the hurry that India were in. Just so that they make the record before the play gets stalled. He was edging to all places beyond slip... before finally getting out off a catch by the Paki wicket keeper, Kamran Akmal. But then this is Sehwag. He is raw and brute. He does not bother about records. He would have been happy if he got that boundary through the slips. But he did not. And that was sad.

For all the records that were broken and all the pyrotechnics that were on display... it is still only second best! Take a look at how the scoreboard looks (from rediff.com)...



For the record (quite literally!), a snapshot of records that Sehwag achieved...

Some highests!
- Sehwag has the highest test score with a strike rate more than 100.
- Most consecutive 150's by scoring them in his last 7 test centuries - beating none other than Don Bradman.
- The fastest century by Indian Opener.

Some second highests!!
- Sehwag + Dravid partnership of 410 runs was the "second" highest for the 1st wicket.
- Probably, this is Sehwag's "second" highest test score. {Have to check this one!}
- Ofcourse, the "second" fastest individual 200 in test history

Some third highests!!!
- Sehwag with 48 boundaries (47x4, 1x6) hit the "third" highest number of boundaries in an innings.

Any other records or corrections, please let me know.

For more info on records set on day 5, check here.

Mankad and Roy, from up above in the lofty heavens, must be smiling to themselves and Pankaj would be telling Vinu : "Hah! There goes the wicket. I told you, Vinu! It is not quite that easy. Well, who knows? We might have to wait for 50 more years to see if anything comes close by!"

(With due respects to Mankad and Roy)

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Sultan of Multan & Lahore - Nawab of Najafgarh - Sehwag

This post is as fresh as the cricketing history that just got made. Viru seems to have a penchant for the Pakis, like Woolmer always claimed. Just now, Viru got his double ton against the Pakis in the first test in Allianz Series ongoing now.


V Sehwag - 200 runs in 182 balls with 38 fours and 1 six

And this is how it happened... (Courtesy: cricinfo.com)
57.4 Naved-ul-Hasan to Sehwag, one run, short and a bit of width, Sehwag
cuts uppishly and the ball almost carries to the third-man
fielder. That brings up the second fastest double-century in the
history of Test cricket
57.4 Naved-ul-Hasan to Sehwag, (noball) FOUR, this one is through cover,
what a beauty! Sehwag gets into perfect position and plays a
copybook coverdrive to race to 199, fourth consecutive boundary!
57.3 Naved-ul-Hasan to Sehwag, FOUR, short and wide, catch it is the
call, it's nowhere near a fielder, another boundary, Sehwag goes
to 195
57.2 Naved-ul-Hasan to Sehwag, FOUR, the bowler comes round the stumps,
changing the angle, the result is the same, crashed inside out
through cover!
57.1 Naved-ul-Hasan to Sehwag, FOUR, this one is carved through third-
man to bring up the Indian 300

Some of the other records that were set or broken en route:
1. Fastest Test 100 by an Indian Opener - Sehwag's 100 in 93 balls broke the record previously held by Gavaskar (100 in 94 balls)
2. Biggest Opening Partnership at the Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium
3. Second Fastest Test 200 by Sehwag, the fastest being Astle's 222 in 168 balls (200 in 153 balls) and beating Gibbs's 200 in 211 balls.

The other day when 4 blistering 100s were hit by the Pakis, I bet Sehwag would have been feeling so restless in his place. His thoughts would have been "Wait till I get there..." and today he is clobbering the Paki attack to his heart's content. So much that the Indian bowlers sitting in the stands and watching Sehwag massacre their Paki counterparts must be feeling vindicated.

The Nawab of Najafgarh got the title Sultan of Multan when he got his first 300 against the Pakis at Multan in 2004. He would now be the Sultan of Multan and Lahore. :-)

BTW, the best 1st Wkt partnership was 413 by India (537-3d) v New Zealand at Chennai during 1955/56. Is this in sight now? Maybe... ;-)

Thanks to Maverick for some of the stats mentioned above.

Update at 4:35PM Jan 16th
- Another record by Sehwag. Lets see where he takes it!

73.2 Shoaib Malik to Sehwag, FOUR, just a touch short and Sehwag plays
  the most delicate of late cuts, that is a great shot to bring up
  45 boundaries, the most by an Indian in a Test innings beating
  Laxman's 44 in his 281 versus Australia

Update at 4:48PM Jan 16th
- The light has been offered and it has been taken. Ind - 403/0. At the end of day 4, Sehwag's score stands at 247 in 240 balls with 46 boundaries and a six. Dravid is on 128 n.o.
- With 46 boundaries, Sehwag has struck the second most boundaries in a Test Innings. Only Edrich has more. (Thanks Mav.)

Update at 7:02PM Jan 16th
- For a list of records that were broken on day 4 of the first test, check this page at cricinfo.
- The best 1st wicket partnership that is being held by India was set in 1955. Prem Panicker recounts that match at his blog. In all possibility, India will reset that record again on Day 5.
- Match report on rediff for Day 4 of the test by Prem. Like every cricket crazy Indian who watched Sehwag clobber the Paki attack is in a state that can vary anywhere between dazed to euphoric, Prem too is overwhelmed. Prem, me too!

Update at 8:38PM Jan 16th
- Sehwag quotes during a pre-match interview today morning: "I have a funda for myself in cricket. If I see a ball, I hit it. Does not matter if I am on 0, or 90 or even 99!"
Now you know what makes the man go ballistic with innings like these...

Freaky Nuts

Interesting heading, isn't it? It did invite you over to read this post. Exactly the same reason why I wrote that title for this post.

Today morning, I was reading the interview of Rang De Basanti director, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The headline proclaimed "our PM is a complete freak". Read the article and you would also see that the headline probably does not have much bearing to the article and Rakeysh's views abt our PM are very respectful.

A case where the headline seems to suggest something drastic? Thats what came to my mind when I read the headline and the interview. Is this a trick that the media plays on the minds of the people? At what cost? Huh?

For instance, if I said "Gavaskar did not have the balls to fire a quicker century"... all because he did his fastest test 100 in 94 balls and Sehwag did it in 93 balls, does it sound right? If you think it is not right, then I have made my point.

IBM leads U.S. patents for 13th consecutive year

And IBM did it yet again. Winning is becoming a habit! :-) Check out the rankings in the pic below.

Revisiting "Another Brick In The Wall"

I was working out at the gym the other day, and someone played their own personal CD in the CD player. Usually they do not play classic rock in there. Its the techno & hip-hop music that rules - because of the funky beats and sounds that it has. Anyways, coming back to our CD - it was a personal compilation done by the owner of the CD. And the first song in that album was "Another Brick In The Wall". I must have stopped my workout for a minute or so. The song brought back many memories. My mind had gone whirr...

It was my first year in engineering college, and my first experiences of being with a friend's circle bigger than 4 guys. And atleast 3 of those guys were sons of IIT profs (Saurabh Gurujee, Mayur Dewaikar - if you are reading this somewhere in the big world, Hi!). Now, the IIT culture really rubs on to these boys as well. If you have not read Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat, then you may not really know what I mean (unless ofcourse you also have been at the IITs). Well, cutting to the point... there were a few things that I was exposed to when in their company.

Most cherished among them was being introduced to the musical phenomenon called "Pink Floyd". Many call them heavy metal, hard rock, blah blah, et cetera. I have a different take on them. For me, they are among the Gods. Their music elevates me to a different world. And they gave the world the anthem song - "Another Brick In The Wall". A song that became the cry of students worldwide. The effect it had on the society back then was quite huge and some countries even banned playing it or broadcasting it. You can read more trivia about the song in this link.

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey teacher leave them kids alone
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

This song was written to denounce the bad effects of a formal structured educational system that curbed individuality and freedom to explore and pursue one's preferred subjects. The song by itself did not speak against the formal education system. Education itself is good. It is empowerment of the soul. Whereas how it was being delivered was the complaint. It was very critical of the system prevalent in England in those days.

Pink Floyd has many such songs to its credit. In my musical experience (can even say journeys or explorations), there are very few artists who have made a social issue the main agenda of their creations. U2, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley are some of the big names that come to my mind immediately when we talk of such artists. May their tribe increase!

Sidenote(s):
a) Read the 2 books written till now by Chetan Bhagat. First one mentioned above. Second one - One night @ Call Center. Check at your local bookstore or Landmark.

Jumping, Running, Breaking, Lifting, Swimming... New Records!

Every sports event presents a great opportunity for all participating sportspersons to break one record or the other. Either break existing records or create unknown or new ones.

Recently Ricky Ponting hit back to back 100s in his 100th test match. No test player had done it till that point. Uniqueness of the record increased manifold because it was created in the 100th test. So, there you go... 2 100s in the 100th test. Now, lets see when this happens again. So many players - so few get to their 100th test - so much fewer actually manage to carry their bat as long as to hit a 100 - and so much much fewer players do it twice. This is one record that is going to stay for a long long time to come. Or would it be that I said it too soon? :-) Time alone will tell.

Coming to Tennis, Roger Federer recently played a match in which trounced Gaudio with "bagels". For the unintroduced, bagels are baked preparations that look like the geometrical shape "torus". Meaning to say, he won in sets with scores looking like 6-0. Now, how many players are so much of a genius to really do that? Not many. Few and far in between. Again, there is also a question of luck. Gaudio probably had a bad hair day.

NYNewsDay.com has a story today that speaks about how records are broken and new ones established - the history and whys behind it all. Quite a read, it is. Check it out here.

Bhagavad Gita and "Main Yahaan Hun" - Veer Zaara

There are many songs that we tag in the recesses of our minds as our favourites and become happy whenever we get hear them being played somewhere. Some of these become our favourites for whatever reason they may have for you, some without a reason. And some gain a meaning - true meaning or new meaning - after a long time.

For me, there are several such songs which gained a whole lot of meaning and love much later. To mention a few -- Dil Hun Hun Kare from Rudaali sung by Bhupen Hazarika, Dheeme Dheeme from 1947 Earth sung by Hariharan, Vellai Pookal from Kannathil Mutthamittaal sung by A R Rahman etc. Most recent of these being Main Yahaan Hun from Veer Zaara sung by Udit Narayan.

Now why this song surprised me more than all the previous songs in this category is because I suddenly found the lyrics of the song to be so very similar to the quotations in Bhagavad Gita.

Check the lyrics to this song. Once you are through with reading the entire lyrics, pay specific attention to these lines. I am including them in Hindi itself for their lyrical beauty (Hats off to Javed Akhtar Sa'ab!). I will provide the english translation below, only for the specific lines though.

Tum chhupa na sakogi main woh raaz hoon
Tum bhoola na sakogi woh andaaz hoon
Goonjta hoon jo dil mein toh hairaan ho kyun
Main tumhaare hi dil ki toh awaaz hoon
Sun sako, toh suno, dhadkanon ki zabaan
Main yahaan hoon, yahaan hoon, yahaan hoon, yahaan

Main hi main ab tumhaare khayaalon mein hoon
Main jawaabon mein hoon, main sawaalon mein hoon
Main tumhaare har ek khwaab mein hoon basa
Main tumhaari nazar ke ujaalon mein hoon
Dekhti, ho mujhe, dekhti ho jahaan
Main yahaan hoon, yahaan hoon, yahaan hoon, yahaan

If you really read all above lines as if Sri Krishna were saying this to Arjuna, his most ardent devotee, then you would hear the ring of truth!

I am the You that you cannot hide!
I am that Spark that you cannot forget
Why do you get surprised when You hear Me in your heart?
It is Me only who is your heart's voice
Try to listen to what your heart says
I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, here

I am present in all your thoughts
I am present in your answers and also in your questions
I reside in each and every dream of yours
I am the very light of your eyes
Wherever you see, I am present
I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, here

You can read very similar lines in the 10th, 11th chapters of Bhagavad Gita from this Source.

Don't you think there is an amazing similarity? It seems all the more like a hidden message in the song itself. I am so much in love with this song since the last 2 days that I am planning to pay a visit to the Ashram (see below) this weekend.

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I had the opportunity to appreciate the Gita in such lucid language at Vishwa Shanthi Ashrama near Bangalore. One of the most amazing and peaceful places that I have visited till date. There is a very unique Bhagavad Gita Temple that is located here. In the sanctum sanctorum of the temple is the tall idol of Vishwaroopa Mahavishnu. The temple itself is constructed in a unique geometrical design. All over the walls inside are granite slabs inscribed with shlokas from Bhagavad Gita.

You can obtain more information about the temple at its website link included above. Or let me know and I can share a PDF document obtained from TOI Bangalore edition.

Trekman reports from Rajasthan.

Trekman recently went to Rajasthan. It was a memorable experience, he says! I read his trek report and I can only agree to what he says. Amazing place, amazing people, amazing experience. If not anything, check out the brilliant pics on his blog!

Wishing Trekman many more great treks in future too!

PS: This note was posted on Reflectarium as well.

Sharing a story...

Had written a short story titled "The Lift" way back in Mar 2003. A wintry afternoon with the snow billowing outside and me alone at home... a few random thoughts and something clicks. I search for a pen, I cannot find it. With a laptop, who needs a pen and a paper - I tell myself. So, I begin. Typing furiously away into a notepad file... 45 mins is all it takes. And I read the story later. And then smile. There it was.

Check it out... here

As usual, comments welcome. Please post your comments on that blog.

Bengaluru has a penchant for "punchers"...

Our city seems to have a penchant for punchers. Around 6 months back, Ferrari had made a post based on Maverick's observation about these "puncher" repair shops. A few days back as I was driving past Symphony theatre (a.k.a Shankar Nag Chitramandira) on M.G.Road, I saw this sign. Could not help remembering Ferrari's post! :-)



Next time you get a flat tyre, you may want to consider going in for a punch! :-)

Happy Birthday, Rahman.

A R Rahman. The name evokes strong memories, near and far. It brings to me the image of the person who made me take a serious note of Tamil film music. Music that crossed boundaries, languages, nations and even time. I bet there is no one who would say they do not like "Chinna Chinna Aasai" anymore. Such is the effect created by Rahman.


A R Rahman - The Enigma
Pic courtesy: Answers.com

Rahman! Someone who appealed to both the aficionados and the general populace. Someone who could compose a song like "Bombay Theme" that can well up your eyes, make you dance like a dervish to a song like "Yunhi Chala Chal Raahi", close your eyes and allow yourself to be mesmerised with songs like "Vellai Pookal", puff up your chest with patriotism while listening to "Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyaara Hai", tap your foot and begin dancing when "Humma Humma" blares on the speakers and not the last definitely, someone who can compose "Ennavale Adi Ennavale" with deep Carnatic influences.

You cannot afford to ignore him. He has seeped into the psyches of many of us. Given us songs to hum to in any mood of our life. And he continues to break new grounds. Composing for "Bombay Dreams", a Chinese movie "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" and many more accomplishments which make him the musical ambassador from India. The word "Rahmantic" was coined to give a feel of what ARR could do to you with his music. Feel Rahmantic.

Way back in late 1992, when my youngest Aunt was getting married in Mumbai, I heard the strains of something that vaguely sounded like the Garden Varelli tune. It was the song "Kaadhal Rojave". I got hooked to it. Few days later, when our family was visiting my new uncle's home in Chembur, I asked my uncle if he knew which song was it. He told me I was probably talking about the new movie "Roja". Somebody offered a Walkman and the cassette, and I spent rest of the afternoon listening to "Roja" soundtrack, walking in the garden behind their home. I do not remember how many times I heard that cassette back to back. The battery died out on me. Else, I might have continued endlessly.

Few days later, news articles appear in the papers and talk about the new MD on the block - A R Rahman. Some talked about it as if he were a flash in the pan. Some talked about it in awe and said that a new era has been brought forth in the Indian Music Industry. Soothsayers, Naysayers... I do not have to add anything more. You know what ARR is today. Period. They do not call him Madras Mozart just like that. He has ardent admirers from the West like Richard Corliss, a TIME columnist. He wrote an article on TIME which I guess is probably one of the best articles written on ARR. Do check it out, if you havent already.

13-14 years later, ARR still mesmerises me like he did the first time with Roja. Latest? RDB and Water. Water - like I mentioned before - is a puritan's treat. ARR made me a puritan. Water is the treat that he has offered to lap it up. And I comply. :-)

On this day - 6 Jan 2006, on behalf of legions of hardcore fans, I wish you a very Happy Birthday, Rahman. Thanks to you for having enriched all of our lives with your genius. You are eternal in all our hearts.

For more blog posts on ARR's 40th birthday:
1. Ferrari's blog: Isai Puyal
2. Lazygeek's blog: Happy Birthday Dude! - A R Rahman

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How does 2.6 GB (and growing) online personal archive sound to you?

I was just going through a couple of newslinks on a weekly newsletter when I happened to chance on a headline that sounded more like magic. Accessing your gmail account like it were a share drive. Now, does that mean... all that 2.6+ GB space that I have on the virtual world can be used just like an extended hard disk? U betcha!

Just when USB thumb drives (a.k.a flash drives) were getting in vogue, Gmail comes up with a HUGE virtual space that I can call my own and access it from any computer. While those flashy thumb drives have their own distinct advantage in being portable, these online drives offer a great new advantage that we IT folks always look forward to. But then, your gmail account is not going to play the stored MP3 songs and play FM radio like many thumb drives do today. :-) I cannot take my GmailDrive to the gym... but why do I care. I can use either for their unique purposes. And there lies the unique advantage offered by each of the above devices or say, options.

What is technology and internet bringing us to, finally? I cannot even imagine. I know one thing for sure. And I have been saying this before as well. Technologies, Life, Necessities, Communications... everything will move towards convergence. And there would be a time when everything that you need and do would be provided and done with a unified device. Ah! Not everything... ;-) Most of the things... Rest is left to your imagination!

Click here to read more: Using your Gmail Account as a Virtual Drive

"Christ was Love"

I know, these are times when forwarding is treated more like spamming. Everyday, each of us opens the inbox to see a clutter of emails, some genuine, most unwanted. And among those genuine emails, most would again be some odd forwards. Some hate these forwarded emails. Some just delete them, whereas some read them. Some love sharing those again with their friends and dear ones. Some just dont bother. And in between all these "some" emails, there comes an email that one cannot forget through their lifetimes. I happen to receive one such email just 2 days ago. For a long time I deliberated on how to share it. I did want to put it up on my blog here. But putting up just another forwarded email is not the intent of having a blog, right? So, after much deliberation, I decided in favour of "sharing" the story with you all.

After you read the story below, please pause for a moment and think. Think deep within yourselves... How often do we jump at the opportunity to catch someone on the wrong foot? How often do we pride doing a "gotcha" on someone? Is it not said that we do not stop to think about the person in that moment... and whatever happened to the probability that a wrong or an oversight can happen purely by chance? {*1} I learnt these from someone - Always give the benefit of doubt in favour of the other & Never laugh at the meek, for you will never know when you would be the meeker one! I try to imbibe those in my daily life. It gives me some peace and some happiness. And often - I get to learn something golden.

Like all the people learnt in the story below. "Christ was Love".
(Thanks to Vishal Augustine for sharing this great story!)

Happy reading... & Wishing you all a great 2006 to follow.

*1: Call me a dreamer and optimist. I wholeheartedly agree. Tell me I am not a realist... again, I agree. Somehow, I feel that being an optimist has made me into the person that I am today. And it was not an overnight revelation that happened. It was the result of a series of fortunate events, associations and experiences... I call them the threads in the fabric that I know as my life.

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Christwas Love

Last year, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I cut back on nonessential obligations--extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas. My son, Nicholas was in kindergarten. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production.

Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room.

Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas", I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment--songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.
Those in the front row--center stage--held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."
The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we all noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down--totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood the reason we were there; why we celebrated the holiday in the first place; why, even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: "CHRISTWAS LOVE" And He still is.

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