Pramod Online !!!

On a Comeback

2009-01-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

Its been over 3 months since my last post........thats a very very long time to have not blogged, but circumstances were such.

My trip to India was a very busy one. Just before I left, my boss asked me what I had planned for my "holiday". When I told him the plans, he said "Looks like you will be more relaxed when you are back from your holiday". Yes it was a hectic trip made worse because of my health.

It is not good to be on a holiday in India and to fall sick, get dehydrated, lose 2 kgs in half a day and get on drips to be barely able to recover in time for a very important occassion - my ENGAGEMENT.

Well, well...... Yes that is right. I was in India for my engagement. i am now engaged to my sweetheart of 3 years (actually a little more than that now) Gayathri :) For those of you who are wondering, she is the amusing_musing Gayathri, whom I first met via my blog on indiatimes :) I dont lie when I say that Blogging has given me a lot :). I will put up some pics when I find the time.

My parents were scheduled to fly to Melbourne with me. We were supposed to spend 3 days in Bangkok on our way in. Because of my health and because of the Civil war situation in Bangkok at the time, we cancelled that trip and flew straight in to Melbourne.

The last month and a bit in Melbourne have been hectic and stressful. My health has not been the best, still only recovering. My Dad fell sick and spent 10 days in hospital in Melbourne (not the best way to spend a holiday). And now that hes back home and recuperating, the Insurance company wont let me sleep, with all the documents that they want to settle the claims.

And then theres work, where my project was in Deployment phase and I was spending extra hours at work. And then theres the weather in Melbourne which has been like winter, though it is supposed to be peak summer.

Phew!!!!!! Enough of whining, i guess. I suppose, if I have found the time to blog, after all of the above, its a positive sign. I am looking fwd to more of this.

Stay tuned for more!!!!

The Home stretch for the Big 5

2008-10-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

Talk about the exit of the "Big 5" (I will add Kumble to the list) of Indian Test cricket has been the talking point for the last year. This now seems to be in the home stretch, where some definitive action can be expected. It only bodes well that there has been a change in guard not just in the BCCI Managing committee, but also with the selectors.

For starters, it is wonderful to see that the various powers of the BCCI are now professional appointments and no longer Honarary posts. This, hopefully, will bring some accountability into the running of cricket in India.

India is now faced with 2 home series, the first against Australia starting Oct 9th and followed by a series against England in December. This seems like a perfect set of series to effect a change of guard in the team as well. The Big 5 have done enough in their careers to warrant a pompous farewell and where better to have that than at home. It is time to Phase their exit from cricket and ensure that a smooth transition happens. Heres how I would do it, if I were in Krish Srikkanths shoes.

The Australia series will be the swan song for Saurav Ganguly. For a man who kick-started Indias resurgence with a wonderful 141 in Adelaide aginst the very same Australians, it would be apt that he signs off after a series against the World Champs. This wil motivate him to play a good series and go out on a high and in teh minds of the public as a champion cricketer, one which he surely is, despite the controversies.

Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid will play their last series against England. For two men who made their debuts against England in England, it will be fitting that them to sign off in style against the resurgent English team.

Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar seem to have a bit more in their tank and will help the transition be gradual and not sudden. With overseas series in Pakistan and New Zealand to follow, their experience will augur well for the youngsters in the side.

Talking about replacements, it is always difficult to fill the huge gaps that these contemporary greats will leave behind. Good news though is that the bench strength looks promising and ready to take on the reigns. Subramanium Badrinath, is the front runner in my opinion and with Akash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Mohd Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli in the wings, there is definitely good choice for the selectors. MS Dhoni has done enough to prove his effective captaincy and with 2 more series at home under the guidance of Anil Kumble will see him ready to take on the toughest job in Indian cricket. The huge boots of Anil Kumble as a bowler will be difficult to fill, but with Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha knocking on the doors, Indian spin seems in safe hands.

Sachin Tendulkar should play his last One Day series against England at home and then focus only on Tests, thereby enabling him to elongate his Test career. The ODi team is now gelling well into a good side.

Time will tell if any of this happens. In the end I mean well for all of these seniors and I think that they deserve a grand farewell and I hope the players do not leave it until too late and get dropped from the side.

Indian Sports : A Torch Relay

2008-09-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this video hosted on Youtube from a friends Orkut Profile and it took me back 10 years when I used to wait to see this video. I have already, now seen this video 3 times today. Wonderful!!!!!

It was one of my dreams as a sportsman to be part of a torch relay. It remained unfulfilled primarily because I changed school after 10th std. If I had continued, I would definitely have been the torch bearer for the school. In my new school I was not there long enough to stake claim to be the torch ot flag bearer.

Coming back to the video, i was trying to identify each sportsman and heres the ones that I have got. Correct me if I am wrong and help me name the rest :

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, the dashing opening batsman and now Chief of Selectors
PK Bannerjee, who is the Dhyan Chand of Indian Soccer.
Shiny Wilson, multiple Asian Gold medallist and represented India in a distinguished Athletics career. Was part of a Golden era of Indian womens athletics.
PT Usha, like the video rightly shows, shes the gazelle of Indian athletics and the heroine of the era I mentioned earlier.
Ramanathan Krishnan, one of Indias Tennis greats
Ramesh Krishnan, completes the father and son duo, another Tennis great
Nawab Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, flamboyant cricketer and youngest captain of India. (Id s it Soha Ali running with him?)
Kapil Dev Nikhanj, needs no introduction. Champion par excellence
Milkha Singh (from one Pa'ji to another) . Indias Best Athletics Olympian
Michael Ferreira, ace cueist
Merwyn Fernandes, former Hockey captain and Olympian
Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, first cricketer to 10K Test runs
Erapalli Prasanna, one of the Indian champion spinning quartret
Dilip Vengsarkar, distinguished cricketer, scored centuries at Lords in all of his innings there.
Srinivas Venkatraghavan, another from the famous Spinning quartret (Bedi and Chandrashekar are the missing ones)
Prakash Padukone, first Indian to win the All England Badminton Championship.

If I were to make a video like this currently, here are the people I would cast in it :

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Bhaichung Bhutia, Dhanraj Pillay, Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Abhinav Bindra, Vijendra Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Anju George, Pullela Gopichand, Vishwanathan Anand, Geet Sethi.

I have a feeling I am missing someone really special here.

With goosebumps, I sign off.

Things I have wanted to Do, and not gotten to yet!!!

2008-09-23T04:09:00.000-07:00

Theres been quite a few things that I have wanted to do for a while, but for one reason or the other, I havent gotten down to doing it with full gusto. Any reason will be an excuse, so i better not mention any. These are the things I have been wanting to do :

1. Sing and record a few of my favourite songs in Karaoke. These songs include : Kannal Pesum Penne (Mozhi), New York Nagaram (Sillunu Oru Kaadhal), Hum hai Is Pal Yahaan (Kisna), Ajab Si, Ajab Si (Om Shanti Om)

2. Make a simple website for my Mama who is a practising Hydro Geologist, to enable him to reach out and market his services.

3. Join a short course on Photography.

4. Develop a nice and simple utility software that will help in automating/simplifying some routine task. The aim of this is to learn the new and emerging technologies as well as to do something productive. Perhaps, this is the only thing on this list that I have done something about.

5. Go shopping to utilise the gift voucher that I received for my budday.

6. Take my car for a service.

I better stop here and try and get on to one of these tasks right away.......

Australian Ma(i)te!!!!

2008-09-03T04:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I "officially" became Australian. After 6+ years of living in this country, I have now been conferred Australian Citizenship. The Ceremony was simple and was presided by the Mayor of the Moreland Council, Joe Caputo. The function started off with a few words from the distinguished guests and was followed by the Pledge. We all were then invited on stage individually to be given our certificate of Citizensship and a native plant (dunno which one I got, trying to find out yet). My interpretation of being given a native plant is that the plant is a symbol of Australia and as Citizens it is our duty to nurture it and grow with it.

Once all of these formalities were done, it was time for the National Anthem. As much as I love the Australian National Anthem, I had a feeling that singing it was not going to be that special. I proved myself wrong, for when singing "Advance Australia Fair", I had a few goosebumps. Afterall, this is a country where I have spent the last 6+ years of my life. I enjoyed the feeling, knowing very much that I am Indian by heart, by soul and by whatever else. I fell bad though that my India Passport is no longer valid and I am speeding up my OCI application so that I will never have to obtain a visa to travel to India.

A couple of days ago, I was speaking to a colleague and I said "I cant wait for November", and when he asked "Why?", I replied "Because I am going home". He shot back with "Were'nt you at an Australian Citizenship ceremony not long ago?". I expected that question and replied to him "It will take more than just a ceremony to make Australia my home" :)

I am proud of the 46 Olympic medals that Australia won, but I am more proud about the 3 Olympic medals that India won :)

Talking about the Olympics, I did not have the time to blog during week 2 of the action and just for a round-up on that - it was amaing to see India come back with our biggest haul of medals ever. Sushil Kumar and Vijender Kumar deserve Kudos for their efforts. The upward trend - Bronze in Atlanta, Silver in Athens, Gold + 2 bronze in Beijing bodes well for India and we should continue with this trend. The Commonwealth Games in Delhi and London 2012 should be the next targets.

The Olympics in all was Fantabulous and it was 2 weeks of sheer BLISS in front of the TV. Watching champions like Phelps and Bolt perform on the worlds biggest stage was amazing.

I am very tempted to write more about athletics. The hurdles and the batten played villain to many a Olympic hopes. The hurdles saw favourite Lolo Jones and Suzanna Kallur fall and in the mens, Chinas golden boy Liu Xiang got injured and in the Relays US, Great Britain and Jamaica were among the horror upsets. It was great Drama in all, but none greater than the Fairy Tale that is Usain Bolt - 3 Golds in 3 WR times.

I started the Olympics as an Indian Citizen and finished it as an Australian. The olympics was the same, wasnt it? Nothings changed!!!

Prolific Phelps and Thundering Bolt!!!!!!

2008-08-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

The weekend at Beijing was defined by 2 men who are on top of their respective sports - Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.

Phelps found a way to where he is all alone, having won 8 Gold medals at the one Olympics. The 100m Butterfly finals was nail biting and defines the man Phelps - he fights to the end and never gives up and on more occasions than not, he comes out on top. Phelps turned at 50m in 7th position and the 8 Gold dream seemed distant at that stage, but he clawed his way back in his trademark style to take the Gold on the touch, from Serbian Milorad Cavic. There was only 1/100th of a second in that win. With that win, having equalled Mark Spitz 1972 record of 7 Golds, he entered the 4X100 medley relay as the butterfly swimmer and swam the crucial lap giving the Americans an unassailable lead and his 8th Gold. What a man!!!

Away from the Water Cube and inside the Birds nest, was another battle that I have been waiting for, for a few months now. The Mens 100m dash. The Semifinals were intersting too and the upset came in the 2nd SF when Tyson Gay failed to qualify for the Finals. That left just Bolt and Powell, the 2 heavyweights battling it in the Finals, or so I thought. The Finals was off to a smooth start and Usain Bolt was quick off the blocks. At half way mark, he was the clear leader. He thundered through the next 30 metres gaining a lead of almost 15m and then switched off, spread his hands and thumped his chest as he cruised to the finish line in World Record Time. It was the most fantastic and the most ridiculous race - at the same time - that I have ever seen. The man was toying with the field and had he not switched off with 20 m to go, he could well have gone 2/10th of a second faster. There was Usian Bolt and there were the rest. Theres more Thunder in store at Beijing. Micheal Johnsons 200m WR of 19.32 secs is very much under threat and there cant be a bigger stage to break that record. Usian Bolt made my weekend. Asafa Powell finished in 5th (just as in Athens). Perhaps the pressure of the Olympics finals got to him. Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tonago took Silver and Walter Dix of US took bronze.

The 4X100 relay is a mouth watering prospect, with 3 of the 4 Jamaicans featuring in the 100m Finals - Powell, Bolt and Michael Frater(who broke the 10 sec barrier for the first time in the finals).

The story for the Indians has not been as good, since Abhinav Bindras Gold. Lee and Hesh lost the Doubles QFs to Roger Federer and Stainislas Wawrinka, who went on to take Gold. I think Roger Federer was very upset that he lost the Singles and wanted to make sure he goes home with a Gold. Good on him!! As I write, Nadal is leading by a set in the Finals of the Mens tennis.

Bajranglal Thakar finished 3rd is the D category final of the Mens Sculls and was not good enough for a medal. Well done to him though. The only hope for India now is the Pugilist - Akhil Kumar in the Bantam weight boxing. He beat the reigning champion to progress. His fight is tomorrow. Two other boxers have made it to the QFs.

The Indian womens Heptatheletes disappointed with a below par performance. Pramila Ganapathy, Shobha Javur and Susmita Roy finished 28th , 30th and 33rd respectively. What disappoints me most is that the Indian athletes never put up a Personal Best (PB) at the highest level. They may not be medal hopes, but coming up with a PB at least is the way to go.

Hopefully the others can do that.

Week 2 at Beijing ........bring it on!!!!!

Beijing 2008 rolls on

2008-08-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

After the euphoria of Gold that Abhinav Bindra won, it was disappointment at Badminton when Saina Nehwal missed out after a hard fought Quarter Final. She played a wonderful first game to win it, but could not sustain that level of play for the entire match. Shes young and shes determined and I am sure she will improve in the coming months.

Watching the swimming has been a delight. On the one end we have the Legend - Michael Phelps who has won 5 golds (11 in all olympics) and still counting and on the other end we have Australias own glamour girl Stephanie Rice winning 3 Golds. And then there is Frenchman Alain Bernard and Aussie Eamon Sullivan breaking each othrs records in the span of minutes and on the other end there is also Indias young VirDhawal Khade, who competed at the Water Cube (which is a wonderful swimming facility).

It is all happening. I am disappointed by the coverage here though as it is very Australian opriented and the commentary is biased. Sure, you have to cater for local audience and show the Australians performing, but then the Olympics is the biggest stage and you want to watch all the best sporting action, irrespective of nationality. Games such as the olympics present an opportunity for sports like Fencing, Wrestling, Gymnastics, Diving to be showcased, but again, because of the coverage, theres been very little or none of these sports covered on TV. I miss watching DDs coverage, as they covered all sports pretty well.

As I write, BajrangLal Thakar must be taking to the water in his Mens Single Sculls finals. I wish him the best and hope that he comes back with a medal. Just because he does not have long hair like Dhoni, or because Saina nehwal is not as media savvy as Sania Mirza, does not mean that these 2 dont deserve coverage. I was very disappointed with the media - Times Now Tv channel announced that saNIa (not saINa) had entered eth Quarters in Badminton, and Timesofindia.com had BajrangLal s last name as Thakur instead of Thakar. So much for our news agencies love for glamour in sport too!!!!

Lee and Hesh are in the Quarters and in my opinion are a real chance at a medal. From images that I have seem, they seem to be able to put all personal animosities to rest when they are on court representing India. Heres wishing them well and hoping that they return with a medal - Gold would be best!

In the next 2 days the action in the pool builds to a crrescendo, with Phelps chasing 8 golds and the grand finale with all of the exciting Medley relays. As much as I am looking fwd to that, I am more than waiting for action to start on eth track and field. It is a mouth watering prospect - the battle for eth fastest man between Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, the sheer dominance and elegance of Blanks Vlasic (High Jump) and Yelena Isimbayeva (Pole vault), the grir and determination of teenager Pamela Jelimo in the 800m, the battle for the quarter mile between compatriots Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Meritt, the short Stefan Holm in the High jump.............and this is just a preview of whats to come!!!!

Bring it on Beijing!

Gold to India

2008-08-11T01:53:00.000-07:00

I was at work, doign a bit of work and following the olympics on the web. I was excited aboutthe swimming and then kept refreshing the page for eth shooting results. Just when the results page was coming up, a colleaugue of mine patted me to ask me something work related. I did not respond and instead said "YES, India wins Gold, the first individual Gold for us in Olympic history". I spread the joy around the office and felt the goosebumps.

The first thing I did when i got back home was log in to the CNN-IBN stream and to my luck it was playing the video of Abhinav receiving his medal followed by the entire National Anthem played in his honour. I watched the video in attention and at the end of it my eyes were moist. Truly inspiring.

Well done Abhinav!!!! You have led the way and I hope the others follow suit. If you look back 2 posts on this blog, you will read about how I hope to listen to Jana Gana Mana at Beijing. Now that I have heard it, I want more!!!! Go India!!!!

Trust Vote!!!! Or is it Distrust Vote???

2008-07-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

The motion to prove a simple majority is at boiling point, with a decision just hours away.

The motion is shaping up more as one of Distrust than of Trust. What with all the horse trading, bribing, defection from ones party to another, foes not long ago are friends now.......

The numbers game is very interesting and what could be more interesting if the parliament is split into 2 and the Vote goes to the Speaker. Now we know that the Speaker is a Communist and that adds a whole new dimension to the equation.

In the end....I want the nuclear Deal to go through!! Time will tell

Lead up to the Olympics

2008-07-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

It is the olympic year and Beijing 2008 is less than a month away. I cant wait for the mouth watering action to begin. The lead up to the Olympics has been roungh, in terms of the political issues surrounding Tibet, but I am certain that come 08-08-08 all that will be put to rest and the focus will completely shift to the sprting action with "Citius Altius Fortius" being the foundation.

There are many different events that I am looking forward to - The swimming where the duel between US and Australia is expected to be jaw dropping. While I will be backing the Aussies led by Grant Hackett and Libby Trickett (formerly Lenton), I will also be hoping for Michael Phelps to win the most Golds at Olympics.

Athletics has always excited me and the fact that I can relate a lot to it from my experience being an athlete, gives me many a goosebump moments. The IAAF Golden League is on and that is keeping me very interested. I cant wait to see the new World Record Holder and fastest man on earth - Usain Bolt, take on Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay for the 100m sprint. While Usains main focus is teh 200m dash, i hope his coach allows him to complete the 100m as well. The 3 have run races within 0.04 seconds each other in the last 1 year.

One of the biggest disappointments is tha fact that the Indian Hockey team has not qualified for eth Olympics. Apart from that, the Indian contingent in general is quite strong and there are a few medal hopes. leander Paes got a bronze in Atlanta, Major Rajyavardhan Rathore brought us a silver in Athens, can anyone go one better this time and return a Gold? That elusive Gold could, in my opinion, from from either the Shooters or from Lee and Hesh in the Tennis doubles. The other medal hopes for India, with outside chances, are : 4X400 m relay Womens team and Anju George in the Long Jump.

I will be hoping and praying to hear "Jana Gana Mana" being played in honour of an Indian Gold at Beijing. Also I will definitely be singing "Advance Australia fair" everytime Australia wins a Gold. Fair Dinkum??

Watch this space for more. I will endeavour to blog more regularly and get back to blogging the way I knew it until about 6 months ago.

Infrastructure

2008-05-14T02:15:00.000-07:00

Oflate there has been this keeness, or maybe even passion, to know more and keep track of the various infrastructure projects happening around India. I have been enjoying looking at master plans, architects impressions, project updates of various projects. It all started off with the Bengaluru International Airport - a project that I am very excited about and one that I have been following for about a year. The website is a simple yet informative website providing all the required details of the project including monthly updates on progress and pictures.

The airport is a big improvement from what is currently in use and that is enough reason to be excited about. I was proud of the fact that the project was going to schedule and was ready on schedule, but disappointed that the airport has not yet been commissioned because of some PILs. The airport is about 30 kms from the heart of Bengaluru. Although there is a National Highway that runs through from Bengaluru, it is not good enough in terms of capacity to cater to the increased passenger and freight traffic. The Government has come up with a stop gap plan of "installing" underpasses at every intersection along the highway to ease the traffic woes, but that is just insufficient. The construction of the planned train link and road expressway have not even commenced. It is indeed a problem , as no one wants to spend 2 hours to get to the airport and then take a flight that takes just as long or even lesser time. Taxis and Volvo buses have been organised but are quite expensive, especially for domestic passengers flying budget airlines. A more viable road link and a train link are a must.

The Government is to blame and so is BIAL (Bangalore Intl Airport Ltd - a PPP undertaking). The Government was caught sleeping (as always) and BIAL did not press enough to have the connectivity looked at. The various PILs make total sense but what irks me is the fact that they have come so late, infact just days before the launch of the airport. Where were these petitioners before that? Why wait to the 11th hour to take action?

A result of this delayed litigation means the launch of the airport is stalled and India is once again in World news for the wrong reasons. BIAL is enduring huge losses and I am sure will collect all of this by means of taxes from us once they are open. It is frustrating to see the existence of World Class infrastructure that is not being used. In my opinion, opening the airport and then living through the hassles for a while will ensure pressure on the Government (a new one at that) to get their act together. I cant wait to see BIAL take-off.

The other infrastructure projects that I am having a close watch on are :

Namma Metro (Bengalurus Metro network)
Delhi IGI Airport (GMR Group)
Hyderabads New Airport (GMR Group)
The Clover Interchange at Kathipara Junction, Chennai
The Peripheral Ring Road Project and NICE road in Bangalore
and a few more random Road projects.

Being a Bengalurean, infrastructure wise, I am very excited and cant wait for 2011 when I think Bangalore will be a better place to live in. With the Metro Phase 1scheduled to be rolled out by then and the Peripheral Ring road, Airport Phase 2, Hosur Road and MonoRail to be completed around then too, it is exciting times ahead. I only hope that projects are run to schedule and that teh new Political power (if any) takes keen interest to puch Bengaluru to the next level. On my last trip to India I drove on a small completed stretch of the NICE Peripheral Road and the roads were no different to the Freeways I drive on in Melbourne. That should justify the excitement.

PS : I struggled to call Bangalore as Bengaluru.

I'm Back !!!!!

2008-05-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

It is said that a Habit is very hard to wipe out coz :
if the H goes theres A BIT remaining
if the A goes theres a BIT remaining
if the B goes IT still remains.

Its the first time since I started blogging(thats about 3.5 yrs ago) that I havent posted for over a month, in other wiords have not kepy up my Habit. For starters, I have been unwell, thereby not having the motivation to do anything. I have been very busy at work and havent had the time to blog. The little time that I find at work is utilised playing Foosball / Pool / TableTennis (yes we have those facilities at work). At home, I have been trying to stay away from the computer and watch the TV instead:P:P Gordon Ramsay has me hooked twice a week with Kitchen Nightmares!!! The man has something about him, I must say!!!

Anyways, last week was a good one coz it started off quite well. We had the IT departments Day out for Team building (on Monday). We were taken to the Flemington race course(the centre of action on Melbourne Cup Day). We were split into 6 teams of 8 each and we played "Survivor", just like on the TV series. A series of team building tasks that required a combination of planning, resource planning, timing, coordination and lots of fun. It was a fun day and a learning day. It gave me teh opportunity to interact with work mates outside of work and also to get to know people with whom I havent worked with directly.

Among other things that have changed since the last time I posted, Melbourne is becoming colder by the day and it seems like a very early season of Snow in the nearby Alpines. As much as I hate cold weather, I am looking fwd to a trip up the snowy mountains sometime soon.

Its Saturday and I am going shopping now!!!!

My First Car

2008-03-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got my first Car. Its a day I have waited for, for a long time, but the was worth it. Many people prefer to get a car first and then a house, but I choise to get a house first and then a car. I am now the proud owner of a Mitsubishi Magna TL ES, 6 cylinder 3.5 L VTec complete with Power windows, mirrors and cruise & climate control. In short a wonderful car.

It is not brand new. It is a 2004 car that has done 65K kms, but the drive feels just like its new. Heres a look at my latest babe :

Just about to take her for a spin after she was officially "Mine"

Doesn't she have a sexy back ;););)

I have done 200 kms in 2 days notwithstanding the fact that the country was closed today on account of Easter. While on the freeways cruising at 100 kmph, the vehicle felt amazing - smooth, powerful and very stable. Now, I cant wait to gather a group of ppl and go on long drives. Cant wait for snow time to drive it up the snowy mountains either.

Thats one more thing ticked off my list to To-Dos!

Saala pet Jal raha hai!!

2008-03-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

NO. If you thought I am jealous about something, I am not. If you thought I am angry about something, no I am not. I am just suffering from acidity and believe me it is not pleasant. I have forgotten how Sambar and rasam taste, I havent had milk or milk products in the last month and I have been surviving on spiceless dal and palak and boiled veggies. Oh yes Water melons and apples are my staple diet.

Acidity or "Gastritis" as the doctors like to call it is not such a grave condition as to worry but it affects what we all like the most - our lifestyle. Heres a few simple things you could do to avoid getting into the troublesome loop of acidity . before I proceed, I must say that I am not a qualified dietician or doctor. While these are basic guidelines, your doctor is better placed to tell you whats right and whats not. This article is not in anyway a substitute to a doctors visit.

1. Eat less spicy food - Spicy food tends to affect the inner lining of the stomach and promotes excessive secretion of stomach acids.

2. Eat on time - Staying hungry for long intervals forces the stomach acids to be jobless and thats when they start acting smart, too smart for us.

3. Eat small and healthy portions - Eating small portions ensures that there is no pressure on the digestive system all the time. Its also keeps the digestive system in top order.

4. Eat Breakfast like a King - Breakfast is nothing but breaking the fast. We are fasting all the time we sleep and what the system needs is a good breakfast. Skipping breakfast is a very bad thing.

5. Eat Dinner early - There should be atlest 2-3 hours between dinner and going to bed. This allows the digestive system to do eth hard work before the body decides to relax.

6. Drink a glass of cold (not fridge cold) water first thing in the morning - This helps dilute all the acid in the stomach that has accumulated overnight and works asa cleanser.

While the above are general things to be aware of as preventive steps, there are many curative steps as well. I found this acidity trigger detector while doing all the research that I have done on this topic to date. It is a very nifty tool.

Goodluck with being acid free and healthy !!!!

Indian cricket in safe hands

2008-03-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

Being sick is bad enough, but being sick for over a month is worse!!!! I cant let my blog be sick for over a month atleast, so heres trying to make it better :)

It was a wonderful Sunday for Indian Cricket with India beating Australia in the first Finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series Down under and the Indian Colts (U-19) winning the World cup beating South Africa (chokers again?).

Talking about the seniors first, it was a wonderful innings from Sachin, laying quite a few doubts about his game to rest, for a while atleast. On his way to his first ever century on Australian soil, in an ODI, he went on to set the record slightly right in terms of his performances while chasing; in finals; and about staying there till the end. He not only scored the century but also took Rohit Sharma along in what was a mature innings from the youngster. The bowlers had excited early on with wickets of the brittle and out of form Aussie top order and with some miserly middle overs from the spinners, it was a wonderful effort. The wickets of Haydos and Symmo going to Bhaji was just the icing on the cake. Ahead of the second final, the worries for India are in the form and consistency of Yuvrajs batting and the injury to Ishant.

A few thousand miles to the West of the SCG, the India U-19 team were facing off against South Africa for the U-19 World Cup. The Kallang cricket ground was abuzz and the youngsters were at it. The Indians were put in to bat and failed to put up a good score, falling out well short of the 50 over mark. Tanmay Srivastava, played a decent knock, but could not carry on for long to guide the team to a better score. The bowlers came out showing intent of defending the total and the team was upbeat in their effort. With 3 early wickets after an accurate and miserly spell from Ajitesh Argal and Pradeep Sangwan, the rain came in. Play resumed and the South Africans were set a target of 116 in 25 overs, with our 2 star bowlers having almost bowled out their quotas. Ravindra Jadeja, Siddhart Kaul and Iqbal Abdulla chipped in well to restrict the Proteas. A fantastic win by the Indians, especially because they were unbeaten in the entire competition.

These results brings me to a discussion of coaches for the Senior and the Colts team. A very senior and successful coach in Dav Whatmore is coaching the U-19 team, while a relatively new coach in Gary Kirsten will be coaching the Indian team. I totally approve of the approach. Dav Whatmore in the past has worked well with young teams and the proof of that lies in how he transformed the Sri Lankan team into world beaters. He then brought Bangladesh on the World Map of cricket by guiding them to more victories than they have ever had in the past. It is this very trait that will go well with him moulding the youngsters to making them ready for International cricket at the highest level. Another advantage is that as coach of the U-19 team, he will be that much away from the media glare and the politics that are so much part of Indian senior cricket. To improve the cricketing ability of a nation, you have to catch the talent young and thats where I think Dav Whatmore has been perfectly slotted.

The coach of the senior team is more a facilitator and I think the vast experience that Gary Kirsten has as a player and the experience of having played under a revolutionary coach in Bob Woolmer will hold him in good stead in his new role. Being a contemporary of quite a few of the Indian players will help as well.

I dont want to jump the gun, but it would not be out of place to say that the future of Indian cricket is in safe hands.

Sumant in Melbourne

2008-02-10T21:17:00.000-08:00

Actually, its more than a month since I got back from India and the India tales are a bit old and theres a lot more happening otherwise too. I just havent had the motivation to blog frequently enough to catch up on the events that I hadnt blogged about. So heres a jump, skipping the rest of the Indian tales.

Sumant, my classmate and good friend, was in Melbourne for 2 weeks on a holiday and was staying with me. We guys had a ball of a time. At the top of the agenda was the Australian Open and the Cricket. Sumant is a bigger sports fan than me and that made the agenda a great one. With tickets booked for the Quarterfinals of the Aus open the other sessions were only on an interest basis. We were lucky to have Sania and Mahesh play in the Mixed doubles after 6 pm which meant that i could get there from work. Sumant and myself were at the Margaret Court Arena with very few others in the stadium. We were sitting in the front row and cheering loudly for Sania and Hesh. We were waving the Indian tri colour and cheering them along to a win. The 2 acknowledged our cheering at various times and when the match was over Sania came over to where we were and autographed our caps.

It was a wonderful experience. Sania - i must say - is gorgeous. Shes pretty for sure, but its the way she carries herself around that gives her the X factor. Sumant and I were bowled over:) Rohan Bopanna and Rajeev Ram (US indian), who paired up in the doubles, were present there and we went to them, introduced ourselves and took pics with them too. At the end of the match we met some Aussie fans who were supporting Mahesh and said Hello to them. They supported Mahesh coz they were supporters of Mark KNowles(Maheshs partner in doubles).

A day later, we were at the Rod Laver Arena watching FedEx and James Blake in the QF. The stadium was full. It was a typical Federer match where he finished Blake off in straight sets with the precision tennis that he is known for. The next match on centre court was Bhupathi and Knowles vs the Bryan brothers. The stands were emptying and we spotted those Aussie fans in the crowd on the other side of the court and we went over to sit with them. We were just behind the family box of the Bryan brothers. What followed will be a memory for life. We were chanting slogans and cheering Hesh and Knowles on and waving flags - all this together - 6 of those guys and the 2 of us. We were on TV about 4 times (and spotted by friends in india too , who emailed us later) and we were noisy all through. Sania was in Maheshs family box and when she was shown on the big screen, i shouted in the silence of the centre court "Hi Sania". With slogans and one-liners and cheering and jeering, it was great fun. Mahesh and Knowles upset the top seeds and went through to the Finals. Sumant and I returned home satisfied that we had a great time.

The 20-20 match at the MCG was a great atmosphere, but the result was very disappointing. We also went on a road trip to the Great Ocean road where I drove a record 600 kms in a day and was exhausted by the end of it. It was fun nonetheless. Among the other activities, Sumant and I played tennis at the Aus Open practice courts and played a couple of sessions of cricket in the nets with other friends. The usual touristy things were of course on the agenda too. In all it was a wonderful 2 weeks. Now I am bored!!!! Sumant, when are u coming next?????

Pics and videos later!!!! perhaps some on orkut too.

India Visit Nov-Dec 2007 : Part 3 - Puttu Times

2008-02-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

Today is my Puttu Darlings 2nd Budday. Happy budday Puttu Raani.

I still remember this day 2 years ago, when I got a call from my brother that he has become a father. I heard Puttu cry and I had tears welling up my eyes. 2 years have gone by really fast and Puttu is no longer as Puttu as she was then:) I guess its a perfect time to write Part 3 of the series - Puttu times on my trip to India.

Puttu was jetlagged from her flight and hence did not come to receive me at the airport. She was asleep when I reached home and I was looking at her quietly. When she woke up a little later she was cranky as she hadnt had her full sleep and that set the tone for the next 2 days. She would look at me and know who I am, but would refuse to come to me or call me "Kaka". The moment I walk out of the room or away from her view she would have absolutely no problems calling me Kaka and telling everyone that I am her Kaka. I was yearning for her to call me kaka in my presence and I knew I had to be patient.

As she got a bit more comfortable with me, she would sit with me and go through photos and answer my questions. I would ask her whos who on the pics and she would correctly say everyone except Kaka. When I point to a pic of mine and ask who it was, she would turn the page or point at someone else and say something else:) As much as I was yearning to her her say Kaka, her shyness came across as a very cute and smart game :)

A coupla of days later, she opened up and called me Kaka and I was over the moon. And ever since she would always want me to be by her side. The moment i walk away from her sight, she would shout for me and order me with her tender index finger to come near her :) Awwwww!!!!!! and how she shouted is "kaka...Kaa Kaa.....KAAA KAAAA" and I had better responded by then :D:D:D

The few days with Puttu were spent listening to all her babbles, her enactions of numerous rhymes (Hindi , Engklish, Tamil and Marathi), playing with her, clicking hundreds of pics of her and running around the house with her.

At Thirupathi, came the Mottai episode. Since her Mama was unable to make the trip, I as her Kaka had to sit her in my lap while her head was tonsured. The way Puttu got scared and cried made me decide that it was an act of TORTURE and not TONSURE. I wondered why there existed such a ritual and even started to question the ritual. It affected me a lot. In the end, Puttu with her Mottai Thalai was as cute as ever and I even taught her to say "Me Me" when I asked who "Mottai boss" was.

With the numerous functions that were there Puttu was dressed in Pattu Paavadais (silk dresses) each time and she looked so cute walking around in them. She had her first experience with Indian Railways in a Shatabdi train and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Saying goodbye to her was obviously very difficult and it was amazing to see how she too knew that she was parting. You could feel it. She would give u a kiss readily, while at most times u wud have to ask her a few times....she wud come to us and hug us etc etc.

For now, its phone calls, fotos and videos of Puttu that keep me going.

Once again, Happy Budday Puttu Kutty >:D< I miss being there.

India Visit Nov-Dec 2007 : Part 2 - The Functions

2008-01-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

Ah!!! is my interest in blogging waning?? or is it just that I have had plenty of other things to do?? I think its the latter. Playing cricket and watching Ind battle Aus have taken up a lot of my time and more than that its the lap dance that I have been enjoying with my new Laptop. You beauty!!!! Its a Dell XPS M 1530 and its my first laptop.

Getting back to the series on my holiday, this one is about the Functions - both occassions and religious, that were part of my trip. It all starts off with a Satyanaraya Pooja at home. The pooja started barely 16 hours after I reached home (of course after the delay) and I was up that morning very early because of the jetlag. With lots of relatives arriving that day for the string of functions, it was a busy day. The excitement of being home and seeing all my relatives was good enough to overcome the jetlag and the lack of sleep.

The pooja went on very well and there started my tryst with full meals on banana leaves. Yum Yum!!!! 3 days later it was a couple of functions. Aayush Homam for my Dear Puttu Darling and the Kanakabhishekam of my maternal Grandpa. It was a wonderful day and Puttu darling in her cute 'Pattu paavadai'was the heroine of the day. The heroes of the day were my thatha (grandpa) and his great grand son (Pranav). The age difference was a staggering 93 years between the heroes. The occasion was one of joy for my Grandpa(and all of us) as he had all of his children and their spouses, most of his grandchildren and most of his great grand children. It was a wonderful feeling. For the uninitiated, Kanakabhishekam was performed to commemorate the fact that my Grandpas eldest son(my mama)'s eldest son(my cousin)'s eldest son(Pranav) was born :) A rare happening!!!!

The next day was the Shashti poorthi of my parents - celebrated on or after the 60th birthday of the husband. The Vedas describe 120 as the life span of a man and at 60, he ishalf way through life. At this stage, there apparently is a loss on interest in life and the purpose of the Shashti Poorthi is to tie the knot again in eth midst of children (who are in their youth) and rejuvenate life in general and married life in particular. A proud moment for us to get my parents "remarried". Again, this happened in the presence of the entire family and with some black and white photos as proof of the day, it was a complete affair. The Western culture of rewriting marriage vows when the husband gets to 60, is a similar ceremony.

After this there were 2 more Satyanaraya Poojas, one at my uncles place and one at a family friends place. I was part of both of them.

Now to the next function - this was my friends wedding in Chennai. I travelled to Chennai to see my friend from school (who is now in sydney) get married to his girlfriend of many years from Canberra. It was an Iyer-Punjabi wedding and the unique mix provided a lot of entertainment. Firstly it gave me the opportunity to meet with friends and see many more classmates who visited and then there was the wedding.

The Sangeet function which we turned into an Antakshari and Dance function was a whole lot of fun with a contrasting mix of 'Dappan koothu' songs & hindi songs & bhangra moves and pelvic thrusts :D:D:D I am yet to see the video. i will reserve my comments until i do see it. But i enjoyed the evening. After missing the wedding of many of my friends (all gals to date) it was good to be part of the wedding of this friend (the first guy to fall prey).

Phew!!! wasnt that a power packed set of functions that I was part of on my trip?? At first 5 weeks looked like a long holiday, but with all this going on, it started to look very short indeed.

In the next part I will write about the time I spent with Puttu kutty, my adorable niece :)

India Visit Nov-Dec 2007 : Part 1 - The Journey

2008-01-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

With a visit to me real Home, my online home lay orphaned for about 6 weeks. I must say that I am glad to be back taking care of my online home, but at the same time I miss, very badly, my real home.

My 5 week holiday was the longest I have had in about 4 years. This holiday, like most, was filled with family functions, visiting relatives and friends, travelling in India, shopping, a bit of relaxing, a lot of pampering and more. In the next few posts on this blog, I propose to relive the moments from my trip with the twin aim of sharing it with you and creating a holiday-log of sorts. In this post I will focus on the flight in and the journey.

Flights to India always seem longer than they actually are. Especially because I am ever so restless to get home. This time the feeling was no different, and thanks to Malaysian Airlines, they also made the journey longer than expected. I landed in KL only to realise that my ongoing flight was not displayed on any of the information monitors. I smelt a problem. I walked up to the Transit counter and my suspicions were confirmed when the counter officer handed me a few dinner coupons and told me that my flight was delayed by 12 hours. WHAT!!!!!!!! I bumped into 2 other passengers who had the same exclamation on their face. Being in the company of someone is not a bad idea, especially when in a sitaution like this. The 2 men turned out to be great company.

After dinner and after going through immigration, we assembled at a particular spot, as advised. A whole lot of confusion ensued and at last we were on a coach to a Hotel. The KL Intl Airport is about 70 kms from the city and we figured that the ride to the Hotel would be a long one. It turned out to be an hours drive even though it was close to midnight. We had to contend with long queues at the Hotel and being at the end of it, we were requested to share rooms. There was a unanimous outcry and the Hotel staff succumbed and started handing out deluxe suites to individuals. I was one of the lucky ones to get a Deluxe suite. It was a plush suite, but Hell I would have preferred reaching Home on time for "MY Bed" is a million times better than any other in the world.

It was 1am when I tucked myself into bed and managed to get some sleep - disturbed though. I was woken up at 3:30 AM by a phone ring. I picked and I heard a recorded message that said "This is your courtesy call". Strange!!! I had not asked for any courtesy from anyone. Infact all I wanted was to get home to Bangalore ASAP. I went back to sleep assuming it was an alarm set by the previous occupant of the suite. A few mins later, I decided not to take any chances and called Reception to find out what it was about. Thankfully I did. I was informed that it was a call to tell me that I should be ready to leave for the airport at 4:30 AM. Well - "Courtesy call" = "Be ready at 4:30" did not make any sense, But I am glad I called them to find out. I went down to hand in the keys and Check-out when I was handed a bill for the one phone call I had made to inform my folks about the delay. I told them to bill it to malaysian Airlines when the counter officer told me that I was allowed calls worth 6 Ringgits and anything above that I would have to bear. Ah well no point fighting over a few ringgits, even if 5 Star calling rates means that with 6 Ringets I hardly get to say HELLO.

We had an early brekkie and then were driven to the airport. My 2 new friends were again great company as we were talking about a lot of things. They were both Indians returning from Japan and we had extended discussions about cultural differences between India, Australia and Japan. At the airport there was a further delay of an hour before we actually took off. The plane soon was circling over Bangalore waiting for a landing clearance and the sight of Utility building told me that I was indeed home. Immigration was slow and the baggage handling "forces" had offloaded my baggage from the carousel even before I got there. Obliviious to the fact, I waited and waited and waited and waited. After a good 30 mins, a Malaysian airlines official announced that all bags from the KL flight have been offloaded. Phew!!! luckily my bags were not lost in transit. UC I was in India and I had started seeing the positive side of everything :D:D:D:D

Reaching India was more a sense of Relief, than anything else, after spending over a day in travel.

Keep tabs on this space for more on my holiday!!!!!!

My first real cricket match

2007-11-12T17:53:00.001-08:00

A weekend full of cricket - that was what the weekend gone by was, for me atleast.

For a cricket buff like me, not having played much with a cricket ball is surprising, but its never too late. Our weekend group of friends who started off playing with a tennis ball decided to get serious and got ourselves Kits a month ago and formed a team. We started practising in the nets and organised a match against another team of Desis from another suburb. Sunday 11th Nov was the D -Day.

On Saturday 10th Nov, most members of the team met for our last team practise and also for the team meeting deciding on batting order, bowlers and strategy among other things. I was enjoying it. Playing competitive sport is a level above playing it socially. Bring it On!!!!

After a tiring session and a long nite out with friends, I woke up on D-Day, very fresh. I wondered - How come I dont wake up fresh on the days I have to get to work, but am up and running at 7am on a Sunday when i have a cricket match to play? Easy answer aye!!!!

The team assembled on time and we had an hours drive to reach the venue. We reached there 30 mins before time and warmed up and assessed the ground and fine tuned eth strategy. Once the match started, it was all bliss. The feeling of playing competitive cricket was amazing. The cheering, the sledging, the shouting, the motivating, the strategising and teh occasional misunderstanding as well. It was all good.

Our new ball bowlers did well and took a wicket early on. We had a couple of catches dropped and then lost our way. 17 overs into the game the opponents were 156/1 and we were out of the match by then. A wicket at this stage got us pumped up and we assembled in a huddle, pumping ourselves up and from then on there was no looking back. We rstricted them to 189/7 in 25 overs, a fantastic last 8 overs.

For me, it was the first ever time I was bowling in a martch with a cricket ball and I was swinging the ball in and troubled the batsmen a lot. I was impressed with myself. Lady luck was not on my side though as ball after ball missed teh stumps or the edge of the bat by a whisker and I had a couple of LBWs turned down as well. BUt 5 inexpensive overs on the trot in 30 degrees with only 1 boundary off my bowling was a job well done. I eneded up with figures of 5-0-29-0, quite a few of those runs gone in byes.

Chasing 190 off 25 overs was never going to be easy. The sun was beating at us and as planned, I was to open the batting entrusted with the role of holding one end up and playing sheath anchor. My opening partner was an explosive batsman. It felt like Sehwag-Chopra walking out at the MCG chasing a huge target.

Again, it was my first time opening the batting while playing with a cricket ball and I was a little iffy. My glasses were another factor of worry. But with all the gear in place, I started off rather well. Taking singles and giving the strike to my explosive partner who played hispart to perfection. What happened was just massacre. My partner snmashed eth bowlers to all parts of the ground, while I took singles and the occasional edge for 4 to keep the score ticking. He was on 98 when I said to him "Arey Sachin jaisa 90's main out mat ho" and true enough he holed out next ball. By now we had won the game - almost.

During that opening partnership, i sprained my calf muscle and was atrting to cramp as well. We avoided a lot of singles and too singles when there might have been a tight double. That shows how much ahead of the run rate we were. In came our number 3 batsman and while he took time to settle in, I started to beocme the aggressor and opened up with a cover drive, a square cut, a late cut and a pull each for four. We reached our target in 19.2 overs with over 5 overs to spare and I finished with 41* of an even number of deliveries.

It was a fantastic win. We enjoyed the feeling. To top it all off, the wife of one of our teammates had made lunch for the entire team. WOW!!!!! We had Tomato rice and Pudina rice with raita and chips, Vermicelli Kheer and a banana with sprite to quench our thirst. Wonderful after 4 hours on the field.

We all got home and I then watched India beat Pakistan at Kanpur. That capped off a cricketing weekend for me. Ever since that match I am dreaming about playing more competitive sport. I cant wait for my next opportunity.

Lost an hours sleep

2007-10-29T01:22:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been jet lagged even without taking a flight or changing time zones? I have and today is one of those days. The Daylight Savings started yesterday and that meant that I lost an hours sleep. I woke up at what would have been 10 am, only to realise that it was the last Sunday of Oct and so it was 11 am. Gosh!!! Whatta start to the day.

Well thats not all, I went to bed at 11pm (what would have actually been 10 am) and since thats early I struggled to catch sleep. This morning I woke up at 7 am (what would have been 6 am) and bloody hell, it was hard!!!!!! I was Jetlagged!!!!! I am guessing I will be for a couple of days more.

The best thing about all this is that it is bright until about 8 and I can get back home and still have an hour of backyard cricket :) and cook while its still bright outside :) Ah well its just an hours sleep gone!!! thats ok!!!!!

I was at an auction!!!!!

2007-10-25T00:09:00.001-07:00

My friends, a couple, are looking to buy a house and in one of their pursuits last Sunday I accompanied them to get a first hand experience of how an auction happens.

To get a realistic feeling, I role played wanting to buy teh house and looked around the house to see how I will settle in there, see where my computer would go, where my bed would go, how convenient eth kitchen was etc. I then calculated, based on location, size and the market price, what I thought would be a good price for the house. I arrived at 300 K. The reserve price, apparently, was 270K. Not bad aye!!!

The auction started and the authorised agent was so animated in his explanation of the process and in giving the details of the house. The look on each of the bidders/onlookers faces was interesting to note. Some people seemed to have decided not to bid, other felt it is worth a try while some really wanted the house.

When bidding opened, for a good 2 minutes there were no bids and that had be surprised. From one corner came a voice from a lady who offered the reserve price at 270K. From that time it was bidding bidding and only bidding. The price was going up by 25K each bid and then by 10K each bid. The price had reached the 320K mark when one person bidded for the first time. THe bid reached 350K and then became a 2-way fight. With 10K jumps becoming 5K and then 2K and then 1K and 500$, the agent was really marketing the property a lot. By this time it was clear that both parties really wanted the property and the stakes went on increasing.

It reached 376.5K when the agent went 1st call, 2nd call and SOLD! Phew!!! It was hugs in the contingent that won the bid and the guy was a young bloke, am sure buying his first home. A proud moment for him.

It was an amazing experience and to see the price go from a reserve of 270K to 386.5K shows what the Melbourne Real estate scene is like!!!!!

As for me, i was not too sure if I could buy a house on auction as its a momentary decision and I like to take time on big decisions, esp when its a huge investment. Perhaps a private sale is best suited for me. Anyways, I will cross the bridge when I get to it.

A Word and an Experience - "Fighting"

2007-10-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time since I added to my “A word and an experience” series (from my indiatimes blogs). This time it is about “Fighting” - about fights in public. Last Sunday I was on a tram with my housemate and all seemed normal and slow just like every Sunday is. And out of the blue came 4 guys (in their teens) into the tram and started beating the daylights out of another guy (also in his teens) who was already inside the tram. They seemed to have vengeance written all over their faces. From the looks of the guy, he was an innocent and chubby bloke, but from the yelling it was quite clear that he had done something really wrong. The tram was on the move and none of us co-passengers intervened, in what I thought was but natural, given the aggressive nature of the fight. The tram driver was alerted and he came up and opened the door for the 4 guys to jump off the tram.

The guy who got beaten had a swollen eyebrow and a few bruises here and there. It was a shaking experience. My housemate and I debated if our actions were right in not intervening. We concluded that we had no clue why they were fighting and obviously there was some reason for them to fight. Given that we neither had an idea as to why they were fighting nor we had the authority or the relationship to try and forge a truce between them, our action in not intervening was right and justified. Had we intervened, we could have ended up with a few bruises as well.

The quartret were yelling that he had done something really bad but did not say what he had done. I suppose its not like he had a gun, coz if he did it would be affecting us as co passengers and then perhaps they could have warned us, but obviously it was not something like that and it was a personal fight.

On our way back, my housemate and I were on the lookout to see if those guys were anywhere in the vicinity.

Luckily it did not end up like “Khaya Peeya kuch nahin, glass thoda barah aana”.

A week of bliss

2007-10-15T03:17:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on 13th October

The last week has been a week off for me, in Melbourne. I week where I had no commitments, no plans whatsoever and I took each day as it came, and did exactly what I wanted to do and when I wanted to. Its been a refreshing week.

a couple of days ago, I wanted to do something constructive and I decided to weed out useless stuff from home that included clothes and paper/documents. While doing this, I had to take eth suitcases from atop the cupboards and I went through many a nostalgic moments. The old clothes reminded me of times wearing them and some pics where I was wearing them. It also took me back to ethdays when I was packing to come to Melbourne. The documents had hand written letters, my visa application copies, my college notes etc. I also found a diary which I used to keep track of my expenses here in Melbourne as a student. I lived on a shoestring budget of 650$ month. The enteries on that included some very interesting ones that took me back down memory lane. Some samples are :

Hungry Jacks burger - 3.15$
Tennis ball for cricket (10 / 4) - 2.5$
Donut - 1.10$
Tram ticket - 83.2$
Chewing Gum - 0.70c

Ah God!!! it brought me to tears!!! Those are the days that I am proud of. It taught me to live within my means, to prioritise things, and to set myself realistic expectations. It taught me to sacrifice things and also not to regret having to sacrifice. It was a wonderful learning experience.

The other days in this holiday were spent, watching India play Australia, playing cricket at home with my housemate, visiting friends for dinner and inviting them over for dinner on other days and also waking up late and watching atleast 2 movies a day. Its Saturday and I am looking forward to the Cricket ball cricket after along time and then dinner with friends.

Oh and I did not mention that this break is between jobs, so its an exciting time. Tomorrow is reserved to get focussed on the new job and also to watch India play the Aussies at Nagpur!!

Global Warming - Go for Green

2007-10-03T23:05:00.000-07:00

Global Warming seems to be THE buzz phrase of late. It has grown in its importance to such a level that perhaps the elections in Australia and the US will be won or lost based on the buzz phrase - or so it is made out to be.

I am no expert on the matter and to be frank I havent done much research into the topic either, but from common sense and what I read in bits, Global Warming is definitely a concern, if not for us, for the generations that follow us. I have myself experienced climatic changes that scientists have attributed to Global Warming. While it is good that the issue is being raked up, awareness being created and something being done about it - are those things that are being done, the right things to do? Are they having the right effect?

The initiatives that I have seen include, recycling programs for non-biodegradable but recyclable waste, rebates and sops to organisations commiting to limited emissions of Green House gases, rebates to customers for choosing green power to power their homes etc. Employers and organisations are doing their bits to contribute to the effort by reducing the use to paper, reducing business travel , minimising the use of electricity etc. Airlines are contributing a portion of the ticket money or frequent flyer points towards Reforestation plans in order to offset the Green house gases as a result of that travel.

These initiatives are fantastic and are trying to address the issue at hand head-on. But is there a fallout of all or some of these initiatives that results in things that negate the effort? I think in some cases, Yes! A recent survey revealed that people like to use the extra savings that they earn from electricity providers and the like to buy new Plasma Tvs or LCD TVs. Now thats not just negating the effect but compounding the problem. It is a proven fact now that Plasma TVs use up more power and hence result in higher green house gases than normal CRT TVs. So what is the point in signing up for the Green power project, saving some money on that and buying a Plasma TV?

The above is just one example of such initiatives back firing, and there are bound to be such instances, but what I think is that the World should join hands to try and come up with better and more viable initiatives that will help reduce the Green house effect and the Global Warming. Imposing and enforcing vehicle emission standards is one great foolproof initiative. Sops to people who use Green means is one way of providing benefit, but a more effective means would be to tax those who are not prepared to use Green means.

Feel free to comment in with your ideas.

Addictions

2007-10-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

My 2 latest addictions :

Wikipedia'ing
I get on to Wiki in order to look up something and from eth associated links to more links to more associated links, I keep reading up stuff and I dont realise teh amount of time I have spent on the site. The good thing about this is that I am learning a lot along the way.

YouTube'ing
I get on You Tube to look up some moment and then from related videos to featured videos to more related videos to more related videos, I keep going. The best part about this is it is entertaining and sometimes also inspiring.

Kooo Chuk chuk chuk!!!

2007-09-29T23:34:00.000-07:00

My Dad happened to be travelling and when I called him he was just arriving at his destination.

The background sound that I heard on the phone is something that has left me yearning. The sound of the train entering the platform - thak thak, thuk thuk thuk thuk ........thak...thak......thuk..thuk..thuk ...thuk.............thak............thak..............thuk ...........thuk...........thuk....................thuk...............keeeeeeeegn !!!!!!! was awesome. The sound of the horn of a shunting engine in the background going “Phoooommmmmm”, the sound of the porters trying to ask if someone needs a hand, the excitement of the traveller looking out of the window to spot the ones that have come to receive them........the announcements at the station going “Tin Ting Tiiiingg” ........ WOW!!!!!! Its been over a year since I have been on the Indian Railways and on my next vacation to India a trip or two on trains is a guaranteed thing on the agenda.

With time being scarce on my short holidays and with airlines providing an affordable and viable alternative(and ofcourse Kingfisher airlines having Hot airhostesses), I have travelled less on trains in the last coupla years. I hope to make up for that this time round!!!!. The Tomato soup and the Omlette sandwich from the pantry, the Frooti and the ice cream which is more like kheer :P:P are novelties on the network. Looking out of the window and at the engine when the train takes a curve, standing at the door and have the breeze hit u on your face when thetrain is thundering through to the next station, the awesome sleep on the upper berth......... are all worth doing a thousand times. Oh yes i forgot about the Tinkle Digest and the Sportstar that I buy at the Higginbothams outlet.

1 month and 24 days to go!!!!!!!!!

T20 format - a critical Analysis

2007-09-23T19:33:00.001-07:00

With India playing Pakistan for top honours at the Twenty20 World Cup finals in a few hours, this post does risk being criticised, but in the end it is just a matter of opinion and one that I can back with facts.

When it comes to cricket I have always been a purist - in the way I have played and in the way I have followed the game. I must admit that the Twenty20 cricket World Cup has me in a confused state. A format that will never get a purists nod, it is tremendously entertaining to watch. I am torn between being a spectator watching cricket for entertainment and a cricket analyst, trying to analyse where the game is going.

Twenty20 cricket, with its short game time, the ever changing balance of the game and the huge sixers - is very good entertainment, but the effect it will have on international cricket, in my opinion, will not be good for the game, like it known from a century ago.

Cricket coaching manuals will be rewritten when T20 cricket gets popular (are they already being rewritten). I remember being taught the basics of cricket - Place your feet close to your bat, hold the bat with a lose bottom hand and play along the ground. These basics no longer hold true in T20 cricket. The front foot comes out to the legside creating width and the bottom hand is the most prominet hand, and the ball is played more in the air than it is on the ground. Some shots are even quite similar to those seen in a Federer vs Nadal match. The crowd needs catching practise and they also need helmets.

Spinners are a rare breed anyway and T20 goes one more step and makes them near extinct. New Zealand is the only team that has played 2 specialist spinners in Vettori and Jeetan Patel, India played one in Harbhajan, while Australia, South Africa, West Indies, and even Sri Lanka played without a specialist spinner. Even the spinners who did play - Vettori, Harbhajan, Jeetan patel, Afridi were all bowling flat and even bowled a fair few yorkers. The Prasannas and Bedis will be disappointed to see the demise of flight, which is the essence of spin bowling, in this version of the game.

The most elegant of shots and the ones that got the cheers from the crowds used to be the classic cover drives, the on drives, the late cuts and the flicks and glances. But with this version, the slog over Cow-Corner, the reverse sweep, the top edge over the wicketkeeper and the hoick into no mans land is what is attracting not only the cheers from the crowds, but also the dance moves from the cheerleaders and the music from the DJs. "Pacing an innings" is another phrase that will lose its importance.

As this version of the game gets more popular, it is natural for cricketers to want to play this vesion more than the others and it is in this that ODI and Test cricket stand to lose. You will see young players trying to emulate yuvrajs murderous slogs over Cow-Corner rather than getting the basics right. The influence of T20 cricket will rub into the older forms of the game and I expect to see that straight after this World Cup is over.

With the governing body showing a clear intent to put its mouth where the money is, T20 cricket is definitely the way forward and I cant see how this will not impact mainstream cricket - Tests and ODIs.

All said and done, Its the finals of eth World Cup and what better than an India vs Pakistan clash. I am going to wear my "spectator" hat and enjoy the spectacle. may the best team (read India) win!!!!!

TGIF

2007-09-21T00:09:00.001-07:00

Its Friday evening and its time to unwind, relax, destress and enjoy!!!!!! Anyone joining me???

And for those who know, its 2 months and 2 days to go !!!! :D:D:D:D:D

External factors

2007-09-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

The last 8 months have been like a roller coaster ride. There have been things that went well and there were things that could have been better, but what hurt the most are the things that did not go my way. The frustrating part of this whole ride is that the things that did not go my way were all environmental or extrernal factors, none of which I had control over. It brings about a feeling of helplessness.

I have never been a fan of roller coaster rides at the theme parks. I am looking forward for this ride to end so that I can get on my feet and walk my way past things at my own pace and with myself in full control. When on my own feet, I can atleast step up my effort if the environment conspires against me.

Shakespeare said : "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances...” - looks like the Director of the play is unhappy with me!!!!!

T20 World Cup

2007-09-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

The T20 World Cup is only a few hours away and India is one of the 2 teams(England being the other) that is going into the tournament without any warm up matches.

The format is very new to Indians as we have played only the solitary T20 match in South Africa earlier this year. The Domestic season in T20 is only a year old as well. In short India are not experienced in this format. Add to that the fact that the team is full of youngsters, and we have a very inexperienced contingent. This could be a plus for India as they are underdogs.

I am looking forward to this slam-wham-bang format. India plays Scotland on Thursday and then Pakistan on Friday.

The aim of this blog to is to guess the starting line up that India will go in with. Looking at the squad, there are very few places that are sealed. Lemme try and take a punt on a starting 11.

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Yuvraj Singh
4. Robin Uthappa
5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
6. Dinesh Kartik
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Yusuf Pathan
9. Harbhajan Singh
10.Santhakumaran Sreesanth
11.Rudra Pratap Singh

Considerations :

Sehwag and Gambhir will provide the Right-Left combination at the top of the order, with that hope that Sehwag can give us explosive starts.
Yuvraj is the best batsman on eth squad and has to come in at #2
Uthappa slots himself into #4 as a dynamic batsman
Dhoni will play at #5 as a specialist batsman, as he has the added responsibility of captaining the side. With the captain obligated to speak to the commentators live, keeping will be a burden on him.
Kartik, an improviser, will slot himself in at #6 and will wear the gloves. He is not only a better 'keeper than Dhoni , but will also take the load off Dhoni.
Irfan Pathan will be the genuine allrounder and I do hope he lives upto the expectations.
Yusuf Pathan is talked off highly in this format and hence will earn his chance against a lesser team in Scotland. If he can bowl as well as he is required to, he can keep this place, otherwise it will go to Piyush Chawla, another leggie.
Harbhajan, Sreesanth and RP Singh form the specialist bowlers.
Yuvraj and Sehwag will chip in with eth ball as and when required.
I dont know how and why Agarkar is even in the squad!!!!!!
The 2 Sharmas, Joginder and Rohit will sit out!!!

If India, in each match, can score as many or close to 200 in each match, we will do well!!!!

Spring time Love

2007-09-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

When winter is in, spring is not far behind.

When spring is in................?????????

Nope, its not the summer, but its the SNEEZING that is not far behind!!!!!

Its the mating season for seeding plants and they are spreading their love in the air (tichoo). Come September and my engine starts and once it starts it keeps going on.......(tichoo) forever.
It only gets worse when I play cricket. being in close contact to the grass and the dust (tichoo.....) and breeze on an open field just add to the troubles.

Remedy : A TelFast gulped down the throat and a couple of snorts of Beconase and that provides some (tichoo) relief.

A month when the sun starts to come out, the temperature starts to rise and the days start to lengthen - and with all these good things around, here I am sneezing!!!!!!!

Google Searches

2007-09-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the history on google searches on my PC and found it an interesting tool to think back about what prompted me to make a particular search and about teh incidents that happened at that time. The list can also prompt us to learn something new using keywords found in them. Here is a list of google searches I have made in the last few weeks.

kanakabhishekam
birthday gift ideas
lola kutty
supriya pathak
australia public holidays
times uk
gphone
MS Swaminathan
Peas pulao recipe
Oru Maalai lyrics
Andrea Jeremiah
DK Pattamal wiki
Jiya dhadak dhadak
women going to temple during menstruation
IE 7 download
The Ghan
Mangalam Disha tuno
Sony India
Gujjus Malvern Melbourne
molakootal recipe
opals melbourne
C section incision
Gayatri mantra women reciting
o2 plus download
jurkat transfections
indoor cricket melbourne
Subhash K Jha
LCD refresh rates
mozhi lyrics
boeing dreamliner
copa america
cafe latte cappuchino difference
TiSP

World Athletics Championships - Osaka

2007-09-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

Originally posted on 29th August

Its the championships of the worlds most virgin sport - Athletics!!!! Osaka, Japan is playing host.

I am loving it!!! But I am missing the action on TV as I dont have one at the moment!!!!!
The Indian hopes are all but over in this edition with Anju George ending up in 9th place in the Womens Long Jump with a below par jump of 6.53m. The Championships have thrown up a few surprises with World Record holder Asafa Powell (Jamaica) finishing 3rd in the 100m sprint. Tyson Gay of the US grabbed gold is what was a fantastic run from him. He is well and truly in line for the double as he competes tonight in the 200m SF. The gait of this man reminds me of a legend, one whom I idolised - Michael Johnson. Usian Bolt of Jamaica, has put in some great runs in the 200 m and hes one to watch out for!!

Russia swept thru the Long Jump Womens honours with Lebedeva winning Gold. Shes in line for an unprecedented Double when the Womens Triple Jump comes up in a couple of days.
Jeremy Wariner of the US has come close to Michael Johnsons quarter mile record. It would be interesting to see if he can break it. Aussie John Steffensen is favourite to end up on the podium. Among other Australians Kym Howe disappointed in the Pole Vault and so did Bronwym Thompson in the Long Jump. The good thing though is that Jana Rawlinson (previously Pittman) is running well in the 400m hurdles and Craig Mottram has an outside chance for Gold and a definite podium chance in the 5000m.

I watched the last lap of the 10000m race and that man Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia is just amazing. In winning his 3rd consecutive World title (1 less than his mentor and idol, the great Haile Gebresellasie), he sprinted his way thru the last 200 mts of the 10K race- tremendous stamina. He was still fresh for a victory lap and perhaps a few more as well!!! Champion stuff!!!!!

Go Athletes!!! Jump for glory, Run for Gold!!!!!

Introducing people

2007-08-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to go out with some friends and colleagues and got to meet some people for the first time. The group was multicultural and there were quite a few Indians in it as well. There was one thing that I noticed during that meeting, something that I have been thinking about for a while now.

To write about it let me introduce 4 fictional character names whom I will use on this blog.
Andrew and Kate are an Aussie couple Ashish and Pooja are an Indian couple.
Now to the topic.

Andrew : Hey guys, meet Kate, my wife!

a while later,

Ashish : Hey guys, meet my wife, Pooja.

Both these introductions are very similar in the sense that they have the name of the person and also the relationship that you have with them, but the two statements are strikingly different in the order in which the 2 pieces of information are mentioned.

Ashish seems to have lay emphasis on the "wife" bit while Andrew seems to have lay emphasis on Kates name. To put it simply, I like the the way Andrew introduced kate, better than I liked the way Ashish introduced Pooja. Andrews introduction seems to give importance to Kate as an individual, ahead of the relationship that he shares with her.

For me it is something positive learnt and I will endeavour to introduce my partner, when I have one, by her name!

The equation changes when the person being introduced is not a peer or a sibling or a partner. For eg. parents, teachers and elders. In this case I will stick to providing the name last for it just seems to make more sense that way, and brings about a sense of respect.

Another thing I have noticed in Aussies is that they never refer to their partner as 'partner', 'girl friend', 'wife' etc. They always use their partners name. Another thing that I have grown to appreciate.

Chak De India!

2007-08-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

Friday evening and no plans in mind. My friend calls and asks "Chak De India dekhne chalen kya?". I replied "Arey chal dekhte hain, kuch aur plan tha bhi nahin".

I am glad I watched the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and having been part of sports teams for my school, I could relate to a lot of stuff that was depicted in the movie. The movie had no melodrama, no unnecessary songs, nothing too dramatic and no love story / comedy running in parallel. It was focussed on the subject at hand and that was - Hockey. To me, this movie is proof of Bollywood maturing and coming up with good movies and not mere box office trash!!!!!

Without providing spoilers, the movie had a very realistic reflection of how sport is administered in India, the societal stereotypes that sports persons (women especially) have to go through and also the politics that run down to the lowest levels possible. The movie also had a strong message for those people who think Cricket is the be all and end all of sport.

The acting in the movie was quite good, though SRK clearly shows that he does not know how to play hockey. The team members were very cleverly cast and the manner in which they played their parts was good. Watch out for the goal keeper and the star striker - they were the cute ones :D:D A few friends who hadnt watched the movie were surprised when I told them that there were very few songs and no heroine in the movie - an SRK movie!!!!.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the fact that the story was inspired from a real life experience helped in keeping the story very real. The latter parts of the movie were shot in Melbourne and I could go - Thats MSAC, hey thats the Bolte bridge, hey thats the Grand Hyatt.............

The one area where a little more effort could have been put in is the technicalities in directing the game. A little more research would have helped. The commentary on the matches, in particular, was bad and had some glaring errors in them. But then, in all, it was a wonderful movie. The movie featured the trailer of another movie titled Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal!!!! which is about a soccer team of Indians in the UK. Cant wait for that!!!!!

Teachers - the not so good ones!!

2007-08-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

I have been lucky to have had good teachers all through my schooling and college and my Masters in Melbourne. But this post is about the few teachers who did things that were grossly unfair, most of whom I dealt with in the best possible manner at the given time.
Why this post now?? Well i have been hearing some stories of juvenile treatment to students both young and adult and I just think its the EGO of the teachers in question and also a feeling of POWER and INVINCIBILITY, misusing the helplessness of students.

In “Nursery“ (otherwise called Pre-KG) I was caned by the headmistress for having forgotten my Cardigan/Sweater at school the previous day. man I was all of 3.5 yrs and I stilkl remember that caning and that teacher!!!! No excuses for her!!!!

It was in 6th std that I was in Trivandrum - the only year i was there. The education system there was good enough to exempt me from learning Malayalam as second language. I instead had Additional English - a more specific branch of English that was a substitute. We were 3 such students in a class of about 50. Our Hindi teacher was a bit of a character. he used to single us out in class and make fun of us coz we did not know Malayalam. He even used to teach a lot of Hindi in Malayalam!!!! As 6th std students it was frustrating to be singled out and mocked at in class. We approached the teacher in question and told him about it and nothing changed. Our Additional English teacher was also eth principal of the school and we were his pets. We told him about this and then things changed - immediately.

I was in 7th std when i first moved to Chennai. It was a new school and as part of the PT routine I had to choose a sport to take up and play during the PT periods. Being a cricket crazy fan, cricket was an automatic choice, until a couple of weeks later when I enrolled for Athletics coaching. The cricket coaching and athletics coaching clashed and I had to make a choice. I chose Athletics. Since I was not going to get coached in Cricket, I decided to take up a new sport at PT so I could learn another sport. I chose Volleyball. One day, as was coming up the stairs at school in the morning I was slapped by the PT (cricket) teacher. This he claimed was coz i changed from cricket to volleyball. I reported the matter to my parents and they to the Principal of the school. Apparently there were quite a few complaints against him and he was suspended for a few weeks.

At college in Pune, it was frustrating. Every announcement, every key note address, every chief guest address, principals address used to be in Marathi, lecturers explained concepts in Marathi. I studied at an English Medium college. I approached the Vice Principal of the college and told him about these things. He expressed his sympathies but said that there was not much he could do about it. It was ridiculous. I resorted to self studying and slept through college functions when marathi speeches were made!!!!!

Just to clarify, the Marathi I speak at home is different to the Swaccha Puneri Marathi!!!!!! Also, I picked up the Puneri marathi after coming to Melbourne :):)

Teachers often are not accountable for such acts and thats when impressionable students can be affected most. Institutions of Higher education, especially the privitasied ones, bestow too much power in the hands of a few and the whole system suffers. Something needs to happen about such things!!!!

Its that day again - my birthday

2007-08-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on 2nd August on my other blog

A couple of weeks ago, it was my brothers birthday and I asked him "Are you mourning growing older or celebrating becoming wiser" and pat came the answer "ofcourse I am celebrating growing wiser".

Today, I ask myself this very question and the answer I get is no different to what my brother said. The last year has been another great learning experience and I am sure I have only gotten wiser from all those experiences. With ups and downs, constant change, redefined relationships, new friends - the journey has been wonderful and lessonful (am i inventing a word here).
The day in Melbourne has been nice and pleasant and being governed by "Cake rules" that apply to everyone in my Team at work, I had to take in a cake to work for all my team mates. I did get a few stares on the train coz i was having a huge box in a plastic bag - a package that people would have thought of as 'suspicious'.

The rest of the day at work is going to be busy with some work and a couple of meetings and then I will be meeting a few friends for dinner tonight before I get to chat with my family :)

Refreshing

2007-07-24T03:01:00.000-07:00

The weekend gone by was very refreshing. I played cricket for a good 3 hours. It felt great to be out in the open playing cricket after a fairly long time (6 months atleast). The weather was wonderful and the fact that I played well added to the feel good factor.
Until this weekend, I was worried that because of the winter, physical activity was near zilch. But its good that I played cricket and I am hoping to make this a regular weekly thing - the weather permitting.
---------
I have never been a fan of being “gym fit”, but the winter and limited sporting activity has forced (motivated perhaps) me to join up at a gym. I will be starting off tomorrow and hopefuly I will keep that going!!!!! I remember the days as a school kid whenI used to train every morning and the feeling was amazing. I hope I can get back to feeling hat way!!!!!
---------
I have this uncanny knack of missing out on great movies. But then I have a few limitations when it comes to watching movies - I cant watch them alone(i try to avoid doing that too), I started watching movies on a regular basis only after I came to Melbourne and I cant watch more than one at one go. Yesterday I got the opportunity to watch Shawshank Redumption and it straight away went to my list of favourites. It was an awesome movie. The plot was smart and the movie well made.
There are some movies that i can watch numerous times and not get bored. Some of them are Panchatantiram, Michael Madan Kama Rajan, Rhythm (all Tamil) and Swades (Hindi). The first 2 are laughter riots and the other 2 strike some very sensitive chords. A couple of weeks ago when I came back home witha splitting headache ona Friday evening, I put Swades on my mini theatre and was lying down on my bed. I expected not to be able to watch more than 30 mins coz of the headache. But I got into the movie so much that I ended up watchign the whole of it and magically my headache was gone as well. Some things just happen and I dont want to question why.

Finishing the day on a high

2007-07-16T02:40:00.000-07:00

It makes a world of a difference to finish the day on a high. The Friday gone by was a very hectic day (esp for a Friday) with me working on a key deliverable. The technology I was working on was new to me and it was interesting, but the breakthroughs had'nt come until COB. I went back home with a heavy feeling, trying to think about how I could crack it. I ended up with a headache too, from all the brainstorming.

Today was different, new week, new day and a freshmind and things worked out pretty well. I made all eth breakthroughs and have a solution in place now. The feeling was one of contentment. I felt complete. It has brightened up my evening.
Couple of things I learnt from thie experience :

Try to finish each day on a high, or atleast leave stuff in a completed state.
Do not take work home and think about work at home, esp on a Friday evening!!!

2007-07-10T02:16:00.000-07:00

My Dear Puttu Kutty

I relaised that it has been a while since I last wrote to you and here I am with my next letter to you.

I keep waiting to want to see you on camera and to hear you babble on the phone. Your Thatha and "Aani" tell me that the moment you either see me or hear me and hear my name, you immediately draw the attention of everyone around and fold hands as if to hug me, conveying that "kaka betingtoh" (kaka hugs me). It gives me this wonderful feeling of joy to hear this and I feel like flying to Dubai and hugging you and giving you some nice ummus :):)

Puttu Kutty, I heard that you have started to say 'Mama', 'Papap' apart from 'Ammmmm-ma' and 'Aani' and 'Inni'. I am now waiting for you to say 'Kaka' and not the 'Kra Kra' that you are currently saying. Your Ammm-ma will tell you what I mean here!!!

When you were in Bangalore, I missed being there. I missed running behind you in the house, playing with you on the Oonjal and taking you for a drrrrrrrrrr drive on the Scooty with you standing in the front.

Your Papap has been a bad boy. He hasnt sent me the videos of your Bangalore trip yet. When you see him today do 'Atthu Atthu' to him ok and tell him that if he doesnt send it soon then "Khallas".

Before I sign off :
One Two, Buckle my Shoe Three Four, Shut the DoorFive Six, Pick up sticksSeven Eight, Lay them straightNine Ten..............

Waiting to see you complete that in person.

All my love to my Pandu Puttu
Yours affectionately
Chotu kaka

Shadow of reality

2007-07-04T01:51:00.000-07:00

This is a snap I clicked along the beaches or Sydneys North shore. I suppose a shadow is an abstracted or filtered version of what the mirror shows us, just like this blog is a filtered reflection of myself.

My latest Passion

2007-06-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

Until about 5 years ago, going on a plane was a novelty for me. I had done it only a few times then and cherished each flight. Now, it is a more a thing of routine.

In the last few weeks i have developed a passion for flying planes, thanks largely to my housemate who is a qualified pilot. Thanks again to him that he has a pilots joystick and the Microsoft Flight Simulator on his Lappy. He has been teaching me to fly and I am loving it.

I started off with a Cessna (proppelor driven) 2 seater aircraft. While taking off was quite easy, landing was the difficult bit. After a few crashes and some bad landings, i have started landing smoothly and the confidence in flying is really high. Although the Simulator is nothing more than a Simulator, i hear that the real thing is not very different, except for the fact that we are flying along too and life is at stake :D:D:D.

Chennai to Tambaram and back has been my regular route on my practice runs. After gaining confidence in handling the aircraft, I have taken off from various locations in the world including Melbourne and New York. At New york, i took off on an amphibious aircraft from the water and flew low under a bridge at about 200 ft, which is a manouvre I am proud of :D:D:D:D The other exciting thing i did was to fly at night and look for a runway and land safely!!!!

Yesterday we decided to do some landmark searching and I took off from Agra in search of the Taj Mahal. We flew alongside what we assumed to be the Yamuna but just couldnt spot anything like the Taj. Nevertheless it was a great experience.

A week or so ago, i dared to fly a Learjet and surprised myself with a great landing. The Jets are sooper fast in comparison to the Cessna and the handling was much much steadier.

Upping the ante, I am looking fwd to flying in bad weather and flying based on direction and communication from the ATC. I am getting there!!! When i have the time and the money I sure will fly a real plane!!! For now, Simulator rocks!!!!

If you wondered about why I havent blogged in a while, I have been busy flying over Melbourne or Chennai, or under a bridge in New York!!!!!

Sivaji - The Boss. Cool?

2007-06-20T02:37:00.000-07:00

Rajni Kant is starring in a movie after almost 3 years. The hype, the excitement, the craze, the controversy - it is all expected. With comparisons running wild betwen Rajni and Amitabh, there was bound to be interest from across India and eth world to see how this movie does. Oh yes I am talking about Sivaji - The Boss.

As an aside, I am a big fan of Kamal Hassan and in my opinion hes the best actor India has seen to date. But yes, that does not stop me from being a fan of Rajni :)

I was all excited about watching Sivaji, moreso because I was going to watch it in Melbourne and such are eth times when it gets as close to "India" as possible. My friend, his wife, his parents and I prepared early, left early and reached early and yet found that there were people ahead of us in the queue. An 800 seat capacity theatre was all but sold out. The atmosphere was exciting to say the least. We got in early and took our seats and I enjoyed a good 15-20 mins looking at desi gals wearing salwar kameez and a bindi too.

The movie started and when Rajni made his appearance on screen (when his face first showed up), the noise in the theatre was deafening. I felt like I was watching the movie at Satyam theatre in Chennai. It was so loud that we all missed the first words from Rajnis mouth. Shankar, the director erred in giving Rajni a dialogue too soon after his entry.

The movie was a typical Shankar movie, and a typical Rajni movie. No surprises. It had the style, the comedy, the social service, theputting other ppl before himself effect, the riches to rags to riches transformation. In one word "cliched".

Rajni looked old, but the make up artist had done a damn good job with him. He pulled it off decently well. Rajni was amazing when he was imitating other Tamil actors including Vijay, MGR and Sivaji Ganeshan. He also got to do a Keanu Reeves, thanks to the fight directors direct lift off from The Matrix. If you know what to expect from Rajni, you would not be disappointed.

It was refreshing to see Rajni share screen time with Vivek, who was literally on each frame that Rajni was on, atleast in the first half. Rajni also let Vivek do the punch dialogues this time round. The comedy element was good and I had a good time laughing. Vivek did well.

Shreya/Shriya was stunning. She was cute yet sexy and in some of those dance moves in the song sequences, she reminded me of "Hips dont lie". Curvy indeed. Heroines in Indian cinema, esp Tamil cinema are often nothing more than the heros love interest. Shreya in Sivaji was no different and for that she played her part well.

Guest Nayantara was HOT HOT HOT in the item number -Ballelikha. This song and Sahaana were the only listenable songs of the movie. AR Rahman continues to disappoint and in my personal opinion there is a clear Blaaze-ization of his music. There was too much rap and tunes that we are akin to attributing to 50 cents and the likes. Thotta Dharani did a wonderful job with the sets and they were reason enough to suggest the 100 crore budget.

The movie overall was good. An assumption here is that you have to have your expectations right when you watch a Rajni starrer. For me I had 3.5 hrs of great entertainment, great ambience and good fun. In all it was "Cool".

As an aside again, Rajni, I think is lining up for politics and I think he will strategically enter it when Karunanidhi finds a permanent place on Marina beach.

Book Reading

2007-06-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

If you are a regular here, or if you know me well, you will know that 'Reading' and 'Books' are something that dont interest me. Perhaps I must change that to a thing of the past. Atleast for now, I am absolutely loving a book that I started to read about a couple of weeks ago. And I hope that it will remain a thing of the past.

It all started off on orkut, where a couple of my close buds had this very book on the list of their favourite books. On my trip to Bangalore recently, when I met one of them, I enquired about the book and he spoke very highly of it and suggested that it could be the perfect formula to get me into reading books. I was at Forum (the mall) and popped into the book store and grabbed a copy straightaway.

The book is titled "Pundits from Pakistan - on tour with India, 2003-04" and is written by Rahul Bhattacharya, who is a cricinfo correspondent and also writes columns for various newspapers and magazines. Yes!!!! It is about Indias cricket tour to Pakistan, remembered as the tour where Sehwag got his triple century and when vajpayee was invited to watch a match along side Musharraf!!!

The book is a mix of Rahuls experiences in Pakistan, about the people there, the culture, the similarities and differences with India and ofcourse Cricket. The author has provided a very unbiased account of the proceedings on tour and presented it in a fine, simple and elegant manner - with facts, views, opinions, quotes and news, interspersed with subtle yet wonderful humour. The book also includes bits and pieces of what I call "inside stuff" that normally does not get to the press. A very refreshing read.

It has kept me so interested that since a few days I have given up my morning power nap on the train to work and my evening read of the MX newspaper(masala newspaper like midday), and instead gotten engrossed into the Pundits from Pakistan.

I have completed 200 off the 300 odd pages. Now, just because I have started enjoying reading books, I cant give writing and blogging step-fatherly treatment. Can I???? No. Hence this post. I better get back to the book now!!!! Just for information sake, theres only one book that I have completed in all my life and that was "Wings of Fire" - Autobiography of President APJ Abdul Kalam.

Just before I go, Amma - Can you believe it I am reading a book, and loving it too??? and this time I will try to keep this habit going.

Indias education system

2007-06-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

I have always held this opinion that the IITs and IIMs in India are doing nothing special and nothing different to the other institutes around the world. The fact that they produce top professionals is because they only allow the cream to be part of their courses. They are not doing very little to actually transform ordinary individuals into thorough professionals.

I read an article written by Michael Backman on The Age this morning, HERE, and totally agree with his views. In this article Michael writes about how Indias higher education system is just not sufficient to support the growth that the economy is now seeing. Also, the education system is focussed in areas that do not add value to the existing knowledge base.

This brings me to the point of the process of filteration at educational institutes. On one end of the spectrum we have IITs, IIMs and the like, that filter at the entry level and at the other end we have the CA Institute that filters at the exit level. Both these models suffer from limitations and have their own advantages. Looking at each of these systems :

Entry level Filteration

Advantages :

1. Sets a benchmark for aptitude required to take up a course and lets the individual know straight away if they are upto it.
2. Optimal use of training and infrastructure resources as only a selected number of people are trained.
3. Guarantees minimum level of competence among pass-outs.
4. Ensures a competitive peer group with the difference between the best and the worst not being much.

Disadvantages :

1. Entry criteria often has no correlation to the course being taken, thereby denying some individuals to take up the course.
2. Too much reliance on a 3 hour exam, which may not be the best 3 hours for an individual.
3. The entrance exam becomes more important than the course itself.
4. Limited opportunity for people to get access to the best training and infrastructure, which might just be teh reason why most people are not as good as they could have been.

Exit level Filteration

Advantages :

1. Equal opportunity provided for anyone interested in taking up a line of study. If they are good enough, they will get through.
2. Emphasis is on learning whats in the course, and not on something that is merely a gateway to the course.
3. Guarantees minimum level of competence among pass-outs.
4. Provides the same platform and infrastructure for everyone to make the best use of.

Disadvantages :

1. Huge strain on resources as a huge number of aspirants have to be catered for.
2. Peer group is a mix of people at various levels of competence, thereby diluting competition.
3. Individuals realise late that they may not be cut out for a particular line of study.

Preference

All said and done, I have a preference for the Exit level filteration for the following reasons.
1. Equal opportunity.
2. Equal level of infrastructure and training provided for all.
3. Onus on deciding line of study and responsibility of the same lies with an individual.
4. Non-reliance on a 3 hour entrance exam.

Myself in this regard,

I hate entrance exams and know they are not my forte. I might find it difficult to clear CAT, but I am sure that I have all it takes to go through the curriculum and the grind at any IIM and compete with others who might have come in thru the CAT structure. This is because the entrance exam is not always a test of skills required in the course that follows, it is just a process of elimination.

The system

Sadly, it focusses on where one has studied from and not necessarily what one has studied and what one knows. brings be to an earlier post on this blog titled Skills vs Qualification, HERE.

Ur take??

Attachment to inanimate objects

2007-06-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

As humans we do have an attachment to inanimate objects. We bond with our study tables, get comfortable in our couches and beds, feel connected to our accessories and even feel attached to our houses.

Recently, I felt this attachment at a totally different level. The objects in question were the non-stick kadai and tawa that I had brought with me when i first came to Melbourne. In the last 5 years, we bachelors - amateur cooks have given the utensils a good beating, and inspite of all that it has served us very well. A few months back I noticed that its use by date was approaching and promptly got another set of non-stick utensils when i got back from India recently.

For a few weeks now, I have tried, in vain, to get rid of the old set of utensils. I feel this attachment towards them. They have served me for 5 years, sometimes with amazing food and sometimes with crappy food, but nevertheless served me my food. Those utensils remind me of the spicy Choley my friend made, the gulab jamoons that I made, the sambar that my mom made while she was here, among other things. Kaise jaane doon usko!!!!!!!

Last weekend, I thought I got over the attachment and was able to keep the utensils next to the garbage bin, to be disposed off with the next garbage collection cycle. In came my other friend (who has seen quite a bit of these utensils) and asked "should we actually dispose these off?". I melted again!!!!!! Its about a month and those old utensils are still lying next to the bin, without any action being taken on them!!!!!!

"Oh Bartan(s), I am going to miss you soooo much!!!!!! Thank you for all the good times, and the bad, I will never forget you!!!!!!"

This weekend will see them done away with.

Forgetting my mobile

2007-06-03T22:13:00.001-07:00

Aaaaarrrgh!!!!!! I have forgotten my mobile phone at home once again!!!!!!!!

I have these phases when I seem to forget to take my phone in the morning quite often. Its not the first time I have forgotten it and I am guessing its not going to be the last. I feel so handicapped without it - not just coz i dont have it, but without it I dont know many phone numbers.

Thinking about why and how I forget it, I have come up with the following reasons :

1. It happens on days when I am late and rushing to get to the station on time.

Remedy : Wake up 10 mins earlier!!!!

2. I wear my phone pouch on my waist when I dress up and when I pick up my wallet etc, i forget to take my phone.

Remedy : When i wear the pouch, put the phone in it too.

3. On most days when i forget it, my phone is below my pillow and hence out of sight.

Remedy : If i keep my phone under my pillow, put it on the table first thing in the morning.

In spite of all this, if I still forget to bring it in - STOP WHINGEING, coz that means i am plain forgetful!!!!!

Now-here to No-where!!!!

2007-06-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to and enjoy healthy discussions / conversations (sounds familiar???? yes i pulled this statement off my profile!!!)

A discussion is not healthy when one is not willing to see the point of view of the other. Differing from that point of view is a seperate issue. Thinking of these two issues as being the same, often spells doom for any discussion. Thats when EGO kicks in and when that happens, no one is going anywhere!!!!

I have been part of numerous discussions with friends, family, colleagues, blogpals etc. There are some topics that would never see a healthy discussion, and those very topics are ones where every individual is oblivious of the "other side". And yes one more observation I have made is that with such topics, the individuals are fanatic about their point of view.
When I say individual - that includes me :)

Here are some of the topics that I have discussed and have gone no where with them:
1. Microsoft vs the rest
2. Sachin Tendulkar meriting a place in the playing 11
3. Ferrari vs the rest (McLaren in particular)
4. Toilet paper vs Water
5. Egg - vegetarian?
6. Love marriage vs Arranged marriage

I will add more when i can think of them.

I am sure you all have been part of such discussions. Go on and share your experiences!!!!!

Mid-Work Breaks

2007-05-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Smokers at any workplace have this unwritten or unsaid permission to go out of the building at frequent intervals to have a ciggie. While smoking the Ciggie itself is not the best thing to do, these frequent breaks have a lot of other advantages.

Smokers have this mutual affinity of bonding with each other quickly. The smoking area is a great place (not environmentally though) to meet and interact with a variety of people. I hear that this place is host to everything from gossip to some of the most important business decisions. Eureka moments also strike u while on these breaks.

These breaks enable us to get away from the computer for a while, get out into the natural environment and breathe some fresh air, get some Vitamin K on us and also get to see something green and cool to soothe the eyes. These breaks also help in breaking the monotany at work and provides a channel for relaxation.

Contrary to common belief, these benefits are not a result of the habit of smoking, but are the benefits of taking breaks from work at regular intervals. I have become a fan of such breaks. I just walked out of the office and it felt great to breathe in some fresh air and see things green and far. I stayed away from the smokers zone for obvious reasons, but then found no one else like me for company downstairs. Thats not gonna stop me from taking these breaks, cause I enjoy the benefits of it, even though I do it all alone!!!!!

Note : Reproduced from my other blog at http://o3.indiatimes.com/rpramod

Looking back at my Day 1 in Melbourne

2007-05-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

I was reminded about my first day in Melbourne when i was interacting with my friends colleague who has just come down to Melbourne. I did not know about blogging then, but that doesnt mean that my first day in melbourne cannot be documented on my blog!!!!

I took off from a 40 degree hot Mumbai to land in a 7 degree cold Melbourne. That was the first bit of change. It was bloody cold and only the excitement of a new country, a new place, new beginnings, new friends and more that kept me going. The infrastructure (roads, traffic etc) was not such a surprise to me as I had been to Dubai before. The accents of people and the numerous Goras that were there all around me was a change indeed.

I checked into the Hotel and just stretched after that long flight. It was about 9 in the night and I munched on some roti and jam that Mommy had packed for me. After a quick call home to tell tham I reached safe, myself and my 2 other friends were left wondering about what to do. It was Friday night and university would not start until Monday. Because of the time difference there was not an ounce of sleep in our eyes. We decided to go out and explore the city.
The Hotel was in the heart of the city and being Friday night, it was a happening place. Lots of people, many with beer bottles in hand and almost everybody were in couples!!!! There were so many 'Chinkis' there that I wondered if I got on the wrong flight and landed in Shanghai!!!!!

Whatever I saw, was so different to what I was used to seeing - the way people look, the way they speak, dress, walk, laugh, the roads, the sounds, the boards ....everything. I saw the first case of PDA when this couple was making out bang in the middle of Bourke Street. I was taking all of this in. My university, my course, my ambition etc were all secondary and I was just taking in everything that I was actually seeing.

We walked a bit further and saw boards that read "ClubX" and "Adult Show" and "Peep show" and the like. Whoa!!!!! Now thats a big change. It was all too much to take in in teh first few hours of having arrived and I needed some water. I went into a 7-11 and bought the most expensive bottle of water at 2$ and thought to myself that 52Rs for a bottle of water is ridiculous. (in those days 1AUD = 26Rs)

It was about midnight and we decided to go to the HOtel room and try to get to bed so that we got into local time schedule soon. We lied down on our beds and put the TV on. It was one of the National channels and what was playing is what I better knew as "porn"!!!! We said to each other "Sahi Desh hai yaar ye!!!!"

The nights sleep was quite disturbed and i woke up only next afternoon!!!!!! i walked into McDonalds and looked up the board for something veggie. There was none. So I ordered a Cheese Burger. When I collected my burger, I could see some meat inside my burger. When i asked the counter girl, she said it was a Cheese burger and that is had a slice of beef. Oh Ok - cheese burgers have beef in them. I asked if I could get a burger with just cheese inside and I got an affirmative. But what followed was just plain funny - the girl took the cheese burger from me, removed the slice of beef from between and gave it back to me as a burger with just cheese in it.

It was not their fault, I paid 4$ (oops i mean 104Rs) for it and threw it straight into the bin. I think I had a jumbo margherita pizza slice for lunch. cant remember.
Day one was eventful and its been a long way since then, but times have gone by so fast. It was a challenge and all i can do is to hope for more such challenges in the future.

Note : Reproduced from my other blog at http://o3.indiatimes.com/rpramod

Keeping up with the times

2007-05-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

The world is ever progressing and things of the future and becoming things in the present. What once was a luxury is now becoming a necessity. In this ever changing world we need to keep moving ahead, to make sure we are not left behind and outdated. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when i noticed how a particular thing had kept up with the times. My friend bought Monopoly - the game, so that we could all get together and play on the weekends. Its been years since I have see a board, although i still remember what Chance 7 is and what Community Chest 11 is.

Coming back to the point, Monopoly has kept up with the times. What once was 600 pounds is now priced at 600K pounds. It might just be that extra K, but it makes so much sense and impressionable young kids dont have to wonder why Dad and Mom cant buy a house when its so cheap on Monopoly. Not just that, there is no longer the paper or coin type money. The game has, would u believe it, a swipe machine and credit card type funds. You have credit on ur card and u swipe it to transfer money to others or pay the bank. Its all electronic. That, I thought was absolutely fantastic and innovative.

Just like everything else, keeping ahead with times has its down side. Kids would no longer know how their grandparents conducted business. They wouldnt now about the cash and coins and keeping it all safe. But i suppose there has to be a tradeoff somewhere and to make that to benefit progress, is what keeping with times is all about.

I think our lives shd be pretty much the same, move on with technology and change, maybe being humans we can make sure that we not only remember the past but also take some lessons from it.

Note : Reproduced from my other blog at Http://o3.indiatimes.com/rpramod