World's best cricketer in "Mentally Disturbed" category

Cricket is one of sports where one is bound to show emotions. It can be a batsman who is ecstatic after scoring a century, bowler who is frustrated for not getting a wicket or a fielder with a sense of joy after taking a difficult catch.

But there are exceptions. How can you describe a person who always swears at a batsman irrespective of playing the ball according to merit / hit a boundary / get beaten? There has to be some basic behavioural problem with the bowler who is not enjoying the game, but rather hell bent on abusing the batsman however well he plays.

He can be a good topic for

Psychology - study of Human behaviour

An idiot's guide to loose respect

Funny character for cartoons & caricatures

You might have guessed - it's Andrew Nel

Lee - Hesh face-off: The best and worst for Indian Tennis

Indian tennis seemed void after Ramesh Krishnan hang up his boots. Though there wasn't any olympic or grand slam propects, Ramesh Krishnan tried his best and brought few cheers whenever he played Davis Cup. The gap was plugged by Leander, who looked lot rustic and brought in a sense of patriotism to all those watched, by pumping his fist and waving the Indian flag. He looked so attached to the country.

It became more stronger when Mahesh Bhupathi also joined and the two started looking promising on the circuit. Perhaps, after Mark Woodford and Todd Woodbridge of Australia, these two seem to be the next best doubles pair in the making. Leander winning Olympic Bronze in 1996 Atlanta was a sweet surprise and it further enhanced his arsenal.

Just when these two started peaking, the dreaded ego clash came in. It is not sure who made the first wrong move, but certainly it started to affect these two as well as Indian tennis. Now, after the Asian games, it is confirmed.

At the Doha Asian games, Leander questioned Bhupathi's commitment after the first match. There wasn't any reaction from Bhupathi. After the finals, which was a thriller of sorts where Bhupathi held on to seven match points and eventually won, he remarked "I have lived with these comments and soap opera for 12 years and it's enough". Both seem to admit that they don't want to pair up again even for Beijing Olympics.

Why can't these two put their country on top and get over their ego? Everytime, when these two talk, they say that its great to play for India, et cetera. But the moment they talk about each other, one can see a visible shift in their emotion and kind of distanced feeling. The problem may not be that great as it looks from outside. It could be due to few difference of opinion. Both are matured players and have come through various ranks since they started playing tennis from their early ages. Why can't they bloody sit, talk and sort out when they have their inner soul wanting to play for India? They still have 2-3 years of active tennis left and they can achieve a lot for Indian tennis if they stick together.

Whatever they have achieved for India looked meaningless. If they think that playing for country is the top priority, then what the hell prevents them from sorting out their ego problems.

"Men in Blue" - Beaten Black & Blue

This is about the set of gifted, privileged and grossly overpaid Indian cricket team who are fast loosing their honour as well as reputation after the thrashing at South Africa.

This is not the first instance of the team comprehensively beaten. It has happened in Australia and SA before, but I have never come across such kind of repeated humiliation. I still vividly remember the Indian team touring SA for the first time (after their ban was lifted) under Azhar's captaincy in 1992. In the first test match, we got all out for 66 and 100 in the first and second innings respy. In the second and third test matches, we improved and showed some amount of resilience even though we lost the series 0-3. Following that, in the 7 ODI games, we won two and showed some character in the other 5 which we lost.

This is the first time I am seeing the team getting badly beaten; failing in all departments repeatedly. Usually, there will be one or two who will be out of form; but this time, the playing 11 always seem to be out of form.

After Ganguly's exit, when the team regrouped against ODI series Vs SL and won 6-1, emotions ran high. Dravid was praised, Chappel was hailed, Sachin was touted as 'returned to form' and all three seem to have teamed up and created the magic formula. But all that remained till England toured India. With an inexperienced side, Flintoff men drew the test series. India lost the match in one of their favourite venue - Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai when the great Sachin scored just 6 runs and got out to a nothing delivery.

The team, with highly over-rated non-performing seniors and in-experienced juniors have to get their basics right instead of advertisement contracts and look forward to 2011 world cup than building hopes

Chappel made sure Ganguly is not part of the team; but has he used the same yardstick for the so-called 'Master blaster'? With the current form of batsmen, Ganguly and Laxman certainly deserve a place and rightly recalled

Dhoom-2: Different actors, Different sentiments

Just when the movie was being released, the Coke ad starring Hrithik was telecasted during the Ind-SA ODI series. Coke has associated itself with the movie (with surrogate promotions in the movie itself) and thus hopes to increase its consumer base.

Hrithik, with cool looks and style, utters the punch line 'Coke utale, Dhoom machale'

On the other extreme, Abhishek and Aish were found worshipping at Sankat Vimochan temple amidst media news that they might get married soon.

They seem to be telling 'Dhoom macha liya, ab chup rahen'

Casino Royale - Movie with the new Bond is worth watching

I am not usually of the type to watch new movie in its first week of release. But I got some free tickets to watch the night show of the the new movie on its second day and it wasn't disappointing. Having seen quite a number of Bond movies, I was keen to know how this movie has been made. If you wish to watch, please don't miss the first 20 minute of action - stunt thought in a different way, well planned and executed.

This movie was fresh and I saw a Bond next to Sean Connery who had a good physique compared to other Bond heroes - Roger Moore who was bit old looking and Timothy / Brosnan who were soft. The stunts Craig does seem to fit his age and body physique.

The little unusual thing about the new Bond was that he was always serious and little stiff; one can see a mischevious smile - a kind of cool and casual attitude reflected in all Bond movies. Probably the story line / Ian Fleming drew his character that way. So if you get time or ticket, don't miss watching this.

Trivia I observed:

Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines is appearing in a scene as a passenger being checked at airport security. I read that the scene was cut, but I did see him in the movie although it just appears as a shot taken when the camera sweeps over the place

.

The signature Bond music doesn't appear at the start, but only during the credits

On a personal note: I have just broken the shackles of keeping my blog idle for a long time and I hope to update it atleast once a week from now on :-)

Trip to one of the highest point in India - Rohtang Pass, July 2006

Note: Click on the pictures to get a bigger and better view
Short Intro …

I went for a vacation with few of my family members during the mid of July covering Delhi, Shimla, Manali, Jaipur and Agra. Our first part of the trip was to Shimla & Manali and it all went according to the plan. We didn’t have enough time in our second part i.e. to cover Jaipur & Agra extensively. We had to be satisfied to have had a glimpse of couple of palaces at Jaipur and the seeing the great Taj Mahal at Agra. We missed the Bharatpur National Sanctuary and Fatehpur Sikri. Our trip to one of India’s highest point – Rohtang Pass was unforgettable. My advice to those who wish to make a visit to these kind of places is that to visit before age catches up (before 40 is an ideal period to visit) from the perspective of energy level and enthusiasm.

We went in the middle of July and it was an off-peak season. We had booked our accommodation at Snow valley Resorts, which is located at 3 Kms uphill from Manali bus stand area. We drove from Shimla (engaging a Qualis with a knowledgeable driver) to Manali starting around 9 AM and by the time we reached the hotel, stopping in the way for lunch, snacks, tea and photo sessions, it was 9 PM in the night when we checked in. The hotel was good and little expensive, but the good part was the food. It reduced lot of effort on our side to find out a place to have our choice of food (being pure vegetarians) and we also need to be careful on the quality. The hotel served as breakfast and dinner as part of our package and the food quality and service was more than our expectation.

Day at Rohtang …

Rohtang pass is located at 14000 feet above sea level. It can be reached from Manali by 2 and half hours drive through beautiful, breath taking and some times frightening mountain curves. The mountain road has been laid well and it goes all the way up to Leh a.k.a Ladakh. The roads are maintained by BRO (Border Road Organisation) and on the way, one can see so many cautions against rash driving and they were very enjoyable to read. The intention is convey the message in a lighter way. One such example - "if you are married, divorce speed".

Coming back to the Rohtang pass visit; we started the next day morning sharp at 9 AM as advised by our driver. He seemed to be making at least 10 trips a year to Manali and so he knew the places, timing of visit and was helpful. We reached the Rohtang pass roughly after 2 and half hours drive with mini stoppage at couple of places to stretch and have some light snacks and photos. Also, we had to rent the woolen coat, hand gloves and boots to protect ourselves against the chilly conditions that will be encountering at the Rohtang pass

Horse Ride …

Even though the season was supposed to be off-peak, we saw close to at least 100 tourists when we reached the place. We then discovered that we have to travel on horseback for another 1.5 KM to see the snow clad mountain peaks and feel the glaciers. The horse ride was not very strenuous and if you are the type of person who is not comfortable doing horse riding, I have to sound a caution that there is no better option. One can walk, but the walk won’t be comfortable as the path will be slushy, rocky, little ups and downs, and only the locals would be able to. More over, as the place is located 14000 feet, tourists from tropical places will feel short of oxygen and more walking will only add to the problem (soon we will end up panting for every 20 steps). So the ideal option is to go by horse back and there should not be any worry as the horseman will accompany us and the instruction while riding the horse is simple. There are three Hindi words that one needs to listen to and follow - Hold the saddle firmly, “Seede” (sit straight), “Aage” - push your body forward when the horse is on ascent), and “Peeche” - push your body backwards when the horse goes down a slope. The horse ride costs 350 per head.

Snow and Glaciers

Once we reached the particular spot, we were thrilled to see glaciers which we can touch and feel, and at a distance, we could see the snow-clad mountain peaks (of course, it was at a distance and at much higher altitude). There was a glacier ride (a worn out tyre as converted into a seat and max of 3 can sit inside and can enjoy a ride of 100 meters at a princely sum of 25 per head). We felt on cloud 9, as the clouds kept passing through us. There are plenty of trekking options and if one has stamina to walk uphill and come back; this is a good adventurous place. But around 1 PM, the clouds started staying and sighting was becoming bit tough. I have to warn the visitors that one has to be careful not to venture too far, as it is easy to loose oneself in the clouds and there have been instances of people getting lost and never traced (as told by locals).

Conclusion …

We though we had spent enough time (close to an hour and half) and decided to return by horse back to the place we had parked our vehicle. When we started back from Rohtang pass, the driver had to use head lights as the visibility was poor. We could still see tourists coming in at that time and we felt sorry for them as they had chosen a wrong time to make their visit. The best time was to start at early morning (say even around 7 AM), reach Rohtang around 10, spend easily 3 hours and then start back. The down hill journey is again 2.5 hours and if we add the time consumed to take photos (because we wouldn’t have time during uphill), it should take 3.5 hours to reach Manali.

The only drawback is the lack of any public amenities at that place. There are so many visitors every day (we could count at least 200 by the time we came back at an off-peak season) and there is not even a toilet facility and women feel most uncomfortable. When we ask toilet, the locals said ‘Pathar ke peeche’ meaning ‘behind the rocks’ and we discovered that it was a OTS (Open Toilet System) behind those giant rocks. It was pathetic to see such a beautiful, scenic tourist spot doesn’t even have this.

Expenses

Entry Fee - 50 Rs
Horse Ride - 350
Protection Clothes – 100 per person (rent)
Basic amenities at Rohtang Pass including a first aid or rescue persons – NIL or absolute zero

Message from Himachal Lorry walas'

I had recently been on a tour of selected places in North India. On the way from Shimla to Manali, apart from the pleasant breeze throughout the drive and picteresque setting which made us frequently stop and take pictures, I came across the wonderful, universal truth written on the back of a Lorry; just above the number plate.

It was just in the nick of time I saw that and luckily I had my camera ready to shoot. If I had delayed even 2 minutes, we would have overtaken and missed this unique advice or experience.

The message is simple - "No Girlfriend, No Tension"

ICC (International Cricket Council) - Rubbish organisation filled with Racists

Sachin cannot remove the dirt in the seam of the ball, Ganguly cannot see the replay of him given out wrongly in the giant screen in Australia, Sehwag cannot appeal for a legitimate dismissal - Indian and subcontinent players have to make sure that they ask the permission of umpires, match refrees and all other delegates of ICC before doing so.

But Brian Lara can snatch the ball from umpire's hands and thus making us forget who is the official, Glenn McGrath can spit on umpire's face, Damien Martyn can say F*** *** to the umpire, Michael Slater can curse any one on the field, Allan Donald can give a mouthful of abuse - but yet, these are just frustrations.

The players from subcontinent have been the bunny of ICC and don't know why the boards of respective countries don't react when their players are treated like pigs by ICC. Every bloody bugger in ICC so far have been a racist. ICC is forgetting that the four countries in Asia are the biggest revenue generators for cricket in this world and if they stop, there will be no cricket.

It was pathetic to see Brian Lara dictating the terms on field. If Dravid had done the same, he would have been fined 200% of the match fee, 50 match ban, seizure of his passport, and freezing of his bank accounts.

Hell with ICC (Idiots Cricket Council) - run by idiots and supported by idiots.

Succumbing to CAS

Yes, finally, after much of deliberation, I broke my principle of standing against the use of the idiotic set top box and bought one last week. Only one aspect made me go for it - the return of DMK to power in TN which was earlier instrumental in Chennaiites alone suffering this disease. I felt I was missing my favourite movies, sports and channels like Discovery and National Geographic and so had to force a reversal of my ideals. Just the week before I bought (May last week), every channel was swamping with news of Rahul Mahajan and his drug case that I got so fed up with no alternate channels to watch. This just pushed me further to go for STB.

God only knows why Chennaiites (including me) were so inept and not agitate like people of North do when CAS was introduced. The recent agitation against reservation policy is a classic example of difference in the way people take up issue in the North and South. The Tamil nickname 'thayir sadam' suits us just fine.

The STB is black in colour and aptly, it will a "black box" in the history of Chennai life for ever.

Reservation Policy - Castration of Merit

The UPA government, with their "Minimum Common Program" is so desperate to remain in power and secure their future in the next Lok Sabha polls by dividing the people of India on basis of merit. It is sad to see a person of stature Dr.Manmohan Singh dancing to the tunes of Sonia and sick ministers who can't even walk and talk properly (prouncing reservation as reJervaSion), but sitting at the helm and deciding about the future of the country. It is shame for a nation to go back to the dark periods after seeing unprecedented economic growth when Dr.Manmohan was the finance minsiter.

India is going to be divided on caste basis and no wonder if upper class and OBC clash on streets one day and fight like dogs. The HRD ministry may then intervene because they will fear that if they don't protect the OBCs who are fighting, they might loose their vote banks

If the Congress and its allies believe that this is done as a justice to the dalits, they are wrong. No genuine dalit is going to get benefitted by this scheme. The "rich" dalit will continue to be richer and poor dalits will continue to be poorer.

If a backward class person doesn't have facilities to study, provide him the infrastructure. Give him a place to live, food to eat, clothes and basic amenities. But please don't compensate on the marks. Our President APJ Kalam and so many innumerable stalwarts that India has produced in various fields didn't come up in life because they used OBC quota. THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL PURELY DUE TO THEIR MERIT.

The next generation will see heaps of useless idiots in top positions in all sections of the society. Imagine few places listed below where it would be interesting to see quota based system coming into force

The top software companies in India like Infosys or Wipro conduct should pick OBC candidates who scored just 10 out of 100 marks in their recruitment test whereas they may have to reject someone who would have scored 80 out of 100 because he is from an upper class and fell short. The same rule will be applicable during interviews - OBC may not take any interview whereas upper class have to go through rigorous 5 round interview

The head of premier investigation agency CBI

The head of ISRO

The Dean of IIMS, directors of IIT and heads of institutions such as AIIMS, JIPMER, XLRI

The Chief Justice of Supreme Court

The top 3 military positions - Army General, Navy Admiral and Airforce commander

WOW! India Shining ! Let the merit based selection go to hell and these kind of reservations lead India into darkness forever and let brain drain flourish pushing the country to 50 years back where it was.

Reservation Policy - Time for some comic relief

Some creative ideas - as a mockery of Reservation policy.

Immortalised in "Deewar" and followed-up with a Graffiti

"Da Vinci Code" in India

The "Da Vinci Code" finally got cleared from the most sacred institution in India - the film censor board aided by the so-called "secular" congress led UPA government at the centre. Our government (to make sure that their Christian vote bank doesn't decrease) put up a drama not to screen this. The comedy or irony is that even the most dominant catholic countries didn't had any such objections. If not for the publicity, the film would have been viewed as just another movie by the people here. Now because of our "secular" government, it would attract more audience who
will come just to see what the heck the controversy is about. The book, when it came out, was lashed at by the Vatican asking people not to read, but seeing the continuing rise in sales, Vatican choose to tone down than helping sales.

Whoever wants to see the movie, please do read the book before you watch. There are so many intricate plot and cryptic information which an individual may not be able to comprehend in the length of the movie. The book is gripping, with each chapter ending with a twist thus compelling the reader to read further. Once you start reading, you would like to keep it down only when you finish.

I came across an interesting link in howstuffworks.com -
How Da Vinci Code doesn't work, which clarifies some of the facts and numbers plotted in the story basically to tell the people not to take the fictional information as fact. This is equally important so that the fictional information is not used to educate or made popular quiz questions !!

Can you see the "TROUSER"?

If you are thinking that the picture below looks like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, you are mistaken. This is an ad for Italian clothing brand STANZA that appeared in the Sunday May 7th edition of Hindu (half-page ad in page 20)



The line below the words 'STANZA' in the picture (on the top left) reads 'Shirts and Trousers'. BUT WHERE IS THE TROUSER HERE? If you can't see the text, just click the picture and it will show up in a big size. You would then be able to see the text as well as a closer look at the model.

The picture reminds me of the story "Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Chsitian Anderson which we all would have studied at some point in our school curriculam. Thank God - they have printed the brand name without which it can be intercepted for various other things. Advertising has come a long way, but still, we have to put up with these kind of highly "abstract" advertisements.

Wonder Kid "Bhudia Singh"

If you haven't heard about the wonder kid Bhudia Singh from the state of Orissa, read the details below to know about the prospective long distance runner who has the potential to make the country proud if shown right direction

He is 4 and half years old when this post is written

He was sold to a private group for a sum of 800 Rs by his mother as she couldn't maintain him with her income

He was observed to posses an appetite for running long-distance by his coach (to whom Bhudia was sold) when he punished him by asking him to run a distance which Bhudia completed without much fuss

He practices everyday running 50 Kms, 25 in the morning and 25 in the evening !!! (more than the distance of marathon which is 42.5 Kms)

He entered into the "Limca Book Records" on May 4, 2006 for running 65 Kms non-stop in 7 hours & 2 minutes

I sincerely hope that the media and agencies don't eagle on him as they do it on budding sportspersons, which actually makes the prospective persons go into a slump in their form because of not being able to sustain the continued exposure to media. Very few manage to keep their foot firm on ground like Viswanathan Anand.

Media (Ads / newspapers) is the two best way to reach the people. But please - allow Bhudia to grow up in his own way and let us not spoil a good future

Brand Sachin: Signs new marketing contract

Oh - Not again. Will this man ever focus on scoring runs than being keen on his advertisement revenues? He had a whooping sum as contract with Worldtel (of late ) for a period of 10 years and moment it ended, he has got into a new one. Read the link http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/246127.html written at Cricinfo.com for more details on this wonderful new venture of Mr.Sachin where he is going to earn few more million dollars

It is true that cricketers need to have other sources of income, as they retire by the age of 40. But what's the problem for someone like Sachin? He can still command a good income by managing a cricket academy. In fact, he owns a restaurant in Mumbai.

Can't he make a big bang style comeback at this Carribean tour which will make the people feel that he is still the best batsman and brand in the world than just keep signing contracts? It is very unfortunate for some one like me to criticise Sachin after being his ardent fan till a couple of years back.

Lok Paritran - Could this be a turning point in Indian Politics?

I heard the news close to six months back that few former IIT students have joined hands to start a political party and try achieve the impossible task of cleaning the rotten political system. But looking at its growing popularity among the younger generation who are so much vexed with the existing stupid politicians, I just get a feel that the educated elite from institutes like IIT are keen to change the scenario

Their ideas are simple - no fancy and insane promises like rice for Rs.2, free TV sets, and free electricity. They idea is to make India a corruption free country - many of us will laugh looking at the current politician barring few. But still, if given chance, if they can achieve 10% of their mission , I think that is going to be a significant milestone looking at the volume of corruption we have today.

Their campaigning style also looks very simple - without much fanfare or hooligan style people around shouting slogans. We have been seeing the same old faces, false promises, plundering of peoples money by the politicians and basically a do nothing when it comes to the welfare of people. Let us give chance to these fresh set of faces and help them to achieve their vision and wish that their ideologies remain unchanged irrespective of their growth.

The details about the party can be found at their website - http://lokparitran.org

Stinking Socks - Nanotechnology to the rescue

I was watching the CNN-IBN news channel when I came across the piece of news that a set of professors and students at IIT Delhi have found out a way by which the socks will not stink after its worn for few minutes or hours and removed. It seems that nanotecchnology, the much acclaimed invention can be applied to manufacture socks that will not at all stink even after days of wearing.

The use of it in socks is certainly interesting. This will be a boon for people who wants to dress smart, but lazy to wash even their socks every day. I sincerely hope that nanotechnology doesn't make even the active people to get into the laziest of habits of not even bothering to wash their socks regardless of whether they wash their dirty linen in public :-)

For more info on nanotechnology, you can check out this link -
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nanotechnology.htm

2006 Assembly Elections - Liar Liar

Time for political parties to forget the promises made in earlier election and come up with "innovative", unrealistic yarns that goes a long distance. A sample of the promises made by DMK ...

Rice for Rs. 2 a kilo

Colour TV set for downtrodden people

cooking Gas connection for downtrodden

No real meaning and conviction in what to say - this is like 'spin a yarn' competition. Our new entrant in the fray, Mr.Captain Vijayakanth is promising to build a new city that will replace Chennai and overcome the problems of basic infrastructure. After speaking lengthy and boring dialogs in films, he is now making them as election promises.

All political parties should remember that 'Action always speak louder than words'. All your promises looks like the saying 'Empty vessels make more noise'. Do something first and people will automatically believe you than talking which you have been doing for ages.

To all the people who read this article - CAN THE PARTIES BE TAKEN TO COURT OR SUSPENDED IF THEY DON'T IMPLEMENT THE PROMISES MADE? This will make them more accountable.

Latest addition to Indian Cricket selection mystery - Kiran More

This piece is written after the news that Robin Uttapa has replaced Gautam Gambir for the remaining 4 ODI matches against the on-going home series against England.

Yes, it is time again to honour the most mysterious man we ever had as our Chairman of Selectors - Mr.Kiran More. If we were to come up with a list of famous personality with peculiar behaviours, Mr.Kiran More should find himself in top 10 for being the best split-personality India ever had. Modern day politicians should take a leaf out of him on how one can be as ridiculous as he is, even though he is not into active politics.

According to Kiran More, Gambir failed to capitalize on the chances given to him. He scored close to 30's in the two matches, took 3 good catches and been an effective team man. He is dropped. What about Sehwag? He has been failing consistently off late, no agility in fielding, and didn't even matched Gambhir's score in the two matches. If Kiran More and Chappal are looking at building a team, axing a promising yougster and banking on a batsman with past-glory will not help. As long as we have stupid selectors like Kiran More, we will continue to have absurdities in the team selection.

Ind Vs Eng Mumbai Test Match - Picture tells the story

I managed to get some nice pictures and with the help of my friend and colleague Rafiq, got them into a nice sequence. How true is the saying 'A picture is worth a thousand words' for the third and final test match, England emerging victorious.


When the 'Wall' leads from the front, always scoring and taking some great catches on the field...

When the famed and promising batsmen fail miserably ... The captain no wonder is shocked and dejected.

Commonwealth '06 in Indian newspapers - True performers go unnoticed

It is sad that most of the newspapers dated March 27th decided to splash pictures of so-called Bollywood icons' dance performance at the closing ceremony of 2006 Commonwealth Games. We should be ashamed of not having the pictures of real heroes behind India's success like Samaresh Jung, who achieved the distinction of securing 5 gold medals and would have set a world record in Commonwealth history if his pistol hadn't jammed and deprived him of the elusive 6th.

This once again reflects the sad state where our newspapers neglected the real heroes and resorting to much more glamorous things. Sameresh Jung definitely deserves to be remembered, celebrated and honored much more than Aishwarya Rai or any other cine personality.

As long as we continue to ignore these achievements, our performance in sports at Olympics or other international events can never improve. For God sake - please don't qualify Saif Ali khan / Aishwarya Rai / Rani Mukherjee as cultural ambassadors. Any decent dancer could have performed that show if given chance. We don't need our cine personalities to showcase that.

Prices of real estates in Chennai - is it worth investing?

Thanks to extravagant and some times, disproportionate pay packages that software industries are offering, I don't know what good things that has happened, but certainly it has contributed immensely to the unnecessary bloating of real estate prices.

If my statement looks prudent, just look at prices of real estate over the past few years. A plot in outskirts of Chennai (much beyond Tambaram) now costs nothing less than 15 lakhs (100,000 is a lakh); it would have been less than 5 lakhs a couple of years back. A month after finishing this article, it would be no surprise if the prices have gone by another lakh. Two important contributors for this price hike - people working in software and NRI (Non-Resident Indians). Being in software, I feel sometime ashamed that we have indirectly contributed to this. Not just real estates, IT industry pay packages have made any types of rent affordable thus indirectly affecting common man who won't be able to pay that and forced to move to an outer area from the centre. This lucrative payment has made many of the house owners greedy when it comes to charging rent.

In the case of NRI, it doesn't make a difference if the constructor adds few hundred rupees per square feet thus resulting in a huge price. The difference between 35 and 40 lakhs is not going to bother a NRI because always they translate that difference into Dollars or other currency and feel that "Oh! It's just few thousand dollars difference". But in reality, if you go and bargain with the constructor, the prices can be brought down to a reasonably existing value. But this depends on factor that there is no one else to buy that. If there is another buyer, the constructor will remark "Sir - there are others who are ready to buy it at this price" indirectly meaning that "If you don't like, get out of this".

Another factor encouraging these two sects of people are the banks - particularly private and MNC banks - offering huge loans. This certainly doesn't look good and calling it as an economic growth is a stupidity. People will only realize when something catastrophic happens and then the prices back to what they should actually be. I am not trying to be a pessimist here, but this trend looks lunatic and I pity all the people who still want to invest very well knowing that they are paying more than its worth.

Traffic Policeman or Is it a Govt. Employee in uniform seeking alms?

If you had guessed that this is yet another anguish on the conduct of a traffic policeman, you are right. Today, around 9:15 PM, in my bike, I crossed the Gemini circle signal (from Nungambakkam high road towards Cathedral road). The signal was green and turned orange when I had just crossed it. But a traffic policeman emerged from the shadows on the other side (in the style of gangster coming out), asked me to stop and claimed that it was red when I crossed. He didn't look rough or spoke in a rude fashion, but was hell bent on his claim. I shouted at the top of my voice that I didn't violate and it was the last second when I crossed. As usual, he kept on with his claim and I continued to deny.

While this conversation was taking place, an auto just zipped past (violating the signal) and this fellow tried to stop him which is next to impossible. He then came back to me, asked for my license and noted (or should I say scribbled) the number in a paper that he seem to be carrying for long years.

He asusual, said that there is a sergeant on the other side and I have to wait till he comes. I knew bloody well that there won't be anyone and sensed that this fellow was expecting some money. I then told 'Stop messing around. How much do you want? He said "give me 50 Rs". I said "fine. I am giving it because I don't want to waste my time in talking to useless people like you. Let this money be of no use to you". I gave a 100 Rs note and he gave me back 50 Rs. He kept his words. I just shouted at him on not being able to stop vehicles like MTC buses, lorries, trucks, cars who also violate, but he is capable of stopping only motorists and exploit.

I had to cool down myself before starting back thinking that I have paid money to a government employee which will be of some help to him and according to him, the amount received may not be referred to by the word 'bribe'. I was really happy about one thing - that I had shouted at him madly, and put some embarrassing questions which is the maximum I can do at that situation.

When my 75 year old father says 'Sachin Tendulkar is of no use to the team' ...

My father has never been a keen follower of cricket, but still, whenever India plays, he sits for few hours and watches and tends to blast at the players when our team loses the match without a fight. Today, in the third test match against England at Mumbai, after watching India slowly pulling off the follow-on, courtesy Dravid and Dhoni and then nudging close to 280 with key contribution from Kumble and Sreeshanth, my father remarked "If Munaf Patel can score 7 runs which included a boundary, then bloody, why Sachin manages just one run of 21 deliveries and got out to a nothing ball?" This clearly shows the angish people are getting over Sachin's continous and consistent failures.

Is it time that Greg Chappell says to Tendulkar - "Look, you have not been playing well and it is increasing the pressure on the team. I think it is time for you to step down." He did this to Ganguly and the people supported his decision and frankness in doing so. Will he do the same to Sachin?

The remuneration for players representing Team India is Rs 2.50 lakhs for a Test and Rs 1.85 lakhs an ODI on foreign tours and Rs 2 lakhs a Test and Rs 1.60 lakhs an ODI for a home series. This is not out of my hat - but from the Sportstar magazine. Check out the link - http://www.sportstaronnet.com/tss2907/stories/20060218001001700.htm to read in detail

The way Dravid is playing, the amount of consistency he is showing, I don't remember when was the last time he got out on a low score. At the same time, I don't remember when Sachin made a healthy contribution to the Indian score. Their scoring pattern has been at either ends of spectrum. Sachin's 35th century came against Srilanka, a side that was low in confidence and the innings was such a slow and painstaking I have ever watched. It was equivalent to the century made by Ganguly against Zimbabwe just before he was removed from the team.

It is time for Sachin to honour his own statement - "I will step aside when I feel that I have become a burden to the team". You have certainly entertained this game and played some great innings when you were so young, the type of innings many couldn't even think off.

He still seem to have something left in his one day cricket. But the time has come for a great cricketer like him to retire from Test cricket.

Rang De Basanti - Message - kill all corrupt politicians

Rang De Basanti or 'Colours of Spring' - a blend of pre-independence and modern times, reminding the audience that the time is still ripe to clean up Indian political system. If possible, watch the movie 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh' before you watch RDB.

RDB takes the backdrop of Flight Lt. Abhijeet Gadgil, who died due to a MIG 21 flight malfunction in a routine take-off exercise. The first half of the movie presents a completely playful mood. The group of collge students reluctantly agree to do a documentary on Bhagat Singh.

The movie gets into a serious tone when this group of people sit down to watch the full documentary. They are overcome by the mental make-up of the freedom fighters whose role they donned. They start talking about doing something, but then the conviction to take it forward keeps them away.

The news Lt.Col.Ajay's death during his routine MIG 21 take-off and the defense minister getting a clean chit comes as a shock. The rest of the story is about how thse people plan the killing of minister, sacrifice their life before broadcasting their ideals to the public and how that stirs the entire nation. It is bit disappointing to see the young men sacrificing their lives, but their mission to spread the message of corruption and to do something for the country stands out.

Good music by AR Rahman and lyrics by the ad-man Prasoon Joshi keeping up with the situation and adjusting the tempo. RDB might get positioned as a cult movie of this generation - no family drama, no cinematic stunts and no lengthy dialogs.

Hope this movie drives few people conscience - one need not sacrifice their life, but at least try not to disrespect the sacrifices made.

Movie Review: Legend of Bhagat Singh

Although the movie came cose to 3 years back, I took up writing on this after seeing RDB. Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekar Azad - the two men who struck terror in the hearts of British Empire, though finally succumbing to the British power, almost showed the British how powerful revolutionaries can be.

If one ever likes to see a movie on Independence struggle and the sacrifices made, he or she should watch this movie.

Ajay Devgan suits into the role of Bhagat Singh, the perfect match when he wears the hat and sports the mouse tail size trademark moustache. The music is directed by A.R.Rahman and of all the songs, “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna Ab Hamare Dil Mein Hai…” set in Desh raga stands out. The movie is directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, who aptly ends the movie asking the question whether the sacrifices made by Bhagat Singh stands relevant when the country is gripped with corrupt politicians and scandals.

If you are interested in knowing about these heroes – visit the site which I stumbled upon - http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org

Jaihind

"Dishyum" - Story of a Stuntman and a Sculptor

A character who risks his life performing stunts for movies, a girl who believes in boy-girl friendship and with them throw in few family emotions, stunt scenes, decent comedy, and a mix of melody, folk and disco style songs.

The good things about the movie is about showing the hardships a person undergoes as a stunt artist. Another pleasing aspect of this film is that there is no gravity defying fight sequences, which is good and different from few of the Tamil movies where the 40 plus actors flying and hitting 16 people at a time.
The two songs - "Nenchankootil neeye nirkirai..." set in a melodious tone and "Dialomma dialomma .." set in a disco style were appealing. The other numbers were also good except that for the pain of listening to a Hindi playback singer rendering 'Kitta Irangivaada ..." a dabbanguthu. The songs is sung by Sukwinder Singh (Chaiyya Chaiyya of Dil Se fame). God only knows why our Tamil music directors get these kind of idea and why those people too agree for the sake of money. "Dishyum" is the story of conflict between friendship and love, the later finally winning over.

BCCI - Board for Complete Comedy in India

The inherent quality that a cricketer or non-cricketer gets after being elected as a selection committee member of BCCI is that they get mentally out of balance with immediate effect and transform themselves into a Jekyl and Hyde personality. Remember that one DOESN'T need to have played cricket for being a selection committee member. All he needs is to have good rapport with the BCCI president.

Kiran More drew much praise when he dropped Ganguly for the ODI home series against SL as it was believed that Ganguly was the only one to blame as he made public his spat with Chappel.

The day before the test team against SL was announced, Kiran More was reportedly saying that Sourav wasn't playing well in the recent past and been sluggish in the batting department. But the next day, Kiran More did a splendid volte-face. Ganguly was in the 15 member team when announced and Kiran More was saying that Ganguly's experience and his quality test records paved the way for his selection. This was as close to being ridiculous.

And then the BCCI elections came. The new selection committee dropped Ganguly. It evoked lot of protest. For the third test, Ganguly was again picked !! so that the ODI match at Kolkatta happens as per plans without any protests.

Ganguly scored decently in the third and final test against Lanka, better than Sachin's snail paced 35th hundred. Ganguly was selected for Pakistan tour. Kiran More was cited saying that Ganguly's vast experience could be valuable.

Ganguly couldn't get to bat in the first test as Sehwag and Dravid played till the end of the match. Ganguly wasn't picked for the second test to accommodate a fifth bowler. In the third test, when every other Indian batsman failed, Ganguly and Yuvraj alone showed some class and made decent scores. Ganguly was not out overnight when the selection of ODI team got announced. No place for Ganguly. He hasn't got a chance to play in that series and was batting at an overnight score, building an innings, but the selectors still decided to axe. A predetermined step.

Ganguly did just one mistake - he made public his argument with Chappal which resulted in a series of events that finally resulted in Ganguly being indirectly given retirement. But in the case of Ganguly, I feel that the BCCI insulted him beyond the limits, dishonoring him as a person and as captain, who brought and instilled fighting qualities in the Indian team. The people of India may not remember BCCI much, but will surely remember Ganguly.

51 Crores for a dead man's head

The immature announcement made by a minsiter of UP government on the Prophet cartoon row would have shaken everyone in the world, even some in his own community.

Does the minister know how many zeros are there in a crore? In one of my earlier article on the Sethu Samudram project, I have explained in detail the simple mathematics. Let us take the practical situation when some one actually kills the Danish cartoonist and produces the head (dripping with blood) to the minister. Now, the question comes on how he will give the reward. I am sure the salaried and lower class people in India would certainly raise their eye-brow on the money the minister should be having to announce such a huge reward. Apart from that, he is also giving equivalent weight in gold to the man who is performing this brilliant work.

These kind of childish statements by a minister shows that he wants to keep his community people provoked and their focus diverted from critical day-to-day issues that are pending to be addressed in the state. Let the people be awake and not waste their time by following his advice.

Cartoon controversy & MF Hussain

The recent cartoon on the prophet by a Danish newspaper has created widespread protest among the Muslim community. The Muslims have every right to condemn the cartoon as they consider depicting prophet in a wrong way is a punishable offense. Though I respect the sentiments on wrong portraits, let me throw open few controversial things which surely will make one think on why Hindus too can't involve in such protest.

The first issue is about the painter M.F.Hussain. He claims himself as an artist and has been insulting Hindu goddess of worship in the name of paintingg. Why can't the Hindus also reward similar to the one as announced by the Imam on Salman Rushdie or the recent case of UP minister offering 51 crores for the head of the cartoonist?? Are Hindus taken for granted? We don't require a painter who doesn't care to respect other religion sentiments. If the Muslims feel sensitive about portraying Prophet, then MF Hussain dare not provoke Hindus. Let him go to hell with his painting and his Maduri Dixit obsession.

Indian PM Mr.Manmohan Singh at crossroads!

This picture appeared sometime back in Deccan Chronicle supplement. It seems to truly present the state of Indian PM with his ministers.

Caption: Indian PM caught between two ________

Given the current quality of politicians, you may fill in with any word you want. You may discover that the most derogatory word sounds and suits much better.

PS: The Actual meeting is for signing a MoU for preparing the Ken-Betwa link project report by Madhya Pradesh CM Babalul Gaur and UP CM Mulayam Singh.