Are Indians the best team in the world?

Hi Guys,

It has been a very very long time, since I wrote about cricket. I was writing about lot of fascinating things and didn’t think of writing about cricket. Cricket seemed to be boring. But, now the Ashes and the India- South Africa Series turned things. They have created lot of interest and I also thought of writing, after seeing India bundled out for 136. As I am writing this, South Africans are leading by 100 runs with 8 wickets in hand.

Indians are currently the No. 1 Test Team in the world and the South Africans are No.2. From the way things have been going on, Indians don’t even look to be closer to the spot. I decided to take a look at India’s previous results. From July 2008, Indians have played 10 series. Of that they have won 5 of 6 in home and drew 1 with South Africa. Outside, they have won at New Zealand, Bangladesh. They once drew with Sri Lanka and the other time they lost to the Island nation. So apart from the New Zealand series they have not been very impressive even in Sri Lanka. They haven’t toured England, Australia and South Africa. This has been very much helpful to claim the top seat.

Let’s look at South Africa. From July 2008, they have played just 8 series, 3 in home soil and 5 away. They have toured India, West Indies, Australia and England. Of that they won Australia, England and West Indies series convincingly and drew with India (that too mainly because, after losing the first test, the organisers made a spin friendly track). In home, they drew with England, won Bangladesh and lost to Australia.

After going through, these stats I think South Africa deserves to be in the top spot. In ICC Rankings, the current rank of the teams is considered. Another factor to be considered is the location. India beating Australia in India is not big, but India beating Australia in Australia is big. But in both cases ICC awards same points. So, the rankings are name shake being at No. 1 doesn’t mean India is the best team in the world.

Again coming back to the series, what happened to our fast bowlers? Even in the fast bouncy pitches they are not taking wickets. Particularly Ishant Sharma who was rocking in Australia 3 years back isn’t even near to that form. Other bowlers are newer to the zone and so again and again, India relies on only one bowler and when he is injured our bowling department fails, irrespective of the pitch.

The top score in Indian innings was Sachin - 36. Currently all the 4 South African players have scored above him. What a pity? So currently it seems that Indians are going to face innings defeat and this means India will come down from 130 to 126 and SA will move from 116 to 120 in the rankings.

Rather than boasting on the home records, India should try to improve their game, before losing the top spot. Also, mind you India has won only 1 test match in South Africa.

To me, this test seems to be over for India unless some miracle happens and let’s look forward for the next one.

Happy Reading!!!

My Favorite movie list published in Newspaper!

Hi Guys,

Today morning, a surprise was waiting for me. My list of favorite movies appeared in Newspaper with my name on it.

Every Friday there a supplementary issue named MetroPlus Weekend comes along with The Hindu Newspaper. In the issue, there is a column named My Five in which readers can contribute their favourite five movies. As I see a lot of movies, I got the idea of sending my favourite five. I emailed it some 15 days back. I checked the next issue eagerly, it was not there and I forgot it. Today morning, I read the paper as usual and after reading the paper, I took the supplementary (I usually read supplementary issues at the end). There was the list, the list I sent. Well, I was shocked for some time. I was unable to believe it for some time.

When I said to dad he was too happy, even I wasn’t that happy. Don’t know why he was so excited?

Here is a photo of the column.

Click the image to get an enlarged view

Well, there were a few corrections in the sentences. Some words were deleted, included or altered to give a better look. As far as the list is concerned, it is my favorite list. I saw the movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ after sending the list. If I had seen it earlier, I would have inserted it in the 4th place and that would have pushed ‘Fight Club’ outside.

You can also view it online at

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/12/10/stories/2010121050250500.htm

Happy Reading!!!

Enjoying Nature!

Hi Guys,

It is quite long since I wrote. I am having my semester exams and have to concentrate on that. Just, finished my Thermal Engineering exam and did it quite well. Also, thanks for the overwhelming response for my previous post on Vaigai River. This time my Indiblogger Rank (Indiblogger is a website that supports Indian bloggers) has went up to 73/100 which I have never imagined of taking.

I don’t have very much to write, but will write a very words of how I enjoyed nature in the past few days.

The first delight was Migratory Birds. As the Northern parts gets freezing cold in winter, birds living there travel 1000s of miles to tropical region. My locality is sort of a hub for these birds as there is a lake nearby. The birds will be filled with lot of colors (unlike our usual black and white birds). A blue bird (that I later found to be a Kingfisher) frequents often. Yesterday I saw another bird which was peculiar. Its body was yellow and feathers were coffee brown. It had sort of a long tail like structure. When it flew the tail like structure expanded and offered it stability. Well, the total time I saw the bird was less than a minute it was just awesome. 

The blue color kingfisher that frequents often (this photo was taken last season)

Apart from these birds, if you look at the sky these days you can see flock of birds with superb formation flying synchronously. It will be superb. As I go to terrace in the evening to study I can watch at least 3-4 wonderful flocks a day. Some will be flying in pairs whereas some flocks will contain even 20 birds. These birds are an inspiration to me. See, how tirelessly they from North pole to here for days in the hope of finding food and shelter here (also a few days later they must fly back to the North Pole). We must learn confidence and determination from them.

Another wonderful being I saw was a Dragon fly. Dragon flies are abundant in our locality, but I have never seen them keenly. A few days before I saw picture in which dragon fly was amazing in its appearance. I became interested. Yesterday I had a chance to watch it closely when it was sitting on a cloth line. It was just awesome. Each and everything on its tiny body had structures. Its wings were divided into patterns and were equally colored on both sides. Its body was filled with minute hairs and its head was so beautiful. Well, it was just nice.

The picture of dragon fly that inspired me to look at dragon flies closer

Thats it for now. Will see you soon.

Happy Reading!!!

True but Unbelievable! Flood in Vaigai River!

Hi Guys,

After my previous post, Indians at the Asian Games, the performance of Indians were much better. So, it won’t be proper if I leave it that way, but I’ll wait for the games to conclude and will write the remaining portion. Anyway now I’ll be writing about something unbelievable, but happening.

I have been living in Madurai from my childhood. Madurai, one of the ancient cities of the country is situated on the banks of Vaigai River. Looking back at history, we can end up with the fact that most of the ancient cities were constructed nearby rivers. The main reason behind this is the need of water for livelihood. So, whenever a king decides to settle down at a particular area, he will make sure that the area is rich with water sources. This is not only important for drinking and cooking, but also for agriculture.

Water touching both banks of the river

The history of how Madurai was formed is not so clear, but anyway some ruler (probably a Pandian king) must have chosen the place to settle in. The earlier city was located on the southern side of Vaigai River. The city must have taken a complete shape around 1400-1600 when Meenakshi Amman temple reached its ultimate architecture. The city is mainly based around the temple, basically square streets named after Tamil months. The city must have been such around late 1800s, when the city needed to be expanded.

Bridge connecting parts of the city

So, still the temple forms the centre point of the city, but the city has expanded dramatically. It has gone beyond the other side of the river too and I live on the Northern side of the river. So, basically Madurai was situated on the banks of Vaigai River and because of that, the river has had many historical incidences too. Many epics praise the river, portraying how water flows through the river beautifully.

But, right from my childhood I have rarely seen the River running beautifully. Rather, it would be filled by grass or wild shrubs and more than that it will have very little stagnant dirty water (my mother used to say that when she was a child, even if water doesn’t flow, it would be filled with sand. Thanks to sand quarrying, I didn’t get to see that too). In November, December when Tamil Nadu gets rains due to North East Monsoons (rest of India gets it from South East Monsoons), the river would be filled with water and it would be nice to see that.

But as time went along and I grew tall, the amount of water flowing through the river got reduced. It was as if my height and the amount of water were indirectly proportional. It reached a stage when each year, water would be flowing in the river in the river for some 10-15 days when there were heavy rains and it would flood very rarely. For the past years, water was not even flowing in those days. So, it became something like history saying, ‘Once, so long ago, water was flowing through this river’.

This year was dramatic. There were no rains, the water tables in the city were very low and everyone was praying for rains. Everyone was waiting for the North East monsoons. Finally November came and rains started and it hasn’t stopped until now. The water level in the Vaigai Dam (situated 70 kms away from Madurai) reached its maximum a few days ago and hence the water flowing through the Vaigai River was increasing each day.

Water flowing with great force!

A few days ago, water was flowing very heavily and flood warnings were issued. A few people who got inside the river ignoring the warning, never returned back. So, it’s something like sort of History restored. These days many people gather around the river to watch the water flowing. On my way to college, I have been able to see people standing on the bridges and watching the water. Particularly, many younger school children watch the River awestruck, as they have never seen this much water.

People watching water flow through the river

Due to this, many lakes and ponds around the city has got filled and even some has broken out. Most of the areas lying in the southern side of the city have been drowned with water. One of my classmates coming from that area told me, all the streets and low lying houses have been filled with water and it has become playtime for kids. They enjoy their time in water and many other boys, engage their time catching fishes. He said fishes up to a foot long were found in the water.

This has caused a lot of hardships to the people too, but generally people are enjoying it, as the city is receiving water after a long time. The atmosphere is great around here. Hope water flows for many more days.

Happy Reading!!!

P.S: Photographs taken by my friend Sundar. All pictures were taken today.

Indians at the Asian Games!

Hi Guys,

After a bright performance in Commonwealth games, Indians have so far disappointed in the Asian Games. Not even one month has passed by, but our performance has been so poor. There have been some really spectacular performances too. Let me analyse who has disappointed and who has created new hopes.

Poor performances

The poor performance started on the very first day itself. The strongest medal hope was our Shooting contingent. They have been on the high for the past few years. Gagan Narang was one of the biggest hopes as he had won 4 gold medals in the CWG. Abhinav Bindra, India’s only gold medallist was also a big hope. Gagan was able to manage a silver in 10m air pistol whereas Abhinav didn’t even qualify for the finals (he could have claimed for a wrong judgement, but he didn’t for team’s cause). They managed to win silver in team’s event. After that our shooting contingent delivered very poorly. No one won gold. There were a very few silver and bronze medals. Frustrated, our national shooting coach, Sunny Thomas has announced his retirement after the Asian Games. He has been our national coach for the past 17 years. I can’t believe that these people were very superb just a month ago. How could a whole bunch of shooters lose form?

My next biggest expectation was Badminton. I was hoping that Saina Nehwal would win at least silver, if not gold (I knew gold was difficult as our Asian players are very strong in Badminton). But it was such a shock when I heard that she lost in the quarter finals to a world number 12th player. The way she lost was worse 8-21, 21-8, 21-19. She was in tears after the match. Don’t know what happened.

Saina Nehwal dejected after losing the match

Not just these, there has been much poor performances on all sides. Let’s get into the positives.

Incredible Performances

The two gold medallists Pankaj Advani (billiards) and Bajrang Lal (rowing) were brilliant in their respective games. Both of them have won before in top level games and they didn’t fail like our shooters. Instead they rose to the occasion and proved us what they were capable off. Hats off to them!

Bajrang Lal after winning the gold

The next astonishment was Ashish Kumar, winning India’s first ever bronze medal in Gymnastics. Indians were never capable of doing gymnastic actions and we never considered even our name in the gymnastic arena. But this 19 year old Ashish Kumar from Allahabad proved otherwise. After winning a silver and bronze in CWG, he has won this bronze in Asian games amidst stiff competition from Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.

Another scintillating performance came from the pool, when Virdhawal Khade won the bronze medal in 50m Butterfly event. It was also a rare medal. Similar to gymnastics, swimming has also been very poor in India. But this 19 year old Maharasthra boy has been India’s hope for some time now. He holds nearly all national records in swimming. After winning the medal, in the press conference he surprised everyone by saying he is better than the other 2 medal winning swimmers as he is younger. The next he was only able to be 13th in the 100m Freestyle event. He must learn to speak carefully further.

Virdhawal Khade after winning the bronze medal

Indians have also been able to perform well in rowing team event. Apart from Bajrang Lal our Indian team members have performed well to win some medals. I read a terrible thing in newspaper today. For rowing, our rowing committee (or some equivalent governing body) has imported 8 boats from Italy. Our customs officials have not allowed it inside saying some idiotic reasons. So our rowing team has been rowing with old boats (boats they used in 2002 Asian Games) and boats that our military has lend them. With a government like this, we can’t do much. Despite all these problems our rowers rock in the games.

Our Indians have also been performing well in many other games like Wushu. They are doing well in Tennis and Boxing. I hope we will get medals in them too. If our cricket board had sent a second class team to the games, we would have surely got 2 gold as all other teams are also engaged.

Let’s see how things go in the next few days. At least hope that India will break into the top 10 teams.

Happy Reading!!!

Things that crossed my way!

Hi Guys,

It has been long since I wrote my last post. It is also long since I wrote a post out of my heart. I was busy with works regarding my brother’s marriage (which ended successfully on October 27). After that I was busy setting things at home (as I was alone in home for 2 weeks, everything was shuffled) and of late, I’ve been getting ready for my practical exams, which are scheduled to start next week. Before that I thought of sharing a few things that came across my way in the recent days.

Security Levels

Let me say you about the security levels followed in our country. Recently I and my mother went to Railway Station to wave off my brother and sister in law. It was heavily raining and we went there after some delays. We went through the main entrance and we were asked to go through a metal detector. I had to come out again to get platform tickets and when I went in, I was enquired on why I was going in and out continuously. Impressed? Read the sequel.

Two days later (exactly on Diwali), I and parents were leaving to Chennai to send off my brother who was going back to US. That day it was raining even heavily. The roads were filled with knee height water and we were dropped some 1 km from Railway station. We managed to walk in the water logged road and after reaching railway station, we used the overhead bridge as the entrance was filled with water. We were not checked. After reaching inside, I came to the main lobby of the station, to check the platform number of our train. From there, I saw that the passengers who were entering through the main entrance were checked. So, what is the purpose of this security? Any terrorist or anti social person could easily come through the overhead bridge. Maybe we could easily say that in a country with so much population, we can’t check everyone. But then, at least all the ways should be blocked or checked.

Rains bringing back Water



Water flowing through Vaigai River

There were heavy rains here during the past week. At least, this year North East monsoons blossomed. This has increased water levels in all the places. In our home, we were facing water scarcity and after these rains, the condition seems to have improved. I heard from my mother that the lake nearby our home has been filled with water and this will improve the water table. Also, today when I went to college, I saw that water was flowing in the Vaigai River after very long time. It has been at least 2 years since water flowed through the famous river. It was a good scene, but the river is filled with weedy plants and scrubs and they hinder the water flow. Seeing from the bridge, it appears as if many tiny green islands have come into existence in the river.

Poor clumsy Water filled in Teppakulam



A photo of Teppakulam I captured during last Float Festival

Thepa Thiruvizha (Float festival) will be occurring somewhere in the February month and for that our officials have started filling water in the Teppakulam. The process started a few days back. Water is pumped from the Vaigai River and is flowed into the pond. When the process started the water in Vaigai River was dirty, stagnated and poor. With no worries about that, our officials started filling in. Though now good water flows through, nothing can be done to the polluted water. Each day I go to my college through that area and the stench it has created is unbearable. Today it was quite better as the good water must have diluted the effects. Why don’t our officials think before doing things? Last year the same problem occurred and after media focus, they removed the dirt using machines.

Anil and Apple confusions

This is a message I received in my phone some time back

3 apples were in front of an anil (anil means squirrel in Tamil). Anil ate 2 apples, didn’t eat one. Reason? The apple was plastic.

Now, again 3 apples in front of an anil and anil didn’t eat any. Reason? Anil was plastic.

One original apple in front of an original anil. But, still anil didn’t eat. Reason? Anil was on Discovery Channel and apple was on front of the TV.

Now, anil and apple are on TV, but anil didn’t eat. Reason? Both were on different channels.

I know you are angry, but you have to read this too...

Anil and apple are on same TV channel, even then anil didn’t eat. Reason? TV was off.

After reading this message, I was blank and was not able to do anything for some time.

That’s it for now guys see you later!

Happy Reading!!!

Awesome Alfred Hitchcock Movies

Hi Guys,

In this post I’m going to write about three movies I watched recently. I had heard of Alfred Hitchcock and wanted to watch at least a few of his movies. The dream became true and I watched three of his movies including Psycho (1960), Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958). Each movie was a masterpiece.

Psycho

It is said to be Alfred Hitchcock’s best one and one of the greatest movies ever released. It is a 1960 Black and White movie. Though color movies were quite common at that time, I think Alfred Hitchcock wanted to take this movie in this BW.

It’s a psychological thriller movie. Janet Leigh steals $40000 from her boss in order to marry her boyfriend John Gavin and flees Phoenix. On the way she is followed by a policeman who suspects her. After getting free from the cop, she stops in a motel, due to rain. The motel is run by Norman Bates, who stays in his home nearby along with his mother. There is no one in the motel, as it far away from Fairvale. She dines with Norman and his mother is unhappy with her arrival. That night, we are shown Janet being murdered by a woman like structure, who probably must be his mother.

Norman fights with his mother for her murdering act and starts to clean the room. Meanwhile Janet’s boss sends her sister to find her and his money. She along with John Gavin sends a detective to the motel. He is also murdered by the same woman like structure. Then both of them come to the motel and finds that Norman’s mother is dead and her decayed body is kept in his home. So, who killed both the people and whose voice did we hear when Norman spoke to his mother? Watch movie to know the climax.

Alfred Hitchcock has used many of his peculiar film making techniques in this movie. First is his Mcguffin technique. Mcguffin is a film making technique in which the story revolves around a particular object or thing. In this story $40000 tends to be Mcguffin, but in the end we even forget there was money involved in the story. The best scene in the movie is the murder scene of Janet Leigh. The director has used a lot of close up cameras and different angles to make it terrific. It is said that after watching this movie, many people were horror filled to take a bath.

Rear Window

The next movie I watched was Rear Window. The suspense movie was released in 1954 and stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly and Thelma Ritter. The whole movie has been shot in one location, an apartment and most of the movie has been shot from a single room.

James Stewart is a professional photographer and breaks his leg in a dangerous assignment. He is confined to a wheelchair in his house. His daily visitors are an elderly nurse Thelma Ritter and his girlfriend Grace Kelly. Due to summer heat wave, the occupants leave their window open and James passes his day by watching people through the window. He becomes suspicious of a businessman as his ill wife gets disappeared all of a sudden. He tells the things to his girlfriend and nurse and with the help of them, he finds out things. Was the businessman a murderer? Watch the movie.

Actually I started watching this movie by 11 pm. I thought of seeing some of the movie and then to continue it the next day. But the movie was so interesting and I finished the movie in a stretch. I can’t imagine today’s directors to stick with just a home and finish of a movie.

Vertigo

I watched this thriller yesterday. It was released in 1958 and stars James Stewart and Kim Novak. Again, it was a different story and a superb movie.

James Stewart is a detective in the police force who develops Acrophobia (fear of heights) as he sees a police officer fall down from a roof, despite his efforts to save him. He retires from the police force. One of his school friend requests James to decode his wife’s suspicious behaviour. As per his request, James follows Kim Novak and finds her to be peculiar. Her great grandmother committed suicide and she pretends to have all her behaviours. James saves her from committing suicide in California bay. After that he falls in love with her and she tells him about a peculiar dream.

In an effort to find out the solution, he takes her to a Spanish colony some 100 miles apart. There she says James is too late and starts climbing the church’s tower. James follows her, but because of his acrophobia he is not able to climb and sees Kim falling through a window. He is shocked and he is unable to talk for some days. After recovery, he wanders through and finds a girl much similar to Kim. He meets her awkwardly in her room and later they fall in love.

James requests her to dress similarly to the old Kim and finally he sees that she has the same necklace as that of old Kim. That raises suspicion and he takes to the same church to wrangle out the truth. What happens next is the climax. Were they the same? Or were they different people? Why was James used in all these things? Watch the movie to find out the answers.

Hope you enjoyed the post. I’m going to continue watching Alfred Hitchcock’s movies and write about them.

continued in  Awesome Alfred Hitchcock Movies - Part 2

Happy Reading!!!

3G in my Life!

Hi Guys,

The most recent booming technology in our country is the third generation phones or 3G phones. These are phones that are way above their predecessors. The main features include mobile TV, internet and video calls. Though the introduction was very late in India, the huge amount of money that has been put into in the 3G auction has shown that India is a huge market for 3G phones. Despite the high price of 3G phones people are ready to go for it, just because of the technology and ads. Private operators are ready and 3G will be introduced by many service providers in a very short time.

In this post, I’m going to write about my thoughts of having a 3G phone.

Internet on the Go!

I was in my native place during the past one week and was never able to access internet. Just as I came yesterday and opened my mails and social networks, there were huge amount of updates in that. Imagining that I have a 3G phone, I will be able to use Internet on the go. Though we have GPRS now, the speed is very low and it never crosses 20-25 kbps. But, the speed in a 3G phone must be at least 200 kbps, which is nearly the speed of an Indian Broadband connection. So, having 3G phone will mean that there will be no missing mails and updates.

No more missing my favourite TV shows

Though, I’m not a TV freak I still watch certain reality shows continuously. For the past two weeks, I have not been able to watch the shows mainly because I was not in my home most of the time. So, if I had a 3G phone, I would have watched at least half the shows without missing. Not only this, I would be able to know about all the updates as it happens. There would be no remote clashes (though it doesn’t happen directly in my home, its obvious that one’s favourite will not be others). It would lead to a personalized enjoyable environment.

Video Calls

The above said things are just the starters. The main meal of a 3G phone will be the video calls. There are lot of situations when video calls will become handy.

Lot of my relative have been complaining that I never come to their home and they are constantly inviting me to visit their home. Let’s imagine both of us (me and one of my relative) have 3G phones. I can just call them and I can just say, ‘So, why don’t you take me around your house?’ I can see their whole house in the phone screen and this will reduce one promise I have made.

Next, it will be handy to identify a friend in a busy shopping crowd. Next week is Diwali and if you go to shopping now, the street will be full of people. If my friend is already in the street or inside a shop, I can just call him and see where he stands and I can easily identify him. Just imagine how many phone calls we make to identify friends these days.

A constant problem, I have been having with my friends is doubt clearing. They just call me and ask how to solve a problem or ask me to explain how things have been done. It is very difficult to clear doubts over voice. If I have a 3G phone and my friend also has one, I can just ask him to show, where he has the doubt and can easily clear the doubts. Rather than clearing doubts, this will avoid a few word fights between us for the misunderstandings.

Another permanent question by my friends, when they call me uses to be ‘Hey, so what are you doing?’ If I have a 3G phone I can just say ‘Hey Idiot, don’t you have eyes to see what I do now?’ (just for fun) One picture is better than 1000 words. So, video calls will definitely make life better.

All the above said things are just imaginations. These things may or may not happen. But it will definitely take some years for 3G to spread in India.

Happy Reading!!!

P.S: This post has been written for Indiblogger 3G Life Blogger Contest. http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=30

Things that crossed my way!

Hi Guys,

It’s really great out here with three days gap down the line. Thanks to the poojas and the political parties who have converted a local public meeting into a big word war and in the fear that problems may arise during their meeting on Monday, our college (or the local body) has declared us holiday.

I was thinking of what to write about in my blog. A lot of things came into my mind. I have decided to pen down a few things.

A fanatic of Sachin

On seeing the subtitle, you may wonder who that fanatic is. Well, it’s me. Right from the days I started watching cricket, I’m a big fan of him. I don’t know how I started to follow him, but I remember some of his innings. Actually still now, I don’t like someone the way I like Sachin. Maybe I’m a fan of some celebrities, but am not sort of fanatic. I have passionately followed him. I still remember some of his innings, his two centuries in Sharjah against Australia (I was so young then). Another innings was his double century against Australia in Sydney some 7 years ago. He didn’t hit well in the first three matches, although India managed to do well. But Hayden was still warning the Aussies about Sachin. He was saying Sachin would bounce back any time. In the fourth test, Sachin hit a scintillating knock. It was a double century.

Another innings, I remember is the quick fire 98 against Pakistan in 2003 World cup. Pakistan had hit 272 and my brother was saying India would never win. But Sachin tormented the Pakistan bowlers like anything and India won the match. The way he roared back after the tennis elbow injury was unforgettable. When everyone said, his time was over, he answered to the critics, as usual with his bat. This year, his performance has been fantastic. This season has many unforgettable innings including the 175 against Aussies in a losing ODI, when India hit 347 in reply to their 350. His 200* against SA is the first ever double century in ODI. He continues to impress in tests too. He has a continuous streak of centuries, including the last match winning innings.

I hope his dream of getting a World Cup comes true next year. I think I might have scribbled a lot of things above. I was quite excited and don’t even remember what I wrote (anyway I’m not going to check).

The Three Mistakes of my Life

Recently I read the book ‘The Three Mistakes of my Life’ written by Chetan Bhagat. It’s yet another fantastic novel, portraying the story of a young man named Govind Patel. The novel deals with friendship, cricket, religion, business and love. Just can’t believe how things can change the way a person live. The novel deals with how their lives are changed by the Gujarat Earthquake, the famous Kolkata test in which India won despite the follow on, the twin tower crash and finally the Godhra incident. I don’t really like life stories to the extent I like fiction and thrillers, but this man has been writing superbly. I liked 3 of his 4 novels including this one.

Commonwealth Games

Before starting of Commonwealth games nothing was looking good, but after the games everything is looking good. The way the games were conducted was good. India winning 101 medals and getting second place was even great. Saw a few matches now and then in TV. Particularly, saw the women’s 4*400 relay team. Indians had never achieved greatly in athletics, but they ran the race as if it meant life to them and we had gold. It was one of the best running I have ever seen. Many other stars also performed well. One disappointment was Vijendar Singh missing gold. I expected him to win the gold, but he missed it. Gagan Narang continued from where he left in Melbourne CWG. India losing to Australia 8-0 in Hockey was embarrassing, but it is the first medal of our Hockey team in CWG and it’s great. It’s good to see our Government giving some prize money to the medal winners. It was a fantastic 10 days from October 3 to 14. IT has completely made India proud.

Sad Demise

Last week, one of my college mates passed away, due to bike accident. I don’t know the exact story. It seems that he and his friend were riding to our college in the morning and when he overtook a minibus, another city bus has come in the opposite path they were crushed in the middle. They didn’t suffer severe body injuries, but it was their head which was injured. The rider was uninjured and he took his friend to the hospital and was waiting outside. Suddenly he fainted down and was announced dead. His inside of the head was injured and he has died due to blood clotting. The other boy is still in critical condition and a operation needs to be done in his spinal cord.

Another point is that the demised boy used to be a very safe and sensible rider. He never took risks and still then he died, because of other’s mistakes. If he had put a helmet, he would have escaped. We only realise value of small things, only after we are hit!

Be careful and ride safely!

That’s it for now. See you soon.

Happy Reading!!!

My attraction towards Hollywood Movies!

Hi guys,

It has been long since, I wrote last. My UPS crashed out and hence I was not able to use my computer for a long time. I was long thinking of what to write and thought it would be nice to write about my association with Hollywood Movies.

If I remember well, the first time I watched a Hollywood movie was during my 7th standard. It was one fine Saturday afternoon and I returned from school just then. My brother said he was going to an English movie and asked me if I wished to come with him. I happily agreed as I thought it would be nice. The movie was Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. The narratives were dubbed in Tamil and I was not able to understand the movie until my brother narrated to me in home. Before even I heard the story from him, I had become a fan of Tom Cruise and am still his fan.

After that I watched some 2 or 3 dubbed movies and I’m not sure of the first movie I watched in the original language itself. It was either Independence Day or I, Robot, both starring Will Smith. It was during my 8th standard and by then, I was not able to understand the accent of the English. So my brother would be the translator. After watching a scene, he would pass the movie and explain me the things. Thinking about it now, I think my brother was grateful then, for he used to watch Bollywood movies telecasted every Friday and Saturday night in Doordarshan. Though I never knew Hindi, I would lay right next to him and will be annoying him with explanations of the scenes. Except for a very few times, he would be patient enough to convey me the things.

After this there were a few times when we watched movies together until he finished his college and went to work. I was in my 10th standard then. Then three years went by without much of movies and I after my schooling, we bought a DVD player and my brother used to bring DVDs of many English movies, whenever he comes home.

Initially I used to watch the movies along with the sub titles. During my first year at college, we bought a computer in my home and then I used headset to hear the dialects. It was perfect. Soon I understood their accent without help of sub titles and today I watch movies normally, even without help of headset. Initially I enjoyed only the action movies with lot of special effects in them. Thought those were the only type of Hollywood movies.

But as time went I started to watch Drama movies and came to know about real life experiences. These days I watch a combination of all the genres, but I enjoy Sci-Fi Thrillers the most. Of late I have started to dig the older movies and even started to watch the movies of 60s and 70s. Last week I watched three movies of which I will be writing soon. They are One flew upon the Cuckoo’s nest (1975), Psycho (1960) and Rear Window (1954). Of these the last two are Alfred Hitchcock’s movies.

Of all the movies I have seen, I would consider Extra Terrestrial (E.T.) as the best. It was released in 1982 and is a Steven Spielberg’s film. It’s a touching movie which portrays the relationship between an Alien and a Human Child. I had to wait for a long time to see this movie. At last saw this movie during my first year at college in Television.

Happy Reading!!!

CWG- Pride or Embarrasement?

Hi Guys,

It has been a long time since I wrote my last post. Recently one thing has been in the news so frequently, the CWG scandal. What should have made us pride has been leading us down, because of our officials. Well, in this post let me point out my views on this issue.

Well, how to begin with and where to begin with? It seems that the issue has started well before India got its vote. Today morning I read that during the venue selection meeting, there was stiff competition between Delhi and Montreal (Canada) and Delhi beat Montreal 46-22. It is said that in the backdrop India gave money to all the member nations in the name of some development scheme to get the vote in our favour.

So, somehow India got the chance and when the news came I was so happy that our country is going to host the second biggest sporting event in the world, the first being the Olympics. Last CWG was in Melbourne (2006). At the closing ceremony India got the flag and many of our stars performed in the stage marking the arrival of games in India.

The preparations started well before and everything was supposed to be over before many months. But as usual like every other Indian event our organizers were sluggish and everything was beyond schedule. Stadiums were not finished before deadline and CWG committee had to warn our officials to finish off things quickly. Things were appearing to be fine. Stadiums were finished and their inaugurations took place. Each of the stadium looked world class. I thought our officials had finally reacted.

Then before a month, media began to dig deep and find all the scandals possibly related with CWG. Each day you can find news portraying one official or minister being accused of mishandling money and power. There were many resignations, accuses and things and they reduced slowly and people became annoyed and directly asked the media to support the games instead of damaging them.

So, everything was going well. With a fortnight left to the games, it was not from within the country, but from outside the country. Athletes from other countries were aggravated of the poor quality of games village. It was completely true and was covered by one of the most reputed news channel. They were dog’s marks on the bed, water leakage in the restroom, etc. Our officials replied that the recent rains in Delhi had delayed the work and things will be finished soon.

Roof that collapsed a few days ago

In good time our government got in. They appointed more workers, made lot of efforts and what a magic! In just 2 days time, other countrymen say the conditions are much better and are fit for living. They could have done it much earlier.

Today morning in The Hindu I read Peter Roebuck’s column on how India would pull all things just at the end. He says he expect a decent CWG. I also expect the same. I hope our officials would pull up things and make a superb appearance at the end.

Now the recent news is that Mr. Suresh Kalmadi has accepted responsibility for all the affairs. I don’t think this is fair as he is not the only person behind all these things. There are lot of reasons and I think our government has asked him to agree in order to pacify the media and other countrymen.

Rather than focussing on these issues, we can focus on the games and support Indian athletes at the games.

Happy Reading!!!

My Trip Diary -2

Hi Guys,

Welcome back to the trip diary. I left with me relaxing in the hostel room in the early morning of 3-9-10 (Friday). Let me continue with the diary.

3-9-2010 (Friday)

8 am

After a bit of sleep, we refreshed ourselves and thought of finishing the registration (for Bala Kumar), before having our Breakfast. We started from the room by 7.45 am and went to the registration arena by 7.55 am. We were awestruck. There was a huge crowd standing there. Wait, let me explain you the construction of the arena.

Registration Arena from outside

Tables were arranged in circular manner and some 10-12 computers were kept there. Each computer was marked a counter, so there were approximately 10 counters in all. Apart from that printers were kept in the centre of the circle and each printer was connected with 2 or 3 systems. So as soon as the participants gave their individual ID number (which we were informed earlier), a document conveying all their info will be printed out and this document was named Receipt. It was one of the vital documents that the participants have to keep until their stay.

Also a bar coded label is available for the particular ID Number. After registration, they will give a temporary ID card with the bar code attached to it. This bar code will be scanned at all places, like reception of the workshop, mess building, etc. I got the ID card by 5 am itself, but Bala Kumar’s bar code was missing and hence we had to come back.

As I said there was a huge crowd standing and it was even difficult to get inside. I waited outside and he after lot of difficulties got inside. He was trying to get information about the missing bar code and as time went by he lost his nerve and started to shout the registration team. Not just him, many other students were in the same position. It was informed that the barcode was being prepared.

It was 9 am. We had exhausted an hour there and we were hungry and thought of finishing our breakfast.

9 am

We didn’t have any idea of where the breakfast was being served. So we made an enquiry with the Help Desk and came to knew that the breakfast was in the Hostel Mess building. We were frustrated. We had to walk the whole distance again. Each of us had our own thoughts and we didn’t talk with each other making the distance appear long. We reached the mess building and there were four counters there and people were scanning the bar codes. I thought we needed to make an explanation regarding his absence of bar coded ID, but there was no problem. Many students didn’t have bar coded ID and hence one of the counters was shifted for the non bar code holders.

Students Centre which had the Mess building

A side view of the Student's Centre



We went and got the food in our plates. The breakfast was Idli, Pongal, Vada and Kesari along with Sambar and Coconut Chutney as side dishes. First I ate vada, it was quite good and hence I thought the food will be good. Next I took a bit of Idli and ate it, my ideas changed. Neither the Sambar, nor the chutney was good. So I ate the Kesari, which was sort of ok and some of the Pongal without side dishes and left. It was a forgettable breakfast.

9.30 am

Half an hour later, we were again at the registration desk. We thought of finishing the things and then attending the workshop, which was scheduled at 10 am. But, nothing happened as our plan. We had to wait, wait and wait until the inauguration function got over. Let me tell you those things in my next post.

Wish all the Engineer Readers of my blog, a very Happy Engineers day (September 15).

Happy Reading!!!

My Trip Diary -1

Hi Guys,

This post is going to be a new try from me. Last week I attended a workshop on Automation and Engine Design in a college nearby Erode and am going to write the details of the trip. Along the way, I’ll provide some photographs for your view. The photos will be of poor quality, as I took from my mobile’s VGA Camera.

2-9-10 (Wednesday)

9.00 pm

I left my home to Bus stand. It was 9.45 pm when I reached the Bus Stand and my friend Bala Kumar was already waiting there. He was accompanying me for the workshop. We got into a bus which was going to Erode. After the bus started we knew that the bus was old and terrible one. Even in the smoother four way roads, we had a bumpy ride. We had to travel for the next 260 kms in that bus. Despite the conditions we fell asleep in some time.

3-9-10 (Thursday)

2.45 am

Though the bus was poor, the driver managed to cover the 260 kms in 5 hours. We arrived at Erode by 2.45 am. The bus conductor was kind enough to guide us to Sathyamangalam where the college was said to be located. It was another 60 kms from Erode and we got into the bus by 2.50 am. It was good that we caught that bus, for the next bus was only by 4 am. This part was on the trails of Western Ghats and hence the roads were elevated and sloppy at some places. We again slept in the bus.

4.15 am

When we woke up, we found that we had reached Sathyamangalam and the time was 4.15 am. Around 20 students were already there in the bus stand and we found that they had also come for the workshop and other events that were being held in the same college. We found a stall the college had made to guide the participants. We were asked to wait until their vehicle came. It was 4.45 am and a Scorpio came. Some 8 of us got into the Scorpio and in another 15 minutes we reached the college.

5 am

A view as we reached there

It was still dark and we sensed that the college was big and had a high quality infrastructure. The registration desk was open and we thought of finishing the registration before going to the hostel. The students had an innovative idea. They allocated a separate ID for all the participants and had a Bar Coded ID card for all the participants for easy usage throughout the event. The idea was good but they fumbled as the numbers were changed and half the bar codes were missing. For instance I got my ID card, whereas Bala’s Bar code was not there and hence we were told to come later.

5.30 am

The Hostel Room

The hostel was at the other end and it was a long walk for us as we were heavy eyed. We were allocated a small room which was adequate for 2 persons to sleep in and we were also given beds. We carried the beds and reached the room. The time was 5.30 am. We unpacked our things and relaxed there, unaware of the problems we were going to face in the morning.

I’ll continue the story in the next sequel.

Happy Reading!!!

F1 and India!

Hi guys,

This week, Indian fans of F1 racing received great news. Formula 1’s governing body released next year’s racing schedule and India got a race to hold. It will be proud for us to have an Indian Grand Prix. It will be the 18th race of the season. It will be held in Noida, 32 kms away from Delhi. In this post I will be writing about India’s relationships with F1.

Before beginning the history and the current status, I must express to my blogging friend, Abhishek’s post on ‘Formula 1 is coming to India’ which induced me to write this one.

Indian Drivers in F1

The first Indian driver to participate in a F1 race was Narain Karthikeyan. He debuted for the Jordan team in 2005. He got his first points in the US Grand Prix when only three teams participated and all other teams pulled out due to problems with tyre. He finished fourth and that were the only points he got in F1. Then in 2006 and 2007 he was the test driver for Williams F1 team. Now he is associated with NASCAR race and there too he i the first Indian to qualify. No doubt he is the World’s Fastest Indian.

After Narain, Karun Chandok made his debut this year with Hispania F1 racing team. Both he and the team are inexperienced and they are facing huge problems. Let’s hope that all gets well soon.

Force India F1

The first sugary thing India got was the participation of Narain Karthikeyan in F1. Then a much sweeter surprise arrived. Vijay Mallya bought Spyker F1 Company for € 88 million and renamed as Force India F1 in October 2007. There were no points in first season and second season was also going on poorly. I thought it would be difficult for the team to survive. It was then Giancarlo Fischella finished second and created history. Then Adrian Sutil too finished fourth in the consecutive race.

Force India Drivers

This year, Force India is doing great. Both of its drivers Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi are finishing consistently in the point grabbing group. Currently Force India team is in 6th place with 58 points and Adrian Sutil is in 9th place for driver’s standings with 45 points in his bag. I hope that the team will do better in the upcoming races and seasons.

F1 in India

It has been long discussed to bring F1 into India. Many state governments raised plans to built F1 tracks. Then we had many constraints such as lack of big airports, quality hotels, huge investment, etc.

This was when Jaypee group came into the scene. Initially they requested for government funding and the government declined (read the article I wrote last year-F1-A Sports or Not? ). But this is what a private sector can do. They have allocated money themselves and have started doing the work. Now Formula 1 governing body has allocated October 30, 2011 for Indian Grand Prix.

Proposed track for Delhi Grand Prix

Though it is subject to change depending on track completion, I have hope that Jaypee group will pull off things and finish it up. They have promised to finish it by next April- May and they will do it as it has to do nothing with our Government. Also the recently opened Terminal in Delhi Airport also adds as an advantage. The current track is planned at 32 kms away from Delhi.

It would be great to see Force Indian Drivers finish in the podium in Indian Grand Prix. We need to wait for another year to see the Grand Prix in India, provided all arrangements go smoothly.

Happy Reading!!!