Sri Blogs

How can India win against the mighty Aussies - Strategy

2011-03-22T13:35:00.009+05:30

The ICC World Cup 2011 has seen plenty of humdingers especially with matches involving England in Group B. The barmy army have surprisingly won against tough opponents at Chennai and lost to Ireland and Bangladesh on their way to the quarterfinals. While India on the other hand have played reasonably well with a good solid batting performance expect for the hiccups during the batting power play. Saving from a couple of good performances from Zaheer and Yuvraj, our bowling has looked depleted and slack.

With India placed second in the group, they will have a big roadblock ahead of them against the Aussies. An unexpected finish to the league match for the Aussies losing to Pakistan in the group stage puts them on third place, their first lose in 34 world cup matches. The quarterfinal match up between the heavily loaded India batting lineup against mighty Aussies is almost a pre-final of the World Cup.

Gary Kirsten and MSD will having to put their thinking hat to get rid of the Aussies in a grand fashion and giving them a good chance to face Pakistan in the Semi's at Mohali (all possibility that Pakistan will beat Windies in the other quarters).

Team Selection:
Looks very straight forward to me, They should stick on to the team that played the previous match against Windies at Chennai with Sehwag replacing Suresh Raina.

I think the team needs to be patient with Yusuf, he is such a big match player who can single handedly turn the match on its head and also comes very handy with his off breaks. Not to forget he is a outstanding fielder on the boundary ropes.

The Pitch: - The toss is critical

India by all measures would want to bowl second, we might not want to make a mistake by putting Aussies to bat, they we did in WC 2003 finals and got thulped badly. I am sure Zaheer khan will never forget the horrendous first over giving away 13 runs.

This will play a major part in the match, am guessing that the curators are well-aware of what kind of pitch to prepared given that we have 4-5 slow bowlers and on the other hand Aussies have a good pace attack. I would expect the pitch to be flat and slightly sluggish, absolutely no grass what so ever. Sidhu the other day commented "It is our home ground, we are not here playing for charity, we are here to win and we need to prepare that suits our style of play". I completely agree with his comments, lets play to our strengths. With Harbhajan, Ashwin , Yuvraj and Yusuf operating it is a daunting task for the Aussies to see them off.

In simple words, i would expect a track to similar to the one we played in Chennai the other day against Windies. Very placid during the first innings and later on giving some assistance to spin.

Batting - Batting power play needs to be addressed

The key to indian batting is to learn how to NOT LOSE wickets in batting power play. We have not understood the art of batting through the power play. If you have noticed closely the problem is with a well-set batsmen trying to go over the top which is completely unnecessary. On 2 occasions one against SA and other one against WI, Tendulkar and Yuvaraj tried to accelerate by going down the track. The new batsmen will not go for his shots right from the word go, and eventually makes it difficult to start picking singles and twos when the field is set in. This is when we lose out on trying to go over the in-field giving out dolly catches.

Bowling - Our strength is Spin and Zaheer khan

MSD is very tactical in his approach on and off the field, waiting on Ashwin till the last league match and was right on the money. All credit goes to Ashwin giving a good solid performance with the bowl picking 2 wickets and being introduced from the first over. This ploy could have easily played against India had Gayle played the match. Otherwise Zaheer has been the best bowler so far, giving the conditions he asked to bowl. He came back to pick up crucial wickets in his second spell both against England and West Indies, he has come of age and as always been the trump card for MSD. Harbhajan has few good performances to back him up, but we have seen that Aussies and especially Punter is vulnerable playing against the turbanator. That will be a interesting sequence of play, MSD will be eagerly waiting to introduce Harbhajan when his counterpart captain is on the crease.

The key challenge for India is to keep wickets during the batting power play, and someone like Yusuf or MSD can go bang bang.
Not to forget Yuvraj is a big match player, am betting heavily on him to take India past Quarters.
As expected if Sehwag gets going, Aussies are in for cover. Indian batsmen should look to pick Krejza and make heavy weather of his bowling.

if India bats first, we would look to score some where between 280 - 300. Looking at the previous records, the highest first innings score is 360.

If India bowls first, we would look to restrict them to 250 - 270. We saw that chasing against Aussies is always a uphill task, Pakistan made heavy weather when chasing a small score of 176.

Given all the possibilities and form, India has a upper hand to win this encounter. The key match players to me are Yuvraj and Ashwin. Aussies have not seen much of Ashwin before this and it will be tough to pick him off early.

Aussies have couple of big match winners, Brett Lee is a genuine match winner. The other day if the Aussies had another 25 odd runs to defend, Pakistan would have been sitting in a deep hole.

Everything said and done, an intriguing match on cards at Motera. The men in blue should scrap through this one and will be a bitter revenge for their lose during their WC 2003 finals at Johannesburg.

Discussion Table : Investments & Tax returns

2010-02-11T14:30:00.003+05:30

The very fact that information available is abundant allows me write about any random topic. This has amazed to the extent that i have to write a small blog on investments and tax returns.

The strategy here to investment is simple "You are the master of your wealth", You need to plan your investments at the right moment.

Few weeks ago, group of our friends were discussing about investments and tax returns. You know the reason, its time to submit to investment and tax proofs. If you have not planned your investments earlier, then you will surely feel the pinch in your pocket during this time of the year. Durin this period with lot of haste and hassle we might end up being a scape goat to financial products.

Here is a small list of things that we (friends) thought will be useful for tax savings and financial investment.
Rule of Thumb: Double check your investment portfolios every 6 months.

Current Day Scenario: With the interest rates that are afforded by the banks on FD, NSC , PPF (6 - 7%) and the current inflation rate is surging ahead with 6-7 %. Our Profits earned on returns on these investments after few years will be cancelled out by the growing inflation rate.

Another financial advice that i learnt a hard way is not to invest on health insurance as a "Software Engineer", the key here is the profession.

Investing on more than 1 Life Insurance policy might not be a good option, proper analysis and guidance is required in this case. In the current scenario, small investments as "buckets" with immediate returns ( 6 - 12 months) is required and helpful.

With the above intiative other friends joined the discussion and gave their thoughts and view.
This is what Arun had to say,

1) Insurance is for Insurance, returns are only for ur family in case something happens to you, hence always go for Term insurance(which has 0 returns). If you want returns invest in MF. Never invest in LIC for returns.
2) Do not invest just to save tax, sometimes u lock the money unnecessarily, when you want liquidity.
3) Dont go for ULIPs(never)
4) Open a PPF acc, min amount per year is 500, so good to open.
5) Health insurance is good. But if your company covers for you and your parents, think about it. Most health insurance companies
donot issue new insurance after 60. So in case, you are planning for your parents, do it when they are around 55-59.
6) Another type of quick investment is : "Ultra Short Mutual funds". these funds provide mimimal returns but will yeild dividends per day, hence if you do not have a place for storing liquid cash which you may use up in next 3 months, this is a very safe place with returns.
7) Please read this blog regurarly, very good one :
jago investor

With the above comments/views the discussion went on to the next level and we had more people on the discussion table.
Another friend of mine Gopalakrishanan had interesting views,
if you are looking for investments over and above the 1 lakh cap , you should seriously consider investing in gold which is time-tested.

Although we know about buying physical gold , investor also has the option for buying GOLD ETF's. This eliminates the burden of safe guarding physical gold, but it comes with a small extra charge, but will be pretty less than the locker deposits in banks. Benchmark Gold ETF's are presently pretty good since they have the least charges. One can also trade on other commodity ETF's which have a good upward trend.

As you all can see the information just kept flowing, it was great and amazing medium to exchange information about something you are not aware of.

I just pulled this out from my friends comment "Advice is cheap, hence think over and decide about what you should do and what is good for you about investments". The idea here is to be a proactive investor and not a passive one.

My Best Friend Wedding

2010-02-08T23:04:00.002+05:30

Destination Thanjavur (Feb 4th 2010): Once the capital of Chola empire is now our destination for our Best Friend Wedding - Vijesh. A place with a long history of cutural importance dating back to the Sangam period. After their fall it was ruled by Pandyas, later on Vijayanagar Empire , Nayaks , Maratha ,then by the British and finally it all came down to wedding ceremony of Vijesh&Abirami.

On our arrival, we could see at a distance the Gopuram(Temple Towers) of Brahadeeswara Temple. The towers of the temple can be viewed from across the town and is the tallest of its kind around the world, the construction dating back to 11th century.

Focus shifts back to the marriage , I was distinctly surprised on how the whole wedding ceremony took place, my friends reflected on to me that it was a typical "Tamil Marriage", all the mantras being recited in Tamil. I was more enthusiastic with my new Canon 500D (Rebel T1i) trying my very best to cover the entire ceremony. With my ameaturish photographic skills could manage to capture few snaps and you can find them at the end of my blog. The entire marriage ceremony was executed with great elan. Could see the anxiousness on the parents face as the muhurtham was ticking away. Our man after some minor stuggle with the Pattu Veshti, along with the help of our friends, hero(Bridegroom) arrived to a great asounding reception. The Brides brother was ready with the garland and the stage was now set for the Bride to arrive.

Now its entry time for our bride(typical of tamil cinemas) accomponied by ... amidst excellent background scores done by our Nadaswaram (music) team takes the centre stage. Then the priest announce the time for Mangalyadaranum were the bride ties the knot(mangalsutra). It's done with that, and it was now time for all our friends to get some snaps and roll back to the past to visit the big Thanjai temple.

we had a sumptuous lunch at the wedding, could hardly remember the items served, such was the list of items. Adding to the heavy lunch we were served with icecreams werein i was resisting to eat, but the temptation grew more and couldn't hold on to that. Last not but the least Betel leaves filled with mixture & paak summed up the events of our lunch.

More reports on the marriage were published here and here . It was my best friend Wedding.

Welcome Twenty10 !!!

2010-01-01T19:41:00.002+05:30

Plenty of things happened over the past one year and another year goes by... Like birds, let us, leave behind what we dont need to carry.. :-)
Grudges, Sadnes, Pain , Fear & Regrets...

Have a great Twenty10 :-)

Violence !!! More Violence !!! reports Cricinfo

2009-12-03T22:13:00.003+05:30

Today Virendar Sehwag(aka Viru) is already a trending topic in twitter sehwag. I was following cricinfo today and all the reporter had to do was to make sure they have all the boundaries recorded when sehwag blasted to 284 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai against Lankans. I just love the way they report Violence when Sehwag goes for the maximum, for sometime i was in a deep thought that a T20 match was going on.

India today after getting SL out for 393 showed how brutally the pitch has turned bad for the Lankans. India is clearly in the drivers seat having scored 443 runs in 80 overs with the loss of one wicket. To me another 400 runs from the Indian batting side looks to be mere a number and Lankans will need to put on their thinking cap when resume on Day 3. Muralitharan playing in his last test match on Indian soil will never want to remember this bowling performance.

All the hopes came crashing down today for Lankans hoping to win their first test match on Indian soil after 16 years and again it looks to me that a win still evade the Islanders. Sehwag today was ruthless, punished the bowlers all around the park and never seemed to be in the mood to bog down. Later on someone reminded me that there is a test series being played between India and Sri Lanka at Mumbai. Such was the batting prowess that Sehwag displayed today, pretty sure it was worth the money for the spectators.

Sehwag's explanation of cricket "See the ball, Hit the ball hard". Lets hope that he crosses the 300 mark in style and then go on to score 400 runs and then to beat the highest individual score in test cricket scored by BC Lara (400* against England) in 2004.

What are u doing now?

2009-05-16T10:43:00.002+05:30

Am sitting down at my partner client here in San Diego, US. San Diego is a lovely place and am wondering what i should be posting on my blog. It has been recently flooded with too many sports thoughts so just gave it a break.

Yes am trying to put my thoughts about twitter - What are you doing?? I have been posting quite a few tweets until recently i joined. My friends have been crazy on this and they clock an average 15-20 tweets everyday. Lots of interesting , not so interesting, masala tweets and with the IPL in full swing lots of my friends are seen putting the match update.s I initially had a all together a weird feeling about twitter. I was in assumption that why i tell someone what am doing or am least bothered about what others are doing?? Huh , but until recently i found out its a kind of thing which is very short and easy to share. You can see it for yourself ,i never had to compose these many blogs which has information that few would have already felt that its just too much to take and boring. The thing that attracts me is that the messages you need to convey is short.

So different people have different thoughts but with that i was wondering how twitter was making revenue. Its an interesting thought that strike my so called brains and this kept me wondering how the business model worked. Give it a thought yourself and you will quite surprised. Twitter doesn't charge its users for the service (at least for now). It's our mobile phone companies who are making the money from our SMS usage. Check this blog here . So really they don't make any money but going forward i would be interested to see how their business model will work on a longer run.
Ways to promote Twitter are,
-> Become a distributor of third-party apps and services that use Twitter and take a cut in return.
-> Design and sell hardware such as a cellphone with “Twitter baked in”.
-> Or, better still, partner with mobile device makers and carriers to offer superior Twitter integration.
-> And finally, sell the service to a carrier.

Yes enjoy twittering and let us know what you are doing?

NBA playoffs give me a kick - Amazing happens here

2009-05-09T09:09:00.003+05:30

Those days when me and my bro used to wake up early mornings to follow the NBA playoffs. From then i used be a good fan of LA Lakers. The double team of Shaque and Kobe was mesmerizing for the opponents.

The days have come back, after office hours am hooked on to my television sets here to catch up with the NBA playoffs. Playoffs are fun, this is where every thing happens. I used play for the school team when i had a great interests for this sport then, now i feel all the energy has come back alive. I love watching Kobe play and the playoffs, its just keeps at the edge of the seat.

The Western conference with LA vs Houston Rockets and Dallas Vs Denver Nuggets are currently playing their semi finals. And on the eastern side where am now Boston is playing against Orlando and Atlanta vs Cleveland. With the LA vs Rockets game really fired up with a game a piece. There is very little between the two teams and anyone who wins has the best chance of taking the coveted NBA title. Already Lobron James winning the coveted MVP of the year, it will interesting to see how others play against Cleveland. Whatever it is am loving this sport, its very fast, its exciting and after all its where "Amazing happens".

Unfortunate Blues

2009-05-07T07:06:00.002+05:30

I know how it feels when your team fails to reach the finals of the Champions league, They had almost looked to have sealed their birth in the finals against Manchester United, but for the Iniesta goal it eluded them from the obvious final. Being a Liverpool i love the sport of football and love to watch good teams play with great adrenaline.

Hardly did the Catalans looked comfortable in the match which was predominantly dominated by Chelsea, and barely did the Spanish side troubled Cech during the course of the match. To me you feel really sorry when the best team of the day couldn't make it to the finals, it really hearts and to all this it looks like the culprit is the referee Tom Ovrebo. The referee was a farce, complete mockery and looked totally out of sorts. Is this fair?? referee almost denying the Blues a chance to seal their position in the finals. At least 5 penalty appeals were rejected and all it took was the injury time goal for the Catalans with the the away goal advantage to seal a place at Rome.

Guys, to me i can shout top of my voice to show my dissent on the referee. But the result has been decided, the game is over and Barca will meet Man Utd at Rome. My heart feelings for all the Blues fan, they deserved a place in Rome but its really unfortunate that they couldn't make it. I would really relished if Blues had made it to the finals and we could have seen the repeat of last years Champions league finals. But it stays there and Barcelona will meet Manchester United at Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009.

What is about Bose ??

2009-05-05T08:09:00.002+05:30

People don't read the title wrong, i don't have any problems with people named Bose but i have got addicted to the Bose headphones. You wont believe me , here in US i don't remember not entering a Bose showroom after going to a mall. Ok, fine what is it so much hyped?? To answer it for yourself take a jig in to the nearby Bose showroom, believe me it just takes you off.

The one that impressed me was the Acoustic noise canceling headphones just because it fits you ear perfectly and the sounds just keep ticking your ear drums forever. I still remember the minuscule sounds that was played in the background of a sample music. I normally when listening to music never got attention to the small tunes that runs along with the actual score it was otherwise with Bose headphones. Their quality sound can uncover subtleties you've never noticed before, even with familiar tracks thats indeed amazing. I would love to hear more music through Bose headphones just because it gives a out of the world experience.

For all this well and said they don't come in reasonable price, and for that matter i was hooking on to the deals here and i never found one on Bose headphones. Thats disappointing but i also understand that their quality is far way better that others in the market. With Bose get a new lease in listening to music and enrich the amazing experience. For more info check out their website here, not to long from now i would like to be a proud owner of Bose headphones.

CSK back on track

2009-05-02T23:57:00.005+05:30

Back to back wins by Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings. What a clinical finish it was, i loved to watch them winning. Few key highlights of the match was the amazing one handed catch by Raina. That set the things right for CSK while bowling. All CSK fans would be expecting similar wins from here on. It looks like the fielding and tight bowling at the death did the trick for CSK today.

T20 is unbelievably unpredictable, they ways Delhi Dare devils got back and for a moment they were on the way to win. But few good overs by spinners turned the match on its head. I love the new bowler Jakati bowl , slow left arm , bowls it very flat and with some variations in his book. Folks might be wondering where on earth this player was earlier to this match for all your thinking check this out there. Crucial 4 wickets and the first was a gem ,cleaning Dilshan.

I love them winning and good that they have hit back at the right time, not at the fag end of the tournament where you will never move up the ladder. Enjoying IPL T20 from New Jersey , me and my friends are watching it online from here and click here to join the party and do a whistle for CSK.

Want to take a small break from work ??

2009-04-27T00:51:00.024+05:30

Helpful Stretches for Your Mini Work Break

It is recommended that you should take a mini-break every 45 to 60 minutes. While you are on your break, try some of these stretches. It will help you relax those tense muscles.

Whole Body Stretch: Stand and stretch your arms overhead for 10 to 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Shoulder-Blade Pinch:
With your fingers interlaced behind your head, pinch your shoulder blades together for 8 to 10 seconds. Repeat several times.

Shoulder Rolls: Slowly roll your shoulders 5 times, forward, then 5 times backward.

Triceps Stretches: Holding your left elbow with your right hand, gently pull your left elbow behind your head until you feel a stretch (your left hand should rest gently on the base of your neck). Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat in the opposite direction. (If it’s too hard to start with a 30 second stretch, do 3 sets of 10-second stretches or 2 at 15 seconds.)

Hug Stretches: Grasp your right elbow in the palm of your left hand. Pull your arm across your body, as if you are bugging someone.Hold for 15 to 20 seconds. Repeat in the opposite direction.

Arm and Hand Shakes: With your arms hanging loosely at your sides, shake your arms gently for 5 to 10 seconds.

Trapezius Stretches:Sit on both hands, palms up. Tiltyour head to one shoulder and hold this position for 10 seconds. Repeat 3 times for each shoulder.

Hand Stretch:
Make a fist with each hand, but don’t squeeze. With your fingers bent, straighten your hand only to the first set of knuckles. Hold for 3 seconds, then straighten your fingers. Repeat 3 times.

Wrist Circles: Without moving your arms,slowly circle your hands, 3 times in each direction.

Wrist Raises: Without moving your arms, slowly raise and lower your hands 5 times.
Slow and Fast Blinks: Blink slowly, allowing your eyes to stay closed for a few seconds. Repeat 10 times. Then blink lightly and quickly 10 times. End with a relaxing temple massage.

Shift Focus:
Find the object that is farthest away from you and focus on it for 5 to 10 seconds. Blink and breath deeply. Then look back at your screen. Repeat 3 times.

Close Your Eyes: close your eyes and cover them the palms of your hand for to 30 seconds. Take long, slow, deep breathes. Relax your face, brow and Don’t squeeze your eyes shut.

Trying to keep myself healthy :-)

2009-04-20T05:09:00.002+05:30

Yes, am doing that lots of gym session on the treadmill and the stepper. I hope i have burnt some calories today with almost an hour and a half. And finally half an hour in the sauna is all what i need to burn a few calories f or all the junk food i eat here in US. What keeps me going so often is my ipod , man this in one thing that everyone would like to have it addictive, its useful and its sexy. I have got obsessed with my ipod shuffle.

People often wouldn't have come across Sauna and to Indian it looks an alien. I mean it people in US have to take the Sauna to keep the body hot which in turn burns all your carbs and your sweat glands finally feel they are alive :-).. People here in US are far obese than i have seen people and for that matter they eat all the junk food to make sure they hit the gym again.

Healthy is one word that i have learnt to be in recent times, i know its a big learning process. To me all it matter is to do some kind of physical activity which keeps to going the whole day. Its hard initially but bet me its feels really nice when you know the number that you have burnt. U you need push harder to break the jinx its either today or tommorrow. Ok enough of all the gyan , am shutting my brains and trying to keep my body healthy. Have a great week :-)

Champions League '09

2009-04-16T09:12:00.003+05:30

Champions league has taken football to one level higher when the kop Reds played against Chelsea in London. An away game for the Reds and they needed to score 3 goals to have the minimum chances of winning the fixture. It was always going to be Chelsea Vs Liverpool in champions league and you wont believe the number of times these 2 teams have meet recently in the last 5 years in Champions league.

Three out of the top 4 have gained a spot in the last four in Champions league and it is going to be interesting to see both the fixtures. Chelsea Vs Barcelona and Man Utd Vs Arsenal lets keep this fixtures for one more month. I know they are going to be top notch matches. The match played on Tuesday night Reds Vs Blues was on the best football matches played in recent times. I was on work but to the extent that internet has far reached its limit i was able to watch the live match through espnstar.com. That was great , i loved it and bandwidth was really fast and rightly coming back to discuss on the match, the teams played with sheer talent and ball passing was impeccable from one end to the other. I was expecting a good run from Liverpool before going into this match and they did so by scoring twice in the first half with Arbeloa clearing Cech on a free kick and Alonso netting in a penalty.

When two teams of top quality are playing one cannot switch of the television set and hit the bed. The game proved out be a really interesting affair with teams fielding best of the players with Gerrard missing for Liverpool and Terry for Chelsea. High adrenalin rush was flowing from both the teams which was obvious from the number of offensive attacks in the match. I couldn't have realised that 90 minutes went of in a jiffy. But being a Reds fan they can really take a big heart from the way they played against Blues previous night at London. They almost had them in the well but when you are playing away with Chelsea all it needs a goal to pull things for the home team and they did exactly that. Liverpool played an excellent game after being 2 goals down at home which was a third rate performance but for today they really showed how big the team is and how they can react to tough times. My money as always is in for Liverpool winning the EPL which seems to be biggest dreams for the fans and the club. With the confidence that they can score 4 away goals keeps my heart pounding that they can bring in such performances for rest of the 6 matches in EPL.

Do you know why we follow cricket this crazy??

2009-04-10T09:45:00.006+05:30

Am already half asleep now and this one seems just came out of the box.. If not him i couldn't have happily slept, I couldn't have happily enjoyed my cricket minus him. I could just be crazy and passionate because of him.

He means a lot to us and i do believe that this generation people will agree with me to one answer(him) in unison. To me its been Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and just him. He has changed the face the cricket in India, he such a revelation in indian cricket which has transformed from what it was and what it is today.

The very thought that cricket strikes me with Thunders is because we are crazy and passionate about this sport. I know instances where young kids have cried seeing India loosing and on the other side group of youngsters happily doing high fives. This sport has that very thing which has bonded the whole of India. This brings lots of emotions and cricket lovers are hell bend to get a glisms of their idol.

All of us in our life time would have for once played cricket. Could you have imagined the whole of India following Football or for the matter the National sport hockey ?? I wouldn't even dream such a thing. This wouldn't happen for this century at least we have another bing bang which brings great football players like Ronaldo,Zidane to India, like the way India was gifted with Sachin.

Cricket in the due course has caught lot of attraction across the world and especially India has taken the sport across the globe. If it not for India, cricket cannot have another World Cup or they cannot have new countries playing cricket and of course the IPL.

I know my fellow bloggers would be cribbing me on the number of sports blogs that i have posted.

Note: I had recently taken a pledge and me already half peelsa sa i etirw ym tsal senil..

My Karma of Blogging

2009-04-08T02:38:00.002+05:30

Let's keep it short and straight, i have found out that my blogging karma is all about sports. 95% of my blogs are sports, so iam redefining my karma if ever i had one to write something different from sports :-)

India's fine slip fielders - Rahul Dravid

2009-04-07T05:42:00.004+05:30

I am busy with my work but recently i had taken a oath to write more blogs. In this schedule i couldn't have continued without mentioning the record Rahul Dravid broke in the 3rd Test against NZ at Wellington. It was the wicket of Ian Mcintosh that put him past Mark Waugh record as the most number of catches. 182 catches in 135 tests is the new record held by Dravid.

In test cricket slip cordons play an important role and we normally don't expect butter fingers fielding there. To be a good slip fielder it takes lots of concentration because one odd ball will come to. I would rather dismiss the statement made by mark Waugh claiming that he is not a natural fielder ,Dravid to me has done well in the slips. To me its all about the number of catches taken against the number of balls that has come to you. If this percentage is higher he obviously is a very good fielder. The 'X' factor is u might only get one ball in the field all day and you've got to catch it an inch off the ground. That's a concentration thing, switching on and off between deliveries. This record will hold for a very long period of time as people behind are very far off. Hats of to him to achieve the new record in test record.

EPL Title Race

2009-04-07T00:05:00.001+05:30

When a weekend goes i keep thinking whats in store for the next weekend. Such is the my expectation towards EPL. I am growing a real fan of Liverpool and it has really become personal passion for me to follow them over the League. Now i don't get a chance to watch the matches in a place where people are following a different form of football. But that doesn't keep my enthusiasm to wade away.

EPL is all up for grabs for Man Utd who are leading the horse race and i would never be surprised if they don't win this race. Liverpool is holding on to their position
and seems that they will make Red Devils run for their money. Rafa has made the Reds proud with a new signing contract to be the Manager of Liverpool until 2013. Followed by Chelsea who seems to quietly winning their games and trying to keep up their position in the table.

To me it will a 2 way horse race from next week it could be either Red Devils Vs Reds or Red Devils vs Chelsea wherein Red Devils lead the pack. The reality is that when Chelsea and Liverpool play in the Champion league fixture, one of the other team lose they would make sure they run behind Man U for the EPL title race. This is going to be fun.

Election '09 NDA vs UPA vs Third Front

2009-04-03T21:58:00.006+05:30

Election '09 is going to be altogether a ball game. To my knowledge there has been 2 big parties fighting for the place in the center. This time it going to be a 3 way cat race with the BJP led coalition called the NDA and the Congress & NCP led coalition called the UPA and the surprise package with the regional parties forming the so called "Third Front" (they couldn't have named anything better) formed by TDP,BSP,SP,Left Parties. One side there is all these chaos happening at the center but on the other hand i am eagerly waiting for the Elections '09 which has the biggest Democratic country going for vote.

Before signing off for the day, I wish there are new better politicians who does good for the society, The netas who represent our country and the people have a clean chit when they stand for the elections.

b2B

2009-04-01T01:28:00.002+05:30

back to Business. i have taken a pledge today , Dear blogger "hereafter will make sure to write enough blog posts , I have decided to pile up my stuff to the electronic waste that millions have created ,Amen!!!".

Very Very Special Laxman

2009-03-31T01:25:00.002+05:30

Laxman as always received plaudits as the best savior for India in Test matches. He hasn't disappointing us with the 14th century he scored against Kiwis at Napier. India could have easily handed the defeat to kiwis but for the rescue effort from Gambhir and Laxman. What makes him so special is he bats effortlessly and no one will disagree me on that. He is class , elegant , stylish player but for this running between the wickets which has kept him away from One dayers.

I can't remember the last test match where he has not rallied himself with the tail enders. He is effortless in doing that and has several times put India into safe waters. This make him Very special.

Let's not forget his contribution over the last decade , am feeling nervous about the player who is going to replace him. I personally can't finish this blog without pointing out the knock against Oz at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, nice memories. India is at its peak when Laxman is around and this seems to be best chance for the Team India to reach the numero one in Tests. I hope MSD is fit for the next match Wellington. I would like to see one more change in the Indian lineup with L.Balaji replacing Munaf Patel.

Scolari Sacked from Stamford Bridge

2009-02-10T09:48:00.003+05:30

Disappointment for Chelsea and Big Phil, but not a bug surprise. Big Phil who has taken this home country to glory during the WC 2002 and also took charge of the Portugal Nation team in 2004, has been a inspiring coach through out his career. Unfortunately he hasn't inspired Roman Abrahomavich , the chelsea owner.

I personally feel that this isn't any big surprise to me, but sometimes we feel that few great people are at the wrong place, for wrong reasons and at the wrong time. And unfortunately i feel this has happened to Scolari. Sometimes you feel that you had too much masala in to the sambar and that's how i feel when we see Chelsea playing or fielding their first team. This team is a anonymous to Real Madrid where there are too many stars and each star is too bright that they don't glow as a group. Individually there are the best players in the planet, no one can deny that. But to win games at the highest level the need of the hour is to play as a group. This has been the major drawback for the team and i feel that Phil was not able to manage them as a group. He was handed this prestigious job after a serious of unfortunate events at Stamford Bridgt.It started of with the dispute between Jose Mourinho after which we saw Avram Grant holding the job during the far end of last season and then he was sacked after which the job was handed over to Phil.

What makes owners to sack coaches? The owners have the money to talk and the coaches has to listen to them but this always not the case with all big clubs. They need results, they don't expect you to go level on a match against under dogs at home. I hope they find one similar to Jose Mourinho to bring the Blue from their blues.

Bowler were Confused : Dhoni

2009-02-05T13:24:00.002+05:30

I have taken a small article from Times and pasted down here. This was the post match interview after second One day against Srilanka where India clinched a thriller in Colombo.
Jaideep Marar | TNN

Colombo: Having won seven games on the trot, MS Dhoni was not exactly in seventh heaven on Saturday night. The Indian captain was concerned that his bowlers had allowed the Sri Lankans to come dangerously close. He was upset that his bowlers had confused themselves by not sticking to their plans.
“It’s very important to have a clear mind,’’ he said after the match. “If you are running in from the bowling mark, you need decide that this is the ball I’m going to bowl. Accordingly you place your fielders. If you are in two minds then you would be confused about what you are doing. If you have just one thought, you can execute it better,’’ he reasoned. “It’s better to have a plan—even if it is a bad plan—in mind than end up being confused. You need to be clear what you are bowling. If you are bowling a bouncer, you don’t need a long on and a long-off. If you are bowling a slower one, you don’t really need a third man, you can have a deep midwicket. At the same time you can confuse the batsmen with this field and bowl a yorker. But if the ball is completely different than what the field is then you have a greater chance of conceding a boundary.’’
The captain’s ire seemed to be directed at pace bowler Ishant Sharma, who conceded 40 runs in his last four overs, including six boundaries. To Sharma’s credit he continued to strike telling blows despite the mess he was in. His haul of 4-56 fetched him the man of the match award, but the bowler wasn’t too happy with his display either.
“It was not my best performance,’’ he said at the presentation. Dhoni even dropped the cool captain guard. “In international cricket when there is pressure on you, you are never cool. You give the opportunity to the bowler saying, ‘you bowl according to your plan and your field,’ but at times when it doesn’t work you turn from a democratic captain to a dictator... you become like a king... you say no more powers to you. Now, this is the field and you bowl according to the field.’’
He made it clear that it is not always the case. He always gives the first preference to the bowler. He had his reasons for that too. “With experience, with their own plan, they will get better. After two years, they won’t run to the captain and ask what they should bowl. They will grow if they learn by themselves,’’ he said. It would also help them mature, he felt.

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My personal opinion: "Dhoni is the best thing that has happened for Indian Cricket in recent times. His resource management skills, Belief in Self-Convicition, Choice of diction and straight talk will make him take Team India a long way in world cricket." These comments and gyan also applies to our day to day life where you need to know and decide what you are trying to do!!!

Somdev Varman next bright spot in Indian Tennis

2009-01-11T20:31:00.002+05:30

Indian Tennis badly needed one player in the Men's Singles arena and there comes this young boy Somdev Varman to prove how good a singles player he is. Indian tennis now can add another feather in its cap as Somdev Varman arrives.

Varman who hails from Assam, trained at the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy (BAT) before joining the National Tennis Academy (NTA) at Gurgaon. He was among the India's Davis cup team and had a couple of good matches.

Recently his wins against Carlos Moya , two time French Open winner and against Ivan Karlovic has raised a few eyebrows. He seems to have a different game compared to all our previous tennis players. The good thing about his game is his serve and volley which is quite unusual and he seems to be solid from the baseline. The interesting part about his game was the service.

I think the next bright spot in Indian Tennis has arrived in the form of Somdev Varman. I think others need to keep an eye on this player whom i believe can make India proud in Men's Singles after 3 decades.

Zak comes of age to be termed as the next "Sultan of Swing"

2008-11-25T12:14:00.003+05:30

Zak , yorked his way into the international arena in the ICC mini World Cup in Kenya. Let me not overdo my blog here to talk about the life history and stats of the player.But just wanted to highlight the point the fact that Zak has really comes of age.

The left arm fast bowler is now spearheading the opening attack for India as well nurturing the young guns to perform well at the highest level of cricket. What makes me write about zak? Why does this whole fuzz of electronic waste that iam doing mean?

In the recently concluded test series against the Aussies i found some striking features of his bowling. It just shook me the way he bowled , it was just amazing to watch. I still remember during the second test where he bowled 6 different deliveries. I mean it and i was surprised the way his variations seems to be very vital for the batsmen to read. I couldn't have imagined myself bowling 6 different deliveries. The confidence with which he executed the half a dozen ball shows the caliber in him. He hasn't shown any laxity on the field and urges other bowlers to perform well.

Yes he can be rightly named the "next sultan of swing". Zak has proved to be the best bet for India and i believe he has improved a lot in recent times. The way he handled the bowlers and the way he bowled the penultimate over shows that he can be a true match winner. Just watch the video here to rekindle your thoughts about the bowler.

Who the hell in this world is Duckworth Lewis?

2008-11-20T17:56:00.002+05:30

The D/L method was created by two English statisticians its not a single name, Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, originating from an undergraduate final-year project at the University of the West of England. This method is a mathematical way to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty-20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance

The D/L method has been criticized very badly that the price is on the wicket and not on the overs. You will be lucky guy if your team haven't lost a wicket batting second even though NRR (Net Run Rate) is poor. To me the game is flawed, we have seen some many where teams have lost half a dozen wickets with a heavy NRR still to chase winning the game.

Personally i wouldn't accept it for a sport where you need show your skill rather the technology or few people taking the game away from you. This is neither fair nor acceptable as part of the game. Here is one of the examples in sport where machines and technology dictate terms to humans. Still remember the days when i was wondering how could a team suddenly be in a situation to score 22 runs of 1 ball. SA then were assured of Victory against England but for the fact that 12 minutes of rain , damn for the rain gods and D/L cost the match for them. How could any team score 22 runs of 1 ball because of rain?

But that's how the rules are and that how the game is played and flawed with D/L. There has been several revisions of D/L method in the recent years to minimize the impact but the teams who have been on the receiving end because of D/L can only crib about the rules.

I can never take a big heart that India has won against England in the Kanpur ODI. Never ever will i consider this as a ODI victory, but that's how it is. The game was evenly poised and a couple of wickets would have done the trick for visiting team eagerly looking out for an outright win.

Matches where D/L has played spoilsport :-)
1. The match that strikes me when i talk about D/L was SA Vs ENG during 1992 Benson & Hedges WC in Australia where SA had to score 22 runs of 1 ball after shot showere of 12 minutes.
2. There was one similar situation during the 2003 WC in South Africa, i guess the match was played between SA and Kenya if my memory is right. Here it was altogether a different situation where in the SA team were just 1 run short of reaching the target computed by D/L method.
3. Another one that played against India .India batted first, and were all out in the 49th over for 328. Pakistan, batting second, were 7 wickets down for 311 when bad light stopped play after the 47th over. Considering the overall scoring rate throughout the match, this is a target most teams would be favored to achieve. And indeed, application of the D/L method resulted in a target score of 304 at the end of the 47th over, with the officially listed result as "Pakistan won by 7 runs (D/L Method)".

So am leaving all my readers with a sour taste that machines and technology can at times dominate humans and sport. The time is not far away where the we humans will become slaves to machines.

Yuvi - A nemesis to English Bowlers

2008-11-18T08:53:00.002+05:30

Stuart Broad had his worst ever bowling figures in T20 World Cup in South Africa last year. I think he still remains in the privilege list of people who have conceeded half a dozen sixes in a over and the person was none other than Yuvi. Recently i read an article in The Hindu not sure who the author was it says "Yuvi has the grace of Lara, has the power of Gary Sobers". Not sure whether these statements are true but yes to an extent.

I think he has done a world of good to himself in scoring back to back centuries after coming back from a slump. I think he has redefined the way he needs to apply himself to situations rather than going for the kill. Now Yuvi looks a more matured player and with the scheme of things he seems to be right replacement for Ganguly.

English bowlers has been a nemesis to Yuvi's batting skill. The last 2 games that we have witnessed is one of the power packed performance and he was slaying the bowlers all round the park. I has got a new lease of life through the english bowlers and its time for all of us to see Yuvi in both form of the games. I think the english bowlers need to rethink when they have a go at Yuvi the next time. Its seriously high time that English bowlers bring the best under the leadership of Pietersen.

How often we see change in rules?

2008-11-14T10:00:00.002+05:30

YARC - Yet another rule change. For all the cricket lovers there is YARC and to know more about that please read here.

Yes , the batting side can decide when they want to enforce the 2nd or the 3rd powerplay. This bring a new perceptive to the game and the captains has to been on his feet to make quick decision and chalk out different strategies and plans.

I think its now time for ICC to consolidate all the new rules and get the sport moving ahead. I believe it needs to support more smaller countries who are dreaming of big in cricket arena.

Why can't Cricket have Football style yellow cards?

2008-11-13T09:52:00.006+05:30

Random thoughts!!! If you like sports and if you feel our thought align then you can go ahead , if you are on the fence you can always peep in a think over my thought , others please break here.

Me & my friends had a heated discussion how the players fall all over the place in a football match where his opponent would have failed to touch the players. Ronaldo of Man Utd is one player i know of where i feel he falls to often without getting hurt. My friends would disagree me on that , but thats debatable, no hard feelings.

Yellow card are shown by referee where the player is official cautioned. He can continue to play until he receives one more booking. Then the famous red cards come out, The number of red cards is proportional to the number of mad people on the soccer field running for a ball. Can we forget the famous heat butt by Zanedine Zidane, that would remain my best memory that i can talk about in the football history. To me it Zizou : 1 and Matterazi : 0. Youtube presents those memorable Zizou heat butt moments.

I understand why people get angry, they are either provoked or are Robots which have been programmed to Run Fast , Hit Man !! Run Fast , Hit Man !! In a game of football we expect players to make fouls and be cautioned so all these fuzz about cards and send off make sense. I can similarly think crickets playing foul games and showing in disciplinary actions on the field. I have seen bowlers showing their bad side to provoke players. To me cricket needs to push this rule, i know its a Gentleman's game but players are provoked and showing violent conduct on the field.

Sayanora to Jumbo & Dada

2008-11-12T08:54:00.002+05:30

Kumble (aka Jumbo) & Ganguly (aka Dada,Prince of Kolkata) are retiring from cricket but they will never leave our cricketing hearts. Yes this isnt the last we see of them. We might see them among the elite panel of Selectors or maybe among those to hold mike and comment about the way cricket was played and cricket will be played.

I still see a bright future in them through media or performing the duties in their own state. How have they succeeded in this cricketing world? How they have won millions of Indian hearts to go out there to watch their heroes play?

The answer to all the How questions is just simple and straight forward. They loved their cricket and played with spirit. Isn't that very simple. Yes people would argue with me that you need talent , you need luck , you need to have influence to enter the cricketing world. But these are top reasons that made them big. What made them big, and made the cricketing world look up to them was the reasons that i cited earlier.

But it has been a fitting farewell for both these stalwarts in Indian cricket. Anil Kumble last test series as captain has been won against OZ. Ganguly's last series win also takes him to a different genre of cricketers who is regarded the best Indian captain till date. His debut Century in Lord's, England and his Golden duck at Nagpur here in India against the OZ emulates the great legendary cricketer Sir Donald Bradman who got out in similar scores.

Yes it time for us to move on. Cricket is beyond cricketing heroes , new heroes are born , new commanders lead and cricket still goes on.

A File photo of Kumble and Ganguly together

Thou shall stop watching Cricket from here on :-(

2008-11-11T15:00:00.002+05:30

Please go through the article here. This article to me is rated among the best, a well written one. This one especially to me make whole lot of sense and i could connect to each and every line from this article.

It was as if I was gasping my last breath when I read the last few sentences. I guess the readers here will also experience something similar to this.

The moment of truth is yet to come, we don't have much time on our hands. But I hereby declare that "Thou shall stop watching Cricket" when the moment comes.

Nice composition - The Traveller

2008-11-04T16:52:00.005+05:30

Back to back posts, i guess my friends would be wondering whether i am jobless. I think that's a cliched topic altogether , i guess people would agree with me on this.

Will post on similar lines sometime later but going back to the original topic. I recently came across this sweet little ,lovely composition by Prasanth( my junior in College) seems to have cleaned my ear drums.

I am leaving all my fellow bloggers here to make sure that your ear drums dance to the tunes of this music here - The Traveller

Happy listening.

Reds finds a tiny period through Spurs

2008-11-04T16:21:00.003+05:30

This blog is not about telling or criticizing the way Reds played against the Spurs. Ask anyone of the Liverpool fans here, the first comments are Oh Damn it!!! and you know what everyone i talked said we are still on the top and Red Devils are behind us. I know how crazy the Man U fans would feel about it. But the truth of matter is we are ahead of them on the points table.

But yes i know we didn't play to our strengths against Spurs. We could have increased our lead to 2 in the first half but unfortunately to the wood work and keeper's rescue. What this shows is Reds are at times vulnerable to teams like Spurs , Everton playing away. At this point of time Rafa needs to sit with his group and rethink the whole strategy of winning convincingly on away games. But nothing has stopped to think about Reds winning the silver ware this time around rewriting history after 18 years.

I think the whole fan base including me are hoping for the best out of Liverpool in EPL and Champions League. Still reciting the Liverpool Anthem "We'll Never Walk Alone"..

EPL at its best

2008-10-30T11:18:00.002+05:30

I'm back again with another EPL update. This time around iam here to silence all the critics who said EPL is not setting great standard in football. Unfortunately i was not able to see the match, as it was played late night India time. I wish i had watched this match.

To me this is one of the biggest London Derby played and there was great excitement & ecstasy for Spurs fans. I'm not a big of Spurs but I'd love to been one of them tonight. The score line said 4-4 and there has been a goal every 12 minutes of the match. Isn't that excitement?

To all EPL fans , please get some time to witness one of the best matches and the stunning opening goal by David Bentely(ex Gunner player).

Please lock your seat belts and before clicking the link here

This gets me to a point where i would never want to miss watch an EPL match.

RoR - Reds On a Roll

2008-10-16T15:17:00.003+05:30

The Reds seems to be rocking and rollicking with their current undefeated form this season. They remain as the second best team to Chelsea in EPL and best overall in Europe. Do you know the reason why? They have not lost a match in EPL and won all their matched in Champions league.

Unfazed by their previous failures in EPL, there are on the top gear among the Big Four in EPL. They have silenced their critics till now. They have not impressed me with their quality of football, specifically their scoring has been pretty bad this season. But all these false feelings seems have got erased my mind with their win against Man City. With their current undefeated form , i would badly want to dedicate this number from their very own local band "The Beatles".

Click here to listen

Lyrics here,

Well gonna write a little letter
Gonna mail it to my local D.J.
It's a rockin' little record
I want my jockey to play
Roll over Beethoven
Gotta hear it again today

You know my temperature's risin'
And the jukebox blows a fuse
A heart beatin' rhythm
And my soul keeps singing the blues
Roll over Beethoven
And tell Tchaikovsky the news

I got a rockin' pneumonia
I need a shot of rhythm and blues
I think I got it off the writer
Sittin' down by the rhythm reviews
Roll over Beethoven
We're rockin' in two by two

Well if you feel it and like it
Well get your lover and reel and rock it
Roll it over and move on up
Just trifle further and reel and rock it
Roll it over
Roll over Beethoven
A rockin' in two by two , oh

Well early in the mornin'
I'm a givin' you the warnin'
Don't you step on my blue suede shoes
Hey diddle diddle
I'll play my fiddle
Ain't got nothing to lose
Roll over Beethoven
And tell Tchaikovsky the news

You know she wiggles like a glow worm
Dance like a spinnin' top
She's got a crazy partner
Oughta see him reel an rock
Long as she got a dime
The music will never stop
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
And dig these rhythm and blues

Mundhinam Parthane

2008-10-15T12:13:00.005+05:30

Altogether a different blog from my usual ones. This helps me break away my routine of posting sports blogs.

So wondering what the title suggests? Mundhinam Parthane - "I saw you the Day before Yesterday" song from Vaaranam Aayyiram by Gautham Menon and music by Harris Jayaraj. The song sung by Naresh Iyer, Prashanthini is simply outstanding and very romantic. Naresh literally rocks the song! When I listened to the radio quality version, I didnt know it was Naresh, but when I listened to this full version, the traces of Naresh was quite evident.The female voice is very adept and different, and hats off to Harris for the new invention of Prashanthini. The song starts off with Surya expressing his love to the woman (I guess its Sameera Reddy) in his voice. The lyrics are very romantic and catchy, and it is to Harris’s credit that he lets the tune mingle so well along with the lyrics.

Hats of to Harris Jayaraj to bring out the best and give us such a lovely composition.

Lyrics:
Hi malini..I am Krishnan…naan idha solliye aaganum..nee avlavu azhagu..
Inga evanum ivlo azhaga oru…
Ivlo azhaga paarthurka maattaanga…and I am in love with you…

Mundhinam paarthene…paarthadhum thotrene..
Saladai kannaaga..nenjamum punnaanadhey..
Ithanai naalaaga…unnai naan paaraamal…
Engu thaan ponaeno..naatkalum veenaanadhe..
Vaanathil nee vennilla…yekkathil naan theivadhaa..
Ippodhu ennodu vandhaal enna…oorpaarkka ondraaga sendraal enna…
Ippodhu ennodu vandhaal enna…oorpaarkka ondraaga sendraal enna…

Mundhinam paarthene…paarthadhum thotrene..saladai kannaaga..nenjamum ponnaanadhe..
Ithanai naalaaga…unnai naan paaraamal…
Engu thaan ponaeno..naatkalum veenaanadhe..

(MUSIC)
Kaadhale…swasame…

Thula thottil unnai veithu…nigar seiya ponnai veithaai…
Thora varam thorkaadhoo..perazhagu…
Mugam paarthu pesum unnai…mudhal kaadhal sindhum kannai…
Anaikkaamal povenoo….aaruyire…
Ohhh…nizhal pola vidaamal unnai…thodarvenadii…
Pugai pola padaamal pattu…nagarvenadi…
Vinaanooru, kanaavum nooru”…vidai solladi…

Mundhinam paarthene…paarthadhum thotrene..
Saladai kannaaga..ullamum ponnaanadhe..
Ithanai naalaaga (oh my love)…unnai naan paaraamal (yes my love)…engu thaan ponaeno..naatkalum veenaanadhe..

(MUSIC)

Kadal nilam angum neram..alai vandhu theendum thooram..
Manam sendru muzhvenoo…eerathile..
Thalai saaikka tholum thandhaai…viral korthu pakkam vandhaai…
Idhazh mattum innum yen dhoorathilee..
Pagal neram kanaakkal kanden, urangaamale…uyirendum uraaiya kanden, nerungaamale…
Unai andri enakku yedhu…edhir kaalame…

Mundhinam paarthene…paarthadhum thotrene..
Saladai kannaaga..nenjamum ponnanadhe..
Ithanai naalaaga …unnai naan paaraamal…
Engu thaan ponaeno..naatkalum veenaanadhe..
Vaanathil nee vennilla…yekkathil naan thevadhaa..
Ippodhu ennodu vandhaal enna…oorpaarkka ondraaga sendraal enna..
Ippodhu ennodu vandhaal enna….oorpaarkka ondraaga sendraal enna..

……Vennilaa….…vennilaa…….vennilaa………………….

Keep humming the tunes of Vaarnam Aayiram at least that the tunes are not going to leave me for now.

Dada bows out

2008-10-09T11:11:00.005+05:30

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly

Without hustle of any sorts, bang came the press conference of Sourav Ganguly (aka Dada, Prince of Kolkata , Bengal Tiger) declaring to bow out after the home test series against OZ's. Great cricketers, great tacticians , great players always take the right decision at the right time. The time is picture perfect for Ganguly as well.Did it take the cricketing world by surprise ? Yes , for a few but many thought that his far from his prime form and it was the right time.

There was so much talking in the media whether it is the right time to retire. But he is not at his personal best both in terms of his cricketing career and his persona. I am hoping for a perfect finish for him during this test series. To me this would open a whole lot of opportunities for new youngsters to play and prove their mettle at the biggest level.

The biggest inspiration to be drawn from him is the way he took Indian cricket to a new level with his aggressive captaincy and nurturing young talents. But at times his arrogance on the field also took him to a new level and involved him into many controversies. The other inspiration was the way he captained India to reach the 2003 WC final was truly a captains punch. He played his cards properly and when the whole of india felt that we are out and lost during the WC, he brought the team back to winning ways through this aggressive captaincy. His off drives are mind blowing and from Boycott's dictionary "The Prince of Kolkuta...". The whole of India loved it, Bengal loved it too..

But big people say "All new journeys start with the single step" and i think this is the first single step towards the new journey. The new journey am talking about is how the Fab four will slowly start fading away from the eyes of cricket. The will for sure remain in our memories leaving behind their extraordinary years of cricket. But slowly its time is ticking away. We wont be anymore having the "Fab Four" on the field again..

To me personally he has been an inspirational captain and one of best opening batsmen in ODI's alongside pairing with Sachin, but otherwise his cricketing career has seen a low during the test match series in Zimbabwe. This being the first time under his captaincy that India is losing against Zimbabwe. He was involved in lots of on field and dressing room controversies, especially the on with Greg Chapell.

But to always end on a winning note he as been a splendid, aggressive cricketer. And we whole of India will remember you as One of the best and successful captains to have captained India and the records says it all.

Do you think you had a proper sleep last night?

2008-09-23T20:16:00.004+05:30

Another one just of the block. Few things that strike me right on my head are these Did i have a good sound sleep last night? Will i be able to work the whole next day without any glitches?

I am not sure how many of us had a sound sleep for some night. The basic necessity for our whole body to function is to give it some rest and tune it properly. Do we get hooked up to our laptops and dumb box for a longer time in the night extending our time to sleep? Maybe we are trying to unnecessarily overlap our sleeping time to watching tv , working late nights , watching second show movies. So what is the after effect of all these? Regular sleep keeps the mind alert and the body healthy, so that one can complete one's daily tasks.

Most of us prefer to post pond things. The same we do it with sleep as well, we just tell it ourselves lets sleep better this weekend and compensate for the late night work that i did over the week. But the fact is that never happens. You can never catch up with sleep and compensate for the lost sleep making yourself asleep over the week. By these events we stress our whole body to function properly without giving proper rest. We will be exerting to much energy from our body and mind to get our work done by doing this we end up as an "INSOMNIAC". These are the reasons why you shouldn't be sacrificing your sleep.

I guess the best way to overcome the lost sleep and have a proper sleep is to try plan and finish of ones work at the earliest. By this we can find more time for personal stuff as well and sleeping early will also give huge relief for the body. To do productive work the mind and the body has to be in sync, otherwise you yourself will be behaving differently like a drunkard.

Get sound sleep , refresh your hormones , energize yourself in involving in sports or a jog early morning. With these will it be possible in our Fast & furious Life? Will we able to do this consistently?

Reds - Back on track.

2008-09-19T11:38:00.010+05:30

How did the Reds take the Devils for a Ride?? A 7 year drought for Liverpool without a single win against Man U was all over when the 2 teams met at Anfield last Saturday. So did this sound any better for the mersey side team ? Yes ofcourse being an ardent follower of Liverpool and Mr. Gerrard the time has come back for the Mersy side to prove the mettle they where in the Premier League.

There has been a varied changes happening in the team which was going nowhere in the EPL until last season. But i see a light at the end of the tunnel for Liverpool to get back to their winning ways. The team looks much stronger and experienced with the back four seeming rock solid. The team looks more matured playing the away games which never has been their strength.

The way the team went about defeating Manchester United at the weekend without Fernando Torres and the skipper in the starting line-up certainly backs that up. I guess Rafa and the team are looking for a couple of Silverwares this season challenging the Europeans giants and the local EPL giants.

The team for this Season and my bets and analysis on them

Goal Keeper : Pepe Reina - Jose Manuel Reina is one of the world's top stoppers with an uncanny knack of saving penalties. He has saved Liverpool from blushes on more than several occasions and seems to be the best bet behind the bars.

Defenders : The back four are
Jammie Carragher - The experienced among the back four and has gaining strength to strength in every game he plays.
Martin Skrtel - The lanky defender seems to be a good buy by Rafa. Most of last season he was out due to injury. He gets into the right position at times for headers and free kicks.
Fabio Aurelio and Dosenna make up the back four.

Mid Fielders : Liverpool hosts the best Mid-fielders in the World with the likes of Gerrard, Xavi Alonso , Mascherano , Kuyt , Benayoun , Riera the new signing for the Reds , Voronin , Arbeloa , Pennant. I am gasping for my breath when listing the mid fielders.

Forwards , Strikers : Fernando Torres the match winner for Spain in Euro '08 against Germany. The lone goal scorer which separated the 2 teams and he is a exemplary finishers with great class and touch.
Robbie Keane - The new signing from Spirs. Hasn't been in the thick of things until now. Hoping to see the best from him in the coming days.
Also Babel playing along side these 2 will team up the forwards and strikers.

The above star studded team can do wonders with the current form.

Wall St. renamed to Fall St.

2008-09-17T14:32:00.002+05:30

Reporting from Wall St., lower Manhattan , Newyork City , USA. Does this sound any similar to you all??? Yes, the fall of Wall St. giants. The last time that we witnessed one such scenario was during the Great Economic Depression during 1929 and we are back again today in one such similar situation witnessing the Fall of Wall St.

"Good Risk is rewarded, imprudent risk is punished ", quote from a major financial advisor from Wall St. Unhealthy risks taken by Lehmann Brothers and Merill Lynch has finally handed them the situation they are currently into. Lehmann Brothers the fourth largest financial investments bank dealing with securities and realities have fallen and reported bankruptcy.They have busted to dust in no time. The major cause for this fall is the subprime mortgage mess triggered it, but the problem lies much deeper.

There is a big crack in the Wall, Is this end of socialized capitalism? Maybe but i guess the Federal Reserve will come all the way down to help all these institutions from to cause any more havoc to Wall St. More money is pumped into the market to handle the crisis.

Reason behind all these havoc is that Lehmann was strangled by a massive credit crisis and fast plummeting real estate prices.Wall Street analysts believe that it was the 'hubris' of Richard Fuld, the 62-year-old CEO of Lehman, who did not take the telltale signs of impending doom very seriously. Fuld, nicknamed The Gorilla for his foul temper, intimidating presence and tough talk, rejected many bids to save Lehman because he thought that the sinking giant was much bigger than Wall Street was giving it credit for, and wanted to get more price for the sale of the company.

Will we see the fall and rise of Wall St. once again ?? the answer to this is simple , we need to wait and watch how rest of the giants fare and keep their strategies tightened to grip in the coming days. We will see a decline in the US economy , maybe the real estate prices will see an all time low in the coming years. We will have better regulatory board who defines strict policies for banks affording mortgages and credit to customers. Will these cracks filled we could see the Fallen hero regain the Wall St. synonymous to influential financial market.

Can IPL do an EPL???

2008-05-23T22:03:00.002+05:30

I desperately wanted to pen down my thoughts on IPL long time back, but unfortunately we humans can find tons of excuses for not doing it.

The title of this blog was my status message on my gtalk for quite sometime and did i really find the answer for the millon dollar question... Will keep you folks reading this till the end for a answer...

Indian Premier League, a league of multicultured, multilingual & with all the mutli* i can think so, has been a perfect foil for all the cricket lovers in the world and especially for the people of India. So how did this whole thing happen ??? http://srihariv.blogspot.com/2008/02/get-played-on-by-ipl-new-era-of-cricket.html check this out..

So with all this, did it really work out. The questions that was on everyones mind were the franchise owners saw a light at the end of tunnel by investing crores and crores of money here ??? yes, few could see a dim light at the end of the tunnel, but not everyone... To talk on this more i had a debatable session with my friends and we found that the end result seems to be fruitful, but the fruit will start churning out only after sometime...

Some interesting facts to that could help folks realise what it exactly means ,it was announced that a consortium consisting of India's Sony Entertainment Television network and Singapore-based World Sport Group secured the global broadcasting rights of the Indian Premier League.The record deal has a duration of ten years at a cost of US$1.026 billion. As part of the deal, the consortium will pay the BCCI US$918 million for the television broadcast rights and US$108 million for the promotion of the tournament.20% of these proceeds would go to IPL, 8% as prize money and 72% would be distributed to the franchisees. The money would be distributed in these proportions until 2012 after which the share of IPL would go up.

Isn't that some quite money to start a cricket league... Few other questions are Is it worth spending time infront of the dumb box??? My answer would be, cricket to me has always be evergreen, my knowledge towards this sport has mutliplied many bounds and too me its like my second lover... I know what you folks are thinking, let's talk about that later :-)... So as always it has been a great time pass for me and getting to watch the shorter version of cricket as always excited me and saves us from some time...

There was a talk about what each version of cricket represent, The Test cricket is like a saree with all the jewels engulfing you with more traditional values attahced to it... The one day cricket cuts the first one and resembles the churidhar kind where its easily takes a cricketer to new heights.. The last and the final one that we have been dicussing till now is 20-20 cricket which typically represents the mini and skirts,extremely shorter version of the original on saree.

20-20 truely has bought a new lease of life for all the cricket lovers, it has easily become popular with spectators as it can encourage aggressive, risky, entertaining batting, often results in cliffhanger endings, and ensures that a spectator can watch an entire match.

What i find the most interesting is since each represents a city which brings in a element of excitement for the fans across globe watching this.. Ok did all these answer the very question Can IPL do an EPL??? I would strongly put it across "IPL is here to stay"... But will it do an EPL will need some years to judge how this league takes it to the bigger stage.. How its going to attract more people to watch this kind of cricket ??? Will the franchise owners spend more money or will they repend for the investments made ??? Will the price tag of each player increase ??? Will we see more teams in the league in the coming years??? Teams from Ahmedabad , Cochin and cities elsewhere in India passionate about this sport.. Will more people come to watch the game and follow this passionately ??? I really a big list and the answers to all this is "Wait and Watch"...

But for sure IPL is here to stay and it has really entertained me until now... Hoping that my fav "Chennai Super kings" roar like lions...

Breaking the Silence

2008-05-23T21:55:00.002+05:30

yes!!! Atlast the silence has been broken, this very blog gave a second life to my blogging after a quite a loong time... Its really been sometime since i cracked some nonsense here, and you know what people on this page would really be blaming me that i am back again:-) , please dont curse me....

Get Educated on getting a new Bike

2008-04-13T10:42:00.005+05:30

Education to me is knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process... Err... to be generous here am not trying to behave like one of those teachers who tells us what to do and what not to do... Wanted to put a across a a very simple thought of getting a new bike and thought i would share it with you folks with a different flavor to it...

Education has taught me how to do things differently and also made me wisely on how to apply myself in difficult situations... So before i thought i did something differently and tried to apply my brains, let me share something about that...

Bikes for me has always been a passion and i was wondering the times when i would own one... So the time came i had decided to own a new bike and with the same old passion i went in search of the beast.. This experience was indeed harrowing and fruitful until i realized this is what i want... To me the best thing you need to do before trying to do something is getting educated on what you are trying to do.. am might sound a little weird here, but its as simple as this - "GET EDUCATED"

How do you get educated??? Answer to this simple - Keep asking questions , you shouldn't worry about the kind of stupid questions you ask... Anything from how many employees are employed here to Do you have any idea what John Abraham is riding??? But these really wouldn't educate you much but rather give answers to ones of your interests.

Do you want to get educated, so listen carefully and maintain pin drop silence, again sounding like one of those mortals in classrooms.. The first best thing to do is try answering the following questions and you will be exactly at a standpoint where you wanted to be... Let me talk about this with my experience on getting a new bike.. What would be the first question to ask ,Which bike should i get Splendor, Pulsar, unicorn??? This is one of the worst first questions that you can ask yourself when getting a new bike... These answers came up just because one of your close buddies have them... But the whole point of getting educated on getting a new bike is missing... Let me not be so detailed here, the first and foremost is

Why do you need a bike now, Did you have one earlier and looking for a change or planning your first beast???

How many miles you drive every day or in a week, get an approximate number???

Is bike your only source of transportation???

Are you looking out for a gear or gear less vehicle??

Are you looking for one which would save your pocket or one which go just few miles emptying your pocket?? Basically the mileage, the fuel economy. Be careful here the number look little more than exaggerating. This hugely depends on the way you ride the bike..

Looking out for a one which would impress your opposite sex or otherwise??

Do you have a budget in your mind before getting a shock of your life?? This is really important before answering the rest "Money matters most".. Also decide whether you are planning for finance options or you just happy swiping your card with huge bank balance...

Fiance options, please be careful choosing the right one

Check out whether you are planning for a used one or a brand new based. This purely depends on your personal choice...

Check out the resale value of the bike you are planning for??? Is it worth investing money on this...

People might also prefer bikes based on the make.. Hero Honda for example has had a amazing affect to the common man...

You would obviously like to take test ride and do so with all the bikes that you come across, this is absolutely free. But these test rides themselves are actually not worthy testing how good the bike is.. Once you have started your bike, the test ride ends there...

For all the fundoo guys who talk about bikes, they might be more worried about the engine parameters like engine type, displacement, compression ratio ,maximum power , torque , bore etc...

Now not but the least decide the color of your choice, try not choosing attractive colors... info from the expert : black , blue , grey have a very good resale value...

And now if you have found the answers for these, you have chosen the right one.. If you still confused, then i would say you are not worthy getting a new bike.. forget the whole thought of getting it..

Answering these lead me to just one beast on road... I found out "Honda Unicorn" would be as ideal as i thought which would exactly suite my requirements of getting a new bike.. Not but the least i would like to thank all the people who helped me choosing the right one..

Guess i left you folks gasping for all the lessons taught today.. So learn these lessons for the questions that are to pop in future... So better get educated before someone starts teaching you...

Key notes : 1 .If you are in metros try avoiding vehicles with engine displacement
more than 180cc, save fuel , save breathing space...
2. Start the green revolution.
3. Try to pool in people whenever required, less vehicle on road, solves traffic snarls.

Malaysian GP - Live Blogging from Bangalore

2008-03-23T11:58:00.000+05:30

Get "played on" by IPL - New Era of Cricket

2008-02-19T20:45:00.003+05:30

What a hullaballoo it has been ovee the past week (sry, i stole this word from Bhogle's dictionary).Anyways lets get to the topic ,the scene around cricketing world over the past month or so has been full of drama, excitement , uproar from all section of the crowd, players, officals and list goes on...

How well have you people followed EPL , La Liga , Brazilian league and all the other leagues happening around the world. We guys pinch on to one team and really have a go, crazy supporting them irrespective of their nationality. I am a firm supporter of LiverpoolFC and it really doesnt make sense even if MBR. Gerrard is in my team or not, as long as my team is winning matches.Sounds like one really wierd , crazy fan of LiverpoolFC even after their loss to Barnsley in FA cup. Otherwise am a huge supported of Argentina during WC.

Now the stage is set for one of the biggest cricket league to do a epic beginning in our mother land. The final say is "get played on" with IPL.. So what are u guys waiting for , the green signal has been issued for IPL to start bidding their players and you start picking your best team.

Synonymous to all leagues world over, IPL also extensively follows their foot path with player contracts and franchisee which gives their fans something to cheer about. The so called Elite teams listed are,

1) Mumbai - Owner Reliances Industries ( Mukesh Ambani)
2) Kolkota - Red Chilles INternational
3) Bangalore - UB Groups ( Mr . Vijay Mallaya)
4) Chennai - Indian Cemenets
5) Mohali - Preety Zinta, Ness Wadia
6) Delhi - GMR Holdings
7) Hyderabad - DEccan Chronicle
8) Jaipur - Emerging Media

The current auction includes player contract and team franchisee.

The bid amount for each of these team were not mere numbers but more overhelming to the others bidders who took part in the race for franchisee. In the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) which starts from April 18, have started their process to auction overseas and native players.

Guess what's next , the IPL have come up with something special for our top players, rating them as "Icon players" and wouldnot be included in the list of auctioned players and wait!!! Wat else in the offering?? also they are payed 15% more than the higgest paid player in the team. OOOOOhhhh , Ouuuch that really sounds some big money. I guess IPL has "played you on" !!!!

Ok that ends my story for now, I would be supporting for Chennai "Super Kings" and make sure my mate in Indian dressing room be it Tendulkar who would play for Mumbai, or Dada for Kolkata, i would them out for duck and make sure Chennai runs away with the Twenty20 trophy. I would end up supporting Warne, Shoaib Akhtar to blow some big blows for Chennai if ever they happenedto be part of the Chennai team..

Its' time for you all to pick the team of your choice, not knowing whether the team has an Oz, pakistani or a Newzealender. But the very next day i would be just go the opposite by supporting Tendulkar , Dada, Dhoni when they are playing for India.
So i want you people to get "played on" by IPL and dilemma continues....

Biggest blunder by rediff.com

2008-01-19T14:36:00.000+05:30

Phew .. WE just experienced one of the best test matches, it had everything from the start till the moment Tait was bowled by RP Singh in the Perth test at the WACA. People who were working on a Saturday would have been caught hold of cricinfo.com or cricbuzz.com, am wondering how many times the pages where refreshed,Countless i guess the counter could have stopped at some point and out of range error :-)...

But between these if someone has by chance had rediff.com on their browser , the following might have not missed their eye..

A big blunder , maybe the editor was too excited there :-)

Maam he called me a monkey !!!

2008-01-11T19:48:00.000+05:30

Shoooo , silence please , i need pin drop silence in the class, where the words that came out of a angry teacher. Before which the following sequence took place.
Kid1(crying) : Maam, he called me a pig !!!
Maam(serious face): did you call him a pig? I will give you punishment...
kid 2: Yes maam, But he called me a monkey?
Maam: That was really bad , so both of you are punished, stand on the last beach for this period..
Other kids shouting,screaming , throwing papers, tearing note books , total chaos , noise all over the class
Maam(Shouted): Silence please children. Or else everyone of you will have to stand on the last beach ...

It was a just an augmented effort from me to relate things that was happening in the cricketing world. The OZ were correct in whatever they said and rest have to play dilly-dolly stuff.

But what could have actually happened on the field was for everyone to see, and the OZ were the masters of sledging in the modern era of cricket, earlier it was in form of bodyline by English players.

So relating this to the events that happened last week IND Vs Aus sydney cricket ground , 2nd test.

Match Referee , was in the firing line when he had to give two crucial decisions on whether to retain Mr. Bucknor for the next test and whether harbhajan has to be awarded a 3 test match ban for having him reported racially abusing symonds as "Monkey" - we depict the animal to a god and worship him in India.

But Before which the following happened,

Tendulkar & Harbhajan were batting for a real comeback and the OZ didnt want to have a tail ender wasting so much time in the middle. Lee exhausted with his fierce speed, the calmness of stuart clark didnt seem to work , the lone spinner Hogg hogging a wicket for a very long time and Bracken never had the ball to break the sticks.

So the choice was left to the fielders to do the talking , as usual someone from the slips played his part and provoked "Bhajji" and what was expected from the turbanator was nothing strange or unusual , rather he went for the Kill.

Hayden : Hey bhajji , seems that your turban is saving the day for your !!! lots of laughter in slip cordon. Umpire rejects that was a casual joke on Indians.

Breet Lee : Bowling his best for the season , fires one in 150kmph range and comes down the track and has a work with bhajji *****muted******

Bhajji : Somehow he might have got inspired from Sreesanth and tries to fire one at Lee.

Symonds : yeah you !!! getting pizzed off in the middle,i guess you are waiting to be back in the pavilion.

Bhajji : until symonds had a word everything seems to be casual , then went on the firing line.. you are a monkey !!! It could have been something else which i really doubt "M* kii" ...

Symonds : Did you call me monkey , did you really called me monkey !!!

Bhajji (poor chap) : Couldnt know what to tell, had to face all the consequences..

Symonds (reporting to Ponting) : Bhajji called me monkey on the field!!!

Ponting (to match refree): It was reported that Bhajji had racially abused symonds calling him a monkey.

And what has happened after that is left for the media and news reporters to take the center stage. Media , reporters , journalists, column writers , the worst players of the past on some News channel had made huge money because of this controversy.

So according to me both the initial set of sequences and the latter were very much similar. Contrasting is the fact that it was 2 different genre of people who were making complaints. But wats the difference ???? Absolutely childish...

why developers always slack off at work?

2008-01-11T19:22:00.000+05:30

Just because, they don't like the work they are involved ?

Or is it just because they like to gossip about some old stupid Sidhu's one liner.
Eg: If ever Bucknor comes to Mumbai or Delhi for an hour , he says " Unka Chaddi uthardhaghe" his recent statement!!!! Or his famous one liner "That ball went so high it could have got an air hostess down with it. ? Please click hereto enjoy more of them.

Maybe there was some hot female who played against Khan's in some Bollywood movie? I would rather prefer to talk about Kollywood :-)

But the ultimately thing that separates the above list is. Check out

The best Invitation i have received !!!

2007-12-27T14:54:00.001+05:30

Folks , please take your time to stop here and your are going to witness one of the best invitation that i have received. From that time ,am have been moved by this Invitation. So make sure you go through and prepare one for yourself when the times comes....

My close friend DK happened to sent us this invitation, We all knew this was coming but we never expected one such invitation :-)

Please read the invitation further ,

Subject : Sorry for the late Information : Invitation Attached

Hi All,

Some of you already know this and my apologies to the
others for not announcing it earlier; I wanted to keep
it low key until everything was planned and in place.
Hope you all understand!!!

Anyway, after much apprehension and hesitation, I am
tying the knot on Feb 2, 2008. Kindly keep
your calendars open because I would love to see you
there! Please understand I am the first guy from the class to do so.

I have attached the invitation which contains the
itinerary.

Do have a look at it. Will keep you posted on further
happenings.

Wish me the best. See you there!

Follow the link below to find the invitation...
For a movie version please check out on the left side of the invitation.

To view the Invitation please
Click Here

Need your esteemed presence on this occassion..

Regards,

Hello Folks!!! Interesting introductory mail.

2007-12-24T15:42:00.001+05:30

An antonym to my previous blog, let me give you some idea on how to compose a introductory message to you team mates at your new office. I always believe that "first impression is the best impression" and there should not be any excuse sending a introductory mail to your team mates. The very thought of writing one such was because when i joined ALU i wanted to give a different introductory mail altogether and surprise people.

Anyways dont want to keep you people bored :).. Here are few good mail composition of introductory mails sent by people across various life styles..

****************************************************************************
Sub : Introductory message from X
Hello All,
This is Ramakrishnan Venkataramana Ramoorthy , quite a big name indeed!!! But i have excused you all from calling me as short as Ram.

I basically hail from a small town near trichy in tamilnadu . I had been working with X company for the past 3 years. It would be a great pleasure for me to work in this team and bring the best out of me.
************************************************************************

Sub : Greetings !!!
Hello folks,
I am Ramkumar Shah, a new employee of Alcatel-Lucent and a new member of the systems team family. My roots and my native is Abu, a beautiful place in Rajasthan but have been a Bangalorean all my life.

I was associated with LG Soft India Pvt Ltd (the only organization I have worked for) before joining this organization. I have a work-ex of 3 years.
My hobbies are playing the electronic keyboard, acting in stage plays, reading mystery novels and as most guys, watching and playing cricket.:)
Looking forward for a memorable experience of working with you all and enjoying my tenure here.

*************************************************************************

Goodbye... For now!!!

2007-12-24T14:14:00.000+05:30

Yes Goodbye.. For now!!! a typical phrase used by people who leave their current employer and plans to join a different company. So i have seen quite a few mails when people from my team who have left the company and joined elsewhere. So guess when your time comes to compose one such mail, please refer here and fill the comments column :)

This is a nice one , please read further ...
***************************************************************************************
I wanted to take a moment to let you know that I am leaving this project. I will be starting a new phase of my career next month.

I have enjoyed my tenure here and I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with you all. Thank you for the support, guidance, and encouragement I have received during my time here. Even though I will miss the whole experience, I am looking forward to this new challenge and starting a new phase of my career.

Do keep in touch, my personal ID is: mail-id@

Wish you all the best!!!!

Thanks again for everything, I hope our paths cross again.
Yours truly,
XXXXX...

****************************************************************
Guess you people got an idea how to send one.

Another simple one , check this one out...

Hi All,

Tomorrow is my last day on this project.
I would like to thank each one of you for your support,encouragement and cooperation during my stay here.
It was a great learning experience for me.
(Special mention to someone also applicable..) Thanks a lot...! for all the support and help i got from you guys.

All the very best for all your personal and professional life.
Wish this Project a great success ahead!
Please keep in touch. Hope we happen to meet each other in future...!

My contact details are:
Personal E-mail:
Mobile:

Thanks & Regards
XXXX

*************************************************************
This is the best goodbye email that i have read and i have already planned for a copy-paste when one such occasion comes for me :-)

Dear friends,

This is a note which I knew I would have to write someday, although it
never crossed my mind when.

It seems like minutes rather than year when I first stepped into XXX Company,
a non-chemical background guy who wouldn’t know an acrylic from solvent.
I’ve laughed and cried and learnt with the best of you and over the year,
many of you have become like family to me. I have no doubt that today, when
I log out for the last time and leave my cubicle to explore new horizons,
it will be one of the longest and saddest walks in my life.

But explore the new horizons I must. It is a sad decision but I am in need
to fulfill my dreams.

Thank you for playing such a big part in my personal and professional
growth, and allow me to continue sharing your lives, just as you have done
so generously in the last one year and twenty nine days.

Please keep in touch.

Best Regards,
XXXXXXX

*************************************************************************************
Another classic last day mail to all your office colleagues .. Check this link

Nice one

So i guess you all got an idea of a sample goodbye mail should look it.

Things to remember when you compose one are:

* Thank everyone for their support and cooperation . You can also mention someone if they had been really special.
* Specify your personal mail id and mobile number for future communication.
* Typical phrases are " Hoping that our ends meet again " , " Keep in touch & dont hesitate to mail back for any info"..

Please write in your suggestions of composing one such "Goodbye mail" to your team mates.

World's best fielders - A Preview

2007-12-21T09:52:00.000+05:30

The biggest question that comes to my mind when you see Rhodes, Collingwood , AB De villers walk to the ground when they take their field is: How many runs is a fielder worth? WE might think Batsmen toil hard to get their runs and bowlers meanwhile stern themselves to get wickets, but not to forget about is the standard of fielding. How many times we have seen a match turn because of the fielding , a blinder of a catch , a long direct hit from the deep covers , a crucial throw to the correct end to get a batsmen run out.

To me fielders worth more the runs they save on the field and the crucial catches they take which turn the match on its head!!! So lets not talk more about fielding and its aspects. Lets directly go to the nominations for the worlds best fielders that we have seen so far.Rightly said by most commentators "Catches win Matches" , but they themselves haven't been the best of the fielders during their time. Lets start of with ground fielding .. Here goes the nominations ,

Obvious nomination Jonathan Neil "Jonty" Rhodes:

Whats makes him so special? To the cricketing world has never ever seen a better fields men than him. he is simply special because of this agility and anticipation that every ball will fly to him. He has provided the fans with a treat , some catching blinders on the field and some astounding runouts which has turned the match on its head. His presence could serve his team through his diving power, catching power and above all throwing capabilities which, for sure, save many runs for his team.he could have made a century worth runs with every 5 matches played on the fielding itself besides from the runs scored with the bat.

Watch the video of flying Jonty making the big Inzy run for his money:
Spectacular Runout video
Watch and enjoy :-)

Our next nomination is "Paul Collingwood":
Collingwood , current ODI captain of England, has produced some outstanding catches and stops. The batsmen would get awestruck with the presence of Paul on the field. Very quick on the field and as a "natural athlete", he is also regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time.He has turned on to become the best batsmen for the english side and very handy with his slow medium. So check out the following video and then look out for the reaction of Mathew Hayden , simply astonishing catch.

Finest Catches !!! Treat to your Eyes

Hayden couldn't believe his eyes for the catch , collingwood stretching one hand 12 feet from the ground one handed catch.

More good fielders to come ... But enjoy the videos and hope we indians also produce one such Rhodes in future.

Kumar Paravatha Trek - A trek to eternity

2007-12-10T20:15:00.023+05:30

Better get prepared before you start reading this one. Well , It was indeed a trip to eternity. The nature descended down on us like never before. I was at the right place away from jungle - "Bengaloruu".

How did it all happen ??
People were floating mails on various trekking spots and how to conquer each one of them. Then sprang subbu's mail "Interested for KP trek on Dec 1st & 2nd …J
I want to make to the top this year J anyone game for it :-) " ... I really didn't know it was going to be a big game but just the thought made me interested into going for the trek. And then all the planning was done and everyone was sure we would make it to the peak. We floated almost approx 100 mails to get the things done. Bus tickets , Food , Water , medical stuff etc etc..

The Game Begins:
For every game to be won , we need to do pre match analysis and all the funky stuff to get it going. And here ,we too didnt miss this one. Infact lots of research was put in on how to get there? number of kilometers to cover in a hour? 7 lotta of others stuffs to. But The execution has to be near to perfect to get that done.

Bus journey from bangalore:
A usual friday evening in bangalore, lots of vehcile on the road , traffic that has crossed its limits. Myself and Manan took a richsaw towards Jaya nagar to get the tent and the sleeping bags and we were off to kempe gouda bus stand. Whatever that followed was just inevitable , so please read on.

We started our Trek with expectations - just reaching the Peak

Joined for some quick Team Photo
(… Little did anyone imagine that there will a split in the “Team” – Sharks & Rockers, during the journey )

As is the Indian Cricket Team culture, we huddled together for a quick “Planning” ..

.. And some final Adjustments in the packing ..
We started our trek with bright faces ..

Sitting down on every visible rocks in the name of Photo Shoot …. (Everyone obliging, putting the blame squarely on Subbu)

And Relaxing……… oops read it as Photo-shoot on some benches too.

We got our first view of the Peak & mountains…
Getting many of team members into a high.

Noticing the board “Don't tease animals”….almost everyone in the team was left wondering if there would be boards mentioning, “please don't tease shark/rockers team members”… Pun intended :-)

Though the peak was visible & many were excited…., it really dawned on us that we were delayed in reaching spot by few hours and our energy fast fading out. With the reality drowning upon us, we decided to end our journey toward the peak considering everyones’ endurance level. Team members deciding against splitting up the team & instead spend time together.

Though we failed in the “test of Endurance”, we passed with flying colors in the “test of Team spirit”.

We ended up setting up tents near the mantap, and please find our spirits when you visit the place.

Finally our humble dwelling was ready to be occupied ….
Little did anyone imagine that this will save Good night sleep for many, and for few other brave souls, some more adventure, which went well past midnight.

(Psst….. For few other Discovery channel fans, they felt as if they were below the base camp & the snowstorm hitting their tents at some 400 mph).
Sunset happened so quickly that many were so stuck with its beauty and busy capturing the moment in their mind & soul, that they forget that camera’s was meant for that purpose….. to capture it & look at it and enjoy all those missed moments, when instead you could have enjoyed it at that time.

Night time bought out the real heroes …. (their wives must be really lucky), who braved the fire & chill to provide others the food…

Even at that stage, the most surprise pick of our trekking party, Harsha was left pondering of the missed opportunities. Most importantly he seemed to have realized late his potential. Seeing him in the camp, it should not be a surprise to the team if he starts trekking as his hobby.

Sorry buddy for spoiling the show :)

.. and as usual Manan to his self is not too much bothered with it, he his busy enjoying his culinary skill.

Dawn showcased to us mortal people, how heaven looks like ..

And the reality of how many others has reached it ….

With heavy heart & Empty stomach, we started descend to reach the base & bring alive our taste buds…

(…. Thank Subbu/Mahesh/Harish, for not taking a snap of us eating those breadcrumbs !!!, or else many would be left searching their dictionary for a better explanation than gentlemen)
As is our style, we posed for few more pics to showcase & impress our friends back home – with the background & also sweat in our brows.
Battru is God send to us mortal souls, who venture into such tough trekking place to test their endurance… Below photo showcases what I mean...

Reaching base.. & more Photos

Though we did not reach the peak…… everyone’s thought was filled with these pictures…..

We departed with heavy heart & a smile on our faces,
… With the Joy of enjoying every moment of trek,
… With the maturity level of knowing our physical & mental limits,
(psst…… With the more maturity level of knowing that Subbu should not be given incharge of handling Bus tickets :)
… With the knowledge that it's the Journey & not just destination, which can give you happiness.. So enjoy every moment of you life

.. And With definitely the same thought “ VISIT AGAIN”.

Signing Off with the group photo….

Standing (left- right) Subbu, Arun, Srihari, Dheena , Harsha , Mahesh
Sitting (left - right) Abhinethra , Sumil , Manan , Gopal

~ Regards Subbu/Srihari.

How does a Human calculator do this ?

2007-11-22T10:37:00.000+05:30

An Amazing article about a mathematician .
Alexis Lemaire has broken the record for finding the 13th root of a 200-digit number. It's an incredibly hard calculation so how does the "human calculator" do it?

Fancy yourself as a bit of mental arithmetics buff, one of those who relishes totting up the bill after a restaurant meal for 12, one of those who looks down their nose at calculator users?

Well try this for size.

The task is to find the 13th root of 85,877,066,894,718,045,
602,549,144,850,158,599,202,771,247,748,960,878,023,151,
390,314,284,284,465,842,798,373,290,242,826,571,823,153,
045,030,300,932,591,615,405,929,429,773,640,895,967,991,
430,381,763,526,613,357,308,674,592,650,724,521,841,103,
664,923,661,204,223.

The answer's 2396232838850303. Multiply that by itself 13 times and you get the above. Even with a calculator you wouldn't beat Alexis Lemaire doing the calculation in his head.

Alexis Lemaire breaks the record in Oxford
On your marks... Lemaire prepares to break the record at Oxford
Last week, at Oxford's Museum of the History of Science Lemaire broke his own record for the task, taking it down to 77.99 seconds. Mental athlete he may be, but he speaks of his hard work in much the same fashion as any other kind of athlete.

"It is quite difficult. I did a lot of preparation for this. More than four years of work and a lot of training every day. A lot of memorising. I need three things - calculating, memorising and the third on mathematical skills. It is a lot of work and maybe a natural gift."

There is a long-standing fascination with those who can accomplish astounding feats of mental agility. The "ordinary" human wants to know how, but sadly the geniuses and the savants can only offer fragments of insight into how they function, and the scientists who have studied them rarely offer a definitive answer.

Researchers have tried to link problems with the brain either through trauma or malformation to extraordinary mental abilities - one of the theories being that damage to one area prompts compensation in another. Brain scientist Dr Allan Snyder has suggested that everyone may possess such abilities but be unable to access them.

Transforming numbers

Kim Peek, the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie Rain Man, has a malformed brain and a below average IQ and yet is able to rapidly read books, memorising vast swaths of information.

I have these associations between places and numbers - some places are imaginary, I try to vary so I don't confuse the numbers
Alexis Lemaire
Lemaire explains that what he does is about transforming raw numbers into other structures so he can "see" the answer to the problem.

"When I think of numbers sometimes I see a movie, sometimes sentences. I can translate the numbers into words. This is very important for me. The art is to convert memory chunks into some kind of structure.

"I see images, phrases, actions. It's very tactile, sensitive. I have these associations between places and numbers. Some places are imaginary, I try to vary so I don't confuse the numbers. It's important to memorise. I have to be precise."

Lemaire's explanation is similar to that of British savant Daniel Tammet. Tammet set the world record for reciting pi at more than 22,000 digits at the museum in 2004.

To him, each number has a distinct colour and appearance, some beautiful, some not, with each complex calculation making up a landscape.

Icelandic in a week

But his skills also stretch to words, with Tammet having reportedly learned Icelandic in a week after a challenge.

It's safe to assume that Lemaire's brain processes don't involve the words "carry one". But there is an explanation for some of what he does. The memorisation he talks about is a series of algorithms, such as a set to tackle the first five digits of the 200-digit number.

He has refined these processes to mind-boggling lengths. For the much simpler calculation the 13th root of a 100-digit number, the first record was set at 23 minutes in 1970. Now Lemaire can manage the calculation in under four seconds.

And whatever the mental processes that lead him to the answer, the fact that he can do this in seconds and without pen or paper remains awesome to the "ordinary" brain.

Can you beat this geek ??? try hard :-)

Courtesy : cnn-news

The ugly face of Politics has popped up again !!!

2007-11-19T22:29:00.000+05:30

Politics - Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. So this is the definition given in the wiki.

I seriously follow the indian politics and its happenings. Nothing suprises me when a party stab another party (either in opposition or coalition)in their back. So once again the ugly face of politics has popped up again. This is what we witnessed in Karnataka.

Once again, it is Janata Dal-Secular chief who is being blamed, with CM dubbing it the worst betrayal in his life. The week long power at Vidhan Soudha didnt last long and one of the excuses quoted by JDS was BJP not signing the MOU. This was just an excuse and the original reason being pressure from his family members.

The family politics once again comes in to picture similar to those of the Gandhi family , karunadhi family and their heirs.Lets hope for a better government comes into power. The sources now pointing out that the JDS will join hands with Congress and form a coalition government at Vidhan Soudha , which will now gives chance to the other son of JDS chief to head the state, sounds that each one needs to enjoy at the center.

So this is called "Opportunistic Politics" and iam not sure whether to feel sorry for BJP also , because thats how politics shows its ugly face.

Anyways thanks for reading my thoughts, I guess now you have better things to do than following "Indian Politics" :-)

Will the super Jumbo make a good captain ?

2007-11-13T10:00:00.000+05:30

Its been a long time waiting for Anil Kumble to don the test side. Its better late than never!!! Everyone was taken by surprise when the selectors announced Anil as the captain for crucial test series against Pakistan. He is still going strong @ the age of 37 , and the selectors didn't have another choice after Tendulkar turned down the captaincy offer and they thought Dhoni was too in experienced to be the test captain.

But this has come @ a time when the team is molding well under the captaincy of a young ,determined Dhoni.But the selectors had other thoughts in their mind and finally landed on kumble. Maybe they could have thought about Ganguly or Laxman who by his class is underestimated player for India.My first question is , Will this be a stop-gap arrangement as test captain Or Kumble will be preferred for a long run ??

Kumble as a leg spin bowler is strong , determined and fierce. He is always out there to get wickets and any captain in the last 2 decades wouldn't have got a better spinner than Kumble to have played in their team. He has plenty of aggression on the field which was displayed when he bowled with a broken jaw against the Indies.

But my big question is Will he make a good test captain ???
He might not become the best test captain ever to captain India, but he can surely prove a point across to all his supporters that he can don the big job of captaining the Indian cricket team with sheer aggression and commitment to the sport.
Hail the Jumbo !!!

Diwali Dhamaka !!!

2007-11-11T13:58:00.000+05:30

Diwali - The festival of lights , was a great occasion celebrating @ coimbatore. When am @ home it gives me a feeling of joy and excitement. To the excitement came all sorts of sweets and dishes.

This is one occasion where we old friends of mine (Schoolmates) meet up and have some fun. I was always passionate to watch movie on a big occasion like Diwali and i didn't miss the boat. I was lucky enough to watch 2 decent movies Vel & Kanamoochi Enada. So Diwali was a fun filled holidays for me back @Coimbatore.

To summarize briefly my Diwali was meeting friends , Sweets , Some good movies and Ind - Pakistan Cricket Series :-) & will be travelling back to bangalore where all the good stories end :-).

Are you experiencing the Height of Boredom ?

2007-11-06T15:02:00.000+05:30

Guess What ?? You sometimes feel that you don't have any work to do and everything seems to be ordinary , which means you are going through one of those boring days :-)

I find myself happily njoying through these links ..

Boring days ahead ?? click here

Some of really turn me on and keeps me working hard :-)

Is it the EOR for Dravid in ODI's ?

2007-11-06T14:46:00.001+05:30

So we have come to a breaking point before the start of the Pakistan Series , the Selectors are going tough with the current form of Ex-Captain , Rahul Dravid. The Chairman of Selectors , Dilip Vengsarkar said in a statement that "Dravid was rested". This is a very dangerous word in Indian Cricket. We have seen this happening to all the players previously who have been left out.

So does this auger well for the Indian Cricket or Is this an end of road for Dravid in ODI's ? I am not sure which is a better question here , anyways without dravid the middle seems to be working fine. He collected a meagre 70 odd runs in the 6 ODI's played against Australia. With this stating as concern , Dravid was dropped with the statement that he was rested and needs a break after the tough series in England.

The Wall of Indian Cricket has once again collapsed to the pressure thrown up by the youngsters in the rungs of ghambir , Uthappa , Dhoni himself after leading the Indian side to WC win in T20. The Selectors are playing it hard on the seniors and statement "The place in the Indian team should not be taken for granted", this sounds some bells alarming for the senior players in the team.

The Calm, Cool personality and the experience of Dravid will be missed for the first 2 one dayers, which the Indian selectors seems to have forgotten. Take a look at his profile through the years!!!

Why we are they way we are ??? - Book Review

2007-11-02T16:46:00.000+05:30

"The games the Indians play" by Ragunathan is one of those book i would like to keep it in my book shelf for a long time from now. It typically symbolizes the Indianness of the Indians.

Key questions asked by the author that really gave light to my attitude being an Indian, Why are we a nation that is individually so smart and collectively so naïve? Why do we mistake talk for action? Why is our self-worth massaged only if we have the 'authority' to break rules? Why are we among the world's Why do we dump our garbage at he neighbour's doorstep…Can it be our climate, population density, poverty, colonial past or even genetic encoding?Why are we among the world’s most corrupt? Why do we jump red lights? Do we have proper answers to these questions , the answer is "NO". We either blame others for this or we blame the system :)

It all about the attitude of the Indians and Raghunathan carefully applies various strategies and neatly describes the iterations of dilemma. Just follow all the strategies , game theory to analyze the life style of the Indians and make sure it make sense to you as well.

Read the book and you will surely realise that as an Indian you have committed so many horrendous crimes. We can make our country a much much better place to live in. We the future generation of India will take very initiative and will leave no stone unturn to make this country a heaven on earth.

So you want to run a Marathon ?

2007-10-31T11:52:00.000+05:30

Marathon ?? What ?? Ok, Marathon is a long-distance running event of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles 385 yards) that can be run either as a road race or off-road (for example, on mountain trails).

I got inspired from this story ,please follow link here

Phew !!! Its indeed Inspiring ,wasn't it ??? So people run Marathons not for the sake of winning (Kenyans are an exception!!!). So you can run marathons for a cause and please get in contact with the best of the NGO's.

So do you want to run a Marathon ??? , keep the following things in mind.

1. Know what you are in for

2. Get the right gear

3. Eat right

4. Training is a must

5. Sign up for the race.

ok fair enough , but how does it benefit me ??

* Increased energy
* Improved health
* A sense of accomplishment
* Increased discipline
* Quality time outdoors
* A chance to show off to the opposite sex that you can do it
* Of course, great-looking legs (Never underestimate the power of lean, muscular legs.)

Get Inspired!!!

Did You Know ??? Better Read this!

2007-10-23T13:45:00.000+05:30

Facts are fascinating , they are incontrovertible truth. So just go ahead , update your ever idle information registry. Here goes the facts ,

1. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo. I feel sorry for the elephant :-(

2. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb. So husbands better be aware of using the phrase again.

3. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest. Sounds Weird , but it is a fact :-)

4. You can't lick your top side of the nose.. Try this !!!

5. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. Do measure it daily !!!

6. The record for the most Olympic medals ever won is held by Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina. Competing in three Olympics, between 1956 and 1964, she won 18 medals. She must be having a huge gallery.

7. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. Are you intellengent check out ???

8. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language. try twisting your tongue now :-)

9. In France, a five year old child can buy an alcoholic drink in bar, Good for him .

10. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open? Next time you feel a sneeze coming try it!

The last one and interesting fact is , 90% of the people reading this page would have or are trying to do the fact #4 ..

:-) Have fun.. Enjoy the day..

Dilbert Comic Strip , Laugh out Loud :-)

2007-10-23T12:30:00.000+05:30

Here is a Dilbert Comic strip , laugh out loud and enjoy the day:-)

Dilbert keeps me going when iam experiencing the height of boredom .

Sports Unlimited !!!

2007-10-22T08:58:00.000+05:30

For all the sports lovers , here it goes .. have you witnessed a weekend like this ever before ?? The Answer is a big "NO".. So guys who have not updated themselves with sports over the weekend , here is a weekly report. I have listed based on my best action that took place over the weekend in the world over.

1 . Guess ???? Its the MerseySide Derby win for Liverpool against it rivals Everton at Goodison Park . Boy oh boy !!! Kuyt is my man as he scores twice for the visitors and LFC wins a wild won scoring a late penalty in the dying minutes of the match(extra time goal). Could it get bigger than this ??? This is slated as the best ever Merseyside derby match played between the two teams. And iam eagerly waiting to figure out what might happen in the return leg. To know more about merseyside derby click here

2. So we move from Football over to Cricket , India scripts a easy win in one off T20 match against the Aussies @ Mumbai. It was pleasure to watch the Indians outplay aussies as the youngsters were firing on all cylinders . Dhoni in the press conference said " The way we went to win th T20 World Cup was not a fluke" and this would have silenced the critics.

3. Me move on the fastest sport in the world, Kimi wins Championship for the first time against all odds. Eventhough i couldnt watch the race late yesterday ( i was travelling back ), but i believe those who have witnessed the event would be jumping up and down with excitement. Thanks to Vijesh for giving me an update. I feel sorry for Alonso the defending champion and even more sad for Lewis Hamiltn , slated to win his first F1 Crown as a rookie. But Kimi also started as my favorite ,won the three way title race @ Interlagos, Brazil.

4. And odd one but it was another big event on the other side of the globe. South Africa wins World Cup Rugby @ Paris , France infront of a record 1 lakh crowd. They beat the defending champions England 15-6. Maybe people who are not well updated this a good piece of information.

And guess i have completed my list for the weekend review on sports. What a weekend it was for sports ,they call it "Sports Unlimited". Could you ask for more ???? The Answer is Yes..

Folks wait before closing of the window , Guess whats next ???

Its the ATP Masters @ Madrid , astonishingly the 2002 Wimbledon finalist , David Nalbandian won the ATP Masters handing a shock defeat to World No 1 Fedx !!! Could you believe it ???? Its better to :-) And he won the horse race after a great battle winning 1-6 , 6-3 , 6-3.

So folks hope you enjoyed my section today.. Lots more sports to come , so better be prepared.

Google goes Mobile!!!

2007-10-11T10:24:00.000+05:30

Another interesting application form the web stalwarts "Google SMS" . So Google SMS is a service that enables you to search for certain kinds of information with Google from a mobile phone, and returns your search results as text messages. With Google SMS, you can get local business listings, movie showtimes, weather, facts, dictionary definitions, and more. Please visit the Google SMS homepage to see sample queries and the types of results you might get.

I have found this interesting and its handy in situation where u need to get information from nowhere.

So to know details send SMS to 54664.

For more info check the following link www.google.co.in/sms

YACB - 'Yet Another Cricketing Blog"

2007-09-21T13:59:00.000+05:30

As the title suggest YACB to keep all the cricketing lovers en thrilled. As always its for those readers who have always been reading my blogs on cricket and keep posting comments , and dont miss another chance now!!!

So lets kick of - Interesting subject for cricket lovers to ponder about , I know you people would have already guessed it " Best Bowling Actions the World has ever produced" . I think the directors have already picked of their choices in their bags and lets start of the postmortem now .

Let make this more simpler and fresh , i really don't have much idea of bowler of the '60s .We will ponder on the bowlers in the last 3 decades who have produced something special and spectacular.

Classification make work simple , so lets start about classifying the types of bowlers . So here are the nominations , go ahead .

Nominees for The best Bowling Action:

1) Micheal Holding -

Tall , elegant and the quickest bowler the batsmen feared of. Nick name "Whispering Death" has a very quite approach to the crease . The bowler from the islander slated @ 6'4 , Micheal Holding is our first nominee for the Worlds best Bowling Action.

2) Andy Caddick -

Our next nominee in the category for "Best Bowling action " is Andy Caddick. The ease with which this bowler runs to the crease is as swift as a scarlet ferrari on the tracks. The bowler as tall as 6'5 is our second of the nominations.

3)Allan Donald : The Lanky South African , often called as the " White Lighting", seems to be fearsome among the fast bowlers , scowling and aggressive, with a horizontal white line of sunscreen across his cheeks and nose. The now bowling coach of English Cricket Team is our 3rd nominee for the best bowling action in the World.

4)Darren Gough : One of my fav nominees to win this award. The action cant get any bigger than this . Gough is a right arm fast medium bowler and broad in beam, he achieves his pace from a good approach to the wicket and a beautiful, leaping sideways-on action, achieving what is often described as "skiddy" fast bowling.

That ends my list of nominees for World's best bowling Action . Thanks for stopping at my blog and it keeps my blogs rolling .. Post in your comments .

Will keep everyone updating , my next one is on the same lines ..

Doi'ng is the ONLY way of getting things done

2007-08-22T10:37:00.000+05:30

An inspiring message , please "DO it now or never " ..

Click here

India completes its Shasti-Abtha-poorthi

2007-08-16T12:10:00.000+05:30

Normally we talk about our parents reaching their 60th birth anniversary and we perform rituals called the Shasti-Abtha-poorthi which actually means celebrating the 61st birthday termed a very auspicious occasion.. Now it time for India to perform the rituals .. India from the day it had got its independence has been living in a world of secularist democracy , with multi lingual , multi caste and under the rule of bureaucracy's .. She has gone through a glorious transformation from the day where the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru gave the famous "tryst with destiny" and the day when current PM assures the country to enrich people with knowledge , to bring in the concept of "aam admi" , to extricate corruption and extremism in the form of terrorism ..

India has turned 60 and has got a senior citizen status where other countries will look forward to india on providing resources and knowledge power.. India has moved up the ladder in the past decade or 2 to see her competing alongside China in the global economy. India @60 has seen the tranformation from colonial rule into a modern, industrialising, knowledge-based economy within the framework of a liberal and secular democracy. "In the past 60 years, people moved to where work was available; in the next 60 years, work must move to where people live."

SO guys/ gals just give few points on "Why you love being in India" also on the contrary give "Why you hate being in India" .. "Or reforms needs to be done from Now ??"

1 DAY TO GO !!!!!

2007-08-10T14:03:00.000+05:30

Ohh ahhh , Wat a goal , hits the Cross bar , watta save from the goalkeeper , and finally with all the excitement to the '07 Season , Red Devils walks away with the premier league .... Its has seen the likes of Ronaldo , Essien , Cesc fabgregas coming up the ladder and giving great performances for their club teams ...

But wazz the suprise this time around ?? The Red Devils have gone all guns blazzing for the pre season talks and transfers .. Sir Alex ferguson is leading them to record 21st season and the confidence within the team has soared to great heights in chase of their title defence .. They have gone for their piece of cake with the transfers of Owen Hargrevas from Bayern Munich along with the Tevez seems to have filled a few holes in the team.. The Red Devils played an outright game from start of the season with a few hiccups here and there... The likes of Ronaldo (who in standards seems to get the player of the year in sometime from now) , vidic , Carrick , Fletcher with the help of old horses like Scholes, Giggs , Ferdinand earned them a title..

I have chosen my pick for this season and its "The Reds" (Liverpool ) who will come out strong from the rest of the pack.. Wat makes them special ??? Everyone reading this might be laughing for sometime , but i believe they would prove you otherwise.. Is that about to change? Even from 12,000 miles away, I can sense a huge wave of optimism around Anfield. The summer signings, the unveiling of the dramatic stadium and the statements of various players in the media and through this website have all encouraged a belief among fans like me of great things to come this season ..

Thumbs Up Rafa:

They have made the best signings for this season , Fernando Torres , benayoun ,Andriy Voronin all seem to great prospects for "The Reds" winning this season ..

They have got the most influential players in the league , Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher , Steven Gerrard (forget the MBE, he's Sir Steven in my house) in my dictionary ..

The important priority is to get off to a good start and when the transfer window opens again , rafa will do the talking..

Rafa like always be the best tatician when gambling with players and playing against big teams...

Thumbs Down:

They have always for the past seasons started like a snail, lagging the title contenders .. Gerrard in his famous interview says "you may not win the title in the first few games but you can lose it then, and that's certainly what Liverpool have done in recent seasons"..

"You Will Never Walk Alone" - Liverpool

So Guys whomever you support , the best of football is rite here .. Just a day away for kick off.. Iam almost sunk in the pre match reviews and predictions which keep me even more engrossed than before .. I will be glued to my sets every other weekends hoping for the best in this season..

Let the Ohh !! Ahh start again !!! and the '08 champions are ???

Choose your team :

Play Fantasy League

Catching 'em YOUNG

2007-08-05T22:27:00.000+05:30

I was going through the rediff sports column and suddenly found an interesting article. Man United signs a 9 year old boy.. I have always been following the premier league for quite some time and news such as this one springs up as a big suprise ..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hZ_RS4Q1myc&mode=related&search=

Just find the above link and check out how good he is for yourself.. He is named as a whiz kid and Manchester United have signed this gifted nine-year-old after his grandfather sent the Premier League champions a DVD showcasing the boy's talents which has become a YouTube sensation.

This young talent has a combination of pace and skills to tackle with great control over the ball.. Catching 'em young is the current saga of english football teams. Comparing them with greats doesnt fit into the scheme of things here and its never helped anyone to improve.. These guys are gifted with talent and he needs to be groomed properly to play at the big stage ..

So guys just sit back and watch the kid's prowess in dribbling and passing against an u-10 team ...

Aussie have conquered the Essence of Cricket

2007-08-01T17:46:00.000+05:30

I was the bewildered by the way aussies have dominated over the past decade and just check out this pic ...

The above just says it all in one word ... Iam still wonder struck by the above pic.. windies used their body line and head line bouncers once to conquer the world in this sport.. But now where the sport has gone leaps and bounds , Aussies seems to be always ahead of the pack in any form of the game ..

Just find out where the rest of the players are ?? The answer is there aren't any fielders other than those on the slip cordon :) ... They have conquered the game and have shown this world how cricket is played professionally ,this might raise some eye brows!!! Anyways iam really awestruck by their selection and still wondering how a brand new player can perform his best on debut !!!

Their Strengths :

-> Each of the 14 members in the team are always fighting for a place .. Tells about the level of competetion within the team ..

-> A brand new player always perform to his best given the opportunity and cements hi s place in the side .. shuan tait , Brad hogg to mention a few)

-> Its always been a collective effort from the team and they compliment each other very well ..

-> The passion for the sport has never dried from their skin ..

-> The most important of them are the way they undergo rigorous training session and the selection is more transparent .. So there is no room for complacency here ..

-> They have developed as a good fielding side which improves the quality of cricket played..

-> They have always had the opponents thinking and make sure they are on top during the course of the game ..

-> They have won 3 consecutive WC's.. They are the best side on their home turrf with a 90% win record ..

Negatives:
-> Sledging has been part and parcel of Aussie cricket .. How many times have you seen Mcgrath and Brett sledge Lara ??

-> Apart from Shane warne they have never produced great spinners in the modern era , which will be a great challenge for them ahead..

-> The best strategy to beat them to keep the basics right and always make ricky ponting thinking .. The match @ eden gardens when India played Aus in 2002 was one of the best match i have witnessed in my career ..

-> Play to your strengths and dont be a prey to them , they would just stamp the authority ..

-> There aren't to many young players .. The Average age is around 31 ..

It been an Windies domination in '80 where the greats of Lloyd , Roberts, Richards , Marshall showed the world with their speed and bounce...

And Aussies have come back with a bang to show cricketing world how well they apply themselves to situations with sheer aggression and all round team performance ..

We will have to wait and see who is going to topple them.. Lets play the waiting game!!!!

FedX - "The real champ"

2007-07-09T22:33:00.001+05:30

Finally a post to satisfy few people out here .. The very thought of writing this one just striked me becoz iam passionate observer of tennis.. Let me start of about Federer aka FedX , the champion of the tennis world ..

The great question that came across was " whether Nadal would run away with the trophy on grass even before FedX does it on Clay " .. So guys you still have to wait for another long year to know the outcome of this .. Its is the clash if the "TITANS" of the modern era of tennis ..

we just witnessed one of the best tennis in recent memory none other than the wimbledon finals .. It was a valiant effort from Nadal - "King of Clay".. Nadal has been a matured player through the years and we are still expecting the best from rafa in the years to come.. A great challenge between two monster in the likes of Graf-Seles , Sampras-Courier or a Borg-McEnroe rivalry .. We are just witnessing one of its kind..

But why do we hail FedX a champion player ?? I havent seen a more complete player than federer in my recent memory.. He has his elegant volley , the fore hand down line , back hand is just too good for anyone to handle and slices the ball into two.. He is a calm , composed player and has the overall gameplay ..

Above all the difference between him and Nadal on the finals was the Service .. The ration of Aces were 23 : 1 .. Nadal's game plan is really compelling for tennis players as he always try to keep the ball in play .. He has improved as a grass player as we can see him coming to net quite often playing volleys which has never been his style of play.. I thought the service made the difference on that very day and that took the match away from Nadal in the final set..

We normally dont see federer getting emotional that easy and and this trophy really meant a lot to him.. 5 Consecutive wimbledon trophies - "A great feat isn't it??" , 11 in all grand slams ..

The great Evan lendl once said "i would give away all my grand slams trophies for one wimbledon"...

Champions of Grass: Borg , Sampras , Federer , ?

Interview question that suprised me !!!!

2007-05-04T14:44:00.000+05:30

I had to do my actual rounds of interview in synopsys and i was in the middle of the a logical question .. I screwed up with my answer and it seemed as though the question didn't strike me at all. So interviewer immediately found my state and drastically changed the focus to a different question to soothe me ..

It was surprising , the question was " If you were in a foreign place , tell me 10 great people ,who are alive who could make you proud as an INDIAN "?? I was taken away and start looking around for names ..

My list went like this APJ , Sachin tendulkar, Sunita Willimas , AR Rahman , Leander Paes , Manmohan singh , Kiran Bedi , Aishwarya Ray , Madavan Nair ( Chief of ISRO ) , Narayana Moorthy .. I did struggle a bit to give this list , but i was never expecting this question in a technical interview , i was really taken by surprise ...

I did give him a list of other people , but he rejected all those answers.. He didnt want me to name any politicians... Are you people ready with the list of 10 great INDIANS ???? Please post your comments ...

Placement experinece @ PSG tech

2007-05-03T17:49:00.000+05:30

Placements "we call it the path to heaven" !!! PSG tech is the best place where the path is right infront of you and you just have to pick up the correct path to the destination ... Placements are the biggest stage for excellency in college. During the early days of our placements , i remember our HOD ,the placement officer giving a lecture on how to handle placements and job interview ..

I was moved by his words , " The road ahead is smooth and clean , my wards make sure your vehicle is also perfect , because there better equiped vehicle who are following and can overtake you " . I think people reading this can understand the above phrase.. So the stage is all set for the placements to kick start for year '06-'07 and our preparations for it was not lagging behind either ...

The whole of the class had prepared immensely for the interviews , a whole lot of stuff , Quantitative , Puzzles , C aptitude and lot others we discussed among us and we really made sure our basics are strong... As a placement representative i along with few other guys had to prepare the mark sheets , collecting other documents etc.. The initial phase is placement talk given by various leading companies , the work , the culture , technology , lot others and finally we all will be waiting for the pay package , most of us interested in the part of the presentation which would really keep us excited ..

So moving forward our first pit stop was TCS ( IT major in India which has offices in most parts of the world ) .. So TCS is known for recruiting a number of people and this time around they didn't give a suprise at all. The number was huge and whole lot of people from my class got placed here .. So most of us were done with our first job at TCS.. The way we attended the test , interviews were like mega events that i would never forget in my life .. If u read between the above lines few guys can find out how strategically we wrote the written test .. A good team of 12 people were formed and the execution was almost perfect for few mishaps here and there .. So we all could clear the written test and the interview was another nightmare , and the students didnt have any idea which interview panel they were supposed to go.. It was chaos all around and the interviews were held for complete 2 days .. The next day we had the results late @ 2 in the morning .. The list was big and students jumped with joy to see most of them getting a offer . That was one heck of an experience , i would really cherish those moments , as well most of my friends ...

So people reading this "live with those memorable moments and cherish it " :-)
Will keep this space updated soon :-)

APJ as the next president ???

2007-05-03T11:15:00.000+05:30

The biggest question is whether APJ Abdul kalam's tenure as President of India will be extended ?? Let me put the question this way ..

Why do we need APJ as the President of India again ???
APJ often referred as "Missile Man of India"

The following post is entirely my point of view. I haven't seen a better president than APJ to don the role to perfection .. One way or the other to be part of this democracy " which is otherwise crazy" , people at the helm are influenced by politicians and money .. The headlines reads "MP caught in food scam , blah blah blah !!!". People who donned this role earlier where very much influenced by the ruling party and the politicians had a big role to play.. APJ might be an exception and has handled it properly ... He has played clean politics the last 5 years ..

Qualities :

India 2020 Vision a dream every indian wants to be into, is a great motive started by APJ .. To make such great vision successful you need to have great people @ the helm.. This vision 2020 can be turned into a reality only when all of us join hands and think about a "Developed India ". the young minds have to be nurtured from grass root level and as quoted by APJ "Young minds are pillars of the India " .

You need to write a separate book on his educational qualifications and there is a long list of what he has achieved in past which makes him special. He holds position at DRDO , ISRO and various other posts at different levels.

He is the right person "for a developing India" and can make easy inroads to develop this nation and recognize as one of the best in the world in all fields. His vision to make india #1 in technology and science is inculcating the spirits within us . In one of his talks he said "We need young entrepreneurs in large numbers in our country for developing and transforming our village clusters into sustainable economic units" . Are we ready for this , are we people ready to take up challenges to develop this country to be called "#1 in the World " , abolish poverty , child labour , install 90% literacy ... Are we ready for a change ??

I will just take a break and make you people think about the future of our nation..

So guys/gals take some time to think wisely and vote your choice on the next "President of India " ..

Where is INDIA heading towards ??? - " Investment Plans "

2007-03-22T15:50:00.000+05:30

The present Indian Economy is growing at a scorching pace .. IT and ITES sectors , the Real Estates , shares and stock market to mention a few ... So how does it benefit us ?? What does this really mean ??

Answer is simple these are now the key ways of investment .. The IT buzz has been far reaching with India majors like Infosys , Tcs , Wipro have started moving their attention towards the rural areas in parts of Andhra , Tamil Nadu and else where .. So the opportunities are a plenty in this sector . With a huge number of BPO organization operating from India , it finds India a major competitor for China in the global market..

Chapter 1 : Real Estates : " Biggest Investment happening here " : Huge ROI

The real estate prices are shooting above the roof.. This sector in recent times has taken everyone by a surprise .. The land rises have sored above expectations and the flats are demanding far more price , that is even unimaginable.. With lower interest rates for home loans , the middle class stomach is getting emptied day by day.. I will highlight few major places where the real estates are of great appreciation.. Bangalore ( Silicon Valley of India ), Delhi ( places near Noida ) , Chennai , Hyderabad , Coimbatore .. The cities find themselves on top for investments in real estates .. In places like coimbatore , where i belong to seems to have a 100 % appreciation in the land prices within a year or so.. Few places in Mumbai and Chennai are quoted similar prices to that of places in Newyork , Manhattan !!! ( Really Suprising )..

Now people are more smarter , started acquiring land in the outskirts of these cities , which in near future will be a place IT hub or a township with state of art facilities .. So think wisely before u pull out your purse and invest in real estates .. There is huge scope in real estates and the brokers are having the " time of their life " .. I think these are people who are really benefited by real estates .. They get lump sum money as commission and brokerage ... " Be wise or you lose " ... This is the right time for investment and talk to investment guru's before you execute your plan..

Cricket @ Synopsys - Continued ..

2007-03-21T18:50:00.000+05:30

I know you people must be waiting for the result of the match ... Being in such a good position , we were in the drivers seat .. I was a happy man an hour ago , but the crucial over came when i bowled the 17th over , the scores read 78/8 in 16 overs.. Another 40 odd runs in 9 overs... 2 wickets to go...

I bowled the first ball of 17th over , short pitched delivery on the leg stick , bang there it goes for a huge six... Now i started feeling the pressure ... Next ball , full toss , straight down the ground almost missed the boundary by inches , ( sigh of relief for me :-) ) ..My hands started to sweat and couldn't hold the ball properly ..My captain was ushering me to keep it straight , the fielders were strengthened on the off side, then came the 3rd ball bang on target leg stick , there it goes to leg side boundary ... So 14 of 3 balls ... Our confidence weakened , fielders shouting at me.. But i could manage the next 3 ball without giving any runs ... 1 over 14 runs , the turning point of the match ...

And then the batsmen played sensibly .. They played like top order batsmen taking singles of almost every ball .. The fielding was spread , fear that we would lose the match... They played like real champions ... Nothing can be taken away from them ... One guy supported the other and they played in with immense command.. Stealing singles and scored an odd boundary ... Finally the result was obvious we lost to a better team..

But sometimes when i think back and do a post mortem i would say we were very unluncky , we weren't given runouts and a caught behind appeal ... Our fielders were very sharp on the fielding ... But anyways , thats part of the game .. No one can be complained and i even heard the unmpire say " I gave a wrong decision (caught behind appeal) which costed us the match.. Thats how cricket is played ... The whole night i was thinking about the match and i felt bad , could have done better ... But i always tell to myself , maybe the best days are ahead and this was just an experience ...

So to everyone , handling pressure is an art and i think maybe late Bob Woolmer failed at excelling @ this art ... The amount of pressure ,tension , stress playing at international level is now the talking point ... Lets pray his soul rest in peace...

Cricket @ Synopsys

2007-03-21T16:15:00.000+05:30

My cricketing experience goes a long way from my childhood to were am right now.. I have followed this sport and it was as if i was born with a bat in one hand and the ball in the other.... Such was the passion that i had for this sport... I grew up admiring the legends ( Sachin , Dravid ) to name a few ... Unlike these legends iam a sub-standard player who bats up the order and rolls his hands for few off breakers ... ( we call it " Galli Cricket ")

Saturday , 17Th march was the 'D' day for Synopsys cricket .. We need to win against a very ordinary team Sierra Atlantic , who have lost to all other teams in the league .. We were just a win away to take a birth in the semifinals.. So it was a very crucial match and every1 in my team was geared for the match ... For the build up before the match we had 2 practice nets @ Gymkhana grounds ...

It was a bright , sunny day and all of us were expecting a good day of cricket.. The match started of with our captain winning the toss , and without hesitation we batted first .. Runout is anonymous to a bad word in "cricket" and i was a culprit of it only to happen in the 3rd ball of the innings.. So out for duck :-)... And our batsmen consolidated well in middle over to reach a modest target of 122 in 25 overs... ( !! I felt we should have bowled first as there was swing and some help for the fast bowlers )...

Then we were on the field and we knew our strength relies on bowling as we had a very good pace attack.. During the course of the tournament we had 50 - 50 win-loss percentage and both the wins came when we defended our score .. So bowling was clearly our strength , so there wansnt any surprise our opening bowlers were on a rampage got top 4 wickets for a meagre 25 runs... And i had to bowl out few overs as we were short of one fast bowler for that match ...

I had bowling nightmares during the first match when i bowled pathetic conceding too many runs.. So i really wanted to put that performance behind me and really put a good performance for this match... My intial 2 overs were the best , just giving away 2 runs and taking 2 wickets .. I was a happy man then ... The opponents were 70/8 in 15 overs , reeling under pressure and the victory was in our sight ( i was dreaming of a 40 , may be 30 runs victory !!! ) , which would boost our NRR (Net Run rate) and make it easy to qualify for semis.. But came the turning point of the match ...

Sorry i dont have time now... Will update you all in my next blog.. Keep Smiling :-) ..

India Poised to win WC '07 : Beginning

2007-03-01T19:16:00.000+05:30

I really dont understand one basic fact !!! If it comes to start gossiping about sports or movies , everyone has a word or 2 about it..And Iam not an exception.. People reading this might think , this guy seems to always write about cricket and seems to be a cricket freak :-) .. But somehow i find it interesting to put something to the readers when it comes to writing blogs on Cricket or Football ( any sports for that matter) ... U will surely find something to take away after reading this and do go ahead ...

The biggest talking point nowadays has been the Cricket WC in the Indies (Cricketing extravaganza starting this month) .. Young kids from the age of 5 , to the passionate and enthusiastic youth of 18's dreaming of donning the Indian colors someday( which is still a mystery???), to the oldies who have followed cricket for a very long time are eagerly waiting for the WC '07 to kick off in style ... I have seen young kids playing on the road sides , apartments , any vacant areas etc.. which we dont find often ( Courtesy : Real Estates) playing with such great passion and rigour.. They just toil themselves , running , diving , catching , fielding they do all kind of stuffs prescribed in the Cricketing book (Bible).. My expectations have gone sky rocketing high and hoping India pulls of a memorable win this time round..

Readers please wait for my next blog... Will update soon more on this... Releasing shortly :-)..

Only Nike can do this : just do it

2007-03-01T16:31:00.000+05:30

Just saw one of Nike's mind-blowing Ad's and thought should share with u people.. I think this one of the most amazing Ad sequence and it matches one of the best Nike Ad's filmed for various football players ...

Just take break and watch it one more .. This goes to show how much Cricket means to the people of India ...

The whole scene starts , one of the familiar places we often find, "traffic jams" .. There comes the boy, enthusiastic and passionate , gears up to have a go at the ball.. Then the scene transcends to all around the ground ( ie. Traffic jam) in this scenario .. we could see lot of other interesting stuff happening around the park , each one has a go at the game ( elephants , thata , pattis , buisneesman , taxiwalas etc... ) .. Before scene transfolds into the climax we find a body line delivery directed @ the chest ( shows the rigour of Cricket) .. And finally representing the spirit of cricket , there come the guy with high arm action , 2 feet above the ground , :-) ..... U better watch it ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib3WSzJyqVQ

Thats Nike for u .. truly inspirational and passionate ...
Awesome video ... Nike "just did it"