Cricket: Bhajji makes a thrilling end.

I don’t know if any other team can make a match this exciting but Indian team for better or worse makes one sided match interesting and exciting. This match can be review by reviewing how Bhajji’s day fared. It would pretty much, explain what things went right or wrong for the team. It’s been a while since I blogged on cricket, I would like to present a warm greetings, to anyone who visits my blog only for reading cricket post. I don’t know if anyone does, but then, I am learning to be gracious host.


Punter makes a right call.

Punter, got his call right and that the thing he would like to do. Set targets. He in this way backs his bowlers, Siddle, Johnson, Lee and Watson and says to the batsmen that if the fight it out and make a decent score the fragile mindset of Indian batsmen would be put under pressure and may wilt even when everything might be going fine. Watson came and went, but Punter again build a o platform for Hussey & Co to latter exploit the meek Indian bowling, Hussey has now put the previous Ashes defeat way behind and looks good and more consistent. Cameron White also compiled a good half century. He holed out to Raina, as he skied one off Nehra, I thought it was lucky break. Praveen Kumar, was unlocked in no time, Hussey smacked couple of boundaries and it was only last good over by Ishant that restricted kangaroos, to 293.


Bowling proving to be a heavy burden.

Indian bowling the traditional weak link not likely to blow away any self respecting Test team. Bhajji is woefully out of form; yes he did well in Sri Lanka. He would do well against Sri Lanka anytime, but his performance in South Africa during Champion’s Trophy wasn’t exactly thrilling. Bhajji went for a 5 an over without getting any wickets. He proved too expensive and ineffective. Apart from a decent bowling, in final against the Lankans, seeing Bhajji bowling doesn’t convinces me that he will set cat among the pigeons and turn the game around. I may be guilty of having that image of Bhajji, of years ago when he amassed bag full of wicket against Aussies including a hat trick. He has done well in patches. I think Bhajji needs to reassess his bowling as well as how others play him.

I don’t know about the future but Bhajji doing well is vital for this series. He has to stand up and deliver.


India batting, seemed out of sorts, lost and rusty.

Sehwag started with lots of gusto and gung ho but it was lost pretty soon. Tendulkar played the match but never seemed to be quiet there. I played and prodded to no effect. I wonder if there is a team cause for which, Sehwag and Gambhir are the best opening pair for this team. The advantage, they open in all form of the game. It must be remembered that we always, not have had, a settled opening partnership especially in Test. Sachin and Sourav formed a great opening for a good while. But for the sake of team Sachin, should drop down the batting order. Dravid, being dropped is inexplicable and unwarranted. Yusuf Pathan being dropped is also equally inexplicable.

Often in life, business, profession, or cooking, you have to use your resource in the right order, to avoid screw ups. Isn’t is about dong right things at the right time? The emphasis is getting both right, time and things. I think batsmen are good and look hungry the point is batting order needs to be rejiged. Dhoni, Gambhir and Tendulkar all seem to be batting at wrong places.

Aussies lead the seven match series 1-0, six more matches to go.

P.S.: The test of pudding is in the eating, especially if you had chicken tikka, chicken kadhai, tandoori roti and a super chilled beer for dinner.

Happy Week.

Blog: I see what we see.

Would you be thrilled, if your anticipation in life was Superlative? If you could almost; "first guess" what the person in front you or on the opposite end of the table would be thinking? I hope all of you know what second guess is, let me put it in my own words, it would be like understanding the rationale of the action the person on front of you, or the person competing with you undertakes. "First guess" would be something what Bobby Fischer would likely to do, almost influence the opposition player to walk into your trap. The person is not only happily walking in but buying you a nice bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine if not a magnum of champagne.

I am no Bobby Fischer, I loved chess and I am a decent chess player that’s it. I knew how the pawns would would move, how the Knight would hop and jump, how the bishop looked like and why the Queen was always feared. But this is nothing to do with my professional/personal/whatever, life. I sometimes end up first guessing; often it’s good, often I land, or better said, crash myself into soup. I had read some where long time back that it’s simple for Gemini’s to land themselves in a tough situation and it is far more simpler to get out of those tight corners. Ok, it was equally simpler. The thing, what I read stuck with me, but me getting out of situation has not always been hot knife through the butter kind of a case.

I am at times, more gullible then I want to be but I would credit (and point a finger) to me, being often too gregarious to be true. Even if you think for all, a little bias is one of the toughest sentiments to ignore, hide and subdue. When people try to hide what wrong they did, or what right things they couldn’t do, you can almost smell them covering themselves with something just to cover their tracks. There are lot many things. Often people react in way that you hear between the lines. The cooked story is so hilarious. It often amuses me that people who think they know you so much Then add the people who dont know you. I think it is far more hilarious then how people react with you when they know you.

Everyone has limit to what they hear, see, touch, smell, taste. But I think if you want to dearly undermine your own being, start being prudish, act infallible and thrust your opinions on others. The very second you start doing this; you will feel worst then stink of your garbage bin. You will. I think you don’t want to assume anyone fallible. Don’t ever do that. Ever. It is the perfect recipe for disaster. It however could be freely interpreted to being fearful of your own being. But then if you now you are good and help people to climb up to the same strata and also helping them avoid the pitfalls that tested you, you would do fine.

If you are bad, to end something you need to recognize that you are rank bad and you want to improve for the better. Curtailing, avoiding or giving up smoking for example. Yeah I know who cool it is to puff that thing which are fire on one end and fool on another. I have been that fool for many a times in my life. But when I reduced smoking, I didn’t smoke, for three or four months straight, I just didn’t smoke. It is tough for me to give up smoking simply because it was the most easiest thing I could imagine doing. Buy a cigarette, light it, smoke it, simple. I still haven’t kicked away the habit, but I can happily say that it is pretty much in control. But in gullibility does kicks in from time to time. I do have a slight remorse. When is enough; simply enough? It is a personal decision. But, as an ex smoker, cigarette smoking if a tough ugly habit to kick away. Kudos to people who have done that, and a semblance of half pat on the back from I to me.

My MBA is just going fine, I cleared my first year a fortnight back. I am very skeptic of securing a job. Everyone's saying that things are changing for good, or things would have changed by the time I pass out of my MBA. It something I worry about a lot. I don’t worry about many things in life. There would be some who say I don’t worry at all. I worry about lot of things. I must confess. I pride myself as someone who can just sit back amidst a tough situation, smile on things that happened in past and present and then move on with renewed focus. A day without a smile is a wasted day.

I wonder if my thoughts are signs of time, but I am skeptic of things would unroll in the next coming weeks, months and years. I am not pessimistic though.

(Second Edit)

About: Blog Action Day

I got a bit late to post this particular post.15 October was Blog Action Day, check out the website. The topic for this year is climate change. When one talk of climate change the following comes to mind, carbon cycle, green technology, pollution, mean thinking.

Carbon cycle.

Understand one thing, everything in universe is going round, what happens is the environment is processing everything within its realm. If you could imagine, there is carbon present in all thing living and non living, it’s in a compound form with other elements, namely, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and others. We (read all living beings) consume food, use Oxygen to digest it or use Oxygen as a key to release the locked energy in food. This results in carbon di oxide and other gases, organic and inorganic. This carbon gets into the atmosphere and water bodies and prove to be a key ingredient, for plants to turn CO2 (cabin di oxide) into organic forms what you and I see as fruits vegetables flowers and others.

For more detailed (read correct) explantion check Google and Wikipedia.

This is how the cycle behaved for a long while, before we started abusing carbon rich fossil fuels post industrialization era resulted in more carbon, being released, unwanted cutting down of trees resulted in continuous release of carbon with no way turning it into organic form. This in a way, results in rising temperatures, which induces a chain reaction of its own, a few could be rising sea levels, more intensive cyclones, droughts, a number of flora and fauna going instinctive, depletion of the know famed Ozone layer and various other catastrophes. This all is occurring together at real time as I write this post. The scientist fear the worst, n some way, it may have changed your genes and may alter evolution in some form or another. After all we too are result of this alteration of genes, which lead evolution that gave (mistakably?) rise to species which resulted in us Humans.

There is a lot at stake. That’s to put matter mildly.

Green Technology.

This one is also about green shoots of a different kind. This is nothing but harnessing using, existing energy around us, like sun light, winds, tides and geo thermal energy. It can be used to produce electricity, or cooking (in case of solar heater). Kudos to all those who go sailing and don’t use fuel. In days older the sepia toned snaps; ships use to travel using winds of the ocean. Well the technology can be used either to produce electricity to be used in homes and offices etc. or various other purpose. Green technology must be used to make present equipments we use and make them more efficient so as to make them consume less energy.

Pollution.

Lot can be done here. I will focus on water pollution, especially industrial pollution. I have travelled my share in trains and road and travel daily. I think purely on the basis of economics, I think there is lot of scope if promote schemes that will help reduce water pollution. Sewage water treatment plants in cities, in societies will be very helpful but may yield result only after 3 to 5 years. I mean imagine, every society in suburbs of Mumbai, storing rain water, purifying it with separate lines for consumption or cooking and other line for other various uses. The water for bathing and other being reused. It will help reduce water consumption and help in reducing pollution. It may prove to be costly in near terms but will defiantly help if we keep using and updating technology for say twenty years. I think it make sense.

Mean thinking.

Stop taking receipts at atm. Avoid hot showers, anyways the tap spew hot water after 11 in the morning (that’s for tropical country like India). Check you expenses online. Don’t print emails and messages mercilessly. For once before driving anywhere can you walk down and perhaps the world isn’t falling apart. Keep electrical equipments switched off and pull the plug out of the socket. Don’t keep the fans and tube lights running. I hate running taps.

Second Edit

For more,read the link from Project Syndicate.

Blog: Speeding weekend

It is a welcome to Monday morning. Well, at most time you dread the Monday morning,it is one rush of blood you want to avoid at every given opportunity. But if your weekend was well spent, and channel surfing didn’t cross your mind, you have go to confess, it was a weekend well spent.

Wine flew and mates.

A trip to Pune was in the offering for a while now, had long weekends here on consecutive weeks, so it just happened that things fell in the right place, including the bus tickets, the glasses of beer, the chilly chicken etc.

Go Pune, meet Sudeep.

A few phone calls were exchanged and an Ice-cream palour was decided. I was expecting to meet Sudeep but not expecting the shower, a quick chat and a photo-op. I was in a hurry, had fixed more botched meeting with a few friends. The rain came like it never did this year, under a canopy we chatted for a while, before I realized that I was cold and ice cream began to freeze again. What followed was another meeting with my ex-room mate from my college days. Five of us in all, each of us, making frantic phone calls, to decide the guest list. In the end, all (read only) five of us, went ahead, headed a heafty dinner.

The cold weather in Pune, made for a pleasant change. Mumbai was hot when I left for Pune, on Friday morning. But it was a pleaseant stay. I am not sure weather I wanted to freak out, but met friends from college times, found myself unwinding enough. It was a good break, you know, out of the ordinary kind a thing. The drive back thorugh Lonavala was so amazing. The bus drove on the curving roads on hill tops and clouds floating below, setting sun. There was some very picturesque scenery on the offering. I didn’t have my camera though.

The rains, since then haven’t stopped, it was thundering and raining all though the night. It always rains on Monday morning and Friday evening, right?

Say hello to Monday and the week.