Segmentation of thoughts

Before everything shuts down

2010-11-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

Today I returned home from office at 6:45 PM. And by 6:50 opened up the laptop and logged into the office network and a popup

MyComputer : What the heck are you doing man?
User: I am working, don't disturb my train of thought.
MyComputer: What the heck man? It doesn't suit you. Haven't seen you work more than 6 hours a day.
User: Got some high priority stuff that needs to be completed before my vacation.
MyComputer: So what, you always push it back to your team lead and had them relax the deadlines.
User: Not this time bud. It's a challenge for me too you know ;)
MyComputer: It's a challenge for you but not for me. Don't put so much burden on me.
User: But..
MyComputer: Please close the browser and open up ITunes..there is a lovely song in the playlist.
User: Can't do it now
MyComputer : SFU...if you don't then I will do it.
User: You know there are two types of computers in the world. One that do as per the instructions entered by the user and one which do as they like. The former are well taken care of and long last. You decide which kind you are.
MyComputer : What the hell, you know there are 2 types of users in the world. One that use my species just for work and one kind who just use it for entertainment. You used to be the latter but you are fast becoming the former.
User: Alright man...if you persist, do as you want. I am just gonna use you for my work.

And there goes my Internet connection and browser. Everything shut down by itself, only Itunes which was already open was left open.

The Bane of Immigration

2010-10-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

it is a well known fact that America has seen the influx of immigrants in the past decade unlike anyother and when we look back those immigrants have definitely changed the perception of America around the globe and among the Americans themselves. Uncle Sam doesn't seem to be the mighty Sam he used to be. Politicians and people have put the blame on the 9/11 and the Great recession for this change. Although these have changed the imagination of the people about America, I think it was only to some extent. The majority of the influence was because of the immigration. Immigration has not only caused America to lose on jobs, economy but also made it lose it's mystique. American culture which includes Hollywood, Pop culture, McDonalds among many other things has got over exposed to the world and the world no longer desires to experience this great culture and why? because that culture has been introduced in their own culture with a blend of their own.

With more and more immigration I sense many more problems arriving at the doorstep. We already are seeing problems in job scenario and much more frightening is the security scenario. With so many multicultural and multinational immigrants from around the globe we often underestimate the complexity of the problem. We already see that immigrants of a certain nation forming little pockets of their own people, be it the Europeans, the Japs, Chinese, Indians, Veits, Arabs...no matter who, they tend to live close to each other. We can't blame them as people tend move in a herd and evidently so in a non-native country. With these small pockets of nations there are bound to be security problems and many a times civil unrest may also arise.

With muslims being so obliviously avoided by the non muslims, muslims will definitely start feeling discriminated and with more and more immigration there definitely will arise some kind of protests eventually though there may not be a civil war.

We could take the example of many nations around the world that have faced such an immigration burden for centuries. Countries like India, Brazil, South Africa see immigration from their neighbouring poor countries and thereby face huge security problem.

Immigration not only brings best and bright people from around the world but also the best and bright cultures, religions. With the introduction of new religions there definitely will be clashes, no matter how much tolerance one has it will break one day. And also when people migrate to a new country their country of origin still tries to protect them or atleast try to influence the migrated country on matters relating to their migrated citizens or more often than not on the matters involving the people of their religion. For example, the influence of Vatican (for Catholics) or Saudi Arabia (Muslims) or Israel (Jews) or the America or England (for Chrisitans). This will uncessarily boil the relations between the two nations and hence provoke hostility.

So is Immigration a bane or a boon? If we think of the world some 50 years ago...although it was poor, it still was much safer and there were less hostility between the nations. Immigration definitely needs to stop for the good of the nations and the world. It would have been good if all the nations were of the same religion or if all the nations had similar culture or if all the nations were equally rich and developed or if all the nations were of the same color and race. When there is no commong ground, why will a Christian share his lunch with a Hindu, why will an Arab sing Jewish songs or why will an American share his secrets with a russian.

Just as how reproduction is the ultimate truth of mankind, moving in a herd is equally true.
Immigration may not cause any problems at all, but it definitely does onething, globalize and bring the world together which in one way is very good but looking at the perspective of uniqueness and mystiqueness it loses out. Also looking in terms of growth, rather than 100 people working together one group, there will be more growth if there are 10 groups with 10 people each.

Back again!

2010-10-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Realized that my english speaking skills are going bad to worse day by day. Probably because I am now staying and moving with all gultus and hardly anyone speaks at the office. Most of the communication is only through emails and messenger. Even though blog doesn't let me speak but it surely helps me to think of some good english words when in need.

Been watching Naruto Shippuden for more than a year now, such an inspiring and gripping story...never thought that an animated series would be so good. It's almost as enthralling as The Jungle Book. However said so, it's frustrating to wait an entire week for a new episode which lasts only for about 20 mins. Unable to bear the waiting time, I went ahead and read the whole manga comic book, thinking that it is complete. But to my surprise it is also not complete and have to again wait for an entire week to read the next chapter of the comic. Damn frustrated!!!

But seriously, Naruto Shippuden has given me something to look forward to on thursdays. Since past 4 months the work at office has been grinding and it's been more so on thursdays since they assign the tickets to us on that day, but at the end of the day while driving back home I realize that it is thursday and I get to watch the new episode of Naruto.

One of the finest careers...LARA

2007-04-21T05:52:00.000-07:00

Brian Charles Lara is and forever will be one of the finest and greatest batsmen of all time. His innings of 153 can go down as the best innings ever in the history of cricket. Beating Australia those days would just be a dream for West Indians with their team crumbling match after match. If we look at the top 10 batsmen no one would come close in providing an innings like that. He made his debut when West Indies was loosing it's glory, he was there when they lost it and ended his career when it is gaining back. With such a lacklustre team he made sure no team would take WI as another minnows. Before leaving he has put his team in a position to atleast reach the Super Eights not possible by the subcontinent teams. Over the years his responsibility has been taken over by the likes of Gayle, Sarwan, Samuels. Their team now looks just like the Indian team which always had Sachin but now they are dependent on others like Sourav, Rahul, Yuvraj. You can be assured a flood of runs is on the way when he gets his backlift right. It is not his technique nor the great innings he played but the class, flair and style that has brought him so many admirers. Arguably the only player who had such a flair and success. Vivian Richards was more of powerful kind and not stylish. His scores of 277, 365, 153, 213, 400 would be forever remembered by everyone and more by the Australians and English

The most Dangerous person is Saddam or Bush?

2006-12-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

Atlast he is dead. The man the world most dreaded..what? wait a min he is not the most dreaded person. He was dangerous only to the Iraqi people and not to the world. But the world keeps talking about him only because US is involved. Anyways since he is dead now, what next? What would be the strategy of the American president the question people all over the world have been asking. It has been 3 yrs since Saddam hussein has been captured and there has been no major difference in Iraq it still is the same when American forces entered their land first to dethrone Saddam and find evidence of WMDs. There have been no WMDs and there won't be any. Because US has made a mistake it has taken on the burden to rebuild the nation and on whose cost? People all over are paying for this. Why did not the Security Council lay any sanctions on US and UK after they have admitted that they had made a mistake. What the Fuck are the other 3 nations doing? And now was it right to give a death sentence to Saddam since knowing that he had no WMDs. He must have committed severe atrocities against his people but the punishment was for their (Iraq) court to decide and not the international one. Since he is dead now US would definitely try to leave Iraq within a year but wherewould their next venture be? Iran/Syria/Pakistan? Or would they shift their focus back onto afghanistan?

I think the most dangerous person is infact the American President George Bush. Countries in the middle east might have started fearing him as anybody could be the scapegoat. He is Dangerous to world over and not to his people just the opposite of Saddam. He never gave an apt answer for actions, just thrown it on terrorism and creating a safer world. I think he missed the basic point here, What is the difference between a terrorist and a common man. Doing what a terrorist does will not help create a safe world rather would spurt it. Look at India, it has never thought of attacking its neighbour no matter what (even when Parliament was attacked).

By saying it I am neither supporting Bush nor Saddam but worrying on the helplessness of UN. If it does not work then no country in this world would ever feel safe. I think it would go only one way, a world war 3 when all the nations after destroying each other to the point of extinction would unite, live again and start preparing for the world war 4.

random thoughts

2006-11-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

aayine ko dekhoge tho tum nazar aaoge
aayine mein dekhoge tho hum nazar aayenge.

mastaani aankhon ki mastaani dekhleee
deewaane dil ki deewangee dekhlee
muskurahat ki khamoshee sunlee
lekin ab tak, pyaar ki dhadkan nahi sunee.

US role in Israel and Hezbollah war

2006-07-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

I want to give short analysis of mine of the Israel's war in Lebanon against the Hezbollah. I think it is not the war of Israel but that of US. Simple it is. US never pressed Lebanon to fight against Hezbollah. Now it thinks(pressurise) Syria should stop Hezbollah. Israel instead of going on war should have helped Lebanon to disable Hez. Advantages for US: It is trying to eliminate another militant group but without invading the country this time, it is using Israel for it's purpose. This war can lead Iran to involve and if Iran enters the scene US will invade Iran and make a war and destroy its nuclear facilities. Thus it will have its presence throughout the middle east.From Israel,Lebanon,Iraq,Iran, Pakistan(more or less), Afghanistan. China and Russia will become cautious.

Condi says US looks for long term and not for short term peace, this clearly indicates their policy they are waiting for something big to happen to poke their nose in. Long term peace..what the hell.. there won't be anyone left by that time to make peace. Lebanon is already a junkyard.

2006-04-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

After talking to my aunt and seeing off laddu I sat at home for about half an hour to feel at home, my sweet home that I missed for 1 yr 7 months app. From my home I went to Prashanth's house in gandhinagar to collect the pickles I was supposed to carry for him. Then met my undergrad buddies Raghu and Raj whom I met just once in the marriage ceremony of my sister. Only these two were left in the city as the others left for their American dream. We met at my home and rode onto Our Place. We had our dinner as if we were to discuss details that are generally done in the board rooms. IT was like a formal one. Could not go to a dhabha as we were only three and it was far off. mm after such a long gap had a session with these guys. So nice was it to sit with them. Of course missed the company of the others. Since it was not informal and there was a feeling that the party was missing something we thought of meeting the next day. But I could not call them up as I was roaming in the city to collect the parcels of my friends. However that day would be a memorable one as I could do most of the things that I thought of. Going to Chilkur,koti, Laddu's house, meeting aunty, gokul chat, badichowdi, balaji ratanlal, meeting raghu and raj, drinking, dinner at a nice restaurant. There were hell lot of others too but I guess these things make up a part of American dream.

Three weeks of of my life?

2006-04-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

Three weeks of my life have come and gone by and the cells at the peak of their enthusiasm and laziness are still trying to adjust to the espaniol, lower 40's, heaters, internet, orkut and so on. Not finding enough time to recollect what happened in the past three weeks. It was like the movie 'anukokunda oka roju', may be I was drugged and day dreaming that I was in India. Today I am feeling a little cushy so thought of blogging it out. Rather talking about India as a whole I better talk about hyderabad as I visited only that place. I found no change in the senses of the public over there . I found everybody talking with high heads guess may be the consequence of the high rise concretes or may be because of the knowledge of abroad to the extent of geographical location of dakota's. The prices went up, the density of the traffic is up, the number of multiplexes and malls is up, the number of jobs is up, the corruption is up, the fdi is up, the sensex is up, the bridflu scare is up, the constructions are up, the investments are up, the number of graduates is up, the feel good factor is up. I found no downs there and this sure is an indication of the success that this city is tasting. Found people have not much interest in the bawarchi, maheshwari & parmeshwari, the coffee days, the palace heights, the gokul chat (yes there were hardly 20 people when I visited that place) . To pinpoint the weekend culture is here. People are always looking out for new spots that gives them some privacy and entertainment.

The day before Ugadi , I got up early in the morning , went through with the natural calamities and left for the Chilkur Balaji temple with my laddu. As it was the day before Ugadi did not find much crowd there. However it took me approximately 2:30 hrs to come out of the temple. From there we rode on the bike to our college in the hope that it would bring back some sweet memories. Found that a new compound wall has come up with an attractive entrance. the next place to be visited was Laddu mama's house, the house of technology and passion. Each and every time I visit his house I find a new tech thing beside his table. This time found that he has got his whole system pepped up, good for him. Sat there for abot and half hour and downloaded the "nuvvenaa" from the movie ram onto my mobile using the bluetooth dongle. We left for our house as I had to talk to my Aunt who was at my home. This was where I felt I was back. The transit was from the back lanes of Nampally to Afzalgunj then to Chaderghat's Moti Market. There we stopped by to buy some Mutton for the pickle. Then carried onto my old house in Koti, then through the Kachiguda and to my house. The city was bustling , the public had no time unlike earlier. Earlier whenever I drove through these places I used to find people roaming and sitting around having fun but not this time. That was a bit change for me. I find it becoming more of a tourism kinda place where each and every person is classified as a tourist or a local and in this case US returned or hyderabadi. The visa stamp has put a stamp on my forehead as people easily realised that I was not there is hyderabad for the past few years. The butcher, the barber, the waiter, the taxi driver, the shop keeper all asked me one question "Sir US nunchi vachchara?". I then realised how the public is making money. Hyderabad has found a money minting machine in America. It has turned the super power into a minting machine where u need a stamp to vend the money than a dollar bill to vend a snicker bar.
That was how one of my days of dreaming went by. Stop there it was just half a day, I am left with whole evening still. Get back for that later. Till then have fun.

Statement vs Career

2005-10-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Sourav Ganguly's statement that he was asked to step down as a captain seems to have cost him not only his captaincy but also his place both in the One day's and tests. India is about to lose a legendary one day player. In the all time list of the greatest one day batsmen he is sure to make a place in the top ten. Sachin tendulkar and Ganguly were the most dreaded opening pair in the world at that time. Ganguly is the most successful captain of India. To compare such a legendary career that has shattered so many records and still looks promising for another 2-3 years with just a single statement against a Non-Indian is unjust. Dravid and Ganguly are considered very good friends as they both made their debut in the 95 England tour. A decade down the line their friendship strengthened and gelled well for the team but the entry of the Chappel must have done something to their wavelenght and frequency of thinking that such a turmoil has taken place. Hope everything settles down in the interest of the game and we dont lose our Dada.

Why not make Sachin as a Captain???

2005-10-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Since many people have apprehensions about Dravid becoming a captain , then why not make Sachin as the captain. He is in his retiring years and he needs to get out with some impact on the cricketing world. I guess it is the best opportunity for him to prove that he is one of the shrewdest thinkers of the game. With him in his 30's and of late getting involved in so many injuries, I think not many ppl expect him to make a huge impact on the scoreboard. He must be given the opportunity of thinking and showing his aggressiveness. Though his previous stints as captain were not frutiful for the team this time it might. In his previous stints he did not have good players to back him. Now we have got players who have proven records that they can help the team win in the absence of Sachin. So there wont be any pressure on sachin to score runs and he can concentrate on his captaincy and his health so that he does not retire because of the injuries.

I think the best way to come out the debate as to who should be the captain is by making sachin Captain which would shut most of the mouths that have been exercised of late.

Happy Dushara

2005-10-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Dushara to everyone.

On Dussehra Sri Ram killed the great demon Ravana, who had abducted Sri Ram's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Sri Ram was a great believer in the powers of Goddesss Durga, and He prayed to Her for nine days before He Himself entered the battlefield on the 10th day.
It is believed that Ravan had 10 faces. They are probably symbolic of the 10 evil facets of his character.
The word Dussehra comes from the word 'Dus' meaning 'Ten' and 'Hara', meaning 'annihilated'. So Dussehra is the day in which the 10 facets of Evil were destroyed.
One must not forget that Ravana was a great scholar and a tremendous worshipper of Lord Shiva. His weakness 'that of wanting to possess Sita' destroyed him. But you will be surprised to learn that His enmity and therefore obsession with Sri Ram fetched him Liberation. Hindu Scriptures claim that you may think of the Lord in whichever way you please, you may pray to Him, complain to Him, talk to Him, Fight with Him...Your obsession with Him will make you a candidate for a Release from the Wheel of Life and Death. It is clearly mentioned in the Scriptures that Sri Ram Himself could not wound Ravana while the latter had his mind fixed on Sri Ram. Ravana's destruction came in, the moment that his concentration was distracted.
On Dussehra day, people worship weapons. Mother Goddess has been worshipped during the preceeding Navratras and She is the Epitome of 'Fight against Evil'. Also, I believe that one worships weapons, to remember to use them in a wise manner.
On Dussehra day, it is customary to exchange leaves of the Apta tree. There is a story connected with the above custom.
Sri Ram’s ancestor relative’s name was king Raghu. He was very generous. After a great ‘Yagna’ (Prayer) the king had distributed all his wealth among the poor.
Raghu had nothing left to give a poor boy, who came to his door step asking for alms. Raghu attacked Kuber, the God of Wealth. As gold rained on earth, some of it fell on the Apta tree. Therefore, since then people exchange leaves of the Apta tree on Dussehra day.
In Bengal the occassion is celebrated as the day on which Durga Ma killed the terrible demon Mahishasur.

The essence is the same--the festival is celebrated all over India as a symbol of victory over evil.
Shall we also destroy our 10 faces of Hypocrisy and deceit, triumph over our negative tendencies and march forward in our flower bedecked cars towards Eternal Victory?
In Kulu Manali Dussehra is celebrated three days after the rest of the country does.
The reason: During ancient times the lesser powerful kings had to attend the celebration held at Maharaja Ranjit Singh's palace in Lahore. It used to take 3 days for the kings to return to their own kingdom to make merry during Dussehra.

Reference: http://www.dalsabzi.com/Language_Festivals/dussehra.htm

Iran and its fight

2005-10-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

India votes against Iran at the IAEA. I guess our country was right in it's decision. It has shown to the world that though it is dependent on some countries for it's economical growth it does not fear from treading the right path. Our countries relations with Iran are not so fragile to be broken by a mere vote at IAEA. Both countries need to look at the wider aspect. India trying to improve its relationship with USA which does not have healthy opinion of Iran and thus India can play a mediator role same as USA is playing btwn India and Pak. Though USA is too big a power to have a third party, India is too good in relations with Iran. I am sure our Govt. would have consulted Iran before going for the vote.

I feel Iran does need to have the nuclear energy facilities because it would change the face of the middle east. The world would reckon the power of Iran when it handles the issues of Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. With China, India, Pakistan having the nuclear energy and Israel at the other end there would be a high possiblity that Iran would be used as passage for the prolifiration of the technology and with Iraq and Afghanistan being in such an unstable condition it definitely would become a haven for the anti social elements. If Iran gets the nuclear facilities it would definitely have to tighten its borders and also bring in rules and regulations so that the tech does not go into the hands of the anti elements.

I would personally want Iran to have the weapons as it would destroy the domination of USA and anyother global power in the region. USA has bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, so it is always better for India that Iran get the weapons. With China trying to become a superpower in Asia , Iran's nuclear weapons would bring in the stability that is much needed in the middle and south east Asia and if North Kores also has the weapons then we could say that Asia would be the war free arena as no country would try to wage a war with its continental family member. As the USA named it earlier "Axis of Evil" .... Iran, Pakistan, India, China, North Korea, Russia it would become a semi circle like silver lining on the earth, rather than the Axis of evil it can be termed as the silver lining of the world.

The Two Towers

2005-09-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

Compeletely forgot to write about the ongoing episode between Sourav Ganguly and Greg Chappel. Until now I have not given a serious thought about the matter as I thought such controversies were not uncommon in Indian cricket. But it is very uncommon to have a controversy with an outsider. The Prince of Kolkata not being among the runs since a year or so, getting frustrated with the pressure as a captain of Indian team which is the toughest job in cricketing world as he has to bat well, score runs, also bowl well, motivate the team , have a barrack of strategies against opponents, handle the media, be in the selection committee, and also maintain the committments at the personal level and involve in such controversies everytime. His duty was to bring the team out of the shackles of match fixing and lead from the front which he did so magnificently. He has brought the change that was lacking since a decade. In the last 4-5 years he was the champion of India. Though he did not make much difference in the scoreboard he did make a sea change in the thought process of the BCCI and the team. I would say the 2001 series against Australia has changed the face of Indian team and with victory at the Lord's in the final of Natwest Trophy emerged a team that could beat the invincibles. He was the leader in both cases. His contribution was not by scoring runs or by taking wickets but by motivation and character. In the 2001 series every player of the team contributed, with laxman's 271, dravid's 188, Bhajji's hatrick at koltaka, Sachin's century, Das's 50 I guess and bhajji's turbination at chennai. In the Natwest trophy Kaif and Yuvy reaching home showed that this Indian team has emerged out of the depression that was created when we lost 3-0 againt Australia in 2000 I guess followed by a humiliating defeat at home in the hands of South Africa. Such a change was brought about by him.

Let us talk about the Greg Chappel now. He is considered to be the best and shrewdest thinker of the game. With his book Greg Chappell on Coaching: The Making of Champions he earned the reputation across the globe. He is considered one of the all time best players to have palyed forAustralia. He scored 24 centuries in about 87 matches with an avg 53.84 ranked 18th in the all time list. He scored centuries in his first and last tests bringing him glory.I feel any batsman whose avg is above 50 could be considered as a great batsman.During his regime Australia were mighty with the palyers like Ian Chappel, Jeff Thompson,Walters, Edwards, Rodney Marsh,Dennis Lillee and he had to lead this young side agains the powerful English team that had Bob Willis, Tony Greig, Knott, Fletcher, Mike Denness ,Geoff Boycott, Gower. Greg was a big contributor to his team with him scoring centuries after centuries and saving australia from crutches so many times. However that was his past, at the present he has been involved in helping southwest australian team win the Sheffield Shield trophy. His excellent analysis of the game is itself bringing him ill reputation. Even before Australia lost the ashes he blasted John Buchanan and suggested he be dropped. Earlier in the Ind-Aus 2004 series he criticised Steve Waugh and of late as everyone knows he is involved in the controversy with the GANG.

With him suggesting Ganguly to step down as captain of the team shows that he has not been in good thinking these days as Ganguly just returned from a ban of 6 matches and had a gap in the test matches. How could he say such a thing as a spectator. Though it was Ganguly's mistake to take the dressing room matters to the media, Chappel should have kep from writing tp BCCI. A coach's job is to motivate the team and not criticise it. India has about a billion critics of each and every player. And if he had to say something he should have said it after watching Sourav play a series. He should realise that test is different from One days. He does not know importance of his job and the responsibilities that come with it. He needs to handle the Indian media and he has got to learn a lot. May be we could forgive him as he is new to the scenario, he better take some advise from John Wright. Writing a six page letter to BCCI saying Ganguly is mentally and physically unfit to play would bring him ill reputation. He does not understand the Indian team and the people. Here cricket is not a job it is a religion, he must understand that. With that letter he has shown his anger, I guess he will face the anger of a billion now and with Ganguly having the backing of the hevyweight jagmohan Dalmiya he might even be sacked. I suggest he should not return to india on the 25th sep rather go to Aus for a month and retrospect. Some countries would have destroyed his house by now, but this is India baby we are DVSK's. I think he would have said the same thing even about Sachin as Tendulkar was also not in good form. Hope he learns a lesson from this and would never say anything, varna Chappel ko chappal se maarenge, kyaaa?

The Dawn and End of an era

2005-09-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! Atlast England won the ashes and after a gap of about 17 years it is more satisfying than anything else. Mmm australia atlast stepped down from their glory. Since the 87' world cup they have been ruling the cricket world with a little scare from the mighty south african Hansie Cronje's team that was heavily expected to do what England has done today. Cronje's team was as superb as today's English, I feel it was more powerful with likes of Kallis, Kirsten, Pollock,Donald, Rhodes, Cronje, Butcher all of them at their peaks. Then what would have been the difference, I think there was nothing wrong on their side but it was Australian side that had the gutsy Steve Waugh and the brilliance of McGrath , Shane Warne and Gilchrist that made the difference. Steve Waugh single handedly saved them from clutches of defeat. However today's Aussie team has the same Mc Grath and Shane Warne who are globally viewed as the all time best bowlers but this time their age made the difference and there was none like Steve Waugh who could have saved the matches for them.

While saying that Aussie lost it we must not forget that England won it. They rightly deserved to win and beating Australia is not an easy thing. They had the hefty Hayden, the lingering Langer , Ricky ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne. Freddie Flintoff , what an all rounder, kevin peitersen a match saver, Simon jones who might have made a difference in his debut ashes when England toured Australia( do not remember when) but he suffered an ankle injury. Then they had the classy Vaughan, trespasser Trescothick, harmer Harmisson and the swinger hoggard who were the envy of any team. Now comes the question whether it is the dawn and end of an era. With the Australia defeated by the Bangladesh team it was said their era is ending and with the loss of the ashes it is for sure they are now a normal team that could be beaten. But to say that English are going to rule the cricketing world now is quite early. Their real test is when they tour Pakistan, India, and Australia. If they manage to win 2 of the series then they are for sure to don the roles of the invincibles that WI and Aus have played.

Pondering over the end of the australian era reminds me of the WI who after their era have been struggling ever since. Would Australian side fall to the same level as WI who after that famous 95' series against Aus have struggled to make any little difference in the test ranking table.

I guess now it is a very good chance for all the teams to prove their worth with demise of rulers. All the teams would fight hard to win against the English and the Australian teams to move ahead of the table and become the rulers. This would make the cricketing contest quite interesting and thus I think that atleast till 2007 world cup all the matches would be the ones to watch. But I regret why I am here in USA where I cannot watch even the matches of WI.

Sachin Vs Sania

2005-09-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Once Harsha Bhigle in his interview for the BBC said that Sachin created an industry in which billions of rupees are involved, he was the reason that cricket has survived. At the age of 16 he started making history not only in the cricketing world but also in the media world, newspapers, televisions, radio were booming during his peak time. Of late without his presence the men in blue are suffering and so is the media what with the trp ratings falling down. But wait no the trp ratings infact have gone up that is because the of the Sania mania that has gripped the nation. She at the age of 18 like Sachin is rewriting records in the tennis world and the media world. Can we say that she is going to create an tennis industry just like Sachin who has been sporting icon of the century. Will the mighty Mirza become the sporting icon of the next century. Already she has won the Arjuna award and there are more to come. However Sachin is not yet gone, he is in hibernation period and when he comes back I hope he would do so with a bang. Everywhere a talk has started saying who is a bigger icon Sachin or Sania? I think the situation is the same in England where a craze has developed for Flintoff what with England on the brink of winning the Ashes after a gap of 19 yrs and David Beckham is nowhere to be found in newspapers. There too a same question may arise Becky vs Freddie. Let us wait and see who emerges out of the hurdles and who would become a folklore.

Super Power hiding inside Super Dome

2005-09-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

It was pathetic to watch the American super power to hide inside a super dome. Hurricane Katrina is being labeled as the worst natural disaster ever to hit USA, it has destroyed one of the the biggest cities in southern USA. Was it so devastating? Did no other countries face such a crisis, when the hurricane came about people fled the city, is it the same situation in other countries too? Are the other nations also having super domes? I wonder how USA was so unprepared for it although knowing that New Orleans was below sea level why did it allow humans to live in that place.

One thing I never understood why these people construct their houses with wood, when it is safe to make concrete houses. If the houses were concrete atleast half of the houses could have ben saved. Now people dont have homes to stay, where would they go now? I understand if there are wooden houses in the north but why in south?

Intelligent Idiot Box

2005-09-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

Television which initially has made everybody wonder at mankind creation, showing life inside a box. Everyone was amazed at its ability but in the 80's it showed its true color when the TRP ratings were at the peak, it started ruining the lives of the people. Now people realised the consequence in getting addicted to it. Similar to the idiot box is the computer. People now are awestruck at its ability as a complete package. They can work on it, play games on it, shop on it, watch movies on it, listen to songs, manage bank balances,talk on it, attend conferences. They dont need to go anywhere. Its ability to connect people across the globe has made it one of the greatest inventions of mankind.

But, there are always critics and so I am here to criticise it in some aspect. I feel that it is spoiling people more than anything today. It is the most anti social element in the society for people are going out less are becoming less sociable. The trp ratings are falling down, the entertainment industry, movie industry has been suffering losses to the tunes of crores since past 5-6 yrs. It is like giving a child a bat in one hand and a pen in other hand and asking him to chose one of them. He would obviously chose bat for it entertains him. Similarly we are providing people with a computer where in he can watch movies, involve in conversations and also work, study. So what does he chose? I dont know about the level of intelligence today but surely many students are using computers for playing games and watching movies, listening to songs. And with the broadband era coming to the fore I predict there would be more number of drop outs. Successful students are the ones who use the system less and would rely on books more. The problem with a computer is similar to that of TV. Watching Tv is only input,taking in, we dont think on anything we just watch it, there is no output. Similarly while studying on the computer we tend to only read and not think on the subject we are reading. Thus the brains get rusted. I think it should be like we read through the books and produce the results on the system.

So the most intelligent invention of man might become another idiot box with additional qualities added to it. I guess man should stop trying to invent something that looks like a box. I could not express it effectively but I hope u got a view of what I wanted to say.

Nature's Terrorism

2005-09-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

In the previous tenure of president Bush there were about 3000 deaths due to the WTC attack by Mr.Laden. In reply the republican party waged a war on Afghanistan and are still on with it. In the present tenure the death toll is even more, it seems there might be more than 10,000 deaths. Now what does the bush administration has got in its kitty. Does it plan to go and wage a war against nature, it was nature's terrorism isn't it? Can we call this nature's attack as NO( New orleans) attack. Can the Bush's war be successful against the nature?

Beauty and the Beast

2005-09-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

The other day I was sitting at home and watching the movie Maina Pyar Kyu kiya and was amazed by the beauty of Katrina Kaif. I was like wondering how come there could be such a perfect face so sensuous and at the same time being so innocent looking. I was in some other world for the three hours of the movie enjoying the beauty that GOD has created.

After the movie I read the news, Katrina devastated New Orleans, I wondered how come american people know about katrina kaif but then realised it was Hurricane Katrina and not the beauty. I immediately searched for more info to see whether it was heading to Starkville,Mississippi where I had lived for about a year. Initially I thought it was just a small hurricane that would subside into a tropical storm within hours but I was wrong when I heard that it has devastated the whole of Gulf Coast and has taken thousands of lives. I thought a beast has been unleashed. It has affected the global oil prices and countries are a lot worried. however we need to thank europe for digging into their emergency reserves and rescue the world economies.

It again proves that against GOD's fury the super power like America could only be a mere spectator although it had the best weather prediction system and it is not like it was once in a lifetime occurrence, America battles with hurricanes every year but I guess this time nobody saw the beast coming and thereby were left completely unprepared. Katrina reminded me of the Supercyclone that hit Orissa about 7-8 years back. I remember it because I was completely awestruck to look at what nature's fury could do. Even India suffers with cyclones every year and was a prey to that cyclone.

Let us pray to GOD that no more such beasts are unleashed from HIS palm and please HIM with him the beauties. See I am trying to bribe HIM , the basic nature of mankind.

Rise of India and China

2005-08-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

I always read in papers as how India and China are affecting the global economies. They have grown indeed from a mere third world countries to the most influential countries of 21st century. But how has this turn around come by, is it because of the economic policies that the government introduced or is it because of the foundations of our forefathers that we are able to reap the benefits or because of the IT revolution that changed the face of India in a span of decade. Of course I do believe all these and more have helped these countries see their economies boom and all these years people believed that population was hindering them. But I believe population explosion has also contributed a major part in the rising. because of so much population there is so much demand everywhere for education, for jobs, for infrastructure, for social services. The demands and the stiff competition domestically made the people look out for the opportunites abroad which resulted in each and every person becoming an ambassador of our country. The primary responsibility of an ambassador is to make good relations with host and help rake in foreign investments. And also with Indians and Chinese all over the world their patriotism towards their country is helping.

Because of the desire of green pastures thousands and thousands of students and working people are thronging USA, UK and thereby to help the people the govt here has made education easy to achieve( more number of engineering and medical and MBA colleges) which has produced more number of graduates which has automatically contributed towards the growth of the country. Today most of the international airline industry is surviving only because of Indians and Chinese. There are imports into USA,UK from India and China to meet the demands of Indian and Chinese nationals here, and also there are exports, thus import and export industries are doing good. Because of our people all over the world each and every country recognizes our importance since we help their economy and inturn get certain benefits. It is like win win situation.

If we did not have so many graduates and professionals, we could not have exported our services and thus would not have got international recognition. Take the example of Brazil, though it is becoming a powerful economy and the most important one from South America it stills lacks the recognition that India and China enjoy today.

All these years CEOs of the developed nations marketed their products , their services that helped them improve their economies but the Indians and the Chinese marketed their people, their culture which I think is more important for a country's growth. Just as a student tries to make himself marketable while he is searching for a job, India and China have made their people suitable to markets across the globe.

So I guess population is a blessing in disguise.

Common man!!!

2005-08-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

Common man, I always keep thinking what a common man can do in today's world in the sense upto what changes can he bring about. Today I happened to read an article written by friend about a political party formed by the IIT'ans whose objective is to clean the political system of our country. An IIT'an is indeed a common man and he is trying to achieve something. Can he achieve what he dreams of in a country like India where it is well known that to rise in life everybody does committ some sort of illegal thing. Is it possible for this party to be clean and achieve what they dream of? Today in India people like Chandra Babu Naidu are well left though they even know of his properties in Hongkong, it is said that he owns a helipad on a star hotel over there. How about the most recent thing Volkswagen scam, though most of the leaders may be clean but it is enough for blackspot in a beauty to make it worthless. Such questions keep arising when I think about a common man's eligibility. I had a belief that may be the technology revolution would help in creating an euqality sense in terms of awareness but I think it is infact creating more gap between people in terms of knowledge. People are narrowing themselves to their own field of interest and are neglecting the other fields and the IT revolution has just made people lose interest in our political system with widespread criticism going on in the media about our leaders. Consider the case of Mr. Ambani, though he was a common man but for him to achieve such a success he had to take the help of anitsocial elements to suppress his competitors. I personally believe that no common man can single handedly create a revolution all by himself without foraying into illegal things. If the above political party can bring about that change then I would salute them wholeheartedly.

Indo-US nuclear pact

2005-08-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have been reading about the criticism of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Defense minister Pranab Mukherjee had been to USA and amde a deal with the Bush administration. The deal made the indian nuclear facilities open to IAEA inspection. I personally feel that the deal was advantageous US than India. I feel humiliated if IAEA inspects our facilities which would mean that there is fear that our technology is not in safe hands.

By supplying F-16s and also removing the nuclear sanctions on India, USA made good friends with us. But I feel that it is the same old game that the country is playing. USA has a great fear of China and so wants to make friends with Chinese neighbours so as to avoid any major disasters like civil war with Russia. I think it's relationship with China is leading to a civil war with USA trying to increase it's bases in Pakistan and may be in future will strike a deal with India for an airbase or so. It is the same game that it had played with Afghanistan and Iraq. It has provided weaponary to Afghanistan so that they could rebel Russia, which was a major threat to USA then. And then for oil, it provided weapons to Iraq to fight against Iran. Today we know the result of the friendship with USA. And I am sure it is going to make the same with Pakistan, since the world over feels that there are many anti social elements breeding in Pakistan and will try to make some sort of entry into Pak to eradicate them. But I personally feel that Pakistan is too good a country for USA to use such tactics, it is not like Iraq or Afghanistan and more over it has got the "Weapons".

I only hope that India does not fall into any trap that USA lays to fulfil its wish of not allowing China to develop into another Russia or Soviet Union.

Is patience a Virtue?

2005-07-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

I always keep thinking of patience. What is the level of patience one should have. Is it really good to have patience on all occassions. I feel that in this world there are circumstances when patience can cause troubles. Anything too good is too bad. In the same way too much patience is also too bad where it can make people think that you are being lazy rather being patient. What do you say????

Why do I blog

2005-07-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Blog? what is this Blog? Why do i have to blog? No thoughts but just doing so that I can do away with some time. Right now I have got the title bewarse of America. You got any idea as to why people blog pour in some thoughts so that I will realise why I am blogging , hope I am not blocking your thoughts.

Enjoy