Delhi - Start Behaving Yourselves

I am proud Indian. Have always been, will always be. For the past few days though, I feel like I have been let-down  The beautiful girl from Delhi who was brutally gang-raped breathed her last yesterday morning in Singapore. Tributes poured in, Candle Marches all over India, plethora of blogs just like this one, but what mattered was “Damini” had lost the battle. The score now stands at India – 0 Rapists – 1 (Would be much more, but will keep it at 1).

I digged out a few numbers and found out that barring the “Western” and “Civilized” societies of USA, UK and Australia, where Date rapes and Under-age sex, which also constitutes to rape, is incredibly high at about 40%, it is India which has the maximum number of rapes. 2011 stats suggest that Delhi by itself is responsible for about 2.3% of the total rapes in India. This is without taking into account the nearby NCR region. The number would then be around 4%. Shocking numbers for a region which is home to one of the nation's premium universities, and is considered to be a hippy and the “place to be” for youngsters.

I came across this yesterday and have read quite a few articles about the safety of women in New Delhi. Reading these accounts, It is scary to imagine the plight of women in that region. Being able to walk the roads without any fear should be the basic right of a human being. Not getting it in a democratic country is extremely sad. There are rapes happening in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, heck even Los Angeles, London and Sydney. But rarely do we see women being scared of venturing into the roads at late hours in these cities. The whole of India has a patriarchal Society, So where does Delhi get this ridiculous mindset from? Why are women treated like Objects?

The problem isn't the Patriarchal Society as such. The problem lies in what people make out of such a society, and what they are taught by the buzurg and their peers. The roots of a patriarchal society is stemmed around Men protecting their women and not Men being superior to women. New Delhi on the other hand seems to be following Aristotle's line of thought. Aristotle's works depict women as “morally, intellectually and physically  inferior to men. He believed a woman's role to be that of reproduction and serving men in the household. This is the attitude that men in Delhi flaunt. They are of the belief that the female sex is morally obligated to get laid by them, and If she doesn't they are morally obligated to "punish" her. I have never been in Delhi and hence may not be the right person to give you an accurate view of what goes on in Delhi. But this video and the gang-rape incident are examples enough to give one an idea of the narrow mindedness that runs in the veins of Delhites.

Though there have been quite a few rapes and molestation incidents, the brutality of this one brought out the fire in many an Indian. Protests, violent and non violent, were staged in Delhi and other parts of India too. The reach of this incident was so widespread that Robin Van Persie's celebration after his goal against West Bromwich Albion was initially presumed to be a dedication to the rape victim. The protests may at max lead to a speedy resolution of this case. But unless there is a change in the fickle-headed minds of “Men” in Delhi, the rapes will go on. Delhi already has the dubious distinction of being the Rape Capital of India. If this goes on, It may well go up the pecking order and get a similar recognition across the globe.

It is often said in Sports that the Captain should lead from the front. Same goes for you Mr.Capital City. Behave yourselves Delhi. The World is Watching you. We don't want India's name to be stained because of you. 

P.S: I am not defending the existence of Patriarchal Society. I truly believe in Gender Equality. I just believe that It is not possible to change the set up as a whole, it will take decades to do that. We just have to make the best of what exists now. 

What If EPL went the IPL way?

The IPL has a new team, or rather a refurbished team. SunRisers Hyderabad. Yes, a highly ridiculous name for a Sports Team, but they kind of made up for it with their Logo. The IPL menagerie will continue to have 9 teams and will continue to be 2.5 decades long.

The auction is scheduled for Feb 3^rd when 37 players will go under the hammer. That’s a pretty good way of putting it because I feel that’s exactly what happens to the player’s dignity when teams bid for them. It gets hammered. And the players who are left unsold, its one solid hit right on the middle of their head with a Huge hammer.

I got this random idea the other day. What if the Barclays Premier League were to be remodeled based on the IPL? What if say Sir Alex Ferguson did a Lalit Modi? What if the UK wanted to get rid of the highly structured and Century old League Football structure and make way for a more snazzy, sexy, youthful Carlsberg UK Premier League? Sounds fun right?

Lets look at how things would have shaped up in the Carlsberg UK Premier League :

• Clubs would be named Manchester MoonWalkers, Manchester Super Fakers (The Other Manchester club i.e.),Chelsea Knight Sackers, Liverpool Historians, Arsenal Untitled, Tottenham Daredevils etc.
• The team mascots would be people like Robert Pattinson, Jude Law, Kate Beckinsale, Daniel Radcliffe etc.
• "You Will Never Walk Alone", "Glory Glory Manchester United", "Good Ole Arsenal" etc will be replaced by crappier theme songs with Robert Pattinson dancing in it. 
• The cheerleaders will be actually Hot.
• Vijay Mallaya would have tried to bid for a team just because he can (Or Can he?).
• There will be a camera fitted into the football to help viewers get into the game. Lets name it the FootCam.

Players & Auctions  :

• Lionel Messi will be the most sought after player, but he will withdraw from the auctions because he likes only “Pure” Football. No Messi = No Xavi, No Iniesta. 
• Cristiano Ronaldo will hence finally become the most sought after player for a change, and will finally get the money he thinks he deserves. Balon d'or will continue to be just a dream though.
• David Beckham will make his comeback to English football as an Icon player for Manchester MoonWalkers.
• Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs will be the other Icon Players.
• Arsenal Untitled will do a Rajasthan Royals and bid only for young English talent. Paolo Maldini will be their Icon player.
• Mario Balotelli will command the highest price for reasons unknown (When Jadeja can, why not Balotelli).
• Players like Andy Caroll, Kieran Gibbs and other young English talent will become the flavour of the nation after performing in one match. Equivalent of the Yusuf Pathans and Manish Pandeys. 
• Internationals like Samir Nasri, Robin Van Persie, Ibrahamovic will have a standoff with their national team because they don't want to miss the UPL for International commitments. Money Matters for them.
• Players like David Seaman, Alan Shearer, Roberto Carlos, Roy Keane, Cafu will come out of retirement hoping for a 2^nd Football life. They will play the first season and will continue as a "mentor" for the remaining seasons.
• Fernando Torres will still be shit. 

Changes in Rules :

• Football will now be played in 2 halves of 30 minutes each. A shortened format increases interest level doesn't it?
• A goal scored from outside the box will equate to 2 goals.
• There will be a strategic timeouts after the 12.5 and 25 minute mark of each half.
• Substitutions will now be made on the fly.
• A goal of a corner will be called an O2 kamaal goal.
• A goal of a free kick will be called Coca Cola Stunner goal.
• A penalty will be Barclays moment of success.

Fan Reactions :

• The usually loyal English football fans will now start supporting teams based on their favourite players and not their own city.
• The elderly fans and purists will start blaming the Carlsberg UPL for demise of classical football.
• The English national team fans will now have a certified excuse to cover up their national team’s ineffectiveness. “Too much of UPL has made the players money minded, They are just not committed”

What else would change in the EPL? Comments please !!!!

“Man up” and Fight

In light of the rape on a bus, this may be a rant or a voice just like any other. So here it is.

Sad, True Story !!

Let us begin by saying that the root cause of all problems is population. When there are too many eggs, there is bound to be a case of few bad eggs. However, in this instance, it is the case of only a handful of good ones.

We live in a society where “if it isn’t my garbage, it doesn’t really matter” as the given approach to every problem . Let us consider the Thackeray clan and the havoc it wrecked not all that while back. It ranged from forcing shopkeepers to put up the signs outside their shops in Marathi to Bombay Bandh over the demise of a “leader” who was as twisted as they come. It went as far as making arrests over Facebook posts when people summoned the balls to call a spade a spade on their wall. We pride ourselves in being a Democracy with “equal opportunity” and “Freedom of speech” being conferred on us by the makers of the Constitution.  You see the hypocrisy? I do. So coming back to the “garbage” part, why doesn’t anybody who can be heard come to the fore? Why doesn’t anyone do a Anna Hazare? Is it because a law against corruption will solve everything? Well, here’s a shocker, it won’t.

The problems are ingrained in our social fabric.

• Sex education isn’t important.  I cannot fathom why most people are of the view that it is akin to “corrupting” of young minds and Boy, OH boy! how we condemn all that is corrupted. Well, another shocker for dimwits, it is called education for a reason. It quells curiosity and makes both genders aware of the human anatomy something they will learn anyway but not understand, either through peers or the Internet.

• We talk about rape and molestation but most of it is insensitive jibber jabber. Eve teasing has taken a backseat. We boast of a culture where we pray to Goddesses in the morning and then step out later in the day to harass young women who may or may not be skimpily dressed.

• The rules are different for a brother and sister within a household. I totally support this since these are “bad times” but why not ask your son to stay at home too since he might step out in the dead of the night and rape a girl who unfortunately lacks caring parents as yourselves?

• Our nation forgets a disgrace whenever something that is remotely better or slightly more gory comes along. That or the media gets a better story to sensationalise. Did I say sensationalise? I meant, run. Every slight is played up and eventually loses heat. Example 1: Indian cricket’s dismal run. Rest assured if they play an IPL now, all will be forgotten.  Example 2: Arushi Talwar’s murder in 2008. Anyone know what became of that? Example 3: On first Jan, 2008, a mob molested 2 women on the streets of Mumbai.  Were the perpetrators brought to book? If yes, then why wasn’t that played over and over on television? Why the front pages of all leading newspapers weren’t screaming that justice was served? One of two reasons, either it wasn’t or it was a story that doesn’t sell.

• We Gossip. We can’t mind our business. We must discuss how someone’s daughter is wearing skirts or roaming with boys. We gossip and mind our own business when the dignity of the daughter is lost and ostracise the family and whisper “It was just a matter of time” behind the family’s back. In some cases, on its face.

Pardon me for I am known to digress but then again these are issues which incense me. I haven’t touched upon the political aspect of things, which is, yet again, a sorry figure.

• Laws are ineffective. The judiciary is incompetent.  It took us 4 years to mete out justice to a Terrorist who came into our country, massacred and mauled. He was captured and famously ate biriyani behind bars for four years while the tax payer bore his expenses. This was when he was a “high-profile” criminal. Stop pretending that you are safe in your bubble because you are not, especially if you are a woman. If you are a man, your sister, daughter and your mom aren't safe either. Ajmal Kasab’s victims had to wait for four years for some semblance of justice, you might have to wait an eternity.

• I doubt anything can bring justice to a rape victim. It isn’t just the human body that is violated, a spirit is marred. Imagine getting slapped by a stranger in full public view because you are in wrong  company (by wrong I mean a man) or inappropriately dressed (according to him) and multiply that insult and humiliation by a 1000 times. That is how it would feel.  Meanwhile, you have upholders of the law that are of the view that the rapes will go on because “she asked for it” and more shockingly, “it is consensual most of the times.” What I want to ask these policemen is: Is that how you justify yourselves when your respective wives are not feeling it on some nights? Kindly visit the Tehelka website for more material that might make that nerve in the temple throb with fury. Why these men aren’t not stripped of their badge and honour? Why a more thorough background research isn’t conducted into their morals and beliefs before drafting such men into the force or are we so short on labour resources that anyone with a penis and a sack of balls qualifies?

• Rape within marriage is not a crime in India. Pray, tell me how not. It is because you have obtained the society’s approval to have sex and can do as you deem fit? Is it because you own a being or another’s will?

There is a widespread uproar demanding capital punishment for rapists. That will not solve anything. It will lead to an increase in murder after rape so that there is no one to testify against the culprit. I’d propose castration after identification. Identify the culprit. Let the newspapers scream his name in their pages and do it quick, for we as a public are blessed with a short memory. Let him be condemned and shamed. Let him not “get it up” for the rest of his life and live with the shame of this heinous act.

More importantly, teach your sons to respect women. Let equality be preached at home. Make it mandatory for every girl to learn some form at martial art and make it mandatory at school level.  More than sewing and stitching, a girl should learn how to protect herself and her honour. Make that part of the academic curriculum.

Most importantly, educate. Educate about sex, respect and equality. Teach morals at home and at school.

And to women, take a stand. You are not on this earth to marry and reproduce. That is just a part of the plan. Be independent for your parents and/ or siblings are not going to be around forever to protect you. Don’t take bullshit in a relationship or in a marriage. It is not okay for him to hit you or abuse you and stop telling yourself it will not happen again because it will. Walk out. You deserve better.

Lastly, let it never be forgotten that “female empowerment” has “female” as a prefix because our sex has to fight for it. Unlike our male counterparts, we aren’t given privileges on a platter. So, as they say, “man up” and start fighting.

P.S : Thanks Bhavya for letting me share this. You can find more of her posts here. 

RajniKanth Day in History !!

December 12^th, 1950 is one of the most important days in the history of mankind. After all Shivaji Rao Gaikwad aka RajniKanth was born on that day. He turns 62 today and millions of fans are celebrating. No better treat for them than the release of Sivaji in 3D. RajniKanth is not just the SuperStar, he has become a cultural Icon. Tamil Cinema = RajniKanth.

I can go on with the adulation  but moving on. Being RajniKanth day, there have been many more landmark events which have changed the course of history in some way or the other on December 12^th.  Nothing more altering than his birth of course, but you do get what I mean. So, here is looking at a few of those events :

1901: Gugliemo Marconi succeeded in sending the first ever transatlantic radio transmission. He had transmitted the Morse Code Signal for letter S from Cornwall, England to Newfoundland, Canada , Over 2000 miles apart. He disapproved the cynics who believed that the curvature of earth would limit transmission to 200 miles or less. This was Marconi’s way of Rajnikanthing the non-believers. What’s more, he received the nobel prize in Physics in 1909 for the same. Only because he did this on 12^th December.

1912: The original Mona Lisa painting was recovered 2 years after its theft from the Louvre Museum in Paris. It was recovered in Florence, from the hotel room of an Italian waiter by the name of Vincenzo Peruggia. Legend has it that on Dec 12^th of the previous 2 years, Vincenzo heard booming voices in his room which went something like “Kanna, I am coming”. He ignored the first 2 warnings, but the 3^rd one was a bit too much for him and he left the painting unhidden in his room to make it easier for the search party. Though unproven, you know it’s true.   

1943: Tide detergent was introduced. The detergent which gives you the whitest of white. How did they get the formula to make such a detergent? They just got lucky that their launch date coincided with RajniKanth day. 

1963: Kenya gained independence from the British forces. Kenya African National Union (KANU) headed by Jomo Kenyatta took over the country. Why did it happen? RajniKanth on his 13^th birthday wanted a lion as a gift. His parents asked him to go get it. He swam his way from Mumbai to Nairobi. As the clock struck 12, RajniKanth had reached the Kenyan shores. The British knew it was a lost cause. You know what happened next.

1981: Yuvraj Singh was born. How do you think he managed to hit those 6 sixes against Stuart Broad? How do you think he managed to win the World Cup for India, in spite of not being in the best of health? How do you think he can hit sixes so effortlessly? You really want me to answer these questions? I am sure you know why.

And just in case you want some more trivia, Washington DC and New Delhi, the capitals of the two biggest democracies, i.e. USA and India were established as capitals on this very day. Washington in 1800 and Delhi in 1911. I am sure you won’t ever forget this now.  

My First Marathon- Ok, 10km Run !!

I am a pretty lazy individual. Someone who wanted to do things, but later. Walking from my house to the nearby market was a strict no at most times. So, running a marathon was going to be as tough as Pi Patel’s rendezvous with Richard Parker.

I came to know about the Wipro Chennai Marathon a few days ago. Though I was not much confident of doing any good in it, I just had to give it a shot. After all , this couldn't be done later. There were 3 categories. I chose the 10km run. The full and half marathons were never going to be my thing. Riding 42kms on a bike is hellacious, I mean how could I possibly walk/run that much. Having done 5-6kms on the treadmill, 10km was just a bit further. I was pretty “confident” of doing it.

2^nd of December was the D-Day. IIT Madras was the venue. The entire course was within the beautiful IIT campus. The run was to begin at 7:00 AM. I was there at 6:30 and joined my fellow runners who were doing their Warm-ups, choreographed by an instructor. I was joined by a couple of my friends, who were inevitably late. A shot of an energy drink and a banana later, we were all set. As the countdown trickled down to zero, off we were along with hundreds of fellow runners. It was showtime.

The first couple of kilometers went pretty well. The adrenaline was pumping and the confidence of finishing the run was growing. The legs held up well and weren’t behaving funny as yet. As we reached the first fueling station, around 3 and a bit kilometers from the start line, things were just getting a bit tougher. Jogging had been replaced by more of walking. Though the stamina was still there, legs were starting to make noises of their own. Every passing kilometer made it more of a “mind over body” matter. I pushed, pushed and pushed, alternating between jogging and walking.

The finish line made its much sought after appearance, and so did a bit adrenaline rush. A dash to the finish line was made, and when I did cross the line, immense satisfaction. Being able to complete the run was an incredible achievement in itself for me, considering that I never practiced even a bit and the longest distance I have ever walked in my life wouldn’t have been more than 3kms.

A special shout out to Wipro and other organizers. The marathon was organized quite brilliantly and It was great fun to be a part of it. The IIT campus was as beautiful as it has always been, making the run extremely easy on the eyes. The Chennai weather too was extremely considerate and spared us from exhaustion due to heat. Overall, it was a Sunday well spent.

I did make a 10km run sound like a hike to Mount Everest, but that was how difficult I had considered it to be. Now that I succeeded in getting done with it, I have my sights set on the next marathon event. This time, with some practice, I might just give the Half Marathon a shot.     

Facebook : Social Network to Daily Chore

When I was first introduced to Social Networking 6 years back through Orkut, I was excited about it. I used to genuinely look forward to Log in to Orkut, Check for scraps, get immensely happy If I got one, stalk people’s profiles and uploading “real” photos used to be like the coolest thing ever. A person’s coolness factor used to be directly proportional to the number of scraps in his/her scrapbook, and the number of friends he/she has.

Then came facebook. It started gaining prominence around 2007-08. People were hooked instantly. The magnitude of the Orkut to Facebook migration of the human race will make the Emperor Penguins proud. Things were a bit different here, FB Chat replaced Scraps, Wall posts replaced testimonials, People could now stalk without the fear being revealed, and we got introduced to perhaps the 2 worst social networking Inventions of all time, Poking and “Like”. Facebook became the in thing, and the coolness factor was now measured by how fast one made this transition from “Boring Orkut” to “Happening Facebook”.

Then we had Twitter, Google +, So.cl (Does anybody use this?), Linkedin, Pinterest, MojoStreet, Instagram and a plethora of networking sites, designed for different purposes.

Things have changed though. Social networking has lost the novelty factor it possessed even 2-3 years ago. From being “Cool”, It has become a given to be a part of a social networking site. Also, with usage of smartphones and tablets increasing exponentially, one doesn't even need to have a Desktop or Laptop with them to get access to these websites. With such ease in access, people have become so addicted to these sites, that it has almost become a chore.  

With people logged into their facebook and other social networking accounts in multiple devices, the existence of logout button is on the verge of becoming a myth. We have traversed from “going online” to “being online”. As I said before, Social Networking has become a chore. It would no longer be a part of a person’s “To do List”. You eat, You sleep, You bathe, and similarly you facebook (Yes, It can be used as a verb).

There are many ways in which one can look at this. One can go on with the pros and cons of Social networking addiction and blah. The point here is we have surpassed the addiction phase, and It has now become an inherent part of life. As much as one would want to restrict themselves, there is always a limit to how much one can fast. Anyone with views, the comment section has been served to you on a platter.  

Jab Tak Hai Jaan - An SRK - Yashji Special !!

Jab Tak hai Jaan. Yash Chopraji’s final directorial venture. Expectations were really high. Afterall, SRK and Yashji were coming together after 8 long years. Veer Zaara was their last outing together. JTHJ does not disappoint at all.

This movie is about Major Samar Anand, A stubbled bomb defusal expert of the Indian Army. This movie is about his undying, unconditional love for Meera (Katrina Kaif). And about Akira Rai’s (Anushka Sharma) realization on what true love is.

So, the movie beings with Samar on his Royal Enfield clad in black tee and aviator glasses makes his way to diffuse the 98th bomb. The theatre echoed with whistles and claps. After all, it was King Khan.

Akira ,who is a 21 year old intern who wishes to work with Discovery Channel, is rescued by Samar as she passes out trying to take a dip in the chilly waters of Ladakh. He helps her out and makes her wear her jacket. Akira gets hold of Samar’s diary from his jacket, and we go to flashback mode.

Enter Meera, and a younger Samar. Meera a rich spoilt brat, who drives a Bentley. Samar, yet another asian in London trying to do petty jobs and meet his ends, still hoping for that elusive London dream. Their paths cross, Love happens. However, As fate would have it, Meera is already engaged. Also, she makes a series
of promises to Jesus, one of which leads to Samar going back to India and joining the Indian Army.

A complex tale of love at its purest ensues. The protagonists have done a good job. Katrina has actually managed to act, and done a wonderful job out of it. Anushka is at her chirpy best, and is proving that she is a very capable actor. Which brings me to Shahrukh Khan. Love stories seems to bring the best out of him. We have had Raj Malhotra, Veer Pratap Singh and now Samar Anand. He has given a very honest and compelling performance. After an Indifferent Ra-One, SRK is truly back with that loverboy persona. Cameos from Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh are worth a mention too.

Rahman’s music, though not at his belligerent best, gives a really good music score. “Challa” and “Saans” will delight your ears. Special mention must also go to the piece of music before “Ishq Shava”. Now, that was ARR at his best. Yashji also does a phenomenal job with the camerawork. The locales of Ladakh and London are extremely pleasing to eyes.

I would give Jab Tak Hai Jaan 3.5/5. And a must watch for SRK fans. Considering this is the last time we will see the Legendary combo of Yashji-SRK, it is a definite dekho for Movie buffs. Samar’s character is said to be the “The Man Who Can’t die”. Similarly, Yashji may be no longer with us, but his Legend just can’t die.

Preview : South Africa's Tour of Australia

Australia vs South Africa. The last time we saw these 2 teams meet in a criminally short test series, we saw a scoreline of 21-9, we saw one of the finest counter-attacking innings in Test Cricket from Micael Clarke, we saw Hashim Amla at his graceful best and we saw the arrival of Patrick Cummins and Vernon Philander (Cummins working out Jacques Kallis and Philander’s exceptional control of the cricket ball are among the finest endorsements of Test Cricket).

Exactly a year after that series, South Africa will begin their first campaign as No.1 ranked test side in Brisbane. South Africa need to draw or win the series to retain the rankings, whereas Australia needs to win by any margin to reclaim their No.1 rankings, hence making them the 4th team to reach the throne in 2 years. All signs point to this being one helluva contest between two cricketing giants, one that just reached the pinnacle, and the other that fell down a few years back, but has done commendably well to climb its way back up, in spite of the numerous disappointments in between. A treat for the neutrals.

There are lots of key battles one needs to watch out for in this series, which will go a long way in deciding the contests. This should be a good time to have a look at those.

1) The battle of the pace attacks: South Africa has Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and the uncapped Rory Kleinveldt. Australia has Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Josh Hazlewood (Injuries to Cummins and Ryan Harris has made their decision easier). On paper, the saffers should run away with this contest. But on current form, the Aussie pace attack are among the best in the world and playing at home could be a plus for them as well. Though It can be argued that the SA pacers will have the easier task against the brittle Aussie batsmen, one It really isn't safe to bet against their Aussie counterparts.

2) Jacques Kallis vs Shane Watson: Both these players will double up as the fourth pacer and No.3/4 batsman for their respective teams. Both these players are in the form of their lives. And both these players need to perform to give their team a better chance of winning. Watson more so. We all know that Watson will never be as good a player as Kallis is, but will be the better player this series? Whoever it is, I dare say their team will sneak the trophy. With Watson out of the first test due to yet another injury, Kallis seems to be having the upper-hand already.

3) Australian Batsmen vs Their Form: The aussies have a brilliant bowling attack but their batsmen are a bit vulnerable.  And when we put these batsmen against the likes of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB DeVilliers, it’s a no contest. If this was a traditional WWE Survivor Series wrestling match between SA and Australia, SA will win the bout without a single of them being eliminated.

We have Warner and Cowan as openers, one who despite a decent record, is suspect to quality bowling, and the other who just can't seem to convert his starts. They are Australia's version of the Sehwag-.Akash Chopra alliance. The middle order consists of Watson (Quiney), Ponting, Clarke, Hussey and Wade. Looks good on paper, but only Watson and Clarke are safe bets. Quiney though in great first class form, will face a huge challenge against Steyn n Co, Ponting is in the twilight of his career, Hussey hasn't looked himself in recent tests and Wade doesn't yet look test match material. I predict a tough series for the Aussie batsmen against the SA bowling attack. The tail would need to wag almost every time to help them to a reasonable score.

4) AB DeVillers the Batsman vs AB DeVillers the Keeper: Following Mark Boucher’s freak injury and forced retirement, AB Devillers donned the gloves in the England Series, though they had Thami Tsolekile as the backup. This was done to maintain the balance and extend an already intimidating batting line-up  He did a reasonable job behind the stumps, but it seemed to have affected his batting. He was not at his fluent best during the English summer. He scored just 161 runs in the 3 tests, with no centuries or half centuries. A big failure for a player of his calibre  So, It will be interesting to see if DeVilliers can get that monkey of his back and get back to his belligerent best. If not, South Africa would need to find a young keeper who can bat, for their test side at the earliest. Quinton de Kock anyone?

Smith and Clarke, in happier days.

5) Graeme Smith vs Michael Clarke: The Captains. One leading his side since 2003, for 93 tests. The Other took over from Ponting in 2011, has lead his side for 15 tests. Smith is known to be a defensive captain, however since the arrival of Philander and Tahir, that seems to have changed. His bold declaration in the first test in England lays testimonial to that. Clarke has always been the aggressor. He makes bold, calculated moves, which in his short stint have clicked more often than not. His decision to declare the innings in the first test against West Indies, in spite of being in deficit comes to mind. Both are also crucial batsmen to their teams. Will be good to see who gets one up at the end of the series.

So, we surely do have a cracker of a series at our hands. I’ll like to put my hand up and predict a 2-0 series win for South Africa. It will be a close contest, but I believe the Aussie batsmen might just spoil the party for their team. Let’s see if there is a surprise or two in store for the viewers.  

The Group of fools - Review

Looking for a light, quick read to bide your time with during a short bus or train journey. You can place your bet on “The Group of Fools”. Authored by a first timer, Yaagneshwaran G, it will keep you entertained for a few hours. That’s all one would need to get done with this book.

The group of fools is based in a Business School and revolves around a group of friends (If you were wondering where “Group of fools” came from). The main protagonists include Shaun, Varun, Diya and Anusha and the narration is from Shaun’s perspective.

The book takes you on a journey through life in a B-School. The style of narration is informal, striking a chord with young readers. The tales of friendship and love within the book is something that everyone can relate with. Anyone who has gone through the rigors of a B-School life will definitely find a piece of themselves within the book.

One might find a semblance to Chetan Bhagat’s style of writing in the Group of fools. So, this definitely is a good light read for his fans. Certain aspects of the book could have been better though. The font looks childish and might actually distract readers. The character building of the key protagonists and the B-School as a whole could have been handled better. For a debut novel though, Yaagneshwaran has done a commendable job. I would give it a rating of 6 out of 10 

Move over T20's, November is Test Match time !

After a T20 overdose over the past t2o months, which saw us sitting through 58 T20’s over 42 days, its finally some serious cricket time. Its Test Match time baby. There are plenty of test matches on the horizon. So many that, there wont be a single day from November 9^th to December 9^th when there will not be a test match played. I for one don’t mind this overdose.

So, we have 4 test series lined up for us this November. It starts off with Australia vs South Africa on November 9^th which will be a tussle for the No.1 spot. Will be interesting to see if the newly crowned Test champions do better than their predecessors against a gritty Aussie unit at home. Will the young Aussie quicks make their mark against the might of Kallis, Amla, Smith and DeVilliers. Can the Aussie batsmen handle the Saffer pace Attack. And, also Will this series be the end for Ponting? 

Next up is Bangladesh vs West Indies, starting from November 13^th. Not necessarily a contest many people will be looking forward to. The T20 champs will be in the house for the first time since their victory. Can they come off their gangnaming and switch to Test Cricket Mode? Whereas Bangladesh, Can they finally convert potential to Victory? Seriously, No more minnow talk please.

And then, is the 2^nd big series. India vs England. A battle of two “Lions at home, Lambs overseas” teams. A battle of two former No. 1 teams. And also, a revenge series. Indians will not be pleased with anything less than 4-0, England will be pleased with even a 1-1. KP “Reintegrated” back into the English team, Yuvi might make a comeback to the Indian team and of course, Could this be Sachin’s retirement series? All these questions might put you into a “spin”, so tune in on 15^th November to find out the answers.

And finally, Its Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, starting from 17^th of November. The losing T20 WC finalists will be looking for some kind of redemption. New Zealand will be looking to win a test series against a team not named Zimbabwe or Bangladesh, for the first time since 2005. This is the only series for which the result looks a foregone conclusion, Sorry New Zealand.

So, November looks all set for some really good cricketing action, with quite possibly two legends hanging their boots (My Prediction). Next up, I’ll be giving my preview on The SA-Aus and Ind-Eng series. Ciao till then J

The Apple Google Conundrum

"The Google Apple war will be the defining battle of the industry", said Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, in a recent interview. Also, Gartner’s Q2 Mobile sales unit report suggests that in the past quarter, 64.1% of the mobile devices sold were running on Google’s Android compared to a relatively measly 18.8% running on Apple’s iOS. This is a huge disparity and a gap that I don’t expect Apple to close down anywhere in the near future.

This makes me wonder, is Apple vs Google really as big as it is being made out to be? The numbers clearly state otherwise with Android running over Apple, and it isn’t even close. Eric Schmidt also suggested that four android devices are sold for every apple device, and also, Android should be running on around a billion devices within a year. Apple may have won the patent war against Samsung, but I don’t see it running Google close in this war, unless it decides to let other devices use its iOS. India winning the Football World Cup has a better chance than that happening.

A more logical way of looking at this “battle” will be this –

• Apple’s iPhone will win the battle in terms of handset sales against most of the other providers, except for Samsung which might give it some tough competition.
• Apple’s iOS stands no chance of going head to head with Android.

Once Apple learns to live with the fact that there will never be an Apple Monopoly, and concentrates on making better products, minus the regular fiascos (Read antenna issues in iPhone 4 and the infamous iOS Maps in iPhone 5), the world will be a better place. And Google, It can just go on doing its thing, for it really has nothing to fear.

How Not to Waste Time in Meetings?

Meetings. There are two kinds of meetings, as BusinessDictionary.com puts it.

1) Organizational Meeting, i.e. Board Meetings and Annual General Meetings, mostly involving the Senior Management and Shareholders

2) Operational Meeting, i.e. the ad hoc meetings , involving the management and the employees.

Organizational meetings are essential, as they are responsible for giving direction and building strategy for the future growth of a firm. It is the Operational meetings, that I have a problem with.

I am sure there must have been a time for any working person, when he/she is sitting through a meeting, with their mind wandering away and thinking “What am I doing here”. Don’t worry, you are absolutely right to think that way, as you could indeed be sitting either at your own desk, doing some much more productive work or better, sleeping in your house.

Meetings take up an obscene amount of your working hours. Higher your position, more the time one spends in meetings. The issue being, this doesn’t just eat up your working hours, It extends it. Also, with increasing amount of time being wasted, one also ends up lagging behind their actual tasks for the day. This would eventually lead to another “review” meeting, and henceforth. A vicious cycle, which more often than not leads to reduction in productivity.

People often think that having a 2 hour meeting to review employees, delegate work, use business jargons and of course, fix the next meeting is extremely effective and gets the job done. But It doesn’t. I don’t mean to say that meetings are a strict no, but there are certain things that could be done better , giving the meetings an actual meaning.

- Do not invite people who are not expected to make any contribution to the meeting. 2 things that happen due to such invitees are, one, they just sit through the meeting happily biding away time and procrastinating their actual work. Two, they give their “expert” opinions, which more often than not leads to a muddled discussion.

- Set a time limit, Stick to it. Often, meetings do not have a set time schedule. They extend from minutes to hours, and even after that, there is no consensus reached. Isn’t it much better, if the meeting is scheduled for a fixed time limit, giving the attendees a proper chance to put across their points, rather than meandering aimlessly over 2-3 hours.

- Even if the agenda of the meeting is not met over the fixed time limit, end the meeting after the set time.

- Stick to the Agenda, and don’t include a number of topics to be discussed in the same meeting. This will automatically reduce the number of attendees and the time of the meeting.

- Do not review already discussed items for people turning up late. It was their fault and hence, let them regret it (Or do they?).

- Always go prepared to a meeting. This will ensure you don’t ramble , trying to make up points on the fly, and also that you finish your meeting on time.

- Strictly no phones, tablets, PDAs or laptops, except for the one being used for a presentation maybe. People interrupting or diverting their attention are not just disinterested, but they are also devaluing the meeting

- Address the expectation of the meeting right at the beginning, and finish it with a proper set of tasks assigned to the attendees. Make Every Meeting Count.

- Don’t dwell in the past. Do not discuss issues that had arisen in the previous meetings. It will only prolong the meeting without actually moving forward. Have a fresh start. Always.

It’s actually not hard. But, If these simple set of rules are followed, meetings will actually be productive and not just an excuse to while away time in Office. As I said earlier too, you could instead be sleeping in your own cozy bed. Take your pick people.

Happy Birthday Kallis

Jacques Kallis is 37 years and 1 day old today. He is most certainly in the twilight of his career, with perhaps two and a half more years left in his tank. But, as he himself proclaimed, he is probably in the form of his life and opposition must be afraid, very afraid. Being among my favourite players, I thought this would be a good time to have a look back at the value he has added to the South African team over the years, and of course, will continue adding in the coming few years.

Kallis, As a Batsman:

Cricketing experts often talk about how a batsman has to be “In the Zone”. If anyone wants to know what that exactly means, just watch a Jacques Kallis innings. Concentration personified. Among the contemporaries, only Rahul Dravid and Shivnarine Chanderpaul can lay claim to being as good as him in this aspect. His expressionless face while batting, especially in tests, almost gives you the impression that he is bored of blunting down the bowling attacks that are thrown at him. But, that is just him being In the Zone. 24000 runs and 60 centuries at the international level, a testimony to his concentration prowess. For the kind of batsman Kallis is, it is pretty hard to digest that he has scored just two doubles in tests, first of which came only in 2010. I predict a few more in the coming years though.

Kallis, As a Bowler :

Running in at 37 years of age, bowling consistently at around 140 kmph is in itself worth massive respect. Kallis, known for his deceptively quick bouncers has been South Africa’s 3rd/ 4th seamer right from 1996. For a team which has given us bowlers like Allan Donald, Brian McMillan, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and the current phenomenon, Vernon Philander, it is a tremendous achievement to be able to hang out with them, in addition to shouldering the bulk of batting responsibilities. He has 550 international wickets to his name, which clearly suggests he is good enough to be even the 2nd/3rd seamer for most international sides in cricket. Maybe, even the lead seamer.

Kallis, As an All-Rounder:

Time to give a close look at stats. Kallis has 12500 runs in Test cricket. Pretty close to Sachin, Ponting and Dravid , and more than Lara, Jayawardena, Allan Border and Steve Waugh.

Kallis has 270 test wickets. Hanging out with likes of Steyn, Anderson, Zaheer Khan among contemporaries and Alec Bedser, Derek Underwood, Joel Garner among the legends.

He has 187 catches in test cricket, hanging out with players like Dravid, Ponting, Jayawardena, Mark Waugh etc, among the best slippers.

That would mean, you put a Ponting, Zaheer Khan and Jayawardena together, you get Jacques Kallis. That’s the colossal value a player like Kallis adds to the South African team.

If numbers were the sole measure of greatness in Cricket, Jacques Kallis is untouchable. He is undoubtedly the greatest cricketer to have set foot on planet earth. Though, that might be a bit exaggerated, Kallis is quite easily the best all-rounder of this generation, and also one of the legends of the game.

Yess !! I am the best !!

Best Allrounder ever? There is a raging debate on whether he is as good as Sir Garfield Sobers. Different people have different opinions on this. Personally, by the time Kallis hangs his boots, he might just sneak ahead of Sobers in the race to the title. He is just that damn good.

Strangelets - Dangerously Strange !!

Strangelets. That would sound strange to most of you, but what If I told you it could be one of the less realistic doomsday scenario. Less realistic, but realistic alright. I wasn’t aware of these strange particles till recently, when I came across it in one of my random Internet searches.

So, what are Strangelets? They are fragments of “strange matter”, which is a hypothetical form of quark (i.e. fundamental constituent of matter) matter, that contains an equal number of up, down and strange quarks. It is also supposedly more stable than an ordinary nuclei.

How is it possibly dangerous? Strangelets are created at low energies and are stable only at low temperatures. Though particle accelerators like CERN’s Large Hadron Collider operate at very higher energies than any previous similar attempts, there still might be a possibility of Strangelet creation within the collider. This strangelet or “strange matter” when comes in contact with a nucleus, It gets converted into strange matter as well. Though, the strange matter decays in microseconds, In ideal, suitable conditions, this would give way to a chain reaction where everything the strangelet comes in contact with , turns into strange matter. This will continue till the entire earth turns into one huge lump of strange matter.

Artist's impression of how a Strange Earth could look like

As far-fetched as it may sound, Scientists believe it is theoretically possible. Scientists also believe that a Strangelet Earth will not have conditions hospitable enough for human life to survive. So, In future, If you find something strange about the terrain around you, book your tickets and shoot your way to the Moon.

P.S - Apologies for any scientific inaccuracies. 

Rahul Dravid - The Legend who wasn't

Exhibit A: October 2004: Nagpur – India

India vs Australia, on a green pitch. Yes, the very same game in which Saurav Ganguly famously sat out. India were 70 odd with 4 down, Rahul Dravid and Mohammed Kaif slugging it out against a marauding Glenn McGrath. During the course of partnership, Dravid, who himself was struggling for form, apparently said to Kaif, that he will face McGrath from this end, and let Kaif face the relatively easier Warne. Reason – Him being the senior player, he felt he had the experience to handle McGrath, and if they saw through this mini session, they had a chance of building a good partnership. Dravid eventually was caught at first slip of McGrath after 6 consecutive maidens. The scorecard would show an ugly 21 of 140 balls, but there was much more to the innings than just Strike Rate.

Exhibit B: July 2006 – Sabina Park –Kingston, Jamaica

India vs West Indies, on a minefield of a pitch. The pitch was 2 paced, variable bounce and everything else that made a pitch nearly unplayable. Wickets were tumbling for fun. In a pitch where everyone failed, there was one certain Rahul Dravid, who carved out a couple of epic half centuries , 81 and 68.  And In the end, India managed to post a comprehensive victory by 49 runs, and hence post their first series win in the West Indies since 1971.

Exhibit C: August 2011 – England

After a 4-0 drubbing and a spate of Injuries, It was time for the ODI series. India were hoping to redeem themselves. The ODI squad was announced, and surprise !! Rahul Dravid was named in the squad. Dravid was dropped rather unceremoniously from the ODI set up in 2007, and had been recalled and dropped at will henceforth a couple of times. For the treatment meted out to him by the selectors, he had every right to not play the ODI series. But, being the Gentleman he is, he duly accepted the selection and announced retirement from ODI’s effective from after the series.

Rahul Dravid is remembered for quite a few memorable innings, spread across his illustrious career, but the above mentioned are some of the main reasons why he will be missed by Indian Cricket, and even Cricket as a whole. Dravid was not just a cricketer, he was a model cricketer.

I personally feel it would diminish his legacy if he is remembered only for his monumental innings, and his amazing exploits overseas for India. Great players score heaps of runs, pick up hoards of wickets. Legends do much more. Dravid is a Legend. His contribution towards Indian cricket goes way beyond the 22,000 runs he has scored or the hundreds of catches he has pouched. Right from keeping wickets to give the team that 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers balance, which continues till date, to selflessly opening the innings in England because Gambhir was injured.

Even his retirement was typical of the man. He was not someone who enjoyed much fanfare and adulation. For all he had done for Indian cricket, he deserved a retirement match, played before a full crowd, with him walking back to the pavilion one final time amidst huge applause and a standing ovation. But Dravid decided to call it a day, few weeks after the Australian tour through a press conference. He realized age was not on his side, and following the 2 disastrous overseas tour, it was time to blood youngsters. He could have played one more match, but as he himself said, It did not make sense to him.

There will always be the debate on where does Rahul Dravid stand among the greatest batsmen of all time. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch some of the all time greats like Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Len Hutton, Everton Weekes, Javed Miandad etc , but I am quite certain Dravid was good enough to be able to hang out with these legends.  Among the contemporary greats, Dravid would be right in the upper echelon, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis.

The next big question to have arisen post his retirement, Who will be the next Rahul Dravid? For which, I would like to say , there will be no next Rahul Dravid. Yes, India will find a new No.3 batsman, they almost have in Cheteshwar Pujara, who will be big for Indian Test Cricket in the coming years. But, No one can replace the man Rahul Dravid.

Thank You Rahul Dravid for leaving behind a legacy that has enriched the game. You will be missed.

This Blog FTW !!!

Internet Lingo. It is a language created by and for the netizens to be able to convey their emotions with a few keystrokes. It started off small and with a purpose, but it has expanded to gargantuan proportions. Big enough for Oxford to consider mass-printing a Lingotionary.

Certain abbreviations though have become so redundant, that people often use them just for the lulz (more on that later), and they actually might mean something slightly different from what it is intended to mean.

So, here is looking at certain commonly used lingos and their actual meanings

LOL – Laugh Out Loud (OR) your joke was not funny. Can also be used to end conversations.

ROFL – Rolling on the floor laughing (OR) Alright, you tried, Full marks for the attempt

LMAO – Laughing my Ass out (OR) That was a decent joke, and I think I smirked

ROFLMAO – Rolling on the floor laughing my Ass out (OR) Good one, my facial muscles had a mini workout.

AFK – Away from Keyboard (OR) I got bored midway into our conversation, and hence did not bother replying OR I am a gamer

OMG – Oh my God (OR) I’ve seen it before, but you posted it, so OMG

<3 – Heart , Love (OR) No, this doesn’t mean I Love you, It just means I am cute. Ok, trying to be cute.

BRB – Be Right Back (OR) Why am I talking to you?

BFF – Best Friends Forever (OR) you are my bestestestest buddy, What would I have done without you in my life … Yea Right !!

TTYL – Talk To You Later (OR) See you next summer, you Idiot.

FTW – For The Win (OR) My Team is better than yours, and We will win (Team can be replaced by your favourite player, favourite song, movie, or absolutely anything else that is YOUR favourite)

ILY – I love you (OR) Actually I don’t, but I don’t want to make you feel bad *smirks*

IMHO – In my humble opinion (OR) YOU ARE WRONG AND YOU ARE AN IDIOT.

K – Okay (OR) I am done talking with you.

MWAH – Kiss (OR) This is the closest you will get to being kissed.

N1 – Nice One (OR) I am trying to be good to you, but don’t post such crap again.

OTP – On the Phone (OR) just another excuse to not talk with you

RT – Retweet (OR) I am a nice guy, I always give reference while copying.

SRSLY – Seriously (OR) I am too cool to type 4 more letters.

TC – Take Care (OR) Good Riddance.

XOXO – Hugs and Kisses (OR) I don’t have anything else to reply, but this is the Internet, I have to look cool

Lulz – Slang for LOL (OR) Seriously,, Even for LOL ?? *facepalm*

So, Next time you get LOLed or OTPed while having a friendly chat, this tutorial might come in handy to know what they are actually emoting. Alright then. GTG.  BFN ppl . Oh, Sorry. That would be, Alright then, Got to Go.  Bye for Now people.