Inspiration!

So after all the sessions and advertisements for voting, only 46 percent people voted from Pune. Mumbai also paints a similar voter turn-out picture. Seems people liked the ‘Jaago Re’ (wake up) campaign but decided to sleep over the polls. Initially I went to the wrong polling booth after reading half part of the address and mumbling “Ah! I know it”. Later I walked to the correct one as the parking lot was full and it would have been stupid to vacate my space and later finding no space at the new location. If there were so many vehicles, how come only 46% turn-out?? I noticed that last time there were far many (seemingly) educated people out there standing in queues to cast their votes. This time it was more of the lower class out there. Or at least that is what I felt. The most bizarre thing was when I showed my index finger to the lady who was applying ink, she demanded the middle one. Middle one? I wondered about the advertisement which urged youngsters to be proud to show the inked index finger rather than showing the middle one to the administration. I met a colleague on the way out and she said that photographs were being taken at her booth with the middle finger up showing the ink. Ha ha ha! A few days back the Mumbai election photographs showed many celebrities showing off their middle fingers. And some were laughing too. Anyways, 16^th May will decide the winners and I hope that competent contestants do win.

A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader; a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.

Are you interested in cricket? Yes. Are you watching IPL? Yes. In case you have the answers as no then you are missing it big time. The point table is getting topsy-turvy with every match. It is really getting very difficult to predict the winner. I am rooting for Mumbai Indians like last time and sadly my team is sitting at 7^th spot out of the 8 teams. Sad indeed. Sigh! I am hoping against hope that they bounce back to form and win all the remaining matches to enter the semi finals stage. Sample these conversations in our company:

Guy1: It amazes me that Yusuf Pathan is a match winner in the IPL matches but when he plays for India he hardly scores.

Guy2: Well there is a very important reason behind it. The reason is ‘inspiration’.

Guy1: Hmm.. Shane Warne is a good captain.

Guy2: Nah! Shilpa Shetty is sexy. She makes everyone do her yoga thingie watching the DVD and the match winner gets to do a personal yoga session after the match. Carrots and stick approach, simple.

Guy1: Ha ha! Then why did the team lose the initial matches?

Guy2: Shilpa took her sister along with to South Africa and the guys got scared. But the baboons were not.

Guy1: Have you seen how sloppy is KKR’s fielding?

Guy2: Yeah, lack of inspiration.

Guy1: Hmm.. The captain himself has butterfingers.

Guy2: Nah! The team owner. Look at other teams like Punjab and Rajasthan. They get nice hugs after the matches. Remember how a guy had cried out on the field last year just because he did not get a hug. Incentives matter a lot. Are we working now? No. Why? Lack of incentives. Lack of inspiration. Simple.

Any sort of resemblance of guy2 with the blog owner is a mere co-incidence. Today’s match is between Mumbai Indians (my team) and Delhi Daredevils (wifey’s team). Looking at the current form of players of both teams, her team is going to thrash my team it seems. If her team wins I will have to cook the dinner and if my team wins then I will have to sleep on the couch. A contra-win-win situation eh? Quite an inspirational thought to leave for home.

Bull’s eye or Bull Shit?

(Had written this when the Games ended but was in Drafts till now)

2008 Olympics has been wrapped up. Beijing had its share of highs and lows and London is gearing up to match the set standards. Someone said over lunch that India might get to host the one in 2020 to which someone else countered that “The Commonwealth Games are a few months away and see the condition of the roads. How can India build a roadmap to Olympics if we can’t maintain our roads?” The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the authorities concerned with road development has (or rather had) taken up the task of cementing all roads leading up to the Commonwealth Games venue here and to sum up the status and situation of the task in one word will be ‘pathetic’. It was expected that the repairs work will be over before the monsoons hit Pune and the 10 km patch which I use for travelling to and from office does not have a single road which has been completed. Where ever one goes the roads are dug up, the rains (this year they were below normal) have added to the misery of the commuters and no one from the governing body really cares about this.

So what do the authorities care about, you ask? Well they care about our Olympic gold medalist Mr. Abhinav Bindra. I am really happy and proud of the fact that India has bagged 3 medals (1 gold and 2 bronze) this time but I am rather amused at the 15 lakhs award for Bindra by the PMC. Let me make it clear that I am happy to know that Mr. Mittal has come forward to help Bindra and much more happy that in a cricket crazy nation even the Cricket Board has awarded the shooter. But PMC?? It is good that his state awards him; it is fine that other states including Maharashtra are awarding him but why the hell the PMC, when they have so many right areas where money needs to be put into for the citizens. Anyone please enlighten me if there is some plausible explanation for this. Drawing attention to the Commonwealth Games being hosted here might be one reason I can think of. Whatever the reason might be but it goes from the tax we all are paying, right?

I just hope that the athletes coming here from all over the world don’t find this place bull shit just due to the apathetic behaviour of the PMC and all involved in the hosting.

Tee-Tee time

Updates from the company Table Tennis matches:

Lost Doubles in first round 11-6, 11-8
Won Singles first round 5-11, 11-6, 11-6

Lost in second round against a state champion he he... 21-8, 21-8

*sigh*

This is the tee design on the front side by our group. The backside reads 'All for one, one for all'. The theme we selected from the options was One World, One Culture. I will upload more pics soon; and lots of other pics pending to be uploaded as well.

Have a great weekend folks :-)

Amnesia

Nothing could be better on a rather dull day than to receive a mail from the cute HR girl declaring the company Table Tennis tournament this month and then me remembering the last post and the ensuing fracas on it and then having a nice laugh. O Navdy babes, where art thou? Memories and more memories! Don’t we live for such times? :-)

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose - The Wonder Years

This year I have registered for the T-shirt painting competition as well. I wanted to take part in the singing one as well but these vocal cords in our entire family I tell you *sigh* :D

Yesterday it poured here heavily throughout the evening. Did I tell you I love rain and hate it as well? No? Ok then forget it. It is time for the colourful umbrellas and raincoats to put some colour on the city streets.

I completely forgot that this space completed 3 years of existence in January. Wishing It's MY Space a belated happy birthday. The first two anniversaries are here and here. The reason I remembered this was a post by a blogger completing 1 year in the blogsville. So thanks to that girl, who will probably never come here to read this. I have started loving her posts and I really look forward to them popping up on my reader. I also love the fact that she posts regularly. There was one time when I used to drop in here regularly. Did I mention memories?
Memory is what tells a man that his wife's birthday was yesterday - Mario Rocco

My blogger dashboard tells me that this is my 251st post.

Maa(r) ki bhasha

Move over reality shows; IPL is here to bring the TRPs’ down for the tear-jerky soaps and song-and-dance shows. But IPL is itself turning out to be a huge reality show; agreed it is ‘real’ but it is becoming more of a show these days. Where is cricket you ask? Well cricket is definitely there but the media attention is more on the stuff that sells in public and cricket for sure takes a backseat in this. Harbhajan’s tight slap to Sreesanth, the we-are-the-moral-police brigade hitting it out at the teeny-weeny costumes of cheerleaders, racism accusations within the cheer-girls squads, public spat between the team owners and team captains, ICC code-abuse with owners in players’ dressing rooms etc. IPL has been there, done that and seen all.

After watching a weeping Sreesanth on TV I really thought that he was crying ‘coz his team owner Preity Zinta had hugged Yuvraj and not him ha ha. But later the news trickled in through the news channels that Bhajji had hit him just after the match. How could Harbhajan Singh walk away with just… JUST… a 5 international matches ban? Yeah I agree he lost 3 crores for not playing in the remaining 11 matches for IPL but that was not enough for a person whom we all (probably all) supported during his racial-abuse allegation in Australia. After this incident I doubt whether I was right in showing my support to this guy who after the whole fracas stays calm and says to the media “It is a family matter please don’t interfere”. BCCI with all its money power had (definitely had) turned the Aussie incident in Bhajji’s favour and had set a very wrong precedent in doing so. After all the ‘we-are-still-brothers’ hugs and photo-ops I feel that 5 match ban was a very shoddy display by the BCCI… shoddier than the Bangalore and Hyderabad defeats. Harsha Bhogle had written a nice article in his Indian Express column, on this issue (will put up a link if I get it).

Initially when the IPL started off with a spectacular opening ceremony I checked the teams and was uninterested ‘coz it was hard to fight over national pride and root for a regional team especially when your favourite players are playing in different teams. But 2 days into IPL I was (and still am) rooting for Mumbai Indians. The basic concept of IPL (apart from the players and organizers drawing in huge moolah) is people rooting for their regional teams and not donning national colours for support. Such concept is more likeable by people akin to Raj Thakarey. Seems Yuvraj (captain of Mohali team) has not understood this when he complained that the Mumbai people were not supporting his team even when the team had our national team players. Aawww… I feel so sorry for this poor a$$hole. Especially when his team has advanced to semi-finals stage with the help of international players like Sangakarra, Pomersbach, Shaun Marsh etc. and he has not played well in any match so far. I feel happy that I never supported Mohali team (and I don’t like Preity Zinta as well); and even though Mumbai Indians didn’t reach the semi-finals stage I am glad I was rooting for a team which had players like Tendulkar, Jayasurya and Pollock who defied the T20-is-for-young-players tag and played well with all matches reaching a nail-biting finish. I should have supported Royal Challengers too for Katrina Kaif (latest Desktop Goddess) ;-), but then team owner Vijay Mallya, the beer baron, probably had all his players drunk before the matches and the team was defeated tamely on many occasions. Or else he did not get the Kingfisher models, we see on his calendar, out in the stadium to woo the other team players and distract them :D. One thing I don’t like about most of the teams is their dress colour… Jaipur team’s colours are the best I feel… easy on eyes.

IHL (Indian Hockey League) was a great attempt to revive the dying support for hockey and find budding players. IPL has outclassed IHL for mainly 2 reasons, loads of money involved and cricket being a more favourite sport than hockey. The national game might have gone for a toss but IPL is here to stay baby and it definitely is in. In case you might want to check the different sites of the teams...

Chennai Super Kings (Chennai)
Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad)
Delhi Daredevils (Delhi)
Kings XI Punjab (Mohali)
Kolkatta Knight Riders (Kolkatta)
Mumbai Indians (Mumbai)
Rajasthan Royals (Jaipur)

Royal Challengers (Bangalore)

FINAL(ly)

This is what everyone in India was waiting to see.. the World Cup in our hands. Kudos to both the teams for a thrilling final. The shortest version of cricket has been conquered by beating Pakistan by just 5 runs. Now the Indian team faces their next test on the homegrounds with the Aussies visiting for the 50-over version. Woohoo!!! :-)

Slam, bam, bang!!

Sweet? Salty? Na re na na.. 50-50

This simple ad jingle of this Britannia biscuit is still one of my favourites and the biscuit as well. But nowadays the talk of the town.. err.. world is 20-20. If you are not into cricket let me tell you that this is not a brand of biscuit but the new version of limited bowling overs (20 overs each side) in cricket and the world cup is currently underway in South Africa. After the major Indian debacle in the 50 over world cup contest I had lost interest in watching cricket but this version of game has sort of rekindled the love. 20-20 is definitely an attempt to make cricket endearing to those sect of people who think it takes a long time to finish one match. Football, rugby, hockey etc take hardly a few hours while the 50 over matches take up the whole day and let’s not talk of test matches which go on over 5 days and that too mostly end in a tie. 20-20 match takes only 3 hours to get done with. I remember a conversation with my college friend Rohan, who is a die-hard football fan. During one practical class he was going ga-ga over the previous night’s match and I retorted that the score line was 0-0 so what was so interesting about the match. He said that the attack and defense that both teams put forth was worth watching. Now I am of the opinion that a game should be entertaining because I would love to play football no matter if it ends in a 0-0 result but if I am watching it then I should be entertained in form of goals. In cricket I don’t care if a batsman defends a ball well or the bowler swings the ball to perfection coz what I want to see is wickets, sixes, boundaries.. so match highlights is the best option. But 20-20 is the thing which provides all this stuff I want and I have started loving it.

Yesterday one cricket legend wrote in his column that 20-20 is detrimental to the game of cricket as it is a batsman’s game and fielders are mere spectators looking at the ball sailing over the stadium. I agree but might be this form is in a nascent stage, so a few modifications to it might improve it and it will be more acceptable and lovable format in cricket. India-Pakistan match never fails to arouse excitement and the one last week also lived up to its expectations. Had it been a 50 over match it would have ended in a nail-biting tie but the new bowl-out rule turned the same nail-biting finish into a finger-biting one (if I may use the word). Who had thought that castling over the stumps without a batsman in front of them can turn out so difficult that Pakistan couldn’t manage even a single hit? Many a times matches being played on a neutral venue can tend to become boring due to lack of spectators of the host nation but in 20-20 crowds are thronging to watch the blitzkrieg launched by batsmen and also the DJ and the dancing troupe have a lot of activity to keep the crowd on their toes. Cricket purists say that the dancers should not be brought in this so-called gentleman’s game (sledging is part of being a gentleman :D). I have started agreeing with them coz they are deceiving us. Last week the dancers were wearing Jiah-styled (of Nishabd fame) teeny-weeny shorts and suddenly this week they switched to ankle length commando pants. WTH! Lol.. my cousin bro during a match said that the dancers were dancing on a platform by Reliance (a highly reputed Indian company) and I was busy looking at the blondes shaking their booty (literally). Who had the time to look at Reliance label? Entertainment is the word. That is why I love watching women’s tennis as well even though many say it is slow and boring. Where would you get to see good tennis with such beautiful faces? How can it be boring.. Maria was resplendent in her red hot dress last month. May I request Star Cricket to stop Hindi commentators from boring the TV spectators to death and cutting down the commercials between the overs? Anyways, I leave you with a video of Yuvraj Singh hitting six sixes in a single over in yesterday’s encounter with England.

Have a good day all of you.. ohh that is also one of my favourite biscuits :D

hey.. 'sup?

A glance at what is out and what is in these days:

Summer season

Rainy season

The rains have just started and though the city (and major portion of the country) got respite from the summer heat, the rains will ensure that the citizens beg for sunlight again.

24-hours power supply & Traffic jams at peak hours

Unexpected and long power cuts & Traffic snarls at any hour of the day

I guess these come along with the rains :(

Serena’s beads/Maria’s long ear-rings

Tatiana’s red knickers

The bright red knickers are the talk of the tennis world. At least I am not complaining :D. I like watching cricket and not playing it, while I love playing tennis and not watching it that much. But some things like this (of course along with some amazing matches) sure have me hooked to TV way past midnight :))

Attrition

Termination

Well attrition is not really out but termination is sure the in thing nowadays. Till date 8 people got sacked at my workplace and it seems more are in line. I am not kidding but I would love to get fired. I want a full year off.. :)

Routine work

New challenges (assignment)

Apart from the routine projects I have been assigned with the marketing team to get new clients for the company. So I am now selling the company.. err though I would love to do that but right now it is just the company services. It is an interesting job to make calls to Europe and I have had a few ‘nice’ experiences in last 3-4 days which I will write later. What I can learn from this cold-calling job is an insight to marketing field and probably I will start loving the phone coz it is difficult for me, who dislikes long phone conversations, to talk continuously on phone and with a rough voice it is also quite difficult to sound polite. I am learning..

Freedom

Restrictions

2 months of living almost alone and dropping off the garbs in the closed confines of house was really nice. [I am not preaching nudism here but a way to beat summer :)] But suddenly the unexpected buzz of activity and the untold yet to-be-followed restrictions has caught me off guard and I am suddenly disenchanted.

Being an actor

Being a farmer

A few things to learn from Big B and Amir Khan is that being a farmer is better than being an actor so that land-grabbing (near Pune city) cases get dropped off automatically.

Old client contact

New client contact

The client contact with whom I was interacting with for the past 2 years in this company, as a resource earlier and then as a lead, has been given a different responsibility in the client company and one of my ex-colleagues is now the new contact person for my team. I share a good relationship with this new guy as well but the earlier person would be a special man for me coz I have been working with him since my first day here and he is a very knowledgeable person who knows how to work as well as party. I will definitely miss him.

Well this can go on and on.. I wonder then when someone asks 'what’s new in life?' why do I just say ‘Nothing new.. the same old routine’ *thinking smiley*

Wanted - Hot gal with cool sunglasses! :D

2 days back as I was waiting at the Sangam Bridge signal on way to office saw a few school children standing across holding placards in their hands. The boards were in marathi language n I take longer time to read marathi in devnagari script than in English script thnx to the innumerable sessions of chatting. I was trying to figure out wht was written frm a long distance but couldn’t do so apart frm noticing a few exclamation marks. The signal turned green n the curious cat in me glanced sideways to read the banner. I just finished reading half of it n THUD!! I almost fell down in a big pothole in the middle of the road.. not middle it had covered the whole road. Guess wht was written on the placard.. Pudhe khadda aahe!! Vahane hallu chalva! which translated means Pothole ahead!! Drive slowly!. I was not hurt but tht pothole sure shook some of the vertebrae down the spinal cord. Tht is just one of the innumerable potholes here n every rainy season Pune is compared to the moon drawing a comparison of the potholes and craters over there. I wont be saying again n again tht the corporation sucks but it indeed is a gr8 effort by the students of school to come forward n help citizens (not by making them bump of course). Also a few IT companies’ employees have started manning traffic signals in peak hours while the pot-bellied policemen take a siesta. It is tht time of the year when u sport ur sexy sunglasses to hang around n not to move. If at all u have to move prepare urself for a roller-coaster ride.. woooohhooooo!!!

In the previous post, many said tht it is a passing phase n also the ‘grass is greener on other side’ feeling. I agree to tht, but yet I would like to say tht blaming engineering does not mean I did not enjoy those four years. It was one of the best phases of my life. Apart frm the gud frnds I made in this time I value these four years as discovering myself. I was not shy but introvert by nature in school. But conscious efforts frm my side n a nice grp of frnds has definitely transformed me into an extrovert. Not tht I was not social earlier but there has been a distinct transformation in me in a positive way. So for some of u .. engineering is gud.. fine? Now u can sleep peacefully :P. Also, someone pointed tht I need to find a gal so tht I won’t be stressed.. lollzz. I would luv to take this advice n start searching for a gal. But being lazy I would prefer to print some ads’ n let the gal come over here instead :D Any creative lines.. not pickup lines.. for the ads’ are welcome.. he he. My tennis partner Kunal is leaving for US this weekend to pursue higher studies. So tht means ‘The Sunday Tennis’ comes to an end until I find a new partner. Also, a few frnd frm my grp already left abroad in the past two weeks or so. Now m seriously wondering wht I would be doing over the weekend n whom to hang out with. Whts the use of sexy sunglasses if u don’t have anyone to hang out with.. lol. I guess the ‘gal’ thing shld be seriously considered now. Don’t be surprised if u get to see hoardings for the gal-search all over Pune. I will keep in mind to make those in english n not in marathi otherwise I will be the first one to take a tumble again.. ha ha.

Watched ‘The Game’ movie over last 2-3 days. It features Michael Douglas, don’t know if it is new or old. But if tht thing (a prank) happens to someone in real life, I doubt he will survive till the end.. the movie’s end not his end. I got myself new headphones in office.. the earlier ones had started to function well again suddenly but again gave problems last week. For a few reasons I have fallen in luv with 2 songs right now. They have been playing in loop since a few days. One is Lucky Ali’s Tu Kaun Hai and other one Pyaar Ke Naam by Bombay Vikings. Interestingly, both songs when used in movies are more melodious. I guess m correct or it’s only me thinking tht way. A few lines of the first song are:

Kahaan se tu aati hain kahaan ko tu jaati hain
Sapnon ko sajaati hain apnon ko le jaati hain
Baagon mein jab behti hain kaanon mein kuch kehti hain
Aati hain nazar nahin saanson mein par rehti hain
Hawa hain pawan hain vayu hain purwai hain
Jeevan hain jaan hain ya parchai hain
Dene aayi hain ya kuch mere liye layi hain
Puchu na main kya tuzhse kahanse tu aayi, tu kaun hain

Tu kaun hain Tu kaun hain Tu kaun hain

The *tu kaun hain* line doesnt fail to make me think every time i hear it. The second song’s lyrics are put up in the scrolling line on header. Have a superb weekend all of u!

Testing waters!

It is so easy to copy if u are made to sit tht close in exams and tht too besides such a ‘helpful’ partner. The day before the exam I had casually glanced at how much each student had covered and then decided to sit besides a guy, who I felt had done his homework well enough. On the day of the exam I luckily managed to come a few minutes before the scheduled paper n luckily I see one chair besides him is vacant. I scurried my way to tht chair n as soon as I sat there, the teacher felt something fishy n ordered me to occupy the vacant chair next to the whiteboard in the conference room. Now the word teacher might give u an idea of an old, fat lady with specs n a cane/ruler in hand but this teacher is just around 2-3 yrs elder to me n I have worked with her on a previous project too, but it is impossible to argue when u r a student there n not a frnd. Anyways I had to move my ass over to tht chair n then began the ordeal when the papers were distributed. Luckily the questions were objective (some with alternatives too) but the topics which I had done well were asked for half mark.. yeah a mere half mark each question n the ones which I thought were not deserving enough to be studied were for two marks each. There I was left stranded with another guy sitting next to me who knew more than me but I was sure he was a dumbo.

So whatever he wrote or selected from the options I did just the opposite.. he he. Guess what, I scored 80 out of 100 n tht guy was the lowest with marks in some fifties. The first guy who I thought was the studious of the whole lot got a whooping 97. The top three scorers were made to give the whole class a party.. now tht shifting of chairs was a blessing in disguise ;)

Zidane n Materazzi have been banned n fined but this historical moment in the world cup has been the source n inspiration of many mails nowadays. On an average 2 out of 10 mails are on this topic. One mail says tht Materazzi asked Zidane “Bhaiyya hum Chloromint kyun khate hain” on a very famous ad on Indian television or then another shows a gif image how Zidane actually meant to save Materazzi from a bullet, aimed at him, in true heroic style. But the best was tht just within 2 days of the incident (even before I finished sulking ‘bout my prediction gone wrong) some person came out with this stuff. One can be in Zizou’s place in this small game n head butt not one but many Materazzis’. Even if u r fan of Italy, u can enjoy the game n hey in the end Zidane gets a red card not you :). Don’t play so much tht u go out on the street n start head butting everyone…have a gr8 weekend.

EDIT: The Prez has received a threatening letter. I am scared! :D

Tarun Johri in record books!

I haven’t met any guy who lives with gals wearing skimpy clothes but last Saturday had the privilege to meet a fellow blogger, Tarun. He had come down to Pune frm Gujarat to catch up with his classmates. U can read more of his trip n the short meeting in his post n see the pics too on his flickr accnt. This was the first time I met someone in person thro’ blogs n trust me it is a gr8 feeling to see someone in person whom u know online n read ‘bout their life on their blogs. Going by the last post it was a horrible time exchanging our mobile nos coz of the blocked sites. He didn’t know my official id n I wasn’t aware tht he was coming to Pune over the weekend. Luckily on Saturday, one of the proxies worked n I could access gmail where Tarun had left his mobile number n so I could contact him n met up at McD for ‘bout half an hour coz ltrz he had to go out for dinner with frnds n I had to catch up with the football match with my college frnds. Though the meeting was short it was a nice time spent :). So now who is next on the list? :D

This week I was really feeling to leave the house n make a TV selling shop my abode. With so many things to watch at one time, it is impossible to get it all on one screen. Football WC, Wimbledon, Formula 1 n India beating WI in the test match… now why didn’t my dad get me a TV shop instead of making me study n getting into this job :( . Ofcourse if I go n ask him this then definitely my television privileges will be revoked too. So better I rant it off here itself. Btw, my prediction tht France will defeat Italy 2-1 in the finals is almost coming true. Lets see how my fav team plays tonight. Meanwhile last night my mom almost killed me after Germany lost coz she was supporting them just coz she has finished a course in German language a few mths back n I was rooting for Italy.

I too have some questions like Sean (but these r not imaginary like some of his ques). When Mumbai (capital of the state) had already suffered last yr due to the heavy downpour why didn’t the authorities make arrangements this time to drain the water? Don’t they know how jealous we ppl in Pune feel when they get holidays on the pretext of blocked roads? I m kidding but all u ppl living in Mumbai tk care of urself n ur dear ones. Why no spam comment is registered on the blog when I have my gmail id in the mail-comments section n as soon as I put in my office id all sorts of spam start pouring?

P.S.: If anyone knows a guy (other than Hugh Hefner or Vijay Mallya) living with scantily clad females pls let me know. I want some tips frm him :P

Take it sportingly :)

South African team celebrating

12th March 2006 will definitely be written in Golden letters in sports history n I was lucky enough to be a witness to tht. South Africa beat the world champions Australia in the final one-day cricket match to clinch the series 3-2. Tht itself is big n wht makes it bigger is the score they chased. Australia had put on 434 runs on the scoreboard n such a huge score is unassailable in all terms of cricket. But, the SAFs’ proved it wrong n came up with 438 which included a scintillating display of strokeplay n superb catches. I m not gud at match analysis, so if u want to read a in-depth analysis visit Tarun’s blog. I m sure he will write on it (or might have already published it). Read Harshal’s blog for Formula 1 scenario. He has a gud post on the new championship race with info on all teams. Yesterday’s race confirmed Renault’s emerging domination but Schumi’s fans r happy to see the Red colour back on the podium.

Sunday was overall a gr8 day for sports lovers. Aust-SA cricket one-day match, F1 season’s first race, Arsenal-Liverpool showdown n India-England Test match… one should have a TV showroom to see all this at one time. Doordarshan (DD), our government channel proved once again tht it is very pathetic to watch. Has anyone watched ‘Aankhein’ on DD? Might be more bashing on this some other day. But, when it comes to showing highlights DD does not know the difference between highlights and live match. TV audience wants to see how wickets fell and how the batsmen blasted the bowlers. They don’t expect to see how a captain sets his field and how a batsman waits for the 12th man to bring him a spare pair of gloves.

Rahul Dravid (India’s captain) is setting the field according to bowler Irfan Pathan’s need. DD zooms in the camera on both of them get close to decide on whom to set on which position. The conversation caught is courtesy lip-reading skills…

IP: It is hot today.
RD: (eyeing suspiciously) Were u watching Brokeback Mountain last night in the hotel when rest of us were busy watching dancers in the strip-club?
IP: Stupid! I am talking about the atmosphere. I was practising on bowling last nite. Wht ‘bout the fielding strategy?
RD: I don’t think we will need it. Look at both the batsmen. They are not gonna keep their eyes on the ball u bowl.
IP: Wht makes u think like tht?
RD: The batsmen r staring at our wicketkeeper Dhoni. They think tht we have a gal as wicketkeeper. Long hair is definitely beneficial to the team.
IP: (sad smile) Yeah! Girls r going crazy ‘bout his locks. I seem to have lost the title of Most Eligible Bachelor to him. U know after the incident of the 2 gals who had come to my house for marrying me, no one has yet knocked my door. Even the count of fan mails has fallen down. Parthiv (ex-wicketkeeper) was better. He even carried our entire luggage and we could hit him in frustration when we used to lose a match.
RD: I m still wondering why the gals who had come to ur house did not …
IP: (cuts him off) Are Harbhajan and Laxman again fighting?
RD: Where? I can’t see them. My eye-sight is getting weaker day by day. I had told my parents tht I wanted to marry an ophthalmologist but they forced me to marry a General Practitioner.
IP: (points in tht dirn) There… they r fighting ever since tht Ganguly issue raked up.
RD: Hmmm… Greg (coach) is a dumbo. Ganguly is earning so much through advertisements and might feature in some movies also. Yet Greg said tht Ganguly wanted to remain captain for financial reasons.
IP: I am wondering wht will happen of all the established players if Greg keeps on experimenting the team n bringing in new faces.
RD: Thts why I have started to play fast nowadays. Wasim Jaffer plays even slower than me. When I play along with Wasim, I feel like I m Dhoni blasting the bowlers at the rate of 2 runs per over. Time to re-read Who Moved My Cheese?
IP: Hmmm… U know why I didn’t come to the strip-club yesterday. I was busy teaching ‘Bhangra’ to Greg. He said he didn’t look gud in the news channels last time doing the bhangra jig.
RD: But wht has to do with ur bowling?
IP: Not with bowling but it has to do with my place in the team. Munaf Patel also bowls pretty well.
RD: Ohh!! I forgot tht newbie.
IP: Shall we send Kumble near the boundary line?
RD: Yeah.. we will give him rest till he retires.
IP: I think he will quit now after reaching the 500 wickets landmark.
RD: Why are the batsmen not asking for bad light? I want to finish off this soon n want to catch with the next episode of Takeshi’s Castle on POGO.
IP: But, it is shown again at 11 in the night.

RD: But at tht time I have to see Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii. I luv Ekta Kapoor’s soaps.
Irfan faints on hearing this n DD takes a commercial break reminding us tht it is time to switch channels.

The above is not intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments. Not of gals who r crazy ‘bout cricketers n guys crazy ‘bout the game of cricket n ofcourse espescially not of DD lovers. :))

Everyone is invited

I had been thinking of these posts since the last week, so will put it down in this single post. Here we go...

Apart from the regular readers, lotz of ppl are coming to my page frm all over the world. As different are their locations, so are their search words. The most common search word used is "my space". I have no idea what ppl are looking for by running such searches. A major chunk of the crowd is coming after searching for "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge" n "Navin Prabhakar video" **. This search was not only frm India/Asia, but also frm US n Europe. Someone frm Dubai reached my page when he/she searched for "bollywood sex scenes" ...????... how the hell my blog provides sex scenes. If i see some sex scene in a movie i might write a review on it... but no way have i or will upload it, so pls don't waste ur time here.. lol. Somebody ran a search for "Salman's pics" in the movie No Entry n somewhere else someone wanted "Bipasha's pics" frm the same film. Someone had searched for "how to prepare maggi noodles". If u buy a packet of noodles, the preparation method is written on it (infact in 3 languages here). My other blog which showcases some pics also received searches for "Ragging pics". Regarding the locations frm where they are browsing is something very amazing. From HSBC Hong Kong, i have a regular reader who spends around 5-7 minutes regularly. I don't know if i have visited tht person's blog but anyways thnx for the regular visits. Then some of them have logged in frm London School of Economics, University of Chicago (not the exact name but was something like this). And yes, I also see Suraj logging frm Mysore frm the Infy training centre, Gangadhar frm Bangalore (both with touchtelindia.net), AnonBlogger frm Edmonton (shawcable.net), Squishy frm Tampa (doesn't show the network), Barbie frm Indiana.... n many more but i don't know who lives where. So, do keep coming to keep the visitor's count ticking. If any non-blogger wants to leave a message, I have added a guestbook too.

The affaire d'honneur between Ganguly n Chappell was interesting to watch but a major setback for the team as well as a huge disappointment for an Indian cricket fan. BCCI worsened the matters by leaking the coach's mail (i assume it was to be kept confidential) to the whole public. I still can't believe tht Chappell's mail regarding Ganguly's performance lies in my inbox right now. Till now we used to lose in the finals, but now it seems tht winning even the league matches will be difficult. My personal opinion: Ganguly shld step down. Talking more 'bout sports, Sania features on the cover of Times magazine, which is indeed a gr8 achievement for her. I just wish tht she doesn't get boged down by her dress critics or by the rush of endorsements.

I completed my six months of training n went thro' a drill of interviews for the confirmation of my job. Still one interview with the CEO yet to be completed. More 'bout it laterz.

** Seeing the popularity of the video, here is another one by Raju Srivastava (laughing n lazy news reader)