Orthographic View

Are you a civilized citizen????

2009-08-15T19:22:00.009+05:30

I was traveling from Mumbai to Nasik on the Panchavati Express last week. I have done Nasik-Mumbai a few times on the train but for the first time the other way round. I was using the train on the route after quite a while. Actually I was traveling in a train in India after quite a some time.

So this is what I saw pasted at the back of the seat in front of me,

Yes, it asks of you if you are a civilized citizen. If you are then stop throwing garbage around!! If you throw garbage, then conversely you are uncivilized. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw it was this image of Uncle Sam,

Why you may ask? Well both images try to play on your conscience and morals in order to get you to do what they want you to. In the first case its harmless as it is an effort to try and clean up the trains. It is initiated by a NGO so I am told. The second image may not be as noble as it may want you to join the army and go to Vietnam or Iraq!!

PS. I obviously misinterpreted the 'Avoid Cockroach' bit as it was actually me who had to avoid and ignore the scores of cockroaches doing the rounds!!

PPS. For the non-Hindi reader out there, the poster is finished by the line 'Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian, lets all work for the betterment of the country'. Cheesy

It happens only in India

2009-07-16T22:56:00.005+05:30

5 cranes come in to pick up the debris of a pillar meant to be carrying the weight of a Delhi Metro train at full tilt that has collapsed in a heap. The warning signs were there say the insiders. And now cranes have to come in to pick up the debris of the 5 cranes that were cleaning up the debris of the collapsed pillar in the first place. Why 5 cranes were not able to lift one girder beats me. All headed by the now famous and incorruptible E. Sreedharan who tenders his resignation, err before the 5 cranes collapsed btw, which is promptly and rightly rejected. Oh I smell a scandal already!! But thats besides the point.

The point is that after the 2 mishaps of biblical proportions within days of each other, the Vice President of Gammon India, the contractors for the Delhi Metro Project, has the gall to come on national television and claim that they are not responsible for any of the incidents. And that they have safety engineers on site who follow all safety and security procedures. Excuse me!!! Did he just arrive from another planet??? Heads have to roll both in the Delhi Metro Rail Corp., Gammon India and whoever owns and got those cranes in there in the first place. Interesting to add that Gammon India is building the 4 lane expressway joining Nasik to Mumbai which was meant to be over by last Diwali. No surprise to add that everytime I drive that road it seems to take longer than ever to finish 4 lane-ing the damn thing.

Its straight of those email forwards which shows a car that has fallen into water over a bridge/waterside. A crane comes in to lift the car out which also then falls into the water out of sheer weight of the debris. And then along comes another crane which lifts both of them in tow.

But the Delhi incident reminded of something else that can only possibly happen in India. This is about a couple of years back. Me and my brother in law were driving by and saw a truck by the side of the road unloading some grit from its trolley which was hydraulically operated. No sooner than had we looked at the road ahead and glanced back at the truck, I kid you not this is what had happened,

Needless to say construction sites in India are far from the models of Health & Safety that they should be. And I say this from personal experience on our own site!!

Formula1 political saga continues as teams decide to quit the sport

2009-06-20T12:44:00.005+05:30

To all those people including me that thought formula1 has become boring to watch because the cars are not fast or spectacular enough, there is too much politics, etc, etc. there is no need to whinge anymore because change is here. The eight members of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) alliance including Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault, BMW, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso & Brawn GP just a have decided to abandon formula 1 and form their own ‘breakaway series’. Williams and Force India (Formerly a member of FOTA) will remain in F1 since they have contractual obligations with their sponsors and Formula One management (FOM)

How the hell did this happen??

Long story made short, in the wake of the economic downturn and Honda’s exit from F1 Max mosley (President of FIA) decided to take things in his hands to make teams reduce their spending so that other manufacturers did not leave the sport. He put a budget cap of €45m/£40m on all the teams and published it in the regulations for 2010 without the consultation of the teams. This pretty much was the break in the ice block that preceded the avalanche. The FOTA teams protested immediately saying that it is virtually impossible to cut back budgets to €45m and sack factory staff over just one season. They suggested that they were willing to do it over a couple seasons instead. According to Max, a budget cap would be beneficial to the existing teams and would make F1 more attractive to new teams wanting to get into the sport. Following n number of discussions Mosley decided to exclude driver & chief designer salaries and other marketing costs from the cap. The FIA also said that they could not change the published regulations unless the teams signed up for 2010 and unanimously changed the regulations after. FOTA threatened to the quit the sport and form a separate series which everyone including Bernie Ecclestone thought would be ridiculous. Also, the European Automobile Manufacturer’ Association (ACEA) issued a statement backing the F1 teams in their war against the FIA adding weight to the FOTA case. The ‘ego’ of Max Mosley and the demand of more ‘transparency of regulations and management’ of the FOTA teams finally lead to the issue spiraling out of control leaving us with this situation today.

What Next?

The FOTA teams intend to reduce costs but want to do so in a way that is viable to both their organizations and the sport. They are sick and tired of being run by dictators in the form of Bernie Ecclestone (CEO of CVC – The F1 commercial rights holder) and Max Mosley. Only half of the revenue generated in F1 (about $2Billion) goes to the F1 teams and the remaining is swallowed by CVC to pay off the debts when they took over the shares from Bernie Ecclestone in 2005. FOTA argued that if the teams got more money from the income of F1, there wouldn’t be a necessity for drastic cost cutting. FOTA is now in talks with the commercial rights holder of MotoGP to help them organize a separate championship. One option is to purchase the existing A1 GP series which only managed to put on a good show on its opening ceremony.

Who will race in F1 in 2010?

After introducing the budget cap, 10 new teams applied for a spot on the grid for 2010 some of which are existing GP2 teams and some are teams of the European Le Mans series. If FIA don’t succeed in convincing the FOTA teams in stay in F1, along with Williams and Force India, the other three teams who have a confirmed spot on the grid are USF1 (based in North Carolina), Campos (Based in Spain) and Manor F1. The rest of the teams will be amongst the remaining 7 that applied for 2010.

Who will race in the new series?

The eight FOTA teams will occupy 16 places on the grid, each team running two cars. Lola Aston Martin, Prodrive & Brabham had filed for an entry in F1 for 2010. Deeply disappointed in not being selected the first time and, them wanting to race in a series with more credibility and competition, they withdrew their application from F1 so that they could join the new breakaway series, if there is to be one.

The worst is yet to come!!

If you thought that politics in F1 could not get any worse after seeing Ferrari and Mclaren battle it out in the courts in 2007, and the FIA and FOTA stuck in a public brawl lately, think again. There are a lot more players in this battle than ever before and but for the contractual obligations, the FIA seems to be on the losing end. Ferrari and the two Red Bull teams have contracts with the FIA to race in F1 till 2012. Also Ferrari has a special contract with CVC and FIA thanks to which they get a big chunk of the F1 revenue, much more than any other team gets. First we will see the FIA sue Ferrari and Red Bull for breaching their contracts which will be followed by a series of law suits and court hearings between various parties. At this point FIA does not care if they lose teams like Renault, Toyota and BMW as far as Ferrari, Mclaren and new entrants to the sport are present. A breakaway series is beneficial for the organizers of the Canadian GP, North American GP and all those historical venues like San Marino, Mexico, Portugal, etc. from who Bernie Ecclestone parted ways for more money in the middle east and far east. So they will definitely want to make their voices heard.

My Opinion….

Screw the FIA and do whatever you have to do to form a new series. I don’t want to see parades but cut throat competition and wheel-to-wheel racing on the track. I don’t want to see ugly ‘green’ technology laden cars that are slower than their counterparts nearly 20 years ago. Racing in state of the art but half empty circuits is no fun. The new series run by FOTA will deliver what the fans want. If it’s 4 cylinder turbo charged engines that we want, we will get it!

Just the time to run out of cash.... in the middle of nowhere

2009-06-18T18:16:00.003+05:30

I was traveling from Nasik to Mumbai yesterday. One of the now frequent leave in the morning and return in the night trips. As soon as we started out, my driver indicated to me that we are going to have to gas up the car at some point. Fair enough I thought, knowing well that I had only Rs. 800 with me and that a full tank on the Mahindra Scorpio takes up around Rs. 1500 worth of diesel usually. And I did not intend on stopping by at a cash point. The credit card was going to be useful as always. Yes that American tool of mass financial mismanagement.

We pulled into a fuel station which displayed that they do accept Visa's and Mastercard's. I assumed that although we are in the middle of a work in progress NH3, with pretty much nothing but the bush and barren landscape around it, they obviously would have a working credit card terminal. We filled diesel worth about Rs. 1380 and when I flashed my card at the chap he casually informed me that the terminal is out of order. Bollocks!!! My first reaction. But they displayed that they do accept credit cards! Highway works have ripped the telephone lines he informs me. Who uses landlines anyways in India these days, with the mobile revolution well and truly in.

Out comes the supervisor after unsuccessfully trying to resuscitate the credit card terminal and he has no intentions of letting me off his pump without the money. I offered to pay him the cash I had and the rest later that day when I returned from Mumbai. Obviously he wasn't going to fall for it, not that I was not going to pay him on the way back. After haggling and bantering with him about the faux pas he informed me that we could to a bank 1 km down the road and use their telephone line for the terminal. No ways did I want go through the embarrassment of having to go to village bank and ask for their telephone line due to lack of cash in my wallet.

Thats when I realised that I have always needlessly carried my cheque book with me in my office bag. Needless?? Not anymore. I offered to pay him by cheque for the fuel which he accepted. Infact he offered to return me the cheque when I would come back and pay him the cash later that day. I did return to the pump in the evening and the guy who had filled my car was literally jumping with joy as soon as we drove in. He was quietly embaressed about the fact that he did not tell me that the credit card terminal was out of order beforehand. I paid him the cash and got my cheque back which is now headed from the paper shredder.

I really wonder what we would have done if not for the chequebook in my bag. I actually almost offered him to remove the diesel from the car and only leave how much I could afford at the time.

Moral of the story - If a fuel station on highways in India indicate that they accept credit cards, do not take it for granted unless you have a chequebook in tow!!

Final thoughts on IPL 2.0

2009-06-06T00:07:00.003+05:30

Before this blog and my thoughts become overrun by all things IPL, here is the final dose of post-IPL thoughts, promise.

At the end of the day, the IPL is a commercial profit driven enterprise. So let us not mix national pride with it. So the shifting of IPL 2 to South Africa should not dent our pride in any way but merely highlight how much is at stake for all the parties involved. Modi will ship out the whole circus to the Moon if their newly discovered inhabitants were to provide a more profitable scenario for him. In short, its all about money honey.

No matter how much the commentators praise the supposed beauty of the winners trophy, it is not a work of art but absolutely hideous. It could not have been less thoughtfully created. Stick a map of India, the title sponsor and the IPL logo together. Add a lot of gold and diamonds to bling it up. It kind of sums up the culture of excess and shallowness that seems to accompany the IPL.
Coach John Buchanan is not quite the forward thinking visionary and genius that he talked himself up to be. He was a good coach who had an outstanding set of players during his time in Australia, no more. 2 yrs at KKR have proved without doubt that his theories are best left on paper and that he has a gift for making complicated the most simplest of arts. And lets not get into the ambidextrous players and multiple captains theories.
Another case of greed, golden eggs, hen and knife is that 2 IPL’s a year. Just not on. In the case of T20 its not more is less but less is more.
For an organization as opaque as the BCCI, it just gets murkier. They need to come open on the apparent conflicts of interest. On why the owner of Chennai Super Kings is also a Secretary of the BCCI and why the Chief of the national selectors panel is so openly the brand ambassador for the Super Kings. Also it would be naive to believe that Lalit Modi is in no way connected to the Rajasthan Royals franchise. I think the Taxman’s visit may be beneficial for everybody involved.
Form is temporary and class is permanent. Give a great player from either the Test or ODI format enough time to acclimatize and they will more often than not end up cracking the T20 format as Dravid, Kallis, Kumble, Warne, Gilchrist and Hayden have ably demonstrated. Exception seems to be VVS Laxman and I feel he is a bit in the T20 format. However that should not be a blackmark on his career as he is simply too good for it. To further add, failure in T20 should not belittle achievements from Tests and ODI’s the same way that success in T20 will not necessarily be followed by the same in Tests and ODI’s.
Atmospheres at sports events cannot be manufactured but are generated out of spontaneity, passion and enthusiasm. Something evidently visible in Indian cricket grounds and something I experienced first hand at Old Trafford watching Manchester Utd play Arsenal. So no amount of DJ bugles, short skirted cheerleaders, incessant hamming from presenters and organisers can help the mood of the viewing public if the quality of the contest is not upto the mark.
Teams should not put all their foreign eggs in one basket. Distribute your foreign players across batting and bowling resources unless you have a strong local pool of players. Case in point KKR who played Gayle, McCullum, Hodge and David Hussey/van Wyk to strengthen their batting most of the time while Langeveldt, a more than useful bowler in local conditions, languished on the bench. Most successful teams had a second rung of domestic players apart from their international counterparts which reduced the dependence on foreign imports to a extent.
There are 3 things that sell in India, Cricket, Bollywood and Politics, in no particular order. Combine any of the above 2 and you have a potent mix. Combine all 3 of them and you have dynamite!
Last but not least, IPL and Lalit Modi please take some lessons in class, subtlety and humility. Especially in wake of the ridiculous after events of the final. When the players were made to wait for more than an hour before they could get their hands on the trophy in front of a half empty stadium.

And that is it for this years IPL. Before we even know I am watching England play Netherlands in the T20 World Cup while I type! Timing certainly is not a forte when it comes to the powers that be in cricket.

More thoughts on IPL 2.0

2009-06-03T22:24:00.005+05:30

Following up the previous post, here are some more thoughts on the IPL second season,

Charity really should begin at home. As honorable as the intentions may be, handing out money to schools in South Africa will only buy temporary goodwill and cheap publicity. If you are really serious about making a difference for the stakeholders of the game, please start by using that money to improve some of the pathetic facilities that spectators have to put up with at most Indian cricket grounds.
I could not talk about commentators and not mention Rameez Raja. He has to be confined to the bins for the sheer banality he brings in terms of cricket acumen and sorry for the snobbishness, for the fact that he has got all the phonetics of the English language completely wrong. Notice the next time you hear him say ‘air’ and ‘there’. Also shaving your moustache and trying to be retro-cool with that 1970’s Amitabh Bachchan hairstyle blowing in your face is not going to make you a better commentator. Its going to make you only more unbearable if anything.
A few owners have shown that they have more money than sense. Case in point Shahrukh Khan trying to outbid Preity Zinta for Mashrafe Mortaza to US$ 600,000 so he can sell some more shirts. Who then goes on to concede 26 runs in a final over to lose a game the Kolkata Knightriders should have sleepwalked to victory. Also Pietersen and Flintoff, for all their reputations, were not worth to be the most expensive players in the auctions largely because they are untested and unproven in the T20 format. It was also a travesty that Shakib al Hasan, the no. 1 allrounder in the world as per the ICC’s rankings, could not find a buyer at the auction. He could have potentially been the bargain of the season.
Also owners must learn to separate ownership from management. Wanting to sleep with all your players (SRK), hugging each one of them (Preity Zinta), throwing alcohol, parties and models at them (Vijay Mallya), publicly admonishing your captain (Mallya last year), cozying up to them in the dugout (Deccan Chargers owner and Nita Ambani), calling a fast bowler a spinner in a press conference (Shilpa Shetty) amongst others is not going to help your team win. What will help them is a clearly defined leader, strategy, unity in the dressing room and the hard yards on the field. Simple
T20 as a format has enough action packed in itself to form an entertainment package. So the traveling circus and sideshow comprising of Lalit Modi himself, larger than life owners, incessantly loud commentary team, PR people and performers must know when to step aside and let the cricket do the talking. I would add cheerleaders to the list, but thats only a personal opinion.
Strategic time-out. That great novelty under the pretense of innovation must be done away with. Modi might even convert each innings into 4 quarters should the credit crunch really start affecting the IPL. But its only a hindrance. T20 is about constant flow of play and action. The super over seems to be even worse that the penalty shootout from football. Nothing to spoil a hard fought drawn contest between 2 equal teams than batsman/bowler who loses his marbles in one ‘super over’. A draw not only can be a satisfying contest some times but also adds another dimension to the league table through the splitting of points.
Some of the team branding from the franchises has been pretty poor. Mumbai Indians! Geographically my closest franchise but one I refuse to support because of the name they have. Kings XI Punjab! To put it simply, WTF. Royal Challengers Bangalore is merely another platform for Vijay Mallya to further his brand of whiskey. But then they could have done worse like Force India F1! Rajasthan Royals have got it right in terms of geographical representation of culture and Kolkata Knightriders for sheer innovation and wackiness. The rest are ok, neither here nor there.
Change the second game start time from 8 pm to 7 pm. I just cannot conjure up the energy to stay upto midnight watching cricket anymore, as much as I want to. And the strategic timeouts don’t help.
The great innovator that he may think he may be but Lalit Modi must not forget that he was beaten to the city based T20 franchise concept by the Indian Cricket League formed by Zee. It helped that the BCCI is a law onto themselves who then awoke from their slumber and banned the ICL so that their blue eyed boy could steal a march over them to go on and hastily create the IPL. This was all conveniently helped by the fact that India also managed to win the first T20 World Cup in 2007. All this ironic since it was the BCCI who pooh poohed the T20 concept in its infancy and was the last take it up seriously amongst all the playing nations.

To be concluded......

Some thoughts on IPL 2.0

2009-05-30T20:53:00.005+05:30

First of all, Lalit Modi is God. He is the Lord and Saviour. He should be elected the Prime Minister of India unopposed a la Saddam Hussein in his pomp. And when he realises that the country cannot be run from within the country, he must be allowed to transfer the entire bureaucracy at the shortest of notices to any country that bends over backwards in subservience for the greater good. After that he should be made Secretary-General of the United Nations. He should travel to all the conflict zones around the world, with his motley crew of IPL cameramen and commentators in tow. He will bring peace to the world with merely a flash of his toothy, lispy grin and that statesmanlike single arm wave.

Now that the sarcasm is out of the way, here are some of my thoughts in random order on the recently concluded Indian Premier League held in South Africa. There are quite a few so I am going to spread it over 3 posts. Here goes,

If there are 2 brands I am forever going to stay away from post-IPL, they are DLF and CitiGroup. That's their reward for the gazillion and counting ‘DLF Maximums’ & ‘Citi Moments of Success’. This is not one but two product placements gone horribly wrong and never to be replicated ever again by any sane minded organization. Alas
Inspite of the majority positive response the traveling circus received in South Africa, I personally feel that the IPL has to continue to be held in India, once a year, to sustain itself and also retain whatever little soul it could manifest. Without that it would just be a Premier League.
It is not quite the free-for-all cashpot for all foreign players that was originally perceived. Case in point Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Charl Langeveltd & Mashrafe Mortaza to name a few who spent their entire/most time on the bench wondering what role the ringmaster of the circus had in store for them. The 4 foreign players-a-side starting cap makes it necessary to nurture and unearth a second line of local talent apart from your international players.
The advent of T20 will lead to a dilution of some skills and their appreciation by viewers, especially the new ones. A Dravid/Kallis forward defensive shot is just not that relevant anymore. Infact they rather see Dravid play the horrendous paddle sweep that got him bowled round his legs in the final.
Also I don’t see T20 over a period of time producing great players. Good yes but not great. The majority of high performers in the T20 format are what they are primarily because of their reputations built in the Test and 50 over format. Possibly with the exception of Yusuf Pathan. It sure can act as a platform to international selection like for Pathan and Shaun Marsh for Australia. But I am sorry I cannot see the likes of Robert Quiney, Tyron Henderson, Dwyane Smith, Roelof Van der Merwe, Swapnil Asnodkar, Ashok Dhinda, etc. being remembered down the years for their exploits limited to the T20 format. It will now and then throw up surprise packages like Dirk Nannes who capture the imagination more because of their story than their talent.
One of the reasons why we got to see a higher proportion of close finishes this year from the one before was primarily due the nature of the pitches in South Africa. In a time and format of a game which is so heavily loaded in favour of the batsmen, the pitches have to play the role of a relative leveler of skills and also not allow mediocre talent to perform beyond its merits. Unlike in India where they inadvertently or deliberately act only as a step towards another slogfest, thereby reducing the quality of the contest.
Yes the players want it, the broadcasters want it, the sponsors want it and more importantly the viewers want it, so go ahead ICC and create a window in the international calender for the IPL. Firstly so everyone can have a fair crack at it and secondly to avoid dilution in the interest and commercial value of your own baby, international cricket, when it clashes with anything Lalit Modi.
Also ICC please make the T20 World Cup an event every 4 years like all World Cups across most team sports are meant to be. Especially when it immediately follows an overdose of IPL. Let us not go the greed, golden eggs, hen and knife path.
Ravi Shastri and your partners in commentary crime, please stop the rabble rousing at the start of every game. Yes all of South Africa was ready for the IPL the moment it shifted there. You do not have to ask the cringeworthy question at your loudest at every venue again and again. Also the commentators need to stop building up every game as the most seminal and every moment as the greatest ever in the history of the game. As Harsha Bhogle and Richie Benaud have ably demonstrated over the years, good cricket commentary also involves knowing when to shut up. Amongst others, stop peddling IPL propaganda aka the magazine at every opportunity. There are no awards for being the best salesman at the end of it.

To be continued........

The Apple leap of faith

2009-05-23T00:11:00.005+05:30

My first brush with an Apple product was way back in the early nineties when my father bought a Macintosh PowerBook 100 as his first laptop. The most enduring memory of it is that of me, my brother, sister and parents playing the laptop equivalent of Wheel of Fortune, called Phrase Craze. Spinning wheels and guessing alphabets to form words, it couldn't get simpler than that. Then there was a game which involved skinny people parachuting onto a hay stack or something of that sorts if I can vaguely remember.

But the Apple experience ended there as our first desktop at home in the mid-nineties was a Windows 95 PC which also had DOS. That introduced me to the legendary game called Allan Borders Cricket. Ah bless the creators of that game. My interaction with the PowerBook was only restricted to the games on it and also I did not know enough about computers to ever be able to pass on a judgement about a Mac vs a PC.

Fast forward to 2005 and I am looking to buy my first mp3 player. A flatmate of mine from the year before had been gifted what was the first generation iPod and could never stop raving about it. By the time I came to buying a music player, the iPod had already turned Apple's sagging fortunes around and was pretty much the rage. At that point, for a reason I cannot fathom now, I decided to buy an iRiver H10. I had decided to go deliberately against the flow and not buy an Apple iPod. I dont regret it but going back I may not have done the same again. It served me pretty well but than I outgrew the limitations of the iRiver. The biggest one being when transferring music onto it. Windows Media Player, like most Microsoft softwares, was a bitch to work with.

Time came for an upgrade and by this time it was time to go for an iPod. I chose the Touch, the first generation one as it was around 2007 that I got it. It was the first touch screen technology product I came across and it was an absolute treat to use. I have come across touch screen products from HTC, Dopod and Samsung, but none of them even comes near the ease of use of the Apple touch screen iPhone and iPod Touch. Also I would choose iTunes over WMP any day to manage my music.

Cut to 4 months back and I was growing sick and tired of Microsoft Windows in all forms (98, XP & Vista). I wanted out! The only good thing to come out of it was MS Office. The amount of times I have had to format my laptop and desktop is simply ridiculous. It sometimes begs belief how Microsoft can design a product which can be so easily hacked and screwed with by some geeks intent on raising hell. The errors, virus and security related problems had got the better of me. The only reason that kept me away from getting a Mac laptop was the fear of the unknown. How would I ever get used to another OS after using Windows for half my life!

But enough was enough and I decided to get a 13.3 inch MacBook a few weeks back. Exploring the flagship Apple store in London was like being a child in a candyshop. Around £900 later and I will never regret it. Today all I require from a PC to do for me is play music, movies, surf internet and process documents. And the Mac does that much more faster and sleeker than a Windows could ever imagine to. Pictures simply look better on a Mac. The iWorks 09 claims to look after the documents processing by offering compatabiliy with MS Office on Windows. That aspect is yet to be explored and tested. Even the way a MacBook is packaged only increases the excitement as to see what lies inside.

All said and done most Apple products out there simply offer superior design, feel, ergonomics, user interface, experience, satisfaction and a sense of style in everything they do. And you know what, the transition to the Mac only requires a few sessions and maybe a few tutorials on their website.

P.S. - My first post from a Mac!!

So easily satisfied Sonia-ji????

2009-04-15T23:31:00.002+05:30

I read the following comment in the Economic Times, 14th April, from Sonia Gandhi,

"When Advaniji was the home minister, terrorists were released and escorted as guests to Afghanistan. Our PM, in the face of the Mumbai attacks, did not make a big noise, nor shouted, nor screamed. Through diplomatic pressure, he was able to get Pakistan agree that the terrorists were citizens of that country. This never happened before."

Just another example of how deep rooted we have become in mediocrity and take pride in it. Mind you this comment is from the Chairman of the alliance which heads our Central Government under which we have seen blasts in the cities of Ahmedabad, Surat, Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Mumbai (multiple, trains & buses), Bangalore, Hyderabad, Malegaon. Please correct me if I've missed or mistaken any. All culminating in November 2008 in Mumbai. The cities all encompass the country so they cannot be attributed to any particular religion or government in any state. Hindu or Muslim, Congress or BJP, doesn't matter because that is not the point.

Neither am I defending LK Advani's track record as a home minister. The point is that this statement is coming from the de facto leader of the country under whom national security has become a free-for-all for anybody who wishes to get inventive with some explosives and a penchant for striking strategic targets. Coming from someone who's government till not too long ago had a home minister who was more known for his sartorial elegance and aloofness than matters on national security.

On getting Pakistan to admit the nationality of the perpetrator, its irrelevant. We don't need acknowledgments and assurances from a country one of who's staple exports for the last 20 years has been terrorism to the entire South Asian neighbourhood. The fact that their citizens are getting caught red handed time and time again is enough proof. Its not a question of what we can make them confess to, its a question to what our governments have to be doing to provide better security and avoid the repeats of blasts whether the perpetrators are local or foreign.

Its easy for Sonia Gandhi to make statements and counter-statements in retrospect on the Kandahar hijacking or the 2001 parliament attacks. Just because we had attacks and hijacks under a BJP led government does not mean we have to bear with the same under the Congress led government. Also its hypocrisy to make allegations on the Kandahar episode when they themselves might have been privy or party to the decisions taken at the time.

So Sonia-ji please don't take pride in what you have managed Pakistan to admit but be more ashamed about the fact that time and time again each of the earlier mentioned cities have been meticulously attacked making a mockery of all types "resolves" and "statements of intent" that our dear Prime Minister and previous Home Minister used to make. The line used to be to the tune of, "The perpetrators of this cowardly act will not be spared and will be bought to justice" everytime. We are still waiting.

Ps. I really look forward to the day our PM Dr. Manmohan Singh makes big noise, screams or shouts, because probably that's when I might be able to actually hear his near comatose speeches.

That's just not Cricket.. err sorry Formula 1

2009-04-06T17:09:00.003+05:30

Warning: Long-ish post

Formula 1 has been in a state flux ever since Michael Schumacher went on a winning spree of 5 world titles in a row. That was domination in every sense of the word. It was a period of technical and strategic superiority of Ross Brawn, Jean Todt & co. at Ferrari over the rest of the field. Despite allegations of using illegal technologies at Ferrari, the other teams just did not do enough to close the gap at the top for most of the time. What that period did was usher in a set of reforms out of which some had a positive impact in the form of Fernando Alonso at Renault and some which were quite ridiculous.

There was a lot of reforms that came in and are lingering on quite irritatingly. The mentality of radically reshaping the sport has in a way resulted in the farce that the start and end of the Malaysian GP. Its like making bigger goalposts in football if people don't score enough and make them smaller if there are to many. I am going to list a few below,

End of the 12 flying laps qualifying - This is the qualifying format that I still miss. 12 flying laps and 60 minutes to do them in. It did not get any simpler than that. Yes, most of the action used to be at the fag end of the session but boy timing your lap just in time for the chequered flag was a skill. And that when the track is at its fullest. The 3 stage elimination now is even more boring. You see cars going around for the sake of it. Again, all the action is at the end of the session!! The one lap qualifying in reverse race order penalised mediocrity. Sport is about rewarding superiority and not the other way round. Somebody who finished last would end up going out first when the track conditions are at worse, hampering his prospects of qualifying high. The conditions would pan out nicely for someone who finished 1st helping to gain a higher grid start. There have been variations of the one lap and current qualifying system at many points which still sucked. Bring back the 12 flying laps I say!!
No refilling/tyre change while pitting - This was quite frankly pathetic. One of the sources of drama in F1 is the pits. Seeing all 4 tyres change and refuel at the same time while making sure that you go out in time to maintain your track position or often even gain one. Prime aspect of team work and co-ordination. Take out one and it just becomes boring. You either pit, refuel and change tyres or you just dont pit at all. I cant remember which season it was that eliminated one of tyre change or refuelling. It was no tyre changes I thing, which then made the end of a race a bit of a lottery in terms of tyre wear. Go hard and pray your tyres survive or go slow and compromise track positions. Even this year, forcing a team to use both soft and hard compound tyres in the same race is like asking Sachin Tendulkar to play 50% shots on the offside and 50% on the legside in order to score runs when he goes out to bat!!
Grid penalty for engine/gearbox change - Lets get one thing straight, Formula 1 is not and will not be cheap neither will it be environmentally 100% green. Designing engines and gearboxes to last for 2 races should perversely increase the cost of R&D to make a more reliable unit. And it constrains a driver becasue he has to drive his car below optimum performance to conserve parts and maybe lose points as a result. I think its better to make something less reliable to last one race than making it a lot more reliable to last 2 races. Yes there is a case for cutting costs but this it is not.
Guinea pig for road cars - Yes, there have been a lot of technologies which have found their way into modern road cars from Formula 1 for the betterment. But ultimately F1 is not a laboratory or a guinea pig for road cars. So let us not pretend that F1 sets a bad example by not being 'green' enough or not having enough everyday useable technologies. Infact GM and Ford should take examples from Brawn GP and other small teams on how to make a good car without bankrupting yourself to the point of no return. Fact of the matter is that F1 still remains the pinnacle of technology across a wide variety of sports and the conditions at which they operate are far from the purview of a normal road car.
Component sharing - The last 2-3 years have seen a lot of sharing of components. No no not the Ferrari-Mclaren way. Many teams are sharing engines and I think at a time one of the Red Bull teams was in effect a Ferrari B car. Now, I am ok with it as long as it fits in the teams budget and still keeps the cars distinct enough as engines (for eg.) form only a part of the overall package. But there is a point of view that suggest that you either go for a full A1 GP style common platform or you just develop your own stuff regardless of how much it costs.

Phew!! That was only from the top of my head. Sure there are more I cannot recall. Moving on. Firstly the start times on the Australian and Malaysian GP for late evening was quite honestly scandalous in the name of gaining eyeballs in Europe. Starting so late in the evening and driving into dusk causes visibility problems and potentially hazardous conditions with the sun really low. Either start at noon or make it at night. In case of Malaysia with thunderstorms predicted, it was worse, because the rain combined with poor light at dusk ending the race prematurely. Nothing to disappoint your fans like a half baked race!! Rain at noon will still have relatively better driving conditions that rain at dusk. Fans of cricket will know how M/s Duckwork & Lewis can just ruin games sometimes.

I think, actually obviously, the late starts in Oz and Malaysia have their links to TV coverage and revenue when broadcasters tamper with the fundamental playing/racing conditions in order to gain the extra eyes watching. Infact the elimination of the 12 flying laps qualifying is also thanks to them. The first 30 -40 minutes did not see much action and as a result not very watchable on TV. Not very watchable means less ad revenue. So there!!

Unfortunately the powers that be are running F1 with their egos rather than their brains. And amidst all the madness that has ensued, comes a breathe of fresh air thats Jenson Button and Brawn GP. One the forgotten British hope and the other the tactical mastermind behind Michael Schumacher. Theres nothing like the underdog coming out of nowhere and upsetting the status quo. Something we watch sport for. The dash of unpredictability that seperates it from scripted drama on TV. The last time it was Fernando Alonso at Renault beating the Ferrari of Schumacher. I've always maintained that the first 3-4 races in F1 before the European leg cannot win you the championship but will definitely lose it for you. Go back 2-3 years and observe the points every year. Jenson Button may not have won the title with consecutive wins. But if he maintains his current pace going into the European races, there might be a surprise contender to the usual suspects at Woking and Maranello.

A case of misguided National Pride & Patriotism

2009-03-24T13:12:00.002+05:30

I went for a movie last week to the local multiplex and not for the first time was peeved at the obligation of having to stand up for the National Anthem before the movie was screened. Now I am not peeved at the anthem itself but peeved at the fact that we have to go through the same ritual time and again without any sense or logic. I have never understood what purpose it solves to play the National Anthem everytime one goes to the cinema to be entertained. Does it remind us to be patriotic? I don't think we need to be reminded at a cinema of all places whether we are patriotic to our country or not.

We used to sing the National Anthem everyday at the end of school. But I think at that level it helps to only inculcate a sense of oneness amongst the diverse backgrounds from which students come to. Even then looking back I think everyday was one too many. Coming back to the point, I don't see how playing the anthem in a cinema hall helps generate patriotism. For one I don't believe in patriotism in the form of which many people seem to show it in. We are past a time when mere chest thumping and rabble rousing means one is a patriot or not.

I believe more in aspects like civil etiquette and discipline in public places. The people who would slap somebody who "dare" not stand up in a cinema while the national anthem is being played are probably the same who will chatter away loudly on their mobile phones while the movie is running. I know which one I will find more offensive and it does not involve the national anthem. The people who vandalise public property and behave indecently in public are the very same who will take "insult" to someone sitting while the National Anthem plays out. I think their is more pride to be had in having a better behaving public in civil life than merely standing up in a cinema hall for a tune.

Another aspect of misguided national pride we have a lot in India is taking credit for anything remotely Indian and claiming ownership over it. Case for example Slumdog Millionaire which was essentially a British made film about universal themes like love and hope with the protagonist hailing from the slums of Mumbai. Parts of the film industry and the media called it an achievement for India. They couldn't be further from the truth. I think the bottom was hit the moment the Congress Government claimed credit for creating an environment where people from the slums can become millionaires. Well the British can then take credit for having had the Raj in India which enabled Ashutosh Gowarikar's Lagaan become a huge hit and reach the final nominations at the Oscars!! You gotto be kidding me.

Another way we delude ourselves is being proud and happy at the achievements of expatriate Indians whose actions have not and will never benefit us directly or indirectly in any way. Commendable the acts they may be. Take someone for example like Bobby Jindal. The only thing Indian about him is his ethnic origin. As a potential leader of the Republican Party in the US, he is as American as George W Bush was. Do we ever hear the Italians going gaga over the fact that our country's de facto ruler is Sonia Gandhi? Last I heard, no!! So why the brouhaha when a Sanjay Malakar (or whatever his name was) reaches American Idol. He is as Indian as we are American. Which is hardly anything.

Of Breaking News' and Exclusives

2009-03-04T22:36:00.003+05:30

The effort to blog more frequently has resumed. Ironically when its the most hectic time of the year for me. Its 11 in the night as I write, a couple of burgers and a beer await me and we still have about atleast 2 hours of work left in the cellar. And yes I started at 9 this morning and will do tomorrow as well, quite early for my standards. I will be more than happy to swap places with anybody who thinks winemaking is romantic at this very moment in time.

Moving on. The fine line between journalism and entertainment for Indian news channels, both English and regional, has been blurred for quite a while now. Especially for the Hindi news channels where the news tends to range from exaggerated hum drum affairs to bizarre sensationalism. The English news channels were fairly news centric in the time of Star News (before it went Hindi) and NDTV. But with the entry of Times Now, CNN-IBN and a handful of others, there is a tendency to sensationalism and repetition across channels.

Case for example, last night there was an interview of Home Minister PC Chidambaram being aired on NDTV billed as an exclusive. The topics of discussion ranged from security arrangements for elections to IPL clashing dates to the attach on SL cricketers in Pakistan. Fairly routine stuff, nothing you wouldn't find in the morning newspaper as well. Now just I was finished seeing it and switched over the CNN-IBN, lo and behold, there was none other than PC Chidambaram himself being interviewed on the same issues and again billed as an exclusive, a point driven home by Rajdeep Sardesai himself. Now certainly 2 channels cannot carry the same exclusive on the same day, on the same issues and following each other on the night. My understanding of an exclusive news story is one available to noone but that particular news channels or media.

The other part is the breaking news factor. I think many mundane news stories are billed as supposedly breaking news' probably to gain eyeballs at any particular time of the day. Breaking news was meant to be a kind of a showstopper equivalent. Mind you there are the actual ones, but there are far too many irrelevant ones. Another point is the lack of perspective sometimes. Every Indian cricket win is taken is a monumental event and every loss a disaster. There no middle ground. Experts, analysts, politicians, sportsmen, celebrities, victims, perpetrators, etc are put on the spot and forced to pick sides with no room for a middle ground. A bit like George W Bush's "with us or against us" approach to fighting terror. There can only be black and white, no shades of grey. Atleast when people are asked to vote on a question via SMS's. So many times it turns into a trial by media. Comes

I must say Times Now has quite specialised in a daily dose of political bull fighting between the Congress and the BJP. The issues may be different, but the daily speakers on both sides tend to remain the same and the debate is a "holier than thou" type rather than one of logic.

One of the aspects about news reporting and TV journalism that fascinated me in my time in the UK was the funding structure of the BBC. It was totally funded by the public via TV licenses. So they need not advertise directly for revenue to fund the channel. So the mandate the is to provide news and reporting completely unbiased, impartial and without having to worry about where the money is going to come from. The BBC website I have seen recently have started advertising, but I am pretty sure the bouquet of channels do not. So its fair to conclude that a documentary or news being shown on BBC has higher chances of being authentic and accurate compared to a channel funded purely by advertisers money.

Advertising money is in my opinion one of the reasons why most Indian news channels focus more on what the people want to see and hear as news rather than accurately reporting the daily happenings around. Yes, there are some thought provoking news reports, debates and documentaries, but I am talking about the overall scenario here. In India, 3 things sell the most. Politics, Bollywood & Cricket. Well we can add religion to the list as well. So invariably a high number of news reports include one of the above topics which are then even further spiced up and presented as entertainment. Ad revenue is dictated by TRP's and as a result news reporting is turning into a medium of entertainment to garner as many eyeballs as possible.

There's always hope till the next 'Breaking News and/or Exclusive'......

Ps.. Azeem, if you are reading, thanks for pushing some life into the blog. And it almost 4 hours of work since I ate!!

My 2 pence worth on Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-24T17:50:00.002+05:30

I would seriously like to blog more often than I am right now. There's about 2-3 issues on my mind every week on which I would like to blog. But then obviously never end up doing it. Its quite strange that the very issue for which I started this blog i.e. caste reservations in Indian education, is the one I have never written about!! I wouldn't say I don't have the time, because that's just a lame excuse. So its ironic that I am finding time for a post just when I am in what is possibly the busiest part of the year for us, harvesting grapes for the 2009 vintage wines. More on that to follow.

Slumdog Millionaire is the flavour of the season especially after the 8 Oscars, preceded by numerous Golden Globes, BAFTA's, etc. I cant remember any other movie, Indian or foreign, that has so divided opinions & reactions in India during my time, which is not too long either. And its not just a mild disagreement we are seeing, its extreme views. Ranging being hailed a cinematic masterpiece & celebration of Mumbai to poverty pornography & twisted depiction of Mumbai to a Western audience for the sake of entertainment.

What did I think of Slumdog Millionaire? Well I thought it was a good movie but not a great movie. The story of the movie, the rags to riches tale with a love angle is something we have been seeing in Bollywood since a very very long time. The wronged protagonist, lost love, cliched plot twists, stereotyped characters, etc etc are regular fare we are treated to week in week out. And ofcourse the all encompassing happy ending.

But what separates it from the regular fare is the technical brilliance of the film. The depiction of Mumbai to start with. I cannot remember many movies which have captured it so brilliantly inspite of the filth of the slums. The movie is a visual treat and the sounds add to the experience. Has the perception of slums and poverty been shown in a deliberately perverted way to cater to the West? I don't think so. I've lived and seen in India long enough to gather that inspite of liberalization, modernization, 8% GDP growths, malls, BPO's etc etc that poverty and slums in big cities is a reality and something we have to face up to. The view while landing at Mumbai International Airport is a stark reminder. Even if we spend have the efforts that people have done in criticizing Slumdog for showing something that's real in a very authentic way, then we would go a long way to recognizing and eradicating the problem. Are we insecure about it because it has taken a foreigner to show us what slums actually looks and sounds like? Maybe. The acting was very average on the whole except for the child artistes and the music was just fantastic. And lets not get too gaga over the end dance sequence on Jai Ho, we have seen many more better ones in Bollywood.

Film making is an art. Art is never meant to be appreciated and liked by everyone. There will always be someone who will disagree. You either do or you don't like it. Not liking or enjoying Slumdog is ok. But going a step ahead and calling it a deliberate attempt to sabotage India's image and new found wealth is simply ridiculous. One movie cannot judge the image of an entire country or society.

What Slumdog Millionaire has managed to achieve is sell the Bollywood style of cliched storytelling along with the song & dance routines to a Western audience. Something as an industry we have struggled to do. I mean, Jai Ho, a song in Hindi wins an Oscar for Original Score when the rest of the world can barely understand or even pronounce the lyrics right! All said and done Slumdog Millionaire has more good points to celebrate than loopholes to ignore.

PS. Just seen in the news as I write this post, about Indian politicians and sections of media taking credit for Slumdog's success. Thats quite frankly ridiculous. Its an English film made by a British filmmaker and an American production house (Fox, I am pretty sure). Yes, we can celebrate the contributions of the various Indian artistes and technicians, but we don't deserve to take the credit for any of it.

The case of the spoilt child in the neighbourhood

2008-12-04T18:15:00.004+05:30

Sample this.

You live in a relatively peaceful neighbourhood with a lot of happy families. One fine day there is a new family who moves in next door. They have, what one would say, quite a spoilt child. He goes around everyday breaking windows, messing up the neatly trimmed gardens, scratching cars, etc in the area. In a nutshell causing havoc.

So as any normal peace loving person would do, you walk up to the parents to complain about the child's misdemeanors. The last thing you would expect is the parents to just smile, shrug their shoulders and tell you that "Oh, he breaks our windows, messes our lawn and scratches our car as well. So its ok you see, we understand, even we are affected." And then they turn around and do nothing to right the kid, let alone own up to the responsibility of the damage the kid has done. You would expect the parents to ground him, scold him, punish him, etc or do anything that would reduce and eliminate the nuisance in the neighbourhood. And if things get out of hand there will reach a point where you will feel like the righting kid yourself!!

Now substitute the parents as the state of Pakistan, the errant child as the anti-social elements operating from inside there and You as India or any neighbouring country affected by the said anti-social elements. So for how long can the state of Pakistan show a cold shoulder to allegations and evidence of terrorists operating from their own territory, do nothing about it and then expect sympathy for the fact that they are affected by it as well??

Sports & Market Forces

2008-06-14T13:32:00.003+05:30

This long awaited post was supposed to be about the Indian Premier League and what I thought about it. But the recent happenings in cricket with the entry of Stanford 20-20 overlapping with the silly season in the European football leagues & the Euro 2008 turned my attention to the predominant role of “market forces” in all sport today.

For the record, the IPL was a resounding success. I am sucker for cricket; there have been times I have even seen the Sunday League (English county ODI’s in the 90’s) and Bangladesh battle it out with Zimbabwe. So I have nothing against the format of T20 except for there is only so much I can take of it. At the end, it can all becomes a bit numbing and sometimes a hollow experience. I will do follow up on the IPL.

Back to the subject market forces; I think its fair to say that market forces in majority of sports today consists of broadcasters, advertising, sponsors and then the sports organizers. The fans ofcourse but not to as large an extent we think. The first 3 are all in the business of profit. I am not saying sports bodies should not make a profit, but their priority is more about ensuring the fair health of the sport. Business is about products, consumers & profits whereas sport is about contest, spectators & glory.

The reason I am so apprehensive of the market forces taking full control of the way our sports are structured and run is that it treats from a purely commercial point of view. Yes, commerce is necessary for sport to survive and thrive, but not the extent to that the game becomes robotic, monotonous and far away from what we loved it for. Left to market forces here are some of the scenarios that almost happened or will soon,

The English Premier League playing a 39^th game all over the world
The London ‘somethings’ participating in the NFL or NBA or whatever American league fancies you
Tennis being reduced to pinball with only baseliners due to a high tech racket which only focuses on hitting the ball as hard as one can
Mumbai Indians full of Australians playing Victoria full of second rung players (since most of them play for Mumbai Indians) at an indoor stadium in USA

They all might make perfect economic sense but I think deep down there is something fundamentally wrong with it. Call me a luddite or a romantic if you may.

The role of market forces in English football is a prime example. Today the EPL might call itself the biggest brand in football leagues, the most profitable and valuable league in the world. But the fact is that Italy & Germany with supposedly inferior & poor leagues were amongst the top 4 at the World Cup. Ask any English football fan if he prefers Russian / Thai / American dollars or seeing English glory at the Euros or the World Cup. I hope and I think I am right in saying that they will prefer the second. The priority of the Man Utds and the Chelseas is now to build a global brand rather than become a breeding ground for future England players. So one sided has market forces made English football that noone in the near future can think of breaking into the supposed big 4. English clubs talked about losing their soul at the sight of being brought over by a foreign billionaire. I think they lost their soul the moment they listed on the stock exchange and left themselves open to the happenings of it, buyouts & takeover being some of them.

Market forces in cricket are also one of the reasons for the decline of Test cricket in India. Test cricket as a contest can only survive as long as there is a balance between bat & ball. The emphasis on ODI’s has shifted from a contest between bat and ball to a slugfest. TV demands 4’s & 6’s to entertain people. This in turn changes perceptions of the game for newcomers who think that it is all about 4’s & 6’s. Flat pitches & short boundaries encourage high scores. The bowlers in ODI’s turn into run restrictors from wicket takers. The flat pitches in turn make Test matches about which team can score more runs than the other. There has been a decline in the number of results in Test matches in India over the past few years. This at a time when India seems to posses a better pace attack than they had in the 90’s. A lot of the draws can be attributed to flat pitches.

Watching Australia slaughter Bangladesh over 3 days is also a bad advertisement for Test cricket. So the authorities are hand in glove with market forces for the decline of Test cricket.

I am a big believer in changing with times. But unfortunately for Test cricket it is a game which if tampered with too much will just not the same. It is not Test crickets fault that it cannot change with time. It is just the way the game is.

Test cricket needs to T20 to flourish to ensure that the cash keeps coming in. But the balance has to be maintained. There has to be clear boundaries defined. Cricket has till now been a nationality based contest. Franchises and leagues based on European football is venturing into unchartered territory. The club versus country debate will arise and the authorities must be prepared to deal with it. Cricket’s marquee contests are still international matches; the Ashes, India V Pakistan & Australia, West Indies (if they regain their glory days) V England & Australia & the ODI World Cup.

The franchise model will raise serious questions about loyalties. Kevin Pietersen seems more interested in taking part in the IPL than the Ashes. That the authorities are clearly unprepared is obvious from the fact that someone like Lalit Modi is making rules like a magician pulling tricks from his hat. Barring players from playing for their respective home teams is simply not done. He has created a monster which threatens to overrun international cricket. Not that I am against the IPL or T20. Its just that going the football way is not necessarily the right way. The franchises & Modi will be laughing all the way to the bank but cricket as a sport will be poorer for it.

Sport needs the money, but it is the duty of the bodies to be guardians of the game and their morals. The organizers of the cricket & football World Cups can make life hell for the average Joe who is told what drink he can drink and what shirt he can wear. Profit is not a dirty word but I think it has sport a lot more muddier than it used to be.

Taxi Driver: The most Maligned Job

2008-05-19T22:06:00.012+05:30

When you mention the word ‘Indian’ pretty much all over the world, the first things that come to ones mind is Bollywood (Mostly Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan), Curry, The software (IT) brainees, Taj Mahal, Cricket and Taxi Drivers. Yes, you read it right, Taxi Drivers!! And there are many fine examples of this. We have seen the friendly Sadarji cab driver in New York City in Indian movies playing match maker getting the hero and heroine together. We have seen a bearded guy with a turban driving a taxi with Spider Man on top of the roof in his signature stance in the comics, we have seen Mohinder Suresh, one of the lead characters in the American TV series ‘Heroes’ who is a biologist, driving a taxi when he first arrives in New York. Those who have played the game Grand Theft Auto IV have seen and heard the Indian accent of the taxi driver in it. I have seen Indian taxi drivers in the US, London, Dubai, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Singapore, Malaysia and of course India. But lets keep India away from this and focus on the rest of the places. The demographics of the age of these people vary.

Living in a first world country is by no means cheap. For many Indians, driving a taxi is an immediate source of income when they migrate into a new country and continue to do so until they find a proper job. But I am sure there are countless stories and cases where people have ended up driving a taxi for year’s altogether. Indian international students pay about three times the tuition fees than the local citizens in most places including US, UK and Australia. Many of these students hope to get a part time job for surviving, let alone being able to focus on what they are there for, studying!! Looking at it in a different way, who does not like that extra bit of cash??? Let it be clubbing, alcohol, gambling, buying clothes, food, gizmos, whatever!! But the bottom line is, which has recently been lingering and bothering my mind, why drive a taxi out of the many part time jobs available out there most of which don’t even demand u have prior experience??? While reading, keep in mind that most students drive cabs after hours and on weekend’s coz that’s when they are free from University commitments.

There was a recent famous case in Melbourne where a 23 year old Indian IT student was repeatedly stabbed by two men at 2am in the morning in a suburb. There was a massive protest the next day by the Indian cabbies in the city center in Melbourne demanding better security and safety for them after hours especially on weekends. Here is one of the many youtube videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36c6NGZQM3c

Today in Adelaide, there was a protest by 50 taxi drivers in the city center lead by an incident 2 nights ago where an Indian taxi driver called Balraj Singh was bashed up by two drunk people who also stole his taxi. The demands were the same, more safety and security after hours and on the weekends.

Source & News link: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/

0,22606,23720136-2682,00.html

So let’s get this right. These incidences are related to drunken people who happened to be the passengers of these two cabbies on those ill fated nights. Binge drinking in general and partying on the weekends in Australia is a popular culture and it’s no surprise that these drivers complain of such incidences of assault and torture, not to mention ill treatment and swearing, taking place more often than actually noticed or recorded on the weekends. Getting straight to the point, people claim that Australians are rascist and in general more towards the Indians. I mean, everyone has seen that this year in cricket as well. The Indian team is also known to be criticized by the Australian fans in cricket stadiums in Australia.

What I am about to put forward is very simple and a fact that is often overlooked and its all related to alcohol!! Ever heard of the fact that a drunk person always speaks the truth? Ever heard that pretty much most of the people in the world are rascist in some way or the other including Indians? Ever been scared of an unknown drunk person on the street or in a party? Ever heard that the amount of hatred in the world is increasing by the day for whatever reason that may be? See the point i am getting to?

Being in a state of intoxication brings out the best and the worst of human nature no matter what color you are. Take a new years party in India where people get drunk turning into sleaze bags and getting violent. We all have seen those drunken fights which start off from nothing but ‘Mujhe dhakka kyoon diya? Tujhe pata hai main kaun hoon? (why did u push me? Do u know who I am?)’ or ‘Meri biwi/beti ko kyon cheda? (why did u tease my wife/daughter?)’ Similarly, I am not surprised why these incidences relate to drunken people and those Indian cab drivers who happen to be working on the weekends picking up drunk passengers from clubbing districts. As far as cricket is concerned, beer is legally sold in cricket games in Australia and strictly restricted to the general admission sections whose tickets are of course the cheapest. Why go international when u can find local examples in India? Look at the incidences that took place recently in Bombay where the pro Maharashtrians went on assaulting north Indians and UP, bihari taxi drivers.

Don’t get me wrong here!! I have been fortunate to have known some very good and polished Australian people. But on the other hand there have been several occasions where I felt that I was being treated differently specially at the airports of Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne where I was bomb and drug tested on several occasions in spite of the fact that their machines dint buzz or detect any metal. Add to that London Airport (and I don’t know whether it has anything to do with my beard :S). But I believe that its no way to generalize people and it’s the good and bad that make neutral.

So the question still remains, why do most Indians settle for a taxi driver’s job? I know for a fact that the pay rates are not very fancy, some being as low as $13/hour and that the drivers are paid only 50% of every fare. Australia is a place where employees have their fare share of rights and wages are set to a minimum to avoid exploitation. There are tons of jobs offering salaries like $15-$16/hour and if u are above 21, the chances of you earning $20-$21/hour are quite high!!

In the mean time, I wish the best for all the taxi drivers in Adelaide and around the world and can only hope for better things to come.

Related Article: Melbourne's Taxi drivers are a breathe of fresh air

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/melbournes-taxi-drivers-are-

a-breath-of-fresh-air/2007/02/23/1171734021985.html

2008 F1 Season and.......

2008-05-12T16:01:00.005+05:30

It’s been a great start to the 2008 FIA Formula1 Championship with a lot of drivers showing their worth and justifying their hefty paychecks. This season is already set to be a cracker with lots of surprises in store. Of course we had more than our fair share of shocks and surprises last season but this time the action is guaranteed to be on track rather than off track, that is, excluding the ongoing case against Max Mosely regarding his sex scandal with prostitutes that had a Nazi theme. So then, 5 Grand Prix weekends are over with Kimi Raikkonen (KR) leading the championship at 35 points with Felipe Massa (FM) and Lewis Hamilton (LH) behind him at 28 points each.

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari: had a terrible start to the season in Australia with a shaky performance that included a couple off track excursions. An engine problem during the second half of the race did not help either. Being a man of few words he put Australia behind him and made a come back in the championship with victories in Malaysia and Spain. So far he definitely is the favorite to win the Championship.

Felipe Massa - Ferrari: and the words solid, composed, bullet proof performances do not go hand in hand. He is a driver who I have always believed does not deserve a drive at Ferrari. However, he is all set to silence his critics this year with the desire to win the championship as strong as ever. For that we will have to wait and watch. He however has had mixed fortunes this season which two DNF’s already. He failed to finish both the Melbourne and Malaysian GP but came back with a dominating win in Bahrain. His credible and composed victory this past weekend in Turkey was a record setting Hat trick making him the most successful driver at the Istanbul Otodrome. These two tracks are his favorite among all on the calendar this year and he has played down speculation that he is a one (or two) track wonder.

Lewis Hamilton - Mclaren Mercedes: I was right when I said at the end of last year that it’s gonna be even harder for Lewis to win the championship this year. Mclaren lie third in the driver’s championship behind both Ferrari and BMW and the pressure from team mate Heikki Kovalainen (HK) is increasing by each passing race weekend. So, things are not looking very good for him so far with only one win in Australia. Not to mention the fact that he has been outpaced by HK quite a few times including qualifying in Turkey in spite of HK being heavier on fuel. Mclaren have not won a single championship since 1999 though they have had the best drivers in the world piloting their cars not to mention they lost the services of two world champions. That’s a bit of a worry if u would ask me. More on LH a little later.

Fernando Alonso (FA) - Renault: Every passing year makes me admire him even more. Being a double world champion makes it very hard to be fighting in the middle of the field when you know you should be at the top of the grid fighting for victories. However, Renault have only recently started to get things right and have realized that the only way they can keep him in 2009 is to provide him with a title winning car. He has however been pushing his Renault to the max and scored well deserved 9 points. Poor outings by FM at the start of the season lead to rumors that FA had already signed a secret contract with Ferrari for 2009. Luca di Montezemelo and Flavio Briatore, who believe that a team must have a number 1 and number 2 driver, have played down the rumors and admit that having KR and FA alongside each other is not going to be in the interest of Ferrari claiming it would be ‘Damaging’.

The BMW’s of Robert Kubica (RK) and Nick Heidfeld (NH): BMW is a team on the rise with not much between them and Mclaren. Both drivers have been consistent so far with RK enjoying more success than ‘Quick Nick’ and the dream of winning a Grand Prix is not that distant anymore. Although a driver’s title for BMW is very unlikely, consistent outings by the team should give them a chance of finishing runners up in the constructors.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the racing but no so much the coverage of ITV and F1 racing magazine who never fail to show that they are both British and Lewis Hamilton is a superstar legend of F1. Let’s start with the coverage of ITV. F1 is telecasted on channel ten in Australia which I believe has some sort of connection to the ITV network. All James Allen and Martin Brundle, the commentators of ITV, talk about during the race is Lewis Hamilton. I am sure they were in seventh heaven during the Melbourne GP where Lewis won, but I am glad I was not tortured by them since I was in Melbourne watching the race live. They never admitted Lewis was at fault when he ran into FA in Bahrain ruining his and Alonso’s race and immediately came to the conclusion that FA brake tested Lewis without any evidence. Even a normal drive on a race weekend is termed ‘Heroic’ by them. During Lewis’s second stint in the Turkish GP, LH was lapping nearly a second quicker than FM simply because he had a very light car and James Allen called that Senna’esq race pace.

F1 Racing magazine is all about Lewis Hamilton these days. There has to be an article about him somewhere in there not matter how silly it is. If not, let’s put him on the cover page at least!!! Following are some of the words by Peter Windsor (Yeap, you guessed it!! He is British) in the article called ‘Kimi vs. Lewis: Inside their title fight’ in this months (May 2008) F1 racing issue.

“If there is anyone better than Kimi out there, then his name is Lewis” – WRONG!!!!

“Lewis is learning to handle the most difficult and omnipresent press corps in the world” – I agree to that. Thanks for being Honest Peter. Much appreciated

“Lewis, the man of the future, follows one packed day with another. Abbey, Vodafone, Mercedes, Boss, factory visit, test, TAG Heuer, travel, Mobil, media, Olympus, team meetings, race, travel, factory…. And they still want him to join the GPDA” – I wont say much apart from the fact that he can choose not to do half of the things above like Kimi does and did when he was at Mclaren and concentrate on his racing.

I mean, its time that the British media shut their mouth and came back to reality. More so, if they don’t want Lewis to end up like Jenson Button or David Coulthard. Lot’s of promise initially, but not a single championship between the two.

Following are some quotes by David Coulthard in the same issue of F1 racing:

“When I was young, I thought F1 was easy, because I’d come straight in with a winning car and I didn’t appreciate how technical it was – a bit like, I guess, what Lewis is experiencing right now. He probably can’t believe how easy F1 is, but a few years down the line, when the cars not so competitive, it may be a different story” – Thank you DC. I don’t need to comment more on that, do I??

Q: looking at what happened last year at Mclaren - where there were some doubts regarding equal treatment – do you think you had a fair treatment when u were Mika’s team-mate?

DC: “It was no surprise that, despite Mclaren’s best efforts, one guy ended up feeling less loved than the other.” - Mclaren, stop lying to everyone and admit that u love Hamilton and take responsibility of damaging Alonso’s reputation too!!

On yea, and finally, did I mention that Lewis’s biography was eating dirt at the bookshelves around the world and that he is struggling with car set up this year? Can’t steal Alonso’s car setups anymore can you?

All said & done, what a royal mess!!

2008-02-03T20:08:00.000+05:30

It is very difficult to talk about the Sydney test between India & Australia without screaming out loud that We Was Robbed. But I am going to refrain from blaming everyone but the Indian team for the defeat.

It is also difficult to talk about the 3 issues i.e. the result of the Test, the Harbhajan-Symonds row & the refereeing cum umpiring standards, without one overlapping the other. Because I feel if one were to look at the 3 issues separately it helps to gain some perspective and gives an idea of what went wrong and what we can learn from it. So here is my attempt at looking at the events that transpired subjectively and the bodies involved.

India's defeat - India lost the Test and with it their hopes if defeating Australia which was very much possible had they secured a draw in Sydney. The follow-on result in Perth showed that hopes of winning the series were very much realistic. Life is about controlling the controllables and India failed to do that. The umpiring gaffes which hastened the result masked the deficiencies of the team. More on the umpires in a bit. Yes, they blundered big time but that is more a sign of an over all malaise. India's strategy of accommodating Yuvraj Singh was misguided from the very start. Added to that was opening with Dravid just when he was in desperate need of form. Leaving Sehwag aside was another tactical blunder which India payed for. Also the nth 2nd innings collapse exposed the batting line-up's vulnerability at batting to save a game. Batting out 2 sessions is not much to ask for from a line-up as decorated as India's. Also losing your last 4 wickets to honest trundlers like Symonds & Clarke is inexplicable. So one can argue that India are partly to blame for their defeat since they did not control the controllables.

Harbhajan-Symonds row - Whether Harbhajan called Symonds a 'monkey' or merely abused him as 'maa ki', only he knows deep down inside. Symonds & Ponting were well within their rights to report Harbhajan if they felt he racially abused Symonds. That Mike Proctor was not qualified to conduct the hearing and that his hearing was a farce is also a fact for which the ICC is squarely to be blamed. The ultimately fair verdict which was delivered by the Kiwi judge was very interesting to go through and I think the Aussies should understand the circumstances under which Harbhajan was cleared regardless of what was said. If a man's word, especially the victim's, was evidence enough, we would fall short of prisons in the world. Also one must discard the grandstanding by the BCCI and the so-called caving in by Cricket Australia and accept the verdict for what it is because it was delivered by a qualified man without prejudice. Symonds must tone down his on field behavior since he is quite a motor mouth on the field. And Harbhajan has to be taken aside by the Indian team management and warned that he is walking a disciplinary tightrope. One must not forget that he was still convicted of abusing a player regardless of the provocative circumstances.

The umpiring/refereeing standards - The ICC's excuse for continuing umpiring blunders is that they are humans and make mistakes like players. Except for one difference. Players pay for their mistakes with defeats and places in their sides. But it is the players and teams who are bearing the brunt of the umpires' mistakes! That is one system of accountability that I do not understand. Umpires are not being made accountable for their mistakes. We all love the human element in the game but let that human fallibility be limited to bowlers, batsmen & fielders. Let not an erroneous human decision made by someone not directly involved decide what is essentially a contest between bat & ball. The stakes are too high in sport today to let bad decisions be handed out without an effective referral or redressal system. The current trend of umpiring errors is exaggerated when one considers the technology that exposes the deficiencies ruthlessly and embarrassingly. More on umpiring in a future post but measures that can help curb the malaise include appeals (like those in tennis), clearer guidelines on empowering of umpires using technology, stricter selection criteria for umpires and a system of accountability.

I think we will all agree if the match referee is made defunct and the umpire be given disciplinary powers on the field. Should in case a hearing be conducted, let it be done by qualified people and not by some old timers killing time when they rather be sitting at home, commentating or writing syndicated columns.

Also a few words on the other parties involved in this unholy mess.

The players - I think player behaviour in cricket is at an all time low. The Aussies can get away with what they do because they keep winning. Anyone else who behaves the same way and then loses merely comes across as a sore loser. The ICC needs to clamp down on player behaviour which also includes unnecessary appealing which is a tactic willfully used by most sides. The likes of Ponting, Clarke, Harbhajan & Sreesanth are mighty fine cricketeers with talent, but they need to be reminded every now and then what they are out there for. The only way to beat the Aussies is not to match their verbal bravado but to play tactically & strategically aggressive cricket. Period. And you know what lets have the mics on all the time so atleast they will think twice before letting lose their lip. If the fielders are to be believed on touch & go catches, why shouldn't the batsman's word not be taken when he has edged an LBW which nobody has seen or heard? All players have an ulterior motive whether they like it or not, and that is to get the decision in their favour. So lets not start asking the pupils whether they would like to be detained in the playground or the candy shop!!

The BCCI - I wanted to label all the bodies i.e. BCCI, CA & ICC, together, but I think they all deserve to be castigated for their roles in this mess. The BCCI has not helped the team by having a ridiculous itinerary for the tour. They could have the team better prepared for the Melbourne Test with another practice game. It was only until Sydney that the batsman got into their groove. Their grandstanding and blackmailing in the light of the Harbhajan row was classless and graceless. They had the opportunity to take the moral high ground and blew it. Having all the money in the game does not give them the right to behave like the petulant kid and storm off the field at the drop of a hat. It also brings a responsibility of bettering the game at both domestic and international level. When was the last time they did something constructive for the game? Beats me! And if they did have a beef with Steve Bucknor, why was he not vetoed out at the beginning of the series? Despite knowing that he has a not so good history when it comes to the Indian team.

The ICC - How not to run an international sport? Look no further than the International Cricket Council. Cramped schedules, falling umpiring standards, impotent match referees, erratic player behaviour, the chargesheet is pretty long! They keep stumbling from one corner to another always being a shining beacon of incompetency & ineptitude.

And ofcourse the media & public - A lot of the Indian news channels seem to be living in a shell of their own. Before celebrating the 'victory of Indian national honour' let us remember that Harbhajan has a history of indiscipline, offences & he was still convicted of using abusive language. Also we should stop playing the victim card and accept that we are one of the most discriminative people and society in the world. Discrimination exists in our country on all levels, race, religion, caste, community & colour. So let us start facing ourselves before we start preaching secularism & equality to the world. Also, if Harbhajan actually called Symonds a monkey inspite of Symonds explaining to him why he finds it offending, then let us not defend Harbhajan by saying that monkeys are a revered species in India! Even monkeys would find that argument ridiculous. And let us not misguide all our national pride on cricket. Its only a sport. Their are many more things in our country to be equally proud and ashamed of. Many more things that both uphold and degrade our so-called 'national honour'.

All said & done, the Sydney Test bought out the worst in all the parties involved. It is a period where everyone has at some point guilty of acting against the spirit of sport. Its a chapter we would like to forget for a while and it was a shame that what was such a potentially terrific series was reduced to a sham. All said & done, it was a royal mess.

Driving rules are made for your safety. FOLLOW THEM

2008-01-06T21:28:00.000+05:30

In my 6 years of driving experience, 2007 was a turnaround. Initially there was a lot of frustration and I was irritated with the fact that my Indian driver’s license was no good in Australia. This meant that I had to give a theory and practical examination to get one. Well, no issues with that. Driving is in my blood and failing in it….. hell no. The theory test was an absolute cake walk and it took me 5 min to complete a 35 min exam. I really pity those people who fail in it. Seriously, people do fail in theory tests and I wonder how they manage to do it. Moving on, I started taking lessons and I must say it went pretty smooth considering I was an INDIAN driver. There were those odd arguments with my instructor but the Vietnamese guy told me in simple words, “you no listen to me, you fail. Money waste. You listen to me, you pass.” Keeping that in mind and of course the money (60 AUD – 2100 rupees for a one and half hour lesson is by no means cheap to me) I carried on with the lessons. And again, how could I ever fail a driving test….. ?

It took me 7 driving lessons and a lot of ‘getting rid of old habits, atleast till the test’ and I was ready for D day. It all went pretty smooth with my examiner being more interested in knowing about my parents and grandparents and India, him being an anglo Indian. It definitely did not help as I was obviously trying to get everything right. There were a few erks and from memory I did some things that my Vietnamese instructor strictly told me not to do. But I passed with flying colors and I was satisfied. Life felt good, I got an Australian drivers license and I could now drive anywhere in the world without much hassel. My driving is much better and all the old rough edges have been smoothened. This has added to the Oz experience as well….

This experience made me realize how dangerous driving in India really is or for that matter in third world countries. It feels like as if people hate themselves to an extent that they don’t mind losing their life on the roads. The other day I was in a car being driven by a friend who has been driving for not more than 6 months. He said to me, ‘I highly rate you as a driver and you are safe too. I also want to know from you about car control. I am going to drive now and I want you to comment on my driving and tell me what mistakes I make. Chalega na bhai…?’ What I witnessed from there on, in a nutshell, is somewhat like this. Cutting lanes (not that I don’t do it in India, but it is the manner in which I am talking about. It was scary), squeezing the vehicle in every pocket seen between vehicles (no patience whatsoever to queue up behind the vehicle ahead at junctions and roundabouts leading to a bottleneck), the ever so famous-dangerous left side overtaking, late braking and speeding in crowded areas.

“arre bhai traffic area mein kaun kidhar se aa raha hai who barobar dikhta hai. Open road pe kaisa, kaun kidhar se bhi aa jata hai and raste pe gadi daal deta hai. Who jyada risky hai. Mera bike pe 120 pe aise hi accident hua tha”. [In a congested area, its easy to notice traffic flow whereas in an open road u never know who enters the road randomly without signaling or even looking out for vehicles. This is how I once met with an accident on my bike in an open road.] – said my friend. I just kept quiet after this and was confused what to comment about his driving.

A new driver is like a small child, what you teach him is what he is for the rest of his life. With no proper licensing services and driver examination systems, most of the people in India learn to drive by themselves and form their own rules of driving. This is what makes it very dangerous and considering that the number of vehicles on Indian roads is skyrocketing, ram jaane (god knows) what will happen.

While taking driving lessons for the driving exam in Australia, I learnt about the potential dangers while driving and also the rules which I never would have understood otherwise in my lifetime in India. Introduction to the blind spot was an eye opener. For those of you who don’t know what it is, I insist u look it up online.

Driving is all about some common sense, logical thinking, being considerate towards our fellow commuters and a bit more than that. For some reason people, especially on two wheels, find it smart to drive leisurely in the middle of the road turning a blind eye and deaf ear to honking vehicles. Some people consider driving as a way to get from one place to another, but to me it’s more about the experience. Think of making each journey as joyful and relaxing as a steam bath or a Jacuzzi. Driving is an art and just like not everyone is a painter, not everyone is a driver. All I am saying is that keep in mind the difference between warm and cool colors, real life painting and still painting, portrait, etc… everything should fall in place. And yes, familiarize yourselves with driving rules even though no one will ever ask you about them, in India atleast.

The BCCI & Dravid gamble backfires and how!!

2007-12-31T19:59:00.000+05:30

The origins of the topic of this post date back to the moment the BCCI announced the final itinerary for the current India tour of Australia. When the BCCI announced that the Indian cricket team will be only playing 1 warm up match in the lead up to the Boxing Day Test match at Melbourne. The second origin was the decision to select Dravid to open the innings. We have a 337 run defeat to show that these 2 decisions have totally backfired.

Around the time of the Ashes last year I had highlighted points as to how a team should not prepare for the big series Down Under. And England had made a lot of errors in preparation. India have seemed to have taken a leaf from their book.

There are 2 more ways not to prepare to face the Aussies. The first one is to not play enough warm up games. The Indian batsman appeared undercooked after they had bloated their egos (& averages) and plundered runs on comatose pitches against a bowling attack that can be at best be described as average and at worse impotent. Yes the batsman were high on morale but the pitches the games vs Pakistan also gave them a false sense of confidence when they came to face Australia. The single washed out game denied the batsman to make that mental adjustment to play on the bouncier pitches down under. It also denied the management to have a look at Sehwag's potency and what the likes of Ishant Sharma et al had to offer going into MCG.

The second way is to disturb the furniture at the top of the order. Yuvraj Singh's inclusion meant Dravid & VVS Laxman were batting in positions not first nature to them. This for a player who has not played a Test outside the subcontinent (as far as I can remember). One does not put the Rolls Royce & Bentley out in the rain to accommodate the beefed up Hummer in the garage.

Sehwag finds himself in a funny situation. First he was criticised for not earning his place in the squad down under. Now he seems to have become the saviour with some experts clamouring for his inclusion at the top of the order. The fact that Sehwag was picked means that he would sooner or later open the innings. So why experiment with Dravid opening. Sehwag's inclusion only makes sense if he opens and I think now that he his down there its a punt worth taking. He should be told in clear terms as to how many innings he has to resurrect his Test career in conditions he would thrive in and against opposition who fears him.

Dravid's elevation at the top was the last thing he required. He is out of form and low on confidence. Asking him to handle the extra load of opening the innings was uncalled for.

India still has a chance to salvage atleast a draw from this series. The bowlers have shown they have more than it takes to dismiss the Aussies. Its time for the batsman to stand and be counted instead of going AWOL like they did in South Africa last year. And they dont even have Guru Greg Chappell to shoulder the blame on this time round!!

Out of R&R

2007-12-10T21:42:00.000+05:30

Its been a week and a day since I went under the knife for the first time ever. The surgical types I mean. Last Saturday I had a sudden attack of acute appendicitis and the best option was surgery.

Lets do some numbers. 3 nights in a hospital, 2 shaven arms, 10+ saline drips, 10+ injections in various parts of the body, an anesthetic in the back, a 10 cm incision, 7 stitches and a badass appendix. Also things being inserted in all parts possible, and I really mean 'All'! Its funny how insignificant a part of the body like an appendix an cause so much pain and discomfort. And the fact that it serves no purpose in our intestines in the first place!!

Anyhoo, the stitches are out and I can say I am out of rest & recuperation. I love that term for some reason. An excuse to just sleep, laze around, get bored, catch up on Prison Break and watch lots of movies. And the cycle keeps repeating. And most of all an excuse to stay away from work!! Now thats good. No not really given the pain I had to go through.

Going back to the surgery. This was the first time I was to be operated upon. So the only thing on my mind at each and every stage was 'what are they inserting, why are they inserting and is it gonna hurt??' I don't like unpleasant surprises especially painful ones. I rather be prepared for the kind of pain to expect. Mild or acute or whatever.

But seriously I cannot remember any other time of my life when I have endured so much pain. Ok appendix is not a major surgery, but I am a bit sensitive to pain. So there! With all those medications my mind actually used to play games with me. No jokes. I was imagining things in the middle of the night that I could not understand and cannot explain. Those wre 3 of the longer nights I have had in a long time.

Also having the injection for the saline change positions and arms not once but twice wasn't helping. The nurses scoffed that I had thin veins! Like I can do anything about it. They are the ones who are supposed to ease the pain!

All in all it was quite an experience. Although the hospitals should not have backbreakers as an excuse for a bed. And an electronically patient controlled reclining bed would do good. Not having to ask anyone to pull or push the back all the time.

Now I am up and running. I think having the scar a few years down the line will be quite cool. As funny as it may sound. Although I wouldn't wish or want for any more of them.

Lame duck Govt., dead duck PM

2007-11-03T12:55:00.000+05:30

There isn't a Government I can remember in my time which has been more impotent and hamstrung in its approach than the current Manmohan Singh, err sorry Sonia Gandhi led Union Government. But then I never expected a lot from a motley crew propped up with the support of none other than the Communists themselves, who seem to have awakened from the dinosaur age after their prolonged absence at the Centre.

Back when the coalition was formed, the Government itself started off on the wrong foot. We had the first ever 'selected' PM rather than the usually 'elected' PM. Now thats not very good is it? How much confidence is it going to inspire in the people that the PM himself has never won an election in his life. And do not believe anybody when they say that the Congress has the people's mandate. Take a look at the vote statistics from the last election and one can safely conclude that nobody had the people's mandate in the last election.

For all off Manmohan Singh's intellect, integrity & honesty, he simply is not cut out to be a leader of a nation. Listening to his squeaky speeches can even cure insomniacs. AB Vajpayee had terribly long pauses, but he commanded attention when he spoke and was a great orator. He was the right PM at the wrong age. Singh is a bureaucrat and that is what he should have been. He will make an able deputy but he fails as a leader.

Coming to the current scenario and the nuclear deal impasse. The Left has hindered every move made by the Government, however good or bad it maybe. And to be honest I am quite worried over the long term impact their outdated ideology could have. Even their masters in China are more liberal and capitalist, policy wise, in their approach than our democracy! Which is quite something.

The irony over the nuclear deal is that the people who have shone strong conviction and an unwillingness to budge are the wrong ones! Its Manmohan Singh who should have had that position rather than the Left. I believe the nuclear deal is big enough to warrant elections if the Left feels they will withdraw support should the Govt. go ahead with it. Atleast it will call their bluff, which they have done ad nauseum now, and let the people decide what they want.

I have also been disappointed by the BJP's approach towards the deal. Their opposition in Parliament to a deal initiated by Vajpayee's Govt. smacks of policital opportunism and also highlights the marginalization of Vajpayee in his own party. They had the chance to support the Congress in Parliament and push the deal through to expose the Left for what they are, a bunch of hypocrites and followers of an outdated ideology.

But then again this a bit too much to expect from our politicos. We will all go back to normal as if nothing happened and India would have missed a deal of a lifetime. The Congress will hang on to power and the Left will continue to have the power they crave without any responsibility at all. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Mclaren Stumbles as Kimi delivers Masterclass

2007-10-22T14:41:00.000+05:30

It feels good to be writing a blog after a long long time. Well, its just my second. Whatever, here it goes........

To start with, the 2007 Formula1 World Championship has been full of surprises, shock, shame, resilience, hard work, misfortune, fairytale, court cases, appeals, spying, sledging, etc, etc and the list never ends. Some may say that, thats what formula1 is all about. Indeed it is, but this time limits have been crossed and things have been put way of perspective. I shall deal with each one by one as follows.

Alonso and Hamilton Dream Team:

Many considered that racing a rookie driver alongside a double world champion was one of the best driver selection mclaren could ever make especially after the exit of Kimi Raikkonen from the team at the end of the 2006 season.

I should however recall that Alonso had signed a contract with mclaren for 3 years (2007-09) half way through the 2006 season (the year he won the championship with renault). People were surprised with the decision he had made considering he was in a title winning car (at renault) and mclaren's performance in 2006 was absolutely dismal, a year with no race victories.

Flavio Briatore (Team Manager - Renault) quoted that "Alonso wouldnt have switched to mclaren if he knew that he was going to race alongside Hamilton"
Would he have? No one knows. But i think he would have since he was pretty sure he would have had number 1 status in whatever team he drove!

It was a perfect start for Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen with him winning the first race of the season in Australia. Mclaren had a good start too with both their drivers performing well and scoring points for the team.

Spygate Case:

In brief, Mclaren was accused of possessing confidential Ferrari data which Ferrari claims Mclaren used for their benefit. The two main culprits - Nigel Stepney of Ferrari and Mike Coughlan of Mclaren. After a couple months of saga and series of bizarre events Mclaren was fined 1oo m Dollars and disqualified from the constructors championship.

This event turned tables and Ferrari clinched the contructors championship by default since they were second.

Hamilton and Mclaren:

Hamilton is a baby of Ron dennis and Mclaren. He has been with the team for a great period of his racing career. He has spent hours and hours training in the mclaren race simulator. He did not have to spend any time adjusting to new car conditions (tyres, etc) as opposed to Fernando Alonso. So, He was expected to be quick off the blo ck. He had a near perfect car in every race, he would pretty much finish where he started from on the grid. It is not that Hamilton was flawless, it was Raikkonen, Massa and Alonso having bad weekends and misfortunes prettymuch throughout the season. According to me, Hamilton was leading the championship due to sheer luck and so me good performance (which is expected from every other formula1 driver). Also, he has a brilliant car. In other words it was a cruise for him.

Alonso and Mclaren:

After a few races in the season when things were not going right, he thought he was not given what he gave Mclaren o ver the winter during vehicle development and testing. Also he was annoyed of the fact that he never got number 1 status in the team. Being a double world champion there is nothing wrong in expecting no1 position. Moreover he was always no1 in renault. So he expected the same here as well. His feeling of not being treated in the team f airly is a normal thing. Thats human nature. Its a british team with a british driver (Hamilton). After the failure of Jenson Button, Britain was in desperate need of an F1 hero and mclaren in desperate need of victories and titles. I dont see any reason why Mclaren would not favour Hamilton over Alonso.

Alonso and his misfortunes:

In Hungary he was penalised for impeding Hamilton in qualifying. The team themselves confirmed that it was Hamilton who ignored team orders and entered the pits at the wrong time. So who do u blame? Hamilton acted like a little innocent rookie and got away with it and Alonso paying the price for being honest. The media made a whole issue out of it of Alonso using non racing tactics to beat Hamilton. That was wrong!!

Time and again Alonso was quick in Q1 and Q2 of qu alifying but from nowhere he would lose all pace in Q3 and Hamilton would pull of a surprise lap and take pole position. This is more than just coincidence and strong performace. Alonso is a proven two time champion and that too during the presence of the great Michael Schumacher. I see something fishy here and so did Alonso when he accused Mclaren for not treating him fairly in the team. This happened in china as well where there were tyre pressure problems in Q3 and he lost grid position.

Belgian GP - Alonso countersteers his car at the first corner almost avoiding a crash with Hamilton which forces Hamilton out of the track. They race neck to neck together in the second corner with Alonso refusing to let go. Hamilton cribs about it and everyone points at Alonso for being unfair. Kimi (which is a comment of a true racing driver) says: "Thats normal racing incident. We are here to race each other. Its perfectly normal." As i said Hamilton acts like an innocent rookie and lets the media and every one make Alonso look like the bad guy.

Japanese GP - Hamilton did a pathetic job behind the safety car by accelerating and braking hard time and again. Remember that caused Sebastian Vettel run into Mark Webber and both were out of the race. Alonso crashed out is another issue but the point here is, Hamilton gives an excuse of trying to keep his brakes warm and gets away with it.

Brazilian GP - Hamilton sort of impedes Raikkonen during Kimi's final qualifying lap (Q3). I dont think so to be honest. But compare this to what happened in Italy last year, Alonso was accused of impeding Massa on his Hot lap when he was not even 95 meters within him. Still Alonso was penalised and lost 6 grid positions. Hamilton and Raikkonen were more close to each other in Brazil, but again Hamilton got a way with it!!

Either of Max Mosely (FIA president) or Bernie Ecclestone (Owner of formula1) [not sure] commented that: "i would like to see Hamilton be champion. He can do a lot more for the sport than can either of Raikkonen or Alonso." Excuse me, a champion is someone who is fastest on the track. Promoting a sport is secondary!!

So, was the championship a cruise for Hamilton until he saw what life at formula1 really is in China and Brazil? Yes. It was high time he saw his fair share of bad luck in the season. A championship is supposed to be earned by hardwork and proving yourself on the track and not outside it.

That leads me to the next part,

Kimi Raikkonen - 2007 Formula 1 World Champion

I made this comment when the season commenced that if there is anyone in the track who needs to be champion and deserves it, that is Kimi. Without any doubt. He missed it twice with mclaren in the years i think in which he produced the finest of drives ever. Raikkonen and Alonso are the next legends of Formula1. One (kimi) for his fearless driving, outright pace, someone who does his talking on the track ONLY and the other (Alonso), for his knack of knowing what to do when on the track and ofcourse speed!!

I respect the resilience and never say die attitude of Kimi throughout the season. He trusted himself and the team (Ferrari) and never ga ve up on the title until it was mathematically impossible.
The fact of outperforming his team mate Filipe Massa in just his first outing in a ferrai (massa was a test driver for ferrari for sometime before he drove for sauber. He finally got a racing seat last year when Barrichello left) just shows th e genius in him and what he is made of.

2008 Predictions:

People say that Alonso will leave Mclaren for good. His most likely position is ofcourse Renault who will welcome him with open arms. But:
1. Fernando will consider his reasons of leaving renault at the first place
2. Will renault be able to give him a Championship winning car? I dont think so. BMW are making great proress and Ferrari and Mclaren a re already up there.
3. Most likely thing however is a Heikki Kovalainen and Fernando A lonso swap between mclaren and renault.

If Alonso goes to Renault his partner is definitely Fisichella as Flavio will not risk putting Nelson Piquet Jr alongside Alonso.

Who will win the drivers championship in 2008??

Kimi Raikkonen: Being an Alonso fan (as you must have felt reading this blog) i feel Kimi Raikkonen is the most likely champion of 08. He has the car, the momentum and absolutely everything that he needs to win.

Fernando Alonso: Very difficult. He is completely unsettled at the moment. If he goes to renault i dont think he will get a car that will make him champion again. If he stays at mclaren, he might be highly motivated for glory next year or a repeat of 2007.

Filipe Massa: Possible. He is very hungry for one and has the car to do it. But it will be an uphill task to outperform Kimi.

Lewis Hamilton: If you think that this year was hard for him then next year is going to be harder. I think this year was as close as he could get to a title for atleast a year or two.

Other drivers to look for: Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen

There are going to be regulation changes next year (viz. no traction control, etc) and so it will interesting to see how things shape up next year.

Finally i have to mention about Mark Webber (Yes, i have been in australia for more than a year now and the reasons are obvious). Why does he always have to be in the wrong team at the wrong time? why does his car keep blowing up? perhaps he is the most unlucky driver on the grid who has not yet been rewarded for his talent.

Phewwww!! that was a long one. I hope this is the my first of many more F1 posts!!!

Watch 'Johnny Gaddar' & 'Manorama 6 Feet Under'

2007-10-15T17:15:00.000+05:30

Its been a seriously long time since I have seen two consecutive Hindi movies and have thoroughly enjoyed them both. The last I can remember are Lagaan & Dil Chahta Hai which were spaced quite close to each other.

Over the years there has been the odd Omkara, Swades & Sarkar as movies which have caught my attention and consoled me that Bollywood can produce more than just brain-dead, formulaic, cheesy, over the top, predictable yada yada. But they have been, for the lack of an analogy, few and far between. Yes Hollywood does make a lot of croppers as well but they do make a lot of sensible stuff as well.

Having seen Johnny Gaddar and Manorama back to back on DVD (don't ask how I got hold of DVD's now!), I once again feel that we can indeed make some decent cinema. Moreover they were exactly the genres I enjoy and the genres we never seemed able to make in India. Heist and whodunnit thrillers.

Johnny Gaddar is no Oceans Eleven, but its one of the better heist films to come out of our industry for a while. Its got great characters, an interesting and twisty plot. Also it holds you till the end. Although it is obvious who the Gaddar is by interval, its the way the others find out that makes it great viewing. And I loved the soundtrack as well. Also the references to movies from the 70s was also well placed. All in all an enjoyable heist film which I would want to watch again.

Manorama 6 Feet Under was of a slightly different type. Obviously on a low budget, it never came across as tacky or having low production values. The pacing was slightly slow for my liking. It could have done with some more editing. But the plot had enough meat and twists to keep me from dozing off, given it was touching 1 in the night! What I loved in the film was the believability factor. Everything looked real. Right from the 10 seconds insurance agent to the henchmen of the politician to the lead actors themselves. Although Abhay Deols tash looked a bit dodgy. Another great watch.

Also these 2 movies highlighted what a fine actor Vinay Pathak is and what he can do given the right character. I was craving for more of his Rajasthani accented liquor swigging sub inspector Brij Mohan in Manorama...

All in all, 2 of the better movies to come out of Hindi cinema. Do give them a watch!

Recovery agents aka 'Vasooli'

2007-10-03T00:05:00.000+05:30

Earlier tonight there was a story on NDTV Witness about the dark underbelly of the Indian credit card market. What with the credit card debt rising to an astonishing Rs. 14,000 crores! Its hard to comprehend those kind of numbers.

One of the points they covered was the the methods of recovery being employed by some private sector banks. All this in the light of a recent report of a man driven to suicide after being hounded by recovery agents hired by ICICI Bank. In very crude terms it amounted to 'vasooli'.

These unscrupulous methods of recovering debt have always been prevalent in the world of private (non-institutional) or even unlicensed financing. These methods are the only recourse to recovery in case of defaulting when there is nothing mortgaged or put up as a security against the borrowing. But then the borrowers in these cases are mostly people who would be generally classified as non-credit worthy per say on paper.

What is worrying is that these methods are slowly finding their ways into the mainstream debt recovery system. One can include both borrowing and credit card debts into this category. Having borrowed money or used the credit card in the first place, the individual is obliged to repay the money to the bank. So a certain degree of blame lies with the party for taking on more debt than one can handle.

But we also need to look at the other side of the reason as to why people are so easily riddled with debt. We have all been hounded at some point by those infamous tele-marketers urging us to buy everything from insurance to falling for that 'free' trip to a destination of our choice. Overzealous marketers and credit card companies are almost compelling people to sign up for credit cards with hard sell. And a lot of times verification becomes secondary to selling a credit card.

Pre-approved loans being offered to people who do not have the capacity to repay them. Offer anybody easy money and they are more than likely to fall for it. So you end up with people using credit cards and availing pre-approved loans way beyond their capacity to repay. And there you have defaulting and then comes the debt recovery.

So I think the fault lies on both the sides. The greedy, sometimes gullible, borrowers and overzealous banks and credit card company executives with 'targets' to meet.