Empty thoughts and mutterings

Stop this retirement madness

2012-01-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

After a really bad series like the one we are in, it is critical not to over react. Don't get me wrong - I am saying that we need clear and sure corrective actions but dropping the
wrong player or expediting the wrong player's retirement will also hurt India's recovery process. As Indian cricket fans we are all hurt by how badly we lost this series. Some Ex-players
call for axing of basically all the senior players - without realizing how irresponsible their comments are.

Cricket fans (Indian fans particularly) have the tendency to confuse bad form/technical flaws with aging. Several fans called for Sachin's head when he was going through a rough patch in 2007. Looking back at the past few years - would that have been good for India? - Absolutely not!

I also believe in the Australian way of retirements (for our board in the future). We don't need to squeeze every ounce out of cricket from legends. I think Steve waugh, Mark Taylor, Allan Border etc were good for a few more hundreds when they retired. The board should discuss retirement plans with the player well ahead of time and these plans have to be executed (with all reasonable concessions made). This would also allow the younger cricketers to be groomed in time. All it takes is reasonable long term planning which will prevent us from staring at 3 debuts (or close to it) and 3 retirements in a few months time frame. This medium to long term approach seems to be severely lacking with the committees appointed by BCCI.

The decision to drop legends should be made based on objective comparisons. The fact that a player didn't do well in a series shouldn't automatically lead to a decision to drop him.
For eg: Sachin had a very poor series by his standards - but make no mistake about the fact that he's still the best batsman we have for his position in India.

As for aging criteria - I think it is best judged by how the player moves on the field and his reflexes. Laxman still has signs of his lazy elegance and will still be able to get a few big scores here and there - but he's clearly slowed down on the field (not that he was fast before - but he was at the very least a safe slip fielder). Dravid's reflexes have also started to fail him. Our slip cordon once extremely reliable, is a shadow of what it was.

Dravid's failure this tour in my opinion was due to a new-born technical flaw. In the lifetime of a first class cricketer (even the technically superior ones), you see some technical flaws and bad habits creep in before getting subsequently sorted out. The gap between the bat and pad that Hilfenhaus used to his advantage, was the cause for his bad run. This should not be confused with aging.

Will talk about Dhoni the captain and Dhoni the WK in a separate post.

Ranji Trophy Final

2012-01-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

I was glad to catch some action from the Ranji Trophy final between Rajasthan and TN - Thanks BCCI TV. These are some mental notes from the game.

The wicket was not a sporting one not worthy of a first class game let alone a Ranji Final. In a game of this magnitude it's a shame that the toss played a vital part in the final outcome.

That said, Rajasthan seized the opportunity provided to them with both hands. Vineet Saxena was a picture of concentration and to play that long without playing a false shot is testament to the character in the guy.

Aakash chopra played a wonderful supporting role and ensured that TN would have to play out of their skin to even have a shot.

I was very impressed with the batting technique of Robin Bist in both the innings. The Indian selectors I am sure will be taking deeper looks at this guy in the coming months.

3 of the big 4 of TN (Abhinav, Vijay, Badri) did not do enough in this all important game to give TN a chance.In this format, one failure is enough to cost a team the cup.

Dinesh Karthik toiled manfully and it's great to see him do his part to remind the selectors that he can still play.

J.Kaushik seems like a very good prospect for the future. He would do well to focus on keeping the line to outside the off to the off stump. His natural angle seems to take the ball toward middle and leg and good players will take advantage of flaws like those.

Young Aushik srinivas worked hard with decent returns. To bowl 80 overs even for a spinner is a mammoth task and it was good to see him do the task without complaints. He should however look at bowling a little slower and try to beat batsmen in the air.

What's ailing Indian cricket?

2012-01-15T00:14:00.000-08:00

I write this piece right after the Perth test match where India surrendered meekly to Australia to go down 3-0 in the Border-Gavaskar series. While this is clearly one of the low points in the recent past for Indian cricket, it also provides a valuable learning opportunity if the
people in charge look at it as such. While people are carelessly throwing names out to bring under the proverbial axe, it is critical for the think tank to not go berserk and be prudent with a long term vision in their decisions. The bottom line here is to accept the fact that we are really not a good test team. The #1 test team achievement is a thing of the past. And it is OK to not be good. It only serves as an opportunity to go into the rebuilding mode and find ways to be a good team for a long time to come. Here are my thoughts on a few of those decisions.

Virender Sehwag:

No action required. Yes, it is disappointing that he did not come good in 6 innings. But, let's be honest here - no good can come out of asking Viru to bat a certain way. Viru derives his success from his flamboyance and to take that away from him will not be wise. In my opinion, he is a known commodity and we die by the same sword we live by. I dont believe he has lost his ability to decimate opponents. He is just going through a rough patch.

Gautam Gambhir:

Presents an interesting conundrum. The positive is that he has shown intent to stay at the wicket and play a long innings. If only intents were enough. It's still better than not having one, isn't it? His performance down under poses a few questions.

1. Is Gautam Gambhir not as good as his record suggests or is he just going through a lean phase?

GG really is a fantastic opening batsman that has shown tremendous temparament and hunger for runs over the years. His record really is no fluke.
Having said that, his technique absolutely needs to be sorted out to be able to succeed in seaming, bouncy overseas conditions. Watching him play in australia this series, it struck me that his preparation was either not good enough or did not target some critical areas. He has to learn to leave the ball outside off stump with conviction and that comes with targeted preparation. Some of the decisions he made in the series were questionable to say the least.

2. Should he be allowed to go back to domestic cricket and sort out his issues?

I don't think that's going to be a useful exercise - here's why. He will comfortably dominate the weak bowling attacks and be a top performer at the Ranji level. I also think that he will continue to be successful in test series held in the subcontinent and those againt weaker oppositions overseas. Sending him back to Ranji will not address the problem at hand. GG would be much better off thinking about playing a season in county cricket.

3. How is our bench strength as far as opening batsmen are concerned.

We have 2 front runners - Ajinkhya Rahane and Abhinav mukund. From initial evidence, these guys also have the same issues i.e. outside the off stump issues in seaming conditions.

In essence, GG will continue to be successful in easier conditions and not so successful in bouncy conditions if status quo continues. He has shown the temperament to succeed in overseas conditions (as was seen in Capetown and in NZ). He will definitely need to sort out the issues if he doesn't want people to look for alternate options.

Virat Kohli:

Definitely a positive to come out of the series. Kudos to Sanjay Manjrekar (and other experts) who called for Virat to stay in spite of failures in the first two tests. Virat's 75 and 44 at perth (pretty average numbers by regular standards) will serve to transform him as an Indian test cricketer. It is critical for youngsters to be given a long rope to establish themselves and even more so in testing conditions like in Australia. If he was dropped him in place of Rohit, Virat would have looked at test cricket and cricket in australia very differently from how he does today. One relatively small action of keeping him in the lineup might have saved his test career. And don't worry about Rohit - he will get his due!

Selectors:

Ian Chappell blames the selectors for being short sighted and not rolling the dice earlier with some younger talent. He's infering that the Indian middle order should not have been RD, Sachin and VVS in that order. That opinion of his has the huge benefit of hind sight. The selectors picked a team that had the most experience playing in australia before and who would have thought that all of India's legends would pick this series to collectively lay an egg? Yes, you need to groom younger talent to fill in when seniors leave the team eventually. But for a marquee series like this one, you go with what's worked in the past.

The fever's back!

2011-02-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

After a sabbatical 0f 2+ years, the world cup brings me back to the blogging world!

Will post one soon..

Racism and Hypocrisy.

2008-01-29T12:37:00.000-08:00

What did you guys think of this whole harbhajan affair ? I am glad it's all done and dusted but can't help but notice a few things that came out of this. First off, calling a white guy a monkey is racist ? I know if it was directed at a black guy it's racist. Since when did calling a white guy a monkey become racist ? Also I wonder if Harbhajan did it with any "racist" intentions. I am inclined to think that he would have called him that to irritate the heck out of symonds or to stand up against the smack talking aussies. I would be surprised if bhajji actually understood the implications of the word. All that said and done, I am sure there were thousands of instances where extremely offensive, sexist and racist remarks have been exchanged on the cricket field in the past especially by the bad behaving aussies. For eg: the remark made by Mcgrath at Sarwan (also Mcgrath could not take it well when it was given back to him). Now why this cry baby approach to escalating this one alone ? Hypocrisy I thought.

Having said that, this power show by the indian board is getting way out of hand. One word - Childish. The aussies are not going to make up stuff when it comes to something like this. But we'll leave the "what actually happened" out of this conversation. Why does the indian board have this stupid - charge him, we'll take the next plane home - suspend him, we're pulling out- attitude. This attitude absolutely stinks. They have no idea how many enemies they are making for themselves here.I just hope they stop treating this like a "Victory of Rama over Ravana" and start behaving professionally. Standing up for your player is one thing, but playing big stack when it's completely unnecessary will not bode well for the board in the long term. I understand the aussies' frustration over how it all transpired. Afterall if saying the magic word makes him guilty, regardless of the actual intentions and if it was provoked, then according to them, he is guilty. And he's getting out scot free because there's millions of $ to be lost if he's charged.

About 10 years back when Shastri and Gavaskar were new to the commentary arena, I used to think "aah, we have 2 really good cricket minds and mature people to represent india". Not that there are any battles to be won here. Now I have officially scratched one of them off the list. Shastri is doing a terrific job and I thought his decision not to carry on after the bangladesh tour was a master stroke. He quit while he was ahead and was a winner in a field where there are no winners, from a reputation perspective. Also, his comments about the indian team and world cricket in general seems to be well thought out, analyzed and even his criticisms seem to have a constructive flavor to them. I think he balances neutrality and patriotism beautifully. On the other hand, Mr. Sunny Gavaskar seems to land himself in trouble quicker than Wasim jaffer can get out on australian wickets. His recent criticism of Mike Procter, I thought was completely uncalled for especially since his comments were based on assumptions and not facts. I think he should stop talking for some time to protect what's left of his dignity.

Trent Bridge test

2007-07-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

Just some thoughts and take aways from the second test...

After England's near victory in the first test, almost everybody predicted an easy 2 nd test victory for england. Only one intelligent commentator said "underestimate India at your own peril". Afterall, India have always been slow starters in every away series.
Of the top 6, 5 indian batsman scored fifties. If I had told you that before the test match start, who in the top 6 would you have thought didn't get that 50? Guess 1 - wrong Guess 2 - wrong .....okay all 5 guesses wrong. The answer's Rahul Dravid.
Everybody talks about Dinesh Karthik's gritty show. And I agree that he is playing beyond his potential and scoring on every opportunity that's given to him. But the way Wasim Jaffer handled the swing bowling with impeccable technique was a treat to watch. Jaffer's a true opening batsman, and I hope that the board and the seniors would do the things needed to keep his confidence up. Every now and then he's going to get a pair. But that shouldn't put his place in jeopardy. He's the only true opener we've got and he'll be a steady force for a long time to come.
It was great to see sreesanth hit back at the batsman with the verbal volleys when he first burst into the international scene. It was a refreshing attitude. But now, I think he's over doing it. You challenge a batsman and get in his head (and make him do something stupid) when you've beat him 3-4 times. Not after he hits you for 4 boundaries. Just brings back memories of one unwanted scene in Indian cricket history. WC 2003 - Zaheer - Ponting....ring a bell ?
Michael Vaughn's century was a purist's dream. Technical perfection combined with a fierce determination to save the test match leading from the front. The way he played kumble and made him a non entity for a significant part of the innings was fantastic. Like everybody else, I thought Vaughn was a subject of the same old british hype ( a la Henman) with very little stuff to back it up with. I stand corrected.
A lot of talk about Chris Tremlett's potential as a future star of england. He bowled well at lords and used his bounce to cause some problems to the batsmen. My thoughts: He will not last longer than 1-2 years in the international scene.
Monty Panesar is definitely among the top spinners in the world right now. His consistent line and variety are definite strengths. But, if he doesn't learn to flight the ball a little more, people will learn to play him soon.
And just some noticeable features from Nasser hussain's interview with Dinesh Karthik after the 147 stand

Nasser: So how did you think you played today ?

Karthik: Phenomenal !

Nasser: It must have been difficult with the ball swinging so much.

Karthik: Yes, Yes, definitely. I think I had some very good "well-lefts" today.

Nail on the head

2007-06-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Mohammed asif on Sehwag ..

"Asked whether Asif believed he could get Sehwag's wicket every time he walked out to bat, he said: "We keep teasing Sehwag all the time arrre tere to pair hi nahi hilte, tu kya run banayga? (Your feet don't move, how will you score runs?). It'll never work against smart bowlers." "

You can score runs in Ranji trophy and Duleep trophy without moving your feet. Not in international cricket on pacy wickets, not to mention against quailty fast bowling.

The King

2007-06-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

He can't shoot the ball, he's a pass first player.

He doesn't want the ball down the stretch. He'd rather somebody else take the shot.

He lacks heart.

He's not a clutch player. He's a 3 quarters player.

With the game on the line, I don't know if I want him to have the ball.

We're all witnesses..............

Nothing in particular !

2007-05-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

Refreshing: To see a PG emerge in Utah to continue Stockton's legacy. It was nice to see one player not being bothered by the spurs, their defense and their reputations. On the contrary, I think he got into the spurs minds and made them spend some time and energy on trying to guard him. Having said that, I think he will only be a solid PG in the years to come. "The emergence of a superstar" claims from the commentators and experts I think is a little far fetched.

Puzzling: is the best way to describe Mehmet okur and AK's play. It just sems like these guys leave their brains at home before stepping on the court. Atleast AK comes to play defensively. Ill advised 3 pointers and unnecssary fouls at inopportune times have cost utah their chance to play in the NBA finals. Not that they were expected to be beat the spurs or anything.

What ????? : Sachin scores 2 centuries in 2 test matches in Bangladesh and people still want his head ? This is crazy. I watched him play in the 2 nd test and yes, I agree, he was not at his dominating best. But, he did what was asked of him. Stay at the crease and take India to a solid score. These stupid journalists will not lay off him till he retires and it is sad to see that not many people understand that he has years of cricket left in him and can be very useful to team India's success. Oh well !

Saddening: To see the lives of the duke lacrosse players torn to pieces. Granted, some poor decisions got them to this position. But after establishing that they are not at fault and that the lady in question wanted to get some dough out of this whole deal by pulling the race card, the players are due an apology. Their lives had been made a living hell for the past year or so, and now, nobody (except the prosecutor) claims responsibility. The way the facts? were presented on TV, just days after the rape allegation, every one in the country believed, that these were rich spoilt kids and deserved the worst. But clearly, that is not the case. I think the university has to make atleast a part of it upto them. It was clear that they were worried about trying to save their own ass and their reputation and did nothing to stand up for their kids. One might say, we didn't know that they were innocent at that time. Yes, which is precisely why they should not have jumped on the "blame them" bandwagon before learning more on the matter. Whatever happened to "Innocent till proven guilty" ?

Nash it out

2007-05-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

The most interesting conference semifinal match-up IMO is the suns-spurs series. It is highly probable that the NBA champion would come out of this series. To watch this little guy run up and down the court has been a privilege. I've only caught glimpses of his games during the regular season, and the importance of this series has made me sit down and watch full games. In doing so, I have been able to understand why this guy is so special. 2 time MVP and finished 2 nd in the MVP voting a 3 rd time. Is this guy really that good ? Just sit down and watch a couple of his games and you'll know. If anything, he's under rated. In spite of all the MVP talk, he does not get as much attention from the media or sponsors as the other superstars like Lebron or a D-wade do. Suns have a great team. Amare and Marion are superstars in their own right and Barbosa would start in just about every other team and would probably be a 22-25 point scorer every day. But without nash, the whole system would crumble and the suns would not be half as successful. They operate under a simple scheme. Get the defensive rebound, get it to nash, run the distance of the court in under 4 seconds, a few screens, collapse on the paint and pass the ball out to a wide open shooter. There are no secrets here. Their success has been due to nash's extra ordinary dribbling skills and finding the open man. Easy as it may sound, he does it with tremendous consistency. And he can hurt you with his shooting skills too. It was obvious to me, that Nash means more to the success of this team than any other super star's presence to his team. If not for all the championships, a comparison with MJ's role, would not sound stupid. Kobe means a lot to his team, Wade to his and Lebron to his. But nobody's presence is as important to his team's success as Steve nash's. I am rooting for his team to go all the way !

Touched...

2007-02-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

Writing after a very long time. Frankly, I've been extremely busy with other commitments in the past few months, so I could not devote much time to this space here. And I probably would not have written this one either, if this one incident did not make such an impact on my life the past few days.

Recently a 1 st year engineering student Prabhu, fell from the 3 rd floor of his hostel and was hospitalized. The operation cost was Rs 8.5 lakhs and his parents could not afford it. The blogger Kiruba Shankar put up a helpline in his blog and by virtue of his popularity/trustworthiness, more than $4000 was collected in a space of 2 days towards this purpose. This was apart from other separate drives carried out in chennai by students. Unfortunately the operation was a failure and Prabhu's probably going to lose his legs. But this gesture from so many strangers is unmistakably touching. I was stunned ! Follow the story here.

Deepavali Ninaivugal

2006-10-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

India la irukkum bodhu Deepavali a romba anticipate panni kondadina nyabagangal neraya undu. Over the last few years, Deepavali vandhadhum theriyaadhu, ponadhum theriyaadhu kanakkaa aagi pochu. Deepavali kku munnadi neraya e-mails varum. Messages varum. Adhukku reply panradhoda ennoda Deepavali over. For some strange reason, this year, a semblance of the enthusiasm has returned. I am driving to spend the deepavali with my brother, Sil, nephew and cousins. Memories from school/college time deepavali came flooding back today and I thought I’d write about some of them here.

Deepavali eve and the day of Deepavali were always spent at my Periappa’s place in Royapettah. Days of planning for what Pattaasu to buy, where to buy them, constant updates on the list given the limited budget, consultations with seniors with reference to the how best to distribute the money between the “Domestic” (Mathaappu, sangu chakram etc) and the “Real Crackers”, always preceded the eve of Deepavali. Man, if only I could put that kind of energy at my work place, I’d be real successful at what I am doing. We usually reached our periappa’s place at 6.30 in the evening. Unfortunately for me I had nobody in my age group in my appa’s side. So I usually ran off to see if I could find somebody in the neighborhood that I could socialize with. The dinner menu that night was always the same every year and I loved it because it was to the only night in the whole year that had a set menu. Vaazhakkai Bajji, Urulakazhangu kari, More kozhambu, Paruppusili, Small onion sambhar (which I hated with all my heart and everybody else seemed to love) and Poondu rasam. While the elder males talked about Provident fund schemes, the ladies talked about shopping for matching blouse bits and my elder cousins talking about college and GRE’s, I was kind of left alone. But all of these aforementioned people knew how to put a smile on my face instantly. All they had to say was “Kaarthaala ezhundhu Pattaasu vedikka porome” and I was beaming the next second.

“Amma, 3.30 kku ezhuppi vidanum, promise pannu” I used to say every year when I went to sleep that night. But I was always very worried that she would inopportunely use some of her limited supply of mercy that one day of all days and give me the “Paavam kozhandhai, innum konja neram thoongattum” break, when it was least called for. So I secretly planned to stay awake all night and surprise my mom when she tried to wake me up. Ofcourse, that plan never worked. Another tradition in our family was that it was my perimma who always burst the first saram signifying the start. Then the others followed. After Ganga snaanam, we had Periyavaa talking about the significance of deepavali on TV (I never actually saw it for more than 3 minutes), deepavali marundhu, and a lot of cracker bursting, we would get ready for oliyum oliyum. That afternoon was spent on visiting relatives and 10 Rs Namaskaarams, and more TV. At the end of the day, although it was pretty tiring with so much activity, the day always felt complete. Some memories from Deepavali days.

•It irritated me that everybody chose a saram for the “Saastra” Vedi. Out of my limited availaibility of sarams (about 10-15), about 5-6 was spent on relatives bursting Saastra vedis. “Yov, saastrathukku vedikkanumna, sangu chakram, bus vaanam nu evlo irukku, adha vedingalen ya, yen pozhappula yen ya mannalli podareenga ?” nu thonum !
•When I was in my 3 rd std in CBE, I had to be carried to the hospital, because Sivakasi la technical fault. Evano bus-vaanathla atom bomb marundha pottu vechuttan ! Padupaavi pasanga !
•Following that, I did not touch a single vedi till I was in my 8 th. By that time, people my age were starting to lose interest in Pattaasu. But I was bubbling with enthusiasm and one such time when I was doing all I could to impress a girl looking on, she walked up to me and said “Yaara impress panna try panra”. Appo Busss aanadhu pattaasu ille….ennoda moonji ! :)
•Was it just me or was the race to burst one cracker for the longest time always won by a Settu payyan in the street ?
•I remember watching Ramesh Krishnan Vs Wally Masur deciding game in the davis cup semifinals during deepavali day and RK with his non-serve and all won the big game in Australia. Anybody else recall that ?

Happy Deepavali everybody !

Are you feeling charitable today ?

2006-09-26T12:55:00.001-07:00

I was very impressed with their idea to use their creativity and generate funds for a charity in India. I think most of us would be familiar with Ammani, the writer. But here she is with a couple of her friends, doing what she does best and using that to help the needy ! Some of these pieces I thought were extremely creative. Take a peek here. Please feel free to send words of your choice and I am sure they'll entertain us with their creativity. Also, it serves a great cause. Orey kallula rendu maangaa !

People, this effort from ammani and gang has set me thinking as well. Maybe we can do something similar. Maybe use our creativity to help a charity or a good cause. Any ideas would be welcome.

Here's a write up about AR Rahman and his works coming from a Marathi music director Kaushal Inamdar(who's doing some work in hindi movies now). I thought he had done a thorough job. I always wondered how Rahman's music was perceived in other parts of India. I know he had some popular hindi movies. But I wanted to know what they actually thought of his music. Coming from a musician, that has taken the pains to listen to his work in tamil, I think this is as unbiased as it gets. Take a look. Prabhu Karthik, thanks for the link.

Good Job Kaushal !

Jillendru

2006-08-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

I finally listened to Jillendru oru Kaadhal in its entirety and I thought it had enough to warrant a post.

New York Nagaram: A True Gem ! After a long time, Rahman comes up with a beauty. Starts with a pleasing acoustic guitar rhythm pattern that flows through the entire song, and sets the pace. The first time I listened to this, I was bowled over and couldn’t wait to get my own copy. Rahman the singer has never talked about as much as Rahman the musician. But his rendition of this song has been as close to perfect as can possibly be. I also have to mention here that his voice fits the song like a T. Set at a typical Rahman pitch, I was spell bound at his crisp clean ucharippu and at how well he could emote. Brilliant ! When I think of good Rahman-sung songs, I can immediately think of Arabi Kadaloram, Vellai Pookkal and Vande Mataram. But, after listening to this, at the end of its run, all the other songs will finish second to this. This song will truly be a singer’s challenge and joy at the same time. There’s terrific scope for improvisations and Rahman has made all those look simple. Having said that, it is a challenge to get a grasp of the basic tune. If you listen carefully, in the first 4 lines of the pallavi, there’s so much variation in rhythm and between repetitions. I am curious to see if the musicians - Sayee, Arun, Moni or Subha can grasp the tune of the song with all its variations (without taking too much time). Overall, I think the song is a chart buster !

Munbe Vaa – One more lovely song. Is is Shreya Ghosal’s divine voice ? Is it the flowing melody ? Is it the neat lyrics ? I don’t know..but it leaves a pleasant taste when you listen to this song. I love the change in pace in the second saranam as compared to the first (adding a tabla support). I have one little complaint though. Naresh Iyer has only been “adequate” in this song. Someone like Karthik would have added a strong character. One thing I have to say about Shreya - This is a time and age, where no one singer dominates the field. A lot of them get to share the pie, and some of them get larger pieces than others. Lucky for SPB and Lata that they were born in a previous generation. That being said, if under the present circumstances, there is one singer that shows promise to stay in the field for a long time to come and has all the equipment to be a dominant force for years, it’s Shreya. Hats off Young lady !

I liked the other songs in the movie as well. Kummi adi was a catchy number and catches your attention immediately, though I felt that in the second half of the song, it loses you a little bit. Maaza Maaza was full of beautiful vocal improvisations. SPB Charan (God only knows why he’s so under used) shows traces of his dad with his emoting, so much so that at one point I had to check raaga.com to make sure it wasn’t SPB who had actually sung this song. Shreya is flawless as well. But the song lacked a flow and percussion I thought. The song Jillendru oru kaadhal is a beautiful combo of “Hello mister edhirkatchi” and “Vennila Vennila Vennilaave” both from the movie Iruvar. Had a heavy Jazz feel, and is slightly faster than both these songs. Machakaari is another catchy number – at a “don’t even try it – only shankar mahadevan can” pitch ! :). The flow was pretty good, but unlike with Prabhu, it does not have me captivated. Maaricham is the only song in the whole album that warrants the forward button. Don’t take my word for it though. Overall I thought Jillendru oru Kaadhal was a beautiful effort.

Recommendation – Must listen !

PS: Please don't form an opinion after you listen to this in Raaga or MIO. Those opinions will not count ! :). Try to get it in a CD or an MP3 format.

Irresponsible Journalism

2006-08-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

Journalists, to me are like musicians. There are no bad ones (Well..Almost!). There are the really good ones and then there are the "may be not as good" ones. Whichever way you look at it, talent can only be a good thing. Be it little talent or a great amount of talent. Individual tastes differ and people like some writers better than others depending on their field of interest, style of writing and other factors. But this one journalist annoys me no end. Ours is a cricket loving nation and people can't get enough information about the team and the sport itself. When you're in the public eye so much, there comes a responsibility with it. You're expected to be neutral, and to provide an opinion based on facts or a good understanding of the system. When you are entrusted with the power to alter people's thinking about the sport and it's activities, you better make sure you don't abuse it. When I read his columns I am reminded of those guys in "tape ball" cricket, that have the least knowledge of the rules but are the loudest in the field and incessantly argue every decision or ruling. When I first started reading his columns, I thought "Why is this guy being so biased ?". But like I usually do, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He has a good command of the language. Unfortunately, that's about the only good thing I can say about his writing. As I started to read his writings more, I slowly realized that this guy can be trusted to be consistently biased and stupid. We don't agree with everything, every writer has to say, sure. But this guy just takes "biased" to a whole another level. After all, you're writing along side legends like Michael Holding. Where's the class my friend ?

Read this article, and tell me what he attempted to achieve through this.

Grad School Memoirs III - The Indian Accent

2006-08-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

This happened a year after we started Grad school. We were driving to Detroit on a weekend and had stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch. This buddy of ours had decided that that he was in the mood for a milk shake, and was going to order one for himself. We were all so hungry that we barely paid attention to what he was going to order and nothing other than “I’ll pay for lunch” would have succeeded in getting our attention. We were before him in the line, and had ordered our food. He walks up to the lady and says 'Can I get a “Vennila” Milkshake'. The rest of us knew that it was pronounced differently (“Vanella”) in the U.S and not like we say it in India, with a strong emphasis on “Ven”, but we let him learn his own lesson.

The lady replied “No sir, we don’t carry it here”

Our man repeats his order in slow clear English “Vennila milkshake ma’am”

The lady at the counter still didn’t get it…”I am sorry sir, we don’t have what you are asking”

By this point, the rest of us got our food and we walked to our table figuring that he would eventually get through to her.

I turned around and saw him pointing at something in the menu behind her and going “Vennila Milkshake” again...

In about 3 minutes, our buddy walked up to our table, carrying a CHOCOLATE milkshake, and holding an expression on his face that was meant to suggest to us, that this was exactly what he intended to order. LOL ! We had a terrific laugh there and made sure practically every one he knew, knew about this too.

Just some thoughts..

2006-06-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

A whiff of Fresh air:

I was driving back home after work listening to a new CD that I had recently burnt. It had a couple of songs from Karthik Raja’s “Naalai”. I have no idea how somebody with Karthik Raja’s talent cannot sustain in today’s industry, when people like Dhina are having an easier time relatively. Please listen to it when you get a chance..I loved both these songs. I felt that the percussion pattern in “naalai indha kaalam” could have been a little less monotonous. “Oru maatram” makes a terrific first impression…Fresh is the word.

Oru Maatram

Naalai indha kaalam

Also listened to Joshua Sridhar’s Uyir. I am completely sold on Joshua’s talent. After what I think is a dream debut (kaadhal), he has come out with another decent performance. No sophomore slump here. He has the tools to become big. We’ll wait and see.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/l/26/s/movie_name.8398/

Draft day thoughts:

One of the weakest draft days depth wise, in a long time. There are about 8 people you can take with the first pick and not go wrong (or go very wrong with, depending on how you look at it). Toronto must be cursing it’s luck for landing a freak #1 pick in a draft that doesn’t have a clear #1-#8 and nobody else wants to trade for the #1 pick. The whole of the college basketball season, the analysyts made us believe, that Morrison- Redick were locks to be #1 and #2 in the draft. The draft day comes and they’d be lucky to go inside the top 10 (atleast Redick should be if he does get picked). Nice marketing ploy to keep us interested in the college season ? Or ignorant analysts ?

Grad school memoirs II - The American accent

2006-06-26T06:03:00.000-07:00

This is about a junior who was in his first 2 weeks in this country. Like anybody else, he was busy getting impressed by this country’s technological superiority. The long clean aisles in the grocery stores, sophisticated malls, vending machines, dust-free highways and so on. Some people get so over-awed that they start to believe anything that’s said to them. This guy was one such. And so, after one of our bi-weekly trips to the grocery store chain, we stopped outside to buy ourselves a soda from the vending machine.

Me: dei, theriyum ille ? Indha oor vending machine ellam semma technology da. Voice recognition activated..

Him: Appdiya ? (His lips and eye brows contorted in a way that indicated that he was impressed)

Me: Amaam. Kaasa pottuttu, enna venum nu sonnaa podhum, adhuve kuduthudum.

Him: Super machi. Kaasu kudu, naan pottu paakkaren

(takes the money from me and inserts it into the $ slot)

Me: Pakkathla poi sollu da enna venumo

He goes near the machine and whispers “coke”. It was hard for some of us to control our giggles. But our man here, was so involved with talking to a vending machine, that he didn’t notice our giggles.

Him: Enna machi, onnume vara mattengudhu

Me: Kaththi sollu machi. Appa dhaan clear a recognize pannum.

So he goes closer and shouts “COKE” …

Still nothing.

Me: Nee Indian accent la solra da. Indha oor kaaranunga enna azhaga solraanunga, Andha maadhiri sollu da. Indha oor accent podu man, come on…

Him: Goes closer and shouts “Cawke” …..Nothing !

Me: Oru 3-4 times solli paaru machi.

Him “Cawke……Cawke………..Cawke………..Cawke”

He turns around and the rest of us are on the ground laughing our guts out ! :)

Grad school memoirs - I

2006-06-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

After being through high school, college and grad school, I have been lucky to make some great friends and some wonderful memories along the way. I am sure each of us has a favorite time that we’d like to go back to and re-live, to our heart’s content. To me, college and high school were fun, but grad school was when I had the most fun. Learning new things in a new country, screwing up as I learnt them, laughing at people when they screw up, getting laughed at when I screwed up all added up to great memories! I will write about a few of those in my next few posts.

Only 2 days had passed since I had stepped foot in this country. I had a tuition waiver and I was applying to assistance-ships across campus. That's when I got this phone call when I was in my room at home.

The voice – “Hello, we’re trying to reach Dinesh Kal—yanaaa--sundeeeram”

Me – evano vellakaaran doi, asst ship matter a dhaan irukkum “Yes sir, this is Dinesh”

Him – “Our records indicate that you have been enrolled as an M.S candidate for the fall semester”

Me – “Yes sir, that is correct sir”

Him – “And is your e-mail kaydinesh@yahoo.com”

Me – “That is correct sir”

Him – “We’re calling from the internet indecency committee on campus, and it has come to our attention that you have viewed pornographic web sites from the university’s computer labs”

Me – Idhenna da pudhu vambaaa irukku “No sir, I didn’t see any pornographic web sites, I only checked my e-mail from the computer labs”

Him – “But we see that your e-mail address has been used in porn sites”

Me – Evano puniyavaan jolly a porn a paathuptu namma e-mail address a use pannirkaan pola irukke da “Sir, No sir, I think there has been a mistake. I did not go into any pornographic web site. I have been here only for 2 days”

Him – “And you're saying 2 days is not enough to do this? We see here that you are a new student. Do you understand the consequences of your actions ?”

Me – Appa saami..ivan enna da ennennamo pesaraan. Bayamaa irukke da. Pannalenu sonaalum namba mattengaraan. Kenji paappom. Vera vazhi ille. “Sir, I am a sincere student with ambitions for a M.S and much higher things, I am really sorry sir, please can you excuse me this one time”

Him – “I am sorry. That will be up to the director. You can explain to him. Usually we are very hard on issues like this. These actions would usually result in expulsion from the university. But since this is your first time, we’ll let you go easy”

Me- Habba.... thappichom pola irukku “Thank you very much sir. This will be never be repeated sir”

Him – “Good. You will not be expelled from the university. However, your tuition waiver has been revoked. Please come to our office and collect the relevant papers”

Me – Ayyayyoo, tuition waiver a thookkuveengala ? “Sir, please sir. I have not brought enough money to support myself. Can you forgive me this one time sir ?”

Him – “I am sorry, but this is the best we can do” and hangs up the phone.

I spent the next 5 minutes understanding what had just happened to me.The gravity of the situation had slowly hit me and I was in almost in tears at this point. I open my room’s door to convey this to my room mates and to get any suggestions. Lo and Behold....I see 15 new faces with my room mates, and 1 guy holding a phone...all off them were in tears too…with laughter ! I didn’t immediately understand what was going on..it took me a while to realize that I had been played beautifully. I laughed at my gullibility too once I got over the anger and surprise. I guess I was more relieved than angry. And later on, I liked the prank so much, that I used it on a couple of juniors with brilliant results :)

And, from that day on, I was known around campus as "The sincere student with ambitions" !

Adolescence

2006-05-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

Sriram was the champion cricketer of his street team. He was always picked #1, when it was time to pick teams. And whichever team he played in, he was automatically the captain, no matter who picked teams. Though he enjoyed all the attention showered on him, sriram didn't to play with these street kids of his age. No offence to these 10 th std kids, but he had proved everything he had to prove, with these little boys. He wanted to play with his older brother's friends, the big college boys, who played once a week in the same street. Now it was summer time, and the college guys played every day, and he wanted to prove his mettle here. A few years back, they wouldn't let him play with them, because he was too little. But he had slowly progressed since then, both with his cricketing skills and with his height.

Padmini was about his same age and lived in the corner apartment of the street. A few years back, Sriram would get into fights with her for everything, and he wouldn’t miss a chance to beat her up. But they had grown up since then, and they had become friends. She would come down from her apartment and watch the boys play cricket, while she read her fiction novels. In the last few weeks, another cute girl had joined her, and the both of them would watch the proceedings from Padmini’s house. To sriram’s liking, that new good looking girl, seemed to take an active interest in their cricket game. Now, he had a reason to play well again, to hit those huge towering sixes, to field with vigor, and to take those catches in the last second, making them look more spectacular than they were meant to be.

And in the next few weeks, he had learnt that the new girl’s name was Harini and she was about the same age as he was. She had moved 3 streets away from theirs and was an old class mate of Padmini’s. Padmini had introduced him to her, but he was too shy to say more than a “hi” and had left the scene soon after. She had not missed a single day’s game in all these days, and Sriram was starting to get the impression that she was there to see him play. To see him play or to see him period, he didn’t know. After every one of his game changing plays, he had watched through the corner of his eye, and she had noticed, with a twinkle in her eye it seemed, almost proud ! Sriram could not wait for the evenings to turn up, so he could see Harini, he could impress her… again ! And without fail, every evening, well dressed, rain or no rain, sunday or week day, Harini turned up to watch the action. Sriram was convinced by now, that she was there for him. But he didn’t understand why a stranger would take a sudden interest to him, like that. He didn’t understand it completely, but he liked it, and he didn’t want it to stop.

His brother was the host to all his friends during their little evening cricket games and their place was his friends’ hang out spot. His brother was only average as far as cricketing skills were concerned, but got picked ahead of him, when the team was picked, because it was considered an embarrassment for a kid brother to be picked ahead of the older one. But when it came time for an important game, or a bet game, those theories were thrown out the door and Sriram was picked ahead of his brother. Sriram didn’t care when he was picked, as long as he could do something every day to impress Harini.

One day, after the cricket was done, Padmini had waved at him and asked him to come over to where she was sitting with Harini. His heart started to beat a little faster.

“What does she want now ?” “Why is she calling me when Harini’s there” ? “What am I going to say now” “After all the cool sixes, and catches, what if Harini hates me when I open my mouth ?” “Oh my god, why are you doing this to me?”

He walked over to where they were seated. Padmini started asking him questions about his school, the group he was going to take, his results and all kinds of irrelevant questions. Irrelevant, because he knew Padmini well enough to tell that these questions were not the real point of the conversation. There was more, but he didn’t know what. Harini was watching them talk with the same active interest that she took in his daily cricket matches. And just when he was starting to get a little impatient, Padmini changed topics.

“This is not why I called you here, Sriram. Harini wants to say something to you, I’ll leave you guys here, you can talk” said Padmini and left abruptly.

Harini moved closer to him and looked pretty nervous. That made Sriram a little more comfortable, because he wasn’t the only one that was nervous there.

“I don’t know how to start sriram” she said

“That’s okay, say what you want to, feel free”

“I hope you won’t think bad things about me when I say this”

“I won’t. Go on”

“You must have noticed, I have been coming here for the past 2 months or so right” ?

“Yes, I have”

“Do you know why ?”

“I have no clue” he lied.

“There is a reason, but I don’t know how I can say it to you”

“Hmmm” he said, not knowing what to feel or what to say.

“I don’t know if you’ll understand, it’s about feelings”

“Go, on” urged Sriram. He knew what was coming, but couldn’t bear the suspense.

“Sriram, I can’t do this, I can’t say it, Padmini wanted me to call you and talk to you, but it’s hard, I can’t”

“It’s okay, you can say it, there’s no problem” said sriram, sensing an anticlimactic finish to what had been an exciting start.

“No, sriram, I can’t, maybe tomorrow, okay ? sorry, bye” and before he could respond, walked over to Padmini’s 2 nd floor apartment, leaving behind a completely confused young man.

Sriram could not hide his excitement that night. He had heard his friends talk about “relationships” and 2 of his friends were “going steady” with girls he didn’t know. He wanted to try it too. He wanted to “go steady” with a girl of his own. But he didn’t know how to start, or what he should do. Maybe this is how it all starts. Maybe it comes and falls on your lap and you just take it. He thought about what he should say to her when she talked to him the next day. Should he say yes right away? Would it look bad if he did ? Should he hold her hand after he said yes? Would it look bad if he did ? Or would it look bad if he didn’t ? He bombarded himself with all these questions all night long. In spite of a bunch of unanswered questions, he couldn’t wait for the next evening.

The next evening showed up albeit late. And there Harini was, with Padmini, on time for the start of the first game. Sriram could not have cared lesser about the game. He was excited about what was going to happen after. After the game, as he had predicted, but to his relief, Padmini waved at Sriram again asking him to come over. By the time he got there, Padmini had left the area. Harini came up to him, with the same nervous look of the previous day.

“I think I am going to say it. Padmini wants me to..” she started off

“I think you should.”

“But I am not good at saying these things”

“That’s okay, nobody is, go on..”

“I think uhh I think……I have a crush…..on your brother…”

Mistake on the lake ? Think again !

2006-05-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

The "Brawn" man is making us all proud ! To have come this far, with an average support cast, this kid is a special talent. 32 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and it's a less than average game for him ! The expectations are sky high everytime he steps on the court, and he doesn't come up empty even once. It was a great game for the cavs last night ! And NOBODY thought detroit would have to win 2 games straight to save themselves the embarassment.

Let's get it done Cavs !!

Ennavale..

2006-04-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at a short story ! Your comments will be greatly appreciated.

Vinay: A none too complicated person. Does what is expected out of him. Never a straight A’s guy. But never misses out on the B’s. Loves to play tennis and sings in his prestigious college music band. Has completed his B.E in Comp. Sc and is in the US for an M.S because all his friends thought this was Promise land. Enjoys having a beer with his friends after a hard day of work and tennis. Has a wonderful sense of humor !

Priyamvadha (Priya): Is a fun loving bubbly girl. Was in Chennai till 10 th grade. Later moved to the US because her Dad was posted in the US. Never completely made the transition. Tried going back to India to college, to see if that was what she was missing.. No. She missed her parents, sister and her new American friends more. Came running back in 6 months. Also posesses a great sense of humor.

Vinay was never a chat person and he thought it was an uncool habit. He had seen so many of his friends’ lives take big turns for the worse and he wasn’t ready to follow suit. But he was told there was a Boris Becker chat room in IRC, where BB himself came to talk to his fans once in a while. Now, that, he couldn’t pass up. That’s where he met her. It all started casually. No names were exchanged as was the culture. Some “trust” had to be built before all that. Vinay didn’t care for her name anyway. He wasn’t going to see her the next day on anyway, or so he thought. He came back the next day, just to take a peek. And she was there. And they talked again. Vinay didn’t realize this would turn into a habit. And in a matter of weeks, he was logging in between classes to see if she was online. They knew each other’s names, likes, dislikes, hobbies and all the basic stuff. Vinay liked it that she was a Becker fan, and that she knew more about Becker than he did. He loved it that she remembered the same little things in inconsequential matches that he thought only he had bothered to notice and remember.

Priya liked Vinay too. He was simple. Very trusting and very trustworthy, she thought. She never envisioned herself as a chat person too. That’s for losers she used to think. There was something missing from her life though. She had a bunch of sweet friends from high school. They hung out every once in a while. Went to parties, sleep overs. She had some good college buddies too now that she played tennis with, went to movies with. “I have a good life” she told herself in a consoling tone. But a wry involuntary smile often followed that statement. She didn’t know why. Something was missing. All of my friends like me, they enjoy my company. But they don’t know me. They like what they see of me. But they don’t see the whole me. I wish somebody did, she thought. “Is it because I don’t have a boy friend ?” she asked herself. But that wasn’t it too. A lot of good looking guys wanted to go out with her. But she wanted to go out with a guy, she could “relate to”. Now, what that “relating to” meant, she wasn’t sure.

She liked talking to Vinay. It had become clear to her that he didn’t want what every other guy in the chat room seemed to want. She would normally be very cautious when it came to divulging personal information online. But Vinay didn’t take a long time to make her feel comfortable and throw all her concerns about “Guys on the Internet” out of the window. Also, he sounded genuine. There was nothing made up or exaggerated about him. And more importantly, he had a lot of time for her. When she had a bad day, or a tired day, or even a good day, he seemed to be online and waiting to listen to it. He seemed to know just the right thing to say to every situation. As for Vinay, he was slowly getting addicted to talking to her. He spent lesser and lesser time with his friends and room mates. He didn’t know what exactly was so special about her. Was it her sense of humor? Was it because she was very sweet to him? He really didn’t have an answer. But he knew one thing for sure. The days she left her dorm to be with her parents, those were the dull days in his life! He’d wait tirelessly for her to come back.

A few weeks had passed and he had gotten her phone number because that seemed to be the logical thing to do. He was afraid to call because the mechanics of a phone conversation was different from a chat room’s. He knew that she had built a lot of respect for him and his opinion over the weeks and he didn’t want to spoil that. She had been his recreation.. his entertainment… for the past few weeks and he didn’t want one phone call to end it. “But what about her?” he thought. “What if she’s not like how she was on chat?” …”Naaah, she’d be the same sweet girl, I know it” and he quickly dismissed the idea. And so he called at 7.15 pm. He promised that he’d call at 7.00. But he didn’t want to seem anxious. To him, the “fashionably late” concept applied here too. And he was right. She was the same sweet girl. And what’s more, she made him feel comfortable too. The initial nervousness frittered away and he was himself very soon. After a 20 minute conversation, she hung up and promised to call during the weekend. That night as he lay in bed, he thought, “Hopefully she doesn’t think I sounded nervous” “Did I sound too anxious ?” “Was my tone different from what she’s used to ?”. And after a lot of analysis, he realized ” Man, why am I thinking about her so much? I never used to worry about what people thought about me. That’s just not my style. Something’s getting into me”. Right he was once again. Something was getting into him!

Priya hated people who drank alcohol. Her dad had consumed way more alcohol than he should have and she found the habit disgusting. Cool people don't drink, she thought. Vinay is cool too. But he drinks. She wanted to get him to stop. She promised to herself that she'd try. A typical friday evening chat conversation would go like this:

P: Innikku evening enna da panna pora ?

V: Onnum perisa ille. As usual. Friends oda BW3.

P: Enna beeer a ?

V: Amaam. Konjamaa.

P: Hey enakkaga innikku beer adikkaadhe da.

V: Adheppadi mudiyum priya. Pasanga ellam irupaanga.

P: Hmmm. Seri oru beer oda niruthikkanum. Okay va ?

V: Oru beer a. Adheppadi paththum priya.

P: Please da. "Enakkaaga"

V: Seri. try panren.

That night true to his promise, Vinay would stop with one beer. He would fake a cold much to his friends' confusion and irritation.

Soon the phone conversations increased in frequency. At first it was about once a week. To priya, his phone call was always a little different from everybody else’s. She wasn’t ready to categorize it as “special” just yet. But it was definitely not normal and she knew it. When she heard her room phone ring, she’d spring up from her bed hoping it’d be him. “He’s nicer on the phone than he is in the chat room” she thought. Somehow she felt it was easier to tell him things that she couldn’t tell anybody else. Because he always understood. And he always knew what exactly to say in return. “He’s so in-sync with my mind” she thought. That night as she lay in bed, she thought, “Hmmm, funny. The sad forlorn person in me has been missing for a while now. Is it him ? Did he open the doors ? Is this the person that completes me ?”. Or is it a temporary cloud ?

A few more weeks passed. Vinay and priya now acknowledged openly that they were close friends. Priya called Vinay for little things that she needed. And Vinay liked it that Priya depended on him more now. He enjoyed being that banking shoulder. Priya opened up more about her life to him and talked about her general theories of every day living. Some of these theories didn’t match up well with Vinay’s own. But he often underplayed the differences, and over played the similarities. Or that’s how he projected it to priya. And to himself. Before they knew it, their conversations were getting well into the nights. And they had started to become very close. “Hey, you sing right ? Oru paattu paaden please” she’d ask. “Phone laya ? No way…” he’d say. “Enakkaaga paaden please” she’d beg. “I’ve never sung on the phone for anyone in my life” he’d say. He hated it when people asked him to sing. Even in a gathering. He always felt shy. When a situation arose, he’d feign a cough or a fever and escape. “Enakkaaaga” she begged one more time. His heart melted every time she said “enakkaaga”. And so he gave in.

“Ennavale, adi ennavale, yen idhayathai tholaithu vitten
Endha idam adhu tholaindha idam andha edathayum marandhu vitten
Undhan kaal golusil…”

From that day on, he sang a song to her every night. She wouldn’t hang up otherwise.

His room mates Subodh and Nari had become suspicious of his activity and sensed that their infallible buddy had fallen prey. They kept asking him “Enna da, maattikitte pola irukke” And he’d say “ille machi, nalla friends avlo dhaan”. But both Nari and Subodh knew, that something in vinay had changed. Was it for his good ? They weren’t sure”.

Priya’s long awaited tennis tournament in abu dhabi was coming up. She had been given the wild card to play in the singles event. This was going to be the make or break tournament in her tennis career. However the trip or the stay was not funded by the tournament sponsors. Priya had toiled hard with the university to help her with the travel expenses. But she still needed a place to stay in abu dhabi. The hotels for 10 days would come out to be very expensive. She had to find somebody that could house her for a week. Vinay knew that Nari’s parents lived in Abu Dhabi and would be happy to host her. “But Nari’s a flirtatious guy. What if he …..?” he started to think. “No, No, don’t be silly, you know priya too well for that, shut up” he said to himself, almost guilty that he had these thoughts. . And so the next time he spoke to priya, he mentioned to her that Nari might be able to help her. She was excited and extremely thankful. The arrangements were done. “Can I talk to Nari” she asked. “Sure, here ..330-376-2427, this is his number, call him” said vinay.

After 10 long days of waiting, Priya comes back home fro Abu Dhabi. Vinay had called her but she was too sleepy. So he said he’d call back the next morning. Subodh asked Vinay during dinner, if he knew what happened to her tournament. Vinay said “No, not yet, she’s sleeping, haven’t talked to her yet, will call her tomorrow”. In the mean time Nari quips casually “She lost in the 4 th round to the eventual champion. She called me like an hour back”. Vinay’s heart stopped for a second. He looked at Nari surprised. He was hurt for a few minutes, but he sat down, thought about it, gave the benefit of the doubt to circumstances and moved on.

Priya took a few days to recover from her arduous journey. Vinay had realized in the 10 days that he did really like her and life without her was miserable. The 10 days helped him understand how special this relationship was to him and he was now determined to make more out of the relationship than he had originally planned for. So he was waiting for her to return. Priya’s tiredness and jet lag severely limited vinay’s phone time with her.Involuntarily he had started to monitor Nari’s phone calls. He thought he had heard a girl’s voice at the other end a couple of these times. “But Nari rarely speaks to girls on the phone. What if..”. he thought. “Don’t be paranoid” told his inner self. He was even tempted to pick up Nari’s phone in his absence and look at the phone log. He stopped himself just in time. One of those days, Priya had increased his suspicion, when they were on the phone. She had said “It’a nari on the other line. Can I call you back”. Vinay did not know how to react. “He managed “Okay…..sure” and hung up. He tried to treat every suspicious instance like it was going to be the last. But heart of hearts, he knew that wasn’t the case.

He decided that he was going to tell her how he felt about her. He knew that it may not be the solution. But he had to do this. For him. He had started to feel miserable and he could not put his mind on anything he was doing. And this was his only way out. “Funny how when you’re in a mess, the wrong way out is often your only way out” he thought. He knew heart of hearts that this was a losing effort, but he still became ready for it. And so he called her and told her that he needed to talk to her about something important and asked her what would be a good time. “We can talk now da chellam” he hoped she’d say, as she usually did, before Abu Dhabi. Instead it was “How about 9.15”. He said “Okay I’ll call then” and hung up. So he went to his lab (so he could talk to her in privacy) and called her form there at 9.15. They had barely started to talk when she got another call, and told him “hey, it’s from another friend, can I call you back da”. He said “Fine”. He was very disappointed with her, because he had mentioned to her how important this was. But he hung up and waited for her call. 2 hours had passed and no signs of a call yet. So he tried calling her, She wouldn’t pick up. He was so determined to clean his heart out today, that it didn’t matter how long it was going to take. He was going to wait and finish this right here. Right now !

1 AM. 2.00 AM. 3.00 AM….no response. Did she fall asleep ? No. If she had, I would have gotten her room’s voice mail. She was on the phone. At 4.30 Am, after giving up all hopes, Vinay started his slow walk back home. On reaching home, he saw Nari’s room lit. He made a connection there. But his love for Priya, would not allow him to convict her yet. So he walked up to the door, and just before he knocked, put his ear to the door and listened….

He heard Nari’s muffled voice.

Nari: ille ma, innum thookkam varale. Onakku varale ?

Other side: ………………………………….

Nari: Inge ellarum thoongiyaachu. In fact indha country laye ellarum thoongiyaachu. Neeeyum naanum mattum dhaan da priya kutti.

Vinay was distraught ! But he still wanted to make sure he had heard it right. Did he say “Priya kutti” or was it something else ?

Nari: Paatta, enakku adhellam paada varaadhe priya kutti.

This time it was clear. Vinay held his forehead. He thought he was going to Burst into flames ! This was the worst moment in his life.

Nari: Seri enna paattu sollu….

Other side: ……………………..

Nari: Hmmm….naan seriya paada maatten, irundhaalum nee kekkaraye nu try panren

“Ennavale adi ennavale yen idhayathai tholaithu vitten
Endha idam adhu tholaindha edam andha edathayum marandhu vitten”

Looking at 2007..

2006-03-31T07:22:00.000-08:00

A lot has been going on in Indian cricket lately. The never ending Ganguly-Selectors controversy, the chappell-Ganguly spat, escaped e-mails, sachin being booed in bombay, the mumbai debacle, quiet dominance in ODI's and the list goes on. Building for the future has been the selection committee's mantra. I agree with the concept, but not with how it is being executed. Closing the doors on ganguly might not have been a bad thing for the future, but doing it after some decent performances leaves one bewildered at the goings on. Somebody has to pay the price for all the messy politics up top, and Saurav's the chosen victim. Although I sypmathize with how a great indian captain has been shown the door awkwardly, If I were building a team for the world cup, Saurav would not figure in the scheme of things as well. Ofcourse, a string of good performances, could get him back in, but as of now, he's a non starter.

Pace: The Indian pace department looks promising after ages. Pathan will continue to be the backbone, because of his ability to break big partnerships and his ability to swing the ball both ways (that is a terrfic skill IMO). Sreesanth has very good mechanics and uses his shoulder to generate good pace and bounce. Although there's not great swing, his length is impressive, and his attitude as a fast bowler has impressed me. Munaf patel, can bowl a lot of wicket taking deliveries on his day. More so than any other seamer in the team. But he is very unpredictable. Slips one way down the leg slide after two good attempts at a yorker and lets the pressure slip up. A little more grooming will help. RP singh, has the left handers line going for him, and has the knack of picking up wickets. A yard of pace added will suit him well. Zaheer khan is out as of now, unless he can get himself back in with a string of wonderful performances. Agarkar in my opinion should be out and not considered !

Spin: As for the spinners, the selectors seem to have got it into their head that playing kumble in ODI's will not work for us in the long term. So I guess he's out for sure. I don't quite agreee with this. You can call him old, and you can call him tired, but today, he's still our best bet for a wicket ! Harbhajan is a good one day bowler, and is a definite help and his selection is a formality. Piyush chawla needs a few more games in the domestic circuit. A few good tours, can make his case. Romesh powar is a bits and pieces cricketer at best, and I don't have a great feeling about this guy. He's about 5'5 and must weight like 200. He does field well and run well given his size. But he really looks unfit. And also, his bowling has nothing to write home about. If it were left to me, I wouldn't get his hopes up too much. It might be worth spending more energy on some richer, raw "er" spin talent than focussing on the likes of powar.

Wicketkeeping: This really is simple. Dhoni's gelled into the team real well. He has a great head on his shoulders. His keeping has been decent but can be improved. The important thing is that he's becoming a match winner that we have always yearned for (not just with slogging, but also with responsible batting). Dravid should don the pads, in case of injury to Dhoni. That way, we can save a slot, for another position.

Batting: Sehwag could have had a bad patch. But if he can find his groove, he can take the match away in a matter of a few overs. I will always take that chance with him. Sachin had a good run in pakistan and I believe his expereince should help India a lot. Gambhir will be my #3 opener in the event that he's required. Dravid at #3 and Yuvi at #4 pick themselves easily. Kaif I believe is a great team man and he should walk in at #5 and one good innings will make all the non believers eat their words. Raina is a great talent. Looking at his style, he's more a top order batsman than a #6. But till a slot opens up in the top order, he has to prove himself at #6. Pathan and dhoni add solidity to the line up. Venugopal rao and Dheeraj Jadhav will have to wait in the wings.

So here's my consolidated list (If I had my way):

1. Sehwag
2 Sachin
3. Gambhir
4. Dravid
5. Yuvraj
6. Kaif
7. Raina
8. Dhoni
9. Pathan
10.Harbhajan
11.Kumble
12.Chawla
13.Sreesanth
14.Patel
15.R.P singh

Waiting in the wings

1. V.R.V Singh
2. Venugopal rao
3. Ramesh powar (reluctantly :))

What do you have to say ? Do you have anybody else in mind ?

Perception

2006-03-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

Oh him ? He has a balanced head on his shoulders. He’s the one to talk to, if you need help.
Oh him? He’s irresponsible. Can’t take his own decisions himself. How’s he going to help you ?
Oh him ? He’s a nice guy. Helpful and caring and generous!
Oh him ? All he does is talk trash about other people ! Look at his smile. So fake !
Oh him ? He’s so down to earth and easily approachable. Wish I could do it like he does.
Oh him ? He doesn’t have the time for us. He’s too busy with those important people.
Oh him ? He’s the one that made me do the things I didn’t know I could.
Oh him ? He’s the one that puts a road block on the spirits of talented youngsters.
Oh him ? He has so many friends, he won’t need me.

Wildcat madness, Steroids and WBC

2006-03-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

As much as I’d like to see UK go far in the tournament, I realize the prospects for a final four are slim to none. We have been mediocre all year through, losing at home to far inferior teams and not gelling as a unit. As a matter of fact, I don’t remember one high profiled win that we can write home about. Beating Tennessee at Tennessee is probably the closest, but I don’t know about Tennessee being a # 2 seed, I have my reservations about that! I ask myself, what is the problem here? Where did we lose the big battle? It starts with Tubby Smith. Don’t get me wrong. I love Tubby. Just like those big guys say on TV, if I had a choice, I’d like my kid to play for him. He’s just the thorough professional who understands the value of a good college education. But his recruiting abilities have come under the microscope. Sometimes I get the impression that the concepts of “Team Basketball” are over emphasized. Extremely talented players like Randolph morris, Rajan Rondo, Joe Crawford are made to don the role of team players and are forced to come off the bench, or given a paltry 16 minutes per game and team players like sheray Thomas, Lukaz obrzut and Bobby perry that have zero ball handling skills and shooting skills, play about 20 minutes a game. It is important for a team to gel together. But I think Tubby’s going overboard with his policy. After all, your best players have to play the longest, come on, it’s just common sense. You can’t make Sachin play at #9, because Harbhajan scored 2 fifties, can you ? ! "Kaathaadi kku vaal irukkudhu ndrathunaala korangu parakka mudiyuma ?" :)

Are Sammy Sosa, Mark Mcgwire and Barry Bonds Juiced? There is no question in my mind that they are/were. The solution to this is not extremely simplified however. Everybody wants to know if they deserve to be in the hall of fame. The answer is simple. No. They don’t. They clearly got an added edge over their predecessors. That is simply not allowed! They tarnished the reputation of the game, and for that reason, they should not be allowed to go to the Hall. I don’t understand Bonds’ repeated indifference to this question. I understand his irritation. But not once has he answered the question! I say, just come out clean and give all the details. It’s not like people still believe he didn’t use it. Everybody knows he used it. It’s well documented. Who is he hiding from? Coming out clean, may actually salvage some of his lost reputation. That aside, I wonder... Whose fault is all this? Rewind 5 years.. “Sammy sosa and Mark Mcgwire are on a HR fest. I (Bonds) am technically a better hitter than either of those guys. My technique should allow for more HR than either of them. But why do I hit 37 in a season and watch these guys hit 65 and 70? Everybody seems to be using this crap. Am I the only one missing out on some solid numbers here? Yes. If I get caught, my reputation’s going for a walk. But what the heck, it’s MLB, they don’t test here!”. And it is hard for people not to think that way. Because if you’re a rookie and looking to make a mark in the majors, a couple of extra HR’s can only help your cause. And if you’re a mid level guy and earning 3 million a year, those HR’s can get you $ 7 million a year. What? Am I stupid to miss out on those extra millions ? I know who’s to blame. Bud selig and the baseball players union ! That’s who !

“Idhuekkellam kaaranam yaaru ? suhrawardy a ..ille?
Barrister jinnah va ? NO
Gandhi. Barrister Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi”

Did any of you happen to notice the batting line up for the Dominican in the WBC? I did and was stunned. 1. Alfonso Soriano 2. Miggy Tejada 3. Albert Pujols 4. David Ortiz 5. Adrian Beltre 6. Moises Alou. This because Vlad Guererro was not healthy. Imagine the line up if he had been. For non baseball fans, that’s the cricket equivalent of 1.Sachin 2. Gilchrist 3. Lara 4. Ponting 5. Inzy and 6. Pietersen .Mahanadhila shobana sr. solra dialogue dhaan nyabagathukku varudhu. "Ponga da dei, ethanai per ra" !!

Monday morning rambling:

2006-03-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

When people complained about Monday mornings, I always thought they were complaining because they loved to complain. But, guess not. This is real ! At first, I thought this was a one time thing. But 6-7 weeks later, I know this is a trend, that’s going to stick to me for a while. Mondays are when have you have the most work to do, and the least enthusiasm to do it with. All the good feelings you had about your “team” on friday is now all gone, and you feel like a loner, not wanting to talk to anybody. The same song you were singing loud with on Friday evening plays itself out unnoticed! It’s so ironical, it’s almost funny. But you don’t see the humor in it. It’s Monday!

Just want to write a little note on 2 songs that I listened to recently.

“Enga area kitta varaadhe” from Pudhupettai – In spite of this being a lift from “who let the dogs out”, I liked the song. Captures the “housing board” mood of madras, to perfection. The hip-hop mix, is a thing that I am starting to enjoy. Yuvan’s ability to adapt it to Thamizh movies, is admirable. Dhanush’s voice fits like a Tee !

“Kaattile” from Pattiyal – A great mix of “Nethu oruthara oruthar paathom” and “aadaludan paadalai serthu”. Raja’s voice was youthful and refreshing. Good hip-hop feel to the song.

Save the earth..

2006-01-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

This is in response to RTD2's tag. Normally, I would not have responded to a regular tag with such enthusiasm, but this one I thought was worth it. RT has some good ideas on how to save the earth for our children. We don’t have to implement everything that’s been said. But a few changes in our system can mean a lot to someone else's life. So here’s my little list.

1. Save power wherever possible. Before you leave home, take 10 seconds to make sure you’ve turned all lights and other electric utilities off. Saves power and if you look at it selfishly, your electric bill goes down as well. Prabhu deserves credit for this one. He was the one that first put this idea in my head.
2. Save water. Do not leave the water running because the water’s being paid by somebody else, or because it doesn’t make a big difference to your bill. People in chennai struggle everyday for their daily fill of water, and it makes me guilty that we waste gallons of drinking water here just because we can.
3. This is something that has been bothering me for a while now. Can anybody explain why it is considered unfashionable to stop and help somebody that’s been injured in an auto accident? I have been guilty of this many times, and I am ashamed of it. People like to stand around and watch when their help would have mattered a lot. The next time something of this nature happens, I want to make amends. I hope you will too. (This probably is not as much a fit under the “save the earth for your children” category as it is under the “be a better person in your society” category, but I wanted to put this here anyway)

I want to listen to what Ramya, Priya and PK have to say on this topic.

The Likeability Factor

2006-01-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

When B brought this up, it got me thinking. The likeability factor at work is a hugely underplayed commodity and in my opinion the most important piece to one's stability at work right after the tangible effects like effectiveness and company's financial position etc. Often times, we do not attempt to understand the importance of how well we get along with our peers and even if we do understand it, we forget to practice it at every mundane instance that comes along. Lucky are those people who are non confrontational by birth and need little or no effort to be liked among peers. It is indeed a difficult exercise to understand the exact importance of the likeability factor in one's survival, functioning and excellence in today's corporate world. Even more difficult is to predict, what one should do in order to fetch himself that "likeable" tag in his company. Each situation is completely different and each person is completely unique which makes generating the recipe for "how do you make yourself likeable" impossible. And I don't claim to propose a solution here. But I want to share an observation here that defies logic a little and will probably be disputed by some of you folks :). I have observed that a little vulnerability at times helps in people starting to like you. When I say vulnerability, I mean a little imperfection here and there, a little "I need your help on this one" attitude. For eg, admitting to your colleague sheepishly, that you lost your way while driving to work that morning and that you couldn't get back for 45 minutes or saying "I locked myself out in my car today, not once, but twice, can you believe how stupid I've been ?". It brings a quick smile to their lips and maybe the next time around, they would admit to some of their own stupidities. But I am not saying you have to admit to every single stupid act you manage to pull off. You get another tag for that that starts with an L and ends with an R with an OSE in between ! :).

I have known some people that want to command power in every single relationship they have and always want to have the last word in any conversation. While this attitude may help in some other facets of life, these people are often easily hated. They are always the last to get the benefit of doubt in any situation. I am a big believer in the " The most powerful men are never liked and the most liked men are never powerful" school of thought. Even in social circles, I have observed the hatred growing in some people towards the "centers of attraction" for no reason other than the fact that they cornered a lot of the attention. As far as I am concerned, when I have been popular I've liked it. When I have been the center of attraction, I've liked it. But all that's nothing compared to the knowledge that I am liked by my friends or peers whichever may apply. In a work atmosphere, it helps to have a slightly casual approach towards things. It also helps to allow peers to take a trip at your expense once in a while. Ofcourse that provides you with the license of returning the favor when the opportunity shows up, and promotes more camaraderie in general. I have wondered how this can have an actual impact on one's survival or improvement. When I thought about it, I could recollect atleast 3-4 instances, where good will, the likeability factor and other intangible factors have made tangible contributions to some of my friends' work lives. While one friend was asked to leave from one department because the department was cutting down, another department picked him up because a manager there had previously had a few conversations with him and he had happened to like him. In another case, another friend mentioned to me that he was promoted to a senior position and was picked over a far smarter, more effective guy, owing solely to his "team man" image. So people, the next time a peer asks you to with him for lunch for the 5 th time that week, instead of giving him the same old no with the smile, think about saving the thayir saadham with lemon pickle for later and going down to lunch with him and who knows how it might help you ?

Under appreciated Gems

2005-12-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to make a small list of songs that I thought were brilliant, but never made the charts because there were other songs in the same movie that took away all the popularity awards or were just not projected enough to get people's attention. I don't know if it's just me, but I have believed that the music directors are the real heroes in the movie and can make or break a movie with their performance. It is a shame, that some wonderful music has been grossly under utilized or ignored or horribly picturized in the 80's and 90's. Some directors/producers have no concept of how much creativity and hardwork it takes to create music. Raja took the brunt of the hits in all of these. Not that he ever let that deter him for his next performance. He kept coming up with some wonderful songs for some utterly stupid movies. I am not complaining because if he had decided to match the quality of his music to the quality (or lack of it) of the movie that he agreed to do, we wouldn't have been the beneficiary of all those timeless numbers. In a recent interview, Rahman was openly frustrated that some of his compositions for Period movies like "Earth" and "Legend of bhagat singh" were badly utilized and hence the true value of these compositions never came out. Although it was a little surprising that the calm and composed Rahman came out to the media with his frustration, the points that he put forward have to be respected. I don't mean to undermine everything else, but it is my opinion that composing music is probably the hardest part in making a movie and it is the director's responsibility to make sure that the work of the composer is projected the right way. And it is in turn the Music director's responsibility to spurn those directors who don't understand the value of the music or the effort that the composer has to put forth to have a decent album. And another reason that brillant directors like Manirathnam and Balachander are so reknowned is the fact that they use the music so well. While some wonderful songs, re-recordings and BGMs have come to the fore front either by their own merit, or by the sheer popularity of the actor/banner, some other "Dravid"esque performances, have been buried in the archives, by some of the above mentioned idiosyncrasies of the movie industry. Here are some of those songs that deserved to be better acknowledged in my opinion. Please suggest more songs that you think would fit this category.

"Naan paadum sandham" from Duet:

A classic from SPB and Kadri.Especially the part where he goes, vaazhkai oru duet adhile "inba thunbam irandum undu" where his voice gels with the sax, and there's an indistinguishable harmony. He sings at such a high pitch, that when you try to make that pitch, you feel stupid :). Sriram, remember your trip to akron, and how we listened to this like 15 times straight during the drive to cuyahoga falls/stow ? :)

"Anandham Anandham" from Muraimaaman:

Another classical beauty from the under rated Vidhyasagar. My respect for this man has been steadily growing, because of his endurance, quality of music and versatility. While he never gets mentioned in the "Best ever MDs in tamil" list, he's slowly sneaking up my charts for sure. This song was rendered beautifully by unnikrishnan and is a must listen to classical fans.

"Adi Nenthukitten Nenthukitten" from Star:

The one song that wasn't a remake from the Hindi movie Thakshak. And that's what happens to the one song in a movie where all other songs get remade. It gets forgotten ! Karthik makes a dream debut through this song ! Beautiful bhaavam and very pleasing naadhaswaram...Classic !

"Nathioram veesum thendral" from Alexander:

One beauty in a forgotten movie. Everything else deserved to be forgotten. It's hard to remember this song too, if all you've done is listen to it in passing, and you see Vijaykanth in an orange suit, dancing to this. This is another mellifluous unnikrishnan song with a beautiful classical touch.

"Arumbum Thalire" (Bhajan version) from Chandralekha:

I can't find this song in any of the music listings or archives. This is another of Raja's brilliant songs..Very soothing, pleasing song.

"Sollayo vaai thirandhu" from Moghamul:

A beautiful Shanmughapriya ! Sreekumar was excellent with this rendition.

"Poo poothathu" from Mumbai Express:

This is not really a completely forgotten song. I have it here because I thought this song was under appreciated. Wonderful use of the accoustic drums and the song in itself, had a beautiful flow and weaved a story from the start to the end. The genius of ilayaraja shines through !

"Vaan nila tharum" from Kaadhal Virus:

A late addition. Thanks Govind for reminding me about this song ! Terrific usage of the instruments to bring a "jazz" feel to the song. The transition at the start of the saranam to me was very pleasing. Loved karthik's voice in the song !

A lot more comes to mind. But I'll stop here for brevity's sake and yours :)

UK wildcats' cricket season 05

2005-11-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

This was inspired by ashok's recent blog on his cricketing experiences. And needless to say, this like any other season, had its ups and downs and we had a lot of fun together. The biggest challenge that was facing us was that we were an extremely young team, and trends in this league showed that it didn't matter how talented you were, if you didn't have the experience to back it up and didn't know how to win when it mattered, it would be hard to have big ambitions. We did not how the season would turn out, when we started initially. We had a lot of issues to sort out, before we knew we could play and if we played, how good we were going to be. First off, whether UK athletics was going to help us with the pitch and the ground, whether we had enough people that would have the enthusiasm all through the season, whether people like ashok (non UK) would be allowed to play for us, whether we would have the transport arrangement for our road games and so on and so forth.. And then there were minor worries like vasu losing color against the sun, mohit being able to play every week etc. But thanks to DineshP's persistent efforts, help from people (sriram in particular) and enthusiasm from people, a lot of those issues were resolved and our season began. Thankfully for us, our first game was against a lowly charleston and it was a good opportunity for us to learn more about ourselves. For eg. the first game showed that jignesh was going to be an important wicket taker for us and mohit was a better wicketkeeper than some of our wicket keepers in the past ;). For the first half of the season, we were playing halfway decent cricket, winning against EKU and losing against KentuckyCC in a nail biter, but more importantly, we were forming an identity as a team. Ashok was becoming our best batsman and we all knew that the idea was to bat around ashok. The bowlers were doing their job well enough, but it was the batsmen that were lacking in application. We managed to get good teams out to under 160 in 35 overs. Chasing 160 should be easy enough, but we made it harder for ourselves. We lost to cincinnati in the regular season after getting their famed batting order out for under 160. But we stepped up from then on and started winning these close ones. The game against UC was a do or die for the both of us. We bowled pretty poorly and our fielders did a bad job too, (not to take away anything from chandan, he was hitting the good balls for boundaries). Chasing 190+, Manju played his anchor role to perfection and vasu got us home in the last 2 overs with some lusty hitting.It was a sensational way to get into the playoffs and more than the fact that we made it to the playoffs, it was how we got there that pumped us all up. If this was great, the next game (pre quarters) was even better. We had to chase 220 against nationwide CC (I don't know if it has been done in the midwest before) and our heads drooped a little. But Laka, Mohit, ashok and vasu did not give up. A disciplined batting effort slowly but surely chagned the fortunes and with 5 overs to spare, it was the opponents' heads that drooped. The whole of columbus rooted for us and vasu once again with some HUGE sixes saw us home with an over to spare. A terrific feeling indeed to get into the quarters the way we did. UK has had a history of making it to the quarters and losing in the quarters. We wanted to break the hurdle this time. After a terrific bowling display once again, we got them out to a paltry 140. All we needed was a disciplined batting effort to see us home. Not to be...wickets fell like pins in an alley, and we fell 11 runs short. I managed to break out of a mini slump and got a good 50 but nobody else stepped up in this all important game. It was disappointing to go out that way, but if I was told at the start of the season that we would chase 2 scores of around 200 to enter the playoffs and lose in the quarters, I would have taken it gladly. Afterall, I believe we have provided the next batch with a wonderful platform to operate from. Here's a small list of +ves and -ves for each player. This list is by no means exhaustive and is not intended to pull anybody down. It is merely a list of observations that I had made over the course of the season.

DineshP:

+ve - wonderful effort with the co-ordination. Overall good job with captaincy too. Good dedication and your bowling was a huge plus. Very dependable fielding !
Areas to work on: Have to be in control of all situations when it comes to handling people/violent situations during games. Standing up for your player when required and reprimanding him when required. Have to become a little more dependable with batting.

Ashok Lakshmanan:

+ves: Overall our best cricketer easily. Sweet timer of the ball and has a lot of time to play his shots. Good attitude/respect towards the game.
Areas to work on: Control over aggression when bowling and controlling taking on challenges to your own peril while batting. Have to convert 30 s and 40 s to much bigger scores.

Vasu:

+ves - Wonderful finisher (Duh!). When he connects the ball, it usually lands in louisville ! No half measures. A lot of bowling talent.
Areas to work on: - In spite of all that he does with the bat, I believe he's a better bowler than he is a batsman ---- only ofcourse if he puts some effort in it. Very inconsistent with the ball. Need to improve bowling mechanics and also needs to read the batsman/field much better when you bowl. Need to put your head down, and play neat singles once in a while too. Have to get those big scores (agreed, you've not been provided with enough opportunities, but you will get more than your share in the years to come)

Ajay:

+ves: Don't know if I have told you this. But I think you are a very good team man. Your effort to help the team during practice were noted and appreciated. Good batting technique. Have a lot of good shots in the book.
Areas to work on: Not enough if you have the shots...need to know when to use them :). Spend some time in the wicket, without putting pressure on yourself. Need to believe more in yourself ! You have the goods, the sooner you realize it, the better it is for the team and for yourself !

Mohit:

+ves : Very natural wicketkeeper and a very useful batsman. Can play some very big strokes. Has a good feel for the game. Usually does a good job of keeping the bowlers encouraged.
Areas to work on: Must learn to play the ball by merit. Has the rahul dravid syndrome of sometimes defending a rank loose ball. Has to consciously run up to the wicket after every ball (keeping).

Jignesh:

+ves: Has the left hander's angle working for him. Provides wickets just when you ask him to. Has a big passion for the game.
Areas to work on: Has to work on sustaining enthusiasm through out the season. Maybe get a yard or so quicker..will make life real hard for the batsmen.

Laka:

+ves: A natural at any sport, he's pretty natural with cricket too. A very safe fielder and has a clean technique. A very good platform to be a really good player in the league in the future.
Areas to work on: Has to be in the game every minute. Should take the game more seriously than he is right now ! Has to spend more time on the wicket to get some big scores to be a confidence boost.

Sriram:

+ves: Defines the word "team man". Prompt and equipped all the time and can only be a help on any team. Inspite of having to undergo the frustration of a lesser role, he took it very well and gelled well with the team.
Areas ot work on: Get a yard of pace and better mechanics to be a stronger contender for bowling. As for batting, put a big price on your wicket, never give it away cheaply.

Karthik:

+ves: Good mechanics and a clean bowling action. A very good fielder and another excellent team man.
Areas to work on: Experiment lesser and concentrate on a good rhythm while bowling.

Chandramouli:

+ves: Better than just a bits and pieces cricketer. A terrific talent with the ball. Variations are excelllent. Runs between the wickets like a maniac and puts pressure on the opposition before you know it. A thinking batsman too ! Knows his limitations and bats well within it.
Areas to work on: Has to learn to read the field better. Will have to focus on bowling good length. If I may say so, you haven't justified your bowling talent this season. Will have to do better this coming season.

Bharath:

+ves : Classic leg spinner's action. A treat to play him during practice. Challenges you with this unnerving length.
Areas to work on: Have to give cricket more time..we know you're a family man..but still :)

Manju:

+ves: A terrific anchor. Puts a big price on his wicket. Enjoyable to bat with :)
Areas to work on: Forget that you're playing a big game, and try to have fun while batting. Try to free your arms when you see a bad ball, don't worry about getting out. Have to play the big shots that you play during nets, in the game too. Another knock - have to give UK cricket more time when it matters too ! It's hard to replace you dude !

Myself:

Areas to work on: Don't play stupid shots when the team needs you the most. Play the first 2 overs out before going for a big hit and DON'T DROP 3 CATCHES IN A ROW EVER AGAIN :)

Here are the stats on the web:

The Master's back !!

2005-10-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Was I lucky or what ? I got to see the Master's return to International cricket live. And what a nice way to come back. From ball one, he played with an assurance that was clearly missing for about 3 years now. It felt like he was spending the last 6 months listening to people calling out his cricketing demise.The picture perfect on-drive more than validated all our little efforts to stay awake on a week day. Watching him bat yesterday,made me feel that he is out to prove to all his critics, that he can still demolish any attack if he wishes to. Expecting to see a lot more from him this series !

Irfan pathan gave him admirable company and showed that he had a very good head on his young shoulders. The refreshing thing was that every boundary of his was almost always followed by a tame and intelligent single. In spite of his terrific innings,
Dravid called him a "bowler who could bat". Although Irfan has a long way to go before he can be called an allrounder, that statement from Rahul surprised me a little. Agarkar was called an all rounder for a long time before he was downgraded to a "bowler who can bat" ( a "bowler who can hardly bat" would have suited him better).Kumble and Harbhajan singh were hugely hyped when they got 30's and 40's for the first time, as India's budding all rounders. Considering all the hype in the past, it does surprise me that Pathan who has a batting average in excess of 25 and has 3 50's already is still considered a bowler who can bat. I don't disagree with the evaluation, but this "take it slow" attitude has never been India's attitude in the past.

Some thoughts

2005-09-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Ganguly's ill timed tantrum:

I cannot possibly understand what he was thinking when he had to go public with the info that chappell asked him to step down as captain. He cannot undo all his bad performances with one century against Zimbabwe. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those people that say "Oh it's against zimbabwe, so it doesen't count". A century is a century, be it against Zimbabwe or a State bank XI of Travancore, or against the mighty aussies. But acting like he achieved complete redemption after this century is unforgivable.He's had a big bad period, and we've stuck with him (with reason), and it's going to take some consistent good scores to turn it around. Not one century for God's sake. He should understand that a Test batsman is expected to be consistent at that level and if he fails to perform for a long stretch, he could find himself out, however talented he maybe. Gone are the days that a player can be on a XI based on 1 innings he played 6 years ago. If you can't play, we'll find somebody that can ! We don't want captains who'll show up their coach given one excuse...so please, shut up and get on with some cricket !!

Moving on to non cricketing issues, I recently had a chance to look at an organization that priya had started with some of her buddies. I have nursed an interest for a long time, to start/help with an organization of this nature. When I was involved with LTCA, it was my interest, that along with all the cultural events that we were conducting, we should aim to get into social issues and do what we can to help. As friends/fellow bloggers of priya, I think we can help by contributing (financially and otherwise) to a noble effort like such. Priya, I did not know that you were into social outreach programs at this level. Hats off ! I recently read Ramya Nageswaran's post on Anshu Gupta's movement/organization which focusses its efforts towards recycling clothes to provide the needy and down trodden. I thought the movement was very impressive. Please take a look.

www.goonj.org

yennul vaazhum kaadhalan

2005-09-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

wanted this moment to last a lifetime:

When I thought you were the "specialest" person in my life you turned around and said "You are the specialest person in my life"

When your loud honk woke me up on my birthday

When I was told "You got the job", you were happier than me

When you switched your cell phone off, when you and me walked into a coffee shop

When after a whole night of talk on the phone, you didn't want to hang up and get ready for work

When all I wanted was to talk to you, and all you wanted was talk to me, you still talked to my room mate lest he should feel left out

When you told me something about yourself, nobody in this world knew

When you'd come crying to me, and let yourself be consoled....only by me

For all this and everything else, Thank you !

People I just saw this post by Prabhu Karthik. It's about us. Take a look.

http://expertdabbler.blogspot.com/2005/05/lexington-gang.html

Sweet Home Kentucky !

2005-09-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

It was a 9 hour drive from Lexington to Baltimore. I waved goodbye to Vijay, Anand and Vasu and was on my way. I was all by myself and had all the privacy I ever wanted. It was an hour into my journey and that's when it hit me...

The next time I come back to Lexington, I will be a guest. I will have to knock before I enter D224 or A306.

There will be no HOME to come back to, after all the good food and pampering in Baltimore.

Vijay will not call me on a random wednesday afternoon and say "Dinesh, naan padikka poren, adhukku munnadi edhavadhu oru matter sollu"

I turned the music on, and I could not stop myself from rolling back to fall '02 (when I came into KY) and taking a trip down memory lane. My first visit to take a look at the university, my first room mates, my frequent akron visits, shooting basketball alone in the cooperstown courts hoping I could get to meet someone, first show with alaap, starting LTCA with Ramya, our first show, the visa debacle, my return after a woeful 6 months, thaen mazhai, the cricket matches, mokkai sessions at D 224, LTCA hand off, job search struggles, and the list goes on. It slowly dawned on me that I was going to lose everything I was a part of, in 1 day and before the end of the day, I would have "Once Lived" in KY. The music did its part in poking where it hurt, with lyrics that I would have paid little attention to, until today.

"Vaasapadi kadakkiyile varalaye pechchu, pallappatti thaandiputta paadhi uyir pochu"

"Poraale Ponnuthaayi, Pogira pokkila manasa vittu"

"Uravin perumai pirivil kandu uyiril paathi kuraindhen"

I found a rest area shortly thereafter, and took a 5 minute water break before heading back.

Ah Aah Best Friend - A review

2005-07-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Rahman's back in Tamil after a long time. One has to wonder though..why an SJ Surya movie ? If you're doing only 2-3 Tamil movies a year, why not something more classy ? Starring S.J Surya and Nila - From the music, one gets the impression that this is a typical S.J. movie - Youthful, refreshing and a lot of masala! Here's (an attempt at) a review of the songs.

Anbe Aaruyire - A.R. Rahman

Has a distinct "New New" (from New) feel to it. Fast paced and very catchy. A.R. Rahman's voice is refreshing. The part "Anbe, Yen anbe, Aruyir neeye" especially gets you pumped up. This song will probably climb up the top 10 list first. 8/10

Mayilirage - Madhusree and Naresh Iyer.

A simple and elegant tune. I am guessing that this is Naresh's first song in Tamil. His voice has a lot of resemblance to Balram (Ranjano Ranjana) and nothing great to write home about in his voice. Maybe it's just me, but I like how Rahman uses the tabla. Maybe a little un-orthodox, but it is attractive.The lyrics is the speciality in the song, however, with both these non tamil singers singing this pure-tamil song, deciphering the lyrics is quite a challenge. Madhusree is a poor man's sadhana sargam and honestly, with all due recognition to Rahman's utilization of available talent, I would like to see him use Tamil singers for songs that require good uchcharippu. - 6/10

Varugiraai - Hariharan and Chitra

Heavy instrumentation with some resemblance to "Taal se taal mila" (heavier version). When I first heard the song, it didn't make a great impression. But as I listened to it a few more times, it grew on me. Hariharan has impressed with his nonchalant yet perfect rendering and chitra is reliable as always - 6.5/10

Thigu Thigu - Sadhana Sargam and Blazee

Rahman's love affair with Sadhana Sargam continues. I don't understand what these music directors find in sadhana sargam. She's a pretty good singer, but with her horrendous ucharippu, it beats me as to how she's survived in the tamil and telugu industry so long. To be fair to her, the ucharippu in this song is not as bad as some of her previous ones. The whole song has a beautiful flow to it and the saranam is really melodious, especially the "angam thangam mridangam" part. Not a chartbuster, but definitely in the "better than tolerable" range. - 7/10

Thazhuvudhu Nazhuvudhu - SPB and Shreya Ghosal

Sensuous song. Wonderful choice of singers. SPB delivers the emotions flawlessly and shreya ghosal does a good job of matching up to SPB's intensity in Bhaavam. First use of shreya in a song of this nature and she's performed better than expectations. Good bass guitar usage and the percussion (bongos) is also simple but attractive. The part "manam thadumaari thavi thavikkudhu" tells you that SPB has a lot of years left in this field yet, and makes the people who write him off look real bad. The lyrics are substandard and carelessly crosses the line between sensual and vulgar. Shreya - 9.5/10 SPB - 10/10 Song - 7.5/10

Maramkothiye - Shankar mahadevan, Shalini and Blazee

Typical fast paced, techy song. Fails to catch one's attention for long. A clear attempt to justify his vulgarity (SJS') in movies with the lyrics "Paasam pesum mozhiya abaasam enbadhu thavaru" and "Manidhan kaattum punidham silar thavarena kooriduvar". A singer of shankar mahadevan's caliber is wasted with an average song like such. - 5.5/10

Fast paced and youthful. But not as powerful as some of ARR'S previous movies that demanded the same fast paced and youthful music(Boys, Kaadhal desam etc). Maybe that says something about the director's ability to extract from the music director and the depth of the story. Some songs however make you sit up and take notice. Difficult for a Rahman fan not to expect better. Overall - 6.5/10.

A weekend of winning

2005-06-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Just how you'd want your weekend to be in the perfect cricket world ! A critical midwest tournament game for UK against EKU. An ISA tape ball tournament saturday and sunday. Some of us guys had been wanting to play in the tape ball tournament together, because, although we had known each other for a while, we never played together as a team. So this was our chance ! But 4 of us had to play the UK game, which meant that the rest of the guys had to play without us for a game. We fought with ISA as much as we could to get both our games scheduled on sunday, so that we could come back and play both games without fear of losing one game and leaving us one must-win game to enter the semis. Not to be. And ofcourse the rest of our guys were like "we don't want to play without you guys, so let's withdraw" and so our ISA tournament was in jeopardy. And so, I was angry with almost everybody that day..with the ISA for not being a little more accomodative with our requests, with our guys for being so adamant about not playing, with the opponent for not returning the huge favor we did to them. And all this confusion left us so unprepared for the EKU game.

Funny how mornings provide wonderful solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems from the previous night. Prabhu and gang agreed to play the one game without us and we were all set for the game against EKU. We sent EKU to bat first, and got all their high profile batsmen out early and got them reeling at 49 for 6. A decent 7 th wicket partnership got them to 97. At one point, they were threatening to get to a decent score of 140-150, which would have put us in a little bit of a bother, especially with the sweltering heat and no shade. EKU started with a bang and got 2 wickets for the first 5 runs. And their best bowlers were in operation. Once me and ashok played out the first 7-8 overs, runs started flowing. The rest of the game went on smoothly and we got there with plenty of overs to spare and lots of wickets in hand. I was personally satisfied, because, all I wanted to do was to stay there till it was over, and I could do so with some amount of effort.
Some highlights: Ashok's terrific straight drive and Laka's pull six that nearly landed in the nearby lake.

Just as soon as we got our kits packed, we called prabhu and heard loud, happy voices in the background...they had won without us in a nail biter. Got us real pumped up. Dharma and kay with big contributions had done the job for us. In the morning, we were all pumped up and made short work of our opponents (and mind you they were no push overs as we would learn the hard way later on) gettting them out for 64 and prabhu and myself got us more than half the way in 4 overs. It was easy for us the rest of the way. The semis was a bigger challenge than we thought because we were asked to bat first. I got vijay and prabhu out to run outs with some over aggressive running. But I managed to avoid their anger by playing a decent knock and we got to a 108. Our bowling was the highlight and they managed a weak 75. The finals was the most thrilling of them all. Inies and Vishy with some late innings heroics, took their score to 139 from what looked like a 95-100 max after ashok's dismissal. 140 in 15 overs was going to take a monstrous effort. I was very determined and wanted to play out the 15 overs and give it a real good shot. We had the batting to do it, but to get to 140 was going to take some luck as well. When Vijay and myself were starting to get a decent run started, I twisted my ankle and fell and was run out. A horrible way to get out in an important game ! Vijay and laka followed short after. Our hopes started waning, but our unsung hero (to that point) Vasu had to have his day yesterday. He started connecting, and it was six-shower the rest of the way. Our moods were changing with every six. After the first couple of sixes, we thought, atleast we had a couple of big ones in response to their 7-8. After the next couple, we started thinking "okay,they scored 140, we'd have around 110, so we don't have to be embarassed when people ask". After the next couple of sixes, it was "wait wait wait, guys we need 46 from 5 overs, we actually have a chance". 2 more sixes and the opponent's heads drooped and we knew the game was ours...was an improbable but highly deserving victory to a TEAM that played its guts out the whole weekend.

Some highlights:

1. Dharma's terrific story narration during our 3 hour break that we later agreed was our source of inspiration for the game. All this when the opponents were busy working out strategies to get us out.

2. Kay's spinach and my sambhar that made sure we were all as "mandham" as possible when we got on the field :)

3. Dharma and kay's every ball routine of the same dialogue and dharma's leg shaking exercise(to keep the runs flowing).

4. Baby K's expert sledges that were working wonders ! And viswesh's irritated response to it "Avan vaayila saaniya potttu adainga da" was extremely funny !

All in all, it was a weekend filled with action and winning ! Here's captain's take on it.

Cheers !
Dinesh

Interactive Tags

2005-06-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

I liked the concept of tagging and using that to get to know people better. When I was tagged by Sujan, I felt that, maybe we could use this concept to get to know more interesting things about people, instead of just limiting this to reading habits. My intention is not to bore people with irritating questions. So I'll try to make it as short and interesting as possible. I realize that we are connected in the blogging world by people in different regions of the world and in different walks of life. Maybe these questions will help know bloggers just a little bit better. Enough with the promotion of the idea..here are the questions :) (RT and RS, thanks for the suggestions)

1. Favorite fellow blogger and why ?

My favorite blogger is RS. Because she's blessed with the ability to create magic with words and can make a reader go "wow" with each one of her creations. Her short stories are particularly good. Read them if you haven't already.

2. Your favorite person/people in life.

Micheal Jordan - Defined (and still defines) a winner. Answered every call and gave his best in everything he did. Always knew how to tackle adversity, always said the right things and had the ability to make everyone around him better.

Kamalhasan - Defines versatility. Blessed with fantastic observation, demands perfection in everything he does, and lets very few things bother him (like commerical failures and technical shortcomings in indian movies). When I see him, I get the feeling, that he would have been the best in any field, not just movies.

Mahatma Gandhi - Defines principle. I liked that he gave up eveything he had to attain his goals. A powerful man who knew how to use his power to make his vision for india a reality.

3. If you could be one person of the opposite sex, who would it be and why?

Sania Mirza - A whole nation's hopes on her, she is an ambassador for her sport. She is in a position to turn a country's fortunes in the biggest stage of the world. Who wouldn't want to be in her position ? :)

4. If you could be in a book/music band/movie, what would you be in ?

I'd be a in music band. The feeling of satisfaction/ecstasy after a big show is such an addictive one. I'd do anything to have that feeling once every so often.

5. If you were to be marooned in an island and you could pick one friend to go with you, who would it be ?

I guess I'd pick Sayee. That way I can have jugalbandhis and laugh all the way to my grave. Yeah, he's one of the very few people in the world that can make you look forward to a situation like that. I thought of a few others too..
Vijay - so I can argue with him till the end :)
Subha - That way I can atleast listen to good music till I am dead or rescued :)

So, there you have it. It's your turn now. Let the tagging begin. I'll start off with the following people.

Subha
Raman
kay
Moni

Tags, Tidbits and Movie screens..

2005-06-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Sujan. I used to be a voracious reader. But these days, books are nothing more than travel company. They are dusted and packed when a trip happens and are put back promptly in the shelf finished or unfinished, and are not disturbed till the next trip. Unlike Sujan, I am purely a fiction reader especially when I have to pay money to get these books. You can never go wrong with a fiction novel, just like some would say, "when in doubt, go with a rajinikanth movie". Honestly, I haven't explored enough with the other genres to make a meaningful comparison. I keep thinking I should, maybe someday I will ! I started reading with enid blyton's fiction series and exhausted practically all of Enid Blyton's writings..Five findouters being my favorite (Recall fredrick algernoon troteville anybody ? ). I was so crazy about Blyton that I used to miss my school cricket matches to read her books (Missing cricket and Me? That never happens !). Stayed with Blyton and hitchcock for a good amount of time. After that it was Hardy boys for a while and then I moved to Agatha Christie and Sidney Sheldon and Jeffrey Archer. It was when I was in college that I chanced upon a P.G Wodehouse novel and I started reading it because I had nothing better to do. Man, was I happy. I am not great at describing art, but this man definitely has a knack with words. A sense of humor like none other, he plays with words making us readers look so human ! If you haven't had a chance to read Wodehouse, give it a shot, you won't regret it.

Last book I bought : Tell me your dreams (Sidney sheldon)

Last book I read : Tell me your dreams (Unlike other sheldon books, a lot less masala, and some good research into the topic. I liked this one. try it ! )

Total Books I own : Less than 10

Books that mean(t) a lot to me: Didn't make a change in my life or anything like that. But I enjoyed reading these books.

1. The stuttering parrot (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. The doomsday conspiracy (Sidney Sheldon)
3. Aunts aren't gentlemen (PG Wodehouse)

And here I tag

1. Laka - Would like to know what you read
2. Sangeetha - I am sure you have some interesting insights for us
3. PB - I know he reads a lot of good stuff. I am sure he has a lot to say about them as well.
4. Ashok - We always would want to know more about an interesting gentleman like ashok. Wouldn't we ? :)
5. RT - Whenever you get back ! Would like to know what you read ! A psychologist's perspective :)
6. Priya - Priya..remember, no toxicology books allowed :)

Nothing like Cricket ! The midwest tournament started last weekend and inspite of being extremely tired, I couldn't sit out this game. We won our first game against charleston and our next game's against Louisville. It is a great feeling to get back on the grass to be a part of everything that goes on in a cricket match ! I was thinking about forgoing this season. But the feeling of satisfaction after every win or every 50 is too inviting. So here I am, in another midwest tournament ! Go UK !

Listened to "Oru naal oru kanavu" in Raaga. One of Raja's best in recent times. It's a fazil movie and some numbers are very simple and pleasing (Kaatril varum geethame, khajuraho and Ponnukkindha). The conversation between Vaali and Ilayaraja provides good insights into how music gets written and composed. Very neat ! I liked Tippu's voice in ponnukindha song.

Lexington Tamil Cultural Association Proudly PresentsTamil Cinema's Magnum-opus"Anniyan"

Wednesday, 22nd June 2005 Time: 7:30 p.m Venue: Reel Deal Cinemas,South Park Shopping Center,Nicholasville Road(Behind Best Buy n Toys’R’us stores) Lexington, KY Tickets:$12 per person.Ages 7 to 15: $6, under 7 years: Free Tickets Available @:Vishal Intl.Saagar Indian StoresTandoor

LTCA comm. members - Good luck !!

Transformed !

2005-05-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rough day. Nothing seemed to be going my way ! I could accomplish very little of what I wanted to do and was I feeling low for some odd reason. After a whole day of very little productivity and a lot of frustration, something magical happened. I have this habit of smiling at strangers when eye contact is made. Call me crazy, but I think it came to my rescue this time. I met one such stranger in the elevator when I was on my way to getting myself a cup of coffee and we made small conversation and she wished me a good day (with a wide smile) and left. When she left, it felt like the negativity left me as well. That smile of hers lit up the rest of my day. From that moment on, I was full of positive thoughts and a transformation had occured. Though the act of smiling may seem trivial, it has the power to do so much more. This relates to Deepa's WUGIWUG concept and the "He must be gelling" Advertisement. Just a small act of acknowedgement from our side can make another person's day. Keep doing it, and when we need it most, our day might just be magically transformed (like mine was, yesterday). So, people, smile, it costs nothing !

That Special feeling !

2005-05-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

I am sure all of us would have had days that were so memorable that we never wanted it to end. Those moments that trascended time and we had no idea during that instant, that after that moment/hour/day, we were going to feel human again. It was temporary bliss. I've had my share of those days and below are some of those experiences.

"Iruvar"

I remember watching this movie with a total of 40 people in the theater. At the end of it, I thought it was a master piece. But everybody else seemed to be cursing Maniratnam for wasting 3 hours of their lives. When I came out of the theater, I saw my friend J coming out of the theater and the look on his face. And that one look said it all. He was thrilled to bits with the movie too and didn't understand how people could not like a classy movie like such !

"Chikku Bukku Rayile"

I was in high school when I listened to this song. I was stunned by the new sounds. Sounds that Tamil Music had never heard before. I believe it was this song that signified the passing of the baton from Raja to Rahman and removed any doubts from the minds of the skeptical few. 4 days later and after listening to it like 200 times, we were performing this song on stage in a high pressure Leo culturals (I think it was effervescence) , in front of an unforgiving Madras crowd. With some future professionals in our group (Devisriprasad and Mridul), I think we did a pretty decent job. The whole of the crowd was silent through out the entire song (which was a very good sign by the way) and at the end of it, we got a standing ovation from a 10,000 crowd ! A terrific feeling !

"The Master's 98"

I had driven down to akron to watch this 2003 World cup Match Vs Pakistan. And all through the journey, I was praying that sachin should get a big one here. When it was India's turn to bat, the exhaustion from driving and the frustration from Pakistan's good batting, got to me finally and I started to doze off. The little man had walked in by then and it took exactly one stunning straight drive to wake me up completely. The thought of sleep didn't occur to me since that moment. After watching that innings, it felt like nothing else mattered ! God had been nice to me that day ! There was no question about it !

"Lakers' mighty comeback"

2000 western conference finals - Game 7. The game was all but lost. 15 points down in the 4 th quarter. No other team had comeback from that far down in one quarter. But Kobe and shaq stepped it up bigtime. And like it had been scripted in heaven, I saw it unravel in front of my eyes. Posession after posession, play after play, Kobe and shaq decided to have the best game of their season, simultaneously. That alley-oop from shaq to kobe stands fixed in my memory ! That game gave me bragging rights for 10 years to come ! Sweeet !

"A day with a star"

Playback singer Unnikrishnan had a match that day at Ramakrishna cricket ground. And he had a recording at AVM studios. He had to shuttle between the 2 places frequently. And he had to find a place where he could change. My house was close to both places. And I was blessed. I promptly said "I'll come with you" and he said "fine". So I watched him score 16 quick runs and get out to a lofted shot, after which he feigned "cramps" and we drove to our place, he changed and went to AVM studios. I was listening to him practice in his car as he was driving. I got a live look at how songs were recorded in the studios. And then we hopped back in the car to the game where he enthusiastically kept wickets (nobody asked him about the cramps, guess everybody knew it was a part of the game). After all that, when I came back home that day, I thought to myself "I want to be famous like him and will do what it takes to get there". If only it were that easy !

There were several other moments like these, for eg. the pure satisfaction we experienced after sangamam, and how me and sriram were the only ones that liked Hey ram (were in awe of, to put it better) in our whole gang and we made it a point to talk about the movie once every 10 minutes for the rest of our reunion :), and cleveland's 12 run comeback against seattle. After all, we live for these days ! right ?

A conversation with my conscience..

2005-04-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Why do we act like we deserved everything we have and some things we don't have ? Why is that we are never satisfied with what we have and always want more ? Why is that when our problems get solved, we always find new problems to entertain ourselves with ? Going to my time in chennai, waiting for the "call for my visa". At first, I thought it was a matter of days, before the call would be made. I was waiting every day for that all important e-mail. It didn't come. Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. The hardest part about this was that it was difficult to meet people without them asking you the question. Although I realized that it was difficult for a conversation to happen without that question popping up, slowly, I grew tired of answering that question. Only because the answer was the same everytime and I had no control over how long it would take. I felt handicapped, in that, I could not do what I loved most..meeting people. I did not want to walk in the street before dark, because I was afraid that somebody would see me, come up to me and say "why are you still here ? ". Although a lot of the people I am sure only wished me well, it was hard for me to talk to them as freely as I used to. I tried to project an image like I was enjoying the time with my relatives, when in fact, I was struggling deep down and they sensed it.

I sat down and thought if I would have done anything different given another chance at the visa office ? Contrary to sayee's depictions on stage, I didn't give super smart answers when asked about my project. I just told him what I knew. Somehow the visa officer felt it was necessary to give it another check, owing to all the added security from 9/11. The answer came out loud and clear..No. I wouldn;t have done anything different. Does this mean that I deserved it the first time I got my visa? Again the answer was clear..No. I didn't. So what is it that we have/had that we did deserve ?

During that period, my Manni would ask me to visit different temples in madras to help me get through this and she'd say "Poi vendikko, kandippa visa kedaikkum". Among the list of the temples, was a "Visa Aanjaneyar" temple. Funny how, even the temples get categorized "utility" wise. In time, we might even see temples like "Viral suththi" Pillayaar temples and "Dote 1" Agasthyar temples. And I did what people asked me to do. Go to temples. But when I had to pray and ask god to make the "visa e-mail" happen, something stopped me. That question always bothered me.When I looked at all those little boys, waiting in line to get the kovil prasaadam to fill their stomach with, I realized that I could have turned out like one of them. So easily ! What did I do differently to deserve all the comforts that have been showered on me ? What did I do to deserve good parents ? What did I do to deserve good education ? Good health and no physical handicap ? I didnt do a thing ! And when I was here to ask him for the Visa, did I thank him for the engineering degree I got ? For the college admission ? For doing well in the 12 th std ? Oh no, those were long forgotten ! And is there any promise I might change this behavior and act "content"? No ! How opportunistic ! So, I did not infact ask for the visa (but ofcourse heart of hearts I was craving for it which is tantamount to asking for it I guess). But God being God, gave it to me anyway. When we face adversities, there are lessons to be learnt. Did I learn my lesson ? We'll know soon enough..

"Naayagan melirundhu noolinai aatugindraan
Naamellam bommai endru naadagam kaattugindraan"

It's a full circle!

2005-04-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

An outside look at a social gathering (about 6-7 people) in a grad school atmosphere (desi gang) such as ours !

Guy 1: On center stage doing the talking for the most part of the meeting. The whole group looks to him for energy, and for the next comment. He is expected to deliver the goods every single time. I've been there.

Guy 2: Does the support role - shares the limelite with #1. Has no problems with #1 stealing the show. But has a lot to say himself, and says it without inhibition, at the right opportunity. I've been that guy.

Guy 3: Is the target of guys #1 and #2 and the whole group. Feels depressed about being in this situation, with no knowledge of how to express his anger/irritation. Is extremely scared that if he does react, it will be greeted with more laughter. Knows at the back of his mind, that on another day, another time, the roles might well be reversed. I've been that guy.

Guy 4: Represents the mob mentality. Knows well that he shouldn't say anything to get himself into trouble, or more fun for the group at his expense. Sympathises with #3 but with no intention of saving him from the evil clutches, because he realizes that saving #3 can only come at somebody else's expense and he doesn't want to be that guy. I've been this guy.

Guy 5: Totally uninterested in the group's activities. Didn't want to come in the first place, and all this empty lechcha is boring him no end. Waiting for an opportunity to slip out and carry on with his daily routine. I've been this guy.

Guy 6: A newcomer to the gang. Desperately wants to belong but does not know how. The gang has no interest to know about his activities. There's a lot he has to say, but stays quiet because he does not know what sort of reactions will be evoked. Ive been him.

I think it's important for everyone to realize that what goes around comes around ! If everyone had the power to "put himself/herself in the other person's shoes" the world would be such a nice place ! The example I just talked about, is probably limited to a social gathering of people our age. But the bigger concept can be extrapolated to several things in life !

Cut him some slack !

2005-04-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

I am taking a small break from philosophical topics to focus on another of my favorite areas, "Indian Cricket". With the recent string of bad performances, Ganguly has been the butt of all jokes and criticisms in the country. When the other players in the team were going through rough patches, Gangs made it a point to protect them and made sure that they either got back to good form, or atleast made sure that they were given their chance before being cut from the team. Now when it's his bad run, people just want to enjoy hating him ! Don't get me wrong, his test spot should be under scrutiny, like it is, and it should be communicated to him, that if this continues, Yuvraj/Kaif who are knocking on the door, will get the permanent look in that they have been waiting for, for quite some time. But his one day success should not be gorgotten in a hurry and if that's not reason enough for us to leave him in peace for some more time, maybe this is.. This is Gang's team, and he has been the cornerstone for this system, replacing a corrupt system that threatened to doom India's cricketing hopes permanently. He has been instrumental in throwing the concept of instability out of the window, and making sure, that only truly deserving people get to play for India. And when you get that chance, one bad performance is not going to throw you into oblivion. If not, players like Laxman and Balaji would now have been playing league cricket in Tamil Nadu, Andhra etc and Dravid would have been branded a "test only" cricketer. Can you imagine such an indian team now ? I think our man deserves some time to himself, and lets hold off for a while. After all, 9967 runs in ODI didn't happen with no talent !

Making memories...

2005-04-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

How do we make memories ? How do we know we are doing something that's going to be special for a long time or possibly for the rest of our lives ? I don't really know how to answer that question.. But one thing I know.. is that the best memories happen, when you don't force it to happen, when you are just in it, and enjoying the seemingly inconsequential day.

Yesterday was one such day. 17 of us descended on the friendly confines of Georgetown kite festival. To me, the kites were just a small excuse for meeting people, understanding them better and having a laughter and fun filled day. I cared for the kites (sorry K :) ) just as much as I did for the yellow book lying on my neighbour's door for the pask week and a half. But a big event involving so many people, count me in (If my thesis defense were to be on that weekend, count me in still, I'll get the defense postponed :) ) . After a session of frisbee and good food, we played loaded questions. This was probably a much bigger group for a game like this, but being a sucker for learning about people, I didn't do much to sway the ship towards pictionary. After some extraordinarily silly answers and laughter, we all got tired of the game at almost exactly the same time (or maybe it happened earlier and I failed to notice) and after K and S managed to beat out the rest of the competition to the prestigious "Best kite award", we decided to carry our lechcha session in star bucks. Half of that lechcha was disturbed by our favorite "what do we want to do next ? " past time. And after much deliberation, we met again at the bowling alley later on at night for more fun. And fun it was, with a big group like ours, we never stopped finding ways to entertain. Be it P's 1.6 mph delivery, or K blasting the bejesus out of the pins (like somebody put it, pins kku vaai irundha azhum ! ), or V's rookie luck continuing all night, the fun flowed on. At the end of the bowling session, just like we had counted on her to do, R suggested we go to Denny's for a coffee session. Half the group wanted to go home, and though my legs and arms were craving the comfort of my bed, the idea of missing out on more "interacting" didn't appeal to me watsoever. So denny's it was....talks about LTCA's and current and past crushes, UK then and UK now, more "knowing about each other" happened. The prompt and friendly service of Denny's made sure that we didn't get home before 2.30.

As I sat in bed thinking about the day that had passed, it hit me...I am going to remember this day for a while ! Not by virtue of the quantity of events that happened, but by the quality of those.... a parameter we had no control over !!

To let go or not to let go ?

2005-04-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

This was the question that has been haunting me for the last few days. When V came up to me on a random evening and said, it's time you and R hand over responsibilities to somebody else. Had it been somebody other than V, I would have probably dismissed the notion. But V is as neutral as they come, and there couldn't possibly be any other intentions. I bombarded him with 500 questions for the next hour or so, about why R had to leave. As for me, I was resigned to the fact that I was going to leave and so the question of me staying did not arise. I was in denial about the fact that this organization could do well without R. She has without a doubt been the strength of this organization. This has been her biggest passion and she was not shy of showing it. It was hard to imagine an organization without her running it. I could come up with 100 different reasons for why R should stay. But none of these reasons stood ground when I started to think about why we should leave. It is extremely important that an organization not be dependent on one/two people. The longer the dependence continues, the harder it is for the organization to handle the departure of the people in question. While the impact of the departure will be felt for some time, it also opens the doors for fresh faces to come in and impart their identity to the organization.

I put this proposal (of stepping down) to R, and convinced her to do it. One side of me, feels like I've been merciless to have pulled this on her when she wasn't expecting it one bit. Another side of me, feels like, the right decision has been made and it's time to move on. I knew it was going to be hard for R to take this. Last night, when we were doing the hand off meeting, she surprised me by staying strong all meeting with no display of emotion. After the meeting, when I was lying on my bed, it sank in slowly. No more meetings, no more coffee sessions before the big event, no more phone chats with people I don't know convincing them to pay us for an advertisement in return, no more complaining about how people in the e-groups don't respond to e-mails, no more problem sorting and no more feeling of pure satisfaction at the end of the event. I could sense a tear trickling down my cheek.

Is this the right decision ? Did I screw up ? Only time will tell !!

Me and writing ?

2005-04-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog and my first honest attempt at finding out if I can be half decent at writing. Ramya and a few others have been asking me to write my own blog for quite some time. I am pretty sure, it's not because they see that creative halo around me, but more because I constantly irritate them with my huge responses to their blogs prompting them to say "Dude, don't respond to blogs with blogs, go get your own blog man". So here I am !