An interesting piece of information

on standing up to China here
I appreciate what Baichung Bhutia did. The author is a little too harsh on Randhawa though!!

Proposal

With my completion of the Proposal I move one more step closer to completing my PhD. Well, its been a nice ride and I hope I reach there without any complications

Lets see!!

People can be so stupid

It makes me so angry to read such ridiculous shit

Very nice quote

"There has never been a wise man who hasn't failed to prefer the lie invented by himself to the truth discovered by someone else"
Rousseau

My proposal

On monday, I will be presenting my PhD proposal (prelims). I have prepared my presentation and am working on the material I need to talk for the slides. I am decently confident of the work I have completed for the proposal. I am still tense about the response I will get from my committee members. I have one more day to prepare mentally for the presentation. Lets see how that goes!

Sledging in cricket

Ian Chappell provides, as usual, strong views on what he thinks about the letter on sledging from ICC to cricketers

A discussion

of the Tata ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover

Virender Sehwag

With his triple century Virender Sehwag is surely in illustrious company of two batsman - Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Charles Lara - arguably considered the best of their generation. So it is natural to see if Sehwag belongs to their league. Is he a better batsman than the Indian great Tendulkar (or a Dravid)?. Sehwag scored two triples as an opener, so should we compare him to Sunil Gavaskar? Lets get some things straight. Sehwag is very very different batsman from all the above players. His batting technique (or the lack of) is purely simple. If he sees the ball is there to be hit, he will go ahead irrespective of the match situation and his personal score. This is what separates him from the rest. I have seen Tendulkar scrap through to 100's as if it was his first. I have heard about how Gavaskar valued 100's so much that he put his individual records ahead of the team. I have seen Lara go to 100's with relative ease and style. But I dare you to show me a batsman who actually increases his pace to reach a milestone in style. That is what sets Sehwag apart from others. Can you imagine a batsman going to 100 with a 6 in test cricket. If that is audacious consider going to 200 (your first!!) with a 6. Well Sehwag tried that against Simon Katich in Melbourne and failed. Yes he got out on 195. Did it change anything? No. As simple as that. The fact that he failed going for an attacking stroke to reach 200 did not change his approach to cricket. That is what separates Sehwag from the rest. In delivering entertainment to the audience he is second to none! He reached his first 300 with a 6! I mean what if he gets out on 295? That is the ultimate fearlessness that characterizes his cricket. That is what people like me love about him. He lives by the sword and dies by it. He epitomizes everything that I would have chosen in a batsman - a pure instinctive genius - with gift of hand-eye coordination that mere mortals can dream of.

Next, so what does his 300 do to him in the ranks of Indian batsman (tests only). As long as my knowledge of cricket allows the greatest batsman India have produced after the 1970's include Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Tendulkar, Viswanath, Azharuddin, Laxman, and Dravid (in no particular order). After his innings yesterday, he surely will find a place in any all-time Indian test side as an opener (yes - stop giving me the crap about his weakness against swing and bounce - he has centuries in Australia and South Africa to prove you wrong). Don't get me wrong here. I am not for once saying he is better than any of the players above. All I am saying is he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath from now on for his achievements.

Only time will tell if he will be regarded as an Indian great by cricket historians, but for people who have watched the innings in Chennai I am absolutely sure that none of them are going to forget it in a hurry. Isn't that the most important thing in a sport? Give people moments to cherish forever!

I am so happy I watched his batting live. It will be right up there as one of the best sporting moments in my life! I hope Sehwag has some more innings like this left. He is only 29, the age when many batsman peak. So, I hope the peak continues for some years!!

Interesting incident

of a kid reading books

Thanks Sehwag

Though I was very sad that he got out I am happy he made it to 319.
Thanks Sehwag for all the fun and pure excitement!

A nice incident

involving a mugger and the victim

Kumble on Sehwag

This is what my favorite bowler has to say about my favorite batsman's triple hundred

Satanic Verses

Along with watching one of the best innings in cricket (surely the best I watched), I also managed to complete the Satanic Verses. Have to admit Salman Rushdie is brilliantly creative but in this book he takes it a little too far. A typical problem with geniuses (especially when it gets to their head :P). But anyway it was an ok read and I am happy I am done with it.

Another genius has not changed even a little bit. That makes Viru a special cricketer.

Viru does the double

this is how he scored from 175
4 4 4 4 1 1 6 3
can you beat that?


update....
over before tea...
6 4 1 0 1 4
God... when have i seen batting like this!!
He hits the last ball before tea and nonchalantly walks back without even looking at where it went. Thank god I am watching this live!!

Sir Vivian Issac Richards

A nice article on him by Scyld Berry

Viru does it again

Sehwag is on 95. So what does he do. He goes for a six on 95 :P... just misses it by about 2 yards...then on 99 does it again... this time again misses by 3-4 yards :P. So he reaches 100 with 2 fours doing it in grand style..... god i hate his guts.. its so exhilarating to watch him bat.

Way to go dude you have a 200 here. Go take it

A very nice article on

why the 6th pay commission recommendations need to be implemented.
Looks like there are people like this author who really understand what needs to be done to retain people in public sector. The public sector includes the faculties in central universities like the IIT's. For many people, the major deterrent for choosing the IIT's is the money and it better not be!!

Some insight on

luxury hand bag purchases. As it comes from a guy it is not wholly reliable i guess!

She does it again

amazing article on what constitutes luxury. Shobha Narayan has class!!

Something to

ponder over for the Indians in the wake of Scralett Keeling's murder in Goa

Brett Lee

Peter Roebuck pays a deserving tribute to Brett lee here.
Until last I considered Brett Lee as a bowler who can bowl fast. He was a good foil for McGrath and Gillespie. But, once McGrath retired Lee has taken the responsibility of being the leading bowler with aplomb. He enjoys being the leader of the pack and bowls with pace and guile. This Australian summer has shown his consistency and discipline. Also, more pleasing to the eye is his on field behavior (as opposed to many of his illustrious teammates) without any meaningless brawls.

A nice quote

from the article on PPP by Ramesh Ramanathan
"The cautionary note is especially relevant for India. After all, we have experience with the largest PPP initiative in history. It was called the British East India Company."

God!

Can't beat this for a daily horoscope prediction

"A highly creative burst of energy today could bring an ear-to-ear smile to your face, even if you are still working too hard. Intense
circumstances in your life may continue to be sobering, but allow yourself to replenish the deep waters of your soul while visiting this
oasis in the desert. Have fun demonstrating your talents while also recharging your self-confidence."

National interest

I hate to admit this but how can cricket games be of national importance. Goddamn it, it is not even a world cup we are talking about. The Prasar Bharati forces the private subscribers to offer them the live feed to telecast matches on DD. This for me is infringement of rights. If it is of so much importance why don't you get the rights yourself. It is ludicrous that you make a rule saying the private broadcaster has to share the feed for matches of national significance. Guess what IPL may be a tournament of national significance. If the Information Ministry does confirm it an event of national importance, Good luck broadcasters!!

More on the topic here

Kumble

Well another nice present for a man who deserves nothing less!!
Way to go man. I hope you will soon reach 700.

Nice words from the General

Stephen Fleming discusses his last dismissal

Good to see this

"I feel completely 'Indian' as we approach the series. I won't ever renounce my nationality, obviously, but I like to think of cricket as a completely professional game and I am a professional."

Gary Kirsten, India's new South African coach, declares his commitment to the Indian cause"

via cricinfo

It's really an interesting life

if you get to hear so many interesting stuff

A nice article on

how India (read UPA) is mishandling the many foreign relation issues (particularly the Tibetan issue)

Stephen Fleming

The best captain I have had the pleasure of watching has called it a day. Before his last test series, he wanted to increase the century count to double figures and take his batting average above 40 (a measure of a good batsman). He failed to achieve the former but managed the latter. Well, that sums his individual game. He was always been an under performer especially with the loads of talent and grace he possessed. The conversion of 100's clear highlights this fact (46 fifties and only 9 100's). However, he will be well remembered as a captain than a batsman. As a captain he has performed way above the expected norms. Considering the resources at his disposal as a New Zealand captain he performed superbly. He was one of the first captains to stand ground to the Aussies and give them back with mouth and through cricket. The standing ovation he received from everybody, including the English team, is a testament to the respect people have for him. I was watching it live to see the moment when he retired. Now that he is gone, its up to the new generation under Daniel Vettori.

Are the world leaders spineless?

Well, from the look of things here they sure are.

People are jobless

Don't you agree?

Check this comment on cricinfo commentary

Dilip D'Souza observes: "With Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath and Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas operating in tandem against the Windies as I write this, is it a safe bet that that's the longest pair of names that have ever bowled together in Test cricket?"

Well, he never listens!!

"I will need to bring everyone on board and I have to be humble in my approach with all the players."

Gary Kirsten reveals his plans as India coach. Is a certain Greg Chappell listening?

from cricinfo.com

Viru

This is what he has to say about SA bowlers
"We are not worried about the bowlers, we are worried about how we will manage the heat."

Hmmm. Hopefully he turns out to be true.

A well written

honeymoon description i guess

When will communists of India

become sensible human beings will be a question that remains to be answered. For me the answer is NEVER.

Here their opposition to pay commission hike.

Well getting a new railway line means

the politicians can control money or else this is a viable alternative for the new airport in b'lore.

Another weekend passes by

2008 has been very different. Its been very busy especially over the weekends with most of them being action filled. Due to the action i feel spent sometimes. It was no different this weekend too. But fortunately the action ended on saturday and I felt the need to be alone for sometime relaxing doing nothing. So, now that I have spent my day that way I am pleased.

Talked to a friend and he made THE decision. Nice to see that he is relieved now that he made the decision. I hope everything will fall in place for him.


I am realizing that its time I tighten my schedule over the weekends very soon or else this summer will be very unproductive. Hopefully I will manage to that soon.

Now its time to start focusing on my dissertation and related papers

Why is today not celebrated with the same

fervor as Noember 14th or October 2nd. Bhagat singh laid down his life for India. Don't they deserve some recognition.

Harmison reacts to

Boycott's comments. Well, Boycott would have gone a little overboard but it does show Harmison in bad light when he takes a dig at his critics with his mouth rather than letting his ball do the talking.

Nice sentence

I totally love this one
"Patel, a cricketer who makes the most of his talent, sums up what makes New Zealand greater than the sum of their parts and once again they have punched above their weight."

Andrew McGlashan

Rant

In life, very often you realize and know that you are very different. There are friends who will appreciate you, like you but still they are different people. This is a well known fact (at least I think so!). But some days its hits you stronger. It is those days that you feel like does anybody know who/what I am.

anyway

Nice words from

a cricketer who belongs to the world of unnoticed, yet very important team player.

A very informative

essay on Indo Chinese War

More here here

An opposing perspective

on Obama's speech here
I do not entirely agree with the author

I strongly opposed the plan

of banning internet. I still do. But from this article, it sounds like it may be helping.

Something to ponder

over

Rather weird situation

to be in for players and administrators of South Africa

This should drive him towards coming back

Hoggard on sitting out of the 2nd test against New Zealand
"The hardest part of watching was when the team were gathering on the outfield for their huddle. I could not help wondering what was being said and it felt a little strange that I was not out there."

Satanic Verses

I have been reading this book for a while now. I have to admit it is not very good. There are sections of the book that are amazing but in its entirety its not great.
Anyway

American election 2008

I believe that there is always a lot you can learn from history and the
world around you. I sincerely hope there are young Indians out there
watching Barack Obama's speech during his political campaign. He is a
great orator. There is no question about that. However, what struck me
today while listening to his speech was the clear cut understanding and
the courage to tackle the real prejudices that are inherent among
individuals belonging to different races. In the US, affirmative action
is undertaken to support Black people for the mistreatment they
received for years prior and after abolition of slavery. The White
Americans feel they are being forced to face the consequences of the
mistakes from previous generations. Similarly, the Black Americans feel
they deserve the change and it is not being administered properly.
There is a similar line of thought in the way reservations are handled
in India. They are similar prejudices, never expressed in public among
Indians (well sometimes they are expressed). But, it would be a dream
to expect a politician of this generation to tackle them head on and
talk of unity as Obama so eloquently did. I am hoping to live to see a
man/woman of such stature and openness in Indian politics.

For more on the speech and comments
see here, here

The video of the speech is here

Hockey

Greatbong raises valid questions on the state of hockey in India

Well for many

cricket is a cult. This section on cricinfo illustrates that

A very nice primer

to mortgage crisis
Link via Amit Varma

Interesting analysis

of the English team's batting composition by Tim.
May be he as a point, but without much backup I don't see much change in the near future. Lets see!!

A sad state of cricket

in West Indies who once dominated the cricketing world

A discussion

Mozart's has been a place where I have spent a number of hours chatting with friends. Yesterday was another day where I spent some time on a topic that is close to my heart. It is working on socially relevant projects in India. I would acknowledge I know nothing about what is necessary for people in India, how to go about addressing their needs and what does it involve towards achieving the goals. The main aim of organizations like AID and ASHA is to identify socially relevant projects where volunteers (in India and USA) monitor them. I know people who work in AID / ASHA. Yesterday's discussion was primarily on why don't we join these organizations to do what we want to do. For one, I am averse to schedules set by someone else. Also another thing that I am considering about is people involved in these groups are way older than me and it might be very difficult for me to work with them. Of course, these are my pre-conceived notions of the group demographics and might not be an issue once I join. My friend could not come up with reasons of why he is not joining them but somehow has not made the move towards participating yet. I agree that the experience in such an organization would leave me in good stead when I decide to move back home and work on something of interest to me. The experience in organizational skills is similar in any setup. Hopefully, I hope to make a start somewhere sometime soon.

Another weekend

Another fun weekend has concluded.
Friday evening was special. I invited two married couples for a small party at our place. The idea was to welcome one of my friends wife to US. The evening was really nice. Especially for me looking at two couples at different stages of their married life was both interesting and encouraging (:P). Also, I feel happy for the both the couples. Also, I cooked a lot of stuff and am happy that they enjoyed everything that was made (or they said so).

Then we ended up renting a car. Driving and helping others with driving for about 225 miles was fun and enjoyable. There were some tense moments along the way. but it was nice that we completed everything unscathed. I had lot of fun while driving around Austin. It was a nice feeling.

Then there was volleyball. It was fun as usual and i felt good with some of the shots I played. There were some cool flicks and drops from the net. However, at the same time there were some real silly mistakes.

After volley I went to Mozart's and on the way for the first time in my life I drove at 80mph. I think now I am reasonably comfortable with driving which is heartening.

Now that the weekend is over I will have to get back to work.

A nice article

ridiculing Indian sports coverage

Hmmm

My horoscope
"You may want to go into hiding for the weekend as the Moon enters your private 12th House and normally talkative Mercury quietly slips into your secretive 8th House. Don't succumb to the pressures of others who want you to be more socially involved. They probably have their own interests at heart, not yours."

Requiem for a Dream

unbelievably sad is all i can say about this movie. I knew it would be a very sad movie. Yet, it was pretty pathetic. The direction and cinematography was amazing making it even worse!!

Weights

It has been sometime since I took a break from working out. I started to do weights from the last two weeks. But today I again felt really good working out. I remember this was why I wanted to do it consistently throughout the week. Now that I have seen the feeling I will get back to working out regularly!!

The changes in the

Indian fabric assessed

IPL

Amit Varma explains why the capitalist path of IPL will benefit cricket and India

A nice article on

empowering the urban citizen
The article refers to many pertinent questions.

Another one of

Roebuck's nice articles on cricket

Congress and its stupid acts

This post illustrates why I view anything congress does with cynicism
The budget this year has been hailed as a very very great one.... it simply sucks big time... greatbong explains it clearly!!

1971

A really well made movie on a very little known issues related to war!
Its sad that so many Indian soldiers in spite of everybody in the world knowing that they were in Pakistan after war have to suffer so much. It is nothing but the inadequacy of our system that people who fight everyday for us are left to die after a war where they gave everything for our motherland!

It is very sad that we have failed to get them out of there. It is utter failure of India and every Indian that so many of the prisoners were in Pakistan jails. I will not buy the argument that Pakistan was doing it surreptitiously. The Indian government has enough resources to get clues. It is just that the bloody government does not feel the need to do so. Its very ironic that we value so called leaders so much and treat the real leaders (who put their lives on the line) as if they are expendable. It's a sorry state!!

I somehow feel guilty too for the way war prisoners are left to lie in jails!!

The weekend

After somehow managing to turn in my Proposal, I took a long weekend break. Friday was a science fantasy movie with Back to the future. It was fun. Then the weekend was hectic and great fun. Ended up renting a car and driving a little. Also the driving practice resulted in amazing conversations of the kind that I like. Then there was food. Man!! and lots of it. I am still full of guilt to eat (Of course that won't stop me from eating).

The weekend episode of volleyball was amazing. There were many close matches and I am still tired from the after affects (in spite of sleeping for 9 hours). It finally looks like I am moving as well as I used to before starting my marathon training.

I rounded off the weekend with "Krishna". It was ok.

Now I think its time to get back to work

Redefining feminism?

A very nice article on feminism showing why being a home maker is not being anti-feminist.

I liked the way the author puts forward the case as long women make choices of their own without being under pressure. Aren't the objectives of feminism achieved that way?. From my very limited knowledge, the objective of feminism is to allow women to choose what they want to do. How does being a homemaker lower the dignity of the individual. It is taken for granted that women need to work or else they are being ant-feminist. Good to see someone with some sensible arguments there!!

Very nice video

I simply love this !!
This guy has got class !

The week

The week has gone pretty fast, with me working hard to finish my proposal (PhD proposal). I submitted it to my prof. Lets see how that goes.

Good to see a married couple. It makes you happy.

Some people will always be difficult to evaluate. But my problem is why don't I stop that evaluation

Anyway... life moves on

Well an Australian

summarizes the summer season

Nice article

An interesting take on the

Obama campaign (may be subscription required)

Really nice one

The wooden umpire

Interesting facts there

from Jagadish.

May be Ponting's claim for batting immortality needs some more work... especially against India in India

Slightly sad

this for sidebottom

"This is the first time I've seen him bowl live. It was difficult when he was at Yorkshire. Some would mumble he's only in the team because of his Dad, so I kept out of his way."

Arnie Sidebottom tells the BBC's Jonathan Agnew of the difficulties in watching his son, Ryan, play for county and country"

A nice

hilarious article by greatbong summing up the Australian tour

This sounds

ridiculous
Are we legalizing dowry?

Hoggard

a hard working unsung hero

This is eerie

Another weekend

Anther weekend in my long stay in Austin draws to an end. Time seems to fly in grad school. I have been in the US now for a little more than 31/2 years. It sometimes does not seem that so much time has passed. However, whenever there is a graduating batch of juniors you realize well another year has passed. I have been trying for sometime now to get my PhD proposal done. It has been going on decently not at a great speed but acceptable one. This has been a slightly rough period with my motivation levels at their lowest. I think I have slowly but surely riding over the trough and the way is only up. I am thinking a change of place will help. A long time at some place leads to stagnation. The positive side of being for long at a place is the long standing friendships you make. I am decently social, make friends for life. This has been my strength and weakness. We had some great fun today night with dinner and chat after that!!

The weekend ritual of volleyball has started. It was good today. I had fun with a good number of very nice points and some dives. I simply love whenever i dive. I thinks its one of the greatest feelings in life. Better if you can get the ball when you dive, like it happened 2-3 times today. During that time I generally scream like hell :P

anyway, its time to sleep soon.

Greatbong

on Sachin's innings at sydney and a comparison with the one in 1998 at Sharjah

Tendulkar's second peak?

its been sometime since i watched him play this way.... after the 150
against aussies in Sharjah this is one of the first times i totally loved his
innings.... not that he hasn't scored runs.. but this was an innings
when we needed it most.. with wickets tumbling ... and runs to chase...
he played amazingly..... great job tendulkar!!
People who know me personally will understand the significance of me saying this a little better

BCCI

The way BCCI is going about destroying ICL is ridiculous. I do not see why people can't play wherever they want. How can you terminate contracts for individuals because they are playing in a league arbitrarily ruled as illegal. What is surprising is why haven't the affected players files law suits. If BCCI has the balls for a fight it should let ICL continue and run it out of business not monopolize cricket as they own it. The way some cricketers like Bond are being dealt with is utter bullshit!!

There have been very few murmurs of disapproval in the cricket fraternity. The players association has raised it and now Osman.
I hope somebody files a law suit and gets BCCI on its knees on this issue!!