New Year

Before you know it, one more year has passed. 2010 has ended and in a hour or so 2011 begins!

2010 has been a very happening year. So many things happened this it is hard to believe that all of them actually did.

Me and my family
I completed my PhD
My sister got married!
I got a job. My first real job (I am not joking!)
I got a chance to see if I can stand up for my choice the second time
I moved out of Austin
I left the United States to move to Canada
I am beginning a new phase of my life in Montreal
My standing up for myself did work this time
During this year period I learned a lot about a friend.

Friends
one guy found a gult bandi
one couple moved into their new hosue
one guy found a marathi bandi
one couple are having a kid
one guy is standing up to his parents
one guy is still pondering whether he should put fight or not

Cricket and Tennis
Sehwag had a decent time
Indian cricket team is at the top in Tests. Thats all I ask for!
Federer had an ok year. Nadal had a great year.
Oh yes, Tendulkar hit a 200 in onedays and 50 hundreds in tests (people who are surprised at me saying good things about Tendulkar, i have really changed :))

TV shows
I have completed watching Frasier the third time and am upto third season the fourth time
Watched Seinfeld twice
Watching Becker again

Books
India after Gandhi was good, really good.
Other notable books Atlas Shrugged (finally), Crime and Punishment, My Experiments with Truth (Even I can't believe i read this one), Unaccustomed Earth, Winesburg, Ohio. Overall a little less than my normal!


I wish all my readers (a small number I know) a happy and prosperous new year!

Funny

to say the least A rhyme that makes sense (Link via News you can't use)

Taking sycophancy to higher levels

Look at this

“People looked upon Sonia Gandhi's renunciation of power as reminiscent of the Mahatma,'' the book suggests in a chapter “Congress in Coalition'' that trace the Congress' return to power in 2004.

I am no fan of Mahatma, but I am sure even he is turning in his grave at this comparison.

Full piece
here

Oh yes, in the same book that Congress authorized to be written by historians they could devote only a paragraph to some of the greatest disasters in Post Independence era. If you know Congress government you would have guessed these tragedies correctly (Sikh riots and Bhopal plant). Of course, the fact that the congress government had a major role in these events has nothing to do with it!

Will India Listen to

this advice. I really hope so. But, with our political system, who am I kidding!

What more can you say except

what realitycheck has put so eloquently here

A sensible piece on

Congress's ludicrous assault on RSS

Some excerpts

The exercise initiated by Mrs.Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Congress (I), and her cohorts at the just concluded 83rd plenary of the Congress (I) to have the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) projected and demonised as a Hindu terrorist organisation comparable to the Nazi groups of World War II vintage and the more recent Islamic terrorist organisations speaks of the mental confusion that prevails at the senior levels of her party. It also highlights the total bankruptcy of thinking and the total indifference to sensitive issues that have become the defining characteristics of the party under her leadership in recent months.
...
The anti-RSS campaign of the Congress (I) will not only add to the already existing anger in sections of the Hindu community,but will also play into the hands of the jihadi terrorists by facilitating their objective of aggravating the divide between the Hindu and Muslim communities. Before this campaign starts further damaging the relations between the two communities, the Congress (I) should stop its demonisation of the RSS, which would prove counter-productive.

Tendulkar's batting with tail

Tendulkar scored 50 hundreds. Its a great achievement and a testament to the man's longevity in the game!

This post isn't about that.

When he came to bat on the 5th day I want to ask him what was his objective. Did he even believe that he can save the match? Did he just want to make sure he remained not out?

What I don't understand is when you are trying to save a match (yes it is very hard, but if you are not trying whats the point of playing) how can you take a single of the first ball and expose the tail to Dteyn and Morkel. Isn't it stupid? Why can't batsman see this? If its a first innings, yes no sense in shielding the tail because you want to score runs, so be positive take all the runs you can get. What was Tendulkar trying to do by taking singles and exposing the tail. Graeme Smith mentioned this in the interview. I am peeved at how every Tom Dick and Haryy of the cricket world had time to comment on Tendulkar reaching his 50th hundred (a great achievement no doubt) but did not offer any meaningful insight on decisions that are utterly stupid!

This is not to demean his innings. His batting was wonderful and responsible for India to be batting on the 5th. But I feel what he did on the fifth reveals a lack of tactical acumen on his part. I mean we needed 30 runs to make SA bat again. Wont it have been better for him to get out trying to score those runs than taking the not so useful singles and hoping Sree and Jadhav will survive Steyn and Morkel.

Also, all those supporters who are ecstatic at his 50th ton, please do remember India lost the match.

Anyway!

Rant on Congress

The sycophancy in the Congress has no bounds! Don't believe me? Try this. P. Chidambaram sucking up to The prince here. The Congress party disgusts me! These are moments when I feel an extreme right candidate like Modi is much better candidate to be PM than anybody from the Gandhi family! At least Modi rose to power on his own feet! To all those people who don't think so, I have some really kind words for you!

Congress

For those who believe the secular credentials of Congress, I urge you to do read this

“The Congress Party, after first distancing itself from the comments (of Antulay, the then minority affairs minister), two days later issued a contradictory statement which implicitly endorsed the conspiracy. During this time, Antulay’s completely unsubstantiated claims gained support in ... Indian-Muslim community,” Mulford wrote in his secret cable to the state department on 23 December, 2008.

“Hoping to foster that support for upcoming national elections, the Congress Party cynically pulled back from its original dismissal and lent credence to the conspiracy,” Mulford wrote.

Regardless of home minister P Chidambaram’s dismissal of Antulay’s comments, the Indian-Muslim community “will continue to believe they are unfairly targeted by law enforcement and that those who investigate the truth are silenced,” he said in the cable.

“The entire episode demonstrates that the Congress Party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious-based politics if it feels it is in its interest,” Mulford alleged, according to the cable posted by WikiLeaks on its website yesterday.

The United States has neither confirmed or denied the authenticity of these cables, but said that some 250,000 papers have been stolen from its system and demanded that WikiLeaks, the whistle blower website, return them back to the State Department.

According to WikiLeaks, there are some 1,300 cables from the US embassy in New Delhi. However, only half a dozen of them have been posted by it on its website.

Mulford said while the killing of three high-level law enforcement officers during the Mumbai attacks, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, “is a remarkable coincidence, the Congress Party’s initial reaction to Antulay’s outrageous comments was correct.”

“But as support seemed to swell among Muslims for Antulay’s unsubstantiated claims, crass political opportunism swayed the thinking of some Congress Party leaders,” he wrote.

Random stuff

The party yesterday rocked. I had so much fun it was really unbelievable.
The cold has not been bothering me much. It was at -10C yesterday night and today it was -12C (feels like -18C). It seems like I am able to take up to -15C ok types. Lets see when it goes further lower!

Tomorrow early morning it will be as low as -18C (feels like -23C) here. Good luck to those guys getting up and leaving at 6!

My first snow storm

Man does it snow or what in Quebec!
It has been incessantly snowing here for the last 2 days. I hear the amount of snow is 25cms. For people used to living in the colder parts of the world it might not be much. For a guy who was born in India and moved to Texas this is a big deal. Because
1) We are not used to seeing white layers of snow on the roads or cars or rooftops.
2) We are not used to walking on thick layers of white material (we are used to walking in puddles of water, but thats different)
3) We are not used to negative temperatures (may be in Celsius)
4) We are not used to seeing the roads and even cars disappearing under snow
5) We are not used to feeling cold on the face and sweat on our backs

All this after my first snow storm. I know I have a rough winter ahead!

Montreal

Over the last two to three weeks life has been pretty different from the past. I am getting to meet a lot of people and am settling down in life at Montreal. The cold weather has begun. Today I walked about 2 miles in cold weather (feels like 9F... cold for me!). It wasn't bad at all. I have to get used to such walks I guess! Have some work to complete over the December break. Also, I have to start preparation for my course!

Also one of the most important decisions in my life has received support from all quarters. Now its only a matter of time before the big occasion!

Lets see how things unfold.