Even stars have feet of clay...

The greatest show on earth has just completed and what show it was for 30 days..Full of excitement, drama, controversy and so on... World cup of any game in such an event which makes every one follow the game.. Even people who don't know what the game is all about start following it.. That's the spirit of any sports!!

If I am correct I remember the moments of world cup final 1994 played at USA when Italian player Roberto Baggio missed the penalty and Brazil won..From then I have watched almost all world cup matches on television. The 2006 world cup I hardly missed any moment I watched almost every game till end be it extra time or penalities.. and was truly exciting to sit with friends and watch this lovely game.

When 2006 world cup kicked off I like rest of the world was expecting Brazil to win it..after two weeks it looked like Brazil were not upto it but still was supporting them, challenging friends that they will make it...but not even in my dreams I thought of France making it finals!! Though I gave a outside chance for Italy to make it and they not only did it but won also. To be frank I was expecting Argentina, Germany,England & Brazil to be in last 4..But something else happened.

I never supported France team but I always admired one guy..The great Zidane who became a super hero after 1998 world cup and since then I have followed his game wherever he plays. But it was time for him to say good bye in this Finals but it was an shocking and ugly end which none of us expected. I myself being a hockey player seen at many instance opponent players and supporters try to pull u down, irritate u..but for a sportsman he should never lose his temper. Thats what sportsmanship is all about. But all are humans when things are not going your way and some external things are said or external factors are disturbing your mind... Zidane kind of things happen. And no matter what big star u are..u may be considered as a demi god..but if don't find ur feet on firm place till it matters..u may find yourself on dirt. perhaps the great star could not hold on his mind firmly when it mattered the most.

Chennai & Change ..

I had been to Chennai in 1997 for a week long school tour and now i am back in 2006 to make my life here... And till now I have been listening to all bad/horrifying stories about Chennai... which had made me to believe that words 'Chennai' and 'Change' are deadly opposite to each other.

It was really heart breaking when I heard that I had go to Chennai as part of my work and after coming here it took me nearly 30-40 days to realize that I have to be part of this city to make my life. Until then Chennai for me was just the home where I stay, office and the bus stand/railway station to go to Mysore/Bangalore...!!. But once I realized that I have to stay here for few months or more to make my life I started exploring Chennai and found that words 'Chennai' and 'change' were quite relative to each other.

Before coming I had heard all these things about Chennai... the people are rude, they don’t care for other state people, they cheat, people are movie crazy, actors & politicians are like demi gods for them, only Tamil & Tamil everywhere, temperature is hot, hotter & hottest... so on and on. And what I have experienced so far is all these allegations are true only to a certain extent and the rest are false.

May be few years back these allegations were completely true but certainly now Chennai has changed. If you look at people they may look they are harsh... rude... but unless you poke nose into their business they won’t matter. The people who we have interacted so far like shop keepers, auto drivers, servants & others have been pretty okay. Yes auto people demand exorbitant rates but we can negotiate, there I saw the major change that is these people trying to talk in bits & pieces of English, Hindi... and trying to explain with sign languages. Of course there are few fanatics who believe in only Tamil but they can be neglected as they don’t matter in our daily affairs.

The next thing that they are movie crazy is absolutely true. We went to multiplex- Sathyam cinemas for night 10.30 show and what really amazed me is all 8 screens were almost running full house. The change I noticed was there was 2 Hindi, 2 English, a Telugu film being played with other 3 being Tamil. So it is not just Tamil. I was told that in Chennai you don’t find good looking people...hmm... but what I saw in Spencer’s shopping mall, Sathyam multiplex, beaches of Besant Nagar, Trivanmiyur, ECR is totally different which made few of us say " Chennai is not that bad...", it may not be a ocean like Bangalore but still here u find rivers & lakes often… Ha… ha...!!

The other major noticeable change is majority of Billboards, sign boards, hoardings are all in English. Well finally Chennai has woken up Globalization, which means more of diversity is seen now which is a welcome change.

Yes there few things which still suck like hot, hotter, hottest weather which is a major problem but nothing can be done about it, the transportation system with old and over crowded buses, slow moving traffic which makes traveling a night mare, though there are local trains which are not very convenient and now Metro is proposed. The major drawback is Chennai doest have a metro nightlife which usually people from other cities find hard to cope up. There are hangouts but not really a metro culture. Well people also need to change their attitude in a big way… at this point of time all I can say is “Chennai is changing” so are the people !!

INDIA 100 Days....

India has seen all big things happen in last 100 days... The biggest being that I have spent 100 days now in Chennai.. ha ha ha !!... So jokes apart lets get into actual issue.

Few years back I remember reading one of the weekly magazines where Bal Thackrey the Shiv Sena supremo had predicted that India will face civil war in few years to come and I think what I have witnessed in India for last 100 days is a build up to it. India was struck with heat wave this summer as well as protest wave across the country for various reasons.

When I was about to leave Bangalore to Chennai I saw Muslims protesting against the Danish Cartoonist for publishing cartoons of Prophet. After that was we had the great Narmada Bachao Andolan protest lead by Medha patkar and celebrity like Amir Khan became a national sensation when he raised his concerns on this issue. In Bangalore we saw two day rampage by fans on death of super star Dr.Rajkumar. Then we had the vadodara riots. We had the great reservation movement by youth with majority against it and few pro. Then it was turn Christians who came out to protest against movie Da Vinci Code and there was this conversion controversy involving pope. The latest protest being against movie fanaa by BJP yuva morcha wing of Gujarath... And finally political parties are getting ready for to protest against fuel price hike. So protest have become daily routine for people...Everybody wants to protest for nothing.

Dont think I want to become a historian by listing all these protests in order. What I am trying to say all these events have taken place in last 100 days. Everybody in this country is frustrated some with their family, some with government policies, some with some silly reason and every body wants relief so everybody is finding a way out to express their displeasure.

Today the mainstream religion is divided into castes, sub castes...So on. Again categorised into upper and lower (who the hell did it ???) castes. So there is no unity and we have other religions who are up in arms and are waiting to fight for small issues. The government run by dirty politicians for sake of vote and power are playing cheap politics and are diving the country bringing up all kind of policies. So all these thing are slowly fuelling up civil war. Now we are seeing this unrest happen in few parts , soon it will spread and will take place in a bigger way.

How can we stop civil war ?? First and foremost thing we need is Uniform Civil Code. The politicians must put the country ahead instead of their power and cheap politics. We are in 59th year of Independence and we youth are doing the same mistakes like our ancestors. We are an young country with 65% of population who are below 35 years age... Yet we elect 65 years and above old politicians to parliament & assembly. We youth should start a movement to remove caste system from our society. Caste and religion should be purely personal issue and they should no way become basis for education, jobs, business and others.

In a big country like India there will be disagreement on every issue and protest are means of expressing displeasure...But protest should not become a routine. Its a powerful weapon of democracy which should be used correctly else will lead to death of democracy in form of civil war which nobody wants.

Watch the English movie "Crash" its a movie on the post 9/11 situation in US about racial discrimination. Blacks hate whites & viceversa.. they still help each other. Every chracter in that movie is frustrated in one way or the other. Yet life goes on despite all problems. Same can be applied to current situation in India

Young and Vibrant !!

The new kids are on the block and they are eager to perform... yes i am talking about the young faces in the Indian cricket team. few years back we had a similar situation where few youngsters had made a diffrence like the yuvraj, kaif, shewag, Zaheer, Nehara, harbhajan... today they have become vetrans of the game though still young at age. Some have lasted and some have failed to sail the distance...

After 2004 pakistan tour india started to lose ODI's regularly there was huge cry to change the composition of the side but some how it went on till the much hyped ganguly controversy. After that there was a huge transition making way for pool of youngsters. The young faces who wanted to make a mark and eager to play for the nation got the chance and today we have many stars in making..

Raina, Dhoni, Venugopal, Pathan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Munaf Patel, VRV Singh, Powar.. and few others are making big news in last five- six months and India has lost only 4 matches so far of the 19 played with this combination. So we have potential stars in making.. lets not hype/critisize these cricketers for whatever good or bad they do.. they should be given a fair oppurtunity to prove themselves...

I know at present the old Warrior Sachin is injured, Shewag & kaif are out of form, Sauvrav, Laxman, Kumble are out of team, Nehara, Balaji, Zaheer are having problem with fitness and form. Just imagine if those out of form guys can find form, injured guys become fit and perform, then Team India will be a force to reckon with youngsters and experienced players. Definitely a huge bonus for world cup 2007. Men in blue will reach new heights... Thanx to Young and Vibrant INDIA...

Modified on 07' jun 2006

India have lost the ODI series in Westindies 4-1...the score line looks very bad. We had people talking all kinds of things. But I still belive this Indian team has something special in it. If u closely look at the series India lost 3 matches very closely like losing by 1 run.. windies won with just 1 ball to spare... and again lost by 19 runs.. it shows that it could have been 4-1 in India's favour. All they need is lettle bit of fine tuning. Way they came back in Antigua test after being outplayed for first 7 session of test match was really a heartning fact..allthough they could not push for a victory. I still think this YOUNG BRIGADE is special !!

Is there any limit ??

The Famous MTV VJ Cyrus Brocha says there are two MMS famous right now in India… One is the actual MMS- Multimedia Messaging Service and other MMS is – ManMohan Singh our PM. So I am talking about the recent MMS controversy!! U must be asking which one… bcoz today it has become a daily routine to have MMS cases in India. Some use it for publicity stunt... some for fun and some for whatever reasons... well I am not going to discuss all MMS controversies that are taking place, I wanted to talk about the today’s Fashion world and I brought the MMS issue here bcoz of Lakme Fashion Week which concluded last Saturday and had MMS controversy attached to it.

Last week we had this hot news making headlines about the Wardrobe Malfunctions during the ramps in the Fashion week. What actually happened is during one of shows the dress fell off exposing the upper part of the model and in one more ramp the back part of the skirt tore off exposing the shapely posterior of the model… Huu!! Both were hot news and all the media cameras covering the shows including the people having the mobiles started circulating the pictures in form MMS and whatever way... And all the media had made huge issue out of and the fashion world raising an outcry against the media and people for sending MMS. The fashion world calls it an accident and they say these things are common in fashion world and people should not make as issue of these things.

My topic says “Is there any limit” or should I say ‘where is the limit’ for today’s fashionables and fashion world. Today everything is gauged according to trend and fashion. If some ppl start to do something it becomes a new trend and if something new is on the block then people say it’s the new fashion. Well…well… with increase of media presence both print and broadcast ‘fashion’ has become a huge buzz word these days. Today every paper has some article or news dedicated to fashion world… they call page 3 and what not. Every Magazine and news channels have made it a point to bring out every time something related to fashion. They think its one of the ways to increase readership or the TRP’s by showing the sleaze around related to fashion world and celebrities. And what kinds of designs are these that fashion gurus are bring out. U give them 3 piece of handkerchief they make design out of and put on models saying this the latest trend. Oh!!!... Look at the fashion channels or segments related to it on TV these days it will be full of sleaze and the clothes they say designs cannot be worn in public. They bring out all kind of nonsense and still say its one of the best designs. Now who are they trying to target?? Just the celebrities, models and few other people who are crazy. If so what is scope of growth for them. They say fashion industry is big but if they design clothes which are not wearable how will they survive…

I know today fashion Industry is a huge business and even the general public is changing according to the latest trends in fashion. It may be the wish of designer to come up with whatever he wants and models may walk on ramp wearing it. But there must be a limit, a wardrobe malfunction may be an accident or can be intentional but the kinds of designs coming out are not acceptable to majority of people. Models may wear it and even something goes wrong like what happened they can still forget thinking its part of their profession and walk away with money for doing it. But what happened if they same costume malfunctions when u r wearing it in a gathering or in some place??... u just think of standing naked or half naked in middle of town..!!! After all real life is different from ramp walk. Even the models don’t wear such things in public what they wear on ramp. Now in country like India we have this act against obscenity in public… so Maharashtra govt has ordered an inquiry into the issue what happened last week to find out was it an accident or intentional show off!!! Whatever it may be I think somewhere there should a limit which no one should cross.

IT Boom or Boomerang !!

Today there is economic boom, infrastructure boom, telecom boom, entertainment boom, automobile boom… that boom... this boom and so on. I think all these things are inter related and the major reason is the growth in the IT sector in last couple of years... it’s the boom… the IT boom. In just last 2 years over 5 lakhs jobs have been added in IT sector contributing to the growth in all sectors.

Today I am writing this blog sitting in this office in Chennai’s IT corridor. Nobody in Chennai five years back would have imagined that there will be such a boom in the city. So the growth in IT sector today has made directly or indirectly other sectors to grow and in tern the economy has gone up. For example lets consider infrastructure, as the IT sector is growing and expanding manpower the number of IT parks are coming up in very fast pace. For the people the apartments, shopping malls, multiplexes are also coming up. So there is lot of jobs getting created as well as growth is taking place in Infrastructure sector. The governments both state and central are being compelled to provide good roads and infrastructure to meet the requirement. Today the number of express ways, flyovers, airports, metro train projects is being taken up to meet up the requirements.

Let’s consider other sector like telecom and entertainment. Today there is huge competition in telecom sector. Most of the service providers are coming with new… new plans… do u think there trying to target rural people? No! Obviously they are targeting the urbanites and mostly the IT people. So is the case of upcoming multiplexes and FM stations.

One more sector in upswing today is automobile sector. Today we find all kind of two wheelers to all kinds of luxury cars and what not. Again thanks to the high salary and easy loans at lower interest rates. Today on a average nearly 800 vehicles are added everyday in city like Bangalore and about 600 everyday in Chennai.

IT boom today as I said has increased the employment in the country. A Big software services companies today are providing life for 60000, 50000, 35000, 25000… people and the dependent families. There are many such companies today. The jobs have not been created in just IT sector but in all related sectors. In infrastructure sector huge… huge jobs have come up, so in telecom, entertainment, media and others. Today those who have built homes in big cities are making good money. All because of the demand that is getting created due to the job boom.

Just think for a while what would have happened if there was no such growth in the IT sector? All the other sectors which are witnessing growth would have been hit. If there was no boom all these things would have been slowed down and this would have hit the economy of the country. Today in campus selections alone 80% of students are getting placed across the country. With nearly 10% of people walking out with more than one offer in hand, if there was no boom only top collages would have had campus selection and in that only about 30-40% of students would have got offers. And the rest would have to struggle it out to get the jobs. In that case the boom in all sectors would have come down as the demand for infrastructure, entertainment, telecom and automobile would not be as much.

The Boomerang Factor

IT boom… Dhoom… dhamal… dhamaka.. whatever!! But it has created huge problem at other end. The boom has boomeranged which most of us not able to make out, as it’s the human nature to see always the good and the rosy picture.

Why I say it boomeranged because lets consider cost of living… in a city like Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai… the cost of living has gone up like anything. For a common man or middle class family person it’s becoming very difficult to lead the life. The house advances and rent have shot up, people are demanding more money for small work. The small hotels are disappearing and big… big… plazas, shopping complexes have come up. The local textile shops have been replaced by Adidas, Reebok… showrooms. Do u think a common man can cope up with these kind of changes??

Let me tell a personal experience which happened after me coming to Chennai. The house in which I stay is taken for rent and we are 5 people of same company staying together. We 5 people are sharing all the household expenses. Our house in ground floor and there is one family who stay in first floor for rent. The house maid was working in that place before we came, now we hired her for cleaning purpose and she demanded 600 rupees per month, we agreed as we were sharing it was not a big amount, but the maid started demanding same from that family which dependent on one persons earning.. So we created problem for them.

This one case and similarly there are many cases where common man is suffering because of this boom. Higher salary and people sharing means they can afford to pay any amount but at the other side a normal man, or family where one person is earning are getting affected.

Automobile boom has got traffic jams, parking problems, polluttion and so on.

So Boom is good for economy but unless we do something to maintain balance between the higher earning people and normal earning people this kind of problem will continue. Today we are seeing robbery, harassement on software engineers and other workin people. There is notion among common people that we people are earning in lakhs every month and they try to resort to offence to get something out of us.

so as i said its necessary that we maintain a balance, else when the boom goes doom we will have face the boomerang effect.. and lets hope the boom stays for many more years to come

The Beauty and the Beast

yeah!! its a prefect story for wat i call "The Beauty and the Beast" . I am not talking about any hollywood or bollywood story..but its about cricket.That too about ongoing India-Pakistan series. Here the Beauty and the Beast both have been the "pitches" on which the matches are being played.

The Pitch at Lahore and Faisalabad have been a beauty for batsmen and it has acted like beast for bowlers. In Lahore as many as 6 centuries were scored with induvidual scores from batsmen reading like 254,199,173,128*,103,103*..with over 1000 runs scored and jus about 8 wickets were lost and that too 2 of them were runouts!!. With rain and badlight takin away major part of the match it turned out to be a runfeast for batsmen and a nightmare for bowlers...

At Faisalabad it was no diffrent. Again it was a flat pitch and as many as 5 centuries were scored. With induvidual scored like 194,144,152,129,103,90,90,88 and so on.. so agian a nightmare for bowlers anyways nearly 28 wickets fell in the match.. But it was a bad advertisement for test cricket as it was a mere draw in end..with almost intrest lost on the 4th day itself..

Now in Karachi its a totally diffrent pitch and it has become a beauty for bowlers and beast for batsmen..First over of the match produced an hatrick and as many as 14 wickets went down on day 1 for 319 runs in total.. and day2 till now 8 wickets lost for about 300 runs...So definately we have a result on this pitch and we have somebody for sure winning the series unless somebody plays some miracle to take this match to a draw.

So series till last 2 days was a totally dull and boring.. and now there is some life and interest and with batsmen fighting on a bowlers beauty.. we are lheading for an intresting end. Anyways the boards and authories must ensure that they make sporting pitches which act as beauty and beast to both batsmen and bowler ..An even contest is always good when we have an over hyped series like India-Pakistan..

A Master Game Plan

i am postin my first blog on politics..and within few hours the political scene in my home state karnataka is about to change... Last week after office on my way back home i has huge crowd,press people,news channel vehicles in front Raj Bhavan.. and i sensed there was some political drama and as i reached home on television i saw all talkin about "SON RISE"...

Nearly after a week i have understood the "Master Game Plan".. all politics and to say the least its very cheap and dirty.. but its been kind of entertainment for we the people. All kinds of drama and emotions we r watchin from last one week and is all set to take new dimension today...

let me explain why i call it a Master Game plan.. Mr. Devegowda and his two sons are in karnataka politics.. and its a plan drafter by master-Devegowda and Game played by Mr. Kumaraswamy..

All these years kumaraswamy and other son of Devegowda, Mr.Revanna were in politics but did not have any big Name or Fame in Karnataka politics. Mr. Revanna is rather reserved and not so charimatic.. where as kumaraswamy is aggressive and outspoken..but both under Devegowda's shadow..So now it was required by Devegowda to make one of the sons as the BOSS..so the plan was..
1. Make Kumaraswamy the lead..Congress not supporting.. so ask him to act as rebellion and take BJP support..
2.This will make Kumaraswamy as a leader within the party..he will become CM or will get the Name and Fame.
3. Devegowda is now more than 75 years..so he make take political retirement or due to health problems may not be politics for long. Due this week long drama..Now people of country know who Kumaraswamy is..
4. So now Devegowda has created a leader in his party of his own family and community, who is recognised and will lead from the front for atleast next 25 years..since Kumaraswamy is about 46 years of age now.
5. With this drama..Devegowda and his family will continue to be in Karnataka politics and gan make what ever they want in future.
6. whether is BJP or Congress Devegowda and His son will be in Power and will influence people in future..

so A MASTER GAME PLAN well played so far.. and future will bring new dimensions in this game..whatever it is..its an win win situation for his son and Mr.Devegowda.