Subtle difference

This is a story from a great person. Once a devotee went to this great person and asked him to explain the differences between Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. The great man thought for a while and replied as follows – “Lord Rama always smiled before saying anything where as Lord Krishna smiled after saying everything – if Rama’s smile ensured that the person does not really bother to listen savoring his pleasant smile Krishna’s smile ensured that the person forgets what he actually listened before this ecstatic smile. Another difference is Lord Rama always told that he is a common man and was always away from the masses where as Lord Krishna always said that he is God and has always been with masses. Lord Rama ensured that he lead the people by example as a great leader in the final battle with Ravana where as Lord Krishna has managed the entire Kurukshetra war without actually participating in it”. The devotee was amazed by this answer and was happy to understand the subtle differences through this great person.

No more a joke

I am writing this piece with less than a couple of hours to go for the mega final of African IPL. I have a reason to exhibit this urgency and write before the match starts. Both the teams that would be part of this game are so close to me – one being my home team and the other filled with two of my all time favorite players Rahul and Anil. Agreed on all the previous occasions I have supported Bangalore in the encounters between these two teams but today I would definitely not be disappointed with result going either way as long as the game goes down to the wire and we get a chance to see a thrilling encounter for one last time this season more so after these one sided semi finals. This has been great turnaround from the previous edition for the simple reason that the teams with wooden spoon last year are fighting out for the trophy. Last year if one team was seen to be filled with star hitters who could blow away the match out of opposition hands with their hard hitting prowess and may not even stand for 20 overs on a bad day, other team was regarded more suitable for the lengthiest format of the game and was seen to be needing atleast 5 overs more to be alongside the competition. But this year they have proved all their critics wrong. Interestingly, these are the two teams that made a cut into the semifinal during the last day of the league stage.

The two teams also had a contrasting journey. Hyderabad started off with four consecutive wins and seemed to running much ahead of the other teams but then they ensured their level best to have mixed results there on to see that they are the team with least points to enter semis interestingly on the basis of their better NRR. On the contrary after the inaugural success Bangalore looked like repeating their previous year results and end up in the bottom two. However once they got rid of the million dollar baby, our own Jumbo showed why he is one of the greatest fighters in the international cricket. This is one team which started playing knockout when others were still in league stage and register one of the greatest fight backs in the cricketing history.

If last year’s battle between Australian leg spinner and Indian wicket keeper was won by the former now it is time to see who would dominate this year – is it going to be Indian leg spinner or is it going to be Australian wicket keeper? Let’s watch it!

Missing Havells

Much to the anticipation, sorry beyond the anticipation circuit broke today not once but twice ensuring a holiday for the traders of both BSE and NIFTY and of course for a so called pleasant reason. Exuberance and excitement is exhibited beyond expectation and now I fear that these very expectations might overburden the new government and it is to be seen how many of these expectations would be really met by Manmohan and Co – If you ask me it would be very few and hence I see that all the enthusiasts are in for a shocker and might crumble down once they are back from their wonder land to this real world. If I am proved wrong I would not mind but I believe that though things are slated to be better but they cannot be so irrational. Agreed LEFT has left the government but do watch out for the people like the one in race for the railway ministry!

Amazing Verdict

Finally the public verdict is out and the results are beyond everyone’s expectations. It is a clear Jai Ho for the incumbent prime minister to take over at the center for five more years. I am glad the Indian voters have given one tight slap on the face of all irrational small party prime ministerial aspirants. The regional parties have been stripped of their unreasonable bargaining power. They will be rushing to center to offer unconditional support with whatever little strength they have … reason being no one other than UPA has even a slightest chance to have a go at setting up the government. Other main features of this verdict have been voter has rejected hate based and religion based political parties. And most importantly Left has been decimated even in Kerala and Bengal pushing them into some serious introspection mode. Finally congratulations to Dr. Manmohan for being first PM after Pandit Nehru to take over the charges for a second five year term. Sorry that Mr. Advani’s dream of occupying the PM’s chair will remain a dream for ever – this is the last time he would be contesting in election.

With political stability investors on D-Street would be euphoric and we could see a Mega Monday or Magic Monday where markets could hit circuit breaker for a different reason this time atleast in NIFTY if not BSE. Yeah, media would be disappointed for not having a chance to cover all the horse trading and other political speculations as a result of this clear mandate. Now with IPL getting into the last week the focus shifts there. There have been many close matches in the last few weeks and the teams are still jumping all across the table. Except for Delhi no one seems to be safe zone and five teams leaving Kolkata and Mumbai are contesting closely for the semi final spot – it looks like it’s likely to go down to the wire and final positions would be clear only after the final league match between the last year’s rock bottom teams and yeah they are very much in contention for the semifinal berths.