Trains, Rains and Drains

Sea change is one word I can say when I moved from Serene Campus in Garden City to the most busiest city on the coast of Arabian Sea. Coming to the city for the third time probably for a longer stay this time and a tougher time this time. Induction to the city life is no less than first week at IIMA ... Daily travel of 40 kms from quarters to office seemed to be even longer due to the traffic and rains. Rains did not waste any time in greeting us. .. From the day one they are there to ensure that I have no illusions about the toughness of life here ... Trains never fail to remind the population of the country and apart from crowded trains one more common thing is potholes and drains on the roads.. Wait did I call them as roads ... should I really call them roads ... till I get the definition of road right may be I can call them so.

So next few days it will be trains. rains and drains. In for a challenge!!!

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.

Closing In

After a series of one sided affairs and rain affected games it is heartening to see some close encounters. The fever is slowly catching up and the teams are finding themselves all over the table swapping positions after every game. No one except the last year flop teams Hyderabad and Bangalore are playing predictably, the former winning consistently and the latter losing consistently after their inaugural victory over the last year champs.

So the contest is definitely closing in and yeah Sri Lankan troops are also closing in on the LTTE camps and the NEWS is that the LTTE and Prabhakaran would be history in a couple of days from now. I wish that the story ends forever and both the Sinhalese and Tamilians lead a progressive life in future. What is difficult to comprehend is why is Indian government intervening now? If we wanted to do something we should have done it during the 48hour cease fire break last week; not at the stage when the war is almost nearing the end. We can suggest the Lankan government to ensure the safety of the civilians but there is no way we could hamper their plans of trapping the tiger to restore the much awaited peace in the area. Anyways it is too late for the sleeping Indian government to do anything silly and I hope that Lankan government just go according to their plans.

Masterful Beginning

The NRI version of the cricket carnival begins today much to the respite of many like me who are finding it hard to fight the boredom … and what a beginning this is!!! There is absolutely no hangover from previous edition as both the finalists of the first edition were humbled on the very first day by the two great batting maestros of the Indian cricket. So any punters betting based on previous records beware.

Absolutely dream beginning with both Sachin and Rahul winning MoMs to start the tournament. The run feast is there to stay for a month and I hope the Indian youngsters make the most of this ‘special’ opportunity … special because thanks to Chidambaram and general elections in the country – the players have a chance to play on foreign wickets. I wish this time the franchises play more competitive cricket unlike last year where Hyderabad and Bangalore teams were virtually out of contention for semifinal even before the halfway mark of the tournament. If there is anything I can ask for after such a great beginning it is Hyderabad and Bangalore teams making it to the semifinals if not finals … ok jokes apart. I would be surprised if this edition will be as bright as the previous one – courtesy absence of Indian crowds but I can always wish that it provides good exposure to the young players both Indian and foreign and lots and lots and lots of entertainment to the billions of the cricketing fans glued to TV.

Musical Chairs and One India

With fewdays to go for the public verdict for the 15th time after Independence, we have atleast two dozen aspirants from various parties for the coveted prime ministerial post. If the scene continues so we might see a different PM each month as part of their power sharing program. Scary ..isn't it? During this period of economic insecurity, political instability is the last thing we would want to have. I wish people become prudent and vote for one of the two biggies or their pre poll alliance partners .. in short UPA or NDA and put an end to the dreams of the selfish small party captains - They are anyways not in a position to provide a stable government. As some one said Third front is just a parking lot before the elections every one joins it and leaves it to choose their partners after the poll verdict.

Meanwhile this elections made sure that Lalit Modi had tough time MODIfying the IPL schedule to make it feasible and finally the summer cricket bonanza is moving to South Africa. And the publicity of the mega event is in full swing. If last years ad showed IPL as mano, ranjan ka baap... this time it says that it is possible to see one billion people doing the same thing at a given point of time i.e, watching IPL. Nice Concept, however the ad has few glitches, for example - it shows that all Indians are reacting similarly after a runout dismissal ... a Mumbaikar would feel low after Sachin's dismissal where as a Bengali would rejoice on the same and hence it is not true that one billion people will react similarly - Remember people take sides and only then they can enjoy this shorter version cricket festival.

Hmmm with both the elections heat and IPL fever catching up media must be licking its lips to cover these events and increase TRPs!