World is bald.

You save Independent Bookstores and you will help grow Literacy.

2011-08-31T20:30:00.000+08:00

Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, writecoherently and think critically about printed material.

India’s literacy rate is at 74% in 2011, well below the world average of 84%. The illiterate population in India is the largest in the world. Although government schooling is free and compulsory from 6-14 years of age, facilities are inadequate and often totally lacking. Approximately 40% of students, mostly girls, drop out by secondary school. It is estimated that by the year 2020 over 50% of the illiterate population will live in India. Literacy is key to social economic growth of our country.

We know that Literacy is key to social economic growth but how do Independent bookstores help grow literacy levels? You may ask.

Key to literacy is accessibility to books and Independent Bookstore by its mere presence here and there ensures accessibility to books.

With the explosion of e-commerce business in India in recent years, the online bookstores are growing at a rapid speed. While the growth in e-commerce business sector is good for the country’s economy, in India, there are no strict e-commerce business regulations in place leading to unfair business practices by if not all but most online bookstores. With evident loopholes in the system, some of the online bookstores are cashing in on the gaps and making life difficult for independent bookstores by unfair or bad business practices.

Lets take a look at this example as to how an online bookstore is killing competition affecting the traditional independent bookstores with its fraudulent business practices.

Cost of the book: Rs.300

Margins offered by Publisher/Distributor: 40%

Discount offered by the Online store to the reader: 40%

Billing price: Rs.180 (A)

Cash on delivery (COD): Yes

Average cost incurred by the online store to offer COD service: Rs.30 (B)

Fulfillment/Packaging/Handling Charges incurred: Rs.5 (C)

Loss Incurred on the book sale = A-B+C = Rs.35

(With little bit of common sense, if we add in the cost incurred on infrastructure, manpower, IT infrastructure and other overheads. The loss incurred on every book sold will be even higher.)

You might wonder why they make a loss on every book sold.

Quite simply it is to get the traffic onto their site to introduce other catalogues to the visitor and to make the visitor build that online shopping habit with them. Number of hits and conversion to sales make the turnover look big on which the valuation of the company is measured with creative accounting practices.

End user or the reader definitely benefits because of the higher discounts that he/she gets. The end user or the reader or the consumer might get rich by such discounts but what about the social responsibility?

By buying on such platforms, are we (the literates, readers and book lovers) not helping indirectly plot the downfall of the bookstores? Its time for us to think.

Independent Bookstores cannot offer such discounts and end up losing money on each book sold because all they get to play around is the same 40% margins from the Publishers/Distributors from which they have to pay their rentals, staff salaries and look after other overheads.

With Amazon coming into India early next year, it adds to Independent Bookstores’ misery and further complicates the survival of bookstores.

Its high time we take a pause and think about those wonderful bookstores where we grew up, learnt to browse, spent hours glancing through the pages of those wonderful books, made friends and enjoyed the conversation with that bookseller about our favorite authors and their works.

If we continue our book shopping on such online bookstores, the bookstores will die and literacy will lose one of its important allies and may slow down in its growth or even dwindle affecting the social economic growth eventually.

The questions that we must ask ourselves are: Do we, as book lovers want the bookstores to vanish? Do we, as literates want the literacy to fall? Do we, as educated people want to affect the Social Economic Growth of our country? Do we, as good citizens want to associate and help such fraudulent online stores make merry?

September 8th is International Literacy Day. Spread this word around so we educate people and create awareness to save our bookstores and help literacy.

Come. Lets go out to buy a book and save a bookshop.

-Alaham Anil Kumar

Sep 1st 2011

Glad I didn't become a Pilot

2009-10-09T13:20:00.003+08:00

While in primary school, I remember my class was asked a common question by one of our teachers. The question was: “What would you want to become when you grow up”?

Each one, one by one, had to stand up and answer. Most of my classmates including yours truly said “I want to become a Pilot” with some sane mates of mine opting to become Scientists, Doctors and Engineers. The word “Pilot” was probably very attractive and may be appeared glamorous to us then. Although most of us didn’t know the actual job functions, we simply went for it.

I don’t know about my classmates but I am glad I didn’t become one. I have my reasons for it today. In the last one year, the Pilots of different Airlines in India who have gone on strike causing immeasurable problems to passengers are countless. Passengers wanting to reach destinations for holidays, on urgent work related matters and some for emergency reasons were severely affected for no fault of theirs. The news and sight of passengers stranded at Airports for hours and sometime for an entire day doesn’t surprise us anymore because of Pilots going on strike for reasons that is hard to explain.

Largely, nowadays, an air traveler’s life often relies on these Pilots. Be it on ground before takeoff or after takeoff. On ground because, you never know when they go on strike spoiling the plans of the passengers and in mid-air because, you never know when they leave their cockpit empty and start fighting with their colleagues in the galley, leaving us completely unsafe.

The news of the Air India flight Pilots’ nuisance early this week where the Pilots left the cockpit empty to fight with their cabin crew colleagues in the galley at 30000ft altitude casts the doubts in the minds of the air traveler. Despite the plane’s operating systems and maintenance of the aircraft being in good conditions, how safe is an air traveler in these erratic and negligent Pilot’s hands?

Is it worth putting our lives in danger and in the hands of such irresponsible people?

The very thought of Pilots and their Cabin Crew colleagues behavior on that Air India IC 884 plane from Sharjah to Delhi sends shivers up the spine of the frequent air traveler. Their act merited immediate sacking with no questions asked as they played with lives of 160 passengers on board that flight.

There are many factors that contribute to the safety of an airline passenger including, but not limited to, maintenance and operational procedures, types of training programs, age of fleet and specific routes flown etc.

As per the Airline industry statistics, aviation accidents are extremely rare, with the probability of a passenger being killed on a single flight at approximately eight million-to-one. Which means, if a passenger boarded a flight at random, once a day, every day, it would statistically be over 21,000 years before he or she would be killed.

But with such Pilots and cabin crew on job today, does the above statistics hold good? It certainly doesn’t but what is certain in my mind is the beautiful feeling that I didn’t become a Pilot.

Farmers on the net: 49M and counting!

2009-10-06T22:17:00.003+08:00

My wife has become a farmer and so are my many friends. Every time off late we all meet up, my wife and our common friends speak about how their farms have come up and exchange ideas on farming. I was initially happy about their conversation but when I got to know that their new found activity is not in the real world but on the “world wide web”, it became my story idea. They all have become addicts to this game called FarmVille on Facebook-the social networking site.

These are the new age farmers who are into farming on the net. They speak the language I don’t understand and when they speak about that lone black sheep that they found in their farm, they become sad. The consequences of finding that black sheep, again I don’t understand.

This game, I learnt is fast catching up. People arrive on Facebook to meet and make new friends as well as find those lost ones and in the process, they all are becoming farmers as this new “Agricultural Facebook Application” has managed to attract 49 million users since it was started in June last.

FarmVille, I believe, is a simple social game in which players create and manage virtual farms. Paying attention to crops, growing them (which actually takes real-time hours and days), harvesting and selling them. Sales earns users money and experience points. Then, a player can buy more crops, animals, farm equipment and outbuildings.

A player can also invite friends to come and farm in the plot next to theirs, and help them out by watering or harvesting their crops for them. If a player is a really generous farmer, he or she can even buy them a cow as a gift.

It's addictive. So addictive, in fact, that the makers of this game cunningly tempt the player to pay for extra “farm coins” via credit card — if a player is too impatient to wait for his or her crops to grow (well, the makers had to be making money somehow).

What’s funny is that in a recent party that we hosted, these farmer friends of mine got so restless when I asked them to stay back for a little more time. They said they have to get back home to get on to their screens to take care of their virtual farms. That was unbelievable.

So, if you are still not on Facebook yet, my advice to you is to get your farming lessons before you open an account. Else, you won’t be worthwhile knowing as a farmer friend.

Next time I invite my friends again to meet up; I have to make sure their farms can survive without their owners for an evening.

Driving his life to meet ends

2009-10-06T22:06:00.004+08:00

This man drives a TAXI for his living!

So what’s wrong with it?And why are you making a big issue out of it, you may ask.

This man is no ordinary man. He is a PHD holder from Stanford University and has a solid 16 years of proven track record of scientific accomplishments.Now, Am I drawing you closer to your screen?

Well. I am not surprised. For, this situation somehow resembles our bollywood storyline, quite like that of Rajesh Khanna classics in which Mr. Khanna walks office to office, factory to factory under that intolerable sun accompanied by his pet mongrel and manages to get into that “Owners cabin” ignoring “No Vacancy” board written in chalk all over that black piece of iron plate hung right at the entrance gate and still manages to show his super envious gold medal certificates and a fantastic track record to seek “that dream Job” that invariably stood between him and his love and sometimes his ailing mother.

No. Don’t go so far and strain your brain. This is not inspired from any of Mr. Khanna’s antics; this is not even in India or the late 80s. I assure I am not talking movie stuff here. It is for real. It is today’s stuff and is set in vibrant, multicultural Singapore where this man truly struggled to meet his ends. He is one of the millions who got affected by recession.

Shocked? Read on…

Meet Mr. CAI Mingjie, who blogs and wrote in his blog introduction “I have been forced out of my research job at the height of my scientific career, and unable to find another one, for reasons I can only describe as something ‘uniquely Singapore’. As a result, I am driving taxi to make a living and writing these real life stories just to make the dull job a little more interesting. I hope that these stories are interesting to you too.”

Mingjie started blogging from 6th April 2009, early this year. In his first blog entry, he wrote about his employment at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) at ASTAR, Singapore, where he had put in 16 years as Principal Investigator. He mentions that he was a victim to influx of foreign talents that he got retrenched from his job. Although he was informed of the retrenchment in 2007, he was unable to secure another job even till his termination in May 2008. By November 2008, he decided to become a taxi driver.

His writing makes an interesting read and reads like a collection of short stories, about a scientist-turned-taxi-driver, diligently documenting quirky observations he makes while driving on the road – the passengers that he meets, the various changes that is happening to society etc.
One can only feel for his plight though. Don’t you think it is a waste of human capital when skill sets and academic qualification do not match with the job a person is holding? Definitely not a healthy trend if we see more and more such highly qualified individuals in such a predicament – be it in “Uniquely Singapore” or “Incredible India” or anywhere else.

Have I become a "Screenager"?

2009-09-16T15:58:00.002+08:00

Like everyone else, I grew up passing a stage where I was addressed a “teenager”. As a kid and as a teen growing up, I played outdoor games outdoors; played chess on a chess board and indoor games indoors. I loved watching movies on a celluloid screen in a cinema, loved reading books, comics and novels on a print version and the smell of the print every time I picked them up from a bookstore gave me joy.

I had different applications for different purposes. I had music cassettes to listen to my music on a tape recorder and player and I had cricket bat and a ball to play cricket in a play ground. And with the technological advances; I accepted the change and started listening to music on CD’s on my walkman and now I have moved my music collection onto something called an Iphone which came as a gift to me.

I use this gadget primarily as a telephone and to listen to my music although I have learnt that there are many things that can be done on this palm sized machine which basically acts as one-stop-shop-for-all purposes with an application for different purpose. I wouldn’t go so far to use them all as I find most things that are not to my taste. For instance, I will never use this piece to read books, watch movies or play games. Why would you want to do that? Aren’t reading books or novels or even for that matter, newspapers fun when you read them on traditional print format?

I fail to understand today’s kids. They should be called “Screenagers” for their entire life depends on these tiny screens. One kid even had the cheek to ask while playing with my Iphone. “You don’t know how to use this?” referring to an application called e-book. I replied, kid it’s for no-brainers. Like the traditionalists, I barked back with couple of questions. What's wrong with the printed word on paper that's worked fine for centuries? And why would you want to read a book on a telephone anyway? He gave me a look which I think meant “you are obsolete” and went on to say that his generation plays Cricket, Tennis and Football on screen, read books, novels and comics on screen, watch movies and TV episodes on screen and communicate and keeps in touch with friends on screen.

Then I wondered. If they do everything on screen, what do they do outside? Does “outdoor games” ever exist in their e-dictionary?

The latest reports indicate that, especially throughout the summer months when kids are out of school, teenagers spend an average of nearly ten hours (nine hours and 54 minutes is the exact average) on some sort of screen - computer, gaming console or TV. That is about 4 solid months a year.

But then, we too are on the computer screen most times. I am writing this story with the help of my computer screen; you are reading this story on your computer screen. You think we both are becoming screenagers also? You think I should start using those applications on my Iphone like that kid suggested or continue to live my life that of a traditionalist?

From unsung heroes to unstrung heroes

2009-09-13T16:23:00.001+08:00

When Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathy got together on a tennis court, they became the instant hit in the world of tennis and more so in the cricket crazed nation of India. They gave more joy to tennis followers than anybody else could with their fantastic partnership, with those high flying chest-bumps each time they won the point and with those numerous slams they won together. Those days, apart from Cricket, in India, any other sport story to hit the front page of national dailies was as difficult as trying to find a Cricket story on New York Times front page. But these guys not only managed to get plastered on every front page of the newspapers, they got discussed by TV pundits on Prime Time News too.

They were unsung heroes then. Today, they are unstrung heroes. Separated and facing off each other in the doubles section of the-singles-minded-tennis world.

One can always enjoy watching John Travolta and Nicolas Cage face each other off in that movie “Face Off” but it certainly hurts even an ordinary tennis fan like me to see these wonderful players face each other. Aren’t they both made to play doubles together and not against each other?

At the time of writing this piece, thankfully, the rain god in the New York sky is postponing their match at the US Open 2009 Men’s Doubles Finals and lets all hope for the sake of their fans who loved to see them play together, this match never commences and they both get declared as joint winners. Who would want only one of them to win and the other to lose? But then, I know this will remain a wish and also know that all their fans are left with no choice but to see the inevitable happen in just a few hours from now.

Very soon, the Arthur Ashe stadium will witness everything except that famous partnership of Leander and Mahesh.

Quite a masterpiece it will be and doubtless, it will be breathtaking hard court doubles match we have not seen for a long time. There sure will be a touch of magic, a speck of inevitability, a plethora of class and a glimmer of hope from both Leander and Mahesh that we all will enjoy. But can we enjoy the veneer of sadness and the joy of victory from the vanquished and the victor? Yours truly certainly cannot.

The reason behind their separation is well known but I certainly want them to re-unite again quickly in what could be their last days of their careers and bring back that joy, that smile on millions of their fans’ faces who are craving to see them play together.

It was never a Vendetta for Pennetta against Sania

2009-09-03T22:34:00.001+08:00

In Tennis, there are only three ways to end a point - with a winner, forced error or unforced error.

Today, we need to concentrate on Unforced Error. An Unforced Error is when the player has time to prepare and position himself or herself to get the ball back in play and makes an error. This is a shot that the player would normally get back into play. The real keys here are time and position.

Sania Mirza had neither the time nor got into position today in her second round match in US Open against the Italian No.10 seed Flavia Pennetta and ended up committing 28 unforced errors that forced Sania Mirza out of the US Open Singles campaign. The match ended as it started as Pennetta blew away the Indian Star out of the court in straight sets with the final result that read 6-0, 6-0. Flavia Pennetta completely destroyed Sania Mirza during the less-than-an-hour domination that belonged entirely to the Italian.

Those Sania fans who couldn’t arrive at the stadium to cheer their star for whatever reasons didn’t miss much. They sure would have regretted for having made it instead. The match got over in just 50 minutes and they would have hated to see their star getting beaten like this.

For a newbie watching tennis, this match sure would have looked like a practice session for Flavia Pennetta. There was nothing positive that Sania Mirza could take home from this match. The only positive she could possibly look at is “how not to play like this match” in her future matches. Flavia gave Sania a good tennis lesson. She reminded Sania how to play those famous forehand winners, passing shots and those perfect volleys that once made Sania Mirza a sensational tennis star in India years ago.

It was never a vendetta for Pennetta as this match was completely one-sided and a cake walk for the Italian player. She now moves on to the 3rd round as Sania Mirza looks forward to her doubles and mixed doubles matches. The sooner Sania Mirza forgets this match, the better it is for her matches in other categories. By the way, is there anything worthwhile for Sania Mirza to remember anything about this match?

Force India’s Success: Was it because of The Machine, The Driver or a Rabbit?

2009-09-01T11:51:00.003+08:00

Luck, as ever, plays a big part in sports. Last week, luck certainly charmed on Force India team driver Giancarlo Fisichella. And as the life lesson teaches, if you mix your efforts with the available good luck, you seldom can go wrong. Fisichella sure did mix them well during the weekend. Otherwise who would have ever thought that this veteran driver from Italy would finish as a front runner on the grid which is a parking space meant usually for the likes of Buttons, Raikonnens, Alonsos, Hamiltons, Massas and Barichellos before they take-off?

It is very easy to predict those cars that start from the last rows in F1. They invariably belonged to Force India. To be able to break that shackle and end up winning the pole position not only requires amazing talent but also abundance of good luck.

In Sports generally, players are known to be very superstitious and follow some rituals to bring in or posses the luck factor. Indian Cricket legend Sunny Gavaskar always used to ground his bat first before bringing his right foot into position, while taking guard. Australia’s former skipper Steve Waugh used to carry a red handkerchief in his left pocket, which was given to him by his late grandfather. Spain's Tennis Great Rafael Nadal is very particular when it comes to his water bottle courtside; every sit-down making sure it goes back to exactly the same spot or position each time, right down to the centimeter. Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champ, was a fan of the food routine, reportedly sitting at the same table at the same restaurant and ordering the same meal of fish soup, lamb and ice cream with chocolate sauce during one tournament. Ivanisevic also always tried to rise from his courtside chair after his opponent, if he served an ace he asked for the same ball again, if he won he then attempted to follow the same routine as closely as possible the following day and he didn’t like to stand on the court lines.

Superstitions or rituals are followed because of the success a player has had due to the belief in practicing those sometimes weird stuff. What happened last weekend with Fisichella was also weird.

"I hit a rabbit during morning practice and damaged the front wing," Fisichella said. "My mechanics said: 'In England, rabbits are good luck.' Maybe they're right! I didn't expect to be on pole position. We had a few problems and the car was better than expected. It's amazing, fantastic; I'm so happy about this."

Let’s hope that the bunny coming his way doesn’t become Fisichella’s routine from now on. Actually, it’s a much easier investment option for Dr. Vijay Mallya to set some bunnies on his driver’s way than to invest millions on technical and car up gradation. Isn’t it?

Roger at his best at Cincy

2009-08-24T16:50:00.001+08:00

If the outfit that Roger Federer was wearing nice, what about the “I am-aggressive-today” attitude that he was wearing? It was needed and he wore it on two good occasions. Once against Andy Murray in the Semi-Finals and once today in Finals against Novak Djokovic. Both times it worked wonders.

It helped Federer dominate Djokovic right from the outset who had not dropped a set enroute to the finals. The Swiss master never allowed Djokovic to pose any serious problems and played up to his No.1 ranking to win the Cincinnati Open- a Masters tournament. With this win, Federer is just one short of equaling that magical 17 masters record held by the great Andre Agassi.

Novak Djokovic outplayed Rafael Nadal completely with an authoritative win over the former world No.1 in the semi-finals to set up a date with the invincible Roger Federer in the finals. The final was expected to be a cracker of a match by tennis fans. It wasn’t.

The ease at which Roger Federer dominated the early stages of his 6-1, 7-5 straight set victory in the finals was simply outstanding. So formidably he did control the exchanges, advancing menacingly whenever Djokovic left the ball short, that it was a surprise to see Djokovic playing well in the second.

Federer displayed and gave Novak Djokovic a good tennis lesson on how to play forehand winners, backhand passes, how to play the disguised drop, cross-court angled volleys that was so perfect and many others that left Djokovic admiring at the other side of the net. Federer’s timing, feet movement and court coverage were as exquisite to those famous watches made in his country. The Swiss Master was at his very best.

With this win, Federer continues his stellar form and takes loads of confidence on hard court before he starts his US Open campaign. If anyone who is capable of asking Federer any questions in the coming fortnight in New York, it will be Andy Murray more than Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick or Novak Djokovic.

Will the Swiss Master go on to win his 16th Grand Slam and the 6th US Open title at the Flushing Meadows? Will his good friends Pete Sampras and Tiger Woods be treated by the Swiss master at Arthur Ashe stadium? We will know the answers in just a couple of weeks from now.

Rafa screams and roars as he makes it to the last 4!

2009-08-22T09:48:00.002+08:00

Rafael Nadal, when he made his re-appearance in Montreal early this month, he had lost his number one spot to the mighty Federer. It certainly was too much for a man making his comeback to where he belongs and even ruled for a while. Had to play his best against his old foes but they all were at their best and were playing best tennis of their lives. In Montreal, Rafa looked rusty and that was expected. He was cautious and obviously didn’t fancy taking chances on his newly resurrected knees. He ended his campaign as a losing quarter finalist but had a good feel of the hard court and may be took home some much needed confidence both on his game as well as on his tender knees.

Now playing Cincinnati Masters, just after a week’s break and after losing the number two spot to Tennis world’s emerging force called Andy Murray, the man certainly appears to be in the groove. He is the Rafa we have been used to and seen when he was at his sublime best. Yes the serve still needs attention but his incredible shots on the run, deft volleys, back hand pass and his bread and butter shot – fore hand cross court winner makes it up for his weak service.

I always was under the impression that a player can hit an unbelievable cross-court forehand or an extra ordinary backhand pass only once in a while. But this man, looks to me that he is making a living out of these shots. How could he play such incredible shots in every game, every set and every match that he plays? Toughie, real toughie he is. And it’s a little wonder why he is such a great competitor. If losing the number two spot is not motivation, then what else it could be behind his hunger? He surely is eager to regain his lost ground.

At the time of posting this piece, Rafa had won his quarter finals match against the Czech Thomas Berdych and what a clinical performance that was? It was amazing to watch Rafa play all those shots that made him a star and shots that sent shivers down the spines of some great players.

The semi-final line up tomorrow couldn’t have got better with the very best taking on each other and am sure it will light up the weekend for even an ordinary tennis fan. It is Federer Vs Murray and Djokovic Vs Nadal for a place in the finals on Sunday.

Let’s sit back and enjoy the very best of Tennis world taking on each other to stamp their seal of excellence.

Boy Oh Boy! Is she a girl?

2009-08-21T10:17:00.007+08:00

The father of women's world champion athlete, Caster Semenya insists: "She is my little girl."

Caster Semenya, 18, is undergoing a gender test to prove she is female after beating her rivals by a huge margin to win the gold medal in the world championship 800 metres in Berlin.

Family, friends and teachers at her home in South Africa recalled how Semenya played football with boys, wore trousers instead of skirts and endured teasing by her peers. But all asserted that she is definitely a woman.

Semenya, who has a muscular build and deep voice, aroused suspicions recently with a dramatic improvement in performance. She went from a virtual unknown to the world's fastest woman over 800m this year when she clocked 1:56.72 at the African junior championships in Mauritius. She sliced more than a second off that with her winning time of 1:55.45 in Berlin on Wednesday.

It's a fair decision by officials to put Semenya through the gender test as I was as shocked as most others when I saw her clocking the winning time on TV.

When her parents and admirers are so confident of Semenya being a girl, why worry and cry about the gender test?

This dog had its day!

2009-08-11T16:26:00.003+08:00

An Israeli woman paid $32,000 to allow her dog to travel in business class with her from Paris to Tel Aviv.

Rivkah, 60, paid for an entire business class compartment to carry her, her boxer "Orchuk" and a vet on the four-hour flight. Airline El Al had to remove several seats to make room for Or's cage.

“I didn’t think for a minute to leave Or, my little Orchuk, with the cargo,” said Rivkah. “I’ve been raising him for eight years and four months in France. I also didn’t mind having other passengers sit next to us.

All that mattered to me was to have my baby with me during the flight so that I can take care of him.”

Rivkah preferred not to discuss her payment to El Al, because she believed any price would have been worth it. “He is my child, not a dog. And he deserves the best,” she said.

El Al told the Haaretz newspaper in Israel it had never had such a request before. "But after the lady explained her special relationship with her dog and expressed her willingness to pay extra in order to fly with him, we agreed."

Point to Ponder: Recession? What do you mean by that?

Barmy Army was Bloody Smarmy.

2009-08-05T06:39:00.001+08:00

The way Barmy Army, the self-appointed official England Cricket Supporters greeted and welcomed one of the world’s greatest batsmen of any era and the current Australian Cricket Team Captain Ricky Ponting on last Sunday afternoon when he walked to the middle will never be appreciated by the gentlemen followers of the game. And to the dismay, unbelievably, it happened in England, supposed to be green and pleasant land.

Ricky Ponting was booed all along the distance from dressing room to the crease by the members of Barmy Army and the experience was painful not just for Ponting but to any test match lover who was watching it. How could anyone treat a person, who is one of the greatest ever to play the game like that? They must instead relish every moment as not many get a chance to see such players bat.

I watched him bat both in Melbourne and Sydney when Aussies took on Indians last year and I feel I was privileged to watch the great man play and relish it for the rest of my life.

What Barmy Army must realize is that there is no point to match Australian behavior. It’s a culture thing. They should realize that they are English fans and they must behave and showcase what they are best known for. They must remember that even a fireman uses water to put off fire and never fight fire with fire.

The Barmy Army's mission statement – like every organization has one, it seems – is: "To make watching cricket more fun and more popular". On Sunday, what its members failed to understand was that the "fun" in watching cricket, is ... watching cricket. For the great majority of real cricket-lovers, there is no fun in being around such hooligans and rowdy elements.

I know for sure that if this trend follows, a number of real fans may no longer attend Test match Cricket, whose existance is already under threat from shorter versions of the game.

The whole incident raises a question. Is cricket gentleman’s game? The answer is an astounding NO till we have such boorish and chauvinist supporters around.

English language...

2009-08-04T10:43:00.003+08:00

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.

There is neither egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple...
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

And if people from Poland are called Poles,
then people from Holland should be Holes
and the Germans, Germs.

How much of the work hour brag is true?

2009-08-02T10:25:00.003+08:00

I once heard someone claim to have worked 125 hours in a single week.

Immediately my finger was on the calculator: 125 divided by seven days - roughly 18 hours a day for an entire week. Include getting to and from work, washing, dressing, and he probably slept no more than four hours a night.

It has somewhat become a badge of honour among certain kinds of people to brag about the hours they put in. Bankers are probably the worst among the lot. For some, working impossibly long hours indicates commitment.

But is it believable that all this chest beating is just that, a lot of noise with little to back it up? How many people claiming to work 80 hours a week include an eight-hour business-class flight, during which they may work for an hour, nap for four and watch movies for three?

Quite a lot, it turns out. American researchers have found that the more hours people claim to work, the greater the gap between their boasts and reality.

According to a recent study, those who said they worked 40 to 44 hours per week actually worked 36.2 hours. Those claiming to work 60 to 64 hours per week actually worked 44.2 hours. Those claiming to work 65-74 hours per week worked 52.8 hours and those boasting of putting in 75 hours or more worked on average just 54.9 hours.

Despite what everyone says, it is extremely rare for anyone to put in more than 55-60 hours per week of real work. There are all kinds of theories for why this discrepancy exists. In some cases, people are just bidding up their work weeks to sound good and the numbers become divorced from reality.

So the next time you hear someone brag about long work hours he or she is putting in, you know how much of it is true.

Has the time for poms to become the Lords of Lords come?

2009-07-18T17:47:00.005+08:00

The Queen was deprived by Andy last month at Wimbledon but her highness was in for a treat day before by another Andy at another grand sporting stage, Lords. The other Andy I am talking about is Andy Strauss. After winning the much important toss at Lords in the second test of Ashes 2009, English captain Andrew Strauss had no doubts in his mind to decide to bat first on the wicket conducive to Swing bowling early on.

His decision worked well when he stitched the record opening partnership with Alastair Cook to go on to score a brilliant 161, his fourth ton against the Aussies and third on his home ground, Lords. After Cook departed 5 runs short of what would have been a fine hundred, Andy Strauss rallied brilliantly with other batsmen even though there was a middle order collapse to put up 425 valuable runs on the score board.

Aussies in reply were blown away by English pacers especially James Anderson. Jamie and Flintoff never allowed the Aussie batsmen to settle. Six of the Aussie batsmen were out trying to hook and landed in a position from where to win this test requires some magic and a miraculous comeback. If they do come back from this worst position, I am doubtless that their efforts will be scripted in Wisden as one of the all time wins. They batted in such a hurry for reasons no other than themselves know that it looked like they had decided to get out before the floodlights go ON. None of them looked convincing and settled against some fine swing bowling display from Jamie Anderson and his fast bowling colleagues although Mike Hussey and Simon Katich tried a bit to bail its team out of misery.

Ricky Ponting’s decision might have looked a bit controversial to some but I wouldn’t complain as it wasn’t an instinctive decision from the umpire as both Rudi Koertzen and Billy Doctrove discussed and referred the decision to their colleague Nigel Llong, the third umpire and rightly so. It was a beauty from Anderson and was a reason to leave the Aussies tottering at 2 down for 10. Ricky Ponting cannot even make a statement against this decision as he already has talked about playing fair and in the right spirit.

At 156/8, with Peter Siddle in the middle along with Nathan Hauritz with his broken finger and the last man Bill Hilfenhaus to follow, chances of holding on or showing some resilience looks very bleak.

The Aussies bullied the Poms on a flat track in Cardiff in first test but certainly looked out of sorts against some fine swing bowling display by the English players here. Will there be a comeback by the wounded Aussies? We will know by end of tomorrow.

English side couldn’t have asked for a better situation than this to win this test against the mighty Australians after 74 years at Lords to give the Queen something to cheer for and to give a fitting farewell to their colleague, Andrew Flintoff.

Andy Wins. But its Roddick not Murray.

2009-07-04T09:59:00.002+08:00

The Sun went down slowly spreading a blanket of shadow all over the centre court and with it the British tennis hopes shattered and casted the pale of gloom all over Britain last evening when Andy Murray lost to veteran Andy Roddick 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 in the semi-finals of the men’s Wimbledon Championships.

So Queen Elizabeth’s long-awaited return to Wimbledon will have to wait; it looks as if, for one more year. Andy Murray, the young Briton she had hoped to watch from the Royal Box in Sunday’s final, will not be taking part in the festivities after all.

Murray came back one set down after losing the first to take the second triggering hopes of yet another Murray come back. Engaged the crowd beautifully and they responded with huge roars of cheer every time their home hero played a winner. But Murray’s remarkable, counterpunching game was not quite as lethal as usual, as Roddick put 75 percent of his first serves in play and cleverly picked his spots to attack instead of trying to batter his way past the lanky Scotsman on a point by point basis.

Murray couldn’t find answer to an inspired performance from Roddick. Perhaps Murray was passive and waited for Roddick to commit mistakes rather than forcing the veteran to make errors.

Clearly it was the case of succumbing to pressure as the whole of British media had built up the hype so much so that every journalist had started writing about the Federer-Murray finals. It certainly might have taken a toll on Murray and the effect was evident in his performance.

Before the match, Roddick was relaxed and at his usual best in the pre-match interviews, talked about how he has clearly moved to a higher plane. Last year at Wimbledon, he made his earliest exit, with a second round blow out to Janko Tipsaravic saving his best for the press, where he talked about the pain of becoming a second-tier player.

“When you’ve seen the Rolling Stones from the front row, and then all of a sudden you’re like, you know, seven or eight rows back and there’s a really tall guy in front of you waving his hands and screaming, you can’t see much,” Roddick said then. “It’s not going to be as good as the other shows.”

So what row is he in now?

“Getting closer,” Roddick said. “I can see what Mick Jagger is wearing now.”

Roddick cannot ask for more if British fans chant the first name of their home hero Murray on Centre Court at Wimbledon during the men’s finals on Sunday, where Andy Roddick intends to make the best of it.

Andy Roddick has met Roger Federer twice in the Wimbledon finals before and has lost both times. Can he be third time lucky?

It was a cat and a cat game.

2009-07-03T14:23:00.005+08:00

The cats howled and screamed at the centre court last night when Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva were involved in the slug fest to make it to the finals of Wimbledon Ladies. It was so intense that both players couldn’t stop grunting although a lady spectator pleaded sitting in the first row with her hat on that read “No Grunting Please”.

At the grandest of the stages, it was nothing short of a spectacle. The match was like watching a Quentin Tarantino movie. It was full of fast paced action, suspense thriller and burst of emotions in the best three sets of grueling ladies tennis match witnessed so far at SW19 in a long time. It sure will qualify easily to go down as one of the best ladies matches played ever.

Elena Dementieva pushed Serena Williams to the hilt. Stretched her from corner to corner, made her run from baseline to the net, asked her questions, make her earn her points in the match. Serena was not given any freebies as her previous opponents did in this year’s campaign. She surely had an easy run till she came up to meet the Olympic gold medalist last night.

Serena dropped her first set of the tournament and was seen vulnerable at times. She had to come up with something extra ordinary to save couple of match points against her in the third and she did come up with a winner in one of the most extra ordinary rallies we have seen in a long time. Serena won in the end proving experience is the ingredient required and not the exuberance.

That said, Elena proved how difficult she can be and made Serena look struggling till the end. If there was anything that separated both players, it was that rally which Serena won when it mattered in the third. That’s it. It was that close.

In the end, when Serena won the semis 6-7, 7-5, 8-6 to set up a date with her sibling yet again in the finals, Elena walked away winning more friends, supporters and admirers world over.

I don’t know whether Elena won a supporter in Vijay Amritraj as he was throughout the match, kept cheering the Williams; both the Williams on court as well as those Williams in the box often coughing away on the microphone under the influence of anti-histamine scaring his colleague Alan Wilkins.

But Elena did win yours truly with a magnificent display of tennis shots throughout the match.

C'mon in. Insult us.

2009-06-24T13:17:00.001+08:00

A bar in Spain is serving up free beer and tapas to recession-hit customers who insult its owner and bartenders as a way to let off steam.

Casa Pocho in the beach resort town of Cullera near Valencia opened last week and says its promotional gimmick is working like magic.

Owner of the bar said the free alcohol and snacks go only to those who come up with truly original insults.

"They can't call me S.O.B., but they can call me jerk, idiot, clown, that kind of thing," the owner of the bar said. "This works, because even people in their 70s come to insult me."

One of the most memorable insults came from a woman who told the owner that his ears were so big they reminded her of a car with its doors wide open.

"Nobody overdoes it. Nobody," he said.

The best insults earn their creators a small glass of beer and a plate of finger food, which normally cost 1.50 Euros.

Newcomers tend to be shy, but eventually get into it, with the proprietor's help.

"I prod them a bit, say things like, 'Sir, where are you going with a face like that?"'

My money is on Murray.

2009-06-19T18:22:00.004+08:00

It’s been 73 excruciatingly painful long years Britain has waited to see one of its sons win the Wimbledon. Last time that happened was when Fred Perry won it in 1936.

I guess it’s time for Britain to go insane. On Monday, when Wimbledon commences, Brits will be standing behind this young Scot named Andy Murray to cheer their hero who just proved that he can by winning the warm-up grass event at Queen's. Andy Murray made his intentions clear by conquering the Queens and ended up as the first British player to win it after 71 years.

To me, the havoc is inevitable. In two weeks time, Murray will be plastered on every tabloid front page, be discussed by TV pundits, be written by tennis writers, figure on the primetime news and get discussed and analyzed in pubs and bars. Hopefully, he won't let his countrymen down.

Some think Andy Murray drives people mad. So what? I like his rage and I want him to win. Britain needs a player who can spit fire on fire and none other than Andy Murray fits that bill. He’ll pose Djokovic a big challenge, make The Fed desperate to win his 15th, and with Rafael Nadal the No.1 withdrawing from the fray because of his knee injury, stars are aligning themselves nicely for the young Scot.

If anyone who can put an end to Britain’s long wait, it is Andy Murray. 73-year wait for a local tennis hero to win their own tournament? It’s an agonizing wait.

The British deserve a champion because they are such wonderful spectators. Wimbledon's crowd is by far the best tennis has ever seen, their behavior undoubtedly shows a fine appreciation of the game. Murray should win because he's interesting, a somewhat angry young man with a game of delightful calmness. When he won at Queen's last weekend, British press stated he did not smile for the photographers as if he wanted to have his last laugh here.

Andy Murray has unveiled his retro look with his new monogrammed Fred Perry outfit for this year's Wimbledon. In celebration of the centenary year of Fred Perry's birth, Murray has had a hand in the design of the outfit. It combines elements of the classic Fred Perry look from the 1950s and 1960s. May be this furthers inspires The Scot to do what no British tennis player has done in the last 73 years.

May be the time has come for the Brits to praise their hero and even the statue of Fred Perry may put down its racket to join in the applause.

Attacks on Indian Students Down Under.

2009-06-09T12:44:00.006+08:00

The Indian Media has paid intolerable attention to the debate on racial attacks on Indian students in Australia.

While my sympathies are with the affected students, racial attacks are something not new in Australia or new to Indians. As the controversy rages within India, some of the most important questions that we should ask ourselves are - Why is Indian Media making a big deal out of this? Why are they bloating up the issue and instigating students down under? Why are we behaving as if racial attacks are new to us? Haven't we experienced racism before?

We have. We are probably the most racist people on the earth. Racism within India among Indians is far worse than racial attacks on anyone anywhere in the world or at the least to what is happening to students down under.

And this is where the utter hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness of us, Indians lie exposed. As should be well-known to most of Indians, social discrimination and oppression were never new or unique to us.

All Indians including yours truly have grown up hating people from other states by calling them names. Aren’t we? Kannadigas call Tamilians “Kaats”, Tamilians and most others address people from Andhra Pradesh as “Gultis”, Rest of India gang up against southern states and address everyone from South India as “Madrasis”. South Indians and people from other regions address everyone from NE regions as “Chinkies”. Aren’t these racial attacks? So when such bad blood of racism runs in our veins, why do we have to bother about a one-off issue such as what is happening in down under?

We should remember, that it was students who chose to go to Australia to study. Australian Government didn’t invite them. So when they have decided to go there, they should be ready to face any hardship that comes with their decision of relocation. If the students cannot face the issues, they should simply pack their bags and come back to India to face bigger racial attacks. If the students are from UP or Bihar, take my word, they are better off in Australia than in any part of India especially Mumbai. They should thank their stars as they are getting just beaten up. In Mumbai, they get burnt alive.

Media instead of bloating up an issue such as this; they should take responsibility to eradicate racism within India. Not indulge in sensationalizing the news as if they are oblivious to racial attacks by Indians on fellow Indians within India or elsewhere.

Getting beaten up overseas is anyday far less painful and treatable than to get frustrated watching Indian news anchors broadcast news on TV.

Happy Hour Fine, What about morning after?

2009-06-05T16:06:00.004+08:00

"C’mon you're just a social drinker,” friends scream when I tell them I am planning to give up alcohol. Oh yes, I'm social all right. Cordial, more flirtatious, after the first few glasses. But then it tips. I blurt out dangerous home truths (secrets I've kept for years). I bump into furniture. I sometimes don’t remember what time I got home. The next day, in my moment of clarity, I awake, with full of self-dislike. Is it worth?

The trouble is I do like drinking. I don’t drink at all on weekdays and rarely drink at home but when I go out with friends on weekends, I binge-drink. I'm having such a good time; I don't want the evening to stop. The bell doesn't ring.

The bad news is that the occasional binge-drinking, does more harm to the liver than the steady habitual drinking (because the liver goes into shock). I am not saying I will start drinking daily. There is a way to deal with this situation. More over, I have only one wife and only one liver; certainly don’t want to lose either of the two.

Often we find ourselves drinking when we don't really want to. Our subconscious mind can trigger the desire without us being aware of it.

The way to deal with emotional over-drinking is to take a look at how we handle our lives. Very often we reach for a drink because we are battling what is known as “inner demons” — the prattle of negative thoughts.

Our “inner demons” knows everything about us from our secrets to our dreams. Mine spends all day saying bossily: “You're hopeless. You could be better.” The irony is our inner demons were created originally to help us protect ourselves, to ward off anything bad or painful — and yet it can seem as if it has turned us against us.

So the next time you go drinking, follow these steps as it may come handy.

• Setting yourself up to not drink for a week may cause more anxiety and a binge. Instead, plan a few alcohol-free days when you are not going out.

• Avoid friends who like a drinking partner for a few weeks. People who encourage heavy drinking will want you to drink with them to avoid dealing with their own issues. You don't have to say YES when you want to say NO.

• Put down your glass between sips. This will train you to drink more slowly.

• A lot of people drink alcohol when they are actually thirsty. Before you start drinking, have one big glass of water to quench your thirst and keep a glass of water with your alcohol.

• Alcohol has a high sugar intake, so when you cut back you may feel the need for sugar. Try to get that sugar other ways and not from alcohol.

• Write down the emotions that are driving you to feel the need to have a drink. Is it stress, anger, office politics, boredom, loneliness? All these are valid but drinking will only suppress them until the morning.

Then you will wake with a sense of low self-worth because you are not dealing with the feelings. Is it really worth it?

Rafa is OUT...Who's next?

2009-06-01T12:07:00.002+08:00

If Eiffel Tower had fallen down, or if the Leaning tower of Pisa had leaned further, I would not have been so shocked than what shocked me yesterday.

The unbeatable Rafael Nadal was shown the door at Philippe Chatrier Centre Court of Roland Garros by an unheralded 23rd seed Robin Soderling of Sweden yesterday in the 4th round of French Open.

The rectangle piece of clay which had become Rafa’s property where he owned every inch of the surface was finally bought over. No trespassing was allowed on it for the last 4 years and offenders were severely punished by the man the tennis world thought will never be able to defeat on this surface. But that equation changed yesterday and the result proved that Rafa is after all a human on the Roland Garros centre court.

Enter Robin Soderling. The 23rd seed walked in to the court, took his 4th round match as just another one, played the best match of his life and beat Rafa to hand over the biggest ever gift to Federer. We will know in the next seven days, whether the Swiss ace will make the most of this precious gift or in turn hands it over to Andy Murray.

The Roland Garros centre court yesterday had everything except Rafael Nadal!

A touch of magic, a speck of inevitability, a glimmer of hope, the joy of victory, a veneer of sadness…a plethora of class from the victor and the vanquished.

Life, often is karmic, comes a full circle. As opposed to the popular prediction of a three setter victory for Nadal, little did one contemplate a four-set blowout for the world No.1. The problem with blowout is, it is either excruciatingly painful or a connoisseur’s delight, depending on which side of the net you are on.

Quite a masterpiece it was, breathtaking clay court tennis showcased by Robin Soderling on the grandest of stages. May be Soderling didn’t want to let go his fellow country man and his idol Bjorn Borg’s record to be erased by Rafael Nadal this year—if that’s not motivation enough, what else could be? It was one of those rare instances, where the result of the match did not pivot on what the opponent did.

As Soderling muscled, intimidated, exasperated, and chased Rafa to submission, he reduced Mr. Invincible to an entity we have not seen in a long time.

He reduced Rafa to a little, lost, edgy, desperate, and indecisive tennis player, who actually did not know what to do on court. Rafa tried everything in his arsenal, but he had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide; and he was…beaten. Beaten in 4 sets with the score that read 6–2, 6–7 (2), 6–4, 7–6 (2).

As painful as it is, one has to wonder—did Rafa’s dream of conquering Bjorn Borg’s record faded forever? The answer is Yes.

Rafael Nadal now possibly cannot wait to board the flight to Heathrow, London.

IPL 2: Hurricane Gilchrist Sweeps Delhi Off Their Feet!

2009-05-23T12:40:00.006+08:00

Adam Gilchrist has given more outright joy to followers of the game than any cricketer since Ivan Vivian Alexander Richards. Once Gilchrist called it quits, he was missed as a cricketing force, as a contributor and as an entertainer. Thanks to the advent of IPL, one could get another chance to see this man do what he does best. Entertain. Gilchrist did exactly that when he came out to bat last night to chase 154 set by Delhi Daredevils in the first semi-final of the IPL and single handedly won the match for Deccan Chargers to reach the finals.

No one had watched batting of such brutality so far the way Gilly batted last night. 20-20 cricket for me is like watching the highlights of 50-50 cricket. If that holds well, what the hell was last night’s semi final chase by Gilly? Was it like watching highlights of the 20-20 game? He played with the same gusto that had set him apart from others during his hey days. He showed why he was such a force in his days and reminded everyone why bowlers had that primal fear at the sight of this man at the crease. When he came out to bat yesterday, he retained his signature attitude, impressed crowds with merriment as he slayed bowlers with swashbuckling strokes.

After he scored 5 consecutive boundaries off Dirk Nannes first over and the first of the innings to score 21 off it, no one from Delhi Daredevils displayed good body language. They appeared that they were fighting a lost cause as Gilly didn’t spare anyone. He was in murderous mood and murdered almost every Delhi bowler. As Sehwag mentioned in post match presentation, no one had a clue what was happening at the middle when Gilly was batting.

Gilly scored the fastest 50 off just 17 balls and ended his innings of 85 off a mere 35 balls before doing the damage heavily and ensuring that his other batting colleagues had an easy task ahead. His innings was truly a definition for skipper’s knock and no one could have defined this better than he did.

Gilly provided cricket lovers an opportunity to witness the batting at its very best and entertained everyone. I do hope he comes back next year too and keep everyone entertained.

I dont want to cry Fed!

2009-05-21T15:09:00.003+08:00

The whole world is busy stocking up face masks as a precautionary measure to stay off possible swine flu epidemic. I am not. I am in fact stocking facial tissues instead because in a few days time the three things that I hate passionately will come and haunt me sizing me down to tears. The three things I mean are “Clay”, “Rafael Nadal against Roger Federer” and “Rafael Nadal on Clay”. I do have developed a bad habit of breaking down and have picked it up from Roger Federer. Yes I do cry and give Roger a good company whenever he breaks down. At the same time, I am hoping against the hope that my facial tissues won’t come of use this time in the hope that Federer beats Nadal at Roland Garros . So the next couple of weeks starting next week, I am doubtless I see my emotions flare, witness happiness and soak in sadness etc as the French Open at Roland Garros gets underway.

There was some respite coming Roger’s way last week when the Swiss Master beat the world no.1 comprehensively in straight sets in Madrid Masters Tournament. Although the surface was clay, the court was too fast paced unlike the one at Roland Garros and was to Roger’s liking where he loved the ball coming onto his racquet nicely as he always does. He made full use of the newly laid Monola Santana Centre Court conditions and beat the tired Rafael Nadal in the finals to win his 15th Masters tournament needing 2 more to break the world record of 17 Masters wins held by Andre Agassi.

While it’s good to have a win against Nadal on clay before going into the Roland Garros, Roger knows that it means nothing as he has experienced before. Roger beat Rafa in Hamburg in 2007 on clay before going into the French Open only to be beaten in the finals a couple of weeks later by the King of Roland Garros.

To add to his agony, the times have changed from then to now. Roger was focused and strong mentally then. Now, the super-cool, fiercely focused, unbeatable-in-big-matches Roger Federer – has been behaving strangely. Like losing his cool, losing his focus, and like losing big matches as easily as he once won them.

In fact, his behaviour has become as retro as those knitted cardigans and blazers that he dons at Wimbledon, taking back to the days when he did stupid things as well as anyone; when in his own words: "I was throwing my racket like you can't imagine … I mean, I was getting kicked out of practice sessions when I was 16. I used to talk much more, too, and scream on court."

The lack of a proper coach is also showing up with every passing failure and every little emotional convulsion, be it a smashed racquet, recourse to tears or dejected press conference. He sacked Peter Lundgren as his coach in 2003 and then, two years ago, parted with the astute Australian Tony Roche.

Despite all these problems, I do hope the Swiss Ace makes it to the finals this time surpassing the resurgent Andy Murrays, Verdascos, and Djokovics to beat his two nightmarish nemesis, clay and Rafael Nadal.

We will know in two weeks time whether Federer wins or did I use my facial tissues.

Who said there is no fun in sports injuries?

2009-05-16T00:16:00.009+08:00

Do anyone like to see an injury to a player where sometimes player's career and life could be in question? But sometimes as a fan, you are left with no choice but to sit back and laugh when an athlete gets hurt. There are instances where an athlete does something so stupid, or is so careless, that you have absolutely no sympathy for his injury and wonder how these guys actually get paid to do something with their bodies. Here are some of the stupid, strange and funny athlete injuries.

Football:

Lomana Tresor LuaLua had a scan on the foot injury that kept him out of Portsmouth's last three matches in the English Premiership. The DR Congo striker damaged the joint of his left foot after celebrating an equalizer in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal last year with a somersault. LuaLua, 25, had promised to refrain from back flips until Pompey were safe from relegation in the Premiership but paid the price for a change of mind.

Dave Beasant, the former England goalkeeper, ruptured his ankle ligaments avoiding a falling bottle of salad cream he had just taken out of his fridge. He was injured for two months.

David James, an England goalkeeper, pulled a muscle in his back when reaching for a TV remote control. No wonder they call him ' Calamity James'.

Santiago Canizares, Spain's 2002 World Cup goalkeeper, missed the matches after he had dropped a bottle of cologne on his foot and injured it.

Rio Ferdinand, the England defender, injured a tendon behind his knee while watching TV with his foot up on a coffee table.

Cricket:

Derek Pringle, the former England cricketer, sat down to write a letter before a Test match and stretched his back only to put his back out.

Baseball:

Adam Eaton, the baseball pitcher, apparently stabbed himself while attempting to open a DVD in 2001.

Wade Boggs missed several games for the Winston-Salem Red Sox after hurting himself putting on his cowboy boots.

Vince Coleman missed the 1985 World Series after getting caught in the tarp machine.
[Tarp is machine for removing the tarpaulin covering on a pitch]

Golf:

Sam Torrance, the former Ryder Cup golfer, fractured his sternum in 1993 when he fell over a plant pot whilst sleepwalking. He almost missed the matches at the Belfry.

Student scores, teacher stumped!

2009-05-14T13:47:00.004+08:00

A primary teacher starts a new job at a school in Bangalore and, trying to make a good impression on his first day, talks about IPL cricket matches and explains to his class that he is a Royal Challengers Bangalore fan. He asks his students to raise their hands if they, too, are RCB fans. Everyone in the class raises their hand expect one little boy, Johnny.

The teacher looks at the boy with surprise and says: Johnny, why didn't you raise your hand?'

'Because I'm not a RCB fan', Johnny replies.

The teacher, still shocked, asks: 'Well if you're not an RCB fan, then who are you a fan of?'

'I'm a Mumbai Indians fan, and proud of it', Johnny says it with pride.

The teacher could not believe his ears.

'Johnny, why are you a MI fan?'

'Because my mum and dad are from Bombay, and my mum is a MI fan and my dad is a MI fan, so I'm a MI fan too!'

'Well, 'said the teacher, in an obviously annoyed tone, 'that's no reason for you to be a MI fan. You don't have to be just like your parents all the time. What if your mum was a cheap model and a sleazy actress and your dad was a drunkard and a gambler, what would you be then?'

'Then', Johnny smiles and says, 'I'd be a RCB fan.'

Indian TV channel mothers the mother's day.

2009-05-11T22:05:00.011+08:00

People in many ancient cultures celebrated holidays honoring motherhood, personified as a goddess.

Here are just a few of those:

- Ancient Greeks celebrated a holiday in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods
- Ancient Romans celebrated a holiday in honor of Cybele, a mother goddess, March 22-25 - the celebrations were notorious enough that followers of Cybele were banished from Rome
- In the British Isles and Celtic Europe, the goddess Brigid, and later her successor St. Brigid, were honored with a spring Mother's Day, connected with the first milk of the ewes

Mother’s Day is observed worldwide on different dates. Different countries practice different traditions on Mother’s Day.

• Mother's Day in Britain -- or Mothering Sunday – is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent.
• The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day not only in the United States, but also in other countries including Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium. By the end of Anna Jarvis' life, Mother's Day was celebrated in more than 40 countries.
• In Spain, Mother's Day is December 8, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so that not only mothers in one's family are honored, but also Mary, mother of Jesus.
• In France, Mother's Day is on the last Sunday of May. A special cake resembling a bouquet of flowers is presented to mothers at a family dinner.
• The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament, the League of Women Voters and other organizations still organize protests on Mother's Day: The Million Mom March, protests at nuclear weapons sites, etc.

In India, there was never the practice of celebrating Mother’s Day. I am not saying Indians never honored their mothers. They did and in fact in Hinduism, Mother and Father are considered gods and the tradition of children worshipping their parents is long known. Hence the older generation of Hindus didn’t think they have to set one particular day for their Mothers and one day for their Fathers to honor them.

Not any more. The younger generation of today is completely hit hard by Globalization. They have become Coconuts. Brown from outside and white from inside. They neither follow Hinduism nor follow Western culture but are badly caught in between in a state of confusion and are completely oblivious of both cultures. Globalization, to a great extent has helped to make this Western festival to make its presence felt in India. So Mother’s day is celebrated in India now. This is fine and I am not against it because it gives them an opportunity and a day to remember their mothers.

What startled me is the way one of India’s leading Hindi TV news channel celebrated this day. Instead of educating people about this day’s history or running a program dedicated to motherhood or honoring them, they spent the entire day remembering and honoring bollywood’s mother of mothers Nirupa Roy and her colleagues who donned mother’s roles in bollywood movies. Yes, this is true. From dawn till dusk they showed mom related lines taken out from old Hindi movies repeatedly mothering the viewers. I was one of them as I saw the same thing over and over every time I stopped at this channel while channel swapping. To add to my agony, I get only one Indian news channel and I couldn’t escape.

I do hope someone sane (if any left) in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry very soon will wake up and guide these channels right way and set some guidelines on what to broadcast and what not to show. If they can’t celebrate a festival properly, they shouldn’t observe the same. By doing this, they have not honored mothers but have disrespected the beautiful thing called motherhood.

God bless “Young India” and Happy Mother’s day to all the beautiful mothers in this world.

I have “excellent poof-reading skills” - how grammatical errors see CVs binned

2009-05-08T21:57:00.001+08:00

A job applicant listed her interests as "cooking dogs" while another boasted of having "excellent poof-reading skills", a new survey of CV blunders has discovered.

Experts found that 94 per cent of job hunters risked missing out on vacancies through poor spelling, grammar or presentation on their CVs.

In some cases, applicants' attempts to impress potential employers failed through the odd missed word, with phrases such as: "I was responsible for dissatisfied customers."

For others, the omission of a single letter consigned their CV to the dustbin: "I am a pubic relations officer."

And sparing use of the comma led to seemingly embarrassing disclosures of equal note: "My interests include cooking dogs and interesting people."

From a sample of 450 CVs, researchers found that 81 per cent were laden with spelling and grammatical errors, while nearly half were poorly laid out.

Why would anyone want to employ a lawyer or a secretary who makes spelling mistakes or errors? If they can't pay attention to their own CV, why would you trust them to work on any of your documents?

Examples of CV blunders:

– My interests include cooking dogs and interesting people.
– As security guard my job is to pervert unauthorised people from coming onto the site
– I am a pubic relations officer
– I was responsible for dissatisfied customers
– My role involved coaching and mentioning
– I have excellent editing and poof-reading skills
– I relieved the conference manager
– I am a prooficient typist
– Socially I like to dine out with different backgrounds
– I get well with all types of people
– I was responsible for fraudulent claims
– While working in this role, I had intercourse with a variety of people
– Experienced sheet mental worker
– Highly adept at multi-tasting
– Left last four jobs only because the managers were completely unreasonable

My profound apologies to Mother Earth.

2009-05-05T14:41:00.008+08:00

I always celebrated my birthday a day before April 22nd as that was the day I was born. I knew nothing about the following day’s significance nor I gave a thought or tried to learn about it so long. I was self-centered and all that mattered to me was to have fun and enjoy my birthday and not worry about the following day. Actually thinking, there is no harm in having fun or enjoying one’s special day but failing to understand the importance of the planet in which I am enjoying and having fun was criminal. I apologise. Now I am thinking vaguely that probably I would have received emails about this day’s importance for many years that I never opened to read, turning them to trash as spam. How much information I could have lost? I am now happy I gave a thought, understood and now I am thinking hard on doing my bit.

April 22nd is Earth Day. Having it on the mind stimulates a thought process that most of us do not engage in often.

• What is the state of our planet? Its resources? It’s overall health?
• What is my relationship with planet earth? Do I have one?
• Do I give back to this planet that provides me a home?

Different cultures teach us that the greatest wisdom of the earth is respect. Earth is intimately linked to our past and our future, and it holds the key to our survival. There is a belief that everything on earth, animate, inanimate, and in the sky has a spirit. The earth itself is often referred to as Mother Earth.

Native cultures respected and lived in harmony with the earth. What happened? Our modern world seems to have lost touch. Removed is the thought process that we have a responsibility to the earth.

God made the earth to provide us with all that we need. Why do we, as individuals and as a society, treat earth with such disrespect? Littering and filling landfills with products that cannot be naturally decomposed and damaging the earth and its environment.

I learnt that it is important to protect and respect our earth because earth gives us life. Earth gives me space for my happiness, fun and enjoyment. Why don’t we reciprocate by following simple steps such as these to start respecting the Earth?

● Show respect by not adding to the pollution. Stop thoughtlessly littering and become a responsible recycler.
● Embrace a green lifestyle. Use recycled products. Avoid driving and if you cannot, drive a gas efficient automobile. Little changes can have a big impact on the planet – vow to make those changes each day.
● Create the best for the earth by holding the vision of earth’s perfect health and harmony, in your mind’s eye. Hold that vision as if it is already taking place.
● Teach your children and grandchildren to love and respect the earth. Lead by your example. Spend time with them outside in nature.

While understanding Earth and its environment and people who have contributed for its cause, I stumbled upon this inspiring talk by Dr. John Francis that I want to share with you all today. For almost 30 years, Dr. John Francis has been a planet walker, traveling the globe by foot and sail with a message of environmental respect and responsibility (for 17 of those years without speaking).

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/391

Give just 20 minutes of your time and listen to Dr. Francis. That's all it takes to get inspired. Believe me, It’s thought provoking.

Wimbledon Centre Court - A victim of commercial reasons?

2009-05-01T22:22:00.004+08:00

Come this June and the Wimbledon centre court this time around will not look the same as it did from 1868. The centre-court, this year onwards will boast the retractable roof to be used during rains and there wouldn’t be any breaks for players and the audience from the famous Wimbledon intermittent rains.

This is both good and bad for the game. Good because it helps all commercial aspects as it will be a boon for spectators, players, broadcasters and officials. But it will put an end to impromptu performances by Sir Cliff Richard, and won't do anything for umbrella salesmen and exhibitionists. There wouldn’t be a sight of colorful umbrellas opening up in the stands anymore. Introduction of roof will certainly see a big shake up in the scheduling of matches in the 138 year old tournament.

It is bad because I feel for the past champions. Champions who not only had to put up grueling fights against their tough opponents, they also had to fight the weather gods which they were never trained for by any of their coaches during their careers.

For instance, Ivan Lendl was not fated to lose all the finals at Wimbledon because of his game. Who can forget that final he played against Boris Becker in 1986? Lendl was much ahead of Becker when strong winds and rain broke the momentum. Boris Becker too struggled with the winds but took that break to his advantage, thought carefully and came back mentally stronger than Lendl to win one of his greatest matches of all time to seal the victory. Lendl was a victim of factors that were not in his control nor that he was trained to combat. Had he was playing under the roof that night, he would have certainly won the grand slam that has haunted him till date and would have boasted the silverware in his collection.

Roger Federer too struggled with the strong winds and intermittent rain intervals against Rafael Nadal last year. He not only had to deal with a player of immense mental toughness and agility, he had to bear the challenges from Mother Nature and ended up losing against everything and proved to the whole world that night that big boys do cry.

I will always hold players who have won Wimbledon crown without the roof at high esteem and in my list Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Jimmy Conners, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, Andre Aggassi and Roger Federer will always remain as true champions who not only beat their opponents to win their coveted Wimbledon trophies but also defeated the weather that challenged them during every match that they fought on centre court.

An amazing 138 year old Wimbledon history is going to change this year with Wimbledon becoming another victim to commercial reasons.

The address might remain as SW19 as always but the glory of the park won’t be the same anymore.

Rx - Tennis.

2009-04-30T14:38:00.003+08:00

David, a management executive, has on his doctor's orders, to take part in some form of sporting activity. David decides to play tennis.

After a few weeks Shiela, his secretary asks him how he's doing.

'It's going very well, thanks,' David answers. 'When I'm on the court and I see the ball speeding towards me, my brain immediately says: 'To the corner! Back hand! To the net! Smash! Go back!'

'Really? What happens then?' Shiela enquires of David, in some awe.

'Then my body says, 'Who? Me? You must be kidding.'

Bali casts its magic on me.

2009-04-27T21:06:00.003+08:00

I went back to 1931 for the last one week in a place that is right next to paradise. I was in Bali with my wife to celebrate my 35th birthday as well as our 7th wedding anniversary in the Island of Gods. Balinese have their own calendar and this year in their calendar is 1931.

We both were fascinated by the temples, culture, religion, practice of ceremonies, dance, art, offerings to gods, love of the people etc. This magnificent piece of land that has embraced Hinduism, refreshed our minds on our religion unlike our home country, India, the birth place of Hinduism where the world’s oldest religion has become a victim of modernization. It is indeed very rare to come across a public performance of a dance or a skit based on greatest Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in India currently whereas one can watch them on a daily basis in Bali not for touristy reasons but purely as part of the Balinese lifestyle. A lifestyle that is tantamount with Hindu ceremonies.

Everywhere around Bali, the sight of women carrying rice-and-flower offerings on banana leaves was a common sight. Offerings are made twice daily to the gods of the house and to the gods honored in small shrines everywhere. The word Bali, dating from the 9th century, means offering.

We watched the Kecak dance atop a hill overlooking the magnificient Indian Ocean with the incredible view of the sunset. Kecak is one of the most famous of Balinese dances. It is unusual because it has no musical accompaniment like any other dance performance. The rhythm of the dance is produced by the chanting of 'monkey' chorus. It’s the forty or so men in the checkered pants that make Kecak a fascinating performance to watch.

They are both the choir and the props, providing the music for the story in a series of constant vocal chants that change with the mood of the actors. They don't sit still, either, they wave their arms to simulate fire, and reposition themselves around the stage to represent wind and fire, prison cells, and unseen hand of protection from the gods.

The dance is played in five acts and lasts roughly an hour. The plot is taken from the Hindu epic Ramayana, which tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita, who gets kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka, Rahwana. With the help of Hanuman, the white monkey and his force, Rama rescues his wife and defeats the evil Rahwana.

As we rode around the island on a motorbike, all we saw to our both sides was green patches of paddy fields, the planted rice terraces, the rice harvesters beating the grains off the stalks, duck shepherds walking their flocks to the fields, and water buffaloes turning over the empty fields. This lush, tropical island is full of visual delights, such as red-flowering banana plants or white-petaled trees. Though the Balinese are not well-to-do, they appeared to enjoy a good basic diet of rice, soybeans, and vegetables, with occasional animal protein. They live a life relatively free of unwanted western-style stress, but seasoned by the sweat of laborious work in the rice fields.

A few leisure visits to Balinese Art Galleries in Ubud, Bali made me believe that every Balinese is an artist. To perform or create art is something specially gifted to them by their gods. I was left doubtless that every child grows up with a sense of dance, art or crafts of some kind.

If you are planning a holiday in tropical island paradise, just consider Bali, an island that Jawaharlal Nehru once famously described as "the morning of the world". Bali is truly special and rare is the traveler who returns home untouched by its magic, especially the pervasive spirituality and compelling human bonds that the Balinese exhibit.

Stating the obvious

2009-04-24T22:14:00.004+08:00

Stating the obvious at Hok Tau Reservoir Hong Kong.

KP Breaks The Wall!

2009-04-16T15:34:00.003+08:00

IPL T20 fever has started again with just another couple of days before the second edition of the most sought after cricket tournament gets under way. It’s funny that it is still addressed as Indian Premier League even though the tournament is moved to South Africa. As a Bangalorean, I will be supporting Bangalore Royal Challengers even though the team performed badly in the first edition. There are changes in the team this time with the maverick Kevin Pietersen being roped in as Captain. Rahul Dravid has lost captaincy following the team’s dismal performance during the last chapter. Ray Jennings has been appointed as Coach.

Enter Pietersen, a man who takes hard options and knows he's good. It makes him gloriously un-English. The task he is about to undertake with the Bangalore Royal Challengers just about sums him up.

Think about it for a moment. Pietersen is returning to a country where voluble sections of the crowd regard him as a traitor. He will be captaining two men - Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher - who probably have their own views on his decision to leave South Africa. He will be playing for Ray Jennings, a coach who revels in his straight-talking toughness and for an owner - the whisky, airline and F1 magnate Vijay Mallya - whose expectations of success are such that last year he sacked his chief executive mid-tournament. He sure is going the football way.

There's more. Pietersen’s first game will be up against Shane Warne, who used to regard him as a close friend but now thinks him "weird" and will do everything he possibly can to make him look a dummy. His second game is against Andrew Flintoff, the man who denies having anything to do with his downfall as England captain. There is no doubt that cricket followers in South Africa would want Pietersen to fail miserably.

With so much against him much before the start, Pietersen certainly has a tough road ahead. He is a tough bloke and quite capable of turning the tide to his favour and all we can hope is that he does that quickly and ensures he not only proves to Vijay Mallya but to ECB Selectors also. The success will do a world of good to him when he locks his horns against Aussies for The Ashes.

Good luck Kev.

When Tiger had a bad day

2009-04-12T22:13:00.002+08:00

The Corridor of Uncertainty

2009-04-10T12:06:00.002+08:00

Sometimes life is like a game of cricket. Imagine you are batting and facing a bowler who is constantly pitching the ball in the corridor of uncertainty. You get caught between two minds whether to play at it or leave it. Can you keep letting it go? If you do, when will you score? The point is, if you are playing a test match, time is of no essence, but if you are playing an ODI or a T20 match, you have to start scoring from the word GO. Right?

That is the question on everyone’s mind who is thinking of investing in real estate now as they are caught between whether to invest or not to invest in property sector which has fallen drastically owing to global economic downturn. Is this the right time to buy your dream home or wait for some more time for the further fall? Will it fall further? If it falls, by how much will it fall? These are the questions that are troubling people and there seems no one is in a position to answer these questions convincingly.

This is like waiting for a bowler to bowl you a lolly pop or a fuller delivery on the slot for you to drive handsomely for that much needed boundary. Can you anticipate when you get that ball while batting? The answer is a simple NO.

So rather than waiting for the bowler to bowl you a loosener, the trick lies in taking some calculated chances by going for an aerial shot to clear the mid fielders so your opposite captain moves one of his mid fielders back to that scoring spot to open your area of your strength in the mid field or vice versa. Not all the times the trick works but then in real life too, not all the time your speculation comes true.

The market has fallen by a good 20 - 25% everywhere and I think rather than waiting further, people should go ahead with their investment plans by taking some chances. Because it’s a weak bowler who is bowling at you currently and it’s always good to score runs off a weak bowler before your opposite captain sends in his spearhead. If there is another weak bowler coming in next then it gives you some lead time to read the wicket before you take off.

So If I am an investor now, I will take some time to read the wicket and go with my chances. I say this because I see another ordinary bowler coming at me soon. May be this helps me in scoring as many runs as I want at the end of the game. Because the more runs I get on scoreboard, better is my chances of winning.

I might be wrong. How about you? Will you be taking similar chances?

Hung Over? Try These Techniques

2009-04-09T14:58:00.002+08:00

The ancient Scottish cure for a whisky hangover is the Highland Fling. If you’re not feeling too sick, heat a pint of buttermilk and stir in a tablespoon of cornflower. Then season with salt and pepper.

Scuba divers claim crawling out of bed and taking a blast from an oxygen tank does a wonderful job of blowing away cobwebs. The idea is that increased oxygen speeds up the metabolism, which in turn increases the speed of breaking down poisons.

A more holistic approach to curing headaches is pinching your hand between your thumb and forefinger. That part of the hand is a nerve junction and an acupressure point which is supposed to release tension in the head neck. The advice is to pinch quite hard for thirty seconds every five minutes until the headache subsides.

Some Puerto Ricans rub a slice of lemon or lime in the armpit of their drinking arm before they start drinking to stop a hangover before it starts. Apparently, lemon prevents dehydration and therefore headaches because it helps retain fluid.

In Outer Mongolia, a pair of pickled sheeps eyes in tomato juice is thought to be the answer to a thumping head and cattle ropers in the Old West drank tea brewed from rabbit droppings.

In Ancient Rome, party-goers breakfasted on sheep lungs and two owl eggs and in ancient Greece the cure was deep-fried canaries.

In Haiti, those hit with a hangover make a voodoo doll from the bottle of alcohol which caused the hangover in the first place. They recommend sticking 13 black pins in the wine bottle's cork.

A popular remedy not recommended for pregnant women or the elderly is the Prairie Oyster. It includes a whole raw egg and Worcestershire sauce, seasoned with salt and pepper. The aim is to swallow the concoction in one gulp without breaking the yolk.

The Japanese recommend umeboshi pickled plums to relieve hangovers. The advice is to bite of a quarter of the plum and allow it to dissolve in your mouth. But for a stronger hangover, one whole plum is recommended, which takes about half an hour to dissolve. Umeboshi contains pyric acid, which is supposed to restore the stomach to good health.

Shah Rukh Khan in a spot of bother

2009-04-07T18:47:00.003+08:00

What do Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly, Shane Warne, Stephen Fleming and Glen McGrath have in common?

Answer: Common Sense. They all dislike John Buchanan’s ideas and their disliking makes complete sense to me.

Perhaps the only man who has failed to understand what John Buchanan, Kolkata Knight Rider’s coach is upto is their owner Shah Rukh Khan. He publicly reacted to Sunil Gavaskar’s comments on John Buchanan and his idea of having multiple captains. Shah Rukh Khan failed to note that there was nothing wrong in what Sunil Gavaskar wrote. Each word in that article made complete sense to anyone who has followed John Buchanan. By reacting, Shah Rukh Khan has jumped the gun and has landed in a soft spot.

Sooner Shah Rukh Khan realizes that this is a team breaking theory from John Buchanan; the better it is for his team, his hard earned money as well as his own acting career. He should simply go ahead and appoint Saurav Ganguly as Captain of KKR for the entire season without toying with the idea of having multiple captains as suggested by John Buchanan. I say this helps Shah Rukh Khan’s acting career because if he goes with the idea, ignores Saurav Ganguly and in the event KKR loses badly, Shah Rukh Khan can rest assured that his movie releases would be affected in entire West Bengal state.

For Shah Rukh Khan, KKR is a passionate investment as he loves Cricket. He should realize that his passion or hobby should not come in way of his core competencies which are his acting and producing movies. If his day job gets affected, he will allow his friends in the industry to laugh at his expense. You all know who I am talking about. Mr. Gavaskar will never hesitate in coming back hard at Shah Rukh if KKR loses because of John’s rubbish ideas. Does he want all these?

Shane Warne, legendary spin doctor late last year said Buchanan was a "goose" and his "verbal diarrhoea" epitomized a worrying big-headed culture. He was spot on as it was the arrogance which brought once mighty Australian team tumbling down to ground. There is a lesson here for Shah Rukh Khan to learn.

“I have played under Buchanan and I know he has a lot of theories, may be this is another one. I don’t know why he (Buchanan) has come up with this idea. I like a single captain idea” said the legendary Glen McGrath yesterday and he certainly knows what he is talking.

Mr. Khan, are you listening?

Mistakes Captains Do

2009-04-06T13:51:00.004+08:00

I hate to watch one sided test matches especially if it is a decider. They are such waste of time. The current third test between NZ and India is one such match. This test was a must win game for NZ to level the series and to save from handing India its first series win in NZ after 41 years. The way the match is progressing, NZ doesn’t have any chances of drawing the match forget leveling the series. The only man responsible for the state at which the NZ team has landed in this match is their captain Daniel Vettori.

He won the toss and elected to field. Why did he do that? What was he thinking? The wicket was not a green top and as soon as India Captain MS Dhoni and his mates saw the wicket during their practice session before the start of the game, all they wanted to do was to bat first. MS Dhoni couldn't believe his luck to see a brown wicket and must have danced along with his players in the dressing room on Vettori’s expense when Vettori decided to field first after winning the toss.

In test cricket, if you bat first you get two chances. If you're dismissed cheaply, you still have the chance to put pressure on the opposition by bowling well and setting a defensive field. These two factors can lead to wickets falling.

Why did Vettori opt for an extra seamer when he had a world class spinner in Jeetan Patel? He didn’t have to go in for an additional seamer when he had Jesse Ryder at his disposal who has proved that he can bowl and take wickets.

A captain can’t afford to make such silly club level mistakes when his team is up against a hungry side like India with each one of its players out there to prove something and certainly not against a team with such strong batting line up especially when your back is against the wall.

The wicket proved a home away from home for the Indians. Batsmen and the tail enders piled on runs to set a decent first innings total. For Vettori, mistakes proved too costly, nothing went right in this test match with his batsmen failing miserably and his bowlers going for runs. Daniel Vettori is all set to enter into record books by becoming the first black caps captain to lose a test series against India after a little more than four decades. A record he wouldn’t have expected in his wildest dreams in such an illustrious career.

All one can say to Vettori now is Tough luck mate!

Was it G20 or T20 for Silvio Berlusconi?

2009-04-03T18:24:00.005+08:00

The Queen became a super star when her highness put Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in place after Mr. Berlusconi behaved like a T20 spectator during the photo shoot to mark the G20 summit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSUn_J__MUk

The footage shows the Queen gesturing in mild irritation at the Italian leader as she posed with President Barack Obama and other world leaders in the traditional "family" photograph at Buckingham Palace to mark the G20 summit.

As the photoshoot ends, Mr. Berlusconi is heard shouting: "Mr. Obama, Mr. Obama," prompting the Queen to turn round, sigh and raise her arms in mock frustration, before saying: "What is it? Why does he have to shout?"

Within minutes, the Queen's burst of annoyance - which came despite an attempt by Mr. Obama to silence Mr. Berlusconi by responding in a low voice - had become a worldwide hit after being posted on Italy's YouTube site.

Below Par?

2009-04-03T17:05:00.002+08:00

After a particularly bad round of golf, Robert decided not to go to the nineteenth hole [the clubhouse bar] and started to go straight home.

As he was walking to the golf car park to get his Range Rover, a policeman stopped him and asked', Did you tee off on the seventeenth hole about twenty minutes ago?'

'Yes', Robert answered.

'Did you happen to slice your ball so that it went over the trees and out of bounds and completely off the golf course?'

'Yes, I did. How did you know?' Robert questioned.

'Well', said the policeman gravely', your golf ball flew out onto the main road and crashed through the windscreen of a BMW. The car driver lost control and crashed into six other cars and a fire engine. The fire engine was unable to reach the fire in time and the building burned down. Now, what do you intend to do about it?'

Robert thought it over very carefully and responded, I think I'll close my stance a little bit, tighten my grip and lower my right thumb.

Monay to Friday?

2009-04-02T15:17:00.001+08:00

Delicious typo error!

Cricket as taught to an American

2009-04-01T12:58:00.002+08:00

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.

Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.

When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.

Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.

When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Point to Ponder: Lil wonder why Americans hate Cricket!

Simon Says....

2009-03-31T14:49:00.007+08:00

Before the start of this season, American Idol said Simon Cowell will be softer in his judgements this time around.

The best part of watching “American Idol” for me is to listen to sly comments from the most mordant judge Simon Cowell and I can say that he has not mellowed down. Here are some from this year's show.

"You are a complete and utter drama queen. I’ve never met anyone else in my life, with the exception of Paula, who was so desperate to be famous." -- To Tatiana Del Toro

"We know you're a good singer, but I thought that was clumsy and amateurish." --To Danny Gokey

“I couldn’t wait for it to end.” - To Michael Sarvar

"The good news is, you look good. The bad news is, it was horrible, and whoever is advising you, I would fire." --To Megan Joy

"Standing now the way you are, you could be at a bus stop." --To Kris Allen

"I couldn't understand a single word. ... You could have been singing in Norwegian." --To Michael Sarver

“It's as if you were one of those girls who have to sing at a wedding and are forced to sing a song somebody's requested." --To Lil Rounds

"I thought it was absolute indulgent rubbish." --To Adam Lambert

"It was corny, and you were out of your depth." --To Jorge

"The vocals were brilliant. You are one heck of a singer. ... The dancing was hideous." --To Danny

"It's fine being artistic. Just not on this show." --To Scott

"You are beginning to become a bit boring." --To Jasmine

"You’re like a little hamster trying to be a tiger." -- to Alex Wagner-Trugman

"Nathaniel, I think you probably would." -- To Nathaniel Marshall who sang "I Would Do Anything For Love," by Meat Loaf

"You've actually got kind of a nice voice, but it was too cool for school." --To Jesse

"It was arguably one of the most atrocious performances we have ever had at this stage of the competition." --To Nick/Norman Gentle

Cricket Extras - SMS of the week

2009-03-31T13:47:00.002+08:00

[An SMS chat on Cricket]

Brother Spin [in New Zealand]: "Just met a bloke called Mike Whitney. Says he played 12 Tests for Australia. Any amusing anecdotes?"

The Spin: "Ask him about the time he dropped Botham at Old Trafford in 1981"

Brother Spin: "Mike says f*** off"

Old man scares off burglars with a bugle!

2009-03-27T17:26:00.003+08:00

A pensioner scared off two burglars who broke into his home with a loud blast on his bugle

Alex West, 78, hid behind a door and gave the two men a "short sharp burst" when they crept past.

The bachelor, who lives alone, keeps the homemade instrument on his pillow for "emergencies".

He said the burglars, who broke in through a downstairs window at 2.40am on Wednesday, ran off empty-handed only to be caught by Police.

Mr. West said “It's is the best burglar alarm a man can have. Now the neighbours will always know if I'm in trouble".

Point to Ponder: Burglars blown away?

The Decider Decides To Write Decision Points.

2009-03-25T22:58:00.006+08:00

Former US President George W Bush, probably the most quoted President, who once famously called himself a “Decider” has decided to write a book about some of the decisions he made during his eight years in office, tentatively called Decision Points.

If his writing turns out to be as good as his speeches were or if he decides to include his quotes that he came up with during his tenure in this book, Decision Points will sure be an International Best Seller. Let's take a peek at some of his quotes.

Here they are:

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” - George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

"One of the very difficult parts of the decision I made on the financial crisis was to use hardworking people's money to help prevent there to be a crisis." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 12, 2009

"In terms of the economy, look, I inherited a recession; I am ending on a recession." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 12, 2009

“The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the — the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice.” -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003.

"I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2008

“I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport.” —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001

"He was a great father before politics, a great father during politics and a great father after politics." -George W. Bush, on his father, George H.W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 2008

“Wow! Brazil is big.” after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 6, 2005

"I'm coming as the president of a friend, and I'm coming as a sportsman." -George W. Bush, on his trip to the Olympics in China, Washington, D.C., July 30, 2008

"Amigo! Amigo!" -George W. Bush, calling out to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Spanish at the G-8 Summit, Rusutsu, Japan, July 10, 2008

"Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people." -George W. Bush, Charlottesville, Va., July 4, 2008

"And I, unfortunately, have been to too many disasters as president." -George W. Bush, discussing flooding in the Midwest, Washington, D.C., June 17, 2008

"Your eminence, you're looking good." -George W. Bush to Pope Benedict XVI, using the title for Catholic cardinals, rather than addressing him as "your holiness," Rome, June 13, 2008

"We've got a lot of relations with countries in our neighborhood." -George W. Bush, Kranj, Slovenia, June 10, 2008

"One of the things important about history is to remember the true history." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 6, 2008

"Let's make sure that there is certainty during uncertain times in our economy." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 2, 2008

"We got plenty of money in Washington. What we need is more priority." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 2, 2008

"And so the fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there are jobs at the machine-making place." -George W. Bush, Mesa, Arizona, May 27, 2008

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008

"Removing Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my presidency, it is the right decision now, and it will be the right decision ever." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 12, 2008

"And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." --George W. Bush, to Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? ... That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2008

"Caution Slippery Floor" sign on a carpeted area!

2009-03-25T13:26:00.005+08:00

What a great start I had to my day today. I saw this caution sign on a dry carpeted area at my office lobby in Hong Kong. I bursted out and clicked this picture.

Drunk driver crashes, exposes pot farm.

2009-03-24T10:03:00.001+08:00

Authorities in San Diego said a 63-year-old man suspected of drunken driving crashed his pickup truck into a neighbor's house, leaving a gaping hole and revealing a small marijuana farm inside. San Diego police got a search warrant after the Sunday afternoon crash and confiscated more than 20 pot plants from the house.

Police said no one was inside the house, and neighbors told officers the residents were gone on a ski trip. No one was injured in the crash.

Point to Ponder: Who said “drunk driving” is bad?

Songs to listen to during economic slowdown!

2009-03-22T11:24:00.003+08:00

With the global economy in doldrums, more and more of us are starting to feel the heat. Of course, this is not the first time the world has found itself falling on hard economic times, and there are plenty of songs about tightening one's budget. Here's a list of 10 of the great folk songs to listen to during this economic slowdown.

1. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" by EY Harburg and Jay Gooney.

This is one of the most popular songs left over from the Great Depression, and was written in 1932. The lyrics talk from the point of view of the average American worker who built the railroad and other areas of modern industry and then were discarded from their jobs after the stock market crash.

Lyrics:

They used to tell me I was building a dream.
And so I followed the mob When there was earth to plow
Or guns to bear I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead.
Why should I be standing in line just waiting for bread?

2. "All I Want (I Don't Want Your Millions Mister)" by Jim Garland

This song seems suddenly incredibly relevant again, as it talks about difficult economic times from the point of view of the average folks who must struggle in the face of layoffs while Wall Street gets bailed out by the government. It was written by Jim Garland in the 1930s and performed by the Almanac Singers.

Lyrics:

Now, I don't want your Rolls-Royce, Mister,
I don't want your pleasure yacht.
All I want's just food for my babies;
Give to me my old job back.

3. "Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)," by Randy Newman

Randy Newman has always been a songwriter of tremendous nostalgia and foresight, and this song from his 1974 release Good Old Boys talks to the struggle of the working class during difficult economic times.

Lyrics:

I know it may sound funny
But people everywhere are running out of money
We just can't make it by ourself
It is cold and the wind is blowing
We need something to keep us going
Mr. President have pity on the working man

4. "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" by Blind Alfred Reed

This tune by the great Blind Alfred Reed was recorded in 1929, the same year as the stock market crash. The lyrics look at a time not too long ago when the average working person could afford the basic things they needed to get by. Then, in the wake of Wall Street's demise, suddenly had to struggle just to make ends meet. Sound familiar?

Lyrics:

There once was a time when everything was cheap,
But now prices nearly puts a man to sleep.
When we pay our grocery bill,
We just feel like making our will

5. "No Depression in Heaven," by AP Carter

This song, from one of folk music's most lauded family bands, was recorded originally in 1936, when the Great Depression had been affecting the country for some time. It talks about just being tired of watching the effects of hard times on their fellow man. It's a spiritual song about the promise of there being no economic hardship in the afterlife.

Lyrics:

I'm going where there's no depression,
To the lovely land that's free from care.
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble,
My home's in Heaven, I'm going there.

6. "Do Re Mi," by Woody Guthrie

"Do Re Mi" is one of many anthems by Woody Guthrie about not having enough money to get by. It tells the story of families who went to California during the Great Depression thinking there would be plenty of work and jobs, and finding instead that they wound up even further in poverty and debt.

Lyrics:

California is a garden of Eden
A paradise to live in or to see
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.

7. "Workin Man Blues," by Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard has always written compelling story-songs, and his "Workin Man Blues" is no exception. The song talks about having an impressive work ethic, despite the fact that working never seem to bring home enough money to make ends meet.

Lyrics:

It's a big job just gettin' by with nine kids and a wife
I been a workin' man dang near all my life
I'll be working long as my two hands are fit to use
I'll drink my beer in a tavern,
Sing a little bit of these working man blues

8. "They'll Never Keep Us Down," by Hazel Dickens

Hazel Dickens has recorded a number of songs singing from the perspective of working class struggle. "They'll Never Keep Us Down" is a determined song encouraging the working class to organize and demand fair pay for their hard work, as every day is a recession for the working class.

Lyrics:

United we stand
divided we fall
for every dime they give us
a battle must be fought

9. "Sixteen Tons," by Tennessee Ernie Ford

This classic tune by Tennessee Ernie Ford has been performed by Frankie Lane and Merle Travis, among others. It talks about the everyday plight of the working class, with lyrics that speak out about how it feels to work so hard and walk away without enough pay to support your family.

Lyrics:

You load sixteen tons an' what do you get?
Another day older deeper and debt.
St Peter don't you call me I cause can't go:
I owe my soul to the company store.

10. "The Day They Closed the Factory Down," by Harry Chapin

It doesn't always take a dip in the stock market for people to get laid off in large numbers. This song by Harry Chapin talks about the closing of a factory so that jobs could be taken to place where labor was cheaper.

Lyrics:

All their words of wisdom
won’t make you go away
The day they closed the factory down
They had nothing left to say

Will 42 get better of 41?

2009-03-20T07:20:00.005+08:00

Before hitting my laptop’s keys today, I thought why I should write about this man when the whole world has written millions of good words about him already and are still writing. I could have easily chosen not to write yet relish another magnificent innings by recalling those wonderful shots in my mind and sharing my views on them with my friends like most fans do. But I just couldn’t hold myself. I decided to punch in the words about this genius and his never ending batting brilliance. This is what he does to people. He makes people take note of him every time he bats and he is doing that consistently for the last 20 years. I am talking about Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar is a “once-in-a-hundred-years-batsman” whose durability and skill have for many years uplifted Indian cricket team. Ever since he first appeared as a gifted teenager, Tendulkar has known nothing except exorbitant expectations.

Even in this test which is his 157th, the expectations from his bat was the same as it was 20 years back. He didn’t disappoint his fans and scored a ton and was still unbeaten at the time of writing this article and hopefully it helps in India winning its first test in NZ soil after 33 long years.

What a journey this man has had. He became a public property at 16. He still has no place to hide. Every time he leaves his home it is an appearance; he loves his swanky cars but can drive only in the dead of night. He is god fearing but can only visit the temple in the middle of the night when his city sleeps. These difficulties have never hindered his game. He has remained on top of his game despite this abnormal and insane lifestyle.

For most part of yesterday and this morning, what we got to see at Seddon Park was a vintage Sachin. He scored his 42nd test hundred in his 157th test and in the process of this fantastic innings, shots came from his blade as if it came from a young batsman who was making his arrival. Not for a moment he appeared lazy. Those cover drives and those powerful cuts had his signature all over them. Those flicks off the pads and those elegant off side punches on the back-foot reflected his class. That sumptuous back-foot cover drive for four to bring up his half century yesterday is the shot I will cherish for a long time to come.

Dravid missed out yesterday again in converting his 66 into what could have been a classy hundred. That said, during this innings, he proved that the cement in “The wall” is still strong. Dravid brought up his 54th Test fifty soon after Tendulkar's arrival, cracking his 10th boundary before a superb Iain O'Brien delivery dissected his bat and pad to give him the sound of timber.

Will this 42nd ton from the genius get better of India’s 41 year-old series win drought in NZ? Well I guess we will have to wait and see in the hope that Sachin’s hundred proves vital in ending what has already been a really long wait for the Indian Cricket Team.

Beat the heat.

2009-03-19T13:43:00.004+08:00

Summer is setting in and with the effects of global warming; we could see an increase in temperature this year. People travelling to or living in countries known to hit higher temperatures must be careful and take note of how to recognize and handle a heat stroke.

Also called sunstroke, heat stroke is a very serious, life threatening condition. Learn how to recognize it and to handle it.

Here's How:

If someone's body temperature reaches 105 degrees, they could have heat stroke.

If a person has heat stroke, the person probably isn't sweating much.

If a person has heat stroke, the skin will be hot and red.

If a person has heat stroke, the person may be dizzy or nauseous.

If a person has heat stroke, his/her pulse may be rapid.

Apply cool water or apply cold packs to the person's body to lower the temperature.

If the person is conscious, provide small sips of salt water.

Do not give any drugs, alcohol or caffeine to the person. Take the person to a nearest doctor.

To prevent heat stroke, wear light, loose fitting clothes and a hat in the sun.

To prevent heat stroke, drink a lot of water (even if you don't feel thirsty).

To prevent heat stroke, take in a little more salt than usual with meals. This helps retain water.

Survivors to tie knot.

2009-03-19T13:28:00.001+08:00

The Chinese Government is to pay for a group wedding of 40 survivors who lost spouses in last year’s deadly Sichuan earthquake to help create new families. Ten of the 40 people to wed will be public officials.

Point to Ponder: Family Planning??

Recession Beater!

2009-03-18T17:02:00.003+08:00

As seen outside a Hong Kong Bar.

“Wash Dog” for the Watch Dog!

2009-03-17T08:16:00.001+08:00

A coin-operated self-service dog-washing machine ("self" meaning the dog's owner, not the dog) has been introduced in a half-dozen carwashes in the United States recently, at $10 for 10 minutes. The "K9000" is a 3-foot-high, walk-in shower area (or push-in, for reluctant dogs) with an open top, has six separate wash cycles, conditioner and flea-and-tick options, and adjustable water pressure and dryer settings.

Point to Ponder: Homeless dogs, it’s time to find owners. Isn’t it?

Order Order! (but nothing is in order)

2009-03-16T08:44:00.002+08:00

A state-of-the-judiciary report recently by Chief Justice AP Shah of the High Court in Delhi, India, estimated that the backlog of cases in the country's notoriously sluggish legal system would take up to "466 years" to clear. Shah acknowledged that progress had been made since 2007, with 56,000 cases cleared, at an average time of five minutes per case, but that systemic problems remained, among them corruption, the complexity of laws and the low quality of judicial personnel. (One property case from the 1950s was not resolved until the mid-1990s.)

Your honour, when is the next hearing please?

Writing a Nation!

2009-03-14T10:24:00.004+08:00

The political unrest, suicide bombings, increased terrorist activities; safe heavens for radicals, jehad, talibanisation etc are very few topics that hit one’s mind when we speak of Pakistan today. For a long time now these are the things we hear and get to see about Pakistan on television news channels or get to read when we thumb down pages of international newspapers or magazines. Pakistan definitely is in the news for all wrong reasons.

What certainly is going good for Pakistan although is their literary scene. Yes, the literary field is safe under the hands of three excellent Pakistani writers in Mohammed Hanif, Nadeem Aslam and Daniyal Mueenuddin among many other writers.

I pick these three gentlemen in particular, as they are young, bold and certainly someone who could rebuild the image of Pakistan with some great writing.

Mohammed Hanif and Daniyal Mueenuddin have one thing in common. They both have come back to Pakistan after living outside of Pakistan for many years.

Mohammed Hanif was born in Okara, Pakistan. After leaving the Pakistan Air Force Academy to pursue a career in journalism, he worked for Newsline, India Today, and The Washington Post. He has written plays for the stage and screen, including a critically acclaimed BBC drama and the feature film The Long Night. Hanif is a graduate of University of East Anglia’s creative writing programme. He lived in London for 11 years and has written many columns for Gaurdian regularly while working for BBC. He is currently head of BBC’s Urdu Service and lives in Karachi. His first novel A case of Exploding Mangoes has become a huge hit and was long listed for The Man Booker. I met him and had a great conversation when he was here in Hong Kong early this week for the ongoing The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Hanif mentioned that he is currently working on his second book.

Daniyal Mueenuddin was brought up in Lahore, Pakistan and Elroy, Wisconsin. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, his stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Zoetrope, and The Best American Short Stories 2008, selected by Salman Rushdie. For a number of years he practiced law in New York. He now lives on a farm in Pakistan’s southern Punjab.

Nadeem Aslam continues to live in London. His latest novel is The Wasted Vigil, published in 2008, its title derived from a painting with the same title by a Pakistani artist.

Lets all hope that these gentlemen through their writing influence the rebuilding of what seems to be a battered country.

Treating Monkey as a Donkey proves fatal for owner.

2009-03-13T11:54:00.003+08:00

A monkey who was forced to climb trees by his owner took revenge by killing him with a coconut.

Monkey had its day when it fired the missile from the top of a tree after becoming frustrated with his tiring labour.

Leilit Janchoom, 48, had employed the monkey to pick coconuts which he could then sell for around 4p each.

The animal – named Brother Kwan – found the work tedious and strenuous but the cruel owner refused to let him rest, beating him if he refused to climb trees.

It is believed that the monkey eventually snapped, and targeted his owner from a high branch with a coconut.

Mr. Janchoom, from the province of Nakorn Sri Thammarat in Thailand, died on the spot after being struck by the coconut according to local news reports.

Point to Ponder: Is there a management lesson for employers in this story?

Happy days are back to Punter and Co!

2009-03-11T13:27:00.005+08:00

When Australia beat SA in the second test at Durban yesterday to lead the test series 2-0, they not only won against SA but they also won a battle against a barrage of cricket writers who wrote them off, fans who ridiculed them and millions of opponents worldwide and especially in India who laughed loud at their plight.

They have played a blend of cricket in the last fortnight only they know how to play. Remember, cricket writers around the world questioned Australians about their supremacy after they lost series in India, lost series at home against SA and performed badly against NZ at home. No one was fancying a 2-0 result in the first two tests against SA before they set foot in SA for 3 tests, 2 T20's and 5 ODIs grueling tour after such a bad run and when the chips were down.

I did ask a question in one of my pieces last month on whether their supremacy is over. Ponting and Co didn’t take much time to answer me and whoever questioned them. They are back where they belong after clinching this test series against SA. Only champion side knows how to come back and that is exactly what the Aussies showed.

SA showed their inconsistency by disappointing cricket followers with such an awful performance, a performance which lacked skill, mental toughness and everything that is needed in playing good competitive cricket and challenging a side who were coming back hard at them with their wounds still afresh.

I am doubtless Ricky Ponting will cherish this win for the rest of his life and may be regard this series win as one of the hallmarks of his career as this win also made Aussies retain the number one ranking.

Punter and co, go enjoy and rest for some more time on the throne that belonged to you for a long time.

Its time to scream Go Aussie Go!

The Phantom Cheapo strikes again!

2009-03-10T14:11:00.002+08:00

Brothers exchange same birthday card since 1973.

Darryl and Dan Culberson didn't have to wait for the latest recession to become frugal. The brothers have been saving money every year with a friendly game of one-upmanship when it comes to being cheap, exchanging the same birthday card since 1973. The tradition started when, in lieu of a present, 62-year-old Darryl sent his older brother a card of a masked bandit on a motorcycle with the caption, "The Phantom Cheapo strikes again!"

Darryl calls his 68-year-old brother "the cheapest person I've ever met."

Not to be outdone, Dan decided to send the card back when it was his brother's birthday.

So for 36 years, Darryl has sent the card in January to Dan in Boulder, and he sends it back to Darryl in Colorado Springs in March.

The card has yellowed over the years, and the greetings now run along the back cover, one concise greeting after another. The card is held together with tape.

With the brothers running out of room to write greetings, Dan jokes one of them will have to break down and buy a new card soon.

Point to Ponder: Can anything get cheaper than this?

Two different short cuts – Same result.

2009-03-09T13:27:00.001+08:00

Beijing: A 20-year-old migrant farmer, identified as Guo visiting the Great Wall was mauled to death by a Siberian tiger after trying to take a shortcut through a wildlife reserve.

The farmer and two companions from Xingtai, Heibei province, had visited a remote part of the Great Wall on Saturday. On their way home, the farmers ignored warning signs and climbed over three fences, including a meter-high electric fence, to enter Badaling Wild Animal World, a four- square-kilometer breeding ground that has more than 10000 wild animals.

As soon as Guo jumped down from the fence into the park, one tiger instantly pounced on him and bit him in the throat, police explained to Beijing Times. The other two farmers escaped and alerted the authorities.

Paris: A commuter train hit a group of football fans walking on rails in a Paris suburb, killing two brothers and injuring 11. The Lille fans took a short cut along the railway tracks after watching their team beat champions Lyon at the Stade de France.

Quote to remember: “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going – Beverly Sills”.

The Rodfather!

2009-03-08T10:24:00.005+08:00

What I realized last night was that we've hit an era of pop culture where the rock icons who launched in the '60s are now in their 60s.

Rod Stewart, who played last night at Asia World Arena, Hong Kong, is a bit more mortal. Mind you, he looks amazing for 64. His blonde hair still spikes up and he can still squeeze himself into a tight pair of jeans and make the ladies scream. And he did.

He didn’t even lack in the "wow" department -- the voice. It sounded raspy and worn as always, as if he gargled with Scotch before he sang each song. Hitting the stage with "Some guys have all the luck", he just took control of the night straight away.

He had a lot of help on that department though. At one point he joked, that he was offering "real value for your money up here." Indeed. He introduced his 21 year old daughter Ruby Stewart who sang “Son of a preacher Man” in one of the many mini quick breaks that he took. He had an elaborate stage with a highlander plaid curtain, a big screen and huge space to play. His band, decked out in matching suits, featured two drummers, two guitarists, two keyboard players, bass and three lively backup singers of whom one was pregnant. The band also had a totally hot female sax player who had men drool at her and a hot female violinist who made men sway to her tunes.

He wooed the crowd with classics “Downtrain train”, “Do ya think I ‘m sexy”, “Hot Legs”, “I don’t want to talk about it”, “Have I told you lately” and "Tonight's the Night before making some girls shed their tears to “The First Cut is the Deepest”.

The arena crowd was responsive, and, for the most part, was going wild over this spectacle. He managed to hype them up at the end with a classy “Maggie May” and a smooth finish with “I am sailing”.

It was a great evening and at the very end, everyone had the “Reason to believe” that Rod Stewart is still “The Rodfather” of what he is good at.

PC's hit the road in Hong Kong, the hi-tec city.

2009-03-06T10:11:00.004+08:00

Computerized Road Marking on Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong.

Jobs and Gates, is there an Marketing opportunity here?

Is domination also love?

2009-03-05T13:06:00.008+08:00

If love is the answer, could you rephrase the question. - Lily Tomlin

Most men end up complaining about their partners of opposite sex to their friends when they feel they are dominated by them even though they are of younger age or of same age. They feel their lives have changed and someone all of a sudden is controlling them. Well, this is not at all strange and it is very common with any men anywhere in this world.

Now picture this. What happens if the female partner is older than the male by a few years? Can the man have any say in the relationship? A few tough ones will but most wont.

Let’s take the situation to another level. What if the woman is 28 years older than the man in a relation?

Yes, I am talking about the pop icon Madonna and her new beau Jesus Luz. While it’s great for her to go around with someone named Jesus, will he survive longer even though he is Son of God?

Let’s hope he won’t start singing Mama don’t preach…

Want to Smile? Get ready to pay… :(

2009-03-04T14:10:00.002+08:00

A Russian operator of mobile advertising, Superfon, registered “Smiley”(Smiley is a stylized representation of a smiling human face, commonly represented as a yellow circle (or sphere) with two dots representing eyes and a half circle representing the mouth) as its trademark. Now the company intends to charge everyone who uses its trademark in its commercial advertising.

Smileys have become extremely popular all over the world for their ability to help people express their simple emotions online. Superfon registered the winking smiley – ;-) - at the Russian Patent Agency, Rospatent. Other smileys - :-), ;) and :) - are considered similar to the registered winking smiley and thus should not be used in commercial purposes.

Author’s Tip: Stop smiling. LOL instead.

Sped away and jailed!

2009-03-03T15:16:00.002+08:00

A 47-year-old British motorcyclist was jailed for six months for speeding at 195kph with his 14-year-old son riding pillion. Robert Bennett was also banned from driving for 18 months. Bennett, a cleaning supervisor from Barnstaple in southwest England, who is divorced from the son’s mother, admitted driving dangerously on his 1300cc Suzuki after picking up the boy from his ex-wife. He said his bike’s top speed is 322kph.

Point to Ponder: Sped away from (ex)wife or was speeding for thrill?

Rob, will you stop partying?

2009-03-02T15:10:00.007+08:00

You: Yo you got some cash in your wallet that I can borrow?

Your Friend: Yeah, how much do you need?

You: Gimme 20 million dollars.

Your Friend: Thats all. Take it.

Have you ever had this conversation with your friend? People in Zimbabwe often does.

It might sound funny borrowing millions of dollars from your mate but certainly doesn’t feel good as this reflects how bad the country’s economy is and this can happen only when you get hit by an inflation of 2.5m percent. People of Zimbabwe are carrying millions in their wallets but still are worthless as their currency means nothing and this is the current state of Zimbabwe.

One-after-the-one bad reforms and most notably, banning ownership of farm lands by whites by the then dictator Robert Mugabe has landed Zimbabwe in this worst state.

Now to set things right, New Zimbabwe PM and Mugabe rival Morgan Tsvangirai has appealed to the international community for US $5 billion loan to re-stabilize the Zimbabwean economy.

Instead of helping the new government in its efforts to re-build the battered country, Robert Mugabe is partying. Yes, despite a collapsed economy, food shortages and an out-of-control cholera epidemic in his country of Zimbabwe, Marxist dictator Robert Mugabe threw a lavish, US $250,000 party to celebrate his 85th birthday that included an 85 kilo (187 pound) cake.

The party, put together by Mugabe henchmen from his political party Zanu-PF, was held in Mugabe’s hometown of Chinhoyi, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) outside of the capital, Harare.

“The country might be having problems, but we need to have a day to honor the sacrifices the president has made for this country,” said Patrick Zhuwawo, Mugabe’s nephew.

100 animals were slaughtered for the birthday party, which included school children and banners reading “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number”.

New Zimbabwe PM and Mugabe rival Morgan Tsvangirai was reportedly invited, but opted instead to visit an intensive care clinic tending to cholera victims that needs US $30,000 to continue the operations.

No doubt Robert Mugabe is getting old. But when will he be wise?

Points To Ponder

2009-02-27T13:47:00.008+08:00

Some surprising and alarming footnotes:

1) Kabul’s population has increased from 300,000 in 2001 to 3m today.

2) Ireland was the second richest country in the OECD, behind Japan before the current economic recession.

3) In Britain, between 1991 and 2008, deaths directly attributed to alcohol almost doubled.

4) In 2007, total European stock market capitalization exceeded that of the US for the first time since 1945.

5) Isaac Newton invented the cat flap.

6) Windscreen wipers, laser printers and bulletproof vests were all invented by women.

7) Worldwide, the number of mobile phone users will overtake the number of non users this year for the first time.

8) Mao Zedong had a hair dresser called Big Beard Wang.

9) Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

10) There are five people under 18 in custody in Finland. In Britain, there are roughly 3,000.

11) Spammers usually need to send a million emails to get 15 positive responses.

12) Cumbria has the lowest number of homicides in England and Wales- none last year compared to 168 in London.

13) Brazil has more people of African descent than any other country outside Africa.

14) The production of a kilogram of beef omits the same amount of Carbon dioxide as the average European car driving 250 kilometers.

15) 11 out of 12 men to have walked on the moon were in the Boy Scouts.

Source: in fact, Prospect

Funny pix in the men's room..

2009-02-26T15:36:00.009+08:00

I clicked these pictures from my phone in the men's toilet of an Irish Bar in Hong Kong.

Looking at the man in the picture I thought I have a long way to go.

I was lucky I was not wearing a tie...

And I was still sane in my mind not to hug the toilet....

And finally I knew where to stand correctly...

It’s Camera, Lights and more Action for Frieda.

2009-02-25T13:12:00.005+08:00

Frieda Pinto’s life in the last few months makes a perfect screenplay. She had a dream debut as a leading lady in this year’s greatest movie Slumdog Millionaire, she was in the news for dumping her boy friend of four years to concentrate on her acting career, she was voted as ‘next style icon” by Vanity Fair magazine, got criticized by the so called Indian fashion gurus for creating a fashion disaster with her dark blue, beaded, one sleeved gown by designer John Galliano at the Oscar night.

Ouch! To be in the news so much in such a little time with just one movie in the kitty and wanting to make it big in the cut throat celluloid world can be very very stressful. You make more enemies than friends at this juncture. You suddenly land in a position where everyone becomes your advisors; focus can be easily lost and chances of becoming a one movie wonder looms large.

Well Frieda can only thank her good god for it was not the case with her though. Not only she has remained to stay focused, she continued to woo the industry leaders at the last Sunday’s Oscar night and bagged a role in the next prestigious Woody Allen productions. Now that’s certainly is a break as getting the second break right after a blockbuster debut is what it takes to shape a successful career.

Yes, the starlet is to feature in Woody Allen's next film, alongside Australian actress Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin and Sir Anthony Hopkins. She couldn't have asked for a better break than this. Could She?

"This year's Cinderella at the Oscar ball will join the long list of Allen's muses as she takes on the ingénue role in the still-untitled pic," industry paper Variety reported.

Let’s hope this muse from Mumbai goes on to make it big and bring home more accolades in the time to come.

Well done and good luck Ms. Pinto!

-Anil Kumar

Mahatma on Sale!

2009-02-13T16:40:00.006+08:00

A pocket watch that belonged to Mahatma Gandhi which clicked the time of India’s Independence, A pair of sandals in which Mahatma walked corner to corner, end to end, length to breadth of India in his quest for India’s independence and the Iconic spectacles that he wore and once he famously said “gave him vision to Free India” are all going under the hammer next month (4th and 5th March) in New York.

Auctioneers have priced these “invaluable” items for just £30,000 or US$ 42,000 but expect to get a bid higher than the set price.

Aren’t these priceless and should remain within India?

The government should step forward, buy and preserve all of Gandhi’s things by placing it in a place where it remains for generations to come so coming generations can draw inspiration from.

If the Government fails to act on this, a TATA, a AMBANI or a MALLYA should get their hands on these priceless possessions and gift it back to their fellow countrymen. After all, giving back to the community is also a part of Business.

It’s sad that Indian media didn’t even cover such an important issue in their so called news channels or national newspapers. Haven’t they got FREEDOM or INDEPENDENCE yet?

-Anil Kumar

And the week belongs to letter "B"....

2009-02-12T13:12:00.007+08:00

What’s with the letter “B” in this week’s big news around the world?

I am talking about the Bush Fires in Australia, BAFTA for A.R. Rehman, Brotherly Acts of Husseys and Pathans, Barack Obama’s Bailout stimulus plan etc.

The deadliest bush fires in Australia which started last weekend continued to blaze the Victoria State. At least 191 are confirmed dead and the death toll could touch 300 very soon. As of last night, there were 30 blazes still burning in Victoria and so far more than 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of land has been destroyed. Australian Police is probing an Arson attack after Prime Minister Mr. Kevin Rudd going on record emotionally saying that the act was nothing but a mass murder hinting towards Arson attack. The blistering heat with soaring temperatures of 46 degrees in the state is adding difficulties to the catastrophe. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s office said the federal government is planning a memorial service for the bushfire victims. “The whole nation stands with Victoria during this time of national tragedy,” it said in a statement.

In Entertainment News, the week began on a high note for Indian musicians with the prodigal Music Director A. R. Rehman bagging a BAFTA for his Music score in the rags to riches movie Slumdog Millionaire, making his claims much stronger for the much awaited and coveted Oscar. The legendary Indian Tabla Maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain was conferred a Grammy for Global Drum Project - nominated under the Best Contemporary World Music Album category. Hussain worked with Mickey Hart of the rock band Grateful Dead, Nigerian percussionist Sikiru Adepoju and Puerto Rican jazz percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo for the album. Apart from Zakir Hussain, there was an interesting line up for Indian nominees at this year's Grammy Awards. There was Louis Banks, who got nominated under the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category. Besides Banks, there were two more Indian musicians competing against each other in the Best Traditional World Music album category; Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya and Lakshmi Shankar.

In Cricket, this week saw two teams, Australia and India winning their respective ODI and T20 match against NZ and Sri Lanka mainly because of brotherly heroics. Australia went on to equal the ODI series against NZ 2-2 taking the series to the Brisbane decider. India won their lone T20 match against Sri Lanka to end the tour of Emerald Isle on a high. In both matches it was the brothers who played their hands in shaping their team’s victory. With Australia, it was the partnership between Hussey brothers which kept NZ away from winning the game and with India; it was the Pathans who joined hands to clinch the win away from Sri Lanka in an exciting T20 game.

This week also saw US Lawmakers agreeing on a $789 billion economic stimulus plan that President Barack Obama said is urgently needed to keep the country from sliding into a deeper recession. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether The plan bails the country out of recession or not? The year ahead is very tough and all we can hope is that Barack Obama’s plan turns out to be a miracle.

-Anil Kumar

Australian Cricket: Has the empire crumbled?

2009-02-08T20:24:00.004+08:00

South Africa came down under, saw a crumbling empire, licked their lips and conquered them by humiliating the world champs in both Test and One Day series and went back home to a tumultuous welcome by SA cricket fans.

Immediately, arch rivals Kiwis landed in Australia when the Aussies were still healing their wounds, humbled them with two consecutive one day international wins by rubbing salt to their wounds in one hand and licking manuka honey on the other. This was the fifth straight one day match loss at home for Aussies, who were number two before the home series against All blacks and now dropped to third position on ICC One Day rankings. So from today’s match the series is a battle among equals as both Aussies and Kiwis are placed 3rd and 4th in the ICC One Day Rankings.

Who in the cricketing fraternity imagined this state for the once mighty Australian team a year back? Today’s match, the 3rd ODI though Aussies won, they had to go through some anxious moments when Grant Elliot and Brendon McCullum were still at crease for the 8th wicket partnership.

Before the start of today's match, the Australian supporters, cricket writers and the Australian media panicked at the consecutive 2 match loss at the hands of All blacks. The Australian selectors did show that they were worried and sent an SOS call to the rested Ricky Ponting to come and join the team. The man answered the call, team members rejoiced and the openers fired when they batted first. Brad Haddin scored a quickfire century with 3 sixes and 8 fours and was supported by Mr. Reliable Michael Clarke who scored 64 and supported Brad Haddin well in an opening partnership of 135 runs.

This lead the platform to set a target of 302 for the Kiwis and they fell short by 32 runs to lose the match and hand Australia their first win in the last 6 ODI’s played.

Kiwis just need a win in the remaining 2 ODI’s to win the series to hurt the Aussies badly. That might set an end of the Australian regime at the top. The team for the tour of SA is announced and it will be a daunting task for the Aussies to challenge the South Africans at their backyard.

At the moment nothing is going good for Aussie Cricketers. They were not in great demand in the recently held IPL Auctions for the IPL T20 competition beginning April 2009.

Will they bounce back to the top where they sat firmly and enjoyed for nearly 2 decades? Only time will tell. Let’s sit back and see how they manage to pull up.

-Anil Kumar

Who said there is no “FREE LUNCH” in this world? Come to Bangalore, You can get “MARRIED FREE”!

2009-02-06T21:15:00.004+08:00

The great Indian marriage season is about to begin. Ask anyone in love and is planning to get married; they will know the pain that goes in planning, mobilizing funds and organizing everything to get that once-in-a-lifetime event happen without any glitch. This year especially, brides and grooms all over India getting into wed lock are undoubtedly worried due to rising costs, recession because of global credit crunch, worst economic meltdown, job losses and uncertainty looming over their future etc.

Not in the case of couples from Bangalore at least for a day. That’s right because this association in the name of “Sri Rama Sene” has volunteered to conduct mass marriages on 14th Feb 2009 (Offer valid for one day only!) to any couple celebrating St. Valentine’s Day, FREE OF COST in till recently known as the Garden city.

Yes you heard it right couples. The rules are pretty simple and straight forward. No registration required, No “first-come-first- serve” basis and No forming huge queues outside any office required. All you have to do is walk hand in hand or show affection with your partner publicly on Bangalore’s noted areas with a hug or a cuddle. To get noticed quickly, you could hold a bouquet of flowers in one hand and an Archies greeting card in another. That is all it takes. You will be greeted by some “Samaritans” of Sri Ram Sene and both you and your partner will be slapped, beaten, kicked and ultimately will be taken to the Sub Registrar’s office to get you both married.

Isn’t it simple friends? What? Did you say it hurts? Of course it hurts but look at the big picture; you are not spending a penny on your marriage during such a bad economic climate. Isn’t that a deal? Anyways 14th Feb is a Saturday so you get a day off next day to heal your wounds. Come on, you can’t have everything your way. Remember there is no gain without pain. Getting married FREE OF COST? It can’t get better. Trust me.

Well I do have a suggestion for Pramod, the leader of the gang of hooligans here. Why not start this noble exercise with our state’s first couple in love? Pramod, I am sure you know who I am referring to.

-AK

P.S: I am in no way responsible for any couple venturing out on 14thFeb to get married FREE OF COST.

Pub Culture, Government and it's Nonsense....

2009-02-03T15:23:00.005+08:00

Rioting and intolerable nonsense appears high on Karnataka Government’s wish list. Well that’s what our elected CM and his office proved. Recently the Government was quiet when monkeys of so called Sri Ram Sena took law into their hands to wreck and pillage the pubs as well as the pub goers in Mangalore, Karnataka. What was supposed to be “happy hours” that early evening of Saturday last turned out to be terrorizing ones for the pub goers. Young Men and Women who were enjoying their time in pubs and bars in Mangalore were pulled out, beaten, kicked and were given lessons on Indian Culture.

Is having good time with friends in pubs and bars wrong? Certainly it isn’t if the patrons are not into any anti-social activities. India is shining and is a major force when it comes to development. Vast part of development is because of this very generation of people who have put the country on world map for good reasons. May be it’s time to remind our politicians that 65% of India's population is under 35 if they didn’t know. Why can’t they let people lead their life the way they want to? This generation’s thinking is very much unlike that of BJP honchos who made our country a joke by constantly setting commotion in the name of Lord Ram. Lord Ram must have cried had he was watching this hooliganism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7yg-bdlmko

Mr. B. S Yediyurappa, Hon. Chief Minister of Karnataka stood by the stance of his colleagues at BJP that PUB CULTURE is against the Indian Culture and instead of taking action against the hooligans; he went on saying "Pub culture is against Indian culture and if pubs don’t exist, outfits such as Ram Sena also doesn’t exist". This explanation allows the younger generation to raise a question.

· Is beating and kicking men and especially women in India a part of Indian Culture?

Well then going by Chief Minister’s words on not encouraging Pub Culture, why can’t he relinquish the licenses of the pubs and bars in town? Can he? No because his government will topple. Would he want that to happen? Not certainly.

Instead of politicizing issues such as these, the Government should concentrate on issues which are bothering the state and needs immediate attention.

Well Mr. Chief Minister, enjoy your term but remember that you need votes from this generation of people also when you contest elections next.

-A “Sri Ram” devotee.

Aus Open Men's Finals

2009-02-02T13:33:00.001+08:00

Discovery Bay, Hong Kong / Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park.

My wife and I together with our good friends watched the Australian Open Finals at a friend’s house a block away from our apartment in Hong Kong. We were 7 of us with 6 being Federer fans and my wife being a lone Nadal fan. We cheered, screamed, pumped our fists and yelled when Roger won his points and my wife took on all of us and staged a lone battle by supporting Nadal throughout. She was as confident as Nadal and I could sense the match going her way when Federer lost so many chances and a golden opportunity in the third set eventually losing the set and the match.

As the match got over with Nadal agonizing Federer again, I abruptly walked out like a loser not wanting to see the presentation ceremony. The walk back to my house, though a block away, felt like the longest walk I have ever taken. I was lonely that moment, crest fallen at another Federer loss. I personally had lost another grand slam to my wife. I felt down and out and minutes later when my wife joined me, sat next to me, consoled me with a few good words with her arm over me, my life was back to normal.

Nadal also consoled Federer but I am sure Federer will take many days or even months to come back to normalcy. I doubt he ever will come back. If at all there is someone to blame for his loss, it is the man himself. There were opportunities aplenty and he should curse himself for ruing those chances. That said, I am definitely not taking away the credit from Rafa. He played very well though not at his best. Created those unbelievable angles, returned the service with vengeance, came up with winners when it mattered, left the Swiss Master wondering at his impeccable court coverage and eventually sized down the legend into tears.

I did mention in my earlier post that whoever stays mentally strong will go on to win the finals. That’s exactly what we got to see and Nadal proved it right by staying both very strong physically and mentally. Where does Federer will go from here? Will Federer be able to question Nadal in his own backyard, Roland Garros? Will he be able to come out of that unlucky number 13 he has been associated with for some time? Only the legend knows and unless he cures himself by treating the mental blockage and an ailment called Rafael Nadal, these questions will remain unanswered. The faster he comes back, the better for all Federer fans. He must realize that getting up and walking is what it takes when you fall down.

I must also talk about the ESPN STAR commentators, Vijay Amritraj and Alan Wilkins. I thought they both were a little biased favouring Nadal throughout. Vijay indeed tired all the viewers by saying how tired is Nadal innumerable times. Well isn’t staying neutral a basic rule in broadcasting? I do hope someone points this to them and hope we get to hear their comments neutrally in future. I do have great respect for Vijay and will be disappointed if he doesn't change.

Well time for me to start the work week and will come up with more thoughts on a different subject by the weekend.

Have a great week ahead.

Best, Anil

An (Aus) Open Weekend.

2009-01-31T16:59:00.000+08:00

Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park

Most ordinary tennis fans like me around the world must have thought that the all Spaniard semi final match between Rafa and Verdasco will be a one sided affair in favor of the world number one.

No it wasn’t. The battle went on for over 5 hours well into the wee hours of Saturday. The end result went off course in favour of Rafa but the match was in no means was a one sided affair. It was an epic match and had all fine qualities of being classified as one of the greatest. It probably was the greatest match we witnessed after the unforgettable Fed and Nadal’s final at SW19, London last year.

These two young tennis players, one 22 already on top of the tennis world rankings and another 25, a fellow countryman and a Davis Cup team mate sizzled and set the court on fire with some amazing fore hand shots and aggressive tennis with very rare deft delicate drop volleys. What’s more common to them was that both were aggressive and steet fighters. They were spitting fire on fire and were almost on par in most post match statistics with “193-192 winners” standing out. It was just one point that kept Verdasco from reaching the final and maybe those extra late double faults when it was not needed at that moment.

Nadal fell on ground when Verdasco double faulted with his Service – his strength and gave away the match to the world number one. Nadal showed why he is so adorable and showed that there is a softer side in him inside his aggressive looks with bulged up biceps when he ran over to the other side of the court to console Verdasco with some good words and walking arm over arm. It was a great sight to see the champion player reacting that way. In the end, Verdasco walked away winning more fans, friends and admirers.

So it is Fed Vs Nadal again in the final and all I can say is “bring –it – on”. Roger is eying to equal the great Sampras record of 14 grand slam titles and the young Rafa will be eying his first Australian Open title. What a match that will be. I personally want Roger Federer to beat Rafael Nadal to settle score with him for that Wimbledon loss. He has an advantage of an extra rest day and the legend will be looking at putting the world number one in place. Roger also has less expectation from fans this time as Rafa has beaten Roger 5 out of last 8 meetings. This should ease his mind and allow him to go all out against the terrorizing Rafael Nadal. That said, the Swiss master relishes the rivalry and will be looking to make amends to that most painful SW19 loss.

The match will be a close one as always any Fed-Nadal match has been. It’s the mental aspect that comes into play and whichever player stays tough mentally will come out a winner. Federer is aware of how grueling it can be playing Nadal and said "Playing Rafa is obviously more exciting because of the history we have, playing in so many grand slam finals," Federer said "Him being the best player in the world at the moment, it would make it a very intriguing match."

I hope Roger will forget the past losses and starts the year on a bang by beating Rafa convincingly and by giving him some tennis lessons as this can set the tone to the June Wimbledon showdown. If Rafa goes on to win this finals, it might set an end of an era of Roger’s glittering career and we might very soon miss the game’s last gentleman and a classy copy book tennis champion in action.

Time for me to catch the Women’s finals now where Dinara, sister of the enigmatic Marat Safin is playing Serena (do you need the last name? or an introduction?)

Adios and have a great (Aus) OPEN Weekend!

-Anil Kumar, Hong Kong