I get back home to find out that Ricky Ponting's Australian cricket team were comprehensively beaten in Bangalore. I also heard he was very gracious in defeat, so I won't mock him. I did read about some people from the Aussie contingent at the Commonwealth Games village throwing a washing machine out of the window after watching the second test... Sigh!
I am really proud of the Indian test cricketers and can't wait for the series vs South Africa.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Exam season
Alritey. Now that my feet are firmly grounded, I have 2 huge exams to tackle over the next fortnight. Starting with a killer of a French exam on Friday and the Italian exam on October 30.
On the bright side, I get a month of "Diwali vacation" after the exams. That will give me the time to prepare for the Delhi 21-k. At the moment, I am not in bad shape but I need to start running.
On the bright side, I get a month of "Diwali vacation" after the exams. That will give me the time to prepare for the Delhi 21-k. At the moment, I am not in bad shape but I need to start running.
Back in Bombay
Although I was away for just a week, it felt like a vacation of 15 days or even a month! I had a fabulous time in Vietnam with a couple of short but sweet encounters in Kuala Lumpur.
I always get bummed with the pathetic infrastructure that I see when I get back to Bombay. One of the terminals at the airport smells and is decrepit. They say it's under renovation but surely they can at least change the dirty carpet that greets visitors outside the sky bridge.
I am not comparing Bombay to a place like KL but how sad is it that Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) or small towns in Vietnam have far better roads and better paved sidewalks than the financial capital of the "next superpower"?
I always get bummed with the pathetic infrastructure that I see when I get back to Bombay. One of the terminals at the airport smells and is decrepit. They say it's under renovation but surely they can at least change the dirty carpet that greets visitors outside the sky bridge.
I am not comparing Bombay to a place like KL but how sad is it that Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) or small towns in Vietnam have far better roads and better paved sidewalks than the financial capital of the "next superpower"?
Thursday, October 7, 2010
They should all be like this
Sporting prowess is just something India isn't famous for. This is a country that had its most successful Olympics in Beijing by winning 3 medals. A lot of this has to do with the much-maligned politicians who run sports federations in the country.
October 5 wasn't just any other day in Indian sport. It was a day that few of us can forget. First of all, there was the India vs Australia test match. I personally can't stand what's known as 20-20 cricket. I like cricket in its purest form- that is a 5-day test. I won't be glued to my tv for 5 days but it's great watching contests between great bowlers and batsmen. The test match that ended on Oct 5 was one of the best matches I have ever seen. India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in what was an unbelievably tense encounter. And when India finally won, the ecstasy is something that lasted for days.
Here's what the Australian press had to say about the match.
"It was hard to watch, impossible to look away." The Australian
"The thrill-a-minute versions of the game were put in their place by this slow-burning contest." Peter Roebuck
October 5 wasn't just any other day in Indian sport. It was a day that few of us can forget. First of all, there was the India vs Australia test match. I personally can't stand what's known as 20-20 cricket. I like cricket in its purest form- that is a 5-day test. I won't be glued to my tv for 5 days but it's great watching contests between great bowlers and batsmen. The test match that ended on Oct 5 was one of the best matches I have ever seen. India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in what was an unbelievably tense encounter. And when India finally won, the ecstasy is something that lasted for days.
Here's what the Australian press had to say about the match.
"It was hard to watch, impossible to look away." The Australian
"The thrill-a-minute versions of the game were put in their place by this slow-burning contest." Peter Roebuck
This was a day that other athletes brought glory to India. Our talented and hard-working athletes managed to win 5 gold medals on that day. I wouldn't do them justice unless I mentioned them one by one.
Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang won the 10 metre air rifle competition
Rani Sarnobat and Anissa Sayeed won the 25 metre pistol event
Ravinder Singh (60 kg), Sanjay (74 kg) and Anil Kumar (96kg) made a clean sweep of all three gold medals on offer from the wrestling.
And the icing on the cake was the Indian hockey team's come back from behind victory over Malaysia.
Ravinder Singh (60 kg), Sanjay (74 kg) and Anil Kumar (96kg) made a clean sweep of all three gold medals on offer from the wrestling.
And the icing on the cake was the Indian hockey team's come back from behind victory over Malaysia.
What a Day! They should all be like this.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Second Summer
Now that the monsoons are gone, we are officially into the second summer thanks to Bombay's famous October Heat. The second summer doesn't give the city mangoes, the flowers are not in bloom and there is little relief in the evenings. However, the sunsets are beautiful and it's nice to see the twilight on cloudless skies.
The heat in October has the complete ability to wear down the most energetic of people. My take is that it feels worse as the body is used to the rains and cool breezes of the monsoons. By the end of the month, the weather starts improving and we have "relatively" cool evenings to accompany warm days. Until then, I'll just have to brave this weather and stay as energetic as possible.
The heat in October has the complete ability to wear down the most energetic of people. My take is that it feels worse as the body is used to the rains and cool breezes of the monsoons. By the end of the month, the weather starts improving and we have "relatively" cool evenings to accompany warm days. Until then, I'll just have to brave this weather and stay as energetic as possible.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
In memory of a great man born on October 2 - Lal Bahadur Shastri
In India, we mark October 2 as Gandhi Jayanti, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Another great man was born on October 2: Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Shastriji was the second prime minister of India and was a human being of unmatched integrity. He was an incorruptible and hate-less man who personified Gandhiji's principles of austerity and honesty in public service
Here are some excerpts from Wiki on his life.
"Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that Police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds."
"He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation."
"Shastri was known for his honesty and humility throughout his life. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was built for him in Delhi. "
A lot of mystery surrounds his death and his family insist that he was poisoned in Tashkent. For more on that please see: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/clear_air_on_fathers_death_shastris_son.php I have heard "talk" about how the Soviets poisoned him to put Indira Gandhi in power. Mrs Gandhi aligned India with the Soviet bloc.
Now that the USSR doesn't exist, the Indian prime minister's office needs to come clean and let the country know what exactly transpired in January 1966.
Shastriji is hardly mentioned in history books and is almost a forgotten figure. The Congress has done its best to deny the very existence of leaders outside the Nehru-dynasty.
And finally a wonderful tribute paid by Pakistani journalist Javed Choudhury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PifBawxDsxI&feature=related
Shastriji was the second prime minister of India and was a human being of unmatched integrity. He was an incorruptible and hate-less man who personified Gandhiji's principles of austerity and honesty in public service
Here are some excerpts from Wiki on his life.
"Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that Police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds."
"He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation."
"Shastri was known for his honesty and humility throughout his life. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was built for him in Delhi. "
A lot of mystery surrounds his death and his family insist that he was poisoned in Tashkent. For more on that please see: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/clear_air_on_fathers_death_shastris_son.php I have heard "talk" about how the Soviets poisoned him to put Indira Gandhi in power. Mrs Gandhi aligned India with the Soviet bloc.
Now that the USSR doesn't exist, the Indian prime minister's office needs to come clean and let the country know what exactly transpired in January 1966.
Shastriji is hardly mentioned in history books and is almost a forgotten figure. The Congress has done its best to deny the very existence of leaders outside the Nehru-dynasty.
And finally a wonderful tribute paid by Pakistani journalist Javed Choudhury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PifBawxDsxI&feature=related
Open spaces and freedom
As much as I love my city, there's one thing that I know I'll never have if I live here: open spaces. I long for the open spaces of Inner Mongolia, the savannah of the Masai Mara, the plains of Buryatia and the Russian Far East. If only, I could spend a week in Patagonia or by Issuk Yul in Kyrgystan!!!
October is a hot month in Bombay and a necessary evil to be endured before the more pleasant months of the so-called winter. A good rainy season this year, will ensure that the weather will be lovely from late-October all the way till March.
October is a hot month in Bombay and a necessary evil to be endured before the more pleasant months of the so-called winter. A good rainy season this year, will ensure that the weather will be lovely from late-October all the way till March.
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