Sachin will definitely cherish this one.

My colleague Yoges is a big time fan of Saurav Ganguly. He simply can not listen anything against Ganguly. I know, at this stage what you are thinking. No, Yoges is not a bengali, infact he is a tamilian. When Ganguly was "rested" from the national side after WC 2007 for the one-dayers against Bangladesh, Yoges cried his heart out!!!! If Ganguly is criticized, he will say its politics and favorism; if any other player plays well then he will say the match was fixed....point is that he can come up with zillions of crappy and meaningless excuses to save his dada. And he hates Sachin Tendulkar. At least, he pretends that. I think he is one of the biggest critic of Sachin and that has caused several heated arguments between us. But after the second game against the South Africans in the Future Cup, this is what Yoges had to say:

"I really liked the way Sachin played yesterday. My wish is that he should continue to play in a similar aggressive fashion. Having said that Dada is not far behind. He may not be a gifted stroke player like Sachin. He might not have the same variety of stroke play like Sachin. But still he too is a great player. The fact that he did not compete with Sachin in scoring runs in yesterday's match and rather concentrated on building a partnership with Sachin shows his maturity as a player."

He started with prasing Sachin but ultimately ended-up defending Ganguly. In any case, Sachin should cherish this one all his life!!!!

Congrats Sachin!!!

Sachin Tendulkar is back in news. He is among runs and has become the first batsman in the history to score 15000 runs in One-day Cricket. What’s good is that he is back at scoring runs against good bowling attacks and in difficult batting conditions. In the last two outings, he scored 99 and 93 respectively against the South Africans.

Sachin was not his usual self in the first match against SA. Over the years he has "mellowed" down and now he tries to build his innings rather than stamping his authority on the bowling attack. May be age or his senior position in the team has brought this change. But the first innings was too slow and calm even for his new avtaar. He missed the century by a “few inches” and was run out on 99 (143 balls)!!!! India eventually lost the match and a number of people attributed Sachin's slow batting to the loss. I was not surprised at all as bashing Sachin has become India's favorite pass time. His strike rate was in the late 60s, may be 69. Dravid who scored 70 odd in that match had a strike rate of 73....now, was that a lot better? I do not think so. Saurav Ganguly who scored 60 odd against Ireland had a strike rate in early 70s in that match. Then how come only Sachin is being questioned. These days, no matter what Sachin does, it seems his innings leave more questions than answers!!!

The first match was pretty close and it could have gone either way. Chawla was the surprise package and I think India could have won the game with some aggressive field placements. Dravid is a great player but his captaincy lacks the aggression that is required in such games. India let the South Africans take singles at will and that took the match away from us.

The last match was a treat to watch. Though he missed out on a century again but Sachin did score 93 runs and in the process completed 15K runs in ODIs. More than the number of runs, the way they were scored was appealing. He seemed like the Sachin of yesteryears. Trademark square cuts and cover drives were flowing from his blade. At one point in the innings, Andrew Nel beat him a few times and then followed that with smiles and stares. Sachin’s response? Bang!!!! Andrew Nel was asked to shut up with a pull yielding the maximum!!!! He even danced down the track to hit young off-spinner Tshabalala for a straight six. The fact that his innings helped India win and level the series must have given extra satisfaction to him.

Congratulations Sachin. Keep going.

Canon: Customer Delight

It was just about two and half years back that I felt that I should buy a camera. Back then, I had limited knowledge of these equipments (I would like to believe that it has changed over the period!!!!) but I had a strong desire as photography had always intrigued me. I bought a Canon A75 camera as I had used my sister's Canon A70 and was pretty familiar with the functioning.

The camera was my soulmate for around two years but just when I got married, it decided to make way for the new soulmate. It developed some problem and it's LCD blacked out. I thought that I have lost my camera forever :(

Around 20 days back, I decided that I will try and get the camera repaired. I stepped out of my place to take the camera to a Canon Service Center but on locating a Canon dealer on the way, I took the camera him. The guy told me that the problem was with the CCD and it will take 21 days (nothing more and nothing less) and 3,500/-INR to get the camera repaired. I was like....WOW!!!.....I was thinking that it will cost me much more, if at all a repair was possible. The "21 days" timeline did surprise me. After all, we all are pretty used to hearing "time lagega, sir" in such cases. But I thought that Canon, being such a huge name in camera space, must have set time for various types of repair. I felt pretty bad to leave my beloved camera behind. I still did that thinking that it will be worth it as my camera will make a recovery and come back to me.

On the 17th day, I gave the dealer a call to enquire whether I will be getting back my camera on the 21st day. I was pretty excited about getting my camera back. To my surprise I got the answer that I had expected initially..."time lagega, sir". I was told that it would take at least ten more days and in some cases it takes three months also!!!! Now, if I say that I was pretty pissed on this answer then it will be a huge understatement!!! I had plans to use the camera on a vacation in July. I asked for the owner and questioned him that how come I was not communicated. He did not have an answer to that but he simply said that in such cases, it takes time. Dude, if it takes time, you should at least let the customer know. May be I would not have given the camera for repair at all!!!!

I made up my mind that I will file a case in the consumer forum....supreme court....take the matter to the media...the President....American President and anyone who can help. But I started with filing a complaint on the Canon website. While doing that I noticed a customer service call center number. I gave them a call and explained them my problem. I was immediately asked to have a talk with the India Customer Service Head and the Andhra Pradesh Customer Service Manager (I stay at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh). I had a talk with the AP Manager and I was told that in half an hour I will be given the status. To my surprise, in 10 minutes the dealer (!!!) called up and said that he will deliver the camera on the next day (a good three days short of the initially communicated delivery date)!!!! Post that, I received a call from the AP Manager and some other official too and they apologized for the mishap. They suggested that for any customer service related issues or repairs, one should reach out to Canon Service Center. I was very happy with the quick response from Canon. But it did not end there. They delighted me by telling me that I would not be charged anything for the service and the dealer will bear the expenses!!!!

I saved 3,500 Rupees and got my camera in time simply because I dont have the "chalta hai" attitude. A lot of people would not have made all that effort and would have accepted the dealer's bullshit. But in the process, I came to know that Canon not only makes super cool cameras but also provides super cool service to its customers. Kudos to Canon!!!!

Confession

Okk, I confess I have been watching cricket!!!! After the World Cup debacle, I had made up my mind that I will never watch cricket and will never write about it too. But I simply can not stay away from cricket.

It does not stop here. If you have been following this blog then you will make out that I was a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar and considered him the GOD. I was very disappointed by India's disastrous showing and Sachin's performance at the WC and I wrote that it was "Death of a Devotee". I confess that it was rash behavior on my part and it was not true at all. This behavior reminds me of one of my cousins. He is a religious person and keeps a picture of the Hindu god "Hanuman" with him. He prays in front of the picture everyday......but whenever things are not going his way, he takes the picture and puts it outside his room!!!! He gets angry with the GOD!!!!! I used to find that pretty hilarious but my behavior was similar. I badly wanted Sachin to score as many runs as possible and guide India to its second WC victory. When that did not happen, for some time I lost my sanity and wrote what I wrote.

I confess that pretty much like the pre-world cup 2007 era, I have watched each and every game that Sachin played after the WC. I can not stop worshipping the man (read: The GOD) who has served Indian Cricket for so long. He is still the best in the world though he needs to get a little more consistent so that he consistently slaps his critics. Sachin, I still love you and I owe you an apology.

Beggars

If you are staying in India, you are familiar with the sight of beggars "attacking" a vehicle on a crossing. Children, men, women, old people...all kinds of people are there, begging on Indian streets. Even if you feel the urge to give something to a beggar, you stop yourself thinking that may be the beggar is part of the "begging industry" and there is a begging "mafia" running the show. It is thanks of the "realistic" cinema (Madhur Bhandarkar types) that we are aware of such unfortunate truths of our times. Such movies show the true picture of our society and they are indeed very helpful in forming an opinion.

Everyday I encounter at least 50 beggars but I dont feel like giving something to each of them. Its the old ones who move me. Many a times I have stopped myself thinking about the "industry" but I have felt sorry after driving past the signal. What if the old man on your car window is not part of an industry and really needs food? May be 9 out of the 10 times you end up funding the industry but for me, that one occassion is worth it.

Know what, one day I want to give a 100 Rs note to an old beggar woman, just to see the reaction. And if it brings a smile or any expression of joy on her face, I will be glad all my life.

Planning to buy a camera

" Look, I am not an intellectual - I just take pictures"

-Helmut Newton

(German Photographer, 1920-2004)

I am very fond of photography. The hobby was always there...even when my parents had the basic "Hotshot" analog camera!!! Camera rolls used to be costly so taking the camera everywhere and taking as many pictures as I wanted was a problem. But whenever my parents used to get film rolls, I used to be in charge of the camera.

I did not have a good camera till I became 25. At that time, my sister bought a digital camera, Canon A70. That was the first time that I used a digicam and was exposed to its great functionalities. The biggest benefit is that you can take as many pictures you want not worrying about exhausting camera rolls. I borrowed my sister's camera for a trip and used that extensively to understand its functionalities. That helped me make my mind and I bought a canon A75. That was a major investment (I don't think I got a good deal on the camera) but it was worth it. The camera remained with me, everyday for almost two and half years. I used to take that camera everywhere. Couple of months back, the camera developed some problem and now I have sent it for servicing. It is really funny that when I was leaving my camera behind at the service center, I was feeling really bad. I had kept that camera like a baby and now I was leaving it behind, in the hands of the technicians. :(

I have used several cameras..Canon A70, Canon A75, Sony DSC-L1, Canon IXUS 65...but I found the a75 most user friendly. It is a little heavy but I have this opinion that cameras should be a little heavy, otherwise your hand will shake while taking a picture. Though I still love my camera and I will always keep it with me, I have decided to graduate to a more advanced camera.

My colleague Balaji Bondili*, who like me loves photography, recently had bought a Canon EOS 350D. I got the opportunity to use it once and I was amazed by the power of the camera. It is a Digi SLR camera and it helps solve the problem which I find most irritating in normal digicams or compact cameras.....and that is the lag time. A normal digicam has a lag time and you can not take a picture exactly when you want it. Unless you have a great timing and you are extremely lucky, you wont be able to take a picture of a bird as it is preparing to take off. But a Digi SLR has no such problems. I really really want to buy that camera but I still decided that I wont!!!! At least, not now.

Canon 350D is an expensive camera. The usual price in the Indian market is around 45k (You can get it much cheaper if you buy online or get it from US) but it would require a lot more investment. If you are really keen about photography, you will have to buy additional lenses which will cost another 25K for the basic one!!!! Now that's too much an investment for me. I will have to risk my marriage if I plan to buy that camera as my wife is against such an investment. On a serious note, I don't think I have enough knowledge of photography and lenses to best use a DSLR. So what should I do now? I have to buy a camera!!!

So I decided to consult a few professional photographers and some experts. I even consulted the Editor of the "Better Photography" magazine. What I am looking for in a camera is option to attach external flash/lenses, zero lag time, decent mega pixels and kick-ass zoom. Most of the experts were of the opinion that I should go for "Canon S3IS". That's a camera which is available for around 25K in the Indian market but will cost half that price if you are getting it from US. It has 6 mega pixels and a killer...12X optical zoom and 48x digital zoom!!!! Though it does not solve the lag time problem but its still good enough for me!!!! Now a word of caution for anyone planning to buy this camera.......buy it only if you are really serious about photography. It is a bulky equipment and you wont be able to lug it everywhere. Consider buying it only if you have another camera for the day-to-day use. If you want a camera with more mega pixels then you can buy the Canon S5IS. It has 8 mega pixels but it is not yet available in the Indian market. So you will have to wait for a while.

In my case, I dont think mega pixels matter much. Since other functionalities in S5IS are same as the S3IS, I have decided to buy the Canon S3IS. Say Cheese!!!!

* (http://www.flickr.com/photos/atheistbishop)

You can judge the output of the S3IS camera by looking at some of the pictures in www.flickr.com/photos/nehavish. The pictures were taken by Neha Vishwanathan, a friend of my colleague and she uses the Canon S2IS. So S3IS will only be better. But ya, do not start thinking that you will be able to take pictures as good as the ones in the link. Neha is a damn cool photographer and those pictures say a lot about her skills than just the camera she uses.

Want to hide somewhere

For some reason, feeling pretty low today. Why is it that when I am working hard to achieve something, things go wrong at the worst time possible and ruin my chances. Like a mirage, the destination disappears. This has been the sad story of my life. I dont believe in astrology but I was once told that I will have such problems in my life.......shall I start believing in astrology now?....coz thats what has been happening.......

Nothing is clear yet...may be I am getting unnecessarily concerned....may be not....may be things will be alright tomorrow....may be there wont be a tomorrow......This uncertainty is killing me....I know I have worked hard and deserve what I am expecting....yet, I do not know whats in store.....I know I need to fight to protect my chances but not today....may be tomorrow...today I just cant feel the strength inside me....Today, I just want to hide somewhere and prepare myself for the battle tomorrow.

Rafael Nadal: The King of Clay

I was pretty nervous when the French Open started. The reason being, I am a huge fan of Rafael Nadal and he lost to Roger Federer in the finals of the Hamburg Open, the tournament before the start of the French Open. You may ask why did I get nervous after just one defeat but this defeat mattered a lot as it came on clay. Moreoever, the defeat broke Nadal's record winning streak on clay. Federer is an artist on a tennis court. If the surface is fast, he is almost impossible to defeat. So for Nadal, clay is the best chance to win tournaments and French the best chance to win a Grand Slam. With a win at Hamburg, Federer made his intentions pretty clear.

But, Nadal once again proved that he is pretty tough to beat on clay. He met some pretty strong players in route to the finals, including his idol and mentor Carlos Moya. The final was pretty exciting with Federer giving a tough competition to Nadal. Moreover, Nadal's nerves did not help him in the initial part of the match. But once he settled down and started going for his shots, he was a sight to watch!!!! Man, did he crush Federer's confidence and dreams to win the French.

Federer is a champion player. He is so good that a lot of people are losing interest in tennis tournaments as they know the outcome!!!! But.....for some reason, he finds Nadal pretty tough to handle. Nadal has an envious 8-4 record against Federer and if we include the exhibition match on the half grass-half clay court, its 9-4 in Nadal's favor (Being a great Nadal fan, I would definitely include that). Now that record says everything regarding the way Nadal has dominated Federer over the years.

Unfortunately, in all likelihood my party will be over soon as Wimbledon is starting from the coming monday. Now, thats a surface where Federer is God. But I will be keeping my fingers crossed as Nadal, very surprisingly, did manage to reach the finals of Wimbledon last year. Though he did lose to Federer but he managed to take a set away!!!! Now thats a rare accompalishment against Federer on grass. So I will definitely be praying for a better performance this time around. Go Nadal Go!!!!

Alankrita: Nice Getaway from Hyderabad

If you are at Hyderabad, I am sure every weekend you wonder what to do and where to go. Hyderabad is a nice city (Infact, I consider it the best in India to stay at) with nice infrastructure. There are several shopping centers and a few multiplexes but still shopping and watching movies is not what you want to do every weekend.

I have been staying at Hyderabad since almost 6 years. I am a person who has travelled quite a bit and I like to go to new places. For a while, I have stayed at Bangalore too. Now, Bangalore is a place with quite a few malls, shopping centers and multiplexes but infrastructure and traffic is a huge concern over there. You think several times before leaving home. And on the weekends, whole Bangalore comes to Forum. But unlike Hyderabad, Bangalore has many tourist places close by where you can go on the weekends. During my stay at Bangalore, I visited several places to quench my thirst of travelling and photography. Bangalore gave me that bad habit and now at Hyderabad, I keep looking for such places outside the city...but there are hardly any. There is Srisailam and Nagarjuna Dam but there is hardly anything over there to excite me enuff to drive 160kms.....one way!!!!

Last month, after getting tired of looking for places, me and my begum decided that we will go to Alankrita Resort, which is on the outskirts of the city. We decided to spend a day over there just to get out of the "routine". We did not make a mistake. Its a nice place with lush green lawns, a swimming pool, lot of recreation facilities like table tennis, badminton, billiards, etc. Moreover, there are three restaurants over there out of which, I found one of them (the main restaurant) pretty good. Another one is a veg restaurant and so we did not even step in and the third is an open restaurant called the "Well Side" or something like that. I did not like the food over there.

There are several kinds of rooms...from normal rooms to cottages and are suitable for any kind of budget. The basic room (Standard) is also good but I would recommend the Deluxe Cottage to everyone. I have been to Alankrita twice now and have stayed in both Standard room and the Deluxe Cottage. Though the charges are a little higher for the Deluxe Cottage but believe you me, its worth it. Having said that, I would like to caution anyone who is planning a trip to the resort that I have noticed that the room sizes and the facilities differ from one room to another...even if they fall in the same category. It means that one Deluxe Cottage can be different from another Deluxe Cottage!!!!

But overall, Alankrita is a nice getaway from the city......to spend one day, not more than that.

Trip to the National Defence Academy

In May end, I went to Pune for my cousin's passing out from NDA. I always wanted to go to NDA, its another thing that I would have preferred going over there as a cadet. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience. Like all defence entities, NDA has been kept pretty well. Its a beautiful place and roaming around in the academy was an enjoyable experience. Moreover, the fact that my father also passed out from the academy made me even more excited about having a look around and taking pictures.

I reached Pune on 29th May...pretty late in the night, thanks to Indian Airlines. From Hyderabad there are not many options in terms of flights but I chose Indian Airlines as I wanted to reach over there on time. That was not to be and I reached Pune three hours late!!! As advised by my cousin, from the airport I went to the railway station as there were buses waiting to transport the parents/friends/relatives to the academy. Late in the night, I was concerned whether I will be able to get a bus. Much to my relief, there was a bus at the station.

It took almost an hour and half to reach the academy where in I got down at the Hunter Squadron where in the arrangement for my stay was made. I had to share my room with one of cousin's pal. My worst fear came true when the guy did not open the door even when occupants of the several near by rooms came out cursing, due to my banging on the door!!! Ultimately, I had to go to my Bua's room to sleep.

On 30th May, there was a convocation for the passing out cadets to mark the completion of their graduation. The ceremony had to go on for couple of hours and the scene was that nobody was supposed to get out of the hall before the completion. That was too much for me and I, along with my other relatives decided to give the ceremony a miss. I caught up with some much needed sleep.

Before the convocation, we went to the mess in anticipation of a royal breakfast....but it was pretty sad!!!

In the afternoon, we decided to go for "NDA Darshan". It was pretty enjoyable and we took a lot of pictures, one of the reasons for my travelling to the academy. We were shown the stables, the small planes used for flight trainings, the stadium, the lake used for navy training, Sudan Bhavan, the library, golmarket.......etc etc

After the sightseeing trip, we were supposed to have lunch at the mess but going by the experience in the morning, we decided to have lunch in the canteen. Boy, did we make a mistake. We had half cooked chicken curry with not-at-all cooked rice!!!! But the gulaab jamun were good. Before the lunch, we were laughing at the sight of cadets having around 10-15 gulaab jamun each but after having the lunch we could easily make out the reason. Probably, gulaab jamun was the best thing to have at the academy. Food was pretty disappointing though my father tells that it was not the case during his stay at the academy.

In the evening, there was a "Tatoo show" in which the cadets were showcasing the trainings that they receive at the academy. Now, "Tatoo" was not very clear so I asked my cousin the agenda of the show. He told me that they will be doing yoga and showing "dhaava". Dhaava can mean a lot of things and it did not excite me much. So, all of us decided not to go. Half an hour after the scheduled start of the Tatoo Show, we were rocked by the loud sound of a blast. Then, much to my agony, my cousin told me that its part of the "dhaava" in which cadets were showing simulated attack on a battlefield!!!!! That left me pretty disappointed about missing the show.

30th evening was the dinner night. We reached the mess, neatly dressed up. We were seated close to the main tables where the Chief Guest, Fali Homi Major (Chief of Air Staff) had to sit. The dinner night was a short ceremony and I must say that I did not really enjoy it. May be I was expecting too much, and I am not talking about just the food!!!!

31st May was the day for the passing out parade. The parade had to start around 6 in the morning. We reached the parade ground at least an hour before the scheduled start as we wanted to get the best seats. There was a lot of confusion over there regarding the reserved seats and the first termers were having a difficult time managing the over-enthusiastic parents!!!

The parade started as per the schedule. The cadets were smartly dressed up in whites. First the various squadrons lined up followed by a prize distribution ceremony. Then the Air Chief inspected the squadrons. It was followed by the parade. We had a tough time locating my cousin since he is a short fellow and everyone had the same hairstyle!!!!! Yet, we managed to take some good snaps. The parade was followed by "Dheemi Chaal" which marks the passing out from the academy. The fly past by the Jaguars and Sukhoi was a sight to watch.

Post the passing out parade, the cadets celebrated the occassion with fellow cadets and families. It was a pretty festive atmosphere and their joy was electrifying. Post that the cadets bid adieu to the academy, their home for three years and left with friends and family.

Overall, I am glad that I went to the academy or else I would have missed this memorable experience. Now I am looking forward to a trip to the Indian Military Academy in 2008

Back to blogging

I am back after a long time. Just got too busy with things. Blogging is a stress reliever...at least I use it to refresh myself and get away from the maddening tensions. But now a days, India has found another passtime and thats ....Orkut. Whatever time I used to get out of my schedule, I devoted it in making new friends and searching old pals. And it has been pretty effective!!! I have travelled alot and have studied in various schools, thanks to my father's transferable job. Retaining friends was always a problem but thanks to orkut, I have been successful in locating a lot of old pals.

But I did not make too many friends in my school days as I was quite an introvert. So now when I have located almost all my friends, I am back to blogging. And for the zillionth time, I am back with a resolution to be regular.