Rafa & Roger: The Rivalry

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet in a Grand Slam final for the fifth time in Sunday's Roland Garros title match.

Nadal has emerged victorious in the past two years in the Roland Garros final, but during the same period Federer has taken the honors over Nadal in consecutive Wimbledon finals.

Federer and Nadal have played a total of 16 times, with Nadal leading the series 10-6. The Spaniard has won eight of their nine meetings on clay, including both showdowns during this year's clay court swing in the finals of ATP Masters Series events in Hamburg and Monte Carlo.

Here is a history of the duo’s 16 career meetings, beginning with their first match at Miami in March 2004.

2008 Masters Series Hamburg Final: Nadal def. Federer 7-5 6-7(3) 6-3 (Clay)

Rafael Nadal had a score to settle against Roger Federer, who snapped his Open Era record 81-match winning streak on clay in the 2007 final. Nadal was looking to become only the third player since 1990 to win the three ATP Masters Series titles on clay – Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg in his career. The only players to accomplish the feat were former World No. 1s Gustavo Kuerten and Marcelo Rios.
Federer started the match strongly with breaks of serve in the second and sixth games for a 5-1 lead, but Nadal clawed his way back by winning six successive games to clinch the opening set 7-5 in 61 minutes. The pair exchanged breaks of serve early in the second set, but it was Federer who moved into a 5-2 lead before Nadal broke back in the ninth game. The writing appeared on the wall for Federer, but the Swiss regained his composure and calmly sealed the tie-break to take the pair’s 16th career meeting to a deciding set.

Nadal secured the crucial break in the fourth game of the third set and failed to convert two further opportunities for a 5-1 lead. Federer kept battling but Nadal was not to be denied as he fought off one break point in the seventh game to record a 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3 win in two hours and 53 minutes.

2008 Masters Series Monte-Carlo Final: Nadal def. Federer 7-5 7-5 (Clay)

As always seems the case, the stakes were high when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer met in the 2008 Masters Series Monte-Carlo final. Nadal was looking to become the first player in the Open Era - and the first in almost 100 years - to win four consecutive titles in Monaco. Coming off his seventh career clay title one week earlier in Estoril, Federer was desperate not to fall to Nadal for a third consecutive year in the Monte-Carlo final.

The ATP World No. 1 broke Nadal in the first games of the first and second sets, even racing to a 4-0 lead in the second when Nadal eked out just five points during that stretch. But Federer's inability to hold serve - he was broken six times and saved just one of seven break points - was his undoing, as Nadal embarked on a five-game winning streak of his own before closing out the match 7-5, 7-5.

Since winning his first Monte-Carlo title in 2005, Nadal had won 98 of 99 clay-court matches through his title title run in Monaco in 2008. The victory marked the 21-year-old's 10th ATP Masters Series title and his 24th title overall. Nadal also snapped a nine-month title drought dating back to Stuttgart in 2007.

2007 Tennis Masters Cup Semi-Final: Federer def. Nadal 6-4 6-1 (Hard)
Federer claimed the most lopsided win in his storied rivalry with Nadal to race into the Tennis Masters Cup final in Shanghai. After holding his nerve in a tense first set, Federer blew open the match by winning 13 consecutive points at the start of the second set before closing out a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Federer produced one of the best serving performances of his career, putting 81 percent of first serves into play and, in the first set, firing four consecutive aces to get out of a 0-30 hole.

The ATP World No. 1 hit with conviction the topspin backhand that has so often let him down against Nadal. He was confident on return, opting for a more aggressive topspin backhand rather than his slice. And he found the time he needed to dance around his backhand and unleash the full force of his mighty forehand.

After his early challenge, Nadal fell well short of his best form. His groundstrokes lacked their normal penetration and he made a number of unforced errors.

Yet Nadal did have a number of chances on the Federer serve in the first set and only gave up his first break chances when he dropped serve to lose the irst set 6-4. Federer then embarked on his 13-point sweep at the beginning of the second set to take a 3-0 lead. During that run he made seven of eight first serves and broke Nadal to love.

2007 Wimbledon, Final: Federer def. Nadal 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(3) 2-6 6-2 (Grass)
After a draining run to the Wimbledon final for the second consecutive year, Rafael Nadal's mental and physical toughness was on show as he produced the best grass court performance of his career against four-time defending champion Federer. Playing for the seventh consecutive day after rain wreaked havoc with the tournament, Nadal pushed the mighty Federer to five sets for the first time in his 34-match winning streak at the All England Club.

Federer, who had never lost a match at Wimbledon after winning the first set, claimed the crucial first set tie-break despite Nadal's gallant effort to save three consecutive set points at 3/6 in the 'breaker.

An attacking Federer made many forays to the net but Nadal had his blistering passes dialed in, protected his serve and volleyed with confidence. The Spaniard saved a break point in the first game of the third set and then didn't face another break point until Federer claimed the decisive break in the sixth game of the fifth set.

Having seen Nadal save 16 of 17 break points against him to win Roland Garros, ederer twice rallied from 15/40 in the fifth set to avoid going down an early break.

Federer, who clubbed 65 winners - including 24 aces and many cross court backhand winners - equaled Bjorn Borg's record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles. Nadal was attempting to become the first player since Borg in 1980 to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year.

2007 Roland Garros, Final: Nadal def. Federer 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4 (Clay)
The stakes were higher than ever when Federer and Nadal clashed in the 2007 Roland Garros final. For the second consecutive year Federer was attempting to become just the sixth man in history to win all four Grand Slam titles and to be just the third man to hold all four majors at the same time. Nadal was looking to join Bjorn Borg as the only player to win three consecutive Roland Garros crowns.

Earlier in the clay swing Nadal had beaten Federer in the Masters Series Monte-Carlo final but Federer avenged that defeat with his first clay court victory over Nadal in the Masters Series Hamburg final.
Federer took the fight to Nadal early, earning 10 break point chances over three consecutive Nadal service games in the first set. But the tough Spaniard refused to buckle and scrapped to win the first set. Although Federer rebounded to win the second set, Nadal's ability to fight off 16 of 17 break point opportunities in the match as the telling factor.

Federer returned more aggressively - particularly on the backhand - to try to stop Nadal from controlling points, but, as in past meetings, the Spaniard's high kicking left-handed forehands into his backhand were too much for Federer to handle.

2007 Masters Series Hamburg, Final: Federer def. Nadal 2-6 6-2 6-0 (Clay)
Federer had gone four tournaments without lifting the trophy - the longest title drought of his 172-week reign as ATP World No. 1 - but capped off his week by avenging two years of clay-court torment at the hands of Nadal. He snapped the Spaniard’s 81-match clay winning streak and 16-0 record in clay-court finals, denying Nadal a historic sweep of the clay ATP Masters Series titles as he hoisted the Hamburg trophy for the fourth time.

After a lackluster first set in which he faced break points in his first three services games and lost five consecutive games, Federer changed course and took the attack to his arch rival. He conceded just six points on serve in the second set and seven points on serve in the third set as he hit peak form in his last appearance before Roland Garros.

2007 Masters Series Monte-Carlo, Final. Nadal def. Federer 6-4 6-4 (Clay)
Federer entered Monte-Carlo on the heels of two surprisingly early exits, seeing his career-high 41-match winning streak come to an end with an opening round loss to Guillermo Canas in Indian Wells and losing to the Argentine again in the fourth round at Miami. He regrouped at the year's first clay court ATP Masters Series event to set up a final rematch with two-time defending champion Nadal. But Nadal, who dropped serve just three times in his five matches, proved too much for the top seed in their first meeting of the 2007 season. He broke Federer's serve once in each set and saved all three break points he faced to capture his eighth career ATP Masters Series shield and extend his Open Era record-winning streak on clay to 67 matches.

2006 Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, Semi-Final. Federer def. Nadal 6-4 7-5 (Hard)

Federer notched his second straight victory over Nadal, ending with a vicious cross-court winner to become the first player to reach four consecutive finals at a circuit-ending championship since Ivan Lendl. He broke Nadal early in the opening set and clinched it with a second break of the Spaniard after 49 minutes. Nadal got out of jail twice on match points in the tenth game from Federer errors, but could not hold off the World No. 1 as Federer wrapped up the win two games later. The Swiss went on to capture his career-best 12th title by defeating James Blake in the final and finished the season with a 92-5 record.

2006 Wimbledon, Final: Federer def. Nadal 6-0 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 6-3 I (Grass)
The pressure was on Federer, as the top seed and three-time defending champion was playing in his favorite surface, riding a 47-match grass court winning streak and facing Nadal in a surface that the Spaniard had not managed to produce good results prior to this year's Wimbledon.

Federer started the match in hot form, breaking Nadal in the second, fourth and sixth games to take the set 6-0. The Spaniard would break Federer in the first game of the second set and serve at 5-4 but fail to close it out. Federer won the second set in a tie-break 7-5 but ended up losing the third set also in a tie-break (7-2). In the fourth set Federer took early control, breaking Nadal at 2-1 and 4-1 and eventually winning the Championships when serving at 5-3.

Federer, who captured his 39th career title and eighth Grand Slam crown, became the sixth man to secure four straight Wimbledon titles.

2006 Roland Garros, Final: Nadal def. Federer 1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(4) (Clay)

The stakes had never been higher in a Federer-Nadal showdown than when the top two players in the INDESIT ATP Rankings went head-to-head in the Roland Garros final. Playing in his first Roland Garros title match, Federer was attempting to become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four straight Grand Slam events, and just the third player in history to achieve the feat. Nadal was looking to become the youngest player to defend the Roland Garros title since Bjorn Borg in 1974-75. The Spaniard also was trying to improve his perfect record at Roland Garros to 14-0, his clay court winning streak to 60 matches and to notch his 100th career clay court win.

Federer broke Nadal twice in the first set to race to a 5-0 lead. But then Nadal began to dominate the match with his crushing forehand and Federer struggled with many unforced backhand errors. Nadal did not drop serve again until he tried to close out the match at 5-4 in the fourth set. But he clinched the match soon after in the tie-break. Nadal won his 14th consecutive final (second only in the Open Era to Federer's mark of 24 straight finals won).

2006 Masters Series Rome, Final: Nadal def. Federer 6-7(0) 7-6(5) 6-4 2-6 7-6(5) (Clay)
In May, only three weeks after their Monte-Carlo match, Federer and Nadal were at it again. Federer rested in the time in between the two tournaments, while Nadal went to Barcelona and won the title (d. Robredo). This match was the best between the two warriors yet, lasting five hours and five minutes. Federer forced the action, successfully approaching the net again and again. The Swiss tennis genius won more points than Nadal, just like in Dubai, 179 to 174. But once more Nadal won the big points. Federer had two match points with Nadal serving at 5-6, 15-40 in the final set. But he missed forehands on both opportunities. With the victory, Nadal tied Guillermo Vilas’ Open Era record of 53 straight match wins on clay. He also lifted his career record in finals to 16-2, the best winning percentage in Open Era history. Even after the defeat, Federer had an incredible 2006 record of 39-3, with all three losses at the hands of Nadal.

2006 Masters Series Monte-Carlo, Final: Nadal def. Federer 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(5) (Clay)
Between the Dubai match and this one in April, Federer went undefeated, winning Masters Series events for the third year in a row at Indian Wells (d. Blake) and the second year in a row at Miami (d. Ljubicic). Nadal, meanwhile, reached the semifinals of Indian Wells (l. to Blake) and fell in the second round at Miami (to Moya). But Nadal regained his footing at Monte-Carlo. He took the exciting match in 3 hours and 49 minutes and overcome a 0-3 deficit in the final tie-break.

2006 Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai, Final: Nadal def. Federer 2-6 6-4 6-4 (Hard)
Federer came into the pair’s first encounter of the 2006 season undefeated, having won the title at Doha (d. Monfils) and the Australian Open (d. Baghdatis). Nadal was just getting his groove back after suffering an ankle injury at the Madrid Masters Series event in October. Dubai was only Nadal’s second tournament since suffering the injury. He opened the year with a semifinal showing at Marseille in February (l. to Clement). This was the first match between Federer and Nadal with the Spanish superstar holding the INDESIT ATP Ranking of No. 2. Nadal won the encounter despite winning less points: 71 to 78. They each broke serve three times, but Nadal won the points that mattered. The win represented his 10th straight victory in finals. Nadal’s victory also broke Federer’s Open Era record of 56 straight match wins on hard courts.

2005 Roland Garros, Paris, Semi-Final: Nadal def. Federer 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3 (Clay)
Theirs was the most eagerly awaited match of the tournament. Federer was already No. 1 in the world and fast-rising Nadal was at No. 5. Nadal came to Roland Garros on the heels of clay-court titles at the ATP Masters Series events at Monte-Carlo in April (d. Coria) and at Rome in May (d. Coria again). Federer, meanwhile, was fresh off of his second straight clay-court crown at Masters Series Hamburg in May (d. Gasquet). Federer evened the score by winning the second set, but after that his form fell, while Nadal kept the pressure on, ousting Federer in four sets on the way to winning the Roland Garros title on debut.

2005 NASDAQ-1OO Open, Miami, Final: Federer def. Nadal 2-6 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 6-1 (Hard)
Federer was primed for revenge. Again he came into the Miami event with only one loss for the year (to Safin in the semifinals of the Australian Open) and fresh off a title in Indian Wells (d. Hewitt). Nadal was a year older and wiser, already having won three ATP titles. The balls were flying at Federer from Nadal’s exploding topspin groundstrokes, and the Spaniard was running down every ball in sight. Before he knew it, Federer was down 5-3 in the third set tie-break, two points from defeat. But he rallied back, and leveled the head-to-head series at 1-1

2004 NASDAQ-100 Open, Miami, 3rd RD. Nadal def. Federer 6-3 6-3 (Hard)
Federer came into the ATP Masters Series event on a roll, having won the Australian Open final over Marat Safin in February and the Pacific Life Open (also a Masters Series event) in Indian Wells over Tim Henman just before coming to Miami. He had lost only once in 2004 prior to this match (in the quarterfinals of Rotterdam to Henman). Nadal, the youngest man in the tournament at 17, was just starting to emerge as a force on the ATP circuit and hadn’t yet won a title. He breezed by Federer in only 69 minutes for the best win of his career at that point. The Spaniard said after the match that it was probably the best he had ever served.

Source: ATP (June 6, 2008);

Link: http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2008news/federer_nadal.asp

Go Rafa Go

What to do?

IPL is over and there is nothing to do in the evenings!!! I know quite a lot of people who are in a similar state of confusion. It was great fun but now it is over, much to the relief of my wife. She likes cricket but she had an overdose. We almost bought another TV so that we satisfy our separate TV viewing needs!!! I heard someone talking about two IPL seasons in a year. C’mon, I want to hear more!!!

Stand Corrected

I was too quick to judge “One Night @ the Call Center”. I was finding the first half comparatively boring but the second half is interesting and to a great extent…..filmy. But overall it is an intelligent book. Anyone reading the book will be able to identify with one character or another. Everyone has had a boss like Bakshi at some stage in life. So the story appeals to most. Interesting read.

Two Point Someone

If you have read Chetan Bhagat's "Five Point Someone" and also know about my academic feats, you might be tempted to think that I am talking about my CGPA from MBA. It was close but it was not that low. But ya, it is related to Chetan Bhagat and his writing. I am not an avid reader. I hardly pick up books as I am a slow reader and do not have the patience. If I am interested in a story, I want to know "what happened next" as soon as possible. But it takes ages as I read slowly, visualize things, read a paragraph again and again....and in the end I get frustrated and lose interest. I know that’s weird but that’s me.

Once someone had asked me how much time will I take to finish the book "The Sixth Commandment" (I do not know why I was reading that crap just like you are wondering why you are reading this crap). I had replied, after a long pause for calculation, "two months"!!! Everyone was surprised/shocked as they were wondering how can someone take so long to finish a book and that too a mystery. I have not told anyone but honestly, I was thinking that probably people are shocked as I have underestimated the time!!! My father and sister still laugh at that incident. I am that bad at reading.

Recently someone suggested "The 3 mistakes of my life" by Chetan Bhagat. I had heard a lot about Chetan Bhagat's style of writing from several bookworms (including my wife) and some others who purchase books regularly (but hardly read them) to impress themselves (like my friend Vikas Khaitan). I had also watched a play based on Chetan's (hunh, “Chetan's”!!!! as if he is my “chaddi-buddy” (langotiya yaar)) book, "Five Point Someone". It was organized by a group called Evam in association with Madras Theatre Group. The play was brilliant, simply brilliant. That had got me interested. So, to cut the "already very long story" short, I decided to read Chetan's (there I go again) latest book "The 3 mistakes of my life".

I finished the book in a day and half!!! Then I picked up "Five Point Someone" and finished it under two days. And now I am reading "One Night @ the Call Center". I am half way through (I must say, it is not as interesting as the other two). Two and a half books in less than a week and that is why the title, 2 point someone. I am finding Chetan Bhagat's style of writing pretty interesting and I am developing an interest in reading. That should mean more than a Booker for Chetan (“Chetan”!!! That’s a hattrick!!! For me as well as him).

Até a vista Guga

If you are wondering, the title of this blog means "Good Bye Guga". Guga is how Gustavo Kuerten is popularly known as. I live in a cricket crazy nation and cricket is my favorite sport, however French Open is my favorite sports tournament. French Open is different. It shows the "class" of a tennis player. Other surfaces are all about boom-boom tennis but one cannot win the Roland Garros with just a bazooka serve (of course, Roger Federer is an artist on any surface). One has to "serve and rally" and really fight for each point on the clay. Over the years, most of my favorite tennis players have been good clay court players.....Carlos Moya, Marcelo Rios, Thomas Muster, Sergi Bruguera, Guga and now Rafa.

In 1997, an unknown player from Brazil (at least I was seeing him for the first time though it was his second appearance in the French Open) came to Roland Garros. He was different....he had curly hair, a thin frame, was dressed in yellow and blue (Brazilian football team uniform).... honestly he looked more like a drug addict than a tennis player. But he could play. He had killer ground strokes. He used to go for every ball even if it looked impossible to reach and surprisingly he used to reach them!!!

Armed with an infectious smile, it was very difficult to dislike Guga. I started liking him and wanted him to win. Guga did not let me down and he won the French Open!!! If I am not mistaken then he was ranked 66th in the world at that moment!!! After winning the grand slam, Guga came to the stage and shyly said, "Now the toughest part.....talk..."

Guga won two more French Open titles in 2000 and 2001. He spent 43 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings. His game was suited for the clay courts and he hardly won anything on other surfaces, except a couple of tournaments here and there on hard court. His career was plagued with injuries and his career virtually ended after the right hip injury and subsequent surgery in 2002. (Ya, he did beat Roger Federer to reach the quarterfinals in 2004). This year, he came back for his farewell tour....a farewell that he deserved. He might have lost in straight sets in the first round but this loss ended in a standing ovation. A tribute to a champion player and a great personality. We will all miss you Guga.

Who let the dogs out?

Seems India has recently developed three hobbies; IPL, watching the news of Khali (pardon me, I mean "The Great Khali") and bashing one Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. Around 50% Indians are interested in Khali, around 70% are watching IPL (or the cheerleaders) but whats astonishing is that all the "extra-successful" Indians (the achievers) are bashing Mr. Bachchan. Take, for example, the Golden Globe winning director, Anurag Basu. The director recently criticized Amitabh Bachchan for the kind of roles he is doing. Basu believes that the whole magic of Mr. Bachchan has gone now and he should gracefully retire!!! Coming from such an acclaimed director, the opinion should be taken seriously.

Then there is Khalid Mahmud, reknowned film critic and award winning director (his extraordinary collection of work includes Oscar winning movies, Silsilay and Tehzeeb, which are considered the benchmarks for direction). Khalid recently wrote an open letter to Mr. Bachchan suggesting that Mr. Bachchan should go back to the film institute for a refresher course!!!! Another achiever talking against Mr. Bachchan!!! Thats strike two!!!

There are several other prominent and legendary personalities who have come forward to bulldoze Mr. Bachchan but no one is as important as the man who transformed Mumbai into Shanghai....the man who solved Mumbai's poverty, pollution, population, drainage etc problems. It is one and only.....Raj Thackeray. This leader of masses has one and only one agenda and that is to remove the biggest problem that an average Mumbaikar is facing today.....Amitabh Bachchan. He does not care about other issues as they are not "hot" enough. I am not updated....by any chance, are the elections round the corner?

The fact is that pointing finger at Mr. Bachchan is a ticket to instant fame. Mr. Bachchan is a global personality. If he sneezes, it will be a news.....if he laughs, it will be a news.....if he is bitten by a blood-sucking mosquito, it will again be a news and the mosquito will be discussed by a billion Indians across the globe. The blood-sucking mosquitos discussed above know this "marketing" strategy and are playing their cards well. But it is good to know that Mr. Bachchan is not keeping quiet and is replying through his blog. Mr. Bachchan, I may not matter, but I am with you. Kitne baazu kitne sar ginle dushman dhyaan se......haarega woh har baazi jo khele hum ji jaan se!!!

Most em"bare"ssing moment of my life

Let me share with my trillions of readers (scotch has gone to my head) the most embarrassing moment of my life. Or should I say the most em"bare"ssing moment of my life.

It was 2006. I was staying on the outskirts of Hyderabad (a lot of my friends will find this an understatement). It was a Saturday morning. A friend, who had stayed at my place in the night (stop your imagination), was about to leave. I asked him if he could drop me to my office as I wanted to spend some time in the gym (my marriage was a few months away and I was trying to shed those extra kilos (read quintals)). The plan was that I would spend some time in the gym, take a shower over there and then directly go to a mall where the same friend would meet me for lunch. I got ready and we started on my friend's bike. Now lets discuss some facts;

1. The bike was a Hero Honda CBZ (nothing important over there)
2. The bike was low on fuel (important information)
3. The helmet was hanging behind the bike in such a manner that if anyone had to sit behind the rider, he had to lift his legs really really high to clear the helmet (keep that in mind; extremely crucial to the story)
4. I was not wearing the gym cloths and they were in the bag, along with a towel and a bottle of water (keep that in mind)
5. I was wearing a black trouser (not important, however now I wish I were wearing a "lungi")
6. The trouser was slightly tight (keep that in mind)
7. My house was on the outskirts (Thank God!!!)

Midway in our journey, the bike ran out of fuel. We were in the middle of nowhere and the nearest petrol pump was 6-8 kms away. We started pushing the bike. We must have pushed it for half a km when my friend suggested that we try tilting the bike, shaking it and starting it. Sometimes it works...for a short while. But that is better than pushing the bike. He tried that and bingo!!! It started!!! I jumped on the back seat and we started again, hoping to make it to the petrol pump. Just when we hit a comparatively busier road, the bike stopped again. We had covered only about a quarter of a km. It was a hopeless situation and we decided that one of us will take an autorickshaw, get petrol in a bottle and come back. We did do that but later (Why God???!!!!Why!!!!).

As I was about to leave to get an autorickshaw, my friend tried to kick start the bike again. And the damn thing started!!!! I got really excited and lifted my leg (really high, remember fact 3) to get on the bike. Just then there was a roaring sound (Charrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaakkkk) that was followed by a real nice, breezy feeling on my legs....thighs and above!!!! I wondered what caused that sound and then I looked down on my trousers. It seemed as if a nuclear device was tested on my trouser, it had exploded.......believe you me, I am not at all exaggerating it. Why would I exaggerate anything like this. The only piece that was holding my trouser to my body was the strip around the waste where one puts the belt. Below that strip, the trouser was "hanging" in four different parts, not attached to one another.

There I was, standing on the roadside with four pieces of cloth hanging to my belt!!!! No wonder I was feeling brrrrrreeeeezy!!!! I went numb and was about to faint. Just then I remembered the gym bag on my shoulder. I immediately took out the towel, covered myself and put on the trek pants......all that on the roadside, much to the amusement of the passers-by. And how can I forget....during my ordeal, my so-called good friend was busy recording all this on his mobile camera (thankfully he lost the video)!!!!

Till now, whenever I think about that incident, it gives me goose flesh. What if I was not going to the gym, what if it had happened on a busy street......I would have probably killed myself afterwards.

Based on a true story

Flashback # 1: The year is 1995. I am in class 10th....standing in front of a heavily built teacher....looking at my not-so-clean shoes....and....listening to some heavy-duty "gyan". Some of my friends are standing behind a pillar and are giggling. The teacher is telling me that one day I will regret everything. She is predicting that most of the people I hang out with will end up being "no one" but they wont regret it as nobody has any expectations from them anyways....however, if I fail, I will regret it, and so will everyone who knows me...as I have the potential......blah blah blah followed by some more blah blah blah.

I am thinking that it is just some crappy useless advise which teachers....and parents....are supposed to give!!!! Otherwise they will not be called good teachers or good parents. But ya, I agree with her on the "I have the potential" part. Remaining part of that gyan is absolutely boring bullshit.

Flashback #2: The year is 1999. I am in second year college. I have met a classmate from class 10th. He is working with a courier company as a delivery boy!!! He is telling me about the others from the gang. I come to know that one guy is running a small time grocery shop in the outskirts of Ranchi, another one is simply doing nothing (ya, he is doing drugs but for discussion sake, let us not count that!!!), one guy is a member of an extortion gang and to top it all....one guy is in jail for attempted murder!!!! I get a shock and I am thinking that now it is high time that I get my act straight or else I will join this elite list. I resolve to get serious about my life.

Scene 3: It is April 10, 2008. (Oh c'mon!!!! don't think that I became really really serious after the incident in "Flashback # 2", became immensely successful and made tonnes of money!!!! This is not a script of a bollywood potboiler in which a zero turns into a hero. But ya, I did recover well enough to rejoin the race).

Coming back to the scene.....I am sitting in a movie hall.....watching an emotional scene about an old and helpless father and a son who does not care. I am realising that I am not doing enough for my parents. I want to do so much for them but I am not doing anything. After that I become very very emotional.

Cut to the present moment. Here I am, writing my feelings....hoping that no one reads them....yet for some strange reason, am writing on a "free-for-all-to-read" kind of space.

I have seen so many people who have all the resources but they do not do anything for their parents. And then there are people (read losers) like me who want to do so much for their parents but are not able to do much. Not that parents expect anything materialistic from their children...at least not mine. All they look for is love and affection. I do try my best to make my parents feel loved but I want to do so much more. I want to give my parents all the happiness. I want to give them the life they could have led if they did not have the constraints....and much more. Thats the destination, the ultimate milestone. But right now I do not have the fuel that will take me there....in fact, I am not even close!!!! I am trying my best and will do all that I can. But sometimes, like today, I go back to "Flashback # 1" and regret everything.

Thanks Orkut!!!

Unlike several people I know, I am not really crazy about Orkut. I do not use it for "making" new friends, however I find it pretty useful for locating old friends. I have located several friends from my school days. Today, I had another hit as I managed to locate my best pal from class 5th!!! It has been around 18 years since we last met and I had never imagined that I will ever be able to find him. I am really happy today.

For heaven's sake someone stop the "unstoppables" from losing

I am back to writing about cricket. With IPL going on, no one can escape the excitement and above all .....the discussions and analysis. Unlike most people, I do not have a favorite team in IPL. All the Indian cricket stars whom I like are scattered in different teams. I want Sachin to do well but have no attachment with the Mumbai team. I want Viru to do well but do not care about the Delhi team. But there is one team.....with whom I am bound to be a little attached. And that team is Hyderabad, aka Deccan Chargers!!!

When this team was picked, everyone (including yours truly) was of the opinion that it is one of the strongest teams. It has some great strokemakers, essential for the 20-20 format of the game. Deccan Chronicle spent crores for creating the team and a quick glance upon the squad suggested that we have a winner!!! And then the tournament started. Deccan Chargers have played three games till now and......hayeeelaaaa.....they have lost all three!!!!

The owners of the team probably did not realise that there is a cap on the number of foreign players playing in a game. There cannot be more than 4 foreign players in the playing eleven. That makes it very crucial that the remaining 7 Indian players are pretty good or atleast...up to the mark. That is where the Deccan Chargers are struggling. They have big names like Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs, Chaminda Vaas, Scott Styris, Nowan Zoysa and Chamara Silva but they can play only four of them. Apart from these big guns, Chargers have players like Venugopal Rao, VVS Laxman....and some legendary unknown fellas!!! I like Laxman's batting but in test matches. He should not even step on a cricket ground in colored uniform. 20-20 is a game about power-hitting, slogging, keeping the momentum going.....there is no place for "class". I could not even believe my eyes when in the first encounter Venugopal Rao opened with Gilchrist and then Laxman came on number 3!!!! The game was lost there itself!!!! The strategy was wrong and thankfully they tweaked it in the third game by dropping Rao. But it was not sufficient as Laxman promoted himself to the opening slot. Chargers will do their campaign a world of good by promoting Shahid Afridi to the opening slot. Look at the Delhi team. In the two matches that they have played so far, the number four batsman has not batted. In a 20-20 game, you have got to start with your best players and there should not be a need for your number 5 or 6 batsman to come to the crease.

Apart from making errors in the selection of the playing eleven, Laxman has also been far from impressive as a captain. In the first game against Kolkata, Laxman did not try to stop the singles. In a low scoring match, Laxman should have attacked the opposition. In the end, Kolkata trotted home quite easily. Then in the third match against Jaipur, Laxman made a blunder by giving the last over to Symonds. The opposition requires 19 runs off the last over and you hand over the ball to a bowler who had been taken for 28 runs off 2 overs. Moreover, Symonds's bowling had contributed to it's loss against Kolkata and he gave 30 runs in an over (Viru Zindabad) against Delhi!!!! Such historical events will make anyone apprehensive but not Laxman. Laxman was riding on complacency and that gave the Chargers the third loss in a row.

There is still a lot of cricket to be played in the tournament but if the Chargers have to do something worthwhile, they will have to sort out several things. Hopefully, they will be able to turn things around in time.

Night stay at Rangamati

Last week I visited my friend Ajit's village (Rangamati, Jharkhand). I was very excited about the trip as this was going to be my first visit to a village. The village is around 55 kms from Ranchi. The road to the village is mostly good. It was a nice ride to the village.

Everything about the place is so fresh. Fresh air, fresh water, fresh vegetable, fresh milk....everything. Moreover, the life is so simple (at least it appears that way). I had a great time over there and I didn't want to come back from the place at all.

Sarhul Festival at Ranchi

My trip to Ranchi coincided with the festival, Sarhul. It is a tribal festival in which tribals worship the Sal tree to seek the blessings of their spirits. The festival is marked by extensive dance and music programs. In Ranchi, groups from all parts of the city assemble at the Main Road area and from there the procession starts.

I was there and my friend suggested that we should take pictures of the procession. Now, I am always game for taking pictures but this time around I was a little apprehensive. I had heard several stories of people getting drunk and creating nuisance. During the festival, drinking heavy duty "haria", which is a local brew made of rice, is a common custom. I wanted to avoid any damage to myself and above all my camera. We decided to give the procession a miss. Just when we were about to leave, we saw the procession approaching. I got really excited and starting clicking. I was changing places to get good shots. Soon I realized that I was right in the middle of the procession and was drawing a lot of attention. There was this heavily drunk group which was staring at me and my camera. I started looking for a way to get out of trouble. Just then, one of them shouted "press wallah hai!!!" (He is from press!!!). Afterwards, the group posed for pictures and even made room for me to get into desired places to take shots. Having a big camera has its positives.

One interesting fact is that during the festival, women wear male cloths and gears and hunt for animals. The hunting process continues for entire day and they can kill any animal....wild or pet!!!

Finally....the numbers matched!!!

If you have ever bought a lottery ticket then you know the anxious moments one goes through while checking the winning number against the number on his/her lottery ticket. I have gone through such anxious moments quite a few times as my grandma used to buy lottery tickets for us. Needless to say that I never won as in that case, right now I would have been sitting on the Miami beach…watching babes get tanned. I would not have been here writing this stupid blog.

Hmmmph….anyways…the point is that the number on my ticket never matched with the winning number!!! I used to pray for the number to match but my prayers always went unheard….all that changed last Saturday!!!

I was anxiously looking above at the large digital board when it flashed the message. There was the number. I looked down at my ticket….and….it…MATCHED!!!

The ticket in my hand was my train reservation ticket and the message on the large display board said that my train had been postponed from 10:20 pm to 2:15 am!!!! I reconfirmed and the train numbers did match. Mr. God…I meant the lottery number and not just any number!!! But ya, that was a good one that you played on me. No hard feelings.

When two people have differences of opinion, it is not necessary that one of them is wrong. Both can be right. Do you agree?

Vizag Trip

After several weekends me and my wife were getting a weekend off. Neither of us were working on a "high-burn" project and so we decided that we will take off to some place outside Hyderabad. Since Hyderabad does not present many options for weekend trips, we picked the most commonly used option...Vizag.

I have been to the Vizag beach several times. It is a peaceful beach and is usually not very crowded. What I like most about the beach is the water is more violent compared to most other beaches I have been to. At Vizag we stayed at Palm Beach Resort. It was recommended by a few friends but since the tariff was not-so-high, I had my share of doubts. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. The resort is very nice and is right next to the beach. There are a couple of good restaurants over there. Moreover, it has a massage parlour and a swimming. Overall, the place has all the facilities that anyone would require to make the stay enjoyable.

There are quite a few places of tourist interest in and around Vizag (Borra Caves, Araku Valley, Kailash Hills etc). Since we were really tired after so many weeks of slogging in the office, we decided not to be too adventurous and spent most of our time either on the beach or in the resort (We did go to the Kursura submarine museum, which was pretty close to the resort). For a weekend trip, that was a sensible thing to do as we did not want to reach Hyderabad feeling even more tired. However, we would like to go back to the place if we get a 3-day weekend and then we would love to explore all the great places that Vizag offers. I would recommend Vizag and palm beach to all the weekend travellers.

They dont really care about us!!!

Yesterday, I saw a news item about the Indian cricket team…how they are made to work so hard round the year and BCCI does not even care!!! Nothing new about the story as everyone knows that and I am sure most feel sorry for the team. While watching the story and looking at the tonnes of statistics, I was thinking, "poor guys….they work so hard….they were either playing cricket or were on a tour for almost 300 days last year…they may be making millions but they are not getting much time with their family (just around 70 days last year)...WAIT.... that’s not so bad!!!!". They make good money, they can take their family on tours, they can afford great lifestyle and luxuries.......but what about me??? I spend my life in the office, work day and night, usually do not get weekends off, am scewing up my health, do not get to spend much time with my loved ones, do not have any time for my hobbies and……do not even get paid well!!! No one is feeling sorry for me. I am in a much worse situation….How come I am not a primetime story?!!?

Read somewhere….

“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We spend more but have less, we buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses but smaller families, more conveniences but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge but less judgment, more experts yet more problems, more medicines but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often. We have learned how to make a living, but not a life. We have added years to life but not life to years. We have been all the way to moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We have conquered outer space but not inner space. We have done larger things but not better things.

We have cleaned up the air but polluted the soul. We have conquered the atom but not our prejudice. We write more but learn less. We plan more but accomplish less. We have learned to rush but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information and to produce more copies that ever but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast food and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses but broken homes. It is time when there is much in the showroom window but nothing in the stockroom.”

The writer, like a billion other Indians, knows the problem. Anyone who is not facing these “problems” is probably unemployed, a lazy bum or in coma!!! Point is that everyone knows this…consciously or subconsciously but is there anyone with a solution? I guess not. No one likes to screw his/her happiness but everyone has expectations to manage and constraints to play with. The writer wasted time in writing all this and probably made his/her life even more miserable. The readers wasted their time and are running behind the deadlines even harder to compensate the loss in momentum. I topped them all by reading it and then writing this nonsense!!!

Pssch!!!

When we started the journey, we were alone......then others joined us on the road....and soon there was a traffic jam!!!

(Happens to me every morning!!!)

Aaaaaa (Yawn)!!!

I think there is some conspiracy going on a global level. In the night when you go to sleep, in 15-20 minutes someone presses the "sunlight" switch and a new day starts!!! I feel that all the time. Don't you agree? And the guy is particularly harsh on Monday mornings. I guess we need a new janitor up there.

That is how I am feeling right now!!!

Supermodel in the pic: Subasizz Sahoo;

Photographer: Me (Roaring Applause)

Two of a kind

Looking back at the journey so far, I do not think I have made too many friends. A reason could be that I was too involved with my family and my priorities. Though I wanted to be a happening guy and mix up with a lot of people, my constraints and priorities prevented me from doing so. I remember one incident from MBA days. There were 7 of us staying in one flat at Hyderabad. Once we had this session when everyone had to talk about another person and bring out the negative qualities. Almost everyone was of the opinion that I am selfish. Not that it hurt me yet I thought that I am misunderstood. I had some constraints and I was living with them. Those constraints prevented me from doing all the things that others used to do and so I used to say "No" quite often. I did not have any options.

In the same discussion, another guy was branded as selfish. And he had similar reasons….I understood that. Amit (From the picture, don’t think that he is my domestic help) and me have a lot in common. To name a few, we are not outgoing types, both of us put the family first and we are very emotional.

Amit and me were class mates at college. We hardly talked during the college…we just knew that the other exists. I think we talked for the first time outside a movie hall. I was standing in the ticket queue and was fourth or fifth in the line. That is when Amit approached me and asked if I could buy two tickets for him and his friend. Having asked for a favor, for the sake of courtesy, he started talking to me. Then we came to know that both of us were interested in doing MBA and he had joined a coaching center. Before we could talk any further, the counter opened and inspite of being so close to the counter, I did not manage to get the tickets. Waiting for your chance in a queue is not really a bright idea at Ranchi.

Then I joined the same coaching center. Afterwards, we got the call from the same management institute….we travelled together for the interview….we stayed together at my cousin's place…both of us got the Hyderabad center and then we stayed together during MBA days. After an year of completing MBA, I moved to Bangalore. Amit's company brought him to Bangalore and we stayed together at Bangalore as well. Though we had spent a lot of time together before that, our stay at Bangalore really helped me understand this guy. He was with me when I was going through a very tough phase of my life and he was very supportive.

Amit is a gem of a person. He is a great friend to have and is very caring. We have shared a lot of memorable moments with each other. Though we do not have this melodramatic "yaari hai imaan…" kind of friendship, we still are very close. We know and understand each other's priorities/ contraints and respect them. I may not have many friends but with a friend like Amit around, I am definitely not complaining.

:)

Yesterday, after so many days, we talked to each other and we talked like old times.

I am not too close to my extended family. There is enough drama to inspire a telesoap...similar to the lines of the Ekta Kapoor serials (If you do not know about these serials then you are lucky. They can trigger brain haemorrhage). Having said that, I confess that I am no saint myself. I come with my own set of manufacturing defects. I can be a shade selfish at times....sometimes a little egoist...and eccentric. Moreover, I sometimes lose my cool (Ladies and Gentlemen, the award for the understatement of the millennium goes to....yours truly). Do not want it to sound like a sob story but some of the incidents in my personal life and in the lives of some of the people who really matter, have made me a little bitter towards people and life in general. I totally admit that I did my bit to cause the drift between us....but she played her role too. Looking into the history books, I think timing was the main issue. May be the behavior/actions were trivial but the timing could not have been any worse.

Normally, in such events, I shut all the doors/windows. Infact, I did just that but somewhere deep inside, I wanted the things to change. Though I was never too close to her but she is indeed one of the few whom I like. Though I wanted to bridge the gap but I was not sure how to go about it. I did try calling her up on the New Year's eve but was almost relieved when she did not pick up the phone. Afterwards, we exchanged a few messages but it did not really take us anywhere.

Yesterday, I was surprised to receive her call but I am glad that she called.

Trip to Nandi Hills

यह तो बड़ा अच्छा है!!!

I did not know that blogs can be written in hindi as well. पता नहीं की मैं कभी use करता की नहीं लेकिन चलो यह option तो है!!! Pretty cool. जय हिंद!!!

Wishing someone good luck for a new business/ endeavour can get a little tricky. My father-in-law recently added an "ICU" in his hospital!!! Now, for that endeavour to be financially successful, a lot of patients will have to require intensive care treatment!!!

I wished him all the best but I just hope it saves many lives. :)

Main na kahta tha!!!

I kept saying but no one was ready to hear. Then, Virender Sehwag had to intervene to give me some support!!!

We simply cannot afford to have a player of his calibre sit outside. We did that and may be paid the price for that. Opening partnerships or the lack of them hurt us pretty badly in the first two games and who know....Sehwag's inclusion could have changed all that. Anyways, thats history. I am happy that Sehwag is back with a bang. He helped us win a test match and draw one. Now he has to help us win the one day series. Cannot wait to see Tendulkar and Sehwag open the batting for us. Thats some mouth watering stuff....not for the bowlers though.

Star Appeasement at its best

Recently heard that Shahrukh Khan won the Best Actor award for his role in "Chak De India" at "Nokia Star Screen Awards". That is not a news as Shahrukh Khan has won several awards in his long illustrious career. What surprised me was that Aamir Khan was adjudged "Best Supporting Actor" for his performance in Taare Zameen Par. I do not know about others but I felt that it was pretty ridiculous. Was Aamir really a supporting actor in the movie? In that case, even SRK was a supporting actor in Chak De India since the movie was about the girls in the hockey team.

Taare Zameen Par (TZP) did revolve around the kid but that does not make Aamir a supporting actor. The kid was a victim and Aamir was the hero who saved the kid.

If the logic is that Chak De India was a movie about SRK's character; how he suffered and then used the Women's hockey team to find glory then going by that logic, Sanjeev Kumar was the real hero of Sholay. The movie revolved around Sanjeev Kumar's character and how he used two "supporting actors" to take revenge. The organisers can go to any extent for star appeasement!!! Funny!!!

"India's victory at Adelaide" has been added to your wishlist

- MightyLordOnlineShoppingNetwork

Quote of the day

"He is so laid back that I am surprised that he is so bald"

- Sunil Gavaskar on Virender Sehwag

Just to let you guys know....I had predicted on the second day of the Perth test that Sehwag's bowling will prove to be more than handy. Nawab saab did not let me down.

Jeet gaye bhai jeet gaye!!!

Not many would have expected this result on the "Devil's Track" at Perth. Indian team showed immense grit and determination to pull off a victory, which brought smiles on over a billion faces.

It was a fight for pride and we won.

New kid on the block

Ishant Sharma has stunned everyone with the growth and maturity he has displayed in the last two tests. He has been bowling exceptionally well. I do not know about others but at least I was not expecting such a performance from the Delhi lad.

When Ishant arrived on the international scene (Test match against Bangladesh in 2007), he gave the impression that he is not quite ready for the grind. That was expected as the guy was just 18 years old!!! Honestly, I was disappointed at his inclusion in the team for the Australian tour. I thought someone like Agarkar would have been a better bet. But I am glad that he proved me wrong. The deliveries he produced to dismiss Ricky Ponting in both the innings of the Perth test were outstanding. Infact the entire spell he bowled in the second innings (in which he eventually gor Ponting out) had the touch of brilliance. He troubled Ponting all through the spell.

The conversation between him and Kumble was classic. Pretty similar to Raj Singh Dungarpur and Md. Azharuddin conversation ("Miyaan captaani karogey?").

After he had bowled 7 overs on a trot, Kumble thought of giving Ishant a break. Sehwag suggested that Ishant should bowl another over as Ponting was on strike. Kumble asked Ishant "Ek daalega?". Ishant replied "Haan daalunga". And he got punter out the very next ball!!!

My biggest stress buster....Calvin and Hobbes!!!

Jumboooo....Jumbo Haa Haa Ha

When one thinks of spin bowling, the two names that immediately come to mind are Shane Warne and Muthiah Muralidharan. They have conquered such great heights that no third name comes in mind. But there is another man, who has quietly been filling his bag. The man is Anil Kumble.

Jumbo recently bagged his 600th wicket!!! Not many would have expected that he will cross even 500. When the whole world was busy looking at Murali and Warne, Anil was covering milestones after milestones with stealthy footsteps. He is a quiet person, he has been far from controversies (unlike Murali) and he is anything but a showman (Unlike Warne). There is no glamour attached to his personality and so not many noticed his approach towards the milestone.

He comes across as a person with a strong mind and high determination. Nobody can forget the sight of Kumble bowling in West Indies with a broken jaw. Probably, captaincy came to him pretty late in the day. He is a man of few words but he is definitely a character whom young cricketers can look upto.

In the press conference after the second test match at Sydney, Kumble showed the world that he is a no-nonsense person. In his deep voice he said "Only one team played in the spirit of the game". That was unlike the Kumble that we have all known but that is what the situation demanded....and like always in his illustrious 17 year career, he stood up to the situation. Thats the way to go Jumbo!!!

Bold decision or "Bowled" decision

So much was being said about the pitch at Perth. It was being called the "Devil's Track". It is green and has plenty of bounce. All the experts were of the opinion that the team winning the toss should bowl first.....but surprise surprise, India won the toss and has elected to bat first (I think Anil Kumble holds some personal grudge against Sehwag or Jaffer). There is something that the Indian team management knows about the pitch that the experts do not know about. Whatever it is, I hope it makes sense and pays off. Jeetega Bhai Jeetega, India Jeetega!!!

Knock Knock

2-0 down in a four test match series, the Indian team management must have been looking for some divine intervention. The "ever-formidable-on-paper" Indian batting line up has so far failed to hold together. Moreover, unlike the previous tour, the opening partnerships are nothing worth writing home about.

Just when the situation was looking pretty grim, Virender Sehwag knocked on the door....or should I say.....ripped the door apart!!!

With a 73 ball century, Sehwag has strongly put forward his claim for an inclusion in the playing XI. That must have surely eased out the pressure a little for the team management. Sehwag must be singing "kiska hai yeh tumko intezaar....main hoon na".

He should have been opening the batting from the first game. He is too good a player to be left out. Moreover, you can never bring down the Aussies with defensive play. It requires a knock out punch and the Nawab of Najafgarh can surely pack a punch. C'mon Sehwag, beat the shit out of the kangaroos!!!

Aamir Rocks!!!

I recently watched the movie "Taare Zameen Par". Being a huge Aamir Khan fan, I was eagerly waiting for this movie and wanted it to do well.

You seldom like a movie that you are excited about or eagerly waiting for. At least it happens to me more often than not. That is because "I create" so high expectations that the end product rarely satisfies me. For instance, it happened to me when I watched "Guru". Before its release, I was very excited about the movie and really wanted it to do well. I was a touch disappointed when I watched it for the first time. The whole movie hall was applauding but I was quiet. I was thinking that "kucch kam hai". Since then I have watched the movie several times and I love the movie now. I own the DVD as well!!! Its just that my expectations had killed the experience the first time around.

I am glad that the same did not happen when I watched Taare Zameen Par. It is a beautiful movie and it totally surpassed my expectations. It is not glamorous, there is no masala, no item song, no raj malhotra, no bauji....in fact it is very emotional, deals with a complex subject and has a strong message...yet everyone is loving it!!! That is coz the story has been packaged in an interesting manner and everyone in the movie has given splendid performance. Yet, the two performances that clearly stand out are those of Darsheel....and Aamir (I am not biased, I did not like him in Fanaa).

Kudos to Aamir's direction (please excuse me if you think that I am going out of the way...actually I somewhat agree. he he he) as he has brilliantly treated the story. Without proper treatment, the movie could have easily fallen into the category of "parallel cinema". It is a must watch for all the parents and the people who would become parents at some point (ahhaaaan.....that actually means almost everyone....I guess I should get something for promoting the movie. If at all people were visiting my blog.......).

Whats unusual about the Australian team's behavior?

Whats the fuss all about? Why are we talking so much about the behavior of the Australian cricket team? What is unusual? Australian team has always been an arrogant and rude bunch on the field. They have a long and colorful history of sledging and misbehaving. So whats new?

We should only be complaining about the umpriring decisions and the judgement of the match referee. The umpires took the match away from us. Wrong decisions helped the Aussies and costed us dearly. Australia would not have managed a big score in the first innings, had some decisions gone in our favor. Even after that, we could have managed a draw but Bucknor and Benson did not allow that. The dismissal of Ganguly was classic. Benson could have gone to the third umpire but decided to give his arms some rest. I would not blame Michael Clarke for claiming the catch as sometimes it is difficult to make out such catches. In similar circumstances, Dhoni had claimed a catch on the last tour of England. It is not the fault of the player but the umpire should have gone to technology. Instead he decided to take the help of the lord....Ricky Ponting!!!

I wont even blame Australians for excessive appealing. We do not have the right as we are the industry leaders. Australians were desperate for a record equalizing win and it showed. I don't think there is anything wrong with that as everyone does it.

The icing on the cake was the Harbhajan Singh trial. I do not have much faith on the judicial system in India and so I think that Mike Procter can be an excellent judge. He said on camera that the umpires did not hear anything. He decided to ignore Sachin Tendulkar's statement and decided in favor of the Australians. I do not know whether Harbhajan said something or not....though he does come across as a character who can do that. Point is that there was not enough evidence. How did Mike Procter reach that decision totally beats me.

It is good to see BCCI backing the players....for once....for whatever reasons. That is a rarity. BCCI and the Indian team should put its foot down on the Harbhajan Singh issue and ensure that his ban is lifted.

Couple of people who will be relieved are Yuvraj Singh, Wasim Jaffer and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Their abysmal performance in the series so far is not being talked about at all. If I were Anil Kumble, I would be mentally preparing Sehwag, Pathan and Karthik for the third test.

Boss kaun hai maalum hai na!!!

Finally....it came!!!

I was on the verge of a heart attack during the entire time he was in the 90s.

2007 was jinxed, now we hope that 2008 will make up for that!!!

Thats how the world looks like from the top of a Yak....or should I say a very angry Yak carrying more than 100kg weight!!!

Baba Harbhajan's Mandir

Around 60 kms away from Gangtok, near the Nathula pass, there is a mandir of Baba Harbhajan Singh. He was a soldier with Punjab regiment of the Indian army. The legend goes that Baba Harbhajan Singh was declared a deserter after he mysteriously disappeared in Oct 1968. There is a belief that he appeared in the dreams of the commanding officer of his unit and told the exact location where his body and rifle can be found.

His body and rifle were recovered from the exact location. Baba Harbhajan Singh had slipped and drowned in a fast moving stream. Later, his unit constructed the mandir, which is frequented by army personnels as well as civilians.

Trip to Darjeeling

Last December, we went to Darjeeling for a short trip. We had heard so much about the place and were pretty excited about the trip. I would say that we returned from Darjeeling a touch disappointed. That may be because we went over there after a trip to Gangtok and so the benchmarks were high. Another reason could be because we did not spend much time at Darjeeling so may be we missed out on the real beauty. Moreover, we reached Darjeeling on a Thursday, which happens to be the day on which the markets remain closed. Whatever may be the reason, we did not enjoy the trip as much as we had expected.

We found Darjeeling pretty commercialized. If you land up there with no reservations/bookings, you are in for major trouble. Not that getting a hotel will be a problem but you will have to deal with zillions of agents. So we did not find Darjeeling very "user-friendly".

At Darjeeling, you would like to take a ride on the famous toy train. Please keep in mind that the trains run only in the first half. Almost all of them start between 9-10 am and if you miss them, you will have to wait for another day. There is a train at 12 or 1 pm but for some reason it is reserved for the VIPs!!! George Bush should have a toy train ride in his itinerary for his next India visit as there is a VIP train!!!!

Another attraction, much to the agony of my wife, is the sunrise at the Tiger Hill. In December, you have to start at 4 am to watch the sunrise at around 6:15 am!!! Not that the hill is pretty far off....you have to be there early to get a decent seat!!! Actually on the top of the hill, there is a big house. They sell tickets for each floor. The top floor obviously commands the highest rate. If you plan to go over there, ensure that the you get the tickets for the top floor in advance as it usually runs out of stock pretty quickly. We reached Tiger Hill at around 4:45 and the sunrise was expected at 6:15. It was already crowded when we reached there. Sleepy souls were waiting for the sun to show up. The main reason people go over there is because Kunchenjunga (or Khandchengzonga) range falls towards the western side of the hill. So when sun comes up, the range turns into golden in color which is quite a sight. But to watch that sight, you have to pray for a clear sky.

Around 6:15, when the sun reluctantly came out, it was welcomed by a huge applause....the kind of roar that you hear when Sachin Tendulkar steps out of the dressing room to bat!!! People were cheering the sun!!! I took several pictures and was pretty excited about the beautiful landscape. Then around 7 am I turned around, with a big victorious smile on my face, to check where my wife is.....and there she was....standing in a corner with an expression on her face which said, "NOW, can we return to the guest house?". I did not take any more chances and like an obedient kid, I quietly went and sat in our cab.

While taking a walk in Darjeeling, we saw St.Paul's high school. That was the place where the movie, "Main Hoon Na" was shot.

Apart from that there is not much to do at Darjeeling. Tea gardens are good sight but I do not think anyone would like to spend a day looking at the tea leafs. Of course, we did not get to explore the town much. It would have been a lot better had we managed to get a bike.

Locals suggested us not to have food outside as the water can create a lot of problem for the tummy. Moreover, we were suggested not to do any shopping at Darjeeling as the same products can be bought at much cheaper rates at the market in Siliguri, which is pretty close to the nearest railway station (New Jalpaiguri) and airport (Baghdogra).

Having said all that, I would still admit that Darjeeling is pretty beautiful. Its just that the heavy commercialization has made the town portion a little dirty. The authorities should do something about the place as it has huge tourism potential.

A monk is playing cricket at the Rumtek Monastery at Gangtok. This shows the popularity of cricket in India.