Freezing Thoughts

Sometimes we think we are being extremely cool, but will end up becoming a big fool. Something similar happened to Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh. Right from his yesterday’s “Tour de Taj” to the press conference today, his actions have been extremely childish and irresponsible. If this caused ripples through the media, Mr.R.R.Patil’s alleged comments caused quite an explosion among the common people ( We, The People in NDTV). If it’s true that he said “ ….this whole episode is trifling in a big city like Mumbai… ”, then it’s a shame to the people of India that we have elected such people as our representatives. To add masala to this we have Ram Gopal Varma, who was certified as a non-terrorist by Mr. Deshmukh. In Bangalore yet another politician suffered humiliation. Mr.V.S.Achudhanandhan, the Kerala CM was denied entry into the house of Late. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan by his father, who saw no reason to receive the condolences. Though the reaction was a bit extreme and the situation could ...

Hats off to the NSG, RAF and other commandos who were involved in flushing out the terrorists in Mumbai. Their services are not sought often, but then each time they gamble with their lives in performing their duty. Something most of us won’t even dream of doing. Thinking how an attack of this magnitude would have been possible, we have only ourselves to blame. Corruption, negligence of duty and lack of national feeling emerge as the three main reasons for these repeated terrorist attacks. Corruption and negligence of duty are very complex and deep rooted in the Indian administrative setup. It is impossible to remove them overnight. But this incident is an indicator as to how lethal their effects can be. Without blaming the system, if each one of us refrain ourselves from corruption and perform our duties well, the system will change automatically. It is easy to say “…let others start and then I will start...”. But then we must realize that we should do what is correct, and not what is...

(This happened to me during my 12th standard in Palghat. I wrote this story two days after the incident. Browsing through some old documents in the computer, stumbled into this. Just thought will share it here.) The bus was slowing down. Sitting in the last long seat, I had to hold the seat for stopping myself from falling in front. ‘Inertia of motion’, I thought. Though the last seat had this particular disadvantage, I usually prefer it. Sitting on it means a good view of both sides of the road. It was 6 AM, a beautiful April morning. Unlike the day to come, it was quite pleasant and breezy. It was summer vacation and yet I was on my way to tuition. I was entering twelfth standard and was to write the Engineering Entrance Examinations in one year, the vacation had little meaning to me. The bus stopped in front of a temple. It was a practice of most buses in this route to stop at all the temples that come their way during first trip of the day. The conductor wou...

A comfortable 6 wicket win at Cuttack has given a 5-0 scoreline in favor of India. They are evolving as a great unit and hope this helps the team to sustain the high standards for a long time. A lot has been (and is being) written and said on the Indian victory, why dont we focus on why England are losing ? The reason for their failure seems as simple as adding two plus two. Of the eleven players who are supposed to play, only 3 or 4 of them seem to be playing for a cause at a time. Only Pietersen , Shah and to an extent Flintoff seem to bat a bit. In bowling, again its just Broad and Flintoff who cause a little bit of trouble. The rest of them are just bowling as if they are at the nets. And is Matt Prior the best wicket keeper in England ? Surely there must be someone better playing for some county team. That someone will atleast know to appeal spontaneously, and not 5 seconds after the ball enters the gloves. If the poor quality of British cricket is disappointing, the advertisemen...

The Australian cricket team was a very professional outfit, which believed in just going out to the middle and performing ruthlessly and thrashing the opponents. They showcased themselves as a team that didnt believe in giving excuses. But last week has seen a dramatic turnaround in their behavior. Look what some of the players had to say: "The reason for our slow over rate was the problems with sight screens." - Matthew Hayden "I became bad after the Sydney drama, because I took to alcohol." - Andrew Symonds "I dint perform well because of food poisoning in India." - Brett Lee What are the others going to say about their bad show ?? Hope not these : "I got out to Harbhajan repeatedly because I had difficulty in differentiating between the ball and his turban. Its against the game's integrity. The ICC must do something about it." - Ricky Ponting "I know from history that India got independence from British, and how they ousted the fair s...

The Border-Gavaskar trophy is sitting pretty in the BCCI office after few years, and it is indeed a moment to cherish. The victory as such is important, and perhaps what is more important is the timing of it. Some legends are calling it quits, some are showing wear and tear of long years on the field, and the media is numbering their days. The team is clearly undergoing a transition. In such a situation it is heartening to find new entrants showing their mettle right away, seniors ready to take extra load of an out of form player and importantly, the emergence of a truly inspirational and influential leadership. Personally, I learnt a lot from some people of this Indian outfit. Will be happy to share it here and happier if someone reading this is also inspired. Licence to Kill : Gambir (Skill): Showed us how to hit-and-run a Kangaroo (I mean, the Watson collision incident !), but was punished suitably. It was good to show attitude to Watson, he deserved it. But a quick apology ...

Though there is a popular belief that Chennai's weather can be classified into only three categories, (hot, hotter and hottest !!), the climate prevailing now is just perfect for the festive season, and people like me having a pre -exam vacation. Waking up in the morning and instantly feeling a cool breeze from the other side of the window caress the face is a real pleasure. The pleasure doubles when I know I can fall back to the bed, this time covering my face with blanket, and realizing there is no college to prevent me from snugly curling up and going back to sleep again. Hot coffee at 8, sitting in the balcony and watching the sun slowly peek from the clouds, spreading a cool sunshine all around is like, Hmmm , cant explain in words. The overnight rain has washed my bike clean, and a ride to the beach is a perfect way to start the day. By 10, I am home alone and jobless. Playing Yanni's "Enchantment" , I take The Greatness Guide and randomly bro...

Vessels make noise, we all know that. Aluminum vessels are no exception. And someone like Dicky Puking, sorry, I mean, Ricky Ponting, who distinctly resembles a misshapen Aluminium 'sombu', will make more noise. Click here to read what he had to say. "There's speculation about whether Ganguly should be in the team in the first place." Speculation ? By whom ? Australian media, or the jobless Indian news channels ? The Chairman of BCCI has made it clear, "Ganguly was in the last series. Here he is for the next series." The Irani Cup, is a domestic fixture, and its the board's chance to experiment few things out, and there is no need to explain the dropping of Ganguly to every other person. "He probably feels a little bit lucky that he was included in the squad..." Oh, did Sourav tell you that ?? "....because there weren't too many people around the country who I spoke to who thought he was going to get named." Did you try s...

Sourav Ganguly, the Dada of Indian cricket, has hit the headlines once again, for compelling an on field umpire to ask the third umpire's decision, even when the other on field umpire feels he is out. It was cry babyish behavior and I am afraid is setting a wrong example for his fans. When you see such an effort from a fielder to take your catch, you better walk off at the first place. The catch was not dropped and neither did Smith touch it accidentally on the ground after taking it. (Video) And the square leg umpire also feels its clean. So what then ? You or me or even, the most reliable and consistent player of the IPL Rohit Sharma, would have walked away, cursing himself for the shot and secretly admiring Smith's athleticism on the field. (Not to mention Gilly. He would have walked right away !) But the person under consideration is Ganguly. He can poke and nag (or rag) the umpire to seek the third umpire's decision. The third umpire's state is more pathetic. With...

Undoubtedly, Royals Vs Chargers was the best match of the IPL so far. It is also the first time in the contest that a team chased a 200+ score successfully. Hats off to Warne for holding the nerve and play three pure cricketing slogs off his countryman Symonds. Earlier, Pathan virtually shattered the Chargers attack. His shots were ruthless, brutal and would have hurt any bowler's ego. Also the partnership with Smith, who himself played an anchor's role to perfection, was the decisive phase, which was well complemented by Kaif cameo. Laxman's poor run as captain continues. He would do better to take help from Gilchrist and Kaif. He was clearly running out of ideas. Why toss the ball to Symonds for the last over, when you have two overs left for Ojha, a left arm spinner ? He could have turned the ball away from Warne, and Warne would have had to slog against the spin to hit it over longon or midwicket. Instead, Symonds' off spin was an easy pray. Talking of Symonds, his ...

Chennai Vs Mumbai was a thrilling match. The lack of penetration in Chennai bowling was glaring. Guess they need to pull out something special to pull out a victory against Knight Riders on Saturday. Mumbai, well, they missed Sachin for sure. Already, the Mumbaikars are sad that their lobbying to have the name 'Indians' and blue jersys are helping them in no way to win the match. Hope Sachin recovers soon, and adds weight to the team and the contest. Or atleast improve the mood in the camp The coverage of the matches is very very poor. The cameramen don't seem to have a fair idea about the game. A few instances: Raina is swinging the bat towards extra-cover, and misses. The camera swings from longoff to fine leg, and finally comes to rest at the umpire's hat. Oram has just taken an outstanding catch at longoff. Just after the catch, the camera goes on to show the audience roaring in D-stand (man, show the cheerleaders at least!) and after few seconds its advertisement. ...

A big thanks to Times of India for arranging the show of A.R.Rahman in Chennai. Maybe, its a business gimmick to improve their sales, but as long as they are able to come up with such quality shows, no complaints. It was a sweet shock to me, when I came to know, just minutes before the starting of the program, that Rahman is accompanied by Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Karthik, Naresh Iyer, Javed Ali, Blaaze, Sadana Sargam, Madhushree, Rehana and Chinmayi. A cluster of real stars in one stage, ready to enthrall ! Starting with Jaagey Hain from Guru, Rahman went on to bind us all to the atmosphere with a perfect blend of Tamil and Hindi songs: Azagiya Tamizh Magan, Dil Se, Varaaga Nadhi, Sivaji, Sandana Thendral, New York Nagaram and all Jodha Akbar songs (except Manmohana ). A treat to any Rahman fan. There was also an unexpected tinge, when Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah was fused with Rukkumani from Roja and Veerapandi Kottai from Thiruda Thiruda. The most unexpected thing was perhaps ...

The kick off of the Indian Premier League was indeed flashy and extravagant. Introducing an all new competition, in spite of the already packed international schedule, is no mean job. That way, the BCCI needs to be appreciated for their efforts to coordinate well with the other boards, and importantly to convince the ICC. Well, money matters, isnt it ? The match was a real "one man show". Minus Brendon Mccullum, the match was nothing. He was ruthless, and lucky that a few edges found the right way to the boundaries. The erring length of Bangalore bowlers made matters easy for him, and, well, we all saw what happened. It was nice to see players of different international teams play as a team. Especially, on-field team spirit was very pleasing to watch when the Knight Riders were fielding. Its indeed a rare sight to find Ricky Ponting pat and appreciate Ishant Sharma. That too, for taking the wicket of Rahul Dravid ! As a captain, Ganguly was way ahead of Dravid. There seemed...

Last year, today we won EQ. (Chee, sorry folks, my English is getting bad. Beg your pardon.) Well, last year, same day we won the EQ finals. One of the best cherished moments in my life. Again, same day, in 2004, I scored my first (and only) half century in national Under-19 cricket tournament. They are 20 over matches, and hence, a half century is very special. Today, I was afraid the April 14th good luck charm will be shattered by Microprocessor and Microcontroller University Lab exam. It almost did, but oh boy, what a turnaround it was ! As usual, I went to the exam without studying all experiments, but, banking on my luck. It has never failed me in my three years of engineering life. To be precise, so far 16 labs have transpired and I have been lucky every time. So, today I entered the lab with the odds in my favour. I picked up the paper, and was stunned a moment. Rate generator and bit manipulation. the first one is damn easy, and I knew it very very well. The second one, was a n...