I have been thinking of this idea, for quite a few years now. Animals on the roads are a menace in India. Cows,Stray Dogs , for starters. I say, I say, why not regulate the traffic for them too ? Let's have traffic signals with Cow crossings and dog crossings too ! Why limit it to zebra crossings ?? Seriously ! There have been occasions when, trying to avoid running over a dog on the road, the vehicle has met with an accident. So, India should have traffic signals and cow crossings !! That will avoid the dogs from waiting to cross over to the other side of the road, to pee there and then come back and pee back !
August 30, 2005
August 23, 2005
Musical Nite :)
Our company, as part of it's 6th anniversary celebrations had the Musical Nite arranged, on 17th August ! I was only too glad to take up this opportunity, and I did sing :) Some snapss ..
The Woh Lamhe Team, from right - The multi faceted SriHarsha, Mohit Jain,ME ME ME.
At practise, The Woh Lamhe Team :)
The Woh Lamhe team, on stage :) Sri Harsha was on the keyboard.
Here comes my favourite. The twist. A rocking idea, to get "Hotel California" by the famed Eagles to be sung in the tune of an Indian Tamil song, Ennavale, from Kaadhalan. Wow ! I love such creative trials :). So, the lyrics were from Hotel California,but the tune was from the tamil song. And as an intro, we decided this , in typical mallu accent .. "All these westerneyrss copy indian songs aaand make it their on. Look et Beppi da, whose Keliyon ka chemen was stolen by some westeyrn baand, and he haad to fite zoo muj to get it baack. what a werld ? Even this song which is going to be sung was formed by 2 yeeagles sitting in Hotel Adigas(it's a hotel almost all employees in our company frequent). And now they haave roooined thaat olso.Listen to the original tune aand u oonly dezide ..(and I sang the song as mentioned above ..) and then I said - Lizen aand yenjooy the new veyrshan. What yenjoy .. chhe" Guess what we introduced our band as ?? - "Palakkad Vultures" !! :P. And it was a pleasure to have realised that our COO and CEO were seated wheile I was narrating those lines and of course :)
Here is the snap ...
And finally, one more song, "Sandese Aate Hain" with Lazith,from the Bollywood movie, Border...
Singing is my passion, and I loved it that night ! And I was overwhelmed by people whom I didn't know, but who still congratulated me :) . Overall it went off really well.I just hope I get more such opportunites and entertain on and on ... !!
The Woh Lamhe Team, from right - The multi faceted SriHarsha, Mohit Jain,ME ME ME.
At practise, The Woh Lamhe Team :)
The Woh Lamhe team, on stage :) Sri Harsha was on the keyboard.
Here comes my favourite. The twist. A rocking idea, to get "Hotel California" by the famed Eagles to be sung in the tune of an Indian Tamil song, Ennavale, from Kaadhalan. Wow ! I love such creative trials :). So, the lyrics were from Hotel California,but the tune was from the tamil song. And as an intro, we decided this , in typical mallu accent .. "All these westerneyrss copy indian songs aaand make it their on. Look et Beppi da, whose Keliyon ka chemen was stolen by some westeyrn baand, and he haad to fite zoo muj to get it baack. what a werld ? Even this song which is going to be sung was formed by 2 yeeagles sitting in Hotel Adigas(it's a hotel almost all employees in our company frequent). And now they haave roooined thaat olso.Listen to the original tune aand u oonly dezide ..(and I sang the song as mentioned above ..) and then I said - Lizen aand yenjooy the new veyrshan. What yenjoy .. chhe" Guess what we introduced our band as ?? - "Palakkad Vultures" !! :P. And it was a pleasure to have realised that our COO and CEO were seated wheile I was narrating those lines and of course :)
Here is the snap ...
And finally, one more song, "Sandese Aate Hain" with Lazith,from the Bollywood movie, Border...
Singing is my passion, and I loved it that night ! And I was overwhelmed by people whom I didn't know, but who still congratulated me :) . Overall it went off really well.I just hope I get more such opportunites and entertain on and on ... !!
August 12, 2005
Panicking ?
Are the Aussies panicking ? One would think so. Australia included Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee for the 3rd Ashes test against England at Old Trafford yesterday. Brett Lee was on drips for an infected knee and McGrath was nursing an ankle injury. After the defeat in Edgbaston, a match where England dominated till the 4th day, Australia seem to have been rattled. Australia's batting hasn't clicked and more importantly, there have been no big scores from any of the big guns.. including Hayden and Ponting. Hayden has looked out of sorts during this entire series and Gilchrist too has not shone. Added to it has been Gillespie's poor bowling in this entire tour. He seems to have lost the plot and dizzy is in a daze these days.
On the first day yesterday, McGrath and Lee passed the fitness test and were included in the playing 11. Both bowled their heart out, but Australia, for all the good work they have been doing with their fielding in matches, dropped as many as 5 catches, including Trescothick(by Gilchrist) and Vaughan, twice.Vaughan took the oportunity and scored the first century in the Ashes series.McGrath also had Vaughan bowled, but off a no-ball.Vaughan took special liking to the hapless Gillespie and hammered him enroute to his 166. He was caught off a full toss from part time chinamans by Simon Katich. But the day was momentous for the greatest leg spinner of all time, Shane Warne who snared the 600th test wicket of his career by having Trescothick caught behind by Gilchrist. Truly, a great gift to the game of cricket and a great servant to Australian cricket. He achieved it in his 126th Test match, and he is not done yet. If there is one man who can turn this game around it has to be Shane Warne. McGrath looked out of sorts, going for more than 4 an over in his spell. Surprising for a miserly fast bowler whose average in test cricket is around 21. He was not the mean machine that he usually is and was quite a few paces slow as well. Obviously, he has not fully recovered. And with the England batsmen taking full toll on Gillespie, Australia found themselves clueless.
Lee again bowled his heart out with the second new ball, getting rid of the dangerous Kevin Pietersen and nightwatchman Mathew Hoggard, off the last ball of the day. Mathew Bell came back to form with a well compiled half century and was unbeaten. But the day was more to do with the sloppy cricket by the Aussies, be it bowling or fielding, there were dropped catches and loose bowling. England grabbed the opportunity and made a strong challenge for the 3rd test , ending the day at a rather healthy 341-5. Australia will be looking for Shane Warne to weave some magic and Lee to unleash his speed on the remaining batsmen in the England team to get back into this test match. But Freddie Flintoff, in the form he has been in, may have other ideas. Another exhilirating day of test match cricket to look forward to on the 2nd day of the 3rd test match of the 2005 Ashes series at Old Trafford.
On the first day yesterday, McGrath and Lee passed the fitness test and were included in the playing 11. Both bowled their heart out, but Australia, for all the good work they have been doing with their fielding in matches, dropped as many as 5 catches, including Trescothick(by Gilchrist) and Vaughan, twice.Vaughan took the oportunity and scored the first century in the Ashes series.McGrath also had Vaughan bowled, but off a no-ball.Vaughan took special liking to the hapless Gillespie and hammered him enroute to his 166. He was caught off a full toss from part time chinamans by Simon Katich. But the day was momentous for the greatest leg spinner of all time, Shane Warne who snared the 600th test wicket of his career by having Trescothick caught behind by Gilchrist. Truly, a great gift to the game of cricket and a great servant to Australian cricket. He achieved it in his 126th Test match, and he is not done yet. If there is one man who can turn this game around it has to be Shane Warne. McGrath looked out of sorts, going for more than 4 an over in his spell. Surprising for a miserly fast bowler whose average in test cricket is around 21. He was not the mean machine that he usually is and was quite a few paces slow as well. Obviously, he has not fully recovered. And with the England batsmen taking full toll on Gillespie, Australia found themselves clueless.
Lee again bowled his heart out with the second new ball, getting rid of the dangerous Kevin Pietersen and nightwatchman Mathew Hoggard, off the last ball of the day. Mathew Bell came back to form with a well compiled half century and was unbeaten. But the day was more to do with the sloppy cricket by the Aussies, be it bowling or fielding, there were dropped catches and loose bowling. England grabbed the opportunity and made a strong challenge for the 3rd test , ending the day at a rather healthy 341-5. Australia will be looking for Shane Warne to weave some magic and Lee to unleash his speed on the remaining batsmen in the England team to get back into this test match. But Freddie Flintoff, in the form he has been in, may have other ideas. Another exhilirating day of test match cricket to look forward to on the 2nd day of the 3rd test match of the 2005 Ashes series at Old Trafford.
August 10, 2005
It Happens ..
Can you unlock something that is already unlocked ? Well, almost always you can't. I tried in vain to do so, only to realise that it indeed isn't possible. My colleague wanted my stapler that I had safely (un)locked it in my table drawer. I tried opening it but in vain, for it never was locked !! And then, Pandora's box opened, and it was opened by my colleague, and I couldn't hide my embarassment. But hey, you can always, lock the unlocked, which was easier now :D
Stranger things have happened. My friend,who wanted to take the lift, asked those getting out of it at the ground floor - " Is it going up " ??!!! huh ??
Can't think of any other right now :D
Stranger things have happened. My friend,who wanted to take the lift, asked those getting out of it at the ground floor - " Is it going up " ??!!! huh ??
Can't think of any other right now :D
August 9, 2005
Don't React,Learn To Respond
Came across an article from Rahul Kapoor, the founder-director of Kapoor's Workshop on Effective Communication. The article is about learning to respond rather than to react. Here are 2 equations he defines in the article ..
Situation + Reaction = Disaster
Situation + Response = Outcome
How true ? When we react it is governed by our spontaneity to a situation. So there is ample room for hysteria,anger and any other form of eccentricity which will create turmoil around us. We may lose our senses in those 10 seconds of outburst. Who loses the image ? We, ourselves. But instead if we can just ponder for that extra second as to what we want out of the situation, we can respond effectively. It is same as think before you leap. Respond before you react. And you may well avoid a disaster which may be close at hand !
Situation + Reaction = Disaster
Situation + Response = Outcome
How true ? When we react it is governed by our spontaneity to a situation. So there is ample room for hysteria,anger and any other form of eccentricity which will create turmoil around us. We may lose our senses in those 10 seconds of outburst. Who loses the image ? We, ourselves. But instead if we can just ponder for that extra second as to what we want out of the situation, we can respond effectively. It is same as think before you leap. Respond before you react. And you may well avoid a disaster which may be close at hand !
Five Bowlers ??!!
Well, hottest debate now is should India play 5 bowlers or not. Great !! I have heard of commentators saying, if a 6 batsman can't win you matches, the 7th batsman cannot do so either. That was when Dravid was keeping wickets. Let me turn this around and ask .. if 4 bowlers and a fifth bowler can't win a match can a 5th bowler do it for us ? I doubt it .. India have succeumbed to media pressures and fielded 5 bowlers in the final today. I really don't see any sense in doing this. Besides, if people think that Dhoni is more a batsman than a keeper, it is ridiculous. Just hardly 10 matches old, and with a technique which is not perfect, he is being fielded as a batsman/keeper. Unbelievable. And when(God forbid) India loses, Dhoni's role will be in jeopardy, right ? And then, people will say captaincy issues, bowling let down(even with 5 bowlers, ha ?!) .. Believe me, 5 bowlers is not the way out for India. India is just hiding its deficiencies rather than facing them head on. It is always better to concentrate on your strengths when the real test is on rather than try and work on your weaknesses. India's strength has always been it's batting and never it's bowling. Hence it's is of primary importance to get the batticng to click. Because, for India that is the only way to win a match.Also, India have to chase today .. now, Dravid maybe thinking, if only we had that extra batsman .. well.. Dravid that's what the media can do .. Don't go by them. Go by your strengths .. Let's hope India manages to win today !!
August 8, 2005
What a match !!!!
What a test match ? Unbelievable. Who said Test Matches have lost their charm ? One Dayers have been a boon to Test match cricket, more runs, more wickets and no dull draws. The Ashes is up and running, England having levelled the 5 match series 1-1. On the morning of the first day of the 2nd Ashes Test match, Glenn McGrath trod on a cricket ball during warm up and hurt his ankle. It was diagnossed as so bad that he won't be match fit till the 4th Test. This was indeed a big morale booster for the England side who were a beleagured lot after their big loss at Lord's in the opening Ashes encounter.And what transpired later would be a memorable test match.
Ponting won the toss and surprisingly, on a batting friendly pitch at Edgbaston, elected to bowl, even without Glenn McGrath. I wonder whether he wanted to signal to England that McGrath or no McGrath, Aussies would believe in their bowling attack and go for the kill. England, put into bat, started off in bliding fashion, and scored runs at a fact click of more than 4 an over !! Trescothick and Strauss put on a century stand, before Strauss fell once again to the guiles of Warne. Warne has another bunny now ! Trescothick went on to make 90 and would be disappointed for having missed out on scoring his maiden Test Hundred against the Aussies. England then had a minor collapse and were suddenly 187/4 with Pietersen and Flintoff at the crease.
Ponting won the toss and surprisingly, on a batting friendly pitch at Edgbaston, elected to bowl, even without Glenn McGrath. I wonder whether he wanted to signal to England that McGrath or no McGrath, Aussies would believe in their bowling attack and go for the kill. England, put into bat, started off in bliding fashion, and scored runs at a fact click of more than 4 an over !! Trescothick and Strauss put on a century stand, before Strauss fell once again to the guiles of Warne. Warne has another bunny now ! Trescothick went on to make 90 and would be disappointed for having missed out on scoring his maiden Test Hundred against the Aussies. England then had a minor collapse and were suddenly 187/4 with Pietersen and Flintoff at the crease.
August 4, 2005
Nothing's in a name but ...
I was walking back to office after lunch with my friend, Nirantan Bhat(t) ??(Name changed without much difference !).He had told me long back, that there are 2 kinds of Bhat(t)s, one the kashmiri people who have the name as Bhatt and South Indian brahmins, with names as "Bhat". I asked him, curiously, "Your Bhat has only one t right ??" ..
He responded .. "My Bhat(read Butt) has no "t"'s" !!!!
He responded .. "My Bhat(read Butt) has no "t"'s" !!!!
India is the best
For once, I had to have a sarcastic title for a post. Though I am a proud Indian, I and millions of other Indians were let down by the performance of the Indian cricket team yesterday at Dambulla. India played against Sri Lanka, in the Day night encounter and lost by 4 wickets. Now, 4 wickets seems pretty convincing when you consider Sri Lanka won with 12 balls to spare.
Well, this was not so when Sri Lanka were struggling at 95/6 in under 25 overs. And then, India as India always is, lost it by giving an unbeaten 126 run partnership to Upul Chandana and Mahela Jayawardene. Incidentally, thisn is the 2nd highest partnership in Cricket ODI history for the 7th wicket. India were close, but not close enough.
The point is not about how/why we lost. It is about how often this kind of a thing happens ? Jayawardene's 94* was his highest score in 4 years !!!!! And to think that he rocked the cricket world with a 240 odd against India in 1999, in Sri Lanka does merit him. But, that 240 was not before India dropped him 4-5 times !!! And if I am not wrong, that was Ashish Nehra's debut series as well !! India has a superb cricketing history when it comes to promoting OTHER countries' cricket talent ..
Well, this was not so when Sri Lanka were struggling at 95/6 in under 25 overs. And then, India as India always is, lost it by giving an unbeaten 126 run partnership to Upul Chandana and Mahela Jayawardene. Incidentally, thisn is the 2nd highest partnership in Cricket ODI history for the 7th wicket. India were close, but not close enough.
The point is not about how/why we lost. It is about how often this kind of a thing happens ? Jayawardene's 94* was his highest score in 4 years !!!!! And to think that he rocked the cricket world with a 240 odd against India in 1999, in Sri Lanka does merit him. But, that 240 was not before India dropped him 4-5 times !!! And if I am not wrong, that was Ashish Nehra's debut series as well !! India has a superb cricketing history when it comes to promoting OTHER countries' cricket talent ..
August 3, 2005
Calendar
I checked the calendar which is of the tear and update kind. It was not torn for yesterday .. thought of the song oru murai from the malayalam movie, Manichithrathaazhu(the latest Chandramukhi in Tamil starring Rajnikanth) ..
Oru murai vanthu kizhitthaaya ..
Nee eee ..
Oru murai vanthu kizhitthaaya ..
:D
Oru murai vanthu kizhitthaaya ..
Nee eee ..
Oru murai vanthu kizhitthaaya ..
:D
Bow Wow
No, that's not me barking.. It's just the barking of the stray dogs which is still reverberating in my ears. Boy I had a close shave. Talk about going home late at nights when stray dogs are at their menacing best(WORST !!). My brother would always warn me about the stray dogs in Bangalore, and how menacing they are. They run behind anything they find, be it a motorcyclist or a .. err.. running human ! But hey, cmon, I was passing by harmlessly mate ! I just crossed the road, being the ever confident guy who doesn't care about stray dogs and what havoc they can create.
And whom do I come across ? 2 stray dogs, and this was not even late night, it was just 9:00 pm. I always carry may bag to office, albeit there is nothing new or old which I add or retain in it. But, man, did it come handy yesterday ?
It was a war, between my bag and the dogs. They kept snarling at me, there sharp teeth ready to rip me apart. Couldn't take a close look to see how white the teeth were and decide which toothpaste they might be using. But it was 30 seconds of fight on the middle of the road. Two dogs and me. Boy did I go stone cold. I really got scared, but I took the bag off my shoulder and kept shoving away the dogs. Though the people passing by on the road were watching all this, they dare not help me, lest they should get chased down by these beasts. 30 seconds, and I realised, how bad it could be to get bitten by these dogs. Watching me trying to fight away the 2 dogs , another one joined the gang. A chain of thoughts crossed my head, from the 14 injections I might have to take if I were to be bitten, to the very fact that they would actually bite me. Action packed thriller it was .
Being stray they were bound to stray, and they like to just chase down anything, and found a motorcyclist .. who screamed past. They were not done with me yet. Another vehicle passed by and somehow the doggies got distracted. I took advantage of the opportunity and , well, not surprisingly, crossed back to the other side of the road. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to brave walking on the same side after that incident.
I really don't understand, why there are stray dogs at all ? Ok, they want to sprint on the road. But do they have to bite people ? My friend got bitten, even as he was driving his vehicle. There have been instances of accidents having taken place, whilst trying to avoid these dogs.And these accidents have been fatal too.What were they trying to achieve by threatening me ? Ok, I got my pants stitched bad, and half an inch short, as a result of which, the socks were visible. But there was no bare skin that they could have smelt right ? Don't tell me they liked the smell of my socks !!
But, really stray dogs are a big menace in India, especially, from what I have seen, atleast in Chennai and Bangalore. I remember having seen teleshow about a girl who gets bitten by such a dog and she gets the dreaded rabies disease. The girl starts to snarl like a dog, and it's really a bad one , that ! This is precisely what went through my mind when the attack was on .. phew !What do these stray dogs want ? Why are they stray ? What is their motive ? I can't understand. Why do they have to chase people ? Why bite them ? Do they even realise they could cause rabies ?
To end it all, on the way back home, only one song struck my mind ...
Jahan bhi jaata hoon wohi chale aate ho
Peeche Peeche dum hilaake tum aate ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum doggie kaun se ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum doggie kaun se ho
Jahan bhi jaata hoon wohi chale aate ho
Peeche Peeche dum hilaake tum aate ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum Kaat-the kisliye ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum Kaat-the kisliye ho.
Head Back Home
And whom do I come across ? 2 stray dogs, and this was not even late night, it was just 9:00 pm. I always carry may bag to office, albeit there is nothing new or old which I add or retain in it. But, man, did it come handy yesterday ?
It was a war, between my bag and the dogs. They kept snarling at me, there sharp teeth ready to rip me apart. Couldn't take a close look to see how white the teeth were and decide which toothpaste they might be using. But it was 30 seconds of fight on the middle of the road. Two dogs and me. Boy did I go stone cold. I really got scared, but I took the bag off my shoulder and kept shoving away the dogs. Though the people passing by on the road were watching all this, they dare not help me, lest they should get chased down by these beasts. 30 seconds, and I realised, how bad it could be to get bitten by these dogs. Watching me trying to fight away the 2 dogs , another one joined the gang. A chain of thoughts crossed my head, from the 14 injections I might have to take if I were to be bitten, to the very fact that they would actually bite me. Action packed thriller it was .
Being stray they were bound to stray, and they like to just chase down anything, and found a motorcyclist .. who screamed past. They were not done with me yet. Another vehicle passed by and somehow the doggies got distracted. I took advantage of the opportunity and , well, not surprisingly, crossed back to the other side of the road. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to brave walking on the same side after that incident.
I really don't understand, why there are stray dogs at all ? Ok, they want to sprint on the road. But do they have to bite people ? My friend got bitten, even as he was driving his vehicle. There have been instances of accidents having taken place, whilst trying to avoid these dogs.And these accidents have been fatal too.What were they trying to achieve by threatening me ? Ok, I got my pants stitched bad, and half an inch short, as a result of which, the socks were visible. But there was no bare skin that they could have smelt right ? Don't tell me they liked the smell of my socks !!
But, really stray dogs are a big menace in India, especially, from what I have seen, atleast in Chennai and Bangalore. I remember having seen teleshow about a girl who gets bitten by such a dog and she gets the dreaded rabies disease. The girl starts to snarl like a dog, and it's really a bad one , that ! This is precisely what went through my mind when the attack was on .. phew !What do these stray dogs want ? Why are they stray ? What is their motive ? I can't understand. Why do they have to chase people ? Why bite them ? Do they even realise they could cause rabies ?
To end it all, on the way back home, only one song struck my mind ...
Jahan bhi jaata hoon wohi chale aate ho
Peeche Peeche dum hilaake tum aate ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum doggie kaun se ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum doggie kaun se ho
Jahan bhi jaata hoon wohi chale aate ho
Peeche Peeche dum hilaake tum aate ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum Kaat-the kisliye ho
Yeh to bataoo ke tum Kaat-the kisliye ho.
Head Back Home
August 2, 2005
Kaamiyaabi Ki Ummeed
Sunke jab hum nikale the
samjhe manzil he aa padi
dekhke hum ne raah taki thi
Lekin thokrein kyon aa padi
Ummeed liye baithey hain
Kuch banenge hum bhi kabhi
Raah tak dikhayee na dee
To kya karenge hum bhi kabhi
Ummeed se bandhe hum hain
Naseeb mein to ho kuch kabhi
Khud naseeb bante baithe hain
Kaamiyabi chue hain jinhone bhi
Tasalli se banti baat nahi
Kuch karna to hai kabhi
Ummeed pe math baitho kabhi
Kaamiyabi aise aati nahi
samjhe manzil he aa padi
dekhke hum ne raah taki thi
Lekin thokrein kyon aa padi
Ummeed liye baithey hain
Kuch banenge hum bhi kabhi
Raah tak dikhayee na dee
To kya karenge hum bhi kabhi
Ummeed se bandhe hum hain
Naseeb mein to ho kuch kabhi
Khud naseeb bante baithe hain
Kaamiyabi chue hain jinhone bhi
Tasalli se banti baat nahi
Kuch karna to hai kabhi
Ummeed pe math baitho kabhi
Kaamiyabi aise aati nahi