Busy, Busy Daisy !

Its been a busy month and next two months promise to be worse. Oh, i was in Srirangam to attend Panns' marriage, and in the evening i hear 'Dada' was dropped from one-day squad. Alas, thats another sad moment for a Dada lover. As Indians are used to by now, he might still make a comeback !! You cant keep him out forever. All said and done, hes a very ordinary fielder, considering the current international fielding standards. His running between the wickets - need we speak about that? Work on it Dada !!

Sensex has crashed over the last 2 days and billions are consumed in the abysmal blood bath. Wish you a speedy recovery !!

Just caught up with some Chennai news, having been there couple of weeks back for Pongal, was impressed to see increasing infrastructure activities, flyovers are getting done in different places, traffic police look suave in their new Hyundai Accent cars, with flashy lights, a newcomer might think its NYPD.

Found a nice blog on infrastructure updates from Chennai, quite consolidated and lot of finer details.
http://bitterscotch.wordpress.com/category/india/infrastructure/


My chithappa and family are coming over here this weekend, Mama might join us and its going to be a fantastic weekend. Our much awaited pre-quarters is scheduled this Sunday against AXA, a worthy opponent and a top team in Bangalore Corporate league. We are a confident lot and we hope to have a good match and come out winning. Would be good to take Vikki along for the match, but they have a trip to Sringeri that very day.

Next week, theres a marriage in Chennai, two more on Feb 18th and 25th. Quite a bit of traveling to do. Am mentally exhausted just thinking about it.

Eagerly awaiting the Adelaide Test Match on 24th, Thursday. Should be a cracker, should we go by indications. Perth was an excellent Test Match, and all credit to Aussies too for the way they fought in the last innings. Only Aussies can play the way they do, India wins one out of 4 matches and claim to topple them, but one should see when Aussies even drew a Test Match, and then talk. Go Aussies go !!

Return of the Tiger !

What could make me more happy, i cant really think of many. The way Dada performed over the last one year has made everyone sit up and take notice, and probably say "What is he doing different now, and what did he not do earlier?". It was horrific to see him get out to Afridi in the manner he did, when Pakistanis toured India last time. He looked like getting out every ball. Situations maketh the man, and how the tables have turned now ! Fantastic, he scored runs against a good pace attack in SA, was the top scorer there, went to England and played couple of brilliant knocks, i would recollect the 50 odd he scored in the last Test match, almost a run a ball knock that gave goose pimples to many watching. Need one say how he played against Pakistan? A critic might say "Ha, those are docile Indian pitches, nothing to rave about". But, its not easy to score in these low slow wickets either, and the way he timed the ball was a treat to watch, the ball left the bat, as if a vanilla ice cream was melting down one's throat !! Excuse me for that comic analogy, thought of having some humor here.

Am really pleased i should say. I chanced to meet him at Bangalore Airport, with his wife and daughter Sana, even though i had a camera phone, i did not take any pictures of him. I was fortunate to spend more than 20 minutes with him as we waited for his baggage to arrive. He was all smiles and thoughts, when i told him few knocks that even he had forgotten. It was in 1997 i guess, a unofficial tournament held in Hyderabad, Kris Srikkanth was the coach, temporary i guess. Few one dayers were held and he flayed Pakistani attack like i have never seen anyone do before. Am sure Aquib Javed would remember that !!

At the same time, i don't think he has done justice to the talent he has in the 5 day format of the game. A modest average of 43 in 99 Tests is not much, when you compare to Rahul and Sachin, who are widely and rightly regarded as "great players". It was hovering around 55 when he started the career and he ensured it dropped to 40 odd by the time he finished 80 odd tests. Fortunately, his form helped him shore those numbers up over the last 10 tests. I hope he inches towards 50, however improbable that sounds, even to the unabashed optimist.

I hope he continues to do well in Australia, one does not need a better occasion than to play at MCG, Melbourne.

Congrats Sourav. You promised to meet me when you come to Bangalore, but i guess you were too busy. i would hope to meet you sometime again.

Cheers and Good luck.

Cisco Cricket

Been more than an year since i posted, time has gone by pretty fast, but not so easy. Beginning of the year was quite hectic, with loads of work and hardly a minute to spare. March was nice to me, could take my wife along on a short US trip. had to sell my stocks to take her !! Sad but true, but i had one of the best months of my life there. Went to SFO, Las Vegas casinos, Los Angeles. Visited Sunil and family, Vikas and family and Maama thaatha as well.

Cricket had taken a back seat, as Dev had quit Cisco and we were left without a sponsor. Fortunately I was referred to Sameer Padhye, SVP, Advanced Services, who was eager to sponsor us and go beyond. I had a couple of chats with over phone in SJ and in India and he continues to amaze me. Extremely energetic, deep thinker, very vibrant and dynamic personality. Its very rarely that one gets to meet such personalities.

The cricket season started during the 3rd quarter of this year, and we played some tourneys and lost miserably. We seem to have improved a lot over the year, however. Lot of new champs have come in and started pushing people for their places, competition has gone up and people are on their toes. It wouldn't be a bad idea to tell you all about my great Cisco Cricket team. Here are some names and what i feel about these leather hunters,

1. Arun MR- outstanding performer since i have known him, more than 3 years now and has been the most consistent bowler. very useful bat, and extremely quick between wickets, good fielder too. Parties regularly on Friday nights and gives outrageous reasons for not turning up next day. One remarkable explanation, for not turning up at the grounds, for the match, kit was with him..." Macha, my friend is getting engaged suddenly, am on the way to Mysore !!"
   
   
2. Prem Nithin - Works for sales, handles Wipro account, just finished his CCIE - congrats mate. A solid middle order bat and steady bowler. Good all rounder to have in any team. As is the case, he once had this reason for not turning up " My dog is alone at home, and there is none to take care of him "!! Hoz that for a reason?
   
   
3. Srinivas Nagaraj - Fondly called as "Uncle" , he's 34 i guess and the oldest member in our team. Excellent wicket keeper, stands up for our pace bowlers and does a fabulous job. Been quite regular for all matches so far, but doesn't turn up for nets. Provides valuable inputs time and again and motivates all new comers. Sometimes naughty !!
   
   
4. Deepak - loves backs, be it cars or girls, doesn't miss a chance to, you know what ! Wonderful cricketer, hard hitting batsman, and bowls quick too. Along with Arun and Prem, forms the backbone of our team. Has played some pleasing knocks for us over the last one year. Quite lazy, does not turn up for nets often. Should take more responsibility.
   
   
5. Karthik/Sreesha - Very committed, turn up regularly for nets, matches. Yet to develop into a solid bat. Working hard towards it, i have lots of faith in their abilities and should soon be pressing the pedal.
   
   
6. Ravi Kiran - Awesome batsman, has not played much this year, and is getting into shape right now, he would probably take some more time and be a part of our team soon. Played some blistering knocks for us earlier, great ability. Should get fitter, field better and run faster.
   
   

There are many others, Revant, Anshu, Niju, Sagar, Chetan, Vijay who have joined our team recently and are performing admirably. Its only in the last few weeks that my efforts of building a class cricket team has borne some fruit. From a situation where we hunted for players, we have a situation where we are rotating players, which is a healthy sign. I hope we continue to unearth new talent in Cisco and become a force to reckon in Bangalore circuit.

Right now, we are in the middle of TNT Cup, grouped with TNT, Mindtree and SAP GDC. We have played 2 matches, won 1 and lost 1. Defeated SAP quite comfortably, and lost a thrilling battle with TNT. Few catches went down, quite a lot of runs leaked while fielding, as we set about chasing 142 in 20 overs, in the end we fell short by 7 runs. This defeat still rankles and rattles me, having a tough time trying to sleep.


We have got some new cricket gears, couple of solid bats, a dozen balls, batting gloves and a new kit bag. We have a match coming up this weekend against Mindtree, a win should get us through to pre-quarters and a loss would kick us out of the tournament. We are politely confident of winning, given our sound performance last match and over the last few months.

Good luck Cisco hunters.

Thavamai Thavam Irundhu....

its really been a deep slumber for me, got very lazy as usual and never wrote a word. not that it matters, because i dont think anyone checks my blogs.

well i saw the movie (title), and it was nothing short of being fabulous. towards the end of second CD i cried, i weeped till i coudnt bear any more. it was amazing,how it affects the viewer. kudos to Mr.Cheran, one day i would act in your movie and give a bigger hit. i wish you all the best and sincerely hope you continue to produce such films.

the next few months are going to suck up a lot of energy, travel to HYD in march end, then house shifting in April, then trip to chennai for a marriage, then to Mumbai for another marriage. i hope cisco gives me a good bonus and hike!

we played a match in HMT Mathulla, we were all out for 72, considering the fact that we were 29/7, 72 looks ok, i made 18, srikanth was the only other person to get into double figures. as such the pitch was probably not the best, it was more "perth" like. amazing bounce and carry, pretty quick as well. got hit on the face once, somehow managed.

we have a match this weekend in ANZ Cup against Misys. lets hope we win at least once in a bluemoon.

Black Day!!

Its been a month since i wrote last, was a bit lazy,and a bit too busy to devote time here. Off late there's been a spate of mails pouring in our xxx-t alias as well. Lots of poems,rants,etc.

Yesterday must have been one of the worst for me, felt really bad for Sourav Ganguly. They axed him for some reason, none of which have truly come true on the outside to the public. As such, even my wife,mother and many others around me, say that he deserved to get treated thus. i wonder why they argue, but i could condone them because they arent really that knowledgeable on the know-hows. Some say that he purposefully side-lined Sachin. Wow,ludicrous !! Its a known and established fact that Sachin was the only match-winner then. He piled runs on every outing and performed exceedinly well. There was a time when everyone would shut their TV down once he got out. Then came a turn around, there were others who started performing and got noticed. Dada was definitely on the top of this list. And Dravid was always a useful one-dayer,never did he win any match for us till about 3 years back. People used to get surprised if he scored at run-a-ball. He has changed for good, no doubt. How many of us remember the "Sydney" Test match, we piled up over 700 odd runs and drew it. Sachin,who was woefully out of form then, scratched around, played only those nudges and flicks, and our run rate was pretty ordinary. Dada came in and got out trying to play too aggressively. Now Sachin remained not-out and thats what is remembered by every Indian and Cricket fan all over. I also remember another match against England, some Nat-west trophy, Ganguly scored some 90, and got out trying to accelerate, why? At the other end, the present toast of india, Rahul Dravid was struggling and scored at snails pace. Somehow we won the match,he scored a fifty and RD escaped punishment. There have been mutiple instances where RD has led to others getting out just because he was a slow coach then. Dravid made a come-back to Oneday side because Ganguly helped him again. He was too good to be kept out, class was there for everyone to see, he was persisted for over 5 years, from '97 to 2002, and how many matches did he win for us? such a long run was given for him to establish himself in this team. i wonder whether Sachin or Dravid ever think of their bad times? Dada could have fought with them, had arguments, whatever, but is this the way they treat their team-mate? Forget he was a captain,whatsoever nonsense. Do we ever learn to respect our friends? Has he not stayed with you for 10-15 years? Dont u know your time will also come some day? I felt bad when i read rediff today. How bad would it have hurt him? Is it sportmanship to abandon a man so close to you? Its analogous to celebrating in front of a house where a death has occured. Shame on you indian cricketers. if u dont learn to respect humans and their feelings, theres no point in even playing for your country. Some idiot said " A friend in need is a friend indeed". It doesnt hold water these days.

Dont worry my dear Sourav. You know you ve been wronged. I doubt if these guys would allow you to return, frankly i feel they dont want you in their dressing rooms. none is fighting for you anymore, unlike how u fought for the current crop. They say in Tamil "Madiyathor Padiyai Midhiathey" which translates into "Dont step into a house where you are not respected". So stop being supremely optimistic, understand the reality and do something worthwhile instead of fighting for a place which will never be open to you. If Yuvi fails, kaif will walk in and not you, or some other Mumbaikar would make it, and not you.

Am pleased to read that your wife and daughter were there with you during those troubled moments. I wish my dream of meeting you would come sometime in the near future. Right now you must be mentally exhausted, just relax for a while and enjoy your time with your family and friends. Am always there for you as a fan and well-wisher.

Srirangam to Coorg

on Oct 30th, me and R left for Trichy, by special train that was introduced for Diwali. My inlaws came over and received us. Three delightful and stress free days ensued, as i ate and slept,watched india massacre Srilanka, thanks to Dhoni. and he equalled Ganguly's highest score of 183. He could have easily made 200, just that we won too easily with overs to spare.

My parents and Sis joined on 31st evening, on diwali, we burst some crackers in the evening, watched some proceedings on the TV, Chinna mappillai movie including. On 2nd nite, me and R left by train to bangalore. Ganz and chits received us at the station.thats a friend for life as i have maintained all through. we reached home, packed,had upma for breakfast and started the engine. numerous stops did happen,one in coffee day,one to buy some stuff on the way, regular tea breaks. all but R drove the new beast, whatta vehicle. pickup and acceleration at 3rd gear is just amazing, it doesnt wince at all. but for the small skirmish that happened as we approached coorg, the trip was good. talk of roads, better drown yourself. the roads are pathetic to say the least. till mysore its just okay, then roads to hunsur,kushal nagar and coorg are full of craters and potholes. maybe the rains have a hand in this, but there's a limit to the damage it can cause.

the paddy valley was a fantastic place, we had a cottage, with 2 rooms and attached bathroom. nice portico facing the huge vastlands of paddy, and even a bird chirping would cause your heart to stop for a moment, the place was so quiet and sealed from noise.three wonderful nights,4 good days and bad roads were the highlight. we visited "Abbey Falls", had lunch at "Orange County", went to "Dubare", crossed river by boat,saw huge elephants getting scrubbed by tireless men, walked across the fields and estates, smelt coffee and oranges. and finally reached bangalore on sunday evening, by around 7:00. it was a wonderful break. the hosts Ach and Nallu were very courteous and served good food, a mix of mallu,and tamil food. As usual Ganz feasted and devoured them. Apart from a minor incident when a Tata indigo brushed against us on the way to Coorg, everything else was smooth. Chettalli will be a place to remember and we shall go there sometime next year.

Last 3 days have been hectic with arranging stuff at home and bringing it in order. the servant maid is hopeless and not 1/10 as good as "panju". We do miss her wonderful service at Jeevanadi. by far she is the best servant maid i have ever seen. am waiting for ganz and co to send across the photographs, will upload here.

got a match dis weekend, i missed out two matches last week as i was outta station. in anycase i wonder if it would make any difference as we invariably lose most of them. will have nets with my club team and play the match. coming to cricket, its a bit worrysome that Ganguly has been treated shabbily. agreed that he hasnt been scoring for a while, but i wonder if hes so bad to be dropped. cricket is a funny game and selectors are one step higher. neways we have been winnning now and there's no problem. we wil have to wait for a couple of losses and overseas tours to start criticizing again. my best wishes to Dada for a glorious comeback. but i frankly doubt if that would happen.

Diwali Damakaa

Bangalore is in total mess as is Chennai, should i say why ? Bangalore It.in got underway amidst all ruins, heard that there's lukewarm response, not many have gone in, and some companies have not represented this time around. Chief Minister Shri.Dharam Singh, visited all affected areas along with DG(Deve Gowda, ex-PM). They have committed to reform infrastructure problems in karnataka, not only in Bangalore. On the personal front, i shifted to my new residence in Benson Town,and so far so good. Shops arent as close as it was during my previous tenancy,nevertheless roads are good and drainage,worth celebrating. There's a huge slush of drainage sound behind our house, chennai's "Coovum" brethren. Feels like you live next to kutralam falls :)

Mom and wife set up the house, thanks to Ganz and chitra, they came over on sunday,withstanding deluge of rains and water logging, and helped us to start functioning. Mom couldnt leave as planned, as all trains to chennai stands cancelled, and repair work is being undertaken. She managed to get AirDeccan ticket for Rs.1150 and off she flew. She appeared like a "small kid lost in Kumbamela" as she entered airport. It was a very different experience for her and she didnt utter a word inside, kept looking around,seeing faces and how confident others around her were. Thats something i have never seen in her. she is always this most confident woman on earth league. however some situations can be daunting,no matter how big you are. it must have been a humbling experience for her. my sister called up after mom reached and said "amma is blowing her trumpets" . well, she has every reason to. not often in her life time has she taken the aerial route. it happens once in 20 years. this is only her second flight of her life, the first being a chennai-madurai trip when i was about 7 years old. i should thank air Deccan and other guys who have been operating for a while now. whatta way to stretch the lips.

whole week, it rained and rained and bangaloreans didnt seen sun or even a ray of hope. yea i forgot to add that i did score a slow 20 last match. we were chasing 143 in 20 and we lost by 29 runs. i was too careful and slower than what was expected of me, i ve a chance to redeem myself tomow against AXA, they are a very good team.

and then the trichy trip + coorg. ciao all, happy diwali .