Thank you Abhinav Bindra

"If better is possible,good is not enough!"

The month of August holds a greater significance in India's history.Though there isn't one in comparison to August 15, we probably have a lesser but yet significant date in August 11 that is worth a marking on our calendar's and memories.That day when Abhinav Bhindra created history by winning the first ever individual gold that's been eluding for years.

For long we've been witness to cricketing wins uniting the nation in every possible aspect.The scene was no different after Bindra's riveting performance in China.From TV channels flashing with breaking news throughout the day, mail forwards, to "You've made us proud" sms'es exchanged, Bindra's win at Beijing was ubiquitous and rightly so.The aftermath of the effect was palpable.There is little doubt, sport once again proved to be the binding factor.

Lets face it.At a time when everyone hoped for a better performance than Athens 2004 with a touch of optimism from a select few, Bindra's feat is nothing short of a sporting spectacle considering the fact that we have a dearth of Olympic heroes.A concoction of self-belief, effective work ethic and perseverance that eventually paid off, the hallmark of a winner.To be witnessing Bindra stand on the podium with the National Anthem at the backdrop was so overwhelming.A poignant moment in our sporting history hard to describe.

Thanks to Bindra, for once a country of over a billion has an Olympic hero to brag about.Such is the irony indicative of the state of affairs when it comes to Olympic sports in India.The victory is an apt response to all the cynics who believed in the games not able to create an impact with the masses.Bindra's triumph at Beijing could just be the catalyst that was much needed.Will it inspire younger athletes? Hopefully,Yes.But to expect the same out of the sponsors would be premature given the fact that there is very little exposure of such athletes in comparison to cricket.

While the euphoria will continue to reside, there are valuable lessons to be learnt from the games.With hardly any assistance from the government it is a fine example of an individual succeeding with an effective support system (an Olympic standard shooting range in house) in the family, a far cry in Indian sports.

While it is necessary to savour the victory it is also about taking positives from the Olympics.Despite the losses the Indian contingent has put up some inspirational performances in the form of debutant's Saina Nehwal,Jitender Kumar,Anup Sridhar and few others progressing through.The experience at the Beijing Olympics for the youngsters is invaluable and is certain to hold them in good stead in the future.With age on their side these athletes are sure to make a mark at the world stage sooner.

"Be the change you want to see" - We've had a plethora of discussions and ideas to improve the state of sports but at the end of the day it boils down to execution which depends on the mindset of people running the show.It is time the government and the sporting bodies pull up their socks, got rid of the unprofessional set up that looms large and invest in creating an effective system.It is imperative to realise the kind of talent available within the country, back deserving athletes to the core and nurture them into being future Olympians.It is time to let go the ego and learn from countries like China and Australia and instill a strong sporting culture in terms of setting up academies on par with best in the world, offer athletes with sponsorships to train abroad and develop better infrastructure.

The rise of the Indian Railways, a case study in management circles is a fine example indicative of the advantages in forging a public-private partnership provided it is carried out with a vision.The federations can take cue from the success story of the Railways.A conjunction with the best sports management groups like the IMG could be a postive step in initiating change.

Lets be optimistic and hope victories such as these catapult into more such sporting wins in future.Only time will tell if history will repeat or if its going to be a flash in the pan.But for now its time to bask in the glory of an momentous occasion we've never been privileged to be a part of.

Thanks Abhinav..

From Mt.Abu to Jodhpur.....my favorite bus journey!

Thoughts, in a lot of ways are like the highway routes which connect to one another at some point of time.Incidentally this week has been full of journey's.First it was chennai and then to the temple town of Madurai for a U.K friend's wedding.It is a mere coincidence as i write this piece on one of the "most eventful bus journey" i've had.My return trip from Madurai was booked on airavata, supposedly one of the better luxury buses that exist.It costed around 450 Rs for which one gets to experience good pushback seats, a fully airconditioned bus with blankets provided to feel warm for those who aren't fortunate enough to be accompanied by hot girls and a complimentary water bottle that the customers can avail. With the roads leading to bangalore not upto the mark i realised travelling in the best bus might not be all that luxurious eventually.

It was past midnight when the driver stopped for a break and as it took off i lost sleep with my heads bouncing as the bus traversed through the even more depleted roads ahead.I started cribbing about my bus rides which very seldom have been good.As i went on a reverie, strangely my mind went back to the previous bus journey,an eventful journey in november from Mt.Abu to Jodhpur.I sat in the same seat(seat.no39) on the second last row - aisle seat on the right hand side!I wouldn't stop laughing thinking about the Jodhpur trip as the old man next to me continued to stertor right into my ears at a few good decibels .My immediate thoughts were about Mals (Malavika),tina (Sonatina),Karishma,Hayan and Divya.I vaguely remembered a few moments of that ride from Abu to the Blue city.

In the entire trip the only time when we didn't have tickets was from Abu to Jodhpur.After an eventful jeep ride from Dilwara temples to the city center, thanks to the driver's(Bhavani alias Nandi) antics, myself,mals and karishma went looking for tickets to Jodhpur which was hard to get by whilst tina,hayan and divya ordered some gujarati thali.Eventually we managed to get 6 "deluxe" bus tickets in the only available bus for the day.The ride to Jodhpur was memorable in more than one ways completely in contrast to the Baroda-Mt.Abu journey but had a few similarities with the airavata one.Little did we know the "deluxe" bus would be so terrific.It was sans push back seats,levers,suspension and even windows in that cold winter.Tina sat next to me and i remember both of us having a good laugh as i exclaimed "Oouch..!" when i parked my butt on one of the "push-back" levers only to realise later that they had been made non-functional throughout.

The bumpy ride was on as everyone's head almost hit the top.Mals and Karishma sat next to each other to my left.Later, i guess karishma decided to have an entire seat in front of me and her long legs hit mals at most times.Barring Hayan who had a gift to doze off anywhere i presume the rest had a bit of a nightmare.And to add to the fun midway a gay couple left Divya a touch dazed.I vividly remember one guy sitting on the other's lap as they downed some drinks during the break.The whole bus was asleep as it halted for a break during mid-night.I felt hungry since i hadn't had sandwich along with the rest when we kicked off.It was dark and silent and i couldn't reach for the sandwich conscious of awakening my fellow passengers due the rumbling noise from the plastic bags.I finally managed to get hold of it after 5min search.The whole night was spent finding a suitable position to fall asleep trying to avoid the chill (thanks to the windowless bus) and the levers from poking me again on the back.And everytime i thought i had a comfortable one ,was greeted by a set of humps all thanks to the the bus without suspension.Towards the end when i did manage to get some sleep we'd arrived at Jodhpur!

As we got down the bus early morning we had chai(more than one) on a road side stall enroute to the guest house and had a great time sharing our thoughts on our overnight trip.The best part of the overnight trip was everyone enjoyed it thoroughly,which could have beeen otherwise if we'd made a fuss about it.The first sight of jodhpur was filth all around.We were greeted by Shakti Singh who owned the guest house.As we sat on the terrace facing Merangarh fort (a remarkable sight) i must say all of us were impressed by Mr.Singh's hospitality.Not only did he get us masala chai(again!) & breakfast,but also made sure we had a good time,explaining about the fort and Jodhpur in general(this was around 5-6 a.m) and organised the auto trip for the entire day.

That to adapt to conditions at times,enjoy the moment and share them is what travel can teach you.It was great fun nevertheless.

My First SOLO Bullet ride - 700km

Bangalore - Kolar -Palamner-Chitoor-Ranipet-Chennai (Approx.700Km).

Return:Chennai-NewECR-Mahabalipuram-Kanchipuram-vellore-Bangalore highway NH46,NH7 Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore)

A trip for my MOM !

Great sportspersons are always worth emulating often in their approach towards life .Their quotes in a lot of ways reflect the individual's attitude, character.Some of my favourite quotes are by legends who've struggled in life to be where they are.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying - "Michael Jordan"

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life - "Mohammad Ali"

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything - "Mohammad Ali"

This was my first ever solo ride and is quite close to my heart.I've tried to pen down every moment of the ride

Why did I ride?
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In 25 years i must admit, i've always been close to my friends than with any cousin of mine.There's hardly been any proximity or the much needed connectivity specially with the one's on my dad's side.So much so that its been almost 10-11 years since i bumped into some.Probably it was mutual, but i never regret that.Fortunately i've always been around with friends, had the best moments of life and the best of relations.At any given point, i'd prefer the latter without an element of doubt.To be honest, for me having good friend is the best thing to happen than a obligated relation.

I guess the absense of the "Bangalore cousins" resulted the elderly relatives (Uncle's/aunt's) who eventually began bombarding my parents with this question of "Why don't you get your sons along for wedding,upanayam's etc..?".I've been quite adamant in not travelling to a few places in the South because i simply hated being there.To attend a fucntion and meet a few people i didn't connect with was the last thing on my mind and was simply not possible.Over a period of time this got to my mother who insisted that i attend a cousin's wedding in chennai on June 1st.My reply was a simple "NO" and explained my reasons for refraining from such occasions.Before giving up on me she said "Just try making it once and henceforth i shall not pester you in future".

The Ride...... NH4(Hoskote-Kolar-Palamner-Ranipet-Sriperambudur
-Chennai)

After a nice heavy buffet at Harsha's housewarming party,Vegan Shake,coffee and pastry at the coffee day with Ameet the previous night, i woke up late in the morning to answer my mom's "last effort call" in persuading me to come over and the response from me was no different.As i sat reading the newspaper with tea in hand, i just wondered if i could make it to chennai to fulfill my mother's request and if so what was the best way i could do it? I really did't fancy going by train, Bus or even by flight.On the other hand i'd been wanting to do a long ride on my bullet to Badami and Hampi.Call it lack of likeminded compananions willing to travel by bike or procrastination, it never happened but i was so desperate to make the ride happen one day.I just said to myself that if i rode to chennai, attend the wedding for 2 hours and drive back i'd be a happy man! The next moment i called up my mom to inform her that i'd be coming, only to be told i had to be there before 09.00 a.m.

It was 1.00 p.m and the drive to chennai would take atleast 6 hours (approx.330-350 Kms depending on the route) and driving in the night would be hard.Googled a few best routes before i decided upon NH4-the Old Madras route through Kolar, Chitoor, Ranipet, Sriperambudur.Packed my bag, showed up my bullet with the mechanic for a checkup,filled up some engine oil, fuel and finally kicked off at about 3 p.m.All along i thought i had to cover the maximum distance in day light.Having spent the day without breakfast and lunch, my first stop was at Kamat near Hoskote.Ordered for Raagi Dosa, cool drinks and took off.As i enjoyed the thump on NH4 with a great sense of satisfaction little did i realise that the worst was yet to come.Kolar welcomed me with rains, luckily didn't last long.Briefly stopped at a Dhaba where i heard a guy telling his friend "hey alli nodo Jinke marigalu" (metaphorical to chicks)refering to a group of young girls who seemed to be enjoying their weekend!.The reason i say worst was because my helmet didn't have a wiser which would have helped me from the rain falling over my face.And little did i know my jacket would give in to the rains.

After the brief stoppage there was no looking back.I said to myself that the next break would be possibly after 150km.Was a bit harsh on myself but i had to do it if i had to escape from the rains and avoid the night drive.The road on NH4 was just splendid and with the thump reverberating alongside a few songs by Bryan Adams, at no point did i feel like stopping the bike.All the way i maintained a good speed hovering about 90-100 while at times i couldn't resist raising the throttle till 110-120.It was magical to be speeding along for hours together with the breeze straight on the face not having to worry about the traffic, roads, crowd or anything else that you hate in the city.
As i crossed Palamner,Chitoor and entered Ranipet there was a downpour for a while.I was relentless thumping along while i said a bad rhyming joke("PJ") to myself- "I think this place should be called "Rainpet" instead of Ranipet".Probably even the gods felt embarrassed with that when the rains stopped 0.5kms further.

My next much needed "pee" but no "tea" break was during sunset 153kms away from Chennai.Stretched a bit, clicked some pictures and started off.The nightmare was turning out to be true 120 kms to chennai when it rained like crazy.The precipitous rain hit my face like a sting, the eyeshades were wet almost blinding me, my jacket was soaked, the legs were getting heavy with water inside the shoes.I was running against time and there was hardly any place where i could stop for long in the incessant rain.It was instinctive at most times as i drove alongside the white marking in the middle of the road looking through the corner of my eyes.Risky it was, but after a while i was comfortable as i drove for another 40kms.Despite the rains i maintained a good speed zooming past few vehicles almost matching the lightning in the sky.I was nearing Chennai and just when i thought the ride ahead would be smooth, the bike ran out of fuel.I was confident enough of using up a little close to a litre(30 kms) but not more than that.I stopped at the petrol bunk only to be told there was no fuel.It made me worry a bit if there was some sort of a strike with the fuel price expected to increase.The next bunk was 1 km away and to make matters worse there was no fuel again.Drenched completely there was no way i could push the bike if it gave away mid way.Now i couldn't help but curse myself for not filling up the tank in bangalore.Since i'd filled up the tank a few days ago and with not much of travelling in between i thought filling up for 350Rs should be good enough as against an entire 500Rs.Anyway things were better ahead as i found a fuel station and made sure the tank was full this time around.

Chennai beckoned in typical style with a small road side food stall that read "FOOD READY- BAROTTA(read Parota),Chappatai and Dosai".I was extremely pleased for having made so far.My next major task was to navigate through Chennai to reach the wedding hall.Every alternate person i passed through was a "GPS" till i found my way out and must appreciate i was guided in the right direction.Finally reached the destination, parked my bike, called my mom downstairs.She wouldn't stop smiling and told anyone she met that i'd come all the way by bike.I met this kid who was not kiddish called Balaji who'd come down and was amazed when his dad told him that i'd driven all the way.While everyone was fast asleep, alone in the dining hall i was belting away some Uthappam and sweets and belched before catching up with some good sleep.If not for the ride which happened unexpectedly, i had plans of catching up with my friend Ravi Bellur from U.K, whom i'd no chance of meeting up with and also go around the school with Ameet, all of which i missed out on.

Day2:At the wedding Hall:
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I wanted to sleep till 8 a.m the next morning and with the function ending at 10.30 a.m, thought i would end up spending less time getting bored! I woke up to the sound&beat of the "Nadaswaram and Thavil" as early as 4.30 but managed to get some sleep till 7 when my mom woke me saying "get up u are the only one still sleeping in the entire hall" as some curious guests waked past the corridor staring.I dragged on for half an hour when my mom finally decided i had to get up.She was looking great in those "yards" saree.The first thing i asked her was "How long would i need to be here?" since i decided to travel to Mahabalipuram on the famous "ECR"(East coast road)".My presence was required for 15 mins where i had to perform a small procedure of placing rice pops(read puri),flowers etc.in my cousin's(bride) palm thrice.As my mom took me down to the main hall for breakfast expectedly some stared at me moreso for the "pony" and i even overheard some asking their neighbour - "Who's this guy and who's son is he?".Call it public relation or personal relation it was all happening.I finally met my cousins, some who said they couldn't recognize me in this look.10 years isn't a short span and the last 2 years were simply great!.And then each one introduced me to their respective other halves and every relation of their's who'd heard about me but never seen before asking me about the U.K, Europe trips and the cricket stories.All's well and the renewal finally happened!

Interview by kids!!
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I decided to call up Mani who's from Chennai to enquire about the ECR route which helped me and caught with the day's IPL action.The kid balaji sat next to me asking me a myriad of curious queries he had.He told me he was in the 6th standard studying in a Delhi school.Frankly i enjoyed speaking to the small boy than the rest for he didn't show typical childish traits.His mother came over and said her son was kind of hero worshipping "me" after the bike trip and was thrilled to know i'd been alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid.He was a topper in maths, a chess champion at school and aspired to be a doctor.His joy manifolded when i showed him my picture with Sachin.The questions to me ranged from my favorite cricketers, IPL teams, chelsea players, soccer to Ronaldinho.The kid wasn't the only one curious to speak to me but there were two small girls who came up to me asking for how long i'd grown my hair and how i had maintained it for two years with a word of advice. I was called up on the stage to carry out the small procedure which ended even before i'd realized with the pundit handing over a plate with coconut and 1001Rs saying "Son,the money is for you!" and the rest of the plate had to be given back to the bride.I joked to the pundit asking him if i could do that procedure again and the crowd on the stage burst into laughter.It was a win-win situation having spent just 2 hrs at the wedding, made everyone happy with my attendance and had my expenditure almost reimbursed :-)

Towards ECR - Mahabalipuram & the identity crisis...again !!
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Freedom at last.Changed my attire, packed up my bag and bid adieu to all the maami's,maama's and the rest in the hall.The weather was good and i was all set to head to the ECR enroute Mahabalipuram.Mani was spot on with his inputs and all i had to do was ask a few people for ECR.East Coast Road (ECR) is an express highway built along the coast of the Bay of Bengal connecting Chennai to Cuddalore via Pondicherry. A trip along the East Coast Road gives rise to a spectacular scenic beauty with beaches and fishermen hamlets.On reaching Mahabalipuram i decided to visit the world heritage temple and the beach.

For the past few months i've been experiencing an "identity crisis" of sorts because of my pony, i guess!.After being questioned at the Red fort and Qutub minar during my trip to Delhi in February i found myself in a similar situation at the temple's entrance when the security asked me for my passport.He said "U r from India?".I replied "Sir, Bangalore-25 years!".He smiled at me saying "Aaapko Hindi maalum hai" to which i replied back in my broken Hindi saying "Haan sir maalum hai!".The last time i'd been there was on a school trip in 1998.

It was past 1 p.m and with the heat getting unbearable i wanted to make my way back to Bangalore.With no sense of direction i stopped to speak to a cab driver to decide upon the most viable routes.The driver said it would be 350km to Bangalore through Chengalpettu,Kanchipuram(Outskirts) and vellore.The road leading to NH46 was good and my next stop was at the Silk city-Kanchipuram.Had some good food at the Saravana Bhavan Hotel near the bus stand kicked off at3.15 p.m and in no time was on the Bangalore Highway.To say the the national highway(NH46) was outstanding would be an understatement.The last time i was witness to such magnificient roads and landscape was during my trip to Ireland in 2007.The NH46 along with NH7 and NH4 is part of the golden qualdilateral project initiated by Atal Behari Vajpayee.Filled up the tank, plugged in my ipod and what better way to kick-start the remaining 250kms with "Yeh jo Des" from Swades.Taking frequent breaks in between was imperative but with such great roads, the thump which was like music to the ears, scenic landscape breaking was not an option unless i really needed one.

A nightmare's nighmare & Lance armstrong's Maillot Jaune !
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There was a loud thunder followed by lightning and things didn't seem to look good with grey clouds all over.All i had in mind was to cover as much distance possible before i got snarled in the rains.It rained like there was no tomorrow and even if i'd wanted to stop the rains wouldn't in the next 1-2 hours.I had to move.The final 150kms was the worst ride i've had.My hopes of the rains stopping after a while vanished.A helmet sans wiser, an incomplete raincoat - it was like a blind person driving at full speed.With no place to stop on the highway i was soaked and without a break i had a terrible back spasm with my legs begining to ache.I was determined to move on for i realised stopping and getting back in the rain was even painful when i did once.All along i hit 90-100 kmph.It was frightening at times as i saw the signboards marked "Do not drive to hell", "Know Safety No injury,No Safety know injury"!

All through the pain two thoughts came up my mind.I don't know why!.The first was how 7-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in his autobiography "Its not about the Bike,My journey back to life" details about his struggle with a life threatning Testicular cancer, the death of his team mate on the tour, the flicking in the peloton and ended up winning the Tour de France getting to wear the "Maillot Jaune" (Yello Jersey).The second thought was about this crazy guy called Bear Grylls who presents a survivor series on Discovery channel called "Man Versus Wild".I reached home with a great sense of relief and accomplishment at 20.15.

Final word:
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Looking back i would have liked to

1) do better in terms of planning,preparation
2) Write better hopefully in future when i really feel like again .......

In the end my bike the - "Bullet 350" was the winner.All i could do was marvel at how this piece of automobile engineering worked.The bike i'd have with me forever and hopefully take me to places in future.Like every bullet enthusiast my dream is to make it to Leh-Ladakh and Bhutan some day!.

This is for you Maa....

Cheers,
Karthik.

IPL Fan Loyalty and Mumbai's partial crowd

It was one of the most thrilling matches so far in the IPL and the Mumbai crowd certainly had their moneys worth.A last ball,last wicket runout and a game perfectly scripted for T20 that went down till the wire, ending up with the Kings Punjab eventually winning, who looked defeated until Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal.For Mumbai Indians it wasn't a game they deserved to lose considering the stiff competition on the top of the league table sans the Rajasthan Royals.

While the over 20,000 Wankhede crowd had reasons to feel let down, throughout the match the support for the hometeam was unconditional not to mention that it was thoroughly onesided, booing the Punjab players.At the post match presentation Yuvraj Singh made his displesure evident indicating the "crowd was partial" and that the guests had a host of players like himself, Sreesanth and others who represent the country and deserved to be appreciated.This wasn't the first of its kind though.The IPL has already been witness to similar instances when Rahul Dravid was surprised on not being lauded after scoring a boundary in Mumbai and Sehwag literally begging for an applause in Hyderabad.

While Yuvraj might have made his intentions clear like Sehwag and Dravid did earlier, these were clearly signs of what the IPL had in the offing to which the Mumbai fans would testify to.The Punjab captain's complaint for once defies logic, certainly the IPL logic.Wasn't this expected when IPL started on similar lines as the EPL(English Premier League) - Growing city based loyalties? As for the debates surrounding the IPL in terms of the fans apprehenson towards supporting their favourite stars or the city based franchise, the match against Punjab and Mumbai was testimonial to what the future holds for IPL in terms of the fan's loyalty.

Scenes like these are a new experience to the cricketers who otherwise witness great support when representing the country.But soon they would also need to realise that the league has a flavour of its own or one which is expected to build over the coming years and that the players not being appreciated playing away from home should not be a cause for concern.On the contrary the franchise owners would be smiling all the way for it has provided them with better opportunities to reach out to its niche audience and reap greater returns on their huge investments.

Afterall how often do we see a Steven Gerrard or a Lampard booed by the "English fans" at the Theatre of Dreams in the English premier league who otherwise get exceptional fan support playing at the Euro2008 or a Christiano Ronaldo welcomed back at Manchester United after a verbal dual with Wayne Rooney at the 2006Worldcup.The IPL fan loyalty will take its time to be as definitive as the EPL or a champions league.With such a dream start to its maiden venture the IPL slowly and steadily has all the makings to catch up with the best in the world.

Cheers,
Karthik.

A.R.Rahman Live Life Concert,Feb 9,2008,Chennai.

It was close to 4 p.m on friday when i was filling up my timesheets just when i received a call from my friend only to be surprised by him "Are you aware that ARR is performing tomorrow at Chennai and whether i was going?"!He gave me the website link where i filled up the form with no hope of getting into the concert,but i wanted to be there desperately. Even if i did get a pass i had to leave bangalore early on Saturday morning.I called up the telephone number on Marg's website only to be told by the lady that she couldn't be of much help in getting me a pass.But she did give me another contact which was helpful.I called up Mr.Sanath trying to convince him to get me an entry to the concert but he rejected until i broke a deal with him saying "Can u get me IN if i catch the first flight and reach Chennai" only to be ridiculed by him "Are you joking,karthik!".I said "I had done it before for the Unity concert in 2000".Once i had an assurance from him i decided to leave by the morning train.With no reservations all i could was manage some standing space at the pantry car of the crowded Chennai express.

The Journey:

Train journey's are fascinating in simple words:-)I decided to leave at the last minute,went standing in the steaming pantry car of the chennai express,stood amidst the loo,sat on rice sacks(not good for smone looking out for 6 packs!),sat on "Klass water bottle crates",and huge TUMMIES hitting on me,some scrathing their arm pits just over my eyes MY GAAADDDDDD....and finally got some seating at a station....IT WAS JUST GREAT with lots of people starring at my PONY & goatie as if i'd come down from my first MARS expedition.Even when i spoke to the people at bus stand in tamil they'd try and speak to me in English!People starred at me in the bus on the way to Nandanam(18k).Man was i getting great attention.I even over heard a couple of guys saying "must be from bangalore"!.

On reaching YMCA,Nandanam in the evening,Mr.Sanath(incidentally he was the GM,MARG) as promised picked me up and I WAS IN! Overall the concert was great sans the "CROWD" despite ARR saying it was a special evening since it was the first concert of the year in his hometown.It lacked intensity,moreso i thought because it was a free invitation for the corporates,business group who at some time might or would be part of MARG.And am sure many ARR hardcore fans would have missed it because of lack of promotion,publicity.When i asked the GM of Marg he said it was intentional not to have a tie-up with sponsors as they wanted this 3.5 crore event to be a "SOLO" show to commemorate the SEZ acquisition.

The show kicked off with Guitar Prasanna, along with A.K.Pazhanivel (Tavil), S.Karthik (Ghatam), B.S.Purushottaman (Khanjira), R.Raman (Morsing) and Keith Peters (Bass Guitar), performed Taaye tirupurasundari, Alaipayuthey,Peaceful and 31(both Prasanna’s composition).I must say Prasanna was great with his team but not many were appreciative of that to be honest.One instance of it was a section of people starting to clap in between in desperation,probably due to the delay in start.To add to it the speech by the MARG chairman and his counterpart was a great means of causing "restlessness" to the already somber crowd.Am sure none of them wanted to listen to the speech which talked about "developementspirituality,growth,infrastructure,IT,real estate" etc...,except for the fireworks which was worth watching.

With Percept Mark handling event management i would say they could have made a better choice instead of "MC-Rakshanda Khan".The crowd needed an entertainer of sorts who could lift their spirits(say a javed jaffrey or a local guy with good humour & wisecracks),rather than someone making an announcement on stage.The reason i wanted to elaborate on the crowd and organising was with such a BIG BUDGET things could have been better.In contrast the Bangalore concert in 2005 even with stage disasters and "not good" organising had great intensity amongst the crowd inspite of the rains,the audience listening to the songs with chairs on top of their heads!

Back to the concert:-(Shall keep it short as the Nafeez's blog details about this)

Must say the choice of songs were great,amazing quality with lots to choose from "Guru".Khalbali was one hell of a kick-ass number and you couldn't help but get out of the seats and jump around."Maiya Maiya" was exceptional by Neeti.Not only was she apt in singing the right way(neeti wasn't the original singer)but her dance,the sync with music and costumes were spot-on.I caught up with her backstage and congratulated for this when she said she had practised and that having sung before at couple of concerts(guess one in USA) helped her sing well. As we know the legacy goes on - Hariharan & Chitra did just that and everytime they repeat a ROJA or BOMBAY it gives the feel as if it were a new song,one which is unsullied.That's the MAGIC OF LEGEND's AND ARR's music.However i thought quite a few songs were cut short(Dil Se,bits of Tere Bina-Guru),am not sure why?The medley of Azeem-o-shan(Jodha Akbar),Rukkumani(Roja) and veerapandi kotaiyle(Thiruda Thiruda)was "TOP NOTCH".The unplugged by Hariharan,Chitra and Chinmayee included songs like Uyire(Bombay),one of my peronsonal best "Anjali anjali(Duet)",Sahana(Sivaji) were riveting.Personally I thought atleast the performance by Benny & Chinmayee(Maduraikku Pogathadee from Azhagiya Tamilmagan)(was smashing!) should have lifted the spirits....but wasn't the case until when ARR asked the crowd "ARE U ALL SLEEPY?","DO YOU WANT SOMEMORE?".Blazee and ARR provided a magical one as always with "hama hama" and crowd was on its feet.

What i found missing this time around was the Instrumentals by Naveen(Bombay Theme) and Shivamani's solo show. Finally it ended with Vande Mataram(of which i have a pretty good video).Later i went backstage and caught up with Prasanna,Neeti,Chinmayee,Benny and Naresh Iyer.I spoke to Naresh and Benny for a good 10mins and the first thing they told me was "Man... it was a disappointing crowd.. what do u think?" and that the troop were disappointed too.Well i said my views were no different!

A great show by the great MAN again.ARR Rules as always and proves time and again why he's the BEST!. In the end it was all worth the SWEAT and a satisfying experience .

Thanks to ARR and his troop again,for the performance was invigorating.

About Guitar Prasanna:http://www.guitarprasanna.com/mainindex.html

Very few pics @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/stumpersinn

Videos i've uploaded:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1966042354317940968 (medley) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4395505985980062913 (azhagiya tamil..) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=267022962764392088 (Khalbali) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2414828841433187284 (Roobaroo) http://rapidshare.com/files/90913365/Vandemataram_video.MPG.html (VandeMataram Video) --The video is good after a while when i stood on the chairs!
http://rapidshare.com/files/91115311/guru_jagehain1.MPG.html

Related articles:(By Nafeez-arrahmanfans.com)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arrahmanfans/message/89705

Cheers,
Karthik.

Wicket-keepers are like office boys

The article was written by G.Rajaraman during the Indian Cricket Team's conditioning camp in Bangalore,2004.I was an assist wicket-keeper for 3 weeks and am proud to have kept wickets to Anil Kumble,Harbhajan Singh and all the bowlers in Indian Cricket.

Fans of Indian cricket may or may not get to hear about K Karthik but he is not likely to forget the National team’s training camp in Bangalore this month in a hurry. I have known him for long enough to be aware that he will cherish his collection of memorablia that he picked up for helping the team at the nets as a wicket-keeper.

The seventh-semester student of engineering has already collected a sweat-shirt from Yuvraj Singh, a cricket ball that Harbhajan Singh bowled with, a pair of batting gloves from Sanjay Bangar besides a pat on the back from God, as he calls Sachin Tendulkar, and a word of recognition from coach John Wright.

But more than any of this, he will treasure memories of his stumping Virender Sehwag at the nets - twice in one session. Karthik is well aware that Sehwag has been stumped but once each in one-day internationals and Tests - both times against the West Indies by Ridley Jacobs off Carl Hooper.

There are many like him who take great pride in simply being of some help to the Indian cricketers at the camp, themselves picking up a bit of stardust along the way. But, in Delhi, a long way away from Indian probables’ camp, I bumped into Vijay Dahiya who has been introspecting on what went wrong for him to be out of favour.

To begin with, it was not his fault that he went out of the side after playing two Tests against Zimbabwe in November 2000 and the last of his 19 one-day internationals in April 2001. He now knows he did not have a great time in the last domestic season, having got just 282 runs in first-class cricket when Karnataka’s VS Thilak Naidu scored 817 and accounted for 39 victims to get into national reckoning.

He has promised himself that he will play for Delhi with a renewed resolve in the new season that beckons the first-class cricketers. Then again, he is aware that the wicket-keepers have not exactly been treated with kid gloves. Nayan Mongia, MSK Prasad, Sameer Dighe, Deep Dasgupta, Ajay Ratra and he have all been in the revolving door.

I remember asking selector, former India wicket-keeper Kiran More on the sidelines of the Irani Trophy match between Railways and Rest of India in Delhi a year ago if he had talked to Ratra after the Haryana lad was cold-shouldered even for that game -and More didn’t even have a contact number for Ratra.

Hopefully things will have changed. More was himself in charge of a wicket-keepers’ camp at the National Cricket Academy from June 16 to 21 last. As many as 11 stumpers were chosen for special attention in what was a step in the direction of grooming youngsters for one of the most thankless jobs on the cricket field.

Yet, by all accounts, Naidu and even Ratra, not to speak of the rest, now seem resigned to watching young Parthiv Patel keep wickets in Tests and Rahul Dravid continue in the limited-over version. If you went by what captain Sourav Ganguly said at the end of the training camp, Dravid would perforce continue to figure in the team’s scheme of things as the stumper since none of the wicket-keeper-batsmen seems capable of displacing the extra specialist batsman from the one-day XI.

In choosing Patel as the only wicket-keeper in the India A squad which toured England recently, the selectors advertised the fact that the Gujarat youngster would be an overwhelming favourite for the Tests. Despite such opportunities, it does seem that his batting has not quite matched the quality of his work behind the bails.

For all that, the most important words came from coach John Wright who gave us a state of fitness report on Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra, having already clarified that Harbhajan Singh could bowl without a problem but had been kept away from the Challengers since the selectors wanted to play him first in a first-class tie.

Wright, of course, did not say much about the fortunes awaiting specialist wicket-keepers this season. Which takes us back to Ray Robinson’s theory of the stumpers being like office-boys - everyone knows that they are there but they are relegated to the penumbra until they make a mistake when the spotlight is turned on them.

K Karthik, an unabashed fan of Mongia’s work behind the stumps, does not have to worry. He has just come back to reality after spending the past few days in the company of the country’s best cricketers. His reward may not be an India cap but he is pretty contented with the stardust that he picked up at the camp.

By G Rajaraman

The Dreaded "SAAFTWARE" Interview..

The writings here are based on personal experiences and observations.The views expressed here are personal and might differ from person to person ..i can't do much if someone feels otherwise.

Well,the "IT " industry and "software engineer" tag goes hand in hand ..To be frank i prefer being called a analyst or something else as i feel "Engineer" is an highly coveted tag,exaggerated at times,so terrifying that i get goose-bumps and shrink like the characters in Honey, i shrunk the audience.And the most likely people who fancy using this tag are all the mothers and the neighborhood aunties referring to their son's and daughters as "My son/daughter is a software engineer" and a teaser from my friends at times ! I am not against it but just that "not everyone deserves being called an engineer" barring a few.Its very straightforward and if u ask the "Software engineer" you'll know why.

Anyways with companies booming day by day,with the want for higher salaries the one thing that has great relevance,in common is "interview,package,partiality,on-site(going abroad),offshore,papers (for quitters),attrition".

I was no different having decided to quit my previous company (Keane/Caritor) in pursuit of a good change, "package" and attended quite a few interviews in the process.I mean change for GOOD with a LOT OF HOPE- i hope there's no one to tell me "I'm not supposed to come to work in a denim on Friday's", i hope there's no manager asking me" to send an SMS if i went to office at 9:01 or 9:05 a.m", i hope NOT to meet employees speculating on someone else's affair or whether a lady is wearing her top button or not while he can mind his business, hope not to meet a team lead/manager who'll discuss what happened at the in-laws place,one who'll comb a team members hair and decorate it like a makeup-artist, i hope not to meet employees requesting for an ONSITE because he's recently married or had to repay loans after getting a new home", i hope not to meet managers promoting, not-promoting people based on personal likes and dislikes and in turn my colleagues buttering the higher up's in all possible ways", i hope not to meet team leads complaining about colleagues through mails when he's seated just 2 cubicles away and doesn't utter a word face to face", i hope not to meet people who start crying on giving serious feedback", i hope not to be denied a good hike owing to FALLING DOLLAR RATES and i sincerely hope not to meet people who take things seriously and can't comprehend HUMOUR.As i said - IT'S JUST A HOPE, who cares anyways!But i do HOPE to meet amazing friends, colleagues like i've had before.They were truly fantastic.

INTERVIEW - Nine letter word that sends shivers down the spine !

>> "Hi, We'll definitely get back to you tomorrow,next week" !
>> "The project team is held up with critical project, so we'll let you know when you can come back"
>> "You have done very well but won't quite fit in the desired position..... But we'll keep your resume for future openings"

Crap ! True these are from the HR's diction.This was my first tryst with "jumping companies" and must admit was fortunate enough not to face enough rejections,for i would have had to hear these time and again. But i do empathize with the HR's as their primary role lies in letting a candidate know that he's not been selected diplomatically.Yes a candidate getting selected or not could be an emotional issue at times. All said and done some are real turn offs like the one below:

Treating candidate's as puppets !

I was recently called to attend an interview through a consultancy for an opening in testing with a leading organization.I wanted to attend only because i had fond memories with the company way back in 2004/05.

The requirements were simple : Testing experience,Unix knowledge and shell scripting.

With no printouts of my resume i decided to get one from the cybercafe.I was told that the black and white printer was out of order and had to take a color printout.For once in my career i had the costliest CV ever (3 pages -> 40 Rs.)The interviewer had a detail look at the CV as if he was starring at a pretty damsel.Then i was asked about a few questions on testing,how bugs are reported,regression testing,test director and seemed satisfied with my answers.Unix related questions were , explain the OS with diagram,system calls etc..The next one was a shocker ! I was asked to "write all the commands that i was aware of in unix on a piece of paper?" Am not sure if this was a "good" one ,for if the interviewer had any nous at all,why would someone be asked to write the commands in unix and in layman terms it is like "asking a candidate to list all the English words from the Oxford Dictionary".Yes i did write some of them when i was interrupted saying "i know its hard to list it direct when you are not actually using it pragmatically". Thought finally common sense had prevailed! Another guy chips in with his shell scripting questions like "for loop" syntax,write sample scripts".Once done with all the tech stuff i decided to ask them about the project i'd be working upon and not once in the entire conversation was i told that i didn't satisfy the criteria in terms of the "profile". And none of the questions were based on programming,if so i wouldn't have gone in the first place as it gives me nightmares :-) I was asked to wait at the reception.I had an hope of getting through as i believed i had done very well with answering all queries that was put forth only to be told by the HR

HR : "you are Karthik right? You may Leave".
Fine i had no issues leaving but i found it strange to be asked to leave without a proper reason on what went wrong and what the expectation was from me.
On asking ,the HR said "sorry you don't fit the profile". I replied "what profile/position? I'd like to know the reason for exit ?
HR : Karthik they were expecting someone with programming knowledge ! .
KK : Alright what kind of programming? the position was for testing and the panel never bothered to ask me programming questions.
HR : They wanted someone who's worked on unix,shell scripting !
KK : Did i ever say i worked on JAVA/J2EE !! ?? And what about the scripts and the so called "unix commands" ? Wasn't that Unix i said ?
HR : Oh so do you have work exp. in Unix,testing and shell scripts ?
KK : Well,Doesn't my resume say that ?If not this was mentioned explicitly in the "tell me about urself round" !
HR : Oh ok just give me 2 min karthik i shall speak to the panel and put you across to a different round again !

I sat outside for close to 2 hours while i saw the other cadets being rejected,happily handing out the badge and signing on the register.I didn't care if i attended the "different round" again but i decided wouldn't leave until i had a proper justification.Just because the organization is big and people are keen to work there, doesn't imply you can play with cadets according to one;s whims and fancies.The HR met me again( am sure she was cursing me big time ) when i told her " i don't want the interview again and that i wanted the "EXPENSIVE" CV returned back instead of going to the bins.The HR looked at me bewildered for a while,went searching for it and finally handed over the CV to me.

The next immediate thing i did was to call up the manager in-charge of the consultancy and suggested them to thoroughly examine a candidate's profile rather than just put him across to an interview.As the cliche goes "No one is indispensable".The issue here is not with x or y getting knocked out, but the manner in which the whole thing is done.Personally it really didn't matter to me if i get through or not as i have a good enough offer in hand but the matter of fact is that there will be candidate's who are desperately in need of such opportunities and these are easy ways to get knocked out.

At the end of the day it makes sense to choose a person for what he's good at and how well one fits in the scheme of things.

I hate what i'm doing?How do i get out of it ?

I hate to do WHAT I'M DOING...... BUT....... NOT SURE WHAT NEXT .. but feel i can do "something else"..!!

If you don't like the kind of job you're doing.. Thats fine! It happens with most of them.I've been in a similar situation,figured out i guess and am optimistic that i can do that "something else" hopefully well in some time.At a time when assumption consumes a large part of our thinking time,it would be foolish to expect a result out of everything without dedicating time to it. It is easy to stick to what you are doing and say "i don't like doing this but the pay is brilliant and i won't be paid so much elsewhere". What will my relatives/mother/brother think ?Sorry - you are in a Quagmire.Give some thought on what your interests are and whether you can pursue your interests or hobbies further professionally. If yes stick to it and start working on the new interest. Just because it is an interest doesn't mean its cake-walk.The effort is always required to reach higher and has its own pros and cons.

Having a good set of friends is the best gift anyone can ask for.Get out of the closet,Speak to them,open up your mind,meet new people through them and vice-versa(social networking) and try to figure out that if that was the piece of advice you were looking for.

If looking for something inspiring check out this speech@Stanford by Apple CEO,Steve Jobs who didn't know what to do i life initially where he says "If you haven't found what you love doing yet , KEEP LOOKING AND DON'T SETTLE.As with all matters of the heart ,you'll know when you find it..So keep looking & don't settle"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA)


Famous Quotes by the "Great Michael Jordan"who's been through tough times, can make you feel better or read the book by Lance Armstrong "Its not about the Bike, My journey back to Life".

I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying.

You can practice shooting the ball 8 hours a day , but if your technique is wrong,then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way" - "Michael Jordan"

You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.

Try again. Fail again. Fail better - Samuel Becket

More on->http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/michael_jordan.html

Writing this doesn't make me bigger in any way or an expert. These are my thoughts put in writing to convey a message across to people i know (some personally) that "U CAN DO IT" INSTEAD OF thinking "CAN I DO IT".

Enjoy Life, Have fun , keep trying........

Cheers,
Karthik

Interview Approach

Get RID of THE "MENTAL BLOCK",Don't ASSUME,Don't Fear !

There are quite a few in this world who feel intimidated about interviews.Ofcourse everyone is human this is bound to happen.Even the great Tiger Woods once said "The day i feel i am not nervous when on the golf course,I'll Quit".However there is a limit to it.The best way to prepare for an interview is to "know what you are doing well currently ", " to be able to put across the work and achievements if any like no one has done before", "going with a great body language" and "smile as much instead of sulking with a thought of will i get through or not". I feel it is important to attend an interview without expecting much about the results.Yes, everyone likes to succeed but never get demotivated on rejection as there are other places "destined for you".I'd prefer to use "rejection" than "failure" as the latter has a real strong meaning which i believe is not in sync with what happens at "such interviews".

I'm sure there are a myriad of articles on how to deal with situations on rejection and my take on this is no different.On being rejected the right thing to do is ask the interviewer on how one could improve further,note down the questions and reflect back on them using books or the net.At times it is required to have a go at the interviewer as most of them try to put on the fake attitude and be arrogant.NEVER ASSUME THE INTERVIEWER KNOWS THE BEST.Give them a damn and move on ! Forget the past unless you have messed it up with an interview at "GOOGLE" or "APPLE".You have thousand's of companies which "will" need you-Trust me! Another thing hard to understand is the candidates including me(initially) having a concrete mind cribbing "Oh...! what did they ask in technical","can you please tell me the questions".While it is imperative to be good technically in any field, my experiences have taught me that "Technical (Unix,C,C++) is not the end of the world and never assume you will get an offer letter with "Tech knowledge"..To speak well and generate positive vibes is important at times.It happened at a couple of interviews which i'd say were the best that i've faced till now.

Another thing i've noticed is some not willing to take "that extra step" towards applying for similar positions or different positions.I believe its of no use cribbing about "who'll give me that position which is different?","I have no experience how will someone take me in" and so on.Stop assuming you are not good enough.Instead make an effort to take that extra step irrespective of the outcome and maximize the opportunities coming your way.Trust me once you do it you'll feel confident on :

a) taking that "step" which you were apprehensive about and can do the same if required in future.
b) finding different ways to think.

There's no harm in "TRYING" though.

I believe INTERVIEW and MARKETING are pretty much similar , except that the medium varies.And to SELL one requires the following:

1) The PRODUCT - "Its me,you or any TOM DICK HARRY".
2) The CUSTOMER -" End user is the company which is hiring you".
3) ATTRIBUTE OF THE PRODUCT - "Each one of us have an attribute we possess, identify them".
4) Customer In/Product Out - Let the customer know the right attributes ,explain how these would help in growth".

End of the day it boils down to marketing oneself well with the right attributes be it an interview or dating a girl.

Approaching an Interview :

1) Make sure the the profile on job-sites is updated every 3 days or once a week.Thanks to my friend who passed on this tip to me.Reason being , i presume the CV's are sorted on the latest modified time and not updating for weeks could well mean the profile could go unnoticed and find yourself wondering "why the heck am i not getting calls?,"Oh my profile is not good enough i guess!".

2) Prepare well on what you know and in case you are being asked something unfamiliar , present yourself in a way that you can learn and do it if given a chance."DO NOT BLUFF".If the interviewer makes a fuss out of it tell them its no "rocket science".

3) Dress well and possess a fine body language even if not confident of clearing the interview.Fearing will not help in anyway.

4) Its all well to be rejected. If so STOP MAKING EXCUSES because all this would help is probably get sympathy from your friends and NOTHING ELSE.

5) Never try and force yourself into understanding a topic which you've never done in the past with just a day or two to go for the interview. Tell the panel that you are willing to work hard and provide instances of how you did it in the past(small or big) or how you intend to do it in future.

6) If rejected make sure to know the exact reason for chucking you out unless you feel you truly don't deserve getting through the next round of interview.

7) Reflect back on all the achievements happened in the past - small or big.You have done it before , so you can do the same again- its no BIG DEAL !

All the Best.

Cheers,
Kutlu..

Farnborough AIR SHOW

hmm......now this is what fascinates human beings...... the feel and the imagination of flying like birds ... makes you feel "Ghoshh !!! Life is beautiful" !! wish i was also one of them .

It was at farnborough not very far off from bristol where i live ..(1.5 hrs approx by train)...and i won't say it was one hell of an experience after having witnessed wimbledon from guess pretty close quarters , though was unique in its own way to put it straight.Personally , i feel the show back home had more excitement and fun , not being a critic though , but each one has its own pros's and con's !!!

The tickets too weren't expensive either(26 Gbp) as i thought initially would be, this being the world's biggest airshow and so on. We kicked off with the stalls set up by a few of the manufacturers (ofcourse not to forget all those are the connoiseeurs in this field) like Bell, Boeing etc.. to name a few.(wish there was a big Lockheed Martin hanger too !).Bell had a few of the choppers at their store. However , the most beautiful among them was the Boeing stall which rightly had a few people lined up in the queue. Boeing i suppose made it more eventful , with a few simulators of (Boeing - 777 ) and an artistic design of the new "Boeing-747-8 Intercontinnental"(called the "shape of the future") that is planned for release which was nothing less than magnificient and one of its kind where in her nose opens to place some cargo's and stuff.

After a few short visits to the stalls we head for "the" aircraft display which was quite brilliant i should say . the list goes on and the "who's who of the aircrafts " were on for a show like beautiful damsels on the Miss Universe paegant ramp!, with "AIRBUS A-380" stealing the show.

Here goes the list of air crafts on display which also included a couple of our very own HAL's ALH Dhruv and IJTTrainers.

RAFAT - Hawk T1A x 9 (Red Arrows) ,Airbus - A340-600 ,Airbus - A380-800 ,US DoD - B-1B Lancer ,Boeing - F/A-18F ,Bell/Boeing - V-22 Osprey ,Boeing - AH-64D Apache Longbow ,Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - ALH DHRUV ,Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - IJT 36 Trainer ,Babcock Defence Services - Slingsby T67 ,RAF - Tucano T Mk 1 ,RAF - Typhoon ,SAAB - Gripen ,RAF - Harrier GR7 ,RAF - Tornado GR4 ,RAF - C130J ,Plane Sailing - Catalina ,Lockheed Martin - F-16 Fighting Falcon ,RAF - Chinook ,RAF - Merlin ,MiG Corporation - MIG 29 OVT ,BAE Systems - Nimrod MRA4 ,FR Aviation - Dassault Falcon 20 ,Alenia Aeronautica - Aermacchi M346 ,Alenia Aeronautica - C27J Spartan ,Alenia Aeronautica - Tornado ,Unique Events - Ultimate High - EXTRA 300 Glider ,GuyWestgate - Fox Glider ,Blue Eagles - Gazelle AM1 (4) ,Blue Eagles - Lynx Mk 7 ,BBMF - Lancaster ,BBMF - Hurricane ,BBMF - Spitfire ,Rolls-Royce - Spitfire ,Carolyn Grace - Grace Spitfire ,RAF - Falcons Parachute Display Team ,RAF - C130J .

Amongst these the one's which are noteworthy of getting a mention are the beautiful APPACHE choppers by the US and their C-17 which cannot be ignored . The C-17(the bully beef express) infact holds as number as 30 world records for an transport aircraft.The design of the aircraft allows it to operate through small, austere airfields. The C-17 can take off and land on runways as short as 3,500 feet (1,064 meters) and only 90 feet wide (27.4 meters). Even on such narrow runways, the C-17 can turn around using a three-point star turn and its backing capability. It would be worthwhile to call this a "beast" , which can carry virtually all of the army's air transportable equipment. The US armyM-1 main battle tank can be carried along with 102 troops/partroops , 48 litter and 170,900 pounds i.e ,77,519 Kg of cargo!!. Thats some food for thought for us . That apart there were this unique aircraft which was used to trace a few hideouts etc in baghdad called the " Global Hawk High Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system" ,AARGM(advanced anti radiation Guided missile), the falcon 20's designed by Marcel Dassault,France.

The airdisplay started off with the the red arrows starting off , but not quite in comparison with our SURYAKIRANS i thought who were better and then the blue whales of the sky , the AIRBUS A-340/380 soaring high (not quite) and the way they were manouvered beautifully within the short distance was impeccable. With weather being cloudy the landing of these massive creatures with the lights on made the show even more worthy , much to the disappointment of my friend "mal" back home who was envious of me for having made it to farnborough also ! Then followed the world's most advanced chopper the "APPACHE" and the harriers, the F-15's /16's .

All in all an experience though and the pics get a spot in my snapfish album.

Cheers,
Kate

INDIA SMILES YOUNG

It was close to midnight yesterday when almost an entire nation was glued to the TV sets eager to see through the INDIAN team to a win.While it indeed was a momentous occasion witnessing that nail biting finish at the Oval guided by young Robin Uthappa,on the other hand there was this bit of news in one of the news channel about two young doctors in a remote village of kashipur in Orissa who were saviours' in their own right saving hundred's of lives in the cholera hit region.

Contrasting indeed,the first instance there were millions of countrymen cheering and swaying through the night whilst on the other hand an entire village was getting back to life where the death toll had increaed to 800.In either case it was a story of an young INDIA making a difference to people's lives in different ways which makes it more appreciative.

While i was bursting away crackers in the middle of the night , little did i realise there were reasons other than the emphatic win in the form of these doctors making a huge impact on a poor persons life who had to be carried to hospitals on their relative's shoulders walking barefoot that was appealing.

It was quite a daunting task with India needing almost 8 runs per over and with not many recognised batsmen around ,21 year old Robin uthappa showed great signs of courage and mettle taking ownership in steering the team to a magnificient win.Personally i thought the celebration and the camaradrie after the win when Yuvraj singh went around dancing with Uthappa was enthralling as a viewer ,where even doordarshan would have found it hard to sneak through an advertisement!

In fact whilst the victory was sweet it was the grit and determination with which the two government doctors in Orrisa,Rajendra Mandal & Surendrarath went about doing their jobs treating hundred's of cholera patients that was special.

At a time when doctors and engineers prefer to work in Australia or UK ,it is amazing how these doctors deputed in a remote corner of the country had made a difference to people's lives.It had been 3 weeks since these doctors had a wink of sleep,having sacrificed their personal lives in the common man's welfare,working day and night on patients ,it isn't surprisng though when the villager's refer to them as "missionary" or "bhagwan". As for the villagers there was "hope amidst despair" and their dedicated efforts meant that the death toll in the village had reduced drastically.

While a win may reap bonus and perks for our cricketers,benefits such as these may be a far cry for these modest doctors who ought to be happy with the petty government income and yet working there hearts out in adverse conditions is heart breaking.In a nation like ours where real sacrifices are rather easily forgotten like the good sporting wins indicative of a lack of sporting culture,it wouldn't come as a shocker if the efforts of such doctors doesn't even get a word of appreciation in the government.

Sans the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats,even with inspiring acts such as these and many more we as an average INDIAN still are in an apprehensive state of mind unmindful of the fact that we owe something to this wonderful nation in any capacity which is at the least one can do.

For me personally it was one instance where YOUNG INDIA had stood up and emerged victorious in its own way.

Cheers,
Kutlu..

Bye Bye BCCI

Remember the phrase "Fire in the mountain run, run run" when you were a kid !! This is what the BCCI(Board of Control for Cricket in India) is upto hypocritically , unable to accept the fact that it has been given a shot in the arm by the new league started on similar lines to the BCCI which intends to add a new dimesion to cricket in INDIA called the "Indian Cricket League ", famously called the ICL.

While there is a definitive peril involved in starting a parallel venture as against the BCCI,one must admit it indeed is a bold move by the originators of the ICL. But the fact remains to be seen if the ICL can survive and its performance can be guaged over the next 3 or 4 years.To say it would be the future of Indian cricket as some would imagine would be too premature in comparison to the BCCI having governed cricket for more than 60 years.

With an handful of domestic players with the likes of Ambati Rayadu,L.R.Shukla along with Indian discards S.Sriram,Dinesh Mongia,Rohan Gavaskar and a few more signing up for the ICL, the BCCI in its inner conscience would be aware of what it has already lost in the process and the challenges that would need to be factored.While these are wake up calls for the BCCI ,losing key players is an sad indication for any sports organisation.

While its a win-win situation for a few stars like Brian Lara,Inzamam ,for some of the domestic recruits it comes as a blessing in disguise who even after a series of brilliant performances were overlooked by the selectors owing to favourism,Quota system and votes which would help them stick to their positions long enough.Though not part of the ICL ,a key example could well be S.Sharath of the Tamil Nadu,considered one of the better middle order batting prospect for INDIA in the mid 90's, even after key performances for over a decade doesn't get a look in because of the board's politics.

While not many are ready to vent out their frustration over the board there are a few like Bengal bowler Saurashish Lahri, 26 yrs of age who was quoted saying in one of the newspapers wherein he was referred to as a "veteran" by one of the East zone selectors. If this is kind of motivation that a zonal selector can offer, then the BCCI better not be surprised.

With paltry match fees and job insecurities at the domestic level it doesn come as surprise if more and more domestic players move into the ICL.After all what benefits do these players get slogging for 20 years,be it in the board or in terms of monetary gain. A state selectors job ? Pension from the BCCI?

With the ICL offering a lucrative sum of 90 lakhs for a period of 3 years for the domestic players and a massive 10 crore for an international player there's hardly any doubt one would be tempeted to jump the ICL bandwagon along with getting to play some cricket!

While the ICL is not the only league of its own, a similar venture was started by Allen Stanford in the West Indies to improve the standards of their countries cricket called the "Stanford 20-20 cup". Although some cricket pundits regard these leagues as a step in improving the standard of cricket, only with time can one know how beneficial they prove to be.

In the wake of such a turnaround what would be BCCI's next step? Wait and watch the mass exodus of the players signing with ICL and stating "We are not worried by the ICL, no beneifits for the players in future" or will the administration pull up its socks now finally, which predominantly is run by a bunch of people who have no or very little knowledge about the game?

While its certainly not the end of the road ,the board needs to realise that its exitstence is largely because of the players and there is not much the board can ponder about.The fact remains to be seen if it can bring out a revolution of sorts in the way the game has been run and the BCCI is all but itself to blame.

At the moment though its ICL which is having the last laugh.

My SKY DIVE Experience

"Its Another day for me in Paradise"!True Phil Collins said it a few years back and now its my turn to say the same after this magnificient experience..

No wonder a few months back during a visit to an airshow ,i said "hmm......now this is what fascinates human beings...... the feel and the imagination of flying like birds ... makes you feel "Ghoshh !!! Life is beautiful”!!
Wish i was also one of them “.., looking at the sukoi's and the F-16's.

Little did i realise i would be one soon and Life indeed was beautiful when this fascination turned into an reality on one saturday!!!Forget Paris, Madrid, Italy, Amsterdam...Skydive and bullfight (a disappointing experience though!) were certainly on my agenda during my stint here...Thanks to one of my friend who’d been there already a few years back, made life easy for me in terms of booking etc.. This needs to be done a month prior to the dive considering the fact that the slots are booked day in and day out.

My first attempt towards the dive was sometime in August (guess 20th) which proved futile with weather playing spoil sport and had to head back home disappointed. But as the cliche goes "never give up" was the order of the day,let alone the numerous occasions when we were in a catch 22 situation as there was nothing much to play around if the dive supposedly would get cancelled. Reason being, March where the parachute centre is located in between Chatteris and Wembligton is actually a remote place,an hours drive from London amidst a farm far off from the main town .

Having hired a car we began the journey to March which was a forgettable experience as that involved navigating through loads of motorways and narrow roads, really had a trying time.The first time around we managed to decipher the route effectively because of a "GPS" fitted in! Nevertheless we reached the Para centre early morning close to about 3 a.m and had to manage in one of the bunkers available, very different from the first time around when we pitched in with tents and here we were at the North London Parachute Centre.

With queuing being one of the constraints we had to get up early and started waiting as early as 6 a.m. And trust me we were fortunate enough to have been the second in the entire lot and certainly was worth loosing sleep as the queue started pilling up gradually. It was close to 9 am when our names were called out after which we were given a few instructions about so called "midair -mannerisms" and a few landing instructions, an effective way of making one disciplined when the instructor would always say "if u do this or that mid-air we all would be killed". That works!!!The rest is left for one to comprehend.

With all set to make the maiden jump, there was a definite peril trying a sport like this, but one's got to risk and explore things in life that ought to make you think or feel different. But once you step in the aircraft your mind goes blank and all you think about is "what the ****... is this gonna be real “!!!Along with you are a couple of other escorts one being the camera guy and the other is your instructor. Gary, my instructor made me feel pretty easy all the way, no wonder he chose skydive as his profession from a hobby and has been doing it for 19 years now and the number of jumps that he'd made had crossed a cool 6500!

Once the aircraft takes off everyone is given a few safety instructions and as we approach 13000 feet the aircraft slows down,the doors open and there you are all set for the jump where each one is taken towards the exit one by one. I was the last but one to take the jump and trust me the sight of every other person jumping out gives you goose bumps like never before. Finally it was my turn to take the plunge ,as you are taken towards the door the camera person(Andy) hangs out of the aircraft picturing each and every single move made by me right from the point of jump. One can feel the adrenalin rush when you are made to sit at the tip of the door and all you can see is nothing but the clouds around(wat else does one expect!) and everything else from there happens in a flash. The instructor then takes off and the dive is on and my goodness the freefall for about 35-40 seconds is unbelievable and simply fantastic.One has to do it to experience it!

When midair the instructor taps you on the shoulders where one is expected to do all kinds of stunts in front of the camera like thumbs up, salute and so on... And it is only when you look at the video later on do you realise you look like a caricature with the cheeks fluttering .At about 6000 ft the as parachute is opened one can feel the jerk as it takes you upwards .As we sail through the clouds its amazing especially when one gets fortunate enough to control the parachute for a few minutes wherein one could practice landing midair, manoeuvre the parachute right and left and the gush of wind just takes you along .It’s really a hard task controlling it specially at the cost of an additional life in the form of “ME”!

The whole activity ,the fun and frolic unfortunately lasts only for about 5-6 minutes and later on all one can do is to gaze at the other parachutes falling over not to forget the certificate for the first jump by the British Parachute Association as a token of participation and some pics along with the video, ofcourse all of which comes at a cost(except for the certificate).

And lastly for those who haven’t attempted this is one thing that is most recommended very strongly and I can say with conviction even in spite of a “definitive peril involved in trying the sport” it’s a very safe sport! Try it and am sure each one would say “I have never experienced anything like it. It was the one of the most exhilarating experience of my life."

Check out the thumbs up ad as an added inspiration!

It’s great! Any advice on this feel free to contact me through the comments section down here.

Cheers,
Karthik

My Wimbledon experience (2006 July)

After having had an enriching experience at the mother of all races Formula 1 not very long ago, watching the likes of michael schumacher, kimi and montoyo racing through it was time for another historcal international event the mother of all GRANDSLAMS ,"WIMBLEDON".
Though it had been decided that we would be on there at the event , there was lot of apprehension amonst the guys here and never till the fag end did we decide on which day we would be on.

Having decided upon the day as Monday , with Sunday being an holiday we were quite enthusiatic amidst the "cold" here which almost crossed a neat "33 degress" !!!!!

Wimbledon was an 1hr drive from london , and no wonder each one of us were cynical to the fullest all the way and moaning confidently about making to wimbledon late, not getting tickets for the next day and so on….only reason being the huge queue outside the stadium, all the more a reason to demotivate us!

Btw it was 5 of us me (kate),arun(muchellavari),shiva(shivakumar) ,ashok and mani(manikandan) :))

We were there a little later than noon eagerly expecting to get TICKETS for Monday, with a few security guards boosting our confidence saying we were too early for the next day's tickets , but only to realise that we were almost the last in the queue (some waiting in the same queue right from Friday !! ). No wonder we had more reasons to be cynical … As we settled down ,all of a sudden we decide to try the other queue quite a distance away up hill , on the way counting the number of tents and the people pitched up . In order to make it to THE CENTRE COURT one needs to be within the first 250 in the queue.It was at ARTHUR ROAD,North Wimbledon Conservation Area, 3 of us me,mani and arun decide to go to the other queue hoping to be part of the 250 .At about 4 p.m the volunteers give a queue ticket , the number on that indicating whether one gets centre court,court 1 or court 2. Ours was a lucky 190 - 195 and all of us were in splits with a guarantee that we would be at the CENTRE COURT come what may and the adrenalin rush .

Waiting in the queue is considered an honour at WIMBLEDON and any comon man is treated with dignity.All along the stretch , are these "HONORARY STEWARDS" and the wimbledon volunteers who manage the crowd in the queue.The amount of space on the footpath required for pitching the tents etc.. Is decided based on the number of people . The best part about that is the preparation that goes on. One gets to see a variety of tents, with sleeping bags etcc.. And a few catchy tents as well with table , chairs fitted in and a mini kitchen in all and the camaraderie was just brilliant. On the contrary all we'd managed to do is get a couple of sleeping bags and a few papers (based on the advice by friends who'd been there before) . As always we were short of the essentials and we went pretty much "OUR LOCAL" way of putting the papers down and use the sleeping bag as a quilt while evey alternate person had a tent to live in.

The stewards (most of them) were old men and women (close to age 55 to 65) updating every one about the itenary, time in the queue,ticket details on match day etc.. ,ofcourse with a few doughnuts from some of the church volunteers. All in all the preparation for the event and the hospitality was admirable.

DAY 2:

As we decide to call it a day close to midnight , we are woken up by the VOLUNTEERS sometime between 5.50 a.m and 6 a.m giving everyone ample time to get geared up for the D-day .Between 8to 9 a.m the queue is moved towards an pretty big field opposite the arena where the STEWARDS provide everyone with a band tied to the hand on which indicates CENTRE COURT,COURT1 ETC..As we head towards the stadium to collect the tickets the STEWARDS give a label indicating "I QUEUED" which is a wimbledon momento. !!!!

The ticket for the centre court costs 59£ which is issued only a couple of hours before the match begins. Finally worth the wait !!!! Both the courts centre and court 1 are magnificient and majestic with the traditional GREEN paint all over the stadium . The forgettable thing there personally would be the WIMBLEDON SHOP with sky high prices on each of the items , but nothing ends without someform of a souvenir .

With heat taking its toll on everyone and with the wait finally ending we get to see the first match at COURT 2 between MARIA SHARAPOVA and Penetta. The advantage of having CENTRE COURT tickets is one can get to STAND and watch the matches at the other courts . Business as usual MARIA with her awesome powerdisplay and wide array of shots plays down the newcomer with much ease , not in straight sets though was given a run for her money.

At 13.00 , was another exciting line up at the CENTRE court between the "never say die " JUSTIN -HENIN-HARDENE and the pretty damsel from russia "DANIELA HUNTCHUCOVA" , to be honest was no where a match to the champion , lost out in straight sets .

The feel of just being a part of the centre court was brilliant . We were just below the "ROLEX DIGITAL WATCH " in the secod row , just behind the MURRAY fans, just in case some one happened top see 5 dark and tanned guys .

As we headed to watch Hewitt at court 1 , out came SHARAPOVA and the crowd mobbed around her and understably din oblige for all those desperate autograph seekers .

With no signs of the heat reducing , we order for a few "STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM " supposedly the best at WIMBLEDON . The dish is a mixture of berries and cream with sugar added on to it .. Slurrppppppppppp!!!. Meanwhile I manage to spot our very own "VIJAY AMRITRAJ" and get a pic with him, sad to say none of them realising they were amidst an ex- tennis player and an INDIAN HERO and not far away was "MAHESH BHUPATHI " as well. On our way to court 1 through the press box we spot the legndary and aggressive "JOHN McEnroe" in his own inimitable style.

Alongside we also get to watch the french star amele mauresmo play as well. With ROGER FEDERER's match at 16.00 at centre court , on our way we spot our very own "PADMASHREE SANIA MIRZA" playing doubles alongside with michaela kraijaeck . With sania's family there to support there and a few INDIAN's around ,the luck unfortunatley was not on her side .

Finally , the greatest moment of all ROGER FEDERER AT CENTRE COURT. Here he is elegant, graceful and with so much of poise defeating his opponent within no time . This GUY is the one to watch out for , and no wonder he is the GRASSKING . Impeccable !!!!!!!!!! As we head home we were on for a charity doubles match between THE ACE® GORAN IVANISEVIC teaming with LECONTE .

About Tickets :

If in case one gets a centre court ticket etc,.. And that is not utilised supposedly for the entire day , there is an official way where in the tickets are dropped on to a box and the re-saled and the amount given to charity making sure that the ticket once given can be reusable at a price and officially .

Finally while heading home are again "TAXI STEWARDS" helping out each one get to his/her place which was again notable which rarely happens elsewhere . !!!

All in all a LIFE TIME experience at the QUEEN of all grandslams cherished with great memories.

Cheers,
Karthik..