India Down Under - And they remained there

It happened as predicted. I thought they would win by an innings. It didn't happen that way. But it was equally bad. Australia thrashed India by 337 runs. India had a pathetic display in every department of the game except first day show. We thought claiming 9 wickets of Aus. on the very first day was unusual and we saw a ray of hope. We thought this team can make a difference. After all this team has guts and talent, at least on paper. And it stayed there on paper only.

When it came for the batsmen to deliver, they succumbed. Dravid continued his hopeless lack of form. Ganguly and Laxman were defiant as usual. They stood tall amongst the team and the other batting line up fell apart around them. In both the innings, the batsmen showed no commitment. Of course, we will do injustice if we don't appreciate class bowling performances from Clarke and Lee. They ripped the Indian team apart.

Problems with our team. Numerous. Here are a few in my view point.

- There is literally no fast bowler in our team. Prasad has instilled his own 'qualities' into the fast bowlers and now no one can accelerate the pace beyond 130 kmph.

- Dravid needs to be 'rested'

- If not rested, he should be pulled down the order at his original place. Do not make him sacrificial lamb.

- Bring Sehwag back in the team. Fit him as an opener. Give him a chance. Anyway the team's performance is hopeless Why not take a risk? If he delivers, it will be a huge bonus for the team.

- For God's sake, please get rid of Harbhajan.

- Bring Pathan back.

Boxing Day Test

I see India's defeat in the air. There is no way this team can beat Aus. It is 134-0 and both the openers are playing exceptionally well as usual. Why on earth we need Harbhajan Singh in the team? I don't understand. Zaheer looks jaded. Question to selectors and team management; 'Do you really think you have any chance against Aus with just two 'fast' bowlers?' RP Singh is a total mediocre. Just to include Yuvraj in the team, you kept Pathan out. Sheer nonsense. You could have utilized Pathan as a swing bowler on this pitch.

I just hope we don't lose by an innings. Though it seems absolutely inevitable.

P.S. Before I publish this, Captain Kumble has struck just now. Jaques is gone, stumped.

'Battle for Gujarat' won by Modi

Some people called him 'Maut Ka Saudagar' (Merchant of Death), some called him 'CEO of Gujarat Inc'. Some called him 'Hero of Hatred', yet others called him 'The King of Gujarati people's hearts'.

Narendra Modi had everything at stake in Gujarat election and he once again emerged as a winner. Modi is back in style. He is back with a bang. This election has brought out several very interesting electoral points.



- Once again BJP has won a thumping majority of almost two third seats.

- This is fourth consecutive term BJP will form a Government in Gujarat. So there is actually a factor of Incumbency instead of Anti-Incumbency.

- This time the election issue was 'Development of Gujarat'. And this is the victory of development and growth.

- Once again, the media is left red faced. Entire media was against Narendra Modi (without any significant reason except pseudo-secularism) Modi has lifted himself and his party above all this criticism. He went to people with only one agenda. Development and security of Gujarati people. And the Gujarati people welcomed him again and brought him to power. The moment it became clear during the counting that BJP is coming back to power, Rajdeep Sardesai went into hiding. What a shame Sardesai. You could not take the blow in your face. Our sympathies with you.

- Gujarat IT Movement - A group of netizen Gujaratis are celebrating this as the victory of IT potential in Gujarat. All of us had been rooting for Narendra Modi.

- Narendra Modi is now the strongest and most formidable leader of BJP. This election is going to have a lot of impact on the coming Loksabha elections.

- The most pitiable situation is of the BJP rebels including former chief ministers Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta. They are looking for cover now. BJP high command under the influence of Modi is going to crack the whip on them for sure. They did not have any impact on the results and they lost badly.

- Surprisingly BJP suffered heavily in Central Gujarat but they have maintained the controversial Saurashtra region where there was surging rebellion.

- Congress still does not know how to accept the defeat gracefully. They are saying Modi poisoned the minds of Gujarati. Are we to believe that millions of Gujaratis are fools? These comments reveal the imbecile mentality of Congress.

- Once again it was the war between two parties. There is no place for the third front here. We always give clear verdict. And we always give the right verdict. We voted Modi in power and we know why.

'Maru Amdavad' After 1.5 years

It is still my good old city. The city I have grown up in. The city I spent 23 years in. It feels good to be back after a long time.

There are not many striking changes except a few. The first thing that bogged me down is the traffic here. It is almost a chaos on every road. The traffic sense of people has stooped to the lowest possible level. They follow no rules while overtaking, parking or driving. People have started parking their cars on both the sides of road, furtively eating up further space on already narrow roads. I suspect Amdavad is going to be like Banglore in a short time. This happens when the infrastructure and planning are not in sync with the growth of the city.

The roads are filled with brand new jazzy glittery cars like Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and even Mercedez. My Maruti 800 seems to have become extinct. Or at least it is an endangered species. The time is not far when they will stop the production of this car. The Corolas, Civics and Mercs are ruling the roads. The city has become rich.

The coffee bars and tea centers have cropped up all over the place. Not that the prices were reasonable at these places when I left but now they look insanely costly. A glass of Cafe Frappe cost me Rs. 60 today. And these economists want me to believe that the inflation rate is around 3-4%. About Rs. 20 price increase for original Rs. 40 is not 2-3% I believe. (For those learned readers who will point out that such things are not in the 'Basket' out of which such indices are calculated, I would say with changing times, these are the things that you should be including while calculating purchasing power and inflation.)

The food at the restaurants is as tasty as it has been forever. And surprisingly it has not become too costly.

Pollution is under control like before. The bus-stops have improved. They are now well lit. The railway station people say looks like Airport. The roads have very neat directional signs, indicating areas in different directions.

I am happy that this place has not changed drastically. I want it to remain my quiet, aged yet modern city. Let's see how long it remains that way.

Jubilation

I achieved 4.0 GPA for this semester. I obtained 'A' in both the subjects. And getting an 'A' in Algorithms was an absolutely pleasant surprise! I never expected that I will do so well in the course. But hard work pays off. And it did pay off in good. Scoring highest in the class in Algorithms final exam was like mission impossible which I carried out :)

Mercy Killing - A compassionate step or glorified murder

"Coma patient dies after Australian court rules to remove life support"

Today's headline in CNN.
So the Judge acted God and decided that the poor victim of an accident is no longer needed in this world. Despite his family's denial, they lost legal battle with the Hospital and the hospital cold bloodedly removed the life support. The reports say the patient was still breathing for some time. But finally he gave up on life.

I have had several discussions with my friend Karthik on this issue of Mercy Killing. Is it ethical to allow someone to take someone's life? Though this was not a clear case of mercy killing as the patient himself did not consent. But the question is, if a terminally ill patient says he wants to end his life, shouldn't he be allowed to act as per his will? Or many other lives also depend on his life, emotionally or materially, and so he should not have a say in whether to end his own life or not.

Is it fair to kill oneself? If yes, in what circumstances? If no, why not?

Happy Birthday Maa

Today is mom's birthday. We celebrated in style :)

Example of a powerful speech delivery

This video is just a small clip of Narendra Modi's election speech, campaigning for the second phase of voting in Gujarat's assembly elections. What we see here is an immensely powerful leader, delivering a fiery speech to a large crowd.

Look at the way he carries the crowd along. He puts words into people's mouths. He knows exactly what excites people. He knows what makes them enraged. He knows what will extract the loudest possible response from that crowd.

Questions

My questions to Creationists

1. If you say everything has a creationist behind it, who created God?
2. You say time and space were also created by God, then where and when did God created them?
3. What was God doing before creating us?
4. If God is so genius, why did he create imperfections, woes, afflictions and sufferings in the world?

My questions to Evolutionists

1. Why is everything the way it is?
2. Can any machine (the universe, life, nature etc) be so perfect as to it can run on its own?
3. Okey, we believe in Darwin's theories, but does it explain why it happened the way it happened?
4. Why are the scientific laws the way they are? Perfect?

And finally

Years turned into months. Months turned into days. And now finally days have turned into a few hours.

Finally the wait is over. The semester has ended. I am a free bird. For the time being at least. And I did not have enough time to anticipate the joy of returning home. I think I will have to take that feeling just as a surprise. A day more to go. I am flying out tomorrow.

I hate travel. I am always so worried about forgetting something important. It almost amounts to nervousness before a few hours of flight. And the last moment checks include 'The Worst Case Scenario'. This list has things like Passport, Cash, Credit Card, Mobile phone and ticket.

The baggage restriction is also becoming a pain in the neck while packing. I really do hate travel !

On another news of the day, two Indian students were murdered in Louisiana State University. They call it a normal case of house invasion. It feels terrible to know that both were married and one of them was about to be a father. This is the least you expect to see in headline when you wake up in the morning. Nobody is safe anywhere. Life is so ephemeral.

Wait my dear, patience is virtue

The wait does not seem to end. The more you wait for something to come, the farther in future it seems.

Still 2 more days till the semester end. And 4 more days till I take the flight home. After 1.5 years. The emotional activities in the psyche have become rampant. The sweet home is calling. Can't resist singing to the tune of Bryan Adams' song,

I hear the wind across the plain
A sound so strong that calls my name
It's wild like the river - it's warm like the sun
Yeah it's here - this is where I belong

Under the starry skies where eagles have flown
This place is paradise - it's the place I call home
The moon on the mountains
The whisper through the trees
The waves on the water
Let nothing come between this and me

Cuz everything I want is everything that's here
And when we're all together there's nothing to fear

And wherever I wander - the one thing I've learned
It's to here - I will always, always return

Charming Tucson

Rain adds a fresh charm to otherwise modestly beautiful Tucson, Arizona. It has been raining for past two days. Along with a beautiful weather, the surroundings of the university have also become enchanting.

I could not resist taking a walk in this beautiful weather and took some snaps in and around the university.

Picturesque beauty ..

Long winding road ...

A little bit of orange, a little bit of green - Picture perfect

Can't help falling in love with this place ..

Rain rain come again ...

The University Boulevard

Illusion! There is no trick photography or photo editing here! It just came out as this.

My White Shadow !

Painted by the most renowned painter of all times. The God himself.

Old Main hiding behind lush green trees

Wet roads leading to Student Union and Old Main

New York

The city of blinding lights.
The city I fell in love with.
The city I long to go back to.
The magical, charismatic, charming, majestic and lovely - New York


Here is a song by U2 for New York

Marooned - David Gilmour

The Blue - David Gilmour - Live in Royal Albert Hall

People say if you are high on drugs, you feel like this song. It takes you in a heavenly magical world, far away from reality.

A room with a view

It is not a picture of sunset on a beach. These are clouds and the horizon behind them. Taken from an airplane window.

Is America a Secular Nation?

The bed-side desk in my room at a hotel in Seattle.

The Bengal Tiger Roars Again!

Nobody else has been in limelight in Indian Cricket as much as Ganguly, for all sorts of reasons. Right and wrong. He started his career with a fantastic tour of England, establishing his place as an aggressive opener. He went on to become the most successful captain of India. He instilled new breath in Indian team which was flagging in performance as well as confidence. He was authoritative to the extent of sometimes being called dictatorial. His bitter raw with coach Chappel was one of the ugliest chapters of Indian cricket. His deteriorating form and other unrevealed factors forced him out of the team for a long time.

But when he was given a place in the team again, he showed his class, determination and mental strength once again. He bounced back with a fabulous performance. He silenced his critics with his bat.

Yesterday was his day. His home ground. A test match against Pakistan. And a glorious 100. It could not have been a better setup for Ganguly to shine. And he did.

The Bengal Tiger is roaring again. And this time it is loud and strong.





[Image Source: http://www.channel4.com/sport/cricket/img/news_images/03-03-20_ganguly1_371.jpg]