Is the art greater than the artist?

I had a long discussion with my uncle yesterday about this. Is the art greater than the artist? Should we neglect personal flaws and evils of an artist and appreciate his/her art?

The discussion/debate started with V. S. Naipaul. As you all know, he is a Nobel laureate for literature. I highly admire his writing skills and have read many of his works. The point of discussion was his confessions in his biography The World Is What It Is, about abusing his wife. He says "I think that consumed her. I think she had all the relapses and everything after that. She suffered. It could be said that I killed her. It could be said. I feel a little bit that way".

His wife Patricia, was suffering from cancer. Naipaul confesses of inflicting mental cruelty on her. Naipaul blatantly boasted of extra-marital affairs and visiting prostitutes in one of his interviews and this humiliation and stress caused severe downfall of Patricia's health.

The question is, 'Is it moral to continue to admire the author once you know how horrible his personal life is?'

I took the stand of placing art higher than an individual. I argued that I would still continue to read his work and admire him because of his literary works and not personal life.

But the crimes that he has committed towards an innocent, suffering woman are really despicable. I wish he were as good a person as a writer.

Down memory lane: Remembering the visit to Kolkata

I have not written many travelogues. But out of nowhere came the desire to write a few lines about my experience in Kolkata. Some places are like magnets. They compel you to make visits again and again. Kolkata visit has had similar effects on me. I have fallen in love with that place in just one visit. Quite frankly I don't know the reason. It's certainly not the most beautiful place I have visited. Neither do I have any relations there. Yet the strong emotional attachment that I feel towards it and my desire to visit it again is indeed intriguing.

The exact dates that I visited Kolkata fail my memory. I think it was about 5-6 years ago. I remember taking the books along for studies. I still regret spending hours inside my hotel room preparing for the exams and missing the beauty of that foreign land. My sister was to deliver her classical-vocal performance at a contest (which she eventually won) there at Ramkrishna Mission, Kolkata and that was what prompted the visit.

Kolkata is a place full of extremes. It has an aura of its own. It does not have modernity of Mumbai but has its own rich cultural heritage. People are busy just like any other metro city but they have time to appreciate beauty of art and music. I am amazed by the number of artists and musicians come out of this region. It certainly runs in their blood. Despite being a metro city, it does not have the arrogance like Delhi (No offense intended towards Delhites). You can feel the sweetness in nature of people you meet.



My visit coincided with Doorga Pooja, known as just 'Pooja'. It is the biggest festival in Bengal and Kolkata was adorned like a bride for the occasion. All the streets were decorated with lighting and sweet Bengali music and the fragrance of sweets filled the air. The atmosphere was electrifying around us.



I found the city lazy. I am not sure if it was a norm or just an exception but I saw many shops and offices, even private closing strictly at 5 in the evening. The areas I visited had a large population of blue collar workers and thus the road-side eating joints were crowded for the evening tea and supper. You could buy a meal in Rs. 4 (10 cents). At the other end of the city, in areas like Esplanade and Park street, you could see the young upper-middle class people eating in McDonald and shopping in one of the most swanky shopping malls.



The roads are eternally jammed and they look like a sea full of yellow-top taxis. As long as your sight can reach , you can see nothing on the roads but taxis. The traffic jams are so bad in some areas that I remember getting out of taxi in the middle of the road and start walking.



This was the first time I experienced Metro rail (The second time being in NY last summer). I was really impressed by the efficiency with which the metro runs. Also, the underground stations are quite clean and modernized. There are large, fascinating murals on the walls of these stations like those of Tagore at the station named 'Rabindra Sadan'. It is an amazing view while riding when the train emerges from underground to the street level near the Dum-dum airport station. Looks like a gladiator entering the arena!



There are a lot of Victorian style buildings with red bricks. They stand as the reminder of colonialism and Raj. Along the similar lines, I must add that 'Babu' culture (Attitude of bureaucrats as if they are 'the higher living beings') is still prevalent here. You see loads of chauffeur driven Ambessadors on roads. With the 'Sahib' sitting in the back seat.



Other most vivid memories include our visit to Bellur Math. This is an ashram built by Swami Vivekanand, on the banks of the sacred Ganga. The peaceful environment has amazingly refreshing effects on mind. You feel ethereal sacredness floating around you. Eternal bliss. A momentary feeling of Nirvana.

The last memories of Kolkata I have is seeing waves of peasants and workers heading to the railway station. The driver told us that all these people live in nearby rural areas like Howra and they take trains to arrive in Kolkata to work. They start their day at 5 in the morning and when we saw them returning, it was already 8.30 at night.

I know there was no significantly unique experience in this visit. It looked just like another one week trip to an unknown place. But yet it has had lasting impression on my mind. I have fallen in love with that place. After that visit, I have read numerous Bengali authors. Whenever I see a book set in Bengal, I instantly buy it. This includes books by Tagore, Sankar, Amitav Ghosh and so on.

Mysterious, spellbinding, simple and lovely. I would summarize my impression of Kolkata with these four words.

[Image sources:

http://galen-frysinger.com/india/calcutta01.jpg
http://www.clayimage.co.uk/Dasmi.jpg
http://www.urbanrail.net/as/calc/calcutta-tollygunge1.jpg
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:JxbaRI-Q1xSkxM:http://lh3.google.com/
_MdMP4fNXkng/RpXs5ksQEoI/AAAAAAAABAw/LIdVUim955g/s800/Picture%2B003.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/Photobarnaul/Tomsk/P1020358.jpg
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/10/15/Kolkata_wideweb__470x304,0.jpg
]

Anatomy of Deception by Lawrence Goldstein: Book Review

Real characters in history woven in the net of a mysterious fictional plot. That is Anatomy of Deception. Part history, part fiction, this book is an absolute delight to read. This was the first book of its kind I have read.

The book is set in late 19th century in the Medical School, Philadelphia. The characters in the book include legendary doctors like Dr. William Halstead and Dr. William Osler. Their personalities have been depicted just as they were. But the circumstances surrounding them in the novel are fictional. The story revolves around the murders of a doctor and a young girl from an affluent family of Philadelphia. A young successful doctor, Dr. Carrol takes it up to him to solve the mystery of these two deaths and finds himself caught in the net of deception. Should he trust his own colleagues? Should he trust 'The Professor' who has been his guiding light in his professional as well as personal life?

The aura created resembles that present in Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie novels. The places include dark alleys, grave yards, morgue rooms of hospitals, palatial homes and so on. Characters include some legendary doctors, a ruffian immoral medical student, a diligent and committed medical professional, blue blood families of America at that time, some tough-nut mafia dons and so on. A perfect set up for a suspense thriller. Anatomy of Deception has it all.

But what stands out in Lawrence Goldstein's novel is seamlessly woven facts about the early history of medicine in America. Details about various inventions and discoveries, made by accident or otherwise have been integrated as part of the novel. Those related to medical profession or study will indeed find it very informative. And yes, these details are not fiction. They indeed happened the way it has been portrayed.

The novel is written as first person narrative. So those of you who don't prefer to read this kind of style might find it as a put-off. But I assure you, the writing style is indeed flawless. It's gripping and entertaining. A perfect material to arouse your curiosity about history of medical profession in America. If you haven't tried this genre, I would strongly advise you to go to your nearest book store (The nearest being the computer you are reading this blog on - Amazon ) and grab a copy of it. Enjoy.

Links to some characters in the book:
Dr. Osler: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Osler
Dr. Halstead: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Halsted

[P.S. Thanks a ton Niki, for such a wonderful gift]

[Image source: http://forum.connpost.com/joe/images/anatomy.gif]

Hushh.. little baby don't you cry, everything is gonna be alright ...

Flight was about to take off. Lucy was quietly playing with her Penguin toy that I bought her at the airport. I tightened her seat-belt. She looked up suddenly and said, 'Daddy, when will we see Mommy?'.

'Mommy will be at Phoenix airport, sweetheart. You are going to see her as soon as we land', I assured her. She gave a faint smile and got herself engaged in playing with her Penguin again.

'Daddy, when will I see you again?', she asked again looking up. My heart sank at the question. How was I going to explain to her that she was not going to see her parents together ever? 'You will come to see me during the summer, sweety' and I tried to look away, trying to escape the questions in her eyes. She held my hand tight and asked, 'Why?. Why will you not be with me and Mommy in Phoenix?'.

'Because Daddy and Mommy are not going to live together, honey. But you as soon as the summer arrives, you will come to Daddy and we will spend time together. Daddy will take you to the park and you can play on the slides and swings. Daddy will bring you ice cream and chocolates. But first you must be a good girl and spend time with your Mommy.', I said with a heavy heart, trying hard to keep my gaze into her uncertain eyes.

'Will Mommy come with me to see you then?'
'No sweetheart, Mommy will not see Daddy. You will come alone. Daddy and Mommy will not meet each other.'
'But why Daddy? Why?'

And a tear rolled down her left cheek. It has always been like this with her. It is always the left eye which gives way to her tears first. And she started sobbing then. Pressing her head against my chest and curling her little arms around me. I did not know how to comfort her. I did not have logical answers to her 'Whys'. I did not know what went wrong. All I know is Lucy did not deserve this.

I held her tight. Trying to calm her sobbing. The deep humming of the airplane engine went on in the background.


P.S. - Inspired by a little girl and her father, sitting next to me in one of the flights I took once. The conversation didn't take place actually. Just a work of fiction.

[Image Source: http://lh4.google.com/ericandamos/RfXMDzT7odI/AAAAAAAAAWE/
_bYT12yy5aE/IMG_2305bw.jpg?imgmax=512]

Why SRK is the King of Bollywood

I decided to post something lighter on blog today. And it couldn't have been better. I was surfing IBNLive this morning and came across this little chit-chat and taunting between Amir Khan and Shahrukh Khan that is going on these days in Bollywood. Amir had asked SRK 'How it felt to be No. 2'. SRK replied in a press conference saying "I just want to tell you, Aamir is a dear friend of mine and if he has thought that I am second to him, it's a great compliment to me."

War of words boomeranged on Amir himself. Dear Amir, you can't beat SRK in any department, be it acting, humor or personality. So it's about time you stopped attempting! SRK is and will be the 'King Khan'

Article at:
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/
srk-says-thanks-to-aamirs-no-2-remark---aamirs-dig/61097-8.html

Image Source:
http://static.ibnlive.com/pix/sitepix/02_2008/srk_aamir_pic248.jpg

Movie Review - Michael Clayton

Ever since A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich, if you have been waiting for a good legal drama, your wait is over. Michael Clayton is undoubtedly one of the finest dramas of this year. Written and directed by Tony Gilroy (The screenplay writer of The Bourne movies), MC is gripping, thought provoking and a perfect crime drama.

George Clooney plays a lawyer/deal-maker in a large law-firm in NY city. A case that his firm is handling, involving a corporation, goes awry and he is called in to clean up. Things get nasty as he learns the truth behind the corporation and their tactics. Three fourth of the movie runs in flashback and then in the final piece of drama, the story springs back into present. The climax is one of the best in class and leaves the viewers smiling, amazed.

George Clooney once again proves why he is the boss in hollywood. Calm yet passionate, unpredictable and intense. Clooney literally lives his character. The intensity with which he acts puts him class apart from other actors. The camera work, lighting, motion and sound all remind me of The Bourne series. The only difference is that it is not as fast moving as Bourne yet equally enjoyable, even more so to some extent.

There have been a lot of movies about the 'the evil corporations'. This movie is also similar. But it views the story from a more humane perspective. The 'blind zones' created by the scriptwriter make the movie much more thrilling to watch. Total lack of predictability makes it a perfect thriller.


If it is running in any theater near you, go and watch it. I regret not watching this movie in theater. I am sure it would have been worth every minute and dollar spent on it

My First Rental Car in US

After two attempts at driving test, a few weeks ago, I finally managed to get the Driver's License here in Arizona. Special thanks to Qadirbhai for his relentless efforts, his time, his guidance and his car. And also Akshay and Samba for taking me for practice!

Unlucky that I am, I flunked the test in first attempt because I was 'under-speeding'. I was going at the speed of 25mph where the limit was 35mph. And the officer who was taking my test, failed me. Aah, felt bad. Then next week again, Akshay and I went to the DMV but it was a holiday. Third week of waiting and again came Saturday. Qadirbhai was back in the instructor's seat and we went for the second attempt. And this time I made it! Perfection eluded me even then and I lost 8 points for using wrong lane. But because it was more than 80% overall, they passed me.

Equipped with the 'License to Drive', I rented a car from Enterprise here for the first time over this weekend. I had asked for a standard sized sedan and what they gave me was this!



On second thought, this was not bad! They upgraded my request from standard to SUV as they didn't have any standard sized cars. And as I had not driven a SUV before, I was a bit hesitant. But looking back, it was fun driving this Jeep for 3 days.

My iPhone was a great help in finding my way to places. The Google Maps and inbuilt GPS like function are fantastic. I realized true value of iPhone now! A funny incident happened when I got stuck at the gas station. I had no clue how to operate the pump so I asked someone who was filling up his bike. He explained to me the operation and then I managed to use it. (Ok, I know it sounds dumb but I tried to handle the pump myself and couldn't do it. So i had to ask !)

Geoffrey Boycott speaks

In an interview with Cricinfo when asked his choice of best all-rounder of all time.


"....[But] if I had to pick my greatest allrounders, No. 1 would be Sir Garfield Sobers. He is the best batsman I have ever seen. Obviously there have been other [great] batsmen, but I have only seen people in the last 30 or 40 years. He was a fantastic batsman. As a bowler, he could bowl these wrist-spinner chinamen and the orthodox left-arm, but when he bowled seam-up - and he only did that late in his career - as a left arm swing-seamer he was quite sharp. He was much sharper than Kallis is now, at about Kallis's pace when he [Kallis] was at his youngest and best. He [Sobers] swung it alarmingly and he was a fantastic bowler.

If I had to pick another one it would be Imran Khan. If you look at his record, he averages about 37 with the bat and he gets his wickets at about 23. He has been a match-winner for Pakistan and to top that there were his leadership qualities. The Pakistan side were sometimes a rag-tag and bobtail bunch who were either fighting among themselves or there were political things going on. But Imran could pull them all together and make them what they usually are: a very talented, world-beating side. Imran has got to be in there [in my top three allrounders].

The other great allrounder I have seen is Ian Botham. He was a swing bowler at his best. He had a narrow waist, big shoulders, big back side, a lot of power and pace, and he could get right around and bowl outswingers at pace. A very aggressive bowler. He got his wickets cheaply, and then he was an exciting batman. To top that, he could catch at slip - he was brilliant.

I forgot about Sobers: he was a brilliant catcher too.

You've asked me three and I've given you three but I'd like to add one name to that. A man I didn't see but one I've read a lot about would be Keith Miller. Miller was one of the great, exciting cricketers - and I use the word "great" properly - of all time. You ask people who saw him bowl. With [Ray] Lindwall and Miller, it was like lightning. Miller bowled people out with fast, genuinely fast bowling. He was an aggressive, attacking batsman as well as a carefree individual. You ask someone like Richard Benaud and he just rolls his eyes - he thinks Miller was fantastic."

[Article at: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/341141.html?view=transcript]

Business or Human Lives? What a no-brainer !

Sure Southwest Airlines would have thought this when they flew the 'unsafe' planes as shown in the following report and made sure that their business and flight-schedule remained intact .

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/06/southwest.planes/index.html

A befitting reply

They called Harbhajan Singh 'An obnoxious little weed'. They alleged him of racial abuse. The crowd booed him on the field. Ponting said 'They should look at their own backyard'. The entire Australian team was high on the spirit and ecstasy of arrogance. But the 'Men in Blue' did not lose focus. They were committed to answer the sledging and taunts of Australian in a befitting manner. And they did it yesterday. India won the CB series after defeating Aus in two straight finals. The series and the final was very remarkable in cricketing history for a variety of reasons.

I watched the entire match (Thanks to Sopcast!) after a long long time. And it was worth every minute spent watching it. Some of the highlights of yesterday's match.

- A brilliant, patient and classy knock by Sachin. But once again he became the victim of 'Nervous 90s'
- Sachin toppled Ponting to become No. 1 in ICC ranking
- Praveen Kumar was flawless. Some of his 'Leg break' type deliveries were just marvelous. He uses his wrist brilliantly to swing the ball both ways. He is one of the finds of the series
- Fielding of Indian side was very tight led by athletics of Yuvraj Singh on the field
- Dhoni has proved himself a very calm, composed and calculative captain who knows how to use his bowlers, not to mention his 'Lead by example' style both behind the wicket with his gloves and in front of it with his bat. It looked as if he has more than a decade of captaincy experience
- Despite of Srisanth's total lack of confidence, he held his nerves very well to deliver some very good overs in the slog overs time
- Symonds and Hayden both once again fell victim to Harbhajan. My advice to them, instead of targeting Harbhajan personally, focus more on his bowling and try to get over 'Harbhajanofobia'
- A very hilarious scene when a nude spectator ran down to the middle of the pitch. He approached Symonds with full force and momentum, but strong as a bullock he is, Symonds just stood there and the spectator bumped into him and fell hard flat on the ground. A display of enormous strength!
- A bit unfortunate for Sachin, but Praveen Kumar indeed deserved the Man of the Match award

[Image Source: http://www.ibnlive.com/photogallery/740-0.html#view_start]

The BOSS speaks... with his bat

I have never been a fan of Sachin myself. But irrespective of that, I consider him the greatest cricketer who has lived the game. Silencing his critics, Sachin tore the Australian defense in the first final and allowed the Indian side to cruise to a much needed victory. Some of his characteristic drives and those cheeky sweeps mark his fabulous innings. Have a look!

Garfield ... The Real One !!

The cat in my apartment complex. She is so very cute. Whenever I sit outside, she comes and sits besides me. Sweet :)

Elegant Pose, Eh!

Why are you staring at me?

I don't like to be photographed !

Where did you go?

I remember the times when
You and me were together
Where did you go my beloved
Can I not have you back?

Those parks and those slides
How we used to swing against the winds
Those stories and those songs
All faded in the darkness of past

Time heals so they say
But hurt is what it has given me
I want to halt this speeding life
And go back in time to meet you

I call out to you O' my Childhood
Where did you go?
Was it maturity who defeated you
Or was it you who betrayed me?

My Beloved Ahmedabad

Alive and Kicking
Rocking and Cheerful
Vibrant and Cozy
Safe and Charming
Rich and Forward looking

This is my city. This is my home.

I love you Ahmedabad ! And miss you too.

Whose fault is it?

(Indian IT Software and Services Industry US $ Billion)

AT WHAT COST ?

"We are under pressure, we need to push the limits and need to work harder. Guys (including gals), let's make sure we work at least 14 hours a day for sometime."

This is a dialogue from a project manager which should be familiar to all who work in Software Industry in India. The pressure never reduces. Days don't become shorter than 14 hours ever. And in a city as unsafe as Banglore and Delhi, women IT employees are the ones who suffer because of such attitude of management.

In 2005, a female employee working in HP at night shift was raped and murdered. In what can be called an eye opening judgment, the Karnataka High Court gave its verdict against Som Mittal who was HP's CEO then, charging him of negligence under Shops and Establishment act.

People might argue, a meager sum of Rs. 1000 as fine for Mittal as a punishment for a human life? The argument is indeed valid. The punishment is hardly anything in all practicality. But an important underlying issue is that the court recognized this as a problem and decreed that it is indeed a partial responsibility on the part of top bosses.

Many Indian IT companies have what I call pathetic HR practices. And I say this as I have worked in this industry for more than a couple of years and seen it happening. People are forced to work for 12-14 hours a day regularly and sometimes even more. The weekends are virtually non-existent. Woman employees are pressurized to work till late nights and even stay over night in the name of imminent delivery of product.

I have seen some project managers who would peep into an employee's mail box and would comment on personal mails if they see any. A newly wed friend of mine asked for a transfer because her husband was in another city. And the answer she got from the manager was, "You got married is your problem, not mine. I won't let you get a transfer"

Foul language, accusations, loud yells at the subordinates - all this is not a scene in any manufacturing shop floor. These are the scenes in a posh, centrally air conditioned and neat office space in a software company.

Who's to blame in this situation? Employees who are not committed to their work? Project managers who are constantly under pressure to get results? Sloppy hiring practices from recruitment? Senior management?

I see the problem manifold.

1. Top management is too obsessed with profit margins. They are so greedy to grab a deal that to reduce the cost estimates in a proposal, they would literally put half the effort actually required. What does this translate into?

'I will give you only 10 person months even though I know that you will need 20. Motivate your team and make them put a little more effort', says the project manager to a team leader. A little more effort? You are asking the employees to work double time.

I have seen this happen when I was a Project Lead for a project.

2. The top bosses set impossible targets for all the departments. So what do you do? You hire more people. But when you are given a target of hiring almost 4000-5000 employees in a quarter, your recruitment practices become sloppy. The talent level of work-force is compromised. And then you expect a mechanical or a civil engineer to pick up the pace in software development in a month or two. Is this realistic?

3. Middle level managers and team leaders are in a non-enviable position. They are pressurized from the top and even if they empathize with the employees below them, they are helpless. But what they should do is resist the force from above and at least make an attempt to shield the employees beneath them.

My plea to all such companies,
Before it is too late, please wake up and implement employee friendly policies. Don't treat employees as machines or slaves. If you want to spend time on the golf course and five star hotels' swimming pools, give at least a little time for the employees to take their meals with their families once a day.

P.S.
I do not want to mention any company's name here and if someone wants to infer my previous company by other means, I am not responsible. I have tried my best to protect my previous company's identity in this post.

HP Boss Guilty: Article link at
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/hp-bpo-rape-case-exboss-guilty-of-negligence/
59537-3.html

Image Source:
http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/indian/infotech/
2001/software_bar.jpg

Making Over Mumbai

An Article in Time

Click Here

A Google Horror Story

A must read
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/02/08/a_google_horror.html

Equilibrium (2002) - Movie Review

There are some movies which pass both the tests. Giving entertainment as well as driving across a message. Equilibrium is one such movie. I did not have any great expectations from the movie and I started watching it with a skeptical note. What turned out to be was 100 minutes of absolutely thrilling and adrenalin pumping entertainment.

Equilibrium is a Sci-Fi/Thriller movie in which the story begins after the imaginary Third World War has destroyed the earth and a handful of people have survived. These people are ruled by an organization which claims to have eradicated woes and agony from the world by eliminating the core reason for it all. And that reason, they say is feelings. So they have developed a drug which eliminates feelings and emotions from a human. And feeling is considered a crime punishable to incineration. They call it sense-crime.

Christian Bale is one such commander (Cleric in the movie's lingo) who realizes the true importance of feelings. He realizes that without feelings, there is no meaning to life. And then he rebels against the empire.

The movie very delicately shows feelings creeping up on Bale. Little things like a puppy's love for him make him realize that without feeling the life is not lived but just existed. Some dialogues too grab attention of a true movie lover. Like when Marie says to him "Without love, breath is just a clock .. ticking away.. " Some of the Matrix-like action scenes deserve loud applause. Bale has done a good job in acting.

IMDB review at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/

[Image Source: http://www.wallpaperbase.com/wallpapers/movie/
equilibrium/equilibrium_1.jpg]

In Rainbow

This picture was taken a couple of days ago from my department building at University of Arizona. The picture does not look even half as gorgeous as the actual sight.

[P.S. The name of the post alludes to In Rainbows album by Radiohead that I have been listening to since morning. And as a side note, those of you who love Brit Rock and Alternative, you should check out this album. All Radiohead fans like me would be obviously aware of it.]

Without love, breath is just a clock ... ticking away ...
- From the movie 'Equilibrium'

Why I hate Yahoo Mail !

Every single day Mr. Abrahim Musa remembers me from 'His Desk' at International Bank of Africa and sends an email to me. He is supposedly an Auditing and Accounting Manager there. His problem is, his client has left a few million dollars in his bank and he is supposedly dead. Now he wants to be so nice as to give a piece of that to me. And he will help me establish myself as the dead man's Business Partner and help me get the money out of his bank. Very kind of him, I must say!

Also, every day, the manager of UK National Lottery is relentlessly trying to make me rich by making me win his lottery. They want all my contact information and they are so responsible that they put a notice at the end of the mail saying 'The information will be kept secret'. Secret from whom Mr Manager?

Another some Mr. Ousmane from Bank of Africa has the same problem as Mr. Musa. I wonder how so many wealthy old people died all of a sudden leaving their wealth in Bank of Africa. And this bank is in some place called OUAGADOUGOU , BURKINA FASO. Oh, by the way, Mr Musa also works at the same bank! (Surprise !!)

I don't know why Yahoo Mail's spam-guard (if there exists any) is so dumb. Every time I see one such mail, I tag it as 'Spam'. And still Yahoo Mail is not able to remember that just yesterday I had tagged this type of mail as Spam and there is not even a remote possibility that I would consider Mr. Musa's offer today after denying it for so long.

Speculations about Microsoft taking over Yahoo does not lessen my worries. I have never used Microsoft mail. And I am not sure about their anti-spam capabilities either.

I always fancy that given a chance to punish all the spammers of the world one day, I would hand out a 30 years imprisonment to every one of them. This 30 years period is significant and I have spent considerable amount of time on arriving at this number. The reasons why it has to be 30 years are manifold.

1. Spending 30 years in prison, the spammers would lose all the enthusiasm and energy to do their evil deeds of spamming innocent people like me.

2. There might be spammers whose evil may not have been eroded with time and age. But in 30 years, the technology would have changed so much that they will have hard time learning the ropes of spamming in those days.

3. And most importantly, in 30 years, I would be old enough and will not be using emails so often and thus I would not have to worry much.

P.S. while I am writing, Microsoft Promotions has sent me an email saying I have won 1 Million pounds.

Fun

Funny cartoons about Google and MS/Yahoo

Click Here

Darn !

Iron Maiden are performing in Mumbai on Friday, 1st Feb ! How I wish I were in India :(

[Image Source: http://alcamusicgames.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/
iron_maiden2tifbig1.jpg]

Blessings

I take a deep breath and inhale the fresh air deep till the lungs cry out 'No more'.
The clouds are sailing in the background of a light blue sky.
The trees are divine after a sacred bath.

I look up to the heavens and say, "Touch me O' Almighty. Bless Thy child."
And I feel the drops of rain streaming down my face.



[Image Source: http://www.praktica-users.com/img/pics/
mk_raindrops.jpg]

Something to smile about

The Teaching Assistant evaluations by my students of last semester has arrived. The subject was Analysis of Discrete Structures. Here are a few comments from them. I feel grateful. Thanks guys!


"Excellent TA, one of the best I have had"

"Thanks for all the work you put in"

"Very helpful with the homework. Thanks!"

"Great grading, very prompt and contains good explanation, Thank you"

"Our TA's were very helpful and made appointments outside usual office hours monitored the newsgroups carefully etc. I would like to have Bhavin as a TA again. Bhavin seems to know everything"

Time

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but youre older

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

- Time, Pink Floyd

Thank you Mr. Bloomberg

[New York] Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is testing his appeal nationwide as an independent leader, outlined a bipartisan agenda in his State of the City address Thursday, including some tough new law enforcement measures, a major tax cut and expanded social services.

.....In his address on Thursday, Bloomberg took veiled jabs at the declared presidential candidates, some of whom he has criticized in the past for being anti-immigrant.

At the start of his speech, he introduced several immigrant families who live in New York City and hail from Colombia, China, India and Italy, and said: "To those who are wailing against immigration, to those politicians who, all of a sudden, have embraced xenophobia, I say, 'Open your eyes. Take a look behind me. This is what makes America great.'''

[Article at http://www.1010wins.com/Mayor-Bloomberg-Delivers-
State-of-the-City-Address/1494366]

Run for cover

It is a dark night. There are so many people around me. All of us are huddled into some kind of a giant hall. There is pretty much nothing else in the room except windows.

The windows are open. But I think there is a lot of wind coming from outside which is making the windows smash on the frames. I feel cold too.

All the people have frightened look on their face. I don't quite understand what is going on around. And all of a sudden it starts to rain. It is raining fire from above. I see bright yellow fire balls coming down on us. And along with that there are bullets. It is unimaginably scary shower of fire and bullets whizzing past us.

People start running around like crazy. "Run for cover.. run for cover", I shout. People are stumbling on each other.

And before it could conclude, my eyes opened. Heartbeats racing and a dull trace of headache.

Not a very pleasant start of the day today for me!

A close call - Kahani Ek Damaged Passport Ki

"Hi, Good morning", I greeted her with my usual warm and affectionate smile. The official behind Korean Air's desk at the Mumbai International airport was a young, genial looking lady. "Good morning", returning my greeting with a reciprocative smile said she.

She took my passport in her hands and looked at her with a bit of puzzlement on her face. She called a man who looked to be in charge at the Korean Air area at the airport and gave him my passport. The man looks at it and says, "Sorry, but we can't allow you to fly without Immigration clearance of your passport. It is the case of damaged passport"

Darn, I cursed under my breath and looked at the passport. The lamination of the back page had been torn off and the page was exposed. Everything else looked in place. My negligence, I thought; I should never have kept the passport in my pocket. But I had not realized the gravity of the situation until I went to speak to the Immigration officer.

"Good morning sir", I started, "This is my passport and the Korean air people think it is a case of damaged passport and they want your nod before they can issue me a ticket"

The officer takes the passport in his hands and says

"Nahi ho sakta. Yeh to bilkul fat gaya hai. You can't travel with this passport"

I can't say I have never felt helpless and hopeless like this but this surely was one of those incidents in which your mind blanks out for a few seconds.

"Sir please. I am a student. My flight takes off in a couple of hours and I have to fly. I have no other way"
"Nahi ho sakta. Impossible hai. Agar humne yaha se permission de di to aapko aage jake problem hoga aur humko bhi musibat hogi fir"
"Sir you show me a way. What should I do now?"
"Cancel karva do ticket"
"Sir ticket to refundable nahi hai"
"Sorry. Bola na aapko nahi ho sakta kuchh bhi"

Now I had realized the pathetic situation I was in. Trying to find a reasonable argument, I worked out various scenarios in my mind as to how to go back to Ahmedabad, how to book a new ticket and so on. I continued,

"Sir aap apne sahab ko puchh lo ek baar. Unke paas koi raasta hoga. Please aap meri situation samjo. Yeh abhi Ahmedabad-Mumbai flight mein hi hua hai. It was not like this before I boarded the plane from there. It got damaged in my pocket on the flight"

"Thik hai, puchh leta hun", and he goes inside to meet his boss. A few seconds passed and I saw him coming out of his boss's office. My heart raced at the speed of a Ferrari.

"Impossible hai", and my heart sank. "Sahab bol rahe hai nahi ho sakta. Yeh bilkul damage ho chuka hai and we can't do anything. Naya passport banva lo"
"Sir, naya passport to kaise banva lun abhi. Usme to time jayega and I have to reach my college. Please aap kuchh kijiye". Now I had almost lost all hopes but yet I hung around for those last desperate few moments. As if waiting for the last and final blow in a fight.


"Sir please. Kuchh karo aap"
"Thik hai, jaao flight ke representative ko bula ke lao yaha pe"

Hearing this, I felt like a loosing boxer who got an unexpected time-out from the match referee.
I rushed to Korean desk and asked that person who had sent me to Immigration to come with me and deal with the situation. He looked uncertain but certainly unhappy with this. He clearly did not want to get involved. Helping a troubled man was not to his liking for sure. He mumbled something and called out another person to go with me. He turned out to be a real kind hearted man. He came along with me to the Immigration and met with the boss there, indicating to me when to speak, when to follow the boss, where to stand and so on. He certainly seemed to know the ways of bureaucracy.

"Why are you going to US"
"I am a student sir, I study at University of Arizona"
"What do you study"
"Masters in Computer Science"

He walks away to some immigration booth. This was definitely a positive sign. More time indicated less probability of rejection. He spent about 5 minutes there, came back and handed my passport to that Korean air guy and whispered to him about signing some agreement.

"Ho gaya hai. It's okey", he came to me, smiled and said.
"You just need to sign an agreement saying 'Korean air is not liable' for this"

Whatever. Let me out of here, I thought. So finally I signed that agreement and got my boarding pass. I almost flew away from there without looking back. Lest they change their mind and call me back.

Throughout the flight the thought of having problems at the LA immigration check troubled me. I have done nothing wrong and it happened while I was in flight, I kept convincing myself.

Luckily the immigration officer didn't seem to be bothered about that page of the passport and I had no trouble clearing the immigration.

Happy ending to a tense situation. Thank God for that. It reminded me of those trying moments during my visa interview where I had to struggle for more than an hour and thirty minutes to convince the visa people of genuineness of my case and establish my credibility.


P.S.

My sheer dislike for travel is not unjustified. I always get my checked in baggage in the end after every bag has arrived on the carousel. Whenever there is a connecting flight, the two gates are separated by at least a mile's distance which I have to walk. I hate packing. I dread those narrow seats and small legrooms on the flight. How I wish I could avoid those long queues at security check in and avoid the trouble of emptying everything on your body except clothes (Thank God and American Government for that). And now this incident!

[Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_passport]

Book review: Next by Michael Crichton

Dear Mr. Crichton

I have some difficult questions for you that you are not going to like.

Were you compelled to write this book just with monetary gains in mind? Because there sure is no soul in this book. Why could you not create intriguing and gripping plots like Airframe, The Great Train Robbery and Timeline? Were you in too much of a hurry to get a book out just for the sake of it?

I am really very very disappointed by this book, sir. The book has no strong pivot around which a story could firmly revolve. There were several loose threads in the story which you could not tie properly at the end. And honestly, the whole cloning issue is far too old and worn out now to impress anyone as a fiction work. Your book I read before this one was Prey. And that too had a glimpse of weariness in your writing. But this one was a complete failure in my critical point of view.

I am still not giving up on your established brilliance and mastery of writing a researched fiction. Hope the next one will not disappoint me.

(Still) Yours faithful
Gandalf

Forgive and Forget
Life is too short
Move on

Betrayed. Defeated. Humiliated.

January 6, 2008. Death of 'A Gentleman's game'.
Indian team defeated by the trio of umpires and Australian team's stinking attitude towards game.
Once again Australia proved that their cricket sucks.
Ponting is one of the worst, most greedy and unethical cricketer and captain of all time.
Symonds is opportunistic.
Kumble handled the situation very gracefully.
ICC is sold out to the anti-asian and racist clique.
BCCI's stand will be interesting to watch.

Rush to save the wild life - At what expense?

Gujarat Govt. announced aid of Rs. 40,00,00,000 ($10,000,000) to save the wild tigers/lions in the state. Along with that the govt. announced aid of Rs. 20,00,00,000 ($5,000,000) for girl child education program!


Is it really that important to save some endangered species as against spending that money for the benefits of poor girl-children's education?

Shouldn't we take poverty and illiteracy more seriously as compared to wild life protection? I seriously believe our first responsibility as a citizen is to help our fellow citizens in our society rather than frivolously dedicating financial resources to environmental jingles like wild life protection.

Welcome 2008

Five friends
Smooth lounge music
New year eve
Masala Chai
And 'catching up talks' of last one and a half years

What more could I have asked for? Would I have wished for anything different? May be a discotheque, dancing to the tunes of latest hip-hop and rock, flashy lights and strange foreign beauties? Naah... Nothing could have been more perfect than this new year eve.

We went to lounge9 - one of my favorite cafes in Ahmedabad. A relatively quiet and uncrowded place that was an unusual sight on the new year's eve.

This time the celebrations were at their best (or noisiest, most elaborate and craziest) in Ahmedabad. All roads leading to S.G. Highway were flooded with vehicles. (My wounded knee must have cursed me for I had to keep my left foot working on the clutch.) We took a first shot at Lounge9 and it was successful. We got the sofas for ourselves.

There was euphoric celebrations outside the cafe with loud music and lots of fancy fireworks. As Priyanka also mentions in her blog most hilarious sight was Santa dancing to the tunes of Daler Mehandi's 'Kala Kaua Kaat Khayega'. The creators of this mythological character would faint at this sight for sure!

All in all, it was the best new year eve I could have asked for this time.

[Image Source: http://www.skinbase.org/files/archive/shots/271/Happy_New_Year_by_clwoods.jpg]

Book Review: The Kite Runner

"There is a way to be good again". This statement is the center of the magnificently crafted art work "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. The only difference between an author like Hosseini and a renowned painter is that an author creates pictures with words rather than colors. Kite Runner is undoubtedly one of the best books I have read. Poignant, powerful and vivid, Kite Runner is a work of amazing imagination. The story is simple yet heartfelt, and Hosseini is a master recounter.

The story spans about four decades and is set in Afghanistan, Pakistan and California. It's the story of a man's journey to redemption. To see a sin being committed, without trying to stop it is a bigger sin. And the guilt stings more than a bullet wound. Amir, the hero of the story sees a crime being committed to his servent's son, who is his best friend too and lives his entire youth years in the guilt of standing there doing nothing to stop it. And after all these years, when a time comes to redeem himself and drag himself out of the quagmire of guilt, he takes up the challenge and does something which is going to change the rest of his life.

This is the story of love and loyalty of a simple and honest servent. It is the story of a man's conflicts with his inner soul. Torn between his friendship with a servent's son and his own pride, the conflicting emotions of Amir have been depicted in an excellent manner by Hosseini.

Apart from being a story of one man, this is also the story of changing times in Afghanistan. With subtle colors, the author paints the grim picture of the doomed Afghanistan, first by internal wars and then by Taliban.

This is Hosseini's first work of fiction and he has done a supereme job. There are some authors who write like journalists. Some others write like blogs. But Hosseini writes like a story teller. He pays attention to smallest details. Details not in the surroundings but the details of the characters' emotions.

I would recommend this book to all those who love to read stories. Also to those who enjoy an excellent writing. Thumbs up for Kite Runner and Khaled Hosseini.

P.S. Thanks Priyanka for such a wonderful gift :)

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]