The need for change

The Anna Hazare led anti-corruption movement is a desperate call for a need to change the way things work around in our country. While we can keep supporting this and other movements, the underlying fact is that we live in a democracy and a long-term sustainable change can only be effected if we vote more consciously when the elections come by.

I had read the following article some time back. Want to re-post it here. Do read.

The good vote banks

India on FB!

Click on the image for a larger view.

Source: Yahoo

Tozan's three pounds

A monk asked Tozan when he was weighing some flax, "What is Buddha"?

Tozan said, "This flax weighs three pounds."

My two cents on Indian test side

I was disappointed with the way we lost the two tests against England. I happened to talk about it in a lecture and was invited to comment on a student's comment on FB. So posted this.

Firstly, these couple of defeats per se would have been okay, but the way we lost, I felt, was spineless. There was no fight whatsoever. They did not just win, they out-played us completely. Sure every team can lose a couple of games in a row, but the 'how' is equally important.

Secondly, what is our future looking like? Sure we are statistically at No. 1, but how strong is our side! Be it pace bowling, spin or batting, the bench strength looks very raw. Who is going to replace the likes of Sachin, Dravid and Laxman? If we do not find the answers soon, we will go the Aussie way. Difference being, they cleanly dominated other teams for more than a decade and we would struggle to do it for a couple of years. Even today, India does not look dominating or powerful enough to claim the tag of world-beaters. What has been equally important is that other teams have not been very impressive except England and SAF.

Thirdly, I am tempted to look at the statistics of test matches during the last three years. India has played 33, won 15, lost 6. Out of 15 wins, 6 have been overseas. 2 in Bangladesh, 1 each in NZ, SAF, SL and WI. Out of these NZ, Bang, WI clearly not the benchmarks for us. So it is 2 'real' away test wins. 2 away wins out of 15 wins.

The SAF test win at Durban was a horrible pitch. In a way, spinner friendly Indian track. Dhoni mentioned about it in the post-match conference that the pitch was not of international standards. It was an uneven bounce/spin track and Harbhajan made a killing. The win against SL in Colombo was a Sehwag feast. His better than run-a-ball century won it for us.

Sehwag has been a key for us in the last couple of years. Sans him, we saw what can happen to our batting line up. His blazing start was vital for middle order batsmen to come in and capitalize. I am not sure how a world-beater side is so heavily dependant on 1 batsman. Perhaps pretty much like Hayden for Aussies, but look at the way other batsmen played for them when they were No. 1. There were matches that Gilchrist, Langer or Ponting won for them.

Coming to qualitative factors, Indians on the field looked spineless and lethargic even in Windies. We did not go for the win in the last test against WI!! That is not the sign of a champion. Windies are surely not the most formidable. We gave it up there.

Sure, statistically we are No. 1, and we could even retain it by winning/drawing the next two tests. But I am not going by the ranking. Even a WC victory was not convincing for me (personally) that we are the best. I want to see fear in the opponents when they face our bowlers and their bowlers should be left with shivers when we bat. Only Sehwag has managed that. I want to see our team kill others and win some games so one-sided that opponents must be in awe. Windies did it in 70s and 80s, Auusies in 90s and the last decade. We are not yet there. Sure we may some day, but not yet.

My finance blog is still alive!

Just posted something there. The link's here!

http://finthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/08/20-years-of-economic-liberalization.html

Why Adi thinks bathroom is the coolest place!

why aditya thinks bathroom is the coolest place in our house ? our bathroom has a sliding door. hence adi finds it fascinating tht a door shud slide n beyond it lies a disney land tht he craves for. n the only obstacle betn his wonderland n him is his eccentric mum who thinks its 'dangerous' for him to venture alone in bathroom. evry thing in bathroom fascinates him ie his bath tub, bucket, water tumblers, n last but not the least the toilet seat..... he tries to mount the seat the way u wud mount a horse but alas he cant n their again he blames me for tht...... he' s not sure y he's nt allowed to sit on tht seat since he's 11 months..... tht blue bucket shivers in fear every time adi walks into the bathroom coz it knws nw adi wl simply start hitting it with tumblers till it turns black..... bucket is wondering wht crime has it committed to deserve this beating every single day. then there's adi's bath tub. adi is supoosed to sit inside the tub n bathe but he does exactly the opposite. he sits outside n then pours water on the tub...... yes this is exactly hw he likes to bath n no i cnt question the logic coz then he gives me a look which says i dnt knw hw u cleared ur high school, mum? so i keep mum..... poor me :( adi likes to compare his stuff with his dad n nt me since i own one body shampoo n dad has body shampoo, body cream, body deo, body spray, hand lotion, hair gel, perfume n etc n adi has only body shampoo, body oil, body cream, baby powder, bum cream, hair oil, baby comb, baby clips. he cnt believe he's living like this whereas v r njoing the riches..... he's mkg notes hw to complain to shekhar appa bot me n nt his dad since dad is a sweet heart n m an alleged cleaner who claims to be his mum all the time. coming back to bathroom, evry time he's not allowed to play in bathroom adi pees on bathroom door mat n runs away...... i need to go adi is pushing the bathroom door....... god help the bucket..

Adi alias Jerry

aditya alias jerry. when adi was four months young kartik (my youngest brother in law) would call him jerry the mouse. wht i didnt knw is tht adi was listening n has tkn message to heart. so nw he crawls faster resembling a mouse run if he sees tht v r running to catch him. his crawling is fastest if he has messed up bathroom rug or pulled dwn bed sheets, turned dwn his plastic table or distributed dirty nappies to all corners of kitchen. tomatoes, prunes, apples hv his beautiful mouse teeth carvings. n god help u if u disturb him when he 'having' his fruit 'by himself'. yesterday he graduated from langots to small colorful pants bot by his paa. he used these new pants to swipe floor when we were not looking. at nite adi takes a thin sheet to cover him n i tk three blankets to avoid death by cold. n i knw i m inviting trouble if i turn off or slow down a/c, coz he wakes up immediately n gives me a look tht wud wither a startched collar. he loves bum dancing hence on every foot tapping number he raises his left hand n moves his bums front n back.......

Adi is upset b'coz...

adi is upset with me because: 1. i insist on he wearing clothes. he dsnt like to wear any clothes at all unless ur tkg him out.....he believes kids shud nt be dressed up until they can spell out which clothes they want to wear. 2. i dnt let him bathe himself. adi says he's old enough to play in his bathtub n dsnt like soap. so y cnt v leave him in wateer all day. 3. i comb his unruly hair. thxs to adi we need 5 bottles of oil a month, i mean he has wild mane but no i cnt comb it, tie a pony coz he dsnt approve of tht..... inspired by kangana ranaut look i guess.... or is it farhan akhtar in rock on !........ 4. adi is nt sure y i try to mk him sleep by 11 pm coz he likes to party till 2 am...... by then me n sree r half dead.... but adi is a noctural creature 5. tht v gv him only porridge n soft diet where as we binge on all delicacies likes pani puri blah blah lah..... hence me n maa eat in bathroom if he's awake..... 6. he's nt sure y i dnt allow him to turn gas knobs since nw he's tall enuf to turn them on his own...... net net adi is curious like a cat.. 7. yesterday he was upset coz he tried lifting the whole of watermelon n cudnt n held me responsible for conspiring agst him..... 8. he likes to run out the moment door is opened n i hold him back n then he howls....... y cnt he step out n run towards the staircase.

Adi & his red apple

A very dear friend of mine (Kaminni), who is also a mother of a naughty little boy - Aditya (whom I have not seen yet), started sending me short emails on Adi's life! I loved what she wrote and more importantly, how she wrote. I could almost see Adi in front of my eyes doing all that she has described. So I took permission from her to re-post these short emails here. I am reproducing the text exactly the way she sent me. I have added few details in italics to add details that may not come out otherwise! God bless Adi, his mom and dad! :)

last nite adi wnted an apple. noooo he desnt hv any proper teeth to bite n eat apple just tht he likes "to eat apple on his own". so at abot 8.30 pm he stated "nibbling". at 8.45pm i noticed apple had shrunk thxs to adi's nibbling. at 9 pm adi noticed a blue stan c rubber ball (adi's dad works for Standard Chartered Bank - stan c refers to the bank) n thot it was a blue apple. so he started nibbling the ball. nw at 9.30 pm he got frustrated cos he cudnt nibble the ball. so he came back to his old apple. at 10 pm he got attratced to the bathroom door n kept banging it since i didnt let him in n play in water n yes he started howling....... finally at10.30 pm i made peace n gave him two bathroom tumblers yes...... after washing them properly else sree wl throw me out....... by 10.45 pm i had eaten two unwanted apples thrown by adi.....hw cud i waste... v r paying in $s (they are based out of Singapore now)........ vfm....... at 11 pm adi threw all his stuff, clothes, toys, blankets on the floor..... he likes to do a stock-taking twice a day from the fear that his mum mite be stealing his stuff...... hence he's veri cautious....... at 11.15 pm i had lost my patience n gained high bp looking at his room...... at 11.30 pm adi leapt on to sree (adi's dad - Sreeram) when door opened n gave me a look which said : i dnt knw when wl i go to play group...... i m tired of this home.....nw m thinking teachers r grossly underpaid...... god bless them

A little of something

There is always a little truth behind "mazak kar raha tha".......... a little emotion behind "mujhe koi farak nahi padta".......... a little pain behind "it's ok".......... a little need behind "mujhe akela chod do".......... sometimes, a deep thought behind "pata nahi".......... and most times, a lot of words behind silence!

Received this a forwarded sms.