THOUGHT PROVOKING

A very interesting and thought provoking presentation.


COUNT = COUNT + 1

Yep, thats what this means to a programmer. One more year over.


A lot of good things happened this year -- 
  • S and I visited India for the first time after getting married. We had a blast for 1 full month.
  • Clocked the 3-Oh. But consoled myself saying "30 is the new 25". S took it as "27 is the new 16".
  • Worked probably the hardest since 2002. And as in 2002, I did not get the reward that I desired. Someone has said "You don't get what you desire. You get what you deserve." I have tweaked it to "You get what upper management thinks you deserve, as long as there are enough rewards allocated". ;-)
  • Sucked at cricket, but ended the season on a winning note.
  • Took my resolution seriously for once.
  • A little one entered the lives of someone very dear to me. The last time I was so excited was when my sis gave birth to my nephew.
There were a few bad things that happened as well -- 
  • Clocked the 3-Oh.
  • Worked probably the hardest since 2002. And as in 2002, I did not get the reward that I desired.
  • Sucked at cricket.
Oh!!! Yes, I forgot to mention one more good thing that happened this year. I decided to be more optimistic about life.


On that note, wish all my (4) readers a very happy and a prosperous new year. Cheers.


REPEAT

Yep, someone has said that history repeats itself. And we thought of proving the someone correct for once.


Just like the proverbial London bus, the second one followed immediately after the first one. We won the tournament again this year.


We started the tournament disastrously - losing miserably against the eventual runner-up. Not only that, there were a lot of words exchanged during that game, primarily because we were responsible behind ousting them in the semi-final last year (in a tense bowl-out). The other team were hurting and when they won convincingly, they gave us an earful abt what they felt.


The next game was against a kids team on a freezing day. We were too easy on the kids and eventually our skipper had to give us another piece of his mind to ensure that we win the game. 


The 3rd game went till the last over. At one point, the opponent was down and dusted with 40/4 in 10 overs but recovered to make 139/2 in 20. We needed 42 off 3 overs with 6 wickets down and then smashed the hell out of 2 overs to win with 5 balls to spare.


Lost the 4th game by some stupid batting and had to depend on rains and other results to fall in place for us to make it to the quarterfinals.


Somehow, everything worked out for us from then onwards. Played out of our skins in the quarterfinal and won by just 2 runs. The opposing team put us under so much pressure but we just held firm, 1 ball at a time. Eventually, winning by just 2 runs.


Semifinal was even difficult. We were done with abt 5 down in 3 overs but smart batting by lower order got us a tricky total. We bowled like possessed bowlers and won the game by 20 runs.


I had tickets for Panthers-Falcons game at Charlotte, but eventually made the hard decisions to not let the team down. Played the semi-final instead and won it for the team. Could not play the final, but then, our team was well set by then.


Played the Final against the same team as the first game and won very convincingly. We did not utter a word in retaliation. The pictures say it all, more than a 1000 words this time.


dcc-2009-T20-champs





MATCH WINNER



This blog is about this cricketer RKH. When he was playing domestic cricket, there were lot of good things heard about him. He played in domestic cricket under the leadership of VVC. No one knew whether he was a batsman or a bowler or a good fielder. The only thing that was known was that he was a player of genuine match winning ability. And like so many domestic players, no one knew if he will even get a chance to play international cricket.


Then he got a chance to play international cricket, primarily due to the captain VVC. He was a unknown entity at the world stage at the time of his debut.


In his first match, he surprised everyone with his (comic) timing and his unusual approach to the game. No one expected that the game could be played that way. It was just so positively surprising that not only he won the game for the captain VVC, he also won the hearts of the viewers. Not just that, he actually resurrected the careers of 2 players SD and AW.


Everyone was then looking forward to see RKH play again. They thought that this new "feel-good"approach will not work again and wanted to see whether he can live up to his standards.


He played the next match, in the same series. Most of the players (AW, BI and SD) were the same this time around. This second game, he was really very very good. This time, it was his sensitive side which touched the spectators. He pulled out a very old tenet, which was deemed to be totally irrelevant and outdated, and presented it in such a beautiful gift wrapping that everyone who saw the game, started believing it in again. That way, he again won the game for the captain VVC, he also captured the hearts of everyone who saw the movie. The careers of players like SD, AW and BI really got the impetus it needed.


Everyone were looking forward to the third game of the series. It was unfortunately cancelled, because one of the players SD had problem. It was a huge disappointment and everyone was worried about the future of this partnership.


Then RKH played his third game in another series. VVC was still the captain. The regular players (SD, AW) were missing and a few others stepped in (AK, RM, SJ). But really, everyone wanted to know how the game goes. They knew that if RKH plays well, all other players will perform superbly.


And he did not disappoint at all. The game was really good. His timing was good, there were many a sensitive moments in the game, there were a lot of funny moments as well. He stressed on an idea which was long long lost, and illustrated how it can be achieved. He left many a people with teary eyes (due to touching scenes) and achy stomach (due to too much laughing). He hit the sixers when it mattered and won the game, again. No one who saw the game left the stadium unsatisfied.


So, if you have not seen the game yet, go and see it. You will love it.


And after you see the game, instead of worrying about which game was the best, understand that all the games were very good. The spirit of these games was so good. And most importantly, all the games were won.


RKH won all the games, handsomely for VVC. Looking forward to seeing him play and win many many more games.








Now, let me unravel the mystery -- 
RKH -- Raj Kumar Hirani
VVC -- Vidhu Vinod Chopra
AW -- Arshad Warsi
BI -- Boman Irani
SD -- Sanjay Dutt
AK -- Aamir Khan
SJ -- Sharman Joshi
RM -- R. Madhavan
First Match -- Munnabhai MBBS
Second Match -- Lage Raho
Third Match -- 3 Idiots

WELL SAID - 0

Whenever I read a good article or interview, I find some good quotes which make so much sense and impact me in a certain way. This old post is one such quote which I still remember. This series "WELL SAID" is an attempt to list them at an easily accessible location. I will also mention the source of the quote, so that the readers can find out more.


Read this one from Amit Verma's post where he gives tips on how to be a good blogger. I just love this line, it makes such an impact.


Style should be a slave to the substance -- while writing a blog, the focus should be on the WHAT of the message to be conveyed and not on the HOW of the message to be conveyed. But what a classic way of driving the message home.

PLAYING WITHIN THE RULES

One of the reality shows followed by S and I is Amazing Race. The latest season of Amazing Race finished last weekend and this season lived up to the high standards of AR. No wonder this show has been voted the best reality shows for so many years.


AR tests the participants in multiple aspects -- capacity to handle pressure, physical strength, thinking out of the box, adjusting to different cultures and being prepared for the unexpected. It takes you around the world and shows unique aspects of cultures around the world. And, of course, India features in most of their seasons.


But S and I like this show for another reason -- this show leaves your fate in your hands. Of course, there are twisters like U-turn once in a while, but most of the time, you play well and you make it through. If you mess up, you ruin your chances of going through to the next leg. There is no nomination for elimination, no plotting and planning, no backstabbing like some other shows (e.g. Survivor or Big Brother). This keeps the whole vibe of the episode very positive. Everyone is bothered about their individual performances without bothering to trip the other person.


This season was different in another aspect as well. This time I saw teams collaborate with each other and achieve common goals. They solved puzzles together, gave tips and pointers so that everyone gained in tough roadblocks. They shared clues and cabs. They gave each other crucial hints which altered the dynamics in a matter of minutes. They competed WITH each other instead of competing AGAINST each other. And this was not a pre-decided strategy. All these were decisions taken on the fly. Teams helped each other and moved on without any expectations of favors in return.


And funnily, the organizers could not do anything about it because no rules were broken here. It was all within the books and totally legal.


And in a very strange way, the teams which gelled like this benefited in some way or other. All the 3 finalists played the game in the right spirit, without any pre-determined alliances, and benefited at crucial junctures of the journey.


Obviously, there were players who played dirty games and made it ahead. But, they lost the trust of the other teams and it hit them at the worst place and worst time. But most of the teams played it the good way.


And this made the whole experience of the season a very positive one. Sunday nights were never depressing. We actually looked forward to having a freshly cooked meal in front of 1 hour of positive entertainment.


And see this -- 








Please can someone explain to the participants of some of India's stupid reality shows what "playing within the rules" means.

TIGER in the WOODS?

Everyone knows whats going on with Tiger Woods. But I am totally surprised with the public reaction to these happenings.


Don't get me wrong. No way am I supporting or approving whatever he has done. He has let his family down. Period.


But what I am unable to understand is, who are we to question him, ridicule him, mock him and humiliate him. There is so much negative media spotlight on him. There are Christmas cards, Christmas carols and songs written on him. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is making fun of him on radio talk shows and TV shows.




Thumbnail image for Tiger Woods-post-crash


He is one of the best golfers ever and someone who was a role model to millions until last month. He was regarded as one of the best sportsmen from the US. An able testament to his class was that he recently featured in a Gillette ad with Roger Federer, Derek Jeter and Rahul Dravid. He is a partner in Tag Heuer as well. 


He was made a hero by the people because he was very good at his profession. He gave it back to the society as well with umpteen charities to the needy ones.


According to me, TW is answerable only to his family. Everyone else is immaterial.



Who are we to make fun of such a great player? What have we achieved to point fingers at such a legend? Probably, the answer to this Q lies in another Q -- How much media attention do you want when you do a mistake?


WHY?

Could not resist posting this poignant post. Just one Q -- why?

Top of the stack

So, the Indian team finally reaches the top of the stack called ranking system. There will be umpteen but's that the team may be ranked #1 but still is not the best or that how can we be #1 when we have not won any series in SA and AUS etc. etc.


Everything accepted. But for now, let us salute to the players and the support staff who made this possible. Hats Off and Thank You.


The best part about this achievement is that it was achieved in the longest format of the game. Ironically, success in this format takes the longest to achieve. Any team can win 20-20 World Cup by great performances by just 1 or 2 players over a period of a week or 2 (just like Afridi did it earlier this year). A good team can win the World Cup by just being in top form just that season (just like Pakistan did it in 1992 or Sri Lanka did it in 1996 or for that matter, India did it in 1983). But to do that in Test matches, it takes consistent performances for a period of years.


According to me, this journey started in 2001 when India defeated Australia in that epic series. We were a very young team (Fab Four and Kumble were just 28-29, Bhajji-Zaheer others were even younger) and that series made everyone believe that the right ingredients were in place. The right guidance and direction were going to make this a success.


The super performance in Australia in 2004, Pakistan in 2004, England in 2006, WI in 2007 and NZ in 2009 were just additional levels built on that excellent foundation. The core group stayed in place (Fab 4, Kumble, Zaheer, Bhajji, Sehwag etc) and the journeymen (Bangar, Gambhir, Pathan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Yuvraj, Dhoni) supported them. Some of them excelled to be the core group (Gambhir, Dhoni) and some perished away to the grinds of domestic cricket.


But, as a result of consistent performances over the last few years, the crowning glory was achieved today. Today, at least due to this statistical achievement, the cricketing world will take a note. Today, we are not a team who are afraid to play SA at Kingsmead or Australia at Perth or England at Headingley. We actually look forward to challenge them at their fortresses. We are a team who expect to win away from home.


In a couple of years, most of the seniors, especially the batsmen will retire. Whether the replacements may or may not fill these huge voids remains to be seen. But for today, thank you for making us proud, once again.