Random Thoughts from the Thinking Cap

Skype and the future of Voice Calling on Windows Phone

2011-05-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

The hottest news item doing the rounds for the past couple of weeks has been the acquisition of Skype by Microsoft. There have been quite a few suitors and after a lot of speculations, Skype has finally a new home in Microsoft.

Most of the concerns raised by the users about this acquisition have been about what Microsoft is going to do with Skype in future. Skype has, for long, embodied the ethos of the free communication by allowing free voice and video calls, which has benefitted quite a few small-medium sized business setups as well. The future of Skype at the hands of Microsoft is indeed a story worth following over the next few months to come. Another concern has been the multi-platform support of Skype in the coming days to come. Skype has for long been providing regular updates for the Windows, MAC and the Linux platforms. Windows has been the preferred platform to receive the latest updates which would then be provide to the MAC and the Linux platforms. It would be interesting to see whether we would see as active a support as we were used to for the MAC and Linux platforms in the days to come.

Google has been one of the suitors vying for Skype even though it already had Google voice. Facebook was also one of the suitors but was not considered as a serious buyer. Facebook would have indeed benefitted with an integrated Voice and Video service to its more than 600 million users. A conventional approach to provide such an integrated service to such an overwhelming number of users would have incurred a huge cost and an overhead of operating infrastructure.

Microsoft has its own reasons in aggressively pursuing Skype. Starting from the Gingerbread versions of Android, Google has been supporting SIP enabled Voice and Video telephony and moreover, Google has Google Voice at its disposal which can be brought over to the Mobile OS space as well. Apple has Facetime. Microsoft desperately wanted Skype to bridge this gap in its Mobile OS Windows Phone 7. We could also see Microsoft going the Android way and announcing a minimum set of hardware specifications for the Windows Phone 7 devices. We could see the front facing cameras becoming a norm in the coming future for the Smart phones. Windows Phone 7 does definitely seem to hold the potential of pole vaulting the MS mobile OS towards the top of the heap and this deal will definitely give a firm push towards that direction.

Skype deal will also give Microsoft a more direct tie-in to the operator for both the Packet switched voice and video calls. There were early indications already last year with the operators approaching Skype for the Voice calls and we could see more of such deals with the widespread adoption of LTE in the coming future. This would definitely be a revenue generator as well as value add services for both the company as well as the operator. There can also be a flip side with Microsoft beginning to eliminate support for the other mobile platforms and target the future features and value-add services exclusively only for the Windows Phone platform.

Nevertheless, the future of Skype with Microsoft is worth following!

Rambling about Apple's iPad

2010-01-27T22:38:00.000-08:00

The much anticipated tablet PC from Apple is released. Apple has decided to name it as iPad, that sounds very similar to a feminine hygiene product. Many are anticipating an iTampon to be released next from Apple (HolyKaw) :)

Jokes aside, the IPad definitely does seem to mark the beginning of the end of the notebooks. The Specs (Ipad Specs) seem very much alright until you glance towards the connectivity section. The basic model has a Wifi. What myself, & i believe everyone else, was waiting for was a 3G support in the basic version. Anyways, there is a Basic + 3G model.

One of the very interesting feature in the iPad is the iBooks App. This will definitely provide a stiff competition to the Amazon's Kindle. Personally having used the Kindle, i find the Book reader as a very useful & innovative idea from Amazon. There is also an EBook reader that is supposed to be launched In february in India (Infibeam's Pi). This is a product made by an Indian Company. Hope to see few more such innovations from the Indian Companies.

The pricing seems to be right. There are a hordes of bloggers who were predicting a pricing in the range >$1000 till yesterday. There was some news of the Apple shares rising by almost 4% once the price was announced.

Will it replace the notebooks? May not entirely. It all depends on the type of Apps, especially the Office Suites & productivity Apps that Apple can bring to the IPad so as to lure the executives. Only time will tell. Will it replace my Personal laptop? Not in near future. I am more than happy with my HP pavilion! However, i would definitely love to have an iPad just to flaunt it in front my friends :)

IPL-3 on Youtube!

2010-01-25T01:33:00.000-08:00

Come March 12 and the IPL fans can catch a glimpse of their favorite sporting action regardless of their geographical location. The IPL-3 marches will be streamed live on youtube. There is a catch though, that there will be a lag of 5 minutes from the live action. This, however, may not be a big deal for a cricket enthusiast whose only source of cricket action would the youtube video on his iPhone. For e.g. an employee stuck in office during a crucial match.

It will really be interesting to know how this may conflict the broadcast rights, currently being provided to Sony. IMHO, for anyone who has the access to the live action on the idiot box, any action which has delay of 5 minutes is stale.

However for IPL, this agreement with Google, which monetizes using the ad revunue, marks an another opportunity to rake in the moolah. This agreement is indeed a unique one and i do hope that this may turn out to be the trendsetter for the future sporting events. How one would wish for the live action an EPL or a Spanish Premier League on youtube!

I hope that I will be in namma Bengaluru during this year's IPL-3. I had to depend on sopcast and other P2P mediums for my share of IPL action during the previous two IPLs, as i was frequently traveling between Dallas & Seoul. This year, i do hope to catch some live action at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and do cheer our Royal Challengers.

New WTF Moment :)

2009-05-29T03:44:00.000-07:00

I just arrived in Bangalore, today, from a month long hectic trip to South Korea. I had my own share of WTF moments recently and none beats this one - The Reincarnation bank.

http://www.reincarnationbank.com/index.html

It says "Reincarnation bank offer a safe and secure management system for its clients - a place they can leave behind their assets and commodities for their return into the next life."

This does really make a great Business plan and i will not be surprised if the bank already has a huge sum in terms of deposits from gullible clients. The bank, to its credit, gives all the necessary information about the deposits. But none for withdrawals :)

Breaking News..

2008-09-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

PS: Courtesy Churumuri for the image!

Sporadic posts!

2008-08-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

The one and the only reason for my posts becoming very sporadic and almost nil, for the past few months, is that i am very busy. First, let me explain my schedule for the past 4 months.
1) Started from Seoul on 4th May.
2) 4th May ~ 30th May in Dallas
3) 30th May ~ 12th June in Seoul
4) 12th June ~ 15th July in New Jersey
5) 15th July ~ 20th July in Seoul
6) 20th July ~ 5th Aug in New Jersey
7) 5th Aug ~ 15th Aug in Dallas
8) Back to New Jersey on 15th Aug

When someone has such a schedule, then something takes a backseat. And also, i was slogging, as though am batting during the 20th over of a twenty20 cricket match, putting in more than 14 hours a day, and 6 days a week on most weeks. Now, if we look at the famous project management triangle, we have three variables, the cost, time and the quality.

One can only have two of those variables favorable to oneself, while the third variable suffers. So, in my case, because of the lack of time, i did not dare venture into blogging as its quality may suffer. A cursory glance at my site meter suggests me that i cannot risk losing whatever minimum readership that i possess :)

Here is a modified triangle, which depicts my current situation.

Cross Posted in : http://randomtechbytes.blogspot.com/

Happy Independence Day!

2008-08-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

"Vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM
SasyashyaamalaaM maataram ||

Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM ||

Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
koti koti bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale
abalaa keno maa eto bale
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM ||

Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma
tumi hR^idi tumi marma
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire

Baahute tumi maa shakti
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi
mandire mandire ||

TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM

Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM
SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM ||

ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM
DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM |"

BANGALORE, Be Strong!

2008-07-26T12:23:00.001-07:00

Tamaacha Tamaasha!

2008-04-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Seeing Sreesanth's face filled with tears on all the national tabloids, i became nostalgic. I remembered those scenes when i would beg my father "appa, appa, innondu ice creamu!" - Dad, Dad, one more ice cream. My Dad would say "Saaku, seetha aagutte!" - Enough, you will catch cold. And the look on my face would resemble that of Sreesanth. Or those instances when i would ask for more chocolates, toy guns, toy cars etc.

Sreesanth, when he is bowling, never misses a chance to stare or say some nice stuffs to the batsmen. Now, when he is hit, he starts crying like a child. Everybody has a soft side, no?

To be very fair to Sreesanth, the guy has been controlling all his emotions in the recent matches. Remember his antics after hitting Andre Nel for a Six in South Africa? The guy had been trying his best to remain calm and composed on the cricket field and trying to stay away from the controversies. Now this incident happened. Bhajji slapped him, and all his emotions poured out like the monsoon rains. Poor guy! However this is a festive event for all the media people. They have been happily running around poking mikes at everyone's faces for comments!

One can see on the Television, Cricket Commentators, Politicians and even the common man near the road side Paan-Beeda stall, seriously answering questions like:
"Do you think Bhajji hit him hard?"
"Was it the right cheek or the left?"
"Did Sree call Bhajji a 'monkey'?"

I really feel sorry for the guy. However, for all his antics on the field, if at all there is a guy who is well deserving to receive this kind of treatment, then it is Sreesanth. And there is no better guy in Intl Cricket than Bhajji to meet out this treatment! This type of incident, involving these two guys, was bound to happen and it is BCCI's duty now to discipline these two guys!

IPL Coverage

2008-04-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

IPL has been underway for almost a week now. And going by the opinions of the fellow bloggers, it has been fairly successful. I can imagine Lalit Modi and Sharad Pawar smiling in glee with their mouthlines extending from one ear to another and dancing on their toes when in private, even though they present a sober figure when they are under a public gaze!

Lalit Modi had been hell bent on not providing the rights to the media for publishing the images shot during the matches. Only the print media were allowed and even they had to pay hefty sums and also need to provide a copy of the images to the BCCI. Check out how pissed the media were - http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/10/stories/2008041055681000.htm . There are a lot more such opinions of the pissed-off variety and threats of total media pull out from the event.

However, one just needs to search the youtube for the amount of IPL videos available on it. Media boycott or not, one can watch all the highlights on youtube. Three cheers to the free world and the open-source and open-market protogonists!. Even the Live coverage is available through the peer-to-peer broadcasting. One just needs to install Sopcast and search for the available channels. And Lo, you have soo many sopcast channels broadcasting the IPL matches from CBN and Set-Max. Sitting here in Korea, i do not miss any action!

Even though i got high quality videos of IPL from sopcast, i am really pissed off about the cricket coverage from Set Max. Reasons are a plenty:
a) 5 ball overs are a norm for Set Max. Either you lose the first ball of the over or the last ball and it is entirely Set Max’s prerogative!
b) Immediately after a ball is bowled, the screen becomes L shaped to accomodate an embedded advertisement. And the worst of all is that the audio of the advertisement is not muted. So, you miss out on the comments of the, supposed to be expert, commentators.
c) Ajay Jadeja. He seems to be more intent on chasing the Cheer Leaders than catching up the action on the actual cricket field.
d) Where the hell is the dumb noodle-straps Bedi? The import of the redskins from Washington may have had her running for covers!

There is an online petition here - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/savecric/ . If you are also a pissed off viewer like me, please sign it. I have already signed it.

Bring me ESPN or Star Sports anyday. Their coverage is so polished and professional. A team of Harsha Bhogle, Ian Chappel, Tony Greig, Geoffrey Boycott and Ravi Shastri is anybody’s dream.

College Days………

2008-04-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

The other day, i was talking to Praveen (my best buddy in college) and then also had a chance encounter with a couple of my college buddies on orkut. It brought back a lots of memories from college. Everytime the earth rotates, the world changes and we age! Phew!

We had this new lecturer who always had a difficulty in controlling his class. So, whenever he turns towards the blackboard, there would be a ruckus breaking out. Oneday he made this famous statement “Don’t talk in front of my back!”. It took a while for the whole class to comprehend what the guy meant and there was, of course, pin drop silence all though-out!

And then there was this chemistry lecturer. He was a sort of Lab guy who would help us out during the experiments. One fine day, during our chemistry labs, our main lecturer was absent. So, this guy took the centre stage and the lab was all his. Thus, he began!

“Take a beaker full of empty!”. What he meant was for us to take an empty beaker.
“Pour water in the ascending order!” - means, pour water from the top.

We were involved in some titration experiment on that day. We were supposed to pour some liquid from the titration tube to the beaker. The guy came to our desk. “Hey, dont POUR, POUR, POUR. Always, PPOOOUUURR, PPOOOUUURR, PPOOOUUURR”. What he meant was for us to slow down the pouring process!

“Keep on shaking! After sometime, you will get a colourless yellow precipitate” - this was a masterpiece!

“After finishing the experiment, throw the sink”. He wanted us to pour the contents of the beaker into the sink.

And then, there was this guy, who would always say “My car is understanding the tree!” Matter of fact was that his car was parked under a tree.

College days were infact the golden days. Those trips to Chamundi betta before the exams, trips to the Cool Joint for a sip of Cold Coffee after the exams, those Nalpaks, Mylari’s and Mallige’s catering to our taste buds, those intense cycle stand discussions, bunking the classes and queing up for a first day first show, and of course my never-say-die tut-tuting Hero Puch! Phew! Back to reality. I have a couple of bugs to fix today and a meeting to attend!

PS: In case of some of the front benchers who might read this (although the possibility is remote), I love u all. World peace be with you!

Test Cricket needs a change!

2008-04-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

I have been following the happenings in the current test series between India and South Africa. The first test could have gone upto 8 days and the chances of getting a result even at the end of 8 days were grim. The second test lasted for a mere 3 days. The second test though had been a exciting one for the South Africans and the India baiters. The first one was stale. Barring Sehwag’s audacious stroke play, the first test was a real dud. The India-Pakistan Series in Dec 2007 also did produce a couple of most boring test matches.

After all, why do two teams compete for over a period of 5 days. For nothing? They strive for a win and if there is no assistance for the bowlers, how can one expect a result. For that reason, i do believe that a green top or a square turner is a better test wicket than a flat track. Whenever there is something in the wicket for the bowlers, the matches turn out to be interesting and on most occasions do produce a result. Howover, when the players realise that getting a result within the 5 days is not possible, they play out for a draw, they play for records, they conserve energy, the effort level and the commitment is of a lesser degree. This is not what one, as a spectator, wants to see.

So, how about making test cricket more interesting, more alive, especially when playing on flat tracks?
Here are a couple of suggestions:

Each test spans for around 450 overs, considering that 90 overs are bowled on each day. Each team is entitled to bat for a maximum of 225 overs. The batting team can decide on the number of overs they want to bat on each innings (e.g. 125/100 or 150/75 etc) . They can declare whenever the going gets tough, or when they had enough runs, keeping in mind that they can get to play the remaining overs in the second innings.

The second suggestion is restricting the maximum number of overs a batting team consumes during an innings to around 150. This can be implemented to only the first innings as the dynamics change during the second innings and the parameters like the Lead, etc do come into picture. The second innings can then be a lmited overs affair, based on the amount of time left in the test match.

These changes would definitely make test cricket more interesting and the players more involved and committed to the cause.

I am a fan of test cricket, but i hate boring draws!

Purists definitely are gonna oppose changes to the older format. But the authorities have to decide whether they want to cater to just the purists or they want test cricket to be more interesting and more appealing to a common man. Boring draws and 20-20 are taking the spectators away from test cricket. Test cricket does really need some drastic changes. Sooner than later.

The Real Test

2008-03-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a classic one from Ramachandra Guha
“In my opinion, Test cricket may be compared to the finest Scotch, 50-overs a side to Indian Made Foreign Liquor, and 20-20 to the local hooch. The addict who cannot have the first or the second will make do with the last. The pleasures of the shortest game are intense but also wholly ephemeral. There is no time to savour delights offered in such a rushed and heady fashion. The medium form allows one to take in the booze more leisurely. Here, a batsman can bat long enough to develop an innings, to play strokes other than the hoick over midwicket or mid on.

But proper cricket can only be Test cricket. Spread out over five days, the game unfolds as in an epic drama. No restrictions are placed on anyone. As with the finest Scotch, one savours every sip; and yet, as with the finest Scotch, the whole is infinitely greater than the parts.”

Check out the complete article at: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080329/jsp/opinion/story_9055430.jsp

I have often been involved in coffee table discussions wherein the debate is over Test or One-day or 20-20, which one is going to be more popular, exciting and interesting. The above liner is a clincher. I will remember that!

No doubt, that 20-20 cricket will be a crowd puller, an instant hit. The IPL has left no stone unturned by roping in popular film stars into the fray. Moreever, ShahRukh and Preity Zinta are owning cricket teams and Cricket is becoming more of a tamasha or a mega bollywood bash. This will no doubt increase the TRPs, but where will all these lead cricket to. Are we seeing the beginning of the end of the gentlemans game?

20-20 cricket is more a show of brawn over brains, strength over strategies. Be ready to see more of the upper cuts and the hoicks over the mid wicket.

The BCCI seems to be hell bent on spoiling the test cricket in the country, by preparing some of the flattest wickets ever seen for the test matches. The match at Chepauk was a dud. Sehwag provided the much needed spark, but overall, the match was a hugely forgettable one.

It was very heartening to see Dravid crossing the 10,000 runs mark at Chepauk. It is a very coveted milestone and i for one, do feel that there is no more a deserving candidate than Dravid. Javagal Srinath pours his heart out in this interview and flowers a lot many accolades (all deserving!) on dravid - http://cricketnext.com/news/dravid-an-icon-of-test-cricket-srinath/30643-14.html.

Dravid has been the No.1. batsmen for India in test cricket during the period from 2002 to 2007. There were a lot many centuries and double centuries towards a winning cause. Tendulkar was more of a dud during this period and there were occassional brilliances from him and Laxman. Ganguly, with a suspect defence, has never laid claims of being a Test great.

2007 has been an off-year for Dravid, which included the world-cup debacle and some low scores in tests. His work ethics and attitude are of the first grade and he is a role model for any youngster in any profession. I just hope that he survives at least the next 2-3 years of test cricket and scores tons of runs.

Tantrik's Story & the Cricket round-up

2008-03-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have been off-blog for quite sometime. This has more to do with some serious work loads and ridiculous schedules on the professional front.

Check out this link:- http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2008/20080310/en_1.html

The guts of the tantrik should very well be appreciated here. He tried the tricks in front of the cameras of one of the prime indian channels. This was hilarious stuff. “The tantrik tried. He chanted his mantras (magic words): “Om lingalingalinalinga, kilikili….” But his efforts did not show any impact on Sanal – not after three minutes, and not after five.”

Here is a very funny situation that a guy got into because of dowry!. The guy goes around saying that he is from City A even though he is from City B, coz his wife is from city A. His hands are all shaky and sweaty whenever he hears a high decibel “hello” from his wife..The world is so round and funny..Hope the guy finds some peace..

The Indian team returned victorious from the tough Australian Campaign. Not that they won the test series. The fact that they won at Perth, on a bouncy track, is in itself a victory of sorts. That the Indians were at the receiving end on most of the erring umpiring decisions, robbed them off the Sydney test and most probably a test series victory. Sydney had proved elusive during the 2003-04 series as well. A typical fighting innings by Steve Waugh in his farewell test eluded us of what could have been a historic win on that occasion.

A lot has been written about the controversies surrounding this year’s Sydney test. A “maa ki..” comment is less derogatory to Andrew Symonds and the match refree than a ‘monkey’ comment! But for a billion cricket fans, Harbhajan has been a big disappointment. “maa ki..” is a terribly derogatory comment to make in India and he has set a bad example for all young cricket enthusiasts.

India, of late, has found quite a few talented young cricketers. These youngsters seem to have the right attitude to survive at the highest level and take India forward. For once, the retirement of the Pancha Pandavas ” sachin, dravid, kumble, ganguly and laxman”, does not seem to leave behind a big void.

The squad for the first two tests against the South Africans have been announced - http://content-www.cricinfo.com/indvrsa/content/current/story/342851.html.
Hope the Indians continue their winning momentum - lot easier to do in home conditions!

Lost in LOST!

2008-01-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

I ticked off one more item from the pending list of my scheduler. I finally was able to watch all the pending episodes of SEASON 3 of the hugely popular tele-series LOST.

All the episodes were so fast paced and action packed, that it was a perfect recipe for a sure success. No wonder that LOST is among the all time top rated tele series. The DHARMA Inititaitve, the OTHERS, mysterious radio signals, mysterious magnetic fields all do capture the viewers imagination and keep them wanting for more. For all those who want to unearth some mysteries, here is a great site http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Main_Page

The other popular series ‘Prison Break’ turned into a lame duck in its 3rd season. It failed to deliver after promising so much in its first season. Right now it seems that the 3rd seson will be cut short into just 13 episodes. Dont know what Michael Schoffield would do in the remaining 4 episodes. He has to break away from SONA and the finale on Feb 18th would be worth watching.

Have heard quite a bit of positive reviews about HEROES. But somehow, it has not yet made an entry into my scheduler!

ESSC syndrome!

2008-01-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Well, am a fan of Dilbert, Dogbert, Asok and infact of all the characters that Scott Adams uses in his cartoons.

They are so funny and sarcastic that they give everyone a good nice laugh.

Well, here is one i caught recently in a desi dilbert forum:

Mr.A: Hi guys, I went on a trek to Mount XXX. It was so thrilling and adventurous.

Mr.U: You should have actually tried the Mount Everest. Mount xxx is a waste of time.

Mr.A: Infact Mount XXX has some tortuous and steep trails.

Mr.B: Wow, thats great! Hey, i purchased a new diesel SUV. Man, its a great machine. Always wanted to have one.

Mr.U: Very bad. You should have purchased a Petrol Vehicle.

Mr.B: Never mind. I love my possession and like going on long drives.

Mr.C: Guys, we have a desi get together this week to celebrate the Independence Day.

Mr.U: It is a waste of time. Of course, i would not waste my time and money on such silly events.

Mr.D: Btw, what do you do Mr.U?

Mr.U: I am affected by the ESSC (Eat, Shit, Sleep and Complain) syndrome. So, i do ESSC and play XBOX games during my free time!

Mr.U, then goes to another group and…
Mr.U: You know what! A, B, C and D are useless.

hahaha..Remember “Kyunki, Saans…” vamps?

The Bourne Series

2007-11-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

Recently, i watched the latest in the Bourne movie series, “Bourne Ultimatum”. Having read the original novel by Robert Ludlum, i felt that the movie script deviated a lot more from the original plot in the novel. After a few hits in the WIKI, i realised that the novel was published way back in the 80s and so the original plot needed a touch up to live up to the expectations of the current day movie goers.

Another suspense thriller that comes to my mind is the “Day of the Jackal” by Frederick Forsyth. It has a great plot and would keep its suspense quotient intact until the reader reaches the end pages. Frederick Forsyth’s “Odessa File” is another great read about the Nazi plots in modern Germany and a secret organization called Odessa. His latest one “The Afghan” is about the modern day terrorism.

Dan Brown and Michael Crichton are my other favourites. Brown’s “Angels and Demons” and the “Da Vinci Code” were an instant hit among the literary folks, more for the controversy they created and also for the amount of meticulous reseach involved. Michael Crichton has been a favourite among the hollywood producers for regularly churning out mind-boggling techno-thrillers. His “Jurassic Park”, “Sphere”, “Congo”, “Disclosure” have all been very successful films. “Andromeda Strain” and “The Terminal Man” have been techno thrillers which appealed a lot to me.

Dravid Dropped!

2007-10-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Indian team’s selection for the Pakistan tour has evoked a lot of strong opinions. A lot of them are due to the dropping of Dravid from the team. I think that this was a right decision taken by the selectors. Start grooming the youngsters and gradually phase out the oldies.

Its great to see that the fans have not resorted to effigy burnings and protest marches. Tells a lot about the civilised behaviour of the Bangaloreans! There are a lot of other issues of national importance which require such acts. Neways, if either Ganguly and tendulkar were to be dropped, then there sure would have been a lot of profits for the effigy makers!
And coming back to the team, there are 6 openers, 5 bowlers, 1 wicket keeper and 3 middle order batsmen. Now the headache is to pick 2 openers from 6 and somehow get 4 middle order batsmen from the 3 chosen. A task only the Indian selectors can do! Dhoni, am sure, will miss Dravid against a tough opposition like Pakistan. And am sure that Pakistan will be happy to hear this news.

And coming back to the openers dilemma, Sachin will not bat anywhere else (his feelings are of paramount interest to the team management and the selectors than the results ) and Saurav cannot bat anywhere else. So, the other openers picked would probably be warming the benches on all the 5 matches.

Let the action begin. The build up to this series is quite encouraging for the Indians. They have done well in England, won the Twenty20 World Cup and performed up to their expextations against the tough aussies. Hope the better team wins! And that obviously is India on current form!

We are the World Champs ;) !

2007-09-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

Finally we watched the culmination of the World Twenty20 Cricket Championship. And it could not have been better scripted for an Indian Cricket fan. The final match was worthy of the occassion. Any match between India and Pakistan is bound to attract a lot of attention. The fact that the two teams conspired to meet each other in the finals made the final match a lot more spicier. The final was a humdinger of a match and am sure that quite a few finger nails have been chewed all over the world.

Shoib Malik’s statements during the presentation ceremony have sparked off a lot of controversy. Those sort of comments were definitely not on during such an important occassion. Sports and religion are miles apart and mixing them will definitely produce sour results. Read this nice article about the Final match and the controversy - http://blogs.cricinfo.com/meninwhite/archives/2007/09/scenes_from_a_final.php

There were a lot things to remember from this World Cup. A few that come to mind are follows:

1) Australia losing their first match to Zimbabwe
2) India winning the Bowl out 3-0 against Pakistan
3) SriLanka slamming a record 260 against hapless kenya
4) Yuvraj’s six sixers

There are a lot of positives to take home for the Indian team. The youngsters took the oppurtunities and made them count. The future of Indian cricket does look a lot brighter now. Dhoni’s captaincy was of first grade. He has a nice, cool and a calm head on his shoulders and leads the team with a mixture of maturity and aggression. The series against the Aussies is definitely bound to challenge his leadership skills. The Big 3 are gonna figure in the scheme of things once again. Whether their inclusion is gonna help Dhoni or prove to be a hindrance in his execution of his plans is anybody’s guess.

Chuseok Holidays

2007-09-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here in Korea, we had a long weekend last week because of a festival called chuseok. It is pretty much like our harvesting festival, called sankranti in South India. The koreans also do perform a ritual called thanksgiving, wherein they pay homage to their ancestors. A pretty nice ritual, but what i am more interested is on the five days of holidays these festival do bring along with them. As always, i had made some eleborate plans to visit some exotic places around Korea. But fate had an other story to tell and i ended up being in office on three of those five days ;(

On monday, i hauled my SUV out and drove to a nearby island called Wolmido. The drive was very soothing and i was pretty surprised at not seeing much traffic on a holiday. I had the whole highway for myself and my SUV and we both literally burned the rubber. Wolmido Island is not an exotic place by any stretch of your imagination. But it is very well maintained tourist spot with lots of hotels, pubs (tempting but wifey had a firm grip on me), souvenir shops, small fountains and what not.

Me and wifey had a great time and of course a sumptous lunch there. Btw, did i tell you that there is a small theme park nearby. But we decided that it is ill advised to sit on those thrilling rides with our fully loaded stomachs.

On tuesday, we went along with another desi family to a popular water park called Carribean Bay. Had a great time in the Wave Pools, Spas and Saunas. The water slide is the most exciting. The one in carribean Bay is a pretty long one and it takes you through a dark tunnel for around a minute or so. By the time you reach the ground Zero and splash in the pool you would be thoroughly thrilled and exhausted.

The remaining few days were spent in watching the 2020 live cricket matches, cricket highlights and of course discussing with friends about what Dhoni’s strategies should be, about the field placings, the batting orders, the bowlers etc etc..

Hey Ram!

2007-09-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Phew! Atlast some common sense prevailed and the UPA Govt and its President Sonia Gandhi did the right thing. A couple of weeks back, i was shell-shocked to hear in one of the popular desi news channels that the Govt nominated grave diggers a.k.a. archeologists (of ASI) proclaimed that Lord Rama is not a historical character (http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14526619) . He is more of a mythological character or more specifically a character in a fiction book written by Valmiki. I thought “Hey dude!..What the %&%# is happening here??”

What evidence were thse guys looking for when they said that they did not find any evidence that these historical characters ever did exist? They were perhaps disappointed that they did not dug out a monkeys tail, or a Surpanaka’s nose, or a fossil with ten heads (that of Ravana).

Come On men, Go around the country and look for yourself. In India, it is said that there are more temples than there are primary schools. Most of them are dedicated to Lord Rama, Vishnu or Krishna, who are known to be different avataaras of one God, Vishnu. Visit any of these temples and you will find hundreds of devotees paying homage and respect to the almighty and religiously performing the rituals with due diligence. Is this not proof enough! Are these ASI people suggesting us that our grandpops and grandmoms lied to us, cause, I recall my grandfather telling me stories of Rama, Sita, Anjaneya and Ravana.

Finally the affidavit was not filed and that the UPA Govt did the right thing, gives some solace. But the damage has been done. People’s sentiments and beliefs has been hurt.

There is still some action going on in these topic with Karunanidhi asking Who Lord Rama was and in which college did he study?? !!. Phew!! Being Indians, We are all used to these kinds of reactions from the politicians.

Hope, the politicians reconcile and people of all religions live happily in India.

Yuvraj's Sixers

2007-09-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Twenty20 Worldcup: I thoroughly enjoyed watching each of the six sixers that Yuvraj belted off Chris Broad. I enjoyed it partly because it came right after that verbal spat with Flintoff
And Broad is a pretty decent bowler and we saw that during the 7-one dayers Natwest Series in England. He was pretty much beating the bat every alternate deliveries in those helpful conditions. Those sixers sealed the fate of that match.
And the fresh news is that India defeated South Africe by a pretty good margin. Three cheers to the men in Blue.

But, my advice to the knowledgeable Indian cricket fans is not to go overboard and start jumping up and down. We know our cricket teams knack of snatching defeats from the jaws of victory ;( . Lets just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!

Dhoni as Captain

2007-09-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

The latest news making the rounds among the Indian cricket fans is that of Dhoni being elevated to the captaincy. I personally feel that it is a brave decision and one that augurs well for the future. Dhoni seems to have right attitide and the aptitude that the job demands.

The job of Indian captaincy has always been a bed of roses. Dhoni though will have the luxury of seeking advices from the mentors like the Big 3. The big three Sachin, Rahul and Sourav have served the Indian cricket well for all these years. It is a pity that all three will be retiring almost at the same time in coming one or two years.

There is also a lot of speculation about the reasons behind Dravid’s unexpected resignation. Many do feel that this could have been postponed for a few more months or he could have given some indicators to the selectors that he wants to quit after another series or so. I also do fall in that category. Dravid’s decision though is understandably comforting to himself, is not in the right interests of Indian cricket. If he had given any indicators about his plan, the selectors could have groomed a new captain.

Although the entire Indian public was worried, for over a year now, about grooming the youngsters for the leadership positions, the BCCI was least worried. Their unprofessionalism was glaringly evident in the way they handled the selection of Graham Ford as the coach. And who do they appoint next as the manager of the Indian team - The 72 year old, young Chacha Chandu Borde. And, just keep in mind that we still do not have a coach!

Although assigning captaincy to Dhoni is like treading in unchartered waters, it is the right decision. For the first time i do feel that the BCCI and the selectors (or the bunch of jokers as Jimmy Amarnath calls them~) have taken the right decision. All the credits be given to BCCI for this - We need to give credits where it is due . Atlast, there seems to be a spark of light at the end of the tunnel. Hope it is not of the incoming train!