Thursday, April 30, 2009

KKR

Avjit Ghosh's comments on Why KKR coach must go deserve a dekho by the management of KKR. Moreover some blunders like sending back Chopra and Bangar.
SRK's absence might have a positive impact on the team and they may perform better. I hope amchi mumbai's Mumbai Indians win !

Coach's strategies have failed to deliver.

Time to review and take some follow up actions ?

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Mumbai, pls step out and vote

Sad to note the initial turn out at Mumbai is very low. Not fair :(
In spite of all efforts by celebrities, press, e-channels and others, the voter turn out is low.
It is too early in the day. But Mumbai starts the day early. For sake of elections, Mumbai should have started early and not like another holiday. May be organisations/government/etc should make it mandatory to employees to exercise their franchise!?

After all these decades of neglect, Mumbai need to stand up and take a stance.
  • 70% of Mumbaikars live in slums. Slumdog Billionnaire is the immediate perception of world of Mumbai.
  • The infrastructure is crumbling - no modernisation of critical transportation (incl local train), drinking water, sewage disposal, etc.
  • 26/11 !

If all these will not shake Mumbaikar out of slumber, what will ?

It is question of future of Amchi Mumbai. The choice is ours...

Monday, April 27, 2009

Mumbai Indians thrash KKR

  • Sanath-Sachin's burst did not end in a 200 plus score. But, the score was good enough to hand over KKR a 90 + run defeat.
  • Time for KKR management to strategise afresh.
  • As AJ mentioned, KKR has been unfair to Ashish and Bangar, no ordinary players from India. They have no businesss to handle players so unprofessionally. What is use of all strategies, if they can not handle PEOPLE, players ??
  • Alternatively, throw away all strategies and tactics, let the players play to their hearts' content. SRK and Buchanan will be surprised to see the results.
  • I feel bad for the players, esp Dada. Also, others in the team, including the Captain, who himself is struggling at average of 6 runs at IPL-2
  • Captaincy, like LEADERSHIP, is not easy. I feel, Yuvi, McCullum, are struggling. Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Saurav are natural leaders.

GO ON.... Mumbai Indians !

Mumbai team on a roll

  • What a treat it has been... Opening pair, Sachin & Jayasurya, gave a dream-start to the innings... most entertaining !
  • Mid-way, the tempo seem to be waning. If the team don't go beyond 200, it would be an opportunity lost
  • Amchi Mumbai on a roll ! Keep it up. Go ahead and repeat the performance while bowling. Please no sloppy fielding like KKR.
  • It is cricket's superstar, Sachin, Vs. Bollywood's superstar, SRK.

JAI HO !

Friday, April 24, 2009

IPL2

  • Rajasthan Royal pulled off a dramatic win over KKR
  • Hats off to the Captain Extraordinaire, Shane Warne. Players like Warne enrich IPL by his game and captaincy. Youngsters in the team, Yusuf Pathan and 'Tornado' would have learnt a lot from the great experience.
  • Even before the game started, my heart wanted Rajasthan Royal to win. Primarily because they are the defending champions and come out as a well-knit team. We all love the idea of a 'non-interfering boss', in all areas - at home, office, social settings...Shilpa Shetty, in the presence of Warne, made that statement!
  • Can other teams claim that ? At least KKR, Kings XI, Bangalore-team... ?
  • AJ rightly pointed out on NDTV about the (was it?) faux pas ... both KP and Yuvi. How can a captain be unsure of his playing 11 ??? This is a big let down and I blame the format of IPL too...
  • While I am happy for Warne and team, feel sad for Dada. He almost reached the milestone, but was not able to guide the last mile...:(
  • Last, but not the least... Birthday Greetings to Sachin. We are fortunate to be his contemperories !

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Bangalored!

Sad to hear from Capt Gopinath, less than 60% of population has come out to vote.
That is quite irresponsibile of us... That is less much less than the average at another literate part of country such as Kerala
  • JAAGO RE...
  • Amir Khan... pls make some more pleas so that the Bangaloreans can JAGO and go out to cast vote

Monday, April 20, 2009

Narayana Murthy INFOSYS

Every child has a decent access to nutrition and basic education...that should be the vision for the Indian leaders/politicians, fighting their elections, says, Infosys' Narayana Murthy.

Food for thought!

Day 3

A Dull day-3 at IPL2

  • Chennai Super Kings, sponsored by India Cements, cements their position by their maiden win.
  • Thanks to the fantastic knock by opener, Mathew Hayden, they put up a big score.
  • Bowlers like Murali could go after the Bangaloreans.
  • KP or Rahul Dravid unable to pull of a win.
  • Sivamani was in the sidelines giving not only an indian touch to the beats, but also an african touch.
  • Of course, the concept of cheerleaders is neither Indian not Cricket-type.

Lok Sabha elections prove to be a big attraction... with Karuna making contradictory statements on a daily basis... all Politics at its worst!

Thursday Thoughts

The week-end starts on the right note... Ceiling on Desires is the topic on Sai Global Harmony. Most appropriate in the current economic situation. Also, at a personal level ! I am almost disturbed to spend on 'professionally-essential luxuries' !
Ended the day with Sai Hamara, Hum Sai ke...While it would be more realistic to expect success in extempore speech, same approach to lead-singing could lead to a false start!

A simple thought remains...a big idea. Sai Group for Environment. SGE.

Sai teachings on spiritual/frugal living, based on the five human-values, ceiling on desires, spirituality.... !

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 2

One more interesting day at IPL. Experts such as Sunny or Shastri would add, 'cricket is a great leveller' !
  • Deccan chargers has humbled one of the favourites, quite comfortably
  • Gilchrist and team deserves all the kudos for the fantastic effort. Also, local boy Gibbs.
  • All the ideas of multiple captains.... ? SRK can shed some tears now
  • The way VVS started off, I thought one more of FAB 4 would deliver today!
  • Viru and Gambhir went about the task of demolishing the Punjab outfit. I look at them as one of the favourites.
  • I repeat this is going to be IPL of class players, Sachin, Dravid, Gambhir, VVS, Saurav, Kumble, Zahir and Bhajji.... of course Viru too. All others will have difficulty to adapt themselves to the challenging conditions in S A.
  • It is a coincidence all three teams owned by Bollywood biggies have lost their first matches.

KKR captain went on record with NDTV, he would like 'the cheerleaders' to be off the format. A cricketer from NZ does not appreciate the idea. There are whole lot of fans who share the view. I fully agree too. The concept of cheerleaders is a bad idea. Pls withdraw...

PS : WHY ICC has refused to approve ICL ? This is Mafia-type administration. Cricketers should remember, for the sake of Cricket, then should push ICC to veto the pressure tactics of BCCI and approve ICL. ICC owes it to the cricket lover.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

IPL case study at Columbia, India Decides

OH God...! Idiot box...!

Lok Sabha elections alone would have been sufficient to get us glued to the box... Add IPL 2, tv channels could not have asked for more !

IPL has reached Columbia business school as a case study...
In the process, they would come up with some more ways to make more money and more cricket-ignorant youngsters would have got hooked to the game ! Bad luck for Cricket ?

Day-1

IPL 2 is off to a flying start.
  • The playing conditions in South Africa are different. Not batsman-friendly like ours...
  • The finalists of the last edition have been defeated ! That is beauty of cricket!
  • The masters had a great day - Sachin, Rahul and Kumble. While the first two got the man-of-the match awards, Kumble missed it narrowly, after a 5-wicket haul !
  • For all those proud owners of the teams it would be a humbling experience. As AJ said in NDTV, class is always permenant ( referring to another master of the art, Warne)
  • Sachin got the maximum applause when Ravi Shastri was introducing the captains. We want Indian greats, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly to be the captain of these teams. It is afterall Indian premier league.
Fortunately the matches took place first, then the speech/'weech' as part of opening ceremony....
I could conveniently switch channel and listen to AJ

PS : I don't want KKR Jersey, so I refuse to participate in their contest on NDTV.

Friday, April 17, 2009

How Starbucks Saved My Life by Miahael Gates Gill... contd

Some more inspiring thoughts from the book...
  • page 41-the author regretfully recalls how he had 'consciously or unconsciously derailed his colleague's efforts, as she was an African-American without the education or experience that mattered to him'. How often we come across such people in our professional and personal lives. As managers/leaders, we fail in our responsibility to ensure success and happiness of people around us.
  • Pg 44: Indeed, at a spiritual level, ' WE ALL HANG BY A THREAD FROM THE HAND OF A ANGRY GOD'. Inspiring thought. (But, I firmly God never gets angry)
  • Pg 45: It is a personal struggle for many of us go give up the thought that 'we are unique' and to give up the 'sense of a special place' in the universe'. It could be a sign of sheer ego/complex, very common indeed. ( Of course, at a spiritual level, we all are special...children of God)
  • Pg 53: I am not a fan of Starbucks. But after reading about the culture, I am delighted ! But this was one of the best: at starbucks, nobody ever ordered anyone to do anything. it was always, "would you do me a favour?" Worth emulating!
  • Pg 65: Miss Markham's faith in the little Michael is something we all could do to our children, students( by teachers), family and colleagues. Inspire them with more YOU ARE GREAT!
  • Pg 73: Work is Dignity - if the world accepted this Gandhian philosophy, we would not be in in the middle of this 'depressing' Great Depression-2!
  • Pg 206: This is my take-away from the book, as Crystal said: FOLLOW YOUR HEART. the author felt happiness he had never known before.

Indeed, EVERY DAY IS A LEAP OF FAITH ( pg 207)

FUSSY, My Pet Dog

President Obama had promised his children a pup as 'a reward for coping with the punishing election campaign'. The First couple now has a new member in their home...BO, six month old Portugese Waterdog ! Now we have the First Dog of USA ! Six months old pup is well trained already, so no hassles of toilet-training, etc. People have been speculating, but The President dropped the first hint of the imminent arrival at Jay Leno. True to his style. . .Congrats to the Obama family.

While the press was going ga-ga on this topic for last couple of months, we got into a similar loop at home, when our only son wanted a pet dog too. So, in Jan 09, we sort of linked it to best efforts ( not results though) in his final exams. We were reluctant to take this additional responsibility. Some friends, expecially dog lovers/owners, kept reminding us 'it is a big responsibility'.

We started window shopping. . .we wanted to look for a dog which
  1. would be ideal for indoor ( poor dog needs to be able to step out and get some fresh air)
  2. would not bark much (that is, control its natural instincts)
  3. would not shed hair
  4. would be easy to handle and less expensive to manage
  5. would not be very ferocious ( dogs are animals afterall !)
  6. would get-connected at first sight...an advise from our experienced (pet owner of BEETHOVEN!) friends from Australia ......

I should confess, I was looking for the above, but was more concerned about the price tag :) While the kid kept his focus on his annual exams, inspired by the imminent arrival of a pup, we kept looking around. Then we got the news two of his close friends were leaving, one at school and the other at our residential compound. So, we wanted to help him overcome the grief by getting him his pup.

Finally, on the last day of his annual exams, we both were back at our familiar pet shop ( 'known devil'!) We ran in to a dog which looked cute, slightly big for a pup( seven months young!) and I personally 'got-connected-at-first-sight' as it resembled to our dog during my childhood!!! The fact it was the one of the less expensive option helped too.

So, on March 11, the new member of our family made an entry into our household. We named it Fussy, same name of my earlier dog:)

KKR's new captain

The owner of the team has the last laugh. SRK, has decided to go ahead with the coach's plan to replace Saurav. The execution was done well. Couple of days ago, he apologised for the comments against Sunny Gavaskar. Yet again, one of the greatest among contemperory cricketers gets a raw deal. The owner and coach of KKR may be planning this as part of their strategy to recoup their investment.


If this is one of the inherent flaws of IPL ( and there are so many of them), Lalit Modi and Gang need to look into. Pls don't kill Cricket for the sake of this Mega Extravaganza in the name of a sport.



Monday, April 13, 2009

How Starbucks Saved My Life by Miahael Gates Gill

Few days ago, I was on the western cost. For a week-long, intense training on Leadership.
Last week end, at Eastern coastal city, on an official visit. After a four-hour drive and couple of meetings, I was exhausted.



Once back in room at Sheraton, I observed there was nothing to read. Hotel had left nothing inside nor did I carry anything. I was in no mood to ask for/read a newspaper either. I ventured out. And, I was glad to know a branch of my favourite bookstall was just next door. . .

As is my habit, I checked out new releases. Nothing stuck a chord. I checked at the counter for my list of books from my cellphone. Again, they had none of the books. Not even, Malcolm Gladwell's latest. I came back and was again looking at a particular shelf... the same salesmanager came across and suggested a book. I said I had read Eat, Pray and Love. Then, he pulled out another book, HOW STARBUCKS SAVED MY LIFE, perhaps the last copy of the same. I gave a quick glance and decided to go ahead with the acquisition. And, God bless the sales manager.

Some thoughts:


  • The cover and the gist on the back cover got me hooked ( as always, I pick up only those books I get hooked)

  • An inspiring rags to riches story of an Ivy league educated, JWT veteran, who gets his pink slip.

  • He has already messed up his personal life.

  • Ends up as a Partner at Starbucks Cafe, where he meets a black american young lady, his new boss

  • He talks about 'his earlier life' and his new and inspiring life at Starbucks.

Indeed it was 'a wake-up call'

Sunday, April 05, 2009

This is just not Cricket -Gavaskar's comments & SRK's reaction

One Australian coach ( Chappel) was our former coach. No comments on the damage done to the dressing room, based on the comments by some of the players in recent past. Of course, he popularized “Six Hats”!
Fellow coach, but now at Knight Riders, wants to try out multiple captains.
Another Australian, Ricky Ponting, is naturally in favour of the idea.
The Australians play cricket differently and they play it ‘real hard’. Naturally, their strategies and tactics differ from the us.
Gavaskar went slightly below the belt by criticizing Buchanan’s effort to generate employment to fellow Queenslanders. These are tough times indeed.
But SRK disappoints yet again ( check my earlier postings). He has every right to strategise with his core team. He has sunk millions to acquire rights. But the game is on the public domain. The passionate cricket lover has every right to question his/his cronies’ ideas. On cricket matters, we value the opinion of Gavaskar, just as we would value SRK’s opinion on matters related to Bollywood cinema. (Only Bollywood, not Bengali/Assamese/Kollywood/Mallu.Of course he made a mockery of a mallu superhit thru ‘Billu Barber’)
To say ‘ he has spent a lot of money in buying the team and would like to run it as he deems fit’ was sad. To say Gavaskar can buy his own team to try out his ideas was the limit. SRK’s ‘ghamand’ was visible there.
This is yet another the proof of damage IPL is bringing to the game of cricket. The money/bollywood, apart from the culture of Mallyas, et al, will only damage the game. Modis & Pawars need to wake up to this threat to this popular game. The former players and experts of the game need to take a stand.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Gmail turns 5

Google and Gmail, also 'Blogger', Google earth, etc. has changed the way we remain 'connected'. Check out http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/
Wished a close friend yesterday on his birthday. While we remain in touch on gmail ( both on gmail), I chose to call him to wish. He underlined the fact only a birthday could get me to make an ISD CALL !

My preferred 'mode of contact' is usually sms/mail. Now, with the focus on cost-cutting, all the more reason to avoid an ISD call ! ( I am quite vocal about it, to manage expectations of close relatives and friends - mom calls me, not otherwise, as she wants to help her son in his cost cutting focus!)

In these tough times, it is more critical to be in touch. While a phone call or a long letter is a preferred option, e-mail can be almost as effective. Kudos to Google... Many happy returns...