Earth Hour 2010 to Earth Year 2010

After the lip-service to Earth Hour 2010, I am going to try and live the year in the 'Earth Hour Mode'.

Part of the resolution to live life frugal, Green and thus, Spiritual. 

A long term push is required to make a genuine impact

Mumbai Indians .... emphatic win

I always feared, what if Sachin does not come good in a match. Will the others stand up and make a difference ? Afterall Gilly getting out early seem to be making a big difference to the end-result.

Today, Harbhajan made a fantastic difference! Sachin held the innings together, pretty well. All the main bowlers, Zaheer, Bhajji and Malinga made a great attack. Sachin's catch was cool !

Bhajji is back in form, at his aggressive self. He made a pre-match announcement he wanted MI to win and become the first team to move into Semis!! That is some aggression...

Some big names such as Packard, Bravo, etc are yet to fire big-time.

The team is going great as a unit. The seniors seem to be ensuring the team is held together very well.

My worry still remains... what if Sachin gets out quickly. Will someone else hold the innings together...

Earth Hour 2010 I did lip service too....

Last year, I did observe Earth Hour, with limited enthu. But I had decided 2010 will be different and surely, better.

Couple of weeks back, saw 'Earth Hour pop-up' on my gmail. I clicked, enrolled... then I realized I was on their Canada-sector :) Neverthless, I continued to receive email from them. That enabled me to make pleas on my Twitter, Facebook and blog... I tried word of mouth too... This morning, I sent a quick reminder to most of my email contacts... None responded...yet ! Makes me wonder, is it all worth it ?? Perhaps on a Sat evening, people are busy with their week-end plans !!! How many of us really care for our environment ?!!!

As I stepped out of office, I remembered to switch off the light. I made it a point to remind the cleaning team, to switch off the lights after they finish. 

When I walked back home (yes, 'walk'!) I saw the lights were already on. Again, made me wonder... living almost in the middle of desert, urbanised surely, we have too much of 'light pollution'. Same is the case with most urbanised landscape...The lights in corridors of our buildings are always on. I never miss an opportunity to switch off the lights during day time, only to find them 'on' almost immediately ! The awareness is low or may be we don't care...

Dada and KKR made a come back, finally at IPL3. I wonder, why the sole match was not scheduled at 4 PM IST, instead of 8 PM. There was no way to switch off lights at 830 PM, during the match. And IPL3 has been prominently paying lip-service to GO GREEN too... ! 

A friend here has opted out of the whole things saying 'earth has a natural mechanism to correct, by natural disasters, etc. Why bother?'... Interesting !


Another friend laments... 'we have switched off most of it, except A/c and TV. Family wants to watch a bollywood flick'! He was helpless...


As the clock hit 830 PM, I was out on an 'important' work - to take my son to get his xbox repaired, a long pending promise. I found the shops were no way near the 'earth hour'. ON way back, asked the laundry guy, 'why not switch off couple of lights'. He says there was a common switch for all the three lights! And why bother, the malls and other big buildings are switching off and saving a lot of power...he feels his participation was insignificant. Tragedy, a lot others think same too... !


All I could do was to get back, switch off as much possible and get into the evening prayer-mode. Escapist ? May be... The world does not seem to care and when you are helpless, prayer & meditation are the best options. 


Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavanthu...

Tiger Woods to Return

Another TV news item that caught my attention while 'on tour' was Tiger Woods' return to Golf...

Like many other die-hard fans of Tiger, I have allowed him to drift away from list of Greats. It must be 'freedom' for many of us, also for him. Like many others, I now feel sorry for him. And now it is more of sympathty. Let us hope he is able to come out of it and focus on Golf, with Arjun (mahabharatha fame)-like focus, dedication and character. Of course, he needs a friend, philospher, guide and GOD, just as Arjun had Sri Krishna. As such, it is good to note he is 'going back' to his Buddhism, meditation.
  

Woods has long been connected to Buddhism through his Thai mother and he said his detachment from the religion had been behind his fall from grace.

"Going against your core values, losing sight of it," he said when asked how he lost control of his life. "I quit meditating, I quit being a Buddhist, and my life changed upside down.

"I felt entitled, which I had never felt before. Consequently, I hurt so many people by my own reckless attitude and behavior."  ( Courtesy : http://gulfnews.com/sport/golf/tiger-woods-returns-to-buddhism-1.601495  

Tendulkar on Wisden Cover

It is a fitting tribute to the great champion...

True to his style, he is making waves in the latest version of cricket, @ IPL3. Leading from the front, he made some scintillating, match-winning knocks. Cricket is fortunate to get a champion of his class, achievement, temperament and character.

Business Trip towards Eastern Province

Just back from a business trip to Eastern city. The weather was fantastic... Sea-side city reminded so much of Mumbai. The city was getting a 'new look' to receive a dignitary. So, the city looked clean, green and beautiful ( with plants and flowers)

The traffic had slowed down, but was quite smooth & bearable !

The nice weather prompted me to step out, before my colleague arrived to pick me up and walk up to the road, rather than waiting at the lobby ( thus saved some fuel too !) . The cool breeze was so nice. The tight schedule prevented me to take a walk around in evenings...

Could not visit the nearby bookstore. It was here the salesman suggested the book,  How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else. I have got so many of my friends to read same, both Indians and expats. Got good feedback too.

Talking of books, I am currently reading Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur ! Just started. But intro and first chapter has got me hooked ( else I would not have mentioned here:) !) He also talks about the importance of PEOPLE in business. In line with the powerful reco by so many other contemperory business greats ! The challenge is to get the right person on the right job ! very true... we all are living the challenge every moment, after all. I liked the section on SELF DISCIPLINE. Simple, but very powerful thought... ! I am a more conservative guy, unlike a more flamboyant RBranson.  But his practical thoughts on business are very inspiring...

The travel was enhanced by an excellent experience @ Sheraton. On earlier occasions I had posted my displeasure over the average service at the same property, without naming them. But, this time it was different. I wonder was it my SPG membership or earlier feedback ?

One of the first things I enquired at check-in counter was about availability of IPL3 telecast. The fellow-Indian at counter politely refused, full of empathy ( himself a cricket fan, I am sure !) That was a dampener. But was glad to see Obama get the medical bill through, a landmark 'CHANGE', he had promised... and now he has delivered. Caught few moments of the movie, INSTINCT. Looked interesting, with jungle, jail and powerful performance by Anthony Hopkins. Indeed, He learns that mankind's control of everything is a mere illusion and that the true values of existence can't be found so easily  ( Courtesy : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128278/plotsummary ) 

But for a veggie, food is always a problem in ME. I missed home-food... dosa, et al. Glad to be back...home !

Incredible India

A minister invites a guest for the inauguration of second leg of the worli sea link... guest attends, and there is a controversy !! Reason, the guest-invited, Amitabh Bachchan and the ruling party(!!!) of Maharashtra, Congress+NCP. AB is considered closer to Samajwadi party, brand ambassador of neighboring state ruled by BJP !!

The minister should have the sensibility not to invite, though AB was a good choice and kudos to minister.

Having invited, is it not the collective responsibility of the cabinet, including chief minister, to stand by it? CM was seen struggling to come up with appropriate response to questions from NDTV reporter ! it looked so silly

Thankfully, this time it is not Shiv Sena.

How can they forget there are thousands/lacs of AB fans also. These fans are predominantly from age group 30-40's, whose kids may be fans of Kapoors/Hrithik/etc. How can Congress ignore AB fans beyond amchi mumbai ?

And what about 'athithi devo bhava' ?

IPL auction

The concept of IPL hit a new low/high ( I leave the choice to you, as I am confused!), with two additions. Firstly, the amount of money...then, the number of matches would go into 90s... Can it sustain viewership for that long ? TRP will be minus mortals such as myself... The brains behind IPL forget for sure the wisdom of 'essence of brevity'...

I hope Sachin remains with amchi-Mumbai's team. Sreesanth will be welcome @ Kochi, and he may harbour captaining the side.

Indeed, Sahara chief has attributed to 'a combination of materialism and emotion' for entering the fray now ! Indeed, all the franchise owners are into it for all reasons, other than cricket... ! Good for them, but bad for cricket !

Sachin's Day

Amchi Mumbai's team hit the ground @ now infamous FKotla, against one of the tournament favourites Delhi Daredevils. No doubt, Delhi looks a lot better balanced. To be playing with the home-advantage, an interesting tussle was in the guard. I had thought Delhi would walk away with a comfortable win. But, my heart was with Sachin & co.
And what a match it turned out to be... a comprehensive win against Viru and co. Kudos to Sachin for leading from the front. Good contribution by Tiwari and Rayudu.
Though IPL3 is at the initial phase, this win would have given a lot of self-belief for all the youngsters in the team. They just need to carry on...
Looking forward to a big innings from Sanath, which I feel is ovedue from the dashing opener...

Watching the repeat telecast now on ART channel, courtesy CricOne- could not catch up live action ! No complaints, because highlight spares the painful ads ... painful for the intrusion during the overs, after the overs and some ads of pathetic quality ( Rak bank should withdraw their silly ad!). While marketers may see this golden opportunity to tap Indian expat, going by the quality of ad, it could be the other way :)

IPL - An Unnecessary Evil ?

Too Much Too Soon
Check out this article... captures the essence of what is wrong with the concept of IPL

Though I am a die-hard fan of Indian Cricket, I am following IPL with reduced interest. I would watch expert comments/analysis, highlights, etc than the live telecast. I see more negatives in the concept than positives.

Change is something no one can stop. If Lalit Modi would not have thought of the concept, someone else would have. So, no point in blaming him.

Yesterday, NDTV carried comments from more bollywood biggies, who are unhappy they were not (yet) franchisee-owners: Saif/Kareena, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, to name a few. What makes them brag about their automatic eligibility to be franchisee owners ? SRK/Shilpa Shetty, ??? We would be rather better off getting couple of professional cricketers & their companies/cricket clubs such as MCC to own. It will add value to 'cricket', not 'glamour'.

You can not expect politicians and other administrators @ BCCI to take note and make mid-course correction. Money and Power are involved here! The average cricket lover needs to think and take a stand...

Inspiring India

A trip home is very nice. If destination is ‘spiritual’, great ! Even if the duration is as short as a week.  A week is enough to get spiritually-re-charged..

To start the flight at 4 AM means, no sleep! When the flight is a bit delayed, still worse. We have chosen not to fly our own Air India and opt for the local airlines, on their better record on punctuality ! On a spiritual journey, such small tests are part of the experience!

Thanks to all those leaders and officials, India’s roads are definitely getting better. The national highways are a lot better. While working for several years in truck/bus industry, ‘better roads’ was always a mirage for all the stake-holders. But now, it is a reality, almost…

I still spotted couple of traffic cops taking bribes on the highway! The roads may have improved for the transporters, but not the harassment!

The transport industry has to take equal blame, having sustained the practice. They should go by the Tata Tea TVC – khilana band karo… ( of course, pilao bhi nahin and not even ‘chay/paani’!)

The temperature was high for a Feb/Mar, across most parts of India. Surely, effect of Climate Change. We need more Greenathons, more frequently !

Relatives are being advised to cancel their annual vacation to Kerala this year, as the temperatures are at all time high. Add to this, the power-cuts! God’s own country…. ! (Back in Gulf, it is getting hot here too. Thankfully, no power cuts here!)

I returned re-charged, Spiritually, with a stronger conviction on ‘human-values’, purpose of my life and a resolve to move towards the goal of my life.

Thanks to my Master, the journey was beautiful, as always…

Women Reservation Bill

I am totally for Women-Lib. I have been fortunate to have a great mother, loving sis, wonderful wife and few good friends in opposite sex. But, this bill is just not the right solution. Nor a move in the right direction. I think it is yet another proof of political myopia. Mrs Gandhi may be personally motivated to fulfill a dream of her late husband ( one of the genuine leaders in dynastic families in India, post Independence). The reaction of few political parties and valuable loss of Parliament time....