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....

Sachin, The Master

Sachin Tendulkar's name has appeared more than once in my humble blog.

I feel it is our fortune we are contemperories of greats such as Sachin. With his recent knocks, culminating in yesterday's 200, he has gone up a few notches as one of the greatest of the sport. ( It does not matter, 'one of ' or 'the' greatest !) It is all matter of perceptions. But, he is a genius who has given more to cricket, than what he has got, though he got 'a lot'! That is one of the signs of true greatness.

His very presence at the crease and how he goes about is truly inspiring. At crease, ' he is at work'. The dedication, commitment, attitude, etc he exhibits is worth-emulating in our professional life.

He has caught the imagination of the nation for his value-system and character. He, perhaps, personifies Indian ethos and values. Knowingly or unknowingly, we are proud of him for that too. This has become more relevant after the 'fall' of Tiger Woods from the pedestal.

Once, standing in lunch-queue with my senior colleague...he asked why I was limping. 'I had suffered a knee injury while playing table-tennis !! :) ' He said, at least you got it playing, look at Sachin. He has got a ( shoulder) injury ' while not playing'. That was the disappointment of a big fan of Sachin, who could not think of Indian cricket without the genius. Even at home, my family thinks it is unlike me for my idolizing the genius.

He dedicated the knock to all his fans in India ( next time he should add, Indians abroad too, like yours truly...).

Safari @ Kenya

Started uploading Kenya Photographs... animals in their natural habitat, healthy and happy, was a wonderful sight. But we started the trip at animal 'orphanage' (!) at Nairobi. Hence, starting off with some of the snaps taken there... More to follow, original :)

Animal Orphanage, Nairobi

3 Idiots

Amir Khan is an actor who has given us some great movies..

• Taare Zameen par, would have helped many a parent to be more sensitive 
• Dil Chahta hai, prompted me to re-connect with some of my good, old friends
• Rang De Basanti, made many urban youth to be more aware of  common issues around us
• Lagaan... etc.

So, I waited for the initial response of his (now, not so) new film, 3 Idiots. I was confident he would ensure quality, as he has done in the recent past ( did not like his Gajini, personally though). The feedback from friends was 'must watch'! Got to watch last week...

Though the movie was 'inspired by' one of Chetan Bhagat's books( my favourite among all by him), I felt the controversy could have been avoided.
It does take a comic look at the hostel life, our parental pressure to become an engineer/doc and of course, on learning by rote in our educational system. ( CBSE's recent decision to do away with board exam is in the right direction, finally....)Most of us have different memories about all these three aspects.

I was fortunate to be in hostels, in 9th & 10th and then for the management degree. I rate both these stages of  my life as two most important milestones in my personal life... For what I am today, I owe a lot to these two stages of life. (More about it, later for 'autobiography'!) So, only very pleasant memories of hostel life.( No ragging experince either, thank God)

Career: All of us, who belong to the middle class category, would have felt similar experiences. My mom wanted me to become a teacher - as respectable, decent income and lots of vacations. Dad wanted me to follow his footsteps to fauji ( army) initially. I was not in favour of army, as I wanted 'freedom' and  better 'earning potential' ( wanted to reach financial stability, unlike many faujis). Then, he wanted me to become ....yes.... an engineer ! I did not get very high grade in engineering entrance and I would do only computer science or electronics, nothing else. So, I dumped that stream and hit Commerce and became a banker.... I never had the engineering bend-of-mind, though I was good at Maths & Physics. Fortunately, parents supported my crazy career ideas ( for 1980's). Not many parents were/are in that league, for sure... Kudos to Amir for bringing out this important aspect of our lives...

And, Freedom & financial stability, is very relative... 'everything is in mind'! I feel we should encourage our children to pursue a career of their interest and passion and be best in that field.Then they will not 'work', it becomes fun...

Learning by rote is perhaps one of the fundamental flaws of our educational system. Lot of my friends feel otherwise, and are in favour of all the thrust on memorising and pressurizing children in their school days. Though I don't blindly support the western model, we need to modify our educational system to enable our children realise their potential. I was at the receiving end as I was very bad in memorising, hence such strong views.

What I admire about Amir Khan is his passion for work. His passion can be seen & felt even by even a movie-goer. His ad campaigns ( titan, tata sky, paanch ke barabar coke ad, etc) were different. His 'athithi devo bhava'/Incredible India! campaigns are very timely and relevant. Was glad to hear he is a voracious reader and almost a fitness freak. Of course he is a fellow blogger, and all comparisons end there :)

Personal Thoughts

As I looked at my ( this) humble blog... on the left side appeared a nice quote... Peace is its own reward...Mohandas Gandhi ( wonder, why can't they use simple Gandhiji!)
Indeed, Peace is what everyone wants, at all times. But, we would not be part of creating peace, but 'pieces'! We don't step back and look at... if we are adding to peace or reducing... Either way, we affect the people around ourselves and also ourselves.
A hectic day @ work ! Most parts of the world, including the sole superpower, is reeling under the burden of mounting unemployment. So, to be gracefully employed, is by itself Grace ! To be able to think 'valuable' ( though would like to think indispensable!) is still better.
Intuition works... as I hit the sack late last night, I knew today will be tough. To prepare, opted to read few lines from a spiritual book on Master...to get a peaceful sleep :)
The day got off to a tough start, and held momentum till late eve. By the time I few big hurdles, it was 4 pm. Too late for a quick lunch. When busy, you don't feel hungry either.
Another ton by Sachin does not raise the spirits...as it was not a match-winning knock... and too busy to track!
But, at end of day, when hunger catches up, I wonder... how millions see through days, without a full meal in a day... how will children go through a hungry day?... If only God had ensured NO Hunger as part of his wonderful creation....

Incredible India

India perhaps hit a less incredible, low today...thanks to our political leadership, our elected representatives and some of our icons :

• Rahul Gandhi has claimed his trip to Mumbai a huge success. Surely he has won some brownie points. But travelling by train was not 'so cool'... even to the youth of Mumbai, whom he was trying to win over. ( He might have been inspired by a similar gesture of the Queen of England recently. But she was grace personified). The silent majority was unhappy with Shiv Sena's direct/indirect threat. But Rahul has not handled the issue well either. By downplaying the martyrdom of some local, popular cops, he has distanced not only the quintessential marathi manus, but also the average mumbaikar. Both resident & non-resident, son-of-the soil & migrants. While they will not accept Shiv Sena's stand, they will not be fooled by Rahul's immature response, more than words, his action. While Rahul or Shiv Sena may claim they won the battle, the hard-working, average mumbaikar is losing his battle, day after day.... with no hope of the political leadership making a difference to his quality of life. 
• Another youth icon, SRK, has not done any better. When he got the 'canvas' ( all the news-hungry channels), he used it well, by saying his daughter asked him if they may have to move out of India! Yet again, he disappointed his fans, many of who are educated and will not be swayed by his handling of the situation. It was a disgrace we did not pick up any of the T20 champs. But, as the owner of a franchise, even KKR did not pick up any. Then why the crocodile tears and all this tamasha... The average cricket lover and movie-goer feels cheated. 
• Jairam Ramesh is one of the most respected politicians. But the way he lost his cool to a passionate member of the audience, was poor leadership. 
• The way Pranabda handled an instigating Modi ( CM of 5 cr Gujarathis, as NDTV's puppet show would add !), showed our political leadership in poor light. 
• To top it all, No.1 cricket team ( among just 10 test playing nations, Bangladesh included), got off to a good start and failed to sustain momentum, in Nagpur, Maharashtra!

All this happening when common man is suffering the price rise. The threat from across the border took a new twist... the world is suffering, not only from economic slowdown, but also from the impact of climate change....people from all over the world are extending a helping hand to the Haitians to get back on their feet... But, our politicians are busy politicking...with some good help from others. INCREDIBLE !!! 

world around

We are living in interesting times.... as Chinese proverb says...

First it was the greatest golfer ever, falling from the pedestal. Now there are others in a hurry to do same, footballer, cricketer, etc.

Another Numero Uno to disappoint ( and also add risk to human life) is Toyota. Yesterday, as I got into my friend's Toyota FJ Cruiser, he mentioned, 'don't mind, break is not great !' I thought, he was only making a current joke ! But then when I saw him struggling to stop his car, I realised it was afterall not a joke ! We associated Toyota with quality and performance. But the mass recall exercise will make a big dent on their impeccable reputation.

CNN reported yesterday Apple;s comps have a minor color problem too!

To top it all, last evening, the no. 1 pizza brand delivered after almost 100 minutes ! The red hot indicator was 'pure white'. Cold pizza, delayed delivery meant a spoilt apetite. They may not have lost one of their customers, my son. But defenitely lost me... my resolution to eat healthy just got a big boost !

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Publish your own book

We dreamt of becoming a sportman/singer/actor/etc as a child....till much later into adolescence...

here is an opportunity to write your own book... one of the options, that is

start blogging... then through Blog2Print by Google, you can publish ... start blogging !

Turn your blog into a book!
Blog2Print from SharedBook turns your blog into a soft cover or hard cover book. You pick the cover, add an optional dedication, then preview and you're done. Prices start at $14.95.

WEALTHY traffic violators... Beware!

Traffic fines have never been fair... when someone receives a ticket for violation, he complaints about others who are left scot-free for making similar violations, if not more serious. Also, the quantum of fine was always linked to the category of error. But that is now set to change...You may be fined depending on 'your wallet'

At least Europen countries are taking the lead by pegging speeding fines to 'capability' ( not willingness) to pay. That is income-level !Switzerland, Finland, etc are current examples. Many other european countries set to join.

IPL3

If we wanted to keep Pak players out of IPL3, we should have done it with lot more finesse and professionalism. If IPL is getting less sporty and more commercial every year, this was a new low. We can not ill-treat sportmen, whether they are our own ( a la hockey players/Bindra recently) or others. Let us BE FAIR !