Blore- bomb,office boy and police..

So Blore is as much dangerous as many other soft cities in India..a shame..yes..and this recent shoot out in IISc on innocent scientists is a terrible shame..
But see how Blore police reacted the very next day!
An office boy working in my friend’s office was going back after a long day at work back home to Electronics city. This benign looking (all of 20 years!) was stopped by the Blore police and questioned.
Well.. well..pl wait before u ask whats wrong in “questioning” these days..
But this chap has said he is coming back from work, showed his identification card etc and asked to call his employer if needed. But this cop was not interested in these documents but only in which “gandhi’s” photo was and so fleeced this fella of Rs100/-

What a shame..not only terrorists take you for a ride, these supposed guardians too!
So how do you expect the Blore police, with such efficient guys around, to stall or investigate terrorist incidents. And why will Abu salems or any other pak/bangla “tourist” er..i mean terrorist have a cake walk here..just flashing a higher denomination..

Need I say this innocent office boy quit his job?
So ladies and Gmen! The police force is hunting for the offenders and my friend is hunting for a new office boy! Pl inform the respective if you find any…
Shame ..shame..Blore cops..

Sar uthake... (or north Vs south?)

Some people are trying to project a wrong opinion in these days of sly camera exposes..
firstly tehelka happened, then judeo/digvijay, then some laloo chelas, then the 11MPs who were caught taking money to question in parliament(sic.) and recently the MP funds misappropriation..
Hey in all these no south Indian is caught it seems..so the northies have another reason to look down up on us!!
So my dear southies here’s my advise: Do not get cowed down by such ill-informed opinions..hey we have the karunanithis, jayalalithas, bangarappas, devegowdas, gunduraos, karunakarans, raos and naidus…man a big list..and these are not small fries..NO! they can never be caught on your sly cameras and never for such piddly 10ks and 20ks..NEVER!!
So u southies- walk with your heads up..do not be cowed down!!

(Antha) Rashtriya Khel!!

Yeah..its about our National game – Hockey! An International tournament!! As mentioned earlier I watched live, 3 matches of the Champions Trophy in the Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium, Chennai!
What an experience..it was simply superb…
To see such passionate crowd following all the matches inspite of nonstop rains was a real treat! The new astro turf at Chennai was a master piece and kudos to J’s govt! The way it was organized, the way the police helped in traffic and arrangements including parking, the crowd behaviour – impressive in toto!

About the games:

The 1st one was India-Pak! The two duddo teams who still think artistry and selfish long dribbles are still the best way to play the game. Hence rightly fighting for the bottom of the table! Really lousy in pace and very slow in movement, no good long passes. It should be said that India with its sluggish movement brought down the Pak’s pace too! That’s why only at the start and just after the break Paks were swift. Just within a few minutes from the start India were leading 2-0 and still managed to lose! So typical, eh?

The south Asian domination in this game is now lost. The way the European teams (yeah I term Aussies too along here) have imbibed this game and the pace they have brought in is amazing. They have really taken this game levels ahead. Slick passes, short and sweet dribbles, terrific fitness, coordination, soccerlike planning are all their contribution. Spain was far ahead of Germany. Surprisingly all the 3 games had one similarity. The team with more ball possession lost!

Aussies played with their typical arrogance and authority. Like in cricket they are numero uno, way ahead of the rest. The rest are left at quite a distance. They are real quick and so u see the whole ground populated with the green and yellow jerseys. One may be forced to think if they are playing with more guys in! Amazing flicks, power plays, sooper passes, excellent finishes, bullet like punches in to the goal during penalty corners…man they look like unstoppable juggernauts, really!

A quick comparison with cricket:

A real fast paced game. (infact during the Germany Vs Spain game and in the finals Australlia Vs Holland it appeared as though the half time hoot was within minutes from the start!) Happily over in 70 mins! With a result that too;-) Believe me! This is turning to be more a gentleman’s game. Of the three matches hardly any foul, only one green card in all, hardly the umpire needs to interfere, outs/fouls never contested, no time lost in any foul calls, with out even any indication from the umpires the right team is ready for the shot, very smooth roll in of substitutes along with the run of play…I can keep writing…smooth, slick, gentle, attractive, interesting – and more..

Comparision with cricket grounds:
Well organized and planned entrances and parking facilities. (yeah, one wud say the crowds are not comparable, still..In my case we were late and the cops asked us to park in a nearby police hospital premises!)
Neat well maintained toilets and drinking water! (yeah..drinking water and that too in Chennai!)
No frisking and no embarrassing displays. So one could happily carry in his own bottle of water and snacks.
Low fares;-)

Three cheers to Chennai (fans):

1. very well behaved fans! Be it during the national anthems or during penalty corners or when ever required/requested, the crowd behavior was impeccable. Infact each team (other than the Indian team) came for a lap around the ground with their hands/bats raised..
2. Even during the India-Pak match, all good shows by either of the teams were well applauded and infact the Pak team went for a victory lap and was well acknowledged by the crowd!
3. Very knowledgeable crowd! It was infact better than what u get to see in cricket matches. Heavy discussions about reverse flicks, missed crosses, penalty corners, guessing complicated fouls even before the umpires call – hmm..fantastic!
4. Inspite of the rains all through the tournament, lots of people came and watched and patronized hockey. Really a matter of pride.
5. Some guy behind me was discussing about John Wright, an umpire from SA to be a good umpire etc! really knowledgeable eh?
6. Finally, one sardar – Inder pal singh, was a great hit of the Chennai crowd! An enthusiastic 64 year young man from Ghaziabad (who apparently goes to all important hockey and football matches all over India) was given a standing ovation. Infact the organizers called him during a break, to the stage and felicitated him for entertaining the Chennai crowds all thru the tournament with his bell and conch sounds and animated chantings! A sweet way to appreciate a great fan and typical of chennaiites, he was given another round of standing ovation.

back in chennai..

Am back in Madras and so is the low pressure and rains…man this year rains have decided to drown madras I guess!

Many of u would have been following the hockey tournament here at Madras..I want to attend a couple of matches too..after all it is our national game! But it’s really amazing that the Mayor Radhakrishnan grounds (yeah that depleted shady grounds off Egmore!) has been turned in to an International classy astro turf grounds! Another feather in J’s cap..really, if she puts her mind the outcomes are classy…but…

Back in Blore, a movie by Ramesh Arvind with Kamal called Rama, Shama, Bhama is doing well..its a remake of sathileelavathy from tamil. Iam yet to see that but heard Kamal has freaked out in a north Karnataka kannada accent!! Sounds so genuine and great I heard! This guys as often crosses the bar and really soars so high..dizzy heights?? Again wonder when does he get time? Where will he stop??

pratibha's story - very sad..

In Blore another very sad episode unwinds. One young girl (newly wed at that), a call centre employee was raped and killed by a taxi driver posing as a standby driver for her regular one! That’s not only sad but scaring. Such crimes may not even get highlighted as our whole media and even MPs are busy with ganguly issue at hands..this episode for me rings a serious bell and we need to address it immediately to dispel fears of a whole emerging community which is a soft target for such crimes. Sigh sigh..sincere condolences to Pratibha’s family, near and dear.

Golf Villa(ge)

Had been to a Golf village called Eagleton, some 40kms from Blore..
NO! did not play golf! (My op on golf is damaging..its no sport..more on that later!)
Nor am I trying to market that place to u..
Just that I enjoyed being there and so this report..
NS, an old pal of mine, has a villa in this golf village..(oh! Few years back when I heard of this being promoted and saw that place, I laughed saying ‘golf/plots?..and 40kms away?’)
Now I see those bought then are laughing their way to the banks..That place is thronged by golf addicts from all over!
I went there the afternoon and spent time on “diet” and quite walks..a serene and tranquil place, filled with oxygen! So O2 is still available even 40kms away..excellent villas, nice roads and so many passionate people discussing golf everywhere (the last part I was not very comfy)
And finally this NS fella’s son is a prodigious player at 9 years, going and playing golf tournaments across India and has been in top 3!! So I can say I know a to-be-golf-millionaire in the coming days ;-)

PS: just to give u an idea of how popular this game golf has become in India, some of the old clubs have a 20 years waiting time for memerbships..and this place eagleton has so many members playing day in and day out and also there is the big “golf tourism” from Japan!!

Help folks help!!!

I was just going in an auto this morning and suddenly the traffic slowed down inspite of a green(rare commodity in Blore!it takes 3 surges to see green from closer quarters)..and then saw 3 layers in front- a solitary lady pushing the omni..I just jumped out from the auto (as the driver was screaming, yenu illa bidee sir)and gave a hand, meanwhile one more soul pitched in..and in a few secs the car started and they pushed off..The other person who pitched in glanced at me and gave a smile as we rushed to our respective gaadis..Did u get it?? That smile was an acknowledgement of the simple happiness one derives on pitching in "at the hour, neigh,second of need" with out invitation and just dusting off the hands and moving once u did what u wanted..a small sense of proud satisfaction and it ends there..
Why am I mentioning it here? am I bragging..NO!!! am just saying. it was pathetic to watch a solitary person ( more so here, a lady;to hell with all equality gimmicks..its tuff to push alone, period) and behaving like nothing is happening around u..
Man!! what a senseless and insensitive society we are evolving into..
Let me mention what i said to my auto driver: It could be your wife today or your mother tomorrow (hmm and my mom cant push a chair)..SO BETTER MOVE YOUR REAR END SON!! (btw this caps part sounds great in kannada) and am sure he too got it!! Did you??
just help folks, help!! anywhere, everywhere!!

cyberabad II

ever wondered how come so many gults are present all over the globe??
I have sort of sorted that out;-)
There is a famous Balaji temple here at Hyd which is famously called "Visa Balaji" temple..
and I need not apprise u of the crowd that throngs there with "visa applications"..that Mr.Balaji shud be working over time to process these..and that really looks like a popular and successful route..

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Roads are really good and broad from what I saw a few years back..man!!cyberabad beats chennai and Blore by miles..even the public transport esp buses are aplenty..(though murphys law worked to perfection when I was waiting for a bus at Mehdipatnam for one specific 2xx bus and 80 buses crosses - all 5,8,9s and 1xx but not the 2xx i wanted..still i wud say its impressive, my luck apart)..add to that the neat and good metros (MMTS)..i said neat bcos, the MMTS statiosn (even at places where its just adjacent to the old regular rlwys, is amzingly neat..and is prompt too, mostly..)unfortunately this looks pathetically unpopular..
probably it wud take ysr a few more years to undo naidus work unlike in blore..hey..devegowda is real quick, eh??

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u wud ask hows the Traffic? hmm..it flows..in all directions like the rain water on a speeding trains glass on the other side..running in at various (mostly break neck) speeds in all possible directions and trying to join a couple of predetermined "trodden paths"..it really needs extraordinary skill to drive like hell here..as my friend Balki "drove" right, left and centre with a casual "be a hyderabadi @ hyd ma.."..looks like U is the most liked alphabet in Hyd..every one puts an U how ever zig zag once in a while almost everywhere preferably on the crowded main roads..oof..tuff..
but like most things , it works here!!
***
enof of Hyd blogs..moved to Blore..which is still a mess trafficwise and everywise..but as u can guess, like how i have come here already twice in the last month, some how folks still throng here and hence add to the chaos..

***
for the cric buffs, it was shameful show by the Indians at chepauk..one had to see to believe the pathetic shameful display of talents..esp the way tendul and lax prodded arnd and thadavified(man sorry no eqvlt word for this in english) so badly giving enormous respect to even bad balls of Bandara..so forget the respect offered to murali and vaas..finally sangakara freaked out by standing up to the stumps for vaas..amazing stuff..chk out vaas's figures to know how he was played by our demi gods!!

Cyberabad Blues..

am in Hyd..oops cyberabad..even the police here calls themselves cyberabad police..
what a diff here in this city in a few years...hmm..malls malls everywhere..big, huge buildings, great complexes, just about every IT, telcom, BPO is present here..so the real estate, biryani, icecream, bus cahrge, auto fare, everything has gone up..no its an understatement...skyrocketed is the right word..

Must see:
while u r here, u must see the Golkonda fort, preferably with a guide..thanks to suda n krish i visited there... man!! amazing fort..built 100s of years back when cement was not there and to see the water routing ideas..its amazing..
the best part is the acoustics behind..Brilliant..they have played with architecture and acoustics here..one can clap from the main entrance of the fort and u can hear that on the top of the fort 450 feet up..and u clap from there its heard on all the 8 gates and 87 bastions- spread arnd 7.5 kms..but sadly maintained..still there is a fantastic sound and light show in the evening (voice of the inimitable Amitab!!)..
VERY IMPRESSIVE ON THE WHOLE.. a must see IMHO...


over to some other titbits..

Irani tea shops r still crowded but did not find samosas stacked up as it used to be..or did i go to a wrong place??

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cell..cell everywhere..bus, shared auto, playgrounds, irani shops, malls, on raods esp on bikes.. just about everywhere people are talking on cell phones..are they faking or are there really so many responding to somany talkers..hmmm...

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land of Biryani..but *sigh* - u order a veggie biryani, just about everybody incl ur waiter looks down up on u..why this discimination eh??

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From Golkonda went to a very interesting place called "Taramati Baradhari"..great expansive place with excellent landscaping on the outskirts..surprisingly promoted by the APTDC..gr8 loacle, grand open air audi etc..but but..u just need to enter the only restaurant there..che..govt to the boot..stupid decor, nonsense ambience, almost nothing available, i_dont_care_u_pl_p(h)ack_off looks..hmm..when will our govt learn..or when will such ideas percolate till the bottom to realise such grand ideas..sigh sigh...

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lots of internet cafes, like this one from where Iam typing this:-)

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met a couple of my old contacts..they all crib they just dont get folks to work in the conventional industry..every one is heading to BPO n co.."hey i work for Dell, u for MS??" seems to be a likable conversation than saying I work in XYZ hospital or ABC dealers..lets see how long??
***

so am dutifully doing my packing assistance for my aunt and also managing these rounds in to the old n new city to have a hang of the place after years..nostalgic..really..
more later..
ciao..