In the meanwhile..

Lots happened since I was here..lack of connectivity, laziness, time all added to the absence..hope am excused another time;-)
Modi was here at madras and I heard him too..in the inimitable yearly meeting of Cho..Modi was there as a special guest in the Thuglak’s yearly jaunt and am happy I heard him..he was matter-of-factly and precise in his stats and achievements..after all one CM means his words and can proudly pronounced them there and rightly received a standing ovation from the elite and nice thuglak readers..
The highlight was CHO’s introduction of Modi..when he had to call Modi to the mike, he said “ I invite the ‘Merchant of Death’ to the mike” and followed by a stunning silence he contd “ yes! The merchant of death to corruption, The merchant of death to nepotism, The merchant of death to to inefficient governance, The merchant of death to to apathy, The merchant of death to pseudo secularism…”
And so stole the show inspite of the glamour value of his guests always..

Then India played to their bill and drew the last test..so the records wud forget all sydney show and call it a series lost.,..and the Bhajji issue is being quietly buried..I find it funny that they are gonna argue he said ‘teri maa ki..’ and not monkey..and actually he shall be pardoned..funny isn’t? anyway since it’s the aussies who are at the receiving end, most are ignoring the veracity of the issue..didnt we used to say cat one time, elephant one time in our college?

I met some interesting folks in the meanwhile and that shall come up in a diff post soon..

Much more happened too: like mushy boys woes continues, yearly Davos sound bytes, Republic day parade and associated bharat ratna noises, sonia’s sudden absence from media galore, sehwag’s return (to form), North India reeling under cold (aaah, effects of screwing our ecology?) Obama giving stiff fight to Hillary and lots..

And in the meanwhile what happened to all those better mortals who used to pen comments here??

Incredible win!

Yeah, The Indian cricket teams win at perth was amazing..as it comes against the best team in the world at their backyard, in what is considered the fastest pitch in the world..added to these it is the Aussie’s favorite hunting ground..they haven’t lost here for more than a decade here..
First impressive step was choosing to bat on winning the toss..that spake of spine- a lost organ with most Indian captains esp Dravid..choosing to bat 1st at perth is a very bold statement to make and that in itself will put the oppsn on back foot..and from there on no looking back..we dominated most sessions.. Sehwag that way is an advantage..the 1 out of 4 times that clicks with the bat he really puts the oppsn on the defensive..he also gives an additional hand to bowl and adds edge to field tactics..
It’s a great win and actually if we had not (as is our wont mostly) dragged defeat on to ourselves at MCG, inspite of the Sydney man of the match ‘Bucknor the blind ’, the scoreline for the series shud have been 1-1 and Adelaide wud have been a series decider and so hopefully a cliff hanger.
The Oz actually smelt that, an insurgent India, coming, that’s why created opportunities for silly pranks and made mountains of molehills and picked on Bhajji who is the easiest pick for suck pranks..It was good that Ind put that Sydney fiasco behind and went out and put up an incredible show..full marks to Kumble..

While on the topic, removal of the big 3 from the ODI is creating flutters and as usual Cal is burning all effigies..lets play for the future..gangs & co do not deserve to be in the shorter version as its difficult for any captain to hide them in the field..they wud have an occasional field day with the bat, but mostly they will be a liability on the field..if they don’t move away on their own, they have to be shunted..its cool! Let the younger, fitter ones be given a chance..

Travel round up..

So the travel (travail?) continued..went to nagpur for a week as a part of domestic obligation and so clubbed some more visits..Topping that list of must-see was Sewagram near wardha (some 70kms from Nagpur) where Gandhi spent a few years and that place is still maintained the same..Dont get me wrong, am not a big Gandhi fan but wudnt hate a lot of his ideas but do feel he did let us down with some of his personal preferences thrusted on the nation. Ok, that's for some other day, this place has a 100 acres of land where they carry out Organic farming in some 30 acres..It was very interesting to interact with Ms. Malathy and go around their farm..They are one of the rare places to have organic cotton and so shirts and other clothings made from that! That was interesting and so was their Goshala, compost yard etc..soon I shall be helping them promote their clothings in south here..

As for Nagpur, it's an impressive small town with fewer cars than bikes and so less traffic nuisances. There were lots of theme parks and the one that impressed me the most was an adventure camp that had so many students indulging in various challenging activities. The trek we went on that hill near by and the rappling(rock climbing, infact climbing down with all those gears) and the other activities that I did for the first time was all a great experience. Add to that the gamut of chat items and sweets one gets to indulge in and u know how happy I shud have been at Nagpur!

Then went to Bombay met up with some school mates and spent a couple of days at Lonavala. This is a over hyped place and a boring one at that, wasn't even as cold as pune! The only good places were the parts near Ambi valley (remember that sahara guy's atrociously expensive colony?) and that sunset place, otherwise it was a big let down.

The express way from Bombay to Pune was great, very westernish and so was the scenery all along. No bikes allowed and so was easy for the car guys. The old highway was impressive too.

Pune was cooler but pollution and traffic was bangalore-like and so was a bit tuff..but outskirts and friends made it better..esp the farm house that my friend Dedhe took me to was out of the world and the treks there in those surrounding hills, food we had, walks along the river was amazing..a very refreshing place filled with O2.. added to that was lotsa greenery and hill views on all sides..one of the best stays in recent times..

So another 2 weeks went by in traveling, socializing and visiting some interesting folks..

Life goes on gmen..now off to coorg;-)

Modi! all the way!!

The travel in the last days and lack of net friendly places deprived us of some spicy happenings being discussed here..topping that was Modi win!
Although many Gujjus I spoke to said it was given, our media esp English ones really added so much imagination to ‘News’ and kept us guessing..the papers like Hindu even twisted the ‘satta market’ and portrayed a modi loss, that is trying to fool themselves and others till the actual verdict came.
But for that rub and some very shining points I wud not have visited this topic so late..
Lets see some of the very striking and unique points:
1/ Did u guys notice that- None, not even our MSM or his political opponents ever lodged any corruption charges against him! Is it not a first in Indian politrix??
2/ I have heard from very close circle (of his) that he is very intolerant to corruption and that’s the major reason for many dissidents.
Hey, is that not sounding like one of us..like what we wud talk with gritting teeth that we shud throw away any one corrupt and shud be impeccable, bla bla..and here he was that! He boldly didn’t give tickets to some 50 of such corrupt guys..
3/ I did have the fortune of meeting him in person once in CH at a private dinner and he only spoke of his plans and invited investments..he infact did that or over did and made his state shine really well. all those present then were maha-impressed with his approach and style.
4/ NO! he never offered any sops this time! No free TV, no free power..infact inbetween even VHP etc protested against him for not giving free power.
5/ a simple man whose brother retired from some clerical job from state govt, another works in a small job and moves around in an old chetak, his mom lives in a slum, one bedroom house and he himself has only 2 peons and 1 cook (each standing for the other in case of absence)in the official residence.
6/ and here most of our visual & eng media was crying to stop a hitler!
7/ None of them ever reported about his simple and still-the-same-poor kith n kin or that he has not amassed wealth..his mom was not even given a place on the dias when he was sworn in last time, she was apparently watching from sidelines (like in our tamil movies!)

It’s a good development that he got elected unlike Naidu and Krishna. It’s a good precedence if such doers get elected so giving us all some hope..
I don’t know about his role in’02 and don’t care if the locals elect him twice after that and esp its this media that is crying wolf..so lets only see the positives and welcome such an honest, capable and performing CM! hats off to him for coming out victorious inspite of all those taints and paints..and esp for his resolve to perform and continue in the same way..

Cricket

The Symonds- bhajji issue: did we hear Racism?
Bull shit..if any one thinks Symonds shud not be shouted at bcos he is the only colored in Oz team, I beg- who is racist here? If he feels threatened in an all white team or Oz society , its his problem..so whats that racism crap our media is talking..
Why was Symonds in the picture at all if Bhajji had a rub with Lee? What does he mean by saying ‘I had a crack at harbajan for this’ and why?? If he says he had a crack then let him also be ready to receive a crack as well!
As for ‘monkey’ thingy itself, the crowds miming monkey chants etc, its just stupid and shameful but no racism there..

Then we have Bucknor! Oh man!! He shud be siphoning a big part of his sal to someone high up, else it’s a miracle he is an elite umpire still after all those goof ups all along. Its no coincidence most of his mistakes were against India. IMHO he shud have been sacked the day he mimed something ugly (indicating alleged usage of some toffee by Dravid) to Dravid, one of the impeccable guys out there.

Now, this is a very good one! Aussies have been having a crack on all players and have been getting away bcos they used to always say ‘lets leave all that’s done in the field in the field itself’ and all teams foolishly thought that was the spirit and never complained! And here, they like fools went and cried wolf.. whining and running like a primary school kid..now there is no escape for them..all teams will go running to the umpires or other officials about all that they usually mouth during the match..(remember that Sarwan- Mcgrath issue?)

A good dev in Oz is that some of the sports legends have got together and shall complain to Aus cric Board about sagging aussie image!

So u saw it..we said this post is about cricket and we have not spoken anything about a game here.. so much for this series! But that’s how pathetic our performance has been, so all our media and followers have pounced on these distractions and are having a field day..
Still Iam happy that once BCCI showed some spine, right or wrong, oz needs this kick up their back..

sorry guys..

I have been very uncourteous and not replied(sms or mails) regarding the wishes for a new year..
I really dont feel up to it to reply those 'once a year' industry and definetly not with additional roaming costs;-0

I did spell that last year here and someone pulled up some funny slurs on me for that, but I insist still my view is that..Its just an industry (like archies etc for valentines and other dog day, boat day etc..) working overdrive..prolly 'partied' is the key word..may be its the booze industry or others..
but its simply another day..may be its different for thats one day I like to keep off my phone!