One nation

India’s lackluster performance in South Africa prompted severe reply in India. For a change MPs also got into the arena. There was effigy burning and slogan shouting against I guess every member of the team along with coach Chappell. There was demands for sacking of Chappell and induction of sourav. Criticism is good positive criticism is better. But behaving like hooligans at couple of loss does not reflect the tradition of this country. With technological advances especially in IT industry world recognize Indians as smart people. But such incidences were loss of cricket game raises such indiscipline behavior is appalling. I would appreciate Sharad Pawar on his decision to back Chappell till end of the contract and give full support to the Indian team. The way Indian team is playing there is nothing much a coach can do when there is sheer lack of application on part of the batsman. The batting lineup should adjust to the condition and apply accordingly. Regarding MPs furor I would lik

Indian tour to South Africa is a acid test for both Chappell and Dravid. There has been lot of criticism of the team and experimentation techniques of Chappell. Whoever is involved in cricket in India should be ready for such type of tirade as it is the psyche of this nation. I fully support Chappell’s experimentation techniques. People should understand that results are never achieved in short span especially in sports. It requires lot of permutation and combination to come up with exact fit. I think the team is going in right direction. Cricket is game of uncertainties and its likely to lose matches in process of built up. Indian fielding has improved in recent times and also the bowling to some extent. Everybody should appreciate that this is a very young team and it requires lot of support in terms of showing confidence in them before they can become world beaters. Another person affected by criticism is Suresh Raina, he has been out of nick for some time now. He has been heavily

Recently I had an opportunity of viewing “Syriana”. The motion picture was nominated for academy awards, with George Clooney winning it for best supporting actor. I wanted to see this movie for a long time because of the hype and reviews over the Internet. It did not disappoint me. The word “Syriana” is a metaphor for foreign intervention in the Middle East. The movie is geopolitical thriller. The story moves around the world from Houston Texas, Washington DC to Spain, Switzerland to middle east. The theme of the movie revolves around crude oil. The movie starts with characters around the world, Bob (George Clooney) is a CIA agent who sells two stinger missiles to a gun dealer, and one of the missiles is sold further to blue-eyed young man. Bob assassinates the gun dealer but the second missile disappears. Matt Damon is a Energy analyst trying to get a business from his company from an emir. Emir of unknown country awards an oil exploration contract to a Chinese company, American Conne

Sachin Tendulkar’s innings against west Indies at DLF cup after 6 months layoff was refreshing one. I had never doubted the genius but certain few manjrekars and other required vindication on their face to acknowledge the little master. The most exciting part of his innings was his aggression. I have followed Tendulkar right from his debut in Pakistan to current but on few occasion saw him hitting 5 sixes. Tendulkar is aggressive player but he seldom hit sixes he is more a four kind of batsmen combining timing with sheer placement, power was never a part of Sachin’s batting. I think this time he was determined to show the detractor that he can play the long handle if he wants but sometime he chooses to be subdued player for benefit of the team. Openings innings with Dravid is good experimentation but I think Shewag will be wasted by this arrangement. Shewag is excellent stroke player with best hand eye coordination. He is more comfortable when the field is up and he has more choices o

Atlantis Space Shuttle flight marked the beginning of new chapter in built-up of International Space Station. After the Columbia accident lot was said and written about NASA’s space program. People doubted NASA’s ability to pounce back after such disaster. NASA’s has gone a radical change in terms of management and problem resolution after the board cited serious problems in NASA’s culture during the Columbia accident investigation. I started working at NASA after the board review and saw immediate difference in approach on critical issues. NASA’s managers gave outmost importance to all the viewpoints and concerns, overall it increased the workload for the managers but gave a greater level of confidence in carrying out the space station mission. The Discovery flight was a logistics flight which was essential to put supplies on the Station. After the Columbia incident the space station was fed with supplies through Russian spacecraft (Soyuz, Progress). For time being they were the lifel

First of all I would like to congratulate author\director\actor of "Final Draft" on excellent performance in the play. I am not avid watcher of Marathi play. I took a shot of watching “Final Draft” after some good reviews from my friend. I watched this play at Gadkari Rangmandir in thane. The ticket was cheap as compared to what we pay to watch disastrous movies at multiplex. So on that count I also would like to appreciate producers efforts on making play affordable to watch. First impression of “Final Draft” for me was unrealistic. I thought the protagonist girl was to fragile in her thoughts to inspire a arrogant professor to mends his way. Please understand that my views on this play are from my point of view and they may sound naïve. But I guess in any work if you want to reach the pinnacle of perfection you have to take in account all the viewer (also a knucklehead like me). I didn’t had problem in understanding the message of the play. But when I watch anything whether

Recent controversy involving master blaster once again raises the questions whether so-called commentators and experts are really qualified enough to speak on a subject matter. What Manjrekar did was a publicity stunt but the worst part was that it was done at a cost of one of the world’s best cricketer. On any scale Tendulkar’s is the greatest cricketer in this universe. Apart from showering praise on tendulkar lets concentrate on the validity of Manjrekar’s claims. First of all I don’t think that Tendulkar is kind of person who will fake injury to get out of series. The point of contention is whether he decides to play after taking account the injury or his current form. I have seen Tendulkar from days of his debut in Pakistan to his current state and I believe he is one of those cricketers who play in spite of injury, I can quote lot examples in which he continued his batting even after being injured. One such example is the famous test series against Pakistan and last test at chen

Miami Heat became first time NBA champion. The team got revived after induction of Shaq couple of years back was a good contender for the ring. The credit goes to the trio of Pat Riley, Shaq & Wade. After trailing by 2-0 against Dallas life was never easy for Miami they had to win all 3 home games and beat Dallas on there home court, which they were not able to do since 2002. Shaq’s presence guarantees you that he will be double teamed, which makes life easier for other players including Wade. As we have seen Shaq was not in his personal best otherwise the series would have been 4-0. He continues to face trouble at the free throw. But I guess Shaq would not mind that adding fourth ring to his record, this win is special to Shaq as it was without Kobe Bryant. Shaq and Kobe were involved in bitter power struggle at LA Lakers which led to disintegration of the team and Shaq moving to Miami. I think this was Dallas Maverick’s best chance with all players including Nowitzki firing all c

India is in very good position in the 2nd test match against West Indies. Having bowled out WI for 210 and asked to follow India has excellent winning chance thanks to some discipline bowling. With couple of days still to go in the test, Dravid must be hoping to pull out a historical win. Rain may play a spoilsport as it did on the 3rd day, but the Indians should keep a attacking field and wrap the game before any signs of rain. Lara must be a worried man; evident from the fact he came after the fall of first wicket instead of Sarwan which shows lack of confidence. The Indians should utilize this vulnerability of the West Indian batting line up in their favor. It is important to see how Dravid rotates his bowlers. The last two days of the match would be a test for Dravid and his captaining skills. Even though advantage with India cricket is a funny game.....................

Yesterday I saw "History of Violence", Academy award nominated movie. I expected the movie to be about negative side of violence. The movie does show the menace of violence on life, but moreover it portrays a man's fight for denouncing violence. The movie starts with two killers going on killing spree in suburban motel. Tom Stall lives a happy life in small town Millbrook Indiana. He owns a diner and his wife is lawyer along with two kids. His life changes when two criminals try to rob him at gunpoint. Tom intervenes to save his co-worker and kills both the criminals. After that incident Tom becomes a local hero and his name flashes all over the news media. At first it appears to be a fight of common man against organized crime. But it soon changes with visit of a man from Philadelphia who recognizes Tom to be Joey, dreaded criminal from Philly. Tom fights battle between saving his family and concealing his identity. The man who had denounced violence for sake of simple

As the news poured regarding the death of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Nicholas Berg came back to my mind. I saw that video showing beheading of the American, I thought I was strong enough to withstand but in hindsight I would have been better not watching it. That video is example of animal instinct and radicalism in name of Islam by Zarqawi. I think Iraq war has both sides to it. American invading a free nation supporting it by the whim and fancies of there president was a mistake. But at the same time killing innocent people under the name of religion in gruesome manner does not also find place in free world. What Zarqawi and his organization did can never be justified. I doubt his killing would completely end insurgency but it will severely hurt the network. The people of Iraq has been suffering for years, first under Saddam and now due to American presence and inability of there leaders to form a stable government. Hope this killing ends insurgency in Iraq and give it

The first test match between India and West Indies ended in thriller against expectation with Windies tail enders saving a day for them. At the end of first days play it was assumed that the match would be drawn or won by West Indies thanks to mindless batting display by Indians players. As the match progressed, some good display of bowlers especially Anil Kumble revived the situation for India. Looking at the Indian bowling attack in first innings, lack of experience was evident coupled with slowness of the pitch. Munaf Patel bowled relatively well in the first innings, while VRV was in all sort of trouble along with Shreesanth. I think the Indian management made an error of judgment in exposing the young inexperienced bowling attack. Either Irfan or Bhajji should have been included; I think they will just do that in second test match. Positive for India was a magnificent double hundred by Wasim Jaffer. It has been long since an opener besides Shewag scored a double hundred for India

Indians played decently in the second innings of the first test match against west indies. Wasim Jaffer once again proved that he good choice for opening. He was lucky at times but played with good shot selection. Shewag needs to be more consistent in converting his 40s into fifties and hundreds. He was playing well untill lack of footwork got better of him. Shewags still has problem with ball moving in air. He banks his batting on hand eye coordination as long as the ball is not moving in he is fine but late swing troubles him which was evident from his dismissals in both the innings. VVS Laxman was in good nick but i think he lost his confidence in getting bid scores. He needs to score a quick fifty to get his confidence back. Indians are in good position. They will have to play real bad to lose this test match. With Dravid, Yuraj, kaif and dhoni still in batting lineup, they can put the WI on back foot. Today's play will be crucial in determing whether india can go for a win. Ru

Recently concluded One Day series against West Indies proved to be an eye opener for Indian fans. Not everything is perfect in current Indian team. Batting problems coupled with lack of experience made sure India gave dismissal performance against a struggling West Indies team (ranked lower in One day rankings). The main culprit was Indian batting lineup, which was not able to adapt to the conditions in Caribbean. Lack of experience was evident from the shot selection by some youngsters. Let take case by case and access the reason for failure. Suresh Riana: First tour to windies had no clue while batting. Surprisingly the same batsman was talk of town during recent series in India. Riana lacked temperament to play and learn in newer batting conditions. He played like he was playing in Indian conditions. Time for Raina to understand that in international cricket few performances cannot keep you in team. Mahindra Singh Dhoni: Played few good shots but still lacked the composure and confi

Sachin declared himself unfit for the forthcoming west indies tour. It is big blow to moral of the team. Indians have been performing exceptionally well in one day but there test venture has been not worth watching. Sachin's absence will be felt more in test arena that one day, owing to his vast experirence. The current indian side is full of youngsters who are roaring to go at every given opporunity but they lack the temperament to play in test match. It will take while for these young turks to convert into good test players and that is why team requires sachin's ability to do the balance act. Morever sachin will missing opporunity to play in west indies before the world cup. For sachin world cup is more like "been there done that", but looking at his current form he needs extra match exposure to get into the groove. After two bad performances in the one days, the cracks in the batting order are evident, they are not threatening for one days but test is concern. Sac

Reservation should be abolished from all the sectors, students should be given admission on the basis of merit rather than on basis of caste, creed or religion. Like minded people should oppose the government on reservations and convert the opposition in terms of votes.

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