The Hologram

India always loses when Tendulkar scores a hundred

2011-04-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

(This has also been cross posted at the Mumbai cricket blog)

It has become something of a given. People are happy that Tendulkar did not score a hundred. Because we all know that if he does, India (or Mumbai) will definitely lose the game. Entire prayers were for the world cup were based around Tendulkar not scoring a hundred in the knock-out games. The sigh of relief when he was dismissed early in the final was heard all the way in Sri Lanka, who were probably wondering whether India were trying to be more than gracious hosts.

So, how true is it? Does India really lose every time Tendulkar scores a hundred?

A quick check reveals that of the 48 ODIs that Tendulkar has scored a hundred in, India have won 33 of them and lost 15, with one tie and one no result. That means India have only lost 27% of the games in which Tendulkar has scored a hundred, which is certainly not bad. In fact, starting 2007, Tendulkar has scored 8 hundreds, and India have won 5 and tied 1 of those, with a failure rate of 25%, so discernable difference there either.

In tests, the hypothesis makes even less sense. Of the 51 tests in which Tendulkar has scored a hundred, India have won 20, drawn 20 and lost 11. The failure rate here is only 22%. In the last 5 years, the failure rate from 16 tests falls to under 19% (8 wins and 5 draws). In fact, the highest this number has ever been is 32% in 1999. The success rate (for wins) was always in the tens and twenties in the 1990s, and since 2002, has steadily gone up to almost 40%.

So, how did this urban legend of India's loss being caused by Tendular's hundreds come about? Probably due to sheer numbers. Most people score as many centuries as Tendulkar does in losing causes. Plus, some epic centuries by him resulted in losses due to the brain dead batting of the players who followed. Such things tend to stick in the memory longer. And good old confirmatory bias probably plays a part as well.

Next time, do yourself and others a favour. Stop this India loses whenever Tendulkar scores a hundred nonsense and just enjoy the game.

Legislation

2011-04-25T04:09:00.001-07:00

The recent ~~dictatorship~~ Lokpal bill reminded me of the following exchange between Floyd Ferris and Hank Rearden from Atlas Shrugged:

Dr. Ferris smiled. "We've waited a long time to get something on you. You honest men are such a problem and such a headache. But we knew you'd slip sooner or later—and this is just what we wanted."

"You seem to be pleased about it."

"Don't I have good reason to be?"

"But, after all, I did break one of your laws."

"Well, what do you think they're for?"

Dr. Ferris did not notice the sudden look on Rearden's face, the look of a man hit by the first vision of that which he had sought to see. Dr. Ferris was past the stage of seeing; he was intent upon delivering the last blows to an animal caught in a trap.

"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against—then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted—and you create a nation of law-breakers—and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

Now that you think about it, doesn't this sound like India?

Libertarian India?

2011-04-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

From this article over at The New Republic on USA 2012 presidential candidate Gary Johnson:

Within moments, he's taking aim at stop signs and red lights. "I'm not opposed to the concept," he allows. "But sometimes, you know, it's 5:30 in the morning! There's nobody on the road!" Johnson laughs, turns in his seat, and fixes me with a grin. "That's the first sign you know you're a libertarian," he says. "You see the red light. You stop. You realize that there's not a car in sight. And you put your foot on the gas."

Does this mean most of India is libertarian?

Weekend Sports

2010-03-12T08:25:00.001-08:00

This is a conversation between me and an American colleague.

Me: We're playing cricket on Saturday. You're coming.

AC: Can't make it this weekend. Besides, I am more of a golf person.

Me: What's so interesting about golf?

AC: I just love it, man.

Me: What about it?

AC: You know when you go to the course for the first time? You swing hard and miss. You miss the ball completely the first hundred times. And then the one time you hit it, it is so sweet, it is the perfect shot. That one shot makes it totally worth it.

Me: That sounds like too much effort for a little bit of pleasure.

AC: That's just the beauty of golf.

Me: Well, how about we spice this up a bit?

AC: How would you do that?

Me: Suppose that instead of just one hole, there are many holes scattered all around you, and you can choose which one to aim at.

AC: Okay, I'm with you on that.

Me: Further, suppose that the ball is not still, it is moving and you have to hit it at the right moment.

AC: Ah, interesting. Crazy, but interesting.

Me: The ball is not on rolling on the ground. It is in the air, flying around waist height, and depending on its trajectory and position, you have to choose your hole, and the precise moment to hit the ball.

AC: That's like no golf I know, but where do I sign up?

Me: So, see you Saturday for cricket?

Vodka Price Fixing

2010-01-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

And so the new year begins with more of the same old. As we all know, the Russian economy is heavily dependent on the production of vodka, creation of new nations from unwanted pieces of Russian land, Finland, and Rasputin related accessories. This has been especially true since the mafia went into recession due to the new capitalist regime. Therefore any effect on any of these vital industries will have deep reaching impacts on the Russian economy, and they provide the best known examples of industries that are too vital to be left to market forces. Accordingly, Russia employs millions of mathematicians and statisticians to maintain the fragile balance between supply, demand and price of these commodities.

The latest in a series of efforts is the new law mandating a minimum price on vodka. According to the new law, any 0.5 L bottle of vodka selling for under 89 rubles has been outlawed. Fake vodka has long been a major problem in Russia, and the new law is widely expected to help in the fight against counterfeit alcohol. Details are sketchy at this point on how exactly this will help, but as Russia has demonstrated for over 80 years, they do have the best economists in the world, and have shown by example the correct formulation of economic principles, leading to decades of prosperity in the country.

Fake vodka producers celebrated long and hard after the new law was implemented, and termed it the best new years gift they could have received. "We have always been hard pressed to justify our prices, and have had to sell our product at ridiculously low prices because of market forces. Now, we can finally justify charging 89 rubles for half a liter of the absolute worst you can get out there. We expect our profits to double this year as compared to last."

When we contacted the Russian minister for price fixing for comments, is response was, "As you can see, our policies are already on their way to working. With these increased profits, the fake vodka supplies will be able to build better equipment and start producing real vodka. Pretty soon, we will be rid of fake vodka from our market shelves."

Absolutely ingenious. Now, why didn't we think of that before?

Right to Intelligence

2009-07-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

In a remarkably productive session of the parliament, the legislature has introduced a new bill which can revolutionize the country. The new bill, called the Right to Intelligence Act has been tabled close to the introduction of another bill, called the Right to Food Act. Just as the Right to Food Act is expected to end hunger in India by providing subsidized, and if required, free food to people, the Right to Intelligence Act will ensure that no man, woman or child will be left behind in the intelligence stakes.

The bill was jointly tabled at the working session of the Lok Sabha yesterday by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Finance Minister, and Mr. P. Chidambaram, the Home Minister. Mr. Mukherjee hailed the bill as path-breaking and said that it will ensure that no one will ever have to face stupidity again. Mr. Chidambaram echoed the sentiments of his colleague, and further added that the constitution will be amended to make this a fundamental right of people.

According to the bill, a new Ministry of Intelligence (not to be confused with the Defence Intelligence Agency) will be set up to oversee the program. Mr. Shivraj Patil, the former Home Minister, is being widely tipped to head the new ministry. With the new act, intelligence will be made compulsary in schools and colleges.

"What we have today is that a large number of people do not possess sufficient intelligence to survive, and as a country aspiring to be among the leading nations of the world, that is just unacceptable." said Mr. Mukherjee. "Just like poverty, lack of intelligence is also a vicious circle. People who are not intelligent will always be taken advantage of by the intelligent ones, and this will further perpetuate their lack of intelligence. We will break this cycle by making intelligence easily accessible by creating an efficient distribution mechanism, especially in rural areas."

On being asked as to how exactly people will be made more intelligent, Mr. Chidambaram said, "We are suffering a crisis today. Many intelligent and not-so-intelligent people have been leaving the country for opportunities abroad. When they do that, not only are they being selfish, but they are also carrying much needed intelligence away from India. We intend to restrict the flow of intelligence outside the country, and any intelligence that is repatriated back to India will be taxed at the rate of 10%. We will also levy a modest surcharge of 2% on all intelligence that has been acquired within India to fund this program."

When asked whether the implementation of this act will be done in parallel with the implementation of the right to free and compulsory education, Chidambaram said that this will not be the case. The government is looking into setting up intelligence kiosks across the country where the needy can go and gain intelligence.

However, not everyone is happy with this scheme. Mr. Prakash Karat, the general secretary of CPI (M) opposes what he believes is a fundamentalist policy. "There is a very good chance that the minorities will get discriminated against. There is currently no restriction on who intelligence will be distributed to. Essentially, the urban elite, with their advantage of superior intellect, will be able to usurp a disproportionate amount of intelligence for themselves. I have nothing against the right to intelligence act, however minorities should have the first option on intelligence, and it should be provided free to them. I am going to raise a protest against this discriminatory act, and till my these concerns are addressed, the CPI (M) will go on an intelligence strike!"

Predictably, the issue has raised the hackles of several local parties. Raj Thackerey, the leader of MNS, feels that this is a blatant attempt to subvert and destroy Marathi culture. "People of Bihar and UP are already coming in large droves and taking away jobs from local Maharashtrians here. Imagine what will happen when they come armed will intelligence!" he fumed. There were reports of violence in Borivli, a suburb of Mumbai, where a mob from MNS set fire to shops and BEST buses.

The law is revolutionary in the sense that this is the first time such an act has been tabled in any country. However, if not implemented correctly, it has the potential for misuse. While we wait and see if this act becomes a success, one thing is for sure. Even if only a section of the population benefits from this act, the average intelligence of the country will go up and India will take her rightful place amongst the leading nations of the world.

Of faces and asses...

2008-10-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is the kind of research that deserves a nobel prize. This is the kind of research that will probably end up winning the ignoble prize.

Often times we have some of the most brilliant ideas and imaginations and questions as kids. Then we grow up, and spend the rest of our lives re-inventing the wheel. For example, you might have wondered about the fact that humans look different from each other, while different members of other species all look the same. You might have further wondered whether other species can recognize each other. And then you might have gone off to play cricket. And totally forgotten about it till now.

Apparently some people did not forget. Messers Waal and Pokorny, who presumably had no access to cricket games in which to forget said ruminations, based their entire careers out of that question. How do chimps recognize each other?

Hypothesis 1: They don't give a chimp's ass.

Hypothesis 2: They actually do, quite literally, and recognize each other by their asses! And faces, of course.

Mr. Waal and Mrs. Pokorny then played the children's game of match the following with some chimpanzees, with column A showing a bunch of faces, and column B showing a bunch of asses, jumbled up, of course. And the chimps passed with flying colours!

Naturally, the question then arises, can us humans win at the game too? Of matching faces and asses? Perhaps. But it is not important. Because, you see, chimps move about on fours (legs, I mean, not the other sort). So of other chimps, they see: 1) faces (when face to face), and 2) asses (when butt to face). The research thus makes perfect sense. With chimps, it makes sense to match faces and asses.

Humans, on the other hand, evolved (if you are a conservative nut, please read to the end of the post before taking any action) to move about on twos (legs again). The unfortunate consequence was that asses were no longer in the line of sight of people. Women, generally being smarter than men, evolved further, and developed breasts as a feature that would attract mates.

With this background in mind, I propose a similar "match the columns" experiment on humans. Except, in deference to evolution, asses must be replaced with breasts. For the sake of thoroughness, I also propose part two of the same experiment with asses. The fun part is that in the original experiment, both columns were featured purely by the test taking chimp's acquaintances, for very obvious reasons. Therefore, said test on humans must also feature only acquaintances of the test takers. Further, since it is the women that evolved breasts (and since no one really wants to look at a man's breasts), they will provide the pictures, while the men will take the test.

Is it sexist? You betcha. Ironically, its the women who brought this upon themselves. Is it unscientific due sample bias cutting off half the population? Maybe. But evolution is to blame for that. Testing applicants are requested to provide names of atleast ten female acquaintances.

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Match Review

2008-05-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

Four in a row, sweet revenge, the return of God, the Jayasuriya show, call it whatever. Mumbai continued their impressive giant killing form with a comprehensive win over Chennai. Mumbai genuinely look like a team that can qualify for the semi-finals, so to call them giant killers is probably a tad unfair. Heck, who cares.

The pre-match talk was all about the IPL debut of Sachin Tendulkar. There were a few concerns about the squad dynamics with Tendulkar's return, and also about his captaincy. As it turned out, the transition looked seamless, and Tendulkar captained the team in ways he never had done for India.

Pollock turned in his best performance so far, which is saying something given the fact that his bowling all tournament has really been inspirational. Nehra is also getting his groove back, continuing on from his performance against Rajasthan, and together, they gave Mumbai another great start with the ball. Tendulkar surprisingly bowled Pollock out by the 11th over, but with Pollock conceding only 9 runs from his 4 overs, it put pressure on Chennai with the run-rate at that stage just over 5 an over.

Unfortunately, the bowlers lost it after that. Both Dhoni and Badrinath started striking the ball beautifully, and made the bowlers lose their line and length. Even Dhaval Kulkarni, who has previously bowled well under pressure, couldn't handle it, bowling 3 successive wides in the last over. Where at one stage Chennai looked like they might just about get to 130, they managed 156. Not a huge total, but one that could become tricky if we lost early wickets.

It was supposed to be the Sachin-Sanath show during Mumbai's innings. Instead, the whole innings turned out to be a Sanath Jayasuriya show. With Sachin's return, the responsibility of senior batsman was removed from Jayasuriya, and he took it to heart with a display that was straight from 1996. I remember a game against Pakistan where Jayasuriya got Sri Lanka off to a blistering start, and soon after Kaluwitarana got out. A 70 run opening wicket partnership, and Kalu scored 0 in that! When Tendulkar got out in the 8th over, it looked a bit like that. The team total was 82, and Tendulkar had contributed 12!

No other contribution was really needed, as Jayasuriya ended up with 114 off only 48 balls and wrapped up the win inside 14 overs. It was actually more astonishing than it sounds. Perhaps even better than McCullum's innings. Twice he hit 3 sixes in the same over. Jayasuriya has always looked menacing in this tournament, but never converting it into an innings of substance. Yesterday's knock alone might have been worth the money spent on him.

While a lot is expected of Tendulkar (as always), it'll probably take him a couple of games to get into his stride, especially as he is coming back from injury. Jayasuriya's knock couldn't have been timed better from that prespective. If he continues on in this vein, it will give Tendulkar the room he needs to get settled into his role.

I hope I don't jinx the team with this, but this really is looking like the 2006-07 Ranji season all over again. Down and out after three games, with no points and relegation a real possibility, Mumbai fought back with three innings wins to seal top spot in the group, and eventually win the Ranji Trophy.

The batting looks pretty good, with genuine batsmen all the way down to number 8. And Dominic Thornely is yet to get going. So long as he doesn't go the Kambli way on the short balls. The bowling looks pretty good as well, with Pollock an Nehra forming an effective opening partnership, and Kulkarni providing wonderful support. The only thing missing is a regular spinner, though with Jayasuriya and Tendulkar in the team, that problem might not be so acute.

Next up is Kolkata with their over the top celebrations. The team and its owner irk me so much that I'd love to see Mumbai defeating Kolkata more than Mumbai defeating Delhi, at this stage. And I'd especially love to see Sachin repeating his 2003 world cup performance against Shoaib Akhtar. It will also be Dwayne Bravo's last game this season, and will go back for the test series against Australia after the match. Here's hoping we send him off with a win.

P.S. In what is turning out to be a ritual, it was Dhoni's turn this time to be booed. No doubt the crowd is certainly doing a brilliant job at supporting the team, and reactions while the match is on are probably fine with a view to provide an advantage to the home team. But to boo an opponent after the game is over when he hasn't done anything to warrant it is quite unnecessary. Further, how can you really justify booing a player when he plays for a different city, and later cheer for him when he plays for India? Sometimes a player asks for it, for example, Shoaib Akhtar going off on his over the top aeroplane celebration, or a player playing for Delhi (ok, kidding!). But in most cases, the players deserve some respect. Oh well, atleast we are not Delhi, where the crowd stones its own captain!

Death

2008-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

I demand capital punishment for everyone involved in this atrocity.

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals Match Review

2008-05-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Mumbai Indians look like they have gotten into a habit of defeating the table toppers. First Kolkata (okay, there were only 3rd, but they were among the early pace-setters), then Delhi and now Rajasthan! This game again showed that the team is better than what many give them credit for. Not quite as dramatic as the Ewing theory, but the performances have picked up ever since Bhajji was banned. It could be entirely coincidental, but it is more likely that the leadership of Pollock has allowed the other players (especially the younger ones) to get a better understanding of their role in the team.

The team does look a really good bowling and fielding unit, even if the batting doesn't look entirely convincing. Today's display was their best bowling performance so far. Pollock was good as usual, but rather unusually, Nehra stepped up with a man-of-the-match display. Hopefully he is back after his injury lay-off and this does not turn out to be a one-off performance.

I've mentioned how Dhaval Kulkarni has been impressive in previous games, and he simply seems to get better with each outing. He got hammered for 17 in his first over today, but came back superbly in his second spell with 2 for 4 off 2 overs!

The other local bowler who impressed today was Rohan Raje, who was also impressive on his debut against Delhi. Both Kulkarni and Raje look like they possess the ability to consistently pitch the ball in the blockhole, which is a great asset in T20. Of the two, Kulkarni looks like he might also do well in the longer version of the game. It is great to see local players perform in the IPL, and these two might just go on to form part of the nucleus of the team in the years to come.

A mention must also go to Yogesh Takawale, about whom I didn't know much before the IPL started. Atleast Pinal Shah was someone who followers of the domestic game might have been aware of. Takawale pulled off a couple of great diving catches to further reinforce the role fielding is playing in transforming this team from also rans into one that can seriously challenge for a spot in the semi-finals.

So far, it has been the bowling/fielding that has won Mumbai all their games. Pollock attributed the change in the team's fortunes to the fact that it took the team a while to get used to each other's roles and the team is now gelling very well as a unit, even if it boasts of no stand-out performers.

It does remain to be seem how the return of Tendulkar will affect the team. In theory, the team should perform better as the batting will get stronger. Hopefully, it does not affect the team in terms of players suddenly being unsure of their role. Tendulkar is nothing if not a team man, and so the chances of that happening are pretty low. Another aspect is the captaincy of Pollock, which has clearly been of a much higher standard than Bhajji's. While Tendulkar does have an extremely shrewd cricketing brain, his two stints as captain of the Indian team have been failures, though part of the reason there was something beyond his control. Also, Tendulkar has limited experience with T20, so it remains to be seen how he and the team handle this.

The team now have a gap of one week, which almost looks like a vacation in the hectic IPL schedule. Mumbai were originally scheduled to visit the Royal Challengers in this period, but because of elections in Karnataka, that fixture now becomes Mumbai's last in their IPL campaign. Next up is Chennai, again at home. Given Mumbai's form, and Chennai's lack of form following the losses of Hayden, Hussey and Oram, that game should be winnable.

Mumbai Crowd Rocks

2008-05-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

Let's have it on record here. The Mumbai Indians fan base is the best in the IPL. The Kolkata crowd may be good and they may be getting all the attention for team loyalty (or is that Ganguly loyalty?), but they are not even a patch on Mumbai.

Mumbai against Delhi has always been a big game in the Ranji Trophy, and yesterday's game was no different, even if it was a top vs bottom clash. And the crowd certainly showed up for the game. We've seen mixed behaviours from the crowds across different franchises, and some of them (Bangalore, Punjab) have been appalling. The concept of supporting a local team hasn't quite caught on in those cities.

Mumbai, however, got into the act from the very first game. Rahul Dravid was roundly booed at the toss, and every decision against Mumbai was met with a defeaning silence, while every four or six from the Mumbai players was met with loud cheers.

The crowd took it to an entirely different level against Delhi. Often in football, people talk of the crowd being the 12th man and even driving the home team towards victory. It is hard to imagine that happening in cricket, but that is precisely what happened.

A huge number of people in the crowds were wearing the colours of the Mumbai Indians, and waving the team flag. But more than that, they created a fantastic atmosphere and quite literally pushed the team to victory. As the match progressed, every good moment for Mumbai was met with louder roars, and by the time Delhi got out to bat, the atmosphere was simply electrifying. Each dot ball was cheered, and while boundaries were met with silence, the roar started again as the bowler ran in to bowl his next delivery.

The crowd was egging on the Mumbai team to win this game, and there was a noticeable lift in the attitude of the Mumbai players, who fielded like their lives depended on it. This put pressure on the Delhi players, and the crowd cranked it up a notch. The atmosphere got to Delhi; they choked, and lost by 29 runs.

In the post match ceremony, Pollock rightfully thanked the crowd for pushing the team towards victory. And in a funny moment, Rameez Raja asked Sehwag if he anticipated the result. Sehwag replied that he did not, and almost immediately, the crowd started booing and heckling him!

What a performance! Take a bow Mumbai. You have certainly set the standard for the atmosphere in the stadium.

Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Review

2008-04-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

Finally, a win for Mumbai Indians. And double delight for me as Manchester United reached the Champions League final for the first time after that historic treble winning season.

Off-field distractions initially threatened to overshadow the on field losses after Harbhajan Singh was banned for 11 IPL games, but Mumbai put that behind them to turn in another team performance, this time managing to make it count towards a win. For the first time, they got their line-up right. Ajinkya Rahane maintained his place in the XI and Fernando made his debut, as Ronchi was dropped after a few poor showings. The wicket looked like it had both pace and bounce, and Mumbai went in with a 5 man pace/medium pace attack with Jayasuriya as back up. As it turned out, the wicket was not at all quick, with the ball not quite coming onto the bat, though there was a bit of extra bounce in the surface.

The two major problems Mumbai were facing all along was the failure of the top order, and an inability to contain the opposition batting in the initial overs. Pollock picked up two wickets in his first over and from that point on, Mumbai looked in control of the proceedings. The bowlers did a fantastic job, especially Jayasuriya, who brought back memories of his performance in the 96 world cup semi final, with a great display of controlling bowling. In the end, Dilhara Fernando decided to have a bit of brain freeze, serving up too many long hops and full tosses to help Kolkata to 137. Who said Mumbai would miss Agarkar?

Ironically, Agarkar turned in a better than expected bowling performance as the Mumbai top order failed yet again. Jayasuriya can be excused as the ball from Ishant that got him was a cracker, but Rahane and Manish Pandey just looked miserable out there. The occasion probably got to them, and hopefully we will see better performances from them in future.

The middle order came to Mumbai's rescue this time, with Uthappa, and especially Bravo, playing sensible knocks to carry Mumbai to victory. Apart from the fact that they played perfectly (well, almost) to the situation, the most pleasing aspect of this partnership was the caribbean flair that they both exuded. Bravo, in particular, played his flicks and drives with typical caribbean nonchalance. Its a pity we wont have him for the entire tournament.

A final point. Nehra bowled one over for 9, and was not used again, even when Dilhara Fernando was leaking runs at the end. Has Pollock lost patience with him after his poor showings in the earlier games too? Expect Khote to replace him in the next game.

The win must come as a relief to the team. With Tendulkar expected to be fit for the next game against Delhi Daredevils, this should be the launching pad to qualify for the semi-finals. Mumbai now play their next four games at home, and this is a great opportunity to string some wins together and move up the table.

Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab Match Review

2008-04-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

It wasn't pretty to watch if you are a Mumbai fan. After two really close defeats, the team had the stuffing knocked out of them in this game. I guess I was a bit too optimistic in predicting a win for Mumbai.

The game went about in predictable fashion, with Kings XI scoring at a good rate. Sangakkara played a fantastic knock to propel them to 182, though at one stage it looked as if a total in excess of 200 was more likely. A combination of poor shot selection by the batsman and some restrictive bowling by Mumbai meant that the total looked about 20 runs short.

As it turned out, it didn't matter one jot. Like I mentioned in the previous review, Mumbai need a good start to win games, and this time we saw a complete collapse. Lee pushed us on the backfoot with two great pieces of fielding, and Ronchi's run out brought back memories of Jonty Rhodes and Inzamam in the 92 world cup, even though that was in an altogether different class.

Mumbai's defeat was really of their own doing, though credit must go to Lee and Chawla for some ripping bowling performances. Almost every batsman got out playing ill-advised shots. Even in T20, it is sometimes better to build an innings than try to finish things off as soon as possible, and no one other than Pollock really showed the inclination to do so. Where other teams have a couple of players who can win games for their team single-handedly, Mumbai seem to be relying on a team effort to win games. It almost worked against Chennai when everyone contributed their bit, but yesterday, with no one able to/capable of imposing his authority on the game, Mumbai always looked like losing once the top order fell away cheaply.

The defeat has to hurt, and possibly might affect the team morale as well. If that is true, then it does look like an uphill battle for the rest of the season. The odds are against them for the next game against the Chargers at home, which will be DY Patil for the rest of the tournament. It will be interesting to see if the crowd is as good as it was at the Wankhede. Chargers look like they might be coming good, despite a third successive loss to the Royals because of their bowling. With Mumbai's current form, I am not expecting much from this game. I only hope the they manage to run the Chargers close, if not actually win.

Finally, things became dramatic off-field as Bhajji allegedly slapped Sreesanth after the game. Whatever be the provocation, it was an extremely stupid thing to do, if true. And if so, Bhajji might be facing a lengthy ban, which is the last thing the team needs at this point. The captain of the team should show a bit more responsibility, and given all that has happened, I hope the team does away with the policy of only letting an Indian captain the team, and hands it over to Pollock or Jayasuriya.

On a final note, it is puzzling why a player of the quality of Rahane finds himself on the sidelines when others like Khote and Yeligati keep getting chances. Maybe it is time for me to start a petition for including Rahane in the team, just like Uncle JRod did for David Hussey.

2008-04-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

It doesn't look pretty when a normally astute writer gets it wrong, possibly due to an unwillingness to take off the tinted glasses. Nirmal Shekar writes a piece stating how sports cannot be driven by the motive of cheap entertainment. If he is thinking of the overly crass nature of entertainment that is packaged around the cricket in the IPL, the objective seems fair enough. A sport is at its best when a battle between two of its exponents is reason enough to watch it. However, Nirmal Shekar seems to be against the very concept of T20, with or without the side entertainment. Nothing wrong with that viewpoint, except that the arguments that he uses to make his case border on the ridiculous. Sample this.

The best of sport allows for the pause. It lets us sit back and savour the has-been and dream of the still-to-come. Nothing that is breathless — and therefore leaves no room for a complex cognitive process leading to emotional fulfillment — can lay claims to sporting greatness.

And in his next sentence, he talks of how a football game reduced to a mere penalty shoot-out reduces a genius like Maradona to a sham.

While most sports allow for regular pauses during the game, football itself does not. The fact is that the best of football games, by their very nature, are one continuous stretch of play, and do not allow too much room for pause. Sample the matches between Manchester United and Arsenal from the past years, and you quite often see a game that is played in high tempo from start to end, and halftime is pretty much the only time when you get to catch your breath and gets your bearings right. In fact, it is the penalty shoot out that provides you with pauses after each kick, and it can only be viewed as the end to 120 minutes of great football.

You might say that a Brendon McCullum on the opening day of the Indian Premier League, or a Virender Sehwag the other night, were irresistible entertainers; well, of course, they were. But to those who know that the best of sport is more than just seat-edge excitement. Against Yuvraj Singh’s Mohali side, Shane Warne bowled a spell that was pure magic. The lovable old rascal was at his mesmerising best. And, believe me, he was not attempting to keep you amused. He was merely trying to win the match for his Jaipur team.

And so were McCullum and Sehwag. How does a spell that Nirmal enjoyed become a performance solely towards a win for the team, while a couple of innings that he (presumably) did not enjoy as much become performances only meant to entertain? Based on what I have seen so far, the players are taking the matches seriously and are giving it their best shot. And of course, they end up entertaining us, just in the manner of other sports.

More than all the big hitters, more than all those muscular marauders who sought to clear shortened boundaries time after time to give the lay fan value for money, it was Warne and McGrath who helped provide a glimpse of true greatness — something that Twenty20 cricket might rarely get to showcase.

I suppose the irony of catching a glimpse of true greatness in a couple of T20 games went past him.

The rest of the article elaborates on the idea that the primary aim of an athlete is to win, while any entertainment is only a bonus. While it sounds like a noble idea, no sport can survive if it does not also seek to entertain. Players play a game of kabaddi aiming to win, but without an entertainment factor, the game is virtually absent from the audience's consciousness.

We remember the genius of, say, a Maradona, or a Shane Warne only because their performances - no doubt brilliant ones - also served to entertain the crowd. People talked about Ishant Sharma's spell to Ponting in Perth endlessly. Only because they were entertained by that great spell of bowling.

Does anyone remember any of Kumble's spells against Pakistan in November? Hardly anyone does, because the games were snoozefests, and there was no edge to any of the performances in that series. A truly exceptional performance will always get noticed because it is entertaining. Such as Sehwag's innings against South Africa in an otherwise forgettable test.

While Nirmal is correct in saying that a sportsman achieves greatness only by playing to win, rather than entertain, to use that as an argument against T20 cricket is only specious.

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Match Review

2008-04-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

What can I say except that I am really happy to see the team not give up till the end? No one really expected Mumbai Indians to win this game, and although we have seen some upsets already in the IPL, I wasn't very optimistic at the start of the game. But given the close manner of defeat, it does hurt.

Close games usually tend to mask the flaws in the team, but Mumbai's flaws were obvious in this game. As in the last game, they were a bowler short, and while Nehra turned in a better performance, Pollock had an off day. With the fifth bowler's quota being filled up by part timers, Mumbai were always looking at chasing a huge total.

Dhaval Kulkarni was impressive again. He showed good composure, picking up Hussey's wicket. And then, inexplicably, Bhajji took him off and introduced Bravo into the attack. This backfired as Bravo went for a few runs, and when Kulkarni was brought back, it was towards the end of the game where Dhoni and Hayden were going for their shots. Mumbai had managed to pull the run rate back a bit during Kulkarni's first spell, and it would have been interesting to see what would have happened had Bhajji bowled out Kulkarni in that period.

To win, Mumbai needed either one of the top 3 to play a long innings, or to get a couple of quick 40s from them. Unfortunately, neither happened, and almost every batsman got out after getting set in, just when it looked like they might be taking control of the innings.

In batting, Mumbai really miss Tendulkar's presence. There is no reliable middle order in the team besides Nayar, and for Mumbai to notch up victories, the top order must fire beyond the cameos. Today, Mumbai needed either one of the top 3 to play a long innings, or to get a couple of quick 40s from them. Unfortunately, neither happened, and almost every batsman got out just when they looked like taking control of the innings.

Abhishek Nayar again showed his quality with a brilliant 45 off just 20 balls, and with Bhajji, shared a thrilling partnership which almost took Mumbai to victory. Someone compared Nayar to Lance Klusener, and like Klusener, Nayar scored two fours of the first two balls of the last over. And then, again, like Klusener, was seized by a moment of madness, as he took a single of a no ball to turn the strike, and the free hit, over to Nehra of all people! Having played a crucial role in getting Mumbai so far, I won't blame Nayar for the defeat. But, had he not taken the single, 10 off 4 with him on strike was a definite possibility.

While the gap in quality between Mumbai and some of the other teams, such as the Super Kings or the Knight Riders is readily apparent, what is heartening is that Mumbai have run both their games to close finishes with some great team performances. Today's performance gives me hope that this team can get to the semi-finals. There is still a long way to go, with 12 more games to play, and anything can happen between now and the end of the league. For the present, I predict a Mumbai win on Friday against Kings XI Punjab.

Insult to Injury?

2008-04-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

As if losing to the test match XI wasn't bad enough, Delhi have to rub it in by treating the Chargers as if they were a pub XI. Gah!

Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Match Review

2008-04-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

It is really disappointing to lose to the Royal Challengers. This was a game you would have felt confident of winning, but a weird team selection and a player not good enough for this level meant that the Mumbai Indians lost their opening fixture.

I won't go into a match report; you can get that at cricinfo. Tendulkar was not fit for this game, so Bhajji took over the captaincy for this game, and he didn't do too badly, I thought. The surprise selections today were Musavir Khote and Dhawal Kulkarni, both bowlers, and, to a certain extent, Dominic Thornely. And more surprisingly, both Fernando and Rahane were not selected!

I think this is where Mumbai lost it a bit. Rahane would have been a great addition to the batting line-up, and his replacement, Musavir Khote, if he can be looked upon as so, did nothing in the entire game. Didn't bat and didn't bowl. Bhajji also missed a trick by promoting Pinal Shah ahead of both Nayar and Pollock, who are much better batsmen than he is. Pinal Shah didn't do a bad job, stitching together a 50 run partnership with Uthappa at an important time, but I felt he got the run rate down a bit when he was batting. Nayar and Pollock played wonderful cameos to get Mumbai to 165, which exceeded expectations at one point of the game, but really was about 10 runs short of being a good total.

And Nehra blew it with his bowling. He is clearly not on top of his game after his injury, and he strayed often with his line and length. Kulkarni, playing his first game at this level, bowled with far greater composure, and indeed, did well to come back well after getting knocked about a bit in his first over. With Nehra leaking runs at an alarming rate, Mumbai clearly missed Fernando. It is easy to say with hindsight that Fernando should have been selected instead of Thornely, who was a bit unfortunate with his injury, but I wasn't expecting Thornely to play this game.

With 30 to win from 3 overs, Nehra decided to bowl a mixed bag of full tosses and long hops and was taken for 19. Till then it looked as if Mumbai might be able to sneak in a win with a tight over. Instead the test match XI wins the game and Mumbai are left to wonder what if.

Mumbai clearly missed having a good batsman who can score quickly in the middle overs, and a bowler who can bowl well at the death. Hopefully the inclusion of Tendulkar, Rahane and Fernando/Bravo for Nehra next match should change things a bit.

Both Jayasuriya and Pollock showed that they can still perform at this level. Jayasuriya teed off wonderfully at the start before being run-out by a throw from Zaheer that would have missed the stumps on any other day. The way he took Kallis to the cleaners for 18 runs in a single over was the highlight of the day for me. Pollock showed that experience always helps, with a miserly spell of bowling at the start of the innings, though he was helped by the fact that he bowled mostly to Dravid.

And a final word about the Mumbai crowd. Most other crowds seemed confused about whom to cheer for. No such issues with the Mumbai crowd, who have got their priorities right. Dravid was roundly booed at the toos, and in an interesting passage of play at the start of the second innings, they cheered every dot ball that Polly bowled to Dravid, and cheered louder when Bhajji dismissed him. Even in the last over, when Kulkarni bowled a couple of dot balls to Akhil, they kept hoping for atleast a draw.

Next up is Delhi away. Victory is possible, if Mumbai manage to keep the openers quiet, and shore up their batting to tackle McGrath and company. Fingers crossed.

Voice of Reason

2008-03-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

After all the hype and inane rhetoric in the Indian media comes a surprisingly sane article. A must read.

Delays

2008-03-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

Al-Qaeda is fed up with ground zero construction delays! Hah!

People, I say!

2008-03-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

The one big advantage that Rediff has over other similar websites, when it comes to accumulating hits, is its message boards. Now, finally, we see some competition to Rediff. Four years and counting!

Headline of the day

2008-02-07T22:14:00.000-08:00

Boys can marry at 18, girls can have sex at 16: Report

Does this mean boys have to wait longer for action? I suppose they trying to promote lesbianism! This is India, mind you!

Remembering the Busby Babes

2008-02-03T22:10:00.000-08:00

(Click here to listen to it sung at the Stretford End)

Oh Manchester,
Manchester United,
A bunch of bouncing Busby babes,
They deserve to be knighted.

If ever they're playing in your town,
You must get to that football ground,
Take a look and you will see,
Football taught by Matt Busby.

They are the greatest team today,
If you don't believe it go see them play,
The type of football, second to none,
'Cos they're at the top of Division One!

It's the greatest thrill that you've ever seen,
They are known as a soccer machine,
They are the best, there is no doubt,
So raise a cheer and give a shout.

Down on Maine Road's greasy pastures,
Play a load of dozy bastards,
Colin Bell, the City ace,
A ruptured duck has got more pace.

Great Rivalry?

2008-01-29T22:25:00.000-08:00

Homer has pointed out the prophetic words of Uncle J Rod: Great sporting rivalries can’t be manufactured by administrators, they need to be fuelled by arrogance, cheating, choking, cockiness, sh1t hot performances and twats.

Great words of wisdom. The BCCI tried to manufacture a rivalry and almost, but not quite, succeeded. I have very good reasons to believe that this was actually manufactured. A great rivalry means more money, and I cannot believe that the BCCI were not quick to spot this marketing technique to create a rivalry.

The seeds were sown during the one day series in India. No one really cared about the matches. It was just a testing ground. The real action was to be in Australia.

Melbourne was just a starter, Australia humped India like the lords they are, and India barely blinked before it realized it had been had. The marketing machinery kick-started in Sydney. The Australians behaved like twats. Then they claimed that the Indians were behaving like twats. The umpires, not to be outdone, joined in. The match referee, not sure what the fuss was all about, decided that it was fun anyway, and went along. And the Indians claimed the moral high. Everyone hated the Australians at that point. Phase one accomplished.

The Indians took their cue at this point, and threatened to boycott the tour. The BCCI, ever the master of the misleading word, supported the players and claimed that there were other things more important than money. Surprisingly, the world fell hook, line and sinker for that. Now it was the turn of the Indians to become the hated party. Phase two accomplished.

Suddenly, Australia realized that the cute chick they had been eying was visiting, and like most school children, were on their best behaviour. And India took advantage and steamrolled Australia at Perth! (By Australian standards, that was a steamroll!) The euphoria of a victory at Perth drowned all other emotions. Most Australians were relieved that their team lost. Some others tried to play foot soldiers of the BCCI and duly blamed umpiring errors for the loss. But the signs were there, phase three was not going as expected.

And it all came apart in Adelaide. A typical Adelaide wicket with no third innings collapse led to a boring game. And the Australians continued to be on their best behaviour even though the girl had left long ago. And so, Indians (I generalize from a sample size of one!) now cannot be bothered to hate the Australians. And the idea of a great sporting rivalry is now left hanging by a thread. Unless they start behaving like arrogant twats again during the one dayers. For you see, it is just not a great rivalry if half the time the opposition tries to make sure you dont hate them.

However, as surely as I can identify the back of my palm, the BCCI will switch to plan B. In fact, plan B is already in action. Justice Hansen found the charge against Bhajji not proven, as Bhajji, very smartly, made his own words indecipherable. The Australian players are furious. Expect some rowdy action during the one dayers. Enough to keep the teams and fans simmering till October. Further, the BCCI, with a typical nudge-nudge message, has asked the franchise owners of the IPL to go easy on Australian player signings. Expect more fuel in April.

The prospect of a great rivalry is not dead yet. And no matter what Uncle J Rod says, in my book, this one has a directed by BCCI stamp all over it! The genius!

WTF

2008-01-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

Don't we already pay them to do just that? And are they actually going to improve if we give them more money?

Sleepless night

2007-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Bastard! There goes my sleep. Hopefully I can still manage a semblance of work tomorrow.

Facebook Mahabharata

2007-11-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hilarious!

(via DesiPundit)

Time-bomb

2007-11-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

Adnan Sami is was a walking time-bomb! Imagine the horrendous mess if he had exploded!

Tagged (sigh)

2007-11-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

The dreaded thing is upon me. I got tagged. Much as I hate it, I do not want to alienate half the people who read my blog. So here goes. My favourite Indian author books.

Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur
Clichéd, yes. But I like it. No, I love it.

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
One of the very few books that simply blew me away with sheer detail. Mumbai itself is a character (and thats half the reason I like this book). The way Vikram Chandra has brought out details of Mumbai is amazing. For every facet of Mumbai that I could recognise, I saw another that I did not know. Brilliant. Go read it.

The life and times of Jamsetji Tata by R. M. Lala
A biographical account or JRD Tata. I read this when I was in school, and found his story very inspiring. Mostly for how he set upon pioneering aviation in India.

Plane Trignometry by S. L. Loney
Okay, I am only kidding.

On my list:
Maximum City by Suketu Mehta
The KaoBoys of R&AW: Down Memory Lane by B. Raman
Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Mission to Pakistan: An Intelligence Agent in Pakistan by Maloy Krishna Dhar
Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramhansa Yogananda
Tarbela Damned: Pakistan Tamed by C. N. Anand (only because I hear it is so bad that it is good)

And I live by how I wish others would. No one is tagged.

Protests outside local court

2007-11-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

A group of people staged a protest outside a local court in Delhi after the court passed judgement in a divorce case. In its judgement, the judge observed that "marriage was anathema without sex" and ruled that a person can seek divorce is the spouse is infected with HIV.

"This judgement is a disgrace and claiming that sex is part of marriage is totally against our culture," claimed a representative for the protest group. "We are a group of people who have no regular jobs and so we have decided to devote our lives to cleaning up the filth in our society. We will continue to oppose everything that is alien to our culture." Questions about what our culture is went unanswered.

Of course, our moral protectors are always correct. So there you have it, we do not have sex after marriage. All sex is before marriage. None after. Which, come to think of it, is probably true anyway.

A botched plan

2007-10-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

(Inspired by this)

If you have never been in the news and if you do not have a fan following, you don't really know what it means to fall flat on your face. It was just mostly bad luck, but I guess part of the blame can be attributed to bad planning.

I suppose I have been a bit too quiet of late and my followers were getting a bit nervous. I mean, I cannot blame them. As any actor or singer will testify, too much time out of the news is not good for publicity. So publicity is what I needed. It didn't matter if it was good or bad publicity. After all, how hard is it to spin bad publicity to paint me as a victim? The crowds never fail to buy it and they revere me even more for that.

So anyhow, I met with my chief adviser (who, apart from advising me on many matters and taking care of day to day activities, also advises me about which boys have been behaving well this week and who deserves a treat and so on... oh that reminds me, I need to refill my stock of oil) and we decided that something outlandish was needed this time. We went through various plans but none of these looked like a good idea. Heal the sick? Nah, too easy (easy to fake sickness that is... what, have you never skipped office to watch India play cricket?) and besides, its been done too many times to have any novelty. Healing the sick is a bit like the "Hello, world" program that you write. An exciting first step, but eventually you move on to more complicated tricks. Manifest objects? That is lame too. Besides, this has the potential to backfire. All too often, the audience gets excited and demands something to be manifested! People demand small objects like coins, notes and lemons. Fairly easy to handle them. But occasionally, it gets tricker and someone demands a watermelon. I mean, ever tried sticking one up your ass? Besides you need to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd, you know. How about transporting a monument, ventured a smart alec. This sounded exciting, until we realized it was also fraught with risk. People might demand go inside the monument, and the whole charade is pretty much revealed.

And then someone had an idea that could only be termed as brilliant. A couple of aides were eagerly discussing the news regarding the space race in Asia. What with Japan sending a satellite into moon orbit and China also sure to beat India on technology, a few people were getting worried about India's progress and whether or not they would at all be able to send a mission to the moon.

And this aide goes, "Baba, why don't you show the rest of world that Indians are the best at this stuff, and present yourself on the moon?" Now this was genius. It managed to solve two problems that had us worried with a single solution. Also, I wouldn't have to shove stuff where I dont want to. Picky people would, of course, claim that this is cheating and that India never developed any technology to get to the moon and besides, miracles do not count. But then again, the same picky people do not believe me when I say I am God, and so I have just learnt to ignore them. Life in denial is much easier, especially in this line of business. Then there was the little matter of how I could actually be present on the moon. (Note: Now I hear some of you waiting eagerly to see how I will transport myself to the moon! Why dont you become my devotee and come to my ashram? We do have a Friday night special going on for new devotees!)

So we spent the rest of the week setting up the hologram projector. Part of the problem is that field testing is not possible. Imagine, you announce with all fanfare that you will appear on the moon, and someone happens to show up just while you are testing. Even the biggest idiot would require some convincing after that. In any case I am sick and tired of having to deal with skeptics who have an alarming habit of pouncing on every mistake I make. But no matter, I have emerged stronger and wiser for it. I do not repeat my mistakes. We decided to test the idea by projecting an image of my face on the ceiling and it worked fine as a charm. Everything was set now and all the announcements were made as well. I was having a really good feeling about this. I even tried to come up with a punchline for this - chal meri lunar - but I wanted to be seen as moving with the times, so I decided agains that.

We had decided to get the public together at the airport. More people, more publicity, more money, more followers, more fun on fridays! We left well before the event started, so that we take care of unforseen delays. People say that wisdom of the crowds is a myth, and the myth was totally shattered that day. More people than we ever imagined turned up for the event! This was turning out to be better than expected!

I, of course, couldnt be seen in public because I was supposed to be on the moon! A few of my aides were nearby, in a concealed location, setting up the system. A few others were in the crowd, disguised as normal people! You might wonder as to the reason for their presence in the crowd. It really is deception 101. You always need a back up for every plan. If things go wrong with plan A, we try to pretend that it worked anyway. Just like management. Someone (one of my inside men) in the crowd yells, "There's Sai Baba on the moon!" and another (again, one of my inside men) yells, "Gosh, you are right, it is Sai Baba!" By this time the whole crowd gets excited, and some totally random guy (one of my inside men) starts proclaiming about what a miracle it is. Now, here is the really smart thing. Another of my inside men starts questioning my presence on the moon. Sort of like the emperor's new clothes. But in reality, actually questioning the lack of clothes is similar to somebody else's problem field and people in general never see it that way. But it is a good idea to pretend that someone does. So a few more inside men end up yelling that they see me. And pretty soon, everyone claims to see me.

The best laid plans fail. My chief adviser was roaring at the phone.

"What do you mean, you cant get the image on the moon? ... The projector what? ... You mean you did not change the image scaling after testing it on the ceiling? ... IT SKIPPED YOUR MIND? ... You imbecile, you #%@&, you ..."

I asked him to take it easy. More pertinently, to lower his volume. People might hear.

"Okay, so how long will it take to fix it? ... A COUPLE OF HOURS? ... What? ... No, I cannot entertain the crowd for a while ... What do you think this is, stand up comedy? ... NEVER MIND ABOUT THE PROJECTOR, I WILL WORRY ABOUT HANDLING THE CROWDS!!!"

He looked at me like a kid does when he has to get his father's signature on an unflattering report card. He looked at me like a kid who would forge his marks! I nodded my approval. He gave a discreet signal to one of the inside men! The inside man gave a discreet nod and vanished into the crowd. Moments later, we heard an ecstatic yell from the crowd. Simultaneously, Murphy played his card.

People looked towards the moon expectantly. I was feeling strangely disillusioned. There was no real excitement in the crowd. In fact, they looked confused. Someone else yelled that the first yeller was lying. I frowned. Much too early for that. That is not one of our men, muttered my chief adviser. I looked out of the window and towards the moon. All I saw was cloud cover. No moon. In the small time period between plan A failing and plan B being kicked into operation, a cloud cover had obstructed the moon. I groaned. This was getting worse.

A scuffle broke out in the crowd. The first yeller, one of my inside men, was being pummelled by the crowd. Such a tragedy. A man of sophisticated tongue!! We decided to get our of the place quickly. When Murphy makes his appearance, he really kicks you in the nuts! Some sharp-eyed guy in the crowd spotted me. And pretty soon everyone was around my car, making wierd noises. Remember, as kids, we used to describe certain situations as "Aage geela, peeche peela" (wet in front, yellow in the back)? Well...

Anyway, luck finally turned our way when some policemen spotted our predicament. They quickly created a path for us to escape. I dont know how we did it, but finally we were back at the ashram. I hear rumours of elections in some places...

How to stop Global Warming

2007-10-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

Stop exercising. Drive, rather than walk, everywhere you go. And if you are vegetarian, it is time to purchase a two wheeler.

IPL Contracts

2007-10-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

New Zealand Cricket Players' Association boss Heath Mills has a concern. He feels that the contracts that players sign with the IPL (or MOUs) are too long at 112 pages and that the contracts might put NZ players who sign them in breach of the contracts they have with NZC. Fair enough. Then he says this.

Mills said Vettori was uncomfortable with a particular clause in the contract that stipulates that "the player is not allowed to play for any other team that may at any point of time qualify for the Champions League".
...
Mills said NZC is overlooking the fact that if Vettori signs his current IPL contract then he would not be able to play for Northern Districts if they qualified for the Champions League.

This concern is somewhat ridiculous. Obviously, no team will want to sign a player if he is going to run away when the Champions League comes around. Since the closest analogy is European football, let's look at that.

If a player signs for a club (say, Ronaldo for Manchester United), he is obligated to play for Manchester United till either his contract runs out, or he is sold to a different club, whichever is earlier. Selling here implies that all three parties (Manchester United, Ronaldo and the other club) agree on the sale (and all its specifics). If Manchester United qualify for the European Champions League, Ronaldo MUST play for Manchester United, even if Sporting Lisbon from Portugal (Ronaldo's childhood club) qualify for the event. Once he has signed for Manchester United, he has no connection with Sporting Lisbon and the question of playing for them does not arise.

Further, if Ronaldo moves to a different club in the middle of the season, he is also cup-tied. Which means that if he has played for Manchester United in any cup competition (Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup), he cannot play in that competition for his new club that season. He can play in those cups starting from the next season. In fact, being listed in Manchester United's roster for the Champions Leauge is enough to make him cup-tied for the Champions League. (League games are not classified as cup competitions, and the player can play in league games for the new team.)

While the merits and demerits of making a player cup-tied can be argued over, the important point here is that Ronaldo cannot play for any club other than Manchester United as long as his contract with them is valid. So, why should it be any different in cricket? Granted that the European/US styled league model exists only in India at present. But since teams from many local leagues do feed into the Champions League, it stands to reason that a player should be eligible to play only for one team at a time.

I do grant Mills one point though. If the IPL team Vettori signs for agrees to release him for Northern Districts, there should not be a problem with Vettori representing them in the Champions League. Which is prevented by the MOU. But then again, the IPL teams are only franchises (US style), and not clubs in their own right (European style), which means the IPL can introduce such restrictions and get away with it legally!

Popularity

2007-09-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

A measure of the popularity of a blog is finding a reference where one doesn't expect it. The original. No matter how illusory, it feels good.

Final eleven for India

2007-09-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

My final eleven:

Virender Sehwag
Robin Uthappa
Rohit Sharma
Yuvraj Singh
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Dinesh Kartik
Joginder Sharma
Yousuf Pathan
Irfan Pathan
RP Singh
Sreesanth

Though I suspect Gambhir will make the squad ahead of either Rohit Sharma (a pity, since he is the only Indian with a century in this form of the game) or Joginder Sharma (he is an all-rounder after all, atleast on paper).

Traffic Congestion Charge in Mumbai?

2007-09-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

There are plans to implement a traffic congestion charge in Mumbai, similar to the one used in London. I have a few questions.

1) Why is a GPS system needed for toll collection? I would assume a simple card reader such as EZ Pass or Toll Tag will be sufficient for such purposes.

2) After the fiasco with CAS, how will the government ensure that a similar shortage of the electronic devices will not occur?

3) How will authorities ensure that the readers are protected from vandals?

4) Given the inefficient system in place for collections in India, with legal recourse not a practical option, how will the authorities ensure that fines are collected in a timely manner? Or, for that matter, that fines are collected at all? Without resorting to hired goondas.

5) What is the financial cost for installing such a system? Does the government believe that there are enough people who will pay the fine to keep the system running on its own? Or does it believe that reduced congestion itself is enough to underwrite the system?

6) If the system is installed as a way of collecting toll for travelling on the most congested roads, what is the guarantee it is not merely shifting the congestion to other roads? After all, the existing public transport in Mumbai is not good enough for everyone to stop using their cars.

7) On a related note, does this mean that the government will collect toll on every major road in Mumbai?

8) Have the authorities analyzed the expected impact of different systems before deciding on the congestion charge? For example, a charge based on the colour of the vehicle and day of the week might be as effective in reducing congestion as the congestion charge, with the added benefit of low investment costs. (I really don't know if the colour charge can be as effective, but the question needs to be answered.)

A lot of this might sound like nit-picking, and maybe it is too. But there are always concerns about directly using ideas that work in the western nations without considering their effectiveness in Indian conditions. And governments in India could never be accused of thinking through the issues. Now that I have done my job in raising some questions, someone go through the job of finding out the answers, assuming they exist.

Conversations with Kane, part one

2007-08-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Kane: "Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems -- but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems incredible." Wtf is wrong with him man? (him here is Varadan)

Me: The idea is that an incident in the past, which has an impact on you, feels good. But as time moves on, it is something like an avalanche, and the incident becomes more and more glorified till it acquires the status of a legend. It could be glorified in your mind, or it can be glorified in public consciousness. It would be something like hyping up the past incident.

Kane: Very true.

Me: Well, now I am sure that is not what beerbelly intends to say.

Kane: Hahaha!

Me: His is more a case of something like this:
Consider an analogy. You feel you can do something, such as perform on stage. But as the time approaches for you to do it, you get more and more nervous and your confidence is shattered for no reason other than stage fright.
Now step back and think of an incident that occurred. In hindsight, it seems okay, but in the moment it does seem incredible, maybe for the novelty factor, and maybe in the heat of the incident, you cannot imagine it happening.

Kane: Dude u seem in a philosophical mood today.

Me: I am bored, thats all. Don't even think what I am saying actually makes sense.

Kane: For mere mortals like us it doesn't.

Me: See, it is easy to speak rubbish and claim it is a great philosophical truth. Or, to simply muddle the heck out of people's brains.

Kane: lol

Me: And it would be funny if people started taking it seriously.

Kane: Quite!

Me: Funnier yet if another person does the same with the same effect.

Kane: Quite!

Me: And funniest if the two sets of people start fighting with each other as to which one spoke the greater truth.

Kane: Hahaha indeed!

Parallel cricket league

2007-04-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

The latest news regarding Indian cricket is that Zee Tv's chairman, Subash Chandra, has announced the formation of a parallel cricket league for Indian domestic cricket. Well, not exactly, but he atleast has plans for creating a parallel league, and as such, has applied for permission to the BCCI. On first impressions, this seems like a good idea, both for Zee TV, and for Indian cricket. But following India's early exit from the world cup, emotions are running high, and it is easy to view any radical idea as a step in the right direction.

In the short run, the parallel league will be nothing but a money making enterprise for Zee TV and the BCCI, which has been woefully inadequate in tapping the market for domestic cricket. The most likely structure of this league will be something along the lines of the PHL, with the tournament lasting a month or less. If Subash Chandra does manage to attract the best players from India and abroad, there is no doubt the players in the league will be exposed to high quality cricket for a short time. But this will not help Indian cricket improve any more than a few international matches every two years helps the associate nations improve their cricket.

Even with the parallel league, many of the existing problems lacing Indian cricket will remain. The dead nature of Indian pitches used in domestic cricket, the lack of fitness among the players, lack of killer instinct, et. al. are problems that will remain. This is not to say that these problems cannot be solved. In fact, in the longer run, it will make sense for Subash Chandra to make sure that these problems are addressed in the proper manner. If he plays his cards correctly, he will have a winner on his hands, and if his intentions are genuine, so will the BCCI.

This announcement would have pushed them out of their comfort zone. Already, the media and the people are waiting to scrutinize every move that the BCCI makes. If the BCCI does accept Zee TV's offer, it is going down a one-way lane. I cannot imagine the BCCI pulling out in a couple of years time when (if?) the league becomes widely popular and financially beneficial. Furthermore, for domestic cricket to improve, it makes logical sense for the parallel league to expand in duration and number of teams, and to eventually replace the existing domestic league, or at best, merge with it. And therein lies the problem for BCCI. For it must somehow ensure that its authority as the guardian of Indian cricket does not get diluted by its partnership with Zee TV. Zee TV, while promoting a package that will appeal to the fans, will try to ensure the best quality possible, and the BCCI will be loath to listen to a third party on how run the cricket in this country.

The bottomline is that Subash Chandra's proposal is a much needed booster for Indian cricket, which has hardly been able to get itself out of the rut it has gotten itself into. If successful, the league will make the players more professional in their approach to cricket, and India will have the strong domestic league that the fans have been demanding. There are many pitfalls along the way, not least, the question of authority, but none insurmountable. The only real issue is whether or not the BCCI will allow it's ego to get in the way.

RIP Puskas

2006-11-17T18:19:00.000-08:00

While most of the desi blogosphere seems to be writing obituaries to Milton Friedman, the death of the legendry Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskas seems to have escaped the notice of most desi bloggers.

Puskas is one of the best strikers ever in my book, even better than his compariot, Alfredo de Stefano, who played alongside him at Real Madrid. While I have not had the pleasure of ever watching a game of his, his exploits present a vivid story of a remarkable footballer. He had an astonishing goal scoring record for both club and country, scoring 84 goals in 85 appearances for Hungary, and 324 goals in 372 appearances for Real Madrid! The highlight of his career is undoubtably the European Cup final of 1960 against Eintracht Frankfurt at Glasgow, where he scored four goals in a 7-3 win (de Stefano scored the other three)! He had also made it a habit of scoring hat-tricks for Real Madrid in big games, including one in the European Cup final of 1962 against Benfica, and yet ended up on the losing side on that occasion!

Predictably, he was very popular in Hungary. When he returned to Hungary in 1981 to play a game, the demand for tickets was five times the stadium capacity; this for a game whose only publicity was by word-of-mouth!

I doff my cap off to one of the most brilliant footballers of all times!

Digital (Un)Logic

2006-10-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

A recent discussion with a relative of mine about American students in general reminded me of this incident that happened in summer, when I was teaching Digital Logic to second year students.

(Those of you not familiar with the concept of an electrical signal might not get this!)

The topic of the day was propogation delay of gates. The lecture had just finished and I couldn't wait to get away from the class and go to watch the world cup game between USA and Czech Republic, when this guy comes up with a doubt. Those who know me will know this was the worst time to catch me, football (soccer) games are after all no ordinary matters! I tried to be quick about the whole thing.

He had some trouble understanding how the signal propogated through a particular circuit, where the input was connected to a NOT gate. The input switched from zero to one. I thought the analysis was fairly straight-forward, but no, he didn't get it.

"This input," he began, "it changes from zero to one, right?"

"Yes." I replied.

"So, the output of the NOT gate goes from one to zero?"

"Yes!"

"So why doesn't this output go back to one??"

It certainly would be interesting if NOT gates began to do such things to the output, but on balance, not such a good thing because the job of a TA would then become infinitely more difficult!

"Theres no reason why it should go back to one!"

"I see. How about the input?"

I blinked. Atleast this one was a straight-forward question. "Well, what about the input? It changes from zero to one."

"Yes, it does, but shouldn't it go back to zero?"

I really had no idea what he was upto by this point. Maybe he just wanted to irritate me with such inane questions, something that others had experienced at different points in their teaching assignments. Maybe he wanted to talk about the inherent randomness of the universe. Or maybe...

"If the external circuit driving this one has its conditions changed, then maybe that can get reflected as a switch back to zero, but otherwise, the input will not change to zero all on its own."

The look of bemusement on his face suggested he really did not get it. By this time, he had started using his hands as an aid to speech, treating the signal as if it were some emotion gushing forth from the heart.

"The thing I do not get is," he continued, with his hands moving away from his chest in the manner they sometimes do when one is professing one's love to a lover, "after the input has finished giving the 'one' to the NOT gate, shouldn't it get extinguished and go back to zero?"

Four and a half vodkas (neat) wouldn't have done half as much damage to me!

Premiership

2006-08-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

Its great to see some football again! The time between the end of the previous season and the start of the next is perhaps the worst one to endure! Yes, we had a world cup, but it is only a distraction to the joys of the regular season!

I did have a jhalak of sorts when I went to watch Barcelona play the NY/NJ Red Bulls at the Giants Stadium. Watching a game in the stadium is a whole lot better than watching it on TV. The excitement doesnt quite get translated on TV (the crowd was suprisingly vocal), and you enjoy the luxury of watching the entire field, knowing where each of the 22 players are! Of course, it helped that Barcelona put on a show, almost toying with the home side. Ronaldinho, in particular, was near his best, and deservedly received a standing ovation when he was taken off. But the biggest cheers actually went out to Messi, who showed that when he is at his best, he often overshadows Ronaldinho himself!

The premiership got underway yesterday, and it was immediate delight for me, as both Arsenal and Liverpool only managed draws in their opening fixtures. Chelsea did win today, but it would have been too much to expect a hat-trick of opposition fixtures going your way! But the biggest source of cheer was Manchester United's splendid performance today against Fulham. In fact, twenty minutes was all it took to blow the opposition away! Rooney and Ronaldo, in particular were excellent, and it looks as if they have resolved their world cup dispute once and for all! Saha was a constant menace all throughout with his pace, and for once, even Patrice Evra had a decent game!

It was probably just the start needed for Manchester United. They might not be favourites this time around, but they are going to be no roll-overs either. The midfield is still cause for some concern, but the squad does look to be the most balanced of the past three years! And if Hargreaves does come to Old Trafford, anything will be possible!

Heres to the new season, and heres to hope - that Manchester United will win back the premiership (if not the Champions League)!

God

2006-08-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Found a Sufi teaching that illustrates the point of God:

A man knocked on the God's door. "Who's is there?" asked God from within. "It's me," said the man. "Go away then. There is no room for two," said God. The man departed and wandered in the arid desert until he realized his error. Returning to the door, he knocked once again. "Who's is there?" asked God as before. "You," answered the man. "Then come in," God replied.

(Quote from here.)

Sanskrit workshop

2006-08-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

UMD Samskritam is a branch of Samskrita Bharati at the University of Maryland. They also have a website for spreading the use of Sanskrit. They had organized a two day weekend workshop in Maryland on 5th and 6th August. I was interested in learning Sanskrit for a while now, and Arun had got me interested in workshop. Since I had nothing to do anyway, I went ahead for the workshop.

The method of teaching at the workshop was very simple. Instead of starting off with grammatical rules and vibhaktis that sees the student lose interest very quickly, the focus was on teaching to speak basic Sanskrit, to be able to alteast start a conversation in Sanskrit. Mr. Rajesh Rachabattuni, who was in charge of the workshop, is a really good teacher. He tried to use as few English words as possible, yet the concepts were understood by everyone.

A lot of words and usages were taught in the workshop, but I probably retained only about half of that. Which is expected considering this was my first exposure to Sanskrit outside of mantras, and a whirlwind one at that too! But for those who had prior experience of such workshops, this would have served as an excellent review session. Either ways, the workshop was beneficial to everyone in attendance.

While I probably might not be able to speak fluently (thats asking for too much after just two days), I can certainly manage broken Sanskrit (the grimace on the face of Rajeshji notwithstanding). The biggest plus, though, is that I can now read Sanskrit to a moderate degree. I just logged onto the samskritam yahoogroup, and I could almost completely understand the latest message in Sanskrit. For this, I must thank Rajeshji, Arun, Avinash and everyone else at the workshop who helped clear various doubts at different times!

The next step now is to organize a similar workshop at Rutgers. The group at UMD has already promised help. I really hope the aim of Samskrita Bharati is fulfilled in the future.

Remembering Mohd. Rafi - A Tribute

2006-08-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (July 31) was the twenty sixth death anniversery of Mohammad Rafi, who, in my opinion, is the greatest (male) singer of the hindi film industry. Rafisaab had a deep and melodious voice over which he had such control that he could sing just about any type of song. The genius of Rafi lies in the fact that he could make just about any song seem easy to sing. Perhaps no greater proof of his genuis can be found than the fact that Madan Mohan (of whom it was said that while the rest composed for the masses, Madan Mohan composed for the classes!) almost always preferred Rafi's voice for the male singer because only he could have done justice to his compositions.

In rememberence, I initially decided to list my ten most favourite songs of Rafi, but it was a damned difficult choice even with separate listings for solo and non-solo songs. Hence I have taken the easy way out and simply listed only those songs where Rafi sings for Madan Mohan! (Why Madan Mohan? Because he was the most brilliant of all music directors.)

1) Aakhri geet mohabbat ka suna loon toh chaloon

2) Aapke pehloo mein aakar ro diye

3) Baad muddat ki yeh ghadi aayi (with Suman Kalyanpur)

4) Main nigaahen tere chehre se hataaon kaise

5) Main yeh sochkar uske dar se uthaa tha

6) Meri duniya mein tum aaye (with Lata Mangeshkar)

7) Rang aur noor ki baarat kise pesh karu

8) Tu mere saamne hai

9) Tujhe kya sunaaon main dilruba

10) Tum jo mil gaye ho

Indian response to Mumbai terror attacks

2006-07-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

I really did not want to write what might be just another post on how India should respond to the Mumbai blasts, but I get the feeling the incident is slipping out of public memory. We need to remember the incident as if it happened yesterday so that we can force through the required changes that are needed in our security and such.

Much has been made about how India should respond to the terror attacks. A few people have called for us to attack Pakistan to show we mean business. Others, including me, have criticized the pseudo-resilience of the Mumbaikars, which is more akin to helplessness rather a show of strength.

As for our response itself, the Prime Minister delivered an insipid speech that would have done wonders to the confidence of the terrorists! There seems to be no move to improve our preparedness either. So much for a kick up our backsides! BongoP'o'ndit has a summary of the Indian response so far.

Our long term response to the terror attacks is not as simple as it sounds. It is not simply about improving our preparedness in case of future attacks, or simply about boosting our intelligence network, or about holding Pakistan accountable for the attacks. It is, of course, all of these, but also more.

While Pakistan does deserve a response, that is not the end of it all. India must stop playing the blame game. It merely shifts the focus to Pakistan, while ensuring that India does nothing about its own position as far as the attacks are concerned. The evidence is mounting that the actual attacks were carried out by Indian muslims, and this is cause for real concern. This means there is something fundamentally wrong in the state of the country. A highly cathartic self-introspection is needed as to why things are going wrong. This is a time when the country must stay united and not split into several distinct communities each pointing the finger at each other.

First and foremost, we have to accept the bombings as a jihadi attack ([1], [2], [3]). In fact, Maloy Krishna Dhar, has likened the terror attacks to an all out invasion of India. This is a very serious statement, and it deserves our full attention. The notion of misguided youths does not hold water any longer. Misguided or not, they are causing serious damage to the nation and we must spare no efforts in stopping it. For this, our intelligence network needs a massive and urgent upgrade. Our response system needs to be revamped to standards that the western nations follow. And importantly, the government needs to stop playing its minority politics, which while alienating the minorities from the mainstreem, also drives through the right-wing ideology that creates anti-minority policies. Again, the country desperately needs to stay united.

Secondly, India has to stop expecting the western powers to do something about this. This is our own problem, no matter how intricately it is tied in with the global jihad, and we must learn to solve our own problems. If for no other reason except that the US cannot be trusted to do anything (and by extension, the western world). The ToI claims that India does have proof that Pakistan was behind the terror attacks. India must now show some spine in its diplomacy with Pakistan. Peace process be damned; when Pakistan is not at all serious about the peace process, India is living in an illusion if it expects anything positive out of it.

India must take up a strict stance wrt to the terror camps operating in Pakistan. It does, after all, have every right to expect Pakistan to do something about them, failing which, to take matters into its own hands. While operations mounted at the terror camps would be welcome, attacking Pakistan itself is not a good idea. The moment India attacks Pakistan, the entire middle-east will be against us. Expect bombings all over the country on a daily basis. Coupled with the war itself, India's already thin emergency resources will be highly stretched. Even if the military manages to gobble up Pakistan, it will not be the end of it all. Expect the war to escalate to global proportions. Not a situation anyone except the arms companies will be pleased with.

Finally, India must ensure that through all this, the civil rights of its citizens are not violated. While this seems like a trivial point, any small attempt at restricting the liberties of the citizens does nothing except divert the focus away towards less important events. Which is in fact what is happening right now! Amidst all the hullabaloo about the banning of blogs, let us not forget that eight bombs exploded in Mumbai on the 11th of July, 2006. Let us not allow the government to snooze back on its job.

(Cross-posted on www.desicritics.org)

Mumbai is so resilient

2006-07-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, 7 bomb blasts brought the city to a crunching halt. Four hours later, trains on the western railway line were operational. Today, everyone went back to their offices and schools and life continued as normal. Mumbai bounces back in a single day. Great, admirable, commendable, that the city can recover so soon. But I cannot help feel that this same resilience allows the government and concerned officials to relax, to not even put a token effort in trying to come up with measures that will help the city in case of a repeat occurance.

Granted that it is not at all an easy task trying to prevent terrorism of this sort. It might even be impossible to eliminate it in its present form. But that doesnt let the state and national machinery off the hook. The fact is that even the simple, day to day, routine measures that are being adopted at other cities such as NYC or London to try and prevent future attempts are simply not present in Mumbai. That the government will not do anything on its own is a given. But part of the problem is the city itself.

Now do not take me wrong, for the resilience of the city is a very good thing. It allows us to show the proverbial finger to the terrorists; they cannot disrupt our life for long. But on the other hand, if the aftermath had lingered on for a while, public resentment does not die a natural death. It builds up with every passing day where the routine is not followed. And this resentment can prove to be a very powerful thing.

If riots can get the officials to really take notice, so can open and prolonged resentment against the state machinery for not doing its job. The longer it lasts, the more likely it is to spread to other cities; after all they may be next on the terrorists hit-list. A mass movement like this cannot simply be ignored by the government. The fall-out of such a movement would have its own benefits, with increased security measures.

Call me an idealist if you must. But when people continue on with their lives as if the blasts were nothing but a small blip, the motivation to force the authorities to do something dies down soon enough for the officials to go back to sleep. People must stop behaving as if nothing has happened. They must raise a huge hue and cry about this issue, throw a tantrum, whatever. It is for their own good.

Penalty Shoot-outs

2006-07-10T04:50:00.000-07:00

I had been planning to write this for some time now, but with the world cup final ending in a penalty shoot-out, now is a good time as any for this post.

My contention is that penalty shoot-outs are not a fair way to decide a football contest. It favours the team that is generally good at taking penalties, while ignoring everything that has gone on for the past 120 or so minutes. The game really must be decided based on general play, rather than a lottery of penalties.

The unfairness of penalties is best exemplified by the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Arsenal in 2005, a game which Manchester United dominated (Arsenal did not have a single shot on goal till the penalties!), but lost on penalties. Some people argue that Manchester United did not deserve to win because they could not score in 90 minutes, but the same people have no explanation for why Arsenal deserved to win the game when they couldnt muster a single shot on goal!

So, here are a couple of suggestions for doing away with penalties.

1) Continue playing extra time (with a break every 15 minutes) till you get a result.
Generally teams tend to play defensive in extra time. Which means that more often than not, they are looking to hold on till the penalties. But now since there are no penalties, someone must score. To score, you have to play attacking football. Teams also know that they cannot afford to keep playing indefinitely. The fatigue factor will come in sooner or later, and as the game keeps getting prolonged, both teams will be pretty desperate to score. And score they will. And you will very rarely see games being played beyond the 3rd or (at the very most) 4th over time. An extra 15 or 30 minutes in favour of penalties seems worth it.

2) Modify the penalty system to make it fairer.
Basically, this means setting up an attack against defense kind of play, with 4 attackers, 3 defenders and a goalkeeper (the numbers can be different). The play continues till the ball goes out of play. The half-way line is also considered to be a boundary. At 5 plays per team, the team that scores more goals wins.

So there it is, my bit towards making knock-out games in football fairer to the teams that play well and deserve victory.

Orkut Irony

2006-07-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

I got this message from someone on Orkut. Seems likely that I was not the only one to receive this message.

I got a personal email today from Mr. Orkut today and he has mentioned that all the people who have been sending hoax (and irritating) emails about Orkut profile closures are about to have their profiles cancelled.

It has come to their notice that sending some crappy "do this ya Gabbar aa jayega" emails have been spiking up email traffic and hence the threat.

The wise can take a hint.

Cheers.

The irony of the message was apparently lost on him!

Meera Jasmine

2006-07-06T16:26:00.001-07:00

Another day, another controversy! Sometimes I wonder if India is the land of controversies, we always seem to have an awful lot of them. This time, its Meera Jasmine, an actress from Kerala, in the midst of it all. She, born of Christian faith, tried to enter a temple in Kerala to pay her respects. Nothing strange in that, because she has always been reverential towards the Hindu form of worship. Except that in Kerala, non-Hindus are banned from entering temples!

Which I find highly ironic! On one hand, Sanatana Dharma means eternal righteousness (a crude translation), which is irrespective of time, place and person, and on the other hand, we have a term called "non-Hindu"! In fact, the true notion of Christianity preaches unqualified love for others and for God, and to devote one's life in service to God. (The naive notion of exclusivity was a later addition, meant for political purposes and has nothing to do with spirituality!) Leaving out the differences in the philosophy of existence (which does not really affect the common man in any case), I see Christianity as no different from the Bhakti tradition within Hinduism.

So how does someone justify this principle of exclusivity? The justification for this that I know of is that at a time when there was no such restriction, christian missionaries used to conduct their proselytizing activities within the temple premises! Yes, this is a valid concern, and such activities must simply not be encouraged. But then, the temple authorities could easily have someone on the vigil, looking out for such unscupulous activities. Atleast, no genuine worshipper will be denied admission because of his/her faith.

Drisyadrisya and Rambler have come up with a petition protesting against this unfair treatment. I strongly encourage you to sign the petition.

On a final note, while I do agree with the need for universal entry, it would be counter-productive if one were to be too critical of the temple authorities. After all, there is a very thin line between breaking tradition just for the sake of it, and calling for genuine reform.

Football and the American

2006-07-03T00:18:00.000-07:00

So now we have people being paid for being really stupid. Well, yes, Bush was elected POTUS six years ago, but this interview by Marc Fisher on why America hates soccer (erm, he means football, poor sod) really does reach unprecedented heights of stupidity! Absolute ROFL stuff, this interview of his. It reinforces all the American stereotypes, and then some.

Confused and Patrix come up with a comprehensive response (two responses, really), blowing to bits almost every statement of the clueless moron. There is nothing left for me to say.

Sabarimalai Controversy

2006-07-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Recently, Kannada actress Jayamala admitted to entering the sanctorum of Lord Ayyappa at the Sabarimalai Temple. Since Lord Ayyappa is considered to have taken a vow of celibacy, menstruating women (women between the age of 10 and 50) are not allowed inside the temple. The revelation of Jayamala has sparked off a huge debate, with the temple officials asking for a probe into the matter. Equally, it has given way to indignation among people, especially those concerned over women's rights over this discrimination against women.

The main question to ponder here, is whether this practice needs reform, whether entry into the temple should be thrown open to all. The main point is that of impurity. Mentruating women are considered impure. If this is indeed the case, then there is a very strong argument for maintaining the status quo. Even apart from menstruating women, not everyone is allowed into the temple. Before a person can enter into the temple, he or she must follow a vrath (or vow) for a period of 40 days. Following this vow strictly is no easy task, and the one who maintains this vow for 40 days is considered to have purified himself sufficiently to seek the grace of God. This is, of course, no idle set of regulations, but has sufficient philosophical validity without ascribing to dogma. The topic of impurity itself can be the basis for a series of articles, so for the purpose of this discussion, I will just accept the need for self-purification as prescribed.

The main point of contention here is whether or not menstruating women are impure. Since neither am I a religious scholar, nor am I a seer, I do not know what the answer is. But if I were to hazard an answer, I would say that menstruating women are not impure. Philosophically, Shiva and Shakti (male and female) are always potrayed together, one does not exist without the other. The female aspect of divinity is considered just as important as the male aspect. In ancient times, India had many women seers, some of whom have even composed a part of the Vedas! In recent times, we have Mata Amritanandamayi, who is considered to be a saint. Would such enlightened beings, who have already seen God, be denied admission to a temple? Even if they are menstruating? I think not! Ergo, why should an ordinary women be denied admission? After all divinity is supposed to permeate all of the material universe, including menstruating women.

Just my 2 cents on this issue, but whether or not any reform will happen is anybody's guess.

What's this?

2006-06-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

How many of you can hear this? How old are you? (Link from this blog.)

Coorma Avatar revisited

2006-06-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Like I pointed out in my previous post, it is the symbolism that makes the story of the Coorma avatar compelling to read. Of course you may not agree with the message passed on by the story, but that is your problem.

The most comprehensive symbolism of this story was found here, and I shall unabashedly use its contents in this post.

The story states that to obtain the Amrita, the ocean of milk has to be churned. Three symbolisms already in the first line. Amrita, the nectar of immortality, is the final enlightenment achieved by a practising student. It is the true self. The ocean of milk is the pure (white as milk) consciousness that is present within us, which is the complete truth, and is not contaminated by any other. The true self thus resides in the ocean of pure consciousness (#

). And the act of churning is the churning that goes on within our minds as we come to terms with the reality. Since the true notion of reality is a huge change of paradigm from the world we think is real, the mind cannot come to terms with it immediately, and the process of this acceptance is the churning. It is unavoidable and necessary. The process of churning itself has a simpler meaning. The story states it as a pull between the Devas and asuras alternately, while it really does mean the pull of the good and the bad which keeps alternating, which is really what leads to the confusion. But like I said, its necessary to achieve progress, it makes you step back and analyze the situation more calmly.

According to the yogic school of thought, the kundalini energy flows up the spinal column, and one must learn to harness this energy for spiritual progress. The Mandara mountain represents the spinal column, and Vasuki, the king of serpants, represents the kundalini, or serpant like energy. As for the first act of asking the Devas to hold the tail of Vasuki, we saw how it was actually a blessing in disguise. The symbolism here is that at times we must be humble enough to perform tasks that seem to be beneath our dignity. It may not be attractive, but it certainly is more beneficial than doing the likeable thing over the long run. Long term benefits over short term gains.

As soon as the churning begins, the mountain sinks beneath the water surface, which is indicative of how any attempt at spiritual progress will falter without a firm foundation. Vishnu incarnating as a tortoise represents the vital breath that provides the foundation for spiritual progress. The Halahala poison that first emerges from the sea is the pain of the paradigm shift, the pain of severe self-introspection. The student certainly is not mature enough to deal with it. Shiva, the greatest yogi known to mankind, is the guru who helps the student in such matters. His swallowing of the poison is indicative of the guru's efforts at placating the student by making the emotional disturbances go away, not permanantly, but atleast upto a point where the student matures enough to handle them. This is why the poison is stuck in Shiva's throat, the part of the body where speech emanates from.

After Halahala, the Goddess of intoxication comes out. This is the intoxication of passing through the first step. If you cannot control yourself, you yield yourself forever to this intoxication and never go further. Similarly, the other gifts are symbolic of the various siddhis attained by the seeker. If the seeker gets attached to such gifts and begins revelling in them, he will never get the ultimate prize.

Lakshmi, the Goddess of fortune chooses Vishnu (symbolic of the pure self) to be her own. The set of poisons that have to be endured before this happens, however, is equivalent to another stage of paradigm shift, though not as disturbing as the first one, since most of the work has already been done in this regard. But this shift has to be completed nevertheless. It is another stage of self-introspection, which is still somewhat difficult to deal with, but if the seeker comes out of it alright, fortune is on his side.

Dhanvantari, the physician (to be) of the Devas is the permanant good health (of the soul, not the body) attained after the final enlightenent. Fittingly, she carries the Amrita with her. Even at this stage, the bad can overcome the good and the entire journey would have been fruitless. This is shown by the asuras running off with the Amrita. How many times have we seen a great feat almost completed, but was not because the protoganists choked at the end? The presence of Mohini is the final distraction in this great feat. She can single-handedly trip you down if you have negative tendencies. The asuras cannot look at reason when they are infatuated, and are never able to get out of the grip of Mohini's charm. The Devas, in contrast, trust the Lord, and get the Amrita at the end. If you let the dark side become the dominant side, you end up much like the asuras did, deprived of the nectar. If you maintain control of your self like the Devas did, you are rewarded with immortality, and you can easily supress the negative tendancies that are present within you.

The final bit about Rahu attempting to get some of the Amrita is the statement that a wee bit of the negative tendencies lingers on. It is very easily controlled, and any attempt by it to enforce its superiority will soon fade out. From this new viewpoint, the story of the Coorma avatar is not just a story of the universe with a battle between the Devas and asuras, but a story about the self, about the process of enlightenment, about the pull of the good and bad sides. The moral is that letting the good flow throughout has its own rewards, and in fact, it brings about the ultimate reward - immortality.

# A digression:
The fact that our true self resides in pure consciousness is also represented in the depiction of Vishnu. Vishnu is always shown residing in the ocean of milk, resting on Anantha Sesha. Vishnu is the true self, residing in the ocean of pure consciousness, and his resting on Anantha Sesha is representative of the fact that you know your true self by gaining mastery over the kundalini energy.

Jaya and Vijaya are the gatekeepers of Vaikunta, Vishnu's abode, and due to a curse, they incarnated thrice each as evil beings - Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and finally as Shishupala and Dantavakra. Their presence as the gatekeepers of Vaikunta is again symbolic of the fact that to get to the pure, calm self, you have to pass through chaos. Sort of like a highly compressed version of the Coorma avatar, but with the same essence.

Coorma Avatar

2006-06-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

After the Pralaya, or deluge, the Devas were stuck with misfortune. Sage Durvasa had presented Indra with Santanaka, the garland that never fades. Indra, however, ignored it and incurred the wrath of the asetic. Durvasa cursed the Devas to lose their strength. This severely hampered the Devas in their never ending war against the asuras. Of course, the Devas knew the trick of Sanjivani - the art of bringing the dead back to life - but since they had learnt this trick from the asuras in the first place (using trickery, of course!), it was not any great advantage. Something else was required. Brihaspati, the guru of the Devas, went to Vishnu requesting his help. Vishnu suggested that the Devas churn the ocean of milk for Amrita, or the nectar of immortality. But the problem here was that the Devas could not do it alone. The Devas could do it if the asuras helped them, but that raised the potential problem of the asuras not giving the Devas any of the Amrita once it had been churned out. However, since Vishnu assured the Devas that he prevent that from happening, the Devas duly enlisted the help of the asuras. The asuras were skeptical, that being their very nature, but overcome by greed, they agreed to help, confident that if push came to shove, they could easily defeat the Devas in a battle.

The mightly mountain Mandara was enlisted as the churning rod, while Vasuki, the king of serpants, agreed to become the rope. Vishnu, being the only God who could match the asuras cunning, asked the asuras to hold the hood of Vasuki while churning, so that it would befit their stature. The asuras gleefully agreed. But this was sheer trickery, since Vasuki frequently let out fumes that weakened the asuras. The Devas were left to hold the tail end of Vasuki, and the churning duly began. But since Mandara did not have any support, it started sinking into the ocean. Realizing the problem, Vishnu quickly incarnated as a tortoise - the Coorma avatar - and supported the Mandara mountain on His back. With the support provided, the churning was resumed.

The first thing to emerge from the churning was Halahala, or Kalakuta - the worst poison in the universe. This immediately created a panic among the Devas and asuras, and they began to choke on the poison. It required Shiva to intervene and swallow the poison. However, Parvati held his throat and stopped the poison from going into his body. This made Shiva blue from the throat up, and hence he has also been referred to as Neelakanta from then on.

As the churning continued, more celestial objects emerged from the ocean. Suri (the Goddess of wine and intoxication, who spread all over the world), Surabi (the celestial cow, which the sages took for their religious rites), Parijatha (the divine wish fulfilling tree that went to heaven), the Apsaras (celestial nymphs), Chandra (the Moon), Kaustubha (the precious gem), Ucchaishravas (the divine horse), Airavata (the four-tusked elephant), Panchajaya (the conch), Sharanga (the invincible bow).

After this, another set of poisons emerged, but none were of the same intensity as Halahala. The snakes took them for their own. And then suddenly, Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune, emerged on a lotus blossom, wearing a lotus garland and holding a lotus in her hand, and smiling radiantly. She immediately selected Vishnu and resided on His chest.

Finally, Dhanvantari, the physician of the Devas, emerged, holding the pot of Amrita in her hand. The asuras quickly snatched the nectar from her hand before the Devas could react and were rejoicing over their prize, when the Devas appealed to Vishnu to intervene. Vishnu assumed his dual form of Mohini, the female form of such immense beauty that could cause even Shiva to lose control of his senses. She offered to distribute the amrita evenly between the Devas and asuras.

Mohini, being none other than Vishnu, had the same cunning as Him, and served the Amrita to the Devas first, and served intoxicants to the asuras by a sleight of hand. But the asuras soon realized what had happened and quickly geared up for a fight. The Devas, however, were already immortal and easily vanquished the asuras. One of the asuras, Rahu, was smarter than the rest, and assumed the form of a serpent and began licking the last few drops of the Amrita. The Sun and Moon Gods saw this and informed Vishnu, who quickly cut off the head of Rahu before the nectar could pass through his throat. The head, however, remained immortal and Rahu periodically swallows the Sun and Moon in revenge, but since his throat is open-ended, they come out soon from the other end.

Well, so thats that for the story of the Coorma avatar. This is the story, as narrated with an eye only on the superficial details. This doesn't even begin to describe the underlined deeper meaning. Almost all Hindu texts are written in this manner - on the surface is a story that makes for nice reading, is often taken only literally, and occasionally as true. But every one of these stories has a deeper meaning that goes beyond the superficial nature of the story. Every tiny detail has been written not with an eye for aesthetic sense, but with deep wisdom. A study of this wisdom in the texts would probably take many lifetimes (given that the body of Hindu scriptures is really vast).

The symbolism of the Coorma avatar is the best example of symbolism that I have found in my limited reading (and probably the most significant), and this is described in the next post. I'll explain the symbolism as best as I know, and apologise for errors in advance.

World Cup Fever

2006-06-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Life is at a standstill now. As the Pink Floyd song goes, I'm Comfortably Numb. I neither know nor care whats going on around me. No drug can produce the high that I am experiencing currently. Alright, maybe I'm taking it a bit too far, but you get the drift. Its the world cup fever.

I expected to be in the minority, here in the US, since no one really cares about soccer. Well, as it turned out, I was wrong, a lot more people are interested in (surprise) football than I thought would be. Suddenly, everyone here is a keen fan of football, and has been watching the premiership and champions league games for years! Well, I'll be ... I never knew!!

Life couldn't get any better - teach in the morning, catch the two later games of the day, and then go on to play cricket or football. As for the world cup itself, the games have been better than the last world cup. England have confirmed my evaluation of them - boring, uninspiring, and the complete anti-thesis of football. Even Germany, who I think play a mechanical brand of football have been more exciting to watch, their game against Poland being a point in case. Teams such as Holland and Portugal do not look like they will win the world cup. Though they have the talent, their play in the final third has not been good, their players take too much time on the ball, often losing the opportunity to pass to another player well placed to take a shot. It reeks of selfishness to a certain extent. Neither France nor Italy have shown any imagination in their approach. They will not win it either. The best team among the European nations has been the Czech Republic. They look like a team whose players understand each other, and they represent Europe's best chance of winning the world cup. I'm still doubtful of Spain's chances because of their reputation as perennial under achievers.

Argentina, on the other hand, has played some excellent football. They warmed up nicely against Ivory Coast with a 2-1 win, a game where they were just not stretched, and against Serbia and Montenegro, they cranked it up a notch to play some of the most exciting football I've seen so far. The players seemed to be playing on radar, instinctively knowing where the others are. Just watch the second goal to see what I mean. Six one touch passes polished off by Cambiasso! They were everything that England was not! I'm only fearful that they might become a bit complacent after such a performance. Of course, Argentina is the team I support, and I really do want them to win the world cup.

And finally, we have Brazil. No matter how awful their pre-world cup form, they have always been among the contenders. Their first game was very unlike the Brazil that we know, but I'm sure they'll come good as the tournament goes on. Brazil really are larger than life, with most fans readily supporting Brazil as long as they are not the opposition. I was watching the game wearing a Brazilian jersey, and as I was walking back home from the world cup, atleast four different people (all Americans) called out from their vehicles and their homes, yelling "Go Brazil!" I responded with the typical Brazilian way of acknowledgement - a thumbs up sign, followed by a wink! Most probably do not understand all the nuances of the game, but the fact that they all think Brazil is the best team in the world tells us something about their reputation. No fan of football can afford to not like Brazil. They really are larger than life.

The only grouse that I have is the commentary that is tailored to teach the Americans the basics of football, but it gets irritating for those who follow the game regularly. To make it worse, every five minutes, the commentators break into how USA faces a lot of expectations, and who their next opponents are, and how they should play, forgetting that there is another game going on at the moment! Its but a small price to pay for watching the entire world cup!

Update: The much talked about second goal of Argentina against Serbia and Montenegro (commentary in Spanish, with the typical South American style of going goooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaal after the goal)!

Tribute to Naushad

2006-05-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest composers in Hindi film music just passed away. Naushad Ali was just phenomenal, and as with most of his contemporaries, his songs still have a wide following. Naushad had a special touch. Most of his songs were based on Hindustani classical music; he could compose songs in Hindustani raags without losing their essence so that it appealed to the listener who had no classical background. It is no easy job this. And IMHO, this is what distinguished him from, say, a Madan Mohan or a Shankar-Jaikishan. An equally important contribution of Naushad to film music was the way he handled Mohammad Rafi by tempering his voice, giving us the Rafi who is so irresistable today, and (to a lesser extent) helping Lata Mangeshkar with her Urdu diction, so that she sounds totally authentic. Some might argue that Naushad under-utilized Asha Bhosale, but for hardcore Lata fans like me, that is irrelevant :) When you have Lata, who needs Asha? Naushad is also famous for being in the triad of Naushad (music), Shakeel Badayuni (lyrics) and Rafi (singer), who together have given us many unforgettable songs.

I could go on about Naushad's music, but rather than that, I will pick 10 songs composed by Naushad that are among my favourites, and showcase Naushad's capabilities. Not an easy task at all, considering that huge number of his songs were hits. Bear in mind this is not a top 10, just a set of 10 that I like most, in alphabetical order! (The columns are read as song, film, singer(s), raag)

1) Bekas pe karam kijiye sarkar-e-madina, Mughal-e-Azam, Lata Mangeshkar, Kedara

A wonderful tune that beautifully captures the feeling of Anarkali being imprisoned. Lata's voice is apt here.

2) Ek shahenshah ne banvake haseen Taj Mahal, Leader, Lata/Rafi, Lalit

The tune in this song brilliantly complements the poetic beauty of the Taj. If at all a tune can describe poetry by itself, this has to be it.

3) Guzren hain aaj ishq mein, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Mohd. Rafi, Darvari Kanada

This one ranks in my top three Naushad songs (and top ten of all time). The song is deceptively difficult to sing, mastering all the nuances takes quite some effort. I wonder if anyone other than Rafi could have done justice to this song.

4) Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh, Amar, Mohd. Rafi, Bhairavi

Another Rafi special (as most in this list are). A brilliant example of a Naushad composition, a tune that can appeal to the layman, yet Bhairavi through and through.

5) Madhuban mein radhika nache re, Kohinoor, Mohd. Rafi, Hamir

One of Naushad's most dificult compositions to sing. Yet Rafi manages this effortlessly, and the rest, as they say, is history. Notice how the lyrics mimic the beats of a tabla (or dhol). The best part is, of course, the sitar rendition at the end of the song.

6) Man tarpat hari darshan, Baiju Bawara, Mohd. Rafi, Malkauns

This is the movie that made Rafi a hit among masses. This song gives a clue why.

7) O duniya ke rakhwale, Baiju Bawara, Mohd. Rafi, Darvari Kanada

One of the more obvious compositions in Darvari Kanada, Rafi's entire range was called into play while rendering this song. He goes into a very high pitch at the end of each mukhda, and even higher at the end, making you wonder how he does it.

8) Saawan aaye ya na aaye, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Rafi/Asha, Saarang

Naushad made good use of the contrast between voices of Rafi and Asha in this song. Together they create magic.

9) Yaad mein teri jaag jaag ke hum, Mere Mehboob, Lata/Rafi, Darvari Kanada

Words cannot do justice to the feeling this song gives you. So none are given, just listen to it and you will know.

10) Zindaabaad zindaabad aye mohabbat zindaabaad, Mughal-e-Azam, Mohd. Rafi, Kirvani

One amazing song, as it required Rafi to stretch his vocal cords even more than he did for O duniya ke rakhwale. He starts off at a very high pitch, maintains it, and then goes even higher, so much so that even his voice begins to crack. Naushad probably used his full repertoire of musical tricks in composing this song. Sheer genius.

The sheer beatuty of all these songs comes not only from Naushad's wonderful compositions, but also in the excellence of the singers, who make them seem ridiculously easy to sing. There are many other songs that deserve mention, but I'll stick to this list for now.

Card Trick

2006-05-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Any guesses how he does this?

Quiz

2006-04-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

The Rutgers Quizzing Club is an informal group that meets every other week, and everyone is invited to participate - even people not associated with Rutgers. The quiz masters are chosen by turn and the teams are decided impromptu. It is basically an exercise in fun. Yesterday was my turn to be quiz master. The questions are here.

P.S. If you want to participate in future session(s), drop me a line. (Yeah, this is an unofficial promotion!)

Fighting adharma

2006-03-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

Dharma means righteousness. More than a mere word, it is a philosophy in itself. Dharma involves right thoughts, right words, right action, right conduct. Adharma is the lack of dharma. Examples of adharma are blind faith, unabashed looting of resources, using up more than you need, etc.

Adharma is present in every single person, and in the world as a whole too. The issue of fighting adharma is, therefore, a pertinent one. Let me use the example of Vishnu as a pointer towards fighting adharma.

The various avatars of Vishnu have over time, used the same tactics as the adharmic forces to defeat them. Consider:

Parasurama killed the kshatriyas unabashedly in response to mass killings of Brahmins by the kshatriyas. Rama, in his war against Ravana, never deviated from the path of righteousness. He did so, because Ravana himself fought the war justly, following the rules of war as laid down by dharma. Krishna, on the other hand, justified the killings of Karna and Jayadratha (which involved trickery) citing the various actions of Kauravas (disrobing of Draupadi, cheating the Pandavas out of their kingdom, the killing of Abhimanyu) as examples of trickery by the opposition. Adi Shankaracharya, the brilliant philosopher, waged an intellectual war against the widespead prevalance of dogma and intolerance, by defeating representatives from all 72 religions in a debate. He managed to unify all religions under the single umbrella of advaita philosphy, and managed to resolve their differences.

I'm sure there would be many other examples available, but each of the above examples indicates that adharma is always fought using the same tactics of adharma. This is not an abdication of righteousness, but rather the performance of duty without any regard to personal benefit. I'm sure everyone will agree that it is morally incumbent upon us to fight adharma. Adharma must be fought at two levels - the personal level, and the global level, in that order. One cannot set the world on the path of righteousness without the person him(her)self following the same path.

In each case, one must identify the form of adharma, before taking any steps to eliminate it. At the personal level, the actions, as prescribed by Krishna, show us the best way to live. From the Bhagavad Gita (2:47)

karmaņy evādhikāras te mā phaleşu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te sańgo 'stv akarmaņi

which translates as

You certainly have the right for prescribed activities, but never at anytime in their results. You should never be motivated by the results of the actions, nor should there be any attachment in not doing your prescribed activities.

As for the global level, let that be a topic for some other day, some other person.

Is the Universe an Illusion? (part 2)

2006-03-08T01:51:00.000-08:00

In my previous post on this topic, I presented a logical reasoning for why the universe must be an illusion. This time, I intend to present some scientific evidence. Most of these ideas have been obtained from here.

First, a primer on consciousness. What makes the entire universe tick? We observe macroscopic phenomena such as the earth revolving around the sun, apples falling to the earth, people moving and interacting with each other, and in a subtle sense, individual atoms interacting with each other. What is the cause of all this? Some people say this is just random chance that the universe has panned out in this way, but quantum mechanics tells us that if this is so, then there are other possibilities, and hence other universes where these possibilities occur. The question still remains - what caused it in the first place?

The universe is commonly thought of as a machine, with individual components working as cogs, and consciousness was never really acknowledged. But scientists today are finding it more and more difficult to ignore consciousness as the reason for existence. Consider this: It is a commonly known phenomena that sub-atomic (and other) particles behave differently when observed as opposed to their behaviour when unobserved (e.g. light as both a wave and a particle). This projection of different behaviour is caused by human consciousness. In my previous post, I described how reality is closely associated with my senses. The existance of any object outside of my consciousness cannot be proved at all. Therefore consciousness is the direct cause of all reality, and as a corollory, consciousness is all that exists. This is the conclusion that scientists working on quantum mechanics are coming to, and this idea is gaining increasing credence.

The EPR paradox has instantaneous communication (read: greater than the speed of light) as its implication, also known as a non-local event. Looked at another way, it means that the separation between particles is an illusion.

As per the standard model of the atom, one of the fundamental particles is a quark. While admittedly, the standard model is not a complete theory (gravity is not explained, for example), it presents a very good picture of the atom. According to the standard model, quarks, while they possess mass, are only one-dimensional things. But three of them combine to form a three-dimensional proton or neutron. The problem is that quarks cannot really exist, because if they exist, they become three-dimensional things. The entire universe is, therefore, composed of particles which do not really exist. The universe, therefore, is only an illusion. Even if quantum theory is disproved for some reason in the future, the experimental evidence itself showing that the universe is an illusion is overwhelming.

It is also not necessary to take the aid of quantum mechanics to show that the universe is an illusion. Consider a beam of light travelling from point A (say, the sun) to point B (say, you, the observer). According to you, the light takes about eight minutes to get from A to B. But as far as the light itself is concerned, it reached point B in no time, since time stops at the speed of light. There is an equation (which is, incidentally, fundamental to quantum mechanics) that shows that time is zero, meaning, it does not exist. But you and me experience time. This is an apparent contradiction, but it really means that time is an illusion. If time is an illusion, then so is space, because we cannot experience space without time. And again, this leads to the fact that the universe is an illusion.

PS: That the universe is an illusion, and pure consciousness is all that exists, is also known as the Advaita philosophy.

PPS: Before you start jumping on me, this is not about trying to prove religion with the aid of science. These are conclusions drawn by scientists independent of religion.

Is the Universe an Illusion?

2006-03-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

The idea itself sounds absurd, we see and perceive the universe, we know it has to exist. But, does it really? What proof do we have that our senses are not deceiving us? After all, our senses and perception are all based on electric impulses. What is to stop these impulses to be designed in such a manner so as to create a make believe universe in our minds? What if the reality that we see is only for us? In other words, what proof do we have that we are not stuck in a matrix-like situation (like in the movie) where our senses have been deceived into believing in a non-existant universe? Is this universe only an illusion? Is there no way we can realize the truth?

Let us assume this universe is an illusion, and we somehow manage to pull the plug on the illusion. What guarantee do we have that the ensuing reality is not another layer of illusion? This can keep going on forever like the chicken or the egg question. The more you think about this, the more you realize that our senses are not as dependable as we thought when we seek the truth.

Take this a step further. I look down and see my fingers and toes. I can move and feel them. But since my senses cannot be depended upon, do my fingers and toes exist? Does my body exist? Do I exist outside of the mind? Does the mind itself exist?

There has to be something deeper, something more subtle than our gross senses and our mind. It is our Atman, loosely (and somewhat inaccurately) translated as soul. We have to transcend this material universe, which is nothing but an illusion to realise our true self. Our mind can only help us in going so far, but beyond a certain stage, we have to transcend the mind itself.

Ponty Manesar

2006-02-25T02:08:00.000-08:00

While on hilarious posts, here is one rib-ticklingly funny post on Ponty Manesar. For those of you at Rutgers, this is somewhat like a cleaner version of Liquid Kids Classics.

Yoga

2006-02-14T02:10:00.000-08:00

My mind recently went back to the Guru Ramdev - Brinda Karat affair. Guru Ramdev is the champion of yoga who sees it as a technique which will lead to a healthier lifestyle, while Karat is the typical Communist - anti-Hindu, and salivating at the feet of multi-nationals medical companies who see Guru Ramdev as a threat to higher profits.

This whole affair got me thinking (and this also follows from a discussion with my father). Millions of people in India have benefited health-wise from Guru Ramdev's yoga. Many people claim to have been cured of long standing illnesses, while many others have declared that they have felt no need for medicines because of their regular practice of yoga. So many people cannot be wrong about the health benefits of yoga, and it only serves to strengthen Guru Ramdev's claims.

Modern medicine has one problem. If the problem is diagnosed to be in A, modern medicine will treat part A, while the effect of the cure on other parts is not known. Conversely, if the problem lies in A, B and C, all in some proportion, modern medicine has not advanced enough to detect that (there may exist some specific instances which can be so diagnosed, but in a general sense, they cannot be). It only attempts to cure part A or B or C, which really is not enough, because all 3 parts must be cured simultaneously.

The solution is a holistic approach, that takes into account the natural tendencies of the human body, rather than trying to force a solution. Yoga is one such holistic technique. Other techniques are psychological influence (using a placebo instead of an actual medicine has provided the desired results in some cases), use of music (or sound frequencies) to effect a cure, etc. It is this holistic approach that Guru Ramdev is advocating. Yoga has another advantage - its legitimacy has been well documented over the ages. It is traditional wisdowm that is as of now beyond the reach of modern medicine (the irony!).

What would be a good idea (IMO) is to introduce yoga as a compulsary subject in schools across India. In the longer run, this would lead to an entire generation of Indians being familiar with yoga and its health benefits. And this regular practice of yoga would also render any sort of medication unnecessary, which would greatly reduce health-related costs. The value of this cannot be underestimated in a developing country such as India. This is somewhat similar to the Japanese initiative to help prevent malaria in Africa (with US funding) using low-cost techniques.

However, I have my doubts as to whether this idea can actually be implemented. Political motivations fueled by profits, gross ignorance, and maybe even religious opposition (Christians and Muslims see yoga as blasphemous) would mean that this idea will face stiff opposition.

A sense of perspective

2006-02-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

Two different incidents, yet with a strange parallel.

Incident 1:
Last year, a Danish newspaper published a caricature of Prophet Mohammad. Actually, it is a bunch of cartoons (12 in all), as satirical illustrations accompanying an article on self-sensorship and freedom of speech. One of the drawings depicts the Prophet with a bomb as his turban, and the comments accompanying the cartoons are not complimentary either. A Norwegien newspaper reproduced the cartoon, with various newspaper across Europe following suit.

Suffice it to say that these cartoons are in extremely bad taste. For one, Islam prohibits any image of the Prophet, even if it is in a positive manner, lest it amount to idolatory. Furthermore, these images are disparaging Islam in the crudest manner. While freedom of speech and expression is a noble ideal, it ends either when it infringes upon insensitivity to the feelings of a people, or if it is intentionally ridiculing a person or community.. The cartoons in question fail on both counts. While such analysis is obviously subjective, common sense dictates that these cartoons not be published.

Which brings me to the question, why were the cartoons published? The Danish newspaper, obviously from its perspective, sees nothing wrong in publishing the cartoons, and it might be justified in its stand. However, with the larger Muslim population likely to take offence at the cartoons in question, it would have been prudent to not publish the cartoons. The other reason would be purposeful incitement of the mass protests and violence that has arose over almost all of the Muslim world. Or it might just be that the newspaper simply did not have a sense of perspective when it published the cartoons.

The controversy rages on!

Incident 2:
The Vedic Foundation and the Hindu Education Foundation have have petitioned the California Department of Education suggesting improvements in the school textbooks' treatment of Hinduism. The two Foundations suggested a total of 170 corrections. Nothing wrong with that, one would suppose. Except, Dr. Michael Witzel, among others, of Harvard University deems fit to oppose 58 of those corrections (the CDE calls them edits), especially those dealing with the Aryan Invasion Theory, which he terms as fact. The curriculum commision went through the 58 edits, and accepted about a dozen of them.

What I find perplexing, is why Dr. Witzel wants to dredge up the AIT, which has been proved comprehensively to be a myth. No neutral scholar accepts the AIT as anything more than a fanciful invention of the British East India Company to create an excuse for the colonization of India, and to convert the entire populace to Christianity. Dr. Witzel's petition was neither based on reason nor on any factual and scholarly information. As some observers have pointed out, it is indeed a sad day for Harvard University that one of its "esteemed" professors is involved with such unscholarly activities.

The main issue of contention here is that while Christianity, Islam and Jewism are all potrayed in a positive light with absolutely no mention of their negative connotations, the text on Hinduism focusses more on its negative aspects, while the aspects of Hinduism that matter most are hardly given a passing mention. Furthermore, while the texts relating to the other religions are written by a person of that religion, the text about Hinduism is written from a non-Hindu perspective. Neither does the section on Hinduism confirm to the Standards for Evaluating Instructional Materials for Social Content, as set by the CDE. All that the two foundations are asking for is a fair potrayal of Hinduism in Californian textbooks.

What is the reason for this unfair potrayal? This theory ascribes the controversy to political issues, while this website summarizes the entire controversy. Further links are found here and here. Thanks to this article, which itself is worth reading, for the links.

Whatever be the reason, I am in favour of asking Dr. Witzel to shove it and for the CDE to get on with the proposed corrections.

In Mumbai

2006-01-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Two incidents at the Inorbit Mall in Malad, Mumbai.

Incident 1: I am on the escalator, going up. I am walking up the escalator to get to the top faster, and this security person stops me from doing that, saying its not allowed. Earlier, I noticed that when a bunch of people were coming down on the escalator, the people who wanted to go up were made to wait till all the people coming down had come down. Well, what exactly is the point in having 2 escalators if you are going to operate only one of them at a time?

Incident 2: I walk into the Adidas showroom when this chap asks me if I need some help. I tell him I'll let him know when I need his help and start looking around. The guy follows me everywhere. I don't say anything. After a while, I spot a pair of Levi's jeans that I like, and I check out its size. The guy again asks me if I need any help. He is still standing behind me as if I need some chaperoning. The following ensues.

Me: Dont you leave your customers to look around by themselves?
Him: We are required to assist the customers.
(Fair enough!)
Me: But if someone wants to be left alone, why do you have to stick around making him uncomfortable?
Him: You touched the jeans like this (proceeds to touch the jeans) and this clearly shows that you need assistance.
(Einstein himself couldnt have come up with something better!)
Me: I was just checking out the size, I can do that myself and I do not need you to tell me the size.
Him: That is not the way to talk to a CSR.

At this point, I just walk out of the store.

In both incidents, the people working at this mall behave as if people visiting the mall are totally dumb and need to be told what to do. Like how to use the escalator, and how to check the size of a pair of jeans.

I tried to think of reasons for this behaviour. I remember reading a report about how a child's shoe got stuck at a Delhi mall and the child was crushed to death. Then there was this incident at Heathrow where a woman's sari got stuck in the escalator and the sari just came off! Its understandable if the people at the mall are worried about such incidents. But it still felt like an over the top reaction.

As for the second incident, there are no electronic checks to make sure people cannot simply walk away with stuff from stores without paying. But then the security guards are placed at the entrance precisely for this very reason. The other thing is that despite the prices and sizes being put in prominent labels, many people prefer to ask the employees the very same details. No kidding, I have seen that happen quite a few times. But the continuous monitoring from close quarters was still uncalled for.

Basically, I still have not understood what caused that behaviour. Is it simply a policy of not letting the customer be? I have heard from others about similar experiences, though none of them really minded it. Maybe I am just used to the chilled out behaviour at the US malls. But then again, such incidents did not occur at the other malls in Mumbai that I went to.

The Rig Veda

2005-12-27T23:20:00.000-08:00

The Rig Veda is a perfect example of a hologram. The Rig Veda is divided into 10 Mandalas, each of which has 192 suktas. Each sukta is further divided into 24 sandhis, each sandhi into 24 padas, and each pada into 24 richas or verses. This circular structure is an indication of the intricately interlocked structure of the Veda.

The first letter of the Rig Veda is A. A is considered to the the primordial sound from which all other sounds (and frequencies) are generated. A therefore indicates everything that is present in the universe. The first syllable Ak is a combination of A - everything, and k - nothing. The k sound is a constrictive sound and it ends the presence of all sounds, and is considered nothing. Thus Ak is everything and nothing, which is the entire universe. The first word is Agnim. Agni is the God of Fire in Hinduism, and is supposed to be the representative of everything in the universe. Agni is also the messenger between man and God.

Thus, the first letter, the first syllable, and the first word all contain the same information. This concept is further expanded over the first sukta of the first Mandala, and so on; making the Rig Veda a perfect example of a hologram. It is said that no human brain can think of such an intricate structure of verses, and is supposed to be devine knowledge that can only be realised.

What religion are you?

2005-12-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

Check out this link. It tells you which religion your views are closely matched to. My score as a Hindu was 96% and as a Buddhist, 88%. I cannot verify the accuracy of the results, but it will be interesting to see how everyone scores. Why don't you take the test and leave a comment? And if people are really in the mood for it, we can discuss the results too! Just kidding. Not.

***

Chelsea on the cheap here.

A light (sic) post

2005-12-10T00:37:00.000-08:00

Going the exact opposite way, here is a not-so-recent conversation I had with my roommate, Mridul Balaraman.

(Note: I here is me, and M is Mridul)

I: How many springs does a basketball have?
M: A basketball doesnt have springs in it.
I: Sure it does, how else does the ball bounce?
M: That's because it has air in it.
I: This room has air, how come it ain't bouncin' around?
M: That's because it's stuck to the ground!
I: I can pin this ball to the ground, and my hands bounce off it!
M: The room has doors and windows that the ball doesn't.
I: If I make a tear in this ball, my hand still bounces off it!

Mridul then went off about elasticity and rigidity to prove that I was wrong. I countered by claiming that a spring is a form of elasticity as well.

Without going off into scientific principles, and by simply making some dumb (but seemingly logical) arguments, how far can you take this debate? Anyone brave enough to further an argument?

Edit:
Lines 1 to 5 in the conversation were obtained from something that came on the TV (dont remember what), and the rest was made up by me and Mridul.

Logic and Science

2005-11-29T20:45:00.000-08:00

Advisor: This is my blog, hence everything thats written here are my thoughts. You have the job of separating the wheat from the chaff.

From dictionary.com:

Logic: The study of the principles of reasoning, especially of the structure of propositions as distinguished from their content and of method and validity in deductive reasoning.

Reasoning: An underlying fact or cause that provides logical sense for a premise or occurrence

Scientific principles rely on logic and reasoning for their support. Throw away those two, and the entire structure crumbles. The term logical sense in the definition of reasoning is important here. It means what appears logical to us, what seems to be common sense. But, as we know from a century (or more?) of upheaval of our understanding of physics, what appears to be common sense need not be true.

A couple of thousand years ago, common sense dictated that the earth was flat. Till about a hundred years ago, common sense told us that speeds of two objects approaching each other should simply be added to each other to obtain relative speeds. Einsten proved that it is only an approximation at low speeds, and the correct equation is a little more complex.

Many a times, a radical approach at thinking, which does not confirm to common sense, fits our observations better. Quantum physics is a continuing example of this. The point I am trying to make here is that simply because certain ideas do not appeal to common sense, one must not disregard them as ridiculous. They might just turn up to be one of the more profound ideas that have been tought of. Science, as it describes the universe, is not perfect. It is not wrong, rather it is incomplete. There are still huge gaps in observable phenomenon that have not yet been explained. But science will get there, one baby step by baby step. Eventually.

Unobserved phenomena. If it's not seen, it's not true. Right? Not necessarily. Consider these examples. The so-called "primitive tribes" have a very close association with nature (in my opinion, that in itself is enough to make them more advanced than us modern beings, considering our near total lack of understanding of how nature works). Some tribes claim that they "talk" to animals, other claim that they "talk" to plants. Of course, it is a silly notion, how could we ever talk to plants or animals? Or can't we? The point is that we do not know. It may well be true, and in our arrogance and belief in our supposed superiority, we cannot believe that the "primitive" people have a more intimate knowledge of nature. These people have entire belief systems that worship nature, and make the best use of what nature has to offer to make their lives easier. The Hindus have a religion that has a very close association with nature as well. Consider the neem (tulsi) for example. Some Hindus worship the plant. I do not see what is wrong in that. We know that the tulsi has many medicinal properties that the medicinal community has acknowledged. But these properties can be easily verified. The practices of many tribes are, at worst, obscure, but that is no reason to dismiss them as superstition.

The Dogons are a tribe in the Republic of Mali that worship the star Sirius. They are believed to have been in existance from about 3000 B.C. Every 50 years, they celebrate a festival and pray to God (the star) that it be freed from the clutches of evil (I am not sure about the exact details of the celebration here). Superstition, you say! In fact, Sirius has a companion star, Sirius B, which orbits Sirius every 50 years, and the timing of their festival coincides with (you guessed it!) the eclipse of the companion by the main star. And we advanced people obtained this knowledge only in the 1970's.

On a more grandoise scale, Hindu stories are full of descriptions of warfare using weapons that can be initiated with a mantra. The ancient people had weapons that had nuclear radiation (sic) in them, weapons that could accurately track their victims (by following the energy signature of a person, which as a concept, is absolute magic to us!), and three-storied vehicles that could fly, and resembled entire cities, with vertical lift-offs, an invisible mode, et al. Today, we are quick to dismiss these stories as mythology*.

But remember that in those times, humans had a much closer association with nature. Today, we are almost hopelessly out of tune with nature (although that is changing for the good). We cannot believe that such claims by the tribes and such things as described in the texts are possible. We have imagined technology (and our intellect) to have always advanced as time progressed.

Have you even entertained the idea that our paradigm of technology progess may not true, that mankind once possessed such knowledge as we can only dream of today? That perhaps, at some point in time, something happened and a whole knowledge system was lost, save in bits and pieces that we see as practices by primitive people? We should step down from our high pedestal, and objectively look into the reasoning behind practices of the tribes. There is a whole wealth of information in there, more than you can imagine. And yes, this includes Hindu scriptures, whose knowledge we have been quick to disregard with the advent of the colonial conquest of India.

Give "primitive practices" a chance.

*

Mythology means "A body or collection of myths belonging to a people and addressing their origin, history, deities, ancestors, and heroes." (again, from dictionary.com) I believe it is really unfair to call Hindu stories mythologies, especially when Christians call theirs as history! (or am i getting paranoid?) Of course, not all Christians call it history, those involved in scholarly research call it mythology, but the difference is that all Hindus call their stories mythology (another colonial initiative).

Clarifications on my previous post

2005-11-27T03:35:00.000-08:00

Since my response to the first two comments cannot fit in the comments section, I am adding them as a separate post.

A few clarifications here. First, I do not believe in the concept of intelligent design. This means some external God creating the universe, which, as I submitted, does not make any sense. Instead, the God I am talking about is the "consciousness" that permeates everything in the universe. This energy is called differently by different people. I don't know if the scientists have a name for it, but I do know the Buddhists call it Reiki. It is this consciousness that "runs" the entire universe, intrinsically, as part of it. I believe this is what Nikhil talks about in his post. Same idea, different words.

Secondly, I am not trying to prove the philosophies of Hinduism by scientific techniques. That is just not possible, because science develops theories by only looking at the material universe, whereas to understand Hindu philosophy, you have to transcend the material universe to the deeper consciousness thats present everywhere. The reason for mentioning the implications of quantum mechanics was to show that the Hindu philosophy of oneness is not as outlandish as it would have sounded otherwise. The idea is not easy to understand in the first place; I just did not want it to appear as if it is some religious dogma.

I understand that the theories of science are just "best-fit" models to explain observable data, and can be superceded by better theories. But I never was using that as a "proof" of any Hindu concept, just as a tool to buttress the mind for the philosphies. The ideas I present here are purely from a Hindu perspective, and NOT from a scientific perspective. It has a two-fold purpose - to educate others about Hindu philosophy, and to help me understand them better. I do realise there may be some errors in my posts, and I'd be grateful if they are corrected, or if some comments further my understanding.

The idea of a higher dimensional universe is just a reference to the complexity of the universe. The key point is that the universe appears different to us simply because we see a very degenerate form of it. What the pure form is, is something that cannot be realised by just looking at the material universe; meditation alone will get you there.

People commit the mistake of assuming that science and religion are contradictory. They are not. An example is the theory of evolution. Hinduism also supports this theory. Dashavataram of Vishnu is a symbolism that alludes to this. But this does not mean that science and religion talk about the same things. Science talks about the material universe, and religion transcends that and talks about what goes beyond that. Eventually, both will meet. But we are a long way from that, and for now, they are both complimentary.

To really appreciate the philosophies of Hinduism, you need to consider its correct name - Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana means eternal, and Dharma means the higher truth. Sanatana Dharma means the laws of the universe that have always existed. Thus, it is not a religion created by human minds, but rather a religion of the essential truths that have been "realised" by sages. You are, of course, welcome to either agree or disagree with it.

What is, however, true is that an increasing number of scientists are beginning to appreciate the eastern philophies, and are willing to consider the possibility that they might be true. A few of them (not a significant number, though) look at eastern philosophies and try to use that as a "best-fit" to observable data. It can be viewed as an early attempt to link science and spirituality. Science must, however, follow its own path to arrive at the truth, and eastern philosophies can only really serve as a directional beacon in that quest.

Religion and Science

2005-11-26T01:05:00.000-08:00

Discussions with a couple of friends have inspired me to write this post.

The question of God seems to bring about a lot of controversy these days. People who strongly believe in God are dubbed conservatives, and in some cases, prudes. Others proudly proclaim that they do not believe in God as "the concept is not based on logic and requires blind faith". Then there is the question of religion, with every person claiming that his religion is the only "true" religion (eastern religions are an exception here).

When we speak of God, the image created in most people's minds is of some wise person who sits outside this entire universe and controls it, right from creation to destruction. This, however, is not the way God is described in all religions. The above concept of God certainly seems contradictory to logic, and with every passing day, science is a step closer to actually proving that such a God cannot exist. The proponents of this image of God would have us believe that science is a creation of the devil to lead us astray. I will not argue with them on their beliefs. My purpose in this post is to present an image of God that is in tune with the beliefs of eastern religions. An image that will appeal to logic.

Now, I claim that I am a Hindu and I feel strongly about it. So if you feel any bias in this post, it is probably true.

Hinduism claims that this universe is a hologram (hence the name of this blog). A hologram is something that has a unique property. Each and every part of the hologram contains the same information as the entire hologram itself. If you break a hologram into a thousand pieces, each piece has the same information as the whole. Quantum mechanics, as a result of Bell's theorem, confirms the fact that the universe is a hologram. What this means is that every point in this universe is the same as every other point. Now, this in itself is an astonishing property. What is more so, is that Hinduism, which is over thousands of years old, claims the same thing.

Thus, clearly, there is some form of consciousness that is present all over the universe. This is the only thing that exists throughout the universe. This consciousness is what Hinduism calls God. God is present in everything, and we are all one. (This is not quite the same thing as saying that I am God!)

The question arises - if everything is the same as everything else, why do we see the universe as a collection of different objects? The answer to that is that we see the universe in only three dimensions. The actual universe is present in a much higher dimension (11, 24 or infinite, according to various theories), and we only see a projection in lower dimensions. This is something like a picture, which is a projection of the 3D world into a 2D image. It is in the higher dimensional universe that all points are the same as every other. It is the projection that makes us see the universe as different.

Further, Hinduism claims that the entire universe is only an illusion that has been created by your mind (Hinduism is not alone in this, Buddhism claims the same thing). The absolute reality is, in fact, unchanging. This reality is called Brahman. The universe that we see is only a manifestation of Brahman. Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma) is also known as Nirguna Brahman - without any personal attributes - and is without beginning or end. It is indescribable, omniscient, transcendent, incorporeal and the absolute infinite existance. In other words, it is absolute "nothingness". Imagine that the universe did not exist. Imagine that nothing exists at all. This state is called Brahman, and this is the God that Hinduism worships.

The different Gods that we see in Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) are just symbolic representations to present God in a more tangible form. All the Gods that are described are just aspects of a single God, Shiva-Shakti, which is the Saguna Brahman, or God with personal attributes.

Now these are extremely deep (and fascinating!) philosophical ideas. Understanding the concept of Brahman is supposed to be the ultimate aim of a human. It is called attaining Moksha (Nirvana in Buddhism). In Hindu philosphy, the ideas of the universe being a hologram and truth of the unchanging reality are interchangable ideas. Each implies the other. If the unchanging reality is the truth, why would the manifested universe be different at different points? If every point is the same as every other, the single point is everything in the universe, which is the same as saying that it is nothing. I do not pretend that I understand these ideas fully, but I personally think that they are not far from the truth.

Some interesting blogs

2005-11-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started my own blog, I've been overcome by this craze of reading other blogs. Blog hopping, I call it. Start off with a random blog, then onto some random blog from among those that the person writing the first random blog reads, and so on. And its amazing the kind of blogs that you find. Some make you think. Some are simply too hilarious. And some make you go wow!

A bra flinging story, a post on perspective and a story about a unique statue of the four-armed Vishnu are some postings that I really liked (and they have no relation to each other). I liked the one on perspective the most. The idea is somewhat obvious, but still required someone to write it. I could summarise it in one line - एकम् सत्, िवप्र बहुध वदंती (sorry that didnt quite come out right), translated as "The truth is one, but the wise see it in many ways" (from the Rig-veda). And if that seems too philosophical and esoteric, how about "Open mind for a different view, and nothing else matters"? (Thank you Koxy!)

Finally rounding off today's post is a picture of Bay Area in San Fransisco. Looks so similar to Mumbai, and so refreshing that it makes New York look artificial. The pic made me want to cry. Nostalgia?

The first one

2005-11-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

Q: How long does it take one to start a blog?
A: A couple of minutes on blogspot.com in general, a couple of years if you are me!

Well finally I have a blog, after my cousin remarked that it improves ones creative writing. I'm only here to test the hypothesis. I already think that it might be true, after all I never thought I could start a column (or a blog, for that matter) with a Q and A! General survey question to anyone who, having nothing better to do, or alternately, having some pity on me, finds him/herself reading this excuse for a blog - does blogging improve your creative writing?

The Hologram

India always loses when Tendulkar scores a hundred

Legislation

Libertarian India?

Weekend Sports

Vodka Price Fixing

Right to Intelligence

Of faces and asses...

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Match Review

Death

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals Match Review

Mumbai Crowd Rocks

Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Review

Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab Match Review

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Match Review

Insult to Injury?

Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Match Review

Voice of Reason

Delays

People, I say!

Headline of the day

Remembering the Busby Babes

Great Rivalry?

WTF

Sleepless night

Facebook Mahabharata

Time-bomb

Tagged (sigh)

Protests outside local court

A botched plan

How to stop Global Warming

IPL Contracts

Popularity

Final eleven for India

Traffic Congestion Charge in Mumbai?

Conversations with Kane, part one

Parallel cricket league

RIP Puskas

Digital (Un)Logic

Premiership

God

Sanskrit workshop

Remembering Mohd. Rafi - A Tribute

Indian response to Mumbai terror attacks

Mumbai is so resilient

Penalty Shoot-outs

Orkut Irony

Meera Jasmine

Football and the American

Sabarimalai Controversy

What's this?

Coorma Avatar revisited

Coorma Avatar

World Cup Fever

Tribute to Naushad

Card Trick

Quiz

Fighting adharma

Is the Universe an Illusion? (part 2)

Is the Universe an Illusion?

Ponty Manesar

Yoga

A sense of perspective

In Mumbai

The Rig Veda

More links

What religion are you?

A light (sic) post

Logic and Science

Clarifications on my previous post

Religion and Science

Some interesting blogs

The first one