Growing up with Sachin

I heard the name Sachin Tendulkar consciously first time when I was a 9 year old. The radio was reporting that he scored a century in South Africa ( 111 in Johannesburg Nov 1992 ) - which didn't mean a lot to me at that time. Little did I know that my growing up days will be filled with memories of this person.

The 1993 home series vs England was when I saw him batting live but Kambli was scoring more. And then 1994 came. Cable TV was getting launched in our hometown, and a neighbor was passionately trying to find friends who would sign up so that our street had enough numbers to warrant cable wiring. We signed up, and India was touring NZ at that time. He had already opened in the 2nd ODI and smashed 82 and the newspapers were all waxing eloquent. By the time we had cable tv, the 3rd ODI was going on and I saw glimpses of his innings of 63 and could now understand his genius.

I had the pleasure of watching his first ODI century live on TV. That was the first time my heart rate pumped up for Sachin. It was followed by three ducks and taught me what sporting frustration was all about. He scored his then highest test score of 179 - he hooked Walsh for six to bring up his century. That was stuff of dreams. By end of 1994 I was a mad Sachin fan.

1996 - the world cup. Among all school boys, the one with a radio transistor was GOD :). Some one in the class would sneak in a radio, and all kids would gather in a growd listening to world cup commentary in between classes, during recess and sometimes during classes if Sachin was batting!
How could India lose to SL despite Sachin scoring 137 (group stages). I can still recall those sixes of Pushpakumara's bowling in the end overs. But the disappointment of that loss was nowhere close to what I would go through in the semifinal. There were cheers and hope until he was batting, and then there was none. That was a theme I started getting used to

1997 in SA - a magical innings of 169 ended by one of the most impossible one handed catches of all time. All the curses adam bacher received on that day probably ruined his career

1998 - desert storm. It was my 10th std final exams. Lot was at stake. High expectations at home. Geography exam coming up - my least favorite. Charting river paths on an empty map was never my forte. And to top it all, Sachin was in the form of his life. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. Once India got to final, the anticipation was killing me. I was addicted to Sachin's batting by now. And for once, the dream did not turn to nightmare.

1999 - why the hell does Sachin play in middle order in ODIs? That too an year after 1998. Illogical!!! Disappointing world cup, following by the mother of all disappointments - the 136 in Chennai vs Pak. Excruciating pain - for him it was physical, for us it was emotional.

2001 - I was in college. Watching cricket had never been more exciting. One room, one TV and hundreds of us standing inside. Hardly any room to breathe but who needs oxygen when Sachin is playing? The kolkata test will always be a laxman/dravid folklore, but I was there when Sachin came on to bowl and took 3 quick and important wickets to seal victory. A contribution many people don't recognize - but it was a big one in terms of turning a draw into victory

In that period, many new stars arrive. Sachin is no longer the lone star, but he is now the shiniest star in a constellation of stars.

2003 - People are dumb enough to make Sachin play in middle order in ODIs once again. Thank God, they realise it before the world cup. 2003 world cup viewing was the best experience - nothing comes close to watching Sachin in full flow in the company of lots of friends who share the same passion. That six of Caddick and the 98 against Pak will live the longest in memory. The final - ah the final - we were all heading out the moment Sachin got out. Nothing else mattered!

2004-2006 - My life got busy. Interviews, placements, training, projects, late night codings. More internet access meant I could catch up on lots of missed Sachin moments but I miss the school and college days

2007 - Sachin is jinxed. Keeps getting out in the 90s. Again, some one decides that he is best suited for middle order in ODIs - the world cup is a disaster. I honestly thought the world cup dream was over! And Sachin would retire soon

2008 - Sachin wins us the tri series in Australia with two great performances in the best of three finals. His style of batting is very different to 1998 but the end result is same. If 1998 was breathtaking, 2008 was methodical. He also wins a test against England scoring 103 not out in a high scoring chase.

2009 - If 136 vs Pak was to tests, the 175 vs Aus at hyderabad was to ODIs. I think this 175 is his best ODI innings ever but alas, it had to come in a oh-so-close losing cause. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

2010 - the double hundred. It was a colleague's birthday at office. We had deadlines, but Sachin mania was taking its feverish grip. We decide to ditch work and head out to the colleague's house, just in time to watch live the last few overs of the innings. Dhoni is striking the ball phenomenally but we all keep wondering why he doesn't give the strike over to Sachin. This time, there is no disappointment though. Sachin becomes the first ODI player to reach a double century

2011 - finally the world cup dream is realized! To everyone's joy, Sachin plays his normal aggressive game and the others contribute too

2011-2013 - beyond the world cup! Mostly disappointing, Sachin is no longer consistent. He flickers like a fading star, almost as if to prove that he is normal like all the rest of us. An occasional gem here or there but the consistency is gone.

And he decides to bring it all to an end!

Many people will argue Sachin's stats, abilities, captaincy etc etc. It is pointless to argue. You don't measure your wife's love by the number of kisses you share. It is the memories, the moments that you cherish and the moments that live with you forever. It is the journey - not just one filled with happiness but the full gamut of emotions - anger, frustration, sadness, disappointment, joy, exhilaration, triumph. And looking back, Sachin has given all of that to us and more. Which is why we all love him and why all of us feel sad now that is he is retired. All things come to an end - we are very lucky that Sachin was so good and it lasted so long! Thank you, Sachin

Subtitles Censorship

I was surfing channels casually yesterday and HBO was showing 'Blood Diamond', one of my favorite movies. Leonardo Di Caprio was explaining to Jennifer Connelly about how he lost his parents - the dialogue goes like this

JC: You lost both your parents.
L: That's a polite way
of putting it, yeah.
Mom was raped and shot...
...and Dad was decapitated
and hung from a hook in the barn.

The subtitles on HBO actually did not show the word 'raped' - I can't understand the reasoning behind this.. who is going to get affected if the word 'raped' was shown in the subtitle? They didn't bleep the word in the dialogue, so anyway people are going to hear it.. so why bother not showing it in the subtitle? I am wondering if there is a separate team sitting around removing all such words from the subtitles.

And how is 'raped' any more grotesque than 'decapitated and hung from a hook in the barn'?

Utter Nonsense

I really hope this guy does not get voted to power.. I can't imagine going back in time where people used to stand in railway ticket booking queues, bank teller queues etc wasting valuable time

My Twitter Account

I created a new twitter account.
I am not sure if I will use it, just created an account for fun :)

Future Dating

This cartoon from abstrusegoose.com is hilarious - the scary thing is this future is not too far away.

Will he win - Rahman at the Oscars

Like many Indians across the globe, I am eagerly waiting to see if Rahman wins the Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire tonight. Though I don't think it is his best work, it is the only one that's got nominated - which goes to show that you need to be at the right place at the right time to get things going your way, or in this case, award nominations coming your way ;). I have enjoyed his music ever since he made his film debut in Roja - I believe he is arguably India's finest ever. Let's hope he brings home the Oscar.

UPDATE: And he obliges, winning both the Oscars.. am very happy for him. Well deserved recognition for one of the geniuses of our times.

Atleast Sri Lankan board is sensible

This is an interesting story, The first time a country has come out and openly said that they don't have to go along with every whims of the BCCI.

There is a WTF quote from Niranjan Shah in the same article.

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo. "We will now refer the matter to the ICC, which is already debating the issue of unauthorised cricket."

I don't understand what he means by unauthorised cricket - what's wrong with a group of people getting together and playing cricket, in the process making some money by providing entertainment to people?

Nadal reaches the top

Nadal is guaranteed to become the No 1 tennis player in the world. It is good to see after a few years of Federer domination that new guys have come up and really put forward a worthy challenge to Federer.. This year's Wimbledon final was an all-time classic. It really proved that Nadal is here to stay and he is not just a one surface wonder. Given that hard court is his least favored surface, it should give Federer a good enough chance to recoup some lost territory.. All in all a wonderful competitive year for tennis :-)

End of Soccer Season '07-08

The soccer season 07-08 ended with an exhilarating match in the UEFA Champions League final between ManYoo and Chelsea.. and the season ended the same way it started.. a penalty shootout victory for Manchester United. They had done the same against Chelsea in the Community Shield at the beginning of the season.

Yesterday's final was one of those matches where you wanted none of the teams to lose. I was a happy neutral yesterday, having found that my past seasons' loyalty towards Chelsea was more towards its charismatic ex-manager Jose Mourinho than towards the team. As many critics have already pointed out, Drogba's red card was the decisive moment. Terry would never have taken the final penalty had Drogba been available and you never know what could have happened then.

The transfer period is going to be interesting as usual.. lets see how the teams shape up for next season.

Some reflections on the past soccer season:
1) Best Player - Cristiano Ronaldo ( it would have been grave injustice had his missed penalty had a serious effect, though his arrogance shown while taking the penalty was justifiably punished by his miss )
2) Best Team - Man Utd. You cant argue against the double winners..
3) Disappointment of the season - Barcelona.. From the lofty heights of 2006 European champions to this year's shambles. Can't just be bad luck. AC Milan comes a close second for having missed champions league qualification.

Expectations for next season.
I hope someone other than ManU/Chelsea win EPL, just to add more spice to the league. Also expecting a good show from Real Madrid in the Champions League. After dominating Europe till 2002, they have disappointed badly.. lets hope they do better next year.

Djokovic is really good

After the US Open I posted asking how good Djokovic is.. Now with his triumph in the Aus Open he has proved that he is good enough to be regularly competing with Nadal and Federer for the top honours. His win has set up the year nicely.. Lets hope it is a great year for "competitive" tennis.

Happy X'mas and New Year

Wish you all a very happy Christmas as well as a bright and prosperous New Year. I hope that at least in 2008, I get more time to blog regularly ;)

How good is Djokovic?

I gave the 2007 US Open a complete miss. Mostly due to the fact that the winner was a foregone conclusion. There is hardly any surprise in men's grand-slams these days. One positive thing out of this years final grand slam was the performance of Novan Djokovic. He has beaten Federer once in the final of a tournament, so he looks capable of causing an upset. I think he competed well in the final of US Open, and had he held his nerve well, could have easily given Federer a run for his money. I am sincerely hoping that atleast next year we don't have the sort of one-way traffic we have been seeing in the past 3 years. Hope Djokovic & Nadal help.

Sivaji - The Boss

The first movie I watched after marriage! Rajni has got his looks back and his style enhanced. But he is missing the speed of action that was his forte during his younger days. The movie in itself was a rehashed version of Shankar's previous movies.
How I wish Rajni had acted in Shankar's Mudhalvan :-(
Anyways, the movie has great music by ARR, excellent comedy by Vivek, stunning visuals, a gorgeous heroine and a menacing villain. And above all it has the one and only style icon of India, Rajni. More than enough reason to watch it.

Nadal vs Federer

Wow! For the first time in recent memory, Federer had to fight hard in a grandslam final ( and that too Wimbledon ) to win it. Now that he has got real competition, his achievements from hereon will be even more worthy.
Nadal looks like he is set to give a tough run for Federer on all surfaces. Lets see how this rivalry unfolds!

GoodBye Bachelorhood

Got married to my girlfriend on June 17th. Had a memorable week long trip to Malaysia and Singapore. Looking forward to the new phase in my life. :-)

The Halo Effect

When I graduated out of my college and was about to join my new company Trilogy, I was recommended to read the books Built To Last and Good To Great. I personally liked them both, but I don't believe that just by following the principles mentioned in these books you can go ahead and create a successful organization. Both these books are bestsellers, and they have their own share of critics also.
The book The Halo Effect, which was released recently, looks to debunk the theories given in business books like the ones mentioned above. The basic idea behind this book is that most of our thoughts on successful companies are delusions.
I tend to agree with this in principle. A real life analogy would be the commentary offered in cricket. When a batsman tries to attack a bowler from the start and succeeds, he is said to be aggressive, unafraid to play his natural game irrespective of conditions, and so on. But if he fails, he is said to have played without taking the conditions into account, failing to curb his instincts and so on.
The only constant is that you will be praised if you are successful and criticized if you fail. The same qualities that would be highlighted as positive ones in case of success can end up as negative ones in case of failure.

Who will compete with Federer?

Another Grandslam. Another win for Federer. He has reached 10 slam wins no time. The world of tennis fans have begun to fall into 2 categories: one who admire Federer for his incredible talent and other who crave and yearn for some competitor to come up and provide a semblance of fight. Needless to say, I am in the second category. Tennis was one of my favorite sports during the Sampras-Agassi glory days, but ever since Sampras got disinterested in tennnis and Agassi's powers started to wane, tennis has no longer been the same it was. Federer has arrived and conquered everything he saw, but deep within himself he must have a feeling that he has never been tested by anyone consistently. Nadal competes with him in clay ( small relief ) but it is just a matter of time before Federer wins French Open too. And it is hard not to notice the kind of support every tom, dick and harry gets on court when they play against Federer. You can see that the crowd is also craving for an upset.
The pity is Federer can do nothing about it. He can only beat what is in front of him. It is not his fault that his competitors are worthless. These are the bunch of guys who Agassi was consistently beating even in his last year on the ATP tour.
While I appreciate the enormous talents of Federer, his breathtaking strokeplay and his exemplary off field behaviour, I do feel he has a lot to prove to be adjudged the best ever.
And for anyone who thinks Federer's domination of Roddick was the best ever exhibition of a genius, I am sure you have not seen the Sampras-Agassi final at Wimbledon 8 years back. Here is an article that exactly echoes my thoughts on this issue. Sampras at his peak against Agassi at his peak, and what a game of breathtaking beauty!
Federer can still claim to be the best ever if the following blank gets filled.
Bjorn Borg- John McEnroe
Pete Sampras - Andre Agassi
Roger Federer - ??????????

P.S: This article has no intention of insulting Federer. As I said, it is not his fault that the competition is bad. This article is for those who just jump at concluding that Federer is the best ever, without understanding what the best ever means!

Web 4.0 Visions

I happened to stumble upon two different posts on vision for web 4.0. This one is written by my friend Tyagarajan and this one I got while browsing through my daily news feeds. Read on. It is amazing how we humans are never satisfied with what we have :)

Pokkiri - @$#&**?!

Had to watch Pokkiri this Sunday since there were no better alternatives and I was not in a mood to watch the more dramatic Guru on a lazy weekend. As is the case with all Vijay films, this one is straight out of the mass masala factory of tamil/telugu films.

Lets see what the movie offers

1. A supreme hero who is an extremely talented fighter/dancer/singer/shooter/rider...
2. A beautiful but dumb and confused heroine for the sake of dancing with the hero in duets ( every time the hero kills someone in front of the heroine, she cries and then all of a sudden a romantic duet comes )
3. A villain who is an international criminal with a huge crime network and extravagant punch dialogue ( I like 3 things: killing, killing and only killing ), who gets dumber and dumber as the movie reaches its climax, where he urinates in his pants on seeing the revenge-seeking hero thus fulfilling a prophecy proclaimed earlier in the film
4. A corrupt police officer ( and an irritating one at that ) and a bunch of honest ones
5. A rap song just before the climax
6. A sleazy song in the villain's den
7. A gang of lazy friends who do nothing but give company to the hero wherever he goes
8. A comedian who gets beaten by everyone. He too urinates in his pants
9. High octane violence and gravity defying stunts. Our movie makers are at par with Hollywood guys in this regard. The hero's innovative ways of slitting, slithering, cutting and butchering the villains is one that rivals the gore you saw in movies like Texas chainsaw massacre, Saw etc
10. A weather beaten plot of how the hero overcomes the crimes in the society on his own

Frankly, I did not expect anything else before watching the movie. The movie will be a hit and it will set the cash registers ringing and hence will pave way for more such movies.

Is it the demand that provides such intelligence insulting supply, or is it the low quality supply that leaves people with alternatives other than to believe that hero worship is the only entertainment available? Whatever the case may be, I don't see a solution anywhere in the near future. And that is the most worrying aspect.

Google adjudged best company to work for

Google has been selected as the best company to work for in 2007. The full list of top 100 companies can be found here.
And if you want to know why Google is great for the employees, check this out.