Moving towards complexity

Time for Dhoni to perform

2011-07-30T09:27:00.001-07:00

Most successful captain for India...

A world cup triumph...

No. 1 test team in the world...

T20 champions...

Is there anything Dhoni cant do? Well, this seems to be the favorite line of commentators these days. Doesnt matter if it is Dhoni making a field change, trying his hand at bowling, he has a whole lot of support at the commentary box... But does Dhoni really earn his place in this Indian team? Well, thats become a big question atleast with the test team.

Has he made any significant contribution in the last 2 series? None whatsoever. Has he got any hundreds outside the sub continent? again none. Is he the number 1 wicket keeper batsmen in India today? Doubtful again, with the likes of the improved Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik performing in domestic cricket.

Dhoni increasingly reminds me of Sourav Ganguly. He was supposed to be India's answer for all rounder. Was a very decent medium pacer - especially in swinging conditions abroad. Was ofcourse very good with the bat. But once he became the captain, his utility shrunk by a lot. He stopped bowling, his batting average dipped and every now and then there was this question of whether he is there in the team just because he is the captain. Dhoni is treading into that path, if he hasnt already.

The same people who are praising him will start questioning his selection, once India starts losing and that is bound to happen when the likes of Sachin and Dravid retire. Dhoni's greatness and leadership qualities will depend on how he leads the next gen players and form a team out of them. To do that successfully, he needs to lead from the front, with his performance. It is time Dhoni took his batting seriously and starts to contribute.

Wish you were in TN? :D

2011-03-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

The list of freebies announced by the 2 leading parties in fray in the coming elections as compiled by Sify... Think those voters, who never bothered to turn up on the poll day are in the best position... Do nothing, dont bother who wins, get all this free stuff...

DMK		ADMK
Free laptops to all the first year students of govt-owned and govt-aided professional colleges		Laptops for students from classes X
Free mixie and grinders to women		Mixies and grinders to all
35 kg free rice to the below poverty level families		20 kg of free rice for ration-card holders
Continuation of free distribution of colour TVs and Rs 1 per kg of rice		Subsidised cable TV connections
Free bus travel to senior citizens		Free bus passes to all citizens aged over 58
Loan assistance of Rs 4,00,000 for self-help group		Four gms of gold for Thali; for women who have completed diploma education, the marriage assistance will be increased to Rs 50,000.
		Mineral water to BPL families
		A restructured health insurance scheme for all
		A special scheme for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees
		Four sets of uniform and footwear for students;
		Six months maternity leave for women and Rs 12,000 as pregnancy allowance
		Assistance ranging from Rs 1000-Rs 5000 for students from Class X onwards.
		Aged persons abandoned by their families would be lodged in homes and provided three meals a day, free medical aid and library facilities.
		60,000 milch cows to be distributed free in 6,000 villages. Four free goats each for BPL families.
		Three percent reservation in govt jobs for differently-abled persons.

Kalmadi... Kal eduthu eri maadi

2010-10-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Suresh Kalmadi should be thanking Sun pictures for delaying Endhiran's release to coincide with CWG games weekend.

With less notice paid to the opening ceremony and any glitches in the tournament, he has escaped hogging limelight for all wrong reasons. However, looks like he is determined not to be left out for too long. How else do we explain him addressing APJ Abdul Kalam as Abdul Kalam Azad and Prince Charles as Prince Diana? :)

The worst thing with our administration is that everything will be forgotten once the games are over and Kalmadi will continue to be the olympic committee chairman. Hope his case is taken once the games are over

Enthiran, the Robot - Rajini's best

2010-10-02T23:05:00.000-07:00

It takes a Rajinikanth to create and break box office records.

It takes a Rajinikanth to create the most expensive film in Indian cinema.

It takes a Rajinikanth to do a film like Endhiran.

It takes a Rajinikanth to break my brief (well... agreed... long...) hiatus and post a new blog entry :)

What a movie that was... Only Rajinikanth can make it work and but for him, Shankar and Sun pictures wouldnt have dared to create the movie at this grandiose. And how well has Shankar exploited Rajini. Endhiran is one of the very rare movies of Rajini, where he doesnt have his traditional punch dialogues, no grand opening entry, no songs singing praise of him, but still it works as no other movie has in recent times.

No other director except for his mentor, K Balachandar, has extracted the maximum out of Rajini as Shankar has. This movie will pose interesting problems for Rajini in the future. No more P. Vasus and Suresh Krishnas for Rajini, please.

Should be the best ever performance of Rajini after he became a super star. Be it the villainous laugh, or mimicking a sheep, or posing as a giant Robot made of multiple Robots, Rajini has proved once again that he is the best in business when it comes to the combination of style and substance. Cant see a SRK or Kamal Haasan pull this off as well as Rajini has and this coming from a big time Kamal Haasan fan.

There has been a lot of talks about how Rajini should follow Amitabh and do characters suiting his age. Agreed Amitabh is one of the greatest of Indian cinema, but he failed big time and it took a KBC to relaunch big B and create a market for him again. It is a different story with Rajini. Looking at Rajini's performance in this movie, it doesnt look like he is done anytime soon. Wish to see him giving such fresh and energetic performance as a young hero even when he gets into his 80s :)

Rajneeti - a good watch

2010-06-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Saw Rajneeti today. I am not a big movie fan and am especially skeptical about watching those multi starrers that release with a big hype. However, the link to Mahabharat and the Indian political scene made it irresistible for me to watch the movie. And am glad i did.

Very rarely do you see such good and imaginative screenplay. Prakash Jha has definitely done a good job in marrying the story of Mahabharatha to the Indian political context without overdoing it a bit at any point.

Yet another surprise is the way such a big star cast has been managed. Be it Nana Patekar as the mentor (Krishna), Ajay Devgan as the ambitious Sooraj waiting for an opportunity to raise from rags (Karna), Ranbir Kapoor as the apolitical heir caught in the web of dirty politics (Arjun), Manoj Bajpai as the ambitious Veer (Duryodhan), Arjun Rampal as the impatient Prithvi (cant equate him to a character in Mahabharat - this is probably where Prakash Jha has really scored. He hasnt tried to force fit anything), everyone fits the bill.

Its not like the movie is without any negatives. Katrina Kaif's character could have been better etched out - starts off as an independent and self confident woman, but ends succumbing to family pressures. And Sarah's character probably didnt require the kind of detailed screenspace it got. Maybe the director wanted to give 33% reservation atleast in screenspace :)

Go for it without any expectations - you will love it.

What women want?

2010-03-01T05:03:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer: This is not a philosophical post. Am not a philosopher either.

This is supposed to be one of those "never figured out" philosophical questions. However, i have my doubts - not if this has been answered already, but if this question merits any special attention. I am sure if the same question has been posed about men, no one would have been able to answer that either.

Anyways, this post is not an attempt to answer any of these... Its not even about understanding the merits and demerits of these ponderings.

Last week was a very important one in the Indian politics - not just because of the budget - but because of yet another significant political move - the cabinet nod for the women's reservation bill.

Many political observers have been cautious on reading the implications of this news and rightly so. This is a bill that was initially drafted during the times of one Mr. Deve Gowda (yes yes, the same Prime Minister who used to sleep through meetings and couldnt even gain support to become a CM in his own state now). It has been 14 years and there have been many elections and governments since. Almost every government had the political clout to muster enough support to pass the bill, only if they willed. Why should it be any different now?

Just because the cabinet gave its nod, it doesnt mean the bill gains clearance. It still has to be tabled in the parliament. While the Congress, BJP and the left have pledged support to the bill - getting more than enough numbers to pass it in the lower house and just enough in the upper house - will the Congress go ahead now? I doubt.

The Congress think tank (?) would definitely be aware of the thin majority it commands in the parliament now. The siding of its allies like RJD and DMK with the opposition on the budget walkout would have sown seeds of doubt in the minds of senior congress leaders about the vulnerability of their position. Do these leaders have the political will to see the bill through even if it threatens to shorten their stint in the cabinet / parliament? More importantly, cant these leaders make the bill a reality within their party if they so willed?

Now to the more basic questions - forget the political will - is this bill really the need of the hour? Do our women really want this reservation? Will this reservation do much good for their plight? And what exactly is their plight?

Reservation for women was one of the key discussion points (along with separate electorate for Muslims) even during the framing of Indian constitution and was stuck down by our women leaders then. One of them remarked "We have never asked for privileges. What we have asked for is social, economic and political justice and fair play and to be able to take part in responsible work in the service of the country". Another women leader emphatically noted, "ever since the start of Women's Movement in the country, women have been fundamentally opposed to special privileges and reservations".

Is this bill going to provide a fair play for them? Is this going to make the innumerable atrocities committed against women in our society a thing of the past? Subramaniya Bharathi, the famous poet / freedom fighter from Tamil Nadu, once remarked "India would have attained complete independence only when it is safe for a woman, with full ornaments, to walk alone in the middle of the night". Is this bill going to get us there? If only we could say our women are safe to roam around in the biggest of metros atleast during the day...

Buzz losing its Fizz

2010-02-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

The week before Valentine's day, there was a sudden buzz in the web world. Google was trying to do some catch up to twitter and facebook with its new Buzz.

Google did a good job for itself with the launch, almost defaulting every gmail user to use Buzz. However, it didnt have a novel, user friendly social networking concept to support its launch efforts. The initial reactions from some of my friends sums up the reception it got.

"Yet another social networking tool"?

"Did someone finally buzz google out of its slumber?"

And a response to that "If someone did that, looks like Google just hit a snooze and went back to its slumber"

And a couple of weeks after its launch, the statistics on my Buzz tells a tale supporting these views.

I frequent gmail every 30 mins or so during the day and the Buzz was really buzzing with activity in the first week. There would be atleast 30 new buzzes every time i log into gmail.

Over to this week...

I login this morning after 12 hours of inactivity and to my surprise, find just 2 new buzzes.

It isnt just about the Buzz. Lot of my orkut friends are getting onto facebook and arent frequenting orkut as they used to, till a year back. Google definitely has a long road to cover if it wants to get successful in the social networking world.

The great Indian traffic sense - the tale of 3 cities

2009-11-13T19:43:00.001-08:00

I have lived in 3 metros till now and have been appalled by the traffic sense or rather the lack of it in all the 3. However Hyderabad takes the cake, when it comes to deciding which is the worst of all.

Chennai

1. The bus drivers never stop on the designated stops. They stop some 10 meters ahead or 10 metres beyond. When they move from the stop, the bus drivers swerve to the right lane immediately on take-off, irrespective of any vehicle movements behind them

2. The auto wallas have no rules. The most menacing is the share autos. They stop anywhere and everywhere. Tell them about following lanes and they will give you a lame look

3. Bikers will just have a single mirror on the right and wont bother about any vehicle coming from the left, will still always keep to the right side of the road. Some of the over cautious ones will keep left and always look as if they were about to stop

4. All the road users tend to stop for signals most of the times, but expect them to Zap fast immediately on the signal turning green

5. The traffic constables tend to regulate the traffic reasonably well, dozing off every now and then

Bangalore

1. The bus service - as minimal as it is - is much better than Chennai, in the sense, the buses tend to stop in the designated stops. And if you can speak Kannada, the conductors will even guide you on when you need to alight. But if you are a Tam, forget it. Just be happy you can travel in the bus :)

2. The auto wallas are much better. They go on meter, not many share autos around. They tend to respect signals. However, this is changing of late. I guess the influx of IT grads from Chennai is spoiling the Bangalorean auto wallas as well

3. Since the roads are too narrow, the bikers think of the platforms as the lane for them. Dont be surprised if you see the bikes plying on the platforms all the way for a stretch of 3 KMs. It is only too normal in Bangalore

4. All the road users tend to stop for signals all the time, wait for the green signal before starting the car again and thus waste a precious 10 secs before the traffic starts moving again, especially the old retirees who have settled in Bangalore. Dont be surprised if you stay behind a car and end up honking and getting frustrated before the car ahead decides it is time to move on

5. The traffic constables tend to regulate the traffic reasonably well, with their job getting easier with decent road users

Hyderabad

1. All the buses operate as a point to point service. A 10H (the one that goes from Kondapur to Secunderabad) bus driver, if he starts from Kondapur, he doesnt stop it till he reaches Secunderabad. And thats because he gets a break of 15 mins before he goes back to Kondapur. Do not expect the buses to stop in any intermediate stopping points. If the driver is in a good mood, you can expect him to slow down a bit for the passengers to alight. Else just wait for the nearest signal and pray it turns red and that the driver stops for a red signal!!!

2. Hyderabad is the hub of share autos. Guess they would have invented the concept here. You see more share autos plying on roads than the regular metered ones. These autos are always stationed in the junctions, blocking traffic movements on all directions. You can always find the traffic constables beating autos with lathis trying to drive them away from the junctions, only to find them take a U-turn a little ahead and get back to the original location. If you are a cartoon fan and missed a tom and jerry show, dont worry this will fill in for that

3. The bikers in Hyderabad are also a unique breed. You will either find bikes with no rear view mirrors or with both the mirrors, but turned the other way around, so that the driver can always have a look at his face to notice and adjust any small strand of hair not in its place.

4. Signals? what are they for. As long as i have some small space to move ahead, i will keep moving forward.

5. Traffic constables - they are stationed in all the junctions. Dont be surprised if you dont notice them at all in any junction. You need an eye for detail to catch them on duty.

So, while Chennai has decent roads, with road users, except bus drivers and auto wallas trying to follow some traffic discipline, Bangaloreans have the best traffic sense expect for the bikers driving on the platforms, but the most narrow roads and Hyderabad has the best roads with the worst traffic management

I have been learning driving and might be on the road soon, not just as an observer of all this traffic chaos, but as a road user as well. GOD save me

Moving towards complexity

2009-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yet another addition to the world of bloggers... Have been thinking of starting one since the last 2 years... looks like the shubha muhurat has finally arrived as i get younger by an year. :) Hope to keep creating new blogs on a regular basis.

I should thank the novel Shantaram for the sudden motivation i got to start this. One of the few real good novels set in India. While the novel was dragging at times, had some unrealistic / idealistic thoughts and certain unbelievable sequences for a real life story, the way in which the Mafia don separates good from evil impressed me a lot. Hence this first post is dedicated to that idea.

The don says "The whole world is moving towards certain complexity. Some choose to call this complexity, GOD". He further adds, anything that aids the movement towards complexity is good and anything that inhibits that is evil. And with man being the most complex living being in the universe, any killing of a human being is evil.

Now, I believe this is a real interesting way of looking at the universe. Of course, one doesn't need such a complex explanation to say it is evil to kill a human. But, anything that aids the movement towards complexity is good :)

P.S: Doesn't mean all my posts are going to be complex :)