Just having a few rough days ! Suddenly losing temper, getting bored, irritated..out of the blue.

Today, when it rained...poured infact and people were taking shelter under the trees and all possible areas available in the KV grounds, I chose to run ! Ran all the way took my cycle and sped away !..It was an awsome feeling..No raincoats, no umbrellas for protection...Just me, trying to beat the wind..beat the rain and reach my destination. It was an awsome ten minutes cycling through some areas of the campus and finally going back to my hostel.

The sound of the rains, the sight of greenery the feel in the air.....MAGICAL!! Something that made me feel much better ! I guess there is too much power in nature. Its just that I don't give enough time to it . Is it just nature that I'm ignoring or is it that I'm not giving enough time to things that I had thought I would ???

The Trip..........................................(Feb 29th - Jan 4th 2008)

Im on a writing spree today. Wrote some testimonials, then a blog sometime back...This is my second blog of the day. this is a bit different from my previous postings. In most cases it has been some incident that has triggered a stream of thoughts which I immediately pen down. Some subjects have been been abstract and some very heavy.

But this one is special.

Its different.

Its about my class trip to Wayanad in Kerala.

It is different for other reasons. Its different beacuse here I am narrating a story..For a change, I would mention names. I would be explicit. Its high time I did. I am narrating a journey....

Stage 1: It all started of on the 9th of Jan when Gopal sent out this mail to the class

Hi All,

As you might know, a class tour being is being contemplated for the second years in the near future. Would need few organizers for this. Interested folks please reply asap.Offer valid till opportunities last. :-)

Suddenly the discussions in the mess was about the places where we could go. Each one coming up with their own choices. While this was going on silently the TOCO was being formed. Gops along with RBI and Rahul were having discussions about the possible choices. They were looking at various perspectives, logistics involved, permission from the department, rescheduling of examinations, speaking to the HOD. The work had already begun.

Stage 2: A class meet is held where they make a presentation and state that they have zeroed in on Wayanad in Kerala and reasons for the same. Oh.............Goa Goa Goa..the class erupts. It gets a bit uncontrollable. In the end we disperse hoping to reach for a consensus.

What follows is a survey where everyone is asked the places which they would like to visit, any place where they would not come etc etc ? Less than 50% of the class were ready for Wayanad.

There were a couple of mails like this one from TOCO...

Please find attached the excel sheet which contains the names of those coming for the MBA 2008 class trip to Wayanad. This list is collated based on the mail responses received so far. We shall wait for further additions till 5 PM today evening post which we would freeze the names.

No improvement ! The response kind of struck me.

Was'nt this a class trip ? I thought to myself. A class trip is where you go together as a class, enjoy, after all this is an opportunity that comes once a year. And for us this is our last year !. I guess I was wrong. At this stage everyone had their own perspectives. I strongly believed that the place was immaterial, its the people that mattered. But I guess I was wrong !.

Step 3: Tour in doubt ?

The number was 30; but still it was'nt stable. Over the next couple of days there were pull outs, speculations, rumors floating around. Would the tour get cancelled? What if more people drop out ? Would the overhead costs increase ? Would it throw all the budgets upside down ?

No, it would'nt. We got a reassuring mail from the TOCO team, that the tour was on !

Hi All,
Wayanad yathrayilekku swagatham !!!If you are wondering if the tour is still on with some of these dropouts, be assured we are going to Have fun -On time & On budget.

Step 4: The tour kicks off !

The final number is 22 !...22 people who believed we could have fun..22 people who believed that Wayanad was the best place to go....We left on the 29th of Feb. We had the priviledge of travelling by the insti bus upto the Cental Railway station. As soon as we got in the fun had begun! Click click..clickk...fotos......The train arrived an hour late. But who cared ? Some of us got into the Shatabdi that was standing in the nearby platform and chillaxed in the AC while some decided that this was the best time to play cards ! I must mention that something that was constant throughout was the click..click..click........

Stage 5: The train journey

When was the last time I got into the mood for singing ?

When was the last time I sang for hours and hours?

Long long ago. I remember my trips during my TCS training days where I had a fundoo group and we used to sing..sing..sometimes thru night during our journeys. This was something like that. We sang songs of almost all genres, and before we knew someone came over and said 'Please can you sing a bit softly". A quick look at our watches and boy ! it was almost 10 pm. And ya, before I forget: We had an amazing dinner..Chote toco had put in a lot of effort and got a lot of stuff packed from the famous 'Agrawal Bhojanalaya'. Dinner done by 8 ?..Not yet..Il get back to it....

Stage 6: The lights go off

Slowly the lights go off..one by one...Where do I sleep? I got my favorite middle berth. I somehow like it. Neither too high ! and not too low from the ground realities ! (Sounds like I have done my MBA !! ). We move to our places, then starts chit chat..This is the best part of the train journey..Yapping away through the night. Laughing, giggling away......This is what makes it awsome.....

Stage 7: 1 am

1 am...we are still awake....Starting to feel hungry...Suddenly we decide that wel have one more round of dinner..The lights are on..Doctor gets all the food packets..and before we know.....the rotis and sabjis are all cleaned up..15 minutes...tats all it took.......Dinner at midnight ! Maaza aa gaya.....

Stage 8: Magic Moments

• Can never forget the maggi that I had just before the camp fire and then the dinner that followed. Muuaaah.....We were hungry....The food was awsome ! The atmosphere was brilliant....We loved it.
  
• We were all tired, after the series of activities during the day. We boarded the bus and were heading back to our hotel. I thought everyone would doze off ! How wrong could I have been? This was no ordinary bus.. It was a 'disco-bus'. Suddenly a couple of cool numbers were being played, the disco lights came on and what followed was half an hour of magic ! It energized all of us...Dancing away to glory.By the time we reached the hotel we wanted more..and more....
  
• We were in the wild; in the forest watching animals. The driver showed us pug marks of the tiger ! Man, we have tigers here !!! Suddenly the question came up ' If a tiger comes in front of you ; how would you respond? ' And then we used this scenario to look at some unique traits and characteristics of class junta !....Just too good....Even as I write I can feel that experience !

Comments: The trip taught me a lot of things.

• There would be times when you start organizing events and then a majority of the people quit. If you feel your idea/concept is good, just go ahead. Do not have self doubts.
• In a group you would always find some hidden talents. People who rise to the occasion and deliver when it matters the most.
• Its not the place that matters but the people. You need the right set of people and then it just rocks ! Enjoy the journey and not the destination !

Finally I would like to end by saying.......

" Feb 29th comes atleast once in four years, this tour would never come again ! "

Hitting Off

Had a strange experience today...Worth writing about. It was around 7.15 pm and I decided to go for a jog (Have been promising myself that I'll be regular !). Ok..here I go...I start jogging at my usual slow pace. I look around and find that there are atleast a couple more people who think that the 'coolest' thing to do on a Saturday night is to burn those extra calories !

As I complete my first round I can sense someone running at exactly my pace but a few yards away.I can hear the breath......I keep up the same pace, but now keenly listen to someone behind me..He follows me at the same rythemic pace. (I must clarify that I did not look back to confirm that it was a 'he'. Just that I don't expect a babe to follow me this way and that too at this place !)....Fine moving on...I complete a few more rounds and now I am clear that someone is following me...dhak.dhak..dhak...dhak.Suddenly I become a bit tense..Why should someone do that ? Sudden stream of thoughts....I reduce my pace a bit, thinking Il let him overtake me..But na...he was smart enough...He dropped a couple of yards as well....Fine I said..Il show you what I am made of...I suddenly shift into top gear and start sprinting...I think this is the fastest I have ever run for quite sometime...For a couple of seconds I cannot hear anyone and I think I have lost him !..Phew....What a relief......mujse takkar !

Dhak..dhak...dhakk...dhakk....within no time hes back...Sprinting..At the same pace...Now I do get worried..Running as fast as I can, but I realize that I am being followed at the same pace !......

I suddenly come to a screeching halt !...Turn back...and he halts too

"Man, you suddenly sprinted, were you trying to lose me? " He asked.
I did'nt want to admit it. I said "Na, I generally end it with a sprint".
Oh! I see, I was just trying to keep pace with you he says...I am from 4th year Elec, where are you from he asks ? "

And then follows a good 15 minutes of conversation. He asked me if I was a regular jogger and if it was right to sprint in the end. Shoul'dnt you slow down before coming to a halt ? Isn't this an amazing place to run? Are you regular? We discussed about all of these things. We discovered that both of us loved running in this beautiful campus and both were trying to be regular ! The discussion then went to how with MBA class schedules I sometimes find it difficult to take time off for jogging to how B Tech 8th sem was pretty cool !....

All this with someone I had never met before. We walked back to our hostels...Said Bye to each other......Strange right...Sometimes you just meet people..find something common, some area where you both are passionate about and just hit off !

Life is strange...But its nice !

The Last Few Days

When was the last time you took time off and went for a long walk
All alone, into nature and in your own world
These are your last few days in the campus. Make the most of it. The ideal time to go out would be 6.45 pm when the night just sets in. Put on your jogging shoes and hit off ! The key is to choose a different path everyday. You could sprint/ jog/ walk..Thats not important. The key is to realize that you are with nature. Absolute silence. Those huge banyan trees on both sides of the road. Occasionally fellow joggers who I guess feel the same about this beautiful campus and are out there.
Flush all negative thoughts out of your mind. Infact I would say, any thoughts. Just focus on the present and keep moving. Half an hour everyday...and you'l enjoy. There is so much to see in this place, ive hardly explored it...These are my last few days and Il make the most of it.

Today was a long walk from main gate to the hostel...with a halt at the beautiful temple on the way..........! Tomorrow it would be some other place....

I just have a few days left and I want to make the most of it !

Back to the Earth!

Expectations ! Confidence ?? Arrogance ???.. I sometimes wonder what is the difference between extreme confidence and arrogance ! Does one border on the other ? Or is there a stage when confidence becomes arrogance ? Interesting to think about it. When someone says ' Im sure Il get it'..Is he confident? Or does the tone in which he says it define if it is confidence or arrogance. Perhaps the stage where confidence becomes arrogance happens somewhere inside and in a lot of cases unknowingly...untill someone points it and says ' Dude, you're not good enough' !!! out or some incident jolts you and brings you back to the earth..

Back to the earth from the castles that you were building in the air;
Back to the earth to the same place where you were;
Back to the earth from the trophy you thought you already had won;
Back to the earth from the journey you had already embarked on !

Sea - Waves

What a Saturday morning I had. Had promised myself that I would get up at 6 and start jogging..Ha ha..what a joke, woke up at 8 am and was extremely sleepy even after breakfast. Made a couple of honest attempts to keep myself awake (Washed my face with a newly purchased face wash), but no change. The only thing that happened is that I slept even better after lunch....

Decided to go to the Besant Nagar beach in the evening. I now have less than 90 days left in the campus and have decided to go out and enjoi !!! (The travel plan should be ready by tomorrow).
Coming to the beach, it was awsome. It was the first time in a long time. I used to come here often in Q1 but somehow lost the habit after that. To be honest Ive lost most of the things that I used to do in Q1!!

The sea has something special.The waves, the breeze....Just standing there, looking at the waves, listening to the hushing sound....makes you feel great. Within minutes you are transported to another world. The key is to forget about everything else and watch the waves. Ya, you can look upwards at the sky, gaze at the stars..but absolute silence is essential...Half an hour of this..and you would notice the difference....!!

No visit to the beach is complete without having a plate of molagai bajji (green chilli pakoda)...Its unhealthy, its unhygenic, its unclean, its unadvisable etc etc, but kya kare?? its so tasty !!!

Rejuvinated !!! The sea certainly has a calming influence...Need to come here more often.

TZP

What is common between DDLJ (Dilwale), Black, Rang de Basanti, Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Mohobatein......??????

Ya, each of them might have been blockbusters and created box office records. But there is something else. I havent seen any of them !..."Ya, man, hes crazy, he hasnt seen DDLJ....Paagal hain."....That would be the first reaction of any normal person. And if you also reacted the same way..Congratulations...You're normal !!! Ha Ha.....

Jokes apart, its quite surprising why I never saw any of these. I think I know the answer. Its that rebellious streak in me not to do something (or watch movies in this case) because everyone said its good. I know its a crazy argument but its true. Probably I never had the courage to say NO to a science and engineering career after 10th, though when I look back today, I would never have done the same. (given a chance I would have taken up journalism and become a leading sports correspondent of a national daily or even cricinfo !!!)

The point is since I followed the mainstream in the areas that affected me the most, I guess I looked for areas where if I behave differently it wont have an impact and movies was one.! And I dont think it was intentional..Something in the subconscious mind...I know Iwas stupid, but I guess this is the only rational reason I could think of as to why I never saw the movies that were declared the biggest hits of the year.

Ok..coming to the point. Taara Zameen Par had all the chances of falling in this 'esteemed list' until I decided to finally watch it...And didn't I make a good decision. First of all any movie showing school seems to strike a chord. Probably for that brief period my mind goes back to those good ol' school days !....But in this case it was more...What immediately struck me was 5th A class and when students used to get a pasting (and it was painful) for making mistakes in Mathematics and at times even their head banged against wall..I never faced the brunt, but yes there were a few of the students who were 'common casualties'. I used to wonder how they could make mistakes in something as simple as addition or the basic concepts. I never understood. Another example was reading out in class. At times we were asked to stand up and read out certain parts of the lesson. Again I found that it was a struggle for some ! There have been instances when we have laughed out loud when someone made silly mistakes....

The movie has made me realize that those mistakes might have been silly for me, but would have been a struggle for someone else. There was no one to tell me these things then. But I hope the kids who have seen the movie now are more sympethatic towards their fellow classmates. Not everything about the 21st century is all that evil. We do make some good and meaningful movies.

3rd Feb

Its that day of the year, 3rd of February. So whats so special about this day? It seems like another usual Sunday characterized by a late breakfast at Tiffanys an excellent post-lunch sleeping session and a visit to the temple in the campus. Ya, to think of it, seems like a routine day, but wait a minute..I just need to go back a few years...Few ?...Oh, its 5 years now.

krrrr....krrrrrrrrrrrrrr........krrrrrrrrrrrr....(That was the sound of the tap rewinding ! )....Now its 3rd of Feb 2003. Wow ! Seems so good. The day we all joined the wonderful campus at TCS Trivandram. The day I met 34 of my amazing batchmates. Well, thats an understatement..This is the best collection of people from across India that I have interacted with..

2003 was a tough time. The economy was just about limping out of recession. 2001 and 2002 was characterized by a US slowdown and 9/11 which had a direct impact on the campus recruitment in India...The impact was so strong that we had IIT grads who joined TCS along with me..(Under normal circumstances they wouldnt have)...And the rest were from engineering colleges all across India. (Equal representation from the West, North, South and the East). Infact looking back, I consider it as one of the greatest learning experiences. Having lived in Mumbai all throughout my life, I was used to a certain line of thinking. But here away from home, we had different opinions from different people on the same topic. And boy it was fun !

Weekend trips to various places in Kerala (We covered it all, starting from Munnar to the backwaters and we even went to Cochin ! ), watching the world cup, dinner @various restaurants in trivandram...Boy , wasnt it fun..How can I ever forget pulling out my t-shirt and running topless on the streets of medical college junction of trivandram (we were a group), to celebrate India defeating Pakistan in the World Cup....I bet people in 'traditional' Trivadram would have experienced a cultural shock !

There are so many incidents that I can recall..The hard fought cricket matches, the Mowgli episode, designing a t shirt to celebrate the World Cup, the great music group singing away to glory on the long bus rides, slogging the last few days to come up with a class magazine...The list is endless....

But the best part of it were the people...The way we gelled together. Absolutely no differences. Learning about each others culture..Iyer speaking in Hindi and Mangu dada learning Hindi was just awsome ! And Droops Hindi which was heavily laced with a Bong accent... ...Awsome...

Each of us were unique and got something to the table...And we celebrated our differences.....Needless to say we developed great bonds of friendship that has grown over these last 5 years.


Tomorrow I would get back to classes and then the routine schedule and before I know it would be 3rd Feb 09'. One things for sure. I would definitely be celebrating it...!!!

Statistics and all of that.......

Im having so much free time these days. Nothing much to do...Post December life has changed. Its become so difficult to motivate myself to open a book and read......!!!

Reading and accademics brings me to the topic of the day..Statistics....January seems to be the time for great people to hang up their boots and say they have had enough. Last year it was Glenn Mcgrath and Shane Warne and this year its Adan Gilchrist. So what, everyone has to go sometime or the other, so whats new?..I guess its the timing..

They were all playing good enough to go on for a couple of years more. In cases of Gillli he was just 4 test matches away from playing a 100 test matches. Who doesnt want that record? Imagine 50 years from now his he could tell his grand children about it !. Couldnt Mcgrath have gone on and claimed 700 test wickets? Could'nt Warne have touched the 750 wickets mark?

But they didnt. They didnt go after the numbers...Its so contrary to the way we in India approach life. Its inherent in us. ...We use numbers and statistics a lot more. We use to judge where we are, we use it to compare ourselves with others.

The very first topic of discussion after a new child is born is how much he weighs !...This is just the beginning....Starting from kindergarden his ranking in class is dissected. How much did your son get in Math? 19 and a half out of 20? Oh ! my son got 19 and 3/4th.. What is his aggregate percentage? We don't hesitate to go upto the 2nd decimal level...I got 89.63%. Ah! I didnt get a call..I got 99.13 percentile. The cut off was 99.23........My CGPA was 8.89, they didnt shortlist below 8.9..I missed out by a fraction.......My salary is 18.63...Her son earns just 15.38 lakhs. The story goes on....Not just in accademics...I guess it spills over to other areas as well.....

Just makes me wonder..Do figures always tell the true story? Do we stress a bit too much on them?....Do we play for records?

I would end with what Gilchrist said " So if the fire is not burning, theres no use to dragging on just to achieve a number or a milestone. And I always looked to Rodney Marsh's stats and he played 96 tests and I always thought to myself ' Why did'nt he play one more series or 4 more games? ' But I now know. When your time's up your time's up"

Inflation and filter kapi

The newspapers are buzz with news that inflation in India is at a 'five year' low. The wholesale price index is around 3.45% and its such a wonderful thing that it is under control. Should'nt we be happy about it? Its time to celebrate....things are not as expensive as they were a few months back (when inflation was around 5%). I can buy more stuff, I can eat a lot more and pay less !!!...Hurray....Wait a minute...Is it really true?

I don't think so. Ive got facts to prove it. I went home for a 2 week winter break. What was the one thing that I missed during those 2 weeks? No prizes for guessing the right answer...Its the tiffanys filter coffee. I easily gulp down atleast 3 glasses a day (strong) and if there is a 3 o clock lecture, I have one before and one after the class. At times I ask him for a 'strong double'. Thats how important the tiffanys coffee, (or should I say kapi) is for me. It was nicely priced at Rs 5/- a glass, which I felt was reasonable.

On my return, the first thing I did after checking into my room, was to head to Tiff, to have my cuppa. I took out a 5 rupee coin as usual and said ' ore kapi'. He looked at me and said, 'Saar, six rupees'. I was shocked. A 20% hike in filter coffee prices. I asked him why did they increase the prices and went to ask about the revised prices of the other items as well. To my surprise all of them had been increased by 20 to 30%. Now that might not seem too much for a working professional, but for students like me, its a sizable increase. And considering the fact that I eat here almost everyday (snacks for sure and in most of the cases lunch as well) !!.


I had read a lot of articles stating that WPI is never a true indicator of inflation as most of the items in that basket are something that we dont purchase. The government should be using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which reflects the true picture. Can't agree with that argument more...And in my case the basket would have a significant weight allocated to filter coffee prices !!

Till the next price hike...happy coffee drinking.....

P.S I also noticed that the prices of the special items like 'podi masala dosa' and 'paneer masala dosa', the premium products (which were priced in Rs 30 range) are still the same. Has he used some economics funda, analyzed how much each of the customers buy and from what range before deciding the price hikes...I dont know, but would be interesting to find out.

A different stripe

Its a wonderful feeling, when you blog about something/someone and then find that after a couple of days, something on similar lines appears in the press !..I just wrote about Chanderpaul and his grit and cricinfo comes up with an amazing article on him. (Mine is not even 2% of how beautifully cricinfo has conveyed the same stuff)....

Even if you are not a cricket fan, I feel its a must read..and if you still feel you cannot read about cricket, read only the points highlighted in blue..Its worth it........Here it goes...

Crab-like and inelegant he may be, but it is his gritty determination and stomach for a fight that are more worth remarking on. "Tiger" Chanderpaul is a man driven by the simple mantra of just doing the best he can
Fazeer MohammedJanuary 2, 2008
The 'business of batting, batting and more batting'

On the face of it, the nickname just doesn't seem to fit. Shivnarine Chanderpaul The Tiger? Rampaging, mauling, utterly destructive? No man. It's got to be someone else. Not that dour nudger and deflecter with the crab-like shuffle across the stumps. Chanderpaul The Crustacean maybe, for surely those big cats would be deeply offended to be associated with someone who apparently lacks their feline grace, blood-curdling snarl and the ability to pounce like lightning and rip an unsuspecting victim to shreds.

Then again, maybe it's not so far-fetched, for in the same manner that stealth and determination are primary attributes of the tiger, so has the durable Guyanese left-hander emerged in his own understated manner as one of the most prolific and reliable batsmen in the midst of the darkest era in the long, proud history of West Indies cricket.

Brought up in an environment that cherishes a legacy of larger-than-life batting champions from George Headley to Brian Lara, Chanderpaul inevitably suffers in comparison with those legends. Not that he isn't capable of lifting the tempo when required, but even when he does, it lacks the panache, the flair and the almost regal arrogance associated with the maestros of yesterday, whose flashing blades typified the marriage of joyful exuberance and technical excellence that is celebrated as definitively West Indian.

As the first cricketer of East Indian descent to play over 100 Tests for the Caribbean side, he has been content to ply his trade in the shadows of the incomparable Brian Lara - and anyone else who happens to come along and shine brightly for a brief period before the indiscipline and inconsistency that have dogged the former kings of the game poison the latest pretender to the throne of batsman supreme.

Indeed, it is only since Lara's surprise retirement at the 2007 World Cup that Chanderpaul's value has become blindingly apparent. A tally of 446 runs at an average of 148.66 just two months later in England placed him in a different stratosphere from his struggling team-mates. And even when they all finally got it together as a team to produce a stunning series-opening victory at the end of year over South Africa in Port Elizabeth, the 33-year-old former captain remained a cut above the rest, with his 17th Test hundred anchoring the side to what proved a match-winning first-innings total.

He may not look the part, but this is one case where statistics don't lie: 7294 Test runs (average 46.75) and 7141 one-day international runs (average 39.67) to the end of 2007 are not figures to be taken lightly. But they only tell part of the story. It is Chanderpaul's single-minded determination to excel as a batsman for West Indies from a very young age that offers a greater understanding of just why he carries a nickname that seems so much at variance with his personality on and off the field.

Born in Guyana, Chanderpaul is the product of a society defined by economic hardships and racial divisions fuelled by inflammatory politics. In such a society, every opportunity for advancement is not only grasped with both hands but guarded with a jealousy that borders on selfishness. For a land of such bountiful natural resources and enormous economic potential, the harsh realities of everyday life have meant that those with the means to do so invariably take flight.


His comparative silence in the dressing room or limited, faltering comments in front of the microphones should not be mistaken for a lack of conviction - far from it. As one of his fellow countrymen, Clive Lloyd, publicly commented during his term as manager on the 1996-97 tour of Australia, Chanderpaul will stand his ground in any situation when he has to.

Three former West Indies captains, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd and Alvin Kallicharran, are among the most notable of Guyanese natives who have made their homes in the United Kingdom, while another from that South American nation to have led the regional side more recently, Carl Hooper, now lives in Australia. In essence, the theme for most Guyanese seems to be to work hard, make good and get out.

It is difficult to see how such imperatives would not have had a deep influence on Chanderpaul's approach to his cricketing career. Just as talented boys on the other side of the country's southern border with Brazil see football as their ticket out of humble circumstances, the skinny little youngster from Unity Village on the east bank of the mighty Demerara River was obsessed with cricket not just for the aesthetic delights of batsmanship, but as an avenue to fame, fortune and a better life for himself and his family.

While others with much more natural talent from the relatively affluent tourist havens of the Caribbean squandered their many opportunities at making it on the big stage, Chanderpaul's credo has been pretty much the same as when he first strode out at Bourda for his Test debut as a 19-year-old against England in 1994. It is not for him to play with the extravagance of a millionaire, even though he can obviously afford to live the good life now as he heads into his 14th year as an international cricketer. His wicket is still to be guarded jealously. Runs are still runs, whether acquired by flair or graft. And even as the senior man by some distance in the West Indies squad, he is still prepared to do whatever is necessary for the cause of the team and his own pivotal role in it.

On the basis of his vast experience and status as a former captain, it would probably be expected that he should demand every now and then to have his own way. Yet he has returned in the last year to opening the batting in ODIs, not so much because it his favoured position but because it is in the best interests of the West Indies. In his own way he is very much a team man without being the loud-mouthed, cheerleading type that seems so much in vogue in this modern, media-driven era. But his comparative silence in the dressing room or limited, faltering comments in front of the microphones should not be mistaken for a lack of conviction - far from it. As one of his fellow countrymen, Lloyd, publicly commented during his term as manager on the 1996-97 tour of Australia, Chanderpaul will stand his ground in any situation when he has to.

I alone: Chanderpaul has made an art form of playing the solo hand, especially over the last two years

That fierce determination and willingness to take on any challenge was very much in evidence on that arduous campaign, where the 22-year-old relative newcomer took on the responsibility of the No. 3 spot in the batting order from a struggling Lara. It was also during that series that he launched a scintillating assault on Shane Warne on the final morning of the Sydney Test, racing to 71 before being undone by a sensational ripper that the legspinner has since often described as one of the best deliveries he has ever bowled in his outstanding career. It was therefore ironic that the same batsman had been ignored for the entire home series against the same Australians in 1995, partially on the premise that he would have been unable to cope with the wiles of Warne. It was not the first time, and certainly not the last, that he has been underestimated.
Chanderpaul doesn't fit into the standard mould of the modern cricketing superstar and has suffered for it. When all the popular, chatty, fashionably attired pretty boys were selected for the ill-fated ICC Super Series two years ago, no serious protestations were raised about the omission of the crab-like left-hander, who just happened to have one of the best Test averages of the previous 12 months.

But that will always be his lot, because he isn't bothered by it enough to attempt to reinvent himself for the sake of being more marketable. Whether or not anyone cares to notice, his is the business of batting, batting and more batting. From living in the considerable shadow of Lara for more than a decade (he will forever be associated with Lara after having partnered him to his first world record-breaking Test innings of 375 in Antigua in 1994) to carrying the frail West Indies batting on his shoulders in the last English summer, Chanderpaul is driven by the simple mantra of just doing the best he can, whatever the circumstances.

He knows the game, as someone who has played at the highest level for as long as he has should, but is not comfortable as a leader, as his brief tenure as West Indies captain confirmed. That painful experience in 2005-06 showed that while he may be able to adapt to any challenge in the middle - his generally phlegmatic style is belied by a 71-ball Test hundred against Australia at Bourda in 2003, among other examples of quick scoring - the burden of such overall responsibility was too much for him.

Whatever his shortcomings as spokesman, skipper or tactical wizard, all of his opponents respect him for that tigerish determination and ability to creep along almost unnoticed towards another significant score. Despite never figuring in any discussion about contemporary batting greats, he has compiled 15 Test centuries in the last five years.

So it seems the "Tiger" nickname is right on the ball after all, for by the time anyone really takes notice of Chanderpaul, it's too late: he has already pounced on the chance to devour the bowling in his own deliberate, undemonstrative style.

'What you cannot do'

Haven't blogged since July....Thats a very long time...I guess the last 2 quarters were like that...Never felt the urge to do so....So many things happening...and most of them were'nt good ones...As Bill Lawry would have said 'Its all happening out here'...Some other day, I would have come back to my room and penned down my thoughts. But somehow it never happened.

Now that the storms have eased, the dust is settling and it would be a good time to reflect back on the events of the past 6 months. I hope to utilize this semester to write more....Dont want to make it into a resolution...But ya, I would definitely try....

Starting off, on a positive note. I happened to watch a video which was a talk by Harsha Bhogle and believe me its probably the best Ive ever heard. It goes on for an hour and a half, but its so engrossing. The way he relates cricket to management is simply awsome.

One of the key takeaways from his speech was that 'talent can only take you thus far. Its the grit and the determination that actually are the defining factors'. The ability to stay in there, take on the challenge, fight it out and eventually win. In a nut shell its the attitude that matters. He gave several examples where great talent has failed since they didnt have the right attitude. Sometimes when you are very talented, things come very easily till a certain point in time and then suddenly one fine day you find that its not working. It happens to everyone. He mentioned how hard working cricketers have managed to be successful by following the recepie of 'great attitude'.

I thought about it. It did make sense. And as I always do, I looked for some examples from the field of sports. I always use sports as an example and especially test cricket as I feel that it is the closest to management. You need concentration, patience, need to handle different conditions etc etc...(There are so many similarities..I can keep writing).I guess thats one good thing I have learnt to do over the last year or so. Any new concept/idea, I try and relate to examples from the field I am interested in..Somehow it works....(Il write about it in a later article)

About what Harsha said, I did'nt have to look too far. The first name that came to mind was Shivnaraine Chanderpaul. Not many of us remember that when Brian Lara scored his magnificient 375 against England, at the other end stood a young 17 year old left hander called Chanderpaul. A very unorthodox style of batting, people say he doesnt have style etc etc. But over the last decade he has been mighty effective. He has managed to play over a 100 test matches and score more than 7000 runs. As I write he has equalled the record of Everton Weeks and Andy Flower of scoring 7 consecutive half centuries in test matches.He has played for 1000 minutes in test cricket without conceeding his wicket...Not once, but on three occasions....There are records galore...

The underlying point is that, he is a batsman of limited ability. The key is he knows what he can do and more importantly what he cannot do. And that I think is the key. To know your limitations, build your game around it and then add in the ingredients (of grit,determination and attitude) as Harsha had so nicely mentioned and you have success !!

Adding on the point of what you cannot do, I cannot avoid mentioning the former Australian opener, Justin Langer. Over 7000 runs, 23 international hundreds, averaging more than 45 as an opener....Would never have been possible after the debut he had in 1992 and then subsequently being dropped for years...I guess he used that time to go back to domestic cricket, understand what he cannot do and when he got a chance in in 1999, he came back with a bang ! Who can forget the memorable partnership with Gilchrist to help Australia chase a 300+ score against Pakistan at Hobart.

Chanderpaul and Langer are just two examples...The world has many more !!!!

The GRASS that I crave for

It was pouring outside and Vijay Amritraj and Alan Wilkings were taking questions from the viewers. One of the concerned voices asked "With so much of rain around, do you think the organizers would be able to complete the Championships on time? ". Vijay with a serious face said "Ya, they definitely would want to get it over by Christmas !! "..For a moment even Alan could'nt get the humor and then after a split second, they all burst out laughing...

During the finals when Rafa and Fedex were pounding winners Wilkings said " Must be strange for Nadal to see someone else on the other side of the court. He used to seeing Sodderling there regularly" !! (In reference to the Nadal Sodderling match that went on amazingly for 5 days )..

Its incidents like these that make the Championships so special.

The Championships finally come to an end..What a tradition..what history...Infact it brings back
childhood memories..Initially in the late 80's when cable television hadnt made inroads we were dependent on Doordarshan. They too realized the importance of the Championships and used to telecast all the matches starting from the quarter finals LIVE ! (For the other grand slams it was the semis)...I can still remember clearly, take a water break in one of the post lunch sessions at Bosco, then heading for the cooler and discussing who is gonna win..."Becker will trash Edberg".."said one...No chance, watch out for Stich this time"...said the other. We would return back to the class with the bets firmly placed...Just fantastic.

We also organized our mini tennis tournaments that used to run in parallel with Wimbledon. The only difference is that we used to play with our TT Rackets and the 'ping-pong' ball, but with the rules of Lawn Tennis. Each of us would assume to be one of the players (There was a lot of competition for boom boom becker). We had bottles filled with water and a small towel for the break between games !.......

And yes, how can i not mention the way tennis was played in school...It was with a soft tennis ball, but the serve was with the hand. It all started of as 'SQUASH' against the traditional walls @Bosco. (Playing against the Chruch wall till we were driven away). Suddenly someone got this fascinating idea that we could actually play singles/doubles matches as well. I cant describe how it was...all i can say is that it was amazing and it was tense...(Ive played some amazing 5 setters and the best part is that they are so fresh in my mind)

I guess I can keep writing about Wimbledon...
Its the only 'GRASS' that I crave for... Cant wait for Wimbledon 08 .......

The Wheel Does Turn....A Full Circle

Not blogged for ages now….On quite a few occasions I did like…God ! I need to document this..There would be a stream of thoughts flowing through my mind…But somehow..somehow..the last minute laziness…..See, that’s what examinations break can do…You take a break saying that ‘ Abhi exams ke baad blog karunga’..Exams get over in a week but ……….

Ok..This incident happened while I was returning to Mumbai after completing my Q4 exams. I boarded an Indian Airlines flight (Yes, it took off on time, there was plenty of leg room, I got excellent food as well all for 1700 bucks from Chennai to Mumbai..who needs low cost airlines)..Here I was, seated comfortably reading some magazine when I noticed a couple of elderly people entering in wheel chairs. There was another old lady (easily in her early 70’s) walking with support, but on her own. Just one look at her, the way she struggled to move and yet did not depend on others..I thought to myself..Wow ! that is the feeling of confidence, the strong feeling to be independent, to struggle but to make it own her own. An excellent example of ‘pushing your limits’

Seated next to me was a gujju grandma. She was so weak and fragile, struggling to even breathe properly. I thought to myself. Why ? At this age, she needs to travel. I noticed that there were tears rolling down her eyes. She couldn’t express herself using words. Just an occasional grunt. I told myself, maybe she does need to fly, to consult a super specialist doctor somewhere in Mumbai.

During the rest of the journey I as thinking about old age and how in life we move from a cycle of Total dependence (child stage), to partial independence (school kids), to a stage of complete independence bordering on the extreme (college and working days) and finally back to total dependence (old age)

The wheel does turn a FULL CIRCLE…..

IDEAS...........

After 3 quarters of MBA, 16 final exams, countless quizzes and mid-terms I just thought about reflecting on the quality of some of the exam papers. Well, some of them have been absolutely amazing...The Operations Research Paper in Q2 stands out as being the best so far....There are quite a few close that rank second..One among them is my Q3 marketing paper....

Just thought of writing about it...
I recollect the joy on my face after completing the exams. Not because I had cracked it..Infact I hadnt....But because of the quality of questions....Simply amazing...Made me think, think and think again...And the question paper started with the following words ' Take a deep breadth, think, think again, collect your thoughts and then write'.....




Ok now to cut the long story short..There was a question which said

Explain 2 retail formats and then try marrying them and see what you get of it and if its a faesable option ?

I thought about it ( ya..for a change took 5 minutes to think !) and finally took a call that factory outlets and malls are the best options. The malls have a lot of footfalls but it doesnt translate into sales, what if all the leading brands open their factory outlets in a mall.....I also mentioned about having such malls near the IT parks , would definitely translate into higher sales.....

I put a lot of fundae justifying this.....
And now the best part...

Check out this article from Business Line..This came a couple of days back...

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2007/03/22/stories/2007032200210100.htm

Wow..exciting isnt it ?...Some idea which I felt was viable is actually being implemented...And I didnt know about it earlier....!!!

Encourages me to keep reading and keep thinking

The Number Game

Being a hardcore cricket enthusiast you would be expecting me
to be working overnight to get India's Net run rate calculations right... An exact value that would enable us to reach the Super 8 stages of the World Cup. How much do we need to score if we bat first, by what margin do we need to win our remaining matches, how many wickets can we afford to lose in the bargain and so on...

Well, I am certainly dabbling with a lot of numbers, but of a slightly different nature...

Today, cricket is a great money spinner. The kind of money involved is mind boggling. It is speculated that advertisment slots worth around 12000 crores have already been sold. (Infact its so huge, that I really
dont know the exact number of zeros in it !! ). LG, Pepsi, Nike, Hutch, Nokia, ITC.. the list goes on and on..Why have all of them pumped in so much money ? For the simple reason that they expect Team India to reach atleast the semi-finals (If it does that, it would have played 10 matches) and this would guarantee a good TRP rating for the channel and probably a good ROI for the companies.

Just imagine what would happen to all this money if Team India is sent packing ! What happens to all the projected ROI's, sales estimation, month long promotional campaigns ?? Would a West Indies - Ireland 2nd round match generate the same viewership ??....Would the number of Indians watching the World Cup remain the same, or would half of them just switch off ?... Lots of questions......Much more difficult than calculating the Net Run Rate......

To add on...Even Mandira Bedi's clothes or the 'lack of it' wont be
able to do the trick.. Hence India has to qualify.....and something
tells me that they will... Not necessarily a cricketing reason !!!

Functional Expertise

A brilliant article..again talks about the importance of various
disciplines of management and why we should not compartmentalize....

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/manager/2007/03/19/stories/2007031900371000.htm

Mallu Nomenclatures


Found this extremely hilarious article on one of the blogs...
Its a must read............................

http://anilgeorge.blogspot.com/2007/03/naming-in-mallu-land-remake-6174.html

Compartmentalization V/S Generalization

Case 1
Almost a year back I read the news of the CFO if a major IT giant (am not taking names for security issues!!!) was shifted as the global head HR, with his main responsibility being to reduce attrition and attracting the best talent.

How on earth is it possible? Come on, he was the CFO, he must have taken only Fin Courses in colleges and laughed at people studying those ‘HR kinda jargons’…..Would he have ever imagined that one fine day he would be leading the global HR practice.. Definitely NOT……As usual, I read that piece of news and in a couple of days time had forgotten about it.

Case 2
When I joined IIT M, (this was around 9 months back) I had this strong opinion that ‘Marketing is all nonsense’, You cant teach it’, etc etc (I probably had harsher words for it…). And I remember when I saw the course structure, I was utterly disappointed…3 marketing papers…..! Kab khatam hoga ……


Today, after 3 ‘quarters’ of my MBA, I have a completely different opinion. I discovered..(note the word discovered…Nothing is given in a platter, atleast at PG level, it depends on the student initiative) that pure compartmentalization does not work. I have learnt to integrate what I learn in various courses.

If you are still not convinced here are a few examples how subjects are inter-related…

Stanton uses Economic Order Quantity funda in logistics, Kotler talks about ABC Analysis of costing; Operations Mgmt talks about aggregate planning being the backbone of ERP…The core of finance comes from theories in Mathematics and Economics…..etc etc……….

I guess integration is the key to success in the long term. That is the key why the person in Case 1 was successful in an entirely new role. He learnt, he applied, he integrated and he re-learnt…

Learning with a holistic perspective makes learning a lot more enjoyable………

Balaraman Chips in.............
Right from the first quarter i have been seeing many ppl linking assts with grades. I wud like to differ here. If u think finishing the asst is to help u score better grades then u can never improve ur knowledge base.
Consider every asst as an opportunity to explore the subject and try to learn something out of it. If u detach the assts from grades and try to look at it separately trust me not only ll it be enjoyable but also u will gain a whole lot of things
Observe youself...is there any use in submitting and finishing an assignment jus for the heck of it?? and it was really amazin to see how ppl manage to create a team project when individual assignments are given. i thiink they are all True , virgin team men!!!...why do ppl behave like this? Are they so busy or totally uninterested? Even if u r then waht rights do u have to claim something as yours when factually it is not so??
And then comes the ooos and aaas whenever there is an hint of assignment. Being an MBA we shud b given live projects.But here v r...burdened(?) by even the smallest of assignemnts. Be fortunate to get assts..the thing tht difeerentiates the premier schools frm others is the no of assts those students do in a week. More they are the better.
Then come the negotiations..is it possible to postpone because of this and tht..in real life is this possible.???..shudnt we equip ourselves with parallel processing. Mind u ...our brain is so powerful and capable ..v r not putting tht to gud use
So Frnds the next time v r given an asst..pls luk fwd for more... let us do justice to it as only then v ll do justice to our capacity..