Phew...Just a few days back and I was super excited at the prospects of Team Hyderabad winning the second version of IPL.And in style they won. Not less than two weeks and the mania is back. The popularity of T20 seems to be going overboard with every month and everyone seems to be cashing in on it. But how much seems to be enough?
Thanks to the men of the earlier decades that we still have some other games like soccer and tennis in the offing which saves us from the over whelming dosage of cricket. Though I cant deny the fact the cricket is and will remain the most popular game in my country India, but the fact is do we need to buy each and everything offered in the name of cricket? After all I certainly can't deny the fact it is the only game to have brought pride to the nation time and again.
After all the hoopla, the World Cup T20 starts of today in England, another cricket crazy nation. Though it seems now-a-days that the game actually originated in the Indian sub-continent rather than in England. The inaugural ceremony though turned out to be the damp squid thanks to the heavens downpour. And by Gods Grace, thankfully, I won’t see Mandira Bedi with her most weird hairstyles and awful costumes.This time we have a newer face Shonali Nagrani for Company who adds the oomph factor to the game. Though she has been given the task to sit in the studio and ask some stupid questions and simultaneously doling out 10,000 Rs for a right answer, she does add to the glamour of the game.
And good news to all those people like me who even after browsing through the so called entertainment channels for hours cannot find anything worth viewing. At least I know what exactly I will go through when I sit back and watch a T20 match for the entire three hours.
Over to the game, it should be a smooth sailing for us since we play minnow teams Ireland and Bangladesh in the group matches. And to top it all one thing that's surely attractive is the T20 World Cup trophy which is much prettier as compared to the badly designed IPL trophy. On the flip side the cheerleaders are absolutely next to trash!! Can you in your wildest of dreams imagine a T20 match without the pretty cheerleaders dancing their way at each and every big move in the game? Over the 2 years, I have started associating T20 with cheerleaders and lo there are a few of them hopelessly shaking a leg or two as if they haven't been paid their dues.This would definitely take away the eye candy of many such ardent fans.
But we, particularly as Indians have reasons to keep our heads high. One, we are the defending champions and without doubt would want to retain the crown with us and two, I was delighted to see two of our very own brands Reliance Mobile and Hero Honda with their banners right in the center of the field. Now that's what I call an achievement as far as Corporate India is concerned which proves India as a nation surely has the capabilities to rescue the world out of this economic crisis.
Here's wishing the Indian Cricket Team to go for it once again and prove that they are and will be the King of T20...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A day lost....
Just another usual yesterday and things were moving at a smooth (read ridiculously slow) pace as usual. Morning passes by doing daily unimportant activities and follows the so very important homemade lunch which I feel still deprived off after surviving away from home for more than two years. The thought of having a sumptuous lunch makes me feel lethargic; forget about actually gulping down the plate full.
And no sooner than this, the indolent brains inside my head signalled the start of ultra sluggish behaviour and lead me into to the "Go to Bed" syndrome. Having taken a resolution to avoid moving into deep slumber after every meal, I decided to switch on the PC to help me survive the sleep onslaught. And then came a shocker, I was literally stunned when I saw the system flashing a limited connectivity in front of my eyes. That signalled the end of my laxity and coaxed my mind into contemplating the world of possibilities without my dear Internet connection.
Surely in this Internet age, life doesn’t get a better best friend than the small little two computers that sit on the right hand of our monitor screens. Getting connected suddenly seemed to be the most important mission of my life. After hurling several imaginary abuses at the MTNL guys for suddenly disconnecting my life (from the Internet), started the grand endeavour of resurrecting my Internet connection.
As expected, the so called help lines (call centres) lived up to their reputation of being of absolutely no help. On dialling the supposed magic digits, as usual I was greeted with the world famous "You are in Queue. Please dial after some time" recorded message. I think MTNL should take a cue from the private companies who at least take the pains to record such cliché messages in beautiful female voices. Nevertheless, after around five minutes of forced torture some lady finally took pity on me and took the call. And then within the next 15 seconds it was all over. Bang! She kept the receiver after handing me over the mandatory complaint number, even before I could ask her the countless questions that I had in my mind. And subsequently, I was pushed into the lifeless world of no connectivity with no orkut,no gtalk,no Internet banking, no moneycontrol.....Life seemed to be going nowhere and came to a complete standstill for the first time ever. I took solace in the sole source of entertainment called 'Television' which perhaps could console me just for half n hour (with the innumerable amount of junk available).
But that was not all. On making several futile attempts (which also included me bashing up the same lady on phone for her utter dismal behaviour at rescuing me out from the connectionless life) at resurrecting my Internet connection, the truth finally dawned upon me that there was a major server failure and the whole network was affected. After this, started the endless wait hoping that the MTNL guys do wake up from their slumber and get going at some CRM in order to retain grumpy customers like me. For the first time in life, I realised the horror all clients go through when he/she faces an issue and we as employees, sometimes though, get over with our tea/coffee breaks.
The no connectivity syndrome not only made me feel restless but also drained me of my emotional health.The only hope around was to expect a miracle and the servers would stand up right on their feet.After going through the entire ordeal for some 30 hours, life finally returned a whole circle and thankfully I was back on internet with my mind full of wierd thoughts about the day lost in my life...
And no sooner than this, the indolent brains inside my head signalled the start of ultra sluggish behaviour and lead me into to the "Go to Bed" syndrome. Having taken a resolution to avoid moving into deep slumber after every meal, I decided to switch on the PC to help me survive the sleep onslaught. And then came a shocker, I was literally stunned when I saw the system flashing a limited connectivity in front of my eyes. That signalled the end of my laxity and coaxed my mind into contemplating the world of possibilities without my dear Internet connection.
Surely in this Internet age, life doesn’t get a better best friend than the small little two computers that sit on the right hand of our monitor screens. Getting connected suddenly seemed to be the most important mission of my life. After hurling several imaginary abuses at the MTNL guys for suddenly disconnecting my life (from the Internet), started the grand endeavour of resurrecting my Internet connection.
As expected, the so called help lines (call centres) lived up to their reputation of being of absolutely no help. On dialling the supposed magic digits, as usual I was greeted with the world famous "You are in Queue. Please dial after some time" recorded message. I think MTNL should take a cue from the private companies who at least take the pains to record such cliché messages in beautiful female voices. Nevertheless, after around five minutes of forced torture some lady finally took pity on me and took the call. And then within the next 15 seconds it was all over. Bang! She kept the receiver after handing me over the mandatory complaint number, even before I could ask her the countless questions that I had in my mind. And subsequently, I was pushed into the lifeless world of no connectivity with no orkut,no gtalk,no Internet banking, no moneycontrol.....Life seemed to be going nowhere and came to a complete standstill for the first time ever. I took solace in the sole source of entertainment called 'Television' which perhaps could console me just for half n hour (with the innumerable amount of junk available).
But that was not all. On making several futile attempts (which also included me bashing up the same lady on phone for her utter dismal behaviour at rescuing me out from the connectionless life) at resurrecting my Internet connection, the truth finally dawned upon me that there was a major server failure and the whole network was affected. After this, started the endless wait hoping that the MTNL guys do wake up from their slumber and get going at some CRM in order to retain grumpy customers like me. For the first time in life, I realised the horror all clients go through when he/she faces an issue and we as employees, sometimes though, get over with our tea/coffee breaks.
The no connectivity syndrome not only made me feel restless but also drained me of my emotional health.The only hope around was to expect a miracle and the servers would stand up right on their feet.After going through the entire ordeal for some 30 hours, life finally returned a whole circle and thankfully I was back on internet with my mind full of wierd thoughts about the day lost in my life...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
What wrong have we done?
For ages, the Indian outlook of sending our kids to foreign destinations for higher studies has dominated our culture. Not long ago parents used to be overjoyed with pride and their eyes glimmering with the very thought that their kids were either studying or working in some foreign destination away from home and earning plenty of dollars. But not anymore!
The world over we Indians are known to be the most docile creatures God has ever created. We constitute a sect of people who just strive to earn a better living and making our lives comfortable. And subsequently arise the ambitions and aspirations to perform better. Right from the unassuming maid servant to the high flying corporate executive each one of us is actually trying to move up the social ladder. But where do these aspirations of the submissive Indian take us? Are we slowly and steadily getting habituated to getting dominated and harassed by the so called racially superior creatures that seem to have evolved from the same Ape species from where we have?
The horrifying tales of Indians getting racially and physically ill-treated in Australia is indeed appalling. Rewind a few months back and stories of Indian students getting brutally attacked and cold bloodedly murdered in broad daylight was quite a common phenomenon in the most talked about nation, the USA. The gruesome killings followed some protests and after some assurances from the governments the issue just went down the drains. Now the same fate seems to haunt our students in Australia. The question here is what wrong have we done?
Is the very decision to gain admission to a foreign University turning out to be the biggest blunder of our times? I believe the answer to this in the recent spate of events should be a firm Yes! The most obvious question that arises again is "Why are we Indians targeted then?" keeping in mind the biggest irony that Indians are the biggest contributors to the plethora of Universities in the US and specifically Australia, which thrive whole heartedly just on Indian or Asian students. Some universities are able to survive just on the tuition fees paid by the foreign students. The reason behind this is that the local students are either being too happy with their limited education levels or they are too ignorant to pursue with their higher education programs because the idea of higher education just doesn’t impress them.
To top it all the main reason why we Indians are targeted is sheer jealousy. The very fact that a foreign national (especially Indian) residing in their country(Australia) and earning more than them is turning out to be indigestible for them. According to these so called natives who have over the years turned out to be racist freaks, Indian migrants in their countries are just fit for the jobs of either cab drivers or call centres. After all the mudslinging racist remarks that we Indians are subjected to for years in countries like USA,UK and now Australia, this jealousy has now taken the form of dreadful acts of physical abuse.
What can we do next? Prevent our deserving students from studying in foreign Universities or give the offenders a piece of their own pie? Coming from the land of Mahatma Gandhi certainly makes us complacent and hitting the Australians at their own games is not a good idea. But then when the matter is of sole survival for our students we just can't keep quiet by being a mere spectator. It might not be long before the same calamity strikes one of our very own friends or colleagues.
As of now the safest option to me seems to be to discourage all students to study in these foreign universities till the time these racist freaks learn to civilise themselves and stop being overtly envious of our ambitions and achievements. And special thanks to Mr. Bachchan for frankly declining the Australian honour that was to be conferred upon him.
The world over we Indians are known to be the most docile creatures God has ever created. We constitute a sect of people who just strive to earn a better living and making our lives comfortable. And subsequently arise the ambitions and aspirations to perform better. Right from the unassuming maid servant to the high flying corporate executive each one of us is actually trying to move up the social ladder. But where do these aspirations of the submissive Indian take us? Are we slowly and steadily getting habituated to getting dominated and harassed by the so called racially superior creatures that seem to have evolved from the same Ape species from where we have?
The horrifying tales of Indians getting racially and physically ill-treated in Australia is indeed appalling. Rewind a few months back and stories of Indian students getting brutally attacked and cold bloodedly murdered in broad daylight was quite a common phenomenon in the most talked about nation, the USA. The gruesome killings followed some protests and after some assurances from the governments the issue just went down the drains. Now the same fate seems to haunt our students in Australia. The question here is what wrong have we done?
Is the very decision to gain admission to a foreign University turning out to be the biggest blunder of our times? I believe the answer to this in the recent spate of events should be a firm Yes! The most obvious question that arises again is "Why are we Indians targeted then?" keeping in mind the biggest irony that Indians are the biggest contributors to the plethora of Universities in the US and specifically Australia, which thrive whole heartedly just on Indian or Asian students. Some universities are able to survive just on the tuition fees paid by the foreign students. The reason behind this is that the local students are either being too happy with their limited education levels or they are too ignorant to pursue with their higher education programs because the idea of higher education just doesn’t impress them.
To top it all the main reason why we Indians are targeted is sheer jealousy. The very fact that a foreign national (especially Indian) residing in their country(Australia) and earning more than them is turning out to be indigestible for them. According to these so called natives who have over the years turned out to be racist freaks, Indian migrants in their countries are just fit for the jobs of either cab drivers or call centres. After all the mudslinging racist remarks that we Indians are subjected to for years in countries like USA,UK and now Australia, this jealousy has now taken the form of dreadful acts of physical abuse.
What can we do next? Prevent our deserving students from studying in foreign Universities or give the offenders a piece of their own pie? Coming from the land of Mahatma Gandhi certainly makes us complacent and hitting the Australians at their own games is not a good idea. But then when the matter is of sole survival for our students we just can't keep quiet by being a mere spectator. It might not be long before the same calamity strikes one of our very own friends or colleagues.
As of now the safest option to me seems to be to discourage all students to study in these foreign universities till the time these racist freaks learn to civilise themselves and stop being overtly envious of our ambitions and achievements. And special thanks to Mr. Bachchan for frankly declining the Australian honour that was to be conferred upon him.
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