April 20th updates...

Quotable quotes of the week

Today we need a leader who have a spirit of sacrifice and who are spiritual in their outlook - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - Spiritual leader

For me my family and career top my priority list. I need to be remembered as an actor , not as somebody's boy friend - Ranbir Kapoor

I like communism , not communists -- M.karunanidhi -- Tamil Nadu CM

He has a sharp brain . His approach is pretty clear and not complicated - Sachin Tendulkar on Captain MS Dhoni

Read over the week end

Khuswant Singh on PM Manmohan Siingh and on LK Advani the BJP PM candidate .

Singh is close to 90's in age and he launched his book " Why I supported emergency -- he was raring to go at the launch of the book-- Manmohan and LK Advani have the same patron but they may not acknowledge the fact
On LK Advani
Khuswant Singh signed Advani's nomination form when he stood for elections after the 1984 Sikh riots from Delhi-- But things are different today -Kushwant says " He sowed the seeds of communalism … I always believe he is clean , honest and doesn't womanise- Such people are dangerous
On Manmohan Singh:
He is on top of my list , not because he is a Sikh. I donated money of Rs 100.000 to the PM's first and last Lok Sabha election. " His son in law had said that he did not have money to take people to poll. I handed over the money in a bundle. After Manmohan lost the election , he called me and asked me whether I was alone at home. I told him he could come over. He came carrying the money saying he had not spent it !
Couple of comments comes out from this--
Senior leadership of each parties command lot of respect and looks like they are clean - Not sure where all the corruption happens-
They also do not know how to win elections else how can someone like Manmohan lose ?

BTW : I also watched Advani on NDTV and was very impressed with his answers and thoughts on various subjects -- He is thought provoking , has a compelling vision , and shows great emotional resilience ( he exhibited this when asked on the Rajnath - Jaitley rift ) -- Lot of things to learn
While on elections , this time we see lot of professional ( or at least I happen to notice this only now ) jump in to the fray -- We had Pandiarajan of Mafoi jump in from Virudhnagar on Vijaykanth's party ( DMDK ) , Meera Sanyal CEO ABN Amro from Mumbai South , Sharadhbabu of Food King ( IIM A ) , dancer Mallika Sarbhai and so on-- I told my wife that I missed the bus this time but for the next one which may be due in 2014 , for sure should have a good plan -- People close to me know what I think I can do and this may turn out to be my cup of tea afterr all...

Water Board

There is , rather there existed a manhole that was sized up at the entrance to my flat and every time you entered and exited the car park , you had to be careful about it damaging the underside of the car -- I complained to the Sewage and water board and they promptly removed the large sized cover and put a smaller compact one but did not cover or remove the rubble -- I went personally two weeks back and made the request to the officer who was very nice and assured that action will be taken-- nothing worked and so this week end I rang up and requested for help-- To my surprise , the manhole cover was done up by noon , the rubble removed and cleaned-- I thought I should thank the concerned official and rang up the office -- The officer came on the line and as I tried to rekindle his memory on the complaint , he was so tense in answering that the complaint has been attended to - his voice was about to raise when I told him that I called to thank him -- there was a dumb silence from his side -- he gathered himself and said that people do not call back once the work is done and he is not used to receiving " thank you " calls !!

Football and Formula one
Football :

ManU ended their hopes of winning four major titles this season when they lost to Everton on penalties in the FA cup semifinal-- But credit to Sir Alex for fielding his young Turks who played against a side that had its regular line up-- ManU rested all its regulars except its defenders and the young side played stoically for 120 minutes including the 30 minute extra time before being shooted out in the penalties-- ManU are still in the hunt for retaining the EPL title and the European Championship-
Formula one :

It was the third race of the season and it was a wet one again -- and for the third time the two Ferrari's failed to gain any points. History tells us that since 1981 , this has been the first time when Ferrari failed to win any points from the first three races of the season -- While Massa's car for some reason came to a halt on the 18th lap of the 56 lap race - Massa had done well up to that point -- he was fifth up eight places from his 13th from qualifying -, Raikonen looked totally out of sorts and just about ran around the circuit and finished much lower than his qualifying place - Not a performance from a Ex world champion -- Ferrari really needs to buck the trend in the forthcoming Abu Dhabi GP -- McLaren did better and their drivers World Champion Hamilton and Kovalenien looked in good shape and were charging around the circuit -- The winner was Red Bull Driver Sebastian Vettel who know seems to be making a name for himself in winning races when the track conditions are wet and the rains continue-- he did that in Monza , the Italian GP and repeated that in Shangai this year as well-- Red Bull is no more a back peddler in the current year -- They along with Brawn racing and Torro Rosso ( RBR Renault ) are challenging Mclaren , Ferrari on their supremacy over the track-
The " Diffuser " controversy over its being legal has been resolved and Brawn racing must be feeling much better and in strong sprits-- Their drivers were just behind the Red Bull drivers finishing third and fourth respectively