SRI'S Blog

The Ashes -- Third Test The Aussies bounced back in to the Ashes reckoning with a big win in the third test. This was largely possible due to Mitchell Johnson who was not in the team for the second test which the Aussies lost . Johnson playing in his home ground at Perth batted with gusto in the first innings and then had England in all sorts of bother with four wickets in 27 balls to give Australia the edge in the first innings . Then Watson and "Mr Cricket" Mike Hussey ensured that England had a target that they could never chase in the fourth innings . Ryan Harris chipped in with the wickets along with Johnson in the second innings and Aussies were home and dry. That leaves the series tied at one each with two matches to go. To me, Mike Hussey has been the big influence on the Aussie team so far . He has had a lean trot in the last two years but from the first test of this Ashes Series , he has been in form , fresh on legs , great body language on the field. Aussies norm

All Cricket fans will be excited by what England has done … The Ashes series is not overyet but the English have created the buzz and in line with my earlier blog on what I thought about series. It is very exciting when what you anticipate happens and so ……I am excited !! England did a neat job. It was clear that from the drawn result of the first test , the Aussie defeat was coming for sure very quickly. England bounced back with a strong batting display in the second innings of the first test to frustrate the Aussies and earn a creditable draw. Aussies in their prime would have overrun them after taking a sizable lead . But not to be.. With Alastair Cook in great form ( close to 450 runs in just three innings so far ) and with Trott becoming the Rahul Dravid "Wall" equivalent for England , Strauss getting a hundred , England set themselves well to draw the first test. Some thoughts on Cook - I wonder what Strauss, the England captain must be thinking of what he said on Co

The plan to get away was soaking for a long time but it took the "spirit of energy" to execute it . Late evening a month back , we jumped up and down , scrambled websites for fares , booked tickets for onward and return in a jiffy and then got ourselves winded to get the accommodation and transportation done . Over time as the date of the journey became nearer , one member backed off due to school commitments of his daughter ( how much we missed him and his tender care for children was evident during the trip ) . As you go through the link to the photo album , you know who made the trip and who did not ( guess out ). This was my first trip past Ooty .. It was a nice drive down from Ooty to get to the terrain of the jungle. Masinagudi is just before the point where the Mudhumalai Forest Sanctuary begins. ( It is on the Ooty Mysore Road and you can get in from Mysore as well )For those who are not comfortable with the drive up or down the hills , there are 36 hairpin curves dow

The Ashes Series Australia Versus England An Ashes series has so much of hype leading up to the matches. In the last fifteen years Australia have been the dominant side . England had a brief spell of ascendancy in 2005 as Flintoff and some reverse swing bowling by Simon Jones helped them win the Ashes . But for this summer Ashes, being played in Australia , the Aussies seem to have given up on the series even before it has started. Their own fans have predicted a English win and that is unbelievable if one had followed the way the Aussies have played their cricket on the last decade. There are good reasons as to why the media in general and the Aussie fans predict a English win. Here are some of my thoughts England have been playing very good cricket for the past year. They won the T 20 and under Strauss have been able to produce a fine balanced side The Aussie team is aging. With the departure of McGrath , Warne , Hayden , Langer and Gilchrist , the team has lost talent and I have no

It was Diwali and a long week end-- It helped … Spending time with family , meet up and get blessings of elders and relatives , eat a lot , catch up with friends who do not stay in Chennai but make it a point to come down to their hometown for Diwali -- All in all a great way to recharge low charge batteries .. And prepare for more challenges ..Overall there was lot of happiness and being away from your regular pressures The rains on Sunday nearly took the sheen off the long week end .. It was just not a good idea to stay indoors . I also realised how much we need sunshine .. Hot . Hotter is okay but not rains . What the rains did help on Sunday was to get some afternoon nap that set me up to watch the Formula one ( the penultimate race of this season ) at Brazil and also watch some football of rival teams. First the Formula One -- As indicated in my earlier blog , the races are no more interesting . They are drab , dull and have no excitement to offer . Steve Slater , Gary Anderson an

Enthiran ( The Robot )-- The Rajini Show Finally , after four weeks post release of the movie , I got to see the movie and I am sorry to all Rajini fans, that the movie was disappointing to me . May be my expectation was sky high based on all the hype created and all the great feedback that I got . My disappointment was not with Rajini but with the director Shankar who had done better movies than this in terms of storyline- I looked back and thought about his earlier movies Gentleman , Anniyan , Mudalvan etc., -- May be it was the Rajini effect that killed everything that was to be prominent around the movie. There was not a scene where Rajini was missing . And that probably give a overdose of "Rajini" to me not to the Rajini fans . Somehow , I was not excited through the viewing of the movie and it was just good to me for one viewing and will go down as a average movie that I did not enjoy much.. I know I will be proved otherwise , by the box office collections , the theatr

Quotable Quotes of the week I may not have a place in the media space but I am certainly ensconced in the hearts of the people - Narendra Modi Gujarat Chief Minister ( well said as a Politician would ) I wear Hawai chappals because I like wearing them and not because someone says so -- Mamta Banerji Railway Minister This is not fair. We travel all over and I can assure you we don't get to brush our teeth with mineral water - Mahesh Bhupathi on some international players pulling out of the Commonwealth games due to lack of facilities When an elephant walks , a lot of animals bark, but the elephant keeps walking without giving much importance to the lesser animals - Virender Sehwag on his critics Commonwealth Games is a symbol of Britain's slavery -- Baba Ramdev Spiritual leader ( read Kalmadi's ) The CWG success and the Post Mortem begins As a event and as a participant country , India did extremely well -- more than 100 medals , finishing second among the medals tally , the

Quotable Quotes of the week Indians are very interested in sex, but pretend not to be. Once you lie to yourself, you can lie to others, you can be even corrupt -- Richard Crasta American author I welcome Abdul Kalam Azad -- Suresh Kalmadi Chairman Commonwealth Games 2010, welcoming former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam at the opening ceremony. ( one of his many mishaps as we hosted the CWG ) Bal Thackeray is like God to me -- Rajinikanth, Actor on the Shiva Sena Chief ( where is this sudden devotion -- beats me ) For me life is not all about cricket ,cricket and cricket.I was finding it difficult to enjoy in that environment, which was leading me to drink and then not make sensible decisions - Andrew Symonds - Former Australian Cricketer. ( Great excuse ) Progress card for a Third Standard -- Topic : Personality Development Under the above title the following were evaluated Courteous Confidence Care for belongings of self and others Initiative Neatness Respect for others Self Control Regu

The T20 Champions League -- Chennai Super Kings are deserved Winners I say that because Chennai played as one unit through the tournament , were quiet in their preparation and knew exactly what they need to do and everyone played their part to perfection. As I followed the lead up to the tournament , the team that talked too much was the Mumbai Indians and they did not even make it to the Semi Finals . Not that they played badly but simply got the wrong end of the stick in their matches . The team that had the best strategy was Royal Challengers, but they faltered in implementing them on the field. Teams from NewZealand , Srilanka and West Indies were out of depth. The teams from South Africa and Australia did well but were done in by Dhoni's men - Redbacks from Australia played aggressive cricket that could not succedd at all times. Consistency was missing . Dhoni lead the CSK admirably with calmed assurance and trusted his team. The team was the most balanced . Their batsmen del

Quotable Quotes of the week The Republicans in my country talk about me like a dog-- Barack Obama US President I will slap any bookie who will come near me, big time -- Harbhajan Singh Indian Cricketer Politics is the biggest instrument. What MP's and MLA's decide, define our life - Rahul Gandhi Congress Leader Indians watch films only for a good laugh-- Shyam Benegal Film Director Endhiran ( Robot ) -- The Marketing to make this movie a success It has become the normal practice for the Movie industry to launch the Audio release of the songs of the movie in advance of the movie release . For the Rajini , Shankar , Sun Pictures mega movie , this was no different . The Audio release was done in Malaysia and telecast later. It was clear that the movie was being set up or hyped up for it to be a success. However , they did one more thing which to me is the first of its kind. They had a mega function to launch the " Trailer " of this movie. Just to unveil the 60 or so seco

The Match or the Spot Fixing. The Pakis seem to have a knack of self deteriorating themselves. The team , the captain , the Selection panel and all administration related agencies are always in the news. Not for the right reasons at all. During the past two or three years or more , Pakistan has done all or some of the following Chopped and changed its captains Banned their captain from playing Brought back the banned captain as a player ( too many of them at the same time ) Captains have give up their mantle during a tour without any valid explanation Change the team .. Few of their players have always had controversy but have managed to play for their team. Have been able to produce new crop of talented youngsters amongst all thismayhem The Pakistan team had been a roller coaster for the past few months and with their recent performance against Australia and England ,I thought for a moment they were getting their cricketing act together. First , they came back to tie the test series w

Quotable Quotes of the week My Rakhi is only for Jesus Christ -- Rakhi Sawant -- Actor , on Raksha Bandhan day ( Wow ) She is in very good form. She is like Sachin Tendulkar -- Arjun Rampal on Kareena Kapoor ( one more wow ) We are shaped by our conversations. Every person you meet knows at least one thing you don't, don't let him or her leave without hearing it -- Robin Sharma ( fine , provided the other person is willing to listen ) The Formula one at the Picturesque Circuit at Belgium Racing returned after a summer break -- Most of the teams looked back at the past races trying to see what they can change going forward. The race on Sunday generated lot of excitement and a typical Formula one race Thrill. Some things that contributed to the thrill -- 1. The safety car was out early -- Rubens Barichello in his record 300th GP race of his career rammed in to Alonso of Ferrari and never got to finish his 300th race. ( Out Lap 1 of 44 ) 2. The weather was sticky and the threat o

Quotable Quotes of the week Thousands of crores are being spent on circuses like these while the common children are being deprived of basic facilities to play - Mani Shankara Iyer - Congress leader on the Commonwealth Games 2010 In an economy like India that is growing very fast, there is no stable neutral rate - D. Subbarao RBI Governor on the repo rate hike He shouldn't look for elephant traps. He shouldn't mention Kashmir. And he should avoid patronising references to poverty. Instead talk of the "New India" - Alex Barker British Journalist , on PM David Cameron's visit to India It is Sharad Pawar who is responsible for inflation in our country. He has stored stacks of sugar in his storeroom - Lalu Prasad Yadav I have opened a can of worms. It is for the media and others concerned to follow up - Mani Shankar Iyer Congress Leader on the alleged financial irregularities in Common Wealth games related projects The Test Cricket and Oh Boy -- Did India not do well

Quotable Quotes of the week I hate going to the Gym. It's a occupational hazard. If I weren't an actress, I wouldn't ever look at the Gym. - Priyanka Chopra Actress She has neither the time , nor the concern -- Lalu Prasad on Railway Minister Mamta Bannerji's apparent negligence of her portfolio First kiss, sex, addictions, heart attacks… everything is happening so early these days. Dr Harish Shetty Psychiatrist Murali -- The Smiling Assassin Muttiah Muralidharan took a brave decision on his retirement . He announced that the Galle test between Srilanka and India would be his last test. Murali had to take eight wickets to get to 800 test wickets which no other bowler has done so far and if one was in his position , you would leave it open. Get to 800 in whatever time it takes and then announce retirement . But Murali did what he did . This speaks volumes about this man's ability , his beliefs and his self confidence. He did get the eight wickets that were needed to

The FIFA World Cup 2010 - - The vuvuzelas will go silent after a month long noise it made across the football stadiums in South Africa. This sound has become so familiar that it may be difficult to watch football matches without this back ground noise. The final between Spain and the Dutch was a big disappointment . I supported neither of the sides but wanted to see a good football match. That did not happen. It was a scrappy affair from the start and Yellow cards galore . Only two players in the Dutch team did not have yellow cards against them . Spain played their normal self controlling the ball and this approach frustrated the Dutch. Both teams had their chances but finally after extra time , Spain squeezed one through Inniesta and that was good enough to win the world title . The Dutch can have no regrets. They played sub par in the final and minutes after the final , the scène of Dutch players arguing with the referee was a sight not everyone would enjoy. Agreed it was their bes

Quotes of the week Powerful men need to validate their sense of power and feel in control. And they feel that sense of power when they target women- Ram Jethmalani Lawyer It is a battle of Ideologies and wits -- Omar Abdullah - Jammu and Kashmir CM on youth being killed in police firing You people tell me the date. I will quit exactly on that day -- M.Karunanidhi CM of Tamilnadu to journalists who asked about his retirement plan. Constitutions are not for one or two days. It is not a magazine which is published weekly -- Mahinda Rajapaksa Srilankan President , on a political solution post LTTE The Rotary New year starts Rotary follows a July - June calendar , so the baton changes hand during this time at all Rotary clubs through the world, including our club, have a new set of charged up Rotary Leadership teams that take mantle and want to do better than the earlier team. And that is good healthy competition …. I really liked the Rotary theme for this year 2010-11 which goes as follows

Quotable Quotes A Dad is a mess maker, rule - breaker, risk- taker and the opposite of mom who is usually seen as a creator and a nurturer- Shah Rukh Khan Actor They are friends and love each other a lot. That's why they came so close to each other -- Shahid Afridi Pakistani skipper on the mid pitch altercations between Harbhjan Singh of India and Shoiab Akhtar of Pakistan -- Well said Shahid -- he seems to be enjoying the captaincy post !! Not sure for how long knowing the way the Pakistani board works Hindi movies these days are not suitable for family viewing. If given a chance, I would like to clear the mess - Lalu Prasad Yadav RJD Leader My target is to make 2011 -12 a year of double digit growth -- Pranab Mukherjee Union Finance Minister. This one will affect you A sincere request to you to watch this video. It takes just 15 Min's of your time, but could probably change your life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOumyTMCI8&feature=related I looked at this

Quotable quotes during the week This is one such case where justice is delayed and practically denied. In fact, I would like to say justice is buried. --Veerappa Moily Union law Minister on the recent Bhopal gas tragedy verdict. Film stars are like peacocks without feathers. They are publicly abused and not as venerated as in the olden days. Their family life is exposed and sexual issues discussed - Rajendra Barve Psychiatrist For me , marriage is personal and tennis is professional. One does not distract the other - Sania Mirza- We all hope so Everybody knows I can dance well and bowl very fast. There are only a few bowlers who can do both - S. Sreesanth Cricketer -- ( currently he does neither ) Humour Club-- this month We had a high profile guest speaker who made his presence felt by coming in late by an hour ( Pun intended ) - The normal open session carried on till the guest speaker turned up . So more people got a chance to get up on stage and share jokes . But this was good and

Quotable Quotes of the week Silence is the best gift one can give oneself -- Karan Johar Film Director If Mahatma Gandhi were alive today, he would be in jail in Dantewada - Himanshu Kumar Gandhian , on conflict between the state and the Maoists in the region I am an ardent believer in destiny and have always trusted in the Almighty and what He has in store for me -Sushmita Sen Actor The Traffic Chaos in my Locality I did not want to write about this since the traffic police team had put in their sharp minds to ensure smooth flow. Couple of months ago,changes were made. It took the system a few weeks to understand the changes. The changes resulted in a " No entry" road became a " Entry " road and Vice Versa .Many roads around my locality became " No entry " . Suddenly , the traffic was going in circles - No joke here- This was just like a " Circular ref " in Excel !! The public reacted . There were some very local protests -Small Changes were

I was happy with my week end work-- Just not getting away from work place but a few things that I did and heard and saw made me feel pleased. Over the past two week ends , I reconnected with Charitable Organisations that I used to frequent.For the past six months have not been able to do so due to various reasons. Some notable things that made me happy Sri Matha Trust This Trust does great work for cancer patients who are outpatients and come for treatment at the VHS Adayar. The Trust with the help of various patrons provides accommodation for these patients who come from far flung places for treatment and do not have the money to get housing / food during the treatment period . Accommodation and food is free for these patients through the cycle of their treatment . The Trust also drops patients from its place to the VHS and picks them back . So timely is this service for so many people who cannot afford treatment. Things that thrilled me- One of my fellow Rotarian whom I introduced to

Quotable Quotes A friend called me and said that I am a problem child, always in trouble. True.. It would be so boring to be a solution adult - Shah Rukh Khan Actor A lot of duplicates have come up. They copy whatever I say. That is their agenda . --Bal Thackeray Shiv Sena Chief on the MNS and Raj Thackeray He should not give up -- K.K.Modi father of suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi Indians are basically story lovers. They like stories where it should have a beginning , a middle and an end. If possible, it should have a twist also. Jeffrey Archer British Author The Holiday Planning for this holiday started six months back. The plan was to get to Darjeeling only but the then the whole thing turned around and it was packed tour , with travel covering Gangtok ( Sikkim ) , Pelling ( Sikkim ) , Kalimpong ( West Bengal or Ghorkhaland ? ) , Darjeeling ( For sure Ghorkhaland) and wound up through Kolkata back to Chennai . Spice Jet offered some great fares on Children's day last Nov