Feb 22nd Weekend ...

Quotable Quotes of the week

I am a civilian now . I am not a military man. I cannot take over anything- Pervez Musharaff Former Pakistan President
If we are going to have Cricket in Olympics, we may as well have tiddly twinks and darts -- Geoffrey Boycott Former England Cricket --" what else can you expect from Boycott ?!!

I am a soft hearted person who is willing to forgive and wouldn't kill people that easily -- Kishenji Maoist Leader -- read this in the context of Maoists killing 12 RTI activists and wanting the Govt., to stop operations against it for 72 days before they come for talks !!

Infidelity is a reality. There are few relationships untouched by it. Women too, are experimenting -- Suchitra Krishnamoorthy Actor Singer -- Ahhh.. Looks like Tiger Woods , Ashley Cole and John Terry are getting support !!

Amazing Indian Cricket Team -- they know how to do the climax better than most of the Cine Directors !!

I am referring to India's first one day match against South Africa. Having been given the option to bat by SA ( SA believed that in the second half , Dew will influence the ground conditions and the bowlers gripping the ball will become difficult ) , India huffed and puffed to a lower than competitive score of 298- I said that they huffed and puffed because at no point , they could dominate and none of the batsmen capitalised on the start that they got . All them got to decent scores that helped reached this total.
SA chased but lost the plot midway . They were finally down to eight for 225 by which time most of us would have closed the Television for a Indian victory. But if you were a good follower of the way we play our cricket, we would not have shut the TV down. The next five over's saw some less than ordinary bowling by Nehra and Sreesanth and SA was smelling victory. It went down to the last over and to the last ball . Four were needed and Praveen Kumar bowls a wide to keep the contest alive for South Africa . Of the last ball , SA needed two to tie and three to win. They got one with Parnell fortunate to be run out of a wild throw from the deep. So , guys be prepared for great climax stories from the one and only Indian team-- You can always say, end of the day they won the match , but can anyone win it in the exciting manner that they did -- I doubt -- may be Dhoti and his men are spending too much time at Bollywood !!

The Rotary Finale Night -- Trip down 50 years of Rotary Club of Madras South
On Saturday Feb 20th , we had a grand evening to walk down the memory of our Club celebrating 50 years. The Ball Room at Taj Coramandel, Chennai was a apt venue to celebrate this glorious landmark . We had several distinguished guests who felicitated our club for the Golden Jubilee year. We had a video that scripted and beautifully caught various moments of the club's journey starting from Inception to till date. The projects in the areas of vocational service , community , medical service , environment , Tsunami relief caught everyone's attention. -- so did the fellowship events and the spirit of family in the club. We were honoured to still have in our membership rolls ,two of the Charter members of the club. They have served the club and the cause of the Rotary in various forums for the past fifty years -- yes Fifty years -- Outstanding Achievement by these two youngsters ! You learn Virtues of patience , goodness of giving , sharing , friendship , simplicity , and being simple from these two giants of the club. We also had Kalyan Bannerji , the RI president nominee of Rotary International for 2011-12 with us . Kalyan is known for his inspirational speeches and his small talk was no different . He urged the club to be innovative , to reinvent itself for the cause of Rotary- Kalyan prepares his speech so well and the big difference he makes is his connection to everyone in the audience and that I think is a great quality to keep everyone focussed on.
We also had a very touching moment. Mr Ramakrishna Raja one of the two charter members I have mentioned earlier , gave a lapel Pin which he received from a earlier RI president ( from India ) as a souvenir to Kalyan ..He had kept it with himself for over forty years and he gave it to the next RI president from India . He felt that the lapel pin has been passed on to the most deserving person. Small gesture but the thought and the grace to the occasion was significant and to keep it for such a long time to see a President come up from India to head Rotary International was awesome..
We would up with a 25 minute entertainment by members of the club -- Songs , a dramatic dance number that left most of the audience spell bound -- Suresh -- man , what a performance it was by you and rest of the team as they dressed up and danced to the number " Where is the party"? ( Simbu number )--
Ended with a great dinner. Fellows(h)ip and lot of memories to cherish and a proud feeling to be a Rotarian and a member of the Rotary Club of Madras South.