SRI'S Blog

Cricket An Indian  team Cricket tour of Australia is always interesting and engrossing for many reasons.  The atmosphere , the stadiums (   the  Adelaide Stadium was not the one I know – total change )  , the crowd , the pitches, the commentary and its quality and assessment , getting up early to match the Aussie time zone and finally  the intensity of the battle   . The first test at Adelaide started with the background of losing a young , upcoming player to the Sport itself. Not one of those things that  happen regularly but it was sad to see Phil Hughes die , hit by the Cricket ball. One hopes that this would be the last of its kind. With Dhoni not available , we had a young captain who was willing to take risks.. The team had a wrist spinner in the playing XI and the decision to go with Four Bowlers may be a good one.  ( Anyway our bowlers get whacked all over and so what will one more bowler bring in – better to have  an  extra batsman). Aussies dominated the first two day

I was keen to watch this movie for several reason 1.. A period movie after a long time. Having watched several trendy  movies  in the recent past ,that had so much of technology and everything modern and plush , hard to believe scenes, logic missing  ( entertainment at its best )and everything unreal, here is a movie that will take you back several decades .  So excitement on how this was executed 2. The actors -- Both Siddarth and Prithivaraj do not do the normal roles. They take up challenging ones and one can expect them to do the extraordinary. 3. The pre build up marketing for the movie was outstanding .. Just dragged me in to watch as soon as it was screened, 4. Music by AR Rahaman .. Enchanting, leg shaking  and delightful . The songs urged me to check as to how they were filmed.. Did it meet my expectations ?  I would say  more towards meeting rather than not.  You may be very familiar with the story line. A Theatre Company owner ( neatly done by evergreen Na

I t has been close to three months since I last blogged . I was trying to think back as to why I did not blog the last three months. I  could find no good reason.  Just that time passed and maybe there were good topics to  blog about--( thanks to those who checked out with me or non appearence of my blog )   The reason for this blog was a  constraint that surfaced in one of the many “WhatsApp” groups that I am added.  The group members had touched 50 and  we were constrained in adding more members as the group size was limited by the software to 50 only. The  discussions  were on how to expand and stay connected. People were talking about "Telegram" as an alternative.  I was surprised by that .Did we not give this service a decent burial  last year ? Intrigued I did the obvious – Googled – and I found that it was an App and here is a description of it Telegram is a messaging app with a focus on speed and security. It’s super-fast, simple, secure and free. Teleg

I did not quickly pen down my thoughts after the third test. The true Indian cricket team fan is ever optimistic – A turnaround in the fourth test was the expectation--  Alas , it was that false optimism that we carry always about the Indian Cricket team. The Fourth test at Old Trafford If  one thought that the third test result was an aberration, the fourth test conclusively proved it was not. Choosing to bat on an Old Trafford pitch that traditionally is one of the quickest pitches in England and for sure will help with bounce , swing and seam movement , the Indians quickly folded up for a paltry 152. In reply, as conditions improved, England could take a commanding lead. India had to bat out the second time and I thought it was one of those easy tasks on a wicket that had become flat . And  to add, all that India needed to bat out was two sessions on Day three—What about the balance two days ?  Storms were predicted and rains would ensure that  both the days play would b

A Test series in England is always exciting . Plenty of reasons for this .. First the fickly English Weather that plays true spoilsport , the grounds and the lush greens , the ball swinging and seaming ( at times ) – Conditions  that truly test the technically best equipped batsmen. Bowlers always have a better day on English soil. With that background , the first test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham was a bit of a damper ( not to do with the weather ). The wicket was easy paced and the weather stood firm on all days and the ball rarely did its bit in the air. So , if you were thinking there will be tall scoring , it was not. Both sides had their period of ascendancy and both sides could have lost the match ! In the end , it was some stoic batting by bowlers that helped both sides to get to a draw. To me , it was a fair result . It just warmed up both sides for the rest of the Four test matches . The Lords ground where the second test was on is known for its richness to tradit

Well Well... This post would be my 300 th post .. I am sure many bloggers would have  blogged more than what I have done over the last eight years that I have tried to keep this habit of blogging alive. It all started in the summer of 2006. I had the habit of writing emails to few colleagues and  friends  and sharing thoughts with them.  I realized that it was becoming difficult to maintain track of what I wrote and also keeping and retrieving from the archives of the emails was very challenging. At this point , someone suggested –“ Why don’t you try blogs and Srividhya Venkataraman ( thank you Vidhya ) helped me set this page up. I did little to improve the look and feel of the blog page set up but I have over the years increased the content and so getting to the 300 th post was not that difficult .  In the initial years , I was writing and posting every week . There was no structure , I just put in what I felt I want to in a very random manner . I copied a lot and so th

 It was Germany who had the last laugh. In a tense final that went to  extra time , Germany found the winner through diminutive Gotze . Gotze showed perfect technique to chest down a cross and slam it for the winner. Till then it was Argentina which had more chances. Germans had more possession close to around 64 % .  Messi was so well marked that he hardly got free space .Germans, I think were well prepared for the entire tournament and  it was no surprise that they won this title . And I think that they will not end with this. The team is very young ( yes it has veterans as well but more of the youngsters ) and is a sure bet to retain the title in 2018 in Russia four years from now.  Do not laugh this off – See my link from the 2010 FIFA final – How true it was the Germans will be ready for this title and that  Thomas Mueller will be a star in the 2014 eidtion ? See: http://srisweeklymagazine.blogspot.com/2010/07/fifa-some-of-my-thoughts.html .  Gotze is just 22 and the average

I am sure that headline would shock you --- everyone knew that it was not Boris  Becker nor Stefan Edberg who were slugging it out on the grass courts of Wimbledon for the  2014 Gentlemen’s title.. But the fact of the matter was that Boris is the Coach of Novak Djokoviv and Stefan is the Coach of Roger Federer who were fighting for the title. It looked like the game had turned on its head and the former champs were out on the court.  Djokovic won the title  and so my reference to Becker  winning the title rather than his ward. The path to the final for both Federer and Djokovic was made easy due to the exits of Nadal and Murray in the earlier rounds. Nadal lost to little known Nick Kryigos and Murray lost to Grigor Dimitrov. Kryigos is someone that will do well in the future. He played brilliant tennis against Nadal, serving hard and running out first serve winners and was played his shots without inhibitions. Nadal looked very troubled and was not quite the Nadal that we know –

France beat Algeria and Germany beat Nigeria to move in the last sixteen of the tournament, while Argentina and Belgium did the same beating  the Swiss and the USA. While France struggled in the first half, they kept the attack up in the second half and were able to prevail. Germany did the same .  Argentina huffed ,puffed and finally  managed by the skin of their teeth to win and get to the next around . Swiss were defiant and the match was very close to extra time when Argentina managed that solitary goal that helped them to go through. Belgium found reserve and energy  to defeat USA  So, down to the last eight that will determine four teams  that will get to the semis.If one thought that these matches between the best teams will be tough ones with exciting play , it was not . None of the matches  triggered excitement for the manner  in which it was played. May the Dutch versus Costa Rico was the best  of the lot and the match  went to the penalties. Germany – France was

W eek 3 ( yes it has been three weeks ) saw the completion of the group matches and the tournament getting in to Knock out  and Hear break phase. As predicted , Germany , USA qualified and it was sad to  see Portugal go out from this group. Playing the first match badly cost them the opportunity to move up . You can have the Stars in your team but unless everyone plays well including your star player, you go nowhere .. So much for team work and team dynamics Greece was the surprise packet from its group along with Columbia. Italy got dumped by Uruguay but the man of the match was Suarez. How on earth can he be doing what he did ?. Not for the first time that he was found chewing off flesh of his opponent players. FIFA quickly swung in to action and there is not only a ban on matches but a fixed time period of time  that he has to sit out. Argentina and Nigeria went through from their group as well as France and the Swiss from their groups The final line up saw Bel

Expected Results Spain getting knocked out was expected one for me .. After glory of the Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 , this was bound to happen. Aging players , possession football not helping to score goals saw Spain getting eliminated at the  Group stage. In their match against Chile , they held possession for more than 65  %  but that did not help as Chile pumped in two goals  to send them crashing out. They will play for pride with Australia with no stakes to both teams England was the second one to go out on my expectations. They again played so well but just lost the game ( pun intended ). Suarez continued his fine run from the Premier League and that was enough to pack England off Unexpected one Costa Rica   is turning out to be the dark horse. When they beat Uruguay, there some stir and many believed it was one off .  No --They took on the next top ten ranked team Italy and put them under severe pressure by winning their game . Again Italy

The last time I wrote covering an event in Sport was the  Cricket World Cup in 2011 that  India won again after 28 years. The FIFA world cup is an event that is followed and watched by so many in different countries. In comparison --- food for thought  --I was looking at the attendance at the World Cup Hockey event last Sunday and the attendance at the finals was something that  a league cricket game attendance in India woild put to a shame. For a World Cup event , that was held in  Hague, there was little crowd. Sad indeed. But Football is different .. I see everyone talking about , posting about it in FB and sometimes I am amazed that they have picked bits and pieces to be knowledgeable and be able  to comment on a post in FB. So it is the in thing till the event ends ! Augurs well for the game.  My thoughts were to watch some selected matches that had my interest and where I expect sparks to fly. But I quickly realized that watching matches Live  was  a big time zone cha

To say that I was elated on the outcome  of the Indian elections would be an understatement. It has been a decade since I  had some  excitement connected with  the political front  and the governance of the country.  T he last ten years had seen the country struggle with the  coalition form of the government. Small regional /local players who had no locus standi at the national level taking  limelight, getting  Plump portfolios allocated to them in various ministries and with clear intent to move things in the direction they wanted and in the process ensuring richness to them and to their masters. Several opportunities were spurned on the decision making fronts as alignment was not possible and at times would not be made possible . With the result,  we had a situation of    a person of great repute being reduced to man of inaction   and  being made part of all the madness that was happening around. No decisive decision on any front that brought the country to a standstill

I like going by Public transport-- I feel it much better than being all alone in the car with nothing to look around or  listen to some local but current topics . And if the destination is to places where parking is an issue , then it is the public transport that bails me out.  Couple of weekends back, , I had some work at the General Post Office, close the Madras beach station. I took the MRTS and it was Saturday and just little beyond the crowded office hour rush. At Mylai station , there was an eager group of three to four who wanted to get in ahead of others in to the first compartment. I realized they were part of a bigger group of train friends that travel in the same compartment and occupy the same seat day in day out. I got a seating alongside this group , which with the existing group was now an extended big team of close to 15.  The first three minutes were general discussions – Super Singer / Vani Rani type and what was in the weekly magazines of Kumdudam/ Vikatan.  Ughh

Manchester United Football Club ( ManU ) has been in the news for all the right reasons for the last two decades—claiming silverware, making money , great following , known for its comebacks from adversity in its games , never say die spirit and so on and so forth .. Only right reasons.. They had a long run at the Top and leading them was their ex Manager Sir Alex , who held firm the club for the past 26 years. Things have changed quite dramatically ever since he took up retirement at the end of the last season ( 2013). His replacement had a big job to do : Fill in to his Big shoes… Not an easy task .. Now ManU , post the leadership change is known for all the wrong reasons : 1. Struggling in the league – currently placed sixth ( seventh after another home loss on March 16th ) with diminishing chances to qualify for the next year Championship League. Clearly they also have no chance of retaining the Premiership title they won last year. 2. Loosing matches so easily —just not a

With Historian V.Sriram being a member of the Rotary Club of Madras South , the Heritage walk is becoming an annual event for members of the club and one of the enjoyable events . There was more excitement as the walk as around Mylapore – the area where I go around and do not notice anything different( you will know why I say this ). It was Sunday but with Sriram leading the walk , all those that signed up as part of the walk were on time ( 6 AM start ). The start and end was from Hotel Saravana Bhavan ( well planned ) on the North Mada street opp to the Mylapore tank. Key Snippets As introduction Sriram pointed us to the flats facing the Kapali temple – Vishwakamal building, RK Mutt Road -originally Krishna Vilas, the place where the idea of formation of the Congress party was first mooted– Although there is no plaque or an indication of this in the current building , clearly it is a significant landmark ( Just connect this to the state of this party today ) The first stop or r

Last week end, I attended a wedding of one of my friend’s daughter. You may ask what is new or nostalgic about a wedding . To me it was. Bit of background—this was my friend from my Chartered Accountancy course internship days—goes back to around 29 years ago. As we finished our courses and charted out to various directions , we did managed to keep in touch but they were over the phone or through emails. We never met during these years and it is astonishing but true .You may be surprised but this particular set of Interns of the CA course with this firm never met again after completing our internship. The last time I met this friend was at his very own wedding and that was in January of 1988. During the last 25 years so many things ought to have changed including physical appearances. I had my own apprehension if I could even recognize him or any of the other friends who would be coming in. My friend ensured that he connected with everyone from the group and also got to our Aud