SRI'S Blog

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...

Quotable Quotes of the week I have seen poverty, you can't erase that part of you. But I have also seen what can happen with good education.. You can wipe caste out , you can wipe poverty -- Sam Pitroda Telecom Czar Terrorists are enemies of Islam and humanity who do not even know which nation they wanted to fight -- Yusuf Raza Gilani Pakistan PM Every educated youngster should have a perspective about how our polity works and what our Constitution seeks to achieve - Meira Kumar Lok Sabha Speaker Australia and Australians need to recognise the realities of India's evolving society and emergence as a global influence --Stephen Smith Australian foreign minister Humour Club Meeting of Feb 10-- Change that I did not like at all I have written in my various posts on the "stress reliever" factor that this forum enables once a month . This month , the Humour Club made a change that brought me stress. The normal open session went off as usual. Then the meeting cadence change...

Quotable Quotes of the week We are like Siamese twins-- Shah Rukh Khan Actor , on actor Kajol. Al Qaeda is probably the biggest killer of innocent Muslims of any entity out there - Barack Obama US President No, I was just trying to smell it , as to how it feels - Shahid Afridi Pakistani Cricketer, after being accused of ball tampering in a match against Australia He is resolute and firm as ever and in that resoluteness you discover a sudden soft moment which has always made his presence so strong and affectionate - Amitabh Bachchan Actor on the Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray The Rotary District Conference Feb 6/7th Week end The annual Rotary district Conference is a great event to understand the Power of Rotary , the magic of Rotary , the Goodness of giving and enjoy fellowship . I will explain how I was able to understand all of this during my participation in this wonderful conference . Our District which is called 3230 in Rotary parlance has affiliation to 105 clubs in the district ...

Quotable Quotes I came to Mumbai with stars in my eyes and Allah has granted me all and more-- Shah Rukh Khan Actor I was pleased that he was the honoured guest for the first state dinner of my presidency - Barack Obama US President on Indian PM Manmohan Singh He was charming, had a great sense of humour and was caring , sensitive and very well informed - Rahul Bhatt son of Bollywood director Mahesh Bhattt oon the 26/11 terror suspect David Headley Till I go to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, I will be biting all my finders - Priyanka Chopra Actor, being selected for the national award for the best female actress The Australian Tennis Open Justin Henin missed out what Kim Clijsters did at the US open but was very close to winning the title at the recently concluded Australian tennis open . Clijsters came back from a break and then as a unseeded player at the event, went on to win the US open in late 2009. And Henin could have done the same at the Australian open ..She reached the finals playin...

Quotable Quotes of the week As Lord Buddha was from India , India is our guru and we are its disciples --The Dalai Lama Serving the poor is True " Bhuttoism " Asif Ali Zardari Pakistan President - Son in law of late Pak PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto I find God and happiness in the smallest , day to day things in life -- Deepika Padukone Actor I am very committed person. If it breaks, it's always the other person -- Salman Khan Actor , on his relationships Tennis -- The Australian Open There were some glorious matches over the week end, both in the men's singles and in the women's singles. First Marin Cilic the 14th seed finally got over the hold of Del Potro the 4th seed . Cilic had lost to Del Potro at the same stage in the last year Australian open and in the US open and it was time for him to get in to the big stage . Cilic is somewhat a favourite to follow for he has been the Chennai open winner for the past two years and so the support for him to win . It was easy f...

Quotable Quotes What is your intention ? Why are you losing your balance ?!! Please outline the reasons.-- B.S Yeddyurappa - Karnataka CM to former Prime Minister Deve Gowda who called him a bastard Amar Singh has lost his mental balance !!-- Ramgopal Yadav on his Samajwadi Party Colleague India is the only country where food is elevated to the level of God -- Sri Sri Ravishankar Spiritual leader If anything is in short supply in this world , it is grace -- Mallika Sarabhai Dancer The Drive , the long chats / sharing , the movie , the missing car key , the wedding - what a getaway- Total stress Reliever The Drive Had the pleasure of driving along NH 46 Chennai - Vellore - krishnagiri and to say the drive was great is a understatement . Bypassing Salem and getting to Omalur , Sankagiri and then to Avinashi and then to our halting destination of Coimbatore - a distance of 553 Kms in 6.5 hours was just unbelievable . Things that helped us was low traffic , great roads and the fact many ...

Quotable Quotes of the week I don't write for money or glamour. I just need a paper and pen. Lord Krishna takes care of the res -- Chetan Bhagat Author Upinder has made us proud. I am thankful to God for having given us such gifted children -- PM ManMohan Singh after his daughter won the Infosys prize 2009 My secret of happiness is keeping my contact to the minimum -- Cyrus Broacha Television Anchor This is not acceptable . And I will not tolerate -- Barack Obama on the recently precluded Al Qaeda attack in his country I am boring and single. What to do -- Deepika Padukone after her break up with Ranbir Kapoor Cricket It would be unfair if I as a Cricket fan do not write about two test series happening one in South Africa ( SA versus England ) and the other in Australia ( AusVs Pak ) - First let me come to the South Africa one England seems to have found a specialist batsman batting at position 11 to save itself from defeats . Graham Onions their specialist no 11 batsman saved them...

Quotable Quotes of the week Life isn't all about working hard and being successful. Humility is very important - Uday Chopra Actor If the Congress party gets weak , then India becomes weak -- Man Mohan Singh PM Our country can be saved only if a permit system is introduced in Mumbai and Delhi -- Bal Thackeray Shiv Sena Supremo on the influx of migrants Look at me , I am 86. My age disproves the wild allegations being spread . With your love, I just have a few more years. ND Tiwari Former Andra Pradesh Governor on the sex scandal that cost his job Welcome 2010 The last two weeks of December 2009 was great -- It was because I did some of those things that I could not do throughout the year and enjoyed doing them now when I got the best opportunity - Here it goes.... Caught up with friends , ex colleagues , my mentor and good adviser , associates whom I could not meet socially through the year Went off the network for five days ( no access to emails but could not avoid the mobile phon...

Quotable Quotes of the week My father defies rest and we believe he will not retire - M.K.Stalin Dy CM of Tamilandu on CM Karunanidhi Problems arise when we say" My religion is good, yours is bad". It is like saying " my mother is perfect, yours is a prostitute"- Mata Amritanandamayi Spirtual Leader Pakistan is not some vegetable that they will come and take it - Yousaf Raza Gilani Pakistan PM on Taliban The best partnership of my life is the one with Anjali - Sachin Tendulkar on his wife Tiger Episode - its aftermath - Price of Success ? !! One more bites the dust - I thought the last quote by a another great sportsman was very relevant . What a coincidence to make this statement when the world has been shocked by some revelations of Tiger's personal life and more rumours being floated just to add flavour and spice to his personal life. The last count of his affairs was a incredible 14 !! One of the most popular , savvy , quiet hero was Tiger Woods and it was ...

Quotable quotes of the week If we want compassion from God, we need to show compassion to all his creations-- Pankaj Advani Billiards Player I want to teach people that biggest gift in the world you can give to anyone is to be human - Salman Khan Actor I am still connected to Gandhi. It is something indelible and extraordinary in my bones -- Ben Kingsley - Actor who played Mahatma Gandhi in the film Gandhi Let us leave with basic differences. Left does not believe in disinvestment, i believe in disinvestment - Pranab Mukerjee Union Finance Minister Cricket -- India the No 1 team in ICC rankings -- what an achievement by the team!! This has never happened to the Indian test cricket team. They have threatened to get to the top but did not quite get there--They had their task cut out on what to achieve in the recently concluded Test series against Srilanka.They had to beat Srilanka 2-0 to go up to the No 1 spot . Srilanka was visiting India riding on their home success against the Kiw...

Quotable quotes of the week There is a certain amount of assertiveness on the part of the Chinese -- Manmohan Singh PM I just want one last chance to play with Sachin Tendulkar-- Vinod Kambli former Cricket-- Sri :"He missed this when he was doing well and in the Indian team -- look at the lost opportunity" Artists should be mindful of their great responsibility to communicate beauty-- Pope Benedict XVI The honesty of a judge is like the virginity of a traditional Indian unmarried girl -- Bilal Nazki -- Former Bombay High Court Judge The English Premier League ( EPL football ) update and what do i think ? It looks like Chelsea is getting its act right - After the past four seasons where they did not win any title and then went about sacking their managers, ( except for Hiddink who was clear that he will leave at the end of the last season on his own ) , they brought in Carlo Ancelotti as their Manager from AC Milan this season and this seems to be working for the team. The t...

Quotable Quotes of the week I am the messenger of India's ancient thoughts world over -- The Dalai Lama Military action in Afghanistan is not an alternative to action in Pakistan but an inseparable support to it- Gordon Brown British PM If it happens that i don't play cricket again, i can walk away knowing i have given it my best -- Brett Lee Australian Cricketer on his recent injury- CPI ( M ) has become stale . Now nobody can stop Mamata Banerji from coming to power in 2011- Abdur Razzak Mollah West Bengal Minister for Land reform. BSNL Sports Quiz over the week end As most of you are aware , i am avid follower of this live quiz , that is aired every Saturday at 10:10 PM on DD Podhigai -- I try to dial in and see if i can answer the questions on the grid and win a prize-- It has been tough luck in getting through the lines -- there are also live SMS contest and email questions that you need to answer over the week - Nothing was working for me in the last six to seven weeks --...

Quotable Quotes Asif Ali Zardari is a criminal and a fraud. He will do anything to save himself. He has no love for Pakistan. He is a third - rater - Pervez Musharraf - former Pakistan President on the present president Better than that is to meet my watery grave in a gutter - Lalu Prasad Yadav RJD Chief on possibility of joining hands with the BJP He will not only play in the 2011 world cup but also 2015. He has the fitness and the hunger - M.S.Dhoni Indian Cricket team captain on Sachin Tendulkar He, of course, has the right to go wherever he wants and talk to people who he chooses to talk to- Ian Kelly US State Department spokesman on The Dalai Lama Sachin Tendulkar -- Twenty Years of work and ongoing -- I know this is a topic that has been covered in all forms of media and it has even got Sachin some advice on how to play cricket from Shiv Sena who of course play a different form of sport - But i being a cricketing fan cannot avoid writing a para on this humble legend who t...

A Patchy week end and a patchy blog post as well !! Rains -- dampness -- Cannot go outdoors -- The weekend was damp -- Rains were persistent-- Few planned events got moved / cancelled -- All of us wanted to avoid going out -- What do you do -- Need to keep everyone engaged and also the fact that you suddenly find so much of time available to spend indoors !! I did some reading ( in fact made progress on some books that have been staring at me for a long time )-- More on that as i complete reading them -- But on to a indoor game that can be played when you are on sticky weekends as this one was .. there is no other indoor game that can be interesting as the game of "Thayakattai " or the game of dice - Here is how the square looks like During my childhood days , we used to draw the squares using a chalk on the floor ( cement floor no marble or tiles and there used to be a fight as to who will clean the floor of the chalk ) -- But now my wife has asbestos sheet over which the ...

Quotable Quotes of the week For people of my position , it helps demystify the title and clarify what it is I do and what it is important to me -- Queen Rania First Lady of Jordan in social networking sites. Mayawati is a corporate illiterate. She is stupid. - Amar Singh SP leaker on the Uttar Pradesh CM The BJP needs a surgery or a chemotherapy treatment - Mohan Bhagwat - RSS chief I don't have anybody working for me on the blog. After writing , i edit it. that is not difficult as i am not a good writer -- Amitabh Bachchan Actor The Beach Cricket at Marina -- the ban on playing cricket I am not going to say whether the ban is right or wrong -- But looking at the media reports , it looks like the ban is only on playing cricket at the Marina beach and other sports can be played -This is a boon for other sports to be played on the beach and that is welcome as well !! From my perspective i enjoyed some intense games at the Marina beach not now but probably twenty years back -- It is...

Quotable Quotes of the week Music arouses profound emotions, invites us to raise our minds and hearts to God -- Pope Benedict XVI The government is at war with Naxals to aid MNCs -- Arundhati Roy Social activist and writer He's an animal, a great athlete and a great player -- Pete Sampras on Rafael Nadal Actors are narcissists. For them it is all about I, me and myself . You will need to constantly pamper their egos-- Nandita Puri Wife of Actor Om Puri Moto GP Valentino Rossi won his ninth title -- Rossi drove in third at the wet Malaysian GP and that was enough to get him the world title ahead of his team mate and closest challenger Jorge Lorenzo --One race still remains to be completed but Rossi is home -- Rossi celebrated the victory on the race track with a rooster and a oversized egg and had this to comment on the celebrations -- " in Italy , a old chicken is no good to lay eggs , they are good for soup .. I am like the old chicken but have laid a egg " -- this wa...

Formula one Jenson Button of Brawn GP was crowned the Champion for the 2009 season with one race at Abu Dhabi to be completed -- As written in my blog of two weeks ago , Jenson had the best chance and was in the best position to win -- Saturday's wet qualification did help him although he was at a lowly 14th-- His strong challenger Vettel was at 15th and his compatriot Barrichello was on Pole !! -- It must have been comforting to Jenson that his co teammate was on pole position and not Vettel of Red Bull -- Else this would have put him under pressure and he may have made mistakes- But to Jenson's credit he drove strongly and with no mistakes and crashes finished fifth that gave him enough points to gain the title -- During the course of the race Barrichello faded away, lost his pole position and finished after Jenson himself - Mark Webber won the race but who cares ? It was Jenson winning the world title that took the limelight. The fight for the second place will be on at the...

A weekend Trip -- My family joined me over the week end at Coimbatore following my business trip on Friday -- I was looking at options and decided to take a risk- The Hindu newspaper in August 2009 had covered this resort and i was tempted by the write up -- It was risk that i took that paid off -- Ambraa River Resorts on the Pollachi - Trichur road ( roughly 10 Kms away from Pollachi ) is a fantastic place to cool off -- Hidden in the coconut groves , with the Aliyar river flowing on the back side of the resort it is best getaway from noise and to remain with the nature -- Although the resort has only six rooms 9 read cottages ) , the rooms are equipped well - The beds are cosy , the fridge,the mini bar (no alcohol ) is loaded , the aircon functions (when you need it ) , the television is hooked up and there is a generator back up as well -- A lovely balcony gives you view of the river and the swimming pool that is coming up -- the restaurant has all the works and the packa...

Quotable Quotes of the week If i am asked to choose a portfolio, i will probably choose environment and forest. I can go to the forest lodge and read books - P.hidambaram Union Home Minster It will take 25- 50 years to cure all the people in this world - And i wills tick around till then - Baba Ramdev Yoga Guru It is always a charm to age gracefully - Lata Mangeshkar - Singer after turning 80 Getting angry makes me mentally tougher -- Cricketer Gautam Gambhir The Trip , The Roads and Infrastructure and People waiting ... I had the chance to travel on the NH45 ( Chennai - Trichy stretch ) two timesin the last week - One was a day trip and the other was a night trip-,Both trips was great in terms of the time it took , the excellent condition of the road , clear sign boards ,reflectors etc., -- A travel to Trichy that would take minimum of six to seven with great rash risky driving skills, can now be done comfortably in four and half with ease of driving -- Work is still on to make t...

Quotes of the week India has not caused the global warming problem. We are a deal - maker, not a deal- breaker -- Jairam Ramesh Union Minister for environment and forests Seize the opportunity of the Commonwealth games to change our behavioural pattern . Behave as residents of a international city- P.Chidambaram Union Home Minister to Delhiites I was selfish before, everyone is , but until i became a father - David Beckam footballer If you keep a pickle for more than two years, it turns rancid. I feel LK Advani;s period is more or less over- Manohar Parrikar BJP leader on the utility of the party's opposition leader The Navratri - Kollu at home It is a event that is run so efficiently by my wife and mom together -- Right from planning the invitee list, making up a probable list from the invitees of who will come home definitely ( risk assessment with high , medium and low confidence levels ), planning for unplanned visitors, to planning the "Sundal " and Sweet of the...