SRI'S Blog

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 fi...

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...

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 matc...

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 de...

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/ V...

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...

What a fantastic test match it was – India was the underdog , after the thrashing it got in the One day series against South Africa. While the bowlers were hit all around the park , the batsman struggled against the bounce. So one did not expect India to do well at all. So when Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat , it would have raised eyebrows. But Dhoni is Dhoni and his decision to bat was justified as the Young firebrand Kohli stroked a masterful century and with assistance from Pujara and Rahane got India to a good position end of day one. But it was familiar story on Day 2, all good work undone , India out for 280 from 255 for five. SA got off to a great start and one thought a big lead and then India down in the dumps. Not to be. With some inspired fast , swing and seam bowling , the seamers got India back in to the match. The big difference to me was Zaheer ( Zac ). It a was a great comeback by Zac. Looking trim , running in hard and hitting the deck and making the ball sw...

Chepauk : I try to get in and watch when Tamilnadu plays at home in the Ranji matches. This year was no different- TN was playing Saurastra and I found the weekend a perfect time to get in and watch the match and more so watch Cheteswar Pujara bat. It is a different experience to go watch the Ranji match. Totally different compared to the IPL or the Test matches. No entry fees -No security check – – Just one stand opened up for the public. No noise – no Flags-no Giant screen – You could carry your eatables – water – camera and so on and plenty of parking. Just the opposite of what happens when an IPL match is staged. On this Saturday , there were about 50 people with some families who turned up for the Pujara treat. There was class all over this guy. Playing with a straight bat , he could play the horizontal shots as well. If he could do well in the forthcoming South African , we have the replacement for the Wall – Dravid . ( Pujara is still batting at close of play – Poor TN...

I am not a great movie buff but do keep seeing movies . The last week must have been a little bit of an overdo may be. Two movies over two weekends on the big screen and two more that will released recently on the small screen. That just turned too sour to me. Here is something that is very similar to all the movies. 1. No story line 2. Similar themes – Hero loves the heroine and needs help to get to the wedding – 3. Who can give ideas and make it work in a comical way – Of course the comedian – (same comedian in three of the four movies but gave different ideas !) 4. Comedian is the hero – sometimes, the hero turns in to Comedian. 5. The movie would go nowhere if not for the comedy tracks 6. Branded as Family Romantic movies—explain that one for me ( With N number of sequences involving drinking sessions and at times the heroine sets her father with buying a drink for him – Wow ) 7. Music—One or two songs , branded as Super hits but will never last in your memory 8. Small s...

I went driving to Thekkaddy on vacation last week. It was not a direct drive to Thekkady but went through Karaikudi to visit few temples , then cut across Madurai , to Theni and then to Kumily. What was interesting and amazing was how good the roads are. They are getting better all the time. Just not the highways but also the state roads that pass through small towns and villages. It was a pleasure to drive through without the normal bumps and potholes and getting frustrated having to slow down. The best part of the drive was the drive from Madurai to Theni. One cannot find a better route to enjoy nature – just greenish on either side of the road and with misty mountains guarding the fields on either side. This sector was the slowest in my drive – just enjoyed Mother Nature. Some snippets listed below from the trip that are totally unrelated but worth penning down for a read. Saradha Asharam – This lovely sprawling Campus of the ashram is situated on NH 45 close to Ullundurpet jus...

This has been going on for some time . Finally got to pen this down and share. I visit temples regularly and most of them are crowded and so you get in , pray and get out without getting noticed and not chased for alms. But not the one at Madhya Kailash. I go to this temple before I get to work ( once a week ) and at the time, I get in, the temple is empty and I get in and get out easily . Things worked well for me till about six , seven months ago. As I stepped out of the temple , a man came rushing towards me and asked for alms. I gave him a 5 rupee coin. He was not happy. He said I have to give him money that would be good enough to buy him his lunch . I offered another fiver . No , he was not happy. Ten bucks could not buy him lunch. He demanded at least twenty bucks in a pleading manner ( yes , demanded in a pleading manner ). This became a habit. Every week , as my car turned in to OMR, I could see him with gleaming eyes. And nothing less than Twenty rupees will suffice him fo...

I visited this Eye hospital recently for my annual eye checkup .. Nothing new . Everyone does this … I have had good experiences with this institution all along and even more this year. Just as background , I have my file with this Institution ever since 1984. My visits were intense in initial years till 1989 and then a hiatus and then regular annual checkups from 2005 . What was been impressive is the way that they had made use of technology to make the visits pleasant and also improve the way the information is stored but still keeping the good old hard copies in a file ( which was started when probably we did not have the right technology to store ). Mind you , you are visiting as a patient but the effort to make you feel good and comfortable is so evident as the years have gone by. This year , they really upped the ante. First , when I booked my appointment , I got a SMS confirmation with time of the appointment and the Doctor that I needed to see One day prior to the appointment ...

England retained the Ashes – thanks to the drawn third test . A draw meant Aussies cannot win the current series and the best possible result could be the series can be tied at 2-2 and in that event , the previous winner gets to take the trophy. England having won the previous series clinched the title. Aussies did far better than what they did in the first two tests. The first step was to win the toss and bat and put up a total that will create the pressure on England. Australia did just that. But England held on – thanks to a largely unlike Kevin Pietersen century that was patient and at times his normal self. Aussies bowling was much better but it is becoming clearer and clearer that they lack a” Warne “in the attack. Nathan Lyon was a big disappointment. Had he pulled his weight in , England could have been put under considerable pressure. England batted the first inning out with two fold purpose – save the follow on or reach a total that will make it difficult for Clarke to enfor...

“ Let us dream BIG. We win 5- 0 , I take 50 wickets. I get knighted and five years down the lane, I become PM—This was said by Graeme Swann ,the English Off spinner before start of the Ashes test series. Looks like this is going to be true the way the Aussie’s crumbled in the second test. England did not make big runs to put pressure on the Aussies. After being reduced to 3 for 28 , England recovered through Trott, Bell and Bairstow and could have ended up scoring less than 300 but the Aussies allowed them to get to 361. The Aussie reply was disastrous. One could call it “Spineless” batting. Second day of the match England was batting again ( they were all out in the first session, Aussies got out in the next two sessions and there was time for England to bat second time the same day ) !. Aussies crumbled to 128 and England wanted to out bat the Aussies out of the test which was the right thing to do and did not enforce the follow on. England was largely helped by their rising star ...

An Ashes test series between traditional rivals England and Australia is always interesting . And when conditions favour the bowlers ( which happens more in the English Counties ) , watching the batsmen struggle can be great viewing pleasure. The First test between the two teams brought out all ingredients that the Test Cricket needs-Intensity of the battle , surprises , Technology controversies , skillful bowling , odd bits of extraordinary batting and every session swinging from one team gaining to other losing control. On day 1 , as I exchanged views with few people , I concluded that the match will be over in two days’ time. I made this assessment based on the playing conditions. Day 1 England had lost all their wickets and Aussies in reply lost four and by lunch time on Day 2 , the Aussies had lost five more. The bowlers had a whale of time. The ball as they say was doing the” talking”. It was swinging , seaming , moving both ways and sideways, bouncing and when the ball beat...

One did not expect the Indian Cricket team to dominate as they did in the recent Champions trophy. They won all their matches including the warm up games and outclassed their opponents with ease to be crowned as the undisputed” One day Champions”. I did expect the team to do so well ,( taking their IPL forms in to the tournament) but did not expect this kind of a dominance. The team played with assurance in all areas of the game – fielding being outstanding and at times turning the game on its head in India ‘s favour ( Jaddu’s run out Petersen against South Africa is a good example ), batting ( the only team to score 300runs in one of the games ) and bowling departments. Ably led by the ever cool MSD Some good reasons as to why India did well : Major change in the composition of the team as compared to the one that won the world Cup ( No Sachin , Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvi , Zaheer , Munaf , Harbhajan and Dhoni’s lucky mascot Sreesanth It was a young , fit Indian team – Jadeja , Ro...

There is no doubt that IPL ( Indian Premier League ) is a great success. Lalit Modi’s creation was excellent money spinner so long as the sport was played as sport. As soon as other things other than the sport itself started taking centre stage , it was clear that there would be only “dirt” and nothing else to talk about. A very classic case where a great event that brought in crowds , provided a stage for young players to blossom , created avenues for various business to grow is now languishing because of the greed to make quick money in not being ethical to the sport itself. There were simmering’s from the previous editions of the IPL itself. Spot fixing is nothing new. Some low rung players involvement , they being banned , change in the chairmanship post of IPL, did nothing effectively to keep the sport being played in its best interest. It is surprising that the IPL committee had no clue of what was going on. All things that happened in the past two weeks cannot have come about ...

It was a surprise shock when Sir Alex called it a day after 26 years at the Club. No one was expecting him to call it quits yet. The last time, there were discussions on this topic, was when Sir Alex indicated he would like to quit when he turned 60 years and that was at the end of the 2001 -02 season. ManU was not doing well that season and Sir Alex decided to extend his contract. He just carried on from then on having decided not to quit . It has been an incredible journey of 26 years. I says this because to stay as Manager of a Football club in Europe for one season is tough, demanding and to do this year over year for the past 26 years was fantastic. Some facts on other clubs and their Managers will tell the story as to why this job is difficult.         Chelsea had close to ten managers in the last ten years         Liverpool half the number ( of Chelsea change )in the last decade     ...