SRI'S Blog

  The news of Gitanjali Aiyar Newsreader  Doordarshan passing away took me back ages – Those were the days , when entertainment through Televisions were sparce – In fact Telecasts itself would commence in the evening by 6 and probably run for a couple of hours. And I do not want to talk about the topics that were telecast.. They would interest no one but the TV set would be on.   What was of great interest to many of us was the English News at 9 PM everyday that would run for 30 minutes and the personalities that hosted it. They were supremos in their own right and had lot of influence doing what they did Watching the news was a Big education   -- it is like watching the   Learning videos   of today Our teachers encouraged us to watch the News   for two things : Get our Pronunciation right   and watch the flow Improve our Current Affairs Knowledge And we were warned not to watch any other program since they could be diversions t...

  It was one of those most patience  testing finals… Finally it did end after three days !! Yes , with a Rain washed match day forcing the use of the reserve day which it turn had  its halts due to rain and then finally CSK running out deserved winners on Tuesday early morning.   MSD Dhoni won the toss and with rain predictions , took the option to bowl first. Little would have MSD expected a poor bowling and fielding display from his team.   Gill should have been a goner at the start, but Chahar spilled one of Tushar and then Chahar dropped Saha of his own bowling. At this level, these catches should have been taken , With the reprieves , the GT openers got off to their rollicking start with Saha being the aggressor of the two. They tonked the bowling merrily and it required the super speed reaction of MSD to have Gill stumped. MSD was too good behind the wickets. And I hear that he does not practice wicketkeeping !   Sai Sudarshan is a solid player....

  Will start with the  table bottom  Finishers   SRH This franchisee always does well at the Auction – They go after in Form players   and get them too.   But what happens to the form of these players at the time of the actual tournament is anyone’s guess… The team got off to a bad start with their captain Markaram joining in late   post his National duty and by that time, the team was already struggling.. Their hot buy Harry Brooks –( although he scored a century ) was a big letdown.. Chopping and changing the team and unable to get the right balance they finished bottom of the league.. Mind you , they have heavyweights in their Coaching team.. Brian Lara , Muthiah Muralidharan , Dale Steyn to boot.. And decent players too    But if you cannot get your combination right , you are   a gonner   Delhi Capitals   If SRH had their high power coaching team , DC would beat them hollow in terms of their line up – Ricky Ponting...

  CSK roared back in the current edition if the IPL storming in to the finals. One would think that they surpassed  not just themselves but the expectations of the Yellow Army as well. Finishing 9 th in the previous edition having won only four matches , the expectation would have been marginal . It would have been great if they  had bought exciting  players in the auction preceding the 2023 edition.  They bought in Ben Stokes ( little play time and very little impact ) , Rahane ( considered an average buy or a replacement for Pujara but what a transformed player he was and super impact ) .. Rest no great buys were not of any note. But the CSK management made One big difference —MS Dhoni will lead the team and that was it ( 2022 edition saw a derailed succession plan fail ,Recovery actions   was too late   from a tournament standing perspective)   .   There was only one reason for CSK to get in to the finals and it was Dhoni s leadership...

  After a very long time , I had the chance to take wheat and rice and have them crushed in to fine powder at the Maavu Mill.. As I waited for the process to be completed , my mind just wandered to our young days where this process was so complicated and time consuming. Whenever there was a festival coming , rice ,wheat and other flour had to be readied to make the wonderful snacks for the festivity. And it used to be 100 % homemade—No A2B or Grand snacks or any of those shops existed to buy it ready made. The task of getting the flour done would be invariably assigned to the children. Some ground rules : Cannot just leave your stuff at the Mill and come back . One had to wait and ensure that only our stuff went in to the Grinding machine and come out and not mixed with others. The other reason was that stuff can be stolen , so just stay put ☹ If Kadalai Maavu was being grinded , do not allow the guy to have your rice to go next. Ensure that they clean t...

  The title will make you ask what is it ? ‘Kadaimugam in Laagadam’ The Kadaimugam is a yearly trip that is undertaken to have a holy dip in River Cauvery . Thula Snaanam, also referred as T h ula Punya Snanam, is an important bathing ritual observed in Tamil Nadu. It is observed in the Tamil Month Aipassi (October – November), which is also referred as Thula  (Kaveri). Puranas narrates about the importance of the holy bath.. Our visit this year was on Nov 16, 2022 To us who travelled this year as well , it begins and ends with our Tour Hero Aravind. ( Colleague at Ford ) Aravind has been organizing these trips for close a decade—It is not the holy bath that is key ingredient but the entire way the whole trip and other temple visits that are planned is  amazing. Travel for this trip in November begins as early as in July – the optimum size of the group is 14 ( this fits in to a Tempo Traveler ).. Others can come but have to find a transport to follow the group. ...

  On Nov 21st, Rotary District Governor Dr Nandakumar inaugurated the use of the Fluorescent microscope at the VHS hospital—The donation was an outcome of excellent collaboration between two Rotary Clubs—Rotary Club of Madras South and Rotary Club of Campbell Town Australia as well as leveraging Rotary International's Global Grant Program to enable Advance Technology for identifying Fungi and reducing Turnaround time in the process of identification. During the testing times of the Pandemic, most Rotary Clubs had swung into action, trying their best to help – the Rotary Club of Campbell Town was no different. The club was worried about the rising cases, especially in India. Rtn Babu Kanagasabai of RC Campbell Town who has roots in India wanted to help. He urged his President for a fundraising program and he lead the effort with a Fundraising dinner—Rtn Babu was also clear that the money had to get to India and the need to raise at least 25000 $ to help qualify for a Global Grant ...

  All that the English media and team players can talk about is that run out dismissal – They found an excuse for the loss, not in that match alone but the series…. Fact of the matter was that Indian Women beat England in their den hollow –   Not an easy task considering conditions and playing away from home.   England did miss their regular players due to injury and other reasons but one cannot take away the fact that India played extremely well to achieve this result.   In the first two ODI s, India just outplayed England. First Smiriti Mandhana ran away with the chase in the first ODI with support from skipper Harmanpreet who was in dazzling form. In the second ODI, Harmanpreet just nailed the match with an outstanding 143 not out and England   lost the chase. And the series was won by India. The third and final ODI was just an another match .But with the veteran   Jhulan Goswami retiring in this match , the girls wanted to ensure it was won …   And...

  The Announcement was coming, probably it was   overdue.. With injuries and surgeries and with age , Roger Federer ( RF ) called it a day on his playing career. It had been an outstanding 20 years or so at the helm of Men s Tennis . At 41 ,he was competitive still but the demand of the tour are such , this decision was the right one. My first match with which I started following him   was from   Wimbledon 2001 – it was a Fourth round match and I at that time was rooting for Pete Sampras who was the defending Champion and RF was unknown !   Pete was invincible on grass and coming in to this match   at Wimbledon he had won 56 out of the 57 matches that he had played   on grass. But then, the   hair in neat   Pony tail RF   for whom it was the first match on Center Court, upset all expectations and sent the defending Champion out of the tournament in a classic five setter .. He made everyone sit up and   take notice and watch and th...