Getting back to life...

me wrapping up my fourth visit to Hyderabad (not a very pleasant one though, when compared to the prvs 3 trips within 2 months)... gotta catch a taxi to airport now. Have a beautiful eveng, while i take myself sometime off (have got a precious weeknd ahead) to just sit back and feel lite and good about my life.

India Win T20

India Dazzles at the world stage beating arch rivals Pakisthan in the finals to win the first edition of T20 World Cup. India outplayed Eng, South Africa, Australia, Pakisthan enroute to its magnificient victory. Its a Hit!! Is it Twenty20 or Tonic20 for World Cricket. This format of the game has become a huge rage across the world esp in the Asian countries. Dhoni also sees it "T20 will become huge in India". He also said it was completely a team effort by India in this tournament -

If you analyze, the captain and the vice-captain haven't done anything in this tournament. Players who were granted with responsibility delivered out there in the field. There isn't a single batsman who didn't score runs in the tournament. Similarly, there isn't a bowler who hasn't delivered the goods. The efforts in the outfield were tremendous. It was a team effort. Yuvraj, of course was brilliant and so was RP Singh. Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh have made good comebacks to the side. I think everyone in the side was special and the best part was that players lived up to the expectations of the team.

Chak De India....

A team is as strong as its weakest link. And everyone thought India's bowling was its weakest link at the World T20 2007, being held in South Africa. Yesterday was the time to rubbish all these critics as India stormed into semi-finals beating SA. Team India did everything right yesterday, it showed fantastic courage and team spirit. Ravi shastri, lauding India's youngsters said in the post match commentary "The fearlessness of Success-not-being-touched made them triumph". When we become experienced and don't taste success for a while, it gets on us. We tend to become negetive in our approach. But for these young guns like Rohit Sharma, Uthappa, RP Singh etc, there was no fear. Thats what youth brings into Cricket, fearlessness! Talent, team spirit, energy, effort.. everything was on display at Durban yesterday under the lights, as they knocked South Africa out of the competition.

"We are currently playing the Chak De! India song in the dressing room; the boys are dancing to it. Later we will go out for dinner and celebrate with wine and champagne" the jubilent Team manager Lalchand Rajput said, as India celebrated its tremendous victory.

>>Chak De India... Sometimes Winning is Everything! <<


FYI.. Chak De was premiered at Infy, Hyd last week. That evening was fun, around 150-200 infoscions shouting on top of the voices cheering Preethi Sabarwal and her team :)

Time is of Essence

Indo-US Nuclear Deal

The operationalisation of the nuclear deal is getting into the crucial stage as both US and India work non-stop to make it a reality. While US is taking things up with the 45-nation NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) to get the necessary changes in the guidelines allowing the supplies to India as per the 123 agreement. India on the other hand has its Atomic Energy Commission chief and India's top nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar at the 51st General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, working to get an India-specific safeguard pact with IAEA which is required to proceed on the N-deal signed by India and US. The concern and the eagerness by the US adminstration to see it through (both at NSG and IAEA) was clearly on display when the US Ambassador David Mulford, addressing the fourth Indo-US Economic Summit said "Now, we must take the last steps. Time is of essence".

It turns 25.... :-)

Its easy to get lost in this (Digital) world.. the place where we make friends, talk, share with people whom we wouldn have even met. Yet when someone sends a casual smiley to us, we respond in the same casual manner. They may be sitting in some remote part of the world, yet some of them form a close circle of frends and people who share the common interests, views and likings. Yes, a lot of social networking sites and chat rooms have mushroomed over the years which never make u feel alone on this lonely planet. So, if you are one of those net animals, glued to the web chatting, browsing, blogging.. here is something i wud like to share with you all. It has become the most commonly used lingo across the net world, and it turns 25 years today. Its the smiley :-) ...

The creator of the original the emoticons :-) and :-( , with a specific suggestion that they be used to express emotion, was Scott Fahlman. Below is the text of his original proposal, posted to the Carnegie Mellon University computer science general board on 19 September 1982.

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

:-(

Click here for a compiled list of netlingo emoticons... an interesting list actually. Many of them are really quite thoughtful.

Hey Ram!!

All of a sudden... cricket, bollywood, abhiash, Indo-US nuclear deal.. all of that have taken a back seat in the Indian media. Lord Ram and religious sentiments are doing the rounds everywhere. Triggered by the blunderous affidavit filed by the UPA govt to the SC, stating "There is no proof that Lord Ram existed". I mean what is that the govt wants, to prove Lord Ram lived and walked on this earth once upon a time?? Questioning Ram is like questioning the religious believes and fundamentals of Hinduism! Well, the UPA govt was caught on the wrong side of all this, when they thot they could get way such a remark, and get a go ahead on one of the ambitious projects of modern India, the "Sethusamudram Project". Its a canal project very simlar to Suez canal, not as big though, but the intentions are quite the same, to reduce the travel time and the cost involved in the transhipment of goods. Its almost a battle of Science v/s Religious belief now. Scientists asking the religious leaders to prove that Ram was infact a real person, and not just a fictious charector in the "story" Ramayan, who built the bridge of rocks to cross the ocean to Lanka. What are the scientists looking for here?? any agreements or treaties signed by Ram.. bones or any other bodily remains of the Lord (something like searching for a dinasour skull or something???!!!) .. this is insane!! Scientists are awestruck by the magnificient creation of this world by the God, they are yet to understand the very basics of nature and science, the formation of universe, the human body, many unanswered questions related to diseases, genes, evolution etc. More time should be spent by them on these than to raise such insane questions. Great brains doesnt mean one can start questioning God!! Well, they have said it all in there, and we are seeing it happening.

Denying Ram is denying India. Read on, this is a powerful article by Tarun Vijay on Refiff.com

On 17 July, the Supreme Court asked the government to explain why the Ram Sethu, also known as Adam’s Bridge, cannot be declared a national monument. Union minister for shipping, road transport and highways T.R. Baalu, refused to even comment on this. All this even when we have an alternative route to the canal construction, which would keep the religious interests and the modern day needs intact. As a part of the National Democratic Alliance govt in 2002, defence minister George Fernandes had approved an alternative route that experts now say is less expensive, has lower environmental risks and does not require breaking down the Ram Sethu. Then why do we need all this now!!??.. Hey Ram!!

Speaking Tree - Move With The Flow, Learn To Let Go - Sept 13, 2007

We tend to cling to every object in our lives. We hold on to our profession, relationship or possession as if our entire world depends on them. We are so busy clinging to our own lives, that we have forgotten to live with the flow. We are afraid to move ahead, afraid to let go. Life in essence is like an unobstructed, unrestrained, uncontrolled flow of a river. Life flows at its own pace and the ultimate source of all our pain and sufferings is our tendency to cling to and obstruct the flow.

Professional life stagnates, relationships are broken, possessions are lost; all because we refused to let go when we were actually required to let things take their own course. Why do we cling? We cling because change scares us; we cling because we are afraid to face the unknown, to face challenges; we cling because we feel secure if the status quo is maintained; we cling because we refuse to believe that life can never be static; because we refuse to accept the transience of everything; we believe that everything is in our hands. We do not have enough faith in life and that higher force which is omnipotent and omnipresent. In the chaos of existence, we have lost touch with our higher self. Most of us lead a life which is similar to that of a child who is lost in a crowd, separated from his guardians. He has nobody to place his faith on. He is afraid, insecure, suspicious about everyone and everything. We live under the false illusion of having everything under our control. The spirit of getting things done becomes a problem when we continue to cling on even after we have exhorted all our efforts. We are overwhelmed by a sense of despair and disillusion when things move beyond our control. It is at this stage we need to learn to let go. Several times relationships are broken just because we tried too hard to make them work. We didn't give the breathing space they required to grow. We didn't let go and let them take their own course. Professionally or personally, once all the efforts are made towards achieving a goal, we must learn to let go and let life take the best course. It might or might not be of one's choice, but if we have faith, we will realise that it inevitably is the best course. We need to believe that forces above us are far better equipped to make judgments for us. We must learn to have faith in their judgment. Letting go, however, does not mean turning into a fatalist. One cannot sit idle in life and expect life to take care of itself. Karma, the fulfilment of one's duties is the ultimate objective of all human existence and if we fail to fulfil our duties towards life, life inevitably fails us.

When God gives us dreams, He shares them with us. Whatever we consider our dreams, are actually His dreams and He gives us the capability to realise them. The part we are required to play is to ensure the optimum usage of the capabilities bestowed upon us. And once we have played our part with utmost honesty and effort, we need to let go, step aside and let God step in to fulfill our dreams. After all, they are His dreams, too.