Bloggers - Lonely species

Recently came across an article on the net which suggested that Bloggers are a lonely species . People who dont get a chance to share their thoughts with people in real life ,get it off from their chest in cyberspace .

I have started to wonder whether these statements might be true. If you are a blogger ,you can write on any topic under the sun. I classify Bloggers in to two.First,people who are very particular in what they write. These people write on specific topics like Music,movies,books,sports,technology etc. They form a group of blogging friends who share similar interests . They exchange ideas ,review and analsye the topic in hand to almost microscopic level.

Second category of bloggers are those people who write on any topic. They sometimes write even what they did from dawn to dusk. These blogs sometimes( only sometimes) make intesrting reading. These people also write things which are very personal. I came across a blogger who was lamenting about how his lady love dumped him. I cant help but think that if the guy had a shoulder to lean upon he would not have written what he wrote .

I cannot get judgemental on this topic because i'm still finding answers for the below questions
1) Are people writing blogs find new friends who share similar intersets?( which implies they dont have friends with similar interests in the real world)
2) Are people writing blogs to use the broad reach of the net to make their ideas heard ?
3) Are people writng blogs to express their views just because no would isten to them if they were to express it in the real world ?
4) Are people writing it because it is a new trend and fashionable among the net users . .?

5) Last but not the least are they writing it because they have nothing else to do except to kill time ?

Ask these questions to yourself before you start writing your next blog. If you are a blogger you can only judge for yourself if you belong to the lonely species ...

The beautiful game and the greatest show on earth.

Football and The world cup

why do they call football 'the beautiful game'? I did not know the answer for this question before this world cup started, but now I think I know better. I have seen a fair bit of club football before but never a full tournament like a World cup or a European championship. As this world cup is one match away from ending I thought I should relive some of the things that fascinated me about this world cup and football in general.

Football is the ultimate team sport without a shadow of a doubt. A player, however talented he may be, cannot shine without the support of his teammates on the football field. Each and every player regardless of the position in which he plays (defence or attack) is so much dependent on his teammates. Even a star player can look ordinary if he is not in sync with the other players in the team. Classic example of this would be Brazil's Ronaldinho who looked a shadow of himself during this world cup. He was undoubtedly the best player in the world before the tournament started, and perhaps is still the best in the world, but his performances were ordinary in this world cup. Experts said that Ronaldinho's role was not clearly defined in the Brazilian team. For me it suggests that even the best player in the world needs to find a role in a team, get adjusted with others and work together with them. He just cannot be arrogant about his abilities and function individually. Is this not enough to justify football as the beautiful game?

There is more to football and the world cup than what I just said. For some countries football is the only way to escape reality and forget the daily troubles. Especially for the African countries just being at the world cup itself is a huge recognition. The people of these countries who are mostly the victims of poverty, civilwar and epidemic diseases there is only one thing positive about life, that is foot ball. This is why the whole African continent jumped with joy when Cameroon reached reached the quaterfinals in 1990 and Senegal did the same in 2002.In this world cup Ghana have kept the African's sprits high by defeating Checz republic and USA before bowing out to Brazil.

Also, in the real world there is no chance for a economically and politically weaker nation to compete for something against a stronger nation and win it. Sport allows escaping that reality once again. You can actually have the felling of having won a war against your political rival if you manage to defeat them in a big game. when Iran defeated USA in 1998 there was the exact feeling among the Iranians. Even among the developed nations there is this feeling of meeting the old foes in battle field .England Vs Germany matches have always been intensely fought as though it was the battle for Britain in world war II

Last but not the least football is a simple common man's sport. It can be played with anything. A card board box, pile of garbage, a heap of waste clothes or anything will do. The game is inexpensive, simple and easily accessible to all. This is what makes football the most popular sport in the world. In a event like world cup where the best
Players in the world are pitted against each other they display their full repertoire of skills to bring glory for their countries. And the fans ride an emotional rollercoaster of joy and sorrow watching their heroes play.

After going through all these feelings myself ,I just realized No wonder they call football 'the beautiful game' and the World cup ' the greatest show on earth'.

Historic match - A Bowler's worst Nightmare

5th odi AUS vs SA

As the dust settles and things begin to get normal after SouthAfrica's record breaking win at
the Wanderers in Jo'burg,one begins to wonder about the implications of this match over the future of one day cricket.This outcome has both positive and negaive implications.lets lookout the positives first before looking at a long list of negatives.

Positives:
1) Aussies can be beaten. Eventhough their batting and fielding are as powerful as ever, their bowling lineup without warne and Mcgrath looks vulnerable.
2) SouthAfrica shed their tag of being chokers in big matches. They not only overcame thier fear of failure but also built new levels of self beleif.
3) Teams conceding more than 300 runs in odi's hereafter will beleive they can chase the score
themselves.
4) The uncertainty factor which is associated with ODI cricket has surfaced once again.
5) Even people who know very little about the game will start following cricket.

Although there are quite a few positives, the negatives outweigh the positives in my opinion.
This kind of a match has not happened by chance.It was always waiting to happen like a dormant volcano waiting for erruption . The reason I say this is because of the recent trends that have emerged in ODI cricket. The odds continue to be stacked heavily in favour of the batsmen. Smaller boundaries,Heavier bats, Restrctions on bowlers bowling bouncers, field restrictions and flat pitches . All these contribute to bowlers being massacared in high scoring
matches.

In addition to all these, teams are always reluctant to field 'quality' wicket taking bowlers and include so called one day specialists in their teams. If the conditions like those that existed in wanderers are going to be becnchmark for future ODI matches then the game will be in trouble.

Negatives:
1) Spin bowlers will become a extinct species. Hard hitting batsmen will ensure that teams don't include spinners as they are bound to be hit out of the park.
2)The skill element will be taken out both of batting and bowling and cricket will become a power game
3) There will be only one breed of batsmen like the one's of Symonds, Klusener, Afridi,Dhoni
and pieterson. The classical players like Dravid, Vaughan and Martyn will have no place.
4) Bowlers will have no options but to only bowl Yorkers and and low full tosses and this will
turn cricket in to baseball.
5) Batsmen will have no regard for technique as they will have freedom to throw their bats on the ball all the time.This would make a complete mockery of the style of play of the old cricketing legends.

A match like this,eventhough makes wonderful viewing should not be the trend setter. The contest between bat and ball should be made even. Only then the game will remain alive and well.

Ganhiji's Autobiography

This week I started to read M.K Gandhi's autobigraphy,"My experiments with truth".I have finished reading only about Gandhi's childhood and marriage . But, reading only so little
has already made me change my perception about the Gandhi as a person . I have always presumed Gandhiji to be some sort of a saint who gave up everthing and lived a very simple means of life .

I was totally surprised with the facts I read in the book . There are umpteen incidents in his early life which suggest that he was a normal boy in his youth . He did all those things which most people do in their teens. Gandhi took to eating meat and drinking wine despite being born in a vegeterian family. He was totally convinced that Britishers dominated Indians because of their physical strength which they got by eating meat.

Gandhi was in the company of a friend who initiated Gandhi to these habits. The friend, whose name is unrevealed in the book ,even took Gandhi to a Brothel. But Gandhi went in and returned immediately fearing his conscience. By the time this incident happend Gandhi was already married.

Gandhi was married when he was only 13. Gandhi regrets being married at such an early
age ,later when writing this book. Gandhi also regrets about his' carnal appetite' . He deeply regrets about the fact that he was spending the night with his wife while his father was dying.
He says that, had he been free of his caranal appetite,he would have had the previlage of watching his father die in his arms.

Gandhi went to England to pursue his higher studies in law. He reached England after many struggles and obstacles ,as it was unheard of in those days for a boy born in a ordinary family to go and pursue studies in England.In England ,Gandhi tried to pass off as an English gentleman by wearing expensive suits, watches and taking dancing classes.

How did this normal young man become a Mahatma, is the question I will try to find an answer for as I continue to read this book and continue to fascinate about the life and times Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi .

Katradhum Petradhum

Sujatha's learnings and experiences

While reading this book two things struck my mind. How could a man be so
knowledgable in a variety of topics.The second, can a profesional engineer become a master at arts and that too writing.I was totally convinced with the answers I got after finishing this book

To write on a wide spectrum of topics one has to be vastly experienced. The articles in this book cover a variety of topics including Literature,Computers,QuantumPhysics molecularbiology and electronics.The author is able to write on these diverse topics with absolute conviction only because of his experience and knowledge.I dont think anyone could write a book like this at an young age.Also,unless one has the thirst to learn new things he cannot gain knowledge in such diverse topics.

Any engineer can also be master at art only if he is able to see a life beyond his profession.I think many of us struggle in this regard since we are required to pour so much time in to our work.But,if we strike a balance between our professional and personal lives we can be the painters or the writers or the actors that we wish we could be.I think the author is a fine example for a man who can have successful carrers in both arts and science.His writings in this book describe exactly the same .

To sum it up the book makes interesting reading.The book was originally intended to be an autobiography of Sujatha. But Sujatha has made it much more interesting by writing about his learnings and experineces in addition to the description of incidents in his personal life.

Cricket was the loser
I Test between INDIA - PAKISTAN 2006

For a series, which was billed almost 10 times as intense and interesting as the Ashes, the opening test was an anticlimax. All the excitement that is usually associated with an INDO-PAK contest was missing in the match.The much expected tussle between the Pakistani bowlers and the Indian batsmen was not to be seen as the pitch was heavily loaded in favour of the batsmen.

The batsmen from both sides had a feast of runs as the bowlers toiled without any reward. The pitch was so dead that even one of the most mentally strong bowlers of the modern era , Anil Kumble and one of the Fastest bowlers of all time Shoaib Akthar failed to make any impact. The match brought back memories of a similar kind of a lifeless pitch in Colombo where Jaysuriya and Mahanama Pounded the Indian attack to ground
in a world record stand for the 2nd wicket.

There is no disrespect to the batsmen of both sides. A century is still a Century and they deserve all the credit. But if you ask them personally they would not rate these innings among their best efforts. This is why I believe we should not read too much in to the statistics of this match. If Geoffrey was watching this match he would have said,“ MY MOM COULD HAVE MADE RUNS ON THIS PITCH”. In fact I was not surprised When Wasim Akram told the other day on television that he would like to come out of retirement and bat on this wicket.

All Said and done it is the onus of the administrators to look after the game. They must ensure that such no contest pitches are never produced. The Pitch should be sporty and it should encourage all facets of the game. Even if the pitch slightly favors the home team it is not a sin, but to produce a pitch like this is inexplicable.

There is no other game in this world, which has the intricacies of test cricket. With the advent of one-day cricket test cricket has lost its charm. The real test for any cricketer is the TEST MATCH. It is the highest platform where every cricketer loves to make his mark. He strives to earn respect among his peers by establishing himself in test cricket. Will the cricket administrators give a thought to all these and take steps to protect this wonderful game which all loveSo dearly? It remains to be seen.

Sujatha's Masterpiece," A novel titled Yeappodhum Penn"

One of the most difficult things in the world is reading the mind and heart of a woman. In our country women have always been treated either as goddesses or miserably scorned. There have been very few who have treated women as equals and given them the respect they deserve by lending an ear to know what they think and feel. In this day and age women have become independent and self-sufficient. They have earned the respect because of their economic independence but still they are not completely understood and their feelings continue to remain confined within their heart.

This book talks about those same feelings, which are in the heart of every woman. Things that go through a woman’s heart at every stage of her life is so beautifully described by the author. The influence of the external world and society in the shaping of her attitude is shown with brilliant examples. Author gives a rational explanation to the ,sometimes, strange behavior of women, which have puzzled us for centuries. Answers to the questions like why a girl child likes a particular doll, why some adolescent girls have inhibitions about sex while some others are too curious and why some women hate men are explained in a way only Sujatha can.

Not only these, there are also concrete scientific evidences and explanations throughout the book which give us a lot of information. For instance the description about the stage by stage development of a fetus in to a complete Child would cause envy to many physiology professors.

The story is also not devoid of the old classic literature touch. There are small snippets of poem lines between chapters, which show the author’s proficiency in the language. There is also a sincere attempt by the author to make the story contemporary to the period it was written. I would like to remind the readers that this story was written in a monthly magazine long back as a serial story.

The only low point in the book I see is the usage of a particular slang which is not common and acceptable to all sections of tamil speaking public.Those who do not understand the slang may get bored with the book.But for those who understand the enjoyment is doubled. May be the author wanted it tobe that way.

This book is a must read for people who indulge in watching and enjoying pornography and other stuff that dehumanize women. They will definitely not look at women as lifeless objects of pleasure after reading this book.