2005 October » VKpedia

Mahendra “King” Dhoni

Oct 312005

In the beginning, there was God.
But God chased a wide delivery,
And ended up back in the pavilion.
In came Dhoni… the rest is history!

Showing no mercy…

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni, our man from Jharkhand, walked in, the mood of the Sri Lankans was nothing but jubilant, because they had just removed Sachin Tendulkar. But over the next three hours the rapturous crowd at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, and all over India, went crazy as Dhoni’s coronation was underway, with 10 sixes and 15 fours. His innings of 183, an exhibition of raw power, stunned Sri Lanka, and announced the “advent”. For once, an Indian wicket-keeper stumped the opposition with his bat.

A new king is crowned

What a “shot”!

A day in Cherrapunji

Chennai 5 Responses »

Oct 282005

Is this Chennai? A city which rejoices if there is cloud cover for 40 minutes was lashed, battered (and at places, bruised) by 40 hours of non-stop torrential downpour. Yes, 40 hours! Of those I know, only Soumyadip should have experienced such rainfall.Now that the rains have stopped for almost a day, Chennai starts limping back to normal. Some places have been hit badly, but the water has already started receding from many parts.

One really appreciable thing in all this is the swiftness of the city’s police force and also the Corporation. I’ve heard quite a few tales of how the police helped stranded citizens by offering a lift across short distances, and sometimes even to their houses!

Also, the Corporation has swung into action and is trying to mend damaged roads. I myself came across more than a dozen such instances, where Corporation workers were filling up potholes and craters with stones, which would then be flattened by a roadroller. I wonder why our roads are so vulnerable. Why resort to such stopgap fixes, instead of doing it right first time?

Jaggy has put up this excellent photo-feature on his blog.

Saratchandra, on rainy days

Books 2 Responses »

Oct 272005

Prior to India’s independence, Kolkata (Calcutta) should have been India’s most forward-looking city. Intellectual affluence, and abundance of literary and artistic talent at the turn of the century in “the second city of the Empire” is evidenced by the saying “What Calcutta does today, the rest of India follows tomorrow.”Perhaps, looking at the negative publicity that the city receives these days, one might be forced to think that the above is a statement made out of empty pride. Certainly not! Kolkata may not be Calcutta, but there is no denying its influence on India. Something I discovered upon reading Parineeta, by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay.

The novel, which has been made into a critically aclaimed movie by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, is set in 1913. It is the tale of how a young girl clings on the idea of marriage even after separating from the man she believes she is wedded to. A simple love story, which Swagato Ganguly (in his introduction) tells us, should not be rejected as run-of-the-mill because this novel was among the initiators of “the romantic novel” in India.

I found the tale especially warm because before picking it up, I had watched a couple of movies of François Truffaut – Jules et Jim, and Le Dernier Métro – both undoubted classics, and both of which explore extra-marital relationships. In direct opposition to this stands Parineeta (which means Espoused) in which the lead character, Lalita, considers herself married to Shekhar Nath, just because the latter garlanded her once.

It is not just the story that lends weight to this adorable novel. Nor is it the characterisation or the vivid narration. Rather it is the backdrop of the tale that makes one come back to it again and again. Saratchandra’s Calcutta, just like Pagnol’s France or Narayan’s Malgudi or Hardy’s Wessex is a throwback in time – to an age devoid of modern distractions; in which life was simple even simplistic, and the characters all very good and close to life. The idealized past that we all dream about.

Oh, what can be better than a rainy day, on which you recline comfortably in your favourite chair with a book like this in one hand and a cup of piping hot tea in another!

What better news?

Football 4 Responses »

Oct 272005

If there is any better news than Chennai being lashed by cyclones Rakkayi, Kamatchi and Valliammai (those are the names – equivalent to Rita, Katrina and Wilma – doing the rounds in the SMS circles), then this should be it…

Charlton knock Chelsea out of League Cup

Reuters reports:

Chelsea’s season suffered its first serious blemish on Wednesday when London rivals Charlton Athletic knocked the holders out of the English League Cup 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United and Arsenal are through to the last 16.

The next blockbuster

Movies 2 Responses »

Oct 252005

After the maha mega giga hit of Chandramukhi, comes Rajnikanth’s next movie…

Sivaji… the boss

Rumour has it that the story is about Rajnikanth travelling around the world, in search of his (six other) look-alikes. Seems like he has found a couple of them here.

The Boss, with Shreya (she looks quite skinny, eh?)

A message for Mr. Murthy

Miscellaneous 4 Responses »

Oct 242005

I can resist everything except temptation!

Humour 1 Response »

Oct 202005

What ails United?

Football 8 Responses »

Oct 182005

Without saying as much, Sir Alex Ferguson has conceded the 2005-06 Premiership to Chelsea. The fiery Scot has opined that his team are better positioned to win the Champions League than the Premier League. So what is wrong with Manchester United, the most famous club in the world?As I see it, the problem with United is that their central midfield isn’t very potent. Paul Scholes is trying to find form. Roy Keane is playing only on and off. Alan Smith is still learning to fill up Keane’s big boots. Fletcher has a lot to do, to impress the Mancunian faithful.

Some seasons ago, Keane would anchor the central midfield, and push the play forward. This meant that they didn’t have to rely excessively on their wings to create chances and produce goals. So even if Beckham or Giggs had a bad game, United would win (with a reduced margin).

When United won the league in 2003, Scholes had 18 goals (I think) against his name, that’s one in two games. And most of the goals came in games in which Ruud van Nistelrooy wasn’t doing well, around Christmas time. I think he even got a hat-trick at Tyneside, and that year, the Toons finished 3rd!

With the drop in form of Keane and Scholes, the pressure shifts to the wings. Ronaldo and Giggsey. Ruud doesn’t get the service he used to, hence fewer goals. Even this season, Ruud has to drop back to win balls. Rooney is playing like a LCAM, not unlike Ronaldinho for Barcelona, and not as a proper striker.

The way out? If Keane is moving out in the summer, then some very influential player is needed in the centre of midfield. That’s why United are keen on Ballack. In fact, United’s class of the 90s is aging now. So, Fergie has to find replacements fast. Park has come in for Giggs. In the next couple of years, we will find him taking the left wing more frequently. I think Fergie will persist with Scholes for some time, but if he doesn’t find form, then he will have to go too.

But hang on…

United have another generation of youngsters now. Rooney and Ronaldo, being the most prominent. And then there is Miller, who was brought in as a “future Beckham”. Guiseppe Rossi and Gerard Pique who debuted against Sunderland. Not to forget Bardsley, who is in the Neville mould, and Jonathon Spector, the 18 year old American left back – he was very impressive in his few appearances last season. That’s seven players under 20!

Which is why SAF is next only to God!

IIPM’s statement?

Miscellaneous 3 Responses »

Oct 152005

PressTalk has published a statement which, they claim, has been doing the rounds for the past few hours as IIPM’s official statement to the media.From what I understand, the statement doesn’t say much. Except maybe a curt admission that the IIMs are beyond compare, and that IIPM suffers from an irreparable megalomania.

Sun TV clarifies

Blogging, Media, Personal 8 Responses »

Oct 152005

For an article I had posted about Tamil Murasu, I had received multiple spam comments, which I discovered came from Sun TV’s office. Through a friend close to Sun TV, I had mailed them stating that this was an unwarranted and disturbing happening, which was bringing them a lot of negative publicity.Yesterday, I received a reply from Sun TV. I’m blanking out the email addresses.

Date: Fri 14 Oct 2005 02:19:25 AM EDT
From: sax
To: Vijay Krishna
Subject: [No Subject]

Dear Vijay,

This is in reference to your email to Ms.______. I have forwarded your mail to our IT dept and our Web Dept for necessary action. Their initial response is as follows

We are an ISP (Internet Service Provider) also, and thus there are thousands of general public who are our customers in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderbad, Cochin and other places who use our pipe and we have also sublet out pipe to lot of internet Kiosks, so we cannot squarely blame it on one of our employees, and even if we assume it is one of them, it will be difficult to trace it to a single individual, since all our employees have access to common internet terminals in our network offices and there are nearly 7000 employees across our 52 offices spread over India.

Anyway I have to clearly state that SUN NETWORK strongly believes and supports Freedom of Speech, and we regret any inconvenience caused to you by some one who misused our Internet pipe.

In case if you require any further clarification, please feel free to get in touch with me.

Thanking you,

Regards,

Hansraj Saxena

(Vice President – Programming)

Even when I mailed them, I had assumed that the comments should have come from some individual who didn’t like what I wrote in my blog, and that the organisation should not suffer needlessly. The object of my mail therefore was not to complain but to inform. To be honest, I feel Sun TV has acted in fairness in this issue. The fact that they have chosen to respond to my mail, and the courtesy and promptness that they have displayed pleasantly surprises me.

That the mail takes pains to state that their organisation “strongly believes and supports” freedom of expression comes as a joy, in fact a welcome relief, when compared to the cheap behaviour displayed by organisations like IIPM.

I may not like Sun TV’s stance on some issues or some of their offerings, but that won’t stop me from saying that I’m bowled over by their civility. No doubt, they are South India’s number one media house!

All the right moves

People, Sport 2 Responses »

Oct 142005

Meet the new face of world chess…

Vesselin Topalov is the new FIDE World Chess Champion. He has bested the tournament favourite and world number one, Vishwanathan Anand. Bulgaria’s Sofia News Agency contains this who’s who on their national toast.

The World Chess Champion Vesselin Topalov was born March 15, 1975 in the Danube city of Rousse.

He joined the local chess club at the age of seven and six years later won the World Under-14 championship in Aguadilja, Puerto Rico. In 1990 he won a silver medal in the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore and became a grandmaster two years later.

He reached the quarterfinals of the FIDE championship tournament once in 2000 at New Delhi. Topalov qualified for the semifinals of the 2004 FIDE championship tournament in Tripoli, Libya, but lost to Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

He began 2005 by climbing to third place on FIDE’s world ranking list, then upheld this position by tying for first at the Linares supertournament with Garry Kasparov. Two months later he won the inaugural MTel Masters (2005) event by a full point over Viswanathan Anand. That fall, in a dominating performance, he won the World Chess Championship (2005) in San Luis, Argentina.

NDTV breaks its silence

Blogging, Media 7 Responses »

Oct 132005

NDTV correspondent Alaphia Zoyab had mentioned in her blog that NDTV would carry the story in its 10:30 PM show, Mumbai Live. She then re-posted saying that the show will not feature this issue. However, she has since re-posted again. It seems that NDTV has (un)covered this in its 8 and 9 PM news shows. I missed them both. But here are excerpts from the NDTV.com article.

Full-page advertisements by the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) in all national dailies asked students to “dare to dream beyond the IIMs”.

If one went by the ads, one could be forgiven for thinking that IIPM is the institute with the best possible infrastructure, faculty, and placements in the country.

It then gives some details about how Gaurav was arm-twisted into resigning. And then it has a few words to say about our war.

But Gaurav’ resignation and IIPM’s threat of legal action has sparked off a cyber war.

The otherwise unseen world of bloggers in India and across the world began posting their support for Gaurav, arguing that a blog is someone’s personal view and suing them makes no sense.

In response, blogs also suddenly appeared in defense of IIPM.

This is a fascinating story, which has not just raised questions about claims made by private educational institutions but also about laws governing internet privacy.

If anyone has recorded the coverage, please pass on a link. Also, Alaphia promises that NDTV is going to do a full feature on blogging! Bravo, no doubt, they are India’s number one news channel!

The Express carries it, finally!

Blogging, Media 5 Responses »

Oct 132005

The Indian Express (Mumbai Edition) has carried an article on the current blogstorm. It is heartening to note that the mainstream media, which has till now acted comfortably numb to the issue, is waking up.Kaps and I had asked Sudhish Kamath (of The Hindu) why the media was acting deaf-mute to this issue. His response was that his newspaper doesn’t react unless one of the parties comes out with a press release. Well, I cannot fault him on that. However, I am surprised that the media in our country works on such dated principles. I wonder what press release The Hindu waited for before covering the recent earthquake or last year’s tsunami. Perhaps the media stands testimony to the statement “When confronted with a problem, people don’t think; they simply re-adjust their prejudices!”

The Express article states…

With word spreading in the ‘blogosphere’, the incident has now erupted into a major controversy and hundreds of bloggers are standing by Sabnis and espousing their right to freedom of speech

Further it quotes A. Sandeep, the all-India dean of IIPM as saying that he has “no idea about it.” On the legal (t)angle, the article seems to side with the institute.

Legally, IIPM is well within its rights in taking the blogger to court, said advocate Vishwas Patel. ‘‘The organisation’s reputation is tarnished by such statements and if it continues to be eroded, it can resort to civil and criminal procedures under defamation laws,’’ he said.

Spare Wikipedia, please!

Blogging, Miscellaneous 9 Responses »

Oct 112005

Ravikiran has issued a call to the blogging community to write “the facts” about IIPM into its Wikipedia page. His idea in doing this is to save all prospective seekers of information, by providing them with the right information.I appreciate the ends he is striving for (the right to correct information), but I am not in favour of the means of achieving it. My reasons are as follows.

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia; there is a limit to the information it can contain and provide. The current entry contains juicy details about what has transpired over the past few days. To write such things into one’s own blog is fine, but to treat Wikipedia as an extension of one’s blog is tantamount to sacrilege. Also, the issue is only a few days old, and is still evolving. Given this, it is premature to edit an encyclopedia to contain all this.

Moreover, concentrating on peripheral issues like Wikipedia, moves the focus away from the main issue. It helps to ponder for a moment what we are fighting for, and who. Though our writing might express an anger at IIPM, which we are slighting freely, IIPM is not the central part of the problem. We are not fighting to establish that IIPM is not as good as it claims to be. We are fighting for our right to free speech, and the threats posed to the same, by some elements. Victory for us lies not in maligning the institute, but in establishing the fact that IIPM was wrong in threatening Gaurav and Rashmi the way they did.

Wikipedia is unique, because it is the only example I know of a totally decentralised system (of such a magnitude) that works like a dream, serving as a ready and precise reference for any topic under the sun. Let us not misuse such a clockwork-like system.

Fight splogs. Fight for freedom of expression. But please, please spare Wikipedia.

(And just in case, the posts still are the way they are, you can expect me to mark them for deletion.)

Thank you, Mr. Chaudhuri!

Blogging, Miscellaneous 9 Responses »

Oct 102005

It seems to me that in the affair concerning IIPM and us bloggers, we have been really unfair to the institute and its founder, Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri. We have been maligning them left, right and centre, without understanding the nature of the service that they have rendered to us. And this comes from someone who was extremely critical of them, till realisation dawned on me.Instead of being uncharitable, we must actually thank Mr. Chaudhuri and his institute (and all those newbie sploggers) for bringing India’s bloggers together. Through a series of smart moves, Mr. Chaudhuri is helping engineer a social revolution in India. Who, other than a man of his intellectual ability and vision, can help us realise the great Indian dream?

My heartfelt thanks to you, Mr. Chaudhuri. India’s blogging community owes a lot to you!

P.S.: Here is a list of blogs, each of which should immediately post a Thank you message to Mr. Chaudhuri
Harini Calamur, Press Talk, Varun’s Thoughtful Chaos, Srini, The Arbit Council, DesiPundit, Anshul, Charu, Patrix, Muthuvel, Thalassa Mikra, Jagan, Vatsan, Mridula, Jo, Varna, Amrit Hallan, Ash, Shivam Vij, Swaroop, Jujitsu Mode, Uma, Abi, Toufeeq Hussain, Shub, Ranj, Shivam, Abhishek, Rajan, Havoc, Kaushik, Chandru, Alpha-Q, Mandar, Kaushal, Chenthil, Tony, Bonatellis, Apurv Pandit, Scudie, Press Talk – K, Sriyansa, Miss J, Neha, TablePost.Com

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