27% Reservation in IITs, IIMs and AIIMS Stayed

by the Supreme Court and rightly so. They questioned the data which is 75 years old and have asked the center to define what OBC is. I hope they also squash the Schedule 9 under which states like TN implement 69% reservation.

Indian Cricket's next step

While many a bloggers have taken vows of not following Indian Cricket any more after their disastrous 2007 WC attempt, for me it is the most interesting moment. Yes it was disheartening to see the way the guys performed or rather underperformed but what is showed the BCCI administrators is that some drastic changes are needed. It's always interesting to see how organizations react to extreme situations. IMO this is really an extreme situation for India Cricket. Now rumors are swirling about the following changes.

1. Greg Chappell's contract will not be extended. Sandip Patil is rumored to be the next coach.
2. Dravid, Sachin and Sehwag will be dropped.
3. Yuvraj might be made the captain.
3. There will be 2 teams, India Blues (???) and India Jr. Based on performance the Indian team will be selected from these two list of players.

My thoughts are as follows.
1. I'm neutral on Greg Chappell. If he is changed I would rather prefer Tom Moody or Dave Whatmore. Sandip Patil has done a good job with the Kenyans so may be we can take a chance with him if he is available. Coaching while important is not going to win the matches.
2. Wholeheartedly agree with dropping the seniors. Given the ages of Dravid and Sachin, I don't even want them to have another chance. I would want players from 21 to 28 selected and lets stick with them.
3. Yuvraj is a good choice for captaincy. Let us give him a chance and a team of his choice.
4. I'm not sure about this arrangement though. How are they going to keep India Jr. engaged ? Will they keep India Blues and India Jr. play matches when there is not international engagement. Let us wait for the details on this one.

No No I'm not picking on Mumbaikars

but they seem to not know when to retire. From Lata Mangeshkar to Sachin Tendulkar they want to look like the Energizer bunnies even after their usefulness for the team was over long time ago. Heck why talk about usefulness when their presence is real harmful. I'm not belittling any of the personality mind you. I adore Lata's voice (of the 70's and early 80's) and I can sit and watch Sachin Tendulkar opening for India in Australia way back in 1995-1996 the entire day. But blessed are those who realize that they are way past their peak performance and allow others to take their place and limelight. It takes a special mindset to do it and I do think prominent Mumbaikars lack this basic etiquette.

Judiciary on fast track !!!

That too in India. I'm pleasantly surprised as to how the Manjunath case has progressed. Within 1.5 years of his murder, the case was solved, accused arrested, charges filed and a verdict has been reached. All the 8 accused have been found guilty and we should know the punishment by tomorrow. Its a very welcome development IMO.

Lasith Malinga - a Chucker ????

I think he is trying to model himself after Jeff Thompson but his actions clearly show that he chucks the ball. He literally throws the ball with his hand going sideways. Apart from this guy's dubious action Lanka deserved the win today. Did you watch Sachin getting rattled by the thick edge. I've lost count of the times he has done this to himself. Dhoni took longer to come to the crease than he stayed there. All in all a poor performance by India and a complete waste of $199 for me.

Changes I would like to see in the current lineup. I want the following players chucked out
1. Uthappa
2. Dhoni
3. Agarkar
4. Harbhajan
5. Sachin

The only players who have kept or redeemed their status as a good cricketers are Rahul, Saurav and Yuvraj. Zaheer and Munaf did do a good job of bowling. I know I'm forgetting one man but at this point it doesn't really matter.

Most annoying moment of the worldcup telecast

in US has gotto be the ads for Statefarm insurance.... Has a pathetic BGM and guy talking nasally the following words
"The world cup is great
Statefarm insurance is great too. Please call your nearest statefarm insurance agent...."

I think I have given much better ads during my college days (remember during the annuals most colleges will have tournaments where u create ads etc)...

2007 World Cup Cricket thoughts

If Pakistan's exit from the 2007 WC was shocking then the fate that befell their coach was even more shocking. May his soul rest in peace. He did a wonderful job with the Proteas, his tenure with Pak was kinda mixed but that was more due to the internal politics within Pak Cricket than Bob's coaching.

Someone had commented on another blog about India and Pak going home early and starting a one day series. That would be truly comical but the reality is that ICC's worldcup would lose half its viewership. The news is that if India also exits the worldcup corporates would stand to lose Rs.250 Cr. Now can we say that some fixing would indeed happen ? Or may be it might seem too obvious so it may not happen and India may indeed get out and the corporates have to eat up the loss.

I was really surprised that I could only see advts of Hero Honda and LG dominating the field. I'm pretty sure no one outside India or may be the subcontinent would know about Hero Honda, Honda may be but not Hero Honda.

Some bloggers had commented about irresponsible Indian youth damaging the stars property in India. I'm not sure I agree with the bloggers. Emotion is part and parcel of Indian society. Losing against Bangladesh is ignomity that ordinary people cannot digest. The cricketers think that they hit a century in a match and are fully deserving a plot of land and a palatial house on it. How many of the fans can really afford this ? But it is exactly these fans that make the BCCI and cricketers see money. We make heroes out of them when they perform and villify them when they don't. There's nothing wrong in it. If the cricketers know they are out of form why can't they step out of the team by themselves. I was aghast at seeing Ajit Agarkar in the team. I think may be the fans should be targetting the selectors home.

Now if the same had been a premeditated distruction then that constitutes crime. Not everyone can be Brutus and by the way Brutus never achieved anything. Those who have emotions are the ones who will strive and achieve things closer to heart. Unfortunately the way India played that emotion was utilized negatively. I will never blame the poor fan, after all he wanted India to win against Bangladesh. But what he did not realize was that the Banga Bandhus played for the country where as the Indian elephants have already had their Scorpios and BMWs and Plots and houses not to mention all the advts money and don't have a need for anything else.

And then there will be some who will point to the teams performance against Bermuda. Was it a blemishless performance ? Heck no. Sehwag started shakily was dropped a couple of times. This Uthappa guy is only good for eating oothappams I guess. I would like to see his Ranji records. Dada also struggled against the Bermudans initially. The amount of inspiration and enthusiasm I saw on Leverock's face was more than the collective inspiration of the Indian team. I'll leave my thoughts there. Ofcourse my position is that India should not be playing Cricket at all. That'll be a seperate discussion.

Wearing Chennai, Tamil on their sleeve

Of late some prominent bloggers just keep putting mundane posts about how Chennai is ignored or how Chennai is not given its due share or how some form of rating has rated Chennai the top Indian City etc etc. Am I the only one to find such posts irritating ? Is it real City patriotism or just insecurity or plain playing popularism ? Anyway I am quite sad to see these bloggers lose their prominency in my mind because of such single minded strawman pursuit.....

The sledging bastards that they usually are....

Hey apparently they don't mind being called bastards and I didn't say that. I'm quoting the great Allan Border, the man who took them to a world cup victory way back in 1986.
Here's the quote “While a cricketer on the subcontinent or the West Indies may find an Australian bowler’s remark to a particular batsman of ‘you lucky bastard’ offensive, to players in other teams it’s not,” taken from here.

So my question to all the Aussies out there, if u fucking don't want others to take your sledging so seriously why the hell do you take Sunny's remark so seriously. Gavaskar had mentioned David Hookes as an example of what would happen in the bar if they used the same language as they used in the field. It's the truth and truth hurts real bad mate. You are sledger on and off the field. You are rally your country's press to undermine a visiting team and you don't hestitate to plan a body line and why do you expect others to respect your dead when you don't respect the living ?

And I fully agree with Sunny. The greatest cricketers so far have been the West Indians under Clive Lloyd. I will pay Million $$$$ (hehehehe when I have it) to see Viv Richards come out with just a cap and chewing his gum and hit that six as if it was a child throwing a pebble. Or the run up of Malcolm Marshal of whom Krish Srikanth once said that all he could do was to swing the bat aimlessly in the hope of making a connection. Now they never sledged but they won the worldcup twice consecutively. They won the cup purely based on their talent not. Now try to focus on doing that you dumb Aussies not pick on Sunny for his remarks, if you can.

Away for too long

What to do, important Operations Research project that my Company's Chief Operating Officer had me do as part of my academic coursework took the toll. Not to mention the health problems that my family is having. Lot of things have happened in the meantime.

Judges are having a hard time in sub-continent, one in Pakistan unceremoniously kicked out and charges filed against him and another in India had some harsh letter sent to him. If these things can happen to Supreme Court judges I shudder to think what will happen to common folks.

Well the unthinkable has happened, Bangladesh squarely defeated India and Ireland trounced Pakistan. As one commentator put it the neighbors were competing with each on mediocreness in all aspects of the game. As for as India is concerned I think it is good India lost to Bangladesh. I think India should also lose to Bermuda. Cricket's popularity should wane in the country. I would rather see Hockey, Soccer and other such games which are more exciting and waste much less time gain popularity than this mundane and boring (what else can u expect from a sport invented by the Brits) game.

Vishy Anand gained #1 status in the Chess world. I never saw any congratulatory message from any of the Indian leaders. I guess if it had been a Muslim or a Dalit or an OBC or even a eunuch all the politicians would have rushed head over heels to congratulate and allot him a parcel of land and not to mention some lakhs of Rupees. But unfortunately Vishy doesn't fall in to any of the categories.

Last week I watched the movie "Rendu" starring Madhavan and before that week I watched Kamal's Vettaiyadu Vilayadu. I'm quite convinced that I will not be watching any more movies from Kollywood. The movies were so graphical it would be put GTA to shame. Especially VV, not at all expected in a Kamal starrer. Same with Rendu. Madhavan's movies are usually soft and offbeat but the violence in Rendu had me shut the TV off. I don't think I'm going to see Paruthi veeran or any other recent movie as their reviews themselves are scarring to read.

This is in stark contrast with the way movies were made in yesteryears. Do you need such graphic display of violence and bloodshed to be a blockbuster nowadays ? I am just going to stick with movies from PrakashRaj stable hereafter. I liked his Azhagiya theeye and I'm seeing really good reviews for Mozhi.

Anyway that's all for now, Happy Worldcup watching.....

Why don't the politicians learn ?

So George.W.Bush was basking in the glory of 1991 Desert storm victory and his mammoth coalition of nations and was thinking that he could win the presidential election in 1992. But then a charismatic Governor from Arkansas stole the limelight with a simple slogan "It's the economy you stupid"....

The lesson from that election was that if you took care of the people's bottomline, people will take care of your bottomline (it won't be a rocking chair). But politicians don't ever learn a lesson. Take for instance P.Chidambaram. I agree that guy has got some brains but his latest "Put Social responsibility over tax concessions". So he promised jobs for 1,00,000 jobs for the physically handicapped. Mr.Idiot can you first pass a law that makes Govt. offices accessible to all these physically handicapped people ? Can you start doing something over which you have control over instead of forcing the Industry on some perceived utopian principles.

Every now and then just when the Indian Industry seem set to take on the world, the Govt. gets an itch to show the Industry who the real boss is. This year's budget was just a slap in the face for everyone. BJP lost the election last time because their pace of economic reform was not fast enough to reach everyone. Some of his statements are just purely jestorly. Like this one "India Inc. needed to take care of that half of India which had no access to water, community toilets, sanitation, electricity, education and health, instead of insisting on repeated tax concessions."

I thought all those that were mentioned above were the responsibility of a Govt. I guess being the minister incharge of the buck, he can easily pass it on.

Puri Jagannath Temple's UnGodly Action

When I first read this
I was shocked to the core. I cannot imagine, in a nation where scores go literally hungry and that too Orissa which till recently was in news for hunger deaths, such a shameful act can be committed.

For those who are wondering what the issue is, the priests in Puri Jagannath temple in India, decided that the food cooked to serve the devotees was defiled and desecrated due to the entry of an American inside the temple. Now this is fine, they could have sent it outside the temple to other needy people or orphanages etc. But what they did with this "uncleanse" food is shocking. They dug a pit and threw the food down in that pit. ToI says that the food is worth 3Lakhs INR or 300,000INR. Even if the value of that food 1p it is still a shameful act.

How do you juxtapose this act with the country's aspiration of being a global superpower in 2020 ? Will this superstition stymie the growth or will the growth overpower such superstition ? I ferverntly hope for the latter to happen.

Market correction

The much anticipated Market correction happened last week, though it's not clear if we have corrected enough. No one can tell that as the markets are based more on psychology than on economic conditions. Sometimes there can be an avalanche, like what happened last week, other times the markets will just get up, dust themselves and start the climb up.

US stocks normally do not face the same volatility as Chinese or Indian stocks. But the looming housing bust in US might derail the stock market advances. This should give savvy investors opportunity to get in to good stocks. Right now I'm still in the market, though lost a quite a bit of gains last week. Opened some new positions and still waiting to see what will happen this week. Options might be a safer play if one doesnt want to commit money in to stocks. But remember options decay really fast in their values.

The decline in Gold prices is also good news. Almost all the asset prices have gone beyond the reach of common man and this is true throughout the world. It is high time that these prices come down to the ground and as they do they will create great opportunities for those savvy investors.

Air beats Water

No silly, I'm not talking about that stupid movies from Deepa Mehta. This is more about Overclocking. I got the Thermaltake Bigwater 735 kit from Newegg. For a start it was missing a nut to tighten the tube connection to one of the outlets. But still I decided to take the risk, remember a liquid cooled system means there's quite a bit of liquid flowing around your electronic components, and test the system out.

So out went my thermaltake bigtyphoon vx and in came the Bigwater 735. The setup was quite easy even though my ThermalTake Shark case wasn't ideal for connecting the components. But all said and done, the temps on my processor actually went up by about 6c. That's quite a bit of let down. Also due to the absence of fans over the PWMIC and Chipset their temps were also reaching 58-60c. Dismantling this setup was a mess though. Once your system is completely filled with the liquid you have to be carefull while uninstalling. With some spills and splashes I was able to dismantle the setup and was able to setup an RMA with newegg.

Now I'm back to aircooling. I'm convinced now that chips are cooled better by having a good airflow through the case. When the YateLoons arrive next week I'll have replaced all the stock fans with the YateLoons and these fans should move more air through the case than I'm doing now. My goal is to get this Opteron OC to 3.0Ghz. I'm at around 2.8G with a voltage supplied to the core, vcore, being 1.5V.

So there u go folks. Air beats Water