The same day 17 years ago, in 1991, the former PM of India, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bomb blast at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. This would be remembered as one of the most gruesome terrorist attacks. I still remember this day as the country was preparing for the general elections, the scenes of the terrorist attack flashed through the country the next day morning sending shock waves across. Rajiv was one of the leaders who was able to win over the hearts of millions of countrymen thanks to an ever smiling face. But the bomb blast shattered his face that country was not able to have a last look at his face while paying the lastRemembering 21st May
respects. A sad day indeed to think about for many more years to come.....
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Two thrilling matches @ IPL - 21 May 2008
1. Punjab vs Mumbai -An aggressive batting performance by the Punjab team to put up 189 runs on the board thanks to the spirited show by the aussies Stuart Marsh and Pomersbach. The captaincy and choice of bowlers used by the Mumbai captain, Sachin Tendulkar is also questionable as he didnt bowl the wily veteran spinner, Sanath Jayasuriya.
Mumbai began the runchase aggressively with Sanath and Sachin, they lost a whopping 7 wkts for just 44 runs to end up losing by 1 run in the last ball of the match. The swinging fortunes provided umpteen amount of entertainment to the fans but the "choking" by Mumbai team would classify this match as one of the memorable thrillers.
2. Bangalore vs Chennai -
Yet another lacklustre batting performance from the B'lore team with the captain, Rahul Dravid, fondly called as "THE WALL" across the globe top scoring with 47 runs and the team ended at 126 runs in the 20 overs.
Chennai team, one of the top performers in the tournament and favourites to win this match, were coasting along at 85 for 2 wkts at the end of 13 overs requiring just another 42 runs in the remaining 7 overs with the former NZ captain, Stephen Fleming and Suresh Raina. Anybody would have fancied Chennai to complete the proceedings comfortably, but what followed was amazing to watch !!
India's top spinner, Kumble, took 3 crucial wkts in his quota of 4 overs by giving away just 14 runs and then the SouthAfrican bowler, Dale Steyn added to the misery of Chennai team by claiming 2 crucial wkts. The match entered the last over with Chennai requiring 16 runs off the last over with Suresh Raina and Mtini at the crease, but they were able to get just a single off that over to lose by 14 runs.
A consolation victory for the much-hyped Bangalore team.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
This is the poem that I created in honour of my mom on the occasion of International Womens Day on 08th March 2001.
Dear Amma,
March 8th, being the Women's Day, i felt this is the apt time to tell You how much you mean to me.
I have learnt how to show our affection and love for our dear ones from the way you took care of me when i was in bed after a gruesome injuiry.
I have learnt how to share others' happiness from the way you Expressed your happiness whenever i got the first rank while i was studying and also when i got my first job in life.
I have learnt how to accept and take up challenges in life from the narrations of various hardships that you had come across in your life.
I have learnt the nuances of dedication and sincerity from the way you do things.....
I have learnt how to execute tasks in an organized manner. " ... Observe sharply, learn quickly and do it right the first time ... "
Amma, i will never forget this advice in my lifetime.
You had always been a constant source of inspiration to me. But for Your love and affection, I wouldn't have been what I am today....
To end with I just want to say Amma, you mean a world to me...
Loving son
Vijay
Trip to Niagara Falls -- Sep 2000
Barely 2 days since I had landed into US, had I got the message that our colleagues are arranging for a trip to Niagara Falls. I got excited and immediately agreed to join the party. When the dates for the trip were announced, my anxiety started increasing as we were approaching Sept 22nd, 2000. Yes, the date we were scheduled to depart towards Niagara Falls. Come Sept 22nd, I was astonished to see that there was big group of 28 people in the party. We got ourselves into 4 SUVs and started the trip at 7 pm on Friday. I had 4 of my colleagues and 2 of our friends in the van along with me. Slowly and steadily we merged into the interstate highways and the van started zooming away.
It was a great experience to travel on the highways with tall trees on both sides of the road. I was astonished by seeing the huge width of the road, when compared to our great Indian roads.
We took our first break at around 10 pm at a service station on the highway. These service stations have a fuel filling station as well as hotels to refresh and relax. I felt as if I will be frozen as soon as I got down from the van. It was so cold. Then I took my jacket and went inside MacD to have dinner. After finishing off the dinner we started our next leg of journey at around 10.45 pm. Excepting the guy who was driving the van and one more guy who was sitting beside him, all of us started sleeping. At around 2.30 am we reached our staying place. It was on a highway and inside Buffalo district. We got our rooms and went to bed.
The next morning we were shocked to see that it was raining heavily. We got worried as to how r we going to go to Niagara. Luckily by 9 am, the rain got stopped and we started off. We reached Niagara at around 11 am. The first ride we entered was the "Maid of the mist". --the cruise which took us near the falls. We came down to the cruise boarding point from a height of nearly 200 feet in an elevator. That was a thrilling experience. Then as we started off on the journey in the cruise we started feeling the chillness.
We were given a special rain coat to protect us from the water. Gradually the boat was taking was towards the Canadian falls, which is the "Horse-shoe falls"(the one which most of us would have seen in photos.). I got stunned by seeing the falls from the river.
It was like a huge chunk of water being drained into the river at awesome speed. I got drenched completely, but it was great fun to see such a falls. It was dreams come true.
Then, we moved onto the next ride, "Cave of the winds". This ride took us down to the tip of the American falls in an elevator. Earlier we were given thicker rain coats and a special pair of shoes. Once we wore them everyone was looking like Eskimo or Mickey Mouse. Once we were out of the elevator we started walking in the wooden steps that lead us towards the falls. As we were nearing the falls we were able to feel the chill water splashing on us. So it was next round of drenching. This was like standing under Courtallam falls (in TN), but the American falls was finer. This was more thrilling than the earlier one. Once we were out of this we started roaming around the park and visited some more places and giving tight work to our cameras. Then, we started waiting for the lightshow.
They started the show at 8.15 pm only. It was literally freezing. But once the lights were up, we were able to feel the worthiness of our patient wait. It was ultimate. Sorry that I don’t have enough words to explain that experience. It was good to see the falls under lights. Gradually the colors of the lights were also changed. It was like seeing brindavan of Mysore, but the specialty in this was that they had lighted a natural falls. After 30 mins we started moving towards our hotel with all heart full of memories of the falls. I felt myself to be really lucky enough to have gone to Niagara within 10 days of my stay into US.
The next day we went to Watkins Glenn Park, which is a nature created one. It was a good trekking experience. We took photos there also. We started off on our journey back home by 3 pm from that park and reached home at around 10 pm.
The whole trip was really fantastic, though we had rain and chillness.
Thanks for patiently going thru my travel experience. I will keep sharing such wonderful experiences.
Vijay
Barely 2 days since I had landed into US, had I got the message that our colleagues are arranging for a trip to Niagara Falls. I got excited and immediately agreed to join the party. When the dates for the trip were announced, my anxiety started increasing as we were approaching Sept 22nd, 2000. Yes, the date we were scheduled to depart towards Niagara Falls. Come Sept 22nd, I was astonished to see that there was big group of 28 people in the party. We got ourselves into 4 SUVs and started the trip at 7 pm on Friday. I had 4 of my colleagues and 2 of our friends in the van along with me. Slowly and steadily we merged into the interstate highways and the van started zooming away.
It was a great experience to travel on the highways with tall trees on both sides of the road. I was astonished by seeing the huge width of the road, when compared to our great Indian roads.
We took our first break at around 10 pm at a service station on the highway. These service stations have a fuel filling station as well as hotels to refresh and relax. I felt as if I will be frozen as soon as I got down from the van. It was so cold. Then I took my jacket and went inside MacD to have dinner. After finishing off the dinner we started our next leg of journey at around 10.45 pm. Excepting the guy who was driving the van and one more guy who was sitting beside him, all of us started sleeping. At around 2.30 am we reached our staying place. It was on a highway and inside Buffalo district. We got our rooms and went to bed.
The next morning we were shocked to see that it was raining heavily. We got worried as to how r we going to go to Niagara. Luckily by 9 am, the rain got stopped and we started off. We reached Niagara at around 11 am. The first ride we entered was the "Maid of the mist". --the cruise which took us near the falls. We came down to the cruise boarding point from a height of nearly 200 feet in an elevator. That was a thrilling experience. Then as we started off on the journey in the cruise we started feeling the chillness.
We were given a special rain coat to protect us from the water. Gradually the boat was taking was towards the Canadian falls, which is the "Horse-shoe falls"(the one which most of us would have seen in photos.). I got stunned by seeing the falls from the river.
It was like a huge chunk of water being drained into the river at awesome speed. I got drenched completely, but it was great fun to see such a falls. It was dreams come true.
Then, we moved onto the next ride, "Cave of the winds". This ride took us down to the tip of the American falls in an elevator. Earlier we were given thicker rain coats and a special pair of shoes. Once we wore them everyone was looking like Eskimo or Mickey Mouse. Once we were out of the elevator we started walking in the wooden steps that lead us towards the falls. As we were nearing the falls we were able to feel the chill water splashing on us. So it was next round of drenching. This was like standing under Courtallam falls (in TN), but the American falls was finer. This was more thrilling than the earlier one. Once we were out of this we started roaming around the park and visited some more places and giving tight work to our cameras. Then, we started waiting for the lightshow.
They started the show at 8.15 pm only. It was literally freezing. But once the lights were up, we were able to feel the worthiness of our patient wait. It was ultimate. Sorry that I don’t have enough words to explain that experience. It was good to see the falls under lights. Gradually the colors of the lights were also changed. It was like seeing brindavan of Mysore, but the specialty in this was that they had lighted a natural falls. After 30 mins we started moving towards our hotel with all heart full of memories of the falls. I felt myself to be really lucky enough to have gone to Niagara within 10 days of my stay into US.
The next day we went to Watkins Glenn Park, which is a nature created one. It was a good trekking experience. We took photos there also. We started off on our journey back home by 3 pm from that park and reached home at around 10 pm.
The whole trip was really fantastic, though we had rain and chillness.
Thanks for patiently going thru my travel experience. I will keep sharing such wonderful experiences.
Vijay
Monday, May 19, 2008
This weekend (May 17-18, 2008) at IPL
1. Rajasthan Vs Bangalore –
Yet another match for the Bangalore team where nothing went right for them. Great start by the Rajasthan team with Smith and Swapnil (who is fondly called as “Goa Cannon” by Warnie) which was carried on by one of the best allrounders in this IPL, Watson. The only hope with the BRC was to have a good start to the innings which didn’t happen almost as expected and it was the WALL again to get some runs on the board. The batting by RD was amazing with sixes flying around, but it was rather too late and the end was almost written on the wall !!!
2. Delhi Vs Punjab –
Well the true winner of this match was one of the most famous formulae in the world today, the D&L method. Viru made full use of the explosive start he made to get a huge score on the board, but he probably himself undid that by choosing to bowl an over at a crucial point of time in the match thereby letting the advantage slip towards a victory for Punjab. When there were other options available, its baffling as to why did he choose to bowl an over to concede a whopping 22 runs. For the Punjab team, it was Mahela who came to the party atlast !!!. I had always wondered why is this talented and experienced campaigner not amongst the runs for so many matches, but he rose to the occasion in style by hitting the DD bowlers all over the park.
3. Kolkata Vs Chennai –
Yet again it was D&L who was the winner !!! Kolkata did manage to put up a fighting total on the board, but the weather GODs had a different game plan. The good start from Fleming & Parthiv was a vital factor in Chennai sealing the match in their favour when the storm and rains stopped the match. Probably KKR would rue the dropped catch in the penultimate over and of course the last ball of the 8th over which Fleming smashed for a boundary. Rather unfortunate end to a promising match, but that z the this great game of cricked is played.
4. Deccan Vs Mumbai –
Another explosive start by the old warhorse, Jayasuriya. Add to it the knocks from Abhishek Nayar, Bravo, Sachin were able to build a healthy total for Mumbai. Though Mumbai started badly by dropping the dangerous Gilly in the very first over, they bounced back very soon to quickly remove Gilly, Afridi and Rohit Sharma. The resistance from Venu and Ravi Teja was very good but too little yet too far in the end with the ever mounting asking rate. On the whole it was a team effort from the Mumbai Indians. As rightly stated by Gilly that they have to look at next year with their exit from the tournament almost certain. But for Mumbai the return of Bravo would definitely have its impact as they lose a high quality allrounder from the team.
Thought....
Its interesting and confusing to note that Blore missed to add a good performer like Robin Uthappa from their team while Mumbai missed out one of the high scorers of the tournament, Rohit Sharma from their team. Probably the loss of Uthappa for Blore is felt more due to their poor performance. Hopefully next year both these teams might want to add their home grown good players back in their ranks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
