Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The juggernaut that is the IPL.

So, the last few weeks have changed the face of cricket in the country that yours truly resides in . At the end of 50 odd matches - the semi-finalists have been identified , Punjab, Chennai, Rajasthan and Delhi . Its also a sight to see all playgrounds full and to watch some new kids come and play fearless cricket. It was a revelation to see that there is talent in a lot of the local kids - S A Asnodkar , A M Nayar, Manpreet Gony, Sidharth Trivedi, Badrinath, Suresh Raina and a few of the new overseas kids Albie Morkel, Shaun Marsh , Luke Pomersbach, Shane Watson to name a few. It was also good to see the old warhorses ( Glenn Mcgrath, Shaun Pollock , Jayasurya , Shane Warne) also give a fair run to the new kids. as well as show them the work ethic that has made them into the legends that they are.

At the time of writing this, Rajasthan are in the semifinals whilst Chennai and Punjab square up to decide the other contestant. Much has been said about Chennai not having enough good players once the likes of Hussey and Hayden left. However they've just about hung by the skin of their teeth to make it and in the big semifinal it would be a fair comment that Punjab would be feeling under the cosh at 63-7 . However as many people say , its a funny old game and funnier things have happened. As the sobriquet under which I write this blog suggests ,I must confess a soft corner for the Chennai Super Kings and can't resist writing a couple of lines indicating my support for them.

Come June 2 I wonder what I shall do at 8p.m. on a week night without changing the channel to the official broadcaster. The national teams shall start capturing public attention from the next week and the existing city based teams will disperse. I wonder what would happen with international cricket. However with tactics learnt about various players from different team mates , it would be interesting to see the impact on international cricket. If nothing else it will show up the wannabes from the true masters and would make life that much tougher for the international cricketer. It would also improve the game that much more and provide a way of taking the game to newer markets as well as rejuvenating it in older staler markets (read the UK).

However lets keep the gyan aside, for now its time to, sit back , relax and enjoy Albie Morkel ( A South African) captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni ( A Bihari adopted as a Madrasi) bowl to Wilkin Mota ( a Mumbaikar plying his trade with the Punjab Kings XI owned by a Mumbaikar - Preity Zinta) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Friday, May 23, 2008

A Prisoner of Birth

Yesterday, Lord Jeffrey Archer decided to drop by at the local Landmark store here in Pune. So, one managed to get there by 6:30 sharp, bought copies of his latest novel Prisoner of Birth and his first book - Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less and sat down to listen to the master speak . Having grown up reading his books as a kid and Not a Penny more Not a Penny Less being among the first, I was quite joyous of the occasion and the opportunity to see him in the flesh .

He started off talking about his routine and what it meant to have Not a Penny More Not a Penny less rejected nearly 20 times as well as going through 17 drafts of his latest book. Its very interesting to note that every successful person has a routine that they fall back on , to ensure success. There were a large number of people gathered in the first floor hall of the Landmark store in Pune , much beyond the expected capacity. There were as many people standing in the aisles as there were sitting on the chairs. All in all a typical jam packed room . Jeffrey Archer paid tribute to RK Narayan and claimed to have started reading Malgudi Days and said that he was going back to read that every time he got a break. That's exactly how most folks seem to read books that they really like - A Prisoner of Birth was no different for me as I started it around midnight and finished it by about 3:30 a.m.

He also promised to sign every single book and said that he wouldn't leave before doing so . The queue started off 3 rows wide in the front of the room and by the time it reached me it was a single line - At some point I started getting irritated with the Indian adaptation of the queue, something that Lord Archer must have been horrified at . In Britain you form queues for everything and you leave 1/2 a foot between 2 individuals as well as stand in a single file, very unlike our Indian queues which are serpentine and jam packed with people.

A prisoner of birth raises interesting points, after all - you don't choose which country you are born in , you don't choose your parents, you don't choose the environment in which you get born in and you don't choose what skin colour you have. So what do you choose really in life ? Make do and do the best in the circumstances that the game of life pushes you through.

Friday, May 16, 2008

On a wing and a prayer.

The headlines scream - Air travel in India is the next big thing after world peace. World war II pilots used to fly missions on a wing and a prayer describing a situation where they possibly ran out of fuel on the return legs to their bases or nursing their aircraft back to the base.

India's started building new airports and hopefully (when there is no ATF left or impossibly expensive to travel by air because of the increase in the costs ) these will be ready. Last week when one was on a Deccan flight from Chennai to Hyderabad the aircraft taxied on to the runway and prepared for the takeoff sequence. After going on 1/4th distance on the runway, the pilot braked hard, did a hard veer to the left and moved into the taxiway and went back around in the queue of planes to take off. No one knows what really happened beyond the ATC, the pilot and the staff. Sitting in the first row, yours truly was able to observe the stewardess give me a conspiratorial grin and then laugh away to glory and describe a story to her colleague about how it was possible that there was another aircraft attempting to land at the same time.

Reading an article in India Today about the chaos in airports one is really not surprised about seeing the current situation develop. Meanwhile 3 cheers for Laloo Yadav and the Railways.