The Books I read

Once upon a time, I was tagged... Actually, once too often... So I finally decided to brag about the books I have read but then a closer inspection revealed that it's about the books which are close to you... So let's give it a shot...

1)Mrityunjay- Shivaji Sawant: Karn's version of Mahabharat, which has always fascinated me. The stories and incidents are nothing new but the perspective is. Perfect characterisation too. Not to mention the thoroughness in penning down the emotions...

2)King Solomon's Mines: Perhaps the 1st adventure classic I read. 4 men make a long and hazardous journey chasing a mythical treasure. The climax is a battle between a rightful prince and a not so righteous uncle. Read it twice end-to-end.

3)Harry Potter Series: You probably know everything I got.

4)THE Godfather- Mario Puzo: Cult. There has never been a character as awesome as Don Corleone in the history of awesomeness.

5) Famous Five series- Enid Blyton: Good reads as a child.

6) Champak: Started reading stories from them. Finished my Dad's collection of over 5 years in 1.

7) The Icon - Fredrick Forsyth: If you like spy novels, you would have read this one. If you don't like spy novels, grab a copy still.

8) Madhushala- Harivanshrai Bachchan: Such prose and equally delightful thoughts woven in to them.

Bair karate Mandir, Masjid; mel karati madhushala

9) The Hicthhiker's Guide to Galaxy: Stumps you and keeps surprising you from the word go. I'm sure it has a deeper meaning which I, a lesser mortal, have been unable to unearth.

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded a

s a bad move.

10) Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Caught my imagination in middle school.

11) Calvin & Hobbes: This strip says it all:

And now time to place my foot in my mouth and criticise some popular books:

1) The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown: Had me hooked once but better sense prevailed with time. Now, it's a good reference point if you want to sell a scandal.

2) The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho: There are multiple reasons as to why I would look at the sky, ranging from romantic to meteorological but divine signals fails to make the cut. I am a friggin engineer, not the fourth wise guy.

3) Fountainhead - Ayn Rand: Only one question. Do such people really exist? All the characters have either a 'shove it up your @$$' attitude or are downright dumb. Being too full of themselves being common to all. Excruciating.

4) 5 point someone - Chetan Bhagat: I could live with the other 3 books, labelling them a time-waste. But this one refuses to leave me. Every time I make the fatal mistake of mentioning my Alma Mater, some idiot has to mention this utter waste of newsprint. What's more, it's not even interesting. Hell, my goofy jokes are better that 'half the Amazon is being felled to make books and guides for JEE preparation'. OUR LIVES ARE NOTHING LIKE THAT. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this

Quotes:

Me: What size should be the report?

Boss: 5 feet...

The Ashes

It's been decided... England won.. Although it was more of a 'worse than thou' contest this time around... Either team went for bungee jumping with their abilities in tow without tying the rope to their legs on an alternate basis... Panesar took the impact of the first Pommy fall on his turban and thus should be recommended for knighthood...

However, this was supposed to be about something else...

I never really thought about England's one-legged omen for the series until his topless images flashed across newspapers... No you pervs it wasn't the winner of the one-legged hot-bod contest but Flintoff...What a shame that was... Ganguly did well to pay him back in the same coin, that too at Lord's... How the English traditionalists would have squirmed... The rivalry is now being carried forward through Dada's protege, Yuvi in ODIs. Whereas in Test matches, well, Freddie won't play anymore and Yuvi can't... But we digress... I wanted to tell you how much I hated him even an year back but as I saw him leave, everything stood absolved... I could see what he meant to cricket and in some strange way, his leaving Test cricket is something like me leaving my college... In that moment, I could relate to him and everything else was water under the bridge... I really hope he remains a fierce competitor in the shorter formats...

The other person I wanted to write about is Ponting... Now I have seen people who are graceful in victory and defeat and those who are not in either... There also exists a breed who are good winners but rather sour losers... Ponting by far is the strangest... His wins were arrogant, the almost victories a blame-game. But such poise and dignity in the wake of losing the Ashes... Either he has learnt his lessons or he could not find any UFOs to blame, having already blamed everything under the sun... I almost felt I supported the wrong team... But I don't trust the Aussies... They will turn their arrogant selves again once they start winning... So I hope they never really get back to winning even though they deserve to...

The other news

The newspapers have been reporting on 2 national issues a lot lately, 'the' flu and the feud between the Ambani brothers. While the flu has been hogging all the lime, green and litmus light on the front page, the latter has been causing occassional ripples in the quiet backwaters of the editorials. While reports on the former mainly tell us of2 numbers escalating daily(deaths and positive cases), the latter too talk about 2 numbers, albeit constant for the time being.

Let me dwell in to the numbers for a bit. The flu had infected upwards of 1,77,000 and claimed 1.260 deaths globally before announcing its grand entry in India. I need not tell you how the numbers stand in front of other, more pressing and resistant diseases. On the other hand, Anil is raising hell over an extra $2 which Mukesh is demanding. It might be mentioned that NTPC too shall be required to pay that extra $2 to Mukesh. Precisely the things the editorial-writing-intellectuals will discuss while the country is going to the pigs. I'll rephrase: Should they not be talking more about it, rather than the occassional ple.a to the media to not hype up the issue in the midst of the very newspapers whose headlines scream out a higher number everyday?

The irony is not lost on me, but neither is common sense. Although I might as well be the next in this line but what are the odds ( A supposed-to-be-responsible-but-loosely-wagging-tounge claimed 1/3 but I don't believe him). What should be of greater or at least equal concern is the Ambani feud. The judgement is bound to affect me.

The Ambanis have always been been known to make hay by stealing others' sunshine and that's what big brother does, claiming that the new quoted prices are closer to global prices. He has found a sympathatic ally in Mr. Deora, the concerned minister and the late Dhirubhai's friend. The point to note is that NTPC is itself fighting a case over the same issue with RIL, its parent ministry is all too happy to dole out the extra 2 dollars. Now Anil will still have his formerly hot wife but NTPC will shove deep down in to my pocket, denying me something worth the extra money it took. So please people try to form a public opinion on this. It might claim more lives than the flu. You know about the effect of inflated gas prices on, oh yes, inflation.

Now since this is my blog and I wish to keep writing, I will. This case is being keenly watched by invetors. They want to see if India can be trusted as a land with strong laws running everything more than body fluids running down street lamps/walls/trees or contracts interpretation is subject to change along with ministers. I am no lawyer but I am sure there were clauses against losses in the gas contract and since they are not evoked have a good reason to believe it still being profitable for Mukesh. In that scenario I don't see why should there be even a case unless the contract was signed on a Telgi supplied stamp paper.

Before this week I thought of our health minister as a brave and intelligent man to have issued statements regarding birth control which might have sparked a backlash considering that he's a muslim. My opinion has now changed due to the bracketed statement above. Mr. Deora, well I never really thought about him and don't think I will.

Bizzare Bihanis

My dad, though, stumped me with the 'other perspective'. He says, "Mukesh sabzi sasti bech raha hai, kahin to balance sheet barabar karega na."

Update: The govt. released a statement which I could not fully comprehend but I think it meant that it's steering clear of the feud. Who makes a better bid in the court however, remains to be seen.

The Flu Trail

People world over are forming potentially fatal queues. They go for a check even if they have a 1% doubt that they are infected and even if one person is infected in the 100-strong queue, the chances of getting infected shoot up to 90%. That's a 90 times jump. You are probably better off sitting at home than queuing up for a check. Why has this stupidity not caught the eyes of ANY administration is beyond me. Or let's just call it an abberation to my otherwise not so smart observations.

Talk about living dangerously

Sports and Psychology

I had been reading about Mike Brearly recently. For the ignorant souls, he was an English cricket captain and was in the team only because of his captaincy. His batting average was a mere 24 and he never scored a century at the international level. Even then, he never lost a single test as a captain.

Apparently, he knew how to get the best out of his players and could always tell whether someone needed a kind word or a kick in the ass. On further reading, I found out that he, in fact, did have a degree in psychology. It is clear that his man management skills were reason enough for the selectors to pick him, despite his record. The man always attributed his success to his education.

While reading all that, an idea struck. Why not teach players, specially the ones projected as future captains, basics of psychology. I don't mean a rigorous, degree-seeking program but I'm sure a Psychology101 can't do any harm.

Think about it. A player like Brearly, who hardly ever could lead by example, engineered such a turnaround in Botham's form halfway in to a series which is now known as Botham's Ashes. If he could be that successful, I'm sure it can lift a Dhoni's or aPonting's performance by a few notches.

As I write, I no realise it might be a better idea to leave the players alone and coach a coach. That way you need not ruin a natural like Sehwag and at the same time, could save a Shaun Tait from a mental fatigue so early in his career.

This can of course be applied to other sports too.

Narcicist Narmad

Bhalla: Abe jaldi roll kar

PD: Main slow hun yaar

The Land of Contradictions

"The problem with IIT is that it's governed by non-IITians." I spent a week at my alma-mater on the pretext of convocation which was 4 hours long. Although so boring, that everyone except for those on the stage dozed off at least once. That was when my idle mind started thinking on these lines. I had indeed spent 4 years in a land of contradictions.

• The Chief guest, an economist on first-name terms with our PM, spoke about why India should not have a Nuclear bomb, while the fuction was chaired by one of the pioneers of India's nuclear tests.
  
  
• The Profs keep harping about the effect of 24-hour internet access and have cut it down, while the extremely disturbing and distracting extension work in hostels begins right after students come back from a 3-months break.
  
  
• We inaugrate a state-of-the-art indoor stadium and build a manhole bang in the middle of a playground.
  
  
• We pride ourselves on being the brightest and yet are burdened with 49% of those who ain't exactly that.
  
  
• In this Institute of Technology, the most sought after minor is management and job is consultancy.
  
  

I could go on and on but I'm sleepy...