#WeWon'tGiveItBack

Well, I wanted to write this after the Guy from Karachi lost his chance to blast the firecrackers yet again last Sunday. But I waited for a week just in case to see how we perform against the strongest team at present in the world. Well, as I guessed it. "Strategy!!" I am telling you, Dhoni would skin the players alive (I am very sure he does for Ashwin and Raina) if they do not perform. But for the last few months, the average performance of Indian team has gone down. I will tell why.

Keep going!

Remember the Champions Trophy 2013? It started off as the final edition of Champions Trophy and that there would be no such tournament in the future as it might be replaced by world test championship like earlier. India never won the Champions Trophy singly and especially, Dhoni did not have that feather in his cap. So, naturally, India, which struggled until then, won the tournament, that too in England!! And the hero, Shikar Dhawan!! Shikar was on my hate list until recently because I was shocked that such an under performer was selected for a the mega event. Now, I am happy that he performed. Not against teams like U.A.E but against strong contenders. That is fanatism my boy. Keep performing well, Dhawan. I think you like to perform well in big tournaments don't you?

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/world-cup/dravid-got-it-right-on-dhawan/article6926453.ece?widget-art=four-all
 
The strategy, Indian team has failed until now. There would have been a lot of expectation on India to defend the title if not for the recent bad play. Now, we are not at all in the race and we can play without any pressure. Strategy!! This is for the sake of the ICC chairman's son-in-law. The stakes are raised high and that is it. A gift for Mama!

A repeat will be nice!!

Speaking about the India-Pakistan match, it is a disappointment! When there are greats like Roger Federer too watching, the match should not be so one sided. It was worse than the 2011 world cup semi final match at Mohali, though Harbhajan's actions are worth mentioning. India-Pak match should never be that simple. It should be as interesting and trend-setting as the 2003 world cup group match. I am just lucky that I saw that Sachin's innings. It was just then that I started watching cricket. That is one of my best memories ever.

It is good that India almost topped the pool-B. That would mean we might have bright chances of making it to the semi finals. Once we are in the semis, Rohit Sharma will take charge. In the finals, we have Dhoni anyway. So, cool!
But one thing which I did not like in the team is the jersey! There is no tricolour on the jersey, except maybe the collar! That made me angry quite a bit! The Indian cricket team and especially, Dhoni, the one who gave national duty a priority over personal endeavours knows that the fans are very volatile. I am sure they will keep the fans cool.

The Exit Polls were Definitely Wrong!

That same Today's Chanakya predicted a massive victory for the BJP in the loksabha elections in 2014, a prediction which everybody laughed at, at first and then were surprised to know that were true. That same survey agency which predicted 50 seats for AAP in the Delhi elections for which people again laughed. I don't believe in predictions in any field, I accept only projections. The stress here is on how people laugh at things they don't want to hear! And yes, as the BJP leaders said, the exit polls were absolutely wrong. They have predicted ten times the seats the party achieved. Wrongly!

Well done Aam Aadmi Party!! This is a much deserved slap on the face of the BJP which is turning arrogant over the victories in various states. No wave can stay for long, it eventually has to go back and join all the remaining waves, even a wave as huge as a tsunami! Everybody is celebrating the victory of the Aam Aadmi Party. It is a fresh force. If you look at Kejriwal, one finds their next door neighbour. He reached the masses. BJP could not. Now, Modi, the face of BJP should go back and introspect, not only the reasons for such massive rejection, even in a small province like Delhi but also what the people of the country are expecting of their "Pradhan Sevak." Now, that the anti incumbency has already started, it would be nice to see the center concentrating only on the good governance it promised and not allow fascist forces to tarnish any good name achieved.

A month or so ago, Shekar Gupta wrote in the India Today, wondering why Narendra Modi, a man who loves to stay on the headlines always, allowed others to occupy the position, bringing him down. Expressing dismay at the construction of a temple for him is a good start but it would be nice if the Prime Minister of a diverse 125 crore population talks about non secular actions like the Ghar Wapsi. Ridiculous claims about "ancient" science, religion and nationality, I feel find no place in the hearts of real nationalists! Speak out your "mann ki baat" Mr.Prime Minister! This time, think about all Indians, you need not please the bhakts. Please us! People like me are in large numbers who supported you. Not looking at your caste or religion but your impressive career in Gujarat. We even did not care about blunders!

Of course, the BJP might end up winning the Bihar assembly elections later this year. But it does not matter. It is proven. Now there is an alternative force. That too a nationalist one, though socialistic and anarchistic in nature. It is quite clear that the average voter now cannot get polarised at all. As the nation gets more educated, I look forward to a day, when the only birth right is Swaraj, freedom.The BJP might have won the elections in the last millennium on religious lines, but not in the 21st century. This time they have won only on the promise of deliverance, good governance and not mere temple construction. The Aam Aadmi Party too has won only because of that. People I guess are tired of criticising each other caste-wise, religion-wise. That is the reason why congress was wiped out completely. The same reason why the BJP slumped in Delhi. Kiran Bedi is the other reason!

Anyway, I have always been skeptical about a middle class dogmatic and media sensationalised power like the Aam Aadmi Party. My fears came true last February when Arvind Kejriwal ji became over ambitious and set out to become the Prime Minister of the country. I even asked for the return of my ten rupees which I paid for membership in the early days of AAP. I did not get them back and had to remain a member. I am an Aam Aadmi and I hope that AAP delivers on its promises and more importantly, stay honest for years to come. This is why the BJP was elected at the main stage and the AAP in Delhi.

Voters have installed the leaders they wanted!!

Now, the aam aadmis and the chaiwallahs look forward to these "good governance" parties to work together, well. For a better nation! 

Ten days to go!

Just play three matches well and you could be the world champion. Probably this is what the Indian cricket team is thinking while the other teams are really busy honing their talents. The world cup format is in that way. The quarter finalists are predictable. From there on, it is just a matter of three games. If Dhawan is dropped from the team for these three matches, that is it. We sail smoothly. The 1999 and 2003 world cup formats of super six is really interesting and nice to follow, unlike the 2007 one. But the 2011 and the present formats are little annoying. It is easy, that is bad!

http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/826009.html

While the home team sentiment makes me support India for laying hands on the world cup, apart from India, I have the two finalists on my mind. Hosts New Zealand and South Africa. It is not only because they have talented players. It is because these two seem like a "team." Very sportive, encouraging captains and talent, talent everywhere is what defines them. More than this, they are entering the stage with a killer instinct unlike many other countries including India.

The other possibilites, West Indies, forget it right away, they did not select two of their best all rounders for the world cup and their best bowler opted out. The once reigning champion, I don't understand why West Indies cricket should be in shambles though they are better off than many other cricketing nations. That past glory is missing and West Indian cricket is now suitable only for twenty twenty cricket.
Sri Lanka. With no Malinga, they can only hope to not play at places like Hobart, where Kohli murdered a nice bowler like Lasith himself. The only motivation for them would be to get the trophy for two of the all time greats who ever played cricket who are playing in their last world cup.
England. Does Eon Morgan have enough strategies and targets against teams in particular? Does Moen Ali play against any other team than India?? Poor leadership.
Pakistan. Seriously? Who will win the world cup for Pakistan? Sarfraz? Shehzad? Forget the hopes of semifinals even.
Finally, India. Sure, India would have won had they had a little change in the squad. No, I am not saying that Yuvraj or Gambhir or Zaheer should be included, they are not playing well. All I am saying is, only if Shikar Dhawan was not selected for the team, I would have placed some of my bets on India.

 

To the team...Proteas!!

That aside, the South African and New Zealand teams are like "teams." With a goal and zeal to win. Talent, yes. Be it ABD, Faf, Amla, McCullum, Williamson or Quinton, they are all in big form. But, thing is the South African team reminds me of the 2003 world cup team. They were even better players than this team but lost it out. No wonder, "the chokers." They always have great players and I would not be surprised to see Keiron Adams play for South Africa ten years down the line. It is again the same with New Zealand also. They some how always makes it to the semi finals but lose it from there on. I love the 1999 and 2003 world cup formats, the best so far and this world cup, I do not like the format. It does not bring out talent. Anyway, though deep in my heart I would appreciate it if India won, I would really love to see a South Africa- New Zealand final.

P.S: I have not written anything about Australia because they are definitely going to make it to the semi final and have many advantages like good players and home crowd support. Let's see!

Re: Bloggers of the Campus, Unite!

Prof. Ramaswamy and our batch of Integrated Masters programme started off our journey together at the University of Hyderabad. We have not known any other vice chancellor. For four years that too. We would not have known any too. Not if he had not typed down on the keyboard from the vice chancellor's office, for the last time. 'The Last Post' came from the Vice Chancellor of our university who was the inspiration to me and many others to spread and write good thoughts(I write mostly about Rafael Nadal though). This would be his last article on a blog which like the author, constantly reminded us that the university always rocked!

HCU rocks!!

The words, 'blog' and 'university' together remind me of a post by Prof. Ramaswamy, "Bloggers of the Campus, Unite!." It did not happen as soon as he asked for it. Few bloggers on the list left the university too.I don't know who else on the list is left in the university to unite. But thanks to the world wide web, we all can always stay in the university group. We could still write to make a difference in the university. There are many issues to be addressed. Ones that the student's union cannot and will not think about. The duty of a student. As a group, we, students can question the wrong doings of the administration. But I am not sure if there is any group to check the walk and talk of us, the students!

Prof.Ramaswamy has been a keen supporter of student-run groups like the quizzing club and the Junior Science Club. I know that as a volunteer for JSC. I am quite sure the new vice chancellor does too. Because whichever talk or campus concert series, I go to, I see him, either listening to the songs with closed eyes or taking down notes. But it is upto us to make sure that all the nice student activities run well. VCs and students go and come but the groups must stay.The legacies must be passed on. Year after year, many students pass out of the university. Term after term, VCs go away. But the groups are immortal. What can be more wonderful than this?

Keeping the campus clean is upto us. By clean, I do not mean only dust or garbage. I meant clean from misuse. Clean from overuse and neglect. The workers in our mess complain that half of the students eating there are non university students. I heard that the same reason led to the downfall of Osmania university. We do not want that happening to our university, do we? We shall be united as a university and keep it to ourselves. Showing it off? Yes, we shall and we should but sheltering people is not necessary. That too at the cost of quality food and shelter.


The outgoing VC mentioned that he has so much unfinished work in his mind. I was told one of those works. He wanted to make the campus greener. Every student should adopt one plant in the university all through his/her term and take care of it. We can go ahead and do it. Find a plant, see that it is growing well. Keep an eye on it and let it flourish. Plain walls should be artistically painted, be it graffiti or showing off one's ideology! More than anything else, I feel the best we can do to our wonderful university is to not break beer bottles anywhere and everywhere in the campus. Keep the bottles in your rooms. Stack up your stock and sell them later. It could buy you another beer bottle.

Seriously, HCU rocks! and let us make sure it always does.
Thank you Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy.

Science of Deduction!

Quizzing in its game form probably came into existence towards the end of the Eighteenth century. Quiz literally means "odd person." This is a word, which I think was not derived from Latin or Greek. There are some myths about how the word was invented but I did not hear any of them properly. So, no bother. Thanks to Neil O'Brien and family, Siddharth Basu and also Amitabh Bachchan, quizzing is quite popular in India. But unfortunately it is not that popular in Hyderabad. I hope I will be thankful to Akkineni Nagarjuna for making quizzing popular. A very Happy Birthday!

I have participated in a thousand quizzes and won some ten of them. I love quiz. I term it as, quest of knowledge. Quiz is the "Science of Deduction." In a quiz, the concentration should be more on the deciphering a question rather than on winning the quiz. There will be no fun otherwise. That is the reason why I do not look at general knowledge books or make points from the newspaper. That is the job of the quiz master or those preparing for the civil service examinations. Like the world's only consulting detective puts it, we have to observe everything, deduce things from what we observed and once the impossible is eliminated, whatever is left is the solution. This is how a question is to be deduced. That is fun. That is quiz. Thanks to the oldest quiz club of India, K-circle, it is possible for me to try and deduce answers for few questions on a weekly basis and the Society for QUizzers and Debaters in the University is to be thanked for frequent such quizzes.

I do believe a lot in team work and not at all in solo work. After all, this is no board exam or a Golf match. Deducing is quite boring if it is done alone (yeah, well, even Sherlock has Watson and I am "Sherlocked", hence I need a Watson too!) Having a team mate should not be to answer well or come first. The purpose of a team is to enjoy the quiz. Enjoy the bond of team mates. I could have answered several of the questions which we answered and did not answer as a team. But that would have been devastating for me. If the "resonance" of team mates match, what I found then is that even guess work is enjoyable. I learnt that team work is not only about individual performance alone. In fact, it is not at all about individual performance. It is all about group cooperation. If one comes up with an answer, others should analyse why it would be right or even wrong. One need not necessarily answer. Hem can be able to justify the answers given by others in the team. Then the team will be one.

It is never about winning. It should not be. It is all about learning and learning is fun when it is done together, by like minded people. Especially during quizzes like the K-Circle's Quizcast, those like me with not so knowledge or in short, unprofessional quizzers like me have to guess answers at times and if the partner is the right one, beautiful answers come out of even guesses!!  

An RTI to be filed!

Thank you Aruna Roy. The Right To Information (RTI) is really such a powerful tool. I am looking forward to using it, especially looking at the way the Indian cricket team has been selected. I know. I am aware that there are hundred other important things where the RTI could be and should be filed. But among those hundred, I chose this because like crores other Indians, I am a crazy cricket fan!

It is very sad that Yuvraj Singh has not been selected to the world cup playing team. This marks the end of his world cup appearances, obviously. The hero of the 2011 world cup victory, he along with Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir, two other heroes of the last world cup, could have been considered at least. Anyway, the final team was decided much before. There would have been no harm in announcing their names in probables atleast.

Now the playing fifteen. Stuart Binny? Seriously? Who endorsed him? He is not a dynamic young player. He is as old as Yuvraj, fatter than him, not a great fielder and I doubt if he, a medium pacer, can bowl faster than Yuvraj! RTI for that. Who endorsed Ravindra Jadeja? He has not played that well this year for the country except that fifty when he swung his bat like a sword. RTI 2. A young team might be on the minds of the selectors, but at least a thought for the old heroes would have been decent.

No matter what I feel or many others feel about the team being sent to Australia and New Zealand to play the world cup, we are going to support team India. We might bring back the defending trophy, but the void of Yuvraj, Gambhir, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Sehwag would remain! Let us hope they would return with a decent result unlike the 2007 world cup.
Play well, team India! Remember, you playing on the tax payers money. Do some justice to that!

New Year 2015

Late by a week or so, but its okay. I had a lot to think about what and how special 2014 was for me. Not so great year academically, but found new friends, grabbed new achievements, a girl friend and lessons learned left my 2014 with mixed feelings. It was like any other year, a great one and a wasted one obviously. I have become desperate to go out into the world and do something for the society, country and mother Earth. But the education system is pulling me back apart the society itself.

I am a physics graduate and I doubt if I hardly learned any physics. Let me see. I have written more exams than my blog posts. As a result, all of them went bad. I have not seen any movies this year. In fact, I saw only two movies in the entire year. Yes, two! And I am twenty! Yuck!! I will not repeat the mistake this year. But there were not many great movies too. Let's see. The best thing that happened to me in 2014 was that I got a chance to present my research work at an international conference. Looking at the 'best' thing, one might wonder what the worst thing would have been. Don't!! That is all about me.

Many good things happened around me though. The country moving towards acche din, Mangalyaan and the Mark III success, the Nobel prize coming to work in the field of optics are examples. Though sad things in the field of air travel did happen, I am sure those do not deter people from using it. Terrorist attacks, natural calamities, border conflicts did take place, these are expected from human beings. But as a science student and as a intern in the field of materials science, I am extremely happy that 2014 was the International Year of Crystallography. It is brilliant field of research.

On the whole, I would say, the year could be dedicated to dedicated Doctors! Great job people. Be it the Amytrophic Lateral Schlerosis or the Ebola virus, the doctors around the world have been doing a wonderful job. I raise toast to the doctors across the globe.