The Real Don

Last week the cricketing world came to a standstill, as the most prolific batsmen of the modern era bid adieu to the game, his passion for over a quarter century.
It was a tearful speech. The nation was tearful. A handful of naysayers were still unhappy and questioned the dilly in the event. Some even said that he should've quit an year or two ago
To me, he has been a true hero. An iconic role model epitomising dedication, sincerity, humility and devotion to his work.
A man, with so much of wealth & popularity right from the teenages and yet approaching the game with a fresh mind everytime for the last quarter century.
He stood tall among the debris of various scandals that hit the game
He was the sole reason why millions wanted their children to seriously consider Cricket as a career
Incidentally, it was due to him only that I became obsessed with cricket to maniacal levels
I cried bitterly when his 136 was not enough and we lost by 12 runs . Not because he could have done more, but because our tail was incompetent to complement the great man.
I was awestruck when he returned a day after the funeral of his dad, his role model.
I was furious when Mike Denness punished him for no fault of his, when Mike Procter didn't trust his words during monkygate, when Chappell questioned his commitment, when the naysayers hunted for his head and didn't henconsider the fact that HE deserved to leave on his terms.... be did everything for Indian cricket..Undoubtedly, Pujara, Kohli, Dhoni, wouldn't have picked up the willow had he not been an inspiration !!
He is the heart of Indian cricket. 1983. 1985,2007 may not havehis contribution, Kapil,Sunil gavaskar might be bigger but he is the one who will be worshipped forever.....
Miss You Sachin!!#ThankYouSachin

Random

It has been a really long time since the  last blog. Thanks to micro blogging & any time status update on the various social networking sites, the concept of thinking thoroughly and then recording the thoughts in a coherent manner seems to be getting obsolete.  Blogger, like orkut seems on its way to a slow but certain death.
Adding fuel to the fire is the migration of browsing to the handheld touch screen devices. Nobody wants to type paragraphs using the onscreen keyboards on typically 4 to 10 inch displays. Even if one types, the effort is typically more.
So,is there no way out? One of the probable ways is to use a tablet / phablet/ Smartphone with an active pen stylus. Usually, such a device which is decent enough costs a fortune. The best among them are the Samsung tabs.  So what about people like me who pose to be gadget freaks but always look for a cheaper device to buy. The nexus program is a boon to people like me . however, nexus has no fire installed app like S note .Also most styli have a really fat tip. They look so bad when compared to the active pens.

Is there really a easy & cheap but a decent enough way for writing on the cheaper tabs? I use a promate stylus on my nexus 7. This stylus has a thinner sponge tip. The best app for converting my scribbles to text is StylusBeta. lt is free,accurate,fast and getting better by the day. As a matter of fact, this blog has been written on the stylus using the app. Is this such a big deal? May be it. is a lot trivial to many. But I see this as an interesting way to use technology in getting back to basics.

One, I have been able to motivate myself to write a blog.
Two, I have really hand written this. This would be my longest handwritten notes in almost half a decade. My handwriting has marginally improved.
Three, my wish of replacing the heavy executive notebooks with a greener, faster & flexible alternative seems very close to reality. The capex involved was a decent sum of INR 15k....

But, diagrams,charts etc. are still miles away. Still, it's a decent start.

My casual attempts have been largely successful so far. Let me take the next step and try some serious professional note-taking.....The threads in various Android forums indicate a fair chance of success.  I am nonetheless, biting the bullet here.... Hope b me this for a productive cause!!!

Open Letter to TN CM

Madam CM

There has been a lot said and done about the on-going fracas over the Lankan crisis.  But here are some facts that everyone is aware of but is conveniently ignoring

We have an acute power shortage that’s crippling our businesses and other means of earning livelihood

We don't get the necessary water for our crops and Cauvery water has been a pipe dream

 Sill the land grabbing issues have not been resolved.

Our Fishermen get shot and yet no one bats an eyelid

Kudankulam is yet to see the light of the after years and crores of tax-payer money

Successive governments in TN have failed to get Cauvery water, or for that matter even power from National Grid to change the fate of TN people. Given this, how do you think that some resolution in TN assembly is actually going to bring relief to Tamil Lankans?

Western countries were still crying genocide in 2009, but we were silent and did precious nothing when we could have influenced things… Why is now everyone crying when the damage has already been done.

This aggressive posturing and alienating an elected government of a sovereign country does no good. This will hamper the process of national reconciliation there.

2009 Parliamentary election results were never about Lankan crisis. 2011 Assembly election results wassan answer to large scale plundering by a family.. Never about Lanka. Please don't get biased on what media portrays.

Even if the SL president is declared a war criminal by UN (which is unlikely), he will anyway be president until he is elected out. Consider the case of Omar Al Bashir who still rules Sudan and is indicted by ICC for Genocide in Darfur or for that matter Uhuru Kenyatta elected president of Kenya after an ICC indictment for genocide in post poll violence in Kenya

Nothing can really be done until those people are out of power.  If we want to really help lets us send aid on the ground get closer to the Tamil people of SL and make their life better…

As far as getting limelight and going down in history as the best CM, madam, you are already on your way to that with the SC direction and government notification of the final award, you have already done a great deal than your predecessors to find a place in history.

We would appreciate if you can win more seats, have enough influence n the next government to get our due share of water.

Let us forget the political posturing and work for the real betterment of tamil Indians & tamil lankans in a better way...a

Masterstroke

DMK president has been known as one of the astute politicians this country has seen... But he seems to be done in by a master stroke by his successor in-waiting...historically, the crown prince of a long reigining monarch is known to be weak... But the current leader in waiting of the southern party has pulled off a great tactic that even Machiavelli wil be surprised of... His political acumen , popularity cannot be underestimated... His growth in the party has been calculated, supplemented with hard  work...His popularity with the people was evident in the 2002 chennai mayoral elections, when an infinite amount of rigging bythe then ruling party couldn't stop him fro getting elected... Evein the last polls, he defeated a very popular leader of ADMK shows his acceptability level in the massess...just months after being confirmed for the top post, he has chosen his uniqueway to rebuild his empire given the popularity of the currentregime in TN. The decision to pull out of UPA spear headed by him will ensureolitical wilderness for his two rivals (also his siblings).....they may also be incarcerated by the state n central agencies respectively as they have pending cases against them....this will ensure a free run for him in his party for a couple of years..... Though the gains will be diminishing in the upcoming general elections, the returns could be mutilfold in the next assembly polls if he maintains his reputation.... Right or wrong , ethical or not, this is indeed a political masterstroke...... Chanakya neeti live!!!!!!