Monday, March 24, 2008

Cricket.... My association with it....


This blog throws light about my association with cricket since childhood.... Recently played the role of a selector to choose colege cricket team and would be playing hard ball matches in the coming month as part of staff team. This was the motivation for writing the blog....

I am a right hand middle order and medium fast bowler and also a wicket keeper... Can bat left handed as well... Multidimensional cricketer :-):-)

Cricket... It would be ideal to term it as GULLY cricket during childhood... Started playing it since 3rd std... We used to play at Madhu anna's house - our neighbour... Umesha, Kiran, Lokey, Pancha, Sudi, Seena... used to play from 5 to 6.30... It was great fun... New rules made the game more interesting... if u loft the ball above the house height batsman gets out and to hit a six within that height was a challenge indeed... We had a big coconut tree in the playing area and when the ball strucks the tree and goes out of the compound two runs were alloted to the batsman.... In my 5th std when i had a fractured leg, i used to keep wickets and did a terrific job inspite of having a big plaster on my left ankle....

Cricket at High school was very exciting... We had exciting matches with other section of our class... Sudi, atma, patel were our opponents.. We had mahendra, bharatwaj, mahadev swamy, satish in our team... Organized one cricket tournament with Mahendra during 10th std...


During 2nd PUC after the exams we all had joined for CET coaching for a month or so... It was only for name sake.. During that one month we used to play matches with other teams regularly... Hardly attended 2 or 3 classes... Parents believed that we were attending classes regularly... :-)

Then next step was engineering... Bunk classes and play matches with other department teams was the order of the day.. But made sure that i had 75 % attendance all the time... Our goal was to win the competition organized by mechanical dept.. We reached finals once and in my final year we lost it in the semis... In my final year we were the favorites to win the cup. First 3 matches we struggled to win... Used to bat first and in no time we were 3 or 4 down... Then myself with support from Umesh, Arun used to steady the innings and took the team to good total... We bowled well to win matches in this knock out tournament... I couldnt bowl as few months back i had a minor back surgery.... In the semifinal we Batted first and scored around 98 runs in 12 overs... This time our openers sudi and vachan gave a terrific start and in 3 overs of in-field restrictions we had scored 40 runs.... The match went down to the last ball with one run needed but they scored and we lost it... We were disappointed and our goal of winning the cup remain unfulfilled... But as a consolation was awarded batsman of the tournament...

We organized one big cricket tournament in 2000... 14 teams from in and around mandya participated in it.. We also took part in it ... We went to finals but lost it... Had to be contend with runner up title... I was good at playing left handed also... But organizing the cup was a great experience which i will never forget... Immediately after the cup we went to Ooty and enjoyed a lot...

Then joined Nitte in 2002..

In 2003 when India entered finals of the world cup... I went to my home town from Nitte to watch the finals together... Morning we went around the town in a car and few bikes with banners, posters and Indian tri colour flag... Had arranged for watching the match in our neighbours compound.. Unfortunately India lost the match nevertheless it was a treasurable moment..

At nitte, suddenly found myself selecting college team from being a player... Different experience altogether... Went with the college team to Shimoga where we lost it in the quarters... This year our team lost it in the semis... We have a staff team.. April we will be playing in a hard ball tournament at NITK, Suratkal..... We have some good players... Hoping that we can win the cup this time...


Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble are my favorite cricketers. Critics were labelling Dravid as a fit for only test cricket but he proved everyone wrong... He modified his style for one day cricket and went on to score runs stunning his critics... Anil was criticised for not spinning the ball enough... Today he is the captain of the test team and has 600 wickets... Just shows what hard work can do...

Cricket as they say is a passion in India... Its true in my case as well... Hoping to continue my long association with cricket in the coming years...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

If US sneezes, whole world catches cold....




22000 job cuts in January, 63000 in February in US... What lies ahead.... Surely we are skidded into Recession... Worst fears are coming true...

"The question appears no longer to be are we going into a recession but how long and deep it will be," said economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc in Holland, Pennsylvania.

It all started with Subprime lending hitting the US banks hard..
Subprime lending is a general term that refers to the practice of making loans to borrowers who do not qualify for market interest rates because of problems with their credit history or the inability to prove that they have enough income to support the monthly payment on the loan for which they are applying. The word Subprime refers to the credit-worthiness of the borrower (being less than ideal) and does not refer to the interest rate of the loan. Subprime loans or mortgages are risky for both creditors and debtors because of the combination of high interest rates, bad credit history, and murky personal financial situations often associated with subprime applicants. A subprime loan is one that is offered at an interest rate higher than A-paper loans due to the increased risk.

Many banks, mortgage lenders, real estate investment trusts (REIT), and hedge funds suffered significant losses as a result of mortgage payment defaults or mortgage asset devaluation. As of March 3, 2008 financial institutions had recognized subprime-related losses or write-downs exceeding U.S. $170 billion.

This crisis hit the stock markets worldwide resulting in huge losses to investors... This crisis has started affecting all sectors.. Oil crossing 100 $ per barrel has added to the woes of countries especially developing countries like India and China...

US is a big consumer market for Asian countries.. When it skids into recession it will have a obvious impact on the revenues of Asian firms who are more exposed to US than other countries. Most of the IT companies in India are dependent on US market. Some major firms have started diversifying into Europe and South America but one cannot ignore the impact of a US recession on these IT firms.

Inflation has crossed psychological barrier of 5 % . Stock market sentiments are at an all time low. Central banks are trying to increase consuming power by reducing interest rates on bank deposits. It is one way of boosting consumption. Banks should look to reduce interest rates on housing and auto loans as well so that it boosts these sectors.

US Recession is here to stay and will definitely leave its impact worldwide.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Efforts without direction are worthless...

Following article is an Internet forward....

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed? The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure how to fix the engine problem. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer ........................ $ 2.00

Knowing where to tap ............................ $ 9998.00


Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference. Efforts without direction are worthless.

Mumbai violence.... Plight of migrants.. Time to act tough...


MNS headed by Raj Thackrey and his followers have assaulted north indians for taking away local jobs. Raj Thackrey after breaking away from Shivasena wants to gain a foothold in state politics. He has conveniently raked up the issue of Maratha pride or Me mumbaikar. It was on the same plank that Bal Thackrey under shivasena gained foothold in the state. Bal and Udhav intially criticised Raj but did a U turn fearing loss of votes. A clear cut case of Vote bank politics.

Few days back Kannada Rakshana Vedike protested aganst Inidan railway recruitment drive citing that people from karnataka are not getting preference for Group D workers. Raj thackrey followers targetted Cab drivers from North India. 10000 North indian migrants left Nasik fearing their lives.

India is a Union of States and its ones prerogative to work anywhere he wishes to. In this era of Globalisation, it is unrealistic to expect that people from one state cannot work in another state.

Centre cannot just sit back and watch these developments. They have to assure migrants and provide them adequate security. Most of the migrants are sole bread winners for their family. If the centre doesnt do enough to supress this petty brawl, it will get repeated in other states and migrants will become a victim of politics. Tomorrow it might be Karnataka vs Andhra, Karnataka Vs Tamilnadu for taking away IT jobs in Bangalore. If this trend continues intense Regionalism will prove a spoiler for the progress of our country.