ExpertDabbler

This is the first scene of the story synopsis i wrote some time back
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A medium sized ground in T Nagar, CHENNAI. Humid Sunday morning.
Teenagers are playing cricket. The batsman, Suresh is bowled by a yorker.

The next player begins his walk to the batting crease. And immediately there is a buzz in the ground.

“Dei Adi da.” There is a murmur.

The fielding team captain is adjusting the field, runs in and talks to Ramesh, the bowler about where and what he should bowl.

“8 balls to go, 24 runs to win. 5 wickets in hand”

Screams the batting team scorer who got out some time back.

2 balls remaining in this over.

Adi is a brownish complexioned, handsome looking 17 yr old lad.
Child-like face, sharp nose, adolescent mush, trim body, about 65 kg and 5”10’, he demanded attention when he was in the field. He is capable of silken touch as well as brute force. But its not just about his style,timing and power. He also had that something extra embedded into his personality. A casual charm and a sense of enjoyment in the way he went about his cricket which made him an entertainer.

Adi takes guard and prepares for his first ball, after surveying the field.

Ramesh runs in, pitches short, wide side the off-stump.
Adi, slams the ball to the fence for 4. Square cut played off the back foot.

Next ball. Slightly overpitched. This time Adi drives off the front foot on the off side. 4 again.

Over completed.

“Kaataan…ennatha thaan thingaraano?” Fielding team captain murmurs.

The next over. Sukumar, a taller, supposedly better bowler runs in.

First ball, The other end batsman, Prasanna is beaten for pace even as he tries to play a shot on the off-side.

Adi screams,”Thottutu odi vaa. Ball waste pannina mavane polandhuduven”

5 balls to go, 16 to win.

The next ball. Prasanna nudges it near point and scampers for a single even as fielders want to retain him in strike.

4 balls to go, 15 to win.

Aditya is on strikers end again.

A nervous Sukumar bowls a full toss. Adi moves towards the legstump to give himself room and hoists it. SIX right over the bowlers head. The ball lands dangerously close to Pandian, a former Ranji player and one who is also a coach for the state under-19s team. He is talking with his friend about something animatedly.
He turns to look at the kid who played that shot. Quite a distance.
3 balls to go. 9 to win.

The bowler is real worried.
The next ball – a slower one. Aditya comes down the track and lofts for another six. Slightly mistimed because of the slower one but the ball still travels because of the power.

Pandian begins to observe the kid with interest.

Now, 2 balls to go 3 to win.

A short one again. Aditya hits a powerful pull. The ball screams towards the boundary in the leg-side.

Match won.

Adi is celebrating casually. As if this is nothing new.

Pandian asks the fielder nearby to call for Aditya.

‘Dei Adi someones calling u’ shouts one fielding team guy.

Adi, not sure if he knew the person, takes a look at Pandian from a distance and then walks towards Pandian.

He notices the cricketer’s hat Pandian wears as he nears him.

Adi
‘Kuptingala sir?’

Pandian
‘Peru enna?’

Adi
‘Aditya.’

Pandian
‘Veedu enge?’

Adi
‘Inge. Pakkam dhaan sir. Kannadasan st. Edukku kekareenga?’

Pandian
‘Enna padikare?’

Adi
‘XI std.’

Pandian
‘Yen peru Pandian. Pazhaya ranji player.’

Adi
‘Oho. Ranji ellam parka maaten sir. Bore.’

Pandian
‘Oooy. Hmm! Naan state level juniors cricket coach’

Adi
‘Ayayoo sir, theriyama solliten sir. Sorry.’

Pandian
‘Cricket lam nalla aduviya? rombo interesta?’

Adi
‘Ama sir. Epdiyavadhu periya player aganum.’

Pandian
‘Padippu?’
‘Adhu suthama varaadhu sir’- His friend Suresh nearby replies and runs away.

Adi
‘Dei lavade kabaal’ Adi shouts back trying in vain to catch Suresh.

‘Sumara padippen sir’

Pandian
‘Seri naalai kaleila 5.30 manikku kit oda YMCA vandhudu.’

Adi
‘Sir kit ellam kedayadhu sir. Bat vena oc vangitu varen. Selectiona sir?’

Pandian is laughing.

Pandian
‘Nee vaa parthukalaam..’

Adi
‘Seri sir. Rombo thanks sir. Appo naialiku nijamave varalama sir?’

Adi unable to hide the surprise stands there.

Pandian
‘Nee polaam. Nalaiku parpom’

Adi slowly moves away to tell Suresh whatever transpired while still stealing a look at Pandian every now and then.

Pandian smiles and says to his friend
“Ivan periya aala varuvanda. Nee vena paaru” without taking his eyes of Adi.

My blog has become more like a current affairs programme of late.
i am not exactly in a mood to write funny stuff.
So here is one such fun stuff forward by Chennai FM’s RJ cum blogger Subha written by one Sankar(the mail says so). Have a hearty laugh.

Vaada Machan song – Run film

Nadu Rathiriyil enthiruchi office pona, HCLnu therinjuko

Vidiye kalaiyil veetuku vanthal, CTSnu therinjuko

Vaaram orukka veetukku vanthal, Infosys’nnu therinjukko

Ambathu mailuku oru reply adicha, Accenturenu therinjuko

Velai kidachum vettiya ukkantha, Mascon’nu therinjuko

Daily thanni adichu velaiku pona, Hexawarenu therinjuko

Innamum solren therinjiko

Decode panni purinjiko

Vaada machchan Programmer aaite tan-ta tan-taen

Paithiyam pudichi munnuku vanthutte tan-ta tan-taen

Vella illanaa kavala vendaam, TCS irukkuthu therinjuko Oh yea

VP panna love panna neraya, Poi sollanum therinjuko Oh yea

Career illadha cycledhanda, Corporate Worldnu therinjuko

Deadline kooda Mega serial pola, Ezhuluthu adikanum therinjiko

Innummum solren therunjuko

Code eluthi purinjuko

Vaada machchan Programmer aaite

Paithiyam pudichi inge vanthutte

Immsai immsaiyo mo, Oh yae!

Immsai immsaiyo mo, Oh yae!

Immsai immsai, immsai immsai, Don’t go!

PL vandhu sirichu pesunaa, Vela varudhunu therinjiko

Cauvery poala hike thara maruththa, Wipro technu therunjuko

Dharalamaa Salary koduthaal, Verizonnu therunjuko

HR dept’la irundhu call vandhaal, Confirm aagitaaruu therinjiko

Innummum solrean therunjuko

Treat kodduththu therunjukoa

Vaadaa machchan Programmer aagite

Kirukku pudichu inge vandhute!

With Unfeigned Regards,
Sankar

Folks, me and my PC are back in action - much to the delight of my friends and much to the dismay of “well-wishers” like ioiio (purush clinic - un vayile saaniyai karaichu oothu).

btw have you guys heard anything about google bombing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bombing#
Googlebombing_in_general
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bombing#
The_Amway_Quixtar_Google_bombing_example

At the end of the day all these turned out to be an insult to Google’s intelligence.

Folks,

Health issues to me as well as my computer.
Should meet the doctor today for my ailments.
Had been calling the hardware trouble shooting guy since y’day to no avail.
This post is from my friends pc. Will get back once things are in order.

Listened to the latest sensation “Aarrarai Kodi” by ARR in “Ah Aah” and it deserves every keystroke that has gone into praising it in blogosphere.

Its been a long time since we listened to something like this.
New sound, trademark ARR interludes, his inimitable voice. Irresistible…

But it remains to be seen how this number gets picturised.
I was so addicted to that “Hey Hey Enna achu unakku” in “Kadhal Virus” and could not wait to see the song. Man what a hep number it was and then i saw the song picturisation. That idiot Kadhir should have been hanged.
I dont know how many felt suicidal on seeing the song but i sure felt like killing that moron.
Girls were walking left and right all through the song and thats about it.

A free sound loop from Flashkit.com would have been enough to run in the background.
I dont know why that Saavugraaki needed an ARR tune for that.

For some reason, a song’s success has a strong association to the way its being picturised. I guess each person has a different idea about how his favorite tune is getting filmed. Once that disappoints, we just ignore that whole thing as one bad dream.

I think we love the early 80’s songs of IR precisely bcos we dont remember the picturisation of the song. so we just happily go by the tune. See the picturisation and i bet most of the songs will suck big time.

Some like Moondram Pirai(BM’s amazing cinematography) are timeless though.

Talking about picturisation, there is one person who has been simply brilliant and has consistently exceeded audience expectations.
A bespectacled 40-ish recluse from Alwarpet who did his MBA from Jamnalal, he has been inspired by ARR’s splendid tunes and ARR in turn has given his best for him.
What a combo!

Now dont dare ask me who that is.

The feeling of getting caught in rains in a metro when home is far away is quite a pain. Three monsoons back i left for home from office @ Nandanan at about 7 in the evening and reached Perambur at about 11.

You dont really enjoy when u find water levels going up and up in the roads and you are in your vehicle whose accelerator throttle is always raised lest water enters the silencer.

There was this joke going around that buses which left from Chennai city limits reached Tambaram after a food halt enroute:)

i thought that as a dreadful night until i read this

Man, no words to describe what the average mumbaikar has to put up with.

What stood between Steve Waugh and the “Final Frontier” in 2001 and what made the Aussies conquer that “Final Frontier” in 2004 was this McGrath’s absence then and his presence later respectively.

Glenn Mcgrath is more of a self-improvement guru than an ordinary bowler to me. Here are his seven habits as perceived by me.

Be Proactive:
Make the batsman play every ball. No bowling well outside the off-stump and staying safe funda.

Begin with the End in Mind:
Every ball and every over is bowled with the batsman’s wicket in mind.

Put First Things First:
The first and probably the only thing that matters in pace bowling is putting the ball on or just outside the off-stump at three-quarters length with the odd in-cutter and the one that straightens up just in case the batsman is takng it easy.

Think Win/Win:
Always think Australia is gonna win again and again.

Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood:
Understand the batsman. Every batsman has a weakness. Its up to us to exploit them.
And its also important to convey yur intentions with the appropriate glare and some provocation just to unsettle him. One can use the media to good effect in this.
This works fantastic. Ask Brian Lara and Mike Atherton.

Synergize:
Work as a team with the bowler at the other end. It can be Warney or it can be Gillespie or Lee. Apply pressure on the batsman consistently. Sooner or later he is bound to crack.

Sharpen the Saw:
Always be willing to learn new techniques. Stay fit and injury-free. Keep your eyes and ears open to learn new tricks to snare the batsman. Try to find new weaknesses in each of them.

To know about the other side of Glenn McGrath, click here. A far cry from the ‘Play Boy’ type Shane Warnes of the world.

Going by the response over the last couple of days to my post. I have to agree that most think are of the view that IT pros are doing a great job by earning precious foreign exchange for the country and contributing to the stock market boom.
So according to the support Senthil has garnered, lets decide it that IT industry is doing fine the way it is.

Maybe should be given more tax concessions. Free power will not hurt either. After all foreign exchange matters right?

I mentioned IT industry’s responsibility bcos this is one industry where the majority of the bright educated middle-class student brigade march in.

Ironically even Senthil agrees that something has to be done by the “government” for the rural people. Maybe as time goes on Senthil & co will think twice abt that too. After all, will not money “trickle” to the rural areas as well? It might take a little longer but sure it will. So what if all the agricultural land turns plots by that time. We can buy good quality imported rice with all our foreign exchange.
Anyone who tries to point holes in some suggestion will always be viewed as an intellectual. Thats India’s tradition.

Meanwhilethis article shows that the Tatas had actually plans to invest in these emerging sectors from TCS IPO. Pity they did not listen to Senthil and Co’s opinions.

Needless to say, this is exactly what i was talking about and obviosuly it was sweet news for me. Nothing to beat the Tatas.

I kinda half expected someone to come up with some better ideas and insights. Also I did not have solid data to back certain issues. But then was this exchange thing going on between me and Senthil. Whats more he wondered if i am advocating socialism or communism. This effectively necessitated this part III.

So what is the solution? Clamp down investments in the IT sector? Enforce unwanted regulations and unleash bureaucratic hurdles and take India to the pre ‘90 days? Typically this is what legislature is capable of.

The real solution in my opinion lies at the hands of “Indian” IT Bellwethers like TCS, Wipro and Infosys and all other major corporates who have benefited from the Great Indian Economic Reforms v1991 and IT outsourcing. While all of them are world class in their business, its high time they also thought about the greater albeit underdeveloped India. An India exploited by politicians and bureaucracy.

It is time these Indian cash rich companies thought about the vast untapped skilled,capable human resources but lagging in qualification and training and other promising sectors in India. Ideally they can invest in Agriculture, Education, Finance, Pharmaceutical and Engineering sectors and or fund research in the latest technologies in these areas. I for one believe India’s problems as well its source of strength is its Human resources. What this might ensure is that the sectors which are supported by these companies in such a manner will provide a means for these IT majors to test and develop innovative applications for these verticals which can be marketed internationally as products.

Why cant these IT companies build a research institution in say pharma and healthare?

On the social front, there is a wonderful scheme by Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bangalore. And there is Aravind eye hospitals initiative. I dont think any IT company has done as much for eye care through Shankara Nethralaya like Shankara Mutt.
I dont see any such socially relevant schemes supported by or sponsored by these IT bigwigs when u take the sheer revenue they make. By and large thery are more worried by the next quarterly earnings and about the next takeover bid.

Right now it is disappointing that these companies are looking for government support in developing the infrastructure in areas where they have their own offices. For example the Old Mahabalipuram Road aka The IT corridor in Chennai is utilised mainly by Wipro, Infosys, CTS, Satyam, Polaris, TCS company buses along with Sathyabama buses. About 25000 techies use that road. These buses and the employees who opt to come by car form the bulk of traffic on this road. i dont know if any effort was taken by these companies to take on the task of building this road.

Right now the project is being taken up as a joint venture between Tamil Nadu Government and IT Expressway Ltd, fully owned subsidiary of TamilNadu Road development company whose background I am not sure. The Infys and Wipros cannot think anything beyond offshore outsourcing, new ODCs, ITES, the next campus to recruitment etc.

It is not as if these companies will be the first if at all they do. An IIT Chennai graduate by name Suresh Kamath has already shown the social responsibilities of the technology business through Lasersoft Infosystems. Lasersoft is a firm which specializes in banking applications. But what makes Lasersoft special is that Suresh Kamath chose to start his own company and was willing to employ physically challenged persons who have the spirit and intelligence but not necessarily the background to write software. He was willing to provide them training opportunities and showed the world that it was still possible to run software companies without BE/MCA or equivalent with 60 % with 3 years experience in everything under the sun.
He might have ended up paying these people considerably less than what an IT MNC pays a software Engineer but the impact of Lasersoft on the society is significantly higher than what these companies in total has been able to make.

This story is but one example of what he is able to do.

I am all for capitalism. But a country like India needs capitalism with compassion and human face, not exactly the Lehman Brothers capitalism which profits only a select few.

Now to what will happen if these companies stick to their core competencies (as management gurus are fond of calling that). This IT wave will go, some other wave will come and we will be caught on the wrong foot bcos we may not have the human resource and infrastructure bandwidth.

It is in the hands of visionaries who have willingness, resources and guts to shape India’s future. IT companies have plenty of cash. But it remains to be seen if they can be called real visionaries like one Cherian behind Amul’s initiative in Anand, Gujarat.

This is a cricket post I wanted to write for some time and henceforth all cricket posts will be dedicated to my buddy Sundar. Now ladies please hold on. I am not going to bore you with some vital stats about some arcane cricket match played during Don Bradman’s era. It’s actually more about cricketing personalities than about cricket.

Actually cricket does not top my interests list anymore.
Gone are the days when I used to wake up @2.30 AM to watch Sir Richard John Hadlee’s unique, yet-to-be-imitated bowling action and one Martin Crowe torment the bowlers with his magical batting, much to the delight of the Auckland crowd. I don’t wonder anymore at the Auckland ground’s unique shape which would be a challenge to even Pythogarus.

My ability to get up on my own just in time for the first ball used to evoke much curiosity at home.
“ Oru dhadavaiyavadhu ipdi padika elundhirkariya da?”
(“Have you ever got up like this to study?”) My dad used to admonish.

Thanks to CAS in Chennai and the great form that Indian players are with the commercials, i dont follow cricket the way i used to. The last time I saw a cricket match with fervor was when our Mumbai Maestro cut one big mouthed Shoaib Akhtar to size with a six over backward point in 2003 World cup.

But my awe, respect, wonder for some cricketing personalities remain intact.

I’m going to talk about two guys who would walk into an all-time great test team just like that.

First the G. (Ajith fans please excuse)

G for Greatness. G for Gilly. Adam Gilchrist to be precise. It’s a love-hate relationship. I hate this guy when he torments India. I also love this guy for his flair and talent. How I wished India had one No. 7 batsman half as good as him.

There are lies, damn lies and statistics some say. Being the Harishchandran that I am, let’s start with stats.
68 matches, 97 innings, 4452 runs, average of 54.00, 15 hundreds coming at No7 at a staggering strike rate of 83 in Test Matches. Most of his runs had come either when the team was at 100 odd for 5 or 300 odd and in a hurry to pile on more runs quick to have enough time to bowl out the opposition. And one among his 15 hundreds includes a death-defying 149 against a Pakistan attack which included a not-so- ordinary Wasim Akram. Chasing 350 odd for victory and being 120 something for 5, our Gilly walks in and all but dismisses the Pakis out of reckoning. An innings of his life-time.

Not to mention he is a fabulous wicket-keeper too. Not like our Parthiv Patel who should be called as a wicket-dropper batsman.

“Just hit the ball,” is how he once described his philosophy on batting. Simple nah? And boy is he good at it. All it takes is two hours with Gilly at the crease and the match is decidedly in favour of Australia. Our Gilly breezes to a hundred by the way.

For a guy who made his test debut at a relatively advanced age of 28, nobody has ever walked the hall of fame quicker than Gilly. He has played an instrumental role in elevating a great team to an invincible one.

And what’s more he is a walker. Before Gilly arrived, a walking Aussie sounded more like an oxymoron.’Paragon of virtue’ is not something you would associate with an Aussie would you? A world-cup semi final and our man walks even as the umpire says not out.

A true match winner, a great team man, an exceptional entertainer and above all a person of integrity. That’s Gilly for you.

Next comes the mean, magnificent McGrath. More on that later…