one more try

Over time I find that I spend more time reading blogs than writing. (Thanks to Google Reader)

This coupled with a hectic work life - ya for once work is looking up and everyday morning I am waking up looking forward to the new day....quite a change - I hardly find time to update this blog.

So, I have thought instead of letting this blog die a natural death, I will update this with trivia. My first love.

Here is the promise, atleast once a week, I will upload 5 trivia questions. Answers can be left in the comments. And the correct answers will be uploaded next day. Lets see if this lasts.

Heaven is...

an uber cool 500gb portable drive and discovering long forgotten music from your collection while transferring everything...

shaadi

The Ech Aar Manager in knots.....

Yup, finally after years of courtship the knot gets tied. And from The Ech Aar Manager, it is going to become, The Ech Aar Managers, and hopefully....the Ech Aar Family......quite like the Addams Family....

Anyway....that also explains the long break from blogging.....hopefully now with more "free" time, shall start again....

Up yours NDTV......

NDTV....and more precisely the great Ms. B. Dutt have decided that since they cant do a proper job of reporting, they shall behave like the R Sena and the S Sena and beat up anyone who point out their mistake. Aside: Try explanining to RT or BT that their take on Marathi Manoos and Valentines day is against the Fundamental Rights of the Citizens. So here it is. Reproducing Mr. Kunte's blog word for word. Let NDTV know, that if you believe in the freedom of press, if you believe in the power of your reach, you should also know that with great power comes great responsibility.

To the lawyers of NDTV, look up Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.


[Update] looks like quoting the post might lead to more trouble for Mr. Kunte. For interested people here is the Google’s cache of the post (scroll to the very bottom)

Another day...another time...

Mumbai stint comes to an end. Next week I will be in Chennai. New place, new people. Spent the last entire week at various farewell lunches and dinners.

It is difficult to say good bye. Always...and I am an emotional fool for that.....but then this time I am looking forward to it...

no title.....

कुछ सपने टूटने के लिए ही देखे जातें हैं
कुछ अरमान कभी पुरे नही होतें
कहीं दूर गंगन में उभरा इन्द्रधनुस,
अपना कभी नहीं होता.

सपने टूट गए तो कया गम है,
फिर से नए देख लेंगे,
आख़िर एक ही तो तजुर्बा है हम में
सपने देखते ही रह जायेंगे..........

pathetic spellings....but then, my Hindi spellings were always a pain for my teachers

Dear Neta Log and Arm Chair Generals

1) Raj Thackerey Saheb: Maj. Sandeep was a MALLU from the BIHAR regiment who died so that you could rest your stinky ass in peace at Shivaji Park. Where was your brave sena when this attack was taking place? Maybe he should have refused to come down here, as you want only Marathi Manoos to be in Mumbai

2) Amar Singhji: Were the terrorists killed in this attack also your beta? Or maybe vote bank politics dictates that all the brave officers killed where killed by their own men? Don't you want a Judicial enquiry?

3) Lalooji: Do you still want the ban on SIMI lifted? Or maybe, yeah aapke bacche the, jo rasta bhatak gaye?

4) Madam President: On the face of this tragedy, your holiday in Indonesia is uncalled for. And cancelling appointments because V.P Singh died and forgetting about the 200+ in Mumbai, just goes to show that you are fit for the kitchen of an ex and future PM not as a President

5) V.P Singh: You should have died earlier. But then remembering the violence that you unleashed on the students, you deserved to die now, and remain confined to one column. Glad to forget you

6) Manmohan Singhji: Speak like a damned Prime Minister. Not like some Goddamned economist. Soft speak is not the need of the hour. Heard of fists of thunder?

7) Signora Sonia: "Hum is ghatana ki kari neenda karte hain" is a mother hood statement. Please refer point 6 above

8) Shivraj Patil: Time you committed suicide dude. Resignation is for people responsible for a Fuck Up, not for a carnage

9) L.K. Advani: From when did Hemant Karkare become your Hero?

10) Narendra Modi: We know, Gujrat is a rich state. Please keep your charity for those commandoes killed in Akshardham. Anyone remembers Surjan Singh Bhandari?

11) All Arm Chair Generals: The NSG, MARCOS, Army, ATF, Police and Fire Brigade know their job. They have been trained much better than you, and have experienced much more than you. Please keep your gob shut and applaud them. And next time there is a pay revision, kindly think of increasing their pay.

Foot Note: This Country of mine, declared a 7 day mourning for a random PM, who was anyway going to die. For the 200+ killed in the attacks, well life goes on. Next week, you shall return to being dead and becoming a statistic. The famed resilience of the Maximum City will take over. But, there will not be a question, there will not be answers. Nothing will change. For we have brought this upon us. If, we the People of India, do not forget our differences and stand united, we will be targetted again, and again and again; from land, sea and air. And all we can do is stand by and watch.

with media like these, who needs spies and informers???

Long long time ago, in a certain age of innocence, I was a fan of 24X7 news reporting. I used to be awed by the courage showed by these men and women as they reported from the front line. But then some where down the line, that awe started to vanish. And over the last two days, as Bombay faces its worst invasion, that awe has given way to disgust.

I mean how stupid can you get? If NSG commandos are carrying out an operation, you are showing the helicopters coming in with the commandos? The terrorists sitting inside need not even look out of the damned window. He just has to switch on the TV and watch a damned news channel. He will know approximately how many commandos are coming, which way are they coming, what is happening much better than if he had an informer in the crowd below.

Get a life, 24X7 news channels. In your quest for TRP, you are blurring the line between honest reporting and actual playing into the hands of the enemy.

And as for the questions....I used to adore Barkha Dutt.....but sorry lady....your lame questions have really put me off.......one fan less for you....

In memoriam.... Mumbai 26/11

Cry my country!! Cry!!!

rambling post.....

An invasion from the sea. And a President who is only fit to cook for an ex-Prime Minister says, "hum ghatna ki ninda karten hain" Madam, how about coming back to India? A Prime Minister who stays in bed. A Home Minister who shouldn't resign....rather should commit suicide.......body count mounting.....and terror hits home

Police Officers are corrupt, police officers take bribes, their salaries shouldnt be increased....350 police officers should protect one corrupt Chief Minister.....police officers should be used to keep roads clear in peak hour traffic so that neta log can travel in speed......then the same police officers are asked to fight well armed terrorists with vintage equipment, and lay down their lives.......... where does my tax money go? When I am paying taxes why cant you furnish proper equipments for those who are responsible for protecting me?

Army Officers are grudged their canteen facilities, they are grudged their orderlies, they are grudged their salaries.....and today when you need them to fight these invaders, you ask them to step in. They step in, a collective sigh of relief goes up.....we are safe......but when they ask for an increase in pay.....Ohh no!! we cant do that......the Maj. Gen. should go inside the Oberoi only when there are terrorists inside, other wise he is better confined to his Mess.......

Cry my country.....Cry for the leaders you elect are spineless scums of the worst kind....Cry my country for you could never recognise a hero even if he came in front of you.....cry my country for all you can think of is you and your immediate family........the rest are just statistics......cry my country for anyone can come to rape you and your sons can only stand by saying intelligenc failure and your daughters stand around with questions "How does it feel that your dad is a hostage?" .......cry my country.......for you dont deserve to be a nation at all.......

How about the citizens asking for a general election? How about dismissing this government? How about military rule? How about removing this concept of universal adult franchise? I think that concept has been raped beyond recognition......we need a new system to give voice to the poor and rich alike......democracy just doesnt work here.....

On a sad note......the entire XL family grieves today as they have lost a son-in-law a week before the wedding....my the Lord give strength and forbearance to the Bride and both the families as they cope with this loss......

On a sad note......the country weeps for 14 of her sons who lost their lives defending her honor......

And a note to Madam President and the Congress (I).......rubber stamp president is a word....spine less is another word.....but when there is an attack on the Country, the Country expects its leaders to be there.....if they want to be called leaders.....

Obama's speech

Obama has finally been elected as the next President of United States of America. If there is any country that has come to terms with its past it is the USA. And coming to real terms. Not the fraud coming to terms by electing a Dalit President or Sikh Prime Minister and still bickering about caste and region. Here is the transcript of his victory speech. Brilliant piece if ever there was.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office.

We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.

For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep.

We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.

And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.

Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much.

But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Obama...

Was watching the frenzied support that Obama has in India. And the applause when he won. Wonder whether his so called supporters in India have any clue on his policies, views, background or track record???

Wouldn't it be better if these supporters decided to vote in India instead of worrying about the election in US??

Dreams.....

Campus Dreams, Dream Company, Dream Job, Dream Location, Dream Girl........life is based on dreams.....and then one day....Dream company after dream company don't give you an offer, dream job after dream job don't actually work out the way it is supposed to......Dream Girl vanishes from your life......

Crashed dreams, shattered dreams, dreams lying broken under the harsh arc light of an unforgiving world....some steps when taken burn boats and bridges leaving not a charred remain for you to step back......and then from amongst the ruins........no a phoenix doesn't rise....that happens only in Dreams.....from amongst the ruins.....a tear falls.........

Watching your dreams crash around you.......watching your dream walk off with someone else......watching your dream being rejected by the person who got it........

Life.....goes on.....

Nice one

Found this article on the web. Brilliant article. Worth a read.

The Jet saga....

Lay Off: (Sec 2(kkk) Industrial Disputes Act 1947) "lay-off" (with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions) means the failure, refusal or inability of an employer on account of shortage of coal, power or raw materials or the accumulation of stocks or the break-down of machinery or natural calamity or for any other connected reason to give employment to a workman whose name is borne on the muster-rolls of his industrial establishment and who has not been retrenched

Retrench: (Sec 2(oo) Industrial Disputes Act 1947) "retrenchment" means the termination by the employer of the service of a workman for any reason whatsoever, otherwise than as a punishment inflicted by way of disciplinary action, but does not include - (a) voluntary retirement of the workman; or

(b) retirement of the workman on reaching the age of superannuating if the contract of employment between the employer and the workman concerned contains a stipulation in that behalf; or

(bb) termination of the service of the workman as a result of the non-removal of the contract of employment between the employer and the workman concerned on its expiry or of such contract being terminated under a stipulation in that behalf contained therein; or

(c) termination of the service of a workman on the ground of continued ill-health;

Today the airlines industry are unable to give employment to the workmen due to shortage of passengers, who are the one of the raw materials for the aviation/services industry. But they have not laid off their workers. They have retrenched them.

Till a few months back, employees never had it so good. They could jump ship at the slightest provocation, sometimes for as much as a INR 2000/- ($41) increase in salary. HR managers at high attrition companies worried their hair out, about whether they critical resource walking out of the door every evening would be back the next day. The Gen-X did not know what it was to be without a job.

The bad news is out. Jet laid off close to 850 people and are planning to lay-off more. AI has announced that 1500 people will be asked to go on leave without pay for 3-5 years. While laying off people is not illegal, nor is it a subject matter of political debate, there are ways of doing this without unnecessary heart ache. Nor is it true, that the PYT who just jumped abroad from Kingfisher without waiting to complete her due notice period just because the going was good, has got what she deserved. Here we are talking about lives. Young lives who for better or worse have no other training. They followed their dreams and their dreams led them to this.

Very soon we might see the same thing repeated across IT/ITES sector, given the fact that Obama is leading in the popularity poll. The BPO worker is specially vulnerable. They hardly have any other training or experience to do any other work. At that juncture is it proper to ask the Government to bail out the sick companies? Even if the Govt. pumps in cash into the ailing companies, how long will the company survive on crutches? But then, we are used to giving crutches to all and sundry instead of trying to involve them in the mainstream. Now the question is how do we cope in these times? Increase spending? Increase the Gross National Debt? That is just pushing today's problem to tomorrow. Anyway here I am dergressing from the topic.

CITU and MNS are waiting in the wing to jump into the fray to be seen as the saviour of the poor. They are asking for a bail out of the aviation industry. If the government bails out the aviation industry today, is it prepared to bail out the IT/ITES industry tomorrow? There are dharnas and morchas asking Jet to take back the employees. Is it fair to ask the industry to keep excess workers on roll while they are bleeding? Have we forgotten the Bombay Mills so soon? Aren't we ever going to learn from history? I don't have the answer. I don't know who has the answer. But I have a question for Mr. Naresh Goyal.

Mr. Goyal, you knew your company was bleeding. You knew that you might go in for a code sharing agreement with Kingfisher. You knew that when the going got tough, you would have to let go a significant number of your people. You are a businessman and not a social activist. I respect all that. But Sir, would you please stand up, look at those young faces you axed, look them in the eye and tell them that you did this to save the company? Could you cross your heart and do that? I have only one problem with this retrenchment. Why have you done this in such a shady manner? You could have gone ahead and fired everyone, no one would have said a thing. It is your company after all. But why in a way that makes it appear so shady, so cheap? And when you did this where was your HR manager Mr. Goyal?

To the HR manager of Jet Airways, You are a scum and people like you bring the entire profession of HR into disrepute. You know your numbers. You know which way the wind is blowing. You know who you need to retain and who to let go. And you know the law. More importantly you know your employees. You have been trained in soft skills. If you don't you don't deserve to call yourself a HR manager. You deserve to bloody shoot yourself. Where was your training when you needed it? If you had to go ahead and nuke people, you din't need your degree in HR. Do you Mr. HR Manager of Jet Airways, suppose that though this retrenchment is legally justified, it is morally justified? What were you thinking when you pulled off the cowardly act and sent retrenchment letters to the employees by courier? Remember Mr. HR Manager of Jet Airways, you wouldn't have lost a fortune if you had spent some more time on framing your plan of action before shooting off those letters.

To all industry leaders and head honchos out there. You might have to lay off people, you might have to retrench them; I don't say Don't do it, rather I say, GO Ahead!! Do It now. But do it in a humane way.

This is my request to all you HR managers and CEOs out there, when you retrench or lay people off do it, but follow these guidelines:

1) Retrenchment as a last resort: Sometimes, it is a better solution to propose a across the board pay cut to save jobs than to retrench multitudes. First cut off the fancy office, give up the company car, stop those small expenses everyday. Send a message to the workers that you are serious about cost cutting

2) Lead from the front: Not in the Shady way that Jet has done it. Look at the employees in the face. Tell them that we are facing a problem. We need to let people go. And tell them they will be welcome back when things improve. Then lay-off, retrench people fast. Within a few hours of making your announcement. Don't let people find out when they are ready to go to work and the cab doesn't turn up

3) Provide support: What prevents you from providing support to the retreched employees to obtain another employment? They deserve it from you

4) Don't hide behind closed doors: Walk around. Be available to the employees. They have doubts. They have questions. They are shocked. Now is not the time to retire to your castle. Be with them

5) Once and for all: Don't retrench 50 people today, then another 100 tomorrow and so on. This creates tremendous insecurity among people who survive. Once you are done with removing your excess employees, assure the rest that you are not going to fire them. They will be forming your core group on which you will build your future.

Well, one long post. But then this is the time when we all do a reality check. And ensure that we are ready to go back to school and pick up more skills that would be valuable in this market.

Sharod Subheccha....

One more Pujo goes by. And this time it was a dull one. Dull by even my standards. My mother and the kid sister left on shosti. And I went back to what I do best. Rest my tired body in the air conditioned comfort of the office. Din't have much to do this week with half the office out for navratri. And today felt too lazy too go out.

Well, anyways, even though this year I did not celebrate Pujo the way it is supposed to be, the last day always leaves you a bit gloomy, a bit nostalgic. It is almost like having to get on with the dullness of life. But then you know, that "Aasche bochor aabar hobe". And aasche bochor hopefully it will be a different celebration than this.

Wishing you all the warmest greetings for Dussehra. Subho Bijoya....aasche bochor mongolmoye hok





Picture courtesy this wonderful site that has enabled millions of Probashi Bangalee to keep in touch with Pujo.

Adieu Prince......

"I have a secret weapon", Azhar told the press on that beautiful autumn day as India vanquished a far superior Pakistan. The secret weapon had other feathers on his cap. A straight bat six against Murlidharan. Charging into Pollock as he ran in to bowl. A brilliant 144 that ensured that India won a test after having been asked to follow on. And last but not the least, the bare-chested shirt wave at the Mecca of Cricket....Lords.

The Captain who forged the Indian Team, who popularized the huddle and for whose backing we discovered the gems who are a part of the team today, Saurav Ganguly has announced his retirement.

There have been finger pointing at the fab four, there have been media spats, ugly politics that have taken place behind the scenes, but the fact remains, if any of the fab four have always got the short stick and has always managed to bounce back he is the man. And today as he decides to walk into the sunset, it will not be an easy walk. He will not be under pressure to perform, but yes he will be under pressure. To cap off a brilliant career with a flourish. The last hunt. The final bugle call. It will not be easy to walk off. But then it will be the brilliant end of an era if he does let his bat do the talking once again.

What was his contribution to Indian cricket? He forged a team. A team who dint win by chance. But a team who won because they believed they could. A team who did not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory but who even if they lost went down fighting. This team reflected what the new India was all about. It was the resurgent India that faced the world.

And if sometime soon we eventually win the World Cup, and not the 20-twenty version, we would have one person to thank for that.

Goodbye Prince, we shall miss you.

The Good, the bad....the M

Well, Gujarat it is. West Bengal's loss is Gujarat's gain. Don't know if Nano will still remain the 1 lac car, or if the price will escalate. The fact remains that again the ordinary bespectacled, fish eating bong will have to step out of West Bengal in order to earn a living. And what will remain back would be the shadows of a golden past. Hats off to Momotadidi and co...

A Pyrrhic victory

Late and long post.....

Well, RNT has decided to pull out of Singur. Momota Banerjee is celebrating Durga Pujo at Kalighat and has proclaimed that she will start an agitation after the Pujo to return the land to the farmers. Nice thought. But Ms. Banerjee or her advisors, in their infinite wisdom, haven't given a thought on the state of the land. Agriculture flourishes on land which is fertile. Not land which has been levelled and graded. Dug up and concrete poured into it. The Singur area was a marsh land, so quantities of fly ash have been dumped on it to make it fit for construction. Have these intellectually superior people given a thought on how are those unwilling land losers going to start farming again?

My guess is, as part of her election ploy, now that she knows she has rocked her best boat for an election victory, she would ask the Tata's and the the govt to return the land in the condition that it was taken. Meaning, that all the clean up operation etc would have to be done. She has to try this plank now for her election. And public memory being as short as it is, Momota didi will be the Messiah for those whose land was forcefully acquired and then forcefully returned.

Land acquisition has another dimension. How will you return the land of those people who willingly parted with their land? They got their compensation cheques, which they encashed and spent the money. Will they again have to forcefully buy back their land? Or will they see their land going to someone else. If the latter, then it is nothing but a ploy by the Tirnamul to grab land. Good land. And vast areas of it. Which they will later deem to be unfit for agriculture and sell at a much higher rate for industrialization. Do I smell a rat somewhere? Or is it only me who thinks that this is a ploy?

As for the buy back policy, how will a poor farmer who suddenly got a windfall amount and spent it on a new house, a daughters marriage or a new bike, gather that amount required for him to get his land back? And if the Tirnamul pressurizes the government to give the land back gratis, it is the tax payer's money which is being used. Why should you and I pay for a folly that is entirely Momotadidi's? Will the govt. have the guts to bill the Tirnamul Congress and Momotadidi for the land and then return it? Or even better, ask Momota didi to come up with the money and then transfer the land to her. She can then return it or keep it as she chooses. If she is such a champion of the poor she would return it gratis. The same way she expects the govt. to do so now, difference it would be her money, not yours or mine.

And for the people of Singur, and West Bengal, when was the last time any politician did anything that was good for the people?