Is that all?

One more week. And its all over! :(

IPL in murky waters...

The multi-billion Indian Premier League is all over the news, for all the wrong reasons. An irregularity in the auction of new franchises, alleged link of a diplomat turned Cabinet minister in it, IT inquiries, allegations of match-fixing, appeals by our MPs to ban it altogether (WTH?) and a chief, who, it has been found, was once convicted for drug abuse and armed assault. Somewhere something seems to have gone terribly wrong. Where is ‘Cricket’ in the news?!

The IPL, started to rival the ICL, has entertained millions over three successive successful seasons, and has provided a good platform for the local boys to showcase their talent. But, on the flip side, for the youngsters who are unable to handle that instant fame and for those who set their priorities wrong, there can't be a worse enemy than the IPL.

On the financial front, the IPL's overflowing treasury has raised serious questions of legality of the influx of money. Lalit Modi himself has put the net worth of IPL at $5Billion.(Yup. Rs. Fifty x five x one followed by NINE zeros! The total budget of the 71 nation Commonwealth Games-2010 to be held in New Delhi is more than three times lesser!). What is the source for all the money? Though advertisers, sponsors and auctions pump in money, Five BILLION DOLLARS in three years definitely needs some investigation.

The administration of IPL has also taken a serious beating with Lalit Modi being asked to step down and a number of internal differences cropping up.

IPL issues, having crossed cricketing boundaries long back, have now grown, monstrous enough to stall proceedings at our Parliament. That our MPs seem more interested in IPL related issues than social ones is a different matter altogether. Suddenly, with the Oppositions questioning every move and every aspect of IPL now, one can't help wondering what our MPs were doing for the past three years!

With a number of new and ugly allegations surfacing every day, it is high time the BCCI probes into the allegations and provides some transparency into the running of the IPL. For only when the game is clean, the true spirit of sport comes to the fore, providing a wholesome entertainment to the fans. Considering all contexts, IPL and the BCCI, undoubtedly, face a rough road ahead.

Race to the last four..!

It can't get better than this..! Five out of eight teams tied for the second spot at the points table..! (Neglecting the run-rate, that is)

IPL 3 has made up for that boring season last year when the entire tournament had to be kicked out of India. Low score affairs. Dull spectators. Poor enthusiasm at home. And what not?

This season is all about Indian Veterans, Indian captains, Indian players (the local boys!) and best of all, truly Indian atmosphere. The best place to play cricket is a noisy stadium ringing with cheers, which happens only in India.

The Indian Premier league is now nearly Indian. Nearly. The Cup has to be lifted by an Indian Captain for the title (I.P.L) to be truly justified. Twelve days to go. And we'll know. :)

To Aliyar!

In spite of repeated changes, we (Me, Ajay, Ranjith and Easwar) stuck to our original plan and accompanied MohanKumar to his home at Pollachi yesterday. After a mouth watering breakfast, the usual mokka sessions and a 'spicy'(!) lunch (We had tears in our eyes and running noses after the lunch! Paasakkara ppl..!), we embarked on our trip to Aliyar.

Located at about 22 kms from Pollachi, Aliyar is a perfect weekend getaway place.

Surrounded on three sides by majestic hills of the Western Ghats, the view of the reservoir from the dam is a visual treat. Add to it the gentle breeze. And the lofty cloud caps. And the picturesque sun set. And finally five (Add Mohan's cousin) cool ppl to hang out with!! Simply Superb! :)

The very scene of the cool and serene waters brings delight. But Aliyar's waters are not as safe as they seem. A little chat with the boat man turns scary. "Mudhalaya? irukkum... Aazham vera adhigam. Masathuku oruthar rendu peravathu sethudranga... thannikulla pogatheenga na kaeta thana.." Depth and crocs form a deadly combo. A 'warning' board reads, "Ithuvarai (from 1962) iranthavargal ennikkai: 132". "Pazhaiya boardunga athu.." chips in the boat-man. I open my mouth to ask "How old?" but stopped short in case the answer is terrifying.

The boat ride is splendid though. A ten minute boat ride that costs you just Rs.15 and takes the you to the mountain shadows is, in one word, awesome! That, we just made the last trip of the day make us feel strangely better. :)

We have fun, giving awkward poses to the camera, putting mokkais and spend the time running about the dam. A warning bell at 6:30pm says it's time to leave and we start the short walk back.

For fish lovers, ('Eating' not meant. There are fishes here that could eat you! :) ), the mini aquarium nearby houses quite a collection of fishes ranging from the Guppy to the Piranha (Locked up safely, so no worries!)

A stifling journey in a squeezingly packed bus that carried about a hundred ppl, in the place of forty and a confusing tale woven so good to escape fine for late entry from our 'nanga romba strictu!' watchmen wound up the memorable day.

Diary

Despite several attempts to keep up the habit of writing a diary, I've failed miserably time and again.

Now, as i clean up my cup board, i find some pages of last year's diary entries. They seem distant now. What was supposedly a 'just another day' then, feels precious today. Could have written more. Could have. A sad statement. Curse the lazy me.

Sunrise!

Series of pictures, capturing a sun rise along the banks of river Ganges.

1) 05:52 am.

2) 05:54 am.

3) 05:55 am.

4) 05:57 am..

5) Finally..! A golden welcome to the day..! 06:01 am.

Took them at Varanasi... March 2, 2010.

Project..!

One brilliant batch mate, staff from two different departments, four totally unrelated softwares, twenty odd IEEE papers (and counting...), five hundred MB of study material, a hundred plus screen shots, thousand two hundred lines of Matlab code, four thousand four hundred lines of Verilog HDL code, huge schematics that do not fit into a page, two hundred and seventy three days into it and yet, our project is incomplete! Yenna koduma sir ithu.?! :(

Starter...

Been thinking of starting a blog for some time now... (6 months is n't exactly 'sometime' though... :) ) It has taken some persuasion by friends and juniors of mine (Amalan, Umesh, Shilpa) + a totally unexpected rain + cool breeze of the after showers + brilliant fragrance of flowers en route to college + some nostalgia to start my blog. Just felt like doing it today... So here it is..! Happy(?) reading..! And of course, your comments are most welcome..! (rotten tomatoes and eggs are as welcome as flowers.. ;) ) Cheers! :)