God's own mistake - Bengaluru! But I love it...

Finally, a casual dream of mine came true. I got to fly on the Airbus A380. It is really nice and spacious! I will post a picture here soon but seriously, one day all flights should be like this. Amazing leg space and comfort. The only grouse is that I was flying in the night, so I could not see those monstrous Roller engines do their job.

Bengaluru International Airport was a real surprise. It was amazingly free of any crowds. The old one truly was a stinkhole. Got to see Sreesanth, the bowler looking haggard. He was trying to see who has recognised him. I think we were the only ones who did.

The drive from the airport was nothing short of fantastic. I never expected the roads to be so wonderful! Serious! Nice and clean and empty... Then I realised that it was Bakri-Id and half the city was at home. Anyway, if the infrastructure can catch up, then this mistake of Almighty can soon be rectified. Reality soon struck when I went around visiting. The same traffic snarls, dust and pollution. But still, it felt great to be back home.

Mumbai Horror

Finally, it looks like the carnage is going to end. But still not sure if I will read "Fresh firing erupts" in one of these Indian websites. What irritated me the most during these past 4 days is the idiotic news reporting by the Hindi news channels. Shouting at the top of their voice trying to create some sort of sensationalism. On the other hand, I was watching some western news channels and the delivery of news was solemn and measured. No shouting, no exaggerating. But then, news from channels like Aaj Tak have always been about sensationalism. So this is just another story for them. Plenty of opportunity to show off their 'reporting' skills. One of my friends even found the reporters of the same channel vying with each other to get their voice in first! Hey, what about some respect for the dead and dying!

But I still cant understand the logic behind the attack. What was gained here? Popularity? Or was some cause won? I dont think so. Can we blame Indian security? Can ANYONE have dreamed that terrorists would attack the Taj Palace hotel? Impossible. No amount of intelligence can imagine this kind of attack. And that is the most worrying part. What next?

Bye Bye Dada, See you Guru!

Saurav Ganguly has bid adieu to `Kirik'et and so has the vily old fox Kumble. I was waiting for the third wicket to fall and almost read the headlines - Rahul Dravid quits - but that did not happen. One headline we will never see in our lifetime is "God of (Indian) Cricket retires". Sachin Tendulkar just keeps going on like Old Man River. Silently, VVS Laxman has completed 100 tests and though people will never remember 99 of those tests, they will definitely recall Laxman's magnificient innings of 281 that humbled the Aussies in Kolkata.

On the Aussie front, Ponting is the likely one to beat Tendulkar's batting record as he has a 3-4 year age difference on his side. But then, he is an Australian and the Aussie selectors can simply drop him if one or two series go bad. Only time will tell.

Obama, Hamilton - color no bar

Finally, USA gets a black president! The last time this happened, a meteor was on the way to strike earth. And a Hollywood actor saved the day....

Obama seems to be an ordinary guy. I mean, he does not have the glamour associated with a Reagan, Kennedy, Clinton, etc but seems to be an ordinary man-off-the-street who has struggled his way up and got through. Want to see how he will do.

Two black people have made their way to the top of the world at almost the same time - Obama and Hamilton. Lewis made it through in the very last gasp. I almost thought he did not make it and was very happy for Massa. Then Massa's dreams shattered...

Haven't been in touch with Indian politics lately. But then, I was never interested much anyway. Recently, read a web article - Advani to get a makeover - as he bids to become India's next Prime Minister. I mean to say, what!! Isn't he realising that this may never happen? But then I thought, if HD DG can come out of the blue and become one, why not Advani? And if Sonia Gandhi almost became one, why not Advani?

Nostalgia

Here is an intersting must-read article recently sent to me by one of my cousins:

http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/once-upon-a-time-when-the-gari-did-not-put-mari/#comment-91450

The author has really encapsulated all that was experienced by kids of that age and still remember. Reading this brought back fond memories. I still remember looking forward to "summer holidays" to read all the Phantom, Mandrake and Bahadur comics.

Dream fulfilled

One of my oldest dreams came true on Friday - I rode on a Segway! And that too in a race that I won with a team-mate! Some of us were invited to a great barn in Banbury, Oxfordshire to spend half a day bonding. The activities listed were Clay-pigeon shooting, Rage buggy driving and Segway riding. Though the Rage buggies were exciting Segway is something else. You feel one with the machine as you slalom thru' cones in a row on the course. Altogether, an afternoon well-spent though none one carried a camera on the courses - so I'm afraid I have no photos to post :-(

'Kirik'et

Those of you who are unfamiliar with Kannada may not get the above play on the word Cricket. 'Kirik' in Kannada slang stands for anything that is problematic.

Indian cricket fans all over the world are working up a frenzy over the umpiring standards and Aussie racial slurs. Somehow, we always get offended when someone beats us in cricket. We can take defeat in every other game except cricket. Could anyone have envisioned Michael Clarke getting those 3 wickets in a magical over that happens only once a career? What if we had drawn the test? Would we have even bothered to protest? The team would have huddled together as if we won the bloody match!

Another thing that continuously bothers me....some of our players need to be thought manners. The behaviour of Sreesanth and Harbhajan is extremely poor. These guys have to be disciplined - we talk of Gentleman's game and we behave like animals.