Friday, July 01, 2005

Largs and Cricket @ Glasgow Green

Here comes the photos...

http://flickr.com/photos/tags/Largs
http://flickr.com/photos/tags/Cricket@Glasgow

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It's my Birthday

It's my 27th Birthday today. I share this date with

  • Bryant Jones, born in Camarillo, California, actor, Nate Hastings-Young and Restless
  • Patrick Stephan Kluivert, Surinam/Dutch soccer player, Ajax
  • Michele Krasnoo, born in Culver City, California, actress, Kickboxer IV
  • Pamela Anderson, American Actress
  • Kalpana Chawla, Karnal, India, astronaut, STS 87
  • Princess Diana, British Royalty

and many more....

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Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Great Weekends



It's been almost a month since we ventured into Scotland, so we decided to get physical and play some games on Saturday and go to Largs on Sunday to ease ourselves in the sea shore. Saturday was a colorful day as Glasgow was in festive mood. We were hardly finding streets in people, with thousands of pipers tirelessly piping and drums lighting the air, one couldn't have missed the mood. After an hour of extravaganza, everyone disappeared to a bigger and noisier place. We finally got a chance to kick some dirt in Glasgow Green. The day was bright and perfect for football, we started with three a side match with me scoring the first goal, I couldn't celebrate as we were dead tired. Football was short lived as all were tired; we spent more time in gathering the ball than playing, so we had to switch to Cricket from there on. After five games of cricket, we decided to call it a day and returned home with painful legs. Our miseries were just started as we realized that next day we had to get up at 8 AM to go to Largs.

We couldn't have asked for a more torturing weekend. All our pains were vanished in thin air when we saw the scenic Scotland's highlands. It was picture perfect and incomparable to whatever we have seen till now in our life. The places were so clean, calm, beautiful; I think Scotland got to be one of the cleanest places in earth. Grazing horses, sheeps and cows were like ticks in a green furred dog. Lakes and Sea shores were awaiting us wherever we went. The journey was a great one and was made cozy by the Scottish Rail. Largs is one hour drive from Glasgow and we thoroughly enjoyed our journey. Once we reached Largs we couldn't believe our eyes, serene pebble beach, so neat that we were guilty of entering there with our mud shoes. It was shiny and bright very unlikely. We decided to take a Pencil walk, to reach the Pencil tower. After walking for three miles or so, we thought of burning some calories by climbing a hill to get the picture of the whole place. Some were fast, some were slow with me leading the way to the top. Once we were there, we couldn't have asked for a better medicine for all the efforts that we had put. Our guys were taking pictures of all possible places and very soon they exhausted the memory card, one advice for people visiting Scotland, don't hurry to take pictures, because you would end up taking everything. The place is so beautiful that you would want to take everything back with you. After munching the food that we had, we decided to end our journey at Largs and head back home. In the joy of seeing things we forgot our pain in our legs and it began to show its ugly head when we were heading back. Even now we feel the pain in all possible places.

Only solace is that the two days that we spent last weekend would be the most memorable moment of our life and a starting of things to come which would leave us breathless. I doubt if there are places more scenic that what we have seen here. Photos soon…


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Thursday, June 23, 2005

Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

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Tuesday, June 21, 2005

100 meters in 22.02 seconds

A Japanese man broke the record by completing 100 meters in 22.02 seconds, now you might wonder that I am foxing you as the actual record stands at approx. 9 seconds. I am talking about the age group 95 - 99. Amazing isn't it. This is too good to be true, hats off young man!

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Monday, June 20, 2005

Srinidhi - Missing you


It's been three weeks since we spoke to each other :-(.

I am the most unfortunate
F1asco

Sunday's F1 race at US was a failure. Though I was thrilled to see Narain finishing fourth but I never wanted all those fourteen cars to leave the pit lane before the start. I personally think that six of the drivers who were allowed to race in Bridgestone tyres should have left the field but they thought otherwise. The driver’s championship and constructor's championship overwhelmed their sportsman spirit. It was no fun watching six instead of twenty cars. It was a cake walk for Ferrari who was taking nearly twenty seconds for a pit stop as against eight in normal circumstances. Even hardened Ferrari fans like me didn't like what happened there.

Was the race necessary? It was like playing a cricket game with seven players just for the heck of playing it. In this chaos NK managed to score five points, a bright side of the store perhaps.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Going to buy a mean machine

This weekend I am going to buy a Digial Camera, first one in my life. I have shortlisted a cool one; FUJI S3500, 4.0 Mega pixel.

I somehow like the look of it and didn't want to go for the default ones. So it's worth the wait for me and soon you shall see floods of pictures in my post.

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Monday, June 13, 2005

Keep Going NK

At the beginning of the season, everyone doubted NK's physical strength. He shut all those voices by finishing the races in style, in spite of loosing some 2 KGs after each race. Soon he was the best rookie in the circuit and everyone had only praise for him. If this looks like a fairy tale then this is where all good things end, because NK has failed to finish last two races.

What remains to be seen is how NK comes back and starts finishing races again. This could prove very important in NK's career as the whole world is watching his mental stamina now. There is a saying which goes; it's not a shame to fall but not to rise. NK failure in last two races compared to his team-mate who has done superbly well using the same car has raised questions on his style of racing. Whether NK elevates himself again to prove his mettle needs to be seen.

Good luck NK, win or loose you make us feel proud.

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Saturday, June 11, 2005

In Serene Scotland

I have made it to Glasgow for second time and nothing has changed. Everything remains as calm and quiet as it was some one year back. They somehow have the nack of making you feel enter a paradise as soon as you step into Scotland.

The scenaries are picture perfect and the city itself is so quiet that you would feel guilty of talking loudly. I have plans to get a digital camera this time around from Dixons, so would be taking you guys on a ride around the city. Till them good bye !

Reach me at hifromsriram at GMAIL.com

Friday, June 10, 2005

Difference is Indian

This happened to me at the Immigration counter at Mumbai International Airport. Before boarding the plane, I was to clear the Immigration check and was told to stand in a queue. There were some ten counters helping the passengers. The numbers were written in the floor instead of being hanged / written in a visible location. My friend Suman would have cried for lack of usability here.

When I was told to stand in the sixth counter, I wondered as I didn't knew where the sixth counter was, just when I was standing like a child lost in a busy market, the security yelled at me "Neeche likha le hai" (it's written down). I compared this with the scene at the London airport where you are told quite politefully to stand in the counter and people are more than happy to help out first time passengers because they know, it's not their day to day activity.

The security guard in Mumbai airport was behaving as if I was a criminal and he was punishing me for an offence. I pity the plight of foreigners who come down to our great "Chatrapati Shivaji Internationl Havai Adda" (Havai Adda = International Airport).

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Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Bangalored in Beijing

"After watching 8-lane highways and digital maps of a 3000-year-old city, after bumping into an architect who says he will build seven Chinese cities in four years, Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani drives home to Bangalore past ghostly girders of incomplete flyovers.


It is difficult not to be awed when one lands in Beijing. One drives into the city on broad tree-lined roads with magnificent buildings on either side. Most of the roads have bicycle lanes, which are still well used. In spite of the huge crowds, there is no sense of disorderliness. There is a great sense of history, of a 3000-year-old city proud of its past and preparing for its assignment with the future.

A free afternoon gives an opportunity to visit the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall. It’s a showcase of the past, current and future of Beijing. It has enough to make an urban planner drool. Every bit of the city has been digitally mapped in detail.
The highlight is a 302 square-meter master plan of the city, at a scale of 1:750. It is surrounded by 10,000 square meters area of elevation photos of the city. I go around the exhibit marking landmarks on my map. Later when I travel around Beijing, I check whether the model is correct. Every building and park I had noted is exactly where it says it should be. What you see is what you get.

There are signs everywhere that Beijing is preparing for the 2008 Olympics. A new wing of the airport is expected to be ready before that. The budget talked about for the city’s upgradation is over US $20 billion.

The 3D movie at the Exhibition Hall gives a comprehensive view of the various sporting venues, evocatively called Bird’s Nest and Cubic Water. The world’s top architects have been drafted. It is as if the entire 14 million population of Beijing is working in unison, to ready itself for a debut on the global stage.

As I sit in the magnificent Great Hall of the People, and listen to President Hu, stray phrases stick to me. ‘‘By 2020, we will quadruple China’s GDP in 2000 to approximately US $4 trillion with a per capita level of some US $3000”... “We must focus on economic development as our central task”...”By the end of 2004, China had attracted a total of US$ 562.1 billion in FDI”...”Approved the establishment in China of more than 500,000 foreign-funded enterprises”... “Over 400 firms out of the FORTUNE 500 have invested in China...” “China will keep opening up its market, find new ways of using foreign capital”... “Work still harder to help foreign investors” ... I read the printed version. There is no trace of ideological cant or outdated shibboleths, just a ruthless determination to leverage the world’s money and markets to lift millions out of poverty.

Over dinner, I bump into Bill McDonough, an architect from Virginia. I presume he is here to design skyscrapers. What are you doing here, I ask. He says he is here to build cities—seven of them—each capable of a population of 2 million. All based on a sustainable environmental model. How long will it take? Four years. I gulp. It is time to head back.

On the way to the airport, I look at the signs as they go by... 3rd ring road... then 4th ring road.... Then 5th ring road. I have no doubt that a 6th one is probably in the works. The last billboard I see says “Come to Dalian the IT outsourcing capital of China”. It sounds like a premonition.

In the airport lounge, I log on to the Net to see what is happening back home. Highway project referred to Supreme Court...BDA stayed from developing layout...Bangalore traffic stopped for hours due to flooding... IT companies’ land should be taken away for the poor, says ex-minister...I check my email. There is an invitation to speak at another conference on urban infrastructure. I press Delete.

By the time I land in Bangalore, it is the wee hours of the morning. One of the benefits of a quaint provincial airport with sleepy officials is that you clear it in 15 minutes. As I head home, I pass the lonely girders of a half-built flyover, overdue by years. The landscape has the eerie air of an abandoned ghost town.
So I close my eyes and console myself that we have built a mature, functioning democracy. Surely, building an eight-lane avenue with bicycle lanes shouldn’t be more difficult?"

Nandan Nilekani

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Monday, May 30, 2005

My Almirah

I was always waiting for some big thing to happen and didn't realize that there are so many small things happening around me. One thing that I posses and am proud of is my Almirah. It weighs just about..... Don't remember but people think that it's always filled up even when it's empty.

I got it before my marriage from "Relief Industries" one of the local manufactures in "Indore", "Madhya Pradesh". It cost me 6,000 bucks and I saved minimum 3,000 bucks by not going in for a branded one. I have shifted the Almirah three times now. Every time someone tries to shift it, they tell me to remove things from it and I have to repeat the same story "The almirah is not full but empty". Once this happens they stare at me like and curse me after getting the payment (obviously). Recently the Almirah was to be lifted from ground floor and my land lord couldn't resist asking "Where did you buy this?". I always say "neighbor's envy, owner's pride"

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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Terri Schiavo

An innocent, lovely and cute woman who lives, rather wants to live with a serious disability, will anyone listen to Terri Schiavo.

Images of Terri

Hope with time is running out, who can make these people listen?

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Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Retirement

Another sport person retires, any guesses? It's Venkatapathy Raju. I almost forgot him and I wondered, why the hell he waited for so long to plan his retirement. There are guys like these and there are guys like 'Sohail Abbas', just when one thought that he would carry on and set the stage on fire, he hung his shoes.

I think one should understand that youngsters need and deserve opportunities and this can get a helping hand from seniors if they retire. We are not talking of un-timely retirement but at least when one is not performing to his 100%, then retirement should be considered as a best option.

I don't think we are ever going to have any retirement age fixed for sports person because even now I remember Robin Singh's performances. At the age of 30 plus, he used to make all youngsters feel guilty of commitment and power. You must be wondering whether I am making a note about a one off case here, but just imagine someone like Narendar Hirwani playing for Madhya Pradesh. I am not joking, he still does.

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Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Cristiano Dies

Cristiano Lima becomes another victim of ignorance and carelessness. Decent medical facilities in the ground would have saved his life. People as always have started the blame game but no one is taking steps to improve things that led this happen.

I pity the situation in which these guys play the game. May God rest his soul in peace!
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Thursday, December 02, 2004

Contrast

In this era of e-age banking, how can some banks stick to their age old methods. Well, it doesn't sound that logical but I experienced it today.

I went to an ATM of a nationalized bank to withdraw some amount. Here are the things that I saw

    There was (read is carefully 'was' and not 'is') a promixity card reader that would allow a person holding the right card to gain access to the machine, but it was left wide open.

    I couldn't find any security in the gate, instead even the stairs leading to the ATM was filled up with shops.

    People were queued up right from the machine till the road

    People were very helpful, in the sense, they were keying in the PIN for you and even collecting the cash, counting it and giving it to you with the receipt. Reason: In the rush, you can't even waste 0.5 minute.

    The rush was so much, it looked worse than a fish market.


I decided not to even stand in a queue and people who were standing behind appreciated my efforts as they got a KM closer to the ATM.

The mad rush was because of the machine was running slow. I thought of using a near by ATM of another bank, but couldn't as the ATM card issued by my bank was not compliant. Ironically, the ATM in which so much rush was there, was an ATM where you can use VISA, VISA Electron and everything in the world. I couldn't really understand, who this bank is serving?. In this cut throat competition, this Bank still survives, amazing, isn't it!

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Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Hinjewadi to SJM Towers

I have made a transition from Hinewadi, Pune to SJM Towers, Bangalore. I have hopped and have now migrated to Bangalore.

City seems to quite OK but traffic is like 'never seen before'. Pune was a good place and Bangalore is better.

As of today, I am 10 days old in Bangalore.

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Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Here are the pictures of my child "Srinidhi", she turned three months on 25th October 2004.

Click here - Photos and then choose "Angels" as album


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Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Rent a Caravan

I am not posting an ad here but that is how people used to call "Venkat Raghavan" during his cricket days. Funny isn't it.

Some more nick names of my friends, just out of nowhere.

Nagarajan Karuppiah - Naag S
Suman Kumar - SuKu
Bright Sam - Serial Killer
Sreenivasulu Chenupati - Lu

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