Jumboos - Part 1

It's been more than a year since I last wrote an article in my blog. I am not a impulsive writer but I must confess that I am not a good one too. Leaving the pleasant past behind and facing the beautiful future, I once again start to write what I think has changed for good or bad in my life.


This story is about five friends, who from different backgrounds were united at a very unusual place called Indore, Madhya Pradesh. It used to be my native :) but now I am searching for a new place to make it mine. Jumbos / Jumboos / were varied and were available in all shapes and sizes. Jumboos were a group of enthusiastic and ambitious people who wanted to do something different in life. Suman, Nags (Nagarajan Karuppiah), Lu (SreenivasaLu), Sam (Bright Sam) and myself. We all are south indians from in and around Chennai (India) and came to Indore looking for a bright future (you shouldn't laugh).

What made us click together is still a mystery. I will begin by giving a two line introduction about the members.

Suman: Highly ambitious, confused and lazy. Suman was from Chittoor but a tamilian. He is a creative writer and communicator and was a source of inspiration for all of us.

Nags: Lively, Tall and a person with bad sense of humor. He has never seen girls in his life and can go to any length to grab attention. Very good at sports. He is from Coimbatore.

Lu: Brotherly figure with full of advice. Very responsible towards some friends and reckless towards some but overall a good person to count on. He is from Chennai.

Sam: Macho (sort off), live wire. Technically sound of all the members in the group. Keeps away from girls and good at sports.

Sriram: Confused, responsive and moderate. Rest you can find out after interacting with me :).

Next....how we met?





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Manchester United - Champions

It was in Jan. that I had some apprehension whether Passion would overcome Billions but ManU proved that passion is more than anything else in Football.They played the msot attractive football and were crowned champions, contrary to Chelsea in 2006 season where their championship was based on 1-0 victories.

Next season is going to be tough, there are clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal who haven't won anything this season so would prove too hard to crack and clubs like Spurs / Blackburn who would now want to move up to next level.

August 11 is the date and ManU is the team to watch our for. Let the god keep wolves in the forest and league cup with ManU.

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Money vs Passion

The world's favourite game is in a crisis, with more and more money pouring into the game from US, Russia and other Billionaries, the game itself has taken a back seat. It's high time that EPL govering body FA comes up with some cap on spending by clubs otherwise we would witness a slow death of a game which promises much more than probably people have realised.

Chelsea dominated last two seasons, thanks for the billions they got from Roman empire. Manchester United have started to prove the mettle this season by competing but can they cope? They play the most attractive football, they have the most charismatic players like Ronaldo, Giggs, Scholes, 20Legend, Larrson but when it comes to surviving the league, you need money and you need loads of it. Not all football clubs are rich, some have just gained promotion from championship and fail to attract big talents, with these imminent disadvantages if they have to face a prospect of getting relegated because they didn't have enough money to survive then it's very sad. I beg to differ that all players are costly, it's like Indian Real Estate, where everywhere you go you are hit by hyped prices. Gareth Bale who just realized that his four goals this season has attracted interestes from various clubs, is priced at 5 million and with more and more clubs fighting for this teenage star, the price would go up and he would eventually leave for more than that. So four goals > 5 million?

Money is required to keep things alive but in this case, it's destroying the game. If Manchester United wanted to boost midfield then they have to shell out atleast 20 million, now think of a club like Licester which is just worth about 25 million. So, how can a team like Licester compete against Manchester United? Every time Chelsea takes the field, they have 140 million worth of players in field and 70 million worth of players in the bench, nobody in the EPL (English Premier League) can match this but are we saying that only money can get you trophies?

Fortunately there are examples like Real Madrid, who inspite of attracting all high fliers are not able to win anything. Just a thought of playing against any one of Ronaldo, Robhinio, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Reyes, Beckham can send you crazy, imagine a team made of all these players and much more. The fact is, even with all these players Real Madrid has failed to win anything for the past 2-3 seasons. So at least in this case Money is not directly propotinate to Success.

So are we witnessing another Real Madrid in EPL? time will tell. Right now Manchester United are leading the league with six points and we are well beyond half way stage. Come May, the world will witness whether Money drives the game or passion.

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My first Car

I have decided to go for my first Car. Because of my budget and specifications, not many models were considered but I guess all middle class Indians would have same set of specifications like mine. Things that mattered to me was, in order of significance.

1. Price
2. Value for Money
3. Mileage
4. Comforts
5. Brand value

Very frankly, this is what you look for in your first Car and if you are in India, not many would come to your mind. The choices that were there for me were

1. Maruti 800
2. Maruti Alto
3. Indica XETA
4. Fiat Palio

The first one was knocked out because of its outdated image. The last one was knocked out because, I was getting a base model for my budget. The choices were two and I have decided to go in for XETA, here are some reviews on the same.

The day is not far off when I drive my Salsa Red XETA home. Watch this space for pictures.

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Weird Song

There is a new song making waves in Tamil Music. Much like what Crazy Frog did in UK. This song is here

Champions Trophy

With Champions Trohpy round the corner, it's hard to concentrate on anything else but when you take a step back to think of other things to concentrate on (sports wise) then Football is something that strikes you first.

For me Cricket was always second but I wonder how come people spend eight hours in front of TV. I used to do this when I was a kid but now it sounds illogical. Hoping that you are already convinced that you would watch Football, then you why don't you try follow Manchester United Vs FC Kopenhegan tonight live on Ten Sports from 12:15 AM. Tell me tomorrow, how you liked it?

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Leaving my second home

I am leaving Glasgow for Good after thirteen months of memorable stay. This place was like a heaven with small population, greenery, scenic beauty and all those things that you can't find back home, but home is home and I am thrilled just by the thought of it.

Bangalore would be my next destination and hopefully, I would get more time to pen down blogs regularly.

Thank you Glasgow for all the things you gave me.

Adios
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Wish you a happy Deepavali

Today is the festival of lights, you normally wake up hearing cracker sounds. When I was in India, I tried my best to be the first person to burst crackers but never succeeded. There were people who would not stop all through the night.

I am in UK now and for the first time in my life, I haven't heard even a "Usi Vedi" go burst.

Spirit lives and next time when I am back in India, I shall compensate for lost chances.

HAPPY DIWALI / DEEPAVALI !

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BLOG not recognizable

If you are a fellow blogger, then try this. In your post, try running a spell check on the word "Blog", does it recognize?

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Dho(ni) dala !

Everyone should stand up and give this man an applause, he stood up when masters, stars and even the wall collapsed. In my recent memory, I can't think of a more impressive innings like the one played by our wicket keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Can you remember of an Indian wicket keeper, who could match this innings. I can't, if you can post it in the comment and I shall disappear from my blog for two days.

I wasn't approval of the style which Dhoni adopts, to begin with but now I have to change my view point. Do we give too many weightage to style? In case of Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly, what we like is Stroke Play, Elegance and Timing which is very bookish. What can we say about Dhoni?. Can this be said, don't know

1. If you want to learn how to hit a straight drive, watch Tendulkar


2. If you want to learn how to play for eight hours in a test match, watch Dravid


3. If you want to learn how to dance down the pitch to an off-spinner, You should have watched Ganguly


4. If you want to learn how to play (whatever it takes) and make your team win, watch Sehwag and Dhoni

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Top Ten Tamil Songs for this week

I have been listening to them all and here is my pick, in no particular order

1. Pani Thuli - Kadhal Naal Mudhal


2. Merke Merke - Kadhal Naal Mudhal


3. Yaridamum - Thotti Jaya


4. Uyire an Uyire - Thotti Jaya


5. Saami Kitta Solliputten - Daas


6. Venilla - Ponnien Selvan


7. Anbe Aruyire - Ah Ah


8. Mayillrage - Ah Ah


9. Oru Maalai - Ghajni


10. Unnai Saran Adainthen - Thavamai Thavamirundhu

Tamil music rocks ! Happy listening

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India Seniors gets a beating

India A beat India seniors, two Indians who play for World XI fail to score hundred runs together in three matches. Are we saying here that a team who lost in finals some two years ago is the best we could produce. That's the difference between teams like Australia and India. Australia never settled after winning the world cup, they always plan ahead and think that they can do better each and every time they hit the pitch. Indians live in past glory (I don't know whether losing in finals is called glory?).

Indian selectors appoint a new coach, new physio and Gavaskar as batting coach but what about the selectors themselves, if we are not able to win any series after a remarkable run in the last world cup then whom to blame for. Are the selectors doing a decent job of picking the best eleven from an immense talent. Venugopala Rao who scored 98 in the match which India A won would go down the drain, Rayudu who guided India to a world cup victory for India U-19 has disappeared, Hemang Badani who always scores, when given a chance is nowhere to be seen, Murali Karthik who is considered to be the next Bishen Singh Bedi is always taken as 12th man.

Selectors are here to prove that they are doing the best and nothing more could be done. Whenever any doubt arises they divert the attention very tactfully, need for a bowling coach or finding a wicket keeper batsmen. It's time they take the responsibility of dip in form and resign. I am not a hardened cricket fan but my heart goes out for the millions of people who watch the game with passion with no result. Take football, coach always takes the responsibility of a team's performance and is ready to leave the club for it's betterment, should the need arise. Are we saying that there is no one to take responsibility of failures? We can only talk of best captains, highest run scorer, highest Indian wicket taker. When are we going to better these record holders? When are you going to create new records?

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N-GAGE

I got a Nokia phone today, it's Nokia N-GAGE. The phone designed for gamers. If you thought that it's more of a game device then phone, think twice.

It has...

• Bluetooth
  
• Symbian OS
  
• Media Player (Supports MP3 and WMA)
  
• Real Player
  
• FM Radio and Recorder
  
• Supports all applications on Symbian OS
  
• Has an extendable memory to support both applications and games
  
• Tri-band (would work in US)
  
• MMS Enabled
  
• GPRS
  

I wasn't looking for anything other than these,anyway. It's proving to be a good alternative for iPOD. Great phone, sorry device.

Read review here Click !

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Second time, lucky??

I am sad but I have to put down these in words now. I was a victim of racial abuse for the second time in three months. The incident shook me like anything, the whole day I was thinking about how safe this place is, though now I am over it but still it raises so many questions about this country that I have come to make my hay.

Is it really worth staying in this place, when

1. Your wife cries everyday talking to you.
   
2. You are away from your family, friends and relatives.
   
3. You can't participate in any of the function to share happiness or grief.
   
4. You can't go around freely, knowing that either the racist would catch you or the police.
   
5. You know at the back of your head that you are the odd man out.
   
6. Your skin suddenly becomes the differentiating factor
   
7. You start thinking of putting your heads down and walk as fast as possible to reach home.
   
8. You fear of talking in your language in public.
   

With so many odds against you, the only driving force is the money that you get at the end of the day. The money that would help you lead a decent life back home. I wish I leave this country forever and never come back. Just when I pen this down, I remember a song of Jacko, "All I want to say is that, they don't really care about us..."

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Some Soccer at last !

I was at one of the oldest club's (Celtic) shop in Glasgow over the weekend. It would take some time for me to shell out £60 for a replica top, so why not a photo, cheers.



Celtic nicknamed "Bhoys", is a club in Scotland who normally finishes in top two places in Scottish premier League. Founded in 1888, they boast of a rich tradition and players who become world beaters, most of them after leaving Celtic :-). They are still considered to be the best club in Scotland, though Rangers are soon catching up or by the time you read this, they are at par with Celtic, I don't want to get into this controversy, you will soon see why.

Celtic and Rangers are from the same city Glasgow and are arch rivals both on and off the field. It's something like India Vs Pakistan or Australia Vs England, may be little more than that. Since they are both from the same city, the action heats up whenever they meet in the championship, making Glasgow a not-so-safe place. Last weekend, the moment was there again, Rangers Vs Celtic at Ibrox (Rangers home ground). Incidentally Celtic also has their home ground Celtic Park in Glasgow, just few miles away from Ibrox. People who support Celtic restrained themselves from visiting Ibrox except from really brave souls. The match ended in Rangers winning the match 3-1 (Now you know, why I am not smiling in the photo)

After the match, we collected our strength to go around the city for shopping. Normally the roads which remains occupied by people with football colors, remained pale. All we could see was Rangers color (Blue), worse when we saw some Celtic fans with bruises. We sort of felt that the rivalry has been taken to a new level and first time I felt guilty of being passionate about football. More because I am a Celtic fan.

Recently Celtic was in new because they signed first ever Asian star Shunsuke Nakamura in SPL (Scottish Premier League). With players like J S Park, Nakamura and Al Karimi, making their mark in Europe, the day is not far off when we would see some Indian players make it to the top league.

One interesting fact is that it was an Indian from Calcutta who first made it to Celtic and was in news not because of his skills but he played bare footed. We Indians, know how to be in limelight, what say Suman?

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Two memorable years

Today I celebrate two years of my marriage.

Here are some posts that I relish...

1. Search for my better half starts
   
2. My first chance to travel with Gayathri
   
3. A night before our marriage

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Got a camera, Canon PowerShot A95

To get a glimpse of it go here http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a95.asp. It works like magic !

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Vegetable Briyani

I got a chance to prepare my first vegetable briyani. I went about asking Gayathri the receipe over the phone and noted down the steps. Here are the steps....

1. Nei uttukonam in cooker (Nei uttukonam - Put butter)
2. Inji poondu paste put and roast till smell goes away (Inji poondu - Ginger Garlic)
3. Carrot, potato, tomato, thakkali and koda molagai (thakkali - Tomato, koda molagai - Capsicum)
4. Manja podi, Molaga podi (3 spoons), 3 tea spoons of oil - (Manja pudi - Turmeric Powder, Molaga podi - Chilli Powder)
5. Kalaru - Stir
6. Thayir one cup, stir till pachcha vasanai goes away (Thayir - Curd, pachcha vasanai - smell of garlic)
7. Basmati rice, three cups, 3.5 cup of water
8. Uppu potu mudi vaingo - Add salt to taste and close the lid
9. Aana appuram, mudi eduthu, koththamalli podu - Once boiled, remove the lid and put coriander

I messed up a little with the amount of curd but otherwise the Briyani was mouth watering.

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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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