Federer's record 5th Wimbledon win

I was waiting for the final to start at 4 p.m. Romanian time (2 p.m. BST) - fortunately the Satander British Grandprix's results was clear by the time the match started - After holding the serve in the first service game, Fedex broke Rafa's service game and then held on to race to 3-0. At that point, I was thinking that it is the end of the road for Rafa and Fedex, the King on grass is going to put up a much better performance than his quarter final against Juan Carlos Ferrero which he won in four sets. But, Rafa did not let the championship to go by and broke Fedex to take the first set to tie break. Fedex though failed to convert his first 3 set points, finally converted to take the set.

Rafa mixed up his volleys very well and I couldn't believe myself after seeing this guy play this way. I was under the impression that he would be an easy meat to Fedex. He broke Fedex when he was serving to stay in the set and won the second set 6-4. The third one was interestingly poised and in the tie breaker, Fedex mixed his serves well and won it comfortably. Again, at this point, Fedex proved to be supreme and the way he was progressing gave an impression that he would take the championships in four sets. But, Rafa had other plans. He broke first and then again, this time, the Hawkeye irking Fedex to take the set 6-2 and taking the championship to the fifth set. C'mon guys - I was planning to take Indu & Pranav for shopping and had asked the driver to come home at 7.30 p.m. hoping Fedex will complete in 4 sets. It was 7.15 p.m. and both me and Indu did not have any plans for shopping. We even thought to send the car back. Into the final set, I initially thought the way these guys go, it would not be settled in the maximum 12 games and would go further.

There the genius in Fedex rose and broke Rafa to take a lead in the final set. He again broke Rafa to win the final set 6-2, thus allowing us to leave at 8 p.m. for shopping. The line umpire then announced what we have heard in the last four years - Game, Set, Match & Championship : Roger Federer. It was a great win and he has equalled Bjorn Borg. Will he be able to break Borg's record is a question which I have started pondering on. I can't wait till next summer to see the showdown between Fedex, who should go for his sixth straight Wimbledon crown and a much improved Rafa !

Fedex after having taken 11 titles forces me to compare him with Pete Sampras. Both are champions during their peak. I don't fully agree with Nirmal Shekar that Sampras would have been better on grass than Fedex. Sampras had to meet great opponents like Agassi, Boris Becker, Ivanisevic and Rafter, but then Philippoussis, Roddick and Nadal are also great. Philippoussis with his serves could frustrate you and so is Nadal, when he proved on 8th July 2007. But, Fedex has stamped his class even in clay, when he reached the finals of French Open, where Pete could not go beyond 4th round.

Are Brahmins the Dalits of Today ?

A fine article by Francois Gautier that I came across in rediff.com.

At a time when the Congress government wants to raise the quota for Other Backward Classes to 49.5 per cent in private and public sectors, nobody talks about the plight of the upper castes. The public image of the Brahmins, for instance, is that of an affluent, pampered class. But is it so today?

Doctors in arms

There are 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi; all of them are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins (this very welcome public institution was started by a Brahmin). A far cry from the elitist image that Brahmins have!
There are five to six Brahmins manning each Shauchalaya. They came to Delhi eight to ten years back looking for a source of income, as they were a minority in most of their villages, where Dalits are in majority (60 per cent to 65 per cent). In most villages in UP and Bihar, Dalits have a union which helps them secure jobs in villages.

At Ground Zero of the quota protests

Did you know that you also stumble upon a number of Brahmins working as coolies at Delhi's railway stations? One of them, Kripa Shankar Sharma, says while his daughter is doing her Bachelors in Science he is not sure if she will secure a job.
"Dalits often have five to six kids, but they are confident of placing them easily and well," he says. As a result, the Dalit population is increasing in villages. He adds: "Dalits are provided with housing, even their pigs have spaces; whereas there is no provision for gaushalas (cowsheds) for the cows of the Brahmins."

The middle class deserves what it is getting

You also find Brahmin rickshaw pullers in Delhi. 50 per cent of Patel Nagar's rickshaw pullers are Brahmins who like their brethren have moved to the city looking for jobs for lack of employment opportunities and poor education in their villages.
Even after toiling the whole day, Vijay Pratap and Sidharth Tiwari, two Brahmin rickshaw pullers, say they are hardly able to make ends meet. These men make about Rs 100 to Rs 150 on an average every day from which they pay a daily rent of Rs 25 for their rickshaws and Rs 500 to Rs 600 towards the rent of their rooms which is shared by 3 to 4 people or their families.
Did you also know that most rickshaw pullers in Banaras are Brahmins?

Do our institutes connect with the real India?

This reverse discrimination is also found in bureaucracy and politics. Most of the intellectual Brahmin Tamil class has emigrated outside Tamil Nadu. Only 5 seats out of 600 in the combined UP and Bihar assembly are held by Brahmins -- the rest are in the hands of the Yadavs.
400,000 Brahmins of the Kashmir valley, the once respected Kashmiri Pandits, now live as refugees in their own country, sometimes in refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi in appalling conditions. But who gives a damn about them? Their vote bank is negligible.
And this is not limited to the North alone. 75 per cent of domestic help and cooks in Andhra Pradesh are Brahmins. A study of the Brahmin community in a district in Andhra Pradesh (Brahmins of India by J Radhakrishna, published by Chugh Publications) reveals that today all purohits live below the poverty line.
Eighty per cent of those surveyed stated that their poverty and traditional style of dress and hair (tuft) had made them the butt of ridicule. Financial constraints coupled with the existing system of reservations for the 'backward classes' prevented them from providing secular education to their children.

Who are the real Dalits of India?

In fact, according to this study there has been an overall decline in the number of Brahmin students. With the average income of Brahmins being less than that of non-Brahmins, a high percentage of Brahmin students drop out at the intermediate level. In the 5 to 18 year age group, 44 per cent Brahmin students stopped education at the primary level and 36 per cent at the pre-matriculation level.
The study also found that 55 per cent of all Brahmins lived below the poverty line -- below a per capita income of Rs 650 a month. Since 45 per cent of the total population of India is officially stated to be below the poverty line it follows that the percentage of destitute Brahmins is 10 per cent higher than the all-India figure.
There is no reason to believe that the condition of Brahmins in other parts of the country is different. In this connection it would be revealing to quote the per capita income of various communities as stated by the Karnataka finance minister in the state assembly: Christians Rs 1,562, Vokkaligas Rs 914, Muslims Rs 794, Scheduled castes Rs 680, Scheduled Tribes Rs 577 and Brahmins Rs 537.
Appalling poverty compels many Brahmins to migrate to towns leading to spatial dispersal and consequent decline in their local influence and institutions. Brahmins initially turned to government jobs and modern occupations such as law and medicine. But preferential policies for the non-Brahmins have forced Brahmins to retreat in these spheres as well.

Caste shouldn't overwrite merit

According to the Andhra Pradesh study, the largest percentage of Brahmins today are employed as domestic servants. The unemployment rate among them is as high as 75 per cent. Seventy percent of Brahmins are still relying on their hereditary vocation. There are hundreds of families that are surviving on just Rs 500 per month as priests in various temples (Department of Endowments statistics).
Priests are under tremendous difficulty today, sometimes even forced to beg for alms for survival. There are innumerable instances in which Brahmin priests who spent a lifetime studying Vedas are being ridiculed and disrespected.
At Tamil Nadu's Ranganathaswamy Temple, a priest's monthly salary is Rs 300 (Census Department studies) and a daily allowance of one measure of rice. The government staff at the same temple receive Rs 2,500 plus per month. But these facts have not modified the priests' reputation as 'haves' and as 'exploiters.' The destitution of Hindu priests has moved none, not even the parties known for Hindu sympathy.
The tragedy of modern India is that the combined votes of Dalits/OBC and Muslims are enough for any government to be elected. The Congress quickly cashed in on it after Independence, but probably no other government than Sonia Gandhi's has gone so far in shamelessly dividing Indian society for garnering votes.

From the Indian Express: 'These measures will not achieve social justice'

The Indian government gives Rs 1,000 crores (Rs 10 billion) for salaries of imams in mosques and Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) as Haj subsidies. But no such help is available to Brahmins and upper castes. As a result, not only the Brahmins, but also some of the other upper castes in the lower middle class are suffering in silence today, seeing the minorities slowly taking control of their majority.

How reservations fracture Hindu society

Anti-Brahminism originated in, and still prospers in anti-Hindu circles. It is particularly welcome among Marxists, missionaries, Muslims, separatists and Christian-backed Dalit movements of different hues. When they attack Brahmins, their target is unmistakably Hinduism.
So the question has to be asked: are the Brahmins (and other upper castes) of yesterday becoming the Dalits of today?

Pranav's First Birthday

Pranav had his first birthday in two places - India and Romania. As we follow the stars, his star birthday was on 15th June. It was a big occassion - Pranav made it even big as he was a boy ! Don't get perplexed. I dont have gender bias. It is a belief that if your son's son is blessed with a son and he completes one year, it is a blessing by God. I'm not sure whether it has to be the first child all the way. Well, my Grandmother was blessed this way - my father was her first child, i was first for my dad and so is Pranav for me. If it confusing, lets ignore it. To celebrate this, kanakabhishekam (abhishekam which is pouring water is done with Gold) is generally performed. My grandma was holding Pranav when water was poured through a tray which had Gold.

Ayush Homam was done as a prayer to give Pranav a good health and long life. We also had the western style with Surekha arranging for cake cutting - a special backdrop was setup in the portico of our house. If not for Pranav, then for whom.... Surekha's friends, our relatives, my in-laws and Surekha's attended... He did not cry inspite of waking him up early - was very cooperative and was also worn a silk dhoti (pattu veshti).

Then Pranav had a birthday party at Rachita, Galati, Romania. It was in the evening of 26th June 2007. Extensive preprations were done - return gifts for the kids, return gifts for the family members (instead of the thamboolam), preparation of food etc. Pranav as usual did not sleep properly. The party was to start at 8 p.m. and he was feeling sleepy much earlier. Somehow, we managed to hold him and he was playing with the kids till 9.30 p.m. after which he slept on my shoulders for the first time. Somebody had to hold him and I was helped by many of my colleagues... He got up at 10.30 p.m. and was playing till 11.30 p.m. when we left the restaurant which was the venue of the party. After we went home, he opened all the gifts and started playing with them before finally going to bed at 1 a.m.

We had a gala time during his birthday party celebrations.....

Two more days to go !!

Its just two more days to go for my trip to India.. Haiyya, Jolly !!!!

SLANIC MOLDOVA

An official picnic was planned to Slanic Moldova, a place which is about 250 Kms from Galati was planned for 12th May. As Pranav was not well and the distance was more, he was left out and I left with the colleagues.

We started at around 7.30 a.m. in a horrible Mercedes bus. As I was among the last few to enter the bus, I remembered my good old school days as a back bencher and took a seat, which was couple of seats from the last seat. Unlike India, the bus had its engine in the back and I had to enjoy the "music" of the engine throughout the journey. After picking up the last colleague at 8 a.m., the bus set on its journey. We stopped for about 15 mts at around 10.15 a.m. to have some breakfast and then proceeded. Enroute, there was a salt cave (they call it salt mine and I did not see any mine there) and we visited it. Reached the cave at around 11.45 a.m. From the road, a minibus takes us to the mine (through caves and the distance was about 3 kms). Nothing so great inside other than salt on the walls (I dont get the exact word) of the cave. After spending about an hour and a half, we proceeded to Slanic Moldova.

Slanic Moldova is a picturesque mountain and has lot of hot water springs. Water has some chemical content and there were about a dozen different types of water. I tried to experiment and taste the different types of water. Some were sweet, some were very salty, but it was a different experience. I had requested my colleague to take a picture of mine after drinking one of the worst waters. It was totally salty and I felt I drank the water from the sea. Later, was told by another colleague that some waters are not for drinking, but for external application. Fortunately did not have any problem later.

After walking through the woods for more than an hour, did a quick shopping. Bought a bear for Pranav and a souvenir. We then proceeded to have lunch. The organiser told me that she had specifically arranged some vegetarian stuff for me. We sat on the lunch table and I was having water for about an hour before I got my special drink (multivitamin juice !!) . I got my lunch at 4.30 a.m. Just had some maggi for breakfast and an orange and a kitkat enroute. Had a go at the mammaliga as well as the boiled vegetables.

Later, we spent an hour or so, burning some calories by playing volleyball. The best part was the climax. When we planned to leave, I was waiting near the bus at around 6.45 p.m. for my colleagues to settle the bill. It was found that the credit card machine was not reading the card and we could not effect the payment. Asked the bus to leave and three of us stayed back trying to sort out the card payment. The hotel personnel were not ready to believe us or the company name saying that earlier big companies have cheated them. We had to go back to Slanic Moldova which is about 4 kms, withdraw money from the ATM and then pay before proceeding. Finally left the place at 8 p.m. and reached home by 10.45 p.m. and had dinner.

A fitting climax to a beautiful day !!

Good Joke, Sunny

Sunil Gavaskar has made a statement that Indian Cricket should be happy that Greg Chappell has gone and has gone to the extent of saying that if he is employed by Australian Cricket Academy, even a team like Ireland will defeat Australia. I have many objections here Sir !

a) How can you undermine Ireland ? They have defeated Pakistan, who were World Cup champions once. They also defeated handsdown Bangladesh, who threw out Men in Blue. So, on their day, they can even defeat the present Australian team.

b) How come you criticise Greg Chappell. You were the one who selected him against Daisy Haynes, Jimmy Amarnath and Tom Moody.. And you are again selected by BCCI to select the next coach - which means can we hear the same fumes like you have done with Chappell..

Dont take us for a ride by making such ridiculous statements. If you want to select a good coach, take a history of their coaching skills and also personality atleast this time and not their presentation skills.

RAHUL BABA MORIYA

As the blog is coloured in green, one should now get a feeling on what Rahul i'm talking of... My first blog on Politics.. Rahul baba as he is "affectionately" called by the Prime Minister and a handful of his party supporters.. With his Columbian girlfriend, he was caught with drugs, but escaped.. Now, he talks all non-sense in UP. If his family was in power, they would not have allowed Babri Masjid to be demolished - do you mean to say that a stupid guy like you would have managed the show better than the eminent scholar, Narasimha Rao. Then came the most important statement - "humara parivaarne Pakistan ko thoda" - our family broke Pakistan - for the last 35 years (immediately after he was born), Indian Governments have constantly argued with their Pakistani Counterparts that they had no role to play in the 1971 war - now this guy is playing with the peace process in Pakistan - all for what - vote of muslims.. I don't know when these guys will stop this approach and talk for the voters and not for votes ! Inshaallah ! Give them some brain !!!

Mr. Murthy, mind your words

Dear Mr. N.R.Narayana Murthy,

You are a learned and intelligent businessman of the country. I sometimes see the way you and your friends have brought up Infosys. I will not give the whole credit to you as is done by some others, because, others have also given their best for upliftment of Infosys. I know that you are a IIT Graduate and also a member in the Board of RBI. But, what is wrong with you ? Is it that age is catching up ?? Sometimes you give lecture as if you are God ! I hate to read your lectures, though you have many admirers. You talk as if you are the best employer in the world - how many Infy employees you have discussed with ? The discontent among them is the highest in IT industry today.

Leave alone your professional side. What made you make a statement that as there are lot of foreigners and hence only the instrumental national anthem is to be played. I'm an NRI and I respect the traditions and the practices of the country I'm living in. In case your guests are not ready to appreciate such facts, let them leave the country. You talk English as if that you were born and brought up in Michigan. But, you studied in Mysore university. You may embrace American style but don't force the President of our country to embrace it.

For heaven's sake, do not take the position of President of India. Mr. Kalam has done a lot for the country, but you have done nothing and you are not capable of holding such position. This my appeal and hope you will heed to it.

Thanks & best regards,

Arun Ganapathy

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, GREG

Mr. Gregory Stephen Chappell, I wish to thank you for trying your best to screw up the Indian Cricket team and my special kudos for being successful to a great extent. M/s. Sunny Gavaskar, Venkatraghavan and Ravi Shastri thought that they were interviewing you for the post of commentator but then selected you as the Coach in May 2005 purely based on your presentation skills and not on coaching skills. Though Tom Moody lost out in the race, he was successful in taking Srilanka through to the Super Eights and as I feel now, even to the semi-finals. Jimmy Amarnath, the man, millions of Indians consider as their hero of 1983 when Kapil Devils were crowned World champions may have lost to you on the English / Presentation skills, but our "desi" coach could have made a big difference.. Daisy Haynes knew the ground realities in Windies and could have been better than you atleast for the World Cup ! You have pocketed millions of dollars, but the hard fact is that India was knocked out of first round by Bangladesh ! (Thankfully, they won against Bermuda)

Greg, you did not only ensure that India lost in the first round of World Cup, but also screwed up the team spirit ! Kapil Devils won just because they were a "team"... Compare the batting line up of the Indian team of '83 with the team that lost in the first round in '07.. Openers Kris Srikkanth and Sunny Gavaskar were two different players - one going for the kill from ball one and the other steadying the innings on the other end. You too had similar, with Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly. The middle order of '83 was packed with ever dependable Jimmy Amarnath, explosive Sandeep Patil, Yashpal Sharma and Kirti Azad. You too had "Jammy" Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virendar Sehwag. Dhoni replaces Kirmani.. '83 had Sandhu, Madan Lal and Binny to take care of so-called medium pace and you had Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel to do the job... Haryana hurricane and captain Kapil and Harbhajan Singh from neighbouring Punjab is the one and only difference.. So, what made your guys slump against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.. I still can't understand the logic of having Bhajji against Sri Lanka in place of "Jumbo" Kumble who tormented the Bermudians in the only match he played. Bhajji was out of sorts in the match against Bangladesh also...

Fine Greg, let me put this World Cup out from my memory for a while.. I wanted to write a open letter to you on other aspects during your horrible two year stint with the Indian Team. You threw out Sourav Ganguly from the team - the reasons though have come in bits and pieces, nobody knew the true story.. But, whatever it was Dada proved you wrong when he came back strongly with many half centuries.. I don't fault him for one bad game against Sri Lanka, but his comeback is the best. I also felt that he should have had a break - but that was too long than expected. Why Sehwag did not get the same treatment ? What was the treatment you met out to the young Irfan Pathan - he was kept guessing till the eleventh hour whether he would catch the flight to Windies and finally he had only to carry the drinks bottle throughout the World Cup. Ajit Agarkar could not even get a wicket with the new ball even against Bermuda and the team managment retain him for the match against Sri Lanka.

Last not but the least, Greg.. You spoke more than what you achieved. I agree that your speaking and presentation skills got you the job, but, what did you do to the team - the spirit was off. You tried to play spoilsport between Laxman and Dada and finally you say that you were fearing for your life. You Aussies fear for everything. After spending almost two years in India, do you still have such fear ? We give vent to our feelings and emotions but not go to the extreme. If we were like what you had thought, then your middle finger would have been amputated long back when you showed it to our fans in Kolkata ! Never do such things to Asians - we are sentimental !!

All the best for your future - please for heaven's sake do not take up any other assignment with BCCI and keep some distance from Indian cricket so that you can have a healthy life. Hope BCCI will leave the interest in a "foreigner" and start thinking that Indians are best in all fields.. Though I started this blog on 24th March after India lost to Srilanka, due to time constraints completing only now !

COMMUNICATION TODAY

I'm just wondering how the telecom companies make money after SKYPE or Google Talk or even Yahoo / MSN Messenger have taken the communication system.. Cant imagine that i'm sitting in Romania almost 4000 miles away from my home.. But, never we miss talking to each other.. More than an hour a day we (not me, but Indu and Pranav) keep talking to them - with webcam around, they keep seeing the mischief done by Pranav.. He has completed 7 months now, but I dont think my father has missed any of his movements. If there is no webcam, there is YOUTUBE - videos of his new movements are uploaded and viewed ! How the communication has improved. I remember, not long back, just 8 years ago, standing in front of a STD Booth in Mettur and that too in queue to call my parents, who, at that time did not have a telephone at residence and had to wait in our neighbour's house. Today, either you are in a shopping mall or a toilet, you can be reached by mobile. My mother had to go all alone from Romania to India (Bucharest to India) by transitting via Frankfurt - a mobile with her with a balance of $15 in it was all she carried. She landed safe in Frankfurt and informed us - no problem whatsoever, she found the gate and reached Chennai without any fuss. Had it not been for this mobile, I would have gone to drop her atleast in Frankfurt spending atleast 30 times more !! Let us see how communications develop further !!!

EVERY GREAT SPORTSMAN HAS A FALL !

The topic may look wierd, and being written on the 1001st day of Roger Federer's No. 1 rankings in men's tennis is not to discourage Fedex, but to bring the reality.. Wish that he continues for another 2000 days like this... Also the blog is not on tennis, but on road races... Guessed it right, on the Grand Prixs and Rallies.. How many of us would have expected Valentino Rossi to miss the bus the day Fedex completed 1000 days as No. 1. For those like me who saw the race live on television, the message is loud and clear - every great sportsman has a fall - yeah, the fall meant Rossi finishing "unlucky" at 13 and ultimately missing the crown he held for 5 years. Did the followers of Moto GP thought that Valentino would allow Toni Elias to overtake him in the final straight at Portugal to take the top honours - he lost valuable 5 points there - else he would have atleast tied up with Nicky Hayden ! Should I call all these things as bad luck or the end of the road for the champion !

Lets move out from Moto GP to Moto Racing, the formula 1. The king of F1 has surrendered his throne. Schumi, a seven time champion has lost for the second consecutive time to Fernando Alonso. Though his manufacturers did not support him in the first half of the year, he came back strongly and gave stiff competition to Nando !! But, an engine failure (the last being in 2001) in Japan denied him a crown and forced him to go to Brazil with a hope that his competitor's engine also fails !! But, his bad luck continued - a fuel leak during qualifying ensured that he starts from P10 on the grid - hold on, his bad luck did not leave him there - when he moved from P10 to P5, a puncture on the rear tyre ensured he is done - finally finishing a brave 4th.. But, it would have done a world of good had he made his exit from F1 by winning in Brazil.

Why should I leave the other road racer who is on his high - yeah, he is on course (sorry, already assured) for his third consecutive crown.. Kudos for getting it right - Sebastian Loeb will the WRC champion of 2006, having held it in 2004 and 2005 as well... Hope the day of his fall comes much later, atleast after he also completes 5 consecutive crowns like Rossi and Schumi and lets pray Fedex continues his best form for years !!

Micheal Schumacher is a great racer ! Oh sorry.. Who am I to write like that.. Winning 8 races in a span of 16 years is unimaginable.. I'm writing this blog when he is on par with Alonso in points for the 2006 championship, but I believe he would rise again in Suzuka and Brazil to win the championship in style..

Schumi's winning started off in 1994 when he was driving for Benetton.. I did not watch him during those days, but started concentrating from 2000 or 2001. He really impressed me at the first instance, may be, because it was during his peak period.. Though lot is said about his sportsmanship etc., he held forte for 5 years in succession till 2004. Now that he wants to sign off in style, when he is at his peak which I too agree. Some greats like Lance Armstrong, Andre Agassi or even Zinedane Zidane (albeit his head butting incident with Materazzi) have retired in style very recently, the retirement of Schumi will be talked for years..

Ferrari & Scuderia have become famous because of this "Demi God". Will there be a replacement for him or will there be competition in the future. It is a million dollar question which cannot be answered by anyone. Though Schumi has done a lot, his Rally counterpart, Sebastian Loeb's achievements have not gone unnoticed. Though it is not a spectator sport, Loeb was ruling WRC when Schumi ruled F1. Formula 1 attracts millions of fans worldwide and the popularity of the sport in fareast speaks of itself.

You may retire today, but, Schumi your achievements will last much longer ! May God Bless you !!

26th June 2006

I was in the corridor of Krishna Hospital.. Indu was taken to the labour ward at around 7 in the morning. I did not have the courage to go and see her suffering the pain. Holding my breath, I went once, but came back in 5 minutes. Doctor informed around 4 p.m. IST that we can wait for another half an hour else need to operate.. Around 4.30, she was taken to the operation theatre.. I was standing outside the operation theatre like a mad man not knowing what to do... After about 10 minutes, heard the sound of a child.. My joy knew no bounds.. Was very happy and could not remember any other day in my life when i was so happy - not even the day me and Indu decided to get married.. Yeah.. 4.40 p.m. (IST) on 26th June 2006, Pranav was born.. The day and moments which will be in front of my eyes throughout my life.. My friends who are running around with young kids tell me, lets wait and see how Pranav makes you run around..