Sandeep Gupta

Golden Chain Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:18:00 +0000

The son of a rich bullion merchant left home on the death of his father. All he had with him was a gold chain that consisted of 148 links.
He rented a place in the city center with a shop at the lower level and an apartment at the upper level. He was required to pay every week one link of the gold chain as rent for the place. The landlady told him that she wanted one link of the gold chain at the end of one week, two gold links at the end of two weeks, three gold links at the end of three weeks and so on.
The son realized that he had to cut the links of the gold chain to pay the weekly rent.
Also consider that when any chain is broken to get links, three links are obtained, two partitions and one link from which chain was broken.

If the son wished to rent the place for 148 weeks, what would be the minimum number of links he would need to cut?

Happy Birthday!

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:53:00 +0000

A Soldier's Wish

Sandeep Gupta — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:31:00 +0000

One Fine Day

Sandeep Gupta — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:07:00 +0000

Your Smile

Sandeep Gupta — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:43:00 +0000

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 08:50:00 +0000

Happy Birthday!

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 18:48:00 +0000

To Live!

Sandeep Gupta — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 22:15:00 +0000

The Adam and the God Guess me puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:13:00 +0000

Adam, God made out of dust

But thought it best to make me first,

So I was made before man

To answer God's most Holy plan.

A living being I became

And Adam gave to me my name.

I from his presence then withdrew

And more of Adam never knew.

I did my Maker's law obey

Nor ever went from it astray.

Thousands of miles I go in fear

But seldom on earth appear.

For purpose wise God did see,

He put a living soul in me.

A soul from me God did claim

And took from me the soul again.

So when from me the soul had fled

I was the same as when first made.

And without hands, or feet, or soul,

I travel on from pole to pole.

I labor hard by day, by night

To fallen man I give great light.

Thousands of people, young and old

Will by my death great light behold.

No right or wrong can I conceive

The scripture I cannot believe.

Although my name therein is found

They are to me an empty sound.

No feat of death doth trouble me

Real happiness I'll never see.

To Heaven I shall never go

Or to Hell below.

Now when these lines you slowly read,

Go search your Bible with all speed

For that my name is written there

I do honestly to you declare.

What Am I?

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Time

Sandeep Gupta — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:42:00 +0000

Match and Lemon-aid Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sandeep Gupta) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:30:00 +0000

Match and Lemon-aid Puzzle

A man in a restaurant asked a waiter for a juice glass, a dinner plate, water, a match, and a lemon wedge. The man poured enough water onto the plate to cover it.

"If you can get the water on the plate into this glass without touching or moving this plate, I will give you $100," the man said. "You can use the match and lemon to do this."

A few minutes later, the waiter walked away with $100 in his pocket. How did the waiter get the water into the glass?

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License to Kill Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sandeep Gupta) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:00:00 +0000

License to Kill Riddle

Inspector Ixolite of the Yard was investigating a murder at Nottonmye Manor. It was a difficult case, and Ixolite was completely stumped until he noticed a message sent to him by the killer cunningly hidden in a newspaper advertisement selling Car Licence Plates.
Inspector Ixolite thought about it for a while, and when he had solved the puzzle, immediately arrested the guilty man.

Now answer these :
Q1) How did Ixolite know the advert was a clue for him?
Q2) Solve the code and tell me who Ixolite arrested.

Following is the newspaper advert (Car license plates for sale) that Inspector Ixolite saw.

Plates For Sale
[W 05 NWO]
[H 13 HSR ]
[O 05 EBM]
[D 08 UNE]
[U 10 HTY]
[N 04 BRE]
[N 16 TTE]
[I 26 LHC ]
[T 10 AEE]
[I 26 CNA]
[X 22 VDA]

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The truth of life... 10 advices from Bill Gates to the world

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:05:00 +0000

The truth of life... 10 advices from Bill Gates to the world

1. “Life is not fair - get used to it.”
-> The world is never fair. You know this? You can never change the whole world. Injustice still exists in the current society, so you should try to adapt.

2. “The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.”
-> Your extreme self-esteem may make your job inconvenient. Don't attach too much significance on your self-esteem as people care about your achievements rather than it.

3. “You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with car phone, until you earn both.”
-> Normally you can't be rich if you have just finished high school. However to become an executive, you need to obtain both: a high school certificate and the money.

4. “If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.”
-> Don’t complain that your boss is tough. When you are at school, your teachers always stand by you whenever you meet problems. However if you have thought that all your problems really come from the hard requirements of your teachers, you shouldn't look for a job. Simply if there aren't strict demands from your company, you will do nothing and quickly become unemployed. Then nobody will give you a hand.

5. “If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.”
-> Don't blame your failure on your destiny. All you need now is to stay calm and start from scratch.

6. “Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.”
-> You should show your gratefulness to your parents for spending most of their lives for your living and growth. All the “outdated” of your parents today is the price they have to pay for your growth.

7. “Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life may not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.”
-> Keep in mind that you can always become a leader, so that you will have more motivation to strive for your career.

8. “Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.”
-> Don’t always wait for holidays or you will be left behind your colleagues. That backwardness means elimination and unemployment.

9. “Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.”
-> Everybody likes watching TV, but you shouldn't watch it too much. As that actually isn't your life and your thinking will be influenced. You yourself have to determine your own life.

10. “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.”
-> You should be nice to everyone. Life has happenings you could never expect. Be open to your boss, don’t say bad things behind his back as it will bring you nowhere.

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Fork in the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Sandeep Gupta) — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:06:00 +0000

A logician vacationing in the Bahamas finds himself on an island inhabited by two proverbial tribes of liars and truth-tellers. Members of one tribe always speak the truth, while other always lie. He stands at the fork of a road (a Tee-junction) and has to ask a bystander which leg he needs to follow to reach the village. He knows not whether the native is a truth-teller or a liar. The logician thinks for a moment and then asks only one question. What does he ask?

Random

Sandeep Gupta — Sat, 15 May 2010 20:00:00 +0000

I Sail!

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:47:00 +0000

Evenstar!

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:10:00 +0000

Tid Bits

Sandeep Gupta — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:15:00 +0000

A Little

Sandeep Gupta — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Prisoner's Hat Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sandeep Gupta) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:43:00 +0000

Four prisoners are caught and are to be punished. The judge allows them to be freed if they can solve a puzzle. If they do not, they will be hanged. They all agree.

The four prisoners are lined up on some steps (shown below). They are all facing in the same direction. A wall separates the fourth prisoner from the other three.

To summarize:-
Man 1 can see men 2 and 3.
Man 2 can see man 3.
Man 3 can see none of the others.
Man 4 can see none of the others.

The prisoners are wearing hats. They are told that there are two white hats and two black hats. The men initially don't know what colour hat they are wearing. They are told to shout out the color of the hat that they are wearing as soon as they know for certain what colour it is.

They are not allowed to turn round or move.
They are not allowed to talk to each other.
They are not allowed to take their hats off.
Who is the first person to shout out and why?

Princess of Egypt!

Sandeep Gupta — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:29:00 +0000

Seven!

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:25:00 +0000

Birthday wishes for me!

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:25:00 +0000

Best of Luck!!!

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:10:00 +0000

My Un-Innovative Friend ;)

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:02:00 +0000

Happy Birthday!!!

Sandeep Gupta — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A Promise

Sandeep Gupta — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Love Score

Sandeep Gupta — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:28:00 +0000

The Hope

Sandeep Gupta — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:33:00 +0000

Christmas Tree Puzzle Solution

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:15:00 +0000

Christmas Tree Puzzle Solution

Four angels sat on the Christmas tree amidst other ornaments. Two had blue halos and two – yellow. However, none of them could see above his head. Angel A sat on the top branch and could see the angels B and C, who sat below him. Angel B, could see angel C who sat on the lower branch. And angel D stood at the base of the tree obscured from view by a thicket of branches, so no one could see him and he could not see anyone either.

Which one of them could be the first to guess the color of his halo and speak it out loud for all other angels to hear?

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Solution 1

If angels B and C had aureole of the same color, then angel A must have immediately said his own color (other then theirs)

Solution 2

If angels B and C had different colors, then angel A must have been silent and that would have been a signal for angel B, who could know (looking at angel C) what his own color is (the other one then C had).

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Lateral Thinking
Brain Teasers

Answer : Lateral Thinking - The Elevator Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:06:00 +0000

Answer : Lateral Thinking - The Elevator Puzzle

A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator -- or if it was raining that day -- he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment.

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Solution
The man is a dwarf. He can't reach the upper elevator buttons, but he can ask people to push them for him. He can also push them with his umbrella.

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More Lateral Thinking
More Brain Teasers

Christmas Tree Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:15:00 +0000

Christmas Tree Puzzle

Four angels sat on the Christmas tree amidst other ornaments. Two had blue halos and two – yellow. However, none of them could see above his head. Angel A sat on the top branch and could see the angels B and C, who sat below him. Angel B, could see angel C who sat on the lower branch. And angel D stood at the base of the tree obscured from view by a thicket of branches, so no one could see him and he could not see anyone either.
Which one of them could be the first to guess the color of his halo and speak it out loud for all other angels to hear?

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The Longing

Sandeep Gupta — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Lateral Thinking - The Elevator Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Lateral Thinking - The Elevator Puzzle

A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator -- or if it was raining that day -- he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment.

Why does the person follow such a way to go to his apartment?
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More Lateral Thinking
More Brain Teasers

The Proposal

Sandeep Gupta — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Portrait of a Friend

Sandeep Gupta — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:10:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:24:00 +0000
Answer to No Sunrise Lateral Thinking Puzzle

In the middle of the night a man gets out of bed, walks to the yard and puts something in a bag. He then gets in his car, drives across town to his friend's house and rings the doorbell. His friend answers and the man says, "Here, you wanted it, so its yours." The man then smiles and drives home. As a result of all this, though, he never sees another sunrise in his life (but yes, he is alive).
How can you explain this? Now think laterally don't go by all what is given!!

Solution:
The man put his rooster in the bag and gave it to the friend who had admired it. Now he could sleep in peace at last until well after sunrise.
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The count puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:16:00 +0000

The count puzzle

The puzzle is too simple, you just need to fill in the blanks below.
The number of 0 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 1 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 2 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 3 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 4 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 5 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 6 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 7 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 8 in this whole puzzle is ......
The number of 9 in this whole puzzle is ......
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Prime Number Upside down

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Prime Number upside down

If you type the prime 3217001 on a calculator and hold it upside down, you can read the word "IDOLIZE", provided you accept that '0' can be both "D" and "O". Are there any larger primes that become a meaningful word when read upside down like this?
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Rumour-mongers Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:48:00 +0000

Rumour-mongers Puzzle

You surely need me to make a point sound
I could save time or ease your workday
Rumour-mongers in the market pass me around
When you are satisfied you give me away.

What am I?

Golf Tally Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:23:00 +0000

Golf Tally Puzzle

Three friends played golf together regularly all season. At the end of the season they tallied up their scores and compared them to see who had done the best overall. As a result, a heated discussion broke out as to who really did do the best.

David pointed out that he had finished ahead of Robert more often than he had finished behind him.
Robert countered that he had finished ahead of Bailey more often than he had finished behind him.
Bailey claimed that he had finished ahead of David more often than he had finished behind him.

All of the statements are true, how could this be?
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Rungs under water puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Rungs under water puzzle

A boat has a ladder that has six rungs, each rung is one foot apart. The bottom rung is one foot from the water. The tide rises at 12 inches every 15 minutes. Assume high tide peaks in one hour.

When the tide is at it's highest, how many rungs are under water?
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Solution to Railroad Bridge Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:48:00 +0000

Solution to the Railroad Bridge Puzzle posted on 27th July 2008

Click here to view the the puzzle

There is a low railroad bridge in your town. One day you see a large truck stopped just before the underpass. When you asked the driver what has happened, the driver tells you that his truck is one inch higher than the indicated height of the opening. This is the only road to his destination.
What can he do to get through the underpass the easiest way?

Solution:

As the tires of the truck has sufficient clearance between the inner and outer part of the tires via air gap. The tires can be deflated to decrease the height of the truck by one inch and the truck can pass through!!!

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Poisened Drink Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 10:43:00 +0000

Poisened Drink Puzzle

A rich old man has died. After his death, his children are surprised to learn that he has left all of his money to his oldest son Jeremiah, who loved him dearly, and ignored his other children, who hated him.

So, the funeral is a day or two later, and the other sons and daughters have decided to kill Jeremiah and take his inheritance. Since his father's death, Jeremiah has taken to drinking, and they know that, at the wake, he's going to be gulping down the liquor like it was nectar of the gods. So they decide to poison the drinks. One of the other sons, Wallace, tends bar, and gets the poison all ready.

So Jeremiah comes up, crying and depressed, and orders a scotch on the rocks. Wallace serves him one, and he chugs it down in two seconds. "Give me another." Wallace gives him a second glass of scotch, which he also drinks in a matter of moments. The other siblings are puzzled...the poison is fast-acting; Jeremiah should be convulsing on the floor and retching his guts out. Finally, fifteen minutes later, a rather inebriated and very much alive Jeremiah orders one last glass of scotch, but as Wallace hands it to him, he changes his mind and leaves, sobbing. The other siblings come over to Wallace, and wonder what's going on. They talk about what could have gone wrong for a few minutes, and figure the poison's harmless. So Wallace sips the drink he poured for Jeremiah, and is pronounced DOA thirty minutes later.

Why did Jeremiah live? (He had no immunity to the poison, he didn't know it was coming, and the poison was obviously deadly.)
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Engineer vs Management

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:57:00 +0000

Engineer vs Management

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She reduced altitude and spotted a man below.
She descended a bit more and shouted, 'Excuse me sir, can you help me ? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don't know where I am.'

The man below replied, 'You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.'

'You must be an engineer,' said the lady balloonist.
'I am’, replied the man. 'How did you know ?'

'Well, answered the balloonist, 'everything you told me is technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me at all. If anything you've delayed my trip even more.'

The man below responded, ‘You must be in management.'
'I am,' replied the lady balloonist, 'but, how did you know ?'

'Well,' said the man, 'You don't know where you are, or where you're going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air within. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you, to solve your problems
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Klueless Puzzle IV - Solution/Answers - Level 11-18

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:53:00 +0000

Klueless Puzzle IV - Solution/Hints - Level 11-18
The klueless puzzle at IIM Indore have newer version. Klueless 4 The fourth in its series. haven't actually got time to go through but here are few answers/spoilers for level 11 thru 8. Will be adding the hints later. For Answers to Level 1thru 10. Click here
WARNING : Dont look at these if you want to try it yourself

Level 11. This was easy.. being a cricket follower. The three names - Warner, Edrich and Compton are the three stands of Lord's Cricket Ground, others being Mound , Tavern, Allen , i suppose. Further it is also called as the Mecca of Cricket. Hence it makes perfect sense that this level belongs to this ground. But Lord's is a single name and page source suggests it should be two words. A further searching revealed its original name which made perfect sense saying "Four" in the title and bingo here it is .... "Dorset Square"

Level 12. The image shown is a fractal(i felt this was physics but why "Maths is fun" here?). Thanks to a course in IIT, i recognize this fractal (after all the only fascinating thing in course was fractal), and the name was so easily suggested by Nelson Mandela. I keyed in.... Mandelbrot

Level 13. Now that was pretty bad. I was stuck for 3 hours, i admit i am bad at ciphers. The source says "letters" but what letters and "Title is nothing more than the title". Then kept looking at the title, searched Google. Then i saw "TITLE = This Is The Level Entry". One of the first tries to decipher a cipher was to take first letter of each word. Now that said for typing in the complete text

"To order reigning utterly lethal executor that has exhibited most amateur lustful longings. To override fundamentally intoxicating natural disaster that has emitted martyrdon. To observe bolts rescinding in new garden that has everything mortified and lack-lustre; and no day in new time has ever dawned after royal kingdon nested every sober serenity bound in natural devilry that has ever materialized"

Took the first letters :
T o r u l e t h e m a l l
T o f i n d t h e m
To b r i n g t h e m a l l a n d i n t h e d a r k n e s s b i n d t h e m
made:
to rule them all
to find them
to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

And now it was easy "Lord of the rings". The movies which my brother saw every third day and have 10 CDs and 6 DvDs. How can i forget this. The complete dialogue was
One ring to rule them all
One ring to find them
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

SO it is... onering. Change the url now to onering.asp

Level 14. Now search page source hint on Google "the precious ring of Victorian times". It tells the complete history about the rings. Now i came to know, where from the words "Love, dearest, regard etc" came. These are actually the name of stones like Regard: Ruby, Emerald, Garnet, Amethyst, Ruby, and Diamond. Now i had to find a seven letter word as suggested by these stones. That was ..... DEAREST

Level 15.
Level 15a : "many very elderly men just snooze under newspapers" .. a mnemonic to learn the planets of solar system in order. Source says find the missing one.. That would be .... Pluto

Level 15c: Muted Lamb refers to the movie "Silence of the lambs" .“man eating man” suggests the character "Hannibal the Cannibal"

Level 15x: Dead end is a dead end. Come back to level 15 and choose other door.

Level 15b: Butterfly effect suggests us to go back in the puzzle and put your user name and password there to find the way to next level

Level 16: Look at the title. You need to change some words to make it second person. Use the chat lingo. Source says: Why have many when only one is sufficient? remove many and keep one." need to keep an I on all the minor things all by urself or b doomed”
Look at the title, remove it from wht u have after removing many…. Decode it

Level 17:Follow the hints provided in title. Hanged man? Funny things cards. You can use them even if they are held upside down.

Level 18: A matrix of number and a few lines.
Find the answers to the first 2 questions,Connect the answers Watch the title.
You need to use this dictionary to find out the answer. Try differenct permutations and combinations remembering its a matrix
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Totem Destroyer Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Totem Destroyer Puzzle Game

Description : There are 25 Totems located in each world. You need to bring them down, but don't just go pulling the trigger everywhere. You must rescue golden idol, the Idol must not fall on the ground.

A good enough mind boggling puzzle. Size being 2.5 Mb you may need to wait for a while or download here : right click here and save to your system.
Here is the link to the puzzle where i actually found it. Puzzles could be available at many locations.

Enjoy!!!!

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Klueless Puzzle IV - Solution/Hints - Level 1-10

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Klueless Puzzle IV - Solution/Answers - Level 1-10
For level 11 thru 15 answers click here
The klueless puzzle at IIM Indore have newer version. Klueless 4 The fourth in its series. haven't actually got time to go through but here are few answers/spoilers for level 1 thru 10. Will be adding the hints later.
WARNING : Dont look at these if you want to try it yourself

Level 1. Good enough.. Click on enter.

Level 2. fill it with the colored word .. Play

Level 3. copy the missing/incorrect letters.. Cakewalk

Level 4. This one is country specific. I got no clue from numbers, Ji Mantriji refers to Prime minister. Look at the source code, it says 'None Before'. So the first prime minister of India. You go and type - Jawaharlal Nehru. It will tell you to put only the second name ... Nehru

Level 5. Need to fill in the missing word, i.e. Power of " ..... " . Something is different on the page, only one Sponser , Page source also tells about "business technology consulting has emerged in IT" , so that tells something related to Cognizant. Page Url "cbc.asp" . Whats the connection in cbc and cognizant? find it out. Thats Cognizant Business Consulting.. easy on google. Now go to CBC page on Cognizant site, again get the url through google or from the sitemap. Now look at the content of the page. Hey its visible clearly ... "power of advice"

Level 6. Donald Duck. Page source says "you are stuck in middle of nowhere" and nAMe.. the middle part is highlighted. Try the middle name of donald duck, just google it.... its - "Fauntleroy"

Level 7. ottff--en-- : find the series, en makes it find easy. its first character of counting.. o=one , t=two, t=three, f=four, f=five, ..... So missing characters sste. Now the source code, image url is 1432.jpg. Just put it in this order. 1=s,2=s,3=t,4=e.. this makes it .. sets

Level 8. Comet : whizzing by in the sky and one of the reindeer of Santa. It says the answer is of two words. Hence it must now be a comet. The first comet that came to my mind.... halley’s comet

Level 9. Just look at the url, it says gibberish. I didnt know what that is. Just google it. Found Gibberish is the other name of a game called PIGLATIN hence... piglatin

Level 10 The relation being the married celebrities. The ones missing are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It suggests the combination is required.. brangelina

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Fastest to 50 Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:24:00 +0000

Fastest to 50 Puzzle

Two players are playing a time pass game. They decide to take turns and out integers. The first person to call out “50” wins keeping in mind the following rules:
1. The person starting first should call out the number between 1 to 10 (inclusive)
2. The next player should call out a new number which must exceed the most recent number called by at least one and by no more than 10.

Do you want to go first, and if so, what is your strategy?
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Appealing Advertisements!!!

Sandy — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:53:00 +0000

From What I Like...

Catch the cheating husband puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Sunil Kumar) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:14:00 +0000

Catch the Cheating Husband Puzzle

In a certain matriarchal town, the women all believe in an old prophecy that says there will come a time when a stranger will visit the town and announce whether any of the men folks are cheating on their wives. The stranger will simply say “yes” or “no”, without announcing the number of men implicated or their identities. If the stranger arrives and makes his announcement, the women know that they must follow a particular rule: If on any day following the stranger’s announcement a woman deduces that her husband is not faithful to her, she must kick him out into the street at 10 A.M. the next day. This action is immediately observable by every resident in the town. It is well known that each wife is already observant enough to know whether any man (except her own husband) is cheating on his wife. However, no woman can reveal that information to any other. A cheating husband is also assumed to remain silent about his infidelity.

The time comes, and a stranger arrives. He announces that there are cheating men in the town. On the morning of the 10th day following the stranger’s arrival, some unfaithful men are kicked out into the street for the first time.

How many of them are there?
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Doctor-Patient Interaction

Sandy — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:12:00 +0000

Doctor to his patient : Ab aapki tabiyat kaisi hai.

Champu : Doctor saheb Pehle se jyada kharab ho gayi hai.

Doctor : dawai khali thi kya?

Champu : Nai doctor saheb.... dawai ki shishi to bhari hui thi.

Doctor : Nahi nahi.... mere kehne ka matlab hai ki dawai le li thi kya.

Champu : ji han, aapne dawai de di thi aur maine le li thi.

Doctor: Abe, dawai pili thi kya?

Champu : Arrey nahi doctor saheb dawai to laal thi.

Doctor : Abe GADHE, Dawai ko pee liya tha kya?

Champu: Dawai ko bhi peeliya ho sakta hai kya? Waisey doctor sahab peeliya to mujhe kabhi nahi hua.

Doctor(in frustration) : Abe teri toh, Dawai ko muh lagakar piet me dala tha ki nai?

Champu: Nai doctor saheb...

Doctor(relieved to get 1st right answer) : Kyon?

Champu : Kyonki dhakkan band tha.

Doctor : Teri saale, to Khola kyon nai.

Champu : Saheb, aapne hi to kaha tha ki shishi ka dhakkan band rakhna.

Doctor : Hey bhagwaan.... Tera ilaz main nai kar sakta, tu ja.

Champu : Bhagwaan ko ilaz ki zaroorat nahi hai doctor saheb, aap mujh par dhyan do aur mujhey yeh batao ki main thik kab tak ho jaunga?

My EQ - 147!!

Sandy — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:04:00 +0000

Your EQ is 147

You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.

You are warm and open. Even when life gets you down, you're unafraid of the world and its challenges.

You are comfortable with who you are. And you accept your weaknesses - as well as the weaknesses of others.

While you are quite stable, you don't respond perfectly to every bad situation that comes up.

But you have enough emotional intelligence to know when you need a course correction.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

Bye Bye Beautiful

Sandy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:00:00 +0000

A mesmerizing song from the album Dark Passion Play by Nightwish. Superb music and wonderful lyrics. Enjoy!

Finally the hills are without eyes
They are tired of painting a dead man's face red
With their own blood

They used to love having so much to lose
Blink your eyes just once and see everything in ruins

Did you ever hear what I told you
Did you ever read what I wrote you
Did you ever listen to what we played
Did you ever let in what the world said
Did we get this far just to feel your hate
Did we play to become only pawns in the game
How blind can you be, don't you see
You chose the long road but we'll be waiting

Bye bye beautiful

Jacob's ghost for the girl in white
Blindfold for the blind
Dead siblings walking the dying earth

Noose around a choking heart
Eternity torn apart
Slow toll now the funeral bells

"I need to die to feel alive"

Did you ever hear what I told you
Did you ever read what I wrote you
Did you ever listen to what we played
Did you ever let in what the world said
Did we get this far just to feel your hate
Did we play to become only pawns in the game
How blind can you be, don't you see
You chose the long road but we'll be waiting

Bye bye beautiful

It's not the tree that forsakes the flower
But the flower that forsakes the tree
Someday I'll learn to love these scars
Still fresh from the red-hot blade of your words

...How blind can you be, don't you see...
...that the gambler lost all he does not have...

Did you ever hear what I told you
Did you ever read what I wrote you
Did you ever listen to what we played
Did you ever let in what the world said
Did we get this far just to feel your hate
Did we play to become only pawns in the game
How blind can you be, don't you see
You chose the long road but we'll be waiting

Bye bye beautiful

Jaane Kahan Hai Woh!

Sandy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Another mesmerizing romantic song from the genius Rahman! The prettiest song in the album Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Enjoy!

Kahin to.. kahin to.
Hogi woh
Duniya jahan tu mere saaath hain

Chaha mein chaha tu
Aur jaan bas tere mere zajbaat hain
Hogi jahan saba teri
Palkon ki kirano mein
Lori jahan chand ki
Sune teri bahon mein...

[Jane na kahan woh duniya hai
Jane na woh hai bhi ya nahi
Jahan meri zindagi mujhse
Inti kafa nahi ]2

Saasein kho gai hai kiski aahon mein
Mein kho gai hoon jane kiski baahon mein
Manzilon se rahe dhondte chali
Aur kho gai hai manzil kahin rahon mein
Kahin to kahin to hai nasha
Teri meri har mulakat mein
Hoton se hoton ko
Chumti o rehete hai hum har baat pe
Kehti hain fiza jahan
Teri zaameen aasman
Lyricsmasti
Jahan hai tu
Meri hasi meri khushi
Meri jaan

[Jane na kahan woh duniya hai
Jane na woh hai bhi ya nahi
Jahan meri zindagi mujhse
Inti kafa nahi ]2

Reality v/s Reality

Sandy — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:36:00 +0000

Some recent coverages by media and their influence on the Indian history have been surprising me lately. Media has grown to be so powerful that it has now started participating in the future of our country. But with the mushrooming growth of News & Entertainment channels, the overdose of reality shows, and between all this their quest to top the TRPs has shifted the focus from positive development. They are now walking the same trodden path which Indian polity did a few decades ago, in their fight for supremacy.

Let me start highlighting my concerns in the reverse chronological order. The latest was the sudden and unfortunate death of Ishmeet, the winner of the Voice of India 2007. For those of who still are not familiar with this - Voice of India was a reality singing contest, one amongst the dozen being aired, and Ishmeet won in the season 2007. As soon as the news spread, the Gurudwara committee of Delhi closed down all 15 schools in Delhi in his grief. When this wasn't enough, the Punjab state government announced that his last rites would be performed with full state honours.

Not to sound apathetic or to insult or hurt someone's sentiments - My apologies before hand - but did Ishmeet deserved this. Closing 15 schools, leading to a loss atleast 30,000 hours of education (taking 500 children per school with 4 hours of teaching daily). Going for a state funeral which is to honor people who have done something really superb for the country. Just a few days back, there were two Indian soldiers who died when Pakistan opened fire at the LoC. None of those two soldiers have been given a state funeral, when they died defending the independence of me, you and Ishmeet. The news channels covered the entire episode with more dedication than they covered the LoC firing. Guess, whats important for them, country or TRPs?

Another recent traumatic episode is the Aarushi incident. The sensational double murder took place a month after the Jaipur blasts, but still for the next month and a half it was Aarushi ruling over the all news channels from day and night to next day. What happened to Jaipur blasts, the probe and the culprits, the Indian media, the government and lastly all of us forgot. Was it the double murder that was unique or just that she was a small girl. Every week people are killed by the blueline buses, as I read it again in today's newspaper on the 4th page. Senior citizens are being killed by their servants. But I guess these incidents are smaller in significance than the Aarushi case. The height of everything can be realised from the fact that Ekta Kapoor went ahead and shot the same sequence in her serial just to boost the TRPs of a serial that is already a decade old, and has five generations of a family living together and planning to kill each other. Pathetic!

It was only the recent tragic Ahemdabad blasts that made the government remember that there are already dozen cases of serial blasts whose investigation is still pending. Our country's home minister addressed the media, "The existing laws are enough to deal with terrorism" The investigation and probe for the Bombay 93 blasts is still not over. Not over because the culprits still have not been punished. The Indian judiciary which crawls at the snail's pace is still trying to cover the distance. Varanasi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Banglore, Chennai, Bombay, Delhi, Ahemdabad and many many more.....

I can continue writing and filling this place with more and more words, but will that be enough? No !

How many more deaths, how much more blood would it take before the country awakens and tries to address the real issues at hand: terrorism, inflation, unemployment, poverty, drinking water, sanitation, roads, electricity, and yes, education.

Signs of Ageing!

Sandy — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Life ages fast... and you are made to realize that continually in one way or the other. Something really exciting and good happened yesterday that makes me believe that I am aging now. Jokes apart, friends, I have been blessed with a nephew yesterday! And I am so happy about it!

Hooray!!! Yoohoo!!!

For all my friends looking for a visual treat logon to my Orkut profile!

Keep Walking!

Sandy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:30:00 +0000

A song that defines the meaning of the words, Keep Walking!

Gaadi Bulaa Rahi Hai, Seeti Bajaa Rahi Hai
Chalna Hi Zindagi Hai, Chalti Hi Ja Rahi Hai

Dekho Vo Rail, Bachchon Ka Khel, Seekho Sabak Jawaanon
Sar Pe Hai Bojh, Seene Mein Aag, Lab Par Dhuaan Hai Jaano
Phir Bhi Ye Ja Rahi Hai, Nagmein Suna Rahi Hai

Aage Toofan, Peechhe Barsaat, Oopar Gagan Mein Bijli
Soche Na Baat, Din Ho Ke Raat, Signal Hua Ke Nikli
Dekho Vo Aa Rahi Hai, Dekho Vo Ja Rahi Hai

Aate Hain Log, Jaate Hain Log, Paani Mein Jaise Rele
Jaane Ke Baad, Aate Hain Yaad, Guzre Hue Vo Mele
Yaadein Bana Rahi Hai, Yaaden Mita Rahi Hai

Gaadi Ko Dekh, Kaisi Hai Nek, Achchha Bura Na Dekhe
Sab Hain Savaar, Dushman Ke Yaar, Sabko Chali Ye Leke
Jeena Sikha Rahi Hai, Marna Sikha Rahi Hai

Gaadi Ka Naam, Na Kar Badnaam, Patari Pe Rakh Ke Sar Ko
Himmat Na Haar, Kar Intezaar, Aa Laut Jaaen Ghar Ko
Ye Raat Ja Rahi Hai, Vo Subah Aa Rahi Hai

Sun Ye Paigham, Ye Hai Sangraam, Jeevan Nahin Hai Sapna
Dariyaa Ko Faand, Parvat Ko Cheer, Kaam Hai Ye Uska Apna
Neenden Udaa Rahi Hai, Jaago Jagaa Rahi Hai

What I Gained, What I Lost?

Sandy — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:40:00 +0000

They say,

Change is the only constant in life.

Some say this is crap, some ugly reality. Well, whatever, I am of the belief its a reality - ugly or not, only time would tell! ;)

Not long ago, I met one of my college friends after a really really long time. It was so wonderful and exciting to meet my ol' friend. The first glimpse of her mesmerizing smile was enough to make me forget all my tensions. Yes, she always has this soothing and calming effect on all living souls. (I still remember the meetings of Images, which I was always over-enthusiastic to attend). Its always joyful and liberating to meet friends, sharing experiences, know of their lives and chat on yours! So, I was there playing an artist in the day's stage, unaware of what the Numen had in store for me. We started with the usual greetings, and long time no see, and blah blah blah!

As we settled down into our conversation, came the real bouncer: I had changed. At first, they were shocking, later surprising, and now thought-provoking. Had I really changed? Yes! I had no option but to agree without retort. I asked, for good or for worse? With a very sweet smile, pat came the reply, Good! Obviously, friends lie often ;)

I thought with this it was over, when my fears came alive again, What had caused this change? What I Gained, What I Lost? I swear this is the toughest question I had ever faced in my entire life, in any examination. Not for there was a result linked to this, but because this questioned the essence of my life, the sole objective of my existence.

And during the next one hour or so, I kept pondering over the real reason and the answer to the question, in the background. Our entire conversation revolved around our own meandering experiences of life in the past couple of years, which we shared with an open-heart. We talked of how life was in the college and how it had become. It brought back the memories of the way I had once lived. Again talking of changes!

It reminded me of my own motto in college, NSS. Surprised! Please don't be! It stood for NO SOCIAL SERVICE. I was not the guy who was of the school of thought that these are futile efforts. Infact, I was too busy enjoying my life and shaping up my life, spinning dreams and hoping that they get fulfilled. I was just like any other teenager who had many many aspirations but was too busy enjoying life and time with friends, rather devoting time to fulfill them.

Music is a topic which always finds in place in any conversation. It started with the discussion of our cellphone's ring-tones. Ghost Love Score is what I get to hear when someone calls me up, something which my friend could not relate to. On the other hand, she had this beautiful romantic song of which I remember each and every word, a song that I have listened to days together in my child hood, You are the Girl of My Dreams. (Another fond one used to be, Because of You). If I retrospect over the past few years, my taste for music had changed drastically. There was a time when I only listened to lively, jovial and romantic music. And today, my day starts with End of All Hope!!!

And we kept on chatting... when I realized that she had some urgent work and had promised to meet only for five minutes. And I had kept her on hold, delaying her urgent thing by almost an hour. Sorry, my friend, I hope I didn't bother you much!

The meeting was a blessing in disguise for me for it brought alive the feelings inside me which I had long buried in some corner of my heart. The last whole week there would not have been an hour when I would not have come back to the question to find an answer. I am indebted to you my friend for my whole life, and I promise that sooner or later, someday I would be able to answer this question. Not for anyone else, but solely for me, I would be able to justify my quest for survival in this world. I promise!!!

Till then, all Keep Walking!

You Are The Girl Of My Dreams

Sandy — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

A mesmerizing song I had misplaced somewhere in my heart!

[ Chorus: ]
You are the girl of my dreams
In my heart, I believe
You are the girl of my dreams, baby
Of my dreams

All alone, in my room
Wishing that you were here
Without you, in my arms I'm
holding back all of the tears
Without you in my life I'll
never be satisfied

[ Chorus ]

Sometimes I feel I could
have been better to you
All I wasnt is a chance
To prove that my love is true
Without you in my life I'll
never be satisfied

[ Chorus ]

Baby let's go back in time
To when our hearts would shine
And I could hold you tight
In my dreams at night

[ Chorus(Repeat 3 times) ]

India comes home!

Sandy — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:00:00 +0000

A brilliant ad from Maruti. I just love the background music and the catch line. Awesome!!!

Let's Go!

Sandy — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:28:00 +0000

Someone really likes this one too much... specially for you my friend. Hope you would enjoy this!

Creative Advertisements 2!!!

Sandy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Avoid using mobiles while driving!

One of the most appealing and heart-touching advertisements I have ever seen in my life. A sincere request to all my readers - please do not use mobile phones while driving!!!

Creative Advertisements!!!

Sandy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:41:00 +0000

Chewing tobacco causes mouth cancer!

Drive Slowly!

Encourage Adoption! You never know who you'll bring home!

Think before you waste food! Feed the children!

Stop Racism!

Born Brave!

Sandy — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:45:00 +0000

Kabhi Kabhi

Sandy — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:30:00 +0000

I grabbed the CD of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na today, and its songs are really superb. Rahman at his genius best again! The promo song is in itself a nerve-tickling romantic number... catch on!

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mein yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
Aise mei koi kaise apne aansu o ko behne se roke?
Aur kaise koi sochle everything's gonna be ok?

Kabhi kabhi to lage zindagi mein rahi naa khushi aur naa mazaa.
Kabhi kabhi to lage har din mushkil aur har pal ek sazaa.
Aise mein koi kaise mushkuraye, kaise hasde khush hoke?
Aur kaise koi soch de everything gonna be ok?

Soch jara jaaneja tujhko hum kitna chahte hai.
Rotein hai hum bhi aggar teri ankhon mein aansu aate hai.
Gaane to aata nahi hai magar phir bhi hum gaate hai.
Ke Aditi maan kabhi, kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai;
Lekin raat ke baad hi to sabera hota hai.

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mei yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
Hey Aditi Hasde hasde hasde hasde hasde, hasde tu zara.
Nahi to bus thora thora thora thora thora, thora mushkura.

Tu khush hai to lage ke jahan mein chhaayi hai khushi.
Suraj nikle baadlon se aur baatein zindagi.
Suun to jara madhosh hawa tujhse kehne lagi.
Ke Aditi wo jo bichhad-te hai ek na ek din phir mil jaate hai;
Aditi jaane tu ya jaane na phool phir khil jaate hai.

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mei yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
( Hey Aditi Hasde hasde hasde hasde hasde, hasde tu zara.
Nahi to bus thora thora thora thora thora, thora mushkura. )-5

Swiftly Swift!

Sandy — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:45:00 +0000

Yesterday had been a terrific day, but a wonderful and a memorable one. It would be the day which would always have a great significance in my life. You haven't guessed it by now... okie! I bought MY first car - Swift, reducing my bank balance ;)

I am having much fun! You have fun too!
Happy & Safe Driving!

End of All Hope!

Sandy — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:45:00 +0000

Another mesmerizing song by Nightwish! Its by chance that I happened to browse the Nightwish site, and the lyrics are just superb. They attract you at the first glance, and this is evident from the their best, Ghost Love Score which I listen every morning, every evening. Enjoy!

It is the end of all hope
To lose the child, the faith
To end all the innocence
To be someone like me
This is the birth of all hope
To have what I once had
This life unforgiven
It will end with a birth

No will to wake for this morn
To see another black rose born
Deathbed is slowly covered with snow

Angels, they fell first but I'm still here
Alone as they are drawing near
In heaven my masterpiece will finally be sung

Wounded is the deer that leaps highest
And my wound it cuts so deep
Turn off the light and let me pull the plug

Mandylion without a face
Deathwish without a prayer
End of hope
End of love
End of time
The rest is silence!

Vodafone PUG!!!

Sandy — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:25:00 +0000

Brilliant Vodafone Pug ads...Hats off to the marketing persons.... amazing concept!Enjoy the feast!!!

When Animals are important than Humans!

Sandy — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:40:00 +0000

India, the Incredible India, a campaign by those in power to remain in power. Reality - bites dust. The other side of the coin - too ugly. Watchdogs - people wasting taxpayers money watching Dogs (PS: pun intended).

Recently, the Incredible India, and the Heart of India campaigns have gained momentum. Advertisements running on almost every channel portray India as one the best cultures and countries in the world! Why not, everyone is proud of his/her own motherland. But, is it justified to turn a blind eye to say, that country is progressing. Does mere statistical numbers in a pinch of areas showcase the development. For me, STRICTLY NO! I beg to differ.

Let me take a sweep around the news tales which evoked this thought, which forced me to write.

Cruelty to Mascot Pug
On April 25, 2008, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) summoned Vodafone on charges of cruelty to Animals. Their allegation , (PS: The advertisement was shot in South Africa!)

The pet dog was made to run, gallop and chase the school van for a long time on a public road. Thereby, the dog was made to undergo severe pain and suffering due to the exhaustion caused by chasing (the bus).

What a wonderful thought! A commercial does not last more than 30 to 60 seconds, and a shot not more than 15 seconds (figures as per my observations). If the AWBI is so worried about the PUG dog, have they charged the Indian Police with cruelty too, for they own dogs which are made to run after criminals for hours. How about dogs which are kept at the airports to sniff out drugs? Isn't that cruelty - knowingly you are forcing a dog to sniff drugs?

Anyways, moving on to the other side of the coin. All the same newspapers which carried the above News, also carried some more stories. Read below,

Mentally challenged girl tied to a cart.

Surat cops in the dock for 'torturing' kids in custody

Napping couple sealed in house by zealous MCD

It seems the authoritative have turned a blind eye to humans and have taken the meaning of their role, literally, watchdogs are only watching dogs. It seems quite a humorous read but if think deeply, and you would be ashamed of the reality. This is Incredible India - A country where anything can happen! A country where everything is possible! A country where dogs are more important than fellow brethren! A country where duties are performed to the letters in the book! :D

I Am A Clog :|

Sandy — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:00:00 +0000

I just took a test and found myself to be a clog. :)

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person.

You seek "and almost always achieve" a really sound balance in your life.

You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm.

You are the perfect mesh of contradictions.

No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life.

People know that they can truly depend on you.

You should live: In Europe

You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

Ya Rabba!

Sandy — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Another great and wonderful song I heard in the Gym today. Not the one to be played there, but still a wonderful song.

Pyaar hai ya saja, aai mere dil bata
tootata kyon nahi dard ka silsila
is pyaar mein hon kaise kaise imntihaan
ye pyaar likhe kaisi kaisi dastaan
ya rabba de de koi jaan bhi agar
dilbar pe ho na, dilbar pe ho na koi asar
ho ya rabba de de koi jaan bhi agar
dilbar pe ho na, dilbar pe ho na koi asar
pyaar hai ya saja, aai mere dil bata
tootata kyon nahi dard ka silsila

kaisa hai safar wafa ki manjil ka
na hai koi hal dilon ki mushkil ka
dhadkan dhadkan bikhri ranjishein
saansein saansein tooti bandishein
kahi to har lamha honton pe fariyaad hai
kisi ki duniya chaahat mein barbaad hai
ya rabba de de koi jaan bhi agar
dilbar pe ho na, dilbar pe ho na koi asar
ho ya rabba de de koi jaan bhi agar
dilbar pe ho na, dilbar pe ho na koi asar

koi na sune sisakati aanhon ko
koi na dhare tadapati baahon ko
aadhi aadhi puri khwaishein
tooti footi sab farmaaishein
kahin shak hain kahin nafrat ki deewaar hai
kahin jeet mein bhi shamil palpal haar hain
ya rabba de de koi jaan bhi agar
dilbar pe ho na, dilbar pe ho na koi asar
ho ya rabba de de koi jaan bhi agar
dilbar pe ho na, dilbar pe ho na koi asar
ho o o pyaar hai ya saja, aai mere dil bata
tootata kyon nahi dard ka silsila
ho o o o ho o o o
na poocho dard bandon se
hansi kaisi khushi kaisi
musibat sar pe rehati hain
kabhi kaisi kabhi kaisi
ho o o o... rabba, rabba ho o o ho
rabba ho o o, ho o ho rabba

Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely!

Sandy — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:50:00 +0000

I just love this song!

Show me the meaning of being lonely

So many words for the broken heart
Its hard to see in a crimson love
So hard to breathe
Walk with me, and maybe
Nights of light so soon become
Wild and free I could feel the sun
Your every wish will be done
They tell me...

Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I cant be there where you are
Theres something missing in my heart

Life goes on as it never ends
Eyes of stone observe the trends
They never say forever gaze
Guilty roads to an endless love
Theres no control
Are you with me now
Your every wish will be done
They tell me

Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I cant be there where you are
Theres something missing in my heart

Theres nowhere to run
I have no place to go
Surrender my heart, body and soul
How can it be youre asking me to feel the things you never show

You are missing in my heart
Tell me why I cant be there where you are

Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I cant be there where you are
Theres something missing in my heart!

Truth of Reservation!

Sandy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000

A very nice entry on the merits and demerits of Reservation in India, MUST READ!

India - Are We Developing? - III

Sandy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:30:00 +0000

It frustrates to read the morning newspaper in India. Why? All over you could read how inhumane we have become, how the legislature has become a money-mongering monster, the executive indifferent to humanity, and the judiciary burdened with all these evils.

Torch mightier than Humans
The Delhi government has put on barricades, cut short the length of Olympic torch relay by two-third, and deployed hundreds of police-men to protect the flame. What makes this disgusting is the fact that in the past one week there have been more than a dozen murders, two-dozen road-rage and car-thefts and still the Government is not panicking. Criminals stop, bash people and flee with belongings right under the nose of the Govt. that says its normal to happen. Police pushes the blame on lack of strength due to Olympic torch preparation and security of so-called Politicians.

Doling offers to poor!
What was started as a fanatic idea by the Jayalalitha govt. to save her chair is now being replicated by the UPA. They are gonna offer free Colour TV to people below-poverty-line. People below BPL are defined as ones who cannot have two full-meals a day. Guess, how would they be able to pay the electricity bills/cable bills for the TV. Either they would steal from the overhead lines putting extra load on the transmission lines, causing frequent trips. Or may be the Govt. will dole out bill-waivers next year from the tax-payer's pocket.

60000 cr waiver to farmers!
Hard-earned tax-payers money paid for better infrastructure, better policing and safe cities was flushed down the drains just to appease political vote-bank. I am not against helping the needy, but the ones in need are out to the purview. For those who are really poor took loans from money-lenders for they had no guarantee for the banks, and the waiver applies to banks. A fanatic idea of the so-called Finance Minister! Today's newspaper carries the article in which the people involved have accepted on record that the needy might not get this waiver in time (this year) due to fund crunch.

Rising food prices & Inflation!
We all know that inflation has already crossed the 7% mark. The prices of vegetables, cereals have spiraled partly influenced by the Navratra season. Yet, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Shiela Dikshit, is not worried. As per her, if prices have increased so have the pay of all (read Sixth Pay Commission). Are we developing?

Religion/Caste rule, Merit a taboo!
A few hours ago, the honorable Supreme Court has allowed the Devil 'OBC Quota' in premier Educational Institutes of India. Now religion and caste will rule over the power-of-mind. The creamy layers definition has been kept such absurd that all would be benefited. Lets examine,

As per the principles laid down in the Mandal judgment, the children of constitutional functionaries including the President, judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, members of the Union Public Service Commission, Groups A and B or Class I or II officers of the All-India Central and State services and children of public sector employees are excluded from reservation.

Children of armed forces and paramilitary personnel in the rank of colonel or above are also excluded.

The other categories falling under the creamy layer include children of professionals such as lawyers, chartered accountants, doctors, financial and management consultants, engineers, film artists, authors and playwrights.

Further children of all OBCs, whose gross annual income is more than Rs. 2.5 lakhs, must not get the benefit of reservation.

Those of you who have studied in India would know how many of the above have availed this benefit. From my personal experience, in my educational life, 99% fell into this category. Another political fanaticism ready to destroy our country.

MNS, Big B and Maharastrians!
MNS has scored a triple-century in showing their solidarity to the average Maharastrians. They have demanded 80% quota for Maharashtrians in companies held by Tata's and Ambani's. I guess the only one listening to them and who could benefit are their own party-workers for they have nothing else to do whole day, they are only skilled in destroying public property and beating their fellow country-men. Yet, the Chief Minister, the Prime Minister and the President of the country are silent on this hatred-vendetta. Has MNS ever thought of a normal human being who works to earn his daily bread. Can we replicate the same by throwing out all Maharashtrians from all other states and countries, or would they accept reservations of all state people in their state's respective educational institutions! A policy of hatred, divide and rules being followed, government turning a blind-eye!

Passengers thrashed in Blame Game!
Passengers in an auto-rickshaw Pune were thrashed by the bus driver and conductor for they hit an auto-rickshaw and entered an altercation with the driver. Due to this rage, they bashed up the silent occupants of the auto, including a pregnant-woman (who was kicked on stomach by the conductor and driver). Police is yet to arrest the accused, and with political backing, the auto-driver union has asked the couple (in hospital) to apologize in public. The life of the unborn-child is less important than whose fault was it.

Election in state, no one would work!
With impending elections in Karnataka, Banglore is being turned into a no-work zone by aspiring politicians. They are blocking roads in the office-going time to gather crowd for their idiotic and insane speeches, all the more, with the police backing.

“It’s election period. So naturally, candidates and their followers come in thousands. We can't prevent or for that purpose, we can't shift party office to a far-off place. It's inevitable,” says JDS president, YSV Dutta.

Mockery of Emergency!
If you have traveled by Indian Railways, you may be knowing about the Tatkaal scheme. A scheme that was launched to help passengers book tickets in case of emergencies like fatality, medical problems, examinations and interview or urgent business meets. Our very own Lalu Prasad Yadav made such a mockery of this scheme that all India laughed and the needy suffered. He increased the time-frame for reservations from 2 to 5 days. So, now all those living alone should inform their parents/guardians atleast a week back, they are gonna fall ill or meet an accident (I pray no one does ever!)

Young Blood in Government!
Recently, the honorable Prime Minister of India inducted new ministers in his cabinet. Reason influx of young blood to help nation grow faster. If we leave two persons out of calculation, than the average age of ministers inducted comes out to be 59 years. I am confused - is it that their mathematical calculations are weak, or they following Einstein's theory of Relativity, comparing them to themselves. LOL.

A simple question to you, Are we Developing?

Device that can save you from Loan-Recovery Agents!

Sandy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:15:00 +0000

I just read this news snippet: Car won't start if you default on your loan. Yes it is an immobilizer device that would render your car from starting when you default on your loan payment. The number of devices sold to date in US in itself speaks of the vast possibilities the device has.

If only there is NOT an anti-device for this immobilizer than we can be saved from the criminals hired by loan recovery agents of banks in India.

The Flame Within

Sandy — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Great music with a superb choreographed dance!

BlaBlaBla

Sandy — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:45:00 +0000

Another funky video by Gigi D'Agostino, Enjoy!

Princess of Egypt!

Sandy — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:15:00 +0000

I'm coming home
and I don't want to hear another word about this
It's hard to fight well
and come alone back from the abyss
No more of them lunatic thoughts time's up
for the Don Quixote
All I ever wanted was to give this my best shot

The sad part is that you come
from a different kind of life
I'm up and leaving now I'm living by the knife
I've lost my faith in human kind and it's time for a rest
Even though I did my best I didn't pass your test

You are the princess of Egypt and I'm just a man
I want to be with you, I feel astray
I need a miracle how to make you understand
I'd make you happy but you're far away

You don't know what you're missing
What it is you leave behind
My good intentions for you makes me one of a kind
You'll get by in your fortress
you will hide behind that wall
But one day you will find out you almost had it all

The sad part is that you come,
from a different kind of life
I'm up and leaving now I'm living by the knife
I've lost my faith in human kind and it's time for a rest
Even though I did my best I didn't pass your test

You are the princess of Egypt and I'm just a man
I want to be with you, I feel astray
I need a miracle how to make you understand
I'd make you happy but you're far away

A Walk In The Rain

Sandy — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Its raining outside and the weather is at its best. What more can one desire except to have someone to walk with in this rain. Ahhh.... I am feeling nostalgic. The weather is the sole reason for my creation, Together in the Rain. I long for the day!

BTW, this is Yanni at his best, the video is from the movie Pride and Prejudice.

The Riddle

Sandy — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:30:00 +0000

I got two strong arms blessings of babylon
with time to carry on and try
for sins and false alarms
so to america the brave

wise men save
near a tree by a river
there's a hole in the ground
where an old man of aran
goes around and around
and his mind is a beacon
in the veil of the night
for a strange kind of fashion
there's a wrong and a right

near a tree by a river
there's a hole in the ground
where an old man of Aran
goes around and around
and his mind is a beacon
in the veil of the night
for a strange kind of fashion
there's a wrong and a right
but he'll never, never fight over you

near a tree by a river
there's a hole in the ground
where an old man of aran
goes around and around
and his mind is a beacon
in the veil of the night
for a strange kind of fashion
there's a wrong and a right

near a tree by a river
there's a hole in the ground
where an old man of Aran
goes around and around
and his mind is a beacon
in the veil of the night
for a strange kind of fashion
there's a wrong and a right
but he'll never, never fight over you

i got plans for us
nights in the scullery
and days instead of me
i only know what to discuss
of for anything but light
wise men fighting over you

it's not me you see
pieces of valentine
with just a song of mine
to keep from burning history
seasons of gasoline and gold

wise men fold
near a tree by a river
there's a hole in the ground
where an old man of aran
goes around and around
and his mind is a beacon
in the veil of the night
for a strange kind of fashion
there's a wrong and a right
but he'll never, never fight over you

i got time to kill
sly looks in corridors
without a plan of yours
a blackbird sings on bluebird hill
thanks to the calling of the wild wise mens child.

Pehli Nazar Main

Sandy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:45:00 +0000

Another brilliant romantic song from Atif Aslam, video from movie Race!

Pehli nazar mein
Kaise jaado kar diya
Tera ban baita hai
Mera jiya
Jaane kya hoga
Kya hoga kya pata
Is pal ko milke
Aa jee le zara

Mein hoon yahan
Tu hai yahan
Meri bahon mein aa
Aa bhi ja
O jaan-e-jaan
Dono jahan
Meri bahon mein aa
Bhool Ja aa

O jaan-e-jaan
Dono jahan
Meri bahon mein aa
Bhool Ja aa

Baby i love u, baby i love you, baby i love you, baby i love you … so..
Baby i love u
Oh i love u
I love u
I love u so
Baby i love u

Har dua mein shamil tera pyaar hai
Bin tere lamha bhi dushwar hai
Dhadhkon ko tujhe se hi darkar hai
Tujhse hai rahtein
Tujhse hai chahtein

Har dua mein shamil tera pyaar hai
Bin tere lamha bhi dushwar hai
Dhadhkon ko tujhe se hi darkar hai
Tujhse hai rahtein
Tujhse hai chahtein

Tu jo mili ek din mujhe
Mein kahin ho gaya lapata

(O jaan-e-jaan
Dono jahan
Meri bahon mein aa
Bhool Ja aa ) ….. 2

Kar diya Deewana dard-e-Khaas ne
Chain cheena isqh ke ehsaas ne
Bekhayali di hai tere pyaas ne
Chaya suroor hai
Kuch to zaroor hai

Kar diya Deewana dard-e-Khaas ne
Chain cheena isqh ke ehsaas ne
Bekhayali di hai tere pyaas ne
Chaya suroor hai
Kuch to zaroor hai

Yeh dooriyan
Jeene na de
Hal mera tujhe na pata

(O jaan-e-jaan
Dono jahan
Meri bahon mein aa
Bhool Ja aa) ….. 2

Baby i love u, baby i love you, baby i love you, baby i love you … so..
Baby i love u
Oh i love u
Baby I love u
I love u…

Talent Hunt - Magical Illusion

Sandy — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Another wonderful magical illusion demonstrated as part of a Talen Hunt, Enjoy!

Talent Hunt - Amazing Trick

Sandy — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:00:00 +0000

A clip from the Talent Hunt show, a really amazing trick - sheer speed with a perfect ending. MUST WATCH!

Another one which I could not resist not posting, Enjoy!

Goodbye to you!

Sandy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:15:00 +0000

One of the beautiful songs with LOTR theme!

Of all the things I believe in
I just want to get it over with
tears from behind my eyes
but I do not cry
Counting the days that past me by

I've been searching deep down in my soul
Words that I'm hearing are starting to get old
Looks like I'm starting all over again
The last three years were just pretend and I say

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I love
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

I still get lost in your eyes
And it seems like I can't live a day without you
Closing my eyes till you chase my thoughts away
To a place where I am blinded by the light but it's not right

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Ohhh yeah
It hurts to want everything & nothing at the same time
I want whats yours and I want whats mine
I want you but I'm not giving in this time

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

We the stars fall and I lie awake
Your my shooting star

Rang De Basanti!

Sandy — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:10:00 +0000

It so happened this weekend that I spent my Saturday afternoon watching RDB once again. This is one must watch movie for all Indians, and to take lessons from it. What has appeared in newspapers in the past couple of weeks makes me strongly believe in need of RDB wave.

A few minuscule incidents in the day have been the driving force for this post. Currently, there are loud speakers shouting in the neighborhood society. Reason: They are celebrating HOLI, the festival of colors. There are many kids around having exams these days, but the organizer of this fanatic celebration has no one from his family giving exams. I wonder whether it is a festival of colors or music ;)

Two weeks back there was a pooja organized in our society on the occasion of birthday of an year-old child. When I asked the arrangers to lower down the volume of the loud-speakers, I was turned away termed as an atheist. Would the almighty be impressed by this loud music, which troubles up his disciples?

How these two incidents relate to the movie? Well, In the movie when friends are shown having supper at the college canteen, the background news playing on the TV shown was of a MIG-crash. They change the channel for a fashion show. But, when its their friend who suffers the same fate, they woke up. Most of us turn a blind-eye to this loud-speaker menace, because none of us have someone going through exams today. But when someone will, your suggestions would fall on deaf ears, as they did for mine.

In the early stages of the movie the central character is shown telling his friends that he would leave India, for nothing good can happen in this dustbin. The two friends start laughing about the ills that inherit our society, corruption, infrastructure, population etc. I was having this conversation with one of my friends who has been onsite for the past some time. She now sees so many imperfect things in the country, to which I agree too, like the dust all around. But, Is leaving the country an option? Is that our only duty towards our motherland?

I was just talking to my cousin a couple of minutes ago. We were talking of a particular train getting delayed all time. His reasoning is as the train passes through the Bihar region, hence, it gets delayed. Why do we come to so stupid conclusion and start cursing the demographics. It is the lack of will of people to work properly that leads to such situations. It is only we who delay tasks assigned to us, but when someone else does it to us, we scream!

The cause of dust can be attributed to flawed construction techniques, eagerness to save some quick bucks, unauthorized digging and what not. Recently, I saw people digging up the road for there was a fault in their pipe-line. When they had fixed they dumped the soil back, its top view matched that of Himalayas. The very next day I was speaking to the residents of the same building, and found them complaining of the bad condition of the road. They were almost screaming on one of the neighboring buildings for they had left water open, which spoilt up the whole road.

There is one another line by Anupam Kher, "India ki baarat main dhule ke saath sabhi baraati barabar khaate hain", in which he iterates that in any deal in India its from top to down everyone has a share. I was just reading about the INS Jalashwa that we have recently procured. As per the agreement, India would not be able to use the warship in case of a war. I repeat, a warship that you cannot use in a war. Its like buying an umbrella that is not be opened in rains ;)

In the end just before his last moments the main protagonist speaks what his friend tells him on the dining table. No nation is perfect, it is made perfect by the people living in.Today we stand in a position where in we all feel that there are ills in our society. Yes, there are and there are plenty. People like me have been writing about it, but its now time to act. We don't know how to act, we are searching for someone who can guide us. But, this way the wait would be endless.

I feel the best we can do is ponder over and change ourselves. Let's bring upon changes in our daily routine. Changes which won't hinder with our daily routine, but might help build the nation. This reminds me of a daily activity which I have seen people not following. We all work on computers and at the end of day leave monitors turned on. This might help light up other places, like Delhi, which is already reeling under a power scarcity.

Quoting from the amazing movie LOTR trailer,

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

PS: Pardon if I have offended someone for my thoughts don't match yours.

Glimpse of the past!

Sandy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:45:00 +0000

With yesterday being one of the busiest days in the recent weeks, and today being the pious occassion of Maha Shivratri, I preferred to stay back home, with visits to the temple. Idiot box going mad with the Men in Blue, and due to lack of sleep, I spent a couple of hours snoozing in the bed. When quota of sleep full, laziness crept in, and another hour went in the comfort of the bed.

As I lay down memories from my past, started floating in my eyes. Time since childhood, my childhood friends, the college and the gang there it was all so cool and nice. As I reached back towards my professional time, I was being haunted and I dwelled back into those old school lanes. I had a nice surprise in the evening, with one of my childhood friends, pinging me up on Google Talk. As I saw her name popping on the window, it was time to smile. For I was already in those old lanes. Between talks she informed me, that I was considered to be one of the laziest person in our building. That was quite a news to me. It could be for the reason that they didn't consider cricket as a part of some exercise. Well, today she is pleased to find me breaking out of that image.

It is the beginning of the March. By this time the exams used to end, and being the first week, it would have been the first installment of summer vacations. Time to have full masti and get the new books. Roorkee, a small peaceful town, with a canal going through between, was the place where I had spend my childhood, with my house being hardly 15 meters from the canal. In our block of four houses, there was this Mango tree which had been a part of many of our mischief's. The time is right for bearing fruits, with light teal-green flowers all over the tree. Mixed with the breeze of water, the aroma was hypnotic. This I can realize today, when I crave to get a chance again.

Waking up to a few games of Badminton in early morning, coming back home, refreshing, having breakfast and then sitting with friends and playing indoors. A few times helping Mom with the daily chores. Waiting for Dad to come back from office, having lunch and then sleeping for an hour or two. Cricket is the game all children play in the evening. As it grew dark, chatting with friends again and playing some stupid girl-game (as it seems today), like hide and seek or something. I remember playing dark room once, when I almost messed up with my clothes in the cupboard. Having dinner in the night and then back to bed again at 9:30. That was pretty late as per the standards those days, and as I look at today, its time to be back from office.

There were these small Banyan tree and a Guava tree also, which again have helped us a lot. They used to be our extra fielders during the game of cricket. While playing hide and seek, climbing over guava tree was another favorite. There were times when we used to climb for the fruit. My friend's families were too supporting, as we used to spoil all the kitchen veggies, destroy the entire garden. Creating too much noise, shouting at the top of our voices. Even the canal alongside had a special meaning, the breeze brought respite from the heat. It used to become devil at times, when it gulped many of our cricket balls.

It was God's blessing that I had such wonderful friends in my life. My neighbors and my gang. I remember how we used to trouble this little wonderful girl with inventing new nick names for her every other week. She used to popup with many good ideas like the picnic, when she made me run on my cycle for a few kilometers to get her a band-aid. The cricket aficionado who was heard to have slept with his new bat. My friend's elder brother who taught us many a tricks on how to play. The baby doll who was the most wanted amongst us all. She was like an angel whom we all adored and played with. And me, the guy who used to bully others the most.

Ahh...doston tab pata nahin tha, ki woh din itne yaad aayenge.... thanks a lot for making my childhood so sweet.

The Indian Cricket Bubble!

Sandy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:20:00 +0000

For the past two days, the talk buzz words have been the cricket win over Australia. As a true Indian, even I am very proud and happy over the win. But, unlike many others, I would take this opportunity and time to retrospect the way we achieved this win. As I saw the news channels in the day, they all were crazy about the ceremony in the later part of the day. In the afternoon, none carried anything else except MSD and his team.

It is very essential to pat on the back for a job well done, but commending it to the extent that we are gonna rule the next decade is overtly insane. Almost all politicians lost no time in congratulating the team and showering their blessings (in terms of prizes on the cost of tax-payers money). The money that would be given to them was meant for better use: like primary education, infrastructure, clean drinking water etc. Instead it finds itself being spent on already rich. With BCCI announcing crore's as rewards, I am forced to question the justification of this foolish spending?

Let's trace the Indian team's performance in the CB Series.

The first match, if it wouldn't have rained or match fixed, there were no chances we would have won. It was a respite to Indian chances by grace of God. The second match, Sri Lanka had the same luck. As Sri Lanka didn't play a ball it is tough to say that they would have lost. It would have depended a lot on our bowling team. The 4th match India won, but chasing 160 we took 45 overs. 5th match Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets. It was almost a 20-20 match, in which the world champions could not defend a nice total. 7th match we lost by 50 runs, the MSD brigade could not chase even a meager total of 203. The 10th match, world champions tamed the Indian team. Even its loss was when India lost its inhibitions and played some good cricket. The streak continued into the 11th match where in we chased Sri Lanka's miniscule total comfortably. The finals every one knows what happened.

If were to consider out batting line up and the average runs per innings (not related to number of times they had to see the pavilion), Gambhir fared the best with 44, followed by Sachin with 39.9, closely followed by MSD at 39.67. Even R G sharma had a better average (28.75) than the star stroker, Yuvraj (22.44). I remember the day Yuvi scored 76, all news channels were buzzing with the headlines - Return of the Sixer. Reels of Yuvi famous T20 sixes played all evening in the backdrop of the headlines of his regaining form. But, the next few matches, even the so called tail enders fared much better.

I guess it is time for Yuvraj to go back to domestic cricket and work his form out. IPL games are lined up and they offer him a very good chance to show that his T20 sixes, were not a one time show. Ishant has bowled really well and he should be concentrated upon. This is not just one series, there have to be many ahead till we call ourselves world team. I still remember the way we lost to Bangladesh in World Cup. I hope history does not repeat itself again. This is time for merry making, but also time to gear up for the upcoming matches.

Anyone who would have followed the series, would agree that it was our luck to be in finals, and Tendulkar's batting that we won the series. I hope the Indian Cricket Bubble does not burst again.

Country Demographics!

Sandy — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:49:00 +0000

Kosovo recently unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17th Feb 2008. This is much disputed by Serbia, Russia, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and other countries. Kosovo if taken to be an independent country would be the 193rd country of the world. Kosovo as a country or not, is not why I make this post. I leave it a better judgment of people residing there.

With the recent demographic violence incited by Raj Thackeray I am forced to ponder over what is he trying to achieve? India already suffering under the evil of communal violence, this man is trying to add fuel to the fire - demographic violence. We call India as one country, where in the world are people discriminated on the basis of which region of the country they belong to. If people are forced to stay and work in the same demographic region they were born in, can we think of business and growth? Mumbai is known as the financial capital of India, for all business trades are done in there. If you stop people from other states making a living there then Mumbai will degrade to just another unknown town. Its glory would last only in History books.

He justifies violence calling his acts a revolution, comparing himself to the Father of the Nation. Can anyone just ask him what is he revolting against? His fellow brethren? The President, The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of the state are just giving false assurances of safety to people. Their acts are cowardly. A person instigating anti-country sentiments is let free rather being thrown into dungeons. They are ready to comment and take matters upfront in case Indians are in trouble in other countries like Malaysia, but, they are indifferent to what is happening in our own country.

Raj has trouble to Big B's famous song. This foolish man can not even understand that the song is 25 years old, and Big B was just an actor. It is his profession to do what the director says. The song was written by a lyricist who is not from UP. And if he believes that what actors say on screen is what they personally mean, then Big B has done hundreds of advertisements for polio, blood donation, pledging eyes after death, against HIV-infected people. In his movies he has always spoken against communal hatred, demographic hatred and dirty politics. Why can't Raj learn from that and become a good human being and a good Indian first.

He is a mad-man who is trying to achieve power for quite long time now. But due to his mentality and his cynicism never succeeded. In his utter frustration he is trying to garner support of some local goons by inciting violence. He calls this a revolution, the way the terrorists call their violence jehad. He is just another Osama-bin-laden in making, for he divides humanity on the basis of religion, Raj on the basis of people's birth place. Which is worse any sane person can think of?

If what these lunatics want come true then we would have many more countries to add to the list of 193 (or 192 :?) at present!

Cricket in India

Sandy — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:30:00 +0000

Since morning like any other cricket aficionado I had been watching the India-Australia match. The way Aussie's have put up 317 in 50 overs speaks of the confidence they possess. In the last match against Sri Lanka, their defense to a meager 184 total was awesome. With no-batsmen in form, their bowlers took and played the responsible behavior of making Sri-Lanka crash. A much better performance is being exhibited by them today, their batsmen as well as bowlers. As I stroke the keys, their pacers have already ripped down Indian top order. Still, the headline at IBN Live reads, "Out of form bats fire to guide Aus 317-7", and I am left wondering what would they write after India looses the match.

The way India has been putting up dismal performance in every match, and a brilliant while marketing themselves, goes on to reflect what they are more concerned of today. The very next day after auctioning, Pepsi ran an advertisement in the leading dailies featuring MSD "6 crore main kitne pepsi aayenge". The ad in itself reflects the mentality of any organization that is putting its money for marketing. Its not their fault, they are here to earn money by cashing in on the ruling sentiments, currently governing the nation.

I wonder these people who have spent crores of rupees on these players would expect them to perform and win for them. In the busy schedules of international cricket, finding time to play in such tournaments would cut down the time players would get to relax, and keep themselves fit. A case to ponder would be of Sachin, a marvellous batsmen, who when fires is a single-man army. But the kind of pressure he suffers from these days have made us see some nervous-90 innings. Similarly, Yuvraj, who could not score much in the whole Australian Series. The day he fired in the win against Sri-Lanka, news channels like ZEE NEWS, aired continuous videos of Yuvraj's six sixes. The theme of the air was Yuvraj back in form. With today's amazing performance, I guess they can keep the video reel under the table for a while.

This unrestricted growth I am worried would deteriorate the performance, and put extra burden on players to perform. This might also spoil the players in terms of concentration for they would be more focused towards matches that would yield more money in their pockets rather than country's image and honor. Please do not shout on me! This is what has been iterated by the BCCI in case of teams bidding for U-19 players in the recent IPL auctions.

I would be more than happy and pleased if our players can prove me wrong! Best of luck to India, best of luck to cricket!

My Best Friend's Wedding!

Sandy — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, it was one of my best friend's wedding. After a long long time, we friends were to get together and have some fun. The first one I met was Vaibhav. It had been almost 2.5 years since we last met, yet the vibes were the same. He had gained a lot of weight, and as per him, I had lost a few kilos here and there. An hour of talk session and we started off to the venue.

We reached Gurgaon and met another from the group, Manik. I was meeting him some 4 months later and Vaibhav a full 4.5 years. The union was a one to remember. The first thing we noticed, Manik too had lost many many kilos. Hehehe... we guys would always be the same. Manik had not bought our gift and we were shouting at him. He had bought the gift but not our gift ;)

Every dog has his day, and it was his. We went straight to the friends place, and were surprised to find him not smiling. Had heard this happens after marriage, but he was standing there, non-expressive. Was it the heat brewing up or some sort of helplessness is something we will never know. Anirudh, the groom, can never change. It was his day and he was busy giving directions to everyone. He was concerned so as nothing could go wrong.

Fifty-seven months had passed since we all get along. The last was when we all had completed college, and were about to leave. The last few days of the college still float in front of me. Accumulated in my room, burning, burning and burning CDs with all we could gather, feasting on drums of cold-drinks with ice, had loads a lot of cheese-chilly and butter-naan's. Who can forget those care-a-damn attitude days!

Coing back, breaking our two-hour long fast :) we were busy giving tips to the eldest of us. Tips ranged from nothing to everything. The sage listening with too sincerity and dedication. One last time he wanted things should not go wrong. We chatted and chatted and chatted. To give him space to get ready, the other three retreated back to Manik's room, where-in we again went burning and sleeping.

Before reaching back, we got the gift, wrapped, and went straight to the venue. There he was - standing as if ordered to be in attention for the Beating Retreat ceremony. Quite tensed and frustrated over the wait, eager and anxious over his gift, and tired for lack of sleep.

The evening was great packed with sparkles of fun, fireworks of smiles, and yes, as with any Indian marriage, huge crowd dancing to the same marriage song, aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai...

India - Are We Developing? - II

Sandy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Last evening after a hectic days work, I turned on the idiot box after reaching home. I guess that was the biggest mistake of an already bad day. Scrolling through all available channels, all I could find was Mumbai and Munnabhai. Enjoying his life and living some great moments, I would leave the big bro happy in his personal life. Yet, I would take this opportunity to raise a few more points, which force me to question, Are We Developing?

Divide & Rule
This seems to be the policy of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and its leaders. After dividing the society on the basis of caste, they are now moving to divide us on the basis of demographics and region. In utter violation of the Constitution of India, that bars any difference on the basis of caste, creed, sex or region, MNS has already targeted three of them. The members of the front destroyed public buses, beat up food/vegetable vendors and people who were busy trying to make ends meet. These members do nothing whole day but burn public's money on the whims of their insane leaders. The state government is afraid to act, the police sleeping, and other political observers turning a blind eye which makes me think, Are We Developing?

Big Cats Vanishing
As per the official report today there are some 1400 big cats left in India now. There were more than 3500+ in 2002 when Project Tiger started. Its aim was to preserve the cats from extinction. In the span of 5 years the populations have come down by 50%, almost killing one-per-day. As is reported, the forest and wild-life officials are hands-in-gloves with poachers who are making big bucks everyday, which has been shamefully accepted by the officials themselves. In just 2 years from 03-05, 700 sq.km. of forest land reserves were lost poachers. I guess the problem would itself die in the next few years. Are We Developing?

No-reason Official Ministerial Trip
Our Road transport and highway minister, T R Baalu, made a trip to Panama and Cairo in 2004, which costed the ex-chequer around 6 lacs. Nothing new except the fact that the bill was kicked by the Cabinet Secretariat and not by his own ministry. Second, he travelled all alone on the official visit. Third, the reason to the trip is till date unknown. This was disclosed in an RTI application, but still there has been no action to recover the money from the minister. The Prime Minister is still sleeping. This is not the only incident with this very minister. As reported in RTI applications, the reason to his US and Singapore trips are also unknown. What a way for the PM to turn blind eye to naked-abuse of power by his own deputees. Are We Developing?

Murder attempt On Camera
What more to say than watch this spine-chilling video,

Are We Developing?

Colonies Missing
The Delhi Government, which is keen to regularize more than 1400 odd-illegal colonies to increase its vote-bank, has submitted an affidavit in the honorable Supreme Court of India, that it has lost 2 colonies. Yes, lost! The officials say they are unable to trace two such colonies out of the list which was earlier supplied to the honorable court. Well, is this lax attitude of the officials now, or the over-zealous attitude of their counter-parts, where in I question, Are We Developing?

LCA and ever-increasing delays
The ambitious project to develop an indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) by the Indian government lies in shambles. The project started way back in 1983 and till date the only thing that is known are never-ending extensions. As per the recent news, the full-operational clearance for LCA Tejas is expected in 2012, almost 30 years after the project started. Moreover, the indigenous aircraft would feature a US made engine, and Israeli radars. The project cost has shot up from 560 crores to 5490 crores till date. Can someone ask the government as to why the project is not being scrapped. The money can be used to fight poverty and feed hungry poor people, could be used for primary education. Are We Developing?

US can learn from Indian diversity
In an article of Sunday Times, dated 10 Feb 2008, Chidanand Rajghatta has written an article that the US can learn from Indian diversity. Quoting from the article,

In contrast to the political monoculture that has given the United States 43 white, male presidents in 232 years, it is in India, one of the world’s younger democracies, that the truth of the statement anyone can go on to the highest office in the land is being realized all the time. Consider this: in only 60 years and with 14 Prime Ministers, India has already elected a staggering variety of chief executives — from a Kashmiri Pandit to a Punjabi Sikh, India has seen a UP Thakur and Jat, an Andhra Brahmin, a Punjabi Khatri, a Karnataka Gowda, and a half-Parsi, half-Brahmin pilot, among others at the helm.

I would like to question the author about the diversity he sees, Maharashtra against entry of north-Indians, Delhi biased against Bihars, north-central-southern India biased towards eastern states, where is the diversity?

Misfields Unnoticed by the Captain
After a shameful loss in the match against Sri-lanka yesterday, where-in the Indian team, the so called T20 champions, could not defend a good total, MSD in an interview failed to acknowledge that there were misfields. In a question pointed to the degraded performance of the Indian Vice-captain, Yuvraj Singh, not only as a batsmen, but as a fielder too (he mis-fielded a lot many times), MSD said he didn't see any. With this callous and indifferent attitude, we can only dream of bringing the World Cup back home, but never achieve it.

India - Are We Developing?

Sandy — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:00:00 +0000

As I read the front page news today, that we touched at economic growth rate of 9.6% I sat back pondering over whether this is the actual growth. Not being very pessimistic I would take this opportunity to point out a few grey areas which highlight the plight of developing India.

Clean Yamuna Campaign
The Delhi government is spending tax-payers money putting advetisments in various leading dailies of the country to stop littering in Yamuna, and they would give all Delhi residents a pure and clean Yamuna by 2010. Well, one very good initiative when one looks at the ad. But if one gets aware of the realities, themselves accepted by the Delhi Govt. in the respected courts of India through an affidavit you feel cheated.

As per the affidavit, they have stated in the honorable courts of India that whatever they do, Yamuna cannot be cleaned before 2012. They have spent more than 1800 crores in the past 14 years on its cleaning programmes to fail. Reason mission could not be achieved is corruption, missappropiation of funds, lack of will and implementation. Is the govt. spending taxpayers money on false campaigns, befooling people and playing with their centiments? Is it not shirking of its responsibility by citing lack of will as the reason? Are we developing?

Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway
The prestigious NHAI project that would have reduced travel time from Dhaula-Kuan to Gurgaon to 20 minutes has turned a nightmare. What earlier used to take some 50-60 mintues, this time is now spent in crossing the toll plaza itself, leave travelling the distance. 1000 crores have been spent on its construction. Are we developing?

Kidney Racket
Parents of the accused calling a press-conference and blaming their daughter-in-law for their son indulging in inhuman acts. WOW! You son is so childish that he can become a monster on the behest of his wife. If you knew this was happening for the past 18 years, then why didn't you bring it to the notice of Police, as a law abiding citizen. Because of your silence hundreds of people parted with their kidneys. And you call yourself innocent - Bull Shit!!! Are we developing?

A person arrested thrice on the same charge - illegal human organ trafficking. Released on bail all times. Absconding everytime. Is the Police and Judiciary that fool to grant him bail everytime? The guy is busy duping people on one pretext or the other and the government is busy discussing Rahul Gandhi! Are we developing?

Save Tiger
In 2002, India had a tiger strength of 4000. Today less than 1200 are left as per the recent report of the Ministry responsible for Tiger preserves. Their proposal declare 8 more areas as Wildlife protected. One question: You couldn't stop the extinction process in the past 5 years, what is the guarantee that it would in the coming years? Are we developing?

2 + 2 = 5
I just read this post on IBNLive and was shocked to the findings. Read the actual post here. As per NCERT, 45% students in fifth standard, Class V, cannot add or subtract properly. 60% students are not easy with fractions and decimals, 55% cannot comprehend stories, and 47% don't know about Environmental Science. Are we developing?

OSO, TZP, Jodha-Akbar?
People are celebrating OSO - its success. People appreciated TZP. STOP. But, the way they have been projected is different. A movie totally based on mockery of yesteryears and today earns Gold. A movie with deals with a subject that should be our main focus is protested against, for a member of the cast, expressed his opinion on a national debate topic. STOP. Mockery of past-stars is taken as a creative effort, while a goof-up over names (I am not sure of this) in Jodha-Akbar is protested as being historical ill-treatment. Are we developing?

Absconding and attending office?
An officer with service-tax department is declared absconding by the Police in High-court, wanted in a criminal case. As per official records he is regularly attending office for the past 6 months. Are we developing?

Sledging or Abusive Language?
Harbhajan Singh is happy for being cleared of the racial abuse charge. Fined for a lesser offence of using abusive language. What started of as a joke on the internet forms the basis of hearing. Second, what he confessed to saying is much more explicit than the original stated word. My personal opinion. Why drag family abuses in a friendly game, terming it as just mere sledging. Are we developing?

Update: Resigned Minister draws salary & perks for 11 months
Thanks to one of my friends who reminded me of another story. A minister with the Central Government, has been drawing salary, using all perks of a central minister, occupying his official residence of Janpath for the past 11 months. The irony is he has NOT attended his office for even a single day. How can this happen? Courtesy, our honorable Mr. Prime Minister. The minister resigned 11 months back, but neither it has been accepted or rejected. The decision is pending and hence the minister is having his lovely time. What is he doing? He is busy shooting for his regional language films as a hero. Are we developing?

Verdict in hijacking case pending for the last 23 years, Verdict in terrorism cases pending for 15 years, Clemency pleas pending for 10 years, Govt. initiative to eradicate child labour not yet fruitful after 20 years, LCA (light Combat Aircraft) project of HAL still delayed after 30 years, and scores of such examples make me think time and again, Are we developing?

Corruption & Negligence at its Best

Sandy — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:30:00 +0000

It pains a lot writing this post. Today happens to be the Republic day of India, a symbol and mark that establishes the sovereignty of the Republic of India. Most of our leaders seemed to be busy celebrating this day, yet, there was no celebration on their faces.

I happened to watch the live telecast of the popular Republic Day Parade. The initial parade everyone seemed to be joyful and watchful. When the respected President arrived, it was like leaders showing their loyalty personified. Most of them seemed to be ignorant while the respecting the sacrifice of our actual leaders. Most seemed to be bored when we honored the selfless Indians. In the later half of the parade, most of the Indians present seemed to be waiting for its end. The only person who seemed to enjoy was the French President Sarkozy. The joy and smile on his face was enough to tell that he was enjoying each moment. Yet, we call ourselves proud Indians.

Anyways, this is not the reason I make this post. It is to reflect the anguish and the anger inside me. I was watching the daily news - Aaj Tak. The recent crack on the Kidney racket in India has exposed the highest levels of corruption, negligence and indifference shown by the ones who have pledged to protect us.

The doctor who pledged to give life to the ailing turned a monster, and killed innocent men for the silver lining. The corrupt police who even after every information failed to act. They never registered a case, even when people complained. As I read the news the neighbors of the doctor had complained a lot many times, whose plea fell on deaf ears. The bureaucracy who is hand in gloves with these a**h**es. The indifferent media who never shows the face of these Dracula's so that people be aware of them.

This doctor was caught in early 1990 too in Mumbai operating under the alias of Santosh Kumar on the charges of illegally operating the kidney racket. He then escaped the police custody and settled in Gurgaon. For the past some 15 years he has been making a living selling humans. He is worse than cannibals. At least they eat humans to survive, and not to furnish their houses.

All human rights seem to be for these enemies of human kind. Their faces cannot be shown on television. Even the police personnel allow them to cover their faces when media tries to cover it. The police sleeps all day and all night. They never try and protect innocent men. They only protect these killers.

Can any one tell me how the innocent can be cautious to not fall prey to such Dracula's, when we cant even see them. They are as good as terrorists, for we don't know who is our enemy.

GOD please protect the human kind. Don't punish your children so severely. Help us to defeat the daemons of corruption, negligence, and indifference to human kind.

Let humanness prevail!

Busy Bee!

Sandy — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Life is really busy these days. I am struggling to complete a lot of small tasks simultaneously.

Being the start of the calendar year, its our appraisal time which makes life tough. Tough not for the fear of result - but tough as we need to complete a lot of documents for the audit purpose. But a matter of couple of more days. The assignment at hand is again challenging requiring me to study a lot. An initiative (galat jagah fass gaya) to update a tool that we use, has added to the official burden. But its my baby and I need to track its growth. I would be blogging more on it once I complete it. It comprises me to write a function library in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). I intend to release it too, once I am done enough.

Matrika India, again is one task that needs more time today. It is in its nascent stages and to grow, we need your opinion. How would you like it to grow, what do you expect more in terms of functionality, in terms of content, in terms of knowledge and resources on the subject.

The Blogger themes that I had made some time back also lack my attention. There are a few tweaks that are still incomplete, and I hope they would be done soon. Azcarya White, the theme that powers my blog Azcarya. Modified Foliage that powers Reflections of Creation - a wonderful blog by Dave Bryant, and its own development blog Modified Foliage.

Jerry, is another baby of ours. The idea cropped up trying to churn out web solutions in the public domain. It is really difficult for a code-loving person to develop and host solutions for himself. He needs to rely on many a services in the public domain, that managing them takes more time than his favourite passion - coding. It is intended to be a framework aimed at developers to help them code faster and better. Keep track of Jerry's journey through Jerry's Insignia.

My blogs: Poet Inside, What I Like, Azcarya and finally My Day In Paradise suck up the remaining energy. Keeping them full of new content is where I burn my midnight oil. Sometimes, I really feel closing them down, but not to loose it like this is what keeps me going.

There are a few other tid-bits which I keep putting up in void spaces of my life. I guess its all gonna end soon!

Sydney Test - Comic Touch

Sandy — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:00:00 +0000

I just read this great article. It features a snap from an Australian daily comparing Symonds to Lord Hanuman. Well this is the right spirit of the media to help end the controversy. My salute to the Aussie newspaper!!!

Read the article here.

Read my previous articles, Sydney Test and Sydney Test Take II

Sydney Test: Umpires & Cricket - Take II

Sandy — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:45:00 +0000

Woohoo... so much has been written off the topic in the past few days. Newspapers are full of pages covering this, and why not, It is now a matter of Indian Pride and the spirit of the game!

First lets collate the important stories on board till date,

IBNLive: Nation outraged, says bring back Indian Team

IBNLive: Mighty Aussies get bad press, few supporters

CricketNext: Ponting must be sacked: Peter Roebuck

CricketNext: First one to be banned for racism: An Aussie

CricInfo: 'I stand by my decision' - Procter

CricInfo: Open your eyes, Ricky

CricInfo: Border and Waugh blame cultural misunderstanding

The Australian: 'I did the right thing by the game'

Anil Kumble

To start with, I will appreciate Anil Kumble as a person first and as a captain next. With so much things going on these days about the past test, the guy has kept his composure. He has kept his cool and not spitted venom in the media. He has maintained the line of dignity, the code of conduct to which the players abide. As a contrast, Andrew Symonds have been barred by CA (Cricket Australia) to write his weekly usual column in a daily he has contract with. They didn't just refrain him from writing about the racism issue, they barred him from the column. Does this signify trust and faith in players, or is it just extra precautionary measure by the Board?

Ricky Ponting

Man, first of all know the meaning of the words you speak. You got angry when a reporter asked you something. You say that you asked Clarke about Ganguly's catch, and on his confirmation you signalled the umpire. Well fine enough, too good to do on field. But now when you are back, check the replays and then opine on what you did. Did Clarke really speak the truth, or was he just ignorant that there was a tip before the catch, and he grassed the ball while getting up?

Mr Ponting, you talk of what you would have gained from this match. Well, as we know now you match the world record of Steve Waugh for most successive test victories. This is just another media flare, I guess. Would you agree to annul the match, if you so firmly believe in the spirit of cricket?

Steve Bucknor

Nothing to say, except please gracefully exit from the series on moral grounds. You have erred, and you really have. Every human does. Its fair enough. But to be a good human being, accept that you made a mistake. Judging so many a things in a second, without replays, is really tough and there are times when you can err. My whole lot of support to you, but please atleast accept that decisions were wrong. Support the game!

Mark Benson

Sir, as an umpire I hold you in high regard. I do not have any doubt on your integrity or sincerity. Your asking Ricky about Ganguly's catch was more than normal. Just a word of caution. In a match already haunted by a lot of controversies in the past four days, should not you have been an extra vigilant and careful, to refer the decision to the third umpire, rather than taking the captain's opinion?

Mike Procter

Mr Procter I believe you have been too naive to believe humans in this world. The stumps microphone, no umpire, no video camera, no one heard what was taken and given between Symonds and Singh. Even, Clarke said he didn't hear anything. Ponting was away from the place where it all happened. Still, you say that beyond a reasonable doubt it had been established. Are you so very confident on the players speaking the truth, for in this situation atleast someone is lying, either Indian players or Australian players.

Andrew Symonds

What to say for you. You yourself acknowledged that you were out, still you stayed on to play as the umpire had erred. Should you not have walked if you call yourself a moral person. This is one incident which proves that you too can err.

Weird Remarks

These are some of the most weird remarks, by players, journalist and readers alike, I read here that the enmity between Ponting and Harbhajan had emerged, when Singh started his career at 17, and after a verbal thing got him off stumps. This inculcated a feeling of revenge in Ponting's heart. <-- CRAP AND RUBBISH. Ponting has many more things in life to do, then remember a fresher off the field.

Remarks on Symonds drinking and appearing to play in Bangladesh have also emerged. Ponting drinking at a bar in 1999 Titan Cup have also surfaced. One of the Indian channel talk shows went to an extent to say, that drinking is an Australian problem. Indian culture doesn't allow to touch alcohol, and we are guys of the highest morale culture. Hmmm... I guess Indian govt. never earns anything from sale of alcohol. :P

People on India are burning effigies of Bucknor, Benson, Ponting and Symonds. Marching donkeys with their names on streets. Is this the great culture we are talking off? Is this justified? I agree there have been mistakes and high-headedness in the match, but this is just not accepted. Its my sincere request to Indian media, not to cover such incidents, and Govt. please ban such public displays of hatred. We have already banned PDA (public displays of affection) why not ban PDH?

ICC, BCCI & CA

I guess to stop this whole episode here itself, to stop things getting further rotten, to stop all this rubbish, please agree and ANNUL THE MATCH. Lets not discuss the rights or wrongs, the outs and not-outs, who speaks the truth and who lies, who lost or who won. Let's keep this match aside from all statistics. This would be in the better interest of the game.

Media
Please unite and get public opinion on ANNULLING THE MATCH. Once that happens, lets not cover the incident again.

Sydney Test: Umpires & Cricket

Sandy — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:45:00 +0000

Today, was the last day of the Sydney Test between India and Australia. What looked like a fighting match headed towards a draw, we saw India loosing it. I have been watching NEWS channels all over Indian Media, and that disgusts me. They are showing it as if Australian team had a hand in asking umpires to give wrong decisions. They have started pin-pointing fingers at personal characters of Australian players. This is ridiculous.

I was just forwarded a request to join a community on Orkut, titled "We hate Steve Bucknor". I was shocked to see such a community already attracting thousands of Indians. I was left pondering over what to do with the request. I had to deny it, I had to first arrive on a reason, Why should I deny it?

If we start hating people just because their first instinct was wrong, because they took wrong decisions, because they lied at some point of time, then we should start hating ourselves. Have we never made mistakes/never lied/never took wrong decisions? If we look in our past, then there would be thousand incidents where we would have done that. But, still we live with pride. We have started questioning integrity of Ponting as a Captain. The media has started asking Australia to stop playing cricket, and drop their title as the World Champions.

Not going very far in history, the Mumbai Police chief called the "New year eve molestation case" as just another small incident. Was this not a blunder? Should we start hating him? Today a Congress MP has been found violating Code of Conduct, where in he challenged a BJP person's character. He was let off with a warning. Should we start hating this MP (for doing so) and the Election Commission (for taking such a soft stand).

I just saw a clip on an Indian National Channel, where in they were challenging the character of Ricky Ponting as a human being. He was being shown as a drunkard, man entering into brawls at the slightest pretext. Same for Andrew Symonds. Pointing out at his drinking habits and girlfriend thing. What would the same people say about Yuvraj, who was shot attending a party a day before. It is not that our players our cultured, they are not. They have their own life-style and we have our own. They have their own culture, we have our own. Calling ourselves superior is like being arrogant on a ego-trip.

They even said that Australia lied in India, when they said Indian people had been making racist remark. Next day, an Indian leading daily published photographs of two Indians making monkey gestures. At that point too, the BCCI, the Indian media, and the Indian public had shunned it off calling it just another incident. Was that really not a racist remark?

Since morning, all channels have been calling Australians by the term "Kangaroos" Now why do we call them so? Today an Australian newspaper (even they erred) showed that there are most of the Brahmins in the Indian Team. Now we are terming the Aussie Newspaper as racist. Is the Brahmin term not used in India frequently. Be it the Gujrat elections, the Himachal elections, the Congress, or the BJP, its used by everyone for their own profit and mean.

I do not say that what happened was right, definitely it was very wrong. But why are we making a mountain of this mole-hill. The Indian media should focus on other important news items, and leave it to the BCCI to handle this. The worst five decisions of the game were,

On the first day, a Sourav Ganguly delivery appeared to have taken some wood of Ricky Ponting's bat on its way to MS Dhoni down the leg side. The Australian captain was given out when he had edged it on to his pads.

More followed when a caught behind shout off Andrew Symonds went unheard, and was rounded off with another one - this time via the third umpire - who dismissed another stumping call. The burly all-rounder replied emphatically with his second Test hundred.

Umpiring errors continued into the second day when umpire Steve Bucknor didn't refer to the third umpire on a stumping call against Symonds as following replays showed his foot wasn't grounded inside the crease.

On the fifth day, Rahul Dravid was undone by a decision from Bucknor, following a caught behind appeal by Andrew Symonds. Dravid, not one to reveal his emotions on the field, reacted angrily and replays confirmed why. The bat was way behind the pad but was adjudged to have edged the ball.

Sourav Ganguly edged the ball to slip fielder Michael Clarke who claimed a dubious catch, umpire Mark Benson thought it apt to ask captain Ricky Ponting who confirmed he did take it even as Ganguly refused to leave the field. Replays confirmed Clarke had grounded the catch.

It is actually the game of Cricket that has been ridiculed and demeaned. The umpires have erred. They made really grave mistakes. But questioning the integrity of umpires like Bucknor and Benson, would be really harsh. There are procedures laid down, the Indian Board and team should walk them. Complain to the ICC, and they would look into the issue.

Benson asking Ponting was that an out. Ponting asked Clarke, and the same was conveyed back. Benson is at fault because he should have consulted the leg umpire or the third umpire. Why are we blaming Ponting for it? There are times when our batsmen have said they were not-out, but actually they were.

Not getting any further right now, Cricket is called to be a gentleman's game. Let it be gentleman's. Lets take it in the right way and stop accusing Aussie team and Umpires, more stop hating them. Errors have been made which should be pointed out in the right manner. Things should be taken in a lighter way, and sorted out in a manly way.

PS: Media guys, please stop spreading hatred and pointing fingers at personal character of others. What happened on field in these five days is important, and not what happened on a series between Australia and Bangladesh, or a tournament in India in 1999.

Read more updates on the continuing article, here.

The Silence

Sandy — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:45:00 +0000

First of all my sincerest apologies to all for being out of the blogging world for long now. Couple of reasons for this: One my office has banned access to Blogger too. Yes, my current employer has put restrictions on Blogger making me handicapped. I guess, this would be the first IT company to block access to blogger.

Second, I have been busy revamping a website completely. This called in for a lot of efforts, as the system had to be based on a technology I haven't coded much in before. A great experience indeed. Would update you all as soon as the new version launches.

Third, I have been developing a tool that should make a life lot easy for developers like me. It might take another two months for it to see the light of the day. But, I am a lot more helpful, as the Christmas holidays are near. Would blog about it in detail on my technology blog soon.

Fourth, family commitments, fun, and a lot of winter laziness. I have been sleeping a lot in the quilt for the past couple of days, which again is another reason for my absence.

Now the good news: I am back with full bang. I would be more active now, much more than I have been before. I have recently got another mean machine for myself, a power-packed laptop. I am loving its sleek and sexy style. Well, this is the first post that comes from its keystrokes.

Keep checking, more to come.

Update: 4 Jan 2008: God answered to my prayers, Blogger is now back operational in the office from today. I hope this helps me get back into shape.

Happy New Year!

Sandy — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Greetings and the Best of Wishes for the New Year! May all your dreams come true in this new morning! Its the beginning of new year and time to make new resolutions, to make new aims. I spent the last fours holidays finalizing my own set of resolutions. I would strive to abide by them as far as possible. So here I go,

Would be regular in replying to comments I receive on my blogs :D
I would keep cool while driving out, will not drive fast, atleast when I have a pillion rider.
Would be more frequent with my blogs, atleast twice per week.
I would help my MOM in her daily chores.
I would be regular with my workout.
I would switch to juices instead of aerated drinks, and too Diet ones.
I would try and reduce the consumption of much delicious Barista's Choco-excess with Ice-cream.
I have a few initiatives at hand, would not let them die a lonely death.
I would help keep the environment clean.
I would try and not forget birthdays, anniversary's and special moments of friends.
I will try to make use of what they call is Brain.
I will think and add more to the list ;)

Last but not the least, I will try hard to keep up the above resolutions. Infact, I have just started with my resolutions, already sulking a can of diet coke. :D

Have a wonderful year ahead!