The Sensex is poised tantalisingly close to breaking the 10K barrier. Last time I checked it was at 9919.89.

My prediction

India's 1st innings in the 3rd test vs Pak finished just 7 short of Pak's 1st innings total. But before the end of the 2nd day's play, they had already taken a 180 run lead losing only 2 wickets.

So, as of now, at the start of the 3rd day, here's my prediction .... the Pakis will get bowled out/declare having taken a lead of ~400 runs leaving India to bat for ~2 days to save/win the match & the series. India will however fold up for ~150 runs.

Having said that, I'll be the happiest person if I have to eat crow regarding this one. Let's see.

Changes .... changes

Irfan Pathan got 2 wickets in the 1st 2 tests vs Pak. In the 3rd he takes a hattrick in his 1st over!

Karnataka gets a new CM. Dharam Singh is out; HDK is in .... let's hope he isn't as lazy as Dharam.

Sid hasn't had beer since the last 2 weeks!

Saurav Ganguly is performing the rescue act in India's 1st innings in the 3rd test!

Sweta says she'll be getting hitched sometime in April & move to Pune. Hmmm .... that was sudden.

And finally, me has been assigned to a new project, new project lead, new machine & new ODC. Pity it isn't related to .NET.

Taking a break ....

Sittu & Prateek leave for Calcutta & Ranchi respectively, today. They'll attend the convo at BIT & get a break from the drudgery of the daily routine here. Enjoy yourselves guys!

It's my favourite cousin's birthday today. Happy B'day Gu-ri-ya!

In the stillness of the night ....

I stand on the balcony alone, looking over the intersection of 1st Main & 3rd Cross lit up by the orange glow of the Halogens. In the distance, a confused driver in a Wagon R goes up & down the 2nd Cross Road thrice in 3 minutes. In the opposite house, a techie leans over the front gate, talking animatedly on his cell phone. A street dog sits in front of the video library, looking intently in the direction of the bakery. Bryan Adams, Kenny Loggins & Def Leppard render Run To You, Danger Zone & Hysteria respectively on the MP3 player I'm listening to.

1:30 AM on Sunday morning .... another night, another weekend passes at BTM 2nd stage.

Kal

I'd heard about it being a good movie & wanted to see it too, but the fact that they put it up for release at PVR (150 bucks each), put paid to my hopes of watching it at the theatre.

Anyway, Sid & me were lucky enough to catch it just when it started around 12 on Zee cinema this Friday night. It definitely is a good movie even though the plot tends to get wound into too many complexities at times. Still, watching the story play itself out & the novel way it's been told (interspersed with numerous flashbacks which carry half the intrigue), one cannot but admire Ruchi Narain's direction in general & Chitrangda Singh's acting in particular.

I'm afraid I've been turning into a bit of a misogynist lately, but the leading names in this movie bought the thought process back on the rails somewhat. Chitrangda especially comes across as much more than the beautiful face she is .... her role is the pivot around which the film revolves & she has etched it out to perfection. This is one actress I definitely want to see more of.

A good movie which only goes on to reinforce the fact that the winds of freshness are blowing across the Hindi film industry .... with more & more people having the gumption to go ahead with novel ideas & bold subjects. More power to them!

I love a fighter

Just when you thought that the Indian batting was down & out, the D-Bomb chose to explode in the Pakis' faces. Right now he's on 100 off 93 balls, ably supported by Irfan (43 off 68) at the other end. They've easily managed to avoid the follow-on. It feels great to be a Jharkhandi! Take that Pakis!

The 'Champ' does it .... again

From 236-1 to 281-5, another spineless display of batting in the face of some spirited Paki aggression by the stalwarts of Indian batting. I don't know why some people are still on the team .... yup, I'm talking about the 35 century scorer. Why can't he take the hint & retire to enjoy time with his restaurants, his family & his Ferrari? Give a chance to people like Dhoni who've got the hunger & the willingness to fight, not just make records for the sake of making records.

It makes me sick .... this display of senseless selection & the blind adulation he gets from his supporters. India needs consistent performers, team players like Dravid, & not multi-millionaire superstars who perform once in 10 matches & think that they've cemented their place on the team for the coming series & the one after that. Read the writing on the wall, Mr. Sachin Tendulkar & RETIRE .... while you still receive a semblence of respect.

This week ....

.... the much anticipated world record for the highest ever opening wicket partnership in Cricket fell out of Rahul Dravid & Virender Sehwag's grasp by a mere 3 runs.

.... the much maligned Karnataka government finally seemed headed for Splitsville with Deve Gowda's JD(S) withdrawing support.

.... the much-hyped Sania Mirza failed to make it past the 2nd round at the Australian Open.

.... the much dreaded 'product support working hours' finally came into being for Arnab.

.... the much expected .NET project I was waiting for got postponed .... again!

.... the much listened to tracks from Strings, Jal & Fuzon served to provide some solace .... again! What would I have done without music?

That's about all that happened .... the future's not looking promising at all .... Anisha sent across this SMS .... "When God leads u to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully. Only 1 of 2 things will happen; either He will catch u when u fall or He will teach u how to fly!" .... well, Mr. God, I seem to have reached the edge or will do so soon .... about time you showed up.

Talkathons

Swap called up from Goa yesterday & we talked for about an hour & 10 minutes .... a new record for the longest STD call I've ever received. On 2nd spot is MG's call (March 2005, ~58 minutes) followed by Monty's (February 2004, ~54 minutes).

Bad light!

The 1st India vs Pak test at Lahore is making more news for bad light than for the actual game. Today is the 4th day & as of now, play hasn't started. This, after more than a day has already been lost on account of .... what else, bad light.

Meanwhile, Star News was running a clip on Friday which showed the Ganguly-Dravid-Chappel triumvirate engaged in animated conversation regarding 'the opening slot'. Reportedly, team management wanted Saurav to open, but he, predictably, was totally against this. The news channel bought in lip readers & psycho-analysts to decipher what he was saying & his state of mind respectively(!!!). In fact, they even managed to reach the informed conclusion that Ganguly was dead set against opening & wanted Dravid to do it instead! And that is what exactly happened on Saturday after Pakistan declared at 679-7!

I don't know what to say .... Dravid has always been the team man & this time too has put team interest paramount. Saurav, however much I would like him to succeed & prove his critics wrong, seems to be making all the wrong moves. But given the treatment he's got over the last 2 months (akin to a shuttlecock), I don't blame him. God help this team!

Standout movies of 2005 I didn't get to see

Watched the 'Hero Honda Star Screen Awards' yesterday & realized that there were several ....

Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi
My Brother Nikhil
Parineeta
Yahaan
Iqbal

Parineeta's director Pradeep Sarkar picked up the 'Best Debut Director' award, an award for which Yahaan's director Shoojit Sircar was also in the running. I promptly asked my friend Arnab Sarkar to direct a hindi movie sometime soon .... considering how good Bengali directors titled Sarkar are at making new movies & good ones at that.

The 8th Auto Expo, New Delhi

The biennial begins tomorrow & it should be great (compared to 2004 when most domestic biggies boycotted). Among the launches expected are ....

BIKES

Heat from Suzuki
2 new scooters & 2 new bikes from Bajaj
Apache from TVS

CARS

Honda Civic
Skoda Fabia
ICM Rhino

and check THESE out ....

Audi Q7
Lamborghini Gallardo
Aston Martin DB 9
Maserati

among a host of others. Looks like apna India is finally ready to be counted among the big boyz. Wish I was in Delhi!

LNM's take on JSR

This is what Lakshmi Mittal (the Steel Czar himself) has to say about my home town. This was written presumably when he visited Jharkhand to sign the MOU with the state governmant for his 15 mn t.p.a. steel plant. Thanks Sid for the article. It's a bit lengthy, but I'm posting it anyway .....

I visited Jamshedpur over the weekend to see for myself an India that is fast disappearing despite all the wolf-cries of people like Narayanamurthy and his ilk. It is one thing to talk and quite another to do and I am delighted to tell you that Ratan Tata has akept alive the legacy of perhaps Indias finest industrialist J.N. Tata.

Something that some people doubted when Ratan took over the House of the Tatas but in hindsight, the best thing to have happened to the Tatas is unquestionably Ratan. I was amazed to see the extent of corporate philanthropy and this is no exaggeration.

For the breed that talks about corporate social responsibility and talks about the role of corporate India, a visit to Jamshedpur is a must. Go there and see the amount of money they pump into keeping the town going; see the smiling faces of workers in a region known for industrial unrest; see the standard of living in a city that is almost isolated from the mess in the rest of the country.

This is not meant to be a puff piece. I have nothing to do with Tata Steel, but I strongly believe the message of hope and the message of goodness that they are spreading is worth sharing. The fact that you do have companies in India which look at workers as human beings and who do not blow their software trumpet of having changed lives. In fact, I asked Mr. Muthurman, the managing director, as to why he was so quiet about all they had done and all he could offer in return was a smile wrapped in humility, which said it all. They have done so much more since I last visited Jamshedpur, which was in 1992. The town has obviously got busier but the values thankfully haven't changed. The food is still as amazing as it always was and I gorged, as I would normally do. I visited the plant and the last time I did that was with Russi Mody.

But the plant this time was gleaming and far from what it used to be.

Greener and cleaner and a tribute to environment management. You could have been in the mountains. Such was the quality of air I inhaled! There was no belching smoke; no tired faces and so many more women workers, even on the shop floor. This is true gender equality and not the kind that is often espoused at seminars organised by angry activists. I met so many old friends. Most of them have aged but not grown old. There was a spring in the air which came from a certain calmness which has always been the hallmark of Jamshedpur and something I savoured for a full two days in between receiving messages of how boring and decrepit the lacklustre Fashion Week was.

It is at times such as this that our city lives seems so meaningless.

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had created an edifice that is today a robust company and it is not about profits and about valuation. It is not about who becomes a millionaire and who doesn't'. It is about getting the job done with dignity and respect keeping the age-old values intact and this is what I learnt.

I jokingly asked someone as to whether they ever thought of joining an Infosys or a Wipro and pat came the reply: "We are not interested in becoming crorepatis but in making others crorepatis."

Which is exactly what the Tatas have done for years in and around Jamshedpur. Very few people know that Jamshedpur has been selected as a UN Global Compact City, edging out the other nominee from India, Bangalore.

Selected because of the quality of life, because of the conditions of sanitation and roads and welfare. If this is not a tribute to industrial India, then what is? Today, Indian needs several Jamshedpurs but it also needs this Jamshedpur to be given its fair due, its recognition. I am tired of campus visits being publicised to the Infosys and the Wipros of the world. Modern India is being built in Jamshedpur as we speak. An India built on the strength of core convictions and nothing was more apparent about that than the experiment with truth and reality that Tata Steel is conducting at Pipla.

Forty-eight tribal girls (yes, tribal girls who these corrupt and evil politicians only talk about but do nothing for) are being educated through a residential program over nine months. I went to visit them and I spoke to them in a language that they have just learnt Bengali. Eight weeks ago, they could only speak in Sainthali, their local dialect. But today, they are brimming with a confidence that will bring tears to your eyes. It did to mine.

One of them has just been selected to represent Jharkand in the state archery competition. They have their own womens football team and what's more they are now fond of education. It is a passion and not a burden.

This was possible because I guess people like Ratan Tata and Muthurman haven't sold their souls to some business management drivel, which tells us that we must only do business and nothing else. The fact that not one Tata executive has been touched by the Naxalites in that area talks about the social respect that the Tatas have earned.

The Tatas do not need this piece to be praised and lauded. My intent is to share the larger picture that we so often miss in the haze of the slime and sleaze that politics imparts. My submission to those who use phrases such as "feel-good" and "India Shining" is first visit Jamshedpur to understand what it all means. See Tata Steel in action to know what companies can do if they wish to. And what corporate India needs to do. Murli Manohar Joshi would be better off seeing what Tata Steel has done by creating the Xavier Institute of Tribal Education rather than by proffering excuses for the imbroglio in the IIMs. This is where the Advanis and Vajpayees need to pay homage. Not to all the Sai Babas and the Hugging saints that they are so busy with. India is changing inspite of them and they need to realise that.

I couldn't have spent a more humane and wonderful weekend. Jamshedpur is an eye-opener and a role model, which should be made mandatory for replication. I saw corporate India actually participate in basic nation-building, for when these tribal girls go back to their villages, they will return with knowledge that will truly be life- altering.

Corporate India can do it but most of the time is willing to shy away. For those corporate leaders who are happier winning awards and being interviewed on their choice of clothes, my advise is visit Tata Steel, spend some days at Jamshedpur and see a nation's transformation. That is true service and true nationalism.

Tata Steel will celebrate 100 years of existence in 2007. It won't be just a milestone in this company's history. It will be a milestone, to my mind of corporate transparency and generosity in this country.

It is indeed fitting that Ratan Tata today heads a group which has people who are committed to nation-building than just building influence and power. JRD must be smiling wherever he is. And so must Jamsetji Nusserwanji. These people today, have literally climbed every last blue mountain. And continue to do so with vigour and passion. Thank God for the Tatas!

Suffice to say that residents of Jamshedpur have always known how fortunate they are, but it takes articles like these to bring things into perspective .... especially in light of the rat-race-equivalent life that I'm living right now. I miss my clean city - green city - steel city!

Sonique

My first (& still one of my favourites) media player when I got my own PC in 2002.

Loved the fluidity between it's menu interchanges & the output visualizations. Back then, it featured stuff like pitch & amp adjustment in addition to a 20 band graphic equalizer. Most players don't feature those kind of things even today!

It's been a year ....

.... since Sweta, Sid, Sittu & me landed up at Gate 6, EC 2, WIPRO Tech. It's exactly one whole year since then today. Time flies .... & how!

#%&*@^! irritating !!

The bus on which I return home seems to have been taken over by a horde of female Southy freshers. 3 of them will get on & reserve places for 6 others. The others arrive half an hour later & thank their 'reservists' profusely & then begins the non-stop series of girlie jokes, touchy feely sessions, giggling & other such assorted nonsense that girls revel in. To top it all they communicate in some southern language which is mighty irritating on the ears. Seriously, some of these Dravidian languages have phonetics & pronunciation that hold as much appeal as the sound of chalk scratching a blackboard. And the way these girls can tattle! Their incessant blabbering can put Shekhar Suman to shame. My peaceful rides home have all but ceased to be that of late.

Then there's this bozo next door who thinks of himself as Kishore Kumar reincarnated. Last night, just as I'd crashed for the night, he chooses to put on a tape of Yaadein (of all films!) loud enough for me to be able to pick up every note & nuance being played .... even after keeping all the windows shut! If that's not bad enough, the bugger chooses to sing along & even gets some moronic female to accompany him in a duet! Lost more than an hour's sleep as a consequence.

This morning, & it's time for more irritation. No company buses show up till 7:40 (even though 3 of them are supposed to be off to EC by 7:35). Finally a bus arrives & we make it to Hosur Road by 8 only to get caught in the worst morning time jam I've ever seen. As if that ain't enough, there's this aunty-type sitting next to me who keeps adjusting her dupatta (in the way all girls do) every time I look to the right. I mean, come on dammit! I'm NOT looking at your assets PLEASE! Why the hell do girls think that all the guys are staring down there? Go look at yourself in the mirror miss, forget your chest, I'm not even looking at your face!

EXTREMELY IRRITATING STUFF MAN!

India vs Pakistan .... here we go again

The Indians flew to Pakistan yesterday for the 3 match Test & 5 match ODI series. The 1st Test starts 13th Jan.

I sure hope we can win again, although most of the people I've spoken to aren't too optimistic about India's chances. All the best Team India, .... come out fighting.

Now Playing

The Hindi film/pop stuff has been chucked out for the time being & it's been a total Hip Hop blowout this week .....

- Position of Power
- Outta Control
- Window Shopper
- Piggy Bank
- This is 50 .... all of the above by 50 Cent

- Over & Over by Nelly & Tim McGraw

- How We Do
- Hate It or Love It .... all of the above by The Game & 50 Cent

- Westside Story
- New York (Remix) .... all of the above by The Game

The Bugatti Veyron

It's finally on sale .....

An 8-litre, 16-cylinder engine producing 1,001 horsepower, that blasts the two-seater to 60 miles an hour in 2.5 seconds — & a top whack of 253 mph.

Staggering acceleration: 0 to 125 mph in 7.3 seconds & to 250 in 55.6 seconds, according to Bugatti.

10 radiators.

Costs $1.2 million in the US, before taxes.

An F1 racer is not as fast as a Veyron.

The fastest, most powerful and — no surprise — most expensive production car in the world.

Chetak's dead

Bajaj ceased production of the Chetak on 31st December 2005. To most Indians brought up during the 80s (like me), this would come as a shocker.

This one time icon of Indian middle class mobility would have waiting periods stretching into years back in the 70s & early 80s. Our own Chetak is a 1976 vintage bought from Punjab (yes!) in black (not the color, the premium over the prevailing market price) for Rs. 6000/-. It was what I learnt driving on.

Rahul Bajaj had this to say, "the customers had just given up on it". About time thay did something like that, I think. I won't exactly miss it since it symbolises an era when everything was in short supply in the-then socialist economic environ of the country. But it does mark the end of an era.

TVS Apache

TVS' new 'Pulsar killer' is out. Finally, finally, TVS has had the guts to load a bike with all options - alloys, 5 gears, gas shox (although a monoshock would've been better). The styling has more than a hint of the Pulsar & I think it'll still be some time before TVS' design department learns to strike out on it's own. India's biker-cricketer (& one of my favs), Dhoni will probably do the ads.

Everything seems nicely weighed in favour of the Apache. Let the wars begin .......

Happy New Year

It's not often that you spend a good part of the day on 31st December in a hospital. Yet, that's exactly what happened on Saturday. Amit & Kaushik (on Kaushik's Discover) got involved in a horrific crash while on their way to Nandi Hills. Amit escaped with scratches to his face & a bruised ego, but Kaushik (riding pillion) bore the brunt of their impact against a road divider. Lost 6 teeth in addition to multiple jaw fractures & a fractured nose.

Most of us BITans in Bangalore turned up at St. John's & it was good to see that. None of us have family here & each other is the only support we can count on.

Reached home around 8. There was an air of anticipation everywhere. Arnab bought some citrus flavored Smirnoff for me (Raspberry for himself) & we beat the pros (Ajay, Sid & Prav) at finishing our drinks quota.

The new year was ushered in to the accompaniment of some wild dancing, Ajay's brand of 'chicken stew' & a stream of calls & SMSs. It feels good when school time friends from Patna, Goa, Chennai .... all over the country in fact, take the trouble to remember you. Thank God for mobile telephony!

Bye bye 2005 .... it's been a year when nothing spectacular happened. But as they say, no news is good news.