On the Nuclear front ....

The Fast Breeder Program is coming along fine it seems (there had been doubts that India wouldn't go ahead with it because of the Civil Nuclear Cooperation deal with the U.S.). It's 1st prototype has been unvieled & the word from the GOI (according to NDTV.com) is this ....

Friday, April 28, 2006 (Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu): India's fast breeder nuclear reactor promises energy self-reliance and make the nation a nuclear superpower.

NDTV has found that the secretly developed technology would give the capability to sell nuclear fuel to the world.

The prototype unveiled for the first time includes a family of super efficient machines that convert reserves of thorium to nuclear energy.

"India has abundant amount of thorium. We have to have a plan where uranium can be used very effectively and then we can switch on to thorium," said Project Director Prabhat Kumar.

"We can provide the required energy to our people for the next 300-500 years," he added.

The fast breeder has a doubling time of 8 to 10 years. It means if it starts with 10 tones of Plutonium, in the next eight years it will generate another 10 tons of plutonium to start off another reactor - that is why it is called a fast breeder.

In 2009 when the reactor starts running, India would have launched itself into a new era of strategic and energy security.

Hmmm .... must say this is quite interesting .... & unexpected.

Prateek leaves ....

Prateek attends office in EC/Bangalore for the last time today. He leaves for Ranchi tomorrow & goes on to join work at Kolkata subsequently. He'd been doggedly pursuing his transfer & his efforts have finally paid off. I'll miss the conversations that we used to have at the Cafeteria & on the steps of the Amphitheatre on topics like Mithunda's exploits, R.D. Burman, Bollywood kitsch, Bangalore sux, the Indian biking scene, gizmos & other areas of common interest (of which there were many) .... adda sessions generally, which used to be highly engaging & thoroughly enjoyable. Will miss those times buddy .... but hopefully not for too long. All the best for your journey to the land of the rosogulla.

Meanwhile, Anu has had an unfortunate accident .... the auto he was travelling in overturned while trying to avoid running over a dog. 4 bones in his foot had to bear the brunt, which required surgery & the insertion of plates. Dude will be out of action for 5-6 weeks. Get well soon, Runjhun.

And last but not the least, Anu's big bro, Ashish, has hopped over from the Redwood based corporation to apni swadeshi company & will probably be working in the same tower as mine. Cool!

Honda Civic Type-R

That is the actual production version of the 2006 Type-R. Looks unbelievably futuristic.

It's been 20 years ....

.... since the 20th century's worst man-made nuclear disaster.

XL 7

The 2006 Grand Vitara XL 7. Suzuki's given it something that it's previous incarnations just didn't have .... appeal!

Gone!

Prav & Sid to their respective homes, Sweta to get married, Hemant got shifted to the 1st floor with Gerard, Prateek's transfer to Kolkata has come through & Sittu is looking for something on the same lines .... the silence keeps getting louder by the day. One year ago today, to the day, I was on a train home .... wish it could all come back again.

Don't get mad, get even

Pramod Mahajan gets shot thrice by his own bro & it receives blanket coverage by the Indian media, who choose to ignore the goings-on in Nepal where a huge people's pro-democracy movement has brought down an obstinate monarch to his knees. This, by the press of a country that is hailed as the largest democracy in the world!

Sometimes, the Indian media, especially the numerous TV channels, disgust me no end .... falling over each other to try & show the same God-damn thing that everyone else is playing. I mean, OK, PM's a big neta & all that, but why the obsessive never-ending reports of his not-so-well-being? Sure, run it on the headlines, show it as the first feature, but at least show something else too .... politicians are the most despised lot in this country & almost everyone I talked with regarding this was more interested in knowing maraa ya bacha .... rather than the whys & wherefores of the incident.

Knowing how the scoundrels (politics is their last refuge, remember?) make bags of money (Pramod's brother says he's made 2000 crores so far!), most would be wishing that he faces retribution anyway.

It's a Saturday & I have to work, to make up for unscheduled day off last Thursday. I hate this.

And, before I forget, 20th April was the big day for Prav's sis, Sweta & Nivedita .... all the best & have a happy wedded life.

Dhoni on top

Sify.com reports ....

Dhoni tops ICC ODI rankings

London: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's half century against Pakistan in the second one-dayer against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi propelled him to the top spot in the latest ICC one-day international rankings.

Dhoni, who was placed second behind Australian captain Ricky Ponting before the two-match ODI series in the desert venue, hit 59 in India's series-levelling win in the second match.

The 24-year-old Jharkhand player, who made his ODI debut in December 2004, has made a remarkably rapid rise with his statistics providing compelling support for his position on top of the ODI charts released on Thursday.

In 42 matches, he averages 52.76 with two hundreds and eight fifties and, equally significantly, he has made those runs at an awesome strike-rate of 103 runs per hundred balls.

I think it all started with that 148 against Pakistan at Vizag exactly a year ago. Has this guy's rise been meteoric or what!

Fab Cells

The Samsung SCH-B600. The world's first 10 Megapixel mobile phone and ....

The Samsung SGH-i310. The world's first 8GB Hard Disk embedded smartphone.

Nuff said!

Levelled!

Dravid said, "we learned our lessons after the 1st game" & it showed on the field yesterday. A much improved batting performance & solid (though a tad wayward) bowling had the Pakis in a choke hold. Each of the Indian bowlers got at least 1 wicket & the ball which had Afridi's middle stump cartwheeling (by Irfan) was a killer.

So, India made it 1-1 & shared the DLF trophy. By the way, Inzi forgot to begin his after-match-presentation talk with the usual '1st of all thanks to Allah ....' & had to stop mid-way to say it & resume again .... heh heh, even he was smiling.

And by the way again, there was a sign in the crowd ....

.... that could well be a sign of the times.

Yesterday ....

Radio Mirchi

Bangalore's newest FM channel went on the air yesterday .... finally something other than the yackity-yacker RJs of RadioCity & the morons of FM Rainbow.

The ODI

Okay, India lost the 1st one. I don't blame them though, they all looked jaded.

The 'Spirit' ....

A pathetic 'rock' show, some fundu Laser-Lighting & 'shaadi-style' firecrackers accompanied the BossMan's unveiling of the company 'Spirit' yesterday. A lot of ballyhoo about nothing really .... no wonder MBAs make so much moolah producing this corporate baloney.

Navy Blue vs Baggy Green .... once more

Annnnnnnnnd it's time once again for the Indo-Pak Cricket carnival to roll into the Middle East. But this time it's Abu Dhabi & not Sharjah.

India have been on a roll unlike ever before & after the kick ass performance against the Pakis IN Pakistan (yes!), I sure hope they can rub it in with a 2-0 series win here.

But, the Men In Blue are tired (the Pakis aren't) & the matches are back-to-back. I sure hope they can overcome the fatigue & come out all guns blazing.

May the best team win .... may it be India.

Fanaa

The music is out & it's a totally different Jatin-Lalit that one gets to hear .... which I think is a good thing.

Bands Reunited

Surfing channels on Friday night with nothing else to do, I came upon this program on vh1 called 'vh1 Bands Reunited'. It's about locating the original constituents of once-popular bands that have long since broken up & trying to get them back together to play in front of their fans for 1 last time. This time they were on mission Berlin.


Almost everybody is familiar with the band that's credited with 'Take My Breath Away' & I'd always wondered what happened to them after that huge hit of 1986. Well, it seemed they had had a typical band breakup & everybody had gone their own way, some not having seen the others since 17 years or so! They were all approached individually & asked to come together for a performance & all agreed. It was a treat to watch their reactions after seeing each other for the first time in years.

Terri Nunn said that 'Take My Breath Away' had been both good & bad for them .... good 'cause it bought them worldwide recognition & bad 'cause they couldn't quite get a hold on its success (the band just sang it, the lyrics & music came from somebody else) & broke apart after it's release.

Saw another episode of the same program on Sunday & Frankie Goes To Hollywood was the target. Though they did manage to bring everyone together, they couldn't quite get them to play together which was too bad, for it would've been great to hear 'Relax' again.

These 2 bands were among the hottest in the 80s & their songs defined the decade. Am looking forward to see more such bands getting reunited soon.

Anyway, nice idea, great execution & total timepass .... what more can one ask for?

Good Friday!

Today is Good Friday & unlike every other organisation in the city, it's a workin day at my company.

The last 2 days have seen a lot happening in Bangalore. India lost the Jamshedpur ODI on Wednesday & as if that wasn't bad enough there were portentous rumours doing the rounds of the office after lunch. It sounded as if there was trouble in town (our office is about 10km out of the city, & there's no way you can get to know or see what the buzz is about), but I couldn't really get what it was. Called up Pritish & the dude tells me that Rajkumar (a BIG local cinestar, more like THE local cinestar) died this morning & there's been violence in parts of town.

As news spread, so did the panic in the ODC, especially among the car owners (smashing windscreens is the fav pastime of Kannada hooligans). Vanitha called up her sis who works in the Diamond District office of HP & she informed that Domlur was totally shut down. Reports came in of thugs roaming around Koramangala streets vandalising shops & cars. Enough, we decided. It was 5 o'clock .... Sid & Sweta made for the inter-office shuttle, while Hemant & me decided to make tracks on his CBZ.

Reached home without incident. Cops were nowhere to be seen. Hemant's been in Bangalore since ~5 years & says that the Bangalore Police is known to vanish at the first sign of trouble. By evening it was clear that Thursday would be a day off for everybody.

Woke up late on Thursday. There was a silence of the kind usually reserved for around midnight (even THAT is broken by call centre cabs, none of which were around today). The 2 day state mourning meant all channels, other than News are blacked out .... so had to spend the day alternating between NDTV, CNN-IBN, TimesNOW, Aaj Tak, Star News & Zee News where the only other story besides Bangalore seemed to be Salman's release on bail after 3 days in prison under the Chinkara poaching case. There was more violence on the streets during the day & the final toll was 6 dead, scores injured, lots of property destroyed & Bangalore's image gone for a toss. Senseless, .... pathetic even.

Moving away from all that depressing nonsense, Praveen, Sid & Sweta went home today. Sweta gets married on the 20th & so does Prav's sister. Sid will be at one of the weddings while hoping to be at the other. Wished 'a happy married life' to Sweta last night .... first time ever I've said that to a friend! Felt strange. Anyway, the ODC is silent without the 2 live wires. Coffee won't be the same without the 2 .... it's crazy how you realize the extent you've grown used to some people's presence .... only after they're gone.

Wake up call

Being woken up by the panicky voice of a girl shouting my name isn't quite my idea of how I'd like to begin a rare day off from work, but that's what happened yesterday. It was Id & I'd been catching up on my sleep after having crashed at 4 in the morning, when my reverie was punctured courtesy Sweta.

The stove had been acting up again & the poor girl was scared out of her wits. But I don't blame her .... I'd be scared too if some part of the stove I was cooking on caught fire at random .... she didn't know that it wasn't the first time this kind of thing had happened.

And fire is something you can never be too careful of .... especially in light of the terrible tragedy that's taken place at the Meerut trade fair. Entire families literally turned to ashes .... makes you thankful 'it wasn't me' instead of the usual 'why me' that we keep ruminating on.

Walking Tall

Finally got to see it on Friday, courtesy Star Movies.

Bit of a let down really. They could have used The Rock a lot better. Ashok Amritraj was the co-producer .... good to see he's moved on from making what he was famous for .... soft porn.

Lotsa happening .......

Ok .... a lot has been making news in the last 3-4 days & here's my take ....

The 5th ODI between India & England was scheduled at Guwahati yesterday, but rain played spoilsport & the match was declared abandoned .... the crowd didn't take too kindly to that & showed some good old East Indian emotion by burning/stoning/breaking/beating whatever they could lay their hands on. Why do I get this feeling that something similar could happen in the next ODI at JSR? Anyway, I hope it doesn't.

India were facing Pakistan in the Davis Cup this weekend. Now, I've never given much importance to Davis Cup matches ever, but since this was against the old enemy, interest was running high. I'd expected it to be a 5-0 or at most a 4-1 walkover by the Indians, but the Paki No.1, it seems is really good. In the end it took Leander playing out of his skin to get India a narrow but well-deserved 3-2 win. This is what The Telegraph had to say about it ....

"Leander Paes braved a severe bout of cramps in sweltering conditions to pull off an incredible five-set victory over Pakistan’s Aqeel Khan in the deciding reverse singles to pilot India to a thrilling 3-2 victory in the Asia-Oceania Zone group I play-off tie on Sunday.

The 33-year-old Indian captain, hero of many a cup campaign against stronger teams in the past, took a gamble and played the fifth rubber of the tie in place of his younger teammate Rohan Bopanna to carve out a memorable 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 0-6, 6-1 victory in three hours and 40 minutes at the Cricket Club of India.

The veteran stormed his way in the deciding set with his passing shots and volleys to stun his younger rival into submission by breaking his opponent’s serve twice — in the second and sixth games — before serving out the set, the match and the tie when Khan hit a backhand return wide."

Hmmmm .... women's tennis in India may be on a high (in terms of profile at least) courtesy Sania Mirza, but this result goes to show that the reserves in men's tennis aren't very high quality .... I mean, struggling to win a Davis Cup tie against the Pakis! .... that's the pits .... almost. Anyway, I salute this Leander guy .... never fails to deliver when the country's izzat is at stake .... in fact, he raises his game a few notches at times like these. What a fighter!

Moving on to politics now .... the Association of Leading Indian A**holes (also known as politicians), are upto no good again. This time they want to implement a 49.5% quota (for SCs/STs/other-people-capable-of-being-duped-into-voting-for-them) for admissions to the IITs & IIMs. I think the present quotas already represent a bad deal for those in the General category .... pushing this upto ~50% is like a slap in the face of all those who slog like nobody's business to get a hold of their dreams .... I've been through the grind myself (OK, upto about half the levels these guys goto, but so what?) & think it's most unfair.

Come to think of it .... how many of these SCs/STs/OBCs/whatever-Cs are there .... I mean, are they so many more than the unlucky bunch of General category students that the f*$#ing short-sighted-greedy-perverted politicos have to bend over backwards to pander to their every whim? Aren't the current level of reservations (I hate that word 'cause I never got any advantage due to it & I know some people who did .... & I can't forget their undeserving smiles) enough? Oh well, all I can do is forward SMSs/emails against this move or rant on my blog about it .... at least there's an outlet.

This weekend was a gastronomic delight .... a welcome break from the stale Mess fare I've grown accustomed to. Saturday dinner with the guys at Chung's, Jayanagar .... I'm growing more & more fond of Roast Lamb. Sunday special Mutton for lunch, courtesy Sid & Sunday dinner at Anu's. Also got to listen to Jolly bhaiya play the Spanish guitar .... he's good.

Watched the Puri trip video for the nth time .... made me all nostalgic. I miss the college days, I miss the guys & I miss the good times.

Gotcha!

India vs England, 4th ODI of 7, Kochi

England: 237

India: 238-6 in 47.2 overs

India grab the series 4-0 with 3 ODIs still to go.

Also, India now hold the world record for the most number of consecutive, successful run chases (15), breaking the Windies >20 year old record .... and to think that chasing was considered this team's Achilles' heel not so long ago!

Beep!

[Will.I.Am]
It's funny how a man only thinks about the "beep"
You got a real big heart, but I'm looking at your " Beep"
You got real big brains, but I'm looking at your " beep"
Girl, there ain't no pain in me looking at your "Beep"

[PCD]
I don't give a " beep"
Keep looking at my " beep"
'Cause it don't mean a thing if you're looking at my " beep"
I'm a do my thing while you're playing with your " beep"
Ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha

Every boy's the same
Since up in the seventh grade
They been trying to get with me
Trying to (Ha, ha-ha, ha, ha-ha)
They always got a plan
To be my one and only man
Want to hold me with their hands
Want to (Ha, ha-ha, ha, ha-ha)
I keep turning them down
But, they always come around
Asking me to go around
That's not the way it's going down

'Cause they only want
Only want my ha, ha-ha Ha, ha-ha
Only want what they want
But, na, ah-ah
Na, ah-ah

[Will.I.Am]
It's funny how a man only thinks about the " beep"
You got a real big heart, but I'm looking your " beep"
You got real big brains, but I'm looking at your " beep"
Girl, there ain't no pain in me looking at your...

Lyrics from Beep by Pussycat Dolls (feat. Will.I.Am)

What lyrics! Trust Will.I.Am to come out with something like this .... with the PCD no less! Girls seem to be a harassed lot.

It's official!

I knew it was coming, but hadn't expected it so soon. So when Daddy informed me about it last night .... I didn't know what to say .... still don't.

Anyway, the account has been opened. Ladies & gentlemen, yours truly is now on the 'market'.

Documentation sux!

2 weeks, 2 cells

Arnie bought the Nokia 6600 last week & yesterday it was Ajay's turn.

3-0

OK, England all out for 245 chasing India's 294.

India go 3-0 up in the 7 match series.

"Dhoni missed a shot and keeper Geraint Jones threw down the stumps. The batsmen promptly ran a single and seeing Jones still on his haunches, they scampered back for another single-or two leg-byes with the ball very much around the three stumps! The game’s daddies will also debate how best to describe the six which Dhoni converted out of a yorker. It was madness at high noon. " - Graham Gooch.

Badiya!

Umm, err ....

Today I'm at the wooziest I've ever felt in my working life. It's not as if I haven't slept well or something .... okay, I've been lying-in-bed-awake-but-trying-to-sleep since 4:30 this morning (damned Sunday nights & Monday mornings, I never seem to get enough sleep on these days), but it isn't the first time this has happened. I've survived full working days before after having had only 3-4 hours of sleep, but it's just not working today. The world (the office, that is) seems to be going around in a whirl, while I myself am in a sort of zombie-d trance. Even Caffeine isn't working it's usual magic .... in fact, it isn't working at all!

Thankfully, there isn't any pending work. Sandhya's let me off the hook for today it seems, although I don't know how long this'll last.

England & India are playing out the 3rd ODI at Goa. India rattled up 294 batting first & England are 51 for 3 at the moment. Strangely I don't feel too enthused about the match. Maybe India winning isn't so exciting anymore, it's become more like a habit .... God knows, for how long I've wanted to say that!

The cooling fan on my PC has decided to come to life suddenly making an infernal racket, it's noise accentuated by the quiet environs of the ODC. Okay, it's stopped now .... that was quick.

Seems like there are a thousand trains of thought running through the mind now .... don't even know which ones to single out .... umm, lemme see, coming to mind now are thoughts like Swapnil (probably 'cause of the match at Goa), the Honda Civic Sport, Jaws (the movie, saw it yesterday on AXN), America (there's a conference call to the U.S. going on in the adjacent cubicle), & sundry other stuff I can't really pinpoint now, .... but it's there nevertheless .... & the feeling's crazy .... to be in this kind of state .... at work .... dunno.

...Crazy yellow people walking through my head.
One of them's got a gun, to shoot the other one.
And yet together they were friends at school
Ohh, get it, get it, get it, get it no no!

If all were there when we first took the pill,
Then maybe, then maybe, then maybe, then maybe...
Miracles will happen as we speak.

But we're never gonna survive unless...
We get a little crazy.
No we're never gonna survive unless...
We are a little...Crazy...

Lyrics from Crazy by Seal.