Return of the King(s)

It's not always that i am happy to be proved wrong.But this time i am glad to be proved so.I was thinking that ICC champions' trophy would be won by the Australia because this has become more like a norm these days.
For cricket fans,Sunday's final between the age old rivals,West Indies and England,was a refreshing change.Like many of the cricket fans,i am also a die-hard fan of West indian cricket team.I have also felt sorry for the Windies when they were losing the once kingly status to be deformed to a sub-ordinary team.There were many factors like the inadequacy of funding and youngsters moving to more prosperous games like basket-ball.One reason i like the Windies is,their passion for the game and their sportive on-field attitude.It was good to see them coming back to a decent form.
Highlight of the match was, the fielding by both the teams.Neither team is famous for their fielding.In spite of that dubious distinction,i think they did pretty well.I would rate the second slip catch by Strauss off Sarwan's bat as one of the best catches in that region.Other catches by Lara and Solanki were also of top class.
As Steve Waugh once told Gibbs,England just dropped their cup out of their hands.Though the full credit goes to the 9th wicket partnership by the Windies,England could have always won it easily,hadn't they worn that lethargic attitude.
There were some lessons in the match for players like Virender Sehwag and Ricardo Powell that inconsistent aggression is not going to do any good for anybody.
To sum up,it was a final worth every penny paid.(Don't ask me what did i pay.Because i also paid over the net to watch the series).I'd love to see more Non-Australia finals in the future.

இந்தியா - பாக் மாட்ச்

இந்தியா-பாக் மாட்ச் பாத்து மனசுக்கு ரொம்ப கஷ்டமா போச்சு.நம்ம டீம் பேட்டிங் வழக்கம் போல சீட்டுக்கட்டு கோட்டை மாதிரி சரிஞ்சு விழுந்துது.
ஆனா சந்தோஷப்பட வேண்டிய ஒரு விஷயம் என்னனா,நம்ம இர்ஃபான் பௌலிங்.200 ரன் எடுத்துட்டு,ஜெயிச்சு குடுடான்னா எப்டி முடியும்?இப்போ தான் முதல் தடவையா இர்ஃபான் பௌலிங் பாத்தேன்.கலக்கறான் பையன்.ஒவ்வொரு இன் ஸ்விங்கும் ஒரு கவிதை.பையன் கொஞ்சம் யார்க்கரும் போட்டான்னா,அவன அடிச்சுக்க ஆள் இல்லை.இன்ஷா அல்லாஹ்,இந்த பையன் காயம் எதுவும் இல்லாம,அக்ரம் மாதிரி ரொம்ப நாள் டீம்ல ஆடணும்.இந்த மாட்ச்ல இர்ஃபானுக்கு மட்டும் ஒரு நல்ல ஜோடி இருந்திருந்தா ஜெயிச்சிருக்கலாம்.ஆஷீஷ் நெஹ்ரா சுத்த வேஸ்ட்.ஜஹீர் கான் ,அப்டி இல்லனா நம்ம ஊரு பாலாஜி, இர்ஃபான் கூட ஆடியிருந்தா நல்லா இருந்திருக்கும்.ஜஹீரோட யார்க்கர ரொம்ப மிஸ் பண்ணினேன்.ஹூம்,கைய விட்டு போச்சு.

இது எல்லாம் விட கொடுமை என்னனா,மாட்சுக்கு அப்புறம் ந்டந்த கங்கூலியோட ப்ரஸ் மீட்."டீம்ல சில பேர் ரொம்ப நாளா சரியா ஆடாம இருக்காங்க.அவங்க சீக்கிரம் ஒழூங்கா ஆடலைனா,மவனே தூக்கி வெளில போட்டுடுவேன்னு சொல்றான்.அப்டி சொல்லும் போது கொஞ்சம் தன்னோட ஃபார்ம் பத்தியும் மனசு தொட்டு யோசிச்சு இருக்கணும்.கென்யா,பங்களாதேஷ் கூட சதம் போடறது புறநானூறுல சொல்ற மாதிரி முயல் வேட்டைல ஜெயிக்கற கதை தான்.சனிக்கிழமை மாட்ச்ல கங்கூலி, சாமி பௌலிங்ல சாமியாடினதப் பாத்தா கேவலமா இருந்தது.முதல் பந்துலயே அண்ணாத்தே ஆட்டம் காலின்னு தெரிஞ்சு போச்சு.அதே மாதிரி, பதான் பௌலிங்ல பாக் பேட்ஸ்மேன் எல்லாரும் நல்லா தடவினாங்க.ஆனா காட்டான் அஃப்ரிதி ஒரே ஒரு ஓவர்ல டோட்டல் மாட்ச்சயே திருப்பிட்டான்.

சேவாக் ஒரு 6 மாசம் ரஞ்சி மாட்ச் ஆடி பழைய ஃபார்முக்கு வரணும்.சும்மா நம்ம அஜித்குமார் மாதிரி "நான் அப்டி தான் "னு டயலாக் விட்டுட்டு இருந்தா வேலைக்கு ஆகாது.நம்ம செலெக்ஷன் கமிட்டி இன்னும் கொஞ்சம் பாரபட்சம் இல்லாம தேர்வு செய்யணும்.
என்னமோ போ,வழ்க்கம் போல இந்த கப்பும் ஆஸ்திரேலியாக்கு தான் போகப் போறது.

இந்தியன் டீம் தலைவிதி இன்னும் சச்சின் கைலதான் இருக்கு போல.

Bowling for Columbine

I could not have written this today had NewZealand given some decent fight in their match against Australia in the ICC trophy.There was no meaning watching that match after the NZ batting line up crumbled like a pack of cards.Pathetic show.Australians are playing in totally another level than the rest.I do not know why,but i hate to see them win.It may be because of their on-field behaviour,or it may be because of our inability to beat them.
So,i went down and switched on the TV to just scroll through the channels.I am such a bad watcher of TV that nobody would prefer to sit with me if the remote is in my hands.In some channel,there was this documentary called Bowling for Columbine directed by Michael Moore.
It was directed on the backdrop of a shooting incident in Columbine school and the gun culture in US as the root cause.When we say documentary,we usually expect a boring video for an hour or 2.But,this one was really interesting and Moore manages to mix humour even with the real life incidents and conversations.
The facts shown and discussed in the movie/documentary are so chilling.Every guy who owns a gun tries to justify his action.He says there are wackos around so he carries a gun.A wacko is afraid of other wackos.No wonder there are 11,500 casualities off the gun every year only in US ,where as in most of the countries it is merely a 2 digit number.Moore practically demonstrates how easy to buy a gun in US by doing a gun purchase for himelf.

He also discusses some sensitive issues about the race discrimination in US.I do not know how far it is true because i have never actually lived in US.May be my friends and brothers will be able to tell me more about it.There was a 5 minutes animated clip about this issue that was so funny yet so true.
Till yesterday ,i was under the impression that Japan is the most peaceful country in the world.But when i saw his documentary parts in Canada, i was proved i am still a frog in a well.It is such a peaceful country and believe me,nobody locks the front door of the house.This is not possible even in the most peaceful villages of India.So its not a surprise that only the news about the new bumps on the road becomes the breaking news on their channels.
After seeing this one,i am really looking forward to see Moore's latest one 'Farenheit 9/11'.It should be much more interesting,i guess.

My Ordeal in HongKong

This is a different kind of traveller's diary. I can say it is a traveller's whining.I wanted to write it down in the blog so that i can read it again after few years and laugh at it.My trip to HK does not deserve a quote like ' if there is a heaven on earth,(it is here)*3'.I did not feel any great difference between Hong Kong and any of the busiest cities like Tokyo or Bombay.One major difference is that,the whole city stank like a kitchen and of course it smelt like chicken too.
I was very anxious that the guide of our tourist company will surely speak english.But the last ray of hope also vanished when he told me ' i do not speak english' in perfect english.We had to settle down with Japanese even in HK.Those four days in HK were and will be one of the busiest days of my life.The minute we landed in HK airport,our schedule of sight seeing started.Our day starts at 6 am with break fast ,6.15 boarding the bus and thats it.He takes us to all stupid places which even dog wont bother to mark its territory there.That bloody guide gave us wake up call at 5 am in the morning.The problem with the Japanese guys is that they never question the rules.We Indians were jumping against that guide that we wouldnt wake up at 5 am.So ,naturally it was in vain. For heaven sake,show me one unfortunate man who has to wake up at 5 am to spend his holidays.And our day ended at 11.30 pm .I slept like a wooden log in the hotel room.
There were as little as 5,6 people inside our mini bus.That guide was pumping information about that small and young city with the public addressing system inside the bus.My colleagues had a tough time preventing me from jumping out of the bus.I was cursing my friends who chose HK as their stupid holiday location.My first choice would have been Thailand.Wow! what a perfect place for holidaying.
Our guide probably would have worked in some court previously i guess.He was repeating his every sentence 3 times and in addition to that ,he was asking us to remember it surely.Who cares to remember any info abt HK anyway as our trip was just for 4 days.There is a joke in Japan about the Chinese guys that only 4 legged stuff chinese dont eat is the furniture.See who is making fun of whom.But that joke was such a truth when we sat for lunch.When i said we need vegetarians,those waiters were so amazed and confused and even scared.They finally brought raw green leaves for us to eat after a lot of intellectual discussions.i was lighter by 2 kgs in just 4 days.
We were finally released from being the hostage of that vicious guide after 2 days.Our actual fun started right from that time only.I was thinking that it would be all fun from that time on.But my destiny was laughing at me in the form of immigration department. HK is so small that every 30 kms you have this Chinese border and so an immigration office.2 pages of my passport were filled with stamping in just 4 days.
Once we were back from the chinese city ShinZhen, i was in the queue for stamping into HK.But the stamping officer had an identity crisis with my photograph in thePP and my present face.I was up against a face off.I was called in by the immigration office and one old lady was waiting to give me tough time. She was asking me who is this in this PassPort.I said that was me.She was least convinced with that reply.It had a photo that i took nearly 7 years ago.She was asking me to show me some other proof of myself.I took out my foreigner registeration card of Japanese government.To add fuel to this confusion,that photograph was showing me as a fat guy with big moustache and dark(as if now i have a complexion of BradPitt!!).Now she was almost sure that i was a terrorist who was going to spoil the already nasty city of HK.Then i started to explain her that all those snaps were mine only.The passport snap was my college days snap when i had hair style like 1970's tamil movie hero.I told her now i had a very short hair with most of them gone with the wind and i removed my moustache.The japanese card snap was taken when i ate tens of thousands of calories every day in bangalore and was close to 80 kilos.Even then she was not satisfied .I was wondering whether this lady would bring some eyelining pencil and draw a moustache on my face and check.
Then the real test started.She was asking me every detail of the stampings in my passport right from the very first stamping.Luckily i remembered every date and detail of the stamping.When i told her not to worry because i would be leaving to Japan the next day,she was even asking me to show my return tickets.I told her i am not a mad guy to carry my flight ticket whereever i go and told her to come to my hotel to check my tickets.By that time i was starting to lose my patience.If i had told some wrong details with the pssport,i would be going to land up in HK prison eating garden leaves all my life and would never be able to see my beloved ones ever again.haha.
Finally after almost an hour of checking and rechecking,they let me go out.By that time,my colleagues had started one major search and rescue operation in that huge premises.
Amidst all these confusions and menace of the guide,I had fun witnessing some of the most beautiful cultural shows of China and got some fortunes in the gambling.I should say China is atleast 10 years ahead of India in infrastructure.