Apples and Oranges

Media in this country has a habit of comparing apples to oranges and declare themselves intelligent in doing so. One more example is this news story - Rumours about Twenty20 cricket killing the one-day game may have been a bit exaggerated.

Ms. Author, can you at least tell us if you did any other research than just comparing TRPs? The IPL relied on "in your face" marketing to succeed, much like the crap movie Om Shanti Om. People watched Champions Trophy due to patriotic reasons. Poor fellows at Champions League had no such weapon in their arsenal, demonstrated by the fact that they still have intelligent folks like Harsha Bhogle and Sunil Gavaskar doing the commentary, and not Mandira Bedi.

The Champions League also comes after a long cricketing season. There is a factor called fatigue and law of diminishing returns.

If only our journalists had more than just a degree from college...

Nobel prize for what?

The intention behind the Swedes sucking up to the US for is everything but noble. There is otherwise no reason to give the Peace prize to Obama. The guy has been in office for just about 8 months, has not done anything other than make speeches and still has a long way to go in really making a difference to this world. Giving Obama all the benefit of doubt in the world, the award committee should have waited at least till his last year of Presidency.

In the current circumstances, a US president should be a peace award only if he/she manages to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and get rid of at least Pakistan's nuclear proliferation if not the whole worlds...

Water on moon?

There is some speculation about Chandrayaan finding water on moon. Does the news media really believe that is possible? People should think about all the other NASA and Russian satellites that have been roaming around that area did not do anything till now and this kal ka chhokra chandrayaan comes and discovers water !! To kya woh amereeki aur roosi satellites jhakh mar rahe the?

Two new items in TOI answer this question for us beautifully... Did chandrayaan find water on Moon's surface? and Chandrayaan-1 was 'killed' by heat stroke.

Therefore my detective mind reconstructed the truth like this - when Chandrayaan-1 was dying from the heat stroke, it wished for water on Moon's surface and would have imagined it during the process. This imagery made scientists believe that there is really water there :-)

Up for grabs

With the credibility of BJP reaching rock bottom, I think I am seriously reconsidering voting for them in the next elections. Congress suddenly looks so much better. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but my vote is up for grabs...

Sanatana Dharma

Moved to the planetarypositions website - Sanatana Dharma...

62 years of bhashan-baji

On the morning of 15th August, I did not even wake up till 8:00 AM since the gym was closed. My son also slept beatifically. My wife did not switch on the television as she made a quiet cup of tea for herself. We essentially missed the bhashan given by the Prime Minister at the Red Fort. When I woke up, I felt sorry for the old man who had to get up so early in the morning, reach Red Fort and give a speech who almost no one wants to listen. The group of people and dressed up children were there only because of an official dictat.

At about 9:00 AM, the breaking news was that SRK was detained at Newark's airport because he has a Muslim surname. In fact, on CNN-IBN, the order of headlines was (1) SRK's detention, (2) Bombing in Kabul and at a distant 3rd place - the PM's speech. Even the TV channels had other important things to show.

Which brings us to an important question - why do we keep up with these age old practices and unnecessary rituals in name of democracy? If the PM really wants to address the nation, he can surely use 15 mins of his time each week and talk to people on radio and television. What kind of status update can he provide to us once a year from 15th August? In our country where food prices go up every week, does just once a year of communication make sense? If it does not, lets put an end to this bhashan-baji. It will save us from a ritual and save 100s of crores of tax payers' money in organizing such events. Every year, what do we get by displaying the military hardware? Is it meant for us or for China and Pakistan? It looks ridiculous when we put the display against the backdrop of delays in defence equipment procurement, CAG rapping the whole Gorshkov deal and frequency of aircraft crashes.

PS: I think SRK created this whole drama and episode at Newark Airport just to get publicity for his next film - "My name is Khan"... Sorry Shahrukh Bhai, I really don't trust you. I think you are very much capable of such stunts :-)

Anti Doping

Everyone is aware of a the dialog between BCCI and WADA - World Anti Doping Agency with ICC in the middle. The whole dialog can be summed up as:

ICC: Kya hua, tera wada? Woh kasam, woh irada?

BCCI (while saying yes): Wada raha sanam...

WADA (while doing the policing): Jo wada kiya woh nibhana padega...

But the players are essentially bewafas, in no mood to comply. I fully support them because I feel that they are correct about all their objections against various clauses. The arguments are pretty convincing:

1. I am not addicted to cigarettes - otherwise I would have already appeared in ads for Nicorett by now.
2. I am not addicted to crack/cocaine otherwise it would have already come out in open.
3. While at home, why should I remain away from the cheap stuff available in outskirts of Delhi, Chandigarh or Ranchi? You just tell me 2 days in advance and I will stop.
4. Once in a while I go to exotic places for vacation... the local economy needs to be supported.
5. I can't tell you where I am going for vacation, otherwise photographers will start following me. If I don't ever take a vacation, that too is bad for my image.
6. Finally, I don't do performance enhancing drugs otherwise Team BCCI would not have lost so badly in T20 World Cup.

Team BCCI, we are with you on this one. No one can tell you what or where you can or cannot smoke.