Travelogue on the day of India v Pakistan epic

This is the travelogue details, when I was traveling to Chennai instead of watching the India v Pakistan clash in the Cricket World Cup 2011.

All this started on 28th March, when I got a call from a bank in Chennai asking me to attend a meeting on 30th March regarding a company, for which I was working a debt refinance scheme. I told them, the agenda of the meeting is very simple and there is nothing related to me, so I may be excused, but still my presence was insisted. I talked to my boss next day, who was also reluctant to send me because we were not paid the fee for long time and also because of the India v Pakistan clash. It is difficult for me to say, which was the primary reason and which was the secondary.

Any way, I booked both sides ticket and embarked on the journey next day.

0650 hrs. I woke up. Usual morning calmness. Prepared to leave for airport.

0720 hrs. Cab driver called up. at least half an hour early then I had asked him to report. I asked him to wait.

0740 hrs. Had two Gobhi paratha for breakfast.

0750 hrs. Left home for airport.

0845 hrs. Reached airport. I was told this is the international flight, so I have to go to the check in counter at international terminal. Luckily, Hyderabad airport do not have separate terminals for domestic and international operations, it is just that one side of the terminal is used for domestic operations and other side for the international operations. checked in at the counter, I asked for the seat near exit, thinking it would be the comfortable one with more leg space and would be convenient to exit, but I was given the seat near emergency exit in the middle of the aircraft. then I cleared the custom desk and moved near the scheduled departure gate. There were a couple of Muslim family perhaps traveling for Holy Haj, with males wrapped in a white towel or similar looking cloth. Everything except that was quite at the Terminal.

0910 hrs. I sat near the departure gate, where my flight was supposed to leave. I looked around if I could find some familiar face only to meet disappointment.

0945 hrs. Finally the boarding started. People at boarding desk checked my boarding pass, and tore off one portion of it. I moved to clear the CISF jawan and then in the aero bridge. I clicked a pic of the aircraft and posted to my facebook wall.

1015 hrs. Flight started moving. In another 5 minutes it was airborne. A few turbulence in the initial phase, which are quite uncommon for a bigger aircraft like A-319, in which I was flying. This reminded me of the fake pilot scam recently unearthed in India. However, realizing that since I am already airborne, there is nothing I can do now and I have good amount of insurance I relaxed back on my seat and took out the book 'Immortals of Meluha', which I have been reading on past 2-3 journeys.

1040 hrs. The flight stabilized at a height, and air hostess and stewards brought a small box containing so called breakfast. (A tip to all home sick people, that you should travel Air India, where you will feel like your mother and father are serving the food).

1110 hrs. Landed at Chennai airport. Came out of Chennai airport.

1115 hrs. Came outside of the Chennai airport, to find driver was not there. Made some quick calls to my office. After waiting for about 10 minutes, I found the driver. He was waiting for me at internal arrivals.

1225 hrs. Reached the bank. Bank officer asked me some help regarding the provisions he had to make in the account. I opened the RBI circular on my laptpo and convinced him that three different things he is inquiring with me are one and same; and whatever calculation has been done by him is correct and even if it is wrong let auditors point it out and also provide the correction. After that I made a reply, which the bank branch was supposed to provide to its corporate office.

So far, there was nothing related to India v Pakistan match.

1420 hrs. Left for lunch. Ordered Veg American Choupsey and shared with a bank person. The match started at 1430 hrs. The restaurant had an LCD TV, and while eating the Choupsey, we both enjoyed Sehwag hitting Umar Gul all around the park. After finishing the lunch, we both left the restaurant with about 6-7 overs match over and Sehwag returning to pavilion.

1600 hrs. Reached the meeting venue along with bank official. Wow! they had arranged a small TV in the meeting hall for match. We watched a few overs, while waiting for other participants to arrive. In the meanwhile, some old and not so young bankers exchanged a few expert comments about the match, regarding who will win/ loose, what should India do to win, and whether Sachin should score a century today or not. The meeting started in some time, with mute volume. Everybody excited with the match, kept the meeting very short and the official gup-shup was over in not more than 30 minutes. Bankers proceeded to sign documents one by one, waiters served some snacks and everyone enjoyed the match.

1830 hrs. The Indian inning was over they made 260 runs (a not so good score but still fairly defend-able) and we left the meeting premises. Some bankers had came in my cab, so I had to drop them back. On the way, they asked me for some documents, which I told I had already e-mailed a few days back. Banker asked me to wait till he checks his e-mail. Holy shit! I am not going to wait for you , I told in my mind. I made a nice excuse and started back for airport immediately after dropping the bankers at their branch.

1930 hrs. So many people mushroomed beside road, affecting the traffic flow. I though it might be some fight or an accident. But it was an electronic showroom, who had installed a giant TV, in which India v Pakistan match was being played.

1945 hrs. Reached Chennai airport. showed my e-ticket to CISF people, who were discussing that if Pakistan loose two more wickets they are in trouble. I moved inside the terminal, took my boarding pass and cleared the security. Airport had a small TV in the boarding area showing the match, the score was 2 wickets down. I watched the match for a few minutes and then moved near my boarding gate. After a little while, the terminal building was filled with huge roar of people, which indicated that Pakistan had lost its 3rd wicket. Another applause followed a little later, indicate 4th wicket. I checked the internet on my cell phone to confirm the same.

2050 hrs. Boarding for my flight started. The flight was delayed by about 5 minutes or so. Some passengers suggested the Jet airways staff that they can delay the flight by two hours if they wish to, which was obviously ignored.

2120 hrs. The flight was airborne, and I took out 'Immortals of Meluha'.

2200 hrs. Flight attendant announced the score. 40 overs 180 runs 6 wicket down. Every one in the flight was excited, India has a chance.

2220 hrs. Another announcement. 45 overs 199 runs 8 wickets. Yes! India can do it.

2245 hrs. Flight landed at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. I switched on my cell phone immediately and logged on to cricinfo.com. 5 balls remaining 30 runs required. India has almost done it, and then after a few minutes, India has won and entered in the Cricket World Cup 2011 Finals.

2330 hrs. Moving towards home, I observed mad rush of people waving Indian Tricolor on bikes and cars.

India had finally beaten arch rival Pakistan.

Before the match Prasoon Joshi had written a wonderful poem on the match, which was telecast on Headlines Today. Here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yLQK317Vbs

Economic Impact of Japanese disaster

As the subcontinent is dipped in colors of the Cricket world cup, as political parties prepare for forthcoming state assembly elections in five states in India, a tragedy stuck in Japan. It was hit by 8.9 M earth quake followed by devastating Tsunami on its North-eastern coast and now news about accidents in its nuclear reactors.

Enough has been discussed in various media about the damage the tragedy has caused such as monetary loss of billions and trillions of dollars and loss of human population, not less than 10,000 in number; and I am sure much more discussion will take place on these subjects in the time to come. However, I am writing this blog post to identify some potential impact this tragedy will have on the economy.

• As investors and corporates in Japan, try to recover from the tragedy, then would require huge amount of cash for the same. They might withdraw their investments from the government treasuries/ bonds and equity markets.
• The equity markets will fall because, first investors will be withdrawing money from the market by selling their equities and their are less numbers of people willing to buy these securities; and second because company's performance itself would be under pressure, due to temporary stoppage of work, high raw material prices etc.
• As people start to withdraw money from government securities, government will find it tough to raise money from the market. This will result in the yield on these instruments going northwards.
• As government is not able to raise money from the market, it has no other option but to borrow money from abroad or to print the money. Borrowing money from abroad may not be very feasible idea, considering lower rate of interests in Japan and definitely printing Yen, would be the most attractive idea for Japanese government. More money = more inflation.
• Inflation will go up, first because government will print more money for reconstruction and other normal expenses, but second because simply their is little supply against high demand.
• Food prices will go up. World is already reeling from the poor staple crops last season and the Japanese disaster has made the matter worse.
• A significant portion of the electronic items has equipments sourced from Japan, which is definitely going to be affected at least for a shorter period.
• As Japanese bonds themselves not buying enough buyers, their demand for US securities will reduce significantly, which may affect the economic recovery in the US.
• Japanese economy may ultimately show some positive growth, after showing years of stagnancy, as it tries to rebuild the lost infrastructure.
• Global companies dealing with providing infrastructural support may benefit from the reconstruction in Japan.
• The most hit would be the reinsurance companies, who would be approached for the claim on loss of properties and lives. Many smaller insurance companies would not be hit significantly, as they typically re-insure and pass on the risk to bigger insurance giants. The share prices of reinsurance giants has already taken hit (to the tune of 15-20%). These were already under pressure, after recent floods in Australia and earthquake in New Zealand. However, as insurance companies are smart, they would probably increase the premium amount for new insurance (similar thing happened in US after 9/11, when re-insurers increased the air insurance premium by USD 1 per head). The higher premium would definitely surprise (positively) the market in terms of expected earnings for the next financial year.
• Overall, I believe Indian economy may have very little impact due to this disaster

The comments of readers are invited.

The great Jadeja

Well! I am talking about Ravinder Jadeja here, who has created much furor (atleast on the twitter world) because of his wonderful alround performance in Cricket. Mr. Jadeja has been on fire since his poor performance in West Indies. After the WI series we heard news that some of the Indian team players were involved in a pub brawl when allegedly some Indian fans saw Mr. Jadeja in the pub and started hurling abuses on him (obviously because of his wonderful performance). Mr. Jadeja's trouble actually started last year when he was suspended from IPL season 3, for negotiating with an IPL franchise, without informing his own franchise the "Rajasthan Royals". Today in the match of India vs Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup again he was out first ball duck. The inteligent twitterati had a lot of praises for Mr. Jadeja on Twitter. Here are a few examples:

• @jhunjhunwala Ravindra Jadeja has got out thinking this way i won't make fun of him. He's wrong. I'll make fun of him anyway. He inspires me to pick him.
• @jhunjhunwala Ravindra Jadeja is like Tata docomo. He is a per second player. he gets out even before playing the second ball.
• @mishrashiv Jadeja got out! A day will come when he will be thrown out.
• @madhuusv jadeja is vodaphone (hutch) puggy he always follows ajit agarkar
• @Scarlet_Nimbus Hope this poor ZzZZdeja dude in not on twitter. might commit suicide after reading ur twets.
• @jhunjhunwala Tendulkar should get a Bharat Ratna for playing Cricket but Jadeja should get a Bharat Ratna for NOT playing Cricket. He is that Great.
• @jhunjhunwala When Ravindra Jadeja bats he makes Fardeen Khan look like the Greatest Actor of all time.
• @jhunjhunwala And to make matters worse Adidas not only sponsors Sachin's bat but also Ravindra Jadeja's bat as well. Truly 'Impossible is Nothing'
• @RahulK18 Ravindra Jadeja makes Paris Hilton look intelligent
• @rameshsrivatsThe feeling of having seen a guy underperform yet again - Jadeja Vu
• @witty_n_vetty Jadeja is a true allrounder. he gets a 0 in his batting scorecard and a bigger 0 in his wicket column. allround figures!
• @jhunjhunwala Ravindra Jadeja takes less time to bat & get out compared to the time Usain Bolt takes to run 100 metres.
• @mishrashiv jadeja should bat in olympics.
• @shiladityam Ravindra Jadeja = weighted mean average of [Uday Chopra + Mimoh + Tusshar Kapoor]? :-)
• @witty_n_vetty One Indian, Aryabhatta invented ZERO. Another Indian, Ravindra Jadeja made full use of it! Proud to be Indian
• @iPrath i used to think justin bieber sucked, but then i saw ravindra jadeja...
• @srikanthgv Jadeja is Greg Chappel in Disguise, this time he sneaked into playing XI and trying to spoil a well built team
• @antidespondent the truth is out. Jadeja actually employed by the govt. as a comedian to keep the janta amused in these tough times
• @chetanbhatia76 How Ind win the WC.: When opp see that Jadeja's on d team, they laugh so hard & get injured. India wil; win uncontested
• @jhunjhunwala People prefer to watch Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati do an item number instead of watching Ravindra Jadeja bat.
• @rj33t I was trying yo recover from Ajay Jadeja debacle, and Ravindra Jadeja happened to me.
• @jhunjhunwala You know why the monsoons are delayed? The monsoons were coming, then they saw Ravindra Jadeja play and turned back.
• @jhunjhunwala Where is @fakebalthakre. Balasaheb, can't you send the sainiks to go and bash Ravindra Jadeja for his crappy cricket?
• @bhartisushant Jadejaseriously keeping INFLATION under control.....Dealing in zeroes only from all side.
• @witty_n_vetty the only reason why our Indian cricket team is not targeted by terrorists is they dont want us to lose Jadeja!
  

Lord Sun defeats Rahu after being eaten

[This article was composed on July 22, 2009, But could not be published due to internet issues]

Well, had we been living in the age old era, the headlines of the newspapers would have been similar to the one above. But, this is not the truer side of the story. Yes, I am talking about one of the rare celestial phenomena which occurred today. I am talking about the solar eclipse.

Since past few days a lot of things were being discussed and written in news channels and print dailies. The astronomers predicted that this is going to be the longest duration total eclipse of the century, with the totality lasting up to 6 minutes and 44 seconds. The next eclipse which will pass this duration will occur in 2134. Therefore this event was a must watch as it was a once in a life time opportunity.A number of channels had organized a discussion on the causes and effects of eclipse, involving scientists and astrologers. While, astrologers believe that such celestial incidents have positive and negative effects on life of individuals and may even bring severe calamities. However scientists obviously denied the claim as there is no direct scientific evidence for the same. However, there are a number of astrologers (Jyotishi) who advice people of the ill effects of the phenomena. Generally, people are advised not to be asleep and eat anything during the period of eclipse. Pregnent women are advised to stay indoors and not to see the eclipse. They prescribe various pujas and other instruments to ward off evil spirits. A news channel aired a senior Jyotishacharya, who rubbished such claims and prescriptions as being made by (Ponga pundits) and said that these people do not really have knowledge of Jyotish and are misguiding people because they want them to be there customers.

Reasons for occurrences:
Scientific reason: Earth rotates around sun and moon rotates around moon. Sun's light illuminates both earth and moon. However when all three comes in a straight line, with moon being in between sun and earth, the moon blocks rays of sun and prevents them in reaching to earth. This is what we call eclipse.
Mythological reason: This is a bit interesting. According to Hindu mythology, Gods and demons were involved in Sagar Manthan (Sea churning), when a pot filled with nectar came out every body started fighting for drinking it, as one who drinks it would become immortal. Lord Vishnu thought that demons cause trouble to everyone, and if they become immortal, they will cause destruction of the world. So, he took the form of a beautiful woman and said everyone that everyone should sit in a que and then she will distribute it. However, Lord Vishnu served nectar only to Gods. Sensing the cheating a demon named Rahu-Ketu changed into dress of Gods and sat among them, and had the nectar. However soon Lord Sun and Moon identified, because of which Rahu-Ketu started running. Then Lord Vishnu cut his head using his Sudarshana Chakra. Thus the head was called Rahu and the remaining part as Ketu, the same is believed to be eating Sun and Moon every now and then because of his animosity with two deities.

The total eclipse was to be seen at a strip passing covering Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Parts of UP, Bihar, and north east in India. the remaining parts of India were to see the partial eclipse. Excited by a lot of media attention, I had also prepared myself to watch the eclipse in the morning. I took out my camera and charged the battery so that I may be able to take the picture. The timing of eclipse was from 5:21 AM to 7:30 AM.My room mate set an alarm of 5:15 AM. in the morning both of us got up together just to find out that the alarm had not went off as expected, but we had not lost much time as it was only 5:45 AM. Unfortunately, Hyderabad had been witnessing rains for past few days, and the weather was heavily clouded, so we had no chance to see the eclipse. Then we switched on TV, to enjoy at least there. First news. Surat which was supposed to be the first city to witness it was raining. Then news came in that there are clouds in almost all of Gujarat, MP, UP and Bihar. Then news came that Bhopal is also raining. Luckily in Varanasi the eclipse was visible as the cluods were very thin there. A small village in Bihar, Taregna was the center of all news till today morning as NASA had declared it the best spot to view the eclipse, however the clouds spoiled the party here too. A host of VIPs including state chief minister, MLAs, scientists, media person had camped here just to be disappointed.

The TV showed total eclipse at three locations, Varanasi, Tawang and a place in China. At approximately 6:21 AM, the moon covered the sun completely and all of a sudden Varanasi witnessed complete dark for about 4 minutes. In the end there was a beautiful diamond ring. Though the eclipse in Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh) and China were clear, but they were not as spectacular as at Varanasi. Other places in Central and Western India could not see the eclipse, because of cloud cover, but these places also witnessed the complete dark during the period of total eclipse.

I have downloaded a few photographs of today's total solar eclipse at Varanasi from the internet (Source: TimesofIndia.Com), which I am showing here.

Veggie Suicides...

Recently I received a newsletter from Greenpeace India. Among various activities of Greenpeace, one demonstration by its India chapter attracted my immediate attention. The demonstration or protest was prompted by the recent decision of government to approve large scale open air field trials for Genetically Modified food crops, which could include tomatoes, potatoes, corn, brinjals, etc. The show went like this. A host of vegetables were seen hanging from a thread in Bangalore, as they had committed mass suicide in protest of this decision. A suicide note beside one of the dead potatoes said that potato wished to die in honourable manner rather than living as half potato and half scorpion.

The report said that this was followed by a funeral, where dead body of a martyr corn was taken by fellow vegetables on MG Road.

"The imminent approval of the field trials would mean that our food is one step closer to being dangerously unsafe. The health of citizens and the environment of this country is at risk" said Divya Raghunandan, GE campaigner from Greenpeace. (This paragraph has been taken verbatim from the Greenpeace report)

Please visit http://www.greenpeace.org/india/press/releases/veggie-suicides-are-pointing-t for more details.