Peak Day Blues

Danny Ocean's team is back, this time with the so called unlucky number 13. Gautam, our very own movie critic has reviewed Ocean's 13 in my Life Is Reel blog. Read the full review here ....

ITES/BPO firms, already looming under pressure because of dollar/rupee parity and US subprime crisis, gets another jolt from the Indian government! Alarmed by the rise in health related issues of BPO employees, the ministries of health and information technology have decided to crack the whip on India’s booming BPO sector. A dedicated IT workplace health policy is being jointly formulated by Union Health Minister A Ramadoss and IT Minister A Raja. TOI Reports: Ramadoss said it was shocking to see 22-year-olds dropping dead on their desks, suffering heart attacks. IT is India’s flagship sector and it is the government’s duty to protect its image and its employees, he added. "We are, therefore, finalising a blueprint of India’s first dedicated health policy for the BPO sector. We will finalise the policy in a national conference in Bangalore by the end of October after discussing with our industry partners. IT sector representatives will be invited to that conference."

English Translation: Ducks will be dressed up and sold!

Met up with one of Malayalam's best known lyricist/musician Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiripad a few days ago. Indeed, it was very special meeting up with him.

By: K. Gautam I had fumed at the haughtiness of some of the Australians, who shoved Sharad Pawar off the victory podium at the Champions Trophy last year. Now, after seeing Mr. Pawar shamelessly hogging the limelight in the felicitation meant for the victorious Indian team, along with the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and other BCCI officials, I am beginning to think, “He probably deserved no better.” Going even further, the DCM went on to credit Sharad Pawar for the victory of the team in his speech. Fortunately, he didn’t claim that Sharad Pawar was the one who coached the Indian team. Though the shove Mr. Pawar received was no doubt insolent, we should not miss the very clear message being sent by the Aussies during the ceremony - “Don’t overstay your presence. Your job of presenting the trophy is done. Now keep moving. Leave the celebrations to us.” Sharad Pawar doesn’t seem to have learned anything from the Aussie experience. The Indian team, with the exception of captain D

You love someone but You marry someone else. The one you marry becomes your dear wife or husband. And the one you loved becomes the password of your Email "ID" There's only one perfect child in the world & every mother has it. There's only one perfect wife in the world & every neighbor has it! Three dreams of a man: To be as handsome as his mother thinks. To be as rich as his child believes. To have as many women as his wife suspects... Husband & wife are like liver and kidney. Husband is liver & wife kidney. If liver fails, kidney fails. If kidney fails, liver manages with other kidney!!!! Via mail fwd: Manju

Duties and responsibilities of people in Heaven:- Brahma Systems Installation Vishnu Systems Administration & Support Lakshmi Finance and Accounts consultant Saraswati Training and Knowledge Management Shiva DBA (Crash Specialist) Ganesh Quality Assuarance & Documentation Narada Data transfer Yama Reorganization & Downsizing Consultant Chitragupta IDP & Personal Records Apsaras Downloadable Viruses Devas Mainframe Programmers Surya Solaris Administrator Rakshasas In house Hackers Ravan Internet Explorer WWWF Lakshman Support Software and Backup Hanuman Linux/s390 Jatayu Firewall Dronacharya System Programmer Vishwamitra Sr. Manager Projects Valmiki Technical Writer (Ramayana Sign off document) Krishna SDLC ( Sudarshan Wheel Development Life Cycle ) Arjun Lead Programmer (all companies are vying for him) Abhimanyu Trainee Programmer Draupadi Motivation & Team building Bhima MAINFRAME LEGACY SYSTEM Duryodhana Microsoft product Written in VB Karna Contract programmer

By: K. Gautam The Indian and Pakistan cricket teams scripted what even the most innovative of Hollywood scriptwriters find hard – create a sequel almost as engrossing as the first part. The final may not have ended in a bowl out as on the earlier occasion - but what a match, what a finish! Misbah-ul-haq almost did a Javed Miandad as he almost single handedly won the match for Pakistan from a hopeless position. Hope he is a man of impregnable mind and heart to get over the agony of coming close to beating India not once, but twice in the competition. They say, “sometimes even when you lose, you are a winner,” – but try telling that to Misbah-ul-haq. He might say “Nothing succeds like success,” especially in an India-Pakistan final. Dhoni and his men pulled off yet another memorable victory. MS Dhoni has led his team in an impeccable manner in this competition, never letting the occasion get to him and his team, and ever intrepid to make unconventional moves. Today, his bowling change at

India did it!!! Chak De Indiaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Detailed report from Gautam expected soon ;-)

By: K. Gautam There are some things you wait a lifetime for and almost wonder if it would ever happen. A world cup final between India and Pakistan is a dream come true for cricket lovers of both countries. Agreed it is a 20/20 world cup and not the longer version, but who cares! An Ind-Pak final is an Ind-Pak final, even if it is gully World Cup cricket. After being unceremoniously knocked out of the 2007 ICC World Cup and having been persecuted by the public, it is redemption time for both the countries. Pakistan also had to go through the loss of their coach Bob Woolmer. India vs. Australia Lightning never strikes at the same place twice, they say. Well, it actually did at Durban in the form of Yuvraj Singh, who after a rest day against SA (injured) continued his blistering sixes. He lit the entire stadium with another swashbuckling innings of 70 of just 30 deliveries, with 5 fours and 5 sixes. The two teams gave a display of high quality cricket, with both teams not giving an inch

By: K. Gautam One of the definitions for ‘boomerang’ is “a miscalculation that recoils on its maker.” Preparing a pitch that had pace and bounce to suit themselves really backfired with a huge thud on South Africa, with the Indian bowlers taking full advantage of the conditions. It was a boomerang, big time! It was also a double whammy for South Africa, who not only lost, but were also bundled out of the competition. Recovery India recovered from being 33/3 and 61/4 to post a reasonable total of 153/5. It is heartening to see a newcomer like Rohit Sharma playing well under pressure. Though he struggled to get some deliveries away towards the end, he kept the scoreboard ticking with frequent boundaries. His six of the last delivery of the innings helped India get past the 150 mark. He remained unbeaten on 50 of 40 deliveries (4X7, 2X6). MS Dhoni played his best innings of the competition with a fighting 45 of 33 (4X4, 1X6). The Indian innings was pegged back by some disciplined bowling

By: K. Gautam Being hit for a six makes most bowlers feel silly, especially in limited-overs matches. Being smashed for 6 sixes in an over would probably make a bowler wonder why he ever took up the game - or worse wish he were never born. We will have to get into Stuart Broad’s psyche to know exactly what is going through him. Yuvraj Singh must have said to himself, “I was made to look silly in the last few days, with batsmen clobbering me for sixes. It is my turn to make someone else look sillier.” Poor, young Stuart Broad had to bear the brunt of his fury. History Yuvraj thus became the first player to accomplish this feat against a test playing nation, the second player after Herschelle Gibbs against an international team (2007 world cup against the Netherlands), and the 4th player ever in top cricket (the other two being Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri in first-class matches). It was also the first time a fast bowler has been hit for 6 sixes in an over. The other unfortunate victims

By: K. Gautam Pakistan started the World 20/20 without Mohammad Yousuf (reportedly joined the ICL) and Shoaib Akthar (sent home for hitting his teammate with a bat). Is Pakistan missing these two accomplished performers? Hardly, at least for now. Misbah-ul-Haq (for Yousuf) and Sohail Tanvir (for Akthar) have been more than worthy replacements. The 33-year-old Misbah-ul-haq, a heavy scorer in Pakistan domestic cricket has done well against India and Australia. He almost won the match single handedly for his team against India and against Australia played a superlative innings, where he scored an unbeaten on 66 of 42 balls. He along with skipper Shoaib Malik played a serene knock after Pakistan was reduced to 46 for 4 in the 7th over. They dispatched the bad balls, ran their ones and twos sensibly and chased down the Australian target with 5 balls to spare, hardly having to resort to bravado. Sohail Tanvir is just 23 and his unique left-arm bowling action has kept the batsmen guessing. H

By: K. Gautam What a joke the political system in this country has become! Two officials of the ASI have been suspended over the Ram Sethu affidavit affair. It looks like in this country, political responsibility doesn’t originate at the top, but somewhere in the middle. Politicians of other countries would love to emulate our political system. “Oh! What a system! Let us adopt it,” they would say. Having already created a political mess for itself by passing a controversial affidavit, which mentions Lord Ram’s existence, the top bosses of the Congress Party are showing absolute lack of guts and gumption by suspending two officials rather than a minister. Are they trying to say that the affidavit was passed without the knowledge of a single minister concerned? Minister of State and Commerce Jairam Ramesh and Senior Congress leader RK Dhawan’s suggestion that Culture minister Ambika Soni’s should resign accepting moral responsibility and Ambika Soni’s retort that she would resign if ask

By: K. Gautam New Zealand, 112/5 after 15 overs after a good fight back by the Indians through Harbhajan Singh – a sense of déjà vu was floating in the air as soon as I saw Yuvraj Singh came into bowl the 16th over. Hasn’t it happened before in 50 over matches - with the opposition taking advantage of unimaginative Indian bowling. The dreaded feeling came true like a nightmare that keeps coming time and time again. The momentum was immediately shifted once 25 runs were plundered in the 16th over, with Jacob Oram and Craig McMillan taking the game further and further away from India. Despite a good last over by RP Singh, 191 was going to be too much to chase. Though I am tempted to criticize Dhoni’s decision to give Yuvraj Singh the 16th song, I wouldn’t do that, as he is new and he wouldn’t learn, like we all do from our mistakes. Let me try to analyze. Why would Dhoni give the ball to Yuvraj? Had he not been belted for 5 sixes in an over by Dimitri Mascarenhas not too long ago? Why! W

By: K. Gautam So , India and Pakistan managed to create a further piece of history by playing out the first ‘bowl out’ ever in 20/20 cricket. They managed to create further flutters in the already feeble hearts of their fans. Though I am happy India just managed to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory - yet again, I really pity the Pakistan team and its fans for coming so close, yet so far. I think a tie would have been a fairer result, as neither team deserved to lose, especially Pakistan who fought back well through Misbah-ul-Haq, who didn’t deserve to be on the losing side after a fighting 54 of 35 balls. Neither did Mohammed Asif, who bowled one of the best spells (4/18) in a 20/20 game. The top Indian batsmen, with the ball swinging around, found him too hot to handle. Robin Uthappa showed the value of youth in the side by playing a gutsy 50 of 39 balls, along with able support from skipper Dhoni. This helped India reach a fighting 141/9, a distant dream after being 4/3

Here's a unique way to check whether your mobile is factory made or cloned in some remote areas of Azerbaijan. You all know that all mobiles will have a factory set international mobile equipment identity number, right? If not, press *#06# in your mobile. You will immediately see a 15-digit number. Now just check the 7th & 8th number in that series and note it down. Here's the interpretation of it. IF the digit number Seven & Eight is 02 or 20 that means it was assembled in the Emirates which is very Bad quality IF the digit number Seven & Eight is 08 or 80 that means it was manufactured in Germany which is not bad IF the digit number Seven & Eight is 01 or 10 that mean it's manufactured in Finland which is Good IF the digit number Seven & Eight is 00 that mean s it was manufactured in original factory which is the best Mobile Quality ... IF the digit number Seven & Eight is 13 that mean s it was assembled in Azerbaijan which is very poor quality and

By: K Gautam A s expected, there is a furore over the affidavit filed by the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) regarding the Sethusamudram Project. The self-proclaimed political guardians of Hinduism, the same guardians who followed the Hindu Dharma by turning a blind eye while countless innocents were massacred in the Gujarat and Mumbai riots have criticized the government for hurting the feelings of Hindus all over the world. While we have got used to such backlashes from such political and pseudo-religious maniacs, the same was not expected from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a well-respected seer, both in India and world wide, who has rapped the UPA Government for letting a judicial affidavit pass, which has proclaimed that there is no historical evidence to prove the existence of Lord Ram. He also went onto say "There were unproven miracles in the lives of religious figures of other faiths. If we dismiss Lord Ram as a fictitious character, then we have to dismiss all miracles in the

By: K. Gautam It is really disappointing reading some of the Indian players’ views just 2 days before their opener against Scotland, in the print media. Sehwag was quoted as saying that he doesn’t have any plan as such, that he just plans to walk out and hit. He should be bright enough to know that even in 20/20, things can go terribly wrong, and if you don’t have a plan B or C, you are in serious trouble. Hope Sehwag doesn’t necessarily mean what he says or he doesn’t require other plans, as we all know he can decimate any bowler with his blitzkriegs. Even worse is a kind of a negative statement by Ajith Agarkar, who was quoted to have said that he is resigned to the fact that he is going to be hit around by the batsmen. Not very encouraging words from an international player, who has played for so long. He should be motivating newcomers like Piyush Chawla and others, who require the much needed encouragement from their seniors. While it is inevitable that bowlers will get smacked, wi

In the midst of a political controversy over the Sethusamudram project, the Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana. In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) rejected the claim of the existence of the 'Ramasetu bridge' in the area where the project was under construction. Uh ho, looks like we are in for a trouble here... Hindutva parties are going to be up in arms pretty soon!

By: K. Gautam The Lord’s didn’t turn out to be one last lucky venture for India after all. Once Tendulkar and Ganguly were separated, the other batsmen were found wanting. Most Indian fans would argue India was Dar-ed (Aleem Dar’s two controversial decisions), but they were just a small part of the cause for India’s downfall. To be fair to Umpire Dar, the Snickometer definitely showed an edge of Dravid’s bat. Add to that the fact that Dravid instinctively looked back at the keeper once the ball passed his bat, which most often is a telltale sign that the batsman has edged the ball (some batsman are smart enough not to look back). However, Dravid insists he didn’t edge it, though he accepts he cannot argue with technology. Tendulkar’s decision, however, looked to be a definite error in judgment on the part of Dar. Even there, there was a sound of Tendulkar’s bat hitting the pad. Overall, Dar has been unfairly targeted as the villain by the Indian viewers. There were also the Anderson an

By: K. Gautam With all the comedy of errors and the house of horrors on the field, India has huffed and puffed to square the series at 3-3. Whatever you think about the Indian team, love them or hate them, you just cannot ignore them, and you cannot deny the fact that they have been great entertainers in this series – Tendulkar; Ganguly; Yuvraj Singh with the bat, Zaheer Khan; Piyush Chawla; Ramesh Powar with their bowling guiles, Dravid with his entertaining post-match speeches, and of course the fielding(mis). However, I am sure the Indian viewers would rather prefer Team India as dull winners rather than entertaining winners. We all wish they win matches more convincingly, when they are in a commanding position, without making the Indian viewers requiring pacemakers. We would prefer India snatching victory from the jaws of defeat rather than the other way around. Personally I am a very content man, no matter the outcome of the last match. They have worked hard and fought hard after

My colleagues @ KGiSL went to Mysore this past weekend for our annual team trip. Unfortunately, I couldn't join them due to personal reasons*. But thanks to an enthusiastic Travel Organizer [who went on to click nearly 350 snaps], all the fun my team had has been captured in fine digital print. Check out all the photos over here! *'it was my marriage anniversary ;-)

"I will go down in the history of cinema anyhow. If the film clicks with the audiences then I will be the man who remade Sholay and if it doesn't then I will be the man who will ruin Sholay" - Ram Gopal Varma Now now, going by the reviews in various journals, we sure know that this movie is a disaster. And I heard it's been pulled off from a few theaters. But, it has created a curious interest in me to watch it, to really know why they call it such a big disaster, to know why this movie is really bad, to watch it and butcher it with a review... but on second thought, if a bunch of people like me have the same tingling feeling, isn't it a clever marketing ploy by RGV to get more people in?? :-)

By: K. Gautam I watched the 4th and the 5th matches very sporadically. Also just caught some of the highlights packages of these 2 matches. The 4th one-day! After a good start by the Indian batsmen (17/0 after 3), the England bowlers fought back, always keeping a stranglehold over them and restricted them to 212, Stuart Broad the pick of the bowlers. Only Yuvraj Singh managed to break the shackles to an extent. I had mentioned in my previous column that India would have to improve their fielding if they are to keep their hopes in the series alive. Well, yet again, their shoddy fielding let them down. Except for Yuvraj Singh, all the other 10 fielders were guilty of letting their side down in the field at some time or the other. I really cringed, each time there was a mis-field or a dive after the ball had passed. I am sure Robin Singh, the fielding coach, would have wished he were at home cooling his heels. After doing well to restrict England to 114/7, all they needed was one more wic