It took 33 ....

Have had 33 of it.
Few worth remembering.
Very few memorable.
33rd was the best.
Until now, at least.
Nothing more I could ask for.
Not that I had asked for any.
Missed a couple.
Had one.
One, who will be till last.
Thanks to 33.

To my dad.....

Life without you has not been the same,
seeing you leave so early was a shame.

Plenty of nights, i have woken up from dreams,
you left a big enough space in me it seems.

Your life was all about us and nothing else,
you are not here now to see all of this.

It was too big a price for me to pay,
would have given years in my life for you to stay.

To lose you was the lowest point in my life,
learnt to live through a self strife.

Realised the meaning of unbearable pain,
never want to go through that again.

If i will end my life half as good as you,
it will probably be the best justice there is to.

Love you dad. Words don't do justice.

Frustrating times, especially if you are a Man United fan...

August 31st marks the end of human trafficing, 'transfers' in footballing terms. Almost every club in Europe are trying to grab the best talents, sometimes, an ordinary talent at an extraordinary price either to survive or win their respective league titles. If all the values quoted in the press are true, approximately even, they will come close to being the third largest economy in terms of money transacted.

Loyalties, style of play, promises don't stand in front on big money dealings. Same player who joins a club of his dream and a long time ambition to play for that jersey, two years time and few credits, will swear his legions for another team and will make it a point to let people know that money wasn't the factor.

Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville are exceptions to the above. Yes, I am a Manchester United fan. And its quite frustrating for us this season not to have signed any player, striker to be precise. With Saha departed and Ronaldo injured - we are short of strikers and makes it difficult for Rooney and Tevez to be available for various cups that United will be fighting for this season.

There will be no doubt about the style of footabll we will play even with one striker short. September may not be the best month for us, never has been. We will come good during the business end of the season.

PS: By 11.50pm on 1st of September, we have signed Dimitar Berabatov, branded as an incredible sulk by spurs backroom staff. As for United fans, we hope the sulk was for a good reason and that is to play for United.

an honour to have lived while he made music....

Ilayaraja (இளையராஜா), one of the greatest composers to have ever lived. Never went to school. Hardly any music education. Hails from a very backward community, so called, by the self-proclaimed forward community. But, there was nothing backward about his talent - an absolute genuis. First Asian to have composed a symphony, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO).

Started composing songs when he was 22 and composes till date, lot lesser though. Timeless compositions. Mesmirising tunes. Complex arrangements. Magical use of instruments. If ever there is God, sure he was biased.



To have lived while he existed is an honour for me. Soulful music transcends culture, language, race, country, creed and what ever barriers that humans have worked very hard to create. I am hoping you would enjoy this even if you don't understand the lyrics.



Click here to know more about the man!

Beijing 2008: Privilege to watch....

• The incomparable Michael Phelps [US] conquering the pool
• Gou Jingjing [China], one of the greatest divers alive
• Lin Dan [China], made good for his first round exit in Athens 2004 by demolishing the Malaysian in Beijing 2008 finals
• Zhang Yining [China] with her amazing reflexes on a table tennis court
• Usain Bolt [Jamaica], fastest man in the world by a mile [by 3m in the 100m sprint]
• Nastia Luikin [US], Romanian born American with her artistery in gymnastics
• Shawn Johnson [US] for her attitude and style in gymnastics
• All the Japanese participants with their smile, attitude and compassion.
• US basketball team - both men and women, not just winning all their group matches but thrashing with at least 30 point difference.
• Rafael Nadal [Spain] for his determination and grit to conquer Olympics supremacy.
• Stephanie Rice [Australia] for her gold in 200 IM and 400 IM in swimming
• Elena Isinbeiva [Russia], queen of track and field at this moment who won a gold with just two jumps on the Vault and went to beat her own world record.
• Lionel Messi and his Argentinian troops on the football field having gold around their necks, second olympics running

In all, an absolute celebration of skill, stamina and courage. Beijing 2008, in more ways than one, will probably be the best Olympics ever. World records tumbled, emotions ran riot, skills displayed for all to see and cherish, memories etched in minds of billions, record 80 nations winning the ultimate souvenir from Beijing, a medal.

Apt that the host nation topped up the Gold rankings with a little help from US with below par display in track and field. No where you would see an absolute domination in a few sports by the chinese - Table Tennis (3/3), Diving (7/8), Badminton (3/6). Also making progress in sports where they have never been known for, even for participation like sailing, water polo, synchronised swimming - they have won medals in each of their, so called, unknown categories of sports. This is an absolute tribute to their determination, perfection and effort.

My respect for China and the chinese have gone to great heights after Beijing 2008 for giving this two weeks of sheer joy.

If only he was a country.....

Michael Phelps, arguably the greatest Olympian ever lived, landed in Beijing to be the first Phelps rather a second Spitz by his own admission. He volunteered enormous pressure on himself. He not only delivered but create 7 world records and 1 olympic record in his 8 gold medal swims. Jason Lezak contributed his bit to Phelps achieveing this record of enormous proportions by anchoring the 4x100 freestyle relay.

10 days into the Olympics, Phelps alone, with his tally of 8 gold medals will stand 8the overall medal tally if here were a country. He will rank higher than countries like Russia, Italy, France and other strong European nations. That is the measure of the man and the determination he brought into the pool. US had 31 medals [12G, 9S, 10B] in just swimming which is 3 times of what India has achieved in its entire history of Olympics.

If one needs to learn superlatives, all you have to do is go through all sports reviews in global news channels, publications and news gatherings. Incredible man, incredible achievement.

Its quite sad that the swimming had to come to a close after a wonderful 10 days at the Olympics. Definitely will go down as a legendary event in the history of Olympics. Thanks to the gorgeous venue, the Water Cube. Thanks to the clear 3m pool, figure hugging swimsuit, discipline and hardwork of the participants. Anthony Moss and John McBeth for their awesome commentary. Anthony Moss, being a swimmer himself, was wonderful in his predictions and comments on the techniques of various swimmers.

Hope this raises the profile of swimming as an event, not just once in 4 years at Olympics.

54 v 654......

Two countries contribute almost 50% of the world population. One, hosting the single largest event on this face of earth, in arguably the best possible manner. Other, had the mere duty to compete, coming short in that too. Disgustingly short if you belong to that nation, which I do. India had sent 54 participants to compete in 12 disciplines where as the host nation, China, had over 650 participants in nearly all disciplines.

Good things first. An amazing display of people, technology, culture and history to get every powerhouse nation to sit up and take notice of what China has been secretly preparingover te last 6 years. There were more than 90 heads of state, royalties, senior ministers and analysts present in the new landmark of Beijing, the Bird's nest stadium, watching events unfold with great interest. And some intent as well, mostly political. Vladimir Putin, George Bush & Sarkozy all watching what China could do while the US presidential hopefuls could have peeped in their television sets to see the stunning spectacle.

With Olympics, lots of great things happen along with economical challenges that the nation that hosts would face post the event - cost that was already spent, maintenance of these huge, new constructions moving forward, other infrastructural investements, running some billions of dollars. The opening ceremony alone was supposedly $100mn expense entry into Chinese books. But, the ingenuity of the Chinese officials is there for all to see - apart from the water cube and the bird's nest stadium - all of the other events are happening at University gymnasiums and auditorium benefiting the institution after the games are over. And the water cube has been planned for an entertainment centre with reduced seats and increased facilities. Smart thinking.

204 nations walked into the stadium to mark their presence in the games with the hosts signing off with their contingent of over 650 participants to a roar only common to populous nations like us. It was a sight to behold. Countries that you only hear once in 4 years in Olympics like Vanuatu, Belize, Comoros made up the pack.

When they walked up to take their positions, their footprints were registered on a backdrop placed on the ground in front of the olympic colour powders and everyone had to walk through that. Another smart thinking.

The Chinese Premier sitting to the IOC President had a little look of arrogance equalling that of a proud father seeing the kids excel, deservedly so, for making this happen, in a manner in which it happened. Watching this must have made most Asians proud - Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and now, Beijing.

Now to the sad part. India, almost matching China in population and just that had sent 54 participants to compete in this Olympics, which tells about the structure that we have to identify the talents. Looking at China where they had one participant in 1938 Olympics, some 100 of them in the 1984 Olympics to 654 in Beijing 2008 - the importance they have given to sports and structures in place to identify, train and prepare them for such an event is staggering and for everyone to see. Their set their ambitions to overtake the US in Gold medal tally, which I am certain that they would do this time around.

Of the top 10 richest person alive - India has 3 in them which gives you some idea when it comes to where the focus is. If we spend 10% of the income that BCCI makes - we would have enough money to start a highly sophisticated sports academy that can identify, train, teach and prepare Olympians. BCCI is the Board of Control for Cricket in India. If Cricket was to be in Olympics, not sure if we would get a chance for a medal, at least we would have 15 more participants taking part. Participants whose talents not matching their egos.

China made a promise to its people that they would compete in every discipline, sure they did. Success in most, success for future in the rest. Diving, Tabletennis, Badminton are disciplines where they make a sweep. US, baring Michael Phelps and Alyson Felix, will find it difficult to dominate in any discipline. Jamaicans in track, Australia, South Africans & emerging Asians in Swimming, Chinese & Romanians in Gymastics - all out there to stop what normally are forte of the Americans.

Lets hope the chinese dream ends with a number 1 spot in the gold medal tally.

Click here to watch the highlights of the opening ceremony. Its definitely worth the watch.

an auspicious entry....

Registering the 08.08.08 day with an entry about quiet an interesting book that I am reading now - Ahead of the curve. Two years at Harvard Business School (HBS) by Philip Delves Broughton.

Fairly significant portion of my collection of books are bought in Airports during my travel. This probably the only thing I do in airport, like I said before I dash and fly all times. There are books I buy after reading reviews, hearsay or by the author that I know of like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I have also bought books based on a intriguing synopsis in the back cover like The Curious Incident of Dog in the Night-time by Mark haddon. This time I picked up this book by its title. An MBA grad myself, I was curious to read an account of a journalist who left his successful career and took up to the MBA course in Harvard, arguably the best B-School there's ever to be. Its alumni drew up almost a half of the most powerful and capable businessmen and politicians. Of course with a few exceptions, like the one housed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for now.

While he says he never planned to write this book during his tenure at the school - I am certain that being a journalist he surely wanted to document his stay at HBS sensing from his account of every case study that he went through, the salt and pepper beard that this professor wore during his first semester, which makes this book an interesting read. Strength of this book is that you can relate to the situations described in this group, not just an MBA student - any student for that matter.

On a day when the olympics kick-start, enjoy the $100 million show.

during my last trip,

Airports are normally where most travelogues start and I didn't want that start, not to be different. Almost all my airport experiences are flash and fly - drop in 30 mins before departure, finish immigration and walk straight to the boarding gate and fly.

Whole of my time in the air was filled with anxiety about the hotel I was going to stay. This probably was the first time I had booked a hotel where I have never stayed before, just by looking at picture on the net. It was a risk worth taking I felt. Didn't feel like enjoying the free first class upgrade that I got. Just had a bottle of water and slipped into sleep with my iPOD singing my favourite songs.

This trip to Bangkok was at the end of a rough week, having to make a career choice. I am normally a person who trusts my judgement and listen to my heart in almost everything I do. Made up mind and signed what I thought was the best for me. I guess every travel, except for ones' made for work, has an excuse or a context and guess mine was to celebrate my new job.

I had no agenda for my 4 day trip, as all my leisure travel are, except the fact that I wanted to get some trousers stiched and look for some ideas to furnish the new house that I was getting into.

Having touched down, didn't have the patience to queue up for the normal taxi service. Went straight to a limousine, though the cost was almost 4x of a regular taxi just so that I can get to my hotel faster. When the taxi pulled up next to the hotel gate, I got down like a kid who just entered a zoo - looking up, down and around to validate my decision to stay. It was rather a very small entrance leading up to the front desk, welcome by thai women with an incredibly hospitality giving me a little hope about what I got into. It was rather a boutique service hotel with just 4 floors and the entire check-in was done manually. There were no elevators. My room was in the third floor. As luck would have it, mine was the last room on the hallway just so that my anxiety can be prolonged. The key to the room was a contradiciton to the check-in with a auto-sensor door where you flash the key in the key hole and the door opens. To my surprise, pleasantly, the room was small, well kept, lit ideally and painted handsomely. Call it anything, I am a clean freak and expect bathrooms to be of a particular standard. I have checked out of hotels in the past just because of barthroom. I held my breath and opened the bathroom door and had a sigh of relief and came back to the bed and sat down for a while to enjoy the wisdom of my decision. The hotel gave me an impression of a designer having to design a small botuique hotel with all cute things but finally having to compromise due to budget. Still, it was worth all the money, though not much.



The hotel had a DVD player and had lots of movies to rent. Mostly chic flicks and sci-fi crap. Two or three very good ones managed to sneak into the collection. It was extremely hot in Bangkok and I decided to stay in and watch a movie, take a nap before stepping out. Chose to see 'Good Will Hunting' - a film that made sense each time I watched, more so at the state of mind I was that day. The film was about priority, recongizing love and appreciating what you have now than what you don't. I felt the film could have adapted to any language for any culture. This could be and will be the only Ben Afflick associated flick I will ever enjoy.

Got out in the evening and saw the city through the prism of smoke. Looking at the cars and vans jammed up, you will be excused to think that oil prices are pre-historic. You could see a lot of motorists weaving through the traffic with their noses closed firmly, sacrificing at least 5 years of their life because of the thick pollution all around. Hardly any cycles around, understandably. I am always of the opinion that to cut down on dependency on oil - there can't be just one measure. Car pools, office buses and reduced parking lots per office will encourage less usage of cars. Use of technology to have meetings remotely. Increasing personal taxes for households with more than one car. All schools making school buses compulsory unless otherwise kids reach by cycle or through walking. Higher finance costs for funding cars. Increasing the toll. Increasing the parking costs. All these will go some distance to reduce the number of cars. All this while there is enough research happening to find an alternative fuel component that is low on carbon emission, cheap costs and scalable.

Its a common sight to spot a lot of couples, invariably a thai girl with a foreign man in the streets of Bangkok wandering towards bars and clubs. I went into a restaurant, taking the advice of the hotel concierge, that served wonderful southern thai cuisine. Spotted such couples inside of it as well and was curious to know that the waiters think about their country girls having to have dinners with strangers who kept changing each time they visited the restaurant. Not sure how I would ask him - so managed to ask him in a different way. Had to be careful with the choice of words, that he understands and doesn't misconstrue. I asked him what he thinks of single men coming to restaurants to eat like me. He said either I am a miser who doesn't want to spend or someone who doesn't know where to find a girl. There was no remorse of guilt in the way they felt. In a way, they are institutionalized to such thinking which was sad to know.

controversy that means peace

History is blotted with controversy and every nation that exists today has something that most people or some people dont agree with. Japan is not a stranger to them. The wars that it has been a part of over these years have left a few marks in doubt. Any war fought can be justified by all people who fight them. But the people who fight them cannot be judged for what they are fighting for - its more a national pride they are gaurding.

more sweeter than before....

I firmly believe one should know how to read, write your mother tongue. Those are the roots to which you belong. I have been away from my hometown for over 6 years now - the rarity of seeing Tamil anywhere in Tokyo makes it even sweeter than what it would seem back home. Of all places, I accidentaly saw this in a restaurant in Tokyo and didn't take my eyes of it for about 10 minutes. After I came to Tokyo - even the dumbest of tamil flicks appear to be classic, insipid songs become inspiring, silliest of jokes evokes great laughter. Am sure it feels the same way for all foreigners when they see a thread from their own fabric. These are words in appreciation of the language from a poet called Bharathiyar - one of the greatest poets ever to have lived.

check your mobile before you take the train...

Like in London, New York where taxi's and other forms of private transport can cost a fortune - public transport is the nerve that keeps people alive. Tokyo is not an exception. The train system in Tokyo is complex but incredibly well connected. There are numerous lines and different rail systems. In fact they have differnt train cards to access different rail routes. Upon public uproar, it has been merged to one card system for all routes.
Its rather impossible for people to remember lines and change overs unless its a regular route. Even for local commuters map or any such help becomes essential. Here is where you see the sophistication here in Japan - mobile phones (all operate on 3G) has access to software that helps you determine the passage once you key in the source and destination. within seconds, it gives you route, time, next train etc.
Downside is that the Japanese people tend to resort to these sophisticated methods by default without making an effort to think.

jan-ken-pon

In every country or culture, there are ways to narrow down choices with people for a specific team or to prove eligibility by chance. Inky-pinky... coin toss....many such forms are used to eliminate or choose opponents. For the first time I came across rock-paper-scissors here in japan in a train when two kids of less than 8 years old were playing - apparently this is widely popular (look for rock-paper-scissors in wiki). Normally, this is played between two people with 3 different possibilities:
rock v paper - paper wins as it can wrap the rock,
paper v scissors - scissors wins as it can cut the paper,
rock v scissors - rock wins as scissors cannot cut rock.
closed fist is rock.
spread fingers is paper
two fingers are scissors

must eat in tokyo!

This is one of my favourite restaurants in Tokyo. I normally go to the ebisu branch. the miyazaki chicken (smoked chicken) is their speciality. Its very near the ebisu station west exit. The website should have directions albeit in japanese.

freedom of expression

APRIL - its that time of the year where you see refreshing change in the moods of japanese people. its when spring takes over. It is as though the trees and the sun are ruled by the bitter winter and when they are let go - they express themselves for the world to know that they are free now. if only humans can express in such style and beauty - the world will be beautiful.

gateway to modern japanese architecture

tokyo tower - one of tokyo's landmarks stands tall in middle of its business district. its a stroll from my office. makes people look insignicant when you are in front of the tower. lunch in a restaurant right in front of the tower makes a perfect afternoon. in the night, its lit with themes - be it valentines, world aids day or even a tokyo bid to 2016 olympics. if you are in tokyo, you should visit the tower - its truly an amazing piece of japanese modern architecture.

taxis' and traffic lights'

am curious to see where tokyo would rank among top cities in the world if one were to count the number of traffic lights over a given perimeter, especially through residential areas. with almost 2/3rds of the working population prefer underground trains for commuting, this not an issue for them. add to the fact that taxis are awfully expensive here in tokyo. foreigners like me who prefer taxis for a shorter ride has to experience the stop/start of these taxis due caused by incessant traffic lights that bleeds your wallet. taxi drivers are not complaining. they wish they had more.

i don't live in a room!

if you are alone and living in japan, chances are that the place that you are living will be called a 'room', no matter what size it is and how many rooms there are. but if you live with your family, even if its a room, it would be called as a home. i did some scrounging on the japanese language so if the language and translation has something to do with this understanding and it did. in their language 'room' does mean a living place for single person and home is where a family live. but, i certainly dont live in a room.

rare sight in tokyo

i spent most of my life in a tropical country with just about one season all through the year - summer with flashes of rain. while the idea of snow was there, snow itself had to be in simulated domes or theme parks with artificial snow machines.
to see roads, trees, buildings, cars and bikes covered with snow on a sunday morning in tokyo was a sight to behold. cup of hot tea, listening to my favourite music looking outside the window - cant have a perfect sunday than this.
something about the white of the snow that amazes me. its purity. its serenity. its grains. beautiful. this pic does not do justice to the beauty - just as a bookmark to your imagination.

time took a break!

my train from tokyo took me to kyoto in a little over than two hours - a distance of 514km - its the bullet train. sure enough, its a bullet train. this was my first trip to kyoto. there was no shortage of people giving me their views on kyoto. you cant avoid having a sketch in your head before you set your foot there. hear say can do that to you, we even have a picture of moon.
i landed in kyoto on a bitter cold night with winds flapping violently. i didn't want to stay in a hotel in kyoto - so, scrouged the net to find a quirky accomodation - and i did. i made my way from the station to the temple where i was staying through local train. when i reached the temple, there was hardly any one to greet you but that's what i had expected. so, it was a perfect start to my kyoto trip. i was shown to my room by the caretaker in the temple. very well done up room with cozy bed and a clean toilet - this was always going to decide where i was going to stay. no tv. no room service. no phones. harldy any signal for my mobile devices. for once, i wanted to live without those peices of instruments which i felt was in control of me.
made my way to the main road to grab some dinner. surprisingly kyoto was easier to manage without japanese than tokyo. well, come to think of it, it wasn't a surprise since kyoto had learnt to live with more tourists that made them speak english.
went back to bed thinking about my next three days.
i dont want to make this a travel diary. what i really wanted to document was the beauty of kyoto and how it had to offer such great things in all 4 seasons. temples, palaces, streets, cafes - all had shades of history going back some 1000 years. and how its all preserved. i truly felt, time took a break. if time can, you should definitely do!