Aathangara Marame - Kizhakku Seemayile Movie Song, A.R Rahman

Margazhi poove May Madham

Yennake Piditha Padal, beautiful song

IPL Gate-Corruption in Indian Cricket

Cricket was called the gentleman's game. Game-what does the word mean? Game means - A sport or an activity which gives entertainment or amusement. A game is something of a recreational activity which gives the people a form of entertainment.

But the rules has changed. Games no longer signify just entertainment but big money and even bigger earnings by gambling and betting. Indian Premier League (IPL) is the cash trove of the Board of Control of Cricket in India, drawing big investors who has enough money to burn. The players are well paid and they get extra bonus from franchisees for endorsing products. In all, the players has nothing to complain as they become very rich. 

Match fixing, spot fixing and betting is nothing new to cricket. In international cricket, there has been many instances wherein the players are paid to give up the match by the bookies. Many have been caught and their lives wasted. Yet why is it that such allegations keeps on repeating.

Come 2013, three players and um-teem number of bookies are arrested by the Delhi Police after months  of careful investigation, surveillance and tagging. Now I am not into Advocating the innocence or guilt of the Accused. What shocked me is the brazen way by which things transpire in such circumstances. Why is it that the BCCI after so many times failed to take corrective steps to stem corruption from the Cricket? Why is it that the vigilance wing of the BCCI is still ineffective in stopping  corruption and match fixing? How is that the underworld is allowed to have such strangling force in the world of cricket? These are answers that BCCI is bound to answer to the Indian public.

Cricket is the de-facto national sport of India. India has large followings among the masses and the cricketers are treated as sort of gods. I still remember my childhood when we used to have the India tour of Australia. We would get up at 4'clock in the morning and watch the play sitting before the TV with out moving an inch until the game is over. The likes of Gavaskar and Kapil Dev was our icons. We would play cricket dreaming of emulating these legends. Now things have changed. there is nothing called fair play. When we see cricket, we doubt weather the match was fixed. I have for long stopped watching cricket. I prefer to watch WWE instead which is better to watch or say Kabaddi. 

It is time for BCCI to sit up, take notice and take corrective steps to arrest and stem the degradation of cricket. If they do not take proper steps now, the decline of the cricket to oblivion is not far off. Let us hope the BCCI has learnt their lesson and these incidents  never gets repeated. That is our sincere wish as an Indian and as a fan of the great game of cricket. 

China and India- Aircraft Carrier plans in advance (courtesy The Diplomat)

http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2013/05/13/china-and-india-aircraft-carrier-plans-advance/

Thunder out of China (Courtesy:The Economist)

http://www.economist.com/news/china/21577075-around-chinas-periphery-heat-keeps-rising-thunder-out-china

Karnataka Elections- Lessons the BJP must learn

The elections in Karnataka is finally over. The people has spoken. The Bharatiya Janatha Party has been ousted from power and they faced their worst defeat. 

Karnataka was once the pride of the BJP, having captured the state through ballot. The BJP dreamed of  capturing the entire south and making themselves the predominant party. Karnataka was their gateway to south India. But their finest hour turned their worst dream. What had happened that made the BJP so unpopular and ultimately loss  power.

When the BJP won the elections in Karnataka, it was the movement in history. In 2013, that success was reversed and BJP had to face their most most humiliating defeat. This is not the victory for the congress but the defeat for the BJP. Congress did not win due to their popularity, but because the BJP did all the mistakes to make themselves unpopular. Too many compromises was made, but the common man is not a fool and is able to see the game through even how much you try to sugar coat the defeat.  The defeat that the BJP had to face brings about a number of hard questions that need to be answered. BJP was once a cadre party, disciplined and focused. But over the years, that notion has been diluted with so many unwanted elements finding their way to the top of the leadership. In Karnataka, when the people elected the BJP, they expected the party to be different. But the frequent squabbles and the ambitions of some leaders who think themselves to be above the party was the real reason for the fall of the BJP. The party had made too many compromises, time and again bending backwards to accommodate the whims and fancies of a few individual. Remember the scenario in the country, the congress which is ruling the centre has become unpopular with all the scams and unpopular policies. The central ministry has even lost touch with the common man. Under the circumstances, the BJP naturally had to win, a comprehensive victory it ought to be. 

But the BJP is routed in the legislative assembly elections. Lok Sabha elections are down the corner and it is time for the BJP to take stock of what went wrong. The BJP is undergoing a crisis of sorts with lack of grass root leaders who can take the people with them. The sort of leader like Vajpayeeji is lacking in the party.The BJP only has leaders who are there where they are not due to their acumen as leaders, but because they know how to play the game and play the dirty politics only too well. It is time for the BJP to change direction. An introspection ought to be in order to see and correct the mistakes that the party these days seems to commit too often. It is time to take a new road or else the party like many others before them will disappear into oblivion. Let us hope some sense prevails and the mistakes corrected before it is too late. 

All the new toys, but can China fight a real war?

All the new weapons, but can China fight a real battle?

Law Jokes- Smoking Cigar

A Charlotte, North Carolina man, having purchased a case of rare, very expensive cigars, insured them against .... get this .... fire. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of fabulous cigars, and having yet to make a single premium payment on the policy, the man filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated that he had lost the cigars in "a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in a normal fashion. The man sued ... and won!! In delivering his ruling, the judge stated that since the man held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable, and also guaranteed that it would insure the cigars against fire, without defining what it considered to be "unacceptable fire," it was obligated to compensate the insured for his loss. Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the judge's ruling and paid the man $15,000 for the rare cigars he lost in "the fires." After the man cashed his check, however, the insurance company had him arrested... on 24 counts of arson! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used as evidence against him, the man was convicted of intentionally burning the rare cigars and sentenced to 24 consecutive one year terms. 

(Disclaimer- Smoking is injurious to health. Readers discretion is advised) 

India-China stand-off: Sun Tzu in action » Indian Defence Review

India-China stand-off: Sun Tzu in action » Indian Defence Review