IPL, THE FUTURE?

The Brainchild of Lalit Modi, The Indian Premier League got off to a flyer at Bangalore on the 18th of April, 2008, with SRK doing a “Chak De Kolkata!” and Vijay Mallya wondering why Dravid, Jaffer and Kallis are considered the World’s steadiest players (hee hee). Brendon McCullum made sure India (and hmmm... the world, perhaps?) sat up and took notice of what was going on. A blitzkrieg 158 in 73 deliveries with 13 sixes and 10 fours was more than just a wake up call to Bangalore’s Royal Challengers. It was also an alarm to the World, “IPL’s here.” But, is it here to stay?

The Basic structure of IPL has been a ditto of the English Premier League (EPL) Soccer. But then, the season is different. The atmosphere is different. And of course, the location.. It’s different. If a cricket tourney on such mammoth proportions can succeed, it must be in the subcontinent… Where Cricket is far more than just a religion, and cricketers, either Gods or Devils (Classification positively performance based ). But there’s one fact that still hangs as a question mark over IPL’s future. EPL extends from June to April every year. That is so, because Club football is the name of the game and International football is.. let’s say…scarce. International Cricket, on the other hand, is what Cricket is all about. Is IPL just going to be a fun-filled extravaganza held once or twice an year, when every major cricketing country decides it’s time for a two-week break? Or is it going to follow in the footsteps of the EPL for good? To put all questions together, Is IPL the dawn of a new era in the world of Cricket, the defining moment when ICC rethinks its strategies? Or a passing cloud, like the ICL was/is and may be, will be. Only Time, BCCI, ECB, CA and ICC can decide.

Cricket has become boring, have you heard? Test matches don’t get the kind of rousing reception they used to get, even in the subcontinent. The Ind-SA series held recently, was a perfect example. I could see many empty seats on weekdays and/or the first 2 days of the Chennai test match (Even when Indian batsmen were on song, forget the Motera!) People perhaps think Cricket is a good pastime for the weekend (Well, I should say, the cricket-crazy-cacophonics have matured. It’s high time they stopped seeing Cricket as Wars on the Cricket field, and real Wars as a pastime on Television sets and News channels). The inaugural IPL seems to have its set of issues, from print media coverage to the crowd, with a news site reporting SRK wondering why only 237 tickets were sold for a Knight Riders’ match at Kolkata some days earlier. Probably Preity Zinta won’t have such issues We are a set of PZFs (No.. Not PDFs.. This means “Preity Zinta Fans”) who wouldn’t let her down. Yay! ...and Oh, SRK needn’t worry anymore. McCullum just got every Kolkata fan on his/her feet, and how!

Stopping this beating around the garden thing, let’s get back to the EPL-IPL mismatch. Lalit can expect the first version to be a success, but the succeeding versions and the future of IPL hang by a thread. (Some sites and blogs swear it is worse than that). We’ve seen the reception for the Edelweiss-ICL (second version) held recently. Think Modi, you can do better.

EPL matches, as many of you may know, are on weekends mostly. Now that ICC has no other options but to accept IPL’s arrival and study Modi’s money-minting-network, BCCI can in fact, go ahead and look at the possibility of a league on the lines of EPL, through the year, or at least a few months! Of course , International matches should be given top priority, lest it back fires on BCCI. But coming to think about it, the idea can, in fact, succeed. Under normal circumstances, at any point of time, an average of three countries ( 2 half the time and 4 at other times) would require their players for International Duty. And worst case, six countries. We still have players from four test playing nations + Ireland + Scotland + Canada + the domestic talent on the cards. That’s enough to field 12 players, huh? Yeah, players will have a tough time shuttling between continents, but if their schedule isn’t too harsh, they indeed can manage their time, given the IPL glitz generated over the week...and this is where the International Cricket Council steps in.

One question now. Are all the top notch talents in the world part of IPL? No. There is still a lot of talent to tap in, on the British Isles and the Caribbean Isles, to name a few. Not to forget ICL, with its top quality players , who can be our own SPL(Scottish Premier League). Oh well, just kidding. The Stanford 20-20 in the Caribbean Isles can be globalised to a certain extent (say, 4 players max from outside the Windies or like that). It can be worked out, definitely. There’s no denying that a lot of international players are willing to settle there for life, and swing to the Caribbean music. And ECB’s plans to work out a league of its own should be carefully planned and executed, for England is more Soccer-crazy. (Don’t you mess with Football, now! – from a Soccer-holic). Bottomline, ECB may end up getting the finger from the English fan-dom.

Yeah, coming back to what ICC can plan, The International tours can be restricted to 9 months an year, to start with, and the other 3 to the T20 leagues to have a good time. ICC will end up victorious in financial affairs, and oh, u seriously have a doubt? A lot of players have been complaining that International schedules are too harsh now. “9 months and done, mate. Go to your family.” Sounds like a good employer, doesn’t it? And the humans that the players are, they’d be lured by the leagues and they’d end up playing those 3 months for S20, IPL, ICL or ECL (English Cricket League, hee hee). A Nokia Man Of The Match contest, A Charlie Webster (or someone half as beautiful) for a presenter, match up sessions, expert predictions, fantasy leagues(this one’s already on!), Transfer window rumours, what else can you ask for, yeh Cricket fan? And oh , an ICC Champions’ league between the top teams from various leagues, perhaps? Bliss! And Everyone is happy, come EOD.

You: “EOD?”

Me: “Am a software engineer.. “

You : “Oh…”

Me : “Yeah..”

And if ICC doesn’t want to accept this radical change looming around Cricket, or answer this indirect question posted by Lalit, “Come on ICC, Compare your bank accounts to that of FIFA, will you?” The Ball, and IPL’s future, is in ICC’s Change-control-committee’s court!

Whatever that future may be, It is clear for now that Lalit Modi has proved his business acumen, and that is the bottom line. Some say Brendon Mccullum would find a place in tenth grade history books, and Some say that the entire credit, in future, would go to Zee and Kapil Dev’s efforts. Or Would it?

MOMENTUMUM - a Travelogue

Will update here if i update there :D

1. The Outer ring Road accident

2. May 16 at Madurai

The life of a Placement Coordinator - unedited version!

NOTE: Applicable only to CITians, and ones without an empty head at that. Published on request by a friend. An old rejected article ;)

I want to run away,

Never say goodbye..

I wanna know the truth

Instead of wondering why..

I wanna know the answers

No more lies..

I wanna shut the door

And open up my mind.

It all starts towards the end of your third year. Aah! How well life can treat a guy! To think of all those happy moments when you wondered if you had to do anything at all for the next few days, spending the days thinking, wandering aimlessly… nobody would know how long they would last…but , you would never notice it at the mercy of 60 students and one HOD searching for a person whom everyone can blame for the next 365 days..

One would hear all sorts of facilities a PC could get.. “There’s a room at the end of the corridor… Two systems, speakers, DVD writer, sofa, fans, never ending supply of stationeries and the room is a cool place to hide when in danger…” , “You would get OD for all companies, no need to attend half the classes, far from the madding crowd running after their degrees..”, “You can move with all the HRs from various companies, a PC can interact with an HR as much as the Principal himself can.”, “You would be one of the most respected in the department, after all, it’s a great service that you do..”

Well, who can resist? There would be the urge in every mind to become a placement coordinator. And yet, something would be shouting like Hell from the back of your mind. “The job sounds great.. Why do they call it a service?! cool place to hide? Why should I hide?!.... running after degrees?..” All of it would sound strangely vague. You would see your senior PCs waiting with scapegoat-like looks in front of rooms you wouldn’t want to enter often. The only word they’d say to your query about a PC job would be “NOOOOOooooo!” Yet, enticed by the sweet words around you, you would volunteer (forced, in the case of wise people who would try everything to escape..) and stand for an election that’d be regretted very soon.

And then, one gloomy day, (heavy downpour in my case.. heavens crying for me!) they would announce the inevitable. And then, you will be permitted to enter that room at the end of the corridor.. The Placement Cell… You should notice they call it a CELL, to warn people. One must praise whoever named it that way. But, You’d be very happy to imagine 60 careers in your hand, and that you, the champion, should decide the fate of many! And a mix of responsibilty and pride that a lot of people have put so much trust in u!

It would sound very simple. You got to call a company, it would come. You got to arrange rooms, mike, projector, food. The process would be over once you send people into the interview in order. Then the result, and pack up. And you’d get infinite supply of food from a good restaurant. Very cool, eh? Trust me, jumping from the top of Eiffel tower would sound thrilling too…

When companies start coming, you will be working overtime. Running around arranging stuff, ordering people, and coordinating with a real sweet lady HR with eyes that can disturb your sleep for at least a week. Food will be good, and you’ll like it. Then, things will unwind and the Devil would start smiling at you. The problems that you’ll have to face would rival George Bush’s Iraq war policy. To put it simply, you’ll believe you will be screwed up. There would be this instance of someone returning the projector the evening before a company, and you’re left with nothing to conduct a PPT and the accounts section would shout rules and procedures at you. The management would shout at your inefficiency, and people would tell you if their vote was wrong after all. All this when you are madly searching for that ******* who returned the projector you had somehow obtained by a lot of begging the previous day. There would also be this instance where you are screwed up for absolutely nothing by approximately everyone for you-will-not-know-what! You’ll be sabotaged for the poor conduct of even one person from your class during any company. Well, if you ask me, you’ll have the toughest time diverting telephone calls to office and receiving faxes, which eventually turn out to be political posters, hotel menus or permission letters for girls to leave their hostels. And a thousand others you wouldn’t want to pen down for fear of losing a degree. And, yes.. there’s the enquiry…

20 people, one big table, you enter the room to push the room to silence.. you can identify the bigtime people at the head of the table. People seated all around you. You, on the other hand, standing, looking at the head, imagining that this could only be a dream. There would be questions thrown at you from every corner of the room, half in the global language and half in the local language. You must be very careful not to mix those questions up.. “comeon.. now, who asked first? Yes.. but this guy’s senior.. should I answer the first or second? And hey, should I reply in English or Tamil?!” Trrrring.. your time is up, and you can kiss your luck goodbye. Before you decide which to answer first, they would decide what to do next, with a usual fine on all Placement coordinators without ”partiality”, without even caring if the guy had actually been in the city during the so called MISTAKE which could range anywhere between a change in the initial during an address by one of those gentlemen, or using any of the halls that were entirely…. free (did u think otherwise?) without permission, because the permitted halls were not enough, and you used that hall to keep the pride of the college flying high.

I don’t want to waste time n space writing about those bashi-bazouks who call themselves students, who would have just got placed that day, and would ask if they can attend the next company that sets its foot inside college. They would enquire you about things the HR people themselves would not know, and would spread the word that you are as dumb as a dead dodo. And think about those students who might say you are misusing your ‘POWER’! Well, can you be held responsible for giving him a black eye?!

Now now.. lets get get back to the facilities a PC can get… A big room? Yes, to finish records and observations before your lab tests.. and yes, to hide from danger.. Yes, people run after degrees, and you do not… because you’ve lost hope you’d actually get one! Yes, you do move with HRs at the expense of classes, and you’d be left in a situation that you’ll have to attend ten extra hours beforehand if you are to refrain yourself from attending classes at a later date due to Typhoid. Huh!

AND YES, ONE HELL OF A SERVICE!!!!

At the end of the day, the things that would get you some sleep are an occasional pity that someone felt for you, or those lovely eyes I’d mentioned about. And now, you have your juniors coming upto you and askin you what all they got to do to be a good PC just-like-you. And you will only be able to say….. “NOOOOOoooooo!”

Ambition - N.A

* Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy! *

Lazybones rock, and this is to prove it.

Interesting thought. Probably in today's world, the word LAZY is looked down on, as more of a negative word. What is being Lazy?? Not doing something now, since there is no necessity to do it now. Not that we'll never do it.(Did i say we??) We will do it. But that's only when we have to do it.

No point buying an umbrella in summer and waiting for the rainy season. I'll buy one the day when it rains. It prolly costs me a few bucks more, but saves me the burden of carrying it around unnecessarily.(bad example, i should say, but that's the point anyway.. Think of life and its problems.. You'll find similar options. Just can't cook up any on the spot. Bad cook, me am :))

The Software Industry has come to this line where it splits employees to two groups and evaluate them among the group, the ambitious lot and the lazy bones. But, as fate would have it, they call the ambitious over-working lot as the Hardworkers, and the lazy gang as the Smart workers.

There were these two freshers who joined in a team's bench near mah cubicle. I could see the team lead give the same assignment to both of them, and giving them equal time to do it. One of them, who is a hardworker, worked on it around the clock, eager to complete it as early as possible and get a good name, move up soon blah blah blah.. The other one will always be on Orkut or gmail or more often in the Cafeteria or on the Table tennis gang (good company to me, that man was & is). Yet, he completed his tasks first... And not just once, he completed every task before the other did. He eventually got the first break into the project.

Hmm.. Like my mom used to say when i was at school, "if u can get the second & third ranks in class everytime without even opening your book, imagine what u can do if u sit down & work hard..". I used to tell her, "I'd not only get worse marks, but also get fed up with life. Trust me." Same way, if the smart-worker(a.k.a the lazy bugger) had actually worked on the tasks 24x7, he's have completed it prolly half an hour earlier than what he did. But, he'd have missed out on several wonderful TT games, and quality time with friends, or those chaat everyday at the cafeteria.

Wake up, people. The age of hard-workers is about to end.

PS: this article is applicable only to the lazy bones who've got brains. :)

H.U.N.G.E.R

FEAR.. What are you afraid of? From Cockroaches to Guns to Wars to Riots to Heights to your life to every damn phobia in the dictionary... No person on earth is absolutely fearless.. What evokes fear in one person need not and mostly, will not evoke it in another....

Well, most of you reading this won't be able to understand what generates things like begging and crime in our society... Hunger... How many of you are afraid of hunger? Probably a new and curious fear... huh? Please note, It is on top of Dr.Abdul Kalam's list of national shames... Whether YOU are afraid of it or not is another matter, the Indian Nation is... That has been the most pressing problem for India.. 60 years on, and we're not able to feed our people.. Every chief minister and prime minister who have assumed office knows how much power this word holds.. It has toppled governments in the past, mind you..

Why do people resort to the lowest possible level a human can ever get to? Begging? No shame.. No self-respect.. Why? Hunger.... Huh, Not eating for a day probably makes you faint.... Eating at a wayside motel one day results in food poisoning in most cases, but wait..

There are people who'd give anything to get that "food-poison". There are people in your city or village who haven't tasted good food ever since he/she was born. Hunger can make you beg, hunger can make you steal, hunger makes you the equivalent of any 5 sensed creature that roams the place... Eradicating Hunger (a.k.a poverty) can erase things like begging and can reduce crime rate by atleast 50%, if not more.

Have you ever imagined how many humans are ready to take the place of your dalmatian at home? Think about it.

That's Hunger...

"Forget everything and Run, fellas..
Forget everything and EAT GOOD FOOD.....That is all that matters"
-Mentality of many people below the poverty line...

The govt doesn't do much.. But you can definitely change atleast ONE life... Donate Food whenever possible. All those leftovers at home, you think it's not good enough to eat the next day. There are millions who don't think that way.

Am not against boozing and parties, but just for the factsheet, the amount spent in one average treat / birthday party that i attend can feed many for a year! Do put on your thinking caps...

Silencing...

I've been alone for sometime now,
It's been so silent, save the distant crow..

Things are much different from what it used to be,
It used to be so congested, populated and noisy.

There were a lot of believers, "believe",
Said the higher one, "so that i can relieve

You of all your fears, your troubles and everyday shall be fun!"
"Why can't u help without expecting anything in return?

You need them to bow to you and worship you?
Whilst you yourself ask them not to expect anything back
They, these believers, they have no clue,
Their minds are black(ened), Reason they lack."

Not many i know have spoken out before,
And not even a few know what had become of them,
But now that i did, i was blessed to know more,
This grave is so silent, save the distant crow....

PS: Please say through comments what you got from this.... I want to know how each of you interpret it. Thank you!

Eternal-ity

Silence... One that conveys meaning,
That which means complete understanding,
Those two pairs of eyes that prove this,
Love they live, Life they kiss....

Such is the love destined for so beautiful
a place as this; So involved, so joyful..
This place , amidst eternal bliss
Expects that love to come to it, that is its wish...

Where is this love that it wishes?
Where is this place, oh..where?
Where is this love that place misses?
That love that should fill it, fill it right there!

Waiting eternally, waiting for that eternal-ity,
That eternality called love that would complete this picture;
How long the place will wait, oh.. what a pity!
Complete this eternal-ity, complete this picture.......

ps: AABB AABB ABAB ABAB. Is there any name for this rhyme format? :)