Live Cricket commentary - Sample

Realized that you have to be very fast to do this:
136.6, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, pushes ball to cover 
136.5, Zaheer to Peterson, no run,  good ball, a yorker, batsman oses balance and falls down
136.4, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, swinging ball keeps low after pitching, rolls down to Dhoni
136.3, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, pushes the ball to cover again
 136.2, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, Comes forward and defends the ball towards cover
 136.1, Zaheer to Steyn, OUT, wide ball outside the off, Steyn attempts a lazy drive, Dhoni takes the low catch
TOOK A BREAK!

134.6 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, played straight to the fielder
134.5 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, full length ball, defended well
134.4 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, flicked to leg side
134.3 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, played straight
134.2 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, defended well
134.1 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run

133.6  Jadeja toSteyn, no run
133.5 Jadeja toSteyn, no run
133.4 Jadeja toSteyn, no run
133.3 Jadeja to Kallis, OUT, Big swipe to the leg side, balls takes the top edge, Dhoni takes an easy catch. Fiver for Jadega


132.6 Zaheer to Kallis, 1 run, extra bounce takes the edge and rolls down to third man
132.5 Zaheer to Steyn, 1 run, drives uppishly to third ,man
132.4 Zaheer to Steyn, no run, another loose ball, Steyn let it pass to Dhoni
132.3 Zaheer to Kallis, 1 run, Kallis flicks ball to deep square leg
132.2 Zaheer to Kallis, no run, Kallis leaves ball outside the off stump
132.1 Zaheer to Kallis, loose ball wide outside the off, driven to cover


131.2 Jadeja to Kallis No run, flighted delivery, playes straight to mid-off
131.3 Jadeja to Kallis, 1 run, Kalllis pushes ball to long off
131.4 Jadeja to Kallis no run, steyn blocks the ball outside the off
131.5 Four runs, wild swipe from Steyn, takes the edge and flies over the slips
131.6 no run, defended by Steyn

Are we really aware?

The question whether we are really "aware" in this information and smartphone age is a topic of a big debate. I use the word "aware" in the way it is defined in the Merriam Webster free online dictionary.

Aware (adj): Knowing and understanding a lot about what is happening in the world or around you.

Yes, there is knowing a "lot" about what is happening because we are all bombarded with messages of all sorts in various media unheard in the 80s and 90s.

But do we really understand what is really happening around us? Let us check this tweet:

While most of the people will focus on the person mentioned in the tweet, I have a problem with something else. That is, someone has built a forest in 30 years. If a forest can be "built" in such a short period , it is really wonderful. But as an Environmental Studies student, I very well need to dispute this fact.

A forest is not a vast collection of trees in acres of land. A forest has a structure, patterns of growth and development, stages of ecological succession, and then something called ecological climax. The forests that we see in India or elsewhere took millions of years to reach this stage. One study estimates 4500 years for a rainforest to form. Destruction of forests is not just loss of trees or reduction in total forest ares, but loss of flora and fauna, with many animal species going extinct.

This is one example where the media fails to educate people. But, it is also a fashion that "understanding and in-depth" knowledge of issues is lacking in our day-to-day life. What I am saying is not "academic scholarship", but a better understanding of things around us from better and vast reading of issues or one's favorite topics. Scholarship is a burden now, whereas if you convince someone that you know lots of things, you will be considered "knowledgeable".

Elegant Variation

The phrase, Elegant Variation, was coined by Henry W. Fowler in The King's English (1906). The essence of that term will help Indian writers to understand how carefully one should write. 

"...The use of pronouns is itself a form of variation, designed to avoid ungainly repetition; and we are only going one step further when, instead of either the original noun or the pronoun, we use some new equivalent..."

Fowler then lays down two guidelines:
"...It is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules, but two general principles may be suggested: (1) Variation should take place only when there is some awkwardness, such as ambiguity or noticeable monotony, in the word avoided. (2) The substitute should be of a purely pronominal character, a substitute and nothing more; there should be no killing of two birds with one stone."

Try to practice it. It is very interesting.

Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, and jolly media

The real beneficiary of Delhi BJP leader Vijay Jolly antics is Shoma Chaudhary. His stupid act, inspired by whatever reason, right or wrong, has turned the spotlight away from the sexual harassment case to that of political hijacking and hooliganism for "perceived enemies".

The hooliganism is a warning to all journalists and political opponents of the BJP.  This is the way the saviors of India are gonna usher in the golden age of India.

Vande Mataram!

Why India will destroy its environment?

There is nothing new in the current fracas over conservation and protection of Western Ghats. Except in Kerala's print and electronic media, you will not see any discussion on conservation of pristine land. Because this issue is not about sex, sleaze, celebrities, or cricket, right?

Except periodic reminders from the legal system in India, the state does not have a pragmatic"environmental policy". We all know all documented policies are meant to be bypassed. All the political parties and all the intellectuals in India have no such view on the environment. The reason why I stress this "environmental view" is, you will not have policies and measures tuned to it when you stare at a blank space. Now, environment is just another hurdle to that final sanction for a project.

For India, development is antithetical to environment. Environmnetal protection is another hurdle to development. Human beings and the array of systems that inhabit India are "outside" the environment. For example, in a circle, the central point is the human mind from where all things emanate and return. The human mind sees the environment as an inorganic entity, distinct from the former, and not as its very own artifact. The human beings refuse to acknowledge that they are in sync with the organic system called the "environment" and they are "inside" the organic system. Not outside.

Science challenged religion. Now, it is "social and economic faiths" that challenge science. Kerala is what it is today because of the pristine and unpolluted Western Ghats. Kerala will find it pretty hard to have an existence enveloped by a barren Western Ghats. When political parties, spineless governments, and religious interests refuse to gauge the full import of the Western Ghats sub-system and last tree is felled, first Kerala will get destroyed and as an after-effect India will suffer.

As a cynic, I do not see anything else on the horizon, unless a towering figure arrives at the landscape and talks sense. Even that is doubtful in this world.

Define power buttons and turn on password proetection

Ok. This was accidental.

I clicked on Windows 7 Start Menu, and then typed "Cover" on the Search box.

The following screen appeared:

The real nonesense and media silence

Nobody questioned the real nonsense that happened: the fact that the ordinance to save the convicted elected representatives went to the President without much opposition from all the “clean” parties.

In a democracy like India, all opposition parties are “clean”. When these opposition parties become the rulers, the then opposition become clean. That exactly is how an average Indian understands Indian politics. The media just propagates this theory.

So, the same democratic, objective media did not vehemently question why the bill was created in the first place and why the ordinance was rushed through. No media questioned or even wondered why we did not see live telecast of thousands holding candles near India Gate unlike some time in the past. We also did not see the “saviours of Indian democracy” performing a satyagraha stunt or wage another televised version of freedom struggle. We did not see anyone waving the Indian flag, or music concerts to save India.

And when Rahul Gandhi decided that an outburst would stop this nonsense, then that late outburst became nonsense. Is it out of fear that once the cleansing of politics starts, then other pillars of democracy, like the media, would also have to be cleaned? All of a sudden, a beleaguered man accused of silence and zero governance became respectable. The opinion of convenience allied with the spin of nit-pickers and anti-dynasty mavens. The end was not questioned, but the means were.

The refusal to give due credit to an outburst that can revolutionize Indian politics was forgotten in the ugly melee to play down the Dynasty and the individual. Those who had also benefitted from their own family legacy and now excel in various spheres of public life joined the same cheap chorus to play down the “means”. The media crooks, instead, turned their attention to tarnish a belated effort to rescue and clean Indian democracy. An effort driven by the President of India and the law, but neglected by the political parties. You now know where the Indian media stands.

The farce in the name of GDP figures

It is known that the GDP figures hyped by the media to credit or discredit political formations in India do not "account" the environmental damage caused by the so-called "Development."

There were seminal papers published that questioned the entire economics paradigm that still stood united behind the GDP as the yardstick for growth. But, Indian economists and foreign-educated ultra-liberal growth pundits have no time to read about Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) that accounts or discounts the environmental damage caused by mindless growth. (Renaissance took place in Europe, right?).

Advocates of GPI do not claim that it is perfect. But while our journalists pillory governments over GDP figures, let us be aware that there are other perspectives to look at how growth is contributing to human and environmental welfare.

Check this link: http://rprogress.org/sustainability_indicators/genuine_progress_indicator.htm

Stuck in struck

We, three kids, were not good in solving mathematical problems in school textbooks. There were no outside help, and  we were happily "stuck" with our inability and hereditary weakness in solving the problems. After a while, we never bothered to revisit why we were "stuck".

But we never "struck" anyone. We were simply "stuck." And in the last few weeks I heard "struck" again, as the developer was finding it difficult to fix a "small" issue. So, developers will also get "stuck" somewhere. Candid admission anyway.

"Struck" is the past tense and past participle of the verb Strike. As a noun, stuck meant "something causing delay or difficulty."

Next time, when your tongue inserts an unnecessary "u" in before "r", just strike it off. Otherwise, you will be"stuck" like a door that got closed when the dog was half out of the door. And nobody held the door ajar for the dog to waddle out.

The beauty of cynicism

"...The cynic, after all, is inclined to question people's motives and assume that they are acting self-servingly unless proven otherwise...".writes Julian Baggini in The Guardian.

Certain cynics act dumb, or appear dumb. They do not appear polished, but disheveled. They do not follow anything or anyone, but observes and dissects everything. No other choice.

And it does matter because of this; "...cynicism proves its worth as one of our best defences against spin and manipulation..."

Spin and manipulation. Thomas Carlyle wrote that Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere.

The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words. Philip K. Dick

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw

Overconfidence (or hubris?) and Cognitive Bias

Wanted to write about overconfidence today, but got confused about whether it is about "overconfidence" or "hubris" that I wanted to write about.

People use overconfidence in many erroneous ways. Whatever it may be, overconfidence is a "cognitive bias" type that manifests itself in various ways.

So, Wikipedia says, "...A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment, whereby inferences of other people and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion..."

For more information, see Cognitive Bias.

When everybody will be sick

From Garden City to Hospital City, said a headline. In an year, Bangalore will get around new 3000 hospital beds, claims the news story.

Yes, Bangalore indeed requires lots of hospitals and hospital beds. May be, in a science fiction like scenario, people will even be living in hospitals or medicated glasshouses or skyscrapers in Bangalore. Servants will be replaced by nurses who take care of the permanently ill or disabled citizens in the city.

Such a bleak or black scenario is possible because of the following reasons:

1. The city has crossed its carrying capacity and is reaching its breaking capacity.
2. Alarming rise in air pollution because of the arrival of 200-300 (unofficial) vehicles per day on the city's roads and no effort to control the situation.
3. Reckless lifestyle celebrated by people of all ages. Drinking, smoking, doing drugs, and unsafe sex are all fashionable, trendy, and even "normal" in this hyper-America of India. Those who cannot practice and follow this lifestyle get so stressed that they end up in hospitals.
4. Ability of the corporate world and jobs to convert normal healthy citizens into abnormal, diseased souls with all kinds of lifestyle and metabolic diseases. In 20 years, there will be no one with a healthy heart in Bangalore. Those with a healthy heart can become millionaires in Bangalore.
5. Chronic and toxic levels of water pollution that damages the skin, the scalp, and the head.
6. Absolutely no answers to the colossal amounts of waste created in the city by the law-abiding citizens who never fail to join candlelight protests against government atrocities.
7. Bizarre levels of noise pollution caused by automobiles even in residential areas.
8. Stress and hypertension caused by not just junk food, but traffic, debt, loans, and others.

When you combine all these, the 3000 beds will not be enough. What Bangalore needs is hospital complexes dotting the city's real estate, filled with people who are released into the roads only when they are partially cured. Great going!

DMK and UPA

I am not an expert in Sri Lankan politics and atrocities against Tamils in that country. But to succumb to threats by regional parties in protest against atrocities in a foreign country does not augur well for India's strategic relations with neighbours. This consistent pressure tactics threatening withdrawal of support to a coalition government creates instability and governance freeze at the top. Decisions are postponed and all energies and valuable time is wasted on fire-fighting and saving the government's numbers.

The UPA government has enough wisdom and expertise available to deal with this situation. But whether to dance to the tunes of regional satraps who hold the Damocles Sword of Support for issues that requires lots of diplomacy is an entirely different matter. I think the Indian prime minister should step in and announce India's position on this issue. In the meanwhile, if somebody wants to move away, let them be. There is a great honour in doing the right things before losing power. It is better than doing nothing good and concrete in an attempt to cling on to power.

Sehwag and Indian cricket

I always liked Test cricket batsmen who play aggressive cricket instead of those who are technically perfect. Sehwag has been one such batsman in the past. Recently, he has been a pale shadow of his past achievements. So, the decision to drop him was not a surprise for me.

A cricketer's individual records do not matter from the real perspective of the game. A cricketer's records shine more gloriously if it results in wins for his team. It is immature to keep on playing someone when records show a different story. So, poor form or lack of performance will result in only one thing. Today, it is  Sehwag. Tomorrow, it will be someone else.

Hope Sehwag comes back with a bang.

Headlines are important

I leave it to you to decipher why I pasted the following screenshot: