I would tell all my friends "I will always be there for you. I am just a phone call away if you need anything. My support for you is unconditional". Indeed my friends mean a lot to me and when i love, i love completely.  In fact, i say these sentences to only few people, but to whomever i say it, i mean it.

It was one of those weeks when i was having a hectic and not-so-great week. I was facing challenges at work and was not very receptive to anybody at home or to my friends. I was totally focused on things at work which required the best out of me. i was not much inclined to having conversation with my near and dear ones. Quite often my phone was left unattended. At the end of this one week, when issues were resolved, challenges were overcome and things were more organised, i decided i would get in touch with a few friends and that's when i realised, i had missed a lot of calls from them. i was unavailable to the same people to whom i had promised unconditional time and support.
 
Family, that means a lot to me, too had suffered due to my bad moods. Several people had been ignored and a few were hurt just because i was having a tough week. Surely, this is not called being unconditional.
 
That's when I understood that when I tell an individual I will always be there for you, I create hope in the individual. I cause the expectation. I give a silent promise that no matter what's happening in my life, if you need me, I am going to be there.

And when I fail, I shatter the trust that one has built on me. I don't deny that there are times when I need my space, my personal time to just think, clear my head, meditate upon the question marks in my life; but i also recognise that i can keep aside an hour for this and reach out at other times.

The reason i hadn't got in touch with people was not because i was using my time constructively or finding solutions, it was simply because i was irritated, in a bad mood, and had no desire to 'give' or 'be there'.

I can be my best when i am happy and when all is going right in my life, but is it not my responsibility to be my best at the worst of times? Is that not growth ? Is that not what will set me apart? When i am the creator of my own feelings, is it not my responsibility to create happy feelings and leave the stressed ones as soon as i leave my workplace?

Even in the worst of my moods I smile at my customers, I laugh with my boss and I am pleasant to every stranger who comes to my workplace. Then why is it that when i am in bad mood, my near and dear ones should experience the worst of me ? Don't they deserve to get the best of me when they are  such an essential part of my life, when my joys and sorrows are always felt by them and never by strangers?

 Can i take this small challenge with myself and be my best at all the worst of times with my loved ones and live up to my promise. Winning this small challenge will create magic in all my relationships and in my life. I will be the master of my emotions, and wow, what freedom that will be !!!

What Is Breast Cancer?

Each month, a woman's breasts go through temporary changes associated with menstruation, and a lump may form.  While the vast majaority of these growths are not cancerous, any lump should be examined immediately.  

Lumps are most common in the lobules -- small sacs that produce milk -- or the ducts that carry milk to the nipple.  But they occasionally start in other tissue.  The two main categories of breast cancer are lobular and ductal carcinomas. 

Breast cancer usually begins with the formation of a small, confined tumor. Some tumors are benign, meaning they do not invade other tissue; others are malignant, or cancerous. Malignant tumors have the potential to metastasize, or spread. Once such a tumor grows to a certain size, it is more likely to shed cells that spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream and lymphatic system. Different types of breast cancer grow and spread at different rates; some take years to spread beyond the breast, while others move quickly.

Men can get breast cancer, too, but they account for less than one-half of one percent of all cases.  Among women, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths -- behind lung cancer.

If eight women were to live to be at least 85, one of them would be expected to develop the disease at some point during her life.  Two-thirds of women with breast cancer are over 50, and most of the rest are between 39 and 49. 

Fortunately, breast cancer is very treatable if detected early. Localized tumors can usually be treated successfully before the cancer spreads; and in nine in 10 cases, the woman will live at least another five years.  Experts usually consider a five-year survival to be a cure. 

Once the cancer begins to spread, getting rid of it completely is more difficult, although treatment can often control the disease for years.  Improved screening procedures and treatment options mean that at least seven out of 10 women with breast cancer will survive more than five years after initial diagnosis, and half will survive more than 10 years. 

What Causes Breast Cancer?

Although the precise causes of breast cancer are unclear, we know what the main risk factors are. Still, most women considered at high risk for breast cancer do not get it, while many who do have no known risk factors.  Among the most significant factors are advancing age and a family history of breast cancer.  Risk increases slightly for a woman who has had a benign breast lump and increases significantly for a woman who has previously had cancer of the breast or the ovaries. 

A woman whose mother, sister, or daughter has had breast cancer is two to three times more likely to develop the disease, particularly if more than one first-degree relative has been affected.  Researchers have now identified two genes responsible for some instances of familial breast cancer -- called BRCA1 and BRCA2.  About one woman in 200 carries it.  Having the gene predisposes a woman to breast cancer but does not ensure that she will get it.

Generally, women over 50 are more likely to get breast cancer than younger women, and African-American women are more likely than Caucasions to get breast cancer before menopause.

A link between breast cancer and hormones is gradually becoming clearer. Researchers think that the greater a woman's exposure to the hormone estrogen, the more susceptible she is to breast cancer. Estrogen tells cells to divide; the more the cells divide, the more likely they are to be abnormal in some way, possibly becoming cancerous.

A woman's exposure to estrogen and progesterone rises and falls during her lifetime, influenced by the age she starts and stops menstruating, the average length of her menstrual cycle, and her age at first childbirth.  A woman's risk for breast cancer is increased if she starts menstruating before age 12, has her first child after 30, stops menstruating after 55, or has a menstrual cycle shorter or longer than the average 26-29 days.  Current information indicates that the hormones in birth control pills probably do not increase the risk.  Some studies suggest that taking hormone replacement therapy after menopause may increase risk, especially when taken for more than 5 years.  The jury is still somewhat out on this matter though.  Heavy doses of radiation therapy may also be a factor, but low-dose mammograms pose almost no risk.

The link between diet and breast cancer is debated. Obesity is a noteworthy risk factor, and drinking alcohol regularly -- more than a couple of drinks a day -- may promote the disease. Many studies have shown that women whose diets are high in fat are more likely to get the disease. Researchers suspect that if a woman lowers her daily calories from fat -- to less than 20%-30% -- her diet may help protect her from developing breast cancer.

Courtesy : WebMD

As my mom has been diagnosed with Cancer, we were spending most of our time in the last two weeks in hospital and pathological labs. Even though externally my mom looks fine, all in the family were worried as Cancer is a very dangerous word and we would never want to hear that in our life. Added to that, my Paternal Grand Mother succumber to cancer some thirty five years back, is haunting the memories of everyone. Probably the people in the younger generation are more confident because of the advancement of the Medical science and there is cure for this. But the reality is, Cancer is indeed curable, but the treatment is painful, but my mom is a brave lady and she is ready to face it and we are confident that we will be supporting her through this.

During this time, I went to office couple of times and my colleagues used to ask me, How my mom is? What should I answer, she is fine, but she will soon become sick, is that what I am supposed to answer?

With these kind of mixed emotions, I thought I would start a series on Cancer and also give an update on the progress of the treatment for my mother. I thought this would be educative for someone who want to know about cancer and also if someone has been diagnosed with cancer, to enable them to know about the medical treatment for the same.

Everything was seeming to go well in my life and even last Saturday, when we went to Dakshina Chitra, we met a Palm Reader and when this person asked us to ask any question, we said, we have everything in life, we dont have anything to ask for. May be Gods overheard us and in the next two days dropped a bombshell in our lives with the intensity of the one that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

My mom claimed that she finds some lump in her breast, after examining her breasts as per the instructions they gave on one of the TV channels. We did not want to take it easy, so we took her to our family Gynaecologist, Dr. Lakshmi in T.Nagar. There, she went through some routine tests and we were asked to take her for a CT Scan. The results of which revealed that she had 'Cancer', the lump which was found in her breasts suddenly came up in our throats also. Then some confirmatory tests were done and then we were asked to test her Bone Marrow, Liver, Lungs, etc. Fortunately all these organs seem to be clear, still was nto affected by Cancer. Then it was decided that we have to admit her in the hospital and a surgery has to be performed on her breast.

She was admitted to the hospital on 24 March 2008 and then when the Oncologist was checking her, identified two more nodes in her right breast and told us that we have to do a biopsy of those nodes and incase those nodes are also identified as cancer cells, he told us that Surgery will not be helpful. So today, we went ahead and did some more tests and waiting with our fingers crossed.

With the situation being grim, I probably did not have any other option than to read my mother the book on Lance Armstrong's life to prepare her for the lifelong battle she would have to wage from now on.

Looking back, what is the cause of the cancer? no answer. Glad when the doctor says that this probably is the initial stages of Cancer, but in my mother's case the identification was just a chance. She had no symptoms or whatsoever, there was not any uneasiness, she was not feeling sick and absolutely nothing that could even give us a hint that she has Cancer. Even when we came to the hospital, we all came with loud laughter and I am sure that she was not feeling sick at all. But I am sure that when she goes out of this hospital, she would be a sick person. But, I am sure my mom will survive this and will fight the battle without giving up.

So, I would want to place a request here, assuming that anyone can get Breast Cancer, just ensure that you are aware of it and incase you have it, please diagnose at the earliest. There are a lot of websites and Non Profit Organisations which would give you all the necessary information for you, So be aware of it. Please spread this message to all the women you know in your life and ensure that they are doing the monthly self diagnosis by themselves.

Follow this link for the 5 Step Breast Self Examination:

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/self_exam/bse_steps.jsp

Vinod is my good friend, he is in our finance department. As I was talking to Vinod and Bala from IS, Vinod wanted to know how I post all these articles. Being a good friend of mine, I feel that he deserves an entry in my blog.

Thanks Vinod for being my friend.

There was a lot of discussion that happened about the Quality of our deliverables in the recently concluded Steering Committee Meeting and I was travelling back to Chennai from Bangalore, with thoughts filled with the same.

I was travelling by Shatabdi Express and when the train crossed Katpadi, I just went outside the A/c Cabin to the place near the Toilets, just to stretch my leg and to get some fresh air. As I was standing there, I noticed the Train Attendant sitting their on a carton box and counting the number of cups. I realised that he must be getting ready for his return journey or probably the next journey.

As I was noticing him, thoughts just ran to the lifestyle that he would be having and also his work environment, work etc. I had opened the door of the train and just then another train attendant came and asked me if I am done with what I am doing. When I asked him as to why he is enquiring, he told me that he has to check some cables behind the door and he feels that one of the cable has burnt. I asked him to go ahead and do his work and he checked some wires and then smiled at me and said that one of the wires have got burnt and the same has to replaced in Chennai. Then I saw him filling some logs and also brought his Supervisor and explained the problem to him and he then signed in those logs.I was a silent spectator to all these and still the Catering attendant was continuing his counting without getting affected by what is happening around him.

Immediately I started comparing this to the work that we do back in office. The lifestyle that I have is multiple times better than what is available to the two characters that I spoke about. The monetary compensation that I get is again multiple times that of what they get. And lot more, the work environment, work life balance, etc, everything seems to be lot better for us. But still the amount of cribbing that we do is lot more than what these people would have done.

Again, as a traveller, will I be happy if the attendant makes mistake while serving the food, instead of Vegetarian food, what if her serves non vegetarian food? Incase I ask for water and what if he delays the same by 15 minutes? While serving food, if he spills food on us, how would we feel? I can keep going on... Even for him Customer Service is primary and he cannot afford to make mistakes. It is not Ok if there is a failure and he may not get the second chance to correct the same. Lets take the case of the Electrician, when he asked me if I am done with my work, I again saw customer service, he was bothered that my journey is comfortable. Again, if you typically look at that problem he handled and the logs he filled, I dont think he complains and I am sure that he will have it fixed in Chennai, he will certainly not be ok to travel back to Bangalore with the wire not fixed. And imagine he has to meticulously do all this for every compartment in the train, I also witnessed the difficulty he had in filling those logs in the moving train, still he did not complain. He went about doing the work meticulously.

Comparing the same with the facilities that we have, why are we cribbing a lot to do reviews, documentations, version controls etc. Why are we taking bugs very easily? Why do feel okay if there are bugs in our code and if our code is not tuned for the best performance? Dont you think that we should provide the best quality for our customer? Is it not necessary to take care of our customer?

Quality is non negotiable and just because you dont see tangible problems, does not mean that mediocrity in the deliverables are accepted. What is applicable to the Catering Attendant and the Electrician when you are the customer is as well applicable to us when we are delivering services to our customers. Just imagine if that electrician ignores and waits for the customer to complain that it is not working well, if it had resulted in a fire accident in the compartment, is what he does is ok? Same way lets put us also in the line of fire and ensure that we are giving the best quality and also lets feel that if there are bugs in the code that you develop, it is a disgrace to you. Lets remember and empathise our customers situation by thinking about ourselves as a customer.

Was in Bangalore in the last couple of days for a Steering Committee Meeting, everything went on well and our Customer was very happy with the way the relationship has been in the last one year. This also gave me an oppurtunity to meet my friends in Bangalore and spend some time with them.

Back home, my daughter was sick and is down with severe cold and which resulted in ear ache. Took care of her during the weekend and so not much happened during the weekend.

On Sunday afternoon my wife and daughter were sleeping and I woke up before them. Thought I can surprise my wife by preparing Tea, I have never been to the kitchen before, except to drop my used plates for washing. Did not exactly know what to do? Took the help of Internet to prepare of the same. With great difficulty boiled the milk and prepared tea. My wife woke up before i could finish because of the noise I made. But it tasted yucky, by being thoughtful, looks like I spoiled her evening tea. Anyway will try and perfect it next time.

Started the day very early as I had to catch the train to Bangalore, going there to attend the Steering Committee Meeting with my client. My train was scheduled to leave Chennai Central at 6:00 AM and as usual planned to wake up by 4:30 am and leave home by 5:00 am so I can be at the station well ahead of time.

'Man proposes, God disposes,' With great difficulty woke up at 4:50 am and found that there is now power due to the more than normal rain. In the darkness somehow managed to take bath and dressed up and boarded the cab at 5:10 am. As it is very early in the morning, the drive from would not take more than 30 minutes time and as I we crossed the Kathipara Junction, the driver stopped the vehicle and then I realised that one of the tyres have become flat. Thought I will take another auto, but the driver assured that we will still make it, so trusted him.

Then he changed the tyre and suddenly I had a feeling that I am in some F1 circuit, near Nandanam we nearly hit one two wheeler. Then told the driver that it is fine even if I miss the train, I can drive down to Bangalore as my meeting is only scheduled late in the evening. I had more suprises near Spencer's Plaza, as we saw vehicles being diverted to one side of the road, as a lorry had toppled on the other side. Meanwhile, I was supposed to check the tickets this morning for the time and the coach number, which I did not do because of the urgency. Then when we reached Simpson, the time was 5:50 am and I was wondering if I am supposed travel today, as I did not get a call from Suresh. Probably, this is what they call it as telepathy, he called me and asked me where I am? I told him that I will be there in 5 minutes time and got the Coach No and Platform number from him.

Then reached my coach just in time and told Suresh about the encounters I had on my way and he smiled and probably that smile told me that he did not beleive me. I would not blame him, as he has reasons to smile, last time when we travelled together, I was late to the station, because the cab I travelled met with a minor accident. I dont know may be I am jinxed when travelling with him.

 I'll be your dream
 I'll be your wish I'll be your fantasy
 I'll be your hope I'll be your love
 Be everything that you need.
 I'll love you more with every breath
 Truly, madly, deeply do
 I will be strong I will be faithful
 'cause I'm counting on
 
 A new beginning
 A reason for living
 A deeper meaning
 
 I wanna stand with you on a mountain
 I wanna bathe with you in the sea
 I wanna lay like this forever
 Until the sky falls down on me
 
 And when the stars is shining brightly in the velvet sky,
 I'll make a wish and lead to heaven and make you want to cry
 The tears of joy for all the pleasure in the certainty
 That we're surrounded by the comfort and protection of
 
 The highest powers
 In lonely hours
 And the tears devour you
 
 I want to stand with you on a mountain
 I want to bathe with you in the sea
 I want to lay like it is forever
 Until the sky falls down on me
 
 Oh can't you see it baby?
 You don't have to close your eyes
 'Cause it's standing right before you
 All that you need will surely come
 
 I'll be your dream I'll be your wish
 I'll be your fantasy
 I'll be your hope I'll be your love
 Be everything that you need
 I'll love you more with every breath
 Truly, madly, deeply do
 
 I wanna stand with you on a mountain
 I wanna bathe with you in the sea
 I want to lay like this forever
 Until the sky falls down on me
 
 I wanna stand with you on a mountain
 I wanna bathe with you in the sea
 I want to live like this forever
 until the sky falls down on me

I just love this song very much and also this is my current caller tune.
        

As I was reading the Newspaper this morning, one news that was hogging the limelight was our Hockey Team's exit from the Olympics Qualifier. I saw that the Coach Carvalho has submitted his resignation taking ownership for the exit, his 11 months term came to a premature end because of this failure. I also saw some ex-players asking KPS Gill, President, IHF to resign owning up responsibility for the same. Looking at this, thoughts just ran across my mind and I thought I can vent the same here.

As a Project Manager, I also manage teams and I have to fight against lot of odds and deliver projects, I am compelled to draw out a comparison between my team and a sports team. When a project comes to my organisation, it is assigned to a Project Manager and he then will have to understand the project and work with the concerned functional team to get the team he needs for the project and also the infrastructure that is needed to execute the same. Once this happens, its the PM's responsibility to get the project delivered successfully. This could mean that he has to understand the team dynamics, take care of their aspirations, take care of their inclusions, take care of the value they provide to the team, keep the customer informed, keep the management informed and asking for help, etc.

In this process, if the management fails to provide the necessary infrastructure, they are to be blamed for the project failure. Incase the PM feels that the team member is not good enough then it would be his responsibility to discipline, coach, mentor and get the team member contribute. Even after all this the team member fails, then he should not hesitate to show the doors for the team member. Incase he has done all these and still the team fails, the blame should be on the team or rather the facilitator of these team members.

If the PM gets the right infrastructure and the team and still is not able to motivate the team to give its best performance, then the PM should take the responsibility and should be axed.

Drawing parallel to Indian hockey, first and foremost I feel that it is too premature to ask for the head of the Coach, Captain, President etc. This has to be completely analysed and we have to diagnose what went wrong and where did it go wrong and fix the problem. Lets not jump to any conclusion, this is the same team which won the Asia Cup, just six months back and their performance was appreciated by everyone. Nothing has changed in the Six months time, same coach, captain, administrators etc. So lets be patient, its very easy to blame someone, we have to understand the issues and concerns that hampered a performing team. I am sure that no one wants to be a part of a losing team. That to when they are representing the nation, there would be lot of spirit.

Looking at it from a different angle, we are becoming too sentimental, this has become an issue just because we have always qualified for the Olympics since 1928. So leaving out the sentiments, we need to look at it progressively. We are an Eight Time Olympic champion team, what happened to the quality of our game. This could happen for two reasons, One, We are playing good hockey but our opponents are playing even better, Two, our quality has really gone bad. I strongly feel that the second one is not true.

Analysing the first point more, the eight gold medals that we have won have predominantly been on grass and tradiitionally this is the turf that we have been playing our hockey, where our artistic dribbling helps in winning matches. But when Hockey moved to Astro turf, it became more of a power and speed game, which we are not really good at. Does this mean that we are not good at adapting to changes ? I would not say so. This problem is something that you see in Cricket too, we have been traditionally depending on spin bowling and we never really used to have any pace bowlers, but with shorter versions of the game becoming largely popular, spin bowling lost its importance and it took sometime for our team to come to terms and now you see we are world beaters and we have genuine speedsters in the team.

But getting the same done in Hockey is not as easy as we did in Cricket. First and foremost the lack of sponsors, today parents encourage their children to play Cricket and Tennis, because of the money that is involved in the sport. So all the corporate houses should come forward to encourage the people who take up hockey, as it is our national game, there has to be lot more interest in that sport. Why is the money so important for hockey, because, traditionally we have been getting our hockey players from the regions of Chotta Nagpur, Interior Karnataka, North Eastern States, Punjab. I am not sure if these places do boast of an Astro turf ground. There players traditionally play on normal ground with bare foot, etc. and once they become national players will have to start playing in Astro Turf and it does take a while for them to get accustomed to that before which they are already written off. So we need to bring up some Astro Turf Stadiums and encourage people to play in these grounds, so that they can mould their game according to the International grounds right from the begining of their careers.

Sometimes it helps for us to think a little away from tradition, the ex players who are now being the coach have also been pracititioners of the traditional gameplay that we have been playing. May be it helps to hire a coach from Australia or Netherlands it helps. For some reason the IT jobs are being moved from US to India, the same way lets get the best person for the job.

You may think what have I got to do with it, you can do, you have a commitment to the National game, Watch Hockey when it is telecasted in Television, the more we see, the more we can help the game get sponsorship. Why do you think Cricket has so much, it is just because you and I follow the game.

Crescendo 2007, this was an event conducted in my company in the last six months. Our office was divided into three teams based on DNA Imagination, Action & Joy. The events comprised of Quiz, Antakshari, Dumb Charades, Creative Writing, Debates, etc. and Sporting events including Volleyball, Throwball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Football, Gilli, Goli, Bambaram, Cracket ( a modified version of cricket ). This event came to an end of 29 February 2008 with a grand finale. The main event in Finale was an event which we named it as 'Two 2 Tango', in which some 12 pairs performed a variety of programs which included Skits, Dances and Songs.

Though we had teams practicing for the main event since October 2007, this event had to be postponed for various reasons and finally when we decided to conduct this event, the original teams was not in a position to practice and perform. Thats when we started thinking how to successfully do this event, we conceptualised 'Two 2 Tango'. It worked out very well and everyone enjoyed this event, a very special thanks should go to the bunch of Interns who showed their talent, enjoyed the event and made others enjoy.  Shown below are some pics from the event, I also got some prizes and medals in this event

Its been quite sometime since I wrote something about politics, now with Lok Sabha Elections being imminent, I thought I could share my thoughts. Very populistic Railway and Finance budgets this year, this probably would make Congress popular among people. With memories being very short, its a good ploy by the government to win some popular votes. Manmohan Singh's government need to be given credit too for their performance. With the communists feeling very uncomfortable with Nuke deal and also their politics is also losing ground as they have aligned with Congress and for years they have been thriving in politics only by playing it against Congress. BJP also is upbeat after its victory in Gujarat and also having put a positive step in all the states to sort out all the faction issues.

Coming to Tamil Nadu politics, UPA is a grand alliance and even though everyone has been through discomfort, for want of clinging to power, they have adjusted with each other uncomfortably. So in all likelihood there may be some realignment for this election. Based on the events happening I feel that Congress and PMK might be feeling betrayed by DMK for not having being given a place in the TamilNadu Ministry. PMK stayed back in the alliance for the simple reason that Dr. Anbumani's place in the Central Government will need to be given up. Congress was not able to show their displeasure as their Central Government would be under threat if they do so. On the other hand ADMK does not have much to lose as they dont have anyone apart from MDMK.

With Captain Vijaykanth's DMDK doing well in wooing the youngsters and the general voters towards them, in all likelihood I feel that there would be realignments in the State politics. In the interest of the Minority Government that is in place in Tamil Nadu, DMK would not want to lose any of its partners, but they also know that they would not have the same negotiating power, if they dont repeat the same performance as last time, which is winning all the forty seats, which I feel is very difficult. Many would be surprised about Sarath's party, though I feel that he would be happy to ensure that he gets the caste votes that he is trying to get, but looks like he is trying to get the youth on his side. These votes are the ones that is solidly behind Vijaykanth, and now DMK's youth conference, ADMK's youth pasarais are also the efforts to get the same votes. Some even feel that it is DMK's gameplan to make Sarathkumar an alternative to Vijaykanth. In this background Congress leader Arunkumar's meeting with Vijaykanth aboard a plane boars a lot of significance.

So, I strongly feel that Tamil Nadu would see a three way contest with DMK / DPI / Communist Parties forming one alliance and ADMK / PMK / and may be BJP forming the second alliance and third alliance would be formed with Vijaykanth / Congress / MDMK / Sarath and incase Marans' patch up work does not work, they may also align with this alliance. Vijaykanth and MDMK may come together because of a caste equation.  Congress is suffocated with both the Dravidian parties as they have never been respected as a significant partner, thats the reason Congress wants to go to Vijaykanth to get some respect and probably a share in the government incase they win, but I feel that they would be disappointed as they may only end up being a secondary partner. Anyway it just turns out to be very interesting for someone who is following all these.

Last but not the least you can see PMK is trying to come out of the Caste politics and trying to get a larger vote base by being a very vocal supporter of Tamil Language usage, infact they have been doing a great job through their channel Makkal TV. Best wishes for them.

Before I close, just wanted to conclude with a news item I read this morning that Rahul Gandhi has hired ' Dale Carnegie Management Consultants to train the Congress youth members, looks like a step in the right direction.

Dismal performance, this is what I could say about how Australia played today in the Second final of the Commonwealth Bank series. It was a welcome change to see our opponents being in this kind of situation, as someone following cricket very closely, I remember only India being in the kind of situation Australia was in today.  As I was down with fever I was at home, so I had the oppurtunity to watch the entire match, ever since the match fixing episode came up, somehow I have been losing interest in cricket, but today I forced myself to see this match and I was not disappointed.

Always used to some brilliant individual performances and failing to win matches, nowadays its welcome relief to find our team playing well as a team. Looking back at this series, I cannot think of one individual who can be given credit for this victory. Its really nice to see that the team is not dependent on any individual. In each and every match one player or the other has clicked. Its very nice to see experiements being done and working well. Piyush Chawla, who did not play any match, directly played in both the finals, may be it was a ploy to hide him from the Aussies, but it worked quite well. When Ishant was not well for the second finals, there was not single negative comment that he would be missed, imagine the days when Tendulkar or Dravid or Ganguly missed a match. Also we have to remember that Ishant has been the spearhead of the Indian bowling in the series in Australia. Fortunately we did not miss him, the other guys took up the responsibilities on their shoulders. Due credit has to be given to the Selectors, having selected this young team and also to Dhoni, for having backed up all these guys very well. Looks like Indian cricket is heading towards the right direction, with U-19 World cup also with us, looks like we now have a good bench strength, once boasted by the mighty Australians.

Does it prove that is good to have a bunch of average people, who would complement each other in the team and win as a team, rather than having a couple of Superstars???

Crescendo'07, atlast came to an end on 29 February 2008, no, I am not going to talk about what it is all about. Its an experience and i just lived through it in the last Six months.

After the event was over, Vish, Priscilla, Pallavi, Rakesh and I went to Andhra's Bhavan, a restaurant in Besant Nagar to spend the time together. Then I dropped everyone and was returning back and thinking over everything. Vishwanath (Vish) was one of the key person behind this event, I admire him a lot. The talent he possesses, versatility and the amount of energy he has and the way he spreads it across, these are few qualities I admire in him.

Looking back, my admiration for him started from the time I saw him on the Graduation day on 13 Dec 2006 in MindTree. The way he danced for Main Aisa kyun hoon from Lakshya and to the wonderful talk he gave that day. The confidence I saw in him when he was doing both these activity made me his fan, the only thing I knew about him at that time was that his name is Vishwanath. I was thinking what an asset t

his guy would be in the team that he would be in and wished if I could get him on my team.

Then when I got transferred to Chennai, to my surprise I found him in Chennai too and unfortunately he happened to be R&D, so I knew that I would not be able to work with him on projects. But Rainbow and now Crescendo did give me a lot of oppurtunity to work with him. On that day when I was taking a video I saw him mentoring another Campus Mind, so my thought became more important as i see how he has grown from Campus Mind to a Senior mind.

Keep up the good work Vish, I admire you a lot.                   

Vish singing in Two 2 Tango in Crescendo

If I could talk,…

 I’m small drop of a rain drop and can you please stop? ,

 Stop slashing down the tree that breathes air on earth’s top,

 Stop heating the air that mails a love note to the cloud,

 Stop washing the cloud that delivers me and the life around.

 If I could talk,…

 I’m a whiff of breeze, can you please listen?

 Listen to the hole in the ozone, you have christened?,

 Listen to the cracks in the Antarctic and arctic.

 Listen to the readings of the Richter and the giant wave it ticks.

 If I could talk,…

 I’m a ray of sunbeam, can you start to kill?,

 Kill the thought that doesn’t think that recycle is the pill.

 Kill the thought that excretes industry in to the river

 Kill the mind that is not ecologically aware.

 If all our brains could talk,…

 Stop the ignorant living,

 Listen to the pain of our mother earth for thriving,

 Kill the thoughtlessness that it’s our child’s world we are depriving …!.

 Happy Living.!!!