Revisiting the horror of Kosi river floods in Bihar - August 2008

What happened?

- 18th August: Breach in the Kosi embarkment near India - Nepal border.
- The extent of flooding can be visualized by considering that the record 25,000 m3/sec. flow could cover 2,160 square kilometers a meter deep in 24 hours, or that it would sustain a flow of water moving one meter per second (86 km in 24 hours), one meter deep and twenty-five kilometers wide.
- The Indian army and non-government organizations operated the biggest flood rescue operation in India in more than 50 years

Who was / How may were affected?
- More than 1,000 (One Thousand) people believed to be dead. Official number is one hundred in Bihar. Many bodies seen floating in water.
- Around 3.5 million people affected (Houses were washed away)
- The floods destroy more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of farmlands.
- People were unable to change clothes for 20-25 days.
- Many relief camps are over flooded. Children are born in camps, many women were pregnant.
- Acute shortage of food, clothing and medicines at the camps.
- Hungry me ran for kilometers together to chase the helicopters that were dropping food packets.

Administrative Lapse

SOS fax messages were sent by the engineers at Kosi dam but they were not attended to by the relevant official as he was on leave. No other officer was deputed to act on the fax messages and they had piled upon the bureaucrat's desk. Nitish Mishra, Bihar's disaster management minister acknowledged this and said action would be taken once all this is over.

A good blog on the rescue and relief operations by an NGO.

Fashion Movie review - The coming of age of Madhur Bhandarkar - Director

More about my opinion on Madhur Bhandarkar's earlier films here. But in come Fashion, and all that has changed.

Fashion is a story of a few models in the tinsel town of Mumbai. It is about a young and aspiring model who becomes a super star. And while becoming so successful, allows the success to go to her head. She stops respecting others, valuing relationships and starts engaging in smoking, drugs, affairs and arrogance. Once these poisons start creeping in her head, she falls down from the riches to the rags in a matter of a few days.

Its a drug episode that makes her realize that she is blowing her life away. She goes back to her grass roots, wins back some of her old & lost relations and values. And then starts another journey to rise in the Fashion world. Here she is helped and supported by the very same friends who she had be-friended once she was on the top. But now, she regrets her acts in front of all of them, and they all accept her sincere apologies. While doing so, she helps an ex-competitor revive her own wavering life and that's how - she gains a whole lot of the forgotten confidence.

Overall, I loved the acting of Mugdha Godse, Kangana Ranaut, Samir Soni, Ashwin Mushran, Arjan Baweja, Priyanka Chopra. The characters are mapped excellently to the actors. The story is the other strength of the movie - even though, it has been stretched a bit at the end. I thought the background scores were average but could have been better. And the music is almost forgettable. The screenplay, editing and cinematography are quite amazing. The Fashion Shows - which account for almost 5-10% of the movie timing, are very well shot and a treat to watch. Kangana Ranaut is simply perfect in the supermodel role - her steps on the ramp being quite remarkable. And Mugdha Godse is the surprise package - she has acted wonderfully well on debut.

Most importantly, the movie is not an over the top like other Madhur Bhandarkar films. It has a believable story. And very important messages - that you cannot let success go to your head. And that if you have the will power, you can come back from the pits to rise to your older heights. And the values of friends and relatives.

I guess the movie will be a bigger hit than all the previous films of this director. And I hope that he makes more such movies in the future. Suddenly, there is one more director to watch out for - a welcome addition to my favourites-list :-) Way to go Madhur, your talent has acquired a newer dimension.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

My opinion of Madhur Bhandarkar's films before Fashion

Chandni Bar, Page 3, Corporate and Traffic Signal. These are some of the most talked movies of the last decades. And for a reason. They are all directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. In all his films, the director has been taking up relatively new, bold and un-comfortable issues in our society. There is no doubt that this guy had creativity and talent. And the courage to speak on such rare topics. And he must be appreciated for that.

However, I (and many others) thought that there was a same-ness to all his movies so far. That some of the things that he portrayed were blown out of proportion. And sometimes, they were too sadist. Those movies somehow made an impression in my mind that this fellow is trying to project a wrong story by showing too many characters doing far too many wrongs. For example - after Page 3, one got a feeling that almost everybody involved in journalism/bollywood had some or the other dark side to him/her. And in Traffic Signal, it was portrayed as if every homeless at the signal was harrassed and every signal was manipulated by the system, At times, I would call him guilty of trying to showcase too many issues - homesexuality, polygamy, pedophiles, drugs and so on.

However the effect that this had on youth was immense. A lot of people that I used to speak to, had comments like: "Dude, you have got to see the movie Traffic Signal, he has shown the REAL story of the poor!". Somehow, this guy made almost the entire youth believe his stories although they were mostly over-exaggerated. It was almost as if he used all the odd topics only to create cheap publicity and add spice to the story. So that it could sell more. And so did he succeed in doing. This was the main reason why I did not like any of his movies so far.

But in come Fashion, and all that has changed. More in the next write-up.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

News from the India versus Australia test series 2008 - Border Gavaskar Trophey

Australia are in India to play the 4 match test series. The first test match was a draw. Although, in my opinion, had there been no rain, and had the teams achieved higher over rates, then Australia could have had a chance for victory. As it happened, both the teams were defensive. Just trying to read each others' games at the start of a very high-stake series. The slow pitch at Bangalore also played its part in the tame draw.

Come the second test match. Australia were outplayed from the first to the last session. In batting, bowling, fielding, sledging, offense and captaincy. This was one of their worst defeats in the last couple of decades. All their weaknesses were exposed as they fielded one of their weakest teams to visit India. Indian spinners were good, fast bowlers were superior and their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was always one step ahead of the game. After the match, the Kangaroos mad a lot of noise about the reverse swing that the Indian duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma were able to generate. However, I think that Australia had lost the battle in their minds. They were too defensive, both while batting and bowling. And were one bowler short.

There is now a long break before the next test match starts in Delhi on the 29th of October. I feel this break is turning out to be in India's interest. As the Australians try to over analyze the reasons of their failure. Too much focus is on Brett Lee, who has been below par. The controversy around why he didn't bowl early on 4th day of 2nd match must be distracting him. The captain Ricky Ponting and the coach Tim Neilson gave two different versions of the reason. There have been calls for Andrew Symonds' return, but they have been silenced by the coach. Their real problem has been the top order. It will be very interesting to see how they face up to this intense pressure. In my opinion, if Australia manage to win/draw this series, they will undoubtedly retain and remain the best team on the planet by and far. But if they loose the series, then their invincibility will reduce.

India need to decide on whether or not to play Anil Kumble. I think it would be a wise decision not to change the winning combination. Even if he plays, I think he should hand over the captaincy to the champion Dhoni.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

The tennis tournament - ATP Masters Series in Madrid

This is about the Mutua Madrileña ATP Masters Series, currently in progress at Madrid, Spain. This is a very interesting tournament. Mainly because, all the top ranked 12 ATP players (men) play here. This is a really rare event and not like the Grand Slams, where they have their own seeding which can be different than the world rankings.

Surprisingly though, I noticed that the official website of the tournament mentioned above is not good at all. Some of the links don't work. They don't maintain good news or columns. They do not provide good player rankings and schedules. And in comparison, I observed that the official ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) tour website gives a much better analysis of the Masters Series.

I will be personally looking for the Roger Federer vs. Rafel Nadal rivalry. I just hope that they both reach the finals and produce another one of those stunning, awesome display of contrasting tennis styles, that has made them a unique pair. Throughout the last 15 years, I have not observed any rivalry in professional sport that can be compared to Federer vs. Nadal in terms of their skills, Quality of their games, Difference in style and dominance over everyone else in their sport. What do you think?

Long live the champions.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

World Chess Championship 2008 in Germany - Anand Vs. Kramnik

This is an interesting event to track and watch out for. The World Chess Championship is currently in progress in Germany from October 14 to November 2, 2008. Vladimir Kramnik from Russia will take on the world champion Vishwanathan Anand from India. It is being claimed that this is the most anticipated tournament in the history of world chess.

The official website of FIDE is here. This is the official website of the championship. It shows either live or recorded version of the last game played in this 12-game championship. The chessboard shown on this website is nice, it allows us to browse through the whole game from start to finish - any number of times. Its a good learning point for chess lovers.

I am looking for a good website that analyzes these games along with the positions of the game. That will be absolutely awesome.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

Should Anil Kumble resign from the Indian Cricket Team?

In the 1st test match of the India Vs. Australia Border Gavaskar series, Kumble went wicket-less. Its the first time that this has happened in India. There is a clear cut case of Anil being in the playing 11 only because he is the captain and not because he belongs to the best 11 in the country right now.

On top of that - he carried an injury in this test match. Did not bowl when he was needed the most. And when he returned back to the field, he reversed Mahendra Singh Dhoni's aggressive field placements. All and all, a poor performance form the veteran. I think Saurav Ganguly has made a right decision in calling it quits. And Anil Kumble needs to take a clue. In the last test series for India Vs. Sri Lanka, Anil Kumble took 8 wickets in 3 matches at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 100! Prior to that, in the home series against South Africa, he took 4 wickets in 2 matches at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 150!!

At the start of this series, Anil announced that this would be his last test at Bangalore. However, at the end of the match, he made a shocking statement "One bad game doesn't make you a bad player". Maybe, his manager or someone else needs to remind him of the above statistics so that he can find out how many bad games he has had in the last year or so.

I am a firm believer of performance dictating selection, and on basis of both - current form, and captaincy skills - I would choose Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the skipper and Piyush Chawla as the leg spinner to play against the Australian team in the remainder of the series. It will be interesting to see what the Indian selectors say. Incidentally, the team for the last 2 test matches against Australia should be selected soon, so we will come to know what their opinion is.

Of course it goes without saying, that Anil Kumble has been India's only match-winning bowler on all wickets for the last decade or more. However, I think the age is taking its toll and he is near the end of his career.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

Kayaking @ Panshet near Pune (continued)

My first kayaking experience was more of - leaning, adventure and then enjoyment. But I was not satisfied and wanted to take one more chance at the kayak. I asked them to bring it back in water. I was trying to decide what next? Having learnt the art, how should I make the most of the next trip? I finally set a goal for myself for that 15 minute kayaking trip. We were on one side of the riverbed. I looked at the other side, spotted a tree and made it my target for the next few minutes. I decided to take a shot at the following: Drive the kayak at the best speed possible, take it to the other of the river, touch the soil on that side, and then come back on this shore. All this in 15 minutes. I had to be on my toes always in order to make sure that I kept the time.

My Timex digital watch came to the rescue. I set the timer on and started kayaking with all strength possible. I realized that it was easy to attain fairly high speeds. And now that I knew what my target was, it was much easier to maintain the direction.

But maintaining the direction was still a fairly non-trivial activity. I assumed that since I was applying equal force on the right and the left hand sides, the kayak will always go ahead in a straight line. But when I started staring at the tere, I noticed that all the time, I was either moving too much to the left or too much to the right. And then, I had to make appropriate adjustments to ensure that I was chasing the target tree. I realized at that point, how difficult it must be to paddle the kayak in the sea when there are no visible targets in any specific direction. You would require a magnetic compass and that would be your life line.

I first checked my wrist watch timer at around 2.5 minutes into the drive. I was stunned to see that I was almost half the way into the breadth of the river. I decided to keep going full steam and paddled hard for the next minute or so. Once I stopped momentarily after 3.5 minutes, and estimate that I was 2/3 of the way into the breadth. I was sure that I would be able to make it - touch the other side and come back. At this time, I just tried to soak in the moment a bit. I observed that the constant chatting of the people on the original side of the river had now stopped. I was surprised because there were many people on the shore. And so far, I could always here many of the talking simultaneously. Then I realized that I had come far enough from them to be able to hear their voices. That pleased me a bit :-) But then, I concentrated a bit and found out that I could now hear so many other natural voices. Birds were really singing wonderfully. I could hear some voices from the other side of the river bed. I was absolutely delighted.

I decided to stop at this place for the next few minutes or so. And dropped the plan of touching the other side of the river. Just wanted to relax more. I looked at the river and saw that it was really huge. I could see the river leading into the dam and its gates about 500 meters or a kilometer away from where I was. Which meant - that the only time we could go kayaking here was when the water was calm. I just though we were lucky enough that there were no rains or strong winds that day. And it also gave me an indication that I can come here in the future only when the weather is as calm as it was on today. Otherwise, kayaking would become very risky.

Most of the river had beautiful, blue water. But somehow there was a patch where the water was green, had some weeds and leaves and that looked odd. I tried to wonder about this patch. I would have understood if it was near the shore, but near the shore, the water was very clean. Once that bad patch ended, it was again clean and beautiful. I could now see some speed boats making rounds one after another at some distance from me.

Whenever a boat went from anywhere nearby, it would send a series of waves in the water. The waves would spread and hit my kayak. This was a scary moment. The people had told me that I would have to balance it when the waves are hitting. Once such speed boat sent very strong waves. My kayak started shaking up and down, and for the first time, I was nervous but still not scared, though. The only problem I saw with a kayak is that - it can flip and turn turtle easily - with a few strong ripples/waves. But once that happens, it would be difficult to turn it around while swimming. And then even more difficult to climb on it from within the water.

Once the waves started hitting, I decided to move. I thought - while moving, the kayak might be able to handle the waves better, and I was right. After around 8-9 minutes since I had begun, I started on my way back. This time, I really stepped up the force and attained tremendous speed. I was now able to observe how to voices of the people on the shore had started to reach me again. I was kind of sad that my kayaking trip was about to end. I again tried to soak in each and every part of my vision and the sounds. I looked at all the surrounding mountains again and allowed myself to be stunned by the awesome beauty of nature once more. Finally, I decided to park. My speed was so high, that I had to reverse peddle in order to slow down so that I could hit the shore. This time, I could park perfectly and single handed, without any help.

I knew that I had stumbled upon a new passion. I vowed to come back here once every month or two. I started to share my experiences with everyone on the shore and explained to them the mind blowing experience. My shoulders had started aching a bit and I was really hungry now. It had turned out to be a really nice exercise. I wished I could have a house near a river so that I could go kayaking every day :-)

If anyone of you know of other good places to go kayaking, then please let me know. And if you can swim, then try out kayaking. It will refresh you!

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

Kayak Boat experience at Panshet near Pune

This was a nice Sunday morning. We started from our house in Pune around 8 am in the morning. Reached Panshet at around 9.30 am. Panshet is around 45 Kms away from the heart of Pune. It is off the Sinhgad Road. Panshet is the name of a dam and supplies drinking water to the Pune city.

We were 5 persons + 3 kids. So the plan was to enjoy the natural surroundings, play with the kids, have a heavy breakfast and come back home after noon. As usual, as soon as we reached Panshet everyone was hungry.

A little bit about how to locate the best boating location in Panshet. There are quite a few locations here from where one can do boating. The best one is the biggest one. It has a covered parking lot, a small restaurant. When you reach Panshet, you will find many different boards pointing towards boating locations. At the main junction, there are 2 roads - and each one of them leads to a different boat club. The turn to the left takes us to this good place with parking etc.

Once there, we ordered tea and breakfast. The food at the place is not that great. So its better if you take some home made bread/butter or any other breakfast. Whatever food is available is very costly and probably extremely un-hygienic.

There are some small horse, camel, elephant shaped games for kids. All 3 of them loved those :-) But everyone was now looking forward to the real stuff: Boating.

We first tried the simplest option. A large ride for all 8 of us in a medium paced motor-boat. It was for around 15 minutes. Very nice, clam, relaxing and enjoyable. The kids loved it, too. We were able to dip our hands in the river bed and sprinkle some of that water in the boat. The water was blueish and clean at most of the places in the river bed.

Next, we tried a speed boat with all of us in there along with the kids. This was a wonderful experience for us, but a scary one for the kids. I personally didn't find it worth the cost (of 60 Rs per person). But it was good fun.

I next asked them what other options are available for boating. He said - speed boat for a couple. A scooter boat - which is a very high speed boat with their driver and a passenger. I had seen a friend riding this earlier, and he had lots of fun. The guys then mentioned about a boat known as Kayak. They said, it takes you alone in the river bed. And that's what spurred me on. On asking further details, they said that it does not run on any fuel. And needs a paddle which is used to move the boat in the water.

I knew instantly that I was excited. I asked them to put it in the water. Since there was no fuel involved, the cost for 15 minutes was very less - 30 Rs. This was even better. I sat in the kayak - this was not easy though. It had a very small weight. And there were holes in the kayak for the water to flow in/out. It was somehow able to maintain its buoyancy. Being a very good swimmer and having the life jacket on - gave me enough confidence. For people who don't know how to swim, it can be a dangerous option.

I started with the paddle. 4 years ago, at the same spot, I had tried a rowing boat with 3 other people on board. We had erred at that point - in the sense that we did not try to understand the technique. There were also synchronization problems. And hence, this time round, I knew what should not be done :-) First, I tried to control the kayak by randomly moving the paddle in the water once to my left and then right. I realized that if not controlled, I would keep round and round in circles. Hence I tried to focus on how to crack the technique. I realized the following two tacts:

1. I stuck my legs to the grooves. This gave me some more force to use on the paddle. I pushed my legs while paddling and it was very helpful.

2. I made sure that while paddling on the right hand side, the paddle touched the outer border of the boat on that side. And then the same on the left. This was crucial because now, there was no randomness and I knew I was onto something special.

Very soon, I was traveling at quite a good speed, and in almost a straight line. For the first time, I looked around me. I was amazed by the beauty of the nature. Away from the busy roads, traffic and noise, away from the tensions of day to day routines, here I was - surrounded by a beautiful blue river bed. In the middle of lush green mountains. Birds singing sweet sounds. Clean air, no pollution, pure bliss. To top all that, I was out there on my own, without any fuel and having learned and mastered something new and adventurous, it gave me a phenomenal kick. I promised myself that this was only the first of many many times that I would go kayaking.

I knew that the time was limited and hence tried to turn reverse. Just paddled on the left hand side. After rotating by 180 degrees, I started on my way back. In the middle, I just used to stop, drop the paddle and just relax. Enjoyed the moment, the surroundings, the quiet and the nature. Finally, there was another boat passing by and the driver shouted at me saying my time was already over. On coming back, I was surprised that I could even park the kayak without many hassles. I told everyone that this was one of my most enjoyable moments ever and I had already started thinking about when should I go kayaking next?

The next time was only 10 minutes away :-) And even more enjoyable. Details to follow in the next post.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

New free mobile product in India - MeraMobi

This was launched during the seminar Mobile Conversations at Mumbai on 19th September 2008.

Its a free mobile application. It requires GPRS enabled and activated on the handset for it to be used. The revenue model is Advertising. Although, I think, it is possible to monetize in another way. They can tie up with the the restaurants and generate some revenue from such channels every month. The menus might be dynamic, I am not sure. The current category of menus is:

- News (Finance, India, World, Sport)
- Cricket Field (Lice, Schedule, News)
- Cinema (News, Reviews and Previews)
- Money Matters (Index, Get Quote, Analysis, News, Favorites)
- My City (Mumbai) *Food and Drinks, Events, Movies)
- StarGaze

They are currently serving only one ad - for 94.3 - My FM. The other ads are of the promoter group - Dainik Bhaskar.

Let's keep a watch on how they market the product, how their user base grows and how many advertisers are they able to sign with.

In my opinion, they are direct competitors to Mobikon's Konekt

Cheers,
- Tosh

Australia vs. India Cricket Test Series

Hi There!

Its been a long gap, and soon cricket will be back to business. The Champions Trophy was postponed due to the security concerns in Pakistan. The Champions League was postponed earlier because it came dangerously close to the Champions Trophy. And hence the Indian cricketers got a very well deserved break from the high intensity international games.

What I liked was that - most of them played for their national (Ranji) teams. And many of them will play the Irani Trophy - The winner of last year's Ranji Trophy (Delhi) vs. the Rest of India team. That will be one hell of an interesting match to follow. It will pitch e.g. Ishant vs. Sachin and that would be awesome to watch.

I have been a big fan of young blood in the India cricket teams. And hence I believe, Sachin Tenulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman should all be asked to go away. Especially because most of them have been in terrible batting form of late. Sachin has been good in ODIs but poor in tests. He has been extremely unfit and sometimes he has hidden that fact (e.g. South Africa series at home). Rahul Dravid has been the lowest in confidence ever. Saurav has been mediocre. And Laxman - although doesn't get out, he has not been able to force the run-rate issue. Even though he plays with the tail. Which makes him look like a selfish individual rather than a team-mate who is willing to risk his wicket for the country.

And hence I like the idea of leaving Saurav out of the team for Irani Trophy. I would also have loved to hear the notices sent out to Sachin - to stay fitter. To VVS - to score briskly and to Rahul - to hang up his boots or face the axe. I really hope that the new selection committee of BCCI is as good as the previous two. And have a vision for the future.

About the test series - Ahh, I just cannot wait for it to begin. Because of intolerable foreign conditions - both on and off the field - India has been a tough place for visitors to win test series. Australia failed to do it twice under Steve Waugh - who dubbed it as his Final Frontier. But finally, they were able achieve the feat under Ricky Ponting when they were here the last time. Hence I think the mental barrier has been broken for the visiting teams. And I predict that the result might be in favour of the visitors, this time too. And although my head says Australia, my heart still goes for India :-)

On paper, Australia look weak - Few of their pacers have experience of Test matches in India. None of their middle order and spinners have played here earlier. Still, the extended break has meant, they get more time to acclimatize. And they will do so very well. They have an aura of confidence nowadays, which makes them a candidate to bounce back from any situation - a belief that comes handy in test matches more as compared to one dayers or 20-20. In terms of individual players, I think Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee and Shane Watson will be the ones to watch out.

Indians will have a very strong opening pair followed by a weak and out-of-confidence middle order. The two spinners are too old and have no new weapons. In my opinion, they will be able to force wickets only on a draconian pitch. The fast bowling looks stronger and their wicket keeper is their main weapon. In my two decades of cricket following, I have not been impressed by anyone as much as by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has an aura about himself - his youth, confidence and risk apetite makes him a very dangerous player for the opposition. He has yet to establish himself big time as a Test batsman, but I think the time is not far when he will shine there as well. And this could be that series. Overall, India's fragile middle order along with their old spinners are their weak links.

Let's enjoy the series and hope that it is remembered more for cricket than for extraneous issues. Unlike the last time these two sides met.

Cheers,
- Tosh

My India XI cricket team for the One day game/s against Pakistan

1. Virendra Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Yousuf Pathan
4. Rohit Sharma
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Mahendrea Singh Dhoni
7. Piyush Chawla
8. Praveen Kumar
9. P P Ojha
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Manpreet Goni

On a faster track, they can choose Irfan instead of Yousuf or Ojha.

This looks like a young, athletic, team studded with many all rounders. Which makes me believe that it will a strong team and a difficult one to beat - going ahead.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Review of a resort Shantivan on Pune Panshet road

Posted here on mouthshut.com

Pros: Close to the nature, Near from the city, Economical, Open spaces
Cons: Lots of mosquitos, not enough fun options, not good for night stay

Shantivan is a nice place on the banks of the Mutha river. The location is at the most one hour drive away from the city. Once you are there you can choose to relax, trek, go boating, meditate, play with
your kids, organize camps/group activities. Shantivan is located on the Pune Panshet road. While traveling towards Sinhagad on the Pune-Sinhagad road, you will find a bifurcation just before the base of the Sinhagad fort.

The road on the right hand side goes to Panshet. On this road, travel for 4-5 Kms. and you will find Shantivan on the right hand side of the road. There is a lot of parking space available. An entry fee of Rs. 50/- per head and you are inside the place. Near the entrance, we found a lots of rabbits stuffed in two small cages. Walk further down the pathway and there are lots of knowledge rooms. One is the Jungle room where you can find photographs and descriptions of a number of wild animals and birds. Another is a Science room where you can see some photographs, static models and write-ups on science.

There is a photograph of a telescope, but I would have loved to see a real telescope there. There are a number of activity grounds/halls. These are used for group activities like Yoga/meditation camps, corporate trainings, etc. That seems to be USP of this place. Even while we were visiting, there was a group of around 200 college students who had been camping there through the day. Another attraction is the Lake View which is the road that leads to the Mutha river. Since it was late in the evening, we did not go there. However, I had heard that the boating facilities are nice. In and around the place, there are lots of plantations of different fruit/flower plants. The place is lush green and fairly well maintained.

The lawns were not mowed, though. There are a couple of grounds for small kids. They will love jumping, hanging on the bars and sliding down the various items there. We did not stay there during the night but that would not have been comfortable. The place had lots of mosquitoes and insects. Especially if you are with a family and kids, think twice before planning a night stay. There was a food counter but it served only Pav Bhaji. The entire place was quite clean though. This includes the rest rooms, etc. The room charges were very reasonable - around 400 per room. We could not see the rooms from inside since we were there only for a few hours. We could also see a number of tents which were available for camping in the night. One advantage is the beauty of the scenic location despite being close enough from the city. You can enjoy the hills, the trees, the river, the dam, the lake (Khadakwasala), etc.

Overall, I would rate the place very highly for going on a one day picnic. I will not advice the place for a night stay, though I have not stayed there. It is definitely not a place you would want to visit if you only have a few hours in hand (which is the mistake that I did). There are not many activities that you can do - as against the other cultural villages. Overall, a good place for either a complete rest or for a group picnic where you plan and execute your activities.

Price Range: Down to earth
Ideal for: Large groups

Cheers,
- Tosh

I support Jaipur's Rajasthan Royals

This has been my most favourite team in the Indian Premier League ever since the begining. Rajasthan Royals from Jaipur. Shane Warne leads it from the front. Shane Watson is their star performer. When Younis Khan joins in, that will make them even stronger.

They are the most inexpensive team and are sitting pretty on top of the table currently.

Shane Warne has complete control being the captain and the coach, which really helps.

RR..RR!

Cheers,
- Tosh

Current Favourite pastime - Indian Cricket League

Indian Cricket League

Come home every evening, and a game is on from 7 pm to 10 pm. Great commentators. 3 hour game. No strings attached - since its club cricket.

The only downside - It is mostly an oldies' league. It still rocks because I would rate them 100% on innovation.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Will India Play Five Bowlers @ Adelaide?

It will be a very interesting, bold and positive move. I will be very much looking forward to this. If India do play 5 bowlers, it will send a message to Australia that they want to win the match and are willing to take a calculated risk for that. I think its a gamble worth taking. Especially when you have Dhoni and Pathan at No. 6 & 7.

My Indian team for the third and final test to be played on Thursday 24th January, 2008 in Adelaide would be:

1. Virendra Sehwag
2. Dinesh Karthik
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. V.V.S. Laxman
6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Anil Kumble
9. R. P. Singh
10. Harbhajan Singh
11. Ishant Sharma.

Cheers and All The Best
- Tosh