Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The shocking facts - Mumbai Terrorist attacks July 2011

Its been a while since I read/watched any Indian news. But I watched this talk show today - India Today by Karan Thapar in "Mumbai Blasts, experts discuss terror tackling strategies". Then as a follow up, tried to read in as much about the attacks on the internet as possible. While doing that, I came across a number of shocking incidents that I feel the need to protest against. And hence this blog

  1. Lack of leadership and intent from the government. No angry speech by the ministers, Just a lame duck release by the man in charge.
  2. And a stupid comment from the home minister saying "After 31 months, Mumbai was attacked" What? Excuse me Sir - What then do you expect - one per quarter? Please...
  3. From the Home Minister: "The blasts is not a failure of intelligence agencies". Oh really, this is not a time to make false baseless boasting claims, it was time to nip it in the bud and say Yes we failed.
  4. Despite places like the Zaveri Bazaar being on the radar repeatedly, the CCTV cameras did not function and stopped working!
  5. There were hardy any ambulances to take the injured and they were carried in trucks! Where is the preparedness to respond to situations?
  6. A big leader of the ruling party accusing the opposition party's partner organization to be probably behind making the bombs. How long can he be allowed to continue with this nonsense?
  7. So many months after 26/11 the ATS is only half of its approved size! Why are enough security guards not recruited?
  8. The police reforms that were so much talked about after 26/11 have still not been implemented!
  9. The Community police partnership of the Mumbai police has been abandoned
  10. I was in airport at Mumbai 48 hours after the blasts and NOBODY yes nobody checked my bag at least till it went over the belt after check in! Don't know why they have removed the mandatory X-Ray scan which used to be there around 5 years ago!
  11. Death in custody of a man detained for questioning.
  12. No police cordoning off the areas and constant TV/media coverage of the fires, the bodies and the cries!

Going by the over exuberance of the Maharashtra police in cases like the Pune Bakery Blast, they might soon announce this case as Solved. But it won't be possible for them to prove it in courts. I am completely astonished and outraged at the issues mentioned above - on top of feeling for those who have lost their dear ones.

Sunday, June 05, 2011

French Open Semi Final review Federer Vs. Djokovic

This one was not for the light hearted. Those who thought that the best tennis games of our times can only be played between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were proved wrong. It was a tense game of high class tennis, rich with creative strategies and shot making. The Swiss champion remained calm throughout the game but it was the Serbian who lost his temper frequently. As it happens so often, that reflected in the score line.

For me there were many interesting little plays in the four setter. The first was when the duo broke each other at the start of the match, thereby giving a good indication of how closely they would match each other in this semi final. They both came out of this even. Then came the tie breaker where the experienced Roger sneaked ahead by a thin margin and looked like the better player to win it and so he did. Afterwards came the shocker of a set when Novak lost his cool, his father from the support team and his complete rhythm. It looked like this is one more of those straight sets-walk in the park games for the Swiss maestro. But the match started taking another turn for the better at the end of that second set, when Djoko fought back valiantly and Roger almost gave away the advantage.

The Nole onslaught then continued through the 3rd set and brought him right back into this match. Fed-ex started tiring a bit as expected. It became evident that a fifth set would no doubt favor the younger legs of Novak. And thus began the best set of the match. Both players brought out every trick in the bag including the drop shots. Novak made Roger run hard to fetch his powerful forehands and Roger in turn trying to slow the pace down. In the end, a player with better nerves prevailed but it was a very closely contested game.

Of special interest was Federer's improved service - a weapon that would come so handy against the mighty Rafael Nadal come the finals. The dream run of Novak had to come to an end some day and though the end was disappointing, he can be proud in his achievements on the tour this year. For Roger, it was a very important match, since a loss would have meant that the talks of him aging would have gained more weight.

Fast forward to Sunday to the final of Roland Garros 2011 and the mouth watering contest of another grand slam final between the best players of this decade awaits us. Given that it is on clay and looking at Roger in that 4th set in the semis, my money would be on Rafael. But Roger Federer continues to be my all time favorite player and I will continue to cheer for him :-)

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Selection of Indian Cricket Team for West Indies Tour - ODIs

Its been more than a month since the Day Of Joy. When the Indians held their nerves just a bit more than the Lankans and lifted the World Cup trophy for the second time. It was an unforgettable match and tournament for all of us alive in India. To me it was an experience of the purest forms of joy.

With that victory in mind, it will be very interesting to see what comes out of tomorrow's selection committee meeting. The Indian team will travel to the West Indies later this month to play an ODI series and then a Test Series. I think the following two factors should be most important when considering the team

  • Rest to Key players. Dhoni, Zaheer, Sachin have been playing without rest for months together now. They definitely deserve rest. Almost everyone deserves rest. But the best ones will get it. Seniors will definitely get it and the juniors will have to take up their tasks. E.g. Gautam Gabhir might replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a captain. I think it will be a very good move to do something like that.

  • Phase out the seniors and bring in more youth. I think this is the key if India is to keep up the good form of the last decade into the next one or two. E.g. Harbhajan Singh should slowly be phased out and a new spinner or two should be groomed. Pacers who were tried and tested should be asked to work hard. And new ones should be given a longer run in the national team. E.g. the Sresssanths, Nehras, Irfans & Ishants should be phased out with young talent, who need exposure E.g. Vinay Kumar & S. Aravind. This is a perfect opportunity to groom the next pool of cricketers since India has won a big series and is going on for a relatively easy assignment.

And hence it will be interesting to see if the selectors take these risks for long term rewards. Hope that the new coach Duncan Fletcher also gets a say.

3 Cheers to the World Champs and Bring it On in the Caribbeans