Tendulkar Check

It has to be said that Tendulkar is not the player he was. His aggressive instinct is lost from his batting and that is quite a pity. I am one of those numerous fans who love his aggressive manner and approach to batting. Even today he is a better batsman than most...Yet he is not the great one he can/used to be. There are two ways to take it. Some people including prominent commentators have suggested that it is the effect of age and maturity in batting and must be accepted. They have provided some examples of players from the past who have eventually lost/slowed down their aggressive nature. But, the fact remains i there are equally large amount of examples for aggressive batsman who continued being aggressive and successfully at that(Including Richards and Botham). Anyway, the point is what is best for the Indian team?

I think just as he must attempt to reevoke that aggressive spirit in him, it is important as a team to provide him the natural stage to do so. It might just be a great idea to ask him to open the innings both in one-dayers and Tests. The once-upon a time argument that he is the most valuable player in the team...the most consistent player in the team and that his wicket must not be wasted is not valid anymore...Its not valid because the most consistent player is Dravid. (Some people might want to name Sehwag but i think its too early for that.). Anyways, i am sure he has both the technique and the skill to play at the top of the order. There can be no doubt about it. He is still one of the most correct batsmen in the world. Lets discuss the positives and the negatives that such a move might bring upon.

Positives:
For one, i believe that Kaif, Yuvaraj are much more talented players than Gautham Gambhir (no offense to Gambhir). They deserve a place in the team and they will now have the opportunity. Moreover, they will be playing low down the order, so the young guys can rally with the tail. I am sure they are much better at it than Laxman is.

Secondly, this will push Laxman up the order to number 4. It will turn out a great move because as we all know Laxman is the kind of player who needs time to score his humungous innings. We just simply dont provide him that kind of time by letting him bat at number 6.

Thirdly, if both Sachin and Sehwag do get going, then without any doubt the match is ours. Period.
Within a day they would have demoralized/and massacred the entire attack.

Moreover, assuming the first wicket falls in the 10th over, we would have already made about 50 runs by then. So Dravid when he comes in is not in undue pressure like the early half of his carreer when he came in consistently when the score read 2/1.

There are several other positives that i am not going to elaborate on...


Negatives:
Honestly, i have to think hard to come up with any.
If both Sachin and Sehwag get out early then we have a problem. But i personally wouldnt worry much because the rest of the batting lineup is good too...
Sachin might not like the idea of opening in Tests.---Well thats one thing. If he doesnt i dont know what to say...But i think its highly unlikely. I am sure hell welcome the challenge. In fact this might just be the challenge that propels his slowly slumbering career.


If such a change does occur: I hope it does but i am sure the Indian team management is not sensible enough to see that such a change exists...

1.Sachin
2.Sehwag
3.Dravid
4.Laxman
5.Ganguly/Kaif
6.Yuvraj
7.Dinesh Karthik
8.Pathan
9.Balaji
10.Bhajji
11.Kumble.

I am sure this looks a much better team....

TidBit Statistics- Ganguly-Kumble

Well, in this post i am not going to provide any inferences. Just some raw numbers.

India Pak Test Series 2004-2005
Number of Tests=3

Kumble- 5 Innings - Total 95 runs scored - Lost his wicket once - Highest 37 not out
Ganguly- 5 Innings- Total 48 runs scored - Lost his wicket 5 times- Highest 21

Nice Comparison isnt it???

Any Comments???

Divakars Reaction

Diwakar added a long comment to yesterdays blog about the dismal failure of the Indian batting line up. Just thought that it was only appropriate to highlight the comment

BTW, those of you who have comments of your own regarding the test can feel free to add comments and i will probably add them all and feature a post.

Divakar says
"You are right Indian batting line up have proved it yet again , failing to deliver when required . It was truly pathetic to see a team ( especially a home team ) trying to save a game with kind of celebrated Indian batting line up that she is got.One can understand had it been a team like Bangladesh or Kenya trying to sav the game , that truly sums up the kind of attitude of Indian team .
If at all the think tank of Indian cricket is serious about having a team that performs consistently ,they should take some hard decisions in near future.Except a few ,evereyone is going to agree the fact we have lost the series by displaying negative approach to the game .Its time we understand it is not style or grace (For eg : Saurav comparing him to god on off side , devil on leg side) which is not important but some one who mentally tough and his wilingness to take it on the oppennents . To put it simple ,opponents are insecure when is Sehwag in full swing ,they are not afraid of his batting but to that of his attitude , the intent to win .We must groom people who is mentally tough like Kaif ,there so many waiting in the queue .We dont lack in talents for sure and this is NOT the first time India had failed ( remember what happened at W Indies ).Its time we see this DEFEAT translates into some sort of action to ensure that Indian victory is not so rare that people burst crackers and distribute eets ."

May be some of us agree...Maybe some of us done...But the bottom line is that we dont win often enough for the kind of team that we have.

Earthquake

Well, there are reports of a major earthquake off the coast of Indonesia. I just hope that the loss in terms of lives and material is minimal.

Day 5- Posthumus

Well, I guess the scorecard says it all. The current Indian team is no champion and has managed to fritter away all the support and fanfare it has been enjoying. It has not been a great day personally in the lab...what with all of us in the lab supremely disappointed by the weak batting show by the strong batting lineup. To add insult to injury Sachins batting performance was truly painful...Lack of intent to win is same as intent to lose.

I dont have the heart or the energy to write more on this issue. For those of them whose expectations i raised yesterday through the post and later personally through telephone calls, all i can provide is condolences!

Day 5- Preview

http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/1996-97/IND_IN_RSA/IND_RSA_T2_02-06JAN1997.html

We've been there before and we have screwed up BIG TIME before. It was January 1997 and Indias tour of South Africa. South Africa batted first and piled 570 just like Pakistan did here this time around. Who would forget the blitzkrig set up by Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar in the first innings but inspite of their tremendous efforts India ended the first innings about 150 short of SouthAfrica. Just like this Test. Inspite of Sehwags innings we ended about 150 short of the South African total. South Africa batted next, scored quickly and left us about 420 to win in the last 120 overs or so. Same situation here. Afridi has powered Pakistan to a situation where India have to score about 400.

There are huge differences though. When that game in 1997 was going on ....Nonody...Just about Nobody talked of a possible Indian win. It was considered a miracle if India managed a draw out of that game inspite of the batting maestros Sachin and Azhar being in such great form. But now, most people, including some commentators believe that India do have a wiff of chance of victory. Infact, i think this Indian team believes its got its chances of winning this game. Listen to Laxmans statements today and Sehwags statements yesterday and you will realize that this team thinks its on top. But in 1997 the then Indian team did not believe it had it within them to win the game. History says that there attempt to draw the match did not materialize and they lost the game. But this game is very different. Its not different in terms of the match situation. It is very different in terms of game momentum and belief.....This Indian team has the audacity to believe it can score at over 4 runs an over for the entire day on the last day of a turning pitch. Only time will tell whether this belief is well suppoorted by performancves on the field of play. But one thing is certain. If India wants to be the great team it claims it is, then this is one feat they must perform to prove the world that they are indeed what they claim to be. And its got poetic justice to it too. If India do manage to topple Pakistan then they will take the 2nd spot behind only Australia on the ICC Test rankings. I would then call it well earned 2nd position.

As far as the Indian mentality for tomorrows game goes, they must show what they are made of...which is ...an amazing batting lineup that can scare the living daylights out of any bowling attack. Sehwag is in pristine touch and an innings from him is very important because it sets the momentum for the rest of the game. If he plays a good innings Pakistan is on the back foot and the rest of the BIG GUNS in the Indian batting lineup can deliver without much pressure. The less said about Dravid the better. Sachin has for him the perfect stage to complete his record 35 hundred. If he does manage that this game...it would be a great achievement and i am sure he will be thrilled to get a record in such a manner. Laxman and Ganguly must be willing to play as demanded by the occasion. They will be faced with the tough decision of either going out for a win or playing out a draw.....Not the best of decisions to make...especially in light of Gangulys recent woeful form.

BUT we souldnt forget the fact that if books and scorecards and history is to be believed Pakistan is the fovorites to win this game. They will have to bowl weel to snatch victory out of the Indian batting lineup.

The most probable verdict is of crse the Draw. Anywhere during the days play if there is a small peroiod of around 5-10 overs when Pakistan emerge on top and claim 2-3 quick wickets that will push India defensivce and complete the draw script.

Whatever comes of this game.....It will be an exciting and thrilling days game....

Cricket- Day 4

Sehwag is in pristine touch and therefore i dont see any point in discussing his awesome batting performance in the first innings. Saurav had another less than mediocre outing inspite of doing whats best for him and the team-- lowering his batting position to number 6 coming in to bat after Laxman. Laxman himself is batting on 50. It is extremely important that Laxman plays well early tomorrow morning to wipe out most of the deficit. Balaji, Pathan and Bhajji must provide him with valuable support. It will be interesting to see what position Inzamam and the Pak team take. Will they go outright for a victory or will they settle for a draw. It is highly unlikely that Haq will be happy to settle for a draw. With everything on the line- I think he will push for a victory. This is what will provide Saurav and his "boys" a scent of a chance to clinch the game. The difference between mediocre teams and great teams (as this Indian team likes to claim it is ) is in the way they change small windows of opportunities into thumping victories. If such a victory is indeed set up it will lay an extremely good starting point for the one-day series and India would definitely start favourites. As far as the Indian bowling goes all rests in the shoulders of Bhajji and Kumble. Bhajji is really a match winner....He can run through any batting lineup on his day as he has shown several times over and we need him to deliver again.

As a cautionary note, it is important that after having dominated most of the series, India do not fritter away the advantage by playing bad cricket on the last two days. It definitely requires a supremely mediocre effort from both the Indian batting and the bowling to go on and lose the match. I hope that we dispell any such Pakistani hopes within the first session tomorrow by putting up a spirited batting effort. Laxman plays a key role in ensuring this.

Gettogether and Power Downtime

There was routine maintainence power shutdown today. So my office computers are not online. Which is a good thing in one way. I couldnt work today because of the network downtime. Thats why todays post is so late in the day also.

Last Wednesday we went to a nice Italian Restaurant. Abbhi treated us for having succesfully completing her Proposal examination. The restaurant was good and the food equally good. Renga had a good time as usual sitting next to Lavanya and continuously pulling her leg. Lavanya was of course in her own reflective mood. Shyam was at his best--- EATING. Sudeshna had brought her camera to the restaurant. So some nice photographs were taken. I will upload them as soon as the lazy Sudeshna provides them to me.

Friday was outing day too. We went to a Circus in Washington DC. The circus was OK. Not too great. But of crse as usual the combination of Renga and Lavanya entertained us thoroughly. Of crse Buvana was also around. I guess the only two ppl who thoroughly enjoyed the circus was Buvana and Abbhi (being the children they are!!!).

It was great to hear (through many emails) about the get-together of alphites in Madras. Was extremely dispppointed to see that just one photograph has as yet been uploaded. Hopefully more photographs will be uploaded in the near future.

Holiday

I am planning on taking a holiday today. Or something very close to a holiday. Not planning on going tob school. Maybe late this evening i shall spend sometime thinking about what does it mean to provide a probabilistic flavor to Dynamic Time Warping. But apart from that it will be a holiday.

BTW, I am also reading Stanely Oshers book on Level Set methods in Imaging science. Its quite mathematical and therefore slow reading. For those who know about my lil finger, well its getting better.

March 23

Today has been a slow and consuming day so far. Woke up and reached school by 9:30. In fact i managed to pack lunch today after almost a month. But once i reached lab i just didnt feel enthused to work. Have spent most of the morning checking random websites and reading Stanly Oshers book on Level Sets. Hoping that future days are more productive.

Second Test

So nice to see an Indian victory after so long. They should have wrapped up the first test also but we lacked firepower on the last day to finish things. I think the reason was the lack of Harbhajan. Though Balajis surprise inclusion in the last Test was a good move dropping Harbhajan at home is a luxury we can ill afford and its best that the team management etches that in their memory. Today, though Kumble ran through the order, the presence of Bhajji was important. In fact, even if Kumble had not been at his destructive best as he was we still would have won, because Bhajji and Kumble together even when they bowl decently make a formidable force.

Two important innings that has not received enough attention this test are the first innings 80 by Sehwag and the Secoind innings 90 by Karthink. Theyw ere both vital. Careful scrutiny of the two innings revelas that the first innings revolved around Dravid and Sehwag while the second revolved around the same Wall Dravid and Karthik. In fact, Karthiks innings made the difference between a winning score and a losing one. It also gave Dravid the time to compile his hundred which we all know is important. Dravid is no Sir Vivian Richards. If karthik had not given him valuable company, we could have ended a hundred and fify runs short. Add the fact that Pakisthan would have started batting early on the fourth day and u will see the possibility of an Indian defeat looming ahead. Anyway things turned out well for India finally.

Should Laxman be axed in favor of Yuvraj or kaif for the third test. The question arises only because the other non-performer...the most hopeless of them all happens to be the captain. Anyways, i dont think Laxman would be dropped, because Ganguly cant be dropped and if Laxman were dropped ahead of Ganguly that would cause some flutters....Personally i am not sure too....Being a great Laxman fan doesnt help does it....All us great laxman fans have moments of great pride followed by periods of sole searching. I hope Laxman turns out more consistent than he currently is.

The less said about Dravid- the better. He does no mistake and its best to leave it that way.

Chandhini again

Sunday began as late as Saturday did. But there was no game on Sunday. I had as usual made multiple appointments for the same time. I was as i had mentioned poreviously planning to meet Chandhini at the temple. Forgetting this i had scheduled a another meeting at the same time. But i realized this just in time to call and tell the other person that i would not be able to make it. So then, m e, abbhi and sudeshna went to the temple where we met Chandhini and her husband. She had come there with a huge set of families!!!. Man.....She looks just the same. But shes changed sooooo much. I dont know how/what has changed. But thats what i felt when i met her...I shall try to qualify what/how shes changed in a later post.....For now i will describe what we talked about. We spent some time discussing the war in Iraq and then Russias cold weather etc.....Then after spending some time like this searching for words and topics, Gowri madam came to our rescue. As soon as we started talking about her things fell in place. We talked about school friends especially Jane Edwards and Vasudha. Then we talked about Sivaprahas and Nagashree. Then i briefed her about what Srividhya and C. Aravind and R.Aravind, Venki and Dwarakanath.

After spending sometime talking about friends I told her that she should definitely visit DC for cherry blossom. It really really beautiful. She said she would but lets wait and see how that goes. Incidentally i remembered that she drew some reference to something i had written looooong time back in her diary but i forgot to enquire about that. I must do that next time around without fail. By the way, in all this I forgot to mention that I met her husband also. He was very courteous and actually when i told them about Cherry Blossom he was the one who said yes while Chandhini just stood listening to what i had to say!!!

By the way i do realize that she will have her own account of things and that would be starkly different. Hey Chandhini, i urge you to pen your thoughts in the comments section or send me an email and i will just append your view of things to this post.

Cricket

So saturday began on a perfect note. Woke up slightly late. Had a quick shower and hurriedly left for the cricket field. The game began sharp at 11. Today we decided to play a quick 30 over game since it was scheduled to rain later in the evening. It was almost the worst start possible to the game. It was the third over and I was just moved from short midwicket to square leg. The ball was short and the batsman just lunged into it. It was hit hard....really hard and the ball reached me in no time...and was through my hands in no time. It even sped all the way to the boundary. (Aravind must be delighted to hear this I am sure!!!). Anyways, i was left feeling really disppointed having dropped the catch. To add insult to injury, in a couple of minutes my ring finger began to ache. It must have been the blow in such cold weather (t was around 15 degrees celciuus) that was the culprit.

The rest of the match wasnt that bad. By the way i was relieved when just nine balls later the same batsman was bowled. I got to bowl a neat little spell of six overs for three wickets. Nothing great considering the fact that the pitch was well underprepared and batting was definitely not easy. They managed to score 120 because they were patient and willing to apply themselves. We werent ready to do either when it was our turn to bat. And that is exactly why we lost the game.

Chandhini

I will hopefully meet Chandhini sometime this weekend. Looking forward to it. That reminded me that the last time i met her was at Childrens Park. Incidentally, that was the last time i met quite a few alphites right? To come to think of it, that was eons back. About 5 years ago i should think. Anyway, time has gone by swiftly. Many things have changed. But certainly one thing that has not changed so long is Sivaprahas's hairstyle( U guys know what i am referring to!!!).

Group Talk

Todays Group talk went well(I think). There were innumerous questions from everyone. But i think i answered most of them, tho Amit pointed out an important fact that i had overlooked. Thanks to him for pointing it out. I should be able to address that soon.

Shivaratnagiri Srinivasan

Well, I met two of my IITM friends yesterday. Shivaratnagiri Srinivasan and Parvathinathan Venkitasubramaiam. Man....Are they long names or what.....They are both in Baltimore forv some conference presenting their work. So non-chalantly i asked Shiva, what the title of his talk was.....And off he went weith a name that has more words than the number of letters in his name....Believe me thats true...Anyway, it was very nice to meet up Shiva and Paro again.

Dinner was at an Indian Restaurant at Baltimore. Shiva tried his hand at immitating Profs again for the consumption of me,paro, murr and shivas friend Pranav. It was good to go back in time. Then 10 PM struck and shiva had to go to sleep!!! So i came back home late in the night. Then sat down and started making my presentation. ( I was supposed to give a group talk today). Halfway through i lost enthu and decided to make the rest today morning.

Day 2

Day 2 went all Paks way. Youhana and Younis Khan ploughed Pakistan into the game....Or was it just spineless batting from India late on the first day. I happen to believe that the latter is more to be blamed.
When you have 250 odd on the board for the loss of 2 wickets and crashed every bowler to every part of the ground for over 4 hrs and you know that Laxman, Sachin and Ganguly are all there you would assume India would score more heavily than they did.....Well they didnt apply their minds to the task at hand. Simply put, they did not bat well. Sehwag is the saving grace....Dravid played a good innings but lost his wicket when it mattered most. Laxman and Ganguly are batting as though they are on a vacation. I am a great great fan of Laxman, but i think he has to bat more reliably if he needs to keep his place in the side.
Yuvraj and Kaif are no mugs with the bat and they have what Laxman doesnt---Youth, Energy and willingness to bat well irrespective of situation. Laxman has the nonchalance and the talent and the timing that neither Yuvraj or Kaif can match. That is why he is still in the team.

Test 2 Begins

Test 2 begins at Calcutta soon. Am eagerly awaiting the first ball of the test. It would be interesting to know that after as good a performance as Balaji showed in the first Test he might actually be dropped. I wouldnt actually be surprised if that is the case. For one, Harbhajan Singh should definitely figure in the 11. That leaves the three seamers Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Balaji to fight for two spots. Zaheer was the pick of the bowlers on the first day tho the figures dont indicate as much. So he should be in. That leaves pathan and balaji in a tight spot. Lets see what Ganguly decides upon.

Historically Eden Gardens is Pakistans favorite venue. They have won most of their matches (be it one-day or Test) out here. But if Bhajji bowls as well as his records in Eden suggest then Pak have no chance. In fact i think Bhajji is the key to this match. Must have been terribly disappointed to be sitting out on the fifth day of the first test when India were struggling to dislodge Akmal and Razzaq.

Ganguly needs to score a few runs. Also he needs to make a small change in the batting order. He needs to let Laxman down at number 5 and push himself down to number 6. That would suit both Laxman and himself. Laxman definitely is not the greatest when it comes to batting with the tailenders. In fact on the fourth morning, we saw that he scored about 15 runs during the same time Pathan scored 20 and then Balaji scored 30. Thats not the way a top order batsman leads tailenders. I am sure this would not have been the case if Ganguly was at the crease. Also most Indian tailenders have no clue against Kaneria. Ganguly low down the order without any pressure could cream Kaneria all around the ground with his timing. That will help the other tailenders batting with him.

Driving

Well Well Well.....After having driven in India (including but not restricted to Ranganathan Street), it was definitely a mundane, safe and almost boring experience to drive in DC. Nevertheless, i assume that most people in DC havent had the experience of having driven in India. Here is a neat lil description of what it is to drive in Washington DC.....
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"
So you've decided to take a trip to your nation's capital. Well here's a few things you should know that will hopefully help you prepare for your trip.

The DC road grid was laid out by a Frenchman, which explains why locals hate the French, and also explains much about US Foriegn Policy. Within DC proper, the roads are laid out in a grid, with other streets crossing the grid at weird angles, usually through a traffic circle. No one in DC knows how to drive in a traffic circle, and people from the surburbs are worse. Many streets are one way, and making a left turn can require travelling three or four blocks out of your way. Right turns are worse. Right turn on red is allowed, except at intersections that are posted otherwise.
Most intersections are posted otherwise.

Also, within DC we take security seriously! Primarily by shutting down major roads and intersections for no discernable reason.

If your road map of Montgomery County MD is more than a few weeks old, throw it out and buy a new one, it's obsolete. If in Loudon or Fairfax County in Va, and your map is one day old, it's already obsolete.

There is no such thing as a dangerous high speed chase in DC, it's just another chase, usually on the BW Parkway.

All directions start with "The Beltway", which has no beginning and no end, just one continuous loop that locals believe is somehow clarified by an "inner loop" and "outer loop" designation. The inner loop goes clockwise, the outer counterclockwise. This makes no sense to ANYONE outside the Metro Area.

The Metro Area stretches north to south from Southern Pennsylvania to Frederick Virginia, and east to west from the Chesapeake Bay to the Shenandoah River. Also to parts of West Virginia and maybe the Delmarva (DElaware, MAryland, VirginiA peninsula.)

Construction on I-270 is a way of life and a permanent source of scorn and cynical entertainment. It's ironic that it's called an "Interstate" as it runs only from Bethesda to Frederick (unless you consider Montgomery County another state, which some do). Opening in the 60's, it has been torn up and under reconstruction ever since. Also, it has a "Spur" section which is even more confusing.

This is true of the Beltway also. Especially the local intersection known as "the Mixing Bowl" where 4 interstates (95, 295, 395, and 495) come together. It has been under constructon for several years, and will be for several more. Also beware the Wilson Bridge. A new bridge is being built, at a cost of about $8,000,000,000, in the hopes that it can be finished before the old one collapses under the load. The old one, and the new one, are drawbridges. When the bridge is up, traffic stops.

Any mild disturbance in the flow of traffic backs up the Beltway for miles in either direction. Something catastrophic, such as a semi-truck jacknifing on the Legion Bridge, can shut down traffic for 10 miles in each direction, and on all the side roads, in 15 minutes. You may have to detour through Leesburg, Point of Rocks, and Frederick, to get where you are going. Or you can go via Norfolk and the Bay Bridge/Tunnel. Not to be confused with the Bay Bridge.

To avoid these disturbances people listen to WTOP, 1500 AM and 107.7 FM, for the traffic report which runs every 10 minutes. 24 hours/day. Even if they can't avoid the disturbance, they listen to find out what the disturbance is, and in the hope that the person who caused it died screaming in agony.

The minimum acceptable speed on the Beltway is 75. Anything less is a hazard to navigation.

The morning rush hour is from 5 to 11 AM. The evening rush hour is from 1 to 8 PM. The lunch rush is from 11 AM to 1 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning, especially during the summer on Route 50 eastbound.

If there is a ball game at the Redskins stadium, there is no point in driving anywhere near PG County.
Tip: Never say PG County to anyone from Mitchellville, Upper Marlboro or Fort Washington, they'll blow a blood vessel in their neck and go into a seizure.

If you run the red light, be sure to smile for the $100 "picture" you will receive courtesy of DMV. However, if you don't go as soon as the light turns green, you will get cussed out in 382 languages, none of them English. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended and shot at.

Rain causes an immediate 50 point drop of IQ in drivers. Snow causes an immediate 100 point drop in IQ and a rush to the local supermarket for toilet paper, bread and milk. IF it might snow, schools will be closed. If it is already snowing then the bus will pick up the children and they will immediately CLOSE the schools after 8 inches of snow has fallen. All parents must leave work upon arrival to pick up their children.

All unexplained sights are explained by the phrase, "Oh, we're near Takoma Park."

If someone actually has their turn signal on they are, by definition, a tourist.

All old ladies in Buicks have the right of way near or in Leisure World.

Many roads mysteriously change their names as you cross intersections. Don't ask why, no one knows or cares.

If asking directions in Arlington, Langley Park, Wheaton or Adams Morgan, you must know how to speak Spanish. In Annandale and Seven Corners a Cambodian, Korean or Vietnamese dialect will come in handy. If on Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill or U Street, a gay dialect helps. If you stop to ask directions in Southeast... well, just don't.

A taxi ride across town will cost you $12.50. A taxi ride two blocks will cost you 16.75 (it's a zone thing, you wouldn't understand).

Traveling south out of DC on Interstate 395/95 is the most dangerous, scariest thing you will ever do. There is nothing more frightening than seven lanes of traffic cruising along at 75 mph, BUMPER TO BUMPER. It's not speeding, it's NASCAR time, let's DRAFT!!!

The open lane for passing on all interstates is the far right lane because no self-respecting local would ever be caught driving in the "slow" lane. Unofficially, both shoulders are fair game also.

The far left lanes on all interstates are official "chat" lanes reserved for drivers who wish to talk on their cell phones.
Note: All mini-vans have priority clearance to use the far left at whatever speed the driver feels most comfortable multitasking in (it's not a mini-van, it's a bullet on wheels with a TV).

If it's 30 degrees, it's Orioles' opening day. If it's 100 degrees, it's the 'Skins opening day. If the humidity is 90+ and the temperature is 90+, then it's May,June,July,August and sometimes September.

NEVER ask a native Washingtonian for directions. We don't know street names and will tell you to turn left where Woodies (Woodward and Lothrop) used to be. If the landmark in question was standing last week, it may not be there now.

NEVER,EVER leave town the Thursday or Friday of a three-day weekend. Leave on Wednesday and take Tuesday off to come back; otherwise, you'll arrive at the same time when you left a day early to beat the traffic.

Avoid I-66 at any time. Just listen to the traffic report ONCE and it is the same every day. The sun is in your face in the morning, and for your return trip, it's once again blinding you in the afternoon.

Avoid Rt. 7, (Leesburg Pike or any other name it changes to) at all times as well. Same story as above except you have no breaks because on this road, there are people who commute from West Virginia.

Of course you could take the subway, known locally as The Metro. Remember that either the Orange or Red line will be shut down or single tracked due to an accident. Unless both are shut down or single tracked. This is most likely to happen during rush hour. The escalators rarely work, the elevators even more rarely. However, the trains are very clean, kept that way by highly motivated police who will not hesitate to arrest a 12 year old for eating a french fry.

Have fun in D.C.!
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Monday Mar 14

Today is monday March 14.
Yesterday Renga arrived back from San Diego. Me and Shyam picked him from the airport and then visited Arvind Aiyar and Sukanya who now live someplace in Wheaton.
It was past midnight when we finally returned home.
Consequently i had to force myself awake at 8:00 AM.
Today has been a day spent in drafting, rewriting, rwriting again....then making changes here and there and then resizing images etc etc etc....Almost as if i work in a printing press....
I am looking forward to going and watching Shyam battle it out against the opponents in the semifinal encounter. He plays Squash for the league at UMD u see...
And of course, it was great to receive a call from Shiva yesterday...Couldnt call him back tho...
Am really eager to meet him at JHU later this week....Would be great....
And of crse ya....Chandini might drop in at home this weekend. Hope to see her after something like 4-5 years....

India Vs Pakistan

So Cricket is coming back in more ways than one. The much awaited, overhyped Indo-Pak series is beginning. Though unfortunate that Kaif was not selected for the first Test, one half of my mind says that selecting Yuvraj was the right move. The dead 3 day rubber between Board Presidents 11 and Pak is of course not worthy of any mention.

And by the way, the new season of cricket will hopefully begin March 20....if weather plays good that is.

PUSP

So Pusp has accidentally landed on the site. So says an email from him. Its actually been quite a long time now since i met any of these guys. Anil, Dog, Pusp, Jun, Murr, Rama et al....Of course not to mention the fact that its even been ages since i even spoke to Shiva and Kaps. But have been hearing that Kaps is having a nice time going around the world. Hope to catch up with all of them this weekend.

Not a Chicken anymore

So, Yesterday we all went to Kavithas house for a farewell PotLuck.
Gaurav was the notable presence!!!
Anyways, we all had a quite nice dinner followed by some excellent desert that Vinod had brought.
After the desert we settled down to some small talk. The entire discussion was led by the able Anantha. There was a rapid fire trivia round about Kansas city which Shyam won without any doubt. In fact there were a couple of great moments

Moment 1:
Anantha: I wonder why the creator of Superman made Kansas city his birthplace?
Shyam: Maybe because there is a lot of space to fly

Moment 2:
Ashok was swirling Shyams cellphone round and round as fast as he could with his fingers. Shyam was terrified that the cellphone might fall down and he might lose his addressbook!!! So Vinod quipped in
" Just twirl it fast enough for the numbers and the names in the address book to get all mixed up"

And the Winner is
Moment 3:
Lavanya declare "I am not a chicken anymore". If junta have doubts about why such a declaration then you can ask her directly!!!

Moment 3:

P J Narayanan

The little joys of ones life!!!

Long time ago(About 3.5 years back), there was this restless undergraduate student at IITMadras whose name was Ashok Narayanan. He was then fascinated by two fields. One was wireless communication and the other was this artificial world of Robotics. He wished to explore this field further when he applied for a summer internhip at Center For Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR ) in Bangalore. He greatly admired this researcher called P J Narayanan who was then at CAIR and doing COOL STUFF (actually really Cool stuff) with Robots. Therefore it was to his great joy when he did get an intern opportunity at CAIR. But unfortunately as fate would have it, his work ws in the Signal Processing lab. During his short stay at CAIR he spent some time looking up at all those cool Robots in P J Narayanas lab. In fact he still remembers how he highly recommended CAIR (and of crse PJ Narayans work ) to his dear friend Manjari. (Yes...Its been a long time since i talked to her...I should I should talk to her soon).

Today accidentally he discovered something. He discovered that P J Narayanan is an alumni from the same Research lab where he is now doing his PhD. YES. PJ Narayanan worked with Larry Davis at Center for Automation Research at University of Maryland AND Ashok is now working with Rama Chellappa at Center for Automation Research at University of Maryland. I dont know why, but it suddenly gives me great joy to know this!!!