tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-177689412024-03-07T18:44:04.135-08:00Batman's blogwagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-26920790024428843532013-04-29T22:52:00.001-07:002013-04-29T22:52:36.922-07:00Tendulkar and the IPL quandry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Every generation claims that they were lucky to have been born in an era where they got to watch some special sportsperson play. When it comes to Sachin Tendulkar, there will be more than one generation which will put claim to that statement. To be in the limelight, to capture the imagination, be idolized by millions for such a long career is indeed spectacular. Records have been written, then re-written, invented, made fun of when it comes to Sachin Tendulkar.<br />
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And yet the debates on if and when Sachin Tendulkar should retire keep happening after every game that he plays. The godly status is mocked, ridiculed in between spurts of delight as he caresses yet another boundary through the packed off-side with a high elbow. Many detractors sighed relief as Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODIs which was followed immediately by people mumbling what-if following ODI defeat against England with a batting collapse at top of the order in <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/engine/match/565816.html">Dharmshala</a> on a day Sachin was playing the Ranji finals at Wankhede. The chatter for him stepping down after every series, nay every match, continues incessantly. Experts alike keep tossing the ball between the selectors and Sachin to make the call.<br />
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This edition of IPL, many people looked forward to seeing Tendulkar and Ponting play together for the Mumbai Indians and secretly hoped for some past glory. Many waited to unleash the jokes on twitter. "Pondulkar" was coined by the media while others suggested Tenting, Sacting and so-on. The combination failed miserably and the much-hyped Mumbai Indians team had a bad start to the IPL capped by a shellacking by the Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals. Ponting was dropped (sat-out) and Mumbai Indians started winning although Tendulkar still struggled and continued to get bowled. And so the chants for him to be dropped also grew vociferous. Yes, the Mumbai Indians have a strong line-up which can do better without Tendulkar in their line-up. Yes, Tendulkar should probably step away letting the youngsters more suited for the shortest format of game take it over. Yes, the Mumbai Indians have a coaching set-up of Kumble/Wright who can probably talk him down. But will they? And more importantly should they?<br />
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Last year, I watched the <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/engine/match/565807.html">India-England test match</a> and the <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2012/engine/match/574136.html">Mumbai-Saurashtra Ranji finals</a> at Wankhede. While one absorbs the game and the atmosphere surrounding the game one thing becomes very clear - There is a whole different ball game surrounding Tendulkar at any Indian venue and specially at Wankhede. When India (or Mumbai) is batting while the crowd enjoys the runs being scored, there is a restlessness as they await the fall of the 2nd wicket specially if it is in first session and majority of the crowd has come in to watch the Little Master bat. The unfortunate batsmen who gets out as the 2nd wicket has to suffer the cheer of the crowd in front of a home crowd as he tries to gather in his thoughts on his dismissal. Some people applaud the outgoing batsman but every eye is strained on that 1st level balcony of the MCA pavillion to watch Tendulkar step out. And the stadium erupts sending goosebumps all over you. The chants of "Sachin, Sachin" echo all across the stands as he makes his way to the middle and continue amid sighs, cheers, phews, aahs all the while Tendulkar is batting. Even when Indian (or Mumbai) is fielding, every-time the ball goes to wherever Tendulkar is fielding is followed by a huge cheer. If Tendulkar moves to field close to the boundary, the lower stands rush down to the chain-link fence just to be near their idol. You notice subtleties in Tendulkar's mannerisms in which he prefers back-pedalling to the boundary after he has walked in with delivery or to back-up a throw for the moment he turns to boundary, every spectator calls out to him as if he is looking at them in particular. During the first IPL season when Tendulkar was injured and did not play, I had been to the Deccan chargers game at DY Patil stadium at Nerul. While not playing, Tendulkar was there and he briefly stepped in during the training session fielding a few ground balls and bowling a couple of deliveries of spin before a TV interview. That was enough to entertain the crowd who had just come to glance at him even though they knew he wasn't going to play.<br />
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Such is the aura of the man at Wankhede and surely at many stadiums across India. If the man brings in a packed capacity crowd every-time he plays and also brings in a crowd even if he might play, why would he want to leave the game. Why would Mumbai Indians franchise want to drop him? He will still bring in the crowds and the revenue. He will still bring in the endorsements and the ad campaigns and the media frenzy. Surrounding him with decent players which Mumbai can definitely afford may even win them the coveted title some day. But surely they would love to continue to feed on his fandom as long as they could. Isn't there a saying about the "Goose that lay the golden egg"?<br />
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wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-54801933052730799882008-01-08T04:02:00.000-08:002008-01-08T04:59:58.651-08:00The fine printThe assassination of Benazir Bhutto is old news. No one cares about the primaries in US of A and Kenya is way too remote to relate to. All the Indian media and people seem to care about the last two days and possibly for few more days is what happened over 5 days at the start of a new year. To be clearer for others, I am referring to THE 2nd test match between India and Australia at Sydney. A game that is being remembered only for all the controversies surrounding it and none at all for some fine cricket that was being played by two teams out there.<br /><br />The 1st day's play saw a see-saw battle between the Aussie batsmen and the Indian bowlers, all that was discussed was Steve Bucknor not giving Andrew Symonds out. Yeah true it was blatant but the way Indian bowlers responded after the last test match which saw lots of runs plundered against them and then barring that decision the fightback Symonds, Hogg and Lee put up there must surely be worth discussing at some point. Here is one perfect specimen of a one-day player. Bulky, powerful, fast, athletic allrounder in Symonds. And he shows how to bat responsibly with a lower middle order and tail to define a game. <br /><br />After frustrating the Indian bowlers some more on the 2nd day, finally the Indian batsmen got a chance to redeem themselves for the failure of 2 innings in the boxing day match. Dravid opening the innings once again, scratched, itched and scrapped around but hung on. Spent a miserable time trying to find out the class in him. May not have found it but found that dogginess about himself which endears him to his peers when they talk about great test batsmen. At the other end was someone who had found a new lease of life for himself on this very ground many years ago when he cracked a carefree masterpiece in the last match of a lost series. Laxman simply stroked a classy century. <br /><br />When things seem to be moving the other way with quick wickets, two wily veterans built up another partnership. Here the Indians were showing the same fight that the world's best side had shown a day before and eating away at the lead. If the aussie tail could do it, the Indians decide to better them and kicked the same bowlers who had frustrated them by actually surpassing the Aussie total. In all this there was this small side story of a man hungry for another century which had evaded him for almost a year in all forms of the game after he had had so many others before then. Still instead of discussing this, the media were still talking about the huge lead India would have had had Bucknor did what he was supposed to do. <br /><br />Around 1000 runs had been scored by the two teams and one would have been looking at some lame cricket on the last day but no.. hold on! it was just the start of the 4th day's play. All results were still possible and who would not have liked it with a test match so well poised (The Indian media perhaps!!). While Indian bowlers had some quick strikes in the middle, once again the Aussie batsmen fought around and built up a decent lead and declared with a whiff of a chance of win just before lunch on the last day. While one of the possible results had been eliminated, two others were on. India for all the batting prowess it possessed and the big score it had posted, batting for 72 overs should have been easy.<br /><br />That is when things went terribly wrong (from Indian perspective I guess). The umpires made 2 BAD BAD mistakes. One (Dravid) could still be forgiven as Bucknor honing his senses for any deviation to be given out after the big goof up he had caused on the first day. The other (Ganguly's) is inexcusable. An umpire not abiding by the laws of cricket, ones which he is supposed to upheld. If the main umpire is in doubt, he has to first enquire with the square leg umpire and then if still both are in doubt go to the 3rd umpire. It is that simple. To have forgotten your ABCs is not pardonable. But were these the only reason India lost? Yes they played a big hand, I agree. Two players who were willing to duke it out there were left undone. But what about the others. All this hoopla has players like Yuvraj conveniently escape the heat. We could have done better for 5 days in the match without him at all. After all, very surprising that such an even match until then was being played by a team of 9 (Jaffer is on a sigh seeing trip while Yuvraj is chasing a Padukone in skirts) against a team of 11+2 it may have seemed. <br /><br />But still it was a true test match. Kumble fighting it out till the end almost saved the match from all the blunders of the umpires. Dhoni who could have just as easily folded like Yuvraj, trying to better the tour for himself and Bajji already playing under a cloud of racist allegations willing to let go of his shots of first innings to do something. The Aussies fought the way they do. Sledged (so what?) and finally bullied their way to victory. But then who has stopped others from doing it too? If you wish to play in the same field as Aussies you have to strengthen yourselves. Crying foul and walking out of matches/series is not the solution. All other Indian cricket fans apart, I for one only think of one way to look for justice. Go back out there in Perth and fight harder. I hope I have some others looking for the same.<br /><br />p.s. The ICC-BCCI showdown as people have termed it is a topic for another time.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-44725368565108170592007-06-27T10:33:00.000-07:002007-06-27T10:49:47.442-07:00Ever wonder......where expressions or sayings come from? A while ago while watching a cricket match and listening to commentary heard the expression "safe as houses" and me and Cartman discussed what it meant and how it could have originated. I don't think we got anywhere with that. <br /><br />But anyway today I was talking to Aparna about how when I was working, I wanted not to work and now that my postdoc term is over I am bored to death doing nothing. Well she said "The Grass is always greener on the other side." And that got me thinking of who came up with the expression and why? What if whoever started that expression had a neighbour who did not water his/her lawn and hence the neighbour's lawn was dry and brown? Would the expression be 180 deg opposite and be grass is greener on our side and be used for things like "I told u so". With the urban landscape changing and grass being rarer to see, wonder if the expression is changed to "The potholes are always wider on our side of the road" or "pavement looks more inviting on the other side of the road".wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-26517114246983131592007-04-12T07:39:00.000-07:002007-04-12T07:44:20.829-07:00Fatass is a CPTA nice <a href="http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2007/04/04-12-07tdc/04-12-07dops-column-01.asp">collegian article</a> on people with those damn digital cameras always around them. <br /><br />Facebook members will agree that <a href="http://grad-lifer.blogspot.com">Fatass</a> falls under a lot of these categories. Thank god, he does not have any bare bodied shots.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-24420165743296810292007-04-06T07:34:00.000-07:002007-04-06T08:08:02.617-07:00When push comes to shoveI have always worked like this all my life. Whenever the pressure is all the way up, I start working. Always at the 11th hour (or 23rd hour whichever you prefer), I am there working like crazy. And at the same time saying to myself, next time I am going to do it properly as it was supposed to be done. Whether it is as important as writing my PhD thesis (which thanks to my advisor's efforts and commitment, I pretty much churned out in one weekend during which I slept a total of 6 hrs) or annual tasks of filing for tax returns, I seem to be waiting for the last moment before I get going on it. Talking to a few of my friends, they too seem to be in the same boat. Or maybe I hang around with people who do the same.<br /><br />I write this post as I follow the fiasco known as the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India... who were the ad wizards who came up with that one?). After last world cup's showing where we reached the finals, the following Australia series, test series win in Pakistan, recruitment of an Australian Greg Chappel to coach the team, winning a series in WI, new exciting players like Pathan and Dhoni, everyone was looking forward to this world cup. And dismayed they were by the efforts of the Indian team. Who is to blame? The coach, the captain, the fans for creating the pressure, the selection committee, the Board for being cash hungry, the media for the hype, the sponsors who put the players in ads? There is a saying that being there in the middle of the game is sort of like a sanctuary for the players. Where once someone steps on to the field, all that is going on around is lost and he is into the game. If that is the case, then all surrounding the game can be discarded and if it did affect the players then they were not into the game.<br /><br />Anyhoo, the connection I tried to bring out here was that after the exit of India, we once again have committees set up. Someone will be made a scapegoat (looks like Greg Chappel) and we will go on. There is already talk of creating a pool of 25-30 players (wasn't that the thing mentioned a year before the world cup?). So what has changed? I can understand individuals working when push comes to shove. But a whole organization? Why do we have to wait until another debacle before we act?<br /><br />Solution is simple. When one wants to improve, you look up and find yourself a way. If someone out there is better than you, then you might want to follow the path they have taken. Not necessary to reinvent the wheel. Australia is a world apart in terms of playing cricket right now. Look at how it is doing it. Accepted that their way is not going to work in its entirety. We are a different country and culture but we can surely figure out a way to adapt ourselves to that system. What point is a pool of 25-30 players of they cannot get to perform at a higher level consistently. If winning the world cup is the war you want to win then learn to lose a few battles. Dravid and Sachin and Dhoni need not play or be selected for all the series. Send out these players to play in some series without getting a dead rubber game or knowing this is their only chance to come big and next game the regular players come back from their customary rest. Give them a whole series in India and abroad without the pressure of looking over the shoulder. If the Board has this much money, send these players to play in the Australian or English or South African domestic cricket schedule where they will play against quality players. People like Gambhir and Raina who struggle against good oppositions come back to Indian domestic cricket to score centuries at will. That shows how our system is. It will take a long while and effort to improve our system. We have not been able to make better pitches leave alone improving the whole domestic system. Use our system to identify and select players. Use other's refined system to hone that selection. Once identified, send these youngsters out and let them play. That is the only way we can improve. 24 years is a whole generation. How many more before we do win another one?wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-34540894224064392032007-03-26T17:20:00.000-07:002007-03-26T17:37:29.797-07:00A-Rod you are forgivenSpring is in the air and falling in line with American traditions, two Indians went out to throw ball. A bynote to this would be the purchase of baseball gloves at Walmart when Cartman and I went to buy a compass for installing the dish (damn Corporations and Business Intelligence softwares that tell them to place baseball gloves right next to the camping section). So having come into the possession of these gloves, we threw the ball around for a good part of an hour. Tried to do everything including ground balls, immediate transfer and throws to the first base, double plays. A lot of erratic plays happened including erratic throws into nearby bushes, missed groundballs and muffed catches. It is not as easy as it seems. Having gotten used to catching a ball with bare hands in the palm near your eyes, it requires a completely different technique. A lot of fun though.<br /><br />Also this past Friday, after India's exit from the World Cup after their dismal performance against SriLanka, in order to take our minds off it, we went for the Penn State baseball season opener at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. It was my first time there and was fun to watch the game up close and personal. The last occasions I have watched baseball games has been in Yankee Stadium from the bleachers and the last 4 seats in the stadium (I kid you not.. Subash had no-one next to him and behind him... go figure) from where Randy Johnson looked like a peanut and David Ortiz a garbanzo bean. So after this experience I sure appreciate the players for hitting a 95 mile an hr fastball for a homerun or even coming in contact with it. And not to mention the superb plays in the field. <br /><br />So while I will now watch the rest of the World Cup without any tension of India's performance and for pure cricket, I sure look forward to the baseball season as well. A night game at Yankee Stadium is planned for this season sometime. Maybe a bit closer to the field of play.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-74734620902224803052007-03-24T16:37:00.000-07:002007-03-24T17:15:03.478-07:00The ides of March...... or to be more precise 23rd March. It is the day that haunts Indian cricket during its recent world cup campaigns. It was pointed out to me by a friend that it was March 23rd 2003 when Australia dashed the Indian hopes of winning a world cup when it had come so close and put its stamp as a class apart side (God, I friggin hate Aussies). And 4 years later to the date, it is 23rd March 2007 when <a href="http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/story/286877.html">Sri Lanka dashed a billion hopes</a>. Once again we are left with a bad taste in the mouth. A lot of hype, too much anticipation and a complete letdown. With India and Pakistan running the cricket show and raking in the viewers, I wonder if it is powerful enough to bully the ICC from not scheduling any games for itself on this day of the year.<br /><br />On another note, in the post game interview, Dravid talked about the format being that having one bad day caused us the tournament when India lost to Bangladesh and the same held true for Pakistan. I believe that this world cup format has been the most fair of them all. Two strong test teams grouped together with minnows to get themselves warmed to the tournament and by the time the tournament reaches the semifinals, the teams would have played all the strong teams and qualified themselves as the best four teams. From then on, it is about rising to the occasion against a formidable opponent. While India's group was termed as group of death because of having another test playing team as one of the minnows, it was the attitude of the players in the group matches that lost it for us. There was no confidence. The rout of West Indies in the warm up matches should have given the team an arrogance to tackle Bangladesh. Instead they prodded around and if you cannot get 200 on two occasions against a decent bowling performance while posting the highest world cup total against another, it just shows that all this team is fit for is a bilateral series of 7 games hoping for 4 good days and expecting 3 lousy days to take a series. <br /><br />This is World cup cricket. It comes once in 4 years. You cannot expect an off day during this fortnight. Not the whole team. This is a whole team playing and everyone decides to perform only on one day out of three. What about the rest of the days? Or is it the attitude, "I did it yesterday, someone else can do it today?" Well they can all sit at home and let the other teams do it the rest of the days of the tournament.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-20431174242085156482007-03-14T18:27:00.000-07:002007-03-14T18:56:29.524-07:00Satellite Locked InThe world cup got underway yesterday. This is the 3rd world cup, <a href="http://grad-lifer.blogspot.com">Cartman</a> and I are watching in State College. Never in my wild imagination had I considered it while preparing to watch the 1999 world cup at C720 Parkway Plaza. And I celebrate the trifecta (the only 1 to host the 3 world cups in State College, PA on dish). Fatass had been a guest on the first occassion. In fact if the world cup was played more often, I could have made a lot of money as a dish installer. I have become quite an expert at it. A change of location did not deter us and we got the dish up and running in a little over an hr. It took professional installers about 4+ hrs at my aunt's place in NJ (ok...ok.. they ran the wires in the walls and all). But still for once in 4 yrs not bad huh!<br /><br />On the first occasion in '99, Dish and cricket broadcasting was new in US of A. It was called the Kelly Broadcasting System. There was only 1 place that sold a Dish in State College and we bought the only piece they had. We had it installed on a plank of wood clamped to a dining table thanks to Bhatta and Janak putting to good use their workshop skills in the Mech Engg. workshop. We had 25 people who contributed towards the $300 plus on that occassion at C720 but with India not doing too good, it was rarely all of them showed up. Some of the memories from that occasion were Bhatta's commitment of showing up every night around 11 PM with a sleeping bag, a spring loaded alarm clock and 4 video cassettes to record the game to watch replay in case it got interesting.<br /><br />Four years later and the world cup had moved for the first time to the African continent. The Penn State Cricket Club was all set to return in State College and there were more Indian grad students at Penn State. India was expected to do well, cricket was more watchable in USA but still needed a dish to watch the game. In some places like NJ and DC, Indian movie theaters were telecasting the Indian games. Still in State College one needed the dish to watch it. And we were one of the places to set it up for a total cost of $400 ($100 dish + $300 package). This time lot more people were interested in watching at least the India games. So we covered the money. India made a good run but ran into those damn Aussies once again. Previous to the Ind-Pak game, a couple of undergrad students called us up asking if they could watch it. When the game started around 20-30 showed up instead of 3-4. We still had lot of fun watching it in 2 rooms with mixed emotions on the two sides. Other highlights was Murali breaking Ram's dining table chair and Kapadia, Janak and Garg visiting for one game.<br /><br />2007. Technology has made it possible for streaming webcasts. No need for dish. One can watch the matches online. Peer-to-peer television and SOPcasts offer free links to watch the games. But there is nothing like watching cricket on TV with no buffering or connection problems. And so after many deliberations, Fatass and I decided to set up dish again. The cost this time was lower as the dish was already there and stream casts meant that Echostar Network as now it is called had to offer the package at competitive costs. With friends from the club interested, we had no issues with covering costs. So we have it all set up. I am still to start the free broadband access through willow TV as it is offered with the package but I hope to have it running by Monday for India's match against Bermuda. Still will try and watch cricket on TV as much as I can.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-78534514494866997542007-03-11T20:03:00.000-07:002007-03-11T20:42:00.475-07:00GoosebumpsI saw the 2007 world cup opening ceremony today. It was long boring and like Reggae music. Once u have heard one song, u have heard it all. And the only thing u recognize is Bob Marley. Having played with West Indian players for the past few yrs in WMCB, we have come to recognize some of the traits of people from the Caribbeans. First of all they are chilled and as Viren aptly pointed out, they like to blow their own horns a lot. And they like to talk.. oh Man, do they love to talk?<br /><br />So it was not surprising that the ceremony was long.. full of reggae music in which all u could hear was "Put your hands up", "clap", "peace", "friendship", "together"... All the songs had it. I mean this was kind of country music w/o the reference to a pick-up truck or barn. The crowd was going crazy though. That was the only good part about it. Those guys enjoy to party and chill out.<br /><br />And then there were the players walking out to the middle. It was funny to see the Bermuda players walk out in pink shorts. I mean come on! Fine, u gave the Bermuda shorts and all but this might be your only stint in the World cup and to be dressed like that is awful. A lot of players like Lara acted serious and all and then there were a few players like Sachin grinning like a schoolboy about to play in his first world cup and that gave me the shivers. Here is a guy who is playing in his 5th world cup (yeah 5th), has played in more ODIs than any, scored most runs in ODIs, most runs in world cups, what not... and still he is excited like a kid getting his first chance. I hope he gets the tag of World cup champion as he truly deserves for the spirit and love he shows for the game.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-47762132308615767892007-03-07T10:21:00.000-08:002007-03-07T10:41:38.826-08:00A parallel universeThe past few years, I have been living in two different worlds and it just dawned on me how alike they look when now I sit back and look at them. I am talking about my doctoral student life at Penn State. <br /><br />I joined the doctoral program in Fall 2001 but it was not until Fall 2002 that I actually started on my PhD research topic. I got the opportunity to work on Finite element modeling of die compaction process a research topic I had worked on for my masters. The project was NSF funded and had 3 other doctoral students working on it. My work was supposed to develop decision algorithms for process specifications to minimize density gradients and achieve full density parts with minimal distortion. Along the same time the Penn State cricket club was revived by a bunch of enthusiastic students at Penn State. I became aware of it in an IGSA meeting of which I was on the committee of. However it wasn't until 2003 that we actually got to play some meaningful cricket. We played in CLNJ the first season and it was not what we hoped for. Many losses, losing interest due to the travel involved and bad management and the club was on brink of dying similar to what was happening to my research at that time. Yet again I was struggling to get past the modeling of die compaction without a complete grasp on the material model with the overall goal of research miles away. Yet the fight kept going on both fronts. The cricket club kept running and my research kept dabbling.<br /><br />Fall 2003 and I got control of both facets of my life. After discussing with my adviser we decided to forget the overall goal of research and focus on tackling the die compaction modeling once and for all. I also became the treasurer of the cricket club and helped the club change leagues to make it easier for travel and budgeted properly to allow us to book school van to travel as a team. The research came along and so did the club. We started winning games, the club got steady and my research started coming along. Over the next couple of years these two universes ran in parallel and alike. We won more games and got better as a team and I completed my comprehensive exam where I was finally ready to define my PhD thesis topic. <br /><br />Finally last season (summer 2006), they both achieved fruition. We won our group to be south div champions and I successfully defended my thesis. It wasn't easy. We had to fight through rained out games and points till the last match and I had to juggle the scheduling dates but it happened. Now as my student life came to an end, so did the cricket club's participation in WMCB. And that is when I got thinking of this amazing coincidence.<br /><br />As I sit here writing this blog, a new chapter starts in my life. I am now part of another research group as a postdoc. At the same time, with PSCC no longer participating, a few of us have joined the roster of Monument Cricket Club to get a chance to play cricket once again. How will this unfold? I wait to see....<br /><br />The two universes have worked complementary to one another. One to shape my life and the other to help keep me sane as I shape my life. I hope to find a similar balance throughout my life.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-9552400311188942312007-02-23T14:00:00.000-08:002007-02-23T14:13:33.712-08:00BatmobilesI own a blue Nissan Altima and I was surprised as I sat down to write a blog that I did not have any pictures of my car, my first real possession. The car I paid off with my own money. Shameful! But I write it as my car sits in a shop with its guts spilled out. Apparently the clutch and flywheel are completely cooked and need replacing along with the seals. So I am looking at a major dent in my pocket.<br /><br />I juggled with my emotions over the past week and a half of whether it was worth spending money. She is getting old you know. Served me well now for the past 7 yrs, took my abuse and the abuse of the <a href="http://grad-lifer.blogspot.com/">fatass</a> who has probably worn out her suspension on the right side. I even tried to get used to life w/o a car and took bus to school everyday. Just does not seem to click. Life is very different. And eventually I came to the conclusion that she had to be resurrected. After all how will my friends get dropped off after getting drunk. She is truly the "Batmobile". A drunk friend puts up the beacon and there I go saving the day. I think I should recover some of the repair costs by charging them. After all my alter ego does not live in a manor.<br /><br />On a side note, an Indian from Hyderabad has built a car in the shape of a cricket bat to dedicate to the Indian team for the upcoming World Cup. Can there be another "batmobile"?<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t89t0QTsIes"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t89t0QTsIes" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-78593343145842445272007-02-19T13:12:00.000-08:002007-02-19T13:43:07.073-08:00The lines on your hand...... are etched by the hard work you put in.<br /><br />I had been meaning to write this blog for a while but just never got around to doing it. At the time I meant to do it, I was sick of writing stuff as I had just written my PhD thesis. So I put it on the backburner and being the lazy bum that I am never got around to writing it. Finally I put in the effort for your reading pleasure.<br /><br />It took me 5 yrs and a good effort by my advisor to get my PhD complete. Knowing that this was my last grad student life stint, I guess I got to enjoying a little more than I should have. Add to it we got to play cricket while doing it. Now who could resist it? Anyway finally the constant irritation of renewing my I-20s and the "you have been here long enuff" look from the ISS foreign student advisor motivated me to lay out my graduation plan with advisor. After a final push over one killer weekend where I also had to move out of the apartment that was <span style="font-style: italic;">me casa</span> for 4 long years and finish my thesis while running some last minute results, I was ready with the final draft for the committee.<br /><br />If anyone asked me how difficult it was to get PhD, I would frankly say that it was more difficult to get 5 committee members in the same room for an hour on one day than to do the entire PhD. So after having solved all those hassles (even upto the last minute.... literally), I was ready for my dissertation.<br /><br />So I come in on Monday morning as I have my dissertation scheduled for 9 AM. As habit goes, I checked my psu mail, checked yahoo mail and then went to My Yahoo! I get game scores, weather, news, some cartoons and the daily horroscope. The morning of my PhD dissertation my horroscope reads the following (courtesy: Daily Extended Forecast for August 14, 2006. Provided by Astrology.com)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The speeding racecar that is your life is about to hit a big, blinking red light. Something unexpected is going to happen today that forces you to stop in your tracks and take a long, slow look at where you are in life. Get ready to reassess your goals. It could be something as simple as a new person coming in to your life or as major as a flat tire on the freeway. Whatever it is, it is meant to be -- so approach it with flexibility and an open mind. Everything happens for a reason.</span><br /><br />After the hassles I had gone thru with scheduling the dissertation, this was the last straw needed. All I did for the next 10 mins was stare at the screen trying to comprehend if I should go bury my head somewhere. Out went my plans of having a last look at the slides. I mean what was the point? Astrology.com told me I will have to reassess my goals.<br /><br />Soon it was time to go for my dissertation. It all went to plan except for one committee member not showing up due to travel mixups but who met me separately. The present members commended me for my work.<br /><br />Needless to say today i write this blog as Dr. Wagle. But I kept this reading to constantly remind myself that it is not what the stars say but what you do that decides your fate and your goals.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-54708431782209666202007-01-19T14:38:00.000-08:002007-01-19T14:43:16.442-08:00A Matter of ChoiceWith the ICC world cup just around the corner and countries beginning to prepare for the final push of getting it all right, what better time than to write what in my opinion is the contemporary World XI test team. This is a matter of debate and I will justify my reasons for my selections. Your opinion could be fine too. But on similar posts, I have seen people packing the XI with players of their own country or with Sachin and Lara who are great players but currently not the best test players.<br /><br />Some of my overall selection criteria are ICC player test rankings. This forms a benchmark. However this is not the sole criteria. Players need to be picked for each spot. If we went by this criteria alone, we would have a packed middle order but no batsmen willing to step on the field when play is called. The other being current form. This reflects to some degree in the ICC rankings but is mainly for selection of some new players who in my opinion are going to be greats of cricket. The next is representation from the countries. With Australia dominating world of cricket, it could be just as easy to pack the side with players from down under but this is the World XI. And so other test playing nations need to be represented. At the same time, I do not consider Zimbabwe or Bangladesh have that umph to play and compete in test arena except against each other and so have been excluded. The only other country not included is New Zealand as I believe it too competes in the test arena only when they are the home team and conditions suit them (Same can be said about India but with a few overseas wins, I could refute that claim). The final criteria is the heart and the maturity to slug it out when the going gets tough. That is the essence of a test match player. That holds key to the selection criteria and brings in a few interesting selections. So with that said, here goes... (Drum roll please...)<br /><br /><strong>The Openers<br /></strong><br />This was the hardest part of selection. Taking guard to the first ball of the start of a test match is probably the most exciting and nerve racking feeling. Every opener must feel it at the start of every test match, no matter how many matches they have played. In modern cricket with ODIs ruling the minds of viewers, ODI openers are a different breed. Fielding restrictions make them try and innovate shots and given a flat track, they will succeed to a large extent but their technique and temperament are put to the sternest test with early morning swing of the red cherry. Players like Sehwag have fallen dismally from the face of earth after having been ranked in the top 10 test players at a time, so much so that he was dropped from the Indian team. So what would be the opening partnership?<br /><br />The only country with a stable opening partnership was Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer of Australia until Langer retired recently. They were the second highest opening partnership all time behind Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge (highest avg. though) and if Langer was still playing, I would have picked both of them. However I will still choose Hayden, the remaining member of the successful duo. The fact that he figures in the top 10 validates my selection.<br /><br />To partner him, I thought long and hard and the only other stable opener who comes to mind is Chris Gayle. A bowler's nightmare on his own, these two trotting out into the middle at the start would send shivers down the opposing captain's spine and make him think hard before sending in the World XI upon winning the toss. Some might argue with Andrew Strauss' case but he is woefully out of form on umpiring decisions. Also Gayle is a smart cricketer on the field and a fiery cricketer as seen from the latest ICC champions trophy. Coincidentally, both the openers are great slip fielders as well.<br /><br /><strong>The Middle order </strong><br /><br />The number 3 spot holds the key. The player needs to be able to come in at the fall of a quick wicket and stabilize while at the same time come in following a big opening wicket partnership and keep the momentum going not taking too much time to settle down. Ricky Ponting, currently the world's best test batsman is ideal for this spot (as much as I hate to admit it). In his last 30 test matches, he has scored 3259 runs at 74.06 avg with 13 100s and 14 50s. Added to it, he leads the world's best side in test cricket. So he is also the natural choice of captain of the World XI side.<br /><br />At number 4, I have the most prolific run scorer for the past year (2006) - Mohd. Yousuf. In 2006 he played 11 matches and scored 1788 runs at a mind staggering average of 99.33. Oh he also scored 9 centuries and 3 50s and was out for a duck once (when Irfan Pathan got his hattrick). He is ranked 2nd behind Ponting in the ICC rankings and makes him the ideal no. 4 spot batsman in this World XI side.<br /><br />Many a times the difference between a good score and a huge match winning score is the lower middle order batting. After the opposition has managed to get the top and the middle order, the lower middle order can frustrate opposition teams with a dogged performance or following a huge total complete the gruesome act of stepping on the opposing team's chances in the test match. The role of the number 5 batsman becomes important in this case. To be able to bat with the lower order while scoring runs is an important requirement at this slot. While great batsmen remain in contention for a World XI slot like Dravid, Tendulkar, Lara, Inzamam and Pietersen, the man who deserves this spot is the current "Mr. Cricket", Michael Hussey. He had to wait a long time in the wings to earn his baggy green but in this selection he makes it with trumps for the whirlwind start to his career.Since his debut, he has scored at an average of close to 80 in 16 matches and although an opening bat for Western Australia, he has fitted very well in the middle order. It seems he cannot do anything wrong in cricket at the current moment. He also provides the team with a good fielder at the forward short leg position, a must to support the spinners in the team.<br /><br /><strong>The wicketkeeper</strong><br /><br />With cricket going the professional route, every player needs to be multidimensional and this holds the most for the wicketkeeper slot. Every wicketkeeper needs to be able to produce with the bat as well. At number 6, my wicketkeeper batsman's selection for the World XI might be a tad controversial. While a lot will argue that Adam Gilchrist is the best out there (and he is) or Mark Boucher has produced some great test innings of late and is the most consistent keeper, my selection at this spot is Kumar Sangakarra. Purely on form, he is an awsome batsman who could play in as a pure batsman as he nowadays does for Srilanka who have figured that they need his consistency in run scoring not to be affected by having to keep wickets as well. But with so many knocking on the door for world XI, I am afraid Sangakarra will have to keep wickets as well which I am sure he won't mind.<br /><br /><strong>The Allrounder</strong><br /><br />Every successful team needs a good allrounder. For Australia, it is their wicketkeeper batsman that allows for a balanced team, for South Africa it is Kallis and Pollock who make it possible to have 5 bowlers in the team. England's previous Ashes success was possible because of the emergence of Flintoff to the fore of cricket. India's recent success overseas could be attributed to the likes of Irfan Pathan and Dhoni allowing for an extra bowler in the crucial matches. For the current selection, three names pop up - Flintoff, Kallis and Pollock. While it can be argued that Kallis has the better records, Flintoff makes it into the squad (albeit on quota of representation from all countries). Another reason he makes it in inspite of having a not so flamboyant Ashes series is because he has accepted each and every responsibility that has been thrown his way. It seems England wants Flintoff to do everything to just be able to play cricket. Always willing to put up a fight, he has the correct attitude to pick up a drooping team.<br /><br /><strong>The Bowlers</strong><br /><br />Before the Ashes series was over, two slots would have been automatic - McGrath and Warne. But their retirement has led to a more balanced representation. Easier selections for bowling spots are the spinners. Muttiah Muralitharan, the world's best test bowler is an easy selection. Bowling around 55 overs per match and a strike rate of 54.45, he can expect to pick up 10 wickets every match and soon overhaul Warne's record of 702 test wickets. The other spinner in the World XI would be Anil Kumble (following the retirement of Warne). An ageless wonder, he has remained the strike force of Indian cricket for so many years. The success India has been enjoying in test cricket recently can be attributed to the success he has had. A perfect legspinner to balance the offspin guile of Murali, any captain would be happy to toss the ball to these two after the new ball bowlers have bowled 20 odd overs and sit back and watch the fun.<br /><br />That leaves two spots - two fast bowlers to open the bowling with Andrew Flintoff to support them. Again McGrath would have been a lock for this but his retirement gives others opportunities to share the new cherry. Many old pros and young prospects come to mind. Pollock and Ntini from South Africa, Shane Bond from NZ, Mohd. Asif and Shoaib Akhtar from Pakistan, Sreesanth from India, Vaas from Sri Lanka. Based on ICC test bowler rankings Ntinishould find selection and based on pure numbers Akhtar has the best record for test bowling. However my selections are different.<br /><br />In my book, test bowling is about two things: One, bowling in tandem with the bowler at the other end; and two, keep pegging away when things don't come your way. In that respect my choices are Shaun Pollock and Mohd. Asif. Great control of line and length by both, disciplined effort and the heart to come back each and every time trying to peg an end up even if they are not getting anything from the pitch. Pollock, a seasoned veteran would use his experience and tenacity to the fullest. While Mohd. Asif may be young and fresh, he has captured the imagination of every analyst. In his short career, he has shown discipline, heart and has tasted success. He has 37 wickets in 7 matches at an avg of 21.08 but more impressively a strike rate of 38.10 implying that he has got a wicket almost every spell that he bowls. Very important for a fast bowler unable to bowl long spells.<br /><br /><strong>A Recap</strong><br /><br />So there you have it. My World XI stands as follows.<br />1. Michael Hayden<br />2. Chris Gayle<br />3. Ricky Ponting (c)<br />4. Mohd. Yousuf<br />5. Mike Hussey<br />6. Kumar Sangakarra (wk)<br />7. Andrew Flintoff<br />8. Shaun Pollock<br />9. Mohd. Asif<br />10. Anil Kumble<br />11. Muttiah Muralitharan<br /><br />Again this will always be a debated issue. This is my opinion based on current forms. I would love to hear your arguments on this topic. Either leave me a comment or mail me at <a href="mailto:gsw113@psu.edu">gsw113@psu.edu</a>wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1155819566394225512006-08-17T05:44:00.000-07:002006-08-17T05:59:26.426-07:00I miss the batcaveIt has been ages since I posted something here. What with writing blogs and match reports for the <a href="http://psucric.blogspot.com"></a><a href="http://psucric.blogspot.com">Penn State Cricket club</a> and writing my thesis, just did not think I could write anymore. So finally the thesis is over, defended successfully (Ah...thank you!) and decided to start posting some of the pent up ideas from past.<br /><br />We recently moved from our long time abode at Marjorie Mae. It was one heck of a weekend of move and you can read more about it on Mota's blog <a href="http://grad-lifer.blogspot.com/2006/08/moving-sucks.html">here</a>. While at Marjorie Mae, I moved into the basement after a year as Mota decided he needed some light to grow (even more). The confines of the basement grew on me and with it staying cool down there even during the highs of summer with no air conditioning, it was a fine place. With me acquiring the name of "Batman" from a few friends, the basement became the batcave from which I would emerge to save the beautiful damsels in distress in Gothamesque State College (Sigh! I wish). When the time came to bid goodbye, my heart fluttered a wee bit with the prospect of leaving the batcave where one would be oblivious of the time changes as days grew into nights and viceversa.<br /><br />Now I am staying put at Nittany Gardens. And lo and behold, I am up at the stroke of dawn (o.k. maybe 7:30) as the first streams of daylight jars me from my deep slumber. Yesterday night I slept late working on a poster for the upcoming orientation hoping to break this routine and get over the batcave. But as the saying goes, you can take the batman out of the batcave (just put up the beacon ladies..) but you can never take the batcave out of the batman.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1142280338996911842006-03-13T11:18:00.000-08:002006-03-13T12:05:39.050-08:00Wanted: Comprehension and Bowlers for one dayersIt is often said that there are some moments in history that are never forgotten. If you ask Americans of yore, they will always say that they will remember exactly what they were doing when they heard that President Kennedy was shot. The modern equivalent might be when they heard about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Analogous to this in the cricketing era might be the massacre of bowlers that took place in Johannesburg this past weekend.<br /><br />In what is now being referred to the greatest game in modern cricketing era, South Africa chased down a world record score of 434 made by the Australians and in turn posted a new record of 438/9 with one ball to spare. Never had a team scored that many runs in a limited overs match. And for it to happen twice in a day has to beg a few questions.<br /><br />How do you prepare to chase down such a score when no one hasnt scored that many? What were the bowlers doing? What was the pitch doing? Was there any seam on the ball? Would this have happened if McGrath and Pollock would have played? I mean it is totally mind blogging. It has been two days since. I have read almost all the reports there are and still cannot fathom how it happened. Posting a score of 434 can be comprehended after a few shots of a Russian's favorite clear drink but someone chasing down that score (<span style="font-style: italic;">you will have to pause a little here since I sat here with nothing coming to me... I think I will leave it at that</span>)......<br /><br />Well when I heard about the Australian score I was watching the India-England 2nd test match with Fatass, Razaa and Venky. We guffawed and assumed the foregone conclusion and continued watching Kumble doing what he does best. Next morning while dropping Razaa at his place without knowing what was transpiring, I commented that it was good for Indian cricket since SA would lose ICC ODI points. I was working when Nishant called to give me the news. I dutifully passed on this to Cartman much later. It is two days since and still anyone we meet remotely interested in cricket starts a conversation with "How about the Australia-South Africa game?" and it leaves me dumbfounded.<br /><br />Is this the new precedence in cricket? When ODIs started with 60 over games, scores of 200 + were considered winning totals, nowadays 300 + scores are chased down with extreme ease. Are 400 + the next phenomenon? Why would anyone want to bowl if that becomes the case? What would be the motivation but to stay out of the record books as not being the most expensive bowler. There was a cartoon supposedly in one of the newspapers calling for the formation of SPCB - Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Bowlers. I hope this was a freak game and let's happily go back to our 300 + games. Thanks but I must be getting old and cannot handle this much excitement.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1141844569409390342006-03-08T10:47:00.000-08:002006-03-08T11:02:49.426-08:00Flashing bulbsIt has been a while since I saw cartoons of old. Sure I watch animations like Southpark and Family Guy but it has been a while I caught Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes. I was reminded of it when I read about yet another innovative internet idea to earn shit loads of money starting with absolutely nothing. Like a flash bulb lighting up in one of those cartoons. With blogging and huge amounts of space on the web, one can launch these ideas for peanuts.<br /><br />I am sure a lot of you must have heard about the <a href="http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/">Million Dollar Homepage</a> idea. Someone started a page and sold a million spots of 100x100 pixels for $1 each. With links to the ads and the mouth of word publicity, people bought the pixels since they were sure to get advertisement and hits for $1 investment. The person sold out the million spots making a million bux to help pay off his student loans.<br /><br />Another one I came across while reading Hindustan Times recently is of a person who is using the idea of a childhood game where you start with one item and exchange it with friends to end up with something that you want. Well his plan is to start with <a href="http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/">one red paper clip</a> and trade up to eventually end up with a house. His progression so far... red paper clip... fish pen...door knob....bbq grill....diesel generator....keg and neon sign....snowmobile...trip to Yahk, BC, Canada...van....recording contract.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br />Finally someone is using the internet to promote innovative ideas besides its obvious use... porn.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1141320101467146922006-03-02T08:25:00.000-08:002006-03-02T09:21:41.540-08:00"Gentlemen, let's play!"Finally a test match to watch. Cricket in its purest form. The old test matches played in England would start on Thursdays to ensure that the 3rd day would be played on a Saturday when people could come watch the most interesting day of play, a day that would make or break the test match. There would then be an off day on Sunday (being the lord's day). The <a href="http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/NEW/LIVE/frames/ENG_IND_T1_01-05MAR2006.html">first test match</a> between England and India (both of whom are contending to be the second best team in test match cricket) is posed at an interesting point entering the third day's play.<br /><br />With injuries plaguing the visitors it was expected that they would roll over to the dominance of the Indians on their home pitches. Flintoff being the lone player who has plaed in India before for the current English team, the spinning tandem of Kumble and Bhajji were supposed to bamboozle the english batsmen. The pitch at VCA, Nagpur after getting flak for the loss against Australia in the opening test match of previous series was laid out as per instructions...brown and crumbly. But a great knock by Collingwood played around with the tailenders that the analysts said would make Glenn McGrath look like Garry Sobers saw them post a respectable score after being in the hole. The fact that the Indian bowlers helped them by not bowling to a plan should not take away from the way in which Collingwood protected the tail to some extent and upped the scoring with innovative shots. More important than the 393 runs scored was the number of overs they occupied and it could be a telling factor in them salvaging a draw and scoring a few confidence points to take away to the second test. India's only hope of winning this match is to bat through the 3rd day and score a huge total and hope that the script of a spin win will ensue. But here too a cat and mouse game is being played. On a pitch which is slow and bounce becoming low, playing shots is not easy. Still the 2nd and 3rd day pitch will be good to bat on and understanding this, Flintoff in his first stint as captain has proved to be a smart one. Once Dravid and Jaffer had settled on this pitch and the ball was not doing anything, he started playing on their patience by placing a defensive field to defensive bowling. Sehwag having gotten out before getting his eye in helped the cause by not being there. Slowing down India's scoring would ensure their first aim of drawing the match. I am sure that if they get wickets, they will immediately apply pressure. Still the patience of Dravid (which can be assumed) and Jaffer (which will stand him in good stead) has ensured that the Indians carried on. I wonder if Gambhir as the opener would have stuck around to this game plan? With the pitch starting to liven up to play its predicted tricks, it sure will be a great days play to watch.<br /><br />With the scale of one dayers increasing, 20-20 on the horizon, the game becoming a bowler's nightmare I was afraid that we might lose the charm of the one team sport that requires skill, patience, adaptability and determination to win. The impact of one dayers can be seen clearly on the test matches in the recent past. With great hitters of the ball whom one cannot afford to miss out on the test arena, hardly is a test match now been played on pure grit determination. Scoring rates have shot up with teams scoring close to 400 runs in a day's play. Massive first innings totals on flat pitches either taking the other team out of play or leading to a massive reply. Green wickets with not much application by the one day hitters shown leading to games being finished off in 3 days or less with scores not reaching the one day levels.<br /><br />A few tests now stand out in which players, analysts, true connoiseurs of the game applaud the spirit of the game. One game in the recent past that comes to mind is the Australia-South Africa <a href="http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005-06/RSA_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/RSA_AUS_T1_16-20DEC2005.html">1st test match</a> from the 2005-2006 series. A gritty batting performance by Rudolph and Kemp on a final day pitch at Perth saw the Proteans salvage a draw after being asked to chase a mammoth final innings score on Hodge's double century. The fact that the match was a draw might lead people to think it was a drab match while in fact it was pure thrill until the last ball was bowled. Warnie threw everything in the match bowling 47 overs in the second innings but the batsmen played it out. People still applaud Sachin's innings in a losing effort against Pakistan in the <a href="http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998-99/PAK_IN_IND/SCORECARDS/PAK_IND_T1_28JAN-01FEB1999.html">1st test match</a> at Chennai. He batted through a sore back and sigle handedly chased down the score with no other batsman showing up for the game. His determination was applauded by all pundits.<br /><br />After the recent run fest in Pakistan, this test match has been a breath of fresh air. I had expected the game to be over by 4th day but watching the determination of this English team, tactics and mind games, I predict that a lot more is to be written on this test match. I hope we are treated to a peach of a game lasting a full five days. After all we have invested a lot in the dish package and would like to get our money's worth.<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span>wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1139601854415034442006-02-10T11:52:00.000-08:002006-02-10T12:19:09.113-08:00Me, Myself and I<span style="font-style: italic;">Asa mee. Asa mee. Kasa mee? Kasa mee? Tasa mee. Tasa mee. Asamee Asamee.</span><br /><br />(This is how I am. This is how I am. How am I? How am I? That is how I am. That is how I am. An ordinary man, An ordinary man.) Those are the words written by the great Marathi writer P. L. Deshpande (affectionately called as <span style="font-style: italic;">PuLa</span>) when introducing the story of an ordinary person you can find among many in the chaos that is Mumbai.<br /><br />So if you might have figured out by now that this one is about me, please give yourself a pat on the back. Usually a person when born is given a name and then may have a couple of other names that he is called among friends but in my case, I go by a few more names on a constant basis. These names have been so ingrained that new people who I have been introduced to by these names have trouble placing the original name when I call them. So here are the names and how they came about.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span> <ol> <li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gautam Wagle</span> - The name I was given as a jolly baby some 29 years ago by my parents. Gautam being the given name and Wagle being the family name. The name I grew up with, the name on my ids, the name I will take to my grave. While others may have some pet names at home, believe it or not I have been called Gautam at home through my life.</li><br /><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gotya</span> - That is the name I was given in my undergrad days. I think it happened only during the third year. I really don't remember how the name came about but it is the name of a marathi literary character called Gotya, a boy with all the antics when he was growing up. It is also the marathi word for marbles. So I don't know if that was the meaning that I was supposed to catch on but I will say it was the first one.</li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Waggle</span> - This one goes to Janak "psycho" Shanghvi. Well when I came to the US for my masters, Waggle was the way the profs pronounced my name in class and Janak could not help but roll on the floor laughing and had to share it with our other batchmates. The name just caught on.</li><br /><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bagel</span> - This one is a slight variation of the previous one and it caught on as I caught on with the high carb, high cal diet of the American ways.</li> <br /><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wagla</span> - Yet another Gujju was responsible for this one. This time Viren "Nannu" Patel. The jerk had gone to see XMen - 2 and the mutant Nightcrawler had the name "Kurt Wagner" and was supposed to be Ze German. Our gujju friend misheard it as Wagla and shared it among the cricket club. So the entire cricket club knows me as Wagla.</li> <br /><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Batman</span> - That one goes to Fatass and his labmates. Having trouble saying Gautam, I became Gotham and eventually Batman. So that is how the name of the blog originates in case you were wondering.</li> </ol>Whatever the name, the person is the same. <span style="font-style: italic;">Asa mee Asa mee</span>.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1139271210169428992006-02-06T15:34:00.000-08:002006-02-06T16:13:31.086-08:00A rule of thumb<span style="font-style: italic;">Very Superstitious...</span> (Do that with your eyes closed, a big grin showing your pearly whites and your head swaying). Thanks! Now you can continue reading my contributions to the Steelers win yesterday in the Superbowl <span style="font-style: italic;">Xtra large</span>. The last two weeks have been a headache listening to the countless analysts and their stupid predictions. How the hell can you talk about a game of 60 minutes for 2 weeks? Atleast the last 2 years the analysts have had something to keep coming back to. Last year it was <span style="font-style: italic;">T.O. be or not T.O. be</span> and this year it was the sweet homecoming parade of Jerome Bettis. Thank goodness for that angle since there was nothing to talk about the Seattle except for Jeremy "<span style="font-style: italic;">jaw dropping, catch moving</span>"(wait a minute did I get that mixed up?) Stevens and his shadow brawl from behind Walter Jones with Porter. For if he did not have the big guy to have his back, Porter would have used Stevens' big mouth as a plow on his truck on Sunday morning to make sure all the Steelers fans got through the snow.<br /><br />Being an ardent Steelers fan from the Happy Valley, it should have been pleasurable to listen and read about one's own team for a change rather than others the past few years. The headache was due to the inner turmoil of whether to party or to stick to the routine. Everyone has those before a big exam, an important meeting or a big game as in this case. We had planned to have a party at our place to watch the game and cheer the Steelers but the inner voice asked of how the Steelers had made it through the playoffs? Not by becoming hot in the last month of regular season, not by studying opposition films to device precise playbooks, not by a throttling defense, not by beating the "supposedly best" team, not by "THE TACKLE", but because I continued watching the game from me occupying the hot seat in the basement and talking to Bill Cowher through our telepathic headsets. So I was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. The idea of a party slowly fizzed out and it looked like traditions would be followed. Then when Fatass told me that Sri, Golu had called us over to their place, I was tempted to live dangerously.<br /><br />Then came the moment of clarity. On the morning of superbowl, Sal Palontonio standing in freezing cold from 11:00 AM for a 6:00 PM game announced that he was outside an undisclosed hotel where Bill "<span style="font-style: italic;">what a sweet scowl that is</span>" Cowher had moved the entire team to to avoid distractions from the media and fans and make it feel like a road game that the Steelers had gotten used to. If the entire team was sticking to its routine, I guessed I could sacrifice a few beers and some wings to stick with my routine. So there I was in my basement (or what is referred to as the Batcave) alone in my house while the whole Happy Valley was having a party. The remote in my right hand on offense and left hand of defense, I won the Steelers one for the Thumb.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1139097316556618572006-02-04T15:15:00.000-08:002006-02-06T16:17:05.926-08:00Religion and Name changeNo! this article is not about the transformation of Yousuf Yohana to Mohd. Yousuf. I read an article in the Hindustan times today on tensions surfacing between Hindus and Muslims at the Bhojshala shrine-Kamal Maula mosque complex in Dhar in MP. At this site, the Hindus recite the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hanuman Chalisa</span> on tuesdays and the Muslims offer <span style="font-style: italic;">namaz</span> on fridays. This friday coincided with the festival of Basant Panchami and the administration in order to avoid any trouble scheduled the Hindus to celebrate the festival or offer <span style="font-style: italic;">pujas</span> from sunrise to 12:30 PM and later from 3:30 PM to sunset allowing the muslims to offer their weekly namaz between 1 and 3 PM. While the Hindus were stopped from entering the complex between these times, tensions broke and police had to resort to lathi charge and tear gas. While matters did not escalate, it must have definitely caused anxious moments due to events from the recent past.<br /><br />This event is not dissimilar to the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi debate. the Hindu Jagaran Morcha claim that there was a Saraswati temple here previously that was destroyed by Muslim rulers and a mosque built near it. Muslims regard it as a dargah of Sufi saint Kamalludin Maulah.While the events of the Babri masjid demolotition caused some events at this complex in 1992, both the sects have lived and prayed together here except for this minor incident when the issue again comes to forefront. The Asiatic Society of India claims that it is neither a temple or a mosque but a historical monument. I totally agree with this view. We have to accept it as a part of history and our culture. We know that muslim rulers came and plundered India for all the riches we had. But it is part of any civilization. We have survived as a nation. Even the British rule over India is a part of our culture and civilization. We have adapted, gotten new traits as a result of these events. It is just a matter of what we called the newcomers. Muslim rulers who came, plundered and left were called invaders. The ones who stayed and created an empire were called rulers. Whatever we call them, they are part of our history and heritage. No amount of calling for detroying a structure and rebuilding the past will change history. Changing the name of cities just because the Britishers called them that will not change the fact that we were ruled by them for 3 centuries.<br /><br />My undergrad college Victoria Jubille Technical Institute was established in 1887 during the British rule. It was established as a diploma institute to satisfy the booming textile industry of the city of Bombay with only the Mechanical engineering and textile engineering department. Other departments and degree programs were added at a much later date and the entire history can be viewed <a href="http://www.vjti.ac.in/home_history.asp">here</a>. During my final year in 1997, the Maharashtra government of BJP-Shiv Sena renamed the college as Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute keeping the same initials. This was after the town was changed to Mumbai. So having joined the Victoria Jubilee Techincal Institute, University of Bombay in 1993, I graduated with my B.E. degree from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, University of Mumbai in 1997. How ridiculous was that? Changing names just for the heck that you have the power. I guess it is accepting that also as part of our history that we once let ourselves ruled by the whims of BalaSaheb Thackrey's party. My only question is if we refer to him as an invader or a ruler or simply a maniac?<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1138658168886187692006-01-30T13:01:00.000-08:002006-01-30T13:56:08.963-08:00This one is for Subash<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->Like many others I watched the new Hindi movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Rang De Basanti</span> with our friends in Jersey. This is not meant to be a review of the film. You can read <a href="http://tandemslog.blogspot.com/">Gujju's blog</a> about it. It was the poetry of Ramprasad Bismil in the movie very powerfully delivered by the Atul Kulkarni that moved Subash and he could not stop talking about it. I remember having been moved after hearing the Rafi - Manna Dey version of the song from the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Shaheed</span> (one of the first movies made on the struggle of Bhagat Singh, Azad). So I googled and here is the poetry from Ramprasad Bismil. You can listen to the Rafi-Manna Dey version at <a href="http://www.musicindiaonline.com/l/12/m/singer.741/">Musicindiaonline.com</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sarfaroshi ki tamana ab hamare dil main hai</span> </span><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="main" --> </div> <p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;">sarfaroshi ki tamana ab hamare dil main hai<br /> dekhna hai zor kitna bazu-e-qatil main hai<br /> </p> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;">karta nahi kyon dusara kuch bat-chit<br /> dekhata hun main jise vo chup teri mahfil main hai<br /> </p> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;">ai shahid-e-mulk-o-millat main tere upar nisar<br /> ab teri himat ka charcha gair ki mahfil main hai<br /> </p> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;">vaqt ane de bata denge tujhe ai asman<br /> ham abhi se kya batayen kya hamare dil main hai<br /> </p> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;">khinch kar lai hain sab ko qatl hone ki ummid<br /> ashiqon ka aj jamghat kucha-e-qatil main hai</p>wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1138394225167532532006-01-27T12:21:00.000-08:002006-01-27T12:37:22.810-08:00Obsolete technologyWow! I got a mail from an old undergrad friend of mine. He wanted to know if I had a soft copy of my transcripts from the undergrad days and the first year syllabus. Now for those thinking how can I keep a soft copy of transcripts and what business this friend of mine had with my transcripts, let me just tell you that we made our own transcript format in our undergrad. No..no... we did not fake our grades, just put them in a nice little format to be presentable. Now getting these transcripts sealed, verifed and stamped by the registrar was such a process (it is a whole another story) that I shudder even when I think whether I might apply again if I had to go through that.<br /><br />Anyway that got me thinking. Sure, I should have a soft copy of the transcripts. I was very particular about keeping records in case I would need them later. And then it hit me, it would be on a floppy disk. Now my bigger challenge was not finding the floppy disk with the transcripts itself or hoping that the floppy is corrupt (remember that thing happening to your most important data) but finding a machine with a floppy drive that would enable me to get the data off it. Isn't it amazing how much we have changed in this amount of time. Thankfully, it is one of those smoller floppy disks and not the ever so bendy, big-ass floppy disks that had to be handled with forceps. So I still have hopes of being able to help my friend out.<br /><br />Have things changed so much that you stop thinking about floppy disks and how dependent we were on them back then to move data around. Nowadays, i hardly even use CDs to write data out. I just use my internet webpage space or yahoo briefcase or sometimes even mail it to myself. And then I got a laptop. So I can move around with the data. Add the disks to the collection of magnetic tapes and puch cards in the museum of obsolete technology I say and let's forget the past.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1138309819893002272006-01-26T13:00:00.000-08:002006-01-26T13:10:19.920-08:00Blogging efficiencyHas anyone noticed the dates of my blogs and the progression? Being the mathematical guy that I am, here goes the analysis for my first 5 blogs.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3572/1720/1600/blog.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3572/1720/320/blog.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I don't think even I can keep up with this pace. Anyways credit goes to the <a href="http://shekhawat.blogspot.com/">Anarkist</a> and his taunt that has started this ball rolling. Henjoy!wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1138230141645276942006-01-25T14:28:00.000-08:002006-01-25T15:02:21.703-08:00Clothespins and Popsickle sticksYesterday while blogging, surfing, solving crosswords and yeah working at Starbux, a group of undergrad students (one of whom I had taught a course last semester) stopped by and asked if they could talk to the couple of us sitting at the big table and using our laptops. They were engineering students who had as a part of some design project come up with a product that laptop users could use to hold on to a paper while typing away. A sort of hands free paper holder next to the laptop screen.<br /><br />They had designed it and then built it out of 2 regular clothespins, 2 popsickle sticks and 3 screws. Seemingly the project did not end there. They were asked to go out and try selling their product. Being entrepreneural that they were, they decided to target the coffee shops since they knew, they would find laptop users there. So they made me their sales pitch... One of them played the Penn State blue card (they had painted the whole contraption blue).<br /><br />While I had no use of the device, I decided to play along asking them to demonstrate how the product would be used. The salesguy tried to attach it to my laptop but the other pin which was supposed to hold the sheet kept slipping and it did not even have the load of the paper. He sheepishly said that they had tested their product and that it had worked successfully on the prototype.<br /><br />Being an engineering student myself, i asked them a couple of questions about the design principle, the load they had designed and given a chance how they would improve the design to overcome the obvious flaw that was apparent as they tried to make it work on my computer. Having gotten ideas from them I suggested a couple of my own fixes to the design that were practical and easy to implement. I remembered the time when I had designed my first drill jig at L&T using all the design principles I had learnt in theory at school. When I had shown the design to a tool manufacturer (of 20 years experience), he had simply smiled, appreciated my knowledge and then suggested modifications to the design so that the design would actually be able to be manufactured and used. I had learnt a lot from that experience and had never been told of any modifications to my future designs since then. I doubt if I will ever use the paper holder but I decided to reward this group of students for their thinking and purchased the contraption for $2. I think it was a bold attempt on their part and it was a small price to pay for being able to pay forward the practical knowledge I acquired as an engineer for free.wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768941.post-1138139258390634662006-01-24T13:11:00.000-08:002006-01-24T13:47:38.460-08:00Change of guard... Change of attitudeCricket, the times they are a changing. Subtly but yet over the ages of cricket a lot of changes have occured. The rules, the versions but those are not the point of this blog. It is about the change in attitude and consequently the bragging rights of the best team in the sport that I wanted to spend my two cents worth of observations.<br /><br />I believe over my so short and sweet life span on this planet, there have been two eras of cricket. The West-Indian kingdom and the Australian ascendancy. Since I was a very young lad, I remembered the dominance of West Indies over the game. Buoyed by a ferocious bowling line-up and talented hitters, they were an intimidating opposition every other team looked to beat. The attitude of the carribean cricketers was as cool as their calypso music. Pure talent, the "game is fun" attitude help them dictate their dominance over the game. I was able to witness this during our games against the carribean teams in <a href="http://www.wmcb.org">WMCB</a>. Chillax, drink a beer, go and hit some amazing shots, have a fun weekend.<br /><br />Then came the slow and steady encroachment into that dominance by the lads down under led by Alan Border and manager Bobby Simpson. They brought a whole new attitude to the game of cricket - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Professionalism</span>. With this new sensed attitude they set about taking the game away from the leaders and finally were able to emerge as the new supremos. This attitude continued under the Steve Waugh era and other teams started to embody the proffessional aspect in their games as well. The South Africans led by their tech savvy manager Bob Woolmer came as close to the Oz but could not overcome the last hurdle of overtaking them. They probably lacked that little bit of passion to tip them over.<br /><br />Sensing the gap closing up on them, there was a change in guard again and with Ponting at the helm, there was a whole new attitude shift. "Professionalism with a don't give a damn attitude since we are going to win". With players like Symonds, Lee, Clarke the juggernaut kept rolling and edging themselves once again away from the teams trying to catch up with them.<br /><br />With new players emerging in the cricketing arena carrying some of this new born attitude, India (Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Pathan, Dhoni) , Pakistan (Shoaib, Akhmal, Younis) and England (Flintoff, Pietersen) seem to be the teams in the forefront to become the new center of cricketing supremacy in the world. Would it need a little more than this attitude to overcome the Aussies or will we see another shift before the powers shift elsewhere?wagla_aka_batmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793451906146219507noreply@blogger.com1