CWG Opening Ceremony: I wish I were there

Finally after so much of negative publicity and last minute wake up by the Indian Govt., there was a lot to cheer about in the opening ceremony of XIX Common Wealth Games. I had the privilege of watching the ceremony live from the stadium, through TV (thanks to DD :-)), though I would have loved to be there. There are so many great moments to cherish from the last nights ceremony and few which I will remember for long are as below:

1. The huge crowd and their active and enthusiastic participation in all the events of the night made the ceremony such lively.
2. The huge cheer that the crowd gave to the Pakistani contingent was just awesome. That shows the spirit of sportsmanship of its true nature.
3. When President of India took the name of dignitaries present and she took the name of our previous president APJ Abdul Kalam, there was a huge round of applause from the crowd and they cheered like anything. That shows how much people of India love Dr. Kalam, even now.
4. The display of Yoga was a beautiful addition and loved to see that organizers tried to display that in the ceremony as Yoga is one of the most important contributions of ancient India to the world.
5. The sand art display of Gandhi's Dandi march was beautiful. That reminded me of "Manas Kumar Sahoo and Group" of 'India's Got Talent II' fame.
5. And finally A R Rehman. He was as usual mesmerizing. I was expecting "Jai Ho" song in between and that came. It was awesome to watch him perform and the crowd participated in it with so much of enthusiasm and energy.
6. And last but not the least, the Mehendi painting performed by the school kids in the beginning was beautiful. The picture came out so perfectly from under the curtain.

This and many more moments made the ceremony a memorable one for me. I am sure the world would have watched and will remember this for long.
I hope and pray the same continues for the rest of the CWG and India reaches its target 100 medals this time.

***Check out the latest medal tally of CWG 2010 here:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cwgmedaltally.cms

Brighter side of CWG blunder

Friends, they say that 'be positive and everything will be good'. So, this statement helps me in understanding the CWG saga better. The silver lining I can find in all these CWG blunder is as follows:

1. CWG village will be the worst of the kind and there will be deliberate security issues.
2. Media will be paid to highlight smallest of the issues in very huge manner.
3. All the other nation and their atheletes, seeing this hyper highlighted issues, will be scared and will pull out of the games.
4. Who else are left in the game!!!! Only Indian athletes... and hurray we are going to win all the GOLD medals (who cares now of the silvers and bronzes) and we will be the champions of champion of 2010 CWG. History will be created which can never be erased until...
... India hosts the CWG again. :-D

I think keeping the above excellent idea in mind we should back our Sports body and govt. to bid for Olympics next time. what do you say friends... :-)

CSR: Innovative way by BSNL

BPL citizens in Rajasthan were distributed with mobile phones from BSNL. It seems to be a part of CSR activity of the organization. The people came in hope of getting some free grains instead they got cell phones. People were totally blank about what they are going to do with the handsets. Do we expect BPL people, who cannot afford for grains to pay for their cell bills and use them? They don't even know how to operate the handsets. And on TV, some of the politicians are praising the initiative.

Or if you look from another angle, those people can go and sell the handsets in 100 rs or so and at least buy some kilo of grains from the market or whatever they want to feed their stomach. So in the whole process, so many people will get benefited like: The shop keeper who will sell the grains, the local chindi chor shops who will buy the handsets from the people at the throw away price, the cell phone industry (Olive was the brand of cell phone I guess) who provided the handsets to BSNL, BSNL will also make some money out of very few people who are actually going to use its service and finally our TV channels who got a hot hot topic to show it on their channels... Hmmm... it seems to be a well thought out process by BSNL.

World Cup Hockey: India (2) Vs England (3)

World Cup Hockey: India (2) Vs England (3)
What a spirited performance by the Indians. But unfortunately we lost to a smooth game by England. Indians missed both the penalty corners earned and that proved to be costly. India dominated the game from the word go and attacked the England's half with all the force but could not convert the opportunities. Once the first goal was scored by England, thanks to India's usual mistake of ignoring the opponent and not marking them in the D area, the game changed and England was all over the game. In the second half England was leading 3-0 and suddenly the crowd came to their toes by two back to back goals by Indians within 3 minutes.
Then Indians made the blunder and were reduced to 9 players only bCuz of the poor tactics used by the players and got 2 Yellow card in the last 5 minutes of the play. Still with 9 players Indians created a beautiful chance in the last minute to level the game when the ball was beautifully passed just from the left flank of England. Unfortunately the ball whisked by England's goal post where the Indian player failed to convert the opportunity into a leveling goal. And oh ya, Indians do made some silly mistakes which allowed England score 2 out of their 3 goals.

fewww...... well played India. What an exciting match!!! I was just a statue in front of the TV till the end of the game. Just a win would have made it a day for me. Never the less, amazing comeback guys...Well played.

India thrashes Pakistan 4-1 in World Cup Hockey

With a spirited performance from the Indian hockey team, we are able to thrash the arch rival Pakistan by 4-1. With luck playing its part and favoring India twice when Pakistan players hit two penalty corners onto the cross bar, India also played wonderful hockey to get a 4-0 lead which is comfortable enough to end the match with a lead. Though India too missed some chances and Pakistan goal keeper saved two brilliant strokes,India undoubtedly dominated both the half of the game and came out victorious which gave a much needed boost to our hockey and to its fan. Wish India will keep on playing with the same confidence through out the series and win the world cup on its home ground.

Check out the points table here:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/articleshow/5555070.cms

Lets beat the drum: HOCKEY WORLD CUP, 2010...10 days to go...in INDIA.

HOCKEY WORLD CUP, 2010...10 days to go...in INDIA.

Hockey world cup is scheduled to start from 28th Feb, 2010 in New Delhi, India.The tournament will be from 28 February-13 March 2010. And the best part of it is, the first day of the tournament will see a thrilling match between two all time rivals INDIA and PAKISTAN...whats more can we ask from the game. Come and watch the matches and encourage our national game. Snatch your share of thrill and excitement...

Lets join hands and spread the news.
For detail schedule, please visit the below site:
Hockey World Cup, 2010 Schedule

Schedule: Hockey World Cup-2010

Hero Honda FIH World Cup

Men, New Delhi (IND) – 28 February/13 March 2010

Match Schedule

Pool A

Argentina

Canada

Germany

Korea

Netherlands

New Zealand

Pool B

Australia

England

India

Pakistan

South Africa

Spain





Date/ Match

28 Feb 2010

B 1 South Africa v. Spain

B 1 Australia v. England

B 1 Pakistan v. India

1 Mar 2010

A 1 New Zealand v. Canada

A 1 Germany v. Korea

A 1 Netherlands v. Argentina

2 Mar 2010

B 1 South Africa v. England

B 1 Pakistan v. Spain

B 1 India v. Australia

3 Mar 2010

A 1 Canada v. Germany

A 1 Argentina v. Korea

A 1 New Zealand v. Netherlands

4 Mar 2010

B 1 South Africa v. Australia

B 1 England v. Pakistan

B 1 Spain v. India

5 Mar 2010

A 1 Korea v. New Zealand

A 1 Netherlands v. Canada

A 1 Germany v. Argentina

6 Mar 2010

B 1 Australia v. Spain

B 1 South Africa v. Pakistan

B 1 England v. India

7 Mar 2010

A 1 Korea v. Canada

A 1 New Zealand v. Argentina

A 1 Germany v. Netherlands

8 Mar 2010

B 1 Spain v. England

B 1 Australia v. Pakistan

B 1 South Africa v. India

9 Mar 2010

A 1 Germany v. New Zealand

A 1 Netherlands v. Korea

A 1 Canada v. Argentina

10 Mar 2010 Rest Day



Finals Matche

Thu 11 Mar 2010

6th Pool A v. 6th Pool B

1st Pool A v. 2nd Pool B

1st Pool B v. 2nd Pool A

Fri 12 Mar 2010

5th Pool A v. 5th Pool B

4th Pool A v. 4th Pool B

3rd Pool A v. 3rd Pool B

Sat 13 Mar 2010

Loser Match 32 v. Loser Match 33

Winner Match 32 v. Winner Match 33

Closing Ceremony

Note: Subject to the approval of the FIH Representative and Tournament Director any match(es) may be rescheduled to accommodate international television requirements.

TVS Apache RTR 180: Replacement for issue in front suspension

Friends, some update on RTR 180. After my first servicing also, I used to get the thad sound from the front suspension, when I go over some huge humps or some pot holes on the road. So, I took it to the servicing center and they did some modification and it is fine now. But they said that it is only temporary solution. As the problem is with all the RTR 180 bikes, TVS is going to replace the fluid pump inside the front suspension with a larger size. It might take 3-4 months more to manufacture and send that part from TVS to all TVS centers. Once received, the service center will replace the new part in every RTR 180, free of cost. Till that day, enjoy the temporary fix ;).


If you want to read a full review on RTR 180, please visit the provided links.
India Review Channel: RTR 180
MouthShut: RTR 180

The sorry state of Indian Hockey

All of a sudden Indian hockey is in news for all not so good reason. Players are boycotting the world cup practice camp in Pune in order to get some justice regarding their payments. On the other hand, the Hockey India, body that is supposed to be taking care of player's issue and running the federation smoothly is giving statements in media as if they are negotiating with some hooligans. They are threatening like "We will give ultimatum of xx hrs" or "Will have to take stringent action" etc etc. As if they are dealing with some criminals. This is a really sorry state of Indian Hockey. With less than 50 days left for world cup hockey, the players should be practicing day and night to play well in the world cup in their home turf. But instead they are involved in some kind of bad negotiation and are not practicing for the tournament.

                 BUT, why are they behaving in such a manner. Well, they are asking for their due. They are asking for the incentives they deserve for the matches and win in year 2009. Though the HI (Hockey India) is trying to put the matter as if the players are trying to create unnecessary issues and are not joining the practice due to money matter, the matter is not that simple. I, as an employee, also know that tomorrow if my employer stop paying my salary I will just stop working for that company and get into another who pays me good. In the same vein, hockey players are just asking for their dues and incentives. What is wrong in that? Why the HI want to portray the situation as if the players are doing some anti-national task? Even some people are commenting as the players should think of the Nation and not the money. I just want to ask those people how long they will be with their employer when the same employer stops giving you your salary? People here leave the country and settle down in other countries just for getting better money. Then why is such a different view for the hockey players. By trying to put the issue as nation's pride does not solve the issue. This just shows that how unprofessional we are in our dealings with hockey in India. As a professional team, they should be paid what are they due to get. And yes, what HI is offering them 25K per player. Is that a joke!!! What is 25K in today's sports arena...this makes the Indian hockey just a piece of joke.
               Finally, I wish, what ever might be the situation the issue should be solved amicably and the team India should be all out in the field with a healthy set of mind and body to try and win the world cup in the home turf. I wish the players get their dues appropriately and every one start saying 'ALL IS WELL' :).