I have never jumped off my couch after a 4 X 100 swim relay. But at 10:30 in the night today, I did just that as Team USA beat the shit out of the arrogant French team.
"The Americans? We are going to smash them. Thats what we are here for" .. The french relay team was quoted as saying. This was all over the French daily news. Now who's talking, France?
Australia started off with a cracker but as it happens more often than not, the leaders are left behind in relays; the pattern continued.
Americans had already broken the World Record in the preliminaries but the final was a different ball game. The ecstatic screaming of Phelps was so infectious even as America edged out the stunned French team. They surely had the last and the loudest laugh.
I am already loving it. Yesterday it was the "Redeem Team" making a mincemeat of Chinese team; a team who's every move was being cheered lustily by home crowd.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Swapan puts it Best
"And like the tortoise, there are reasons to believe that blundering humans will eventually prevail over super-humans without souls."
Whoa... that's vintage Swapan Das Gupta for you.
"So, is China naturally better than us? Has Hu Jintao finally demonstrated the fallacy of the theory that robust economic development is inevitably preceded by democracy? Has competitive politics sapped India's national will to the point that we are now incapable of organising the proverbial piss-up in a brewery?"
And here's that inescapable comparison...
"When it comes to organising spectacles, dictatorships always do it better. Hitler came to power in January 1933. Yet, in just three-and-half years, he put together a great show in Berlin."
Whoa ..whoa..whoa...
Whoa... that's vintage Swapan Das Gupta for you.
"So, is China naturally better than us? Has Hu Jintao finally demonstrated the fallacy of the theory that robust economic development is inevitably preceded by democracy? Has competitive politics sapped India's national will to the point that we are now incapable of organising the proverbial piss-up in a brewery?"
And here's that inescapable comparison...
"When it comes to organising spectacles, dictatorships always do it better. Hitler came to power in January 1933. Yet, in just three-and-half years, he put together a great show in Berlin."
Whoa ..whoa..whoa...
Friday, August 8, 2008
'Broker of Disrepute'
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Pune..Way to go!
Things work when cooler heads prevail. Pune slowly but surely worked it's way out of the incompetent State government's apathy towards Power issues in Maharashtra. (Just for the record, the Vilasrao Deshmukh government that has ruled Mah. for 8 years now has not taken a single initiative to deal with power woes)
Pune has shown in a small but effective way that you don't have to Shout through your lungs, breast-beat, take out Morchas, call for Bandhs to get things done. Pune is one of the key industrial hubs of Maharashtra and gets extremely affected by load shedding.
So people of Pune, the Corporate houses of Pune and some NGOs came together and brought about a simple and effective solution to power problem. Pune now as 24x7 power.
Where there is zero accountability of Government, intelligence has to rise a few notches. Article here in Indian Express
Pune has shown in a small but effective way that you don't have to Shout through your lungs, breast-beat, take out Morchas, call for Bandhs to get things done. Pune is one of the key industrial hubs of Maharashtra and gets extremely affected by load shedding.
So people of Pune, the Corporate houses of Pune and some NGOs came together and brought about a simple and effective solution to power problem. Pune now as 24x7 power.
Where there is zero accountability of Government, intelligence has to rise a few notches. Article here in Indian Express
Superb article in Khaleej Times
Although I am no big fan of MJ Akbar, I have always felt he is very articulate and well meaning. The other day when he was opposing the nuclear deal on a TV program conducted by the high-pitch-high-decibel Sargarika Ghosh of CNN-IBN, never did he once loose his temper. His arguments were crisp and to the point.
As an Indian muslim, MJ Akbar has shown common sense and high level of maturity. He has shown his utter disgust at the current government's callous behavior towards dealing with terror. We need more articulate muslim voices like these and less and less excuse makers (Read Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar et al)
In a brilliant article published in Khaleej Times, MJ spells out almost perfectly what is ailing the current Indian rulers. Kudos MJ.
On a side note: I have had a couple of email conversations with Mr. Razi Azmi in the past and will be posting my thoughts on that soon. Azmi is a Pakistani journalist of repute who writes for Friday Times. He is currently on a sabbatical.
As an Indian muslim, MJ Akbar has shown common sense and high level of maturity. He has shown his utter disgust at the current government's callous behavior towards dealing with terror. We need more articulate muslim voices like these and less and less excuse makers (Read Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar et al)
In a brilliant article published in Khaleej Times, MJ spells out almost perfectly what is ailing the current Indian rulers. Kudos MJ.
On a side note: I have had a couple of email conversations with Mr. Razi Azmi in the past and will be posting my thoughts on that soon. Azmi is a Pakistani journalist of repute who writes for Friday Times. He is currently on a sabbatical.
Friday, August 1, 2008
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