Saddam dead - Winners in West-Asia rejoice

Yesterday the whole world saw gruesome pictures of Saddam's assassination. I found broadcast of the pictures a disrespect to the dead. Today morning's Hindustan Times confirmed that most Indians also didn't like this version of victor's justice and its crude public broadcast.

We Indians have grown up on stories and mythologies of far more gallant treatment of the defeated. Most notable is the story about Porus, the king of Punjab(it was called something else at that time), whose army lost to Alakshendra's (Sikander). Sikandar asked Porus "how should i treat you?" and Porus is rumoured to have said " as one king treats another "...and Porus was treated like a king...his kingdom was restored (he was installed as a governor of Sikander)

Even in mythology - When Ravan was dying...Ram sent Laxman to go to the dying man and ask him for his knowledge...and when Laxman did this rudely, Rama instructs him to treat the man (guru at that point,cause he was the source of knowledge) respectfully.

No wonder Indians didn't like the circus show that is being put on by Bush/Maliki and being passed off as justice.

Interstingly the Iranian's and Israelis are rejoicing. They have their reasons too

Iran's chief enemy is gone..the men in power in today's Iraq were trained by Iran ...Shia/Persian Power has increased, Sunni/Arab power has decreased ...they have gained access to the holiest religious sites of Shias . Very importantly, they have gained a strategic significance due to which they can talk to America from a position of strength.

Israel on the other hand is happy to see the adversary who bombed them dead. One of the strongest Arab countries lies wasted. Muslim world, especially in west asia, is more polarized on shia/sunni lines and more likely to fight amongst itself than against Isreal. Americans have a ground presence in the region..another plus for Isreal.

I think Iran and Israel are rejoicing because they are the real victors of Iraq-America war.

Funny Day

OK the result is out...the second biopsy say nothing conclusive.......neither confirms TB nor any tumour/cancer..doesn't even deny either....The pathologist seems to have learnt her art from the politicians...her whole report contained nothing useful or meaningful.

I am confused.....how am i going to be treated when no one knows the disease that i have....my strong suspicion is that i will be the guinea-pig in guess-the-disease experiment run by the doctors.

Ouch

My last post would have given you the impression that I would never go for a repeat biopsy.

But lately, the doctor whom I am consulting for a second opinion (Yes Uncle, i went to Dr Kuplati... finally) has dropped some serious sounding words "thymoma" and "Thymic Lymphoma". This has scared me enough to get a second biopsy done. Thankfully, this time the biopsy-doctor was better skilled than the neanderthal-butcher who poked me the last time.

Results will be out in another 3-4 days.

My Parrots have flown away

Ji haan

" Merey toatey ud gaye hain "

aur un ki udaan ke peechey ek kahani hai.....

So this is how it happened:-

For the past six months,I was in a low health phase. Falling sick had become a monthly routine. So, when i ran high fever again (about a month back) someone had the bright idea of getting my chest X-Ray done....That was a genius idea cause the x-ray showed something abnormal in the lungs. Being a rational man, I took the next logical step and got a CT scan done. Scan showed enlarged lymph nodes right next to the lungs and the heart.

This put doctors in overdrive....They asked me to get HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and god knows what tests done. Nothing came positive

Then i had to get an FNAC and a Biopsy done. For the benefit of inexperienced readers- Not only do these procedures sound scary, they actually are scary- some guy pokes a needle into you chest and then puts you in the CT-scan machine to check his aim. After checking the distance he missed by, he corrects his aim and pokes the needle again (in your chest). And thus after a little trial and error, CT-Scan monitors tell him that he has reached the right spot. Now, this man pokes really huge needles, injections and contraptions deeper into your chest and withdraws fluids and tissue to examine. All this while you can feel/watch him, under light sedation of local anaesthesia.

At this stage i started marvelling at the wonders of the "exact science" called "modern medicine". Now, I thought, these guys will run complex tests, spectrum analysis, rocket science etc etc and soon remedy my ailments.

Alas! this was not to be.....I was mistaken .....it seems modern medicine is not that exact a science after all. There are big elements of art, luck etc involved.

So, instead of giving me the cause of my lymph inflammation, the nincompoops at cytopathology labs (of no lesser places than AIIMS and Gangaram) gave me two reports, one contradicting the other. They asked me to repeat the scary biopsy procedures..ha ha ha...

What a bunch of incompetent quacks. Thankfully they did not wear leaf-skirts and human skulls and also saved me the trouble of watching their evil-witch-doctor Jhinga-la-la dance.

Finally, i decided to ditch the repeat biopsy and one of the doctors is treating me for the most likely cause....suspect TB (ji haan mai tapedik ka shikar ho gaya hoon). I take four different medicine and an injection daily.

Quite a sad situation..But take it from me....if you had to go thru what i am going thru.....then your parrots would also have flown away too....

Politics of Fear

These are very interesting googlevideo clips that were sent by my friend Jim.
They are part 1,2 and 3 of the same documentary. My guess is that copyright of these must be with BBC (or so it seems with whatever little i could see on my limited bandwidth) and also that hopefully no laws were broken when they were put at googlevideo

Part -1 Philo groundings of neo-cons and radical islamist
Part 2 - Ideologies develop,distort, but not flourish
Part 3 - The false fear

Bahadur, Khan Sahib and Santa-Banta

StarOne has cracked the TV humour-show market. The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (and its many offshoots, sideshows et all) are the second most funny shows after Tageshi's Castle (The POGO show with Javed Jaferry voice-over)

They even have comic acts from Pakistan. what is interesting is that the paki stand up act almost always has a few "Khan Sahib" jokes. Khan Sahib seems to be the Santa-Banta equivalent.

Apart from being made fun of, the "Khan Sahib" (Pathans) and the Santa-Banta (Sikhs) have another thing in common. Both these communities - the Pathans and the Sikhs sided with the "East India Company" in the "1857 rebellion" (Gadar ki ladayi). Maybe..and just maybe... 1857 losers tried to get even with them in a funny way.

If this hypothesis is even vaguely true, then others who sided with the "Company sarkaar" should also be at the receiving end of jokes. We can have a look at the "Gurkhas" - the other significant martial race that sided with the "Firangi". Indian joke scene is flooded with gurkha acts, they all start with ..Shaloom Shaab..hom Bahadoor ..... there might be other's who were with the English in times of Gadar and i don't have a complete list, but maybe when i am thru with The Last Mughal (by william Dalrymple) i would know better.

Someone should look at this angle of Khan Sahib, Santa-Banta and Bahadur Jokes and see if 1857 events secretly influence today's stereotypes regarding Sikhs, Pathans and Gurkhas

Risky Cat

When I was in B school, there used to be a lot of talk ( i guess in eco and fin courses..) about risk profiles. How some people are risk takers (woh loge jo matka, juan-patti aur stock market kheltey hain), some are risk neutral (jo PPF aur mutual funds me paisa daaltey hain) and others are risk averse (jo unti mey paisa daba kar baithtey hain).

At that time it seemed more like intellectual bullshit- academic simplifications with little or no real world grounding. Today i got a better understanding of "risk taking" . here's what happened-

My little one (Shums) has grown fond of cats (I know some of the twisted minds are already joking about another "pussy lover"). My home usually has 6-7 cats hanging around, trying their luck for free food. Most of them are either current or previous litter from either "Chen-Chen" or "jangli-billi".

Now Chen chen happens to be a very friendly cat and Shums just loves playing with her- trying to pull her tail, ears,whiskers and occasionally trying to gorge out her eyes. Chen-Chen doesn't mind all this and patiently bears it all.

Not all cats are Chen-chen. Today, while he was on his pram, Shums started waving happily towards one of the not_so_friendly cats. This cat greeted him back by shaking hands (paw with nails extended). In the exchange Shums got a very minor scratch on the webbing between his thumb and index finger.

If the cat had scraped me, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. After all, i am the kind of guy who takes risks, does bungy jumping, quits cushy jobs to try alternate lifestyles. I don't take cat scratches seriously

But, I took the scratch much more seriously cause it happened to my kid. There is a .001 % chance that the barely visible mark had cut deep enough and was from a paw nail that had been recently licked by a rabid cat. The rarest of rare chances. But i was not willing to take even the rarest of rare chance with my son. I ran to the doctor and am getting Shums 5 anti-rabies shots.

This shows that risk-taking-ability is as very much situational. A Big risk taker of one situation can become a total play-it-safe guy in another.

I keep wondering ..can we turn around this logic and extend it on the opposite side... can every play-it-safe guy be turned into a super-risk-taker by getting him into the right situation(read: by brainwashing)??

...i don't know...only the best spin-doctors can tell

Live-in, Wives, Legislation and Jail

He: Oh Shut up! I am sick of that stupid line that you keep repeating. Can't you think of something smart to crib about.

She: You insensitive pig!

He: Bitch

She (angry): SLAP!!! (slaps him)

He (grimaces): SLAP!! (slaps her and say) next time you touch me i will break your neck.

Seems like a bad but fair domestic fight....actually its not....After Oct 25 the fight ceased to be fair.

From Oct 25 onwards, if you happen to be "He", you would have just broken the law. To be specific, you have committed "Domestic Violence" under sections 3(a) (physical abuse),3(c)(threat of physical abuse)and 3(d)(psychological/mental abuse) of THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005.

Your crime would be a cognizable and non-bailable offense. While "She" would have done nothing wrong (at least nothing of cognizable, non-bailable variety)

If "she" happens to be your live-in partner. She would have power to get you kicked out of your own flat (Which you were kind enough to let her share).

Worst case is, if "She" is your wife and you guys live in a joint family. Not only can she get you kicked out form the joint family home and prevent you from seeing your own kids, she can also restrain your mother and others from entering your shared bedroom

You might end up in jail for a year(apart from the Rs 20K fine). All this merely on the basis of her words (while your words do not carry the same weight...some witnesses are born truthful)

This law seems bad...actually its intent is not...it rightly wants to prevent Domestic Violence.

The law seems bad because it protects only one type of people who suffer physically, sexually, psychologically and emotionally in a domestic situations - Women.

Men can also suffer domestic violence. There is no reason to deny them protection in a domestic violence law.

We have other laws slanted against men. In India only men can be prosecuted for rape.

What happens when a woman rapes a man????

The lawmakers did not see the possibility of rape by women. That was extremely poor legislation. But the rape law was framed generations back, its mistakes can be overlooked (but must be corrected).

The Domestic Violence law is framed in today's enlightened world. I should be a progressive law - free from parochial mindsets and gender bias. Sadly, our lawmakers are still infusing a strong gender bias in laws that are better off being gender neutral.

I hope that in next election we will elect smart and unbiased representatives,who will legislate progressive laws.

Till then..Indian men better keep their wives and live-in partners happy......

69

On the way to Pehalgam from Srinagar, lies a small Kashmiri town named Avantipur. Avantipur gets its name from a great 9th century Utpala dynasty king- AvantiVerman.

Amongst his other great deeds, the king also constucted a grand temple for Lord Vishnu.I had stopped by to take a closer look at the temple. It is built in the Gandhara style(which has quite a few features of Greeco-Roman Architecture). From the excavated remains, i could make out that the original temple would have been Grand.

What's interesting about the temple is it's association with number 69. On the permeter wall of the temple there were 69 small chambers for 69 dieties. Obviously, King AvantiVerman (or his architect) must have seen something auspicious/significant in the number 69.

I tried to think up the rationale behind 69: What are the other things associated with 69? - few things came to my mind. hippy movement, woodstock and the famous 69 position.

What links these 69 things together ???

I couldn't come up with a cosmic link. So here's my take on linking all 69 related things.

There are images of Kamdev, Rati and wooh (kamdev image had two consorts being groped by him, one i imagined as Rati..other could have been any lady..i call her "wooh") on both sides of steps leading to vishnu idol. --> Kamdev would have been a champion of the 69 position --> which the hippies would have enjoyed in the Woodstock.

If you think I am talking Bakwaas...then give me a rational basis for the number 69.

Kashmiri Diwali

With Diwali and Eid around, this is bonafide festival season in India. It's time for families to gather and spend time together. Keeping with the spirit, my family is gathering at Abbu's place in Kashmir.

Coming to Srinagar is not an easy task. Mighty Pir-Panjal ranges separate the Kashmir valley from the rest of India. There is no rail link, the only practical road connection is a very beautiful, but scary, mountain highway from Jammu. Since my boy (Shums) is 10 months old, I can't take this day long journey.I had to travel by air.

The valley is sandwiched between two very high mountain ranges. Clouds play a major spoilsport in all air travel - they can cancel your flight, force your plane to return to Delhi or get it diverted to Jammu...Our flight also had a close brush with some low flying clouds. The pilot tried a couple of times, but could not spot the runway. Finally when he did manage to get us on firm earth, we were greeted by rain and cold weather. To top it up, I came to know the that road to my home was blocked by security people for some stupid force movement..Thankfully I managed to reach home without much trouble.

The house is scenically located on a hillock, jetting out of a hill.It has farms & university below and trees & rocky peak above.It offers a good view of Dal Lake (in front) and lofty Himalayan peaks (on its right). There's a small stream that is being diverted to run thru our gardens. Overall, its a very peaceful place. The day i reached there was distant background sound of firecrackers - pat.pat .pat. patpat.pat (the sound that a "ladi" makes). This was more a Diwali-eve Delhi sound than a Srinagar sound. One does not expect pre-Diwali crackers because of Srinagar's demographics - though you find quite a few Kashmiri Sikhs (dad's driver is one),the only Hindus that i have seen are Tourists and Army walas.

The "ladi" sound(which i wrote about) got punctuated by a big "boom". The boom was slightly too big for a firecracker. I went asking Farooq, our house help. He explained the story behind the sounds. It seems two militants had entered a house right next to our university. The pat pat ..patpat was gunfire exchange between militants and security forces. The boom was the sound of security guys blowing up the house in which militants had sneaked into. I went out ...I could see smoke from across the plantation of Poplar trees. Soon i could see the flames from the house. It was just half a kilometer from my house...slightly scary huh?. Conclusion, i thought, the price of letting a militant into your house, is your house. Farooq told me - the security guys invariably blow up any house in which militant are found hiding. They do not bother to determine if the militants forced their way in (almost always). I sympathised with the house owner, he lost his house for no apparent fault of his. But even then, the militants were killed, so some good came out of blowing up a house....

My thoughts were premature, the militants were alive, the gunfire resumed,i was surprised...how could CRPF/BSF/Army miss the militants when they blew up the whole damn house...Maybe they blew up the wrong house.

The firing and grenades continued till evening, after which they stoped. Next day News-Papers told me that both the militants were killed. Three houses were burnt. One belonging to a widow, who had two daughters and a diabetic mom, she was making ends meet on a 2000 rupee pension. She would not get any compensation for her burnt house. I felt sorry for her.

The militants and the security forces are actually screwing the Kashmiris. No one can refuse entry when armed militants come knocking. Similarly, no one has the guts to refuse signature when security guys come with papers that give them permission to blow up ones home. The average Kashmiri is bound have a lot of pent-up anger and frustration.

Anyways, the other interesting feature of Srinagar is that one can watch Geo TV and other Pakistani channels and brush up ones Urdu. Besides, the Pakistani news-readers are much hotter than our desi variety.

I switched-on the TV. It had the same old news. Prime Minister informing the nation of ways to prevent Dengue. Another blast in a market, on festival eve, it killed a few and injured many. News reader said that a "foreign hand" was suspected .....Very familiar stories ..right? .....The only difference is that the PM is Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan, warning about Dengue in Karachi and the bomb blast happened in a bazaar in Peshawar. I could never figure out who the foreign hand belonged to..India or Afghanistan !!!!!

So i have seen and heard strange diwali crackers in Kashmir...god only knows what other things i get to discover...Keep watching this place

Finding time

For the last few days, I have been thinking of posting another blog. There was a backlog of thoughts that i had to clear...thoughts on nuclear bombs, pulse rate during exercise, death sentences and what not.

And as a quick scroll below will show... i haven't written on any of these topics. In fact, i haven't written on ANY damn topic.

It's not because i don't have time to write. But because i don't have time when i want to write.

I only get a strong urge to write when
1. I am with Shums ...and my two arms and two legs are tied up in chasing/holding/bracing Shums
2. I am working
3. I am in the loo

But when i do have time....i just while it away...
And then i feel bad about it...

here's lyrics from floyd that capture my dismay over wasting away time

***********
..
.
And then one day you find that ten years have got behind you

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking

And racing around to come up behind you again

The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time

Plans that either come to naught or a half page of scribbled lines
..
.
***********

One man's terrorist

Terrorist, Aatankvaadi, Dahshadgard......these are some of the most common words found in todays media.

The words are being used very frequently. Open a news channel and you would definitely hear them in the first 5 minutes. Since the words carry a negative connotation, everyone wants to brand his/her opponent a "terrorists", an "atankvadi" or a "dahshadgard". In this bhasad* the word "terrorist" has developed as many meanings as the people using it. Here's an interesting piece on what Bushies mean by "terrorist". (from who else but aljazeera)

I have my own personal take
"terror" is anything that puts deep-seated fear in the hearts/minds of people.
"terrorist" is anybody who causes deep-seated fear in the hearts/mind of people.

Going by my definition, these are the common terrorists-

for individuals
1. Maths/Physics/history/Sanskrit teachers (depending on your choice of worst subject)
2. Exams
3. Economic/love-life insecurities
4. Corrupt Police/People with power
6. Neighbourhood/school bullies
7. Those who destroy life, limb, property (rioters, bombers and the kind)

For Groups and Countries
1. Opposing armies , militia and armed groups
2. Economic exploiters
3. Those hell-bent on destroying a group's uniqueness/identity/characteristics

If we got rid of all these 'atankvadis' (especially exams and terrible teachers) life would definitely be much more pleasant.


*
("bhasad" is a word introduced by Uncle, it can be used of any situation between "chaos" and "confusion")

Abbu and "Progress Report"

Let me take you to the times of my schooling days -

In those days, I hated the idea of school, hated home-work (never did it properly after class 2) and hated the projects. What I hated most was the day when i had to get my "Progress Report" signed by my parents. The rules at Kendriya Vidyalaya dictated that such days came not once or twice...but thrice in a year.

Three times a year was too frequent for me to tolerate "school sponsored terrorism" ( phrase borrowed from Calvin and Hobbes strip). I countered by developing my own escape routine - hide the report-card till the very last day and then pop it in front of my mom seconds before the school bus was to leave. Mom usually had very little time to react, just enough time to skim through the numbers before signing off my "progress report".

After each such stunt, my mom used to warn me "agli baar Abbu sey sign karwana padega" (next time you would have to get it signed by your dad) . "Abbu" was used as a larger than life scare.

I usually managed to appeal to Amma's maternal instincts and avoid getting signature from Abbu. Eventually, i did once show my "Progress Report" to Abbu.... and, contrary to all my fears, he was supportive to the extent of being happy with my science and maths "Progress".

Thus, I realized that Abbu followed the policy of giving me space, allowing me to take my own decisions. He had his words of advice - "try to do everything with perfection" (Even if you want to be a thief, be the perfect thief - one who sneaks in unnoticed, does his job with minimal fuss, leaves no trace and then never gets caught), "try to stay within the top few students in your calss". He also had a big heart- when i was not that perfect in most things , when i did not finish in the top five(class 1 to class 10), he never held it against me.

This way, I was never under the maddening parental pressure that was making most of my friends crack (especially in class 10 and 12 days)

I love Abbu for that.

Years have passed since but dad has not changed much....occasionally he asks for my report ("..where are reports of those blood sugar and Lipid profile tests ...") and still has advice ("... see.. we have a genetic disposition to Diabetes, you got to exercise daily...")

Today, I myself am "Abbu" to my little boy- Shums. It is a big responsibility and it make me wonder..wonder whether i will be able to strike the right balance ....to give Shums enough space and yet ensure that he is out of harms way.

I don't have much experience on this job ..maybe its not not that difficult... maybe nature shows you the way.......maybe you can ask your Abbu for tips......

Will i do a good job? .....who knows......only time and Shums (when he is a Abbu himself) can tell.

Pissin Honey (It's such a great thing)

It is Gods gift to mankind......the one shot solution to all problems.....it is natures bounty that only the lucky few enjoy...........it is the blissful sate of "Pissin Honey".

Yes .... I mean it ..... look at "honey"- it is made out of nectar and hard-work of tireless bees. In-fact it takes 5 litres of nectar to make one litre of honey and each litre of nectar requires from 20,000 to 10,000 bees' sorties.

Honey is special....... and so must be the guy who has "Diabetes Mellitus" (which is Greek and Latin for........."pissin honey")

My doctor just told me that I might have type II Diabetes Mellitus, and that I definitely have some degree of insulin resistance.

In non-doctor talk, this means that
1) I get to eat lots of healthy food and that too every 2-3 hours.
2) Afshan (my lovely wife) will get worried and will not let me do too any household chores. Hopefully, she might eventually get into the "mera_pati_mera_devata" mode, just like the wives in the 1960-1970s movies.
3) I get to exercise every day.

If all the three things happen, and they have to happen(else i die painfully), then i am gonna metamorphose into a six-pack hunk with a "pati vrata" wife....

Not too bad.........huh ?.......this...... pissin honey.........

Frank and Tony - Cricketing Gods

Here's one .....................When the "Rain Gods" shower their displeasure on cricket matches..............who saves the game ???

hint..... its not the players , neither the umpires, referees or the spectators

I must tell you......

The job is for two mathematician, statistician types.....whose abode is in the land of the English

Their names : "Frank Duckworth" and "Tony Lewis"

Their claim to fame: They have stated the cricketing "obvious" and then went on to give it a quantitative basis.

The obvious fact stated by Duckworth and Lewis :- The major resources needed by any team to score runs are 1) Overs, in which to score 2) The batsmen who can bat in these overs (wickets remaining)

Seems simple.. right???

Interestingly, This simple statement(and the attached tables and methods) have made Duckworth and Lewis an inalienable part of cricketing world. They decide the destiny of every team involved in an interrupted match.

This makes them "great men".. gods of the religion called cricket

History tells us this interesting fact about "great men". Most "great men" have not only stated the "obvious", but have also given some numbers and formula regarding the "obvious". Numerous people have become immortal by stating simple observations and then attaching confusing numbers to their observations. Take the case of Newton:- He first stated the obvious ("apples tend to fall on the earth") , he then went on to attach numbers/formulas with this "obvious" {9.8 m/sec,G, g, F=ma, v = ut+ 0.5 (at*at)..etc etc}

What Newton did for Physics, Duckworth/Lewis (D/L) have done for cricket. They have managed to confuse the common man.

D/L have given us formulas and tables that quantitatively link the two main batting resources- overs and wickets. They have reduced the two parameters into one - "Available run-scoring resources". Further, D/L have gone on to give the exact percentage of "available run-scoring resources" left with any team, at any stage of an innings ("stage" being defined by the remaining overs and the wickets in hand)

But how does D/L decide matches???

When rain interrupts matches, only parts of the initially available "run scoring resources" get used in the two innings (other parts get washed off).

While one team might get to use one fraction (say, only 75% of the resources) in their innings, the other team might get to use another fraction (say 50%).

It is unfair to compare the score of a team which used 50% of its resources to that of a team which used 75%.

This is where D/L come in, their method
1) Calculates the difference in available run scoring resources of the two teams
2) Adjusts for this difference, and
3) Gives a fair way of judging the winner.

Let me elaborate,

Take the example of "Team1" playing "Team2" in a one day match. Let there be two interruptions in Team1's batting and one Interruption in Team2 batting.

For Team1 -
Interruption 1 (9 overs washed when the team has played for 10 overs)
Status Interruption beginning - 1 wicket lost, 40 overs remaining - Resource avail - 84.2%
Status Interruption end - 1 wicket lost, 31 overs remaining - Resource avail - 73.2%
Resource loss = (84.2 -73.2) = 11%

Interruption 2 (i'll spare you the details) resource lost 9%

Total Resource loss (Team1) = 20%

Team1 Scores 160 Runs. As a result of rains, Team2 innings reduced to 39 overs

For Team 2

Resource loss due to shorter innings - 12%
Interruption 1 (I am sparing you the details) resources lost 18%

Total Resource loss (Team2) = 30%

Over all, Team1 had 80% resources at its disposal, while Team2 had 70% resources at its disposal.

D/L sets the new target for Team2 by reducing Team1's score in the proportion of the resources available

New Target = 160* (70/80) + 1 (plus one cause you need one more than the other team to win) = 141

If Team2 makes 141 by the end of the "reduced overs", then they win, else they lose.

This was a case when the team batting second had less resources at their disposal.

The other case is when the second batters have more resources than first batters. There is different calculation for this case - Team2 would need to score more than what Team1 scored

Lets take that case: Team1 has 70% available resources (and scores 160) while Team2 has 80% available resources

Warning: this formula has not resemblance to earlier formula
Now, Revised Target = 160 + (235(80-70)/100) + 1 = 184

Please note, in the first case, a proportionate reduction in target was done. But in the second case the "magic number" 235 was used.

D/L has funny ways.

Whatever you think of the confusing formulas, D/L have become a part of the cricketing history. A refined version of their method (which runs on computers) has been used for all interrupted international one day matches since 2002.

Congratulations Frank and Tony..

As for me.........I am looking for an "obvious" to state... I also want to find some confusing numbers behind it.

Cautiously Confident (Caution : Funda overdose)

How confident is too confident?

Case for Confidence
As people look at qualities - a self aware, balanced, consistent and "confident" demeanour is generally considered a good thing to have.

In competing for jobs, confident candidates have a definite edge over iffy-whiffy ones. Even my old b-school looks for the essential dose of confidence in incoming candidates (experience shows that quite a few cocksure smart-asses are masquerading as confident leaders of tomorrow)

It might seem that more the confidence the better it is...............................:-) well obviously there is a counter-argument

Case for Caution
A dash of doubt helps us keep our feet on ground. Small doubts lead to the ever useful sanity checks. If people were too sure of things....there would never be the second..third...and final draft....refining would be non existent - people will never take a good look from two steps back, and make the obvious correction.

Our insecurities save us from taking risks that we cannot afford to take. They make us evaluate and re-evaluate our options, till will settle on the right one (remember when you were choosing colleges, jobs, wives and swimming trunks...you were ever so cautious)

HMM!!!
So, where are the boundaries where the confident become foolhardy and the cautious become indecisive?

What is the point where the "fearless march into the uncharted territories" should convert into the "race to save your shit-scared ass"?

I have thought about it ...a lot......... and my temporary conclusion is .....confidence and caution are not mutually exclusive....In fact, to claim further , "confidence" and "caution" are not ever desirable things.

What are desirable are
1) Peace..a calm head, which knows the consequences of actions
2) Patience ...so that we don't panic at short term loss or get carried away by short term gains
3) Wisdom to know the right from wrong

If we have these three things....the apparent conviction of "confidence" and safety of "caution" would not be missed...


In the end I can confidently say that "confidence" is a non-issue....or maybe it is..

The Big Bang Theory

If you have ever smoked more than two cigarettes a day ...you would know that smoking has a tendency to take over its victim in an all-pervasive grasp. Very much in the manner in which the Hyacinth weed takes over many of India's water-bodies.

Like the Hyacinth, which makes its first appearance as a single leaf or two, smoking also starts with a single puff from a borrowed ciggi.....like it happened to me about 10 years back in the “Cafty” next to third mess...in RECW.

Like Hyacinth, smoking rapidly expands. Before you know, you get hooked on to the "post-meal" sutta.....then the "pre-meal" sutta..."pre class"...."post class"...."pre-dump".....the list goes on...

The Hyacinth weed is extremely difficult to remove....if, while removing, a few leaves or plants are left behind ...the remains slowly grow back to cover the lake again. All the Hyacinth has to be removed completely to save the lake.

Same with smoking. I have never seen anyone who voluntarily quit smoking by slowly reducing the number of daily ciggis......It is not humanly possible..........one's resolve breaks before the habit is broken. I myself have tried many a times....reducing is impossible....

What is possible... is sudden break (shock treatment)...

Usually such breaks are inspired by

1. Emotional moms: "....beta merey sar par haanth rakh kar kasam kha ki tu aaj sey is gandi cheez ko haant nahi lagayega..."

2. Concerned Girlfriends / Cute Female Colleagues (most probable: while most GFs know, mothers are rarely privy to the fact that their "pyara beta" smokes) ..

(Something like this happened to me)
Cute colleague: You are such a great guy, i am sure you can leave smoking if you try
you : Well Hmm.. I am sure my will power is strong..so if i don't smoke for a month will you take me out on a treat?
Cute Colleague : Deal
you (sucker): Deal

(This didn't happen to me...but i am sure this method will work)
Girlfriend : You are not getting any further unless you quit smoking
you : Come on!!... i would become a sex starved maniac otherwise
Girlfriend : your choice.....the ciggi or me
you (sucker): Of course you my love....i wouldn't touch a ciggi again...now come on UMMM

Such shock treatment works for a while.... but the chemicals and the urge to smoke eventually wins in about two days time and makes you into a liar
You: "..Kasam sey maa.. jub sey tuney bola hai mainey haanth bhi nahi lagaya... "
OR else
You: See girl i told you....not even a single ciggi in the past one month. How about that treat now
OR Still
You: Never darling...how can I? I love you so much

To escape becoming a liar …I recommend you try the The Big Bang Theory......

The Big Bang Theory
Next time you have that serious lung infection/Viral/dengue/Malaria ....you would be forced to quit smoking for a week......this is the time when your body will be so seriously screwed by the high_temperature / near_death_experience that it would forget to crave for the ciggi.....

This is the BIG moment to seize.....gather all your will power and resist smoking for a few extra days........BANG ..the quitting will stick.......

Believe me....This works ....your body will be so relieved of escaping the miseries of the illness that it will forget to miss the ciggi... and if your resolve can block the mind from missing the ciggi....you will be free from the crutches of smoking.....

It’s worked on me (14 days since I last smoked) ...no reason why it will not work on you....

This "Big Bang Theory" is the recipe of freedom.....it should be taught in all schools.... and that too as early as class 8 (which is when a few "brave" boys first venture into the forbidden realm of smoking)

And so ....i start again

There's an ideal i hold very dear to my heart.

It's not very big ...In fact it is just one word long.... it is............"simplicity"

I think the greatest writings are in the simplest words. Greatest complexities can be explained by simple examples. Even the mathematicians like simple solutions to deeply knotted problems

Simply put...........simple is elegant........


Sadly, my writing skills are not very evolved....so i can't put my ideas in a few simple words.....

So i have decided to keep practicing my writing till the ideas start coming out in simple words




Hello You and Me

I am back

Cheers

Me