Ramblings on Sports

My friend Harish has a very good post on Sports and Superdome Re-opening He explains his love for sports and the positive effects of sports on the life of people, especially after major tragedies like Hurricane Katrina or Sept 11. I've personally witnessed his madness for Indian Cricket team during the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

"But, what I love most about sports is the worlds into which it can take you. As a fan, brazen emotions spill forth, and you maintain little control over yourself. I have spent many sleepless nights because of too much joy or too much sadness, whenever my favourite team wins or loses a final. It's all part and parcel of being obsessed with sports and I love each and every bit of it"

Except Cricket and USC Football games, I've never felt anguish or frustration. And through the years the anguish for the Indian Cricket Team is also becoming less. You need some kind of madness and passion to support your team die-heartedly even when they are not performing well. Sadly but truly, I'm a fair weather follower.

But I want to change my attitude because "It's not winning that's important, it's how you play the game."

Peace.....

The Great Indian Water Challenge

The Indian economy is growing at 6.5-7.5% for the past couple of years and economists are forecasting 8% growth for fiscal year ending in March 2007. Even as we are racing on this growth trajectory there are numerous challenges that face India in the 21st century; education, poverty, healthcare, AIDS and clean drinking water to name a few. New York Times was recently running a story on the water management crisis in Delhi and the sad state of the Yamuna River on whose banks Delhi was born. (The article is a good read)

Here is a gist of the article "The combination has left water all too scarce in some places, contaminated in others and in cursed surfeit for millions who are flooded each year. Today the problems threaten India's ability to fortify its sagging farms, sustain its economic growth and make its cities healthy and habitable. At stake is not only India's economic ambition but its very image as the world's largest democracy."

The article also says near the end "Yet the most telling paradox of the city’s water crisis is that New Delhi is not entirely lacking in water. The problem is distribution, hampered by a feeble infrastructure and a lack of resources, concedes Arun Mathur, chief executive of the Jal Board"

This water crisis exists in all the major Indian cities and it's worse as we go in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Inspite of heavy rains and floods last year on 26/7 in Mumbai, you could still see water tankers operating in Mumbai and supplying water to so many city buildings. Where's all the water going ? (read DailyPanga almost at the bottom of the page)

A World Bank report India's Water Economy: Bracing for a turbulent Future, by John Briscoe states (it's scary) "Unless water management practices are changed - and changed soon - India will face a severe water crisis within the next two decades and will have neither the cash to build new infrastructure nor the water needed by its growing economy and rising population". This is something that's predicted to happen within our life-span, so obviously I'm scared.

There are solutions to this problem and the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi have a initiative called Rainharvesting, read more about it here and here
In short it means "In India the monsoon is brief. We get about 100 hours of rain in a year. It is this 100-hour bounty that must be caught, stored, and used over the other 8,660 hours that make up a year."

The problem at hand is serious; will need serious policy change and disruptive innovative water-management solution to yield successful results. But the least we can do is follow something we learnt in the 3rd or 4th grade, Stop wasting water!

Comments Welcome.

Quote of the day

"Formal education just does not bring in academic knowledge, it also brings with it curriculum, discipline, forbearance, competitiveness, understanding, vision and so many other qualities that are essential for everyday existence in a normal society."
- Anonymous

I don't remember where I read it, probably in some article on the net. Copied the line on my notepad and when I was looking for something today, I found this. But whoever has said it, it's a very valid and true statement.

Personally, going through a field change so early in my career has helped me understand some of the qualities mentioned above, not that I've all of those . Higher education has improved my thinking process and helped me make tough decisons without losing by sanity and calm, it has given me the self-confidence to work with people smarter than myself without getting into their hair. It has given me the ability to appreciate the antithesis of work life and importance of learning beyond the text-books.

To find one's true purpose in life, individuals have to look beyond textbooks, to be able to experiment and make mistakes, to learn from one's actions, to take feedback and start again. Learning happens only when we sit back and think and analyse our actions. This helps in realising our sense of purpose in life.

Wafa Sultan

For those of you who've views about the current conflict going on in the Arab world, watch the video of Wafa Sultan below. Read more about Wafa Sultan here.



Another long but interesting and insightful view of the Arab World by Haim Hariri, read it here.

Pehla Nasha

'Pehla Nasha' from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar must be a favorite song for most of the desi guys of my generation. The reason, this movie came out when most of us were in school probably in 7th or 8th grade, which is the time most of us started getting smart and interested in the opposite sex. I watched this movie 4 times in the theatre and endless times on cassette and cable TV. When I listened this song again today I remembered those old days and where I watched the movie and kind of recollected the past.

That's the affect of old songs and movies on me, I just go into the tri-state. Whenever I listen to some not so recent songs, I'm unconsciously remembered of the past; when I first listened to those songs or when did I watch that movie and whom did I go with, and stuff like that.

I'll list some songs and movies which have attached memories.
- I listened to Say Boom Boom first time while I was still in school.
- Gali Gali Mein from Tridev (Bollywood movie) when I had gone to Kashmir with my family (I was 9 years old).
- Dil Chahta Hain was the first Bollywood movie I watched in US with my FOB friends.
- Every time I watch some heroic patriotic movie, remembered of Border which I watched with my Sion buddies.
- I'm attached to Sar Ki Hain Yeh Bahar by Strings, one of my all time favorite songs, from the moment I listened to it on my trip to Matheran (hill station in India)
- The Matrix Reloaded is the only movie I've slept from start to end (went to watch it in Kodak Theatre, Hollywood)
- First listened to Californication when my room-mate used to blast it in our first year of stay at USC.
- Watched My Best Friend's Wedding on 1st April, 1998 with a very good friend.

There're endless such situations, which I may have forgotten. Can someone help me remember them which involves you ?