The Inside View

What an Amazing finish to the F1 Season

2008-11-04T15:27:00.002+05:30

Thanks to the rain god, we could see one of the most entertaining F1 race in recent history. The title changed hands couple of time in last 30 seconds. Hamilton to Massa and back to Hamilton!! Wow!! I'm not a fan of Hamilton or Massa (no way!), but I have less disrespect for Hamilton than for Massa. So in the end I was reasonably happy that Hamilton won. I'm big fan of Aryaton Senna, but with all due respect to Brazilian fans, I don't like any of the current Brazilian drivers. May be Brunno Senna will change my view next year. My disrespect for Massa is because of the fact that he drives for Ferrari (I hate the team) and that he was happily playing second fiddle to Schumacher. Just like what Barrichello did for years. How can a guy who plays second fiddle to anyone can be a deserving world champion? On the other hand Hamilton from day one refused to play second fiddle to Alonso in Mclaren. But at the same time he possesses the same attitude and character because of which I hate Shumacher - If you need to cheat to win, cheat. For me the best driver on the grid is still Alonso by long way, especially after Kimi's racing instincts has been fully domesticated by Ferrari team by making him follow stupid orders each and every race. Alonso by driving the car, which used to be backmarker till mid-season, to the top step of the podium twice has proved that he is easily the best in the current crop.

Anyways, congratulations to Hamilton and looking forward to next season and hoping that Renault will have competitive car!

Looking forward to my Vacation!

2008-06-19T10:55:00.002+05:30

After months of planning, four friends (including me!) are going to have two weeks of Golf Vacation. Its like dream come true for me as we have been talking about having this vacation for over two years now. Its finally happening next week.

We decided to make Detroit as base of our Golfing Adventure because Tiger - "The God of Golf", was supposed to appear in Buick Open and we little mortals from India wanted to pay our homage to him. Just today I heard that he is out of Golfing action for rest of the year. Sad! He has hurt his surgically repaired knee ligament during the 91 holes of play in US Open. He and everybody said this is Tiger's one of the greatest victories. I say the best is yet to come. In pain, limping through the rounds, he wins a Major. I think even he does not know what he is capable of. The US Open was moment of truth for other golfers. They have got glimpse of the gap that is there between them and Tiger. Its extremely unfortunate for us that we are not going to see him.

Still, I'm more than excited about the vacation for number of reasons. Firstly, it will be two weeks dedicated to Golf with my close friends. All my friends are extremely competitive and nobody likes to loose, which makes the game interesting. The rounds of golf between us are full of sarcasm, threats, and appreciation. We also enjoy company of each other a lot. So it will fun all through the vacation. Secondly and more importantly, no worries of finishing the round fast and get back to home. I can't wait for it!

I'm going to miss my family a lot. Especially, my two little angels. I have setup my home computer with camera and microphone, so that we can meet @Skype. I will try to do it everyday.

After the vacation I have to attend a conference at Denver. Which, again is a very important conference for my job and I look forward to it every year. Its conference of Global Vodafone account team and persons handling Vodafone account in many different parts of the world will assemble under one roof. Lot of information exchanges happen about wins, losses and strategy for the account. Then it has other events for fun and enjoyment. The event is always planned very well and is always one of the best conference that one could attend. It always makes the visit worth.

America here I come......

Ignorant World & Aware India

2008-03-06T18:19:00.002+05:30

This is about couple of incidents that happened with me few days ago. I was playing Poker on Facebook and all the playing partners were from US and Canada. One guy out of them started badmouthing and abusing India. Then one guy joined the chorus. A third guy said actually its a nice place and asked these two guys have they ever visited India and both said no. He said I have been in India and really liked the place. I actually sympathize with the two guys who were abusing India. Because its their ignorance which is driving their behavior and these type of people will make fool of themselves more often than not.

On the flip side - I was waiting at Railway station to receive my Mom. I took out my phone (iPhone, of course Unlocked) to call my Mom to check how far is the train. This guy, who was sitting beside me, immediately asked me, is it Apple's Phone? I was surprised because this guy was surely was not related to IT industry and didn't knew english as well. How come he was so aware? Apple is not a very big brand in India. Very few people use Mac's out here and iPod is also not that popular to reach the lower rung of the India society. Without taking much credit away from him for his awareness I think there are two things that have contributed in this. First the mobile revolution and second the phone itself. This the best phone or PDA I have ever used. Hats off to Apple for creating this masterpiece, which has conquered the imagination of not so rich people of India!!!

Horrible Umpiring, Shameless Cheating and Spineless Batting!!!

2008-01-07T12:11:00.001+05:30

The title of the blog says it all. Yes I'm talking about the 2nd Cricket test match between India and Australia. First of all let me admit that it was a spineless batting by India on the fifth and final day. With only 2 overs to go and 3 wickets remaining we should have saved the test match. But that situation came only because of some horrible umpiring. Through the entire test match it seemed umpires forgot all the rules and were wearing spectacles with wrong power when it came to give decisions for India.

Ricky Ponting wanted to win at any cost and he did win at the cost of integrity and honesty. On two occasions he did that and whole world watched it. On first occasion he grounded the ball and appealed (for what!!). When, for a change, umpire did not obliged him. He had this surprised look on his face...Come on, you are on my side!!! All five days of the test match it seemed the only thing Australians needed to get an Indian batsman out was to appeal. The umpires were bound to oblige. On the contrary many Australian batsmen refuge to leave the field even if they were clearly out. As if umpire will declare the ball as No Ball to save them.

Harbhajan is now paying the price of getting Ricky Ponting out 3 times in two tests. He has been banned for three test matches. The punish was imposed because allegedely he called Symonds a Monkey. Nobody except two good friends of Sysmonds heard that Still Bhajji was handed out two match ban.

What next Ricky? Don't worry if you can't break Sachin's record you can always get him implicated in some drug case and get his record erased from the books!!

I'm sure Indian team have enough talent and courage to give it back to Australians on the field!!!

Reason to Blog

2007-11-14T11:54:00.000+05:30

Although lot has happened in all my favorite topics of F1, Football and Golf, I haven't blogged for a month. That's because I never felt Kimi's championship victory in the last race of the season was something I should have blogged. He deserved the championship more than Alonso and Hamilton but I still feel he was not a worthy champion. My golf game is getting from bad to worse, which is good reason not to blog.

However, today I got a good reason to blog! My friend Santhosh has risen to the esteemed rank of "Principal Engineer" within our organization. If any person, that I know, was more worthy of this recognition, it was him. I feel extremely happy for him. I'm sure there is more to come for him because he deserves much more!

There is a lot that I can write about him but I think I should mention this one which as per me stands out-

"There is so much to do and life is so short. I want to live for hundred years and the only way I can do that is by not sleeping".

CEC 2007 - Las Vegas

2007-10-17T05:36:00.000+05:30

Sun Customer Engineering Conference was in Las Vegas this year. The sin city was swarmed by 4000 Sun engineers and partners.

Its said that "everything that happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". Not this time though. I will cherish the memories of CEC 2007 for long time to come. Especially because it was my first CEC. Every experience, hearing great minds live, breakout sessions, atmosphere and meeting new people, was great. I was also co-speaker for one of the sessions in the conference with my colleague from Germany, Olaf Schnapauff. We spoke about how India has become a Red Shifting nation and compared the Indian telecom with that of more established markets like Europe. It was a good seesion but we could have done better in terms of adding more technological factors for the two markets.

My friend Ashish, who lives in Indianpolis, joined me at Vegas after the conference. Me, Ashish and my colleague Malhar, drove to Grand Canyon. We first went to the Western rin of the Canyon and experienced the Skywalk. This walk is over a transparent glass bridge over the rim. You have to take this walk to believe how terrifying it is to see 4000 feet down straight through the glass. It took us more than couple of minutes to gather strength to take the first step over the bridge. We watched the beautiful sight of sun going down at western rim. Then we drove near the northern rim and spent the night at a motel. We had heard so much about the sunrise at the northern rim that it took little effort to wake up at 4 AM and drive to the sunrise view point (Mather Point) at the northern rim. Although it was very beautiful sunrise but I was expecting something more. May be my expectations were set higher than the normal. We visited couple of more viewing points at the norther rim. The canyon was the most majestic thing I have ever seen in my life. This trip will live in my memory forever. Thanks to ashish, without him it was not possible. i'm sure Malhar (our official photographer for the trip) will be posting the pictures that he has taken. I will post a link to it when it comes!!

Fossil named after Indian sceintist Dr. S B Misra

2007-09-19T21:36:00.000+05:30

Misra's discovery, acclaimed as the oldest record of multi-cellular life on earth, shall now be called 'Fractofusus Misrai'.

Dr. S B Misra discovered this fossil in Portugal Cove South near Newfoundland (Canada). It has since been declared a protected area by the Canadian government. This fossil (one of many discovered by him) is 565 million years old.

I'm more moved by the fact that he gave up his North American career to build a school in a village near Lucknow in India. It was his childhood dream of building a school in his village. I have no words to explain his courage and greatness. It will be debatable that how he would have served humanity better by continuing his good work or by making a school in his village. I only hope that he produces many more like him from the school he has built. Sad part is we would have not known about him if the fossil was not named after him.

India definitely need many more Dr. S B Misra!!

Federer wins, Tiger wins....is it news?

2007-09-10T19:19:00.002+05:30

What is definition of news? News is something which is not a normal information. For example, during season of monsoon a information that it is raining is not a news.

Federer and Tiger, these names have become so synonymous with winning that it is not considered as news when they win rather, their names hit more headlines when they loose.

What an amazing feat they have achieved. They both are a treat for eyes. Complete players in all respect. At this moment it seems there is no one who can stop them from achieving their goals of 15+ Tennis majors and 18+ Golf majors.

First Steps of my younger one!

2007-08-16T15:51:00.000+05:30

My younger daughter is now 13 Months old. She started walking when she was 11 months old. It has taken me 2 months to post this video here. Why this long? I don't have any excuses...

London Trip

2007-07-27T11:57:00.000+05:30

Well, I'm finally back after my London trip and it took some days to settle in. I was back on 18th July and next day morning I had to travel to Aamby Valley City for annual kick off of my company. My family joined me there a day later.

It was quite an eventful trip and very hectic. We reached London on 28th June and my friend was at the airport to pick us up. We reached his home and within 4 hours time we were at the Golf course. In fact he had setup the game two other friend of ours. Although I was tired I played reasonably well. I finished with 5 over for 10 holes with couple of birdies. Next day onwards I started tour of London with my wife and daughters. It was very tiring as you have to walk a lot in London and I had to carry the little one for most of the time. The reason for that was she refused to sit in the stroller as she is not habituated. In India we don't use the stroller much because the roads and footpaths are not designed for that! It took us 5 days to finish the major tourist attractions of London. It was fun and my wife and elder daughter enjoyed a lot. I think London is best city in the world. I tried to upload the pictures on Picasa but was not able to do that. When you click on upload photos it takes to create album page. 10 times I tried to create album but every time it says Invalid date format. Date format should be MM/dd/yyyy. I tried all the possible variation, looked into the help but could not get the format right. Only God or Google knows what I'm doing wrong.

I had to attend a conference in California (Bay Area) from 10th July to 12th July. So I left for US alone on 9th July, leaving my family at my friends place. I must say it was one of the best conference that I have a attended in my career. It was extremely useful for my work and everything was very well manged. All the attendees also went for a trip to winery for wine tasting. There the guy explained the full process of making wine and I was amazed to learn the finer points of wine making. During this we tasted 4 different kinds of wine. They are not the best wine of the world but they were good. After the tasting exercise I was feeling very dehydrated as I'm (and most Indians) not used to drinking wine.

I was also supposed to pick up some Golf clubs for my friend. I went to a nearby Golfsmith store. I got more or what I wanted and total bill was in excess of $700. I asked for some discount to which the store manager responded that all the items are already discounted and further there are no promotions on the items that I have picked up. Fair enough. But I got upset at the tone with which this reply came. I was not having enough time to go to another store so I had no other option. I asked him can he pack the equipments as I have to carry them in the flight. He said I can give you a box and you have pack it yourself. But why can't you pack it? I asked. We are in Golf business and not packing business came the reply. I said enough is enough and I'm not buying from here. As I was leaving the store the manager said I'm sorry I'm only the manager and not the owner of the store and I can only do what the rule permits. But as the manager of the store it is your responsibility to ensure that your customer satisfied, I said and left. While returning, on my way to airport I stooped at another store picked up the stuff and store guy very willingly packed them. It was a nice and smooth experience.

I returned to London and after 3 three days of relaxation with couple of rounds of Golf I returned to India. I didn't had time to get over the jet lag and had to rush to Aamby Valley for our annual kick off. Its a wonderful place, very beautiful and very very well made. In my view the service levels were not up to the mark. We had a mega kick off with lots of events, sessions and nice food. The low light was that the Golf Course was closed and we didn't get to play on one the most beautiful course in India. But they had other sports facilities like Badminton, Table Tennis and Squash. We made full use of them. Twist in the tale was I lost my wallet when changed my Jeans to wear shorts to play badminton. I dropped it in the change room, I was sure but it was gone when I went there. I complained to the security staff. Initially they didn't took it seriously. I blasted them before leaving the place. As soon as I reached back to Bangalore I got a call from there that my Wallet has been found and everything was there except the money. I had about Rs 700 and GBP 25 in the purse which was gone. I was more interested in the cards (PAN Card, Driving License and Golf Membership cards) which were there. Thank God! They promptly couriered the wallet to me and I have got it. I need to check with them where they found it.

So these 25 days will count as most eventful days of my life!

Off to London on Vacation

2007-06-26T14:29:00.000+05:30

I'm off to London on vacation with my wife and two daughters. I will be leaving on 28th June and will return on 18th July. Hopefully it will be a stress relieving holiday. I will be staying with one of my best friends who moved to London last year. I am missing them very much as we used to live next to each other and it was sort of a extended family.

Hope to play some good golf with him on some lovely courses out there. Weather is normally nice and sunny during this time of the year, so I'm looking forward to it.

By the way I got my trophy for the round robin championship, but the photograph will take some more time as I will have collect it from the club.

Update of London trip will follow once I comeback.

Won Round Robin Tournament!

2007-06-15T12:43:00.000+05:30

Remember I had mentioned that I have been selected as one of the top 8 golfer, for the tournament calendar year of July 06 to June 07, to play the round robin tournament. It happens like that each tournament carries points and you earn these point based on your performance in the tournament. I played only four tournaments for the calendar but did well enough in all four to earn enough points to finish 3rd on the points systems. Then Top 8 golfers play round robin against each other in matchplay format. So every one of them play 7 matches. I won 6 and lost 1, so had 6 points and I'm the winner. It was very tight till the last match which happened today. There are 3 golfers tied at 5 points for the second place. They will play sudden death playoff to decide the runner up.

I will get my trophy in the year end ceremony on 2th June. This time it will be a winners trophy and much bigger than the last one. I will post the photograph after the ceremony.

Dull Monaco to Eventful Montreal...

2007-06-11T16:08:00.000+05:30

What an eventful race. I have never seen such a horrific accident like Kubica had yesterday at Monaco. Thank God he is safe. Full marks to safety regulations of FIA. I think the track condition in Monaco is getting from bad to worse. I heard drivers did complain about the track condition and also there was some patch work on the track. Alonso lost pole because of that. 4 Safety car periods! This also not fun. We want to see racing. Watched Moto GP yesterday? What happened between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner was racing. It was so exciting that my heart started pounding. It was much more fun to watch Moto GP yesterday than F1. Take my recommendation and watch recording of that race (Moto GP 2007, Catalunya), its worth watching.

Yes, I know that Hamilton has made history and till now I will reserve my comments on this rookie. No doubt he is a brilliant racer and is extremely talented, but we should keep certain things in mind before starting to compare him with legends of F1. He has nothing to loose, this his first season and his partner is two time world champion. So he is not under any pressure to beat his teammate. If he beats him he will get lot of plaudits, if he doesn't he will still be a talented racer. Secondly he has got a race winning and reliable car. Kimi was also very talented and quick but he never got a reliable car. I would love to watch him in the Mclaren of last few years that used to blow up every other race. He has very good chances of winning the championship and if he wins that will prove a lot. I will reserve my comments until then.

Federer Vs Nadal

2007-06-11T15:55:00.000+05:30

Yesterday was the French Open final between Federer, the undisputed number 1 tennis player, and Nada, the king of clay.

I must say that I'm a big Federer fan. Normally I tend to support the underdogs more, but there is something about this guy that has made me his fan. Since Federer had beaten Nadal in their last outing ending his record 81 matches winning streak, I had hope that Federer might beat him this time. Once again Nadal proved that he is king of clay and beat Federer in 4 sets. Federer got his chances, created many break points but couldn't convert them into breaks.

I don't know who is more unlucky to be playing in each others era. Federer could have won Grand Slam of Tennis 2-3 time if Nadal weren't there. Nadal is also talented enough to win other Grand Slam tournaments if Federer was not there. I think Federer is a better player overall. On clay Federer is second only to Nadal. He can beat all other Clay Court experts effortlessly, which we have seen in last two editions of French Open and other clay tournaments. But there are guys other than Federer who can beat Nadal on Grass. So I think If anyone has a chance to win the Grand Slam of the Tennis its Federer. Talent like Federer and Nadal comes rarely.

We are extremely lucky to have been watching these guys play!

Mastered the Information Age?

2007-06-07T10:16:00.000+05:30

I have a savings account in one of the largest private bank of India. They were the first bank to pioneer online banking in India. To enhance the online security they have introduced a new kind of Debit Card which was sent free of cost to all their customers. Since my communication address with the bank is my residence address the card got returned two times as they would not handover it to anybody else. I was asked to go to the branch and collect the same. I went to the branch, collected the service token and waited for my turn. The customer service representative asked my account number. I had the debit card with me but account number was not on that and I did not remember the account number. I asked the guy to find out my account number from the information on the debit card. This guy said it is not possible to find out the account number!! I did not knew how to react to this. I told him I don't believe it that I'm standing in the branch where my account is, I have the debit card with me and it is not possible find my account number. Expecting a potential outburst he decided to check with his colleague on this. Who promptly helped him to find out my account number.

I assume this guy was new and did not knew how get information from the customer service terminal. I'm sure he was not properly trained to use the terminal, even then this is the first thing he should know - How to search customer information by name. This is basic of the basic!

But what bothers me more is that he said it is not possible. This is what he must be doing with all the customers and less aware customer of this bank may have been harassed by believing him.

How can we talk about Web 2.0 and participation age, when there is so much of gap to be filled in the information age?

Monaco GP Boring as ever

2007-05-28T11:43:00.000+05:30

Well I liked the result of the Maonaco GP - Mclaren 1 & 2. That too by a margin nobody ever thought. Massa in his Ferrari came third a full minute behind. Way to go Mclaren! But the race was utterly boring I almost slept in the middle of the race.

It seems FIA and Teams is more interested in entertaining sponsors and their customers in casinos of Monte Carlo rather than entertaining faithful viewers of F1.

As a race fan I'm not interested in watching the drivers shunting their cars in the barriers but I want to watch good solid racing. Better drivers in good cars should have the opportunity to overtake the back markers, which can never happen in street circuit of Monaco.

May be next time I will give Monaco GP a pass.

West Ham Survived!

2007-05-18T12:40:00.000+05:30

So the EPL Season ended and West Ham did beat Man U to survive in the EPL. What an achievement for Alan and West Ham.

At the same time I must also mention that Man U were looking little off color since nothing was at stake for them in this match. They are waiting for the FA cup final with Chelsea. One last time this season Man U and Chelsea will fight and don't expect a sober game. There is lot at stake for both the teams. It will be a thrill to watch.

Also I'm waiting for Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan on 23rd May. Can AC Milan take the revenge for 2005 loss? Watch out for Kaka. He is in deadly form!

Broke 80 by shooting 75!!!

2007-05-10T10:30:00.000+05:30

First time I broke 80 on a golf course by shooting 75. One of the most memorable day of my life. Now I have confidence that I can achieve the target of becoming a single digit handicap golfer by July this year. Click on the image above to have a look at the score card!

EPL Season Coming to Close

2007-05-08T17:33:00.000+05:30

Another fantastic EPL (English Premier League) season is coming to close and will end on 13thtomorrow and then in the FA cup final or not. This will be only way they can salvage some pride after loosing in Champions League and EPL. Man United have won the title already but it will be interesting to watch whether Chelsea can beat them in their encounter

For me story of the season has been turnaround of West Ham United after they employed Alan Curbishley as their coach. In the very first match as in charge his team managed to beat Man United. Now they are just above the relegation zone and they are taking on Champions Manchester United again in their final game of the season. They need to win this game to survive in the premiership on their merit otherwise they will have depend on other teams results to survive. Great show Alan and West Ham. Good Luck! May.

Mantra to control husband

2007-05-05T21:15:00.000+05:30

My wife has threatened me that she will use an astrological mantra to control me. The mantra is -

"Om namo maharyakshaya Mam Pati me Vashya kuru kuru Swaha"

Obviously, this is in Sanskrit and it translates to - Oh the greatest saviour of all, please give control of my husband to me.

But the good news is, its not easy and she will have to recite it at least 100,000 (Yes Hundred thousand times) to have the effect.

I have no idea why she feels that I have gone out of her control. I think I'm totally in her control!!

I hope she was joking. I can't miss my golf on weekends!!

Selected for Round-Robin Tournament

2007-05-03T12:30:00.000+05:30

Just now got a call from my club (Bangalore Golf Club) that I have been selected to play the Round-Robin tournament. This is by virtue of playing well in the last tournament, where I played 2 over my handicap (13) in two rounds of strokeplay.

This is an extremely good news. In this tournament I will be brushing my shoulders with top players of Bangalore Golf Club.

I Better get some practice before the tournament!

Free iPod Shuffle!

2007-05-03T11:52:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I attended a training. The trainer asked all the trainees to fill up a feedback questionnaire after the training. He said he will draw one form out of all the forms and gift him a iPod Shuffle. Luckily I got it!!

I have gifted that to my wife after loading it with 200+ songs. Hopefully this will give me enough brownie points for 2 rounds of Golf.

3 Birdies in One Round!

2007-04-30T12:16:00.000+05:30

As I mentioned earlier, I hope to play one more round with my friend from Singapore before he heads back. We did manage to play a round at Bombay Presidency Golf Club on the day he was leaving.

I shot 86, which is 16 over par 70 for the course. Its was OK round considering I was playing only for the second time on this course. There were two positives I could take from the round. First I shot 3 birdies, which I have never done before and second I was driving really really well. I had two triple bogeys and two double bogeys also. That means I have to improve on my approach shots and short game if I have to get to the handicap single digit. I must mention that we were joined by a young (Only 18 Years old) professional golfer of Indian Golf tour, Raghav Wahi, for our round. It was a pleasure playing with him and watching him. He was practicing for the upcoming professional tournament "Crompton Greaves Open". All the best Raghav for the tournament!

My friend played very badly again and shot 96. I felt extremely bad for him as I have seen playing much better than this and I want him to play well. He has been inspiration to me all this time. He discussed about coming back to India and I can tell you nobody in the world will be more happier than me if he comes back. I will eagerly waiting for his decision!

Who is more powerful..

2007-04-26T17:00:00.000+05:30

This is a never ending debate going on between my six year old daughter and me. Who is more powerful Krrish or Amitabh Bachhan! For those who don't know these guys.

Krrish is an Indian super hero enacted by actor Hrithik Roshan in the move of the same name. In this movie his father was given supernatural power by an alien called Jaadoo, which has passed on to Krrish. She has seen this movie at least 50 times, yes at least 50 times and remembers it frame by frame.

Amitabh Bachhan is the superstar of Hindi cinema of my generation and still is one of the biggest stars of Hindi films.

The debate started around couple of weeks back when me and my daughter were returning from Bangalore Golf Club after her practice and my round. She told me Krrish is the most powerful person in the world. Just to be a little nag, I said I think Amitabh Bachhan is more powerful than Krrish. God..Hell broke loose after that and she started.....

Can Amitabh Bachhan save someone hanging from the tree? I said yes.

Can Amitabh Bachhan go inside fire to save someone? I said yes.

Can Amitabh Bachhan beat many bad guys alone? I said yes

At this point she started becoming little annoyed. After thinking hard she said, can Amitabh Bachhan run faster than a horse? I said NO, he can't do that. Listening this she was overjoyed said, see I told you Krrish is more powerful.

But this did not stopped then and her questions continue even now...

F1 Car Vs F16 Fighter Jet!

2007-04-25T11:15:00.000+05:30

Although F1 Spyker lost in the end but Look at this Video to get an idea of accelration and speed of an F1 car......

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl2Q_ENcWL8

Very Average round of Golf

2007-04-25T10:38:00.000+05:30

As planned my friend reached Bangalore from Singapore on Sunday morning. Although his flight got little delayed but we had enough time for a round of Golf. After landing he saw my new car - "Honda Civic with Paddle Shift" and was quick to mention that he is so jealous of me. He also loves Formula1 and Paddle Shift was an instant hit with him also. It was the only reason why I stretched myself financially to buy this car.

We both played very badly I shot 86 for the round and he shot 91, which I think is very average for me and bad for him as we both are targeting to become single digit handicapper. So nothing much to say about the round.

We will again play together in Mumbai in the coming weekend, hopefully. Need to improve my game.

The biggest problem in my swing!

2007-04-18T15:00:00.000+05:30

I think yesterday I have finally found out what, of many, is the biggest problem in my swing. Its the balance. I struggle to maintain balance in my front swing and have a tendency to fall in front. Its results into the slice and shank that I hit sometimes with my short irons. I desperately need to fix that as soon as possible.

Me and two friends of mine started playing Golf around the same time in the Fall of 2003. We played many many rounds together until career and other priorities did us apart. One is based in Singapore and the other is based in London now. It is beyond explanation how much I miss playing with them. We keep sharing news about our game, good & bad score regularly. The good news is that the buddy in Singapore will be travelling to India next week and we will play a round together, probably 2 rounds together. This is the best news that I have got since long. Since our game really becomes competitive, I should better visit Driving Range couple times before he come and get my swing into shape! Need to work on that.

What an amzing weekend

2007-04-11T14:07:00.000+05:30

Well as I thought it was an amazing weekend.

First about the Masters - Zach Johnson held off charge from Tiger and Goosen to win the Masters. Incredible! What a player! Playing in the masters for the first time he has become the "Master" himself. But the best shot of the tournament, in my view, was still shot by Tiger. He needed to make an eagle on 13th to have some chance and what a shot he played. His second shot to the par 5 hole landed at least 25-30 feet left of the hole and stopped. But only for 2 seconds and then started rolling towards the hole and ended within 5 feet of the hole. Although he made eagle on 13th, I think the tournament was finished on the next (14th) hole when he missed a birdie chance from within 6 feet and Zach, who playing on 16th, made a birdie. Well done Zach! The Indian challenge, Jeev, was looking good till the third round but faded away in the fourth with too many mistakes. It was a great achievement to become first player from India to play in masters and then to make the cut in a very convincing fashion. Way to go Jeev!

Moving on to Formula 1 - I'm still jumping with joy. First Mclaren 1 & 2 after Brazil 2005!! Hats off to Alonso and Hamilton. The race was over in first few laps when Ferrari's were undone by the Mclaren at the start and Massa going off track in an attempt to overtake Hamilton. Hamilton brilliantly held off Massa in a slower car after going up 2 places (4th to 2nd) at the start and Massa, after 4-5 failed attempts to overtake Hamilton, in sheer frustration tried to do that extra bit which was not required. Great win for Mclaren!!

Finally to EPL - Chelsea did closed the gap with Man U as I wanted and that gave me another reason for Joy. But Chelsea be aware, Man U is looking as dangerous as ever after their 7-1 thrashing of Roma last night in Champions League. That was too much to take. This must be one of the worst thrashing ever in Quarterfinals of Champions League. It is going to be very interesting to watch the last few rounds of EPL.

I Love April!

2007-04-04T10:25:00.000+05:30

Yes I love April and especially the "Good Friday" weekend because.....

The fiscal year in India has ended in March and work pressure is on the low side.

English Premier League is climaxing and I will love to see Chelsea close the 6 point gap this weekend and eventually overtake Man United in the title race.

Formula 1 has started and speculation about Ferrari or Mclaren or Renault is in full swing. Lets see who wins in Malaysia this weekend. Although Ferrari are much ahead in terms of pace than the rest of the pack, but you can't rule out Mclaren with Alonso and Hamilton. Go Mclaren!

But my favorite...this is "Masters" weekend. The best Major of Golf in my view. This Masters will be special because this is the first time ever an Indian golfer, Jeev Milkha Singh, will be playing in the tournament. Best of luck Jeev! you have done us proud!

I don't think anybody else can win if Tiger putts well. He has to putt very badly for others to have a chance. It will be interesting to watch.

What an exciting weekend.... I love April.

My First Blog!

2007-04-02T15:16:00.000+05:30

This is my first post and I'm happy about it. I would say to blog is important in my present job but this is something that I wanted to do for long. I have been also inspired to do so by reading blogs of my friends and colleagues.

What can you expect in this space - Anything and everything related to Technology, Fromula 1, Golf, Soccer, Movies, Music and of course about me!

Stay Tuned....