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Friday, March 07, 2008
During my first few days in Bangalore,the usual statement I used to hear from friends,already settled here,was this-"Any place in Bangalore is free from traffic jams as long as it is not BTM Layout-Silkboard junction.However I was to discover in less than a week that every single arterial road in Bangalore chokes with traffic jams.

I happened to get caught in traffic at this infamous Silkboard signal this morning.It all started at Electronics City when I had just bought a 30-rupee daily pass and the conductor said he would give me the balance of 70 rupees later.Nearing Silkboard,I asked the conductor for the change but he showed me his bag displaying 100-rupee notes and with a grin,asked me "Aivathu rupay note illiyaa Sir?"(Do you have a fifty-rupee note,Sir?).I replied in the negative and he began searching his bag to try and dig out a fifty rupee note before the bus reached Silkboard bus stop.Unable to find any,he went around asking the other passengers if they had two fifty-rupee notes to be exchanged for a hundred.Noone had.By this time the bus was about to move ahead from Silkboard towards Banashankari.I pointed this out to the conductor who in turn asked me where I was going.I replied "K R Puram" and he said this in Kannada "I will somehow get the change before Jayanagar.If not don't worry.There are buses to K R Puram from Banashankari."So I had to wait and wait while the conductor went around asking every single passenger,even a confused school kid,if he/she had two fifty-rupee notes.After sometime I got the change but the bus had reached Banashankari.I got down and boarded a K R Puram-bound bus.

It was during this part of the journey that I encountered the worst ever traffic jam I had ever seen in my life.Everything was smooth till Jayadeva Hospital after which I saw,to my dismay,a long line up of vehicles till the next major junction,which incidentally happened to be Silkboard.The bus moved,but only an inch forward.Then engine off.Move one inch,engine off.Move one inch,engine off.This happened for about 35 minutes after which the bus managed to pass the Silkboard signal.I eventually turned up late at office and had to give a detailed explanation to my team leader.While the explanation process was on,my manager happened to pass by and he asked "Why late?" My team leader did the explanation for me and both of them began rendering advice on how important it is for a professional to be punctual and what I could do in future to avoid Bangalore traffic.

I had to apply for half-day's leave.But I did not mind that.I only want to send out this message to Indian banks:

Make 50-rupee notes available in ATMs

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Property of Sheks @ 6:05 pm   2 comments
SHEKY'S CRICKET ZONE
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Indian cricket team has finally won an ODI series after six years,defeating ODI world champions Australia. Most of the new players have proved themselves in their very first ODI tournament overseas. But there is a flip side to this.While Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar have been tipped to be the future spearheads,the selectors will now find it challenging to accommodate the likes of Zaheer Khan and R P Singh into the side. Going into a game with four pace bowlers cannot be considered a viable option due to the presence of Piyush Chawla,India's new full-time leg spinner after Anil Kumble. Given that he is able to turn the ball,it is important that he be given sufficient chances so that he can be groomed into someone like Kumble. The best thing the selectors could do is to create a pool of ten fast bowlers from which they could pick the best performers. This might help avoid creating a problem of plenty.

The Indian Cricket League,which was expected to meander in oblivion, while the IPL auction was going on,seems to be growing strong with players like Damien Martyn, Jason Gillespie and Mike Kasprowicz signing up for the T20 grand championship scheduled to begin on March 9. Edelweiss Capital has offered to sponsor Rs.20 crore for the ICL, resolving, to some extent, the problem of sponsorship.However it has to do something innovative, apart from signing in retired overseas players, to live up to its goal of changing the face of Indian cricket.


Two new teams have come up in the ICL. They are the Ahmedabad Rockets and Lahore Badshahs. The former will be captained by Damien Martyn while the latter by Inzamam-ul-Haq, who captained the ICL's Hyderabad Heroes in its last tournament. Hyderabad Heroes will in turn be led by Chris Harris. The first non-Indian team has been created supposedly because of the large number of Pakistani players signing up. However Shabbir Ahmed will continue to play for the Chennai Superstars.


Given the huge number of New Zealanders in the ICL, it would not be surprising if another non-Indian team, say "Wellington Wizards" or "Auckland Fighters" were formed. Picture this:Nathan Astle,Chris Cairns,Craig McMillan,Hamish Marshall,Shane Bond,Daryl Tuffey,Adam Parore,Chris Harris,Andre Adams--most of them phenomenal cricketers. The reason for switching to the ICL is because of the insufficient remuneration and the unstable contracts with the national side. This reminds one of the Australian team of the 1970s most of the players of which signed up with Kerry Packer for his World Series.

With the ICL Grand T20 on March 9 and the second edition of the IPL auction on March 11, there definitely is cricket happening everywhere.

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Property of Sheks @ 11:38 am   0 comments

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