Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013- Year in Review-Cricket

The year 2013 was quite a year for the institution of Cricket. It had its nadirs and zeniths, but a few of them stand out in the brain’s primary memory when I reflect the year gone by.
The ‘Tigers’ at Home Theory: World cricket is slowly getting to a stage when most teams are becoming tigers at home, and lambs abroad. You would associate this phenomenon with India over the 90’s, but globally this year, has epitomized that. England, won the Ashes at home, and expected to make it 4 in a row, and no one would have predicted anything different. Allan Border believed before the first test at ‘The Gabba’ that Australia’s fast bowlers would ambush England, and most of us mistook it for the empty boasts/sledges that come from Australian media before a series. How wrong were we! Mitchell Johnson ran through Australia, like a knife through butter, and yet another home series, was one by the hosts. There must be something in the air, which made test teams in 2013, get the trump card in the home advantage (Mukul Kesavan wrote a piece on the same) The IPL too, showed similar signs, where Harsha observed a similar pattern, where the hosts made their home grounds as their fortresses.  The Bangladeshis carried some of that theory in ODI cricket, by near flawless performances in the ODI series against New Zealand.
Ghost of Match Fixing
IPL: When Sreesanth’s name flashed one fine morning, I thought it was one of those gimmicks, until the repeated coverage told me that something more sinister and serious had happened. To add to the drama, when IPL owners were betting, and when Srini’s son told of how his father’s connections in Dubai were not just with the ICC, but also with suspicious characters, world cricket’s skeletons were being opened. The IPL, was attracting all the wrong set of people.
fixing sree
Then it was Ashraful who admitted that he had attempted in corrupt practices during the BPL, it did send a few signals to the world, that all of the money and the glitz of the T20 leagues may have a lot lying beneath, which may not be all that pleasant to stomach.
ICC being bullied by BCCI
The BCCI’s has always been known to arm-twist cricket boards into not playing international cricket, or playing with second-string sides, during an IPL (thereby guaranteeing the best talent in the IPL). The BCCI went to a new low, by changing the Future Tours Program, to accommodate a grand farewell to Sachin at home, and also hitting the ego of Haroon Lorgat, which it saw as a thorn in their flesh (during Haroon’s reign as the former head of ICC). Two battles won in 1 move, but cricket lost in the end! The world got to see Sammy bowling to Sachin, instead of Sachin playing Steyn and Morkel. Anyways, maybe that was better than watching Sachin taking on some hapless Sri Lankan bowlers.
Cricket First, Monies and Careers Next!
In the era of big bucks pervading cricket, its quite rare to find cricketers playing just for the love of the game, ignoring remunerative career options. The Zimbabweans played the best cricket of their life in a decade, humbling Pakistan at home, in a series where the ZCU did not have enough money to fly players to another city, and put them in hotel rooms!
Afghanistan rise in world cricket has been meteoric since they qualified for the World T20 in the Caribbean (2010), and their fairy tale story went a notch further when they sustained their excellence by qualifying for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Rise of Indian Cricket
Indian Cricket started the year gloomily by losing the Airtel ODI series against Pakistan, and ended the year badly with a series loss against South Africa. In between they recovered well, to win tests against Australia and West Indies at home, and a stellar performance away at the Wanderers against South Africa. They also struck gold in winning ODI series against England and Australia at home, winning a tri-series in the Caribbean, played their B side to win in Zimbabwe, and the icing on the cake being their victory in the Champions Trophy. In that period, they unearthed yet another swing bowler from the by lanes of Meerut, in Bhuvaneshwar Kumar who impressed fans, with his swing. India discovered a new and hungry Rohit Sharma in Tests, just in time to coincide with Sachin’s retirement in tests, and found Cheteshwar Pujara an ideal foil to replace Rahul’s absence in the middle. At the top of the order, India’s selectors discovered a successor to the fatigued, but warhorse opening combination of Sehwag and Gambhir, in Vijay and Dhawan who made impressive centuries to cement their place in the side.  Mahender Singh Dhoni, found more reason to underline his immense importance to the side with crucial knocks, like the one in the Celkon Tri-series final cup in the Caribbean. The T20 domestic leagues, too found some blood going through their veins, with Mumbai Indians dominating the IPL, as well as the Champions League! Enough reasons to believe that “Happy Days are back again”
Farewell
Childhood had become a habit, and could never disconnect with the adult self that the 80’s generation had grown up with, thanks to Sachin playing. His retirement and final series, reached a mass crescendo, pretty much to the tune of a national tragedy. The man who had given joy to millions of Indians, with the way his wood treated leather, had decided to hang up his boots. The BCCI and Star Sports decided to cash in on the Super bowl like opportunity to make it the longest farewell. The rest of the world did not quite treat their heroes with so much pomp, except for a few articles in print about their heroics. Swann and Kallis wouldn’t quite mind their silent journey into the sunset of their careers, as they seemed to truly pause when the law of diminishing marginal returns hit their cricket. Not quite, the same reason that Sachin chose to go, but Sachin would always be my hero!
Retirements in Formats
There is so much of cricket on the television that I am starting to think like cricketers, if I should retire from watching one of the formats. I am already so fatigued, that I am not able to employ my primary memory to pull any more memories of the year. Maybe I will think about it, if Twitter makes #ThankYoutWEETOLOGER hash tags to trend for a day :-)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Armor of God-By Ram Mishra- Book Review!

The Armour of God- By Ram Mishra- Book Review


I was part of a generation that grew up in the 80’s thinking that it was fashionable to have Hanuman’s mace and Ram’s quiver, more than G.I.Joe toys. In a country that knew nothing else than Doordarshan’s solitary TV Channel, one had little options than to watch Ramayan and Mahabharat. Naturally, I entered the 90’s armed with mythology trivia, also complemented by Amar Chitra Katha’s series of books on Indian Gods. All of that evaporated with STAR Television entering India in the early 90’s. The mythology I knew seemed all the more  silly as I grew up, starting with statements like “King Dasharatha lived for a thousand years”. I was becoming a drop out on the subject of mythology, before I read Ram’s bookon “The Armor of God’. The book has helped me look at mythology with a little more respect, since it has kindled my curiosity levels to seek for the hidden gems that’s were not told as part of our history text books.

The book is a good read, where characters from the past, and the present are mixed, in a fantasy tale, that aims to through light theories or viewpoints not known before.  The book starts well with the fantasy tale, setting the tone for the further chapters, before an interesting theory of the Aryan Invasion is discussed. This is the point where I wondered where the blurring line between mythology and the ignored Indian history could have been. It is at this point within the first 30 pages, that lets you feel at ease, that the book is probably going to unravel more such stories.

Whether it’s the part where the body aches after time travel, or the  powers of the Saligrama stone, the book enthralls you by opening up your mind, to think about the experience.  The narrative of this cross era fantasy, never for once, lets your mind think that all of this could be made up, thereby making the reader put faith in the narrative, to read further to explore mysteries that were probably not told. While it does draw into the otherwise western notion, that India is a land of many mystics, the story remains relevant to the reader. 

To briefly talk about the story, its about how the normal lives of 2 beings on planet Earth, suddenly changes when they realize that they are incarnations of 2 popular characters from the Mahabharata, one of whom is Karna. The story does well to move back and forth between the present and the connection to the ages of the Mahabharata, and keeps the reader gripped on.

In short, the book is a great investment in understanding our culture, through the spirit of enquiry, and sets your mind thinking on what the history of India was, and what was the history we were actually given in our text books. That delta is exactly your gain from reading the book. 

Do get your copy, by buying the book here on Flipkart.

Monday, July 29, 2013

One Unforgettable Bus Journey!

One Unforgettable Bus Journey


8 am April 13- 2011

As I was browsing through the newspaper, I took a closer look at the date. I was 48 hours from my wife's birthday, and it totally skipped my mind, since I was busy pursuing my alternate career as  a cricket correspondent for a radio station(Chennai LIVE 104.8 FM) in Chennai. Before my wife found out, that I had no surprises lined up on her birthday, I had to figure a place, mode of commute and a nice room[ apart from a gift that makes her go WOW]

I went to my bathroom with my laptop, and within a few Google searches,honed in on Gokarna, a place diametrically opposite to Chennai, on the west coast. I booked bus tickets on KSRTC, for a 1330 bus ( or so I thought ), and booked a beach facing room on OM beach.

I told my wife,that there was a surprise waiting for her,and she should pack her bags for a quick 5 day trip. I did not mention the name of the place though, and used the time she was dressing up to buy her a fastrack watch.

45 minutes early or 15 minutes late?

We biked our way to the CMBT bus stand, reached there 45 minutes early, so that I could blindfold her in the bus, and not tell her the location. It turned out that, I had seen the 1330 bus,but had booked the 1230 bus instead, and here I was at the bus stand,15 minutes after the bus had left. 1 part of the surprise broke, when she realised that we had to board another Bangalore bus. We took the 1330 bus, and found our way to Bangalore.


Bangalore Darshan

 I realized that we had to reach Navrang Theatre ( North Bangalore) to board another private bus to Gokarna at 2130. Our bus to Bangalore was late(2010)and it reached Silk Board, on the southern periphery of the city, and I decided to get down here, and rush in auto to the northern end of the city. After agreeing to the auto-drivers random number quote, and frantic calls to my wife's cousin in Bangalore,we realised that we may not make it to the 2130 bus,being stuck in one of the many traffic jams. My relatives sensed that we had not had any food, so packed some rotis for us, and drove to the bus stand,to ask the bus to wait for us. Luckily for us, the bus was delayed by 30 minutes and waited 5 more minutes for us, after our 3 wheel mad goose chase across the ends of the city. The conductor called out loud and clear, for passengers to Gokarna, and the final surprise element evaporated in thin air, as my wife heard his shrieks.

Celebritydom in Bhatkal



Some more adventure followed next morning. It was my turn to report on last night's IPL match for the radio station back home, which I had completely forgotten. I had no clue about the game in last night's mad chase,and had very little battery charge left on my mobile. I called up a friend, and he mailed me the Cricinfo scorecards, which I read in 2 minutes, and then the call came from the radio station asking me to stay on line, while they introduce me in the show. I could not do this in a moving bus with wind blowing from both sides,so asked the driver to stop on the road for 2 minutes, which was in the outskirts of a town called Bhatkal. I got down from the bus and got on with my match report, on phone with a lot of gesticulations with my hands and face, to drive home the impact of Pune beating Kochi in last night’s match. As I finished, I saw some 20 people around me, listening and watching intently, including the bus driver. They thought I was some celebrity who was doing Live reporting, since I also had my SLR camera dangling across my neck(which I had kept to take moving shots from the bus) My wife was clearly amused by the turn of events, and had quite a start to her birthday eve! We had more adrenalin than we had bargained for, and hoped we'd get some more on our trip, as the bus made its way to the rickety Gokarna Bus stand.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Nikon India Bengaluru Blogger Meet

Nikon India Bengaluru Blogger Meet

When I walked into Skyye lounge, I wasn’t quite sure on what to expect. Would it be a session where Nikon would talk about photo experiences, or would it be a session on the technicalities on using a Nikon camera to get certain photo effects? I decided that I should probably do, what I do with travel- Go with an open mind and absorb what’s shown there.

When we walked in on the 16th floor of UB City, the view from the top was killing! I could see a panorama of Bangalore from that height and with the breeze and the cushy seating that the Skyye lounge had, I could have almost stopped and taken in the view, but I knew, something better would be on offer inside for the session. As we sat in our seats, we saw a couple of TV sets dedicated to showing tweets with the hash tag #ThroughTheLens. It was pleasant to see Nikon welcome each of us who had registered with a tweet that had our name in a JPG image, from their twitter handle.

The session started with funny_leone entertaining the audiences with his humor, and it moved to Nikon giving us a brief on what’s expected in the day. The surprise package unfolded then and there, when they announced that Raghu Rai, the eminent photojournalist, was present amidst the audience. I had been admiring a lot of Raghu Rai’s photographs, whenever I used to get to book shops, and here there was the opportunity to listen in to the man himself. Raghu spoke on how digital has had him hooked, and he’s never quite had the opportunity to work on film post the digital era. Raghu did briefly speak about how he started Magnum publishing, and answered a couple of questions from the audience.



Post Raghu Rai’s talk, we had Nikon’s technical team introduce themselves to us, and they divided the session into some of the basics involving Nikon’s camera’s features. They delved into the history of Nikon, and then spoke on the importance behind the Guide mode. Couple  of my ‘take aways’ from this session was the fact that bokeh effect, could be used by the advanced options in the guide mode, by softening backgrounds. I thought it depended on a lens earlier, so I had got these effects after purchasing a 50 mm 1.8F lens.

A few other interesting pointers that was spoken about was around were

Quality of Images-Due to advancement in the megapixels in modern day camera models, the level of detail, when an image is cropped is wonderful to examine. What would constitute a good crop factor? Would the details still be preserved even after a 50% crop? Maybe that’s a good test of how good the image is. So next time you have a 16 MP mobile photograph, you should stop raving about the 16 number, and check for the quality of detail in the images when you crop it. The image shown in the meet was that of the dome of the Vithala Temple in Hampi, on which they were trying to crop it and observe the detail and the quality of the image then.

High Speed Continuous Focussing- One of Nikon’s staff was showing the photographs taken of fighter planes. While taking such photographs, he added that being able to quickly adapt to the fast moving object in the frame, by keeping focus on it, is the key differentiator in great images. Based on the speed of the object moving in the frame, once can decide on the number of focal points we require. For a moving fighter plane or animal, one could use high end Nikon cameras that provide 39-51 Autofocus points, while for an object that doesn’t move as fast, we could use lesser autofocus points like the 11 Autofocus points, or just the 1 autofocus points for an object that would remain static. To show how the Nikon D4 does continous focusing, the Nikon team put a mike to the motor of the camera, and it very quickly took 200 shots in a very short frame of time(15-20 seconds maybe), while the sound off the mike resembled bullets being fired in the air.

Other Features – Nikon’s SLR cameras come with ISO as high as 12800, where the quality of the output has very high clarity and very less grains, which is generally expected as ISO levels increase. The quality of the ISO was showcased with some night shots taken in Ladakh. The Nikon crew also touched upon some of the other features that the Guide mode has like In Camera editing, Active D lighting and video features. The Active D lighting feature’s use was explained with an example of a silouhette shot on a beach with sunlight behind the object. In most cases the object(person) would be underexposed, and the probem that the Active D lighting solves is to reduce the underexposure in such instances.

Trends in Imaging-
a)      The Nikon team spoke about HDR photography that’s routinely now being used by Landscape photographers, European Fashion photography and architecture photography. My take way from the session was that the human eyesight is the best when it comes to viewing High Dyanmic range, and that’s what True HDR imaging aims to achieve, where there is a balance in the exposure’s of all objects in the frame.
b)      The other fast catching up trends of panoramic photography and timelapse photography were explained, with quick introductions on the models in the Nikon stable that are best suited for these genres.

Note on Lenses
Nikon spoke on the type of lenses, and the kind of pictures one can click with them. This was useful from the point where, I figured out that there was a type of lense called special purpose lenses.  The team added that one could also feel and test these lenses post the session.  An interesting video on how the Nikkor lenses are manufactured, was shown to the audience.

My Thoughts
While I learnt from the session that Nikon has its own school for imaging, I thought it would be useful if Nikon School invests in the following
a)      Online High quality Training courses in specific subjects. This helps a lot of amateur photographers to learn the right lessons and have a quick learning curve. A duller learning curve means consumers lose interest and never upgrade their camera accessories.
b)      Applications to learn photography without travelling to a place- Like CameraSim on iOS. Basically SLR simulators for specific models.Some one having a D3100, wanting to upgrade to a D7100 can test out the simulator for test shots and then make a purchase decision more quickly.

c)       Entry into the marketplace segment. A lot of photography shops/schools have an informal marketplace to trade lenses/bodies. If Nikon enters this segment, it could solve a great consumer pain point in getting the right prices for pieces to be sold, and Nikon could up sell some of the other newer models to photographers looking to upgrade.

Other Images from the event
Audience at the event. Mr Raghu Rai is seen sitting on the sofa lounge.



Hrish Thota having a look at the Nikkor 600 mm lens.

At the end of the workshop, folks had fun with some free portfolio shoots.