Sania Mirza - My Indian of the year 2005

From last few days NDTV is conducting a poll for Indian of the year 2005. They have around 13 candidates shortlisted. 4 of them are politicians, 4 are from corporate world and 2 are from bollywood. Only 3 persons are from sport field!!

My choice (without any confusion at all) is of course from the sport category, and as you have guessed it from the title of this post->Sania Mirza! Some may go with Sachin for his 35th century in Tests or with Rahul for his consistent performance for India, but these things we already expected from them. We always knew Sachin is going to achieve that some day and Rahul is a wall as always. The thing we didn't expect was somebody playing Tennis!

Profile:
Birth Date: 15 Nov 1986
Birth Place: Mumbai, India
Residence: Hydrabad, India
Nationality: INDIA
Height: 5'7 1/2" (1.53m)
Weight: 130 lbs. (59kg)
Plays: Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
favorite Surface: Hard
Coach: C.G.K. Bhupathi
Age Began Tennis: 6
Personal Interests: Swimming, Music
Other Information: Ambition in tennis: To be in the Top 20 of the World.
favorite player: Steffi Graf


A small girl from Hyderabad's middle class family has achieved something that no Indian has been able to even come close to. This record holds from the day a sport called Tennis has started. She won a WTA singles title!!!

Sania was some 250+ ranked player 2 years ago and in 2005 she has improved her WTA ranking to 34!!! Yes it seems like a dream run, and it has been a dream run. I noticed her first in the Australian open (as everybody else did), and couldn't stop noticing her in the following slams & other tournaments. The pinnacle came when she became the first Indian to win the WTA singles title at her own hometown (h'bad), in front of her own crowd!

Sania has taken Indian tennis to a completely new level. The Indian tennis players have suddenly got a boost with Sania's performance at the highest level, her determination and ability to compete with the best in the business. Every tennis player in India has now start believing in his/her abilities! And I'm sure the situation is only going to improve here onwards.

With achievement comes criticism, and that too in country line India (who doesn't even forgive a small mistake done by greats like Sachin Tendulkar), where the media is evolving day by day. Some say she is too weak at her serve, some say she can't fight at the crucial points, bla bla bla.

Yes we all know she has some missing points in her game but just imagine her age (18 yrs) and the kind of temperament she has shown when facing players like Serena Willams, Maria Sharapova, svetlana kuznetsova. So as for the India tennis, here onwards things are only going to improve for Sania too.

Will Sania achieve the kind of success her idol achieved? We don't know the answer to this question, but surely I want to see her win a grand slam event, this year or the next or the next or ...

One major point I want to highlight here is the kind of support (financial) Sania received from the AP government when she wasn't even recognized by anyone. That truly shows the change in attitude of governments towards promoting sports as a career for younger generation.

Now for any Indian, who wants to be a sportsman/sportswoman cricket is not the only choice!!!

Sania has introduced a new hope, Hope of Playing Tennis!!

Ek Ajnabee - Review

If you have nothing at all to do, jump out of your house window but DO NOT go and watch this movie... I have already made that mistake, don't repeat it! This applies to crazy fans of Amitabh Bachchan too.

I seriously agree with Abhishek Bachchan, Big B has to slow down and only do project which are more interesting with a strong and different characters. He does not look good fighting & getting hit with 6 bullets and still surviving.

I don't want to waste my time any more on this movie, writing a review.

TOI gave 3 star rating for this movie, it was really surprising for me. I didn't even make an attempt to read it. How can one can trust the TOI ratings if film like Kalyug gets 3&1/2 star rating!

Football Facts

If a year is divisible by 2 but not divisible by 4, what does that mean for a football fan?

Yes you guessed it right. It is the FIFA Football World Cup year!

The same logic can also be applied for Euro Cup, every year that is divisible by 4!

Pretty simple but effective one, isn't it!

More football facts will be added as the world cup nears.

Book Review: one night @ the call center by chetan bhagat

one night @ the call center by chetan bhagat

The most difficult part of success is not to attain it but to sustain it.

As a graduate from IIT & IIM, you know certainly that Chetan Bhagat knows it. His first book, Five Point Someone (FPS) was the biggest hit of last year, mainly among today's youth.

The second book ON@TCC doesn't disappoint his fans at all. It is based on today's youth, written for youth and targeted at the biggest job market of today for young people -> the call centers across the country. And as with FPS, ONTCC also shows all the characters breaking the rules just for their enjoyment, a cute love story, and going beyond your wild expectations!

The writer starts with a fairytale in his prologue, where he meets a beautiful girl in his empty compartment of Kanpur - Delhi train. And here he finds his story about the second book. The girl tells him a story about six people working in Connexions call center, set in one night and they got a phone call from God.

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Are you ready to take the call? Here we go -

As with FPS, the story is narrated from shyam's eyes, a looser in both personal and professional life. As writer associates himself with such people more... can somebody point out modesty here!!

The story is about the normal working style of call center people, the relationships among the agents (both personal and professional), their struggle with family and relatives, struggle with typical managers, and many more. There are six people, 3 girls and 3 guys. Priyanka is a beautiful and brave, next door girl, Esha is a model who is struggling because of being 3 inches short in height, Radhika is troubled wife, Varun is a typical metro guy, a military uncle about whom I don't know much and then there is our hero shyam!!

There are also small part characters mainly the taxi driver, the manager Bakshi, a cute Shefali, and to top it all a NRI groom. I like the Bakshi character, it's very well handled. Bakshi's typical managerial talks with lots of jargon, his habit of drawing figures when talking, indecisiveness nature, and most of it "to take full credit for your team's work without even informing your team!!" are some of the examples of his character. I think, anyone working in today's professional world can associate Bakshi with his/her manager!

The books length is one night only. To lengthen it, writer has added a beautifully crafted love story between Shyam and Priyanka where he describes many of their past dates, also introducing many discos and bars across NCR at the same time.

And for rest of the story I suggest you to read the book!! Its just Rs. 95/- and 289 pages!!

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The book is not less than a bollywood movie script, I heard FPS is going to be a movie and I can bet if RGV doesn't pick this one as his next movie!

Few things I liked -

• The book is very easy to read, you can not find a single word from Barron's word list.
• I finished it without a single break, not even nature's call!
• Varun's name is changed to "vroom" because of his passion for bikes and cars, I found it quite humorous.
• It introduced me to many new places across NCR to chill out.
• It also has a sex scene similar to that of Titanic scene between Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio!
• FYI -> read my previous post!

The things I disliked -

• The call from God comes too late in the book. You keep waiting and even more waiting.
• I hope American's don't read this book, other wise with fundas like 35=10, will surely get Chetan/Connexions in lot of trouble.
• Also the call about MS word, it can cause trouble too.
• * Instead of Call from GOD, I would have preferred it from Military Uncle!

Overall good book to read!

FYI

FYI - Fuck You Instead. It is a standard way to dump responsibility to someone else.

Yes, we all know what FYI means in the software world... but I like the above version. I think this is true in most of the cases, and a real useful thing if you are a manager!!!

This FYI is taken from "One night @ the call centre" by Chetan Bhagat! Chetan of Five Point Someone fame....I've finished reading it, interesting book. Expect a review soon!!!

Bajaj Avenger - Guaranteed Second Look!! Feel like god bike!!

The perfect cruiser, feel like god bike, the luxurious bike, best looking bike in India, and .... the list is too long! After pulsar, Avenger is going to be the next big thing for Bajaj!!

I was planning to buy a new bike from last one year, it was time to get the perfect replacement for my 2 year old victor. My major aim was to take the bike for looooong rides away from city traffic, and the only options i had were Karizma and RoyalE. I had finalized karizma and just one day before going to book the bike i cought on the Avenger ad. I had heard of the new bike launched by bajaj which is just a make-over of eliminator... but believe me, after seeing the Feel Like God ad (with Leh in the background), i immediately went for a test ride to the nearest showroom, and from that moment my journey with The Avenger has started.

Bajaj Avenger - Download the advertisement here!

Why I call it ’guaranteed second look’ bike?
-I’m riding avenger for almost a month now, and there has not been a single red light where somebody has not asked me about the bike and its performance. The black color is perfect, shines proudly in sunlight!! And no need to talk about my company colleagues...

Here are few points why I choose Avenger as my partner.... and after my experience for 1 month!!

** Its the same bike as eliminator except the pulsar 180 DTSi engine, so what... eliminator (175cc) was the perfect cruiser available in india except its price tag!! Avenger gives you the same bike with few more CCs and for just 60+ (almost 30 less than eliminator)

** 180 CC DTSi engine which generates 16.5 bhp... just a bit less than 350cc thunderbird!!

** The seating posture is perfect, specially made for long rides, initially it feels a bit different but after some time its awesome. The back pillion also gives a rich look to the bike.

** I am 5’5’’, so for people with such height, its the best bet!!

** The headlight, i donno whats it is made of, but its almost as powerful as a car headlight or even more than it. And it also has a option to adjust the horz/vert beam, which are pretty useful. (for a city ride, vert beam can be kept a bit short and for long rides, it can be stretched a bit)..

** The bike is perfectly balanced, and very low to the ground ( still it has a pretty good ground clearance as any other bike in this category). the front suspension is too good, it also gives a perfect look to it. It has longest wheel base in India.

** I haven’t taken it above 80, but its very comfortable at 80kmph and can easily go 20-25 kmph more!! But the air resistance will be more at higher speeds...its a cruiser and not made to be aerodynamic :-)

** Absolutely pleasure to driver in organized traffic, and for city traffic it might take some time to get used to the gear shifting, it took me only 2-3 days to get used to it in jammed traffic.

** Mileage-> haven’t calculated yet, its definitely 40+... pretty good for such a powerful bike, the DTSi has en effect i guess!!

** The pickup is good, of course not comparable to Rx or Karizma, but hey its a cruiser. Has a self starter...

Some of the turnoffs...
------ The engine becomes hot pretty quickly, i was riding it on by half-pants one day and i could feel the hot air on my legs...
------ so be careful not to touch the engine when switching off the bike!!
------ The handle is not a cruiser one, its the same old pulsar style... i don’t know why bujaj has not opted for the curved handle.
------ No engine kill switch, i use the chock to kill the engine (don’t know whether it affect in any way!!)
------ No fuel guage, so keep that tank always full!
------ The owner’s manual is very poor to describe such a powerful and wonderful bike..

Best value for your money... definitely its not for with sporty driver( one who likes RX)! So if you want to buy a bike thats stylish, good riding and want to take it on long long rides and last but not the least just for 60+... then i guess you don’t have a choice.. it has to be an Avenger!!

The bike is so comfortable that i’ve to keep myself awaken during the ride...

Overall ’A perfect Cruiser!!’

At last I've started blogging!

At last I've started blogging again with a brand new blog!

I need to keep track with the current netzians! Lets see if this effort of mine lasts longer than the other things that I keep trying for certain time and get frustrated quickly.

As per the name of the blog, this page will contain anything right from personal experiences to movie reviews, indian specialities, politics, tech things, sport related, and many more!!!

Happy reading!