My Little Log Book

IPL at Vizag I have always loved my cricket, so it was a pleasant surprise when my husband asked me to accompany him to a cricket match at Vizag. I have been unaware of the IPL goings on for the past couple of years. I don't really remember the reason the interest just petered off. Was it when Chennai found itself at the centre of the betting scandal? I guess so. I mean when the Champion team's owner's relative was found out being immersed with unsavoury characters with proven involvement in betting scandals and the same owner owns Indian cricket and the captain of the team also captains the country...the relationship between all of Indian cricket and the betting industry and IPL becomes kind of incestuous. Anyways that's a separate story from my IPL watching yesterday! So, cut off as I was from the game I didn't know what to expect. But to my immense pleasure I found two heroes at the ground at Vizag! And one of them, my all time favorite in cricket, Rahul...

Aa Ka Ma Boi, Paana Gua Thoi, Paana Gua Toro, Masaka Dharama Moro This incantation reverberates on the banks of River Mahanadi on the day of Kartik Purnima as thousands of people descend to the banks to sail paper, straw and bamboo boats celebrating the history of Bali Jatra. The sailing of boats heralds Odisha biggest festival after Rath Yatra - the Bali Yatra at Cuttack. At the turn of the last millennium, Odisha, or Kalinga as it was known then, was a major sea faring nation and controlled many of the sea routes for trading in South East Asia. Its influence spread far and wide, from Sri Lanka to the Malay peninsula, Bali, Sumatra, Cambodia. One can still witness the many similarites of culture and architecture in Bali and Cambodia with Kalinga. One spectacular result of this confluence of cultures is the World-renowned Angkor Wat temple at Cambodia. A model of Angkor Wat in Cambodia As one gets off a bus and looks onto the grand Angkor Wat temple near Siam Rep in C...

Flurys Park Street Kolkata Some things in life never change. Like a Sunday morning on Park Street. There maybe an entirely different Government at the Centre. The country's political and social landscape may have changed beyond recognition in the past decade. I might be older(and wiser?) by a decade. More importantly there maybe an entirely different Government in Kolkata with the leftist flavor gone perhaps for ever...but Kolkata in many ways fortunately remains the same! CLosed Park Street shops A stroll on Park Street looking for a hair parlour and reviving old memories made me realise how much had gone by in the last 9 years but one could get no inkling of it here! The roads were a virtual empty stretch. In Kolkata's premium shopping and businss district it has been a source of constant amazement to me how it can sleep so utterly on Sunday mornings. No cabs, no lining up at exclusive shops, little pedestrian traffic, no jay walking or hustling to flag down a cab...

Here are 5 Important things to do Before / After Running a Marathon (Not Training!) Everyone knows there are important stuff to do before you actually run a marathon. A marathon is on many fitness lovers/freaks/fanatics to do list - "in things to do before one dies". So what is the important stuff to do before a marathon other than registering, practising, reaching the venue of the run, etc. #1 to do before the Mumbai Marathon Find your running legs. Ensure that those pair of femur, tibia and fibula muscle bound essentials are in place and not misplaced. Oil them and preserve them till the D-Day when you can unleash them on the usual suspects. That means no overdoing stuff before the run but still having enough miles in the bank. #2 to before cracking the Mumbai Marathon The marathon gear is as important as the actual running. What will you have to show after a 21 or 42 km run? A very sore pair of feet and sorer muscles? Well no. You will be showing selfies holding your timi...

 Obama Selfie - Cant a President Have a Bit of Fun? Well apparently not. Not at a funeral, not with a pretty lady Prime Minister of another country, definitely NOT with a selfie and apparently NOT with the first lady Michelle looking disapprovingly away! The list of DONTS for Presidents have increased. You DONT take a smiling selfie at a funeral. As the Memorial proceedings of Madiba were going on, The Prez Obama interacted with World leaders as one is supposed to do. At some point during those  interactions, the President whipped out his phone and took a "selfie" with the pretty Prime Minister of Denmark Helle Thorning Schmidt with Britain's Mr Cameron looking on. And the world (or the cyber world) erupted! What followed was miles and miles of tweets, retweets, opinions. And more opinions on why is Michelle Obama looking so glum! However what I feel is that - come on, the Prez is a person too - let him have his selfie! Madiba wouldnt have objected. And more ...

Well not exactly... '"The ocean is very big and a skiff is small and hard to see," the old man said. He noticed how pleasant it was to have someone to talk to instead of speaking only to himself and to the sea.' I had an amazing experience recently, watching the "Old Man and The Sea" performed on stage by Tom Alter and supported by Sufi dancer Zia Nath. Tom Alter did all the talking himself as he spent nearly 1.5 hours on stage enacting the famous role of the old man adrift on the sea. Alter' performance was of such intensity that one felt really adrift with Santiago on a skiff checking baits, tackling a marlin, fighting shark attacks, thinking about the day's baseball, DiMaggio and the boy. You knew the old man wouldn't give up especially when he reminisced about an arm wrestling match with a much stronger opponent that went on and on till the pectators almost left for work on the next day. Santiago' fight with the fish was beautiful...

This is the speech with which Sachin Tendulkar ended his last Test Match. All my friends. Settle down let me talk, I will get more and more emotional. My life, between 22 yards for 24 years, it is hard to believe that that wonderful journey has come to an end, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank people who have played an important role in my life. Also, for the first time in my life I am carrying this list, to remember all the names in case I forget someone. I hope you understand. It's getting a little bit difficult to talk but I will manage. The most important person in my life, and I have missed him a lot since 1999 when he passed away, my father. Without his guidance, I don't think I would have been standing here in front of you. He gave me freedom at the age of 11, and told me that chase my dreams, but make sure you do not find shortcuts. The path might be difficult but don't give up, and I have simply followed his instructions. Above...