Mentoring - What should one look for in it??

I am sure all of us see successful people around us. Have you ever stopped by to ask them how they got to where they are? The chances that they will mention about a mentor helping them are very high. What makes mentoring so important? Receiving that investment of time, energy and advice makes mentoring almost priceless. This also means that one should be very careful in choosing a mentor. So, are there any attributes that one should look for in a mentoring program? Here are my thoughts. Do you agree?

Looking for praise alone won’t suffice.

A lot of people are looking for some attention and appreciation when they claim that they want a mentor. They aren’t really looking for constructive feedback which is what would help them work towards growth both personally as well as professionally. To make the most of a mentor, people should look for things that would help build their curiosity and self awareness. This would definitely drive them to perform better.

The more silent, bigger the failure.

If people are to grow, their mentors should be ready to have frank conversations with them. Conversations that are difficult to have and most people would avoid having. A manager can be a mentor too by providing constructive feedback at all times, this would also ensure there are no surprises for the employee during appraisal.

Readiness to accept candid feedback.

A lot of times people don’t like to hear bad things and would love to hear only good things about themselves. But if one wants to make the most of a mentoring relationship, they should be ready to accept candid feedback and understand that it is in their best interests  and therefore be ready to take/accept it.

Building Relationship.

Unless the mentor-mentee build their relationship over a period of time, this wouldn’t work. It can easily get either of them to be disinterested sooner and the meetings would become obligatory. And once it does, there are no benefits to derive for either party. Hence, active listening and empathizing becomes extremely important for the relationship to succeed.

Admiration and Emulation.

While one chooses a mentor, they should never try to align one’s self with someone because of their title. That would be the worst thing to do. Rather, they should look out for someone whom they look up to. That would help them stay focused and make the most of the relationship.

Motivation - Just how important is that?

Motivating a person is not easy but is very critical if one wants the person to stay satisfied in their job. Motivation is what leads people to work harder, be more productive and helps in arresting attrition. So, can one think of a single strategy that can magically motivate people and more importantly, keep them motivated throughout? I don’t think there is anything available. Every single person is unique and if one wants to motivate multiple persons, one has to apply multiple strategies.

However, I think there are some themes that can be used and will work with a variety of people. Do let me know what you think

1. The focus is always on teamwork and it’s benefits nothing ever beats the attention provided to people individually. Taking a moment to speak to an individual alone and personally can make him or her feel truly appreciated. Publicly appreciating their good work and praising them while at the same time spending time with individuals and talking to them about things that matter to them makes them feel very valued. This also ensures that the other people also feel positive about the environment provided to them. More importantly, if someone is under performing, or is overwhelmed by a specific duty, taking them aside and working with them to make the situation better for them is equally appreciated as the person knows that you are behind him/her not only to praise them but also during their tougher times. Individual attention also demonstrates that one cares about the individual behind the work as much as the work itself, and that you're willing to take extra steps to make the individual feel comfortable.
2. People tend to feel bored when their job becomes repetitive over a period of time. Staying for long in the same position will eventually demotivate everyone. That said, if one is offered opportunities for advancement and improvement, they will lap it up immediately and that will also motivate them to work harder. This doesn’t mean that it should always involve an increment and a new job title, it could also mean offering new training opportunities or offering new responsibilities, especially when one is willing to take them on. Helping people grow and change, one can expect people to remain excited about their job and be highly productive.
3. People are going to look to their leaders to set an example for the rest of them all. Leaders are required to be setting a tone, a work ethic, and a set of values. Setting the right example can have a meaningful effect on the mentality of your group. For example, if one works hard and stays optimistic about everything, even in the face of enormous challenges, the chances of the employees to do the same are rather high.

People are unique and unpredictable, with individual desires. No matter how much ever one has thought through the plan, it may not please all of them at all times. So it is required to that one be flexible and make changes to the plan along the way to ensure that the team stays motivated. This will ensure that the team is efficient and happy, all the same.

Mistakes - have you made any?

Have you ever made a mistake? If yes, how did you feel once you found it was a mistake? If no, please read the first question again and reply honestly. J My take on mistakes is very simple. Everyone is going to make them. What is most important is for us to learn from our mistakes once we realize our folly.

Mistakes are definitely not the same thing as failure. You make a mistake, you feel bad but rebound having learnt something from the mistake. It wasn’t fun but definitely not the end of the world. But a failure is when you are at a point of no return and completely devasted.

Hence, mistakes are good as you have learned from them and now know what not to do the next time around. Large scale failures are bad (may sometimes lead to failures).

However, there is one thing worse than failures and that is never trying anything new. Many people I know are extremely risk averse. They hate trying something new or different. They are already scared by the outcome that they choose not to go ahead trying. They also end up thinking a lot, a lot more than what is required. By the time they are through thinking and start executing (if at all, they reach that stage), it becomes obsolete.

Such a situation is bad. This just reinstates the fears of the conservatives and further reduces the person’s confidence. That would definitely be the end of any type of trying.

If one has any new ideas, they should just try it out as soon as possible. If not in a big way, at least in a small way. If it works out, expand else it provides an opportunity to re-group and make changes before re-initiating it in a big way. But if one doesn’t try, one would never know!

As John Greenleaf once said – “Of all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’” After all, no one would like to have any regrets at the end of it all.

Arsene Wenger - No Solace Yet!

It has been 11 games and a win is still elusive. Wenger was hoping for his first win in his 12^th game against Mourinho but it was not to be.

The corresponding fixture last season, which was also Wenger’s 1000^th match as Arsenal’s manager, ended in a miserable thrashing. Wenger left Stamford Bridge with zero points this time too. Maybe he would take heart that it was not as bad as last year.

At the end of the game, Chelsea were 5 points clear on top and 9 points ahead of Arsenal. The game was also a test of character for Fabregas, who earlier used to play for Arsenal. The Stamford Bridge crowd was fully behind him while the ‘Away’ crowd was booing him throughout the match. The game started off with a lot of physical contact between the players. This, in fact, led Wenger to shove Mourinho in the chest in Chelsea’s technical area after a Gary Cahill challenge on Alexis Sanchez.

A semblance of order was restored although the tension continued to resurface throughout the rest of the game. In fact, it was one of these challenges by Koscienly on Hazard that resulted in a penalty in the first half and led to Chelsea taking a lead to half time. They wrapped up the win with yet another Costa goal from a Fabregas assist (it was Costa’s 9^th goal in 7 games) in the 78^th minute. The fact that Arsenal didn’t get a shot on goal until the 90^th minute suggests how defensive Arsenal were throughout the game.

Chelsea did suffer a loss early in the game when their goalkeeper had an accidental collision with Wilshere and had to taken off in the first half. That did not deter his teammates to excel and close the lid on Arsenal. At the end of the day, Wenger must have been wondering what should he do now to get the better of Mourinho on the pitch….not off it. 

Lording over The Lord's

It was anti-climax at the end but then would there have been a better way for it to end? Jadeja bowls to Anderson, who is desperate to get to the other end, takes off for a single that didn’t exist. Jadeja fields and hits the wicket directly while Anderson is still short of the crease. India win! Their first test victory at Lord’s in 28 years. Something that nobody, at least from India, envisaged when they saw the pitch when the test match was to start.

The test match started on the wrong foot with allegations and counter-allegations between the two teams on the spat between Anderson & Jadeja with the latter accusing the former of physically attacking him during the first test. To add on fuel to the fire, the wicket that was prepared for the match was as green as it could be. It was hard to distinguish the ground and the pitch. It got worse for India at the toss with Dhoni losing it and being asked to bat on this wicket.

Cook seems to have stuck gold by sending India to back with 6 wickets down for hardly 125 on the board. It seemed bad when Binny walked back with the score at still less than 150. That is when things started to turn around for India just like in the 1^st Test with the lower order taking the fight to the opposition. The last 3 wickets added another 150 runs before they were all out. One batsman who stood out and held together the innings for India was Rahane and rightfully deserved to have his name on the honors board in the Lord’s board for a fantastic century. The bowlers backed up the batsmen well with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar standing out again with his second 5-for in as many tests. He bowled beautifully in perfect English conditions and made the ball talk. He pitched the ball up. He made the ball move away from the right hander and into the left hander. The batsmen were finding it difficult to handle it all. India were able to restrict England’s lead to only 24 runs. England themselves were able to get over 300 thanks largely to a well crafted century by Ballance and late attack by Plunkett.

The Indian openers started the 2^nd innings well and had the deficit erased before Dhawan lost his wicket cheaply (how many times has he done this in the recent past!). Pujara and Vijay steadied the ship and took the lead to nearly 100 runs before a lapse of concentration cost India Pujara’s wicket which caused a mini-collapse with India losing 3 wickets for 5 runs. More than ever, India needed its captain and monk to stay in the middle for a long time and take it to safety. They did that to some extent by taking India’s lead to over 175 before Dhoni fell and Binny too soon after. Just when Vijay seemed to be headed to his 2^nd century in 2 tests for India, he lost his wicket and India were reeling at 235 with the lead a little over 210. In came Bhuvi and along with Jadeja, turned the game on its head. Their partnership of 99 runs (with both making fifties) not only ensured that the lead was over 300 but also ensured that the bowlers had a lot of time to bowl England out. India were all out for 342 and a lead of 318.

England were set a target of 319 runs on a declining Lord’s wicket. The average 4^th innings score at Lord’s was 157. For England to win this one, they had to score more than double the average 4^th innings score. With their batting wobbling and India’s bowling doing better, it was a foregone conclusion that India were going to win. The question was when and how? As expected, Jadeja got India the first breakthrough with hardly 12 runs on the board for England. Cook and Ballance resisted for a while before the latter was caught behind. Cook continued doggedly and seemed to be getting back in form when against the run of play, he was back in the pavilion. England were reeling at 72 for 4. It all seemed a formality now for India when day 4 ended.

People were betting that India will close them out before lunch on day 5. But the pair in the middle had a completely different idea. They decided to make India earn this win. They defended the good balls, punished the bad balls. Kept the scoreboard ticking. The number of runs required for a win was less than 150 runs. Indians were beginning to worry. Will this be the turnaround that England was waiting for? Is the Indian team lacking the killer instinct to lose from a winning situation, yet again? The last over before lunch when it looked like it was completely England’s session, Ishant Sharma bowled a bouncer from nowhere and Moeen Ali was caught. All the hard work from Ali and Root meant for nothing. The Indians were back. Neither team took the session ended in a draw as the wicket fell at the stroke of lunch. That was the breakthrough that India needed. It was all over an hour after lunch with Ishant taking a seven for. When the last wicket fell, the Indians were all over the place. Nobody expected this team to draw a match, forget winning one. But this young team beat all odds to win and take the lead in this series. With 3 more games to go, I wonder what further twists and turns await us. Test matches are better story tellers than anyone else. Wouldn’t you agree?

How to recognize a Toolophile from a Power–Point Maestro

Process excellence professionals come in a variety of shapes and sizes, says PEX Advisor Debashis Sarkar. Here how’s to recognize them and how you can make sure you use their strengths to your advantage.

Whether they’re experts in improvement methodologies like Lean, Six Sigma, TOC, or not, what binds PEX (aka Process Excellence) professionals together is that they use the power of process to enhance the performance of their organizations. But it’s definitely not “one size fits all”. It takes all types to make a PEX team and it’s helpful to know who is best at what.

Here are the 15 types of PEX professionals you’re likely to encounter on the job.

#1: The Tool-o-phile

The Tool-O-Phile is a person who loves tools and spends a lot of time gathering knowledge on tools and techniques from methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, TOC, A3 etc.  For this type PEX professional, brandishing capability on lean tool is more important than the outcomes of process improvements.  One to watch as you can often find him or her using tools in projects even if not required- just to demonstrate knowledge of the methodology.

#2: JDI Pusher

JDI stands for Just-do-it. This type of PEX professional is a person who will provide you the solutions even before complete analysis to a problem has been done. He will encourage teams to avoid the rigour of analysis and just go ahead with the deployment of the solutions (usually recommended by him or her). The JDI Pusher takes it personally if their solution is not implemented.  You can recognize this type of PEX professional because they have a tendency to narrate stories about past successes and process knowledge – especially in support of his solution. The challenge? If he is not able to push his idea, he will withdraw and stop participating in the process improvements.

The JDI Pusher is driven to push his solution through. But watch out if his idea isn't selected.

# 3: The “Know-All”

The “Know-All” claims to have knowledge about all methodologies and tools that exist for process excellence. Be it Six Sigma, Lean, TOC, TRIZ, process management, CMMI, COPC etc; he will claim his competencies in all and will have a line or two say on each of them.  Whichever one you name, he will nod his head as if he has successfully used it for years.  You can easily recognize this type because when told to demonstrate his knowledge by implementation, he will struggle.

#4: The Change Master

The Change Master treats every process improvement initiative as a change endeavour. He is strong in influencing skills and is able to engage teams across hierarchies. He is tool deficient as believes that they are not important so far he is able to manage the trials and tribulations of change associated with process excellence efforts.

# 5: The Power-Point (PPT) Maestro

The PPT Maestro is a person who gets all his power from power-point. His passion is not process-improvement and his involvement at the most is superficial. However, he is in the forefront in leading the encapsulation of the project outcomes in power-point presentations and sharing this with the bosses.

# 6: The Thinker

He is a thinker and loves conceptualizing the process-improvement journey. You put him in any organization and he will quickly tell you what needs to be done to enhance its performance. However, his forte is not execution and needs others to deploy what he was conceptualized .   He observes and learns from across industry and successfully able to customize offerings for his organization.  

#7: The Communicator

He is an individual who likes communicating to all the power of process and what it can do to business performance. He loves evangelizing and sharing concepts of quality. His forte is collecting relevant information and disseminating it to all relevant organization.  But clearly deployment, change and engagement are not his cup of tea.

#8: Data Whiz

This is someone who loves data and spends a lot of time playing with it. You give him any information and he would quickly analyse for your reference. He is adept in statistical tools, software packages such as Minitab, JMP etc.

#9: The Systems Thinker

The Systems Thinker is able to quickly connect the impact of process improvement efforts on the big-picture of the organization. Being a systems thinker he is able to quickly tell you how an improvement impacts the other parts of the organization. However, he has dislike for tactical work and would avoid being a part of it 

#10: The Deployment Champ

This is someone who is passionate about deployment and able to execute projects on time because of solid project management skills. He gets kick from actions and loves putting out organizational “fires” through process tools. However, if you tell him to think, you may be a bit disappointed with the outcomes.

#11: The Advisor

This is an individual who loves to advise teams on how improvements can be carried out but if you tell him to lead deployment, you could be disappointed. He believes in arm-chair consulting and likes being a bystander when deployment gets done.  He is willing to take accountability of results so far as someone else would do the actual work for him.   

#12: Trainer

He likes to build capability of teams and is passionate about created agents of change who can do process improvements. He loves training people and gets all charged up when he has to teach a set of people in a classroom. Out of a classroom he’s  like a fish out of water.

#13: The Fixer

The Fixer’s approach to process excellence is by short-cuts and building opportunistic relationships with people . You will find him less in process related work and more in finding out about organizational politics. From his friendly demeanour you will never able to realize that he has some motives to achieve. Since his process related efforts are superficial the outcomes that his improvements deliver are most of the times ineffective.    

#14: The Chronicler

The Chronicler loves to study process excellence pursued by organization or individuals  and  chronicle them for others. He studies & researches organizations, practices and teams; and understands why they are doing what they are doing. He puts his findings in articles or books for others to read and learn. 

#15: The Silent Force

He is a quiet individual who talks less and wants his results of process improvement do the talking. His knowledge and ability to deliver results is valued by those around him. Typically his silence is mistaken for incompetence but when he is in working on a project one can see a craftsman in action.

Most individuals will have a mix of many of the above traits but they will tend to fall into one category or another.

Which one are you part of??

Woman & the Respect She Deserves

The whole of Twitter has been outraging about the molestation incident that happened earlier this week outside a bar in Guwahati. The girl was molested by 20+guys after she confronted them when they abused her inside the bar. It has pained me and it still is that we mistreat women thus!

This made me wonder about how much we actually respect women in our country. Do we really appreciate her contribution in our lives, to our society and our country? What makes us from appreciating them? Who is responsible for this? Where does one go to search for these answers?

Ours is primarily a patriarchal society where the man is the all powerful gender and the woman is expected to be submissive & always listen to him. This has been the case for centuries and, honestly, not something that we should be proud of. Why? Because we are a society where majority of us believe in woman to be a goddess. We pray to our goddesses and believe they are our saviors in most times. So, despite this why do we still continue to be sexists or misogynists?

Why do men in India find it difficult to accept that women are as good and capable as themselves? Women deserve as much freedom to do things as every man does. She deserves the respect that every man does. Why do men disrespect her by physically abusing her?

Can’t we respect and revere a woman when she manages to do so many things and yet be strong? Can’t we accept that women can be independent too and love them for that? Can’t we celebrate a woman like we do our own mother, sister, wife & daughter?

We would turn a great country only when we realise and respect women. Till the time we continue to ill-treat our women by physically and mentally torturing them, we would continue to be this third-rate country which doesn’t know to how to respect its women.

No, I am not a feminist! I am just someone who loves to treat everyone equally and not discriminate based on gender/caste/creed. I hope I live long enough to see my country change into something I am wishing for.

The Olympic Games that I am most excited about

My first memory of Olympics was in the year 1988. I was 9 years old then and was excited at watching so many games happening simultaneously. I was equally excited at watching it live on TV. The next memory I have of Olympics is 1996 when I saw a teary eyed Leander on the podium after clinching a Bronze medal in Men’s singles Tennis, ending our medal drought. The last medal India had won before that was in the 1980 Moscow games. Since then, we have been consistently winning only 1 medal every Olympics except 2008 when we won 3. In fact, India has won only a total of 20 medals in all the Olympics it has participated since 1900. It is, indeed, a shame that a country with over a Billion people and so many resources at its disposal has won so little at the Olympics. So, what is it about London 2012 that excites me?

First and foremost, I think this is India’s best chance of coming back with its biggest haul of medals in its Olympic history. And India has athletes from different fields that are capable of winning a medal. Our best performance till date was at Beijing 4 years back when we won a rich haul of 3 medals (1 Gold & 2 Bronze) from Shooting, Wrestling and Boxing events. This time around we have medal hopes from many other events like Badminton, Tennis, Archery, Shooting, Wrestling, Boxing and Hockey.

Secondly, this year’s Olympics would be held in London. This city, to me, is the most beautiful city in the world with a lot of history, culture and traditions. The open spaces, the parks, the people. It is absolutely lovely there. I have been there once in the past and how I wish that I would get another chance to go there.

Finally & equally importantly, the spirit of Olympics and sports. It is always lovely to watch sportspersons from different nations keep their animosities behind and come together to play the sport in the best spirit. This is a place where friendships are formed, partnerships are made and more importantly, humanity realised.

I would love to be part of at least 1 Olympic games in my life to see them all first hand and share my experiences with my grandchildren. Will it happen? Only time will tell. Till such time, all I want to do is look forward to this year’s games and see my beloved country come back with its richest haul ever and the games being held in the best spirit.

A year later - I am back

My last time I wrote was in 2011 and I had hoped to continue blogging which didn't happen. I am back again. Will I last?? That is the big question. I will definitely try my best to continue blogging... I hope I get the power to do it... Will start with Olympics and hopefully tomorrow. :)

Just a few words!

It been a good 2 years since I last blogged, the world has changed a lot. My world has changed a lot and I have not been blogging at all. I had vowed to myself that I will come back to blogging umpteen times in these 2 years. I made 7 attempts at coming back to blogging but met with no success. This is the 8^th attempt and I want to make it a success. Hence, I am writing just a few words. Nothing specific in mind and not a lot to say.

I have turned to short blogging with Twitter these days and most certainly enjoy it. This is akin to leaving the home country and re-locating to another country. You enjoy the new location, country, its people and all the comforts it has to offer. But then you always miss your home and want to come back at some point after having ignored it for a long time.

This doesn’t mean that I am going to forget my new country. It only means that I am going to visit my home country more often.

Till the next time, which I hope is not going to be very far, Ciao!

The F1 season is back…

For all those sports buffs, it is something more to cheer about… The world of F1 is back!!! With more fervor and expectations, though the number of teams have reduced to 10 from 11 last year… I am looking forward to it as much as anybody else is… This season seems to be more exciting than any other because of the changes that are made to the rules… Broadly, the changes in the rules are:

Tyres

After 10 seasons on grooved tyres, Formula One racing returns to slicks in 2009, as part of moves to increase the emphasis on mechanical rather than aerodynamic grip. With no grooves, grip will increase by around 20 percent, bringing a significant performance gain. However, that gain will be offset by the vastly reduced downforce levels of the revised aerodynamic regulations (see below). The overall effect should be reduced performance through high-speed corners. Drivers will still have the choice of two dry tyre compounds and will still have to use both compounds during a race.

KERS

From 2009 teams have the option of employing a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to boost their car’s performance. As its name implies, a KERS recovers the (normally wasted) kinetic energy generated by the car’s braking process. This energy is stored using a mechanical flywheel or an electrical battery and then made available to the driver, in set amounts per lap, via a ‘boost button’ on the steering wheel. Under the current regulations the power gain equates to around 80 horsepower, available for just under seven seconds per lap. This could be worth several tenths of a second in terms of lap time, but the weight and packaging of the system - and its impact on the car’s weight distribution - also have to be taken into account.

Engines

In a move designed to boost reliability still further, rev limits will be cut from 19,000 to 18,000 rpm and drivers must now use the same engine for three, rather than two, consecutive events. Teams will be limited to eight engines per season - eight for each race driver and an additional four for testing. Just one team - Renault - has been allowed to make performance modifications to their engine for 2009 in order to help equalise power outputs.

Aerodynamics

Along with slick tyres, this is the biggest area of change for 2009. Downforce will be dramatically reduced and the cars’ bodywork will appear much cleaner, thanks to new dimensional regulations that effectively outlaw extraneous items such as barge boards, winglets, turning vanes and chimneys.
As well as reducing overall aero performance, the revisions are also designed to increase overtaking by making the car less susceptible to turbulence when closely following another driver. The most obvious changes are to the front and rear wings.The front wing becomes lower (75mm from 150mm) and wider (up from 1400 to 1800mm - the same width as the car) with driver-adjustable flaps. Drivers will be allowed to make two wing adjustments per lap, altering the wing angle over a six-degree range.The rear wing becomes taller (up 150mm to bring it level with the top of the engine cover) and narrower (750mm from 1000mm).
Also at the back of the car, the diffuser has been moved rearwards, its leading edge now level with (rather than ahead of) the rear-wheel axle line. In addition, the diffuser has been made longer and higher, all changes that will reduce its ability to generate downforce.TestingTesting restrictions will be even more stringent, with none allowed for the duration of the race season.

Points system

The driver’s championship this year would be decided by number of wins earned by the driver rather than the points earned by the driver. This changes the focus from being more consistent to being more aggressive.
The changes have brought about mixed reactions from the teams and the drivers. Few of them calling the changes interesting and worthy while the rest of them labeling this ridiculous! Add to this the effect of recession on each of the teams and their ability to spend a lot of money on research. The season is going to be very interesting and intriguing.
Team Honda has been re-christened to BRAWN and seems to have come back with a vengeance with teams like Ferrari and McLaren fearing it a lot. The drivers who would be in the fray again would again be led by the British Prodigy Lewis Hamilton with Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikonnen, Fernando Alonso close on the heels. However, this year Jenson Button is also included in the fray and is considered to be on of the top contenders.

Overall, it is going to be a very fun-filled season with all the action starting in Melbourne this weekend. So, sit back, relax and enjoy all the fast forward action this weekend... More to come soon...

India’s T-20 Form continues to Rock!

India was playing a T-20 international game in over a year. The last T-20 game that the Indian national team played was in February 2008 in Australia and Australians hammered them back then. But the Indians were in good form and had just won the ODI series against the Lankans quite comfortably with a margin of 4-1. Also, considering that Sri Lanka rested 4 of their key players, India were clear favorites going into the match. And what a match it was! It was a very closely fought match with the pendulum swinging either way until the moment the Pathan brothers came together in the middle for India.
Going to the start of the match, Sri Lanka with a new captain won the toss (at last!) and decided to bat first. Jayasuriya provided the hosts with the perfect start by blasting around the Indian bowlers for a quick fire 33 of just 17 balls before he was brilliantly caught by Ishant Sharma off Irfan Pathan. But that didn’t deter the Lankans and they were well on their way to score over 200 runs in their allotted 20 overs. But the shrewd captain in Dhoni made the right bowling changes by bringing on the spinners and putting the brakes on the Lankan scoring rate. It was not to be the case though as towards the end of the Lankan innings the scoring rate got brisk before Ishant came back to bowl the last over of the innings by conceding only 3 runs. So, the Indians were set a target of 172 runs in 20 overs which wasn't considered a huge task considering that India had a very strong batting line-up.

But that was not to be! Sri Lanka struck early removing the openers in the first few overs. It was now consolidation time for India. Yuvi and Raina did just that but never allowed the run rate to fall. This was the phase when many believed that its going be a walk over the park for the Indians. At least until Dilshan introduced the spinners into the attack. That completely changed the course of the game, with the run rate moving southwards and the Indians started quick wickets. So, at the end of the 15th over, the equation looked something like India requiring 55 runs in 5 overs with just 3 wickets in hand. All seemed lost for India and Sri Lanka seemed to be the run away winners. But the script was to be changed again and in came the Pathan brothers for India. Yusuf Pathan scored 3 boundaries in the 16th over to leave the equation at 40 runs required off 4 overs. That was when Sri Lanka lost the plot. Dilshan brought back his seamers when Jayasuriya was bowling fantastically well and had a over in his kitty. That might have done the trick for Sri Lanka but instead it was the seamers who came on to bowl and gifted the game to India. Irfan and Yusuf combined well to hit some good boundaries and mixed it well with quick running between the wickets. Finally, India won the game with 4 balls to spare and it was ecstatic for the Indians while the entire stadium went silent in disbelief when Irfan hit the 2nd ball of the last over long over the boundary line for a six. Having won 5 of the 6 games that India played in Sri Lanka, the team is next headed to New Zealand at the later part of this month. Will the Indians keep up the tempo and pull out a series win against the Kiwis??? Only time will tell... But for now, rejoice the Indian victory and keep hoping for more such ones...

Marley and me - The Feel Good Movie...

When I first saw the advertisement which said Marley and me would release in the theatres on 6th February 2009, I was ecstatic! I had seen Jen on screen for a while now (a huge fan and completely fida over her!) and I really didnt care about what the movie was all about and wanted to watch it for her! I spoke to a few of my friends and planned out a movie outing for Sunday. There was something very familiar about the title and it didnt strike me for a while. Suddenly, I realised that the movie is based on a book and I own it! To be very honest, I started reading this book and couldnt go past a few pages. Not because the book is badly written, but because I didnt have the patience to read this sweet and cute book. To me, it was more like the girlish book (the kinds that most girls read!) and so I passed on the book to my wife who loved it so much! I was also glad that I didnt read the book as when movies are made out of books, you tend to compare which was better and that isn't the best thing to do as you tend not to enjoy both.

The movie starts really well with John Grogan, the protoganist of the movie or was it Marley?, explaining how he and his wife decide to adopt a dog because his wife is scared that she is not able take care of a plant and how was she going to take care of their children. Well, if only everybody started thinking the same way, the world would see a pet in every house and that would be a good sight. Thus comes Marley into the life of the Grogans and changes everything in their lives. He soons earns this reputation of being the world's worst dog and very loveable. The rest of the story is about how and what changes happen in the lives of the Grogans and how Marley is in the center of all this. It was a very loveable movie and very well shot. Everybody in the movie hall was enjoying it as you could hear the laughter loud every now and then with each prank of Marley. I am sure that everybody would enjoy with a pet like Marley (though I suspect if they would want him in their homes!). What was best about the Grogans was that despite all that Marley does (most of the times it is not good), they love him just the same and can't imagine a life without him. Take this scene for example, where the Grogans have their second child and Jen decides to quit her job so that she can take care of the children all by herself, she gets very overwhelmed with all that's happening around her. What with Marley not helping, the situation gets worse and Jen wants Marley out of the house forever. John takes Marley to his friend's place for a couple of days until he finds a more permanent home for him. When he gets back home, Jen apologises and says that theirs was Marley's home and he can't go anywhere else. This despite him being so unruly.

What the movie focusses on and succeeds to a large extent is focussing on the bonding that's built between Marley and the Grogans. This holds good to any pet owners and the pets become part of the family. You should look forward to the climax and that is very moving. On the whole, very good viewing experience for all. I enjoyed it a lot and wouldn't mind watching the movie more times in the time to come. I suggest that everybody watch the movie and enjoy the small joys of life which make living a pleasure.

Slumdog Millionaire - Only hype or Full of Substance...

Slumdog Millionaire, the most awaited movie of the year 2008, is a wonderful example of how differently things are perceived in the East and the West. A movie that is so loved and critically acclaimed by the West has been frowned upon and criticised a lot in India. So, is the movie really worth all the hype and to be loved the way it is? Or are the critics of the movie right in their argument??

I went to watch this movie without a lot of expectations but had read about all acclaim that the movie had released all over. Also, the movie had won a lot of awards including the BAFTA and had won a lot of Oscar nominations by the time I saw the movie. So, what is my take on the movie???

Well, to be very honest, I didnt think there was anything extraordinarily good about the movie for it to have won these number of awards or be nominated for the Oscars. To me, it was a typical and ordinary bollywood movie with its share of twists and turns. I have watched a lot of much better flicks from the Indian cinema. What made me hate the movie more is the fact that only the bad side has been portrayed in the movie. Agreed! All that has been shown in the movie is true and does happen in India. But India is not just about that! There is a lot more to this country and plenty of sightful things here. The intention of the director was very clear in one particular scene where Jamaal acts as a guide showing the western tourists around India. Jamaal takes the Westerners to a suburb in the capital and all his friends steal all that could possibly be stolen from their car and when the driver hits Jamaal and asks him about the whereabouts of his croonies, the westerners stop him as Jamaal says that this is the true side of India and the westerners say that they would show the true side of America. Is that true??? Is this a fact??? Was that a true side of India and America respectively??? I am sure that all Indians and most of the world would beg to differ. That is certainly NOT the true side of India! Well, with regards to the true side of America, everybody knows and no point in commenting.

So, is there anything good about the movie at all??? Well, yes there are! For one, the flow is good. The way answers to the questions in the show have been arrived at is interesting! The anchor changing into a villian as he turns Jamaal to the police was a good touch. Music was a good support to the movie (will come back to it in a while!) and the performances were topnotch. Watch out for the youngest Jamaal, he sets the tone for what is to come later on and does a fantastic job! Well, strictly a one timer and could have been made better. No wonder it is a super failure in India.

Now, moving on to Oscar nominations, the film's music has bagged 3 nominations. One for Best Original Music Score and the other two for the Best Song Category! This is the 1st time an Indian is nominated at the mainstream Oscars and something for all the Indians to be proud of. Though, I felt this was not the best work of A.R. Rahman and most certainly not worth an Oscar nomination (though I am not complaining)! There have been better works from him and would continue to come. But for the moment, we should sit back and enjoy all the attention our music is getting and hats off to Rahman for taking the Indian music to the global charts.

India on a roll!!!

The Indian cricket team is on a roll these days. They have just registered their 9th consecutive win in ODIs, an Indian record. What was more heartening to see was the margins of these victories. All of these wins were comprehensive and convincing wins. Dhoni is fast building the reputation of being a cool customer and a very shrewd captain. Above all this, he is a very lucky captain! With luck and a very talented bunch of youngsters by his side, he is going to take the Indian Cricket to scale new heights. This winning run started with the ODI series in India against England. It was expected to be a very tight series but the Indians were expected to pip the English team 4-3 in that series. However, the Indians ambushed the English and were on course for a 7-0 sweep when unfortunately, the Mumbai attacks cut short the tour. This followed with the Indian Govt banning the team from travelling to Pakistan and rightly, the BCCI calling off the tour. Then BCCI smartly arranged for a ODI tour to Sri Lanka in the interim. Another 5 match ODI series began late January and was expected to be a closely fought series what with India having won only twice in past any bilateral series in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka fresh from their away series win against Pakistan. India won the 1st match comfortably by restricting the Lankan to a low total and chasing it down comfortably. Aided by some luck with the toss in the remaining games, the Indians chose to bat first and thereby posting high totals and batted the Lankans out of the game each and every time. It is very heartening to see the young Indian team diving around in the field and improved performance on the running between the wicket. Dhoni has managed to do what only Ganguly has managed to do in the past i.e. getting the team to believe in themselves and play very positively. Dhoni's record as a captain is very impressive in all forms of cricket with more than 62% of the matches being won on an average. This only proves the fact that he has the acumen of being a shrewd captain and an intellectual thinker. This along with the fact that Australia as now lost 5 ODIs in a row, means that India replace Australia as the No. 2 team in the world. If it makes a clean sweep of the this series like against England, it would be on the top of the world with South Africa as company. It is a very interesting phase for the Indian Cricket and hopefully it would continue to bring a lot of cheers to the Indians who only fall short of falling in the feet of these demi-gods!

Luck by Chance - Movie Review!!!

The long awaited 2nd movie of Farhan Akhtar is here... Directed by his sister, Zoya, and having a theme loved by my fellow countrymen second only to cricket, the expectations on this movie were high! What with this movie boasting of a lot of movie stars making guest appearance... I wanted to watch this movie in the 1st weekend itself... I have been so looking forward to the movie... Honestly, I felt that the movie was a tad disappointing, especially the 1st half... Yes! It is a movie about bollywood! It gives you a lot of insight into this dream world and some hard truths! However, the screenplay could have been crispier. The first half of the movie was all about introducing the main characters of the the film. However, it seemed more like they were spectators watching from the side lanes. It is only in the 2nd half that the pace picks up and the movie gets engrossing. This is the story of Farhan Akhtar and Konkana Sen Sharma, both wannabe actors, trying to make it big in bollywood. As luck would have it, Farhan Akhtar gets the big break (also through his suaveness as much as through hard work and luck!) and how he manipulates is way to success forms the rest of the story. It also shows what he loses in his way to success. The movie also stars Dimple as the yesteryears heart throb, Rishi Kapoor as the superstitious Punjabi producer and Hrithik Roshan as Zafar Khan, the current superstar of Bollywood. The performances of all the main characters is good and apt for the character played by them. My verdict is go for it, at least once! You will certainly enjoy it.

Australian Open Finals!!!

The first Grand Slam of the year 2009 kick started in Melbourne just about 2 weeks back and what a couple of weeks it has been! Top seeds doing well, upsets galore. This year's open has been top class and the best the world has seen thus far. It all started with Andy Murray of GB being announced one of the top favorites to win the crown. What with him having beaten both Nadal and Federer in the run up to this event! However, as Djokovic repeatedly commented, Murray was a favorite only after Nadal, Federer and himself. As the tournament wore on, a new star emerged. That was the Spanish Davis Cup hero and 14th Seed, Fernando Verdasco. He reached his 1st ever Grand Slam Semi Final beating the 4th Seed Andy Murry and 5th Seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga on his way there. The top seed Nadal had absolutely no problems ambushing his opponents on his way to Semifinals. The semifinalists from the top half of the draw were Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco (both Spaniards), a first where Australian Open is concerned. In the bottom half of the draw, things were more in order with the quarterfinal line-up as expected. In the quarterfinal, Roddick, a former No. 1, played a fanstactic game to force the 3rd Seed Djokovic to retirement and set up a semi-final date with the man gunning for the record, Federer. So, the Australian Open Semi-final line up looked like

No. 2 Seed Roger Federer Vs. No. 7 Seed Andy Roddick

No. 1 Seed Rafael Nadal Vs. No. 14 Seed Fernando Verdasco.

On 29th January 2009, Federer brushed past Roddick in straight sets to keep his date with destiny. He was now eagerly looking forward to know who is opponent on 1st February was going to be.

On the other hand, the second semi-final was turning out to be a classic. Keeping up his reputation of playing some unstoppable tennis in this open, Ferdasco continued to do so. The top seed who had not lost a single set in any of the previous rounds was forced to play a more formidable opponent and lost his first sets of the tournament. The monumental battle, the longest in the history of the Open, ended late into the night a few minutes after 5 long and gruelling hours. It was a shame that there had to be a winner and loser in this battle. But the world got to view some enthralling tennis and after the gruelling battle, the top seed came through as a winner to set up a final clash with his favorite opponent.

No other players have met 7 times, in the Open era, in the grand slam finals. Federer meets his old nemisis yet again in a final and hopes to come over him to equal Sampras' record of 14 Grandslam finals.

More on this later... Keep watching... And enjoy the stories on this blog...

Second re-entry to blogging!!!

Well, I have been away from blogging again for a long time... Some more pressing family commitments led to me being away from blogging for quite sometime now... Am back now... And hopefully for good... I am going to launch my blog again this year and hope that would be able to add a lot this year and make it an enjoyable read for all of you... Happy Blogging and wish you a great new year...

Finally - An Olympic gold for India in the Individual Event

The Olympics have begun... This has been labelled the greatest of all show events in this world... And all of us in India have been waiting with bated breath and praying all the while that an Indian wins a gold medal... This has never happened in an Individual Event ever since India started participating in the Modern Olympics... In fact, India has managed only 4 individual medals going into this Olympics... What a turnaround it turned out to be! Abhinav Bindra won India's first ever Individual gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle event... It was a very thrilling moment for all the Indians...

After having qualified for the finals in 7th place, Abhinav decided to show is prowess in the Finals... All through the finals, he hit scores of 10 or over... This helped him move to 3rd place after 5 shots in the final... Consistent shots moved him to the second spot... With just one shot remaining, the scores were tied between him and the leader throughout the event thus far, Hakinen... And Abhinav performed admirably under pressure shooting a near perfect 10.8 while the Finn wilted under pressure to shoot 9.7 and in the process lose the second place to the defending champion from China...

This has been a dream start for India and I hope that this would open up the floodgates and India would manage to win more medals in this year's Olympics...

Am back...

I have been idle for the last 3 months. Although, there were a lot of things that interested me and had my thoughts stirring, I was unable to put them all to paper and post the blogs... Now, I feel that it is high time that I start writing my blog again... So, hold on to your breath... And keep looking at this space for more.... With a lot of exciting events lined up in the days to come, I am looking forward to blogging actively... See you all soon....