Exit Patron-in-Chief...Welcome Mr Baramati

Its looks like good times are back for Indian cricket. No I am not talking about India'a ODI victory against Sri Lanka or the drawn series with South Africa. Not even its elevation up 3 levels in the ICC rankings to No 4. But what I am talking about is the exit of self-anointed Patron-in-Chief of Indian cricket, Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya.

In the much publicised BCCI elections held today, the strongman from Baramati bulldozed his way to the post of President. And that too by a handsome margin. Very surpising for Dalmiya as he had held sway of Indian cricket for close to 21 years. BCCI seemed to be his fiefdom and the Indian selectors his sentry guards. Now all that is set to change with Shard Pawar becoming the President.

One thing is for sure - entire dynamics across all cricket associations is set to change. Ganguly dada might lose support with the exit of Dalmiya , personally a gratifying factor for me. With NCP being a partner of Congress, Pawar will have the backing of the central govt and can take some bold decisions in changing the phase of Indian cricket. But whether Shard Pawar will be able to make a difference is yet to be seen..

Mahabs..

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Originally uploaded by theiyer.

Stunning sculptures at Mahabalipuram. Just wonder how the artisans of those days managed to get such pieces (as photographed and uploaded by yours truly) sculpted without any sophisitcated machinery. The intricate carvings actually make you keep staring at them. Really astounding cave scultptures at Mahabalipuram aka Mamallapuram.

PS : Just visited Mahabs last Sunday. When your wife's friend visits you, it is a self accepted norm that the husband has to become the official chauffeur. Well but the drive was splendid, thanks to the East Coast Road (once Laloo remarked that Bihar's roads would be made like Hema Malini's cheeks...though that never happened)...

End of "Jungle Raj"

Elation. That sums up what every Indian feels on the fall of the "jungle raj" in Bihar. What goes up has to come down and can Bihar be an exception. Guess 15 years has been a long time but Laloo and his consort ensured that the state dipped into even more penury, thanks to rampant mafia raj.
Just hope the small time engineer (Nitish Kumar that is) succeeds in turning around the fortunes of the state.

Adios Senor Drucker

Every guy who passes out of the b-school, swears to live by three people - Kotler, Porter and Drucker. But then the reality is different as the vagaries of the corporate sector makes one completely oblivious to their teachings.

Can anyone ever forget Peter Drucker's contribution to the world of management, probably management as a concept would never have evolved without you. Thereby resulting in a thriving industry of so-called management "quack" gurus of today. "Knowledge Worker" and "Management by Objectives" will probably exisit till the earth continues to go around the sun.

And yeah, the champion of "privatisation" once said, "..highly skilled people are an organization's most valuable resource and that a manager's job is to prepare and free people to perform"..Only wish that all managers follow it to the tee.

Adios Mr Drucker.
PS : "Acknowledgements" section of my first book will have your name.

Glimpses of Chennai...ILC

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Originally uploaded by theiyer.

ILC stands for "I love Chennai"...my colleague Krish has started the movement called ilovechennai ..he has even gone to the extent of getting out ILC stickers and he is contemplating further merchandise..ilovechennai.com essentially tries to capture the essence of Chennai..

So all you diehard fanatic Chennaivasis...check it out and watch the photo blogs of "moments of Chennai life"..

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Originally uploaded by theiyer.

FDi in Politics?

Double standards of our politicians have come to the fore with two recent headliners - first the disclosures about the KGB funding of Communists & Congressmen (during Madame Gandhi's regime) as detailed by Mithrokin revelations and now the disclosure by Volcker on Natwar Singh's and Congress Party's involvement as non-contractual beneficiaries in the UN's Oil for Food Programme during Feuhrer Sadddem's rule.

Maybe the communists are against FDI in retail and banking. But they might not be against FDI in politics as the joke going around in Delhi suggests. Why do they have to exhibit such double standards ?

Guess reams of newsprint and kilometres of private television newsreel have been wasted on corruption & double standards of our politicians. Guess next time when the communists like Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury talk about governance and ethics, one needs to throw food at them, just like Nicholas Cage gets bamboozled in "The Weatherman" by Chicagoans whenever he predicts wrong weather....

Chiyan tickles with "Majaa"

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Originally uploaded by theiyer.

Remakes of hit films always face the problem of being compared with the original. My wife still feels that Munnabhai MBBS is better than VasoolRaja MBBS though i disagree whole-heartedly. Anyway, "Chiyan" Vikram faces little resistance in this aspect as his latest Diwali release "Majaa"'s original Malayalam version is not quite popular in Tamil Land. That has been a big advantage.

Despite the sea-saw reviews in the media, i feel that the film has achieved its targted of being a majaa (fun in tamil) film. No idea on why it is called Majaa except that the protagojnist keeps spewing the word "majaa" quite frequently. Its rip roaring at a lot of times especially when Vikram shares the screen with Pasupati. Did not quite realise that Pasupati (who acted as Kothalla Devar in Virumaandi) can actually essay such comedy roles with ease.

Asin looks stunning and breezes in an out of the film. But in all, the film is a complete entertainer. Can watch it once definitely!!

PS : This weekend it is going to be Vijay's Sivakasi. Dont know whether other Diwali releases will stay in the box office for me to watch it in the forthcoming weeks