Sergei Bubka

In my last post I had refered to Bubka and his history of bettering his own records at pole-vaulting. Hence this short post on him.

The number of times that he has improved his own record, I sometimes wonder that was a record in itself. But, the poor guy always had a bad time at the Olympics. Just won one gold at the Olympics. This is what the BBC site has to say about him: Sergei seeks glorious goodbye.
Here is another link from Wikipedia on him: Sergei Bubka

The guy set around 17 records indoors and outdoors and broke the world record about 30 times. Can you beat that ?? It was obvious - he reigned the sport like a GOD. There was no one who could even challenge him. Such was his greatness! His world record of 6.14 mts set in 1994 still stands to this day. Thats 10+ years already and at a time, when sports are getting more and more competetive and demanding, thats quite something.

How many times does someone like this dominate a sport to such an extent?

A match lost and Sergei Bubka

India again lost the match yesterday to Pakistan. Its was a close match, but it always looked like Pak had the match in total control.

For the good news, Sachin finally got his long awaited century yesterday. That means another world record..he will continue to create a record with every additional century that he scores. Such is the greatness of the man. Reminds me of an old pole vaulter from Russia (or Ukrain, I am not sure. this was probably before the disintegration of the USSR). This guy, whose name I think was Sergei Bubka, had this habit of bettering his own record a lot of times. Maybe I should write a post on him sometime soon.

Pak need to be applauded for their disciplined innings at the field. The Pak scoreboard was a delight to watch.. their whole top and middle order managed to get into the 40s. No big scores, but a consistent and sincere contribution from everyone took the match away. It was certainly not a fluke victory for them.

Now, is 2-2, and that means the stakes have just gone up. Both teams cannot afford to lose a match because that would effectively mean that they then cannot win the series. Remember, this is a six-match affair. Kanpur is up next !!

Oh.. one thing: Saurav again was hauled up for a slow over rate. I dont know why that happens to the Indians so much. This time, the punishment is severe - he has been banned for 6 one dayers. Need to wait and watch if the board can show some mercy and maybe decrease the sentence? Here is a link for the article on TOI: ICC bans Ganguly for six matches

@home on the weekend

Another weekend is passing by. Well, not passed yet, but ...

Yesterday was a peaceful and laid back day for me. Didn't do much. Watched the match. Disappointing performance from the Indian batting line-up. They dony seem to perform at all under pressure. Winning the match would have been very difficult any way..that huge a total is difficult to chase. But, what was sad was how the Indian batsmen crumbled so quickly under the pressure of the total. Contrast that to the Pak performance in the last matche, where they were faced with huge totals but still they gave a good fight. Thats something to note.

The plan for today? Nothing much...planning to watch a play in the evening with a couple of friends. Other than that..its an empty day.

Are they above the law?

Or are they the law. In India, they usually are...but maybe not outside the country.

Just read this article on TOI:
Only Queen Not Frisked.

I'll quote our honourable Speaker from the above article.

"It is beneath my dignity. It hurts not only my personal dignity but that of the country. If a government can treat a parliamentary speaker like a security risk, I am sorry I cannot compromise my country's image and prestige."

Firstly I do not understand why is a routine security frisk a matter of dignity for our dear Speaker. The logic, kind of, fails me. Secondly, even if it is (by some wierd idea, concept or notion) is it "beneath my dignity" only for the Speaker and not for the usual and mere mortal citizens like you and me ?

And I surely hope that my country (or for that matter any countries') dignity and image DOES NOT DEPEND on whether its top official was applied the same security checks and routines that the rest of its citizens are subjected to.

After all, are these not the men, who make the laws of the country and the basis of our Constitution being "equality"? Or as the principles of Animal Farm says "All are equal, but some are more equal."

Vanity, Critisicm etc.

Yesterday, at the office we had this session with our HR manager where we were to discuss the good / bad things and the shortcomings of our manager. These sessions are supposed to be feedback sessions for the manager so that he can improve and the HR manager can realise how each manager handles his team. I guess for them, its also an oppurtunity to see who are all capable of taking more responsibilities and who can take on more leadership roles. Though I also have my doubts about whether it actaully amounts to that or not. Going by the kind of people I have seen in decent leadership roles, and their way of things and abilities, I seriously doubt what I said earlier. I guess there are lots of things that also come in and can influence the flow of matters - things like political influence in the organization, sycophancy, personal favour, vintage etc. It is indeed a complicated affair.

Anyway, I digressed from the original topic. What was most interesting for me yesterday throughout this session yesterday was when the HR manager had a discussion with our manager on the talk that we had with the HR. He (our manager) then gave his opinions and his thoughts on our feedback. In case I forgot to mention, the manager is not present during the first discussion between the team and the HR manager. I guess thats to avoid personal vendetta and retribution. His thoughts after the listening to the feedback was what amused and interested me the most. I am one who believes that the real test for a person comes when he has to face critisicm from people close to him. And I would say, he failed miserably and I am sorry and sad for him. More disappointed. What I realised is that, most people really hate to listen to their critisicm and take it very personal rather than as a feedback for improvement. When asked about his earlier professional life, his answer and his listing of his acheivements also showed vanity rather than humility. He was nearly glorifying the things that he had done and saying things like "I was the best", "my work was the best", "my work beat all industry comparisons by miles". Well.. eh.. ahem. I was confused - wasnt humility the virtue.

At the end of it all, I doubt whether this whole thing helped him in any way, because he didnt seem to receive most of the things and some of it was wrongly received. I was optimistic at the beginning this could be an useful affiar, but I stand to be disproved!

After everything was over - me, and a couple of team mates were having a small discussion at the coffee table. The very manager specific chit-chat boiled down to one thing - are good managers born or are they made. I really dont know. I wish I knew, though. But I can tell you what I belive - A person's inherent attitude and outlook is a very important factor, but improvements are always possible. So maybe a bit of both with a bigger helping from the second dish.

Its Rain and Fever

Its been raining since a couple of days now. It was certainly a welcome change from the earlier hot and dry times before that. The climate has certainly changed. But...But..what happened when it changed? It took me along and now I have got a really sore throat and fever since yesterday morning. How more delicate or sensitive could I get?? I am surprised and disappointed.


Anyway, partially recovered now. One good thing - because of the ill-health, I could get out of office early yesterday. That doesnt happen so often in my job. I felt good about that. Not that I did anything worthwhile, just slept it out after coming home.

Win.. Win

ITS ANOTHER WIN FOR INDIA

quite an effort from the Pakis... they did manage to nearly reach 300. Had one partnership flourished, this would have been a tough one...though India might still have won. A 350+ score is too high to chase..

Cheers to the Indian Team once again !

More Joy for India.

@ Vizag !!

Interesting match going on.. i am just sitting at my desk and following it on cricinfo. Got too much work to sit in front of the TV.

Fireworks from Sehwag and Dhoni today morning..

I was wondering : how many batsmen are there, who would lift the ball over the fielders for 4 twice in their first maiden 90s ?? :O Dhoni apparently can do that !

India - 356/9 in 50 overs.

357 the target for Pakis !

Whats gonna happen ?? Excited!

India Wins at Kochi !!

Yipee. ...


What a match ! Total fun. Great cricket from the Indians. I havent seen the team so professional on the ground in the long time. The fielding was also very amazing.. not something that is usual for the Indian team.

Abt the batting - Sehwag and Dravid great job. The others have dissappointed me. I am more dissappointed from Kaif, Yuvraj and the gang there more than Saurav.

And yes, tendulkar can ROCK with the ball..!! 5 wickets! Ha.. ha ! The Inzy dismissal was pure thrill to wacth.


Cheers to the Indian Cricket Team!! This has been India's day and I am happy for that. The average happiness quotient would have gone through the sky today in India. After all, how many things are there, which can bring so much joy, hope and happiness to the lives of so many Indians in India and around the world ?? I cant think of many... can u ?

Even Fools have a day!!

Every dog has its day.. goes the saying. But today is the day for the fools, or rahter to make fools of one and all.

:-)

Happy April Fools Day to All !


Enjoy the day....