Idle musings

There were two test matches going on today. One involved India against Australia, in Brisbane. What was more interesting was the other test match in Galle, Sri Lanka ! It was an advertisement for test match cricket. If you want details, do see http://www-ind.cricket.org/db/ARCHIVE/2003-04/ENG_IN_SL/SCORECARDS/ENG_SL_T1_02-06DEC2003.html England needed 323 in the last innings to win. England never threatened to look at the target seriously. Earlier, Sri Lanka had won the toss and batted first. Today, England were staring down the barrel of the gun as Chaminda Vaas got into the act first and then Muthaiah Muralitharan took over. 323 as a score to chase in the final innings was always going to be tough. However, there was an engrossing contest as their batsmen fought to the best of their ability to keep their wickets intact even as Murali wove a web of off breaks, top spinners and the occasional leg breaks. On the personal side, there was carpentry work going on in the afternoon at my hou...

    I have almost recovered from a viral fever that weakened me no end. It was the worst case of fever that I have suffered so far. When the fever was at its peak, brushing my teeth in the morning made me feel so tired, it felt like I had climbed Mount Everest AND completed a marathon ! What is worse, I passed on the bug to my parents. Now, while I was on the mend, my father was beginning to show the symptom of extreme tiredness and my mother was also tired. To buy medicines for them, I decided to drive and get them.     In the first week of October, we celebrated "Ayudha Pooja". This is a day when all tools (including vehicles) are spruced up and worshipped. I had begun to feel the effects of the fever on that day itself. It was with some effort that I completed the rite. Since that day, my motorbike lay untouched.     To get the bike started was an effort. It was a good two weeks since it was last driven. I needed to use the choke and t...

    There is construction activity going on at home.     It has started a couple of days ago ; yet, I feel that a lot of progress has been made. Where there was a long and open terrace, I see high walls. Seeing a construction at close quarters for the first time, I notice small things that I never could imagine earlier. For example, I saw the masons use a plumbline (at least, that is what I think it was !) to see that the walls are as vertical.     Then, there is the way that bricks are moved. From practice, the man standing downstairs throws a brick to another man standing downstairs. we stay on the first floor ; so, this second man casts the brick upwards. The woman standing there neatly catches it and moves her hands a little in the same motion as she catches it to see that the brick is hurled to the man who is actually laying the bricks. The entire transfer of the brick is done in seconds and it strikes me that this is also teamwork in ac...

    On Thursday, 4-Sep-03, I thought of a simple solution to the increased traffic problem after the rain in my city : I came home driving in the rain !     It was not as simple as it sounds.     When I saw the rain outside the windows at work, I actually turned back and decided to go later. On a second thought, I felt it was better I left in the rain. If I waited for it to stop, I would be joining the majority of two wheelers who would leave after the rain reduces or stops ! Turning my back on the comfortable office interiors, I revved my bike into action and set out into the rain.     It was terrible ! The rain was actually a heavy drizzle. However, as I opened the throttle on my bike, the coldness of the rain seeped into me, numbing me in a matter of minutes. I flatter myself that I can withstand the cold as good as anybody at home, if not better. Yet, the coldness of the rain was something that I could not bear. It di...

    The traffic was bad last week on the roads. One reason for this was a pleasant one : there were regular rains in the city. Vehicle owners here prefer to wait until the coast is clear (!) before venturing out. So, everybody has the same idea at the same time, leading to traffic clogging ! This is particularly true of motor bike drivers, who don't venture out in the rain - like me :-))     The second reason why traffic was bad was not so pleasant : there was a VIP visiting town. So, there were policemen in the main roads I travel and signals that were manually controlled and worse, traffic diversions and the resultant driver confusions and road rage !     Today was the beginning of a new week. There was little rain during the weekend and the VIPs (it appears) have gone. The climate was cool in the evening when I started for home from work. Hopefully, I opened the throttle on my bike, as I hit an open stretch of the road. It was bliss : ther...

    On Independence Day, I accompanied two cousins and my sister-in-law to a bird sanctuary around 100 km. from my city.     I thought that there would be none among us who will get snacks to eat. I purchased savouries by Haldiram, milk shakes in tetra-packs, biscuits and assorted cookies. What I had not anticipated was that one of my cousins would think of exactly the same thing ! So, what we ended up with, for the brief journey were :     * Sponge cake, thanks to the thoughtful cousin     * A packet of milk for my niece, thanks to her mother, my sister-in-law     * Apples enough to keep 12 doctors away     * Sweet limes to drive ALL incipient colds away     * Crunchy Lays chips, of which everybody ate at least one, because no one can eat just one, courtesy the thoughtful cousin !     * Lays chips with a tangy tomato flavour, of which everybody ate at least one, becau...

Last week, I saw a good picture "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" on a private television channel. This blog contains my impressions about the movie. The story is basically one of confronting and overcoming ingrained prejudices. Mrs. Iyer is a mother travelling on a bus journey with her son Santhanam. She turns to Raja for help during the journey and an initial rapport builds up between the two. Later, she learns that Raja is a Muslim youth. A communal riot breaks out and they stay in a police bungalow together. Both learn more about each other and realise that the prejudices that they have are not based on fact. The picture won a couple of National Awards, and the one that immediately comes to my mind is the Best Actress for Konkana Sen. I feel that she deserves it : she looks and behaves like a Mrs. Iyer ! However, in my opinion, her mother Aparna Sen deserves the kudos, equally. I don't know if she did win the Best Director Award. It is in the small details that the movie really com...