CHOOSE TO PREPARE OR PREPARE TO LOSE

    Looking at the tame Indian submission in the third test and the fact that a single English batsman was able to pile up more runs than what the entire Indian team could manage, it really makes you wonder as to what exactly constitutes the Indian team's notion of preparing for a high profile series like this one.

    It was more than obvious that most of the Indian top order looked like bunnies in terms of their ability to play deliveries pitching on or around the off stump and moving away towards the slips. The simplest and most effective approach towards fortifying India's batting on seaming tracks would have been, to make the

MY CHECK RIDE

        Finally the day came for me to put to test the skills I had acquired for the past 5 months to an FAA examiner in order to obtain the much desired private pilot license. It was the Friday of the Thanksgiving weekend and I had taken the day off from work (ya sadly, we had a working day that Friday) and decided to go for it.
       The day started around 930 am when I met my instructor at my club to go over my cross country planning, enroute weather for the same and, the weight and balance for the aircraft. Since the check ride

A TRIP TO TWO CONTRASTING TEMPLES

    Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the city of Hyderabad, has heard about the famous Birla Mandir, an iconic marble temple, and, the Birla Planetarium, both built by the Birla foundation in the mid 70s. In an attempt to enjoy what seemed atleast initially, a pleasant evening to be outdoors, yesterday, we (my parents and I) decided to visit Naubhat Pahad, the hill that houses the two structures . Once we reached the base of the temple, after the customary rituals of surrendering footwear and cell phones in return for a gold-ish token, and being subject to a clothed physical examination by a security guard, we headed towards the flight

A SMALL STATUETTE FOR RAHMAN, A COLOSSAL RECOGNITION FOR INDIAN MUSIC

Not long ago, in one of my previous posts, I had envisioned the scene of an Indian, occupying center stage at the Kodak Theater, holding an Oscar statuette in his hand. Finally that has become a reality, with Rahman winning not one but two oscars for the music he composed in slumdog millionaire. For many young Indians who have turned towards Rahman's unconventional scores to quench their thirst for quality and original (to the best extent possible) music, it is tough not to give a thought or two about what could have happened, if this south indian prodigy had encountered an earlier opportunity to showcase his captivating music on a