India maul Lanka, take lead in ODI series
On Sachin Tendulkar, Battle Hymn of the Republic of India
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift willow
His fame is marching on.
Sachin Tendulkar gave glimpses of his vintage form with a scorching 93 to make a memorable comeback as India relied on a clinical all-round display to fashion a comprehensive 152-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first cricket one-dayer here today.
After rattling up a mammoth 350 for 6 with a collective onslaught by most of the top order batsmen, spinners Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik hogged the limelight with three wickets each to bundle out the visitors for 198 in 35.4 overs, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead in the seven-match series.
Tendulkar, returning to the international arena after a six-month injury lay-off, set the tone with his 96-ball knock, while Irfan Pathan (83) and captain Rahul Dravid (85 not out) were the other notable performers on what appeared to be a good batting track at the VCA Stadium.
M S Dhoni then provided the late sparks to the innings, the highest-ever total recorded in this ground, with a quickfire 28-ball 38 to leave the islanders in a complete daze as even Muttiah Muralitharan failed to make much of in impact.
The Sri Lankans lost captain Marvan Atapattu (1) early but kept themselves in the chase with a rollicking 64-run second wicket partnership between Sanath Jayasuriya (27) and Kumara Sangakkara (43).
But Jayasuriya's dismissal in the 11th over completely changed the complexion of the game as the Lankan middle order collapsed like a pack of cards, falling prey to the guiles of Harbhajan (3/35) and Kartik (3/48).
The two teams will now travel to Mohali for the second one-dayer to be held under floodlights on October 28.
The tally was India's second-highest ever against their southern rivals, the highest being 373 for 6 made against the Lankans in the 1999 World Cup tie at Taunton in England.
The visitors' run-chase, after they were set an asking rate of 7.02 by the Indians whose total surpassed the previous best of 348 for 8 made by New Zealand in 1995-96 at this venue, went haywire once Jayasuriya, who struck six fours, and Sangakkara departed in the space of two overs.
Jayasuriya spooned a drive straight to Dravid at short extra cover in the llth over, Harbhajan's first, and then in the very next over Sangakkara was deceived by Virender Sehwag's extra bounce and turn and gave a tame return catch as Lanka slid to 76 for 3 from 74 for one in very little time.
Then Harbhajan struck two blows in four balls to send back the promoted Upul Chandana (3) and Russel Arnold (0) and the tourists were on their knees.
Mahela Jayawardene, the vice captain, departed after being castled in trying an injudicious reverse sweep against super sub Murali Kartik, and the Lankans were looking down the barrel.
Kartik and Harbhajan ensured that the lower order did not prosper much though Chaminda Vaas (37 not out) and Super Sub Dilhara Lokuhettige (29) tried their level best to keep their side in the fight till the end with a 63-run ninth wicket stand.
SCOREBOARD
India:
V Sehwag c Sangakkara b Vaas 20
S Tendulkar c Sangakkara b Maharoof 93
I Pathan c Jayawardene b Dilshan 83
Yuvraj Singh lbw Dilshan 14
R Dravid not out 85
M Dhoni c Jayawardene b Fernando 38
A Agarkar run out 1
J Yadav not out 3
Extras (lb-5, nb-4, w-4): 13
Total (for 6 wkts, in 50 overs): 350
Fall of Wkts: 1-41, 2-205, 3-207, 4-247, 5-316, 6-319
Bowling: Vaas 9-0-67-1, Maharoof 10-0-82-1, Fernando 10-0-66-1, Muralitharan 10-0-49-0, Dilshan 6-0-40-2, Chandana 5-0-41-0.
Sri Lanka:
S Jayasuriya c Dravid b Harbhajan 27
M Atapattu b Pathan 1
K Sangakkara c and b Sehwag 43
U Chandana st Dhoni b Harbhajan 3
M Jayawardene b Kartik 17
R Arnold b Harbhajan 0
T Dilshan b Kartik 23
F Maharoof st Dhoni b Kartik 2
C Vaas not out 37
D Lokuhettige b Sree Santh 29
M Muralitharan c Karrik b Sree Santh 6
Extras (lb 2, nb 2, w 6): 10
Total (all out in 34.2 overs): 198
Fall of Wkts: 1-10, 2-74, 3-76, 4-88, 5-88, 6-118, 7-121, 8-126, 9-189
Bowling: Pathan 5-0-34-1; Santh 5.4-0-39-2; Agarkar 3-0-20-0; Harbhajan 10-0-35-3; Sehwag 3-1-20-1; Kartik 9-0-48-3.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
The H1Bees Want You: To Rock and Roll
Singing of the Immigrant Experience -- And Life in the Tech Sector
The computer programmers arrived in the United States unknown to each other but united in their quest to rock.
On the surface, they were not unlike many others who have left India over the past decade on the H-1B visa, a guest worker program for highly skilled professionals. They wore glasses and mustaches and collared shirts. They could exterminate Y2K bugs and code Java and link Unix.
But as they toiled in cubicles, they dreamed of banging on keyboards of a different sort, of a world where C-sharp is just a musical note, not computer code.
And then their worlds became one.
"H1Bees," an album recorded in a Gaithersburg basement-turned-studio, will be released today, its music a mix of Indian and Western beats with lyrics exploring the high-tech immigrant's experience in the United States. The troupe remains unnamed, giving composer Srikanth Devarajan top billing and referring to the remaining artists as "playback singers," which is customary on many Indian albums.
Yet the computer programmers say their self-produced album would have been impossible in India, where the music industry there is exclusive.
"I was nothing in India," Devarajan said. "Thanks to the H-1, even a small man like me can say I have a studio."
"That's a big deal," nodded Kartik Venkataramanan, a database manager at Verizon who studied Indian classical music as a child and developed an affinity for Jethro Tull somewhere along the way.
Until last year, Devarajan could be described as a most persistent one-man band, using his computing and composing skills to synthesize original scores, dubbing the sound "curry rock."
The overlapping social circles of Indians in the Washington region came to his rescue last year. Out of the blue, he received a random call from friend-of-a-friend Venkataramanan. Venkataramanan's early days on U.S. shores, first Atlanta, then Washington, were spent browsing longingly at Guitar Center until he had saved enough to buy a blue Fender with a Made in the U.S.A. label he fingered as much as its strings.
At last, another computer programmer who wanted to be a rock star. Could there be more out there?
In their first conversation, Venkataramanan invited Devarajan to his housewarming party in Manassas where he promised a gathering of musically inclined folks. There, Devarajan also met Devesh Satyavolu, a multilingual poet, and Srivatsa Srinivasan, who claimed little musical talent of his own but said he always wanted to produce an album and possibly form a production company.
Days later, the new acquaintances gathered in Devarajan's studio to see if they had synergy. As they brainstormed a theme for an album, Devarajan took in the group assembled before him.
The languages differed: Tamil, Hindi, COBAL, BASIC. The journeys seemed parallel: Young man leaves India to earn U.S. dollars, works hard, buys car, returns home to marry, gets green card, buys townhouse, has kid, decides to stay.
"H1Bees," Devarajan said. The album, which will be sold via South Asian Web sites and stores for $6, boasts songs in English, Hindi and Tamil. By setting their sagas to music, they hope to duplicate the success of other immigrant artists catering to diasporas, much of it via the Internet.
Most of the artists hold green cards now, but that's no matter. They vividly describe the job offers that led to migration and the nervousness with which they gave interviews at the U.S. Embassy. Hence the title track, which sounds like a cross between the rock band Weezer and a number off the "Grease" soundtrack, with these lyrics:
"Standing in line, papers in my hand,
All my answers, practiced and planned,
He asked, would ya ever come back home?
(Incredulous laughter)
Yes sir, I will, but first give me that H-1B!"
Another soulful, more serious ballad likens the United States to a beautiful but hard-to-navigate forest.
"You step in here," Devarajan says of the United States. "You're lost. . . . During our initial days here, we were lost in this beautiful country and had a cultural change."
When it became apparent Devarajan needed female vocalists on the album, he relied on the same network that helped him find the other musicians. "This guy that Srikanth knew had a friend who had a friend who knew us," explained Alisha Thomas, a 17-year-old senior at Riverdale Baptist High School who sings on the H1Bees album.
"Srikanth's cousin is married to one of my mother's friend's cousins," explained 16-year-old Swathi Raman, a senior at Thomas Wootton High School who also performs.
The American-born teenagers are separated by more than age from the H-1B immigrants. They cannot read or write in Tamil, so Devarajan writes the phonetic spellings for words and helps with pronunciation. In a song titled "Dollar Income," Thomas and Raman sing as though they are children talking to their H-1B parents. The song debunks the myth of expatriate Indians living the good life.
"As soon as Dad got his H-1, he is forced into a wedding.
As soon as she lands, they give birth to a U.S. citizen.
Sixty percent of Dad's paycheck goes to tax.
Thirty percent goes to the body shop.
Leaving just 10 percent for them."
The "body shop" refers to the middle party who offers the services of computer programmers to companies at a profit. At times, the artists fretted over whether they were getting too preachy or political, Srinivasan said.
"The idea we're putting out there is that we're worker bees. Is this going to be a controversy?" he asked. "We're saying things have happened and we're putting this conflict out there in a humorous way. The sad thing is that H-1Bs are being exploited."
During the dot-com boom, U.S. companies couldn't get enough of the H-1B program, successfully lobbying Congress for an increase on the numbers they could hire on the temporary visas. When the boom went bust, the cap returned to 65,000. Last month, the U.S. government announced it had already exhausted that number of H-1B visas for next year-- two months before the fiscal year even begins. Lobbyists are expected to ask for more visas.
Despite the band members' now permanent status, they say they plan to watch the debate closely because of the effect on the information-technology sector -- and because the H-1B has already made their very particular American Dream come true.
None plans to give up his day job yet.
"We'll stay in IT," Venkataramanan says. "What else do we know?"
The computer programmers arrived in the United States unknown to each other but united in their quest to rock.
On the surface, they were not unlike many others who have left India over the past decade on the H-1B visa, a guest worker program for highly skilled professionals. They wore glasses and mustaches and collared shirts. They could exterminate Y2K bugs and code Java and link Unix.
But as they toiled in cubicles, they dreamed of banging on keyboards of a different sort, of a world where C-sharp is just a musical note, not computer code.
And then their worlds became one.
"H1Bees," an album recorded in a Gaithersburg basement-turned-studio, will be released today, its music a mix of Indian and Western beats with lyrics exploring the high-tech immigrant's experience in the United States. The troupe remains unnamed, giving composer Srikanth Devarajan top billing and referring to the remaining artists as "playback singers," which is customary on many Indian albums.
Yet the computer programmers say their self-produced album would have been impossible in India, where the music industry there is exclusive.
"I was nothing in India," Devarajan said. "Thanks to the H-1, even a small man like me can say I have a studio."
"That's a big deal," nodded Kartik Venkataramanan, a database manager at Verizon who studied Indian classical music as a child and developed an affinity for Jethro Tull somewhere along the way.
Until last year, Devarajan could be described as a most persistent one-man band, using his computing and composing skills to synthesize original scores, dubbing the sound "curry rock."
The overlapping social circles of Indians in the Washington region came to his rescue last year. Out of the blue, he received a random call from friend-of-a-friend Venkataramanan. Venkataramanan's early days on U.S. shores, first Atlanta, then Washington, were spent browsing longingly at Guitar Center until he had saved enough to buy a blue Fender with a Made in the U.S.A. label he fingered as much as its strings.
At last, another computer programmer who wanted to be a rock star. Could there be more out there?
In their first conversation, Venkataramanan invited Devarajan to his housewarming party in Manassas where he promised a gathering of musically inclined folks. There, Devarajan also met Devesh Satyavolu, a multilingual poet, and Srivatsa Srinivasan, who claimed little musical talent of his own but said he always wanted to produce an album and possibly form a production company.
Days later, the new acquaintances gathered in Devarajan's studio to see if they had synergy. As they brainstormed a theme for an album, Devarajan took in the group assembled before him.
The languages differed: Tamil, Hindi, COBAL, BASIC. The journeys seemed parallel: Young man leaves India to earn U.S. dollars, works hard, buys car, returns home to marry, gets green card, buys townhouse, has kid, decides to stay.
"H1Bees," Devarajan said. The album, which will be sold via South Asian Web sites and stores for $6, boasts songs in English, Hindi and Tamil. By setting their sagas to music, they hope to duplicate the success of other immigrant artists catering to diasporas, much of it via the Internet.
Most of the artists hold green cards now, but that's no matter. They vividly describe the job offers that led to migration and the nervousness with which they gave interviews at the U.S. Embassy. Hence the title track, which sounds like a cross between the rock band Weezer and a number off the "Grease" soundtrack, with these lyrics:
"Standing in line, papers in my hand,
All my answers, practiced and planned,
He asked, would ya ever come back home?
(Incredulous laughter)
Yes sir, I will, but first give me that H-1B!"
Another soulful, more serious ballad likens the United States to a beautiful but hard-to-navigate forest.
"You step in here," Devarajan says of the United States. "You're lost. . . . During our initial days here, we were lost in this beautiful country and had a cultural change."
When it became apparent Devarajan needed female vocalists on the album, he relied on the same network that helped him find the other musicians. "This guy that Srikanth knew had a friend who had a friend who knew us," explained Alisha Thomas, a 17-year-old senior at Riverdale Baptist High School who sings on the H1Bees album.
"Srikanth's cousin is married to one of my mother's friend's cousins," explained 16-year-old Swathi Raman, a senior at Thomas Wootton High School who also performs.
The American-born teenagers are separated by more than age from the H-1B immigrants. They cannot read or write in Tamil, so Devarajan writes the phonetic spellings for words and helps with pronunciation. In a song titled "Dollar Income," Thomas and Raman sing as though they are children talking to their H-1B parents. The song debunks the myth of expatriate Indians living the good life.
"As soon as Dad got his H-1, he is forced into a wedding.
As soon as she lands, they give birth to a U.S. citizen.
Sixty percent of Dad's paycheck goes to tax.
Thirty percent goes to the body shop.
Leaving just 10 percent for them."
The "body shop" refers to the middle party who offers the services of computer programmers to companies at a profit. At times, the artists fretted over whether they were getting too preachy or political, Srinivasan said.
"The idea we're putting out there is that we're worker bees. Is this going to be a controversy?" he asked. "We're saying things have happened and we're putting this conflict out there in a humorous way. The sad thing is that H-1Bs are being exploited."
During the dot-com boom, U.S. companies couldn't get enough of the H-1B program, successfully lobbying Congress for an increase on the numbers they could hire on the temporary visas. When the boom went bust, the cap returned to 65,000. Last month, the U.S. government announced it had already exhausted that number of H-1B visas for next year-- two months before the fiscal year even begins. Lobbyists are expected to ask for more visas.
Despite the band members' now permanent status, they say they plan to watch the debate closely because of the effect on the information-technology sector -- and because the H-1B has already made their very particular American Dream come true.
None plans to give up his day job yet.
"We'll stay in IT," Venkataramanan says. "What else do we know?"
Friday, October 14, 2005
Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between 2 "wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy,sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy,sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Hope And Dreams
The key to happiness is having dreams.
The key to success is making your dreams come true.
Keep your heart open to dreams.
For as long as there's a dream, there is hope
and as long as there is hope, there is joy in living.
To accomplish great things
we must not only act,
but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
A dream is in the mind of the believer
and in the hands of the doer.
Yesterday is but a vision
and tomorrow is only a dream.
But today well lived makes
every yesterday a dream of happiness
and every tomorrow a dream of hope.
The key to success is making your dreams come true.
Keep your heart open to dreams.
For as long as there's a dream, there is hope
and as long as there is hope, there is joy in living.
To accomplish great things
we must not only act,
but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
A dream is in the mind of the believer
and in the hands of the doer.
Yesterday is but a vision
and tomorrow is only a dream.
But today well lived makes
every yesterday a dream of happiness
and every tomorrow a dream of hope.
Golden Chain Of Friendship
Friendship is like a golden chain
Then links are friends so dear.
And like a rare and precious jewel
It's treasured more each year.
It's clasped together firmly
With a love that's deep and true.
And it's rich and happy memories
And fond recollections too.
Time cannot dfestory its beauty
For as long as memory lives.
Years cannot erase the pleasure
That the joy of friendship gives.
For friendship is the proceless gift
That can't be bought and sold.
But to have an understanding friend
Is worth far more than Gold.
And the golden chain of friendship
It a strong and blessed tie.
Binding kindred hearts together
As the years go passing by.
Then links are friends so dear.
And like a rare and precious jewel
It's treasured more each year.
It's clasped together firmly
With a love that's deep and true.
And it's rich and happy memories
And fond recollections too.
Time cannot dfestory its beauty
For as long as memory lives.
Years cannot erase the pleasure
That the joy of friendship gives.
For friendship is the proceless gift
That can't be bought and sold.
But to have an understanding friend
Is worth far more than Gold.
And the golden chain of friendship
It a strong and blessed tie.
Binding kindred hearts together
As the years go passing by.
It's up to you
One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can hearld spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One haldclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh conquers gloom.
One step starts each jouney,
One word starts each prayer.
One hope raises our spirits,
One touch shows you care.
One voice speaks with wisdom,
One heart knows whats true.
One life can make the difference,
You see, it's up to you.
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can hearld spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One haldclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh conquers gloom.
One step starts each jouney,
One word starts each prayer.
One hope raises our spirits,
One touch shows you care.
One voice speaks with wisdom,
One heart knows whats true.
One life can make the difference,
You see, it's up to you.
the 90/10 principle
Have you read this before? Discover the 90/10 Principle. It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations). What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.
How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.
Let's use an example. You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You haveno control over what just what happened. What happens when the next will be determined by how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit. After a 15-mi nute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?
The answer is D. You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened. Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "It's ok honey, you just need,to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabb ing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves.You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.
Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different. Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.
Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.
If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.
How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? WHO C ARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive? Remember the 90/10 principle, nd do not worry about it.
You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.
The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She ha s no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse. Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it.
The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. There never seem to be a success in life. Bad days follow bad days. Terrible things seem to be constantly happening. There is constant stress, lack of joy, and broken relationships. Worry co nsumes time. Anger breaks friendships and life seems dreary and is not enjoyed to the fullest. Friends are lost. Life is a bore and often seems cruel. Does this describe you? If so, do not be discouraged
You can be different! Understand and apply the 90/10 principle.
How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.
Let's use an example. You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You haveno control over what just what happened. What happens when the next will be determined by how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit. After a 15-mi nute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?
The answer is D. You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened. Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "It's ok honey, you just need,to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabb ing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves.You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.
Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different. Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.
Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.
If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.
How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? WHO C ARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive? Remember the 90/10 principle, nd do not worry about it.
You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.
The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She ha s no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse. Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it.
The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. There never seem to be a success in life. Bad days follow bad days. Terrible things seem to be constantly happening. There is constant stress, lack of joy, and broken relationships. Worry co nsumes time. Anger breaks friendships and life seems dreary and is not enjoyed to the fullest. Friends are lost. Life is a bore and often seems cruel. Does this describe you? If so, do not be discouraged
You can be different! Understand and apply the 90/10 principle.
Monday, October 10, 2005
If you love her set her free.....
The original quote goes something like this:
If you love someone,
Set her free...
If she comes back, she's yours,
If she doesn't, she never was....
New Versions for the 20th century...
Pessimist:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she ever comes back, she's yours,
If she doesn't, as expected, she never was
Optimist:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
Don't worry, she will come back.
Suspicious:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she ever comes back, ask her why.
Impatient:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she doesn't come back within some time forget her.
Patient:
If you love someone, Set her free ..
If she doesn't come back,
continue to wait until she comes back ...
Playful:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she comes back, and if you love her still,
set her free again, repeat ...
C++ Programmer:
if(you-love(m_she))
m_she.free()
if(m_she == NULL)
m_she = new CShe;
Animal-Rights Activist:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
In fact, all living creatures deserve to be free
Lawyers:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
Clause 1a of Paragraph 13a-1 in the Second
Amendment of the Matrimonial Freedom
Biologist:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
She'll evolve.
Statisticians:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
If she loves you, the probability of her coming back is high
If she doesn't, your relation was improbable anyway.
Schwarzenegger's fans:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
SHE'LL BE BACK!
Over possessive person:
If you love someone
don't set her free.
MBA :
If you love someone set her free instantaneously and look for others simultaneously
Psychologist:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back her super ego is dominant
If she doesn't come back her id is supreme
If she doesn't go, she must be crazy.
Somnabulist:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back it's a nightmare
If she doesn't, you must be dreaming.
ERP functional expert:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back, map her into your system
If she doesn't, carry out a gap-fit analysis
Finance expert:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back, its time to look for fresh loans
If she doesn't, write her off as an asset gone bad.
Marketing Specialist:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back she has brand loyalty
If she doesn't, reposition the brand in new market
If you love someone,
Set her free...
If she comes back, she's yours,
If she doesn't, she never was....
New Versions for the 20th century...
Pessimist:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she ever comes back, she's yours,
If she doesn't, as expected, she never was
Optimist:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
Don't worry, she will come back.
Suspicious:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she ever comes back, ask her why.
Impatient:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she doesn't come back within some time forget her.
Patient:
If you love someone, Set her free ..
If she doesn't come back,
continue to wait until she comes back ...
Playful:
If you love someone,
Set her free ...
If she comes back, and if you love her still,
set her free again, repeat ...
C++ Programmer:
if(you-love(m_she))
m_she.free()
if(m_she == NULL)
m_she = new CShe;
Animal-Rights Activist:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
In fact, all living creatures deserve to be free
Lawyers:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
Clause 1a of Paragraph 13a-1 in the Second
Amendment of the Matrimonial Freedom
Biologist:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
She'll evolve.
Statisticians:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
If she loves you, the probability of her coming back is high
If she doesn't, your relation was improbable anyway.
Schwarzenegger's fans:
If you love someone,
Set her free,
SHE'LL BE BACK!
Over possessive person:
If you love someone
don't set her free.
MBA :
If you love someone set her free instantaneously and look for others simultaneously
Psychologist:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back her super ego is dominant
If she doesn't come back her id is supreme
If she doesn't go, she must be crazy.
Somnabulist:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back it's a nightmare
If she doesn't, you must be dreaming.
ERP functional expert:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back, map her into your system
If she doesn't, carry out a gap-fit analysis
Finance expert:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back, its time to look for fresh loans
If she doesn't, write her off as an asset gone bad.
Marketing Specialist:
If you love someone
set her free
If she comes back she has brand loyalty
If she doesn't, reposition the brand in new market
Kimi Raikkonen: The Magnificient Seven(th)
It was a sunny day. The grandstands were bursting. And motor racing was on the agenda. Real motor racing. Not the scrappy politics that has dominated Formula 1 for so long; nor the unhealthy domination of one team, but rather good old-fashioned spectacular motor racing and even what we used to call a Silverstone-type finish as Kimi Raikkonen went around the outside of Giancarlo Fisichella on the last lap of the race to win an astonishing victory from 17th place on the grid.
Equally impressive was Fernando Alonso who charged through the field and gave everyone (except perhaps Michael Schumacher) a thrill as he passed the seven-time World Champion around the outside in the daunting 130R Corner.
Now that is what motor racing is all about!
They say that smoking can ruin your health but it did not seem to do much harm to Jenson Button's BAR-Honda as the cars revved themselves stupid as the lights came on before the start of the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix. Jenson did not get away very well but the Honda V10 did not blow up and there were no doubt a few sighs of relief down in the BAR pit as the field hustled down to the first corner. And it was there that the team and the Japanese fans had to take a sharp intake of breath as national hero Takuma Sato went wombling into the dirt in his BAR while trying to hold back Christian Klien.
Up ahead Ralf Schumacher had made the most of his pole position to lead Giancarlo Fisichella, Jenson Button and a fast-starting David Coulthard but after that it was all a big cloud of dust. Sato was the first to go but Rubens Barrichello joined in with gusto, running across Sato's nose and setting off a parallel cloud of dust. The Japanese TV producers were so excited by this development that they then followed the trundling Takuma for half a lap before someone rang up and pointed out that a motor race was going on and it might be an idea for them to use the cameras to follow it.
By the time we got back to the action they had missed a key moment. This was probably not a bad idea because Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug would probably have collapsed with cardiovascular crises had they seen the two McLaren-Mercedes Benz's clonking one another as Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya tried to navigate through the chaff.
"There was quite a lot happening," admitted Raikkonen. "I was turning in and Montoya touched my rear wheel and I got sideways and he went by me, but luckily we did not damage the cars."
Ah, but give them time...
Up at the chicane Kimi ran wide, ran across the grass and rejoined, fortunately setting off down the hill quickly enough to avoid bits and pieces of McLaren which came back onto the track after Montoya went off into the wall while trying to drive around the outside of Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber at a place where one does not really do that. The fact is that the TV director was still hyper-ventilating from the Sato Affair and missed most of the incident. The drivers did not agree on who was to blame but the FIA stewards concluded, hopefully using other footage, that it was all Villeneuve's fault. He was formally reprimanded and given a 25-second time penalty after the race.
"I never even saw him," said Jacques, "so I really have no idea what he might have been trying to do when he went off."
The important point in all of this was not whether justice was done but rather that Montoya was gone and with him went the chance of McLaren to win the Constructors' title in Japan. Indeed it opened the way for Renault to fight back. Fisichella was up the front and waiting for Toyota's public relations exercise to come to an end and Alonso was going gangbusters through the field, like a hot knife through butter.
The Montoya crash resulted in six laps during which the field circulated behind a Safety Car with Ralf, Fisichella, Button, Coulthard, Mark Webber, Klien, Michael Schumacher, Alonso, Villeneuve and Antonio Pizzonia making up the top 10. Raikkonen was 12th.
When the action started again Ralf disappeared off again, obviously on a much lower fuel load than those giving chase. This was not altogether unexpected and there was much pre-race banter about whether or not Ralf would get to lap 10 before having to pit. In fact he got to 13 (although five laps were spent doing low-consumption speeds behind the Safety Car). Or to put it another way, this was either a Toyota PR stunt because a three-stop strategy made no sense at all, or the three-stop strategy was the best option for the team, in which case the car is not as good as we thought. Either way it did not reflect well on Toyota. After the race Toyota argued that the Safety Car ruined its plan but it was not very convincing.
As we waited for this to happen Schumacher passed Klien and Alonso set himself up to follow only to run wide at the chicane. This gave him an advantage and so he carefully lifted off and let the Austrian back ahead and then floored the throttle. Within half a lap Fernando had overtaken him properly although this appears to have been missed by the stewards (who were probably watching the poor TV coverage) and the result was that a few laps later Alonso was told by the FIA to back off and let the Red Bull go ahead again. In order to do that he had to sacrifice around four seconds to allow Klien to catch up. He lost so much time that everyone thought he had a mechanical problem or had gone off and the incident had been missed by the TV director. Anyway, for three laps Fernando had to sit behind Klien before he could get ahead. He then left the Red Bull behind. Raikkonen soon had Klien for lunch and so the Austrian was down to eighth from fourth on the grid.
Once Ralf disappeared into the pits, to re-emerge in ninth position, we had a clearer picture of what the real race was going to be like: Fisichella was ahead and going away. Button's BAR could not hack the pace and Coulthard's Red Bull could not keep up with the BAR. Mark Webber looked threatening while Michael Schumacher looked feisty but frustrated as he held back Alonso and Raikkonen. We had already lost Pizzonia in the second Williams who made a mistake (a costly one perhaps) and spun off of his own accord on the 10th lap. A minute or two later Honda and Toyota got a little more airtime as Takuma Sato tried to pass Jarno Trulli down at the back, made a complete mess of the move and took out poor old Trulli in what can only be described as a hit-and-run.
"Sato tried a manoeuvre that was obviously impossible," said Jarno. "He just tried to overtake me but instead he hit me and pushed me off. There was no reason to try that move so I don't know what he was thinking. He's been causing problems for a long time and the FIA has to take action to stop it."
Given that Taku was recently punished for punting off Michael Schumacher at Spa, the penalty was akin to a spanking with a feather. He was excluded from the results, a punishment which means absolutely nothing to a F1 driver who finishes a race in 13th place. A reprimand was added but this will hardly have Taku quaking in his racing boots.
Now the key point, apart from the entertaining dice between Schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen in the midfield, was how long Fisichella could go before he came in for a top-up. We got that answer on lap 20 but no-one was paying attention because simultaneously Alonso pulled off the move of the race by going around Michael Schumacher on the outside in 130R. Yes, read that again slowly and appreciate what it means. The fearsome 130R corner. On the outside. Michael Schumacher. That is brave.
"That was very nice," said Fernando later. "I was on the outside, flat out and risky but I had nothing to lose."
Now that the World Championship is his, Fernando is willing to joust and not drive around picking up points. The problem was that as the race developed Fernando's strategy meant that he was continually passing the slow men ahead of him and then having to stop and do it all again. That made progress slow.
On the list of fastest laps Alonso all but matched Raikkonen's best lap but one must consider that fuel loads were an important element in this. Alonso stopped on lap 22, Kimi went on to lap 26. The second stints saw Fernando do 14 laps to Kimi's 19. And that said it all. The McLaren was quicker. For a while after everyone ahead cleared out of the way Michael Schumacher and Raikkonen ran together at the front and then both went into the pits together. The Ferrari even managed to stay ahead but within a few laps Kimi went around the outside of Michael into Turn 1 and that was the end of that. Michael was left behind to play with Alonso again. On lap 33 Fernando took Michael on the inside at Turn 1. Soon afterwards Alonso stopped again and fell back down the order.
While all of this was going on Fisichella was leading Button and Webber (the Williams having got out ahead of Coulthard at the first stops on lap 23). By lap 37 Fisichella's lead was out to 19secs. This one, we thought, we in the bag. On lap 38 Fizzy pitted and so Button and Webber fought for the lead for a bit. And then for a few short laps Raikkonen was back ahead and running very fast before he too had to head to pitlane. It was lap 45. There were eight to go and Fisichella was more than five seconds ahead of Raikkonen. Webber was third with Alonso closing. Button had faded to fifth and Coulthard was sixth ahead of Michael, Ralf and Klien.
We watched the gap. On lap 47 it was 4.3secs, on 48, 3.1s and on 49 it was cut to just 1.8s. By the end of lap 50 Fisichella's hopes looked slim. Raikkonen was right with him and looking dangerous.
Behind them there was further excitement as Alonso caught Webber but for a string of laps could not get past. Then on lap 49 Mark made a small mistake out of the chicane. Alonso carried a little extra speed down the straight and then went for the inside as they hurtled down to Turn 1.
"The asphalt ran out," Fernando said later, "and I had to use a little bit of grass!"
The move took Webber completely by surprise and by the time he had gathered his wits about him he was looking at the back end of the Renault - and it was disappearing up the road. Mark would end the day in fourth. A good effort.
Back at the front all eyes were now on the fight (and even the TV director had managed to work this one out). At the end of lap 51 the two cars went across the line split by two-tenths, which meant that they were side by side. At the end of lap 52 they were even closer and as they went down to Turn One Raikkonen went for the outside line, hit the rev limiter of the McLaren and ignored it and swept around the Renault in very classy style to move into the lead. It was all great and it was over. The Renaults would get home second and third and together they managed to claw back the lead of the Constructors' Championship but Raikkonen had scored his seventh win of the year. Alonso may be the World Champion but he has only six wins to his name and as we head to China Kimi will want another to underline that he was the man to beat in 2005 and that his Mercedes-Benz engines failed him.
L to R: #2 Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), #1 Kimi Raikonnen (McLaren), #3 Fernando Alonso (Renault)
"I think it is one of the best for sure," a rather pink-faced Raikkonen said of his victory. "I really had to fight for it and after all the problems we had this weekend, it was very nice. There was a lot happening in the race all the time. When I came up behind Fisichella I was thinking which way I should go. Of course at the inside it is easier to overtake, but Fisichella went to the inside so I didn't have much choice but to go round the outside?"
The result must inevitably cast a shadow on the career of Fisichella for he had what seemed like a huge lead and it had gone away. It was not the sort of display that Renault team boss Flavio Briatore likes to see from one of his cars.
"He was just quicker than me on the straight," Fisichella said. "I did my best."
But his best was not good enough.
Sixteen seconds behind Giancarlo was Alonso and then came Webber who finally had a few things go right for him and rewarded the team with fourth place. He had, however, beaten Jenson Button and David Coulthard both of whom started the day ahead of him. Button said that the cause of his defeat was a dodgy fuel hatch which cost him time in both stops but it is doubtful that it made much difference because Webbber was quicker when it mattered.
Michael Schumacher might have spent the afternoon watching youngsters passing him left and right but he probably deserved better than seventh, having driven the wheels off the beastly Ferrari F2005. Little Bro Ralfie came home eighth. The rest trailed home as normal, the big event being in the mid-race when Albers's Minardi went up in flames for a brief moment after Chrsitijan overshot his mark and the fuel hose had to be stretched a little which resulted in a small spillage and a flash fire. To give Albers some mitigating circumstances, Robert Doornbos also overshot his mark and ran into one of his mechanics.
The Minardi men hobbled home with singed ears.
Renault took14 points from the race and so regained the lead in the Constructors' Championship. The team is now two ahead of McLaren and there is everything to play for in Shanghai this time next week.
If we get a race as good as this one, everyone will be happy.
Equally impressive was Fernando Alonso who charged through the field and gave everyone (except perhaps Michael Schumacher) a thrill as he passed the seven-time World Champion around the outside in the daunting 130R Corner.
Now that is what motor racing is all about!
They say that smoking can ruin your health but it did not seem to do much harm to Jenson Button's BAR-Honda as the cars revved themselves stupid as the lights came on before the start of the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix. Jenson did not get away very well but the Honda V10 did not blow up and there were no doubt a few sighs of relief down in the BAR pit as the field hustled down to the first corner. And it was there that the team and the Japanese fans had to take a sharp intake of breath as national hero Takuma Sato went wombling into the dirt in his BAR while trying to hold back Christian Klien.
Up ahead Ralf Schumacher had made the most of his pole position to lead Giancarlo Fisichella, Jenson Button and a fast-starting David Coulthard but after that it was all a big cloud of dust. Sato was the first to go but Rubens Barrichello joined in with gusto, running across Sato's nose and setting off a parallel cloud of dust. The Japanese TV producers were so excited by this development that they then followed the trundling Takuma for half a lap before someone rang up and pointed out that a motor race was going on and it might be an idea for them to use the cameras to follow it.
By the time we got back to the action they had missed a key moment. This was probably not a bad idea because Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug would probably have collapsed with cardiovascular crises had they seen the two McLaren-Mercedes Benz's clonking one another as Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya tried to navigate through the chaff.
"There was quite a lot happening," admitted Raikkonen. "I was turning in and Montoya touched my rear wheel and I got sideways and he went by me, but luckily we did not damage the cars."
Ah, but give them time...
Up at the chicane Kimi ran wide, ran across the grass and rejoined, fortunately setting off down the hill quickly enough to avoid bits and pieces of McLaren which came back onto the track after Montoya went off into the wall while trying to drive around the outside of Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber at a place where one does not really do that. The fact is that the TV director was still hyper-ventilating from the Sato Affair and missed most of the incident. The drivers did not agree on who was to blame but the FIA stewards concluded, hopefully using other footage, that it was all Villeneuve's fault. He was formally reprimanded and given a 25-second time penalty after the race.
"I never even saw him," said Jacques, "so I really have no idea what he might have been trying to do when he went off."
The important point in all of this was not whether justice was done but rather that Montoya was gone and with him went the chance of McLaren to win the Constructors' title in Japan. Indeed it opened the way for Renault to fight back. Fisichella was up the front and waiting for Toyota's public relations exercise to come to an end and Alonso was going gangbusters through the field, like a hot knife through butter.
The Montoya crash resulted in six laps during which the field circulated behind a Safety Car with Ralf, Fisichella, Button, Coulthard, Mark Webber, Klien, Michael Schumacher, Alonso, Villeneuve and Antonio Pizzonia making up the top 10. Raikkonen was 12th.
When the action started again Ralf disappeared off again, obviously on a much lower fuel load than those giving chase. This was not altogether unexpected and there was much pre-race banter about whether or not Ralf would get to lap 10 before having to pit. In fact he got to 13 (although five laps were spent doing low-consumption speeds behind the Safety Car). Or to put it another way, this was either a Toyota PR stunt because a three-stop strategy made no sense at all, or the three-stop strategy was the best option for the team, in which case the car is not as good as we thought. Either way it did not reflect well on Toyota. After the race Toyota argued that the Safety Car ruined its plan but it was not very convincing.
As we waited for this to happen Schumacher passed Klien and Alonso set himself up to follow only to run wide at the chicane. This gave him an advantage and so he carefully lifted off and let the Austrian back ahead and then floored the throttle. Within half a lap Fernando had overtaken him properly although this appears to have been missed by the stewards (who were probably watching the poor TV coverage) and the result was that a few laps later Alonso was told by the FIA to back off and let the Red Bull go ahead again. In order to do that he had to sacrifice around four seconds to allow Klien to catch up. He lost so much time that everyone thought he had a mechanical problem or had gone off and the incident had been missed by the TV director. Anyway, for three laps Fernando had to sit behind Klien before he could get ahead. He then left the Red Bull behind. Raikkonen soon had Klien for lunch and so the Austrian was down to eighth from fourth on the grid.
Once Ralf disappeared into the pits, to re-emerge in ninth position, we had a clearer picture of what the real race was going to be like: Fisichella was ahead and going away. Button's BAR could not hack the pace and Coulthard's Red Bull could not keep up with the BAR. Mark Webber looked threatening while Michael Schumacher looked feisty but frustrated as he held back Alonso and Raikkonen. We had already lost Pizzonia in the second Williams who made a mistake (a costly one perhaps) and spun off of his own accord on the 10th lap. A minute or two later Honda and Toyota got a little more airtime as Takuma Sato tried to pass Jarno Trulli down at the back, made a complete mess of the move and took out poor old Trulli in what can only be described as a hit-and-run.
"Sato tried a manoeuvre that was obviously impossible," said Jarno. "He just tried to overtake me but instead he hit me and pushed me off. There was no reason to try that move so I don't know what he was thinking. He's been causing problems for a long time and the FIA has to take action to stop it."
Given that Taku was recently punished for punting off Michael Schumacher at Spa, the penalty was akin to a spanking with a feather. He was excluded from the results, a punishment which means absolutely nothing to a F1 driver who finishes a race in 13th place. A reprimand was added but this will hardly have Taku quaking in his racing boots.
Now the key point, apart from the entertaining dice between Schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen in the midfield, was how long Fisichella could go before he came in for a top-up. We got that answer on lap 20 but no-one was paying attention because simultaneously Alonso pulled off the move of the race by going around Michael Schumacher on the outside in 130R. Yes, read that again slowly and appreciate what it means. The fearsome 130R corner. On the outside. Michael Schumacher. That is brave.
"That was very nice," said Fernando later. "I was on the outside, flat out and risky but I had nothing to lose."
Now that the World Championship is his, Fernando is willing to joust and not drive around picking up points. The problem was that as the race developed Fernando's strategy meant that he was continually passing the slow men ahead of him and then having to stop and do it all again. That made progress slow.
On the list of fastest laps Alonso all but matched Raikkonen's best lap but one must consider that fuel loads were an important element in this. Alonso stopped on lap 22, Kimi went on to lap 26. The second stints saw Fernando do 14 laps to Kimi's 19. And that said it all. The McLaren was quicker. For a while after everyone ahead cleared out of the way Michael Schumacher and Raikkonen ran together at the front and then both went into the pits together. The Ferrari even managed to stay ahead but within a few laps Kimi went around the outside of Michael into Turn 1 and that was the end of that. Michael was left behind to play with Alonso again. On lap 33 Fernando took Michael on the inside at Turn 1. Soon afterwards Alonso stopped again and fell back down the order.
While all of this was going on Fisichella was leading Button and Webber (the Williams having got out ahead of Coulthard at the first stops on lap 23). By lap 37 Fisichella's lead was out to 19secs. This one, we thought, we in the bag. On lap 38 Fizzy pitted and so Button and Webber fought for the lead for a bit. And then for a few short laps Raikkonen was back ahead and running very fast before he too had to head to pitlane. It was lap 45. There were eight to go and Fisichella was more than five seconds ahead of Raikkonen. Webber was third with Alonso closing. Button had faded to fifth and Coulthard was sixth ahead of Michael, Ralf and Klien.
We watched the gap. On lap 47 it was 4.3secs, on 48, 3.1s and on 49 it was cut to just 1.8s. By the end of lap 50 Fisichella's hopes looked slim. Raikkonen was right with him and looking dangerous.
Behind them there was further excitement as Alonso caught Webber but for a string of laps could not get past. Then on lap 49 Mark made a small mistake out of the chicane. Alonso carried a little extra speed down the straight and then went for the inside as they hurtled down to Turn 1.
"The asphalt ran out," Fernando said later, "and I had to use a little bit of grass!"
The move took Webber completely by surprise and by the time he had gathered his wits about him he was looking at the back end of the Renault - and it was disappearing up the road. Mark would end the day in fourth. A good effort.
Back at the front all eyes were now on the fight (and even the TV director had managed to work this one out). At the end of lap 51 the two cars went across the line split by two-tenths, which meant that they were side by side. At the end of lap 52 they were even closer and as they went down to Turn One Raikkonen went for the outside line, hit the rev limiter of the McLaren and ignored it and swept around the Renault in very classy style to move into the lead. It was all great and it was over. The Renaults would get home second and third and together they managed to claw back the lead of the Constructors' Championship but Raikkonen had scored his seventh win of the year. Alonso may be the World Champion but he has only six wins to his name and as we head to China Kimi will want another to underline that he was the man to beat in 2005 and that his Mercedes-Benz engines failed him.
L to R: #2 Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), #1 Kimi Raikonnen (McLaren), #3 Fernando Alonso (Renault)
"I think it is one of the best for sure," a rather pink-faced Raikkonen said of his victory. "I really had to fight for it and after all the problems we had this weekend, it was very nice. There was a lot happening in the race all the time. When I came up behind Fisichella I was thinking which way I should go. Of course at the inside it is easier to overtake, but Fisichella went to the inside so I didn't have much choice but to go round the outside?"
The result must inevitably cast a shadow on the career of Fisichella for he had what seemed like a huge lead and it had gone away. It was not the sort of display that Renault team boss Flavio Briatore likes to see from one of his cars.
"He was just quicker than me on the straight," Fisichella said. "I did my best."
But his best was not good enough.
Sixteen seconds behind Giancarlo was Alonso and then came Webber who finally had a few things go right for him and rewarded the team with fourth place. He had, however, beaten Jenson Button and David Coulthard both of whom started the day ahead of him. Button said that the cause of his defeat was a dodgy fuel hatch which cost him time in both stops but it is doubtful that it made much difference because Webbber was quicker when it mattered.
Michael Schumacher might have spent the afternoon watching youngsters passing him left and right but he probably deserved better than seventh, having driven the wheels off the beastly Ferrari F2005. Little Bro Ralfie came home eighth. The rest trailed home as normal, the big event being in the mid-race when Albers's Minardi went up in flames for a brief moment after Chrsitijan overshot his mark and the fuel hose had to be stretched a little which resulted in a small spillage and a flash fire. To give Albers some mitigating circumstances, Robert Doornbos also overshot his mark and ran into one of his mechanics.
The Minardi men hobbled home with singed ears.
Renault took14 points from the race and so regained the lead in the Constructors' Championship. The team is now two ahead of McLaren and there is everything to play for in Shanghai this time next week.
If we get a race as good as this one, everyone will be happy.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Happy Birthday Sameer!
Today is October 5 2005.
My best friend since school, Sameer Gharat, is celebrating his birthday. He is presently in Manchester, UK, on assignment.
Happy Birthday Sameer! Have a blast buddy!! Cheers!!!
Here's something nostalgic:
The handsome devil on the right is Sameer!
Please wish Sameer at: http://www.opti-mystic.net/blog/
And btw, Sameer is quite a writer. Here is something that he penned down. Being the eyewitness, I can vouch for the veracity of the article
Palmolive ka jawaab nahi
Today, the dials on the Time Machine are being set some seven years back. I was in my third year of engineering at PICT, Pune (and as an oft-told joke goes, Tired of Engineering). Now, anyone who has weathered the trauma of engineering studies, would agree with me when I say that the bane of engineering is a dreaded word... Submissions!! Submissions are the ultimate torture mechanism devised by the teaching fraternity. Fortunate is the engineering student who hasn't been singed by it!
But... as is my wont, I digress! So... where was I??! ;-)
It was, as I said, my third year in college and the academic year was drawing to a close which meant that the professors, ignored throughout the year, would extract their pound of flesh by being extra-stingy with their marks for journal-work. Anyways, marks are given to complete journals. And my journal was practically empty (and so... the most well-maintained! ... coz I had hardly bothered to even open it!).
"Tomorrow is the last date for submission!", these words came like a hammer blow in my solar plexus. Quickly I calculated the time that I had at my disposal. It was already evening and it had been an especially long day. But I had the night... ahh the night!! :-)
So, I ran after the guy who gave me the bad news... and demanded his journal, which he gave. Immediately, cancelling all other plans for the evening, I rushed home and settled down to copy the contents of my friend's journal, verbatim, to my empty journal. Twenty assignments is a lot of writing work! (especially for a slowpoke scribbler like me!). Not having the inclination to go out to the usual dining hall down the street, I skipped dinner.
The progress was slow and soon the evening turned into night and today slowly but surely slipped into tomorrow. I wrote on... and on... and on, till my fingers ached and the neck went stiff. I was paying the price for being a dumb fool and a distant voice in my mind cried out, "Suffer! you idiot!!... Suffer for your stupidity and laziness!". And suffer I did... as I heard the sonorous notes drifting in from the bedroom, where my friend, Saurabh snored in his peaceful sleep!
Finally... the final word of the final assignment was written! As soon as this happened, I cast away the pen and leaned back into the chair and let out a loud sigh! The impossible was done! Write-ups of twenty assignments completed in one night. "Bravo Sam!... You really are Supersam!!", I congratulated myself and to celebrate the occasion, I made myself a sandwich and ate it... at around four o'clock at dawn!! ;-)
Rather than take two hours of sleep, I switched on the TV and spent the next two-three hours mindlessly channel-surfing.
I reached the college very early that day, hoping to be the first in the line outside the professor's cabin to get his signature on the journal. But to my surprise I found that I was not the only one who had the bright idea of coming in early and I was relegated to the end of a long line, where I spent the better part of the day since the professor was due to come in later during the day. By now, I was yawning and the eyelids were beginning to droop... and I was feeling tired as hell! But what had to be done, had to be done!
Finally, late in the afternoon, it was my turn and when the prof saw that none of my assignments were signed, he looked up and regarded me with disgust. I couldn't care less if he had jumped up and down shouting my name interspersed between obscenities. I wanted the damned signature and then I wanted to sleep. Mutterring a few protests about how the students take advantage of his leniency, the professor shook his head and signed the journal. Smiling, I said "Thank you, sir" and was out of the room before he could say "Next!".
More than sleep, I needed something to eat, so I went, with my friends, to a fast food joint across the road from the college. As I sat there waiting for the snacks to be served, I leaned on a pole nearby and fell asleep! ... Later, having eaten the snacks, I found myself riding pillion on my friend's scooter as he made his way through the narrow lanes of Pune deftly manouvering through the crowds and traffic. He had to stop the scooter couple of times at the corner of the road because I fell asleep and started swaying gently, sitting behind him! ;-)
He managed to drop me home, somehow... and when he left, I threw my bag aside and plonked myself onto the bed and was asleep instantaneously.
I don't know when Saurabh came back from college and let himself in the house. But it was he who shook me and tried to wake me up for dinner. Only half roused out of the deep slumber, I looked around and dropped back to sleep. It must've taken a herculean effort, after that, on Saurabh's part to make me sit up in bed as he asked me to get ready to go out for dinner.
I was still very much in slumberland and one part of my mind kept telling me that it was morning. Another part reasoned that it must be very early in the morning because it was still pretty dark outside. And another part of my sleepy mind agreed with the appraisal of the situation and instructed me to get up.
So... get up I did! ... and walked straight to the wash-basin. Once I got there, it was out of sheer force of habit (of morning rituals), that I grabbed my toothbrush from the toothbrush holder and with sleepy eyes and a drowsy mind, squeezed some paste onto it! ... and started brushing!
Not all the alarms clocks in the world or even buckets of ice-cold water could have shaken me more completely out of my sleep than putting that toothbrush in my mouth did!!
The cruel eviction from slumberland brought me to my senses as I realized something was wrong... terribly wrong!! My mouth burned and glancing up into the mirror I noticed to, my horror, that there was an unnaturally huge amount of foam in my mouth!!
My gaze travelled downwards to my left hand which held a tube. And the next thought in my head was...
"Palmolive ka jawaab nahin!"
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Right beside you
Life takes some crazy turns
and where we thought we would be
is not where we always end up.
We dont know what the future holds
and where we will be
or what we will be doing.
There are a few things in life
you can depend on,
as you begin your journey to follow your dreams.
When you lose your way
or you feel overwhelmed,
or you just need someone to talk to
dont want for me
because, I wont be behind you
And dont try to run to catch up with me
because, I wont be ahead of you.
You should know
I've always been,
and will always be
right beside you
and where we thought we would be
is not where we always end up.
We dont know what the future holds
and where we will be
or what we will be doing.
There are a few things in life
you can depend on,
as you begin your journey to follow your dreams.
When you lose your way
or you feel overwhelmed,
or you just need someone to talk to
dont want for me
because, I wont be behind you
And dont try to run to catch up with me
because, I wont be ahead of you.
You should know
I've always been,
and will always be
right beside you
Dont Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's just when things go wrong that you must not quit
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's just when things go wrong that you must not quit
Monday, October 03, 2005
Snapshot
When you take a snapshot,
of something beautiful,
you know that it is forever and
you can keep it close to your heart...
And no one can ever take it away
from you because
you keep it inside your heart...
No matter what the snapshot is
you will always remember,
The beauty of that special snapshot
you cherish with inside you and always...
of something beautiful,
you know that it is forever and
you can keep it close to your heart...
And no one can ever take it away
from you because
you keep it inside your heart...
No matter what the snapshot is
you will always remember,
The beauty of that special snapshot
you cherish with inside you and always...
Sunday, October 02, 2005
The Light From Within
People are like stained glass windows
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out
But when the darkness sets in
Their true beauty is revealed
Only if there is a light from within
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out
But when the darkness sets in
Their true beauty is revealed
Only if there is a light from within
Till Next We Meet
I knew that you couldn’t stay –
That you were simply on loan to me for a short while,
And I’ve loved every minute,
And will count the seconds,
Till next we meet.
And I know that I will always have you in my heart,
In my mind, and in my soul –
Where I’ve always known you,
Where I will keep you,
Till next we meet.
So, although I’m sad that you are leaving,
I know that the best decisions are not the easy ones.
Now is not the right time or place,
And I’ll try to be patient,
Till next we meet.
I know until then I will hear your voice in my heart –
See your face in my memories,
And feel your touch in my dreams,
Till next we meet.
That you were simply on loan to me for a short while,
And I’ve loved every minute,
And will count the seconds,
Till next we meet.
And I know that I will always have you in my heart,
In my mind, and in my soul –
Where I’ve always known you,
Where I will keep you,
Till next we meet.
So, although I’m sad that you are leaving,
I know that the best decisions are not the easy ones.
Now is not the right time or place,
And I’ll try to be patient,
Till next we meet.
I know until then I will hear your voice in my heart –
See your face in my memories,
And feel your touch in my dreams,
Till next we meet.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Life And How to Live It
Live itself can’t give you joy
Unless you really will it;
Life just gives you time and space
It’s up to you to fill it
Unless you really will it;
Life just gives you time and space
It’s up to you to fill it
Those We Love...
They say the world is round,
Yet I often think that it is square,
So many little hurts we get
From corners here and there.
But there is one truth in life that I have found
While journeying East and West,
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those we love the best.
Yet I often think that it is square,
So many little hurts we get
From corners here and there.
But there is one truth in life that I have found
While journeying East and West,
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those we love the best.
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