The Empire Flies Back

The English cricket team to India had come with a lot of fanfare and the cricket loving crowds were expecting a keenly contested series.One week into the tour and the Englishmen have turned turtle without a ball being balled.Half the team is on the injury list.Skipper Vaughan is out,Trescothick is home,Simon Jones is injured(whats new??) ,and if rumours are true even Duncan Fletcher is not well.Well two things come out from this ,one - How in the name of Christ could England send such an unfit squad and two,we are in for another "Brown wash" .I am betting my last ruppee that England will lose 3 - 0 .I am waiting for the series to begin and see the Indian batsmen wallop the English attack and our spin twins wreck havoc in their batting line up.This series will see India lay claim to be the true challengers to the Untouchable Aussies.The only good thing about the Poms is that my favourite player Andrew Flintoff gets to lead the side for the first time. Way to go Freddie!!!!!

Jessica Lall - Blind Justice

The acquittal of all the nine accused in the Jessica Lall murder case is a slap on the face of not only justice but on the fabric of society.How can anyone get away with murdering a human being in the presence of nearly four hundred people?It is really sad that nearly 140 witnesses turned hostile and equally sad that even in 21st century India, Law and Order remains a bed fellow of the rich,mighty and powerful(read politicians).It is truly a black day for justice.

Petition for Retrial

www.petitiononline.com/retrial/petition.html

A Few Interesting Facts

A good samaritan forwarded these facts to me.I cannot confirm the veracity of these but definitely are interesting.

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented It was ruled
"Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David

Hearts - Charlemagne

Clubs -Alexander, the Great

Diamonds - Julius Caesar


If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.


In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month .which we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Amul's Latest Offerings

Here are Amul's latest offerings...Enjoy!!!

More at http://www.amul.com/hotlinks.html

Peter Benchley - A tribute

Peter Benchley the famous author is no more .Benchley's best selling novel,"Jaws" introduced a new term to Hollywood - Blockbuster.A whole new genre of movies featuring creatures going berserk can be attributed to this novel.The seventies were the peak of Jaws mania and the great white shark became the most feared predator till Spielberg introduced us to the T Rexes in Jurassic Park.Peter Benchley will be sorely missed by fans like me.The world has lost a literary jewel.

The 3 Cs of Marketing

Industrial marketing is very different from consumer marketing.Industrial buyers buy products/services on behalf of their organizations and not for their personal use whereas consumer buyers buy them for their personal consumption.The 4Ps of marketing hold good even for Industrial marketing but to be a successful sales person the 3 C s have to be followed.

The first C is - Convince the customer.A good sales person should try to convince a customer with a good proposal or a presentation which should leave the customer convinced that your product will fulfill his need.

Second C is- Confuse the customer;If unable to convince him confuse him with lots of jargon, lots of add ons which he may not need at all etc.

The last C should be the last resort and only used when desperate for a sale- Corrupt the customer.Corrupt the customer with cash,women ,wine...These fundas wont be available in any Management text book but more often than not sales people clinch deals using these same fundas.

Cricketing Fundas for Team India

What ails the Indian cricket team?This question is as frequently asked as the strikes called by the Left parties in India.I too have given it a lot of thought and tried to analyze the situation in a MBAesque way.

Leadership : More often than not the blame of a poor defeat is put on the captain.India though has had exceptional leaders be it Ganguly or Dravid.So leadership is never an issue.The leader though is.Most Indian captains are usually swayed by biases towards their state/zone and cricketers who are not worth their salt end up representing India.

Bench Marking :I agree that any player who plays first class cricket will have some talent and also agree that due to the captain's and selectors' whims and fancies the best players may not be selected but still India can be No 1 if they bench mark themselves against New Zealand.No individual player is great but all 11 make a great team.

Strategy :We often see the same players score runs against India over and over again.I mean who can forget Anwar,Chanderpaul,Hayden,Afridi,Younis Khan,Jayasuriya,Inzamam,Andy Flower...and many more.What does this show?It shows that India doesnt have a strategy for each player or if it does have one it is the wrong one.

So all India has to do is have a good leader who can benchmark his team's style of playing to New Zealands' and have a sure shot strategy for each and every opponent we face and we would be at the top of the cricketing world.

"Con" Banega Crorepati ?

India TV has alleged that underhand dealings have taken place to choose participants for the famous TV show Kaun Banega Crorepati.The show is currently off air citing ill health of Big B which has further fueled speculation of wrongdoings.

As with every other popular event/show or celebrity in India KBC too has come under the harsh glare of the media.Sensational journalism rules the roost when it comes to TRP ratings.News channels have started manufacturing news rather than reporting it.TV viewers are made to sit through hours and hours of footage and discussions on Amitabh's health or on Ganguly's inclusion/exclusion.Add sting operations to it and you get to see hazy images of our MPs or movie stars cavorting in bed or accepting bribes with the same religious fervor that they accept "prasad" in temples.

KBC might have been conning people but the real cons of this "media" age are the news channels .The answer my dear friends for the million dollar question - "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" is simple - "Its all in the news"