Chak De India......

India - "Ist" Twenty20 World Champion

Heartly Congratulations for the young and energetic Indian Cricket Team for winning the inaugural Twenty20 cricket World Cup after a thrilling five-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg on Monday 24 September, 2007.

And hats off to the new team India Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There cannot be a better start as a Captain of Indian Cricket team. First assignment Twenty20 world cup as captain and winning the cup without seniors players in the team. No words... all praises to Dhoni and its team.... :-)

There can't be a better Twenty20 world cup, which saw the home side (South Africa) winning the very first match of the tournament by chasing more than 200 on the score board.

Bangladesh beating West Indies and Australia deafeated by Zimbabwe reminded us the World Cup (50 overs) held earlier in the year. Australia moved on to the next stage, but West Indies were not so lucky.

India vs. Pakistan - First Twenty20 encounter...
Heart beats of all Indians were increased when the match between India and Scotland was abandoned due to rain. And to reach to the next stage (Super 8), India had to beat its arch-rival Pakistan. Memories of early exit of Pakistan and India in the World Cup were re-surfaced.

It was a match, which will be remembered for years, not because India beat Pakistan in yet another world cup match but the way India won the match. It was first ever bowl-out match in the cricket history. India batting first could manage to score only a small total which Pakistan team was able to match with... yeah the match was a tie and according to new rule of Twenty20, five bowlers from each team will bowl one ball and whoever hits the stumps most will be declared winner.

Everyone seems tensed and was excited too as it was first time in history that such kind of thing was happening in Cricket. Dhoni's tactics of using only spinners (including non-regular bowlers like Robin Uthappa) paid of as the Pakistan bowlers could not hit the stump even once and from India, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa was on target and the match was awarded to India. For records India has won the match :-)

Super 8
India lost first and last time in Twenty20 World Cup final and it was the only time when Indians were to chase the score and they failed to do that against New Zealand. To reach to the semi-finals, India had to win both of its matches against England and South Africa. And Indian Cricket team did it in style. The heroes of these wins were Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma.

First, Yuvraj Singh played a knock of his life scoring 50 in 12 balls including 6 sixes of six balls of 19th over bowled by England seamer Stuart Broad. He also became the first to achieve this and his 50 runs are the fastest in Twenty20 game.

Rohit Sharma looked fantastic in all the matches he played. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and looked great while batting. He was also awarded Man of the Match for his match winning 50 against South Africa.


Semifinal - India vs. Australia
A match which will be remembered for the aggression shown by Indian batsmen and bowlers particularly Sreesanth and Yuvraj Singh. Though Sreesanth was fined for being over aggressive after taking Mathew Hayden's wicket, India won this match in style by beating the World Champions.

Highlights of the match was stunning knock by Yuvraj Singh scoring 70 of 30 balls and great balling performance by R.P. Singh and Sreesanth. And hats off to the Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni whose patience paid of at the end. He used his bowlers so tactically that even World Champions had no answer to that.

Oh yes... the match was played in Durban but it felt like match is being played in India.. Indian flags moving all over and stadium was full Indian Fans. Even Ricky Ponting said that he was feeling like in India :-)

Final - The Last battle - India vs. Pakistan
In a match that saw fortunes fluctuate till the dying moments, the young Indian team scored 157 for 5 and then held its nerve to bowl out Pakistan for 152 with just 3 balls to spare. It was India's first World cup win since winning the Prudential World Cup in 1983. It was an incredible display by the Indians who relied on superb team work to not only maintain their all-win record against their bitter foes in World Cup matches but also complete a series of giant-killing acts in the blaze glory.

the big guns like Yuvraj Singh [Images] and Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to click and it was Gautam Gambhir who slammed 54balls 75 and Rohit Sharma scoring an unbeaten 30 runs to help India putting a decent total on the score board.

The large flag-waving gathering of Indians at the Wanderers burst into celebration when Sreesanth caught the dangerous Misbah-ul Haq off Joginder Sharma to bring an end to Pakistan's challenge. The contest seemed to go out of India's hands in the 17th over when Misbah hitted Harbhajan Singh for 3 sixes, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni's band of young warriors roared back in great style to come out trumps and claim the winners' purse of US $49,000.

Irfan Pathan was named the Man of the Match. Pakistan s' Shahid Afridi was named Man of the Series.

Celebrations
Celebrations started soon after Sreesanth took the catch. News channel showing homes of our heroes where people have gathered to congratualte tha family. The atmosphere at the Wanderers was electified by the Indians, Team members taking a round of the ground, Indian flags all over, team members dancing to the music. It was such a pleasing moment.

It didn't end here. More celebration were awaiting team India at home in Mumbai...

Oblivious of the pouring rain, fans have lined the 30km route from the international airport in Sahar to the Wankhede Stadium, where the team was felicitated.

And in tribute to the dancing fans, the team members shrugged off their jet lag and the elements, climbed to the top of an open bus fronted by a photograph of a triumphant captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] and the words VIJAY RATH, and danced in response to the dancing fans.

Traffic on the route is at a standstill, and no one seems to mind -- the mood is one of total celebration, and the younger among the fans have begun running alongside the team bus, dancing and, whenever their heroes show signs of standing still, egging them on to dance again.

Yuvraj and Sreesanth [Images] have established themselves as the cheerleaders, dancing non-stop on the roof of the bus, and exhorting the fans lining the roads to applaud, to dance, to celebrate. The bus is travelling at a little over walking pace along Mumbai roads, trailing the contingent of fans running alongside, and the media in two buses following the team bus.

Cellphones are ubiquitous -- everyone holds his or her phone overhead, hoping to snag the perfect shot.

The cavalcade of 50-odd police motorcycles preceding the team bus has moved a good five kms ahead of the team bus, and as they pass, even they get a cheer.



And as expected, there was money pouring into the pockets of teams members. Rs. 80 Lakh for each team member, Rs.1 crore for Yuvraj Singh and a brand new Porsche for hitting six sixes and a Mercedez to R.P. Singh. There was prizes announced by state Govt. to the local heroes.

I hope India continue the winning spirit and a great luck to Dhoni for leading the Indian cricket team...

at last... Chak De India

Too good

One day Laloo was travelling by his car. He was going to a village for
campaigning . Suddenly a piglet came before the car. The driver could'nt
hit the brake at the right time and unfortunately the baby pig was killed
in the accident.

At the sight Laloo was deeply moved and felt very upset He called the
driver and said,"Jiska e suuar hai hum usko compensesan dena chahta hoon.
Usko dhundke lav ".

At his words the driver went to the nearest village and came back after
some time with a tilak on his forehead, garlands around his neck and lots
of money in his hands!!!

Laloo was surprised .. He asked ,"Hum tumko kaha tha ke uss aadmi ko laiye
, aur tum aise wapas aaye ho! baat kya hai?"

At this the driver replied " I told them about the incident . Hearing it
they were rejoiced , put tilak and garlands on me, then danced for some
time and gave this money."

Laloo then asked him "Aap unko eg-jectly kaa bole?"

The driver replied : "Main bola, mein Laloo Prasad ka driver hoon. Maine
suaar ke bachhe ko mar dala hai......... ."

I wanted to change the world

...
When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.

I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.

When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world."

Author unknown..

Chak de India

After a bad day of Indian Cricket (nothing new), its time for our national sport Indian Hockey to cheer up the Indians....

In cricket crazy country, Indian Hockey is one of the neglected child but they are in the news and more so for good reasons :-)

They have won the Asia Cup final by beating Korea 7-2 and is the only team in the tournament which is unbeatable. Well, it is hard to believe but its true and the credit goes to the hard work done by the young and energetic team. It was nice to see the team work and the way they played in the tournament.

Let's hope that they continue this form and win the Olympic final also. This win will definitely helps in making the game more popular and more young people will join it.

We must provide infrastructure and other benefits for other sports and to players so that more and more people take them seriously.

For Indian Hockey team, the real heroes.... "CHAK DE... India"

Lords of Indian Cricket failed at Lords

Indian batting flopped once again in a crucial match. Lord of indian cricket "Trimurty" - Ganguly, Sachin and Dravid, could not contribute in the final crucial match.

It was pleasant to watch indian openers coming to bat after winning the toss. Yet it was disheartening to see Saurav Dada finding it difficult to play short balls (once again). And after riding on its luck, Dada played a short to slip fielder (seems like doing some catching practice).

After Dada's departure, all eyes were on the talented Gambhir and he fell for superb fielding. Responsibility to stablise Indian scoreboard was on Sachin and Rahul Dravid. But, Umpire Aleem Dar has a surprise for the Indian captain aka The Wall and for the batting Mastero. Rahul Dravid and Sachin both were given out caught behind when the ball didn't touch the bat. It was pity to see the faces of our two heroes and there was hardly anybody can do other than filling pity.

Anyways, there comes the hero of famous chase of 325 in Lords Yuvraj Singh and another hero of last match Robin Uthappa. But soon both of them fell for cheap shots, again doing simple catching practice to England fielders.

Dhoni tried to hold the fort at one end and he was the last one to fell. At the end Indian scorebroad reads 187-10 (47.3 overs).

Waiting for Indian bowlers to fire all cylinders to English batsmen and show them what they deserve or else.....

Oh.. yes there was some drama in the match again.. and that was bound to happen. It seems England players can't live without the controversies in the match.

Pastor's A.s.s

A pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.

The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.

The local newspaper read:
'PASTOR'S A.S.S OUT FRONT'

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day, the local newspaper headline read:
'BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S A.S.S'

This was too much for the bishop so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey.
The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:
'NUN HAS BEST A.S.S IN TOWN'

The bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.

The next day the paper read:
'NUN SELLS HER A.S.S FOR $10'

As a last resort the bishop ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.

The next day the headlines read:
'NUN ANNOUNCES...HER A.S.S IS WILD AND FREE'

The bishop was buried the next day....

The moral of the story is...being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery ...and even shorten your life.

So be yourself and enjoy life.....

You'll be a lot happier and live longer

Men cry equality on women’s day

August 26 is Women’s Equality Day. And this time it will see men crying for equal rights on the streets.

Hundreds of “harassed” husbands, including IIT and IIM grads, engineers, doctors, lawyers and NRIs, will gather at Jantar Mantar on Sunday as part of the countrywide protest against dowry harassment and the more recent domestic violence laws. "We are all victims of these biased laws,” says Swarup Sarkar of Save Indian Family Foundation, the organiser.

Men argue that these laws have exposed them to harassment at the hands of their wives. “A woman simply has to utter ‘dowry harassment’ and everybody she names is promptly put behind bars without any evidence, investigation or witness,” says NS Das, a product of IIT Delhi and IIM-A, who is now fighting dowry charges.

"Guilty until proven innocent — that’s the gist of Section 498A of the IPC, the dowry harassment law," says another IITian Ved Prakash.

Terming the protest a "malicious propaganda", Ranjana Kumari, director of Centre for Social Research, says, "Section 498A is the only provision under the dowry law that allows a woman to save her life. Other sections come into force after the woman is killed."

Walk in the sky.... from your home

Many people like to just sit outside at night and gaze up into the heavens. Picking out the constellations or just wondering about what else is out there, it's something that most of us have done. Well now, thanks to an update to Google Earth, you don't even have to leave your room to check out the sky.

"Today, I'm excited to announce we are launching Sky in Google Earth," said Google Earth Product Manager, Lior Ron. "You can now explore the universe from the comfort of your chair. Zoom in to distant galaxies hundreds of millions of light years away, explore the constellations, see the planets in motion, witness a supernova explosion; it's like having a giant, virtual telescope at your command -- your own personal planetarium!"



A Sky button on the toolbar will enable you to switch from Earth to Sky mode where you can view 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies. If you begin your Google Earth session with the your current coordinates, you'll be able to see the sky just as it is right above you.

If you'd like to get a good idea of just what kinds of cool things you can find, there are plenty of of examples over at the Google Earth Gallery.

The Ant & The Grasshopper..

Ant & Grasshopper

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs, dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.


Modern Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it 'A Triumph of Justice'.

Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.

CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly


Many Years Later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley …

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ...

As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country…!!!

Dear Friend

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when s/he discovers that someone else believes in her/him and is willing to trust her/him with friendship."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

People who love you, people who you love back, people who will always be there for you, through the good times and the bad, they make you happy when you are sad, they are angels that have yet to earn their wings, they are your dear friends.

Legal or Logical?

After having failed his exam in "Logistics and Organization", a student goes and confronts his lecturer about it.

Student: "Sir, do you really understand anything about the subject?"

Professor: "Surely I must. Otherwise I would not be a professor!"

Student: "Great, well then I would like to ask you a question. If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept my mark as is and go. If you however do not know the answer, I want you give me an "A" for the exam. "

Professor: "Okay, it's a deal. So what is the question?"

Student: "What is legal, but not logical, logical, but not legal, and neither logical, nor legal?"

Even after some long and hard consideration, the professor cannot give the student an answer, and therefore changes his exam mark into an "A", as agreed.

Afterwards, the professor calls on his best student and asks him the same question.
He immediately answers: "Sir, you are 63 years old and married to a 35 year old woman, which is legal, but not logical. Your wife has a 25 year old lover, which is logical, but not legal. The fact that you have given your wife's lover an "A", although he really should have failed, is neither legal, nor logical."

The Truth

At school, a boy is told by a classmate that most adults are hiding at least one dark secret, and that this makes it very easy to blackmail them by saying, I know the whole truth -- even when you don't know anything.

The boy decides to go home and try it out. As he is greeted by his mother at the front door he says, I know the whole truth. His mother quickly hands him $20 and says, Just don't tell your father.

Quite pleased, the boy waits for his father to get home from work, and greets him with, I know the whole truth. The father promptly hands him $40 and says, Please don't say a word to your mother.

Very pleased, the boy is on his way to school the next day, when he sees the mailman at his front door. The boy greets him by saying, I know the whole truth. The mailman drops the mail, opens his arms and says, Then come give your FATHER a big hug.

The Meaning of Peace

There was once a king who offered a prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried.

The king looked at all the pictures, but there were only two that he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was perfect mirror for the peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The second picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightening played. Down the side of the
mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush mother bird had built her nest.... a perfect picture of peace.

Which of the pictures won the prize?

The king chose the second picture.

Do you know why?

"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things
and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

iShare a.k.a Desi YouTube, is here....

Rediff.com, one of India's leading online portals, recently launched iShare a.k.a. Desi YouTube, which enables a user to share music, videos or exchange profiles along with other features.

With broadband becoming affordable and social networking taking off in India, iShare will provide users a context to connect and enjoy a more comprehensive multimedia entertainment experience on the Internet.

Rediff.com has also tied-up with Zee TV with a view to reach out to the TV audience and launched an initiative to enable the aspiring singers to showcase their talent and be a part of Zee's 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' contest by uploading their videos and audio files on iShare.

The best thing is that this new platform comes with a utility tool, which can be installed on the PCs and upload multiple files from various sources like mobile phones, digicam, camcorders and mp3 players, ipods etc..

I tried my hands on it. Although looks cud be more appealing but its really fast and user friendly. What r u waiting for..? Here it goes..

Secret Of Success

Sir, " What is the secret of your success?" a reporter asked a bank
President.

"Two words."

"And, Sir, what are they?"

"Right decisions."

"And how do you make right decisions?"

"One word.'

"And, sir, What is that?"

"Experience. "

"And how do you get Experience?"

"Two words"

"And, Sir, what are they?"

"Wrong decisions ."