Thats one more down on the to-do list

09-05-2006, the True Captain Fantastic, Mr. Roy Keane said he will remember this date for all his life, so will I! This is the day I set foot onto the Theatre of Dreams, home to Manchester United, the best football club in the world! What an occasion, to do it too....to say Thank you and Goodbye to the person who defines leadership like no one else has done so far, doing the right things right and getting his team to do the same.

Left my place in Swindon at half past eleven to drive my friend to his new workplace, then started from there at two heading towards Manchester. Reached at half past six, parked a couple of miles before the stadium, bought scallops with fries and curry for dinner. Since it was a fairly decent distance and we had to be seated half hour prior to the kick-off, we ate as we marched towards the stadium. The Celts proved their reputation as the party people by forming groups, singing their songs and as they walked past, others would join..........

It really does not look huge from where we were walking from, but as soon as I got to Sir Matt Busby way, there was no better sight for me. I like an Idiot forgot my camera and had to rely on my phone to take a snap of myself before the stadium, then we went through the famous turnstiles and climbed 4 levels to get to my seat which was on the East stand, opposite to the Stretford End. The players were warming up and I was shocked that even from where I was seated you can easily follow the match and view was simply brilliant. I assumed that one cannot see the players clearly, I was pleasantly surprised.

Even when I was seated it did not really sink in that I was at Old Trafford, watching my team being lead by my favourite player for the last time ever. Just before kick-off out came Keano with his kids to the guard of honour from both teams and it was nice to see Sir Alex line up alongside them. The whole stadium went - "There is only one Keano, Keano". It showed the love and respect he commands from every one associated with Manchester United, especially the fans.

The match by itself was just another Sunderland at home performance but during the second half it was easy to see why United of late cannot dominate central midfield anymore, because the central midfield partnership at display has come to their "closure". Scholes and Keane may not be the most talented individuals but I dont think there is any combination that matched these together. Beckham/Keane/Scholes/Giggs across row 2 of any team would most often than not be the winning side. I really miss those days and I think Yorke and Cole are the luckiest strikers ever to have had such an engine feeding them.

The game got over and as everyone else, I was surprised that Keane decided to address the crowd, he thanked the crowd and the team but significantly left out Sir Alex. One can only hope that no amount of money on offer will convince both to fling mud on each other, ever.

MBA Blogs

http://www.mbablogs.businessweek.com/

One of the articles talked about 2 Indian guys who started a business providing loans to students whose parents had a poor credit history or something like that....they are now worth over a 100 Million USD!

Attitude

I had been away long, funny that while I was in a country where the pace of life was so fast, I could blog daily and while I am in a sleepy little town, I cant get myself to share anymore :)

UK so far has been brilliant to me, been around a bit - Went to Devon for the Easter weekend, booked ourselves into a resort with caravans instead of chalets and the experience was good, reminded me of the Chalets on East Coast Park, although the beach here was no where near as crowded as Singapore. You can go on to my yahoo photos for the snaps (http://photos.yahoo.com/shan_kumar_2000)

Getting back to what prompted me to write again - I spoke with my dear cousin recently and she had something to say which bothered me over the entire weekend. She had seen the photos and suggested that I wear a wig, one of the new costly ones that are done up to a fine level of detail. I had none of it and she said people don’t believe my age! I have had that since my Higher Secondary school days so it definitely was not news to me but I do appreciate her concern. The punch line was when she said she IS worried about my marriage, whether any girl would actually agree to marry me - definitely got me thinking......will I ever get married....I never knew that there was money riding on the vacant seat alongside me

I hope to get married actually, if not for the really devastating loss of my young cousin, there would have been few of us in my family who would have tied the knot over this year and the next, starting with my sister. So what can I do about my looks, well I have started with the gym....lose the excess weight, looking to get down to 70s....preferably 75! Started at 91 and am at 86 now. Next, as with every other bald person, shave whatever is left on the scalp and grow a goatee...done. Finally pray...hahahaha....

Seriously speaking though, except for what I have mentioned I don’t think I will doing anything more.....I read once, in life, what happens to you is only 10% and the rest of the 90% is how you react to it, I have accepted the fact that its not growing back again. So the question is do I feel inferior? Never and never ever....one can never feel/made to feel so without his/her permission and as my gmail signature goes, inferior compared to whom? I certainly do know people who at the moment are on a higher pedestal but I don’t want to be relatively happy....but happy! I am a firm believer in destiny and I believe I am destined for great things.

I do have list of things I want to achieve, a list whose contents have been and will be modified by the important people in my life but the direction, never! I hope to be remembered for the legacy that I will leave behind. A legacy about what I had done and what I helped people around me to do. Like my grandfather, who despite losing his wife at an early age, educated his 6 kids including the girls so that they can lead a better life than him. He was not educated and clearly that did not limit his visionary thinking. For me there is no better role model. It’s not about working within your limits but working the right way around……

Astro Sketch from Shaadi.com

While I was posting for my sister, I found out about this feature where you can give shaadi.com your birth details and they will give your character sketch, based on your Tamil Moon Signs. Obviously I was tempted, so I did add myself and promptly did hide my profile. I gave my birth details and this is what the website has to say about Mr. Shanmuga Kumar.

Your Astro Sketch (A brief profile based on your birth data)
The Mesha (Aries) male is freedom loving and assertive and tries to have his own way. With his original and independent thinking, he is likely to make and break his own rules. Pioneering, enterprising, dynamic, creative, original are the qualities that readily come to mind when one thinks of a Mesha male. Immense self-confidence and strong will-power helps them surmount the tallest mountains. Courage and vitality sees them through all their difficulties. Their frank nature could hamper their relationships. Nevertheless, the Mesha male has the power to adjust and overcome any circumstance. Commitment from the Mesha male would be easy as they are decisive.The Mesha male is aggressive and hotheaded. He can be impulsive, restless and selfish. Diplomacy may not be a virtue as he can fly off the handle when provoked. Fickle-mindedness and impatience are traits that others could exploit. He has extremist tendencies and may not be willing to play by the rulebook or the society rules.

Some famous persons born with Mesha Rashi:

Dharmendra, Sulochana, Tippu Sultan, L.K. Advani, Sharad Pawar, Prince Charles, Jackie Onassis, Aldous Huxley, Ingrid Bergman, Geena Davis, Elton John, Monica Lewinsky, Karl Marx

Generally found qualities of persons with Mesha Rashi:

Favorable: Pioneering, enterprising, adventurous, brave, direct, enthusiastic, active, autonomous.

Less Favorable: Impatient, impulsive, aggressive, egotistical, inconsiderate, selfish, temper, rash.

To the Gym

http://www.fitnessfirst.co.uk

The best thing that happened to me this week - joined the gym! After the induction which was basically15 mins wasted on how to operate the "sophisticated" controls of the treadmill, I did 20 mins on the cross-trainer and 5 mins on the cycle. The knee seems to take things nicely and did not have any after-reaction, god bless Dr. Sivakumar.

Challenged by a friend to have a flat stomach within 2 months - I agreed :) As they say if u reach for the sky, u may atleast get to the stars....The big picture is that I will be joining Raj and Mohan to go for the World Cup in June and you cant go to the WC and not kick a ball right? I would love to play again by then....hopefully the gods keep smiling at me

Also I recently bought my first phone(contract) in the UK, with the 3 network - Rumour is that its the worst around, maybe not after it has me on its books :) Back to the phone, its a Motorola V3x - the latest in the V3 series, reminds me of the Motorola flip phone which was a big hit in 98 during our first year in the U. I like the deal here, for 17.50/month(12 month contract) - I get the phone and the bluetooth device free plus 400 mins anytime and 100 sms free! Singapore contracts are really such a rip-off....well we never had much of a choice when all three supposed to be competing service providers offer deals rarely offer any deal this good!

Happy New year to one and all

To those who have been patiently reading to all of my thoughts, Happy New year and a big thank you. Sorry to have not been updating this page, been down mentally to be thinking of anything else rather than my personal situation...

Started reading this book aptly titled "The Monk who sold his Ferrari", and the first chapter actually discusses worrying and how it spoils the mind....it has made me realize that this has been probably my biggest mistake, I worry very easily even over most trivial things that I had no control over...

So the Moral is not to worry too much and live life for the moment.....atleast try to....

"Arrived" in London - Part 1

The Flight to London
---------------------
After ending 2 and 1/2 months of pampering by my parents, relatives and friends I boarded British Airways BA36 to London on Saturday, 5th of November. It was non-eventful flight, watched 2 movies, ate 3 meals before the flight landed safely at the Heathrow Airport Terminal 4. I have to get used to these long flights but after seeing the majority of my co-passenger make their way to the Transit lounge awating another long flight to the US, I did not feel that bad..

First Impression
-----------------
Unlike any metropolitan city, you will not see any highrises or flash buildings. No one can claim to have understood the definition of the term 'Old School' until you have set foot in this Country. They rightfully pride in their history and traditions. If you can gather how the Indian Parliment looks, here every other building looks similar. And to complicate things it seems within London your house should confirm to a certain design and no 2 adjacent houses can look different! That explains a lot doesnt it? The pace is a lot less frantic than in Singapore and better than Chennai. People on the road have a lot time for each other, a lot more patient. Town centre is to the Uk what downtown is to the US. Any day of the week, any time of the day the town centre is always quite crowded....

Job Search in the UK
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Companies turn to recruiting agents to recruit staff, they give out specific requirements i.e. A job description and basic/desirable requirements. These guys advertise and screen CVs before forwarding the 'chosen' ones to the Firm. The firm then chooses whom they would like to interview and you are notified by the recruiting agent to attend the interview. After the interview the feedback is sent via the recruiting agent and if successful the agent gets paid by the Company for his/her service.

First Month in the UK
-----------------------
To be continued....

Visited an Astrologer on Thursday...

I had been to an Astrologer last Thurday to consult him on my future. It was a very comical experience actually. As soon as I went it, the person there asked me to write down my name, date of birth and time of birth. Then I was made to wait for about half hour, the fella was supposed searching for scriptures that had my future predicted.Out came a very young fella, probably around 17-18 max, he did bring a set of scriptures and the show started with some hymns.

He started asking questions about my birth day, my past, my father' details, my siblings and mother's details. Except for 2 things, everything else was wrong, and I being the dumb idiot that I am kept correcting him with the right information. After realizing that this was going no where, he said he had brought the wrong scripture and went back to get the right one. After just 10 mins, he was back and the show started again, but this time he was spot on, but then I did not forget the fact that I had told him all this just 10 mins ago!!!!! I played along and confirmed everything and the little bastard did have the balls to ask me 'Have all that I asked you correct?'. Amazingly I did manage to keep my cool, which amazed my sister. As I had confirmed that my life was in line with all the scripture had mentioned, he said that this iwas the right scripture and my life would play out exactly the way the scripture had been written.

After this he brought out a small book and kept writing something with a handwriting even doctors would find hard to decipher. This went on for nearly an hour, then he started 'predicting' my future. he said the usual stuff, marriage, kids, job, money, car....and a long life. After all the glorious predictions, he used the magic word "BUT", then he mentioned that some of my stars were parked at places they were not supposed to be, and I had been a very bad guy in my previous past and had a lot of bad Karma. Coming to the business end of things, he charged me 300 Rs for doing a parrot and repeating whatever I told him. He did talk about a pooja where he would pray to Lord Shiva daily after dark for 96 days, if I compensated his efforts with money, I would live a life that almost all would kill for.

I must admit with the life he promises you once the 'pooja/ceremony' is done, its quite tempting to play safe and pay him to do so. Its quite a convincing act that these guys put up to tell you that can alter destiny! I just paid him the money for the consultation and later told him that I need to talk to my mother first before subscribing to the pooja and got out of there as fast as my recovering legs could take me. Was definitely an amazing experience, nowadays its so cheap to play god!

Japan GP: Its one step forward then two steps back for Ferrari

Kimi, the Prince, showed why he is still the best around once inside a car, unfortunately it seems he still needs to improve his skills off the car, especially in understanding the limits of a machine that cannot match his speed. The Barrichello of McLaren, 'Fat B*****d' Montoya was taken out again by 'never an ally' Villeneuve, that means Schumi goes to Shanghai with a two point lead over the 'Made to look better by the car' Montoya. Frankly unless another driver takes him out, he will surely overtake the King to take 3rd place in the driver's standings but then McLaren deserve nothing less this year, brilliant show, if not for the poor showing by Mercedes, McLaren would have dominated this year just like Ferrari did for so long.

The King did a 4-day testing progamme during the 2-week break, welcome news but not to much effect as shown by the results. More of this is needed, but as he himself has said it - "Our new challenge will be to not let the down last very long. We want to fight for the championship again next year.", Team Ferrari & Bridgestone will be back to please the Tifosi. As for the Prince taking over from the King in 2007, I pray to God that happens because right now there is no better choice to fly the Ferrari flag at the top.

As for next season's driver line-ups, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BAR, Toyota, Red Bull have settled thiers, so the only seats available are at 1 at BMW to partner Hiedlfeld, 1 at Williams to partner Webber, so its looks like curtains for Narain's F1 adventure unless he is willing to put up another year in a 'making up the numbers' car. So Narain, looks like we wont be seeing you next year. There is news that there might be a new team next year which should increase his hopes a wee bit. Maybe he should do A1, which by the way is very confusing and nowhere as intersting as F1. I dont think people will take to it, its only positive is that with F1 season closing soon, racing fans might peek into a little but they definitely need to put up a better show and need more big names. Furthermore, if you think F1 Qualifying is complicated, A1 is way too complicated!! Maybe I need to read up a little more and maybe it a little too early to write them off.

EPL: Is it really over?

Paddy power, wonder who makes makes the decisions at this betting house!! I think Abromovich must have paid him to do this, probably one of Mourinho's elaborate mind games, after selling his oil plant for 7.9 Billion a few weeks ago, this must be Roman's small gift to Mourinho!!! I for one dont think its over, United and Arsenal, in a way Liverpool are all in it. If Newcastle think they can make it into top six, anything can happen.

As for my favs, its definitely in shambles. Chelsea are due at OT soon and this is the not the form you want going into such a crucial match. The only highlights so far this season has been Ji Sung Park and Van Der Sar, both the new signings have shown that its money well spent. Park was the spark (sorry could not avoit that) last weekend, if not for him the team definitely lacks the creativity of old, the play has been very direct and teams easily man mark us out of the game and only Park's brilliance avoided another embarassing defeat at Craven Cottage. Blackburn showed how a disciplined game against United will win you 3 points, home or away!

Sir Alex's tactics have been questioned recently. Although its very disappointing to see such a legend receive that kind of disrespect, I can clearly see where they are coming from. I dont think why we should not be more flexible, we have told the world that we play 4-3-3, so there is no surprise waiting for them, to add to that Sir Alex did not change anything when clearly it wasn't working against Blackburn!! Where are the days when he would just take a defender out and throw in Ole to get the winning goal? The speed of United's play have gone and it more like watching an Italian team these days, we might not play ball like Arsenal, no one will for that matter, but United were feared for our speed, the excellent counter-attacks, the way we turned defence into attack, everything's missing, it's as if United are using the Premiership to practice for Europe. Finally, we have one of the best headers of the ball playing upfront in Ruud and Ronaldo can do a decent job of that too but we dont cross that many into the box anymore!!

Keano, the time has come and I for one think he should leave. I did mention United's counterattacks and in way Keano's age has contributed in its demise because when we hit back it was usually Captain Fantastic driving the team forward and a Beckham/Giggs killer pass that created the chances, now both are not possible! What happened to Sir Alex is a good reason why Keane should leave at the top and not come back, if he does that he would be bigger than Sir Alex or Bryan Robson, probably remembered as the best ever to have worn the United shirt and I would hate to see him any stick, he doent deserve it.

EPL is back!

Who will win the league?
I am a United fan, so its Manchester United. Everyone seems to have blind faith in Mourinho and his supremely talented squad, but I am not sure they will be as dominating this year as last year. They would have been studied day and night by now and I am sure teams will be more prepared for them this year, you only have to watch Arsenal's community shield match, the better team actually lost. Finally Pool would be a bother but it will be interesting as most of Rafa's purchases are new to the English game, so I dont expect them to click this year.

The battle for Europe?
I can see a mini league of 7 fighting for 2 places, Everton, Charlton, Bolton, Boro, Spurs, Man City, Birmingham and if I were to choose 2, I would plump for Spurs and Boro. Man City would push these 2 but lose out, just like last year

Definitely Mid-Table with the ocassional giant killing act?
NewCastle, Portsmouth, Blackburn, Aston Villa

Relegation Dog-Fight?
Fulham, West Brom, West Ham, Sunderland, Wigan

Who will finally be relegated
Fulham, Sunderland, Wigan

Players teams cannot do without
United - Ruud, Van Der Sar, Scholes
Arsenal - Henry, Ljunberg, Toure's Central Defence Partner
Chelsea - Terry, Makelele, Lampard and Cech
Liverpool - Reina, Stevie G, Alonso
Spurs - Davids, King's Central Defence Partner
Man City - Andrew Cole, James
Boro - Yakubu, Mendieta, Boateng
Villa - Phillips, Solano, Mellberg
Birmigham - Butt, Forsell, Dunn
West Brom - Zlotan Gera, Kevin Campbell
West Ham - Sheringham, Neo-Coker, Etherington
New Castle - The whole team, even 1 injury will affect them badly
Portsmouth - Robert, Westerveld, Lua Lua
Wigan - No Idea
Fulham - Diop, Collins John
Charlton - Holland, Murphy, Smertin
Sunderland - Arca
BlackBurn - Bellamy, Pedersen
Bolton - Jay Jay, Diouf, Giannakopoulos
Everton - Cahill, Martyn, Kilbane

Manager Sack Race?
Souness, Pardew, O'Leary

Interesting Transfers (Hit 50%, Flop 50%)
Davids, Park Ji-Sung, Alexandre Song, Crouch, Emre, Robert, Butt

Top Scorer
Who else but supremely talented Henry, hopefully Ruud will push him this season

Hungary GP: Enjoyed every single lap of it

For many Juan's retirement put an end to all the excitement at last weekend's Hungarian GP, but for me and the millions who follow the King and his car, it was thrilling right to the end. Just as the King mentioned, last week was a step forward in the right direction. People pointing to Schumi's light fuel the fact that the track does not favor overtaking as the reason why Schumi out-qualified everyone finished second, forget to acknowledge that this is the hottest race within Europe, the tyres seemed to have fared a lot better than before.

Congrats to the Future King, Kimi, on yet another exciting win. Although it’s still not in his hands, a repeat of last race's circumstances should surely put him right back in the race. The next grand prix is anybody's call as Turkey is the latest addition to the calendar, everyone starts on equal terms and McLaren's supremely superior overall package should see them start as favourites. They seem to have found a extra second on Renault, probably due to the thier new front wing. It certainly looks cool.

MotoGP champ Valentino Rossi has apparently tested a Ferrari again. The Italian completed 80 laps at Firano early this week. His season has not started that well, so I am sure it will be a few more years before he loses his love for MotoGP, it surely will be a few more years before he decides to test himself at F1.

It has finally happened. Rubens is leaving. Compared to the previous no 2, 'Handbags' Eddie Irvine, Rubinho was a gem, and Schumacher, at least privately would acknowledge that he was his best ever No 2, both in terms of talent and a team player. The team and Tifosi should be genuinely happy that this great Brazilian gets to at least compete on equal terms with Button (Not confirmed) next season. BAR currently has a better package than Ferrari but not a better car, on way short of McLaren or Renault, so it would be interesting to see how far Barrichello can push them. A big thank-you and all the best to my favourite Brazilian!

In comes another Brazilian, Felipe Massa. I should admit I am slightly disappointed because after Kimi (who by the way doesnt say much) had openly admited that he fancies driving for Ferrari, I hoped Ferrari would go all out to get him. Massa is no slow driver; he has outclassed Villeneuve in almost every other GP this year, so he is not the worst possible choice. Everyone seems to suggest he was the best available, but I am sure he will be nurtured into a World Champion.

In many ways, I always felt that the King is way too underestimated. People somehow beleive that the all conquering Ferrari of the last few seasons were presents from Heaven and the King won because of the car and the unfair team tactics. So, what has happened this year has clearly shown that there is no other driver who knows his car better than this man!. His feedback and know-how of his car is legendary. Ferrari's package this year is non-competitive but it’s the King's talent that is making the car look half decent. I hope this season shuts a few people up! Pushing a car to its limits can be done by anyone on the grid, they all are fast drivers, even Karthikeyan can do that, but understanding the car's +'s and -'s is and extracting the most out of it is where the King has no match as yet, Coultard is the closest pretender.

German GP: Its all over

The close up on Schumi’s tyres around lap 40 summed up Ferrari's season. Even after 67 laps it would be hard to find a Michelin that worn out. The stupid commentators kept saying the King's super-charged Qualifying lap and the difference between Rubino's lap and his was mainly due to less fuel load. I wish I was next to those 'B*******' when Schumi pitted on the same lap as Alonso, just 2 laps in front of Rubino. I can’t imagine how you can call yourself a fan if you can tell a 'Schumacher Special' when you see one. This by no means is due to Rubino's inability to work the car; the car is built for the Champion so Rubino is always going to slower or any 2nd driver for that matter. I wish Rubino gets a drive at BAR or BMW because he deserves No 1 Status and I personally would like to see what he can do given a top car and a No 1 Status.

McLaren are flying, their new front wing looked so cool and seemed to make the difference on the day, Kimi clearly outpaced Alonso. Those consecutive fastest laps (lap 21-24) would have taken any McLaren fan to the moon and beyond. Their machinery seems to make even crap drivers go from 20 to 2nd! Seriously speaking, I hate to do this but I do salute Mr. "Bad to not so bad' Montoya for his 2nd place finish after starting from the last. I was very impressed that with the way he took his time when he found himself behind the Schumi/Button battle, the Montoya we knew would have got stuck in immediately and most probably taken atleast one out.

As for this season, its Alonso's or atleast it’s his to lose. I don’t see Renault going off the boil that drastically and few more podium finishes should see him being crowned as the 'Youngest' F1 World Champion, a far cry from his Minardi days! Congratulations to him, he was slightly lucky but then he still had to be there at 2nd and was consistently quicker than the rest of the pack (His fastest lap was a good half second faster than Montoya's).

Returning to the King, I feel really sorry for him and the team. I am sure if it was anything to do with the car itself he would be at it by now, but unfortunately it’s the tyres and armed with feedback from only 3 teams (Out of which 2 are Jordan and Minardi), Bridgestone cannot be blamed for not matching Michelin. All these irritatinly recurrent calls for him to retire should be from people who dont understand the sport, the King still has not lost anything and is actually compensating for the poor package he is on. Him keeping his 2nd place all the way till the 40th lap deserves special praise, the whole team I am sure are very proud people and all this hurt will be channeled to bounce back next year. Remember it not about falling but about how fast you can get back up. Ferrari will return and it will be this team who will do it.

Does God need our defence, are we really that full of ourselves?

I used to be an atheist, used to love the arguments that provoked in class with friends, teachers and my parents. A close friend, just before my 'O' levels took personal interest in my studies to show the kind of marks that I was capable of scoring and set my path right. When someone does that for you, that person deserves your respect and he used that to get me to the temple. More than the respect I had for him, it was his constant reminder that I can improve with god's influence and that selfishness in me that got me to the temple for the first time by myself. That is how my spiritual journey started. Hand on heart not many people ask God for something without a selfish motivation, its how small most of us are. We first need to acknowledge that. The religion that we are born into is a decision made by our forefathers and passed on to us, so only GOD is the only universal truth. People armed with education, time and money come up with new religions and faiths, showing that religion/faith are man-made paths towards the supreme power and there is no right or wrong.

The term 'Spiritual Journey', just refers walking a path towards God. It by no means should be confused with ‘Spiritual growth’, Spiritual growth is honed and perfected only practice, subjecting oneself to the strict discipline of what has been advised i.e. prayer, meditation or good deeds. No faith or religion advices killing or bloodshed as the path towards God, then why take it? It’s quite amazing that every religion has a group which has opted for violence to defend itself. I am sure not many belonging to these groups can answer the question ‘What/Who are you defending against?’ Taking people along with us on our spiritual journey is not a must and harming people who chose a different path is downright stupid.

My friend forwarded a few mails a few days ago. One questioned the secularity of India and preaching of Hinduism in quite an offensive tone. There was one person’s defence of both India and Hinduism and another mail discussing Islam in the same tone as the first mail. When all our faiths are so vast with so much to know that not many have mastered them, I wonder how we can assume to know so much about another religion to question it? With it being so difficult to cultivate the discipline necessary to follow our own religion that most of us do compromise, are we worthy enough to question something we know very little of and never have practiced. By closing your eyes for 24 hrs, you can never experience a blind man’s life, similarly reading a book is no way to ‘know’ a religion.

Finally to those who think defending God is their purpose of life, I have only one to day – ‘by suggesting that God/Faith/Religion needs the defence of a worthless mortal like you - you are insulting the very God/Faith/Religion that you are trying to glorify’. God is almighty and God does not need your help, so change your agenda and do what God wants you to do (practice the preaching with utmost discipline) instead of pretending to add a purpose to your life by plucking at thin air.

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things - –- Henry Miller

We all should live the life of a traveler, even if for a short while. From ancient times, it has always been a man’s desire to find out what is over the next hill, and that very same feeling has never deserted anyone of us, but the fear of leaving the comfort of the familiar is what that prevents those of us from not exploring. At the mention of a place, no matter where we are, a mental picture appears in our mind describing the place. The picture is defined by what we have seen if we have already been there. For most places, where we would not have seen it ourselves, the picture is defined by what we have studied, heard or read and sometimes its funny to see how far from truth that picture is.

The magic of travel is that you leave your own home secure in your own knowledge and identity but once you are off and the world in all its richness and surprises intervenes. We meet people that we cannot invent, see scenes that we cannot imagine, life that no education can show, and experience cultures that we cannot define. As we open ourselves to the world totally different to our own, we can realize that our own life which was so large to consume our life thus far is actually such a small dot in space and time and we will become a different person, for the better.

It’s a pity when some of us don’t want to be travelers but be tourists. Tourists just pass through the surface of other’s people lives without actually leaving their own, most often, rather sadly and painfully try to bring their world with them wherever they go or when desperate will try and recreate the world that they left. Tourist will never risk the security of their own understanding and never realize how small and limited their experiences really are. True travelers become the fabric of the local’s everyday lives, embrace them without judging them.

While we should acknowledge the curse of travel - that we may end up being runners, running away from our lives, its twists of fate, our problems and complications and thus ending up complicating the lives of people around and us and punishing them by abandoning them at their time of need, I personally believe that when tragedies or great changes in life occurs, if we are well traveled, we will understand that there are million ways to live and we will be able to move to new and worthy things.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." -- St. Augustine

ManU Away Kit 05/06

Personally I am sad that they are taking the black one away, but the new one looks good. I especially like the red trims. Brilliant, its been refreshing since moving to Nike, the kits are far better. More class!

To Taiwan and Back

Back to the mundane and boring life, landed back in Singapore @7.30 PM, was back home in time for Dinner (fish curry and veggie), something I had missed badly. Over the last week, we did a lot of walking and even a short and unexpected trek so I cant wait to get to the gym and see if I have lost any weight! I did eat a lot on the trip, so am slightly worried if that would have negated all the walking and climbing, hopefully it did not! To summarize, it is a very beautiful country and we had a magnificent time. I am not sure why they have not told the world about what they have! Whoever I had talked to before my trip told me about the shopping and the food there (my friends did nothing but confirm it), but its a shallow thought. The country is all about its beautiful mountains and its vast coastline. Its mountains right through the country so there is not way to cross the country but to go one whole round along the coastline to get from the east to the west and you have to experience it to realize the beauty of it. The highlights of the trip were Alishan and the Sun Moon Lake.

If you were to call Taiwan, Chinese State of America, you would not be that far wrong. Its amazing how you can feel the American influence right from the time you set foot in the country, they call their highways. 'freeways', left hand drive, second hand car showrooms, neon streetlights, Time Square like setup at the Shilin Night Market, even their long distance buses are of the same colour as of the Greyhound and is designed exactly the same! The people are quite updated in fashion and talk nothing except Chinese, it took a good 4 days before I heard someone speak English, they are slightly rude or not that friendly, although I would be the first to mention that they were a few exceptions.

Taking a tour package meant that we spent most of our time on the bus, there was this once that we had lunch, took a long ride, close to 7 hours and went straight for dinner. The journey and the beauty of what we saw from the bus made up for that disappointment. The Taiwanese have a very impressive train network, and it was disappointing that the tour guides don’t use them, it will help to plan more activities for their clients. We had a puncture at the Tarako Gorge, the bus driver tried a three point turn over the curbs and the burst both the left rear tyres. We even had a breakdown, gear problem I guess and had to change buses. The replacement bus was a far better one and left us wondering why the bus had not broken down on the first day instead of the last day.

The tour guide strictly spoke Mandarin alone and said he would die if asked to speak English, so obviously we did not push it. He thought I was a black guy from America and kept calling me ang-moh. It only shows that these guys dont get to see much dark skin all their lives :) The fella did schedule in enough marketing stops, and Joy amazing spent handsomely at every stop, as I told him, he is a marketing man's dream. At the Sun Moon lake, the guide even resorted to playing the charity card, they explained about the earthquake that shook Taiwan and these tribes needed the money to rebuild, while I dont doubt that, I don’t think paying these shopkeepers was the best avenue to channel charity funds to people who needed it. I saw a BMW 3 and Nissan Cefiro just opposite the shop

I did get to go 'free & easy' truly. Tian Guan and myself went to explore Keelung all by ourselves. While the gang left to Bjetou for experiencing hot springs, we both left for Keelung. This decision to split was taken over coffee at Taipei 101, still am not sure how or why it came about, but the chance to see Taiwan the way I wanted to just feel on my lap and I did not want to ask many questions. We took directions from staff at Taipei 101, went to Sangshuan Station and bought tickets to Keelung. Tian Guan got chatty with few aunties on the train. Once we got to Keelung we saw a Star Cruise getting ready to set sail and took a walk towards it, followed a few road signs to get to a temple and a night market, searched for Tian Guan's snack but I ended up buying a shirt for myself and my friend! Took the Taiwanese Greyhound back to Taipei and met up the gang back at Shilin for Dinner, followed that up with more shopping and supper before we called it a day.

The last day was a silent affair, started with hunting for breakfast and President's Biscuits and we took a van, arranged by our tour guide to get to the airport. I thought I had only 300 over on me so spent in on getting a couple of bracelets for my cousins. The ride was uncomfortably silent, Ade and Tian Guan did manage to start a few topics but the rest did not seem interested, I was looking to them to take the gloom away from me, but felt more for Joy who had to return alone, but maybe he kept himself busy with more shopping. After getting to the airport we found out that the flight was delayed by half an hour, so I called my Sis and Dad. Upon clearing the rubbish in my pocket, I found 200 NT$, spent in on a book and got the gang to scribble some thoughts....opted out of lunch as none of us felt hungry. The flight back was not that eventful, they were a few pretty girls on board and three of them were seated just behind us, so it was better than many a recent trip.

Finally, 8 days of pure fun, another country visited, poorer in terms on money, richer in terms of memories. Just like the any other previous trip with my friends, enjoyed this enormously. I would like to thank each one of them for their translations; putting up with me and helping me see a country I would not have survived on my own. I owe this lot for too many things they have done for me and the list just got longer...........

On a trip to Taiwan.....

Will be on tour to Taiwan for the next week....even the boss excused me off an assignment today so that I can travel peacefully and come back to slog. The colleagues warned that its not the most renowned for its hygiene but has a lot of good things to eat....I know there are lot of things to eat and see, but makes me wonder if I would like them....anyway, there is no backing out now

Why Taiwan, everybody asks me this, well I enjoyed my last trip with these guys, so was interested in doing another, and Taiwan was the popular choice. Anyway the way I see it, I may never be able to do this trip alone, so why not make use of this oppurtunity because my friends can atleast help to overcome the language barrier! I would like to do Beijing and Shanghai too, maybe the Chinese GP in October will be a good oppurtunity ;)

The places I look forward to - Tarako Gorge at Hualien, the 101 building and Chiayi. Unfortunately the 101 building is not covered by the package so thats an additional cost. I was keen on going free and easy but the some were not that keen on lugging their baggage around, even worse, not all of those who complained are girls :(

For the next one week, I will take notes daily so that you can see the country through my eyes and my camera lens. Will update the blog next Sunday, it should be a long one!

Indians 'world's biggest readers'

Here is a article on the BBC - Indians are world's biggest readers

If you read the full article, there is one guy supporting the survey saying, Indians are extremely entrepreneurial and one doubting it by saying "he could not see Indians flocking to the bookstores". His argument is that Novels don’t sell by the thousands within India. Novels and self-help books are not news, they don’t get outdated within an hour. I think the choice of picture on the article should fuse any doubts along those lines, Indians read, simple; Not necessarily from the book shelves of big-name bookstores but from the used bookstores. I wonder why Venkateshwar Rao, supposedly a leading columnist never gave a thought to the thousands of such shops all across the country. I don’t think they make money exporting the books back to the US and UK :)

I know streets in Chennai where thousands of such books get sold everyday and those reading are not those worry about the rat race but the ones that go through the motions of 9-5 and read just to keep them informed and have some intelligent chatter over tea! Even if you take the rat race amongst Indians, these second-hand bookstores play a huge part in that they are a lot of self-made graduates who study via correspondence (Self-study, part-time courses made available by reputed Universities) using books sold from such bookstores.

Another interesting find is that Indians are 4th from bottom when it comes to watching TV! Amazing, considering the millions watching the mega serials on TV every night and the countless TV channels that we have! I am sure the people surveyed were not the right choice to make such a decision, and for sure is flawed, but still anything that shows India in a better light is welcome by me!

What if? - Always counter productive

When I play pool with my colleagues, there is this one guy who goes "Why, what happened?" whenever I miss something obvious or a shot easy to take. I would annoy me really because, it’s not reversible and even if I found out why; he is not going to allow me to re-take the shot, so why bother wondering why!

The same goes with this habit of wondering what if? At times of difficulty or disappointment we most often spend time imagining what would have been if we have changed some little thing, some little decision in our life. The only outcomes is that it makes you even more unhappy and makes you hate yourself/ or the other person who influenced your decision. The weaker ones are even worse; they won’t even accept responsibility for their decisions, but lay the blame at the feet of the person who influenced his/her decision. There is nothing more counter-productive than wondering what if?

When you take a wrong turn on the road, you don’t actually trace back and wonder why, you just look at where you want to be, and take actions on how to get there from where you are currently. Its quite a gift if we can maintain the same attitude with our decisions that we have to make daily in our lives. We should not wallow in disappointment over how we got to where we are but think about what we need to get where we want to be, as with so many things about self help lessons, EASIER SAID THAN DONE.