TheRajBlog

Guts and Glory, Grace and Misery!

July 14, 2019: Absolutely fantastic day for sports fans!
Fitting finale for two major sports events: Wimbledon Men’s Tennis Final and Cricket World Cup Final! Both matches totally riveting, nerve-wracking, filled with twists and turns, culminating in a pulsating finish 🙂
It’s beyond me to do justice with words both finals which were throbbing with excitement and suspense right till the very end. I hope writers, photographers and movie makers work together to create a work of art to capture the essence of both games, juxtaposing exquisite prose with beautiful images and stunning video clips that bring to fore the ebbs and flows, never-say-die spirit and soul-stirring emotions that were on abundant display throughout. Congratulations England for winning one championship and thanks for giving us fans two memorable matches that will stay etched in memory for a long time.

First the contrast: One an individual sport the other a team sport. One played and followed in most
countries the other played and followed in much fewer countries but enjoying rabid following among the fans

Next the commonality: Riveting from the start both matches featured sensational shot-making, jaw-dropping action in plenty and some sensational play by protagonist/s on both sides

Watched the tennis match on TV and followed the cricket score online. Boy, I never knew following the score could be this exiting and filled with tension 😀 I had my Sunday morning routine that meant I couldn’t catch the start of tennis match. But I made sure to have the DVR on just before the start of the match so that I could catch up on the action with my son as soon as possible. We started watching the match from the beginning. Son couldn’t resist checking the score and said the match was tied at one set apiece. So, we fast forwarded to the most notable moments of the first two sets and within a few minutes started watching live action. Federer turned back the clock and as usual his play featured sublime strokes and incredible skills that had to be seen to believe. Djokovic was not his usual efficient self, mixing breathtaking returns with unforced errors, grit with with some ordinary serving at times. After 4 sets of action it was locked at 2 sets apiece. I looked outside and in contrast to the well manicured lawns at Wimbledon my lawn needed some work. So, I stepped out at the start of 5th set and instructed my son to give me a holler when it was at a decisive point. After few minutes of trimming the lawn edges I heard my son shout “Dad, it’s 4-2 with Djokovic leading!”. Lawn beckoned but lawn tennis beckoned even more. No prizes for guessing what won 😀 Expecting the action to not last more than 20-30 minutes I dumped the weed whacker and headed back in. What followed was absolutely sensational. Both the players were trading shots of brilliance that had the spectators at the venue and viewers elsewhere rising to their feet to applaud the warriors laying it all out and refuse to be beaten. Federer was magnificent and making the sublime look very normal but Djokovic showed why he is the #1 now. Despite being outplayed almost the entire match he hung in there and managed to stay on. Federer had his hands firmly on the winner’s trophy and it took an almighty effort from Djokovic to metaphorically snatch the trophy from Federer’s grasp. The great thing about champions is that even when they appear to be outplayed and on the losing side they find inner reserves of strength and determination to do just enough to win. Djokovic managed to just about do that and emerge the winner finally.

Even as I was watching live tennis action I was following the score of cricket world cup final during
changeover and between points. England were struggling to chase a respectable but modest target set by New Zealand. The Englishmen was hanging in desperately trying to not lose wickets and at the same time trying to ensure the required run rate did not get out of hand. The hardy antipodeans as usual were amazing in their resilience and efficiency, using their talent and resourcefulness to the max. As the tennis match ended the cricket final was nearing conclusion too. The ending overs had everything: frenetic action, heroic play (from both sides), oodles of courage, some mistakes induced by tension of the moment and scarcely believable role of Lady Luck. The end of regular play resulted in both sides tied even (a first in Cricket World Cup final). An extra over for each side in the form of overtime ended again in a tie. Ultimately the winner by the team with the most # of boundaries in the game (rough equivalent of team that scores more 3-pointers in NBA being declared winners). England finished as winners on that basis. Hindsight is 20-20, it now appears a fairer rule might have been to continue playing overtime till there was an outright winner.

I am not into cliches but not only did worn out phrases like “The game is the ultimate winner” and
“It’s a pity there could only be one winner, both were winners” not only rang true but sounded profound 🙂 on this day that showcased the very best that sports has to offer!

Public libraries

One of the nicest things in the country is the public library system. Becoming a member of local public system is a breeze. Show proof of residence (Driver License/Utility Bill) for library membership and once you receive the library card you are ready to rock n roll! Plenty of books to choose from but I generally get videos. Over the years my reading has been reduced to bite-sized offerings online. Once inside the library I just head straight to the recently returned cart. Not for me the trouble of going through shelves to find the right book or video. My logic for browsing through recent returns is simple. Saves me time, I don’t care for the latest and greatest and if some other library member has found a video worth watching it’s likely to have some appeal. Works almost always and I also get to discover some gems waiting to be enjoyed like the National Geographic/BBC Nature/Disney Nature specials and good movies that have not had a wide release. One cardinal rule I follow religiously follow when I watch videos: The subtitle has to be on always 🙂 If there was a poll for the most well read video watcher of all time I will be a shoo in to win the competition 😀 Sadly there is no such competition 😦 Anyways if one library visit does not result in good yield there is always a next time!

Long live and flourish the public library system and the subtitle industry for the videos!

I want to eat a good peda!

Another trip down memory lane 🙂 Grew up in a home that was located centrally in the suburb we lived in and easily accessible by public transport or within walking distance for many people. We had many visitors drop by just to say hello or for other specific reasons. Living in a big, crowded city that meant steady stream of visitors on a regular basis. Dad worked as an officer for Indian Government and he was also active as a committee member of local school trying to do his bit of volunteering to give back to society in his own small way. Got to meet an interesting and eclectic group of people, some of them strangers too, as they visited our home. Some folks used to come for a chat about their personal situation and probably just wanted someone to hear them out. If you are patient listener there is always a sob story waiting to be heard 🙂

One group of people were retired Government servants. They would come seeking assistance if their file got stuck in some Government office and needed help in getting the files moving. Dad would speak to the relevant department employee/s to help the folks get the pension due to them. Others looked for help in understanding arcane rules or changes that would affect their pension. They were grateful for whatever help or guidance they got.

Another group of people were those seeking admission to school. Some of them needed admission for their kids because they got transferred in their jobs in the middle of the school year and a word or recommendation could speed up things and/or make the transition smoother. Then there were others who would seek admission after trying in other schools first. It was interesting to hear them say this was their dream school and spin other tales to make their case 😀

The third group of people are the ones I remember the most. Dad was a gazetted officer (similar to a notary in the US) and this position allowed him to certify some documents and photocopies of marksheets. I think this was one level of security to prevent forgery by having an authorized person check the original and certify that the information was correct. I was dad’s trusted lieutenant always enthusiastically whipping out the official stamp and ink pad ready for dad to do the needful. There were some interesting experiences. Dad being interested in education would show me marksheet (result card) of students that had done extremely well and it was very inspiring to see the outstanding results in those pristine marksheets. I recollect one instance when dad refused to certify something that a person wanted. I was kind of surprised and thought why is dad playing so hard and refusing to do his duty of certifying. To my simple mind if anyone came seeking help they had to be helped. After that person had gone I asked my dad the reason. He explained to me that the person wanted certification of low income for some scholarship and it would be wrong to do that without any supporting evidence. Ah, for a moment I forgot that I inherited the desire to help from the way my parents had raised me.

People would show their appreciation for the help received. Once we got a box of milk chocolates from a person who was grateful for a truckload of documents he got certified. I made quick work of those chocolates 😀 My most abiding memory though is of people distributing pedas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peda) to celebrate their kid’s graduation. While some of them were of high quality there were quite a few that were sugary concoctions that were bad imitations of the good stuff. Just as a high quality ice cream has more cream and less ice a good quality peda should have more khoa (dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating) and less sugar. For a while wiping off memories of those bad pedas became a bit of life mission for me 😀 After I started working I used to buy high quality pedas every now and then till those bad memories were consigned to the dustbin of history 😉

Moral of the story: Did you say I like good pedas? True and close 😀 but that’s not the response I was looking for. Being in a position to help is a blessing and helping others in need without expecting anything in return is the best thing anyone can do! Thanks dad (and mom) for teaching the virtues of helping. It’s the greatest gift anyone can get!

True hero – Norman Borlaug

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47643456?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Norman Borlaug – True hero, who helped increase crop yield and feed the world. He has a Wisconsin connection too! His ancestors migrated to Dane County, WI, when they moved from Norway 🙂

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus!

Men and women think and react different. Nothing like a real life example to prove it though, right? 😉 One example: While having a great meal me and son can tell crappy jokes or watch crime scenes in TV series replete with gore and still enjoy the meal thoroughly 😀 Wife’s instant reaction if that happens is “We are having a meal, can you guys stop please?” or “Switch off the TV, watch after we have had our meal” 😀 Looks like women find such sights, sounds or even thoughts quite disgusting and disturbing while eating but men can delink easily and nothing comes in the way of enjoying a good meal 😀

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Are_from_Mars,_Women_Are_from_Venus”
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” is title of book by John Gray.
There might have been gray areas when the book was originally written.
Experience tells the gray cells function differently and that’s a truism. What say?

Rimjhim gire saawan – Story of a wedding song!

This is the story of how ‘Rimjhim gire saawan’ happened to be my song of choice on wedding day. After a stressful morning of going through the marriage day rituals and before a stressful evening that requires wearing plastic smile during reception it was time for afternoon fun. It was lucky wife’s turn first and she just chorused her way to “Kuch kuch hotha hai’ glory. My turn next. Not the sort to shy away from subjecting others to my bad vocals I gamely accepted the challenge. That was the easy decision. Song choice on the fly was a different matter altogether. First song that came to mind “Koi lautade mere beethay hue din”. Not a good option, FIL would happily send me to Kashi if I sang that song. Next song “Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye tho kya hai”. With that song I would be dispatched out of this world. Each song coming to my mind was either sad or not fitting for the occasion. The clock was ticking and I was getting despondent. Then “Rimjhim gire saawan” flashed across my mind. Just to be sure I mentally recollected the lyrics to confirm there was nothing sad or any complaining tone about it. Hooray, it was a lighthearted and romantic song. First battle won! I belted it out with gusto. Wife absolutely loved it! Reason: She had not heard that song before 😀 Few months later I played original KK version and mentioned to her this is the song I sang on wedding day. Her reaction: Priceless! “Oh, really ? This sounds so different”

Mumbai roadside eats series: # 2 – Zanzanit Batata Vada

The language of food is universal. Tempted me to write about another favorite food of the Mumbaikars: Batata Vada/Vada Pav. The dish itself is simple. Boil potatoes, mash them, add some spices to the mashed potatoes (ginger, garlic, chili powder etc.), roll into a ball shape, dip into a batter made of chick peas flour, fry it and voila! You have that spicy little snack you can’t wait to literally sink your teeth into 🙂 Want to add some flavor? Have it with dry ‘lasoon’ chutney. You can bet Kaimal teacher wouldn’t want to have anything to do with lasoon chutney because of its ‘pungent, irritating odor’ 😉 Need to up the spice quotient? Throw in some green chillies, fried or raw. If you want it to be more filling, stuff the batata vada into a fresh, soft pav with some chutney and onion thrown in and the taste is simply divine! Wait, where are you going? Let me guess. Just thinking about the humble batata vada tickled your palate so much you are either getting up to make some or go out and grab them from a nearby roadside vendor 😉 Remember to eat it hot, that’s when it tastes best !
Batata vada is so popular it has its own entry in Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batata_vada

Phone aaya, phone aaya! – Part 4: App-solutely yours! (2005-now)

For a brief period of time Motorola Razr V3 took the mobile handset market by storm. A flip top phone with a thin profile it had striking looks, was a success and seemed destined to sell well for a long time. And then the iPhone happened and Apple took the mobile phone market by storm with its smartphone. A beauty with brains it combined great looks with smarts. It whet the appetite of legion of Apple fans by letting 3rd party developers develop Apps for various uses. Along with the catchy line “There is an App for that!”. With Google releasing the Android OS not long after that the mobile handset landscape changed forever. In the meanwhile IP telephony transformed the landline business as the technology improved enough for businesses to adapt it.
Personally The Raj had graduated to a Blackberry as other users graduated out of it and were on to the iPhone/Android devices 😀 The move to a Blackberry was necessitated by a need to use texting for personal and business use increasingly. And Blackberry with its full keyboard seemed to be an obvious answer. Later on moved on to iPhone as Blackberry RIMmed out of the smartphone market unable to adapt fast enough to catch with up with developments in iPhone/Android space. What The Raj had not reckoned with the smartphones was the autocorrect feature. Boy oh boy, was that a pesky feature? You betcha 😀 No sentence could be completed without the smart device suggesting some change. I dare not doth complain loudly about this “feature” lest my wife remind me gently “Now you know how I feel when you keep correcting me all the time” 🙂 If there is critical mass of people needing a support group from “autocorrect abuses” I intend to start one quietly. Just let me know 😀 Being old school I used to, till not too long ago, print directions in mapquest/google maps when we were driving long distance prompting my son to laugh and say “Dad, no one prints driving directions now. Use the GPS instead”. One of the funnier moments in life is hearing one’s progeny wondering about the old-fashioned way of doing things by parents and people of earlier generation 😀 Smart devices led to smart virtual assistants. If one was wary earlier of Big Brother watching all the time, now one had to contend with lil Sis’ Siri, Alexa or Cortana giving “thoughtful” suggestions 🙂 Anyways heeding advice of my son and wife I started using GPS for driving directions. The GPS lady was kind and offered useful tips about road accidents and cop cars scanning for speeding drivers along the way. But The Raj could use with some love from the GPS lady. She has a temper and is always shouting at me for missing exits. When that happens I go “Calm down lady, I understand your concern for my safety and reaching on time. You can do it, just take a deep breath. Given this old man’s tendency to get lost in thought and stray off occasionally cut me some slack!”. Of course son and wife laugh a lot when I have such one-on-ones with the GPS lady 😉 Anyways over a period of time I have built up my “smartness” quotient enough to use some of the smartphone features. Alliz well!

Phone aaya, phone aaya! – Part 3: I am mobile and I am here to stay! (mid-1990s – mid 2000s)

It’s said necessity is the mother of invention. Mobile phone technology took off early in Finland and part of it was due to necessity and rest of it due to spirit of invention and enterprise. The terrain in that country made it difficult and more expensive to lay cable/lines under the ground. The solution: Cellphones with the cell towers above ground! Gave rise to innovative handset makers like Nokia in Finland, Ericsson in Sweden and other companies specializing in mobile switching center technologies. The mobile wave made its way to India in the mid-1990s. Circa 1995 when I was supporting databases I was assigned to a project with one of the earliest service providers of mobile telephone services in a major metropolis in India. At this time the Government was handing over licenses to at least 2 service providers in every market to ensure competition and prevent monopoly. The project I was working on was interesting. Involved one Baby Bell, one Europe based company doing mobile switching center work, one British company responsible for billing software. The back end of the billing software used the DB my company was supporting at that time and I did a bit of development work and provided DB support for the billing system. That was my exposure to mobile telephony and standards like GSM. I used to pull leg of one of the English consultants who was on site by saying “When you stop inventing products, you start inventing standards” or trash talking English cricket. Nothing more fun than needling those stiff upper lip Brits, right? 😀 It was all in good humor, nothing more to it 🙂 What struck me most was how expensive it was to use a mobile phone at that time. Apart from cost of the handset which in itself was quite expensive the calling rates were ridiculously high. It was equivalent of 35 cents/minute during peak hours (8am-6pm on weekdays), 18 cents/minute during off-peak hours (6pm-8am on weekdays) and ~ 9 cents/minutes during weekends. India and the USA were probably the only countries that were charging customers for incoming calls too 😦 The coverage was spotty too as the infrastructure was being built and not quite ready yet for prime time yet. I used to wonder how it would ever take off in India. What I had not thought about were 2 things: #1 – The strength in numbers which resulted in fast adoption rate and the calling rate/minute going down as well with companies eager to gain new customers and #2 – The fact that countries that had not buried (literally 🙂 ) lot of money in landlines could leapfrog other advanced countries that were a lot more invested and trying to recover that money. Sometimes it is easier to leap straight when the technology and industry is more mature obviating the need to go through multiple iterations. Initially it was a bit of status symbol to carry a mobile handset, it was just a matter of few months before it was a common sight. As the calendar turned from 1996 and 1997 and The Raj traveled to the Golden City of the Golden State in the US for work it wasn’t unusual to see folks in India calling friends and family from just outside their building to avoid climbing couple flight of stairs 😀
Meanwhile, in the USA, the Baby Bells and other upstarts were duking it out for customer $ in the landline business even as mobile service providers were angling for a bigger piece of the pie. Calling card companies were probably leasing/renting some excess capacity from established operators to offer calling services at competitive rates. What about the voice quality of mobile phones and calling cards? Initially not very good and it was like robbing Peter (landline service providers) to pay Paul (remember “Can you hear me now?”. Imagine a caller asking that to the person being called 😀 ) as the technology was still developing and mobile service providers were expanding their network to improve coverage. I also remember carrying pager for on-call support at times. I have almost forgotten how those things worked. It was like a love-hate relationship with those pesky little things. You always want to be alerted when something breaks and needs immediate attention (those batch jobs running at night always find a way to break, don’t they? 🙂 ) but also pray that thingy never rings. The pagers were like nagging spouse who expects to do all the talking and expects one to hear silently 😉 For a short while Palm Pilots were the in thing and many sales guys liked to show off their electronic rolodex by flashing out those devices and using the stylus to record or retrieve contact information. That gave way to Blackberry as accessing corporate Email securely by phone was getting necessary and convenient and texting with a full keyboard was increasing in popularity. By the mid-2000s mobile telephony reached everywhere and we were just getting started for the next wave: the advent of the iPhone!

Part 4: App-solutely yours!…To be continued