One for cricket!

Indians did not win this match, but cricket certainly did! This was the best fought match that has been witnessed in a long long time. Both the teams performed at thier highest levels. There was not much to differentiate between the two teams(except the winning run!). Both the teams fielded like demons. Both the teams had a Bradshaw or an Agarkar that bowled wonderful spells. Both teams had slow ball bowlers – Harbajan and Powar for India , and Gayle and Samuels for the West Indies, that used the slowing pitch to their advantage and completely dried out runs. Both teams had innings above par by one of their batsmen – Sarwan, Yuvraj. I think it was only fitting that the win or loss be by that solitary run! A tie would have been ideal (as one of the commentrators actually predicted at the end of 20 overs,) but hey we did loose that last wicket that Sarwan on the other team actually preserved!

Kudos to cricket and cricketers for keeping us on the edge of our chairs.

And hey Indians, let this loss come as a mere awakening! This loss is merely your 5th in a long set of winning performances. Here's to 17 more victories on a trot!

And as usual 'Go Go India!!'

 

Anti Reservation or pro development?

http://aravinthan.wordpress.com/2006/05/21/anti-reservation-whatz-the-point/ 

Do not be anti anything my man! Just be pro development. Do something inspite of roadbloacks like reservation and politics.  The problem with us Indians is that we spend a lot of energy and resources in blaming the system. Come on, stand up and be a man! Do something for a change!

Entrepreneurship in India needs an impetus. Take the reservation system as a boon that it really is.  Education is a very important part of an individual’s development, but it is not the last and final frontier. Treat education as a stepping stone and not as the destination. Rise above the mediocrity and the mundane and be the system. Create opportunities instead of crying over lost ones. Education in the highest institution will merely get you a dream job. Is that all you dream of?  if we want to take our country from a developing nation to a developed one, we need to think outside the box.

Though India has already been reaping the benefits of globalization as a result of the IT outsourcing drive, the country’s competitive advantage needs to extend beyond low labor costs. India needs to provide a fertile ground for indigenous ventures and go on to become a profit center from a mere development and support center. To achieve this, there is a need to change the approach to entrepreneurship and make it opportunity based rather than necessity based. Entrepreneurs need to come up with innovative ways to grab the opportunities that come by.

So, my man, stop crying and do something! Let us all put our heads together to not fight the system, but to create one for our own. Let the OBC’s educate themselves while we go and create opportunities for them to use this education! That, my friend is the true formula for success!

technorati tags: india, anti-reservation, entrepreneurship

 

Dravid’s feat

http://sify.com/sports/cricket/fullstory.php?id=14208588

Well well, first Indian to make an ODI century in west Indies! Just goes to show how difficult the west Indians have been to beat on their turf! And who but Dravid to be the one to do it! Just another feather in his cap!

I think he needs a new cap – a large one with a lot of slots for feathers. Cause, my man has many a record to break

 

stutter stutter but victorious!

Cricinfo – The win that almost wasn’t

Hey so the Indians managed to start off the 5 match series with a win, their 17th chasing!

India has been known to choke so often while chasing, that this is a real achievement. I think the team owes a lot to its middle order for these successes. The likes of Pathan, Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni are largely responsible for this transformation. Today, this quartet was joined by Kaif, who finally got a score to write home about. This can only boost his confidence! Then there is Dravid! Even in the days when Tendulkar was at his best, the petential of this man was all too clear! While Sachin was busy being deified, Dravid was busy playing cricket! And now, after taking over the helm of the team, he is almost unstoppable! The opposition simply cannot figure out a way to get him out!

 

Way to go India!  

 

 

technorati tags: cricket, dravid, kaif

 

On to Jamaica Maan!

Hey The Indian Cricket team is going start a battle royale in paradise – Jamaica maan! I will be following them matches to the last ball! And I will be blogging about them here. So stay tuned you cricket crazy (or not so crazy) folks!

 

India reservations for higher education

http://www.deeshaa.org/2006/05/07/indian-reservations/

This article does the best job of summing up the issue.

Atanu Dey describes the problem, discusses the solutions that have been applied, craps the solutions on various fronts, and most importantly comes up with a soultion himself!

For the lazy folks here are a few quotes

"Quotas, if they have any effect on the system, effectively replace qualified candidates with otherwise unqualified candidates. Unqualified candidates who enter the system are by definition unable to benefit from the opportunity to the extent that a qualified candidate would have done. The quota candidates are unable to compete within the system. Aside from the welfare loss in terms of wastage of real resources, the quota students suffer psychologically as they fall behind their colleagues who are better prepared for the academic rigors. They are looked down upon by those who “earned” their place in the school. (I say “earned” because it is strictly not so, as I will explain later.) This reinforces the perception—within both groups—that the group which enjoys the quota is intrinsically inferior. This is perhaps the most pernicious of all the unfortunate effects of a quota system in higher education."

"quotas in higher education for disadvantaged groups is morally repugnant policy. It penalizes certain people based on their group membership. Discrimination based on caste, creed, origin, color, etc, is morally wrong. So is reverse discrimination. The right thing to do is to remove discrimination, not impose it from up on high."

"The disadvantaged segments of the population are not disadvantaged only in their ability to gain admission to higher education, they are disadvantaged in all levels of education. The solution then is to help them with providing them opportunities in the lower levels first. Equality of opportunity at the lower levels (primary, secondary, and high school levels) is a necessary and sufficient condition for the disadvantaged segments to have a shot at competing with the others. Equality of opportunity is to be desired and can be engineered, but of course that does not guarantee equality of outcome. The policy makers need to understand the distinction between the equality of opportunity and the equality of outcome: the former is a necessity for social justice and can be obtained, while the latter is neither possible nor desirable."

Great read!

technorati tags: india, anti-reservation, education, quota