Finally, Allahabad High Court has pronounced the verdict! There are atleast three good things about it. First, it has indeed pronounced the verdict. No nuisance of any further stays! Secondly, Enthiran will have a trouble-free opening (well, almost). Thirdly, the stock market SHOULD open with a big bang and hopefully my stocks will go up atleast for a few days :))
Almost entire nation was led to believe that the verdict will be in favour of Wakf board. Centre had cautioned states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka etc. Demolition of Babri Masjid cannot be given 'legal sanction', directly or indirectly. Just like the 'Ball tampering' issue, Allahabad High Court seems to have gone for a political decision, instead of a judicial decision.
Quite a few lawyers came on TV (I was seeing NDTV) and all of them were 'partially' right. The problem was that they were wearing other hats! Rajeev Dhavan did talk of panchayati justice and PP Rao echoed my question/thought as well -
When no one asked for division of land, how can the court divide it into three portions?
Of course pacifists from the Muslim side like Javed Akhtar wanted Muslims to give up the rights and 'accept' the verdict. There are those like Mahavishnu of Mount Road who believe that the intriguing compromise could work.
The best indicator could be seen very soon, especially in North India where Bihar elections is due very soon. Just when people were thinking why the BJP cannot go back to its ‘ mandir wahin banayenge' stance, this judgement might have come as a shot in the arm, if not a surprising shock for the party. The elections or the results for BJP could fairly indicate how communal people still are. I hope TN with its influx of north indian immigrants does not veer towards 'militant Hinduism' of especially these herbivorous ladylike men :(
Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed has reportedly claimed that his teammates were allegedly involved in fixing “almost every match”, even before the dust is yet to settle over the allegations of spot-fixing against three fellow players during the team’s tour in England.
I do not expect that cricket can be devoid of such allegations or such scams. Infact, a few days when Ian Chappell spoke on Does ODI cricket have a future?
I think the part of the problem with 50-over cricket is that it is becoming very formulaic
And I think most people accept the fact that the problems with match-fixing in the late 90s and early 2000, a lot of it came from the fact that the players felt that they were playing in a lot of games that did not have meaning. Therefore, it was felt that it was easier to fiddle around with those games. So I have been a believer for a long time that the way to look at the cricket programme is to go for more quality and cut back on the quantity.
Actually when they were debating whether ODI cricket has a future, some of the Pakistan players and the betting syndicate seemed to indicate that it is test cricket where it is easier to involve in betting scandals. There are 5 days, 15 sessions and who is ever going to note that something strange is happening in one session! Test cricket is infact a recipe for all sorts of betting! It is also difficult to say what is result of betting. I saw certain no-balls in TV which cannot be 'planned' - foot was just over the crease!
When Manoj Prabhakar alleged that Kapil was part of the saga, many may have indeed said No Not you Kapil
Prabhakar smiles the smile of a man who knows it's a question that's always coming. "It's not the player everyone thinks it is. He's a bigger name ..." And then his smile fades, his mouth hinges shut.
"Oh, you mean it isn't Mohammed Azharuddin?" the reporter asks.
Many people were actually expecting Azharuddin indeed and infact, everybody would have accepted that he indeed was part of the betting 'brigade' WITHOUT BATTING AN EYELID. He was a Muslim, he chatted and laughed with Pakistanis etc!
I think the professional era has to do everything with this betting menace! In Pakistan, they dont know how long they are going to play and given the unpredictability of their career, they may think as well of making a quick buck, when sun is shining. Not long back, Australians were part of 'disclosures' what some would say as 'innocuous' information like weather or even team composition. In professional era, it basically boils down to earning in whatever possible way. If some can model, dance down the ramp and earn, why cant some others say team composition, bowl a few no-balls and earn? After all, they can argue it will not alter the result of the match!
How did my 'first 10 days' in Chennai go? I guess that the first thing is on the health front. Having lived a decade in Bengaluru where I contracted 'sinus', the 'pollen-free' monsoon weather gave me a cold and almost a headache, which is one of my bigger problems. My mother is usually home-medicine savvy and 3-4 day of 'medicated' cooking fixed it, well almost!
On the travel front, traveling to the office which is far (compared to Bengaluru) is easily accessible despite change of buses. Also I start early in the mornings, so like in Bengaluru, I am in my seat easily before 8:30 am. I always knew and say that a Bangalorean does not know what a crowd in a bus is. I also say that any engineer should start with at least a '2-month orientation' in Chennai, experiencing the heat, crowd and knowing what it is to sweat out. It will really be a joke to compare the bus ticket charges in Chennai to say Bengaluru. I pay Rs.7.50/- to Rs.8.50/- to reach my office from home and even if I take 'Deluxe' buses, I may not pay more than Rs.14/- to reach my office.
Now, coming to the most difficult part. Working in an Indian company. For starters, the offer given to me over mail was higher than 'on print'. The Chennai HR washed their hands off saying that they printed what the Bengaluru HR mailed them. After some mails, it was finally agreed to hand me my 'new offer letter' soon! The Chennai HR could have chosen better words in her communication to the Bengaluru HR. Ccing 'others' (like me, my manager, three managers in Bengaluru), she need not point out the mistake of the Bengaluru HR! Man, it was one whiplash of a mail, that made EVEN ME embarrassed! I am not surprised if Chennai folks really have a 'nice image' in others.
I am neither surprised nor angry that 'services based' company is clueless, but it is when the people who are put 'in charge', showcase their ignorance as truth and expect it to be followed, that you really get pi$$ed off! I don't know who has given them the idea that physical design folks can do DFT! I was confused when the guy said that DFT is 'back-end'. DFT can NEVER be back-end and I wonder how the company is planning to get projects by saying DFT is 'back-end'! Even if it is said that DFT is kept with physical design for 'administrative purposes', it is comical. There is absolutely nothing that DFT shares with physical design and in fact, in all the companies that I have worked before, I neither know nor care who the folks in physical design are. We give them a netlist and they have to take care of the physical design of 'WHAT WE GIVE'. If we receive/expect any deliverable from them, we are probably in the wrong company.
I hope some sense prevails in the company, sooner or later!
If you act like a dog, you have to bark. If you are a DFT mercenary, you have to keep doing something to earn your bread and butter. Since April 2009, I am amused how I have to managed to remain afloat, financially and otherwise. Even now, if there is no job, if I sell all my shares, I can stay afloat for 4-5 years, including paying my home loan, easily (of course, assuming there are no big expenses like medical emergencies). I remember telling my classmate at REC/NIT, Trichy in 1999 a week before I started for Bangalore - I will be out of that place in 2010. She chuckled 'probably with family'. I didn't have any special reason to say so, but maybe it was just intuition. I told the same to my colleagues when I was working in Texas Instruments (2000-2004) and even in Advanced Micro Devices (2007-2009). Seeing the kind of people who are coming into Bengaluru, I am fully convinced that I will run out of patience very soon in any company and especially with the sorta people out there. Settling abroad was also not in radar; definitely NOT US. I was impressed with European way of life, especially British.
Going back to Chennai was probably not in the radar as there were very few companies in semiconductor domain. Noida, Pune or Hyderabad sounded more likely. In Chennai, I got an offer in Nulife semiconductor in 2003-2004 but the pay was too low. Later TI bought Nulife semiconductor and had a bit of analog designing going on in Chennai. Next was Atheros in 2007. They didn't discuss pay but I felt that the managing director was keen to have me on board. I don't know the reasons why they didn't update later. I had heard of GDA Technologies probably in early 2000s but since it was working in analog domain, I thought I will be unsuitable and did not even apply. Last year I wanted to go to the office and talk if I can be of any use in that company. I was told that company no longer exists, but as I was walking further to meet Xerox Innovation Labs, I saw a company SMSC. I just wanted to check out and could meet the head very easily. She was also keen and said that I may fit into their scheme of things. Though even that too fizzled out for reasons unknown, she informed that GDA Technologies has been bought by L&T Infotech. Recently courtesy LinkedIn and other job portals, (my resume is floating in monster, naukri etc) L&T Infotech did indeed contact me and after some discussion, I am asked to join on 25 August 2010. The pay is low and I am on contract, but I get the feeling that it may be the desired change of scene that I need. Reg money, my home loan installment is the key. Selling the flat in Bengaluru or renting it out is a bit dicey as Chennai sojourn is only on contract and hence temporary. I am not yet finished with semiconductor industry; not yet. There are still three semiconductor companies which I have to 'check out' - two Is and one F (big eyes, some may say ;)). If it is written in my forehead, I will. Also, maybe I will be second-time lucky with Ph.D at CMI.
Update: 25 Aug 2010
Normal return is boring and hence I decide to start on my return to Chennai in my sister's scooty today morning at 6:00 a.m. with a rough plan courtesy google maps.
It looks like that I have a tendency to be reading/thinking of what could become news later. I have been blogging enough about P, Post-p etc and it is not ironical that P vs NP problem is in the news. Not only had I posted on my hit at NP-completeness, but I followed it up with my observations on Cook-Levin.
Vinay Deolalikar, a mathematician based at Hewlett-Packard laboratories in California, US, claims to have solved the problem of P vs NP.
The skepticism has already started with
Dr Aaronson says the new proof may fail a "very simple sanity check"
It is not really surprising because the consequences of this is also philosophical. In other words
"P vs NP is asking - can creativity be automated?"
Dr Deolalikar claims that his proof shows that it cannot.
Though it may sound 'natural' to many that P is different from NP, it is like this Sudoku analogy. What is a 'hard Sudoku'? For a greenhorn, even medium Sudoku can be 'hard'. I remember doing the last two 'hard' Sudokus in Hindu successfully. It is not necessarily because I am intelligent but I think it is more because I am used to it and my 'Sudoku thinking' skills are reasonably honed by now. As a DFT mercenary, I did mention
there is nothing new or great that is going to shake my domain.
part of the problem with 50-over cricket is that it is becoming very formulaic
I am sure the other art forms started on similar trend long back. Hollywood was ridiculously formulaic, Bollywood or Hindi Cinema followed suit to its nadir and there were/are some directors in Tamil who involve in such exercise, indulging in a harakiri. I remember one director saying that there is no 'new story' as there are only 5 stories. The director has to just change the rendition. In music, Ilayaraja demonstrated the farce of 'creation' or rather 'making' mode of music at a 'music factory' - he has said many times that music is nothing but a deception that a new thing has been created ;)
I do tend to think that in line with other domains, P may end up getting equalized with NP and proven so. It is poetic, rather mathematical justice ;) Creativity can indeed be automated.
During my college days, one of the interesting problems in data structures was to draw the binary tree given its pre-order, in-order, post-order traversal. Some notes used to refer it as pre-p and post-p. For me, given what p means, pre-p and post-p refers to the obvious ;)
Depending on their age, sex, language, profession etc, people are expected to behave in a certain way. Tamils apparently love to talk, doctors have the worst handwriting etc. I have heard that doctors have to be loquacious, if not garrulous because only then patients are apparently comfortable. One of the reasons why I didn't apply for MBA when I was finishing my graduation is the need for 'talk' or 'group discussion' (GD as they used to call it). Talking in front of strangers? I cant think of such things even now. The doctor who did my operation was probably the first doctor, that I saw of, who spoke shockingly very little and he was competing with my mother in the number of words that come out of the mouth. So with little or no post-operative prescription/recommendation from him (he said that I can start working from the next week onwards!), I was on my way to Bengaluru.
There used to be 'family doctor's in olden days, who apart from knowing about the family (and their finances) and their habits, can probably suggest the right dos and importantly donts for the patient. There was a recent programme in Vijay TV (நீயா-நானா?) about the 'commercialization' of doctors. Not that this is new(s), but I feel that this is part of the trend that is sweeping entire economy. Doctors too have become 'factory'ized. Every patient is made to go through the motions of all the 'basic' tests and given the same prescription or remedy and 'case history' is just a farce, if not non-existent. Indeed, homogenizing the heterogeneous world has completed the full circle. All patients are same and this is the fundamental antithesis of Hippocratic oath itself, I guess. It reminds me of 'hypocritical' ;)
As in 'economics' or 'industry', if all are same, why cant we cut down the headcount by half? Fire half, increase the 'dues' of the other half and let the workhorses burn their midnight oil! Euthanasia did not have a more compelling case.
With no 'post-p' prescription, I was trying to collate the words spoken by nurses and doctors and read betwixt the lines. I remember that one nurse told me - you should not eat non-vegetarian, of course you are a brahmin, so that should not be a problem - well, if at all, I had plans to eat non-vegetarian in the future, those plans are still-born. The doctor said - don't sit in a place, walk a lot and exercise your abdominal muscles. This was not an issue for me - I have been walking to Krishnarajapuram station for years whenever I go to Chennai and though this 4-5 km walk is occasional, I think compared to many others who walk in 'sterilized' atmosphere in gym or around flat or even within their house - I walk quite a bit on roads on normal days. Even when I reach Chennai, I catch train to Kodambakkam and then walk to my residence, nearly 2 kms from there. I walk to Ranganathan street or T Nagar most of the time and on 'festival season', I think I reach my destination faster by walk than by bus or other means. I in fact made a note that I took 15-20 minutes to reach Ranganathan street by walk. I am sure I would have taken at least 30-45 minutes if I used bus. Anyway, the point is that I have to decide what is best for my body and I never trusted anyone, leave alone these doctors.
When Muralitharan announced his retirement before the match, there was anticipation whether he would get 8 wickets to get to 800 - as Murali himself said that it was just a number, though it would indeed be nice if he could reach it. Scaling Mount Improbable may not be easy, I thought because Indians usually play spin very well and had in fact played the other great spinner Shane Warne with tremendous, if not dismissive, ease. It is no wonder that
Before his debut, Sri Lanka managed two wins in 38 Tests. Muralitharan has since orchestrated 54 wins, claiming more than 40 per cent of his team's wickets in victories.
and hence not much of a surprise that he indeed reached 800 wickets with his last ever ball in Test cricket.
I think quite a big part of the credit of this achievement should go to Arjuna Ranatunga, under whose captaincy Murali played most of his matches. Arjuna deflected most of the criticism directed at his team and more importantly, kept Murali and his team insulated from the heat of at least the press. I still agree with Michael Holding during his talk on the great Aussie swansong that Warne was a better bowler in comparison. I never understood the chucking part right from the start as I didn't find his action 'strange' and Ian Chappell too seemed to have felt that such hair-splitting is crazy (I too thought that chucker is one who bends the elbow).
Indians, as always, show that they are more prudish than the British. It was disgusting to hear Bedi's comments. Great bowler, he may be, but Bedi's remark that Murali should play cricket for the handicapped was nothing but பேடித்தனம் :( No wonder, Ranatunga compared Bedi to a dog :) I also felt that pace bowlers like Shoaib Akthar will get more benefit out of chucking and was confused how a spin bowler can gain unfair advantage. At best, I can call Murali as 'unorthodox'. It was some sort of a comeback (at least in my eyes) that Bedi calls Murali a good human.
To the dead, the roses; to the living, the thorns.
