Ian Chappell claims that India have erred by not selecting Virender Sehwag in the squad for the tour of Australia. i would be inclined to agree this because I am a huge fan of Sehwag. in my opinion, he is much better suited to test cricket than odi's and t20. the high pressure environment in limited overs cricket has been sehwag's undoing too often. he bats much more fluently in test cricket where there are no limits. also, there are more attacking fielders in test cricket which allows sehwag to score to consistently quickly.
it is true that the current line-up has batted very well for the last 6 test matches. all the batsman have scored plenty of fifties with a few centuries in the last 2 tests. karthik, who was the leading scorer in england has suddenly lost his touch in the home tests. but given his success in england, i think he has a strong case for inclusion on the australian tour. jaffer has just scored his second double century and looks to have cemented one opening slot. laxman and ganguly were considered the middle order batsmen under the most amount of pressure but both have scored centuries, with laxman scoring 190 runs against pakistan with just the one dismissal. tendulkar and dravid cannot possibly be dropped against australia. and yuvraj singh has scored a hundred in the meantime as well.
so admittedly, it is a bit difficult to squeeze sehwag in at the moment. but i think in the interests of trying to win a series in australia, karthik or jaffer has to miss out to give sehwag a shot. an attack without mcgrath, with 4 fast bowlers including lee and tait is bound to be an absolute feast for sehwag....
Sunday 9 December 2007
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Murali- unsullied despite the best efforts of Australia
Muttiah Muralitharan has surpassed Shane Warne as the highest test wickettaker of all-time. Not unexpectedly, criticisms, ridicule, outrage and sheer hatred have flooded in from all corners of Australia, railing against Murali's great achievement. Many (not all) Australians are absolutely disgusted that the world record has passed into the keeping of Murali, not only because it is a record that was held by Austrlian spinner Shane Warne, but also because it is unlikely that this record will be overhauled anytime soon in the near future.
But most of all, Australia is unable to "hack it" because Australian umpires Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson attempted to remove Murali from the game by no-balling him for a bent-arm bowling action, and failed.
Furthermore, there is a general consensus in Australia that the ICC bowed to pressure from subcontinental cricket boards and amended the laws to legalize Murali's action. This is absolutely preposterous. The laws were amended to legalize all bowlers. McGrath and Lee were bending their elbows as much Murali and basically every other bowler. But in Australia, this fact is conveniently forgotten or ignored, and the lie that the law was changed specifically for Murali is considered gospel.
It is unfortunate that Australia as a whole will never accept Murali, and give him the credit that is due to him, for he is a truly great bowler, the likes of whom we may never see again in our lifetimes.
But no matter, regardless of how highly Australians think of themselves, they are only a small part of the cricketing world. The majority of international cricket fans recognize Murali for the champion he is, and grant him the according accolades. So congratulations Murali!!! Well done, and I hope you keep playing and keep taking an amazing amount of wickets. I personally dont think that 1000 wickets is beyond your ability.
But most of all, Australia is unable to "hack it" because Australian umpires Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson attempted to remove Murali from the game by no-balling him for a bent-arm bowling action, and failed.
Furthermore, there is a general consensus in Australia that the ICC bowed to pressure from subcontinental cricket boards and amended the laws to legalize Murali's action. This is absolutely preposterous. The laws were amended to legalize all bowlers. McGrath and Lee were bending their elbows as much Murali and basically every other bowler. But in Australia, this fact is conveniently forgotten or ignored, and the lie that the law was changed specifically for Murali is considered gospel.
It is unfortunate that Australia as a whole will never accept Murali, and give him the credit that is due to him, for he is a truly great bowler, the likes of whom we may never see again in our lifetimes.
But no matter, regardless of how highly Australians think of themselves, they are only a small part of the cricketing world. The majority of international cricket fans recognize Murali for the champion he is, and grant him the according accolades. So congratulations Murali!!! Well done, and I hope you keep playing and keep taking an amazing amount of wickets. I personally dont think that 1000 wickets is beyond your ability.
Tuesday 13 November 2007
money first.....i mean....fitness...first
fitness first is so dodgy....
do not join if ur thinking about it and if ur already a member, well good luck getting out.
i used to be a member 4 years ago and i thought i had a frustrating time getting out. i just came to a stage where i had no time to go to the gym and so decided to cancel my membership. but informing the company several times, i realized that nothing was happening. i was told that they needed something in writing and a legitimate reason. what the hell??? anyway, i gave them what they wanted and then they insisted on a questionnaire which asked me why i wanted to quit 15 times in different ways. after all this farce, i found that i had ended up paying for an extra month that i didnt use. but i was just happy to be rid of fitness first so i didnt mind too much about the extra $60...
now, fitness first are apparently demanding either a medical certificate saying that ur not fit to exercise or proof of overseas travel before they "allow" u to cancel ur membership. otherwise they go on charging u. it must be illegal i'm sure, but some people i know have been caught up with fitness first and ended up wasting a lot of money (and still losing money). so be very careful when dealing with this fraudulent company- look around, make sure uv had a look at all ur options before go to fitness first...
do not join if ur thinking about it and if ur already a member, well good luck getting out.
i used to be a member 4 years ago and i thought i had a frustrating time getting out. i just came to a stage where i had no time to go to the gym and so decided to cancel my membership. but informing the company several times, i realized that nothing was happening. i was told that they needed something in writing and a legitimate reason. what the hell??? anyway, i gave them what they wanted and then they insisted on a questionnaire which asked me why i wanted to quit 15 times in different ways. after all this farce, i found that i had ended up paying for an extra month that i didnt use. but i was just happy to be rid of fitness first so i didnt mind too much about the extra $60...
now, fitness first are apparently demanding either a medical certificate saying that ur not fit to exercise or proof of overseas travel before they "allow" u to cancel ur membership. otherwise they go on charging u. it must be illegal i'm sure, but some people i know have been caught up with fitness first and ended up wasting a lot of money (and still losing money). so be very careful when dealing with this fraudulent company- look around, make sure uv had a look at all ur options before go to fitness first...
Thursday 18 October 2007
maternal mortality in the indian subcontinent
this bbc feature looks at the appalling state of obstetric services in the subcontinent. it is quite shocking that india continues to lag behind many poor african, central and south american nations in maternal and neonatal mortality despite its much vaunted 10% per annum economic growth and aspirations of super-power status. afghanistan and nepal are desperately poor countries which have been ravaged by armed conflicts and power struggles recently and as is usual in these situations, women and children suffer first and longest. also note that sri lanka is missing from these statistics- despite civil war and other hindrances, sri lanka has always had better health and social outcomes than its neighbours.
of course, some of the blame can be attributed to silly superstitions, a topic i wrote about last year. but most of the preventable maternal mortality can be squarely attributed to the fact that basic pre- and peri-natal care is financially and physically out of reach of the vast majority of rural indian women. it is a deplorable situation, especially if you go to a city like bangalore; to cater for the burgeoning, newly successful IT class, the city is increasingly being cluttered with western style malls stocking the most exclusive fashion labels, trendy bars, nightclubs and premium car dealerships. drive 100km out of the city in any direction and you find yourself in rural india, where mothers and babies dying because of lack of simple obstetric services is just day-to-day life....
of course, some of the blame can be attributed to silly superstitions, a topic i wrote about last year. but most of the preventable maternal mortality can be squarely attributed to the fact that basic pre- and peri-natal care is financially and physically out of reach of the vast majority of rural indian women. it is a deplorable situation, especially if you go to a city like bangalore; to cater for the burgeoning, newly successful IT class, the city is increasingly being cluttered with western style malls stocking the most exclusive fashion labels, trendy bars, nightclubs and premium car dealerships. drive 100km out of the city in any direction and you find yourself in rural india, where mothers and babies dying because of lack of simple obstetric services is just day-to-day life....
cricket, cricket, cricket...
the india-australia odi series (future cup) finished yesterday; once more, it was a non-cricketing issue that made the headlines. the monkey chants directed at andrew symonds have become the main talking point of the cricketing world.
it initially began in vadodara, a match that symonds single-handedly dominated. the australians, after raising the allegations of racist crowd behaviour bizarrely decided not to pursue the issue and instead stated that they were confident that the indians would "deal with it". the bcci and vadodara cricket officials, basically washed their hands clean of the whole affair by saying that either it didnt really happen, it was a misunderstanding on the part of symonds or in fact, monkey chants in india are not derogotary. whilst i do feel that the icc's stance that all cricket boards must appoint anti-racism officers is misconceived, the bcci's reaction was appallingly inappropriate. it vindicated those people who were involved in the chanting and all but provided official encouragement for that sort of behaviour in future matches. and sure enough, the mumbai crowd obliged.
the bcci has its hands tied now- they have to act. i hope that rather than rhetoric and token gestures, some serious action is taken. now that photo evidence is available, life bans for those involved are a must. also, i believe that the culprit cities (mumbai and vadodara) should be given lengthy international bans of at least 3-4 years. the bcci will no doubt point fingers at australian cities where black south african cricketers were subjected to similar racial abuse in 2005/06 and escaped any real punishment. but that is a pockmark on the australian authorities, who have almost always supported their own regardless of right or wrong. india should not try and emulate australia in this particular regard, especially when australian cricket has so much to offer as they demonstrated in this series.
in any case, focussing on the cricket, the 4-2 scoreline really flatterred india, i felt. in fact, a 6-0 scoreline not only would've been more in accordance with the quality of cricket played, but it also would've given india a much needed reality check. as such, the indians are probably thinking that a little bit of luck in nagpur or hyderabad and the series would've been a draw. in reality, the contest was nowhere near that close. india came into the tournament thinking that they were playing against a team who were their equals, in light of their recent T20 success. but clearly there was nothing equal about the teams. there are some serious concerns for this indian team, especially with the imminent retirements of sachin tendulkar, rahul dravid and anil kumble. the batsman, buoyed by their T20 exploits, crashed down to earth spectacularly. major technical flaws were exposed in yuvraj singh, robin uthappa and ms dhoni. they only have a short time to rectify these faults before the australia tour, where any weakness will be ruthlessly exploited on fast pitches. the bowling was atrocious, especially the spinners. all the pitches used in the future cup (maybe except the bangalore pitch) were spinner-friendly yet only in mumbai did an indian spinner dominate- compare this to the performances of brad hogg and andrew symonds with the ball. the pace bowlers were equally poor. sreesanth and rp singh were profligate with wides and loose deliveries, more than erasing any credits they earnt with some superb wickettaking deliveries. zaheer khan was a lone ranger with his accuracy, but more will be needed from him in australia. pathan made a strong comeback, but has lost his wickettaking edge in a quest for control (this is understandable but one wonders how much of that is reversible). and the worst aspect of the indian performance was fielding. easy catches were dropped in every game; there were frequent misfields and poor throws; and runout opportunities were fumbled at crucial stages. much of the good work in the leadup to the T20 world cup has apparently been undone. how often can it be said that sourav ganguly was one of the most mistake-free fielders in the indian team???
so there is a tremendous amount of work to be done if india are to repeat their 2003/04 performance where they matched australia in all aspects of the game and denied steve waugh a farewell victory with that famous 705 in the first innings of the sydney test match.
it initially began in vadodara, a match that symonds single-handedly dominated. the australians, after raising the allegations of racist crowd behaviour bizarrely decided not to pursue the issue and instead stated that they were confident that the indians would "deal with it". the bcci and vadodara cricket officials, basically washed their hands clean of the whole affair by saying that either it didnt really happen, it was a misunderstanding on the part of symonds or in fact, monkey chants in india are not derogotary. whilst i do feel that the icc's stance that all cricket boards must appoint anti-racism officers is misconceived, the bcci's reaction was appallingly inappropriate. it vindicated those people who were involved in the chanting and all but provided official encouragement for that sort of behaviour in future matches. and sure enough, the mumbai crowd obliged.
the bcci has its hands tied now- they have to act. i hope that rather than rhetoric and token gestures, some serious action is taken. now that photo evidence is available, life bans for those involved are a must. also, i believe that the culprit cities (mumbai and vadodara) should be given lengthy international bans of at least 3-4 years. the bcci will no doubt point fingers at australian cities where black south african cricketers were subjected to similar racial abuse in 2005/06 and escaped any real punishment. but that is a pockmark on the australian authorities, who have almost always supported their own regardless of right or wrong. india should not try and emulate australia in this particular regard, especially when australian cricket has so much to offer as they demonstrated in this series.
in any case, focussing on the cricket, the 4-2 scoreline really flatterred india, i felt. in fact, a 6-0 scoreline not only would've been more in accordance with the quality of cricket played, but it also would've given india a much needed reality check. as such, the indians are probably thinking that a little bit of luck in nagpur or hyderabad and the series would've been a draw. in reality, the contest was nowhere near that close. india came into the tournament thinking that they were playing against a team who were their equals, in light of their recent T20 success. but clearly there was nothing equal about the teams. there are some serious concerns for this indian team, especially with the imminent retirements of sachin tendulkar, rahul dravid and anil kumble. the batsman, buoyed by their T20 exploits, crashed down to earth spectacularly. major technical flaws were exposed in yuvraj singh, robin uthappa and ms dhoni. they only have a short time to rectify these faults before the australia tour, where any weakness will be ruthlessly exploited on fast pitches. the bowling was atrocious, especially the spinners. all the pitches used in the future cup (maybe except the bangalore pitch) were spinner-friendly yet only in mumbai did an indian spinner dominate- compare this to the performances of brad hogg and andrew symonds with the ball. the pace bowlers were equally poor. sreesanth and rp singh were profligate with wides and loose deliveries, more than erasing any credits they earnt with some superb wickettaking deliveries. zaheer khan was a lone ranger with his accuracy, but more will be needed from him in australia. pathan made a strong comeback, but has lost his wickettaking edge in a quest for control (this is understandable but one wonders how much of that is reversible). and the worst aspect of the indian performance was fielding. easy catches were dropped in every game; there were frequent misfields and poor throws; and runout opportunities were fumbled at crucial stages. much of the good work in the leadup to the T20 world cup has apparently been undone. how often can it be said that sourav ganguly was one of the most mistake-free fielders in the indian team???
so there is a tremendous amount of work to be done if india are to repeat their 2003/04 performance where they matched australia in all aspects of the game and denied steve waugh a farewell victory with that famous 705 in the first innings of the sydney test match.
Sunday 14 October 2007
an inconvenient truth
i was very disappointed with the nobel foundation for awarding the 2007 peace prize to al gore. i think it really cheapens the whole concept of the nobel peace prize and lessens the achievements of some of the more deserving winners in previous years.
whilst gore has raised some very important issues and brought much needed widescale publicity to the global warming debate, he has done so in a manner that is manipulative, sensationalist and at times, dishonest.
so i think in light of all this, to have awarded the nobel peace prize to al gore was a hasty, ill-conceived decision on part of the nobel prize committee. there are so many doubts and holes in al gore's position that he has just ignored and covered up with hyperbole, savviness and deception....
whilst gore has raised some very important issues and brought much needed widescale publicity to the global warming debate, he has done so in a manner that is manipulative, sensationalist and at times, dishonest.
so i think in light of all this, to have awarded the nobel peace prize to al gore was a hasty, ill-conceived decision on part of the nobel prize committee. there are so many doubts and holes in al gore's position that he has just ignored and covered up with hyperbole, savviness and deception....
Thursday 4 October 2007
More on cricket
Dileep Premachandran has written an excellent article on cricinfo about the farcical sledging controversy that has arisen out of the current India-Australia ODI series. Whilst everything he has written is quite accurate and relevant, i think he has missed the main point.
when the west indies were the undisputed world champions in the 70's and 80's, they were respected, not just for their cricketing talent, but truly respected as gentlemen, the sort of respect that the current australian team craves and probably feels entitled to. yet their offensive on-field behaviour and sledging antics have ensured few people appreciate them beyond their admittedly awesome cricketing abilities.
when the west indies were champions, young cricketers around the world looked up to them as role models. viv richards, gordon greenidge, michael holding, joel garner and co. inspired a whole generation of young cricket players in the 80's- and what role models they were. a generation later, in the mid-late 90's, australia replaced the west indies at the top of the heirarchy. but they have not exactly been the most complete role models- sure they're great cricketers, perhaps even better than clive lloyd's team, but their unsporting behaviour and hypocrisy have caused as many headlines as their cricketing successses.
so moving forward into the 21st century, when the australian team walks out to play against india, and particularly guys like sreesanth and harbhajan, they see a reflection of themselves and are decidedly uncomfortable with it. these behaviours have been inspired by the champions australian team- this, of all things, is their legacy to world cricket. and that i think is the root cause of the whole unpalatable affair being played out in india at the moment. this sort of thing would not have been seen in 80's and 90's, when the great west indians were the leaders of the cricketing world.
when the west indies were the undisputed world champions in the 70's and 80's, they were respected, not just for their cricketing talent, but truly respected as gentlemen, the sort of respect that the current australian team craves and probably feels entitled to. yet their offensive on-field behaviour and sledging antics have ensured few people appreciate them beyond their admittedly awesome cricketing abilities.
when the west indies were champions, young cricketers around the world looked up to them as role models. viv richards, gordon greenidge, michael holding, joel garner and co. inspired a whole generation of young cricket players in the 80's- and what role models they were. a generation later, in the mid-late 90's, australia replaced the west indies at the top of the heirarchy. but they have not exactly been the most complete role models- sure they're great cricketers, perhaps even better than clive lloyd's team, but their unsporting behaviour and hypocrisy have caused as many headlines as their cricketing successses.
so moving forward into the 21st century, when the australian team walks out to play against india, and particularly guys like sreesanth and harbhajan, they see a reflection of themselves and are decidedly uncomfortable with it. these behaviours have been inspired by the champions australian team- this, of all things, is their legacy to world cricket. and that i think is the root cause of the whole unpalatable affair being played out in india at the moment. this sort of thing would not have been seen in 80's and 90's, when the great west indians were the leaders of the cricketing world.
Wednesday 3 October 2007
Milford Sound 21/09-22/09
The day began in Te Anau, a small town on the southeastern banks of Lake Te Anau, at 5am. Milford is about 120 km north of Te Anau through some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. We were forewarned to start early because the temptation to stop and admire and take photos and drive slowly would be irresistible......
And how right this warning turned out to be. It took us about 3.5 hours to get to Milford Sound. But before I get ahead of myself here's some of the incredible sights on the way...
The perfect reflections of the mirror lakes....
The approach to the Homer tunnel....basically there's a steep granite mountain that blocks the way to Milford Sound, so the New Zealanders blasted their way through- it only took 30 years!! Initially the Homer tunnel was a project designed to provide employment during the depression but it turned out to be much more work than anyone imagined...
The first half of the road to Milford is fairly standard NZ scenery- lush farmland, rainforest, pine plantations, the Lake of course, and lots of sheep. But it begins to change once the road winds onto the Eglington river valley. Suddenly, as you enter the Fiordland National Park, there are steep snow-capped mountains rising up on either side and the thick forest arches over the road creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. There is no farmland anymore, only forest, and grassland on the valley floor.
On the other side of the tunnel, however, it's a whole new world. There are numerous avalanches, icefalls and treefalls. The rivers and creeks are narrow and fast-flowing. The bends in the road are sharper and there are ominous "NO STOPPING- AVALANCHE ZONE" warnings everywhere. Steep granite walls rise up all around whilst fog covers the valley floor. The roar of the rivers is surpassed in volume only by the procession of tourist buses. As the road winds down towards Milford, the vegetation only seems to get thicker, just like the heavy morning mist.
At Milford Sound, we decided to join a kayaking group and see the Sound up close, as it was a dry, warm day (by Fiordland standards of course). It turned out to be a brilliant decision because no sooner had we pushed our kayaks into the water that we were greeted by a family of bottlenose dolphins. In between large servings of whitebait, the dolphins frollicked around our kayaks, coming much closer to us than we would dare go to them. As we paddled further out into Milford Sound, we passed by some of the area's permanent waterfalls, as well as sites of old treefalls, a fairly common occurence on the steep, densely wooded sloped.
After a quick lunch on the water, we were headed across to the northern bank when we came across a group of penguins, also after whitebait. Unfortunately, penguins are not as trusting of humans as dolphins. We had to keep our distance because the penguins were very shy and would swim away quickly if we came too close....
On the rocks of the northern bank of Milford Sound, we found a whole bunch of NZ fur seals. Apparently they like to bask in the sun during the day and hunt fish at night!! That sounds a bit bizarre to me, but thats what the locals said. These seals are lazy!! They just sit there and stretch and yawn and sleep. But at least they're completely unfazed by humans. We were able to get really close to these seals, only one seal even flinched, and even he went back to his nap almost immediately.
As we headed back to the harbour, passing thru Bowen falls, we were all incredibly sore. Kayaks are a great way to see Milford Sound, but they're not gentle on your back and legs. It was great day out on the water, with more to come on the next day....
We woke up to a stormy sky- everything was shades of grey. The heavens had opened up and it was pouring down....not what you want on your holiday. Unless you're going on a Milford Sound cruise!!! The clouds and the rain brought the whole place to life. There were waterfalls everywhere you looked. The permanent waterfalls had all doubled and tripled in size. The wind whipped the fog into a frenzy creating marvellous visual effects with the mountains in the background.
As the cruiseboat headed out to sea, we began to feel the full brunt of the weather conditions. The cold, stinging rain drove everyone inside and the boat rocked ominously. But this is definitely the best way to see Milford Sound, from outside in. You can really appreciate the steepness of the mountains that seemingly arise directly from the Tasman Sea. It is easy to see why numerous sailors including James Cook missed Milford Sound on their journeys down New Zealand's west coast- the inlet curves sharply to the north, the first of many curves.
On the way back, we stopped by a few more waterfalls with some people opting to get drenched. Then it was smooth sailing all the way back into the harbour....
[The only downside of Milford Sound was the sandfly bites- they're really painful, and itchy for days afterwards. We'd been talking about getting repellant for days beforehand but never got around to it. If your going to Milford Sound, the two things you should not forget are your camera and insect repellant!!]
And how right this warning turned out to be. It took us about 3.5 hours to get to Milford Sound. But before I get ahead of myself here's some of the incredible sights on the way...
The perfect reflections of the mirror lakes....
The approach to the Homer tunnel....basically there's a steep granite mountain that blocks the way to Milford Sound, so the New Zealanders blasted their way through- it only took 30 years!! Initially the Homer tunnel was a project designed to provide employment during the depression but it turned out to be much more work than anyone imagined...The first half of the road to Milford is fairly standard NZ scenery- lush farmland, rainforest, pine plantations, the Lake of course, and lots of sheep. But it begins to change once the road winds onto the Eglington river valley. Suddenly, as you enter the Fiordland National Park, there are steep snow-capped mountains rising up on either side and the thick forest arches over the road creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. There is no farmland anymore, only forest, and grassland on the valley floor.
On the other side of the tunnel, however, it's a whole new world. There are numerous avalanches, icefalls and treefalls. The rivers and creeks are narrow and fast-flowing. The bends in the road are sharper and there are ominous "NO STOPPING- AVALANCHE ZONE" warnings everywhere. Steep granite walls rise up all around whilst fog covers the valley floor. The roar of the rivers is surpassed in volume only by the procession of tourist buses. As the road winds down towards Milford, the vegetation only seems to get thicker, just like the heavy morning mist.
At Milford Sound, we decided to join a kayaking group and see the Sound up close, as it was a dry, warm day (by Fiordland standards of course). It turned out to be a brilliant decision because no sooner had we pushed our kayaks into the water that we were greeted by a family of bottlenose dolphins. In between large servings of whitebait, the dolphins frollicked around our kayaks, coming much closer to us than we would dare go to them. As we paddled further out into Milford Sound, we passed by some of the area's permanent waterfalls, as well as sites of old treefalls, a fairly common occurence on the steep, densely wooded sloped.
After a quick lunch on the water, we were headed across to the northern bank when we came across a group of penguins, also after whitebait. Unfortunately, penguins are not as trusting of humans as dolphins. We had to keep our distance because the penguins were very shy and would swim away quickly if we came too close....
On the rocks of the northern bank of Milford Sound, we found a whole bunch of NZ fur seals. Apparently they like to bask in the sun during the day and hunt fish at night!! That sounds a bit bizarre to me, but thats what the locals said. These seals are lazy!! They just sit there and stretch and yawn and sleep. But at least they're completely unfazed by humans. We were able to get really close to these seals, only one seal even flinched, and even he went back to his nap almost immediately.
As we headed back to the harbour, passing thru Bowen falls, we were all incredibly sore. Kayaks are a great way to see Milford Sound, but they're not gentle on your back and legs. It was great day out on the water, with more to come on the next day....
We woke up to a stormy sky- everything was shades of grey. The heavens had opened up and it was pouring down....not what you want on your holiday. Unless you're going on a Milford Sound cruise!!! The clouds and the rain brought the whole place to life. There were waterfalls everywhere you looked. The permanent waterfalls had all doubled and tripled in size. The wind whipped the fog into a frenzy creating marvellous visual effects with the mountains in the background.
As the cruiseboat headed out to sea, we began to feel the full brunt of the weather conditions. The cold, stinging rain drove everyone inside and the boat rocked ominously. But this is definitely the best way to see Milford Sound, from outside in. You can really appreciate the steepness of the mountains that seemingly arise directly from the Tasman Sea. It is easy to see why numerous sailors including James Cook missed Milford Sound on their journeys down New Zealand's west coast- the inlet curves sharply to the north, the first of many curves.
On the way back, we stopped by a few more waterfalls with some people opting to get drenched. Then it was smooth sailing all the way back into the harbour....
[The only downside of Milford Sound was the sandfly bites- they're really painful, and itchy for days afterwards. We'd been talking about getting repellant for days beforehand but never got around to it. If your going to Milford Sound, the two things you should not forget are your camera and insect repellant!!]
Thursday 27 September 2007
twenty20 is here to stay...
but more importantly, india actually won!!!! how incredible is that??? i missed most of the games as i was in new zealand, but i did make sure that we had pay tv in our motel room for the final.
it is difficult to believe that this team that is bowling and fielding so well is in fact india. and the batting was so mature in difficult circumstances. i wonder how much of this success will be carried forward to odi's and tests in the coming months. certainly this newfound depth in bowling will be tested in longer games. the batting still concerns me, as far as test cricket is concerned. i really hope sehwag finds himself back in the test team, because all of india's test success from 2001-2004 was based on sehwag's destructive innings opening the batting. despite popular opinion that he is a specialist limited overs batsman, i actually think india would be best served by keeping sehwag for tests exclusively- he has previously thrived in an environment where there are no limitations placed on him. he has proven repeatedly that he is not a good chaser- even in 2nd innings of test matches he has not performed well. what he really excels at is setting big totals. anyway, we'll see what happens over the next few months.
but back to the world cup- it turned out to be an incredible success. i initially voiced my doubts about the format and stated that i didnt really like the type of cricket played. but i have to admit, i've changed my mind. first of all, like i said before, the potential of twenty20 to become a spectator sport easily surpasses anything cricket has ever offered before. never before have such large and energetic crowds been seen at south african stadiums. and this is only the beginning- it seems that twenty20 has all the ingredients to become a real global force. but all this was predicted before the tournament. what was completely unexpected was the quality of cricket...
the tournament opener, thankfully, proved to be a one-off. most of the serious matches were extremely close affairs and there were enough upsets to keep people guessing. most importantly, it was not a tournament dominated by big-hitting batsmen as most expected. bowlers played a key role and fittingly the finalists were teams that picked five specialist bowlers throughout the tournament. the impact of bowlers was clearly evident in the matchwinning statistics of daniel vettori, rp singh, umar gul and shahid afridi. it was sreesanth's destructive spell against australia that decided that semi-final, and the same goes for irfan pathan in the final, vettori against india, afridi against sri lanka and so on. there was a comment made by david lloyd towards the end of the tied india-pak match which i think holds the key to the future of twenty20: he said something along the lines of "if we play these matches on pitches that provide real assistance to bowlers, then it is possible to produce close, tightly contested matches that provide a real spectacle as opposed to mindless slogging". i think playing the tournament in south africa was extremely fortuitous because it clearly demonstrated that twenty20 will be a success due to bowling not batting. three decades of odi's have ensured that everyone can slog to some degree- six after six is not that exciting (sorry yuvraj) if thats all that happens for three hours like that south africa- west indies match. what is much more exciting is the intelligent, tactful batting of players like gambhir and misbah who sum up the situation and play accordingly.
anyway, i am now a convert. under the right conditions, twenty20 can produce really good cricket and contrary to initial expectations, there is more incentive to picking five bowlers (with one or two bowling "all-rounders" like pathan, afridi) than there is in tests or odi's. the challenge for other countries will be to produce wickets that are bowler friendly and produce more tight contests.....
but more importantly, india actually won!!!! how incredible is that??? i missed most of the games as i was in new zealand, but i did make sure that we had pay tv in our motel room for the final.
it is difficult to believe that this team that is bowling and fielding so well is in fact india. and the batting was so mature in difficult circumstances. i wonder how much of this success will be carried forward to odi's and tests in the coming months. certainly this newfound depth in bowling will be tested in longer games. the batting still concerns me, as far as test cricket is concerned. i really hope sehwag finds himself back in the test team, because all of india's test success from 2001-2004 was based on sehwag's destructive innings opening the batting. despite popular opinion that he is a specialist limited overs batsman, i actually think india would be best served by keeping sehwag for tests exclusively- he has previously thrived in an environment where there are no limitations placed on him. he has proven repeatedly that he is not a good chaser- even in 2nd innings of test matches he has not performed well. what he really excels at is setting big totals. anyway, we'll see what happens over the next few months.
but back to the world cup- it turned out to be an incredible success. i initially voiced my doubts about the format and stated that i didnt really like the type of cricket played. but i have to admit, i've changed my mind. first of all, like i said before, the potential of twenty20 to become a spectator sport easily surpasses anything cricket has ever offered before. never before have such large and energetic crowds been seen at south african stadiums. and this is only the beginning- it seems that twenty20 has all the ingredients to become a real global force. but all this was predicted before the tournament. what was completely unexpected was the quality of cricket...
the tournament opener, thankfully, proved to be a one-off. most of the serious matches were extremely close affairs and there were enough upsets to keep people guessing. most importantly, it was not a tournament dominated by big-hitting batsmen as most expected. bowlers played a key role and fittingly the finalists were teams that picked five specialist bowlers throughout the tournament. the impact of bowlers was clearly evident in the matchwinning statistics of daniel vettori, rp singh, umar gul and shahid afridi. it was sreesanth's destructive spell against australia that decided that semi-final, and the same goes for irfan pathan in the final, vettori against india, afridi against sri lanka and so on. there was a comment made by david lloyd towards the end of the tied india-pak match which i think holds the key to the future of twenty20: he said something along the lines of "if we play these matches on pitches that provide real assistance to bowlers, then it is possible to produce close, tightly contested matches that provide a real spectacle as opposed to mindless slogging". i think playing the tournament in south africa was extremely fortuitous because it clearly demonstrated that twenty20 will be a success due to bowling not batting. three decades of odi's have ensured that everyone can slog to some degree- six after six is not that exciting (sorry yuvraj) if thats all that happens for three hours like that south africa- west indies match. what is much more exciting is the intelligent, tactful batting of players like gambhir and misbah who sum up the situation and play accordingly.
anyway, i am now a convert. under the right conditions, twenty20 can produce really good cricket and contrary to initial expectations, there is more incentive to picking five bowlers (with one or two bowling "all-rounders" like pathan, afridi) than there is in tests or odi's. the challenge for other countries will be to produce wickets that are bowler friendly and produce more tight contests.....
new zealand
i just got back from a short holiday in new zealand, and i must say, it is so much better than what all the tourism ads claim. those things do no justice to the supreme beauty and grandeur of new zealand.
we spent ten days driving around the southern parts of the south island including 2 days of skiiing, which if you havent done is a must-do activity. the major places we went to were mt.cook, milford sound and the glaciers, but travelling in new zealand is much more about the bits in between; the little tracks and unsealed roads that lead to stunning gorges, dazzling waterfalls and dizzy peaks, the sound of birdsong and bleating lambs, the lush farmland and dense forests and the thousands of rivers that criss-cross the land.
there's lots of photos to come- i havent uploaded them as i havent looked thru them yet. but soon....i still have over a week of leave. the worst thing about holidays is the intense feeling of withdrawal one gets after returning home...
we spent ten days driving around the southern parts of the south island including 2 days of skiiing, which if you havent done is a must-do activity. the major places we went to were mt.cook, milford sound and the glaciers, but travelling in new zealand is much more about the bits in between; the little tracks and unsealed roads that lead to stunning gorges, dazzling waterfalls and dizzy peaks, the sound of birdsong and bleating lambs, the lush farmland and dense forests and the thousands of rivers that criss-cross the land.
there's lots of photos to come- i havent uploaded them as i havent looked thru them yet. but soon....i still have over a week of leave. the worst thing about holidays is the intense feeling of withdrawal one gets after returning home...
Monday 10 September 2007
Twenty20 has arrived
32 years ago, one-day cricket claimed its place in the cricket world with the inaugural world cup. now, twenty20 is staking its claim with the launch 0f the twenty20 world cup. gideon haigh, one of the best cricket journalists going around has written a fantastic article on the evolution of cricket (highly recommended for all cricket enthusiasts) and various variations on the main theme that have flopped disastrously.
anyway, ever since twenty20 took off in english county cricket in the 2003 northern summer, i've been trying to work out exactly how i feel about it. and i must say, its not as simple as i initially thought.
from the handful of matches i've seen, i dont really like the gameplay. there's very little tactics involved- most of the innovations are defensive i.e. how to concede less runs. as far as the batting goes, its quite similar to the final 10-15 overs in odi's (improvisation, slogging etc). the thing i really dont like about it is that inferior batsman can shine (because the game doesnt last long enough for their defeciencies to show) and quality bowlers are not adequately rewarded. so, it doesnt really add anything new to the game the way odi's brought a new dimension to cricket and cricketers three decades ago, and it dilutes the finer technical aspects of the game.
BUT, thats only one side of the argument. twenty20 was the product of about ten years of experimentation by the ecb to come up with a product (yes, product....thats what it is nowadays) that would be competitive with soccer in england. by necessity, the game would have to be short, thrilling, have lots of fast changes of momentum and be palatable and understandable to a broad range of people. and i have to admit, somewhat grudgingly, that twenty20 delivers all those things. it has attracted plenty of people who would never consider going to watch a full day's worth of cricket. and its very television friendly...
i think the conclusion is that twenty20 is here to stay, even though more serious fans are never going to fully embrace it. on the whole, it probably is a good thing for cricket in terms of exposure and developing the game outside of its traditional bastions...
anyway, ever since twenty20 took off in english county cricket in the 2003 northern summer, i've been trying to work out exactly how i feel about it. and i must say, its not as simple as i initially thought.
from the handful of matches i've seen, i dont really like the gameplay. there's very little tactics involved- most of the innovations are defensive i.e. how to concede less runs. as far as the batting goes, its quite similar to the final 10-15 overs in odi's (improvisation, slogging etc). the thing i really dont like about it is that inferior batsman can shine (because the game doesnt last long enough for their defeciencies to show) and quality bowlers are not adequately rewarded. so, it doesnt really add anything new to the game the way odi's brought a new dimension to cricket and cricketers three decades ago, and it dilutes the finer technical aspects of the game.
BUT, thats only one side of the argument. twenty20 was the product of about ten years of experimentation by the ecb to come up with a product (yes, product....thats what it is nowadays) that would be competitive with soccer in england. by necessity, the game would have to be short, thrilling, have lots of fast changes of momentum and be palatable and understandable to a broad range of people. and i have to admit, somewhat grudgingly, that twenty20 delivers all those things. it has attracted plenty of people who would never consider going to watch a full day's worth of cricket. and its very television friendly...
i think the conclusion is that twenty20 is here to stay, even though more serious fans are never going to fully embrace it. on the whole, it probably is a good thing for cricket in terms of exposure and developing the game outside of its traditional bastions...
Tuesday 31 July 2007
international cricket has been thru many controversies over the last decade; some substantial, like match-fixing and ball tampering, and others farcical, like chucking, bangladesh and zimbabwe. one of the biggest current controversies is sledging, or "gamesmanship", which is a word i detest, because it somehow legitimizes needless verbal abuse and intimidation. clearly, any form of sledging is against the so-called spirit of cricket. anyway, thats another debate altogether.
i actually wanted to write about the current england-india test series where all this sledging rubbish has really been overdone by both teams. england, as usual, are the team getting their butts kicked, yet if u listen to the "chatter", u would think india is the team behind. more than england's presumptuous arrogance, it is india's gullibility in being so easily provoked by a team that is mediocre at best and a team that they are quietly dominating that irritates me. sreesanth is a prime example- dancing after smashing andre nel for a six is one thing, but carrying that sort of attitude into his bowling and distracting himself and bowling so poorly against a weak-ish batting line-up is simply unacceptable. he was following thru 17-18m after every ball so he could say something to the batsman's face- what the???? ajit agarkar and irfan pathan, as all fans of indian cricket would know, have failed to fully utilize their significant talents in international cricket. it would be a shame to sreesanth go the same way, especially as he can probably be a better bowler than either of the other two.
but it would be unfair to blame only sreesanth. most of the team has gone overboard with this sledging business. england has few other options, but india should seriously work on their cricket rather than all this sledging rubbish. in fact, it would unsettle opponents more if their existence wasnt recognized....
on a side note, zaheer khan has accused england of planting jellybeans on the pitch!!! now this sounds like a pretty serious allegation. i mean imagine how much the ball would cut off a jellybean...
i actually wanted to write about the current england-india test series where all this sledging rubbish has really been overdone by both teams. england, as usual, are the team getting their butts kicked, yet if u listen to the "chatter", u would think india is the team behind. more than england's presumptuous arrogance, it is india's gullibility in being so easily provoked by a team that is mediocre at best and a team that they are quietly dominating that irritates me. sreesanth is a prime example- dancing after smashing andre nel for a six is one thing, but carrying that sort of attitude into his bowling and distracting himself and bowling so poorly against a weak-ish batting line-up is simply unacceptable. he was following thru 17-18m after every ball so he could say something to the batsman's face- what the???? ajit agarkar and irfan pathan, as all fans of indian cricket would know, have failed to fully utilize their significant talents in international cricket. it would be a shame to sreesanth go the same way, especially as he can probably be a better bowler than either of the other two.
but it would be unfair to blame only sreesanth. most of the team has gone overboard with this sledging business. england has few other options, but india should seriously work on their cricket rather than all this sledging rubbish. in fact, it would unsettle opponents more if their existence wasnt recognized....
on a side note, zaheer khan has accused england of planting jellybeans on the pitch!!! now this sounds like a pretty serious allegation. i mean imagine how much the ball would cut off a jellybean...
Wednesday 25 July 2007
the terrorism case against dr. mohammed haneef has made lots of headlines over the last week or so. but this article by barkha dutt, an indian journalist with ndtv, raises an extremely important point:
---------------
---------------
the article then goes onto a discussion of two cases india where innocent muslim men were imprisoned on terrorism charges without any evidence. of course, none of this excuses the AFP's incompetence or the australian government's deplorable handling of haneef's visa situation or the gross injustices of the justice system......
but then again, australia was more than happy for the usa government to treat david hicks in much the same manner over a much longer period of time. (thats not just the government but also the majority of the population) so we shouldnt really be surprised i suppose.....though in truth there is not a scrap of evidence to suggest haneef's involvement in terror plots whereas hicks clearly worked with the al-qaida organization and fought against the usa and its allies.
but i veer away from my point. i think, ironically, the indian government is the least hypocritical of all the parties involved in this affair by virtue of not demanding any reprieve for haneef. they know that if haneef had been arrested in bangalore by indian police, there is no way they would consider releasing him just because there was no evidence against him. in other words, they would react in exactly the same manner as the australian government. the principles of justice take a back seat when it comes to terrorism- something that i am sure the majority of indians would agree with......just not in this particular scenario.
---------------
But what if Haneef had been arrested in Bangalore instead of Brisbane? What if a suicide bomber had rammed his explosives-laden car into the airport at Srinagar, instead of Glasgow?
Would we have been as concerned about whether an innocent man had been locked away? Would we have demanded transparency from our judicial process on the grounds that the evidence was sketchy? Or would we have ranted about how India is a soft state and Islam a factory for fundamentalists?
We have branded Australia as racist, but would we have called ourselves communal?
The overwhelming anger at Haneef's arrest would be a lot more reassuring were it not undermined by a distinct double standard.---------------
the article then goes onto a discussion of two cases india where innocent muslim men were imprisoned on terrorism charges without any evidence. of course, none of this excuses the AFP's incompetence or the australian government's deplorable handling of haneef's visa situation or the gross injustices of the justice system......
but then again, australia was more than happy for the usa government to treat david hicks in much the same manner over a much longer period of time. (thats not just the government but also the majority of the population) so we shouldnt really be surprised i suppose.....though in truth there is not a scrap of evidence to suggest haneef's involvement in terror plots whereas hicks clearly worked with the al-qaida organization and fought against the usa and its allies.
but i veer away from my point. i think, ironically, the indian government is the least hypocritical of all the parties involved in this affair by virtue of not demanding any reprieve for haneef. they know that if haneef had been arrested in bangalore by indian police, there is no way they would consider releasing him just because there was no evidence against him. in other words, they would react in exactly the same manner as the australian government. the principles of justice take a back seat when it comes to terrorism- something that i am sure the majority of indians would agree with......just not in this particular scenario.
Saturday 21 July 2007
segregation
i read somewhere that in the 1960's and before, cricket grounds in england had 3 dressing rooms instead of the customary 2.....1 for the visitors, 1 for the "gentleman" i.e. englishmen of upper class pedigree and 1 for "commoners", because of course, men of good breeding should not mingle with ordinary filth. i'm not sure when, but at some stage in the last 30-40 years that practice was scrapped...
but at my workplace, segregation is still the norm. during my first few weeks, when i went to the dressing rooms to change into theatre blues, i would get these strange looks from the people inside. and then, when i went into the operating theatres, i would get even more strange looks. i finally figured it out one day when i noticed that on the door thru which i entered was the sign "ancillary staff". so i decided to try the next door and found myself in another change room. after i got changed i went to grab a theatre cap, but in this room, instead of ordinary white caps, there was a selection of three colours. and here it finally clicked for me. the yellow caps were for "medical students and visitors", blue for "medical staff" i.e. doctors and nurses, and white for "ancillary staff" i.e. porters, clerks and cleaners.....
this is quite incredible because this is the only hospital at which i've seen something like this. every other operating suite has 1 dressing room with blue and green caps (which are different sizes). quite incredible.....
but at my workplace, segregation is still the norm. during my first few weeks, when i went to the dressing rooms to change into theatre blues, i would get these strange looks from the people inside. and then, when i went into the operating theatres, i would get even more strange looks. i finally figured it out one day when i noticed that on the door thru which i entered was the sign "ancillary staff". so i decided to try the next door and found myself in another change room. after i got changed i went to grab a theatre cap, but in this room, instead of ordinary white caps, there was a selection of three colours. and here it finally clicked for me. the yellow caps were for "medical students and visitors", blue for "medical staff" i.e. doctors and nurses, and white for "ancillary staff" i.e. porters, clerks and cleaners.....
this is quite incredible because this is the only hospital at which i've seen something like this. every other operating suite has 1 dressing room with blue and green caps (which are different sizes). quite incredible.....
Saturday 9 June 2007
rain, rain, rain
all this rain in sydney!! its so dark and gloomy....stuck indoors
reminds me of the time i got stuck in the chennai floods in 2005
i thought i was oncall for the whole weekend, but it turns out i'm only oncall for monday, and then next weekend...being called to the hospital is probably the only thing that would get out of the house in this sort of weather, but luckily that wont happen, at least on saturday and sunday.
its ironic that whilst its absolutely pouring down in sydney, and it reminds me of that delayed monsoon in 2005, chennai is currently experiencing 40-45 C temperatures and there's a massive water shortage. my relatives in chennai have running water for one hour (4-5am) every second day. in this time, they have to fill as many buckets and other receptacles as possible to last for the next 48 hours.
reminds me of the time i got stuck in the chennai floods in 2005
i thought i was oncall for the whole weekend, but it turns out i'm only oncall for monday, and then next weekend...being called to the hospital is probably the only thing that would get out of the house in this sort of weather, but luckily that wont happen, at least on saturday and sunday.
its ironic that whilst its absolutely pouring down in sydney, and it reminds me of that delayed monsoon in 2005, chennai is currently experiencing 40-45 C temperatures and there's a massive water shortage. my relatives in chennai have running water for one hour (4-5am) every second day. in this time, they have to fill as many buckets and other receptacles as possible to last for the next 48 hours.
Tuesday 5 June 2007
dont u hate it when people lament about the quality of manufactured goods "these days", and how "back in the old days they were built to last". well, i find it quite irritating, but i'm going to do it now....
my damn mobile phone decided suddenly to stop working today. actually the phone works fine but the screen has stopped working- there is a bunch of straight and curved lines of various colours and nothing else. and even more frustrating- the warranty expired about 2 months ago!!! when the warranty was extant, i dropped the phone numerous times on all sorts of surfaces- carpets, tiles, footpaths, grass etc etc, without any problems whatsoever. its almost as if the phone was designed to breakdown just after its warranty expired.
things just arent built to last these days
my damn mobile phone decided suddenly to stop working today. actually the phone works fine but the screen has stopped working- there is a bunch of straight and curved lines of various colours and nothing else. and even more frustrating- the warranty expired about 2 months ago!!! when the warranty was extant, i dropped the phone numerous times on all sorts of surfaces- carpets, tiles, footpaths, grass etc etc, without any problems whatsoever. its almost as if the phone was designed to breakdown just after its warranty expired.
things just arent built to last these days
so, its june, nearly halfway thru the year and i'm nearly at the end of another term. rehab was fun, mainly because its laidback and very easy for me to get on top of things. the few times i've been busy are when patients get acutely sick (which is sort of good for me to handle, not so great for the patients) or when we have lots of discharges and new admissions (these always co-incide because the waiting list for rehab is always long). but i've had enough of old people with broken bones, and long detailed discharge summaries, and doing other doctors' work (as soon as a patient gets accepted for rehab, the acute services doctors neglect them and leave things undone coz hey, the rehab guys will have to do it), and being treated like a halfwit nobody by cardiology registrars. well that last thing wont change, but still, surgery ought to be much more fun than rehab. probably a higher volume of useless paperwork, but nonetheless there should be more action.
Sunday 3 June 2007
give johnny a (small) break
i was recently informed that i've been kicked out my parents' health insurance policy and hence would have to buy my own insurance. then i saw a govt ad about new laws which force all health insurance companies to provide information in a standard format thats available to browse on the federal govt website.
i was pleasantly surprised to find that all the information was there, and it made the whole process so much easier. its quite a pain to actually look up each company's website and trawl thru all the crap to find the useful info. but with this govt database, its really easy to narrow down what ur looking for and then u can go directly to the specific insurance company website and know what ur looking for to get the details.
whilst i still think that john howard is at least as morally corrupt as the average indian politician, i am very impressed with this measure as 1. all the basic info is in the one place and 2. u can compare prices against similar policies from different companies. it probably wont save johnny at the polls this year, but this is one thing that he actually does deserve a pat on the back for.
with the direction modern medicine is heading in, i dont think the medicare system can keep providing the level of cover it is currently providing. eventually, governments will cut funding into a health system which is potentially a black hole. private health insurance has to expand, i think, and play a more prominent role in the provision of health services, particularly hospital services, which are the most expensive.
i was pleasantly surprised to find that all the information was there, and it made the whole process so much easier. its quite a pain to actually look up each company's website and trawl thru all the crap to find the useful info. but with this govt database, its really easy to narrow down what ur looking for and then u can go directly to the specific insurance company website and know what ur looking for to get the details.
whilst i still think that john howard is at least as morally corrupt as the average indian politician, i am very impressed with this measure as 1. all the basic info is in the one place and 2. u can compare prices against similar policies from different companies. it probably wont save johnny at the polls this year, but this is one thing that he actually does deserve a pat on the back for.
with the direction modern medicine is heading in, i dont think the medicare system can keep providing the level of cover it is currently providing. eventually, governments will cut funding into a health system which is potentially a black hole. private health insurance has to expand, i think, and play a more prominent role in the provision of health services, particularly hospital services, which are the most expensive.
Saturday 5 May 2007
such a beautifully written book- it is no surprise that kiran desai won a booker prize for 'the inheritance of loss'.
the title itself hints at the deep melancholy that permeates this book from start to finish. the grey skies and incessant thunderstorms of the eastern himalayas and the dingy underworld of new york's kitchens manned by exploited illegal immigrants makes the perfect backdrop for a story that is saturated with sadness, not ordinary sadness but a much deeper, more profound sadness stemming from loss, loss of a way of life, loss of identity, loss of dignity, loss of the things that allow a person to maintain their hold on reality....
the story draws on common south asian diasporic themes such as anglophilia (and USA-ophilia??), seperation of families and internal conflicts, but there is no sense of repetition or unoriginality about 'the inheritance of loss'. the narrative is framed with cool humour and delicious wit....
my favourite novel since salman rushdie's 'the ground beneath her feet'
the title itself hints at the deep melancholy that permeates this book from start to finish. the grey skies and incessant thunderstorms of the eastern himalayas and the dingy underworld of new york's kitchens manned by exploited illegal immigrants makes the perfect backdrop for a story that is saturated with sadness, not ordinary sadness but a much deeper, more profound sadness stemming from loss, loss of a way of life, loss of identity, loss of dignity, loss of the things that allow a person to maintain their hold on reality....
the story draws on common south asian diasporic themes such as anglophilia (and USA-ophilia??), seperation of families and internal conflicts, but there is no sense of repetition or unoriginality about 'the inheritance of loss'. the narrative is framed with cool humour and delicious wit....
my favourite novel since salman rushdie's 'the ground beneath her feet'
Sunday 29 April 2007
a few words on cricket
i havent written anything about the cricket world cup so far. partly its because of work- unfortunately i need to rested and punctual, unlike the student days, so i havent been able to catch much of the live action, relying instead on highlights and cricinfo reports. partly because there's been so much negativity surrounding the whole event (the murder investigation, bad organizing etc etc). partly because sachin tendulkar flew in and flew out of the carribean before i got back from coffs harbour. but mainly because of the inexplicable length of the tournament combined with the fact that from the outset, it was a certainty that australia would win (viv richards answered, correctly i must say, "salmonella poisoning" when asked what or who could stop australia).
the previous 4 world cups were exciting affairs, even if there were clear favourites. in 92, the west indies were still the kings of cricket but turned in a woeful performance and missed the semis. new zealand were the form team, storming thru undefeated until they threw their final match against pakistan to keep the aussies out of the semis. that plan backfired as a rampant young pakistan team led by the evergreen imran khan trampled over the kiwis in the semis and an inzamam special demolished england in the final. ironically, the way they were playing, new zealand would probably have beaten australia in the semis had they played properly against pakistan the first time. 96 was the best world cup i've ever seen. south africa were clearly the best odi team leading into the tournament, but were cruelly sent home following a brian lara classic. sri lanka re-shaped the direction of odi cricket with a new paradigm- slog in the early overs with players like jayasuriya and kaluvitharana, consolidate in the middle and slog some more at the end. it seems quite simple now, but it was a revolution back then. no-one was used to seeing teams bring up 100 after 15 or 16 overs. sri lanka clearly deserved to win in 96 for their innovation and tactics. 99 will be remembered as the world cup that south africa threw away. at the time, south africa was the most formidable line-up ever assembled in one-day cricket. but they choked, choked badly. and since then, south african cricket has never been the same. australia, stinging from the surprise sprung on them by sri lanka in 96, embarked immediately on a mission to update their game and "modernize" their tactics. adam gilchrist and mark waugh opened the batting and refined the slogging sri lanka brought to the game. an emphasis was placed on "bowling at the death" and fielding (inspired by the brilliant jonty rhodes; espn used to have these statistics which showed that rhodes saved 15-20 runs every match with his fielding, which when added to his batting average showed how valuable he was). and over two classic encounters against south africa, australia proved that they were the deserving champions- the final was only a formality, a rather quick one too...03 was a world cup that australia dominated from start to finish, but at one stage there was a real hope that india could provide an upset. after being humbled in the first group match against australia, india regrouped and convincingly won all their matches (including that sweet, sweet win over pakistan when sachin played one of the best-ever world cup innings) until the final, when again they were humbled.
07.....well not much to say really. australia never looked like losing- none of their matches were even close. sri lanka and new zealand, the next best teams, proved to be far inferior to australia when they got their chance to play them. and there were lots of other problems with world cup. expensive tickets and the ban of musical instruments ensured that no match attracted a capacity crowd and thus the atmosphere for the entire tournament was rather dull. of course, the quality of cricket didnt greatly contribute either. bob woolmer's murder cast a black shadow over the tournament. india and pakistan's premature exit ensured that every second super 8 match would feature bangladesh or ireland, i mean seriously, what a joke!!! kenya made the super 6 in 03, but they played good cricket and actually earnt their semifinal spot. bangladesh and ireland scored fluke wins over insipid opposition and diluted the quality of the world cup. (i'm not blaming the minnows for a generally woeful tournament, but still, it contributed.....)
i think the saddest thing is that there is not much to look forward to for the next world cup. no exciting young talent, no promise of something greater in four years' time. the younger players in the australian team acquitted themselves well, and the likes of tait, bracken, watson and clarke will form the nucleus of the team for the next world cup. but look elsewhere, and you will find little to be excited about. of all the younger generation of players that took part in the carribean, ross taylor of new zealand looks to have a bit of class. i'm sure he'll be there next time as an accomplished batsman. india and pakistan will unearth plenty of talent over the next four years, but it remains to be seen whether they can be nurtured into world class players before they become superstar celebrities who spend more time posing for ads and doing interviews than training and playing cricket.
anyway, enough of my complaining about cricket.......
the previous 4 world cups were exciting affairs, even if there were clear favourites. in 92, the west indies were still the kings of cricket but turned in a woeful performance and missed the semis. new zealand were the form team, storming thru undefeated until they threw their final match against pakistan to keep the aussies out of the semis. that plan backfired as a rampant young pakistan team led by the evergreen imran khan trampled over the kiwis in the semis and an inzamam special demolished england in the final. ironically, the way they were playing, new zealand would probably have beaten australia in the semis had they played properly against pakistan the first time. 96 was the best world cup i've ever seen. south africa were clearly the best odi team leading into the tournament, but were cruelly sent home following a brian lara classic. sri lanka re-shaped the direction of odi cricket with a new paradigm- slog in the early overs with players like jayasuriya and kaluvitharana, consolidate in the middle and slog some more at the end. it seems quite simple now, but it was a revolution back then. no-one was used to seeing teams bring up 100 after 15 or 16 overs. sri lanka clearly deserved to win in 96 for their innovation and tactics. 99 will be remembered as the world cup that south africa threw away. at the time, south africa was the most formidable line-up ever assembled in one-day cricket. but they choked, choked badly. and since then, south african cricket has never been the same. australia, stinging from the surprise sprung on them by sri lanka in 96, embarked immediately on a mission to update their game and "modernize" their tactics. adam gilchrist and mark waugh opened the batting and refined the slogging sri lanka brought to the game. an emphasis was placed on "bowling at the death" and fielding (inspired by the brilliant jonty rhodes; espn used to have these statistics which showed that rhodes saved 15-20 runs every match with his fielding, which when added to his batting average showed how valuable he was). and over two classic encounters against south africa, australia proved that they were the deserving champions- the final was only a formality, a rather quick one too...03 was a world cup that australia dominated from start to finish, but at one stage there was a real hope that india could provide an upset. after being humbled in the first group match against australia, india regrouped and convincingly won all their matches (including that sweet, sweet win over pakistan when sachin played one of the best-ever world cup innings) until the final, when again they were humbled.
07.....well not much to say really. australia never looked like losing- none of their matches were even close. sri lanka and new zealand, the next best teams, proved to be far inferior to australia when they got their chance to play them. and there were lots of other problems with world cup. expensive tickets and the ban of musical instruments ensured that no match attracted a capacity crowd and thus the atmosphere for the entire tournament was rather dull. of course, the quality of cricket didnt greatly contribute either. bob woolmer's murder cast a black shadow over the tournament. india and pakistan's premature exit ensured that every second super 8 match would feature bangladesh or ireland, i mean seriously, what a joke!!! kenya made the super 6 in 03, but they played good cricket and actually earnt their semifinal spot. bangladesh and ireland scored fluke wins over insipid opposition and diluted the quality of the world cup. (i'm not blaming the minnows for a generally woeful tournament, but still, it contributed.....)
i think the saddest thing is that there is not much to look forward to for the next world cup. no exciting young talent, no promise of something greater in four years' time. the younger players in the australian team acquitted themselves well, and the likes of tait, bracken, watson and clarke will form the nucleus of the team for the next world cup. but look elsewhere, and you will find little to be excited about. of all the younger generation of players that took part in the carribean, ross taylor of new zealand looks to have a bit of class. i'm sure he'll be there next time as an accomplished batsman. india and pakistan will unearth plenty of talent over the next four years, but it remains to be seen whether they can be nurtured into world class players before they become superstar celebrities who spend more time posing for ads and doing interviews than training and playing cricket.
anyway, enough of my complaining about cricket.......
Sunday 8 April 2007
kiama
the blowhole at kiama
the blustery conditions ensured that there would be plenty of action
this is the inlet to the blowhole- the ocean was much rougher than it appears on these photos
Friday 6 April 2007
dorrigo
i wrote about dorrigo in a previous post, but now i've got photos!!! i realize that i should have these photos is some sort of order, but there's too many and i cant be bothered....so i'm just going to put a few random comments after some of the photos...
dangar falls- a kilometre out of dorrigo.....it is no co-incidence that the road that leads to dorrigo from the pacific highway is called the waterfall way. the steep winding road from the village of Bellingen up to Dorrigo must have at least 15-20 waterfalls. just the drive itself is well worth it...
the view from dorrigo national park rainforest centre....on a clear day like this one, u can see Bellingen halfway down the valley (above) and the pacific ocean 40 km away (below)
one of the ancient rainforest giants- an ecosystem in itself, sustaining all sorts of vines, mosses, insects and birds, not to mention possums, bats etc
the simple beauty of a perfect spider web wet with perfect round drops of dew
the cool, moist environment of the rainforest is perfect for these colourful mushrooms
i found it fascinating how these small plants take seed and grow half way up a large tree
one of the rare breaks in the thick rainforest canopy allow some sunlight in...
these tasty looking fruits were very tempting, but despite the fact that i had two more senior doctors with me, i decided against taking a bite
with a sheet of tarpaulin, this tree would make a brilliant campsite
the thick fog descends to the rainforest floor
on a clear day, u can see the pacific ocean....on a cloudy day, u r confronted by a wall of fog
compare this to the earlier photos where u can the bellinger valley...
the pathway down into the rainforest
that wall of clouds again
as u would've figured by now, i really loved dorrigo. its a sleepy little town nestled in the mountains (well hills really, but we'll call them mountains anyway). the surrounding area is largely national park (dorrigo, bellinger river and new england national parks) and contains world heritage-listed rainforests. the east coast of australia used to be one long uninterrupted stretch of rainforest millions of years ago- now, only small patches of this ancient ecosystem remain. as the australian continent dries out and gets warmer, even these pockets of rainforest are drying out. hence the importance of creating national parks and nature reserves to protect and raise awareness about australia's dwindling rainforests...
walking thru rainforests is a surreal experience, especially when its an overcast day and there is some fog about....no matter what the outside temperature is, there is usually an undercurrent
several degrees lower that keeps the rainforest floor cool...the dense canopy keeps out direct sunlight- the light that does filter thru feels like it has a soft green flourescent tinge to it....the undergrowth is thick and luscious with a huge variety of small plants, flowering bushes, vines, ferns, mosses, mushrooms etc.....the feast provided by these plants attracts a variety of wildlife, particularly birds. i dont know much about birds, but the dorrigo national park is full of all sorts of birds, and the rainforest echoes with birdsong...
so if ur ever in the area, go to dorrigo...heading north, the waterfall way is a left turn off the pacific highway about 25 km before coffs harbour, just after the little village of urunga. dorrigo is the town u come upon after u pass about 20 waterfalls...
dangar falls- a kilometre out of dorrigo.....it is no co-incidence that the road that leads to dorrigo from the pacific highway is called the waterfall way. the steep winding road from the village of Bellingen up to Dorrigo must have at least 15-20 waterfalls. just the drive itself is well worth it...
the view from dorrigo national park rainforest centre....on a clear day like this one, u can see Bellingen halfway down the valley (above) and the pacific ocean 40 km away (below)
one of the ancient rainforest giants- an ecosystem in itself, sustaining all sorts of vines, mosses, insects and birds, not to mention possums, bats etc
the simple beauty of a perfect spider web wet with perfect round drops of dew
the cool, moist environment of the rainforest is perfect for these colourful mushrooms
i found it fascinating how these small plants take seed and grow half way up a large tree
one of the rare breaks in the thick rainforest canopy allow some sunlight in...
these tasty looking fruits were very tempting, but despite the fact that i had two more senior doctors with me, i decided against taking a bite
with a sheet of tarpaulin, this tree would make a brilliant campsite
the thick fog descends to the rainforest floor
on a clear day, u can see the pacific ocean....on a cloudy day, u r confronted by a wall of fog
compare this to the earlier photos where u can the bellinger valley...
the pathway down into the rainforest
that wall of clouds again
as u would've figured by now, i really loved dorrigo. its a sleepy little town nestled in the mountains (well hills really, but we'll call them mountains anyway). the surrounding area is largely national park (dorrigo, bellinger river and new england national parks) and contains world heritage-listed rainforests. the east coast of australia used to be one long uninterrupted stretch of rainforest millions of years ago- now, only small patches of this ancient ecosystem remain. as the australian continent dries out and gets warmer, even these pockets of rainforest are drying out. hence the importance of creating national parks and nature reserves to protect and raise awareness about australia's dwindling rainforests...walking thru rainforests is a surreal experience, especially when its an overcast day and there is some fog about....no matter what the outside temperature is, there is usually an undercurrent
several degrees lower that keeps the rainforest floor cool...the dense canopy keeps out direct sunlight- the light that does filter thru feels like it has a soft green flourescent tinge to it....the undergrowth is thick and luscious with a huge variety of small plants, flowering bushes, vines, ferns, mosses, mushrooms etc.....the feast provided by these plants attracts a variety of wildlife, particularly birds. i dont know much about birds, but the dorrigo national park is full of all sorts of birds, and the rainforest echoes with birdsong...
so if ur ever in the area, go to dorrigo...heading north, the waterfall way is a left turn off the pacific highway about 25 km before coffs harbour, just after the little village of urunga. dorrigo is the town u come upon after u pass about 20 waterfalls...
Monday 2 April 2007
i'm back
Finally back in sydney!!! it was a long drive on saturday, but a weekend of eating, sleeping and watching football (not cricket) was just what i needed....
My next job (started today) is at Mt.Druitt rehab- it is so much cruisier than i imagined. I mean, i was expecting a change of pace from Coffs Harbour, but today surprised me. I did about 1/50th of what i would do in a standard day at coffs.....
so i'm looking for a good book to read....
anyway, i've got to find the photos i took at coffs and put them online. one of the best things about working at coffs was that the location- the midnorth coast region has lots of things to see and places to explore. we were a bit lazy as a group and didnt really do everything on offer. but still, there is a lot of natural beauty in that region. i'll write more about some of those places once i locate the photos.
whilst i've been away, i've neglected the blog and i plan to rectify that (sort of). but i'm pretty out of touch with the world right now after being cocooned in a remote corner of the world for 10 weeks. the obvious starting point is the world cup- considering all the stuff i wrote about the soccer world cup, u'd think that i would at least have a single entry about the cricket.....i just havent gotten into the cricket this time like i normally would, and i cant blame it all on coffs. something's missing this time around. when a sri lankan team that got roasted 6-1 by india a year ago and new zealand, who had trouble dealing with England recently, are the only teams that look like even being passably competitive with australia, it is difficult to get excited....but anyway, i'll find something to write about, after all it IS cricket...
My next job (started today) is at Mt.Druitt rehab- it is so much cruisier than i imagined. I mean, i was expecting a change of pace from Coffs Harbour, but today surprised me. I did about 1/50th of what i would do in a standard day at coffs.....
so i'm looking for a good book to read....
anyway, i've got to find the photos i took at coffs and put them online. one of the best things about working at coffs was that the location- the midnorth coast region has lots of things to see and places to explore. we were a bit lazy as a group and didnt really do everything on offer. but still, there is a lot of natural beauty in that region. i'll write more about some of those places once i locate the photos.
whilst i've been away, i've neglected the blog and i plan to rectify that (sort of). but i'm pretty out of touch with the world right now after being cocooned in a remote corner of the world for 10 weeks. the obvious starting point is the world cup- considering all the stuff i wrote about the soccer world cup, u'd think that i would at least have a single entry about the cricket.....i just havent gotten into the cricket this time like i normally would, and i cant blame it all on coffs. something's missing this time around. when a sri lankan team that got roasted 6-1 by india a year ago and new zealand, who had trouble dealing with England recently, are the only teams that look like even being passably competitive with australia, it is difficult to get excited....but anyway, i'll find something to write about, after all it IS cricket...
i'm back
Finally back in sydney!!! it was a long drive on saturday, but a weekend of eating, sleeping and watching football (not cricket) was just what i needed....
My next job (started today) is at Mt.Druitt rehab- it is so much cruisier than i imagined. I mean, i was expecting a change of pace from Coffs Harbour, but today surprised me. I did about 1/50th of what i would do in a standard day at coffs.....
so i'm looking for a good book to read....
anyway, i've got to find the photos i took at coffs and put them online. one of the best things about working at coffs was that the location- the midnorth coast region has lots of things to see and places to explore. we were a bit lazy as a group and didnt really do everything on offer. but still, there is a lot of natural beauty in that region. i'll write more about some of those places once i locate the photos.
whilst i've been away, i've neglected the blog and i plan to rectify that (sort of). but i'm pretty out of touch with the world right now after being cocooned in a remote corner of the world for 10 weeks. the obvious starting point is the world cup- considering all the stuff i wrote about the soccer world cup, u'd think that i would at least have a single entry about the cricket.....i just havent gotten into the cricket this time like i normally would, and i cant blame it all on coffs. something's missing this time around. when a sri lankan team that got roasted 6-1 by india a year ago and new zealand, who had trouble dealing with England recently, are the only teams that look like even being passably competitive with australia, it is difficult to get excited....but anyway, i'll find something to write about, after all it IS cricket...
My next job (started today) is at Mt.Druitt rehab- it is so much cruisier than i imagined. I mean, i was expecting a change of pace from Coffs Harbour, but today surprised me. I did about 1/50th of what i would do in a standard day at coffs.....
so i'm looking for a good book to read....
anyway, i've got to find the photos i took at coffs and put them online. one of the best things about working at coffs was that the location- the midnorth coast region has lots of things to see and places to explore. we were a bit lazy as a group and didnt really do everything on offer. but still, there is a lot of natural beauty in that region. i'll write more about some of those places once i locate the photos.
whilst i've been away, i've neglected the blog and i plan to rectify that (sort of). but i'm pretty out of touch with the world right now after being cocooned in a remote corner of the world for 10 weeks. the obvious starting point is the world cup- considering all the stuff i wrote about the soccer world cup, u'd think that i would at least have a single entry about the cricket.....i just havent gotten into the cricket this time like i normally would, and i cant blame it all on coffs. something's missing this time around. when a sri lankan team that got roasted 6-1 by india a year ago and new zealand, who had trouble dealing with England recently, are the only teams that look like even being passably competitive with australia, it is difficult to get excited....but anyway, i'll find something to write about, after all it IS cricket...
Tuesday 20 March 2007
just 10 more days to go at coffs!!!! i cant wait to get back to sydney. its been amazing how quickly time has flown by up here....
things i look forward to doing once back in sydney-
- not having to cook (woohooooo!!!!!!)
- having hot freshly cooked food ready as i walk thru the door in the evening
- no more washing dishes
- sleeping in my bed (hospital spring mattresses just dont do it....)
- saturday afternoon soccer
- fast and permanent internet
- watching cricket at home (though sadly, india will probably be out of the tournament by the time i come home)
things i'll miss about coffs
- being so close to the beach (beaches in fact, there's so many)
- no traffic to speak of
- beautiful scenery in all directions
- patients who dont whinge or complain
overall, though its been quite nice up here, i cant wait to be home. i think i'll certainly be open to coming back here for a term or two over the next 2-3 years but right now, i'm counting down the days........
things i look forward to doing once back in sydney-
- not having to cook (woohooooo!!!!!!)
- having hot freshly cooked food ready as i walk thru the door in the evening
- no more washing dishes
- sleeping in my bed (hospital spring mattresses just dont do it....)
- saturday afternoon soccer
- fast and permanent internet
- watching cricket at home (though sadly, india will probably be out of the tournament by the time i come home)
things i'll miss about coffs
- being so close to the beach (beaches in fact, there's so many)
- no traffic to speak of
- beautiful scenery in all directions
- patients who dont whinge or complain
overall, though its been quite nice up here, i cant wait to be home. i think i'll certainly be open to coming back here for a term or two over the next 2-3 years but right now, i'm counting down the days........
Sunday 25 February 2007
I'm halfway thru my first term- only 5 more weeks to go at coffs harbour. also today is my last weekend shift- woohoooooo!!!! yesterday was exhausting- 8-10.30 nonstop. today i finish at 6- plus its been a cruisy day with little to do.
last week we went up to dorrigo. its a spread out little village in the new england tablelands surrounded by hills with little patches of rainforests. it was an overcast day and the rainforest was shrouded in mist. as we walked thru the well-marked trails in dorrigo national park, we came across perfect spider webs, all sorts of wild berries, and wierd rainforest plants. the thick mist made the atmosphere surreal- it almost felt synthetic. then of course, there were the leeches. in the never never picnic area, there are several bushwalking trails that lead deep into the rainforest. five minutes into one of these, we were covered in leaches and forced to retreat. it took nearly 30 minutes to pry all the leeches off our clothes, shoes and skin. anyway it was fun...
then we went to the dangar falls. because of the good rainfall in the mid north coast, there was a lot of water in the rivers and streams and hence, the waterfall was rather torrential and loud. i've got photos but i dont have the cable with me to download onto the computers. i dont have internet where i stay u c....
anyway, work and lunch beckons. so i'm off.....
last week we went up to dorrigo. its a spread out little village in the new england tablelands surrounded by hills with little patches of rainforests. it was an overcast day and the rainforest was shrouded in mist. as we walked thru the well-marked trails in dorrigo national park, we came across perfect spider webs, all sorts of wild berries, and wierd rainforest plants. the thick mist made the atmosphere surreal- it almost felt synthetic. then of course, there were the leeches. in the never never picnic area, there are several bushwalking trails that lead deep into the rainforest. five minutes into one of these, we were covered in leaches and forced to retreat. it took nearly 30 minutes to pry all the leeches off our clothes, shoes and skin. anyway it was fun...
then we went to the dangar falls. because of the good rainfall in the mid north coast, there was a lot of water in the rivers and streams and hence, the waterfall was rather torrential and loud. i've got photos but i dont have the cable with me to download onto the computers. i dont have internet where i stay u c....
anyway, work and lunch beckons. so i'm off.....
Sunday 4 February 2007
over half way thru a 14.5 hour shift...on a sunday....after working 10 hours on saturday. this doctoring business isnt all that its made out to be. er, grays, even scrubs....all completely inaccurate. our work is so inglamourous u wouldnt believe it unless u did it urself. anyway, i'm not complaining- its actually not that bad. just very tiring, and leaves time for little else beyond eating and sleeping- i'm glad i'm able to do these things regularly. my two fellow interns (i'm at coffs harbour hospital for 10 weeks) have it much worse than me- they work 10-12 hour days regularly whereas i rarely work over 9. the weekend shifts everyone has to do at some stage.
its a steep learning curve, especially when ur the only doctor in a small country hospital- like right now actually. because my morning colleague and i were very effecient this afternoon, i'm enjoying a long break. the problem is the cafeteria is closed and i cant leave the hospital to get food. so i'm just pumping myself full of sugary tea to keep me going for a another 3 hours. have to plan better next time. anyway, just got called about a patient. better get back to it.....
its a steep learning curve, especially when ur the only doctor in a small country hospital- like right now actually. because my morning colleague and i were very effecient this afternoon, i'm enjoying a long break. the problem is the cafeteria is closed and i cant leave the hospital to get food. so i'm just pumping myself full of sugary tea to keep me going for a another 3 hours. have to plan better next time. anyway, just got called about a patient. better get back to it.....
Saturday 6 January 2007
I came across a thought provoking article by Princeton ethicist Peter Singer that suggests that eradicating poverty is not quite as unachievable as most people seem to think. What do you need to?? Simple!!! If you're a top decile income earner, just donate a set percentage of your income (ranging from 10-33% depending on the actual income) into a pot and there should be more than enough raise the poorest people in the planet out of poverty. Of course, getting anyone to do this is different challenge altogether. But the implication is that 'eradicating poverty' is something that is well within the grasp of the developed world, at least the richest people in the developed world.
a day at the beach
A vociferous, highly competitive game of beach volleyball...
The Long Reef cliffs in the distance...
Dee Why at the southern end of Long Reef...
Kite-flying at the beach...
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