Bhajji strikes again

Harbhajan Singh has done it again. Having gone toe to toe, eyeball to eyeball with Symonds in Australia, he has picked up on his erstwhile teammate Sreesanth. (although Symonds, most definitely was not driven snow himself, and should cop flak for starting the issue)

All that Sreesanth did was to say "hard luck" to Bhajji after Bhajji lost the game. In return, Sreesanth had a blow under his eye.

Reminds me of Shoaib Akhtar hitting his teammate Mohammed Asif with a bat. Make no mistake, Harbhajan Singh is a hot headed guy and IMHO, he is headed the Shoaib Akhtar way. Pakistan Cricket Board lost the plot by not discipling Akhtar in his early days. Subsequently Akhtar went from bad to worse, and now, his considerable talent is banned from the game. BCCI shouldnt repeat the same blunder. Harbhajan is not yet 30. An year warming his seat in his police job with Punjab police, away from the trappings of the game should do him a world of good. Otherwise, the talented spinner though he is, he may soon end up in the rubbish heap with Shoaib Akhtar. The board should act decisively and fast. Question though, is whether a stupid body like BCCI is capable of taking such an action.

The game of cricket is changing fast; and the fabled spirit of cricket no longer exists. Wisden's editor Scyld Berry recently remarked that he feared that cricket is headed towards physical confrontation. Prophetic words. Only, they are coming true sooner than perhaps even Berry had imagined.

The Indian Genome Variation project

Here is the link to the Telegraph report on the India Genome Variation (IGV) project. Some excerpts:

The Indian Genome Variation (IGV) project analysed 75 genes from 1,871 people drawn from 55 diverse caste, religious and tribal communities. Scientists also expect the project to throw light on how genes influence diseases, susceptibility to infections, and response to medicines.

The study by a consortium of six Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratories and the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, has provided the strongest genetic evidence yet to suggest that several populations have intermingled in India over the centuries. ...

The scientists consider some of the findings about genetic proximity and disease risk data as so sensitive that they have decided not to make the identities of the communities public — for now. ...

The analysis has also indicated that Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims are genetically similar and share genetic similarities with Dravidian groups. It has also shown that some Dravidian-speaking population groups in south India have Indo-European lineage.

Here is the link to the research paper, published in the journal Human Genetics. In my university, I have access to this journal. However, it might be behind a paywall in other places. The link to the project home is over here. I probably should have a follow up post on this later on.

The power of thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is a powerful tool. You can use it to cool beer.

Mukul Kesavan's IPL experience

Mr. Kesavan watched an IPL game and ... well, read yourself.

Here's an excerpt on his views on IPL

The IPL formula seems to go like this: take an abbreviated game, buy multi-star teams, chuck into pot with a ladleful of film-star flash, bus in a non-paying public with tiny attention spans, distract them with fireworks and other diversions, and sell the lot to an ambitious television channel. Only, somewhere along the way, Lalit Modi and his Money Men, mislaid the cricket.

Look sweetheart, I can fly a sortie

RAF trains its pilots on flying sorties and landing in gardens of their girlfriend's parents house.

Know your IPL teams :)

The IPL has 8 teams.

Mumbai Indians:: has Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya, Luke Ronchi, Dominic Thornley, hmmm ... and still, Indians. sweet.

Deccan chargers:: hyper charged Symonds, Gilchrist and Afridi, led by discharged (at least from the Indian ODI and T20 teams) V.V.S. Laxman.

Kolkata Knight Riders:: Knights fight with spears. But the Knight riders will use a beanpole amidst them - Ishant Sharma. And, just like the 300 Spartan knights had a war cry of "hau", these knights sing korbo, lorbo, jeetbo re ...

Punjab Kings XI:: Upstarts!! With a captain called yuvraj, they call themselves kings? Prince, heir apparent etc might be better names. Princess (queen?) Zinta is too greedy for the throne, eh?

Chennai super kings:: If vice-captain of Indian T20/ODI team Yuvraj dares to call himself and his team "king", the Indian skipper Dhoni will call his team "Super Kings". Quite natural. ada paavi. what else would you expect?

Rajasthan Royals:: Royals they may call themselves, but they spent like paupers in the IPL player auction and even got fined by IPL for spending too less an amount of money, way below the minimum agreed amount. Huh! The nerve some people have.

Bangalore Royal Challengers:: In these days of democracy if there is going to be so much of kings, super kings and royalty, obviously someone will challenge them. So, enter Royal challengers.

Delhi daredevils:: Led by Virender Sehwag, who likes to drink milk. Hmm... each day we learn something new. Now, we come to know that devils drink milk rather than blood. kewl.

Poor Rahul

Rahul Dravid came, saw, conquered ... and got booed. The IPL game between Mumbai Indians actually saw the Mumbai crowd boo Rahul Dravid when he hit a four. The ever-observant Rahul observed: "It's really unusual to come to Bombay, hit and four and see nobody clapping for you".

This is Mum-bhai bheedu, hum se panga lega to ...

Seems like some IPL teams have already started gaining a dedicated fan base. But one wonders, for how long...

Fatty, eat, eat, eat, if you wanna be thin

This is the way I would like to lose weight (that is, if I ever see that day when I need to lose weight)... eat more to weigh less. No really, its not a joke. There is a basis for this statement.

And poor me, I was trying to put on weight eating 5 times a day. Now I know why I stay thin :D

Revamped !!

I changed the tagline for the blog. Seems as if the busier days are behind me know, and I can peacefully quip and crib about trifles and newsworthy(??) snippets now.

My current interests? Frivolous ones include IPL (mostly bashing, but sometimes admiring), exploring fundaes on weightlifting, food and fighting (these three go hand in hand, dont they?). Yeah, more serious ones too, like art and photography.

India shining? Not reallly

This link here shows clearly that India is not shining.