Archive for April, 2014
I AM A CRICKET FANATIC
I find it extremely painful not being able to watch live cricket on the television. The timings of the matches mostly coincide with my work hours or with the requirements of my wife and son.
When it comes to the Indian Premier League (#IPL), things are different as far as the timing is concerned but in the evenings, my son always wants to go for a long ride on my motorbike or my wife wants to go out just to beat the heat or to damage my badly damaged wallet.
With the advent of mobile phones, keeping track of the matches became easy at anytime and anywhere thanks to the text messaging. The latest score was just an SMS away. Now with most of us having smartphones with dedicated apps for cricket that work best with high speed data connections, things have go to a different level altogether. Text messaging for scores and results has become so old fashioned.
I remember the time when I was new into my job and had to take a class while India was playing. I mustered enough courage and asked the students about them not watching the match. The students admitted that they would rather go home and watch but for my class. I felt flattered for the students chose my class over the match, At the same time, it also gave me an indication of the desire of my students and asked them to leave the classroom and the college without attracting any unwanted attention of the Principal. Of course, the Head of the Department and the Principal came to know of my escapade and had a laugh a few days later. It helped that they were colleagues of my father.
I remember the semifinals of the Cricket World Cup of 1996 when India clashed with Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. I requested people in charge of the examinations to exempt me for the day. No matter how persuasive I was, they simply wouldn’t budge and I had to supervise. Of course, India finished on the losing side and the hurt over the refusal of the colleagues was far less in relation to the anger resulting from the loss of the match.
For the last few months, my wife makes me go to the bed early, partly to enable me to go for walk in the morning and partly to help my son get up early for his school. With the current edition of #PepsiIPL2014 in the middle-east, some of the matches go past the curfew hour fixed by my wife. So I have devised a new plan. I sit before the television with some text books one day and answer scripts the next. I am dreading the day when she finds out that there are no classes in the college since the examinations are going on. So much planning has to be made for a simple game of cricket.
Starsports.com has launched a number of mobile apps to whet the appetite of cricket fans. I would love to watch the matches of #IPL #PepsiIPL on my mobile but for the poor data connection. The next best thing is the scoreboard app that is really fast.Besides, there are statistics and videos to make for any missed action.
This is my entry for the fabulous contest put up by starsports.com and blogadda.com at starsports.blogadda.com. There are great prizes on offer.
This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.
NOTHING FOR THE NOSE TO REJOICE
Smell is a wonderful sensory experience when the brain registers something positive and at the time, smell can also bring experiences that are truly nasty. It is stated by scientists that it is the ability of our noses that makes our brains tick in the right direction.
It is a common feeling for many of us to associate the smell or the odour of sweat with manliness or something macho whereas in reality it is something that is in many ways an indicator of not being clean.
As a teacher the combination of sweat and cheap deodorants in the summer months makes my job of supervising in the examination time extremely difficult. There is some kind of suffocation and the build up of histamines triggers sneezes.
There have been times in the past when travelling by the bus in the cold months with all the window glass panes firmly shut made for a really nasty experience. The gases from food coupled with the smoke of cigarettes made life difficult.
I have come across colleagues who apply large coats of talcum powders and wear perfumes that really become a cause of trouble for the noses of many. All this trouble can be avoided by having a proper bath, preferably with some warm water. Then there are others who apply smelly oils on their heads and bodies everyday but use no soap and the hot and humid weather takes care of the rest to spread the odour. These practices make certain people the carriers of some kind of biological weapons known to mankind.
Greek mythology has many tales where people were cursed to suffer the ignominy of stench emanating from their bodies causing a great deal of discomfort to others. Certainly, we are continuing to spread stench even as there is no curse from the likes of Aphrodite.
So much for the stench and the odour from people and their bodies, that can be washed away by having a good bath. Hot water bath not only cleanses the body but also has a refreshing effect especially after a hard day at work.But no matter what the brand of the water heater is, there is no solution to the smelly brains of certain people. Such people are afflicted with things like jealousy and envy and spare no effort in undermining others.
I have a simple solution for such people-I avoid them and this makes them fume with anger but at least I am not bothered.
Students of Economics are aware of the issue of Sovereign Debt or Public debt, which in simple terms refers to the loans or the debt incurred by the public authorities. Public debt, per se is not harmful but when the debt is used for unproductive purposes or for the personal upliftment of few people, it becomes ‘Odious debt’. Since it is the election season, the citizens of the country have to come forward to vote out the leaders who are in the habit of causing this kind of a stench.
This is my entry as part of the contest put up by indiblogger.in with support from Racold who have been associated with the manufacturing of excellent waters for quite a while. More details are available at http://www.indiblogger.in. The keyword or the tag for the contest is #WhatsThatSmellBoss on twitter
Further information about the products of Racold can be had at the now ubiquitous presence on facebook
Inspiration for the blog can be derived from the following video on youtube
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Y V SAI MADHAV 