Of Cricket, IPL and development?

It's funny watching the recent auction for the 2 new franchisees hike up the valuation ratings for the previous IPL teams by close to 200%!!! The cheapest team was the Deccan Chargers and they seem to be holding a GOLDMINE in their hands by the look of things.
It's interesting if you notice the 2 new teams to come in: Kochi and Pune (or Poona as some would have you say). Sahara Group won the Pune franchisee. The Kochi franchisee was won by Rendezvous Group.
Rendezvous group has Vivek Venugopal, Anchor switches, Rosy Blue Diamond, Mukesh Patel, Ravi and Sanjay Gaikwad as part of the consortium. (Info courtesty IPL Chairman, LKModi tweets). How did they get together? Our very own Tweet-Popular Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Shashi Tharoor would be credited over here.
Again courtesy of Mr. LKModi's tweets:
"Shashi Tharoor is a cricket enthusiast and always wanted an ipl team in his state. He was the galvanising force behind getting a group there. Shashi tharoor's role is just that and not that of an investor. He wanted a team in his state and he worked hard to get one. He managed it. Shashi tharoor worked hard to put this together and I must congratulate him in putting this together so quickly and swiftly."
Dr. Shashi Tharoor has always said he wanted to work towards making Kerala better. And how! He's utilised his position well! In an interesting article a couple of months ago, Dr. Shashi Tharoor concluded an agreement in principle with the Mayor of Barcelona for twinning of the cities of Barcelona and Thiruvanathapuram
This guy really makes sure he can do what he can for the development of his place. Unlike some others...
I mean, how many of us knew about a group called the IOR-ARC? That again is another interesting read.
Coming back to the IPL, with Kochi, it now means the 4 southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh now have an IPL team each! (P.S. did you know Dravida in our National Anthem meant Southern India? I didn't :( )
And with Sreesanth making public that he would not mind playing for the Kochi team next year, (Come on! It's obvious! Home boy for the home team!) I guess there would be quite the hunt around for some Fraud Mallus too as we so put it.
(Unfamiliar with the term Fraud Mallus? Look up the group on Orkut or Facebook! :P)

What's your Rashee?

Did a little bit of blog surfing after a very long time and stumbled upon this very interesting description of star signs by WHOAMI.

What's your Rashee

Quite accurate too. It may be a stable generalisation that all know about, but something I really liked. Nicely put!

Wake up!

I've been awfully quiet for a while. And it's taken someone to send a terse reply to my 'officially stiff mail' to jolt me out of my 'just existing' life!
It did make me go back and read up on a few of my previous blog posts and that being done it did leave me wondering why I stopped posting so often. Yes, I have been away at sea for a good part of the year but I've been home for almost 2 months now. And not a post till date. Inexplicable? Maybe. But probably just plain laziness.
In fact, there has been a lot happening recently that I just fail to look around and see. There was this trip that my friends and I had made to Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary last month. This awesome night drive I had up in North Goa driving by the beaches was something I really needed to do. And she provided the impetus for that. Been travelling around catching up with people and attending weddings and receptions. A quiet New Year on a quiet beach (don't get that often in Goa!).

Yet, I fell quiet. And it did affect me as to how I behaved with people around me.
Here's looking forward to a new day, a new week and a better perspective from the much-required-wake-up-call mail.
Thank you so much! :)

"Mr. Singh .... Manmohan jee"

Time and again the press and the media claim that they behave with maturity and self-regulations and time and again they behave in a manner that somehow irritates you to no end.

I just came out from watching the Prime Minister address a press conference in Bombay and one thing that kept catching your ear was HOW the reporters addressed him when they wanted to ask a question. "Mr. Singh, what do you think about so-and-so", "Manmohanjee kya aapko lagta hai....?" ... what the heck! Even if elections are round the corner, HE STILL IS THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE COUNTRY! Is it THAT difficult to address him as "Mr. Prime Minister"?

And at the end of the question by the reporters there would be a delayed pause before they said "thank you" almost as if it were and after thought or forced-out from them. Spurt in the number of media channels ... ok... you need lots of new journalists and reporters ... ok... but at least have them behave in a manner respectable of their profession and to accord respect to people who deserve it?