Of Budgets and stuff..

Two budgets are out. One resulted in a good man walking out and the other would have resulted in a walk out. If BJP could understand what Pranab da was telling and if its members were not busy with fighting among themselves, they would have staged a walkout. Pranab da went on for hours in his unique (read unintelligible) English for hours and the other MPs tore their hair off trying to figure out what is going on. It would be very interesting to see how the discussion between Sharad Pawar and Pranab da would go. (For those to whom this should be explained, we feel sorry but will let you know anyways that it would be like news for the deaf.)  Also, Mr Singh broke his vow of silence and spoke. Madam had opined about the budget and he had to let the people know. He spoke and said it was good, which was surprising and unnecessary because Rahul Baba said the same thing sometime later. 

Talking of another budget, Dinesh Trivedi gave a pretty good budget. We read about that. Many people and experts said it was pretty decent one. He raised the prices to some extent sure. But there were explanations. But sadly, he did not have the blessings of Didi. She went all maa-behen and poof. Magic. Trivedi goes and a puppet appears. Mukul Roy looks like Mr Singh of Trinamool, good for him. It’s the same Didi who did not have much to say about the prices of basic commodities going up faster than number of wrinkles  on Preity Zinta’s face. She wanted to show she is in charge we guess. She sure as hell knows how to throw a tantrum.  

  

Also in politics, AKhilesh Yadav said SP will provide a clean governance and soon became the youngest CM of UP. Soon enough, news came out that the celebrations of one MLA included firing of bullets and claimed a victim. Not sure how it ended as nobody seems to talk about that now. But even bigger news was induction of Raja Bhaiya as a minister. As per stories, the man was quite an example for Goondaraj and fed his enemies to crocodiles. Later under Behenji, was arrested under POTA. Now he is minister for food, civil supplies and, yes, prisons. Irony just jumped into a well and committed suicide. To humiliate irony even more, it was on birthday of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. Kalmadi and A.Raja can only look in shame as even with multi crore scams under his name, Raja Bhaiyya gets some more fodder to feed off.  

More interesting to note was Rahul Baba’s failure. He went around UP like he was the next best thing to happen to Indian politics since, well, madam.  UP voters just shot his hopes down. It was disgusting to see him trying to show that he is unfazed. Even more disgusting was the rest of the leaders trying to protect him and fighting to resign so that he need not even mention it. Another person who was beaten well and truly was the so called beacon of fight against corruption, Anna. His fight fell flat in UP as people really voiced their opinion about the fight and gave majority to SP. And now Anna is back to what he does best. Hunger strike. He said he will fight for stronger Lokpal bill. We have been hearing the same thing for months now. Never goes anywhere, this.

Also in minor news, we saw that Sharad Pawar fainted in LokSabha but it was announced that it was nothing serious. Now we know. We should not be wishing someone ill. But its Sharad Pawar we are talking about. Some people had already written RIP in twitter. But it was all waste. Sad. Anyway we just hope someone replaces him as agriculture minister and will care a little bit more about the farmers who are dying. Pawar makes enough money with BCCI and other dealings. OK. That’s it for our political views for now. We know it’s sad that we end with tragedy. But understand one thing. Nothing will happen to Sharad Pawar. Ever.  He will never die. He will just go back to ruling underworld again. The devil is just a substitute who will go back to his real job of punishing men in hell by playing Celine Dion songs and Kishan Kumar’s movies repeatedly. 

In other news, he scored his 100^th 100. Finally. After a looong wait. Against, alright, Bangladesh. Just to prove that Bangladesh are not a weak team, men in blue went and lost that match. Way to go team. You took one for the little master. Sure he was slow and took 140 odd deliveries to score a 100. And he later said milestone was not on his mind. Right. We wanted to believe him. He has done so much for the country, we felt we had to appreciate the achievement rather than criticize him. 100x100. Huge achievement that. We are not sure anyone will ever come close. He started scoring runs before we joined school. Now it’s almost six years since we started working and he is still scoring runs.  Sure he is selfish at times, but we know he can be a delight when he starts controlling the bowlers. That’s all we can say. Great player and good to see him score well. But we will be lying if we say that we did not pray that he did not score a century against Pakistan. 

And by the way, Scarlett of the seasons is back. We could not be happier..

It's over.. It's all over..

We are trying not to be emotional. And we are trying hard. Like a moronic teenage girl whose proposal has been rejected by Justin Beiber, we are heartbroken. We hope this will not be an emotional blog. But we cannot be sure. A major reason we watched test cricket, the only reason rather, has decided to stop playing. How can we be not emotional? Sure. After the performance by team India in last two series' it should be good thing to not watch them anymore. But even amidst that failure, we had one ray of hope. Although he did not play as well as we expected him to, we had never lost hope. We always trusted him. Now if he is hanging up his boots, we do not see any point in watching the matches. 

It's strange how a person whom you have never met gives you so much confidence. It was not going to affect the day to day life. But still just seeing a name, R Dravid, in the live scoreboard gave us so much confidence. We have told this before and will tell you again. For us, Rahul Dravid is the greatest Indian test batsman. The second greatest of our time. We still maintain that a BC Lara is still the best we saw. But we never could see ourselves emotionally attached to Lara. This fellow Rahul was unlike other cricketers. Nobody we saw was quite so modest noble or so much of a gentleman, barring Anil Kumble. Always neatly dressed, shirt always tucked in, hair neatly parted in old school boy style, he was a gentleman. He never lost his cool or argued with opposition or umpires. He rarely showed his aggression.

He was not the greatest of natural talents. Nor was he adventurous. He was not a gifted stroke maker like the rest of the fab four. But that does not mean he did not have style. Above all, he had one thing that rest did not. He had the concentration, will and tenacity to grind down any and all kind of bowlers. As we said, look at scoreboard and we were comforted by the fact that he will be there to save the day.  Ball after ball, over after over, test match after test match. Rahul Dravid was there. When his team mates faltered and fell like nine pins, he was there with his forward defense or a leave. We have seen quite a few matches but never have we seen a leave as elegant as Rahul’s.

He has played many a brilliant innings’. He has saved many a matches. He built many a partnerships with fellow legends. He caught many a good catches (sure his fielding dipped down for last couple of years), but one thing people rarely talk about is his captaincy. Sure he led us during the debacle of 2007 World Cup. Does that mean he was not a good leader? World Cup failures were never a new thing for Indians anyway. He led us to away series victories in WI, England. He led the team in second part of the 16 consecutive chases in ODIs. He played quite a few captain’s knocks to save the team from trouble.  He is the third best captain India has when you consider players who led the team for 20 or more matches. Behind his two who captained him, Ganguly and Dhoni. And who doesn’t acknowledge the role he has played in wins by those two captains?

He has been a better batsman away than at home. All his MOS awards have come away. Most of his MOM’s have come away. He has scored centuries against and in every test country. He has good stats everywhere, except for Australia and SA. His average is below 40 with one century each in those two countries. We are a bit disappointed but we will forgive him because those two were fighting 148 in Jo’burg in 96-97 and marvelous 233 in Adelaide.  But we still maintain his best was twin fifties in Jamaica 2006. That is what epitomizes Rahul. Grit, determination and helplessly watching the rest of the team fall apart. He has had his failures. But as he himself said, he has never stopped trying. You never did Rahul. That’s why we love you so much.

For someone who has played a second fiddle all his life, Rahul leaves a great record behind him. Yes. Even in ODIs for which he was initially considered unsuitable. He faced more brickbats than bouquets. But he never gave up. He was a team player who could, without hesitation, take up any role the team wanted him to. We read in one of the comments in King cricket that he was given the wicket keepers role or of number six in ODIs because he could not be kept in the team otherwise. We remembering laughing so hard tears rolled down our cheeks. Being ignorant is one thing but being Poonam Pandey on holi levels is extraordinary.

Team India will miss him. We are very sure. When openers are unfit or struggling, when the wicket keeper captains wants to have a bowl, when the team needs someone to stay put and guide the other batsmen on the field, or simply when the opener (Sehwag usually) gets out cheaply and we need someone to anchor.. We will not have the best one down batsman anymore..

You know what we can’t write any more. We will end this. We are getting senti.. 

Sure Rahul, as you said, we might be attending a press conference in 16 years’ time to see off a player who has done more than you ( we hope it's Pujara) but the fact remains. Any player. Even him. Nobody will be like you. Nobody can be you. You have been a treasure cove of memories. We will cherish and keep going back for more. Always.

It was our pleasure and honour to watch you play the game. Rahul Sharad Dravid we fare thee well. You were a gentleman and taught us the joy of watching test cricket. Thank you for being a part of our life.

We had gone for a trip..

OK. We have not blogged anything for some time now… OK.. what did we do in last few weeks.. We saw Oscars (We were disappointed that Clooney did not win. So we will not write about Oscars). We were in Vegas (Yeah baby..) and we saw the Grand Canyon. Our lady started and daily commuting is almost the same time as it took us to travel to Vegas.  We have started to hate Interstate 77 for the number of accidents and the traffic congestion caused by it. We have driven in Bangalore during peak hours. We should not be complaining about traffic right? Wrong. That is Bangalore. That’s what is expected from the traffic in Bangalore. Coming to place like Charlotte and seeing traffic on any day other than Friday evenings (that too if there is a long weekend coming up) is not good. Its like going to movies to watch a good movie only to have the title cards show the name Imran Khan or Akshay Kumar.

OK. We will move on. Vegas. Yeah. That was awesome. That was probably the best trip we had in US. We went on a long weekend and took couple of days off. So all in all it was five days trip. Have you seen the direct flight charges to Vegas? Costly is an understatement. SO we went to Phoenix and drove to Vegas. We were supposed to catch a connecting flight to Houston and form there Phoenix. But Houston was too foggy apparently. That is a bit unnerving, isn’t it? When you think most of the control is done by RADAR and computers.. Its not like Pilot has to peak over the window and determine whether to take a left or right in the next junction. We (Actually our friend did) went and spoke to the flight people and got us a direct flight free of charge. We reached earlier than expected and drove to Vegas. The drive was pretty good. We covered Hoover Dam (walking on the bridge part to be specific). We reached just after the sunset.

After refreshing a bit, we went out to see Vegas. It was our second trip. So we knew little bit of Vegas. Apart from the fact that we should not gamble (we have told you how Geetha aunty hates us in some previous blog. We are too lazy to search and give the link), we knew that the musical fountain in front of the Bellagio is pretty cool. We went there first thing. They were playing that annoying song of Titanic. Yes. That same one. Eesh… but we were there to see the water move according the song. SO we saw that and that was good. We went to Bellagio and Caesar’s palace that night. We usually just walk around the casino and watch other people lose money and we did watch quite bit of people lose quite a bit of money. It was strangely satisfying. Now, don’t judge us. Everyone loves it when someone else loses money when you still hold your wallet tight.  

Next day started with Buffet lunch at MGM grand. Boy, it was good. We are eggetarians and had limited options but boy whatever we had was just plain awesome. Except for one salad which had cold pasta in it. Who eats cold pasta? After main course, there was desserts. We don’t have sweet tooth and don’t like sweets in general.  But the choices were so good. Our lady ate few and our friends ate few more. Its pretty good they said. Totally worth the 35 or so you pay. After a meal, we headed to Stratosphere. That’s the tallest of the buildings in Vegas and has three rides at 1000+ feet. We had tried it last time and we were sure as hell not missing it this time. It was adrenaline filled fun. Sadly we had to come out as we had to visit other casinos too. We went to a casino called Wynn, which quite frankly is the best we saw in Vegas. Nothing more can be said.

We went to Venetian next. For those who did not know, Venetian-Palazzo is the largest hotel complex in the world. The shopping options were quite good. Our lady had been telling from quite few months that she had to try the margarita’s in Vegas. So we got one. Huge bottle it was. 12 Oz but in a bottle 2 feet long. It was good. Oh and we also went for Gondola ride. Amidst the shops, they have a canal type of water body set up where they will take you on a boat. There is a gondolier (Driver for the boat. Duh) will sing some romantic songs (Mostly Italian but some English will be there as well). Overall, it was good. We were so tired after the day, we slept like a log. But next day was even better.

We went to Paris. We loved this place. We went for Le Village buffet this time. We thought MGM was good. This was plain extraordinary. The food was delightful. We felt like we need to kidnap the chef and carry him/her home. Limited options again but awesome food nonetheless. Just an advise. Don’t freaking miss the crepes. Best thing we ate in Vegas, that. We took nearly two hours to complete our food. After that we went to the top of Eiffel Tower. Yes. There is one in Vegas just like the one in Paris but everything is exactly half the size. The view from the top is even better than what stratosphere can provide. Sadly no rides. After this, we went to Fremont street. They have covered a part of the street with LED lights via which they have dazzling displays. It’s a must see when you are in Vegas. It’s the worlds biggest screen and the experience is unique. Also, there’s this team which does paintings by spraying paint on a sheet. Bloody awesome that is. Don’t miss watching them.

Sadly that was the end of Vegas for us as we had to travel to Grand Canyon. We visited West Rim via Hoover Dam. After clicking pictures in Hoover Dam, we started to the west rim. Ride was scenic and pretty good except for ten miles where they have just paved roads but without tar. Rough ride it was. The view at west is pretty good. Eagle point has something called Sky walk where they have a glass pavilion on which you can walk and see the canyon 4000 feet below you. And Guano point gives you one of the best places you can have food anywhere in the world. Pretty ordinary food but you wont mind that as you will be busy admiring the view. Sun had set by then and we had to drive four hours to reach our next destination. We started to South Rim of the Canyon. We drove through Route 66. It was dark but we don’t care. We are ticking that item off our things to do in US list. We drove through the mother of all roads.

When we reached the hotel, we saw that it had snowed there. Our lady had been pretty sad that she could not see snow anywhere. Obviously, she was delighted. We kept our luggage at home and had to come out so that she can play for a while. Went back, planned for next day and slept. Woke up early and then drove to South Rim. It had snowed quite well. Whole landscape had snow and it was very beautiful. We saw another detail which made us more happy. For only three winter months, they will allow you to drive to the top. We had come in the right time. We stopped near the visitor center and saw the snow cover. There was to be a snow ball fight and playing with snow. With so much snow around it was obligatory. And we had good company as well. We had fun. Then decided to walk a little bit around the rim before driving to the top. It was sunny but quite cold. It did not rain thankfully and sun was not too harsh as to melt the snow. The view of canyon half draped in snow was very beautiful.

We drove to the top. There were few spots to stop the car and get down and enjoy the view. Driving along the edge of the canyon is definitely something you cannot do every day (Unless you are working in the park). For us, it was once in a lifetime experience. The trails were covered with snow. Still there were people who went for hiking. It takes at least two days to complete the hike. One day to go down reach the river and one to come back or cross and go to north rim depending on your choice. Once you see the river from the top, you will amazed on how such a seeming small river can inflict so much of a damage on mother earth. Don’t be fooled. The river is very dangerous. We learnt it when we went to the museum/observatory there. We reached top, did a small hike of our own and lo, the day was ending. With heavy heart we started back. We did not want to come back and start working again. But its not like we have any choice.

If you can go to only one Rim, we would tell you to go to South Rim rather than West. West has Sky walk. But nothing there is worth 70 odd bucks you pay (Including South Rim). There are only two view points.  The views and facilities are much better in South. Plus its much cheaper. Its $25 and its valid for seven days. We really wish we had couple more days there.