Thursday, February 28, 2008

World's Hottest Chilli Pepper - Bhut Jolokia from India



(Video courtesy: Wall Street Journal Online)

I was reading about the World's hottest Chilli Pepper - Bhut Jolokia today.


Voila, its from my homeland India.

Here is some trivia

The standard measure for hot peppers is the Scoville Heat Unit, or SHU, named after Wilbur Lincoln Scoville, a chemist who in 1912 developed a method of assessing the heat given off by capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers.

Jalapeño peppers measure about 5,000 SHUs. The Bhut Jolokia tops a million.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

எழுத்தாளர் சுஜாதா காலமானார்!


FEB-27-2008


ஒரு சகாப்தம் முடிந்தது !
ஒரு இமயம் சாய்ந்தது !

ஒரு சுனாமி ஒய்ந்தது !


என் அபிமான எழுத்தாளர் சுஜாதா காலமானார்!

ஐயா -

உம்மால் - பல விஷயங்கள் கற்றேன்
பயன் பெற்றேன்!

உமது ஆன்மா சாந்தி அடைய
இறைவனை வேண்டுகிறேன்!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Indian Team Management - No spine

I watched the match last night and went to bed with mixed emotions.

Congratulations Australia for making the Indians sweat !


Our bowling
- At the best, it was mediocre barring a few deliveries by Ishant Sharma. Sreesanth and Pathan were so predictive and the A
ussies slammed them along with Ishant.

Harbhajan and Yuvraj bowled a tight spell to restrict the Australians to 317. At one stage I thought they'd easily cross 400 !

Our batting - Apart from Gambhir and Uthappa, it was a pathetic show. Gautham's form and his stroke making skills were superb. Uthappa showed his class with his powerful (baseball style) shots.

Drop Old Man Sachin


I did some math and noticed that Old Man Sachin's average in the CB series so far is close to 19 runs. Why not drop him and bring in Dinesh Karthik? Dhoni can get some rest from wicket keeping too and focus more on his captaincy and batting.


Why is the Indian Management giving so many changes to Sachin when a young player like Praveen Kumar or Manoj Tiwari gets only one match ? What is the Logic ?

I would also drop Sreesanth and bring in Praveen Kumar ( He is an allrounder). Piyush Chawla must be played and Rohit Sharma can be dropped to get him in.

Here is my team for the next game against Sri Lanka.

Dinesh Karthik, Sehwag , Gambir, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Stimulus package - Advantage China

Photo courtesy: www.glennbeck.com

My family with two kids and with our level of income will be getting 1800 USD sometime around May 2008. This would be thanks to the stimulus package approved recently by President Bush.

I already have plans...Yeah..I would be able to payoff some of my credit card debts !

I am not sure how it would help in the long run! I am not an Economist so I don't want to go deeper into this, but I as a common man feel that this is only a 'Band Aid'.

I found this discussion funny. This was in CNN Headline News where Glenn Beck was talking about it.

This is what he said:

  • The money for the package is being borrowed from China.
  • US has to pay interest for it.
  • People will be using it to buy products mostly manufactured in China.
  • So the money again goes back to China.
  • Who gains ? - China
  • China gets back the money + Interest on the money + money made by the increased sales of Chinese made products.

So, this is a Great Economic Simulus package for China!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Piyush Chawla - Need of the hour














Another loss yesterday to Australia. I thought we gave the game off with some reckless batting. Aussies enjoyed the gift, despite their pathetic batting performance.

Gavaskar is really upset about Munaf. I agree with Sunil 100%, Munaf performed like he was playing a local game in Gujarat!

I am upset about the Team management's choice to ask Pathan come at No.3. I am upset that we don't play a Leggie.

I would like to see Piyush Chawla play tomorrow. He needs to be groomed. Having played cricket during my younger days I can tell you that a good leg spinner (especially a wrist spinner ) is hard to play.

I am not sure if you saw the Benson and Hedges Cup Final in 1985. I was lucky to watch it. Check out how L.Sivaramakrishnan a leg spinner ( Wrist ) rocked the Pakistanis out! Not many people expected it and Siva's performance throughout that series was superb and we won the cup !

I hope the selectors will drop Uthappa and Munaf and play Tiwary and Piyush against the Lankans tomorrow.


Saturday, February 16, 2008

Yuvi's form and Ishant's curses

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvi is going thru a very bad patch. I read in 'THE HINDU' today that his mother feels that
Yuvi will silence his critics soon.

I am no psychic, but I've seen Indian cricketers do this all the time. They'll fail for say 5 tests and finally when they are about to get dropped they'll somehow magically regain their form and hit a 100 or 50 ! and will continue to play !

I strongly believe the same thing will happen today, let's see.

Ishant Sharma

As I have written earlier he is a great find for India. I have been watching him regularly and I noticed that he uses a lot of curse words especially the F**K word.


I am not a big fan of sledging and cursing. Don't know why Ishant curses so much. He needs to concentrate and bowl the way he does and let the ball do the trick ! Peter Roebuck wrote a wonderful piece yesterday on Ishant. I hope someone reads it to him.

It is going to be a wonderful match today. I hope the weather cooperates. I hope YUVI strikes form.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Melbourne ODI - My thoughts


Photo courtesy: Sydney Morning Herald


I am happy that an young and energetic Indian team beat Australia yesterday at Melbourne. I couldn't sleep until the last ball was bowled. What a contest !

Ishant Sharma is proving to be a world class bowler. He was on fire right from the word go !! I am sure he'll be happy to read what Ponting has said about him. The Aussies were clueless about how to play young Ishant. Ponting's dismissal was a class act.

Sreesanth did well too. He was lucky to get Gilchrist, but that set the momentum I must say. Sreesanth is very superstitious. I was laughing to see him praying and kissing all his 'magic' collections in his pockets ! Anyways that is his problem so no comments.

I didn't like the way we batted. After a superb start Sachin suddenly went into his shell and him and Gambhir wasted a lot of time ! That to me proved that India was scared about the tail.

The bonus point was for grabs if India had reached 160 in 40 overs. I am not sure why India didn't even attempt to get it!

Rohit Sharma - I have mixed feelings about this guy. He was too shaky all thru. His body language and baby face were pathetic. Somehow he stayed there and guided India to win. I hope he plays his natural game ( That's what he said in an Interview with Mark Taylor after the game ).

Yuvraj - I feel he must be dropped and either Manoj or Dinesh must be in. He is out of form and out of touch and he needs to go back to the drawing room.

Dhoni - He is proving to be a wonderful captain. I liked his bowling changes and his field settings. Just one blemish was a sitter that he dropped.

Harbhajan
- Bowled wonderfully. Had a lot of variation.

Bret Lee
- He was on fire yesterday but couldn't create that magic to get India out.

Hussey
- Played wonderfully. Bad that he ran out of partners.

Umpiring errors: India got lucky yesterday. Gilchrist and Stuart Clarke were not out. Sachin was plumb caught behind. Not sure if the Aussies are going to complain to get Rudy out !

As always: Give the youth some more chances. Don't worry if we win or lose a few games / Series. Be persistent. Let's build a solid Indian team for the future.


Indian cricket ( and even India's future ) is clearly in the hands of her YOUTH.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Raj Thackeray and Maharashtra CM

Picture courtesy: The Web

There is news going around the webworld that the Govt. of Maharashtra won't hesitate to arrest Raj Thackeray is there is solid evidence.


I laugh when I read such stories. 'Evidence' and then 'Solid Evidence'.

Comeon Mr. Patil you think you have the guts to do that ? Even if you can do that he'll be out in a flash thanks to his connections.

Can you please answer these questions for me ?


What happened to the Bombay train blast case that happened a few years back?

What happened to the molestation case of New Years eve?

Has anyone been arrested so far?

Has Justice been served?

Well - Well - That's our political system.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Swaraabhishekam song by Jo/Vidyu

Photo courtesy : India Glitz

I've been humming 'Adhineedhani-Edi Naadhani' the last few months from the time Jo played it in his Podcast.

Wonderful song. Shows Vidyasagar's talent and K.Vishwanath's taste. As you would expect SPB and Chitra had sung it so well.


Now, it is Jo's and Vidyu's turn to sing this song. Please listen and let them know your thoughts.

PS - Doesn't this song remind you of another great song 'Kaatrin Mozhi' from the film 'Mozhi'?

Monday, February 04, 2008

Racism in India



Video courtesy: IBNLIVE
  • Yes it exists in India. There is no point hiding it or living in ignorance.
  • I have experienced it first hand in New Delhi in the early 80's, when I was called 'Saala Madarasi'.
  • I've heard Bombay Taxi drivers accuse 'Bhayyas ( UP )' and 'Madarasis' as dirty.
  • It's a known fact that Bombayites think they are one step ahead of the rest of India.
  • If someone is from South India he/she is a 'Madarasi'. ( Geography ? )
  • Bollywood is a prime example in spite of a lot of South Indian Influence.
  • And even the South Indians look upon the people from up North for their complexion !
  • In a land where arranged marriages still rule, Boys/girls with good complexion have a chance of getting married faster.
  • I don't even want to go near - Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Backward Class, Forward Class, Harijan...blah..blah...blah !

All of a sudden everyone has woken up to Raj Thackeray's comments and the mobs are attacking innocent civilians.

What happened when Raj accused Non-Bombayites ( Biharis) for the molestation of women on New Years eve?

Well..Well...I know why...It started with Big-B Amitabh now and so everyone wants to chime in.
People like Raj Thackeray must be thrown in prison for instigating such attacks.
**
He has to get a BRAIN TRANSPLANT ASAP !

I D I O T S (::::::::) I D I O T S

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan - Movie review



வாந்தி

கழுத்துல கத்தி


எப்பா தம்பி வடிவேலு!

எந்த தைரியத்தில் அப்பா இந்த மாதிரி ஒரு படம் பண்ணினே?


தமிழகமே வாந்தியெடுக்கும் நிலைக்கு பண்ணிட்டியே அப்பா!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Only in Tamil Nadu

Photo courtesy: India Glitz

Where else would these things happen in India ?

Only in Tamil Nadu, where it is ok for heroines to dance semi-nude in movies where their grandfather in the name of Hero explores her beauty !

India is considered the Biggest Democracy on Earth ( someone once told me we are so big that if we all go to Pakistan and piss, Pakistan will drown ) where people don't even have the freedom of expression !

So what if Namitha / Shreya or anyone wears what they want to wear in public. If someone doesn't want to see them , let them close their eyes ! Did the voters elect these politicians to argue about these silly things in the assembly ?

Why don't these politicians and the public who support all this drama protest when the same women act semi-nude in movies? A lot of movies with U certificate has these same women dressed the same ways ? Does any politician or public care ! Why now?

I am ashamed that the elected officials waste their time on 'Moral Policing' rather than doing something constructive for the people !