Why Twenty-20 rocks?

September 2007 brought a fresh new lease of life to the game of Cricket with the awesome innovation of the Twenty 20 which is all about hit, hit and hit at least as some people perceive. But the truth is far from this, really ! One thing is unanimous though, 20-20 has swept one and all through their feet and is a roaring hit which has vroomed past even faster than the fastest of the F1 cars !! Casual sports watchers and die hard cricket lovers are going ga-ga over this new form of cricket and how!

Its magic is there for everyone to see. And in a beautiful place like South Africa plus you add a cameo of strategically (?) dressed dancers/ entertainers/ cheer-leaders whatever you may call them, good music its a win-win combo anytime. But one thing is for sure, the core of the game stil remains the same in spite of the fallacies pointed out by the purists... The fact is, one team still tries to score runs and the other tries to stop it in doing so and chase the same in a role reversal in the second innings. Its just that the duration has been cut down; its like reducing all the ups and downs and periods of nothing happening in your life (Thats test cricket) to a few good weeks with their accompanying successes and heart breaks (Thats one day internationals) to the most enjoyable day in your life (Thats Twenty 20 for you).

The greatest fear among the cricket aficionados has always been that ODI's will kill the finer nuiances and subtleties of test cricket and one can only imagine how petrified they might have been with the latest avatar that has come around. The fact is, as a prophet might say, nothing really dies; it just changes into something else, something even better and thats always good for us in general. So stop whining people, the game has only got sharper and skills have become even more important and technique (yes, technique) has got to be even more crucial. The sloggers may win a few rounds but the overall war will be won by the methodical hitters and wicket takers and agile fielders !

There is absolutely no scope for making errors now, one false move and you are doomed. Isn't that perfection at its best? Isn't that sport is all about? Isn't that what everyone wants to see in a sport, from start to finish? That's precisely why the 100 meter sprint garners more global attraction than the 1500 meters race, though it requires tactics, speed and endurance in equal measure. The analogy of cricket can be extended to the Marathon, 1500 meter race and the 100 meter dash and the picture becomes crystal clear... The difference lies in the scope of recovery element thats somewhat absent in the shorter version, for overcoming a fault. Its cruel, but then ultimately a better team wins, irrespective of its past record. Amazingly 20-20 does give you a chance to stage a fightback. You can bowl badly and still win; you might get bundled out for a negligee and still win; I mean thats really the beauty of the game, isn't it?? A match can dramatically change in just 6 excruciating balls of an over.

The real test of the game lies ahead. What will it displace in the long term? Will it be exciting at the same level in bilateral tournaments too? Indeed, a matter to ponder over is, how will it fare in a cricket crazy nation like India where the stadiums are like dilapidated relics and the fans still quite primtive?

Please do post your views and comments on this blog by clicking here. Your posts will be appreciated !

P.S.: These views are heavily borrowed from the article by Bobilli Vijay Kumar in the Times. But rest assured, its the best way I could express it my way !

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T-20 Cricket - Indian team is the World Champion !

Date : 24th September 2007
Time: 8:30 PM approximately according to IST
Location : Johannesburg, South Africa

Event : Twenty 20 Cricket World Cup Final Match between arch rivals India and Pakistan

Situation : Having scored a paltry 157/5 in the allotted 20 overs, the Indian team came back really good to reduce Pakistan to a mind numbing 145/9 till the 19th over. Climax of the Climaxes. Pakistan needed a bone chilling 13 runs of the last over and Misbah Ul Haq was on fire. Dhoni, the Indian skipper, hands the ball to Joginder Singh. It all begins here. To say that this was like any other "down the wire" match would be a gross insult to the sport of Cricket. Because nothing gets bigger and better than this.

Sample this... Joginder Sharma bowls the first ball down the off stump for a horrendous wide. 12 runs off 6 balls. Follows up with a dot ball as Misbah misses a huge swing. 12 runs off 5 balls. Next up, Misbah comes down the track and hammers a huge one straight above long off. While the Indian camp went into a deathly silence, the Pakistan supporters erupt into a frenzy. Dhoni has a word with the bowler. 6 runs off 4 balls. Joginder bowls one way down the off stump, Misbah reaches it and tries the paddle scoop shot over fine leg. Too bad, it was a slower one !! Due to the lack of pace, in spite of the great shot selection, the ball lands in the cusped hands of Shreesanth and then all hell broke loose. India had won the World Cup !!! Boy oh boy (and gal oh gal) this was simply the most awesome moment in the Indian Cricket for me since it was a dream come true for one and all. Its simply huge and cant be expressed in words. And it came with such a pot boiler of a match, which was just the most god max experience for the Cricket Crazy nation of India.

About twenty 20

For the ones still marveling in ignorance, that Twenty 20 cricket for you and this was the inaugural world cup which had literally took the cricketing world with storm. The fans praised it and the purists hated it. Before that let me post an imaginary (?) tale that circulates the cricketing lore :

"One fine day, at the end of 19th century, some English Gentlemen got bored of their daily routine. So they asked God, "All mighty, please give us something to while away our time in a sport befitting our stature, which will provide for one and all". And then there was Test Cricket. The 5 day version. People liked it. The legends flourished.

And then after 100 years, life moved on. People said we cant see cricket for 5 days. and then they prayed again, "All mighty, please give us something to while away our time in a sport befitting both the players and the spectators watching it." And then there were One Day Internationals. The whites got coloured as the game got quicker and better. The purists hated it, saying that ODI's don't qualify as much the traditionalist version. But they had to bend down. Soon they were proved wrong and how !

Some 30 years later, life got fast and people got even faster zipping and zapping their routine through even tighter schedules. How come Cricket lag behind. Its really true that "Change is the only constant thing". And this time after 30 years of inception of the 50 over game, we got a smaller version : the Twenty 20 Cricket. Faster, Quicker and more dynamic than ever. The game gets over in less than 4 hours and provides incomparable adrenaline and sheer entertainment to absolutely everyone involved. Even though the world has come to accept that this is the way cricket will be played in future, but who will console the purists?? Some of them, past legends and my friends (who are not past legends,beware !) who say that the game is too harsh on the bowlers. Well... if they could only see, the sheer pressure of Twenty-20 has made possible ridiculously new tricks and trade in the bowling departments and has substantially improved it like anything. The matches are indeed won by the bowlers, if someone follows the game closely. Because hitting is business everyone can manage, but good fielding and ability to take wickets is no ordinary job.

Twenty 20, as the name suggests is a blink and you miss type of game, where each side bowls 20 overs and the aim of the game is to blast out from the word go. With a power play of 6 overs, which is a treat, the ending slogging overs provide a fitting culmination for the gala party. With modifications like free hit and bowl outs, T-20 simply rocks ! When life is all about pace, cricket can't be slow. Purists may miss the copybook technique but the neo-converts like me are unanimous - speed thrills ! Batsmen don't block studiously ball after ball and the bowlers have become more and more intelligent. The fielders are on their toes since even a moment of relaxation might cost you the game. It has come a long way in restoring the game's viewer ship by leaps and bounds and its virtually growing at an exponential speed. Its dramatic, swift and unpredictable and gives the minnows more of a chance to retaliate against stronger teams.

I will be posting more on the Twenty 20 world cup later on, but till then it will be great if you could post your opinions and comments about this article. Click here to do so. Adios.

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Of Metals and Materials...

Well, finally I have a guest blogger... After much persistence I have finally managed to convince the great PG or Priya Ghatwai, who is an academically distinguished and illustrious all rounder of my batch in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in VNIT and has finally relented to pen down her views. And they say that its worth the wait. Just find out what I mean in her own words. Everything that follows below are her opinions and if some one wants to sue me for something below, let me remind you I am just a platform, the culprit is PG, herself. With such a modest and humble beginning, you might actually have a good time reading this great piece about our Engineering life in VNIT !

PG speaks :

"It's finally time to honour my commitment to author this sketch about the meta department. If it's sub-standard, it's because I'm lazy, if it's not, well frankly I am surprised. I was asked to cover these aspects by the generous soul morally attached to me as the legal proprietor of this blog in whose territory I will now venture to trespass ( upon his tireless insistence ) and they are as follows :

1) Weird stuff happening in meta dept...
2) Stories about the "efficiencies" of the Professors, Staff and Implementation of good student friendly rules...
3) the unsung heroes of our class and the tales of their exceptional bravery...
4) And other such stuff...

Well sub-topic one is a meaty one, and as for the second , you will have to make do with my interpretation , not Lara's (And as per the promise by PG, she would be talking about this in more detail in a soon to come update). I am not sure whether he wishes his name to be included in the third writing task - I will modify the topic to encompass all members of Meta- Batch of 2008. Don't know if I'll ever make it to the fourth."

1) Weird stuff happening in meta dept...

"Well, the Final years have four ACs in the classroom and the attendance is at an all-time high though some people are of course never happy. The idea is of course to avail the luxury of sleeping in conditioned comfort at no extra cost. It's a win-win bargain.

Ok, truly weird about our department is that we have people who are ever-ready to take unwarranted unnecessary risks by way of experimenting with unheard of ideas almost absolutely certain to backfire. Sample the way the project allotments were done. Fourth Year students, who , generalizing grossly, cannot tell a TTT from a CCT; peritectic from monotectic; plain stress from plane stress - the very same students who feel ashamed that the youth from the adjoining department are fortified with enough knowledge to earn them dual degrees in mech n meta while they themselves fail - morally - if not technically - to appreciate the single degree that they have been destined, nay, constrained to half-heartedly pursue for the past so many years, ya, well, these same final years were asked to pick their projects based on one-line statements. The names of the project guides were resolutely and deliberately sheathed (steeped ?) in dark mystery. Well, all we can say is, this college has enabled us to know people better than our subjects and on those grounds alone we feel compelled to question what could have been disclosed about what could not. Right to information! Whither thou?

So many of the courses seem like flashbacks from the past. That's because we never really followed when we had the opportunity and of course in seventh semester, we're too disinclined to make amends! All we know is that it's the same course that's being repeated after a gap of one year, marketed under a differnt name . Old wine in New bottle. Doesn't taste any better though."

2) Stories about the "efficiencies" of the Professors, Staff and Implementation of good student friendly rules...

"Coming soon at a later date in the next update" - PG

3) The last stop - the classmates.

SJ - "Since the list provided was incomplete, I had to chip in between to ensure that justice was done for all the people."

• Hemu, Renu, Sweetu, Paru --> The Famous Four - Claim to fame unknown.
• Band --> Keyboard artiste. Rehmaan maniac.
• Vivek --> Studious, very helpful especially during St. Met Pracs, very resourceful and sincere.
• Roshan --> Did NOT get baingan bharta to class due to lack of availability of raw material as evident from a thorough search of the market. (Currently popular as Babuji)
• Alok --> Sports Sec. (Founder of biker gang)
• Sidharth --> 1=0 and nothing else and of course you'll be convinced because there just isn't an option to argue about.
• Ashish Jain and GJ --> Oracle Men, they make simple things difficult - Hey, nothing personal - only referring to their wizardry at contraption.
• Shukla --> Well, depends on whether you want comments on "what he was before woh badal gaya", "what he is after woh badal gaya", "woh badla ki nahi" or "woh kab badla". Kindly clarify and I will gladly expostulate.
• Vibhav --> music@tt.
• Sachin, Digvijay and Sujeet --> The trinity/triumvarate. (Amar Akbar Anthony, anyone?)
• Anand, Suyash, Jraman, Rupesh - The N-gage gang. The first three are the CRs of the class and last one very is very helpful especially during St.Met pracs and if cycle chain falls off. Since the blog belongs to the second one, you'll get more on him - autobiographical and authentic. He is a great fellow and his greatness is amplified by the great honour bestowed upon me by him in asking me to embellish his great blog. The third one is synonymous with studies/marks/load. Placement ke baad shayad kuch badlaav lag raha hai.
• The Quam --> Gen.Sultan will be glad to comment about this.
• Saket --> Tao(/u) of perseverance.
• Kuku --> One in a million - Mass bunk karna mera kaam hai, karvana nahi.
• Neeraj --> The Marathi maanus, simplicity personified.
• Lakshminarayan --> Apparently most appreciated by the professors - be it his taste in selecting books or charming unexpected people into yielding over the sensitive issue of mass bunk.
• Mahapatra --> The Gamer.
• Zindal --> The Silent warrior.
• Pandit --> Enigmatic human being beyond comprehension.
• Dinesh and Poku --> These individuals have been brought been together by the "wear" project!
• Pankaj and Niranjan --> Laloo is proud of them.
• GSVN --> Computer Science Wizard...

"If I have missed out on anybody, please don't mind and feel free to enrich this scraggy bunch of scrappy doodles."

Please feel free to express your feelings here (be it gratitude or rage) by clicking here.

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Placed in Oracle - its a Dream come true !

Well its been a long time since I wasn't blogging and there really is a big reason for that. The thing is that the whole of VNIT was sort of gearing up for the second round of placements, also called as the "Dream Job" round. OK, the thing is, though VNIT is ranked 4th in the NIT's in India and ranks among the top engineering colleges, it really suffers big time when it comes to campus placements. Of course, its a matter of perception of what you are comparing to when it comes to placements, because according to one school of thought, just getting a 100% placement record is simply not the done thing if most of them are being recruited by the ever expanding IT companies who have more orientation towards service and lesser on product development. Anyways, I wont be wasting my time here talking about what is good and what is bad because this is my blog and I must write what happened with me.

Yeah... so here we go. In case you don't know much about VNIT and my eventful existence in here for the last 3.5 years you might as well click here for starters. But if you don't feel the need for doing so read on. After the completion of the 6th semester (or 3rd year) of the engineering curriculum we were all faced with the prospects of campus recruitment program which in itself is a pretty intimidating task for one and all. And why not, because for those who are planning to do postpone their further studies/ post graduation or are planning to skip it completely, getting the best first job is an absolutely crucial thing and people do make the most of it whenever the opportunity is available. Well, besides being a Metallurgical and Materials Engineer, let me warn you that my interest in the Software and Computer Science is more due to the work content than the green bucks to be made. Having said that and done everything I got placed in TCS with 60 other guys and it was awesome then but I wasn't aware that more was coming in my platter. And the thing actually came true on 8th September 2007. But lets roll back a little before that.

24th August 2007, 21:59 PM

Life was going on like as usual, with the same boring lectures spiced with even more boring assignments and tests. Final year, it turned out isn't really much fun as purported by the people who were through with the degree last year. Though some people were busy making preparations to bell the CAT and some giving PowerPrep's to boost their GRE score, there was an air of the dream job round of placement to begin soon. Work less get more kind of students like me were on the prowl to sniff any new developments over the Training and Placement' Notice Board. And then at the above mentioned time, my friend from the Computer Science Department, Pravin, sent me an sms containing this exact text, "Oracle aa rahi 3 sept ko"... and all hell broke loose that day !! or that night to be precise.

How desperate I was to know more about my prospects in Oracle Corporation (which by the way is world's second largest independent software company) and whether it was actually possible can be gaged by the following steps I took in the couple of hours on the same night.

• I phoned the informer, who must have been chatting with his girl friend, and asked if he wasn't really joking, since not many people were averse to my inclination to join such a firm...
• Later on I phoned the T and P Secretary of the College ( of course, from the students...) and asked him about the dates and the eligibility criteria, who was in a theater watching a hindi movie...
• I actually went to college at 12 midnight to satisfy myself about the CGPA required for the same and other details etc.
• Then I also called up the another friend who was sharing a similar interest and discussed more about that. And all this on the same night. Not much big deal. Read more.

25th August 2007 to 2nd September 2007

Well, it was preparation time. It was time to get what I had dreamt of while entering this Engineering College and for some reasons which I wont like to state here right now, Oracle was the last company for me to appear for at least in the IT sector. I began by asking the already harrowed seniors for the elimination test and the interviews which were giving an impression of being quite geeky. So I revised all the stuff I had gone through the last 3 years (learning those languages (C and C++ being put major emphasis on) which you can use only with the computers !) and some metallurgical stuff too. Solving puzzles became a huge hit with me during this period and it found a space in my resume pronto. OCF Berkeley and Techinterview were two really great sites where I spent lots of quality time. Also I had to pay some attention to those areas in mathematics and logical reasoning where I was taking more time than required because the aptitude test was supposed to be for those wisecracks who can think fast and accurately. After a brief pumping up of resume and revival of the activities mentioned (the internship, the training and the extra curriculars etc) I was finally ready for the 1st installment of the huge battle that lay ahead, where only an upset could sail my ship through ! And yeah, I also was appointed the placement coordinator of Oracle Ltd. And it really helped, later...

3rd September - The PAC Test

Oracle, for the last few years has been outsourcing the job of conducting aptitude tests for its campus interviews to PAC - Professional Aptitude Council and they do a really great job when it comes to test the analytical and problem solving skills required in the world of Information Technology. The test was, surprisingly, a cakewalk ! (?) and I was expecting not to get through only in the case of some evil conspiracy against me.

4th September 2007 to 6th September 2007

Amidst the gripping tension of whether I would be shortlisted or not, I attempted to improve upon whatever I could and in the process ended up bunking about 20 lectures on the trot since I didnt attend a single day during this tenure. Those were the crazy days and more were to follow. Thanks everyone who helped me to stay mentally fit !

7th September - The interviews begin !!!

After a superb pre-placement talks with the executives of Oracle India Ltd, (where I also got the opportunity to flag off the ceremony) where we were told about the exact nature of job profiles being offered - Oracle Application Software, (Development and Programming) and Oracle Solution Services, (Consulting). Later on, based on the preferences given by the aspirants we were shortlisted in the two categories. Apps had 30 students for the interviews and then it began. I had two really great and amazing rounds of technical interviews which challenged my technical ability to the maximum extent. The conversation was really candid and ranged from all domains like programming skills, mind blowing puzzles and riddles, stuff about oracle and life and what not. The HR interview was a stress reliever in the true sense and it was really cool to talk with these brilliant minds indeed. I was among the rare group of people who had finished all the process on the first day itself and was supposed to wait for 17 agonizing hours for the results to be out, while the other candidates were interviewed. I resumed my coordinator activities next day since I had nothing much to do than wait with all the suspense in the world.

8th September : The day that I wont forget !!!

Yeah... Like in the movies... we are back to present after the flashback. Zip Zap Zoom. Its 4 pm in the afternoon and all are waiting with a gulp in their throat. Everyone was eager to know who was in , who was out, who was flushed out and who finally made it to Oracle ! Well, in the end, my name was there among the 8 people selected in Oracle Application Software and everything went hazy and inexpressible. The thing is, it was really a great and ultimate experience to break through Oracle's selection process (Cant break in, Cant Break it --> as they proudly say... :-) and being a non Comp Sci graduate to do that made it even more special as the Apps profile was preferably oriented towards product development. It was a really euphoric feeling and I came to know what it is like on Cloud nine or whatever it is. For a freak moment, I was on top of the world and the feeling took quite some time to sink in... All the adjectives in the world fall short to describe this, and I would nurture this day as a landmark in my college life. It was a dream come true, indeed !

Do let me know how you feel about this part of my life, which I call being happy... (borrowed from Pursuit of Happiness...) Click here to post your comments.

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