World Cup Despair

I am going off to sleep though I had thought that I would have the guts to sit through India batting for a place in the Super Eight. But with - what else ? Tendulkar getting out, I find that I have lost interest !! Just imagine how much is riding on that little man's shoulders - it is a wonder that he is still able to perform. With the expectations of more than a billion riding on him, expecting to explode at each and every opportunity as well as some imagined, I am surprised that he is still going. But this is one match, I have lost my appetite for - my gut feeling is that India is going to lose and lose badly at that and I don't want to be around to watch the slaughter. Better I get my dose of beauty sleep !! Ciao !

Bolton's Comments

Today we have this news item appearing on the BBC Website, discussing what I was talking about in my last post. Apparently Mr.Bolton is "damn proud" of what he did to prevent an early ceasefire in the Lebanon conflict - and he has very good reason to be !!! Lebanon lost more than a thousand of its' citizens ( that is collateral damage !) while Israel gave up about a couple of hundred souls - all for helping Mr.Bolton and his country to remain the global policeman. But I wonder if they have any idea of the cost - in the immediate present as well as in the foreseeable future ? The number of 'martyrs' and the innumerable more of the desperate fighters being created ? All being targeted at one common enemy. And guess who that is ? No prizes there, I am afraid ! If there is one person who has done more to hurt the US image internationally - especially in Asia and the Middle East - than Mr.Bolton, I am yet to hear of him/her. MADHU

A follow-up

This is a follow-up on my last post. I just saw an article by Praful Bidwai - he is one of my favourite authors, by the way - on Rediff. Seemed so apt for the occasion and so thought I would share it with all of you.But I saw it after I posted my short note - honest!!

A normal day

I just thought I would send in some of my musings for the day, sitting in the comfort of my home and with a steaming mug of coffee close to hand. Felt very expansive - good enough to once again use the services of e-mail to post to my blog. Hope I have a better experience of it than last time, when I had a tough time getting the material in the proper format.

The latest on the Net has been about the magnanimity of the Israelis in agreeing to stop aerial bombardment of Lebanon for 48hours. I had been planning on sounding off on this issue for quite some time now but had been exercising a bit of restraint. But this latest seems to be the last straw. If there is one lesson that the Israelis have not learnt - and along with them their US friend(s) and along with them, their British friend (so what is new, do I hear somebody saying ??) - is that they are not going to buy peace by going to war, neither with the Palestinians nor with the Hizbollah.

I had thought that Sharon had finally learnt that - the hard way - but then, apparently the pressure was too much for him and he popped a vessel, the poor chap ! If at all the attack - I am loath to use the word war - has had any effect, it has been to antagonise the large number of young Palestinians and Lebanese who had been beginning to think of a peaceful co-existence with Israel. Olmert with his 'regret' over the obscenely large number of civilian casualities is not going to win hearts - if he had any intentions of doing so, in the first place. What I find even worse is Rice's statement that she agreed with the assessment that Israel needed another ten days to a fortnight to wrap up their campaign - what is surprising me is why it is taking the Israelis so long !!

If the US agrees that 'hot pursuit' of the Hizbollah 'terrorists' who have taken Cpl.Shilat captive, is the done thing, then I have a couple of points to suggest to the Indian army and air force. The North-west Frontier Province in Pakistan should perhaps be bombed to hell and back. While we are on it, why not the port city of Karachi and perhaps on the side, Peshawar, too ? Of course, it goes without saying that Muzzafarabad and a couple of other cities in POK should also be taken out. Perhaps, this is Rice's and Bush's subtle way of hinting to the Indian leaders a way for establishing 'a permanent, lasting and enduring peace in the region' !! But then, again what applies in the Middle East does not apply to South Asia. I wonder what it will take to drive the point into the heads of those in power in Washington and elsewhere - this is one war that you cannot win by the use of power. They have proved it to themselves time and again - be it in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere. It is only going to get worse and engulf a larger portion of the world's population. Maybe, that is what they want ??!!!

Surprise !

The surprise was for me - the previous posting went on the web !!! I actually remembered my user name and password - great !!! I was really beginning to think that my mind was going for a six - I seem to be forgetting quite a few things these days.
Just got back from the lab and need to get back in another couple of hours' time - the damn paper needs to be corrected and re-written and I am feeling a little pissed off - with myself for haing made a mess of it in the first place. I should have been much more careful - I felt really bad when the reviewer pointed out that a similar circuit had been filed in a patent - guess when !!! 1971 !!! We will have to revise the entire thing or make the reviewer eat his words - along with a hefty dose of chili !!!
Had a bite at Tiffany's along with Dr.Jayashankar - he was filling me in on his Japanese experience. He seems to have had a bit of fun - and has put in quite a lot of work too. Good for him - wonder if something fruitful can come out of this, in the form of a inter-institute interaction !! Now, wouldn't that be something ??!!!

Back online

My words when I started this blog seem to have been prophetic - it is almost a year since I began and this is my second posting !!! So much so, I had forgotten my user name and password and had to struggle for sometime before Icould hit the right combination. Thank God that blogspot does not lock you out after a few unsuccessful attempts.
I will have to relearn the entire process of posting and I just saw that there is an option for posting directly by e-mail. I will have to check that out - if it works, nothing like it as I am more regular with my mail.Maybe - just maybe - I will be more regular on this page than I have been.
See you all later.

An auspicious start

Well, you have to move with the times, you know. I have been hearing so much of this 'sport' of blogging that I thought I would give it a try. And if you have somebody offering like Google offering you something of this kind for free, what tte heck, why don't you try it ? So, here we are and as the title says, The Life and Times of Madhu M !!! I am not even sure if I will even conitnue, let alone be regular but then, that is what this is for, right ?