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Sports Update: Euro Finalists decided

Russia, Turkey, Portugal and Sweden completed the final four spots for the Euro 2008 championships with England being the biggest name to fail to qualify.

Needing a win or atleast a draw against Croatia, England blew it all by conceding 2 goals in the first 14 minutes. Though they managed to come back from the dead by scoring two goals back after half time, Croatia killed them off with a goal in the 76th minute to send England crashing out.

Russia needed a win at Andorra and laboured to a 1-0 win.

The Euro begins mid 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

Poland, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Czech Republic, Germany, Croatia, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Romania and the Dutch join the hosts Austria and Switzerland.

Sports Update: 12 down, 4 to go - Euro 2008 Qualifiers

Scotland will not be travelling to Austria and Switzerland for the Euro 2008 Campaign after they were defeated by Italy 2-1. Needing a win to qualify in this match, the scots were defeated by a 91st minute Christian Panucci header which ensured that the World Cup finalists France and Italy qualify for Euro 2008

While Scotland had their hearts broken, England were thrown a lifeline when Israel beat Russia 2-1. A Russian Win would have made England Qualification extremely remote. Now England have to beat Croatia and Russia have to beat Andorra and hope that England fail in their last match.

The teams that have qualified so far are: Poland from Group A, Italy and France from Group B, Greece from Group C, Czech Republic and Germany from Group D, Croatia from Group E, Spain from Group F, Romania and the Dutch from Group H making it just four slots up for grabs.

Portugal or Finland from Group A
Turkey or Norway from Group C
England or Russia from Group E
Sweden or Northern Ireland from Group F

In three days time, all qualifiers will be known. Keep your fingers crossed.

Sports Update: UCL Matchday 4

At the end of Matchday 4 at the UEFA Champions League, only two teams have managed to secure qualification to the last 16: Arsenal from Group H and Manchester United from Group F.

While a few teams are on the verge of qualification like Barcelona and Inter who only need a draw to qualify, the fates of other top guns hang precariously in the balance. Liverpool languish in third-3 points behind 2nd place Besiktas in Group A and Valencia are bottom of group B-4 points behind second place Rosenborg.

Will these teams manage to pull up in Matchday 5? Stay Tuned.
Matchday 5 is scheduled on 27-28 November 2007

Current standings after Matchday 4:
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/standings/index.html

Story: Blurred Reality

It was a dark and stormy night. Not one of those seasonal thundershowers but something beyond. The whole week had sunny days and peaceful nights, but not this night. Something was not right about this sudden downpour. A chill ran up my spine. I had goose bumps on top of my goose bumps. It was just………………………………eerie.

A shadow crept up on the wall beside me as I stared across from the open window. I jumped. And so did the cat. A flood of relief and rushing blood turned my white skin red. I picked up the cat. “Meow!” it said. “Meow back to you, little adorable thing” said I.

I walked up to the fireplace. It was the only available light source in the study. The candles had been blown off by the wind and I was too lazy to light them again. As I sat by the fireplace with the cat on my lap, I felt strange. A sixth sense, as you may call, that I wasn’t alone in the room. The cat was there too but I felt the existence of another.

The crackle of the fire rose. It was as if it was being fed. I looked up and there was a handsome gentleman standing by the fireside. He looked as though he was from a different era as he wore clothes of kings and noblemen.

“Good Evening, Mademoiselle”
“Ahh, French, I See” I thought as he continued.
“Forgive me if I startled you but I must do something of utmost urgency now. Ahhh. There you are” saying so he walked up and picked up his hand from armrest of my chair and fixed it onto his arm.

A silent gasp was the only outcome of the horrifying scream that built up inside me. “Sorry mademoiselle but it was not my intention to scare you”

He looked real enough but must have been dead several years ago. “Are you dead?” I asked and he replied “Yes Mademoiselle! I am a dead Count, not as famous as the Count of Monte Cristo but a Count nonetheless. I am buried twenty feet under where we stand right now and it does get a little stifling inside. So I get up and walk about once a week or so.”

So he was dead and I must be close to the edge if I didn’t find that frightening enough. But I wasn’t frightened at all. Well not at all would have been an exaggeration but I was quite thrilled and amused to have the company of a French Count. Call me old-fashioned but “I was very charmed by his charms” as they say. We talked through the night and I was loving every minute of it.

The rain had stopped an hour ago and a chilly breeze had taken over the proceedings for the night. I put on my coat and we walked around the estate side by side. I heard the sound of a horse trotting and looked up to see an old fashioned coach pull up beside us. “How pretty and cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…..” before I could finish my statement a hand grabbed me and took me inside. The door shut behind me and the coach began to pick up speed. I tried to look out, at the hazy figure of the Count, in the distance.

to be continued...

Awesome Article on Palakkad Iyers!!!

An awesome article on Palakkad Iyers.

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Sports Update: Kimi Raikkonen wins title in an Interlagos thriller

Kimi Raikkonen clinched the F1 World Championship with a thrilling win at the Brazilian GP.

Needing a win and for other drivers to finish lower, Kimi pulled off a sparkling drive where he was second to Massa until the second round of pitstops and then pulled away for a Ferrari 1-2.

The race began with Massa and Hamilton in the front row follwed by Kimi and Alonso. Hamilton on 107, Alonso on 103 and Kimi on 100 made Hamilton an overwhelming favourite to win the world championship. But at the first corner, Kimi and Alonso both overtook Hamilton and a driving error forced Hamilton to run wide and drop to eighth. Gearbox problems then plagued Hamilton as he dropped from 8th to 18th place.

Miraculously, the problem seemed to have fixed itself as Hamilton began to put in many a fast lap. However it was in vain as he could only finish seventh. Alonso ran in third position for most of the race and was not in a position to threaten the leading Ferraris.

And so it ended:
Hamilton: 107+2=109
Alonso: 103+6=109
Kimi: 100+10=110 and the new world champion.

A phenomenal race to end a phenomenal season which was plagued by the Mclaren scandal and the season which saw the meteoric rise of a new superstar in formula 1: Lewis Hamilton.

Forzaa Ferrari!!!

For a complete race by race analysis on how the season unfolded for the top three, visit:
http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2007/10/7029.html

Sports Update: Nice Blog on Arsenal Midfield

Found a nice write up on the current Arsenal Midfield.

http://www.espnstar.com/studio/columndetails.cmd?id=7010851

Where are we in Sports? October update

India, a land of over a billion people. A proud and diverse land. A land that is now but a sporting disaster.

Where are we in the world of sports?

Hockey: No. 8 (Men) No. 13 (Women)
Football (Soccer): No. 145 (Men) No. 55 (Women)
Golf: 3 Indians in the top 200 (see previous post)
Volleyball: No. 27 (Men) No. 85 (Women)
Tennis: One Sania Mirza along with Leander and Mahesh. An occasional Davis Cup hurrah but that has also reduced these days
Chess: Many brilliant players including the World No. 1, Vishwanathan Anand, but terrible support and coverage for the sport. Lack of sponsors.
Badminton: Two Men in the top 50 (@ No. 28 and No. 36) and One Lady in the top 50 (@ No. 27)
Squash: One in the top 50 (@ No. 48)
Kabaddi: World No. 1. Be proud India.
Archery, Shooting, TT, Athletics, Swimming, Boxing: Where are we?

and last but not least that game called
Cricket: No. 3 in tests and No. 4 in ODIs (Men) Unfortunately the women's rankings were not available. Seems like a good achievement, doesnt it? A sport played by 20-30 countries only.

A sport where India's ruling body(BCCI) is the richest in the world and doesnt even have a website.

We should all take a long hard look at ourselves and help promote other sports in the country.
We have the talent, why dont we support it?

Sports Update: 3 Indians in the top 200

Three Indians have found their way into the top 200 in the World Golf Rankings.

While Jeev Milkha Singh is at 76, Jyoti Randhawa has returned to the top 100 after a comfortable win at the Indian Open. He is now at 91. Gaurav Ghei rounds off the Indian challenge with a world ranking of 200.

While Jeev and Jyoti have slid down from where they were at the start of the year, it seems like they are regaining some of the form that they showed last year.

Short Movie "Dawn"

Watch the movie @ the following link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNOxpuvJLRs

Send in your comments... Thank you!!!

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Sports Update: Jose Mourinho leaves Chelsea!!!!

Jose Mourinho, one of the most arrogant and successful coaches in football history, quit Chelsea FC on Sep 20 2007 in a way only he can-controversially. Though his on and off the field antics have attracted much criticism, the fact that he was able to achieve so much success made him one of the most sought after coaches in the world. Mourinho leaving Chelsea was expected after his long standing feud with Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, thereby robbing English football of one of its colourful people.

Being an Arsenal fan myself, I should be happy at Mourinho’s exit but i am sad for I enjoyed the competition he threw at the English league. England’s loss will be someone’s gain.

All the best Jose!

SWIM Event @ Great Lakes

It may be true that men are from Mars and women are from Venus but August 25th 2007 was all about bringing both sexes down to the same planet. The SWIM (Successful Women in Management) event, an inspiring initiative by the Great Lakes Institute of Management showcased the need for equality between men and women. The support of our Hon. Dean Uncle Bala and an enthusiastic SWIM team ensured that the show was more than a huge success.

For more about the event, visit:

www.greatlaker.wordpress.com

Sangamithra July 28 2007 @ MGM

Sangamithra happened on Saturday 28th July 2007 @ MGM Resort on East Coast Road, Chennai. A lush green, open aired area played the host to the event. With clouds looming there was a chance that rain may play spoilsport but thankfully they stayed away until after the event.
Nalli was the main sponsor for the event. A stunning backdrop was prepared for the stage. The backdrop had photographs of all the 165 Jaycees along with photos of Uncle Bala, Prof Sriram and all other senior faculty members.

The Chief guest for the evening was PadmaShri Shri. Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetti.

The event kicked off at 6pm with music from the Great Lakes Band. They managed to keep the audience engrossed with foot-tapping Hindi and English numbers. Then we had a small video about Life @ Great Lakes which was shown to the audience. Prof Sriram then welcomed the gathering. Uncle Bala then spoke and as usual we were enthralled to hear him. Our Chief Guest then spoke on his experiences with Uncle Bala and Great Lakes. Prof Murthy then provided the vote of thanks.

The festivities of the evening resumed with the first of many dances. Archana and group provided an enthralling display of contemporary fusion including Classical Dance and Kalaripayattu for the song "Taye Yashoda". Then we had a totally fun filled dance by Arunachalam and Group for the song "Saroja". It was a totally fast paced number and had the audience dancing with them. Then Sudhir, Vaibhaw and Rashmi provided a dance which was quite well done. What made this dance even better was that Vaibhaw and Sudhir both had broken hands to worry about.

Then cameth the skit. A 20 minute performance titled "Munnabhai MBA" had the audience rolling in laughter. Brilliant performances and amazing voice overs were the hallmark of the skit. The directors Sunil, Suraj and Dharmesh deserved the huge applause that they got. Abhishek Rai then got into the groove with some awesome mimicry performances.

Rashmi Bhat then gave a solo performance which was simply superb. Ankur and Naveen danced their hearts out to a Bhangra number which then was followed by a medley. Three dances back to back.

Finally came the dance that everyone wanted to see. Arunachalam and Sudha with a Michael Jackson Medley truly capped an amazing night for all.

A big kudos to the events team and all the people who made it possible.

Mozhi (Tamil) Movie Review

Mozhi (Language) is a movie that is quite brilliantly made. The movie deals with the psyche of deaf and dumb people as well as the people around them who wish to make a difference.

Jothika portrays the role of a deaf and dumb girl who wishes to make it on her own and who doesn’t want any help from anyone, especially men. This is due to the fact that she was traumatized by the past reactions of her father to her impairments. Prithviraj plays the role of a music composer who wishes to woo her. Prakash Raj and Swarnamalya complete the core four of the movie. How the hero and his friends manage to change Jothika attitude forms the rest of the story.

Though happy endings are the order of the day and this movie is no different, it still manages to take you on a roller coaster ride until the Grand Finale. All characters from the apartment secretary to the professor stuck in a time warp to Prakash Raj’s antics manage to keep the audience enthralled from start to finish. The music is good and creates all the right moods.

Overall a great movie. A definite must watch.

Plus: Story, Music, Cast, Comedy, Prakash Raj
Minus: Not much really.

The ICC Cricket World cup West Indies 2007- A Review

The cricket world cup 2007 was the most talked about cricketing world cup for a lot of weird
reasons.

The bad side of the cup

A farcical joke of an ending to what might have been the most closely contested world cup
final in the last decade.

The murder of Bob Woolmer, South African coach of Pakistan (till date there is no news of
the murderer)

The shock elimination of India and Pakistan in the first round at the hands of Bangladesh
and Ireland respectively cost the WC a lot of its sheen, both commercially and talent wise.

Bangladesh would subsequently beat South Africa as well before succumbing to the Irish.

Matches played out to near empty stands or to hordes of school children. The prices of the
tickets and the ban of instruments were not taken well in the Caribbean.

The length of the tournament and subsequent cases of boredom faced by the players and the
public alike.

The retirements of many players from cricket including Brian Lara, Inzamam ul Haq, Glenn
Mcgrath, Sanath Jayasuriya will rob the game of charm in the future etc

The staying behind and non-retirements of players like Sachin Tendulkar etc

So what happened? Why? These are questions for which we have to wait for answers for. Heads
will surely roll a long way.

The good side of the cup

Australia Winning the third successive WC, while Sri Lanka ensued that there was an asian
finalist for every world cup since 1992.

Upset wins by Bangaldesh and Ireland

Some classic moments like Malinga's 4 wickets in 4 balls against South Africa, Gibbs' six sixes in an over against the Netherlands etc

Overall a disappointingly long world cup with plenty of meaningless matches.

Weather Update

Bangalore was hot but cooled down a bit after some evening drizzles.
Chennai is hotter and i sweat under the fan...

Restaurant Review # 5

Today's Restaurant: The Green Hotel (aka Green’s aka Chittaranjan Palace)
Location: Hunsur Road, Mysore, India
Style: Indian

The erstwhile Chittaranjan Palace, built for Mysore's princesses, has been lovingly restored as a small hotel. In extensive gardens, with formal lawns and shaded pergolas, and fringed by majestic trees, the hotel is an oasis of calm. It offers comfortable surroundings, friendly staff and a restful open air atmosphere. Each table is lit by candles only and is quite a refreshing change.

The food in “The Green Hotel” is quite delicious and provides a wide variety for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food lovers.
The soups are decent while the starters are quite tasty and filling. The main course offers a variety of vegetarian and non vegetarian delicacies which tickle your taste buds. The desserts are not too great and may be given a miss but the paan-wallah near the parking lot makes sure you have had a delicious evening.

Downsides: Dishes take a little long to serve so order your main course while you start wolfing down your starters to avoid waiting too much.

Overall a good meal and a good time is guaranteed.

Avg. Cost for 2: Around 500/- INR

Rating: Locale: 7/10
Ambience: 9/10
Service: 7.5/10
Food Quality: 8/10
Food Quantity: 8/10
Vegetarian Variety: 7.5/10
Non-Vegetarian Variety: 8.5/10
Value for Money: 7.5/10
Menu Card: 7/10
Recall value: 8/10
Overall Rating: 8/10

Question???

Why is it so difficult to understand someone at times???
Are expectations always too high?
Why do we feel bad?
Why do we feel lost?
Is it really difficult to reason without getting emotional?