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Showing posts from April, 2008

India - Part that I am yet to Know and traverse

Special April Issue of 'India Today' and March Issue of 'Jet wings' made me aware of India that I am yet to know – both in terms of its places and the personalities. I remember two incidents when I can think of the historical sites of India. First – A Korean while visiting Elephanta Caves pointedly asked ‘Why everyone in India takes me to the sites that are the testimony of the past and forgotten. Why can’t anyone show me the place that belongs to this era?’ This incident happened in 1988. Even today, I am not very sure where would I take him to a place or monument that our posterity would show it as a mark of 20th century. Another Incident was when Japanese asked me ‘How many world heritage sites are there in India? ‘I had to ponder a while and come with an estimate of 20. I was off the mark by 30%. The correct number was 27 and represents roughly 3% of Global 851 world heritage sites declared by UNESCO. I think India’s share of world trade would hover around 0.5%. I w

Cricket at MCG - An awesome experience

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Adrenalin flows rapidly; heightened curiosity reaches its crescendo as I hear the rapturous roar of thousands of people. Excitement engulfs me and make my strides go longer, increasing in its pace. Sights of verdant expansive lawns with animated protagonists in colorful attire under bright luminance of metal halide lamps makes me transfixed until a wave of people who are equally excited, push and jostle me to go ahead. Journey from that point until my reserved seat often invites a justified annoyance from those disciplined spectators who have taken efforts to arrive early. ‘sorry’ ‘excuse me’ are profusely offered as I trample their feet while adjusting my gait – whose position is precarious with head at 90degrees from torso. Be it cricket match at Wankhede in Mumbai, or Soccer at Sheikh Zayed in Abu Dhabi, a journey from the main gate of the stadium to the reserved seat is same at all the sporting venues MCG at Melbourne was no exception to this phenomenon but it added extra fervor