My Spring Friend

This little enigmatic bird with its shiny dark-prussian blue colours pays me a visit every spring.

Any idea what this bird is called?

Business Jargon

KP just sent me this link about Forbes' Most Annoying, Pretentious and Useless Business Jargon. The name says it all. Two of my un-favorites from the list are:

• Core Competency
  This awful expression refers to a firm’s or a person’s fundamental strength—even though that’s not what the word “competent” means. “This bothers me because it is just a silly phrase when you think about it,” says Bruce Barry, professor of management at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Business. “Do people talk about peripheral competency?  Being competent is not the standard we’re seeking.  It’s like core mediocrity.”
• Take It To The Next Level

In theory this means to make something better. In practice, it means nothing, mainly because nobody knows what the next level actually looks like and thus whether or not they’ve reached it.

Losing the Plot

How does the below qualify as a test cricket shot?? Mandate a specific number of First Class matches for each international test player in a year.

Vijay Dinanath Chauhan....

Two masterpieces, first by Mukul Anand and then by Karan Malhotra. What a poem!

वृक्ष हों भले खड़े,

हो घने, हो बड़े,

एक पत्र छाँव की

मांग मत, मांग मत, मांग मत!

अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ!

तू न थकेगा कभी,

तू न थमेगा कभी,

तू न मुड़ेगा कभी,

कर शपथ, कर शपथ, कर शपथ!  

अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ!

ये महान दृश्य है,

चल रहा मनुष्य है,

अश्रु, श्वेद, रक्त से

लथपत, लथपत, लथपत!

अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ!

-स्व. श्री हृवंश्रई "बच्चन" श्रीवास्तव

Meek Submission!

Lions at home; meek rats outside.
Whitewash at England; alright, could be a one-time.
Australia; our performance falling as the matches progress. Second innings, extras was the fifth highest scorer. Last four wickets fell at the same score! Meek submission. Heads need to roll; and this is not knee-jerk. Vindicates my stand, Kapil Dev's team is still the best Indian team so far. They won not in our back-yards to tailor made pitches; but when they were the underdogs. Remember those were the times when cricketers were not yet superstars endorsing brands and playing starry IPLs. But were sportsmen. Here's what I feel should be done:

• Defunct the IPL; Pup Clarke focuses only on Tests, First Class and ODIs. No T-20s for him.
• Get John Wright back; or have Ganguly as the coach. Even Kirsten. Someone who can lead by example. Kirsten would himself run 9k every morning.
• Remove anyone who takes his place for granted. Sehwag between the England and Oz  Series has an average of 15. Dhoni for the same series has an average of 23!
• Get back to basics. 14 wickets in the last 3 innings fell to no leg work or flashes outside off stump.
• Have a player rotation policy. Max X tests; 1.3X ODI; 0.6X T-20s, 0.5X First Class in a year.

Let the carnage continue. Will we have no heads falling?