The Summer Sports Blast!!

I love Sports!!

That first line says a lot...  I'm not just any ordinary fan of sports, but a wild, massive and die-hard fan of many players and teams competing against each other in many great tournaments for the ultimate prize, in their battle for victory, glory and respect. The winner sees all, and the others only fancy another chance.

And for any sports fan like me, it is really the ultimate pleasurable activity to sit back and absorb themselves in the fast, passionate, thrilling and entertaining life of sports. For a avid fan, boundaries don't matter, time isn't a constraint and resources comes together to offer a complete package of total bliss and contentment.

This summer is expected to be the best for all the sports enthusiasts and game followers. The summer season can be conveniently stated as the months between April and October (at least in this part of the globe). It features a hoard of events from all genres of sports and games, including the club and international fixtures. While there are some which are a regular and happen every year, there are those that comes once every 4 years also that are happening this summer. Considering the fact that they include events and sports tournaments of global following an importance (Olympics & Euros), their is bound to be lot of interest in these sports. There is thus bound to be a lot of trips and visits in these countries where the events are being hosted and the rest of the people are going to be glued to the television sets for a long time.

You can like a variety of sports, different types of sports. There can be international sports, club events, teams games or individual matches, professional championships and racing series, and many others. No matter which of them captures your fantasy, you can easily enjoy yourself this summer by following them on your boxes & screens (TVs, PCs & Mobiles).

Many events in the sporting arena are annual in nature, they happen once every year. While this helps in keeping the audience occupied, the interest can and following can vary a lot since it isn't possible for players and teams to keep up the same level of performance year after year in each and every tournament. Football Tournaments like the English Premier League or Formula One Racing Championships produce varied and different results nearly every time (of course, there being some exceptions).
 
This year, there are expected to be many sporting games and events. Some of my favourite ones are:-

Starting from April 7, the world's biggest cricketing carnival begins in India with the Fifth season of the hugely popular Indian Premier League (April 7- May 27). Relying on the sports plus entertainment format, the tournament is a successful place to perform for many unknown players. Active participation of players from all around the world means that most o the cricketing fans in most of the nations don't afford to give it a miss.  


There are also some tournaments that happen during late April & Early May like the Final Matches of all the Football Leagues in Europe and the Champions League. The fact that there have been competitive games and unputdownable results, fans are surely in for a great time! 

Moving a little further in the timeline, we come across The French Open (May 22-June 10). Even though, the interest in such a tournament might be limited to tennis fans, people are well-aware of the legends and rivalries of great players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, etc. these players are on the verge of many milestones, and each success ensures their names in the list of tennis greats in the world. 


The Eurozone Crisis has been the talking point of the entire summer. However, one place where members of all European Nations meet to cheer for each other is at a Football Event! It is the year that we get to see the European nations slug it out in the Football Field with UEFA Euro Championships 2012 (6 June to 1 July) being carried out in Ukraine-Poland. All nations are hungry for their teams to bring some joy by winning the European cup, and uplift the mood caused because of the depression faced by the European Economies. It is also a very competitive tournament, and fans are sure to have the bets time of their lives watching and cheering their teams.


The Championships- Wimbledon (25 June- 8 July) are sure to mention in the calender of every individual-sports' fan. With top quality players slugging it out on the grass courts of the All England Tennis & Croquet association, London is a treat for everyone to watch. With the ultimate prize in the game on stake, every challenger and every admirer is sure to stick to this one.


The mega event of sports is also happening this year. The Olympics Games (July 25 to Aug 12) will be held in London and all nations are excitedly waiting for the tournament to start, and all athletes are aiming for nothing less than a Gold, the most prestigious prize in the history of all Sports.    


The US Open, happens somewhere in September every year and is the last of all four Grand Slams to happen in Tennis every year. Doubtlessly, all players look to make amends for any issues of the past, and all champions look to end the year on a high, in this highly vigorous and fast tournament held annually in New York, US. 


The world of Formula One is a fantasical for all of us. Fast cars, beautiful girls, drivers driving at the top-most speeds without any restrictions sounds straight out of any action movie. We simply cannot stop being happy about the fact that F1 has finally come to India and a race on the Buddha International Circuit (BIC) is a part of the F1 calender. The Indian GP is held in the opening week of October every year and it is a thrill for all of us, and with 2 Indian Drivers (Karun Chandhok and Narain Kartikeyan) and an Indian Team participating in the events, there is no lack of cheering by us to be done.


Any calender is incomplete without any event in the field of cricket. With nearly one-sixth of the entire world following the game (including Entire India with a population of 1.2 billion, other 10 Test Playing Nations and other Associate Nations), cricket is a huge attraction to any sports fan. Falling this year are the ultimate international competitions in the most exciting version of the sport- The ICC World T20 Championships (Sept 18- Oct 7) being hosted by Sri Lanka. All the sub-continent teams including India & Pakistan (both former World T20 Champions) and Home team Sri Lanka are keen to make the most of their known conditions and the other sides such as England (T20 World Champions 2010) & Australia will look to better their records in the shortest formats of the game.


There are many other great events happening in the world. The Nokia Champions League T20, Cricketing Series, the Football Leagues, London ATP Tour Finals, etc are all part of an exciting sports festival for the entire year. However, what makes a year or a season special is heavy competition, huge support and grand scales of the tournaments. With many events happening that happen only after a long time or those that are really exciting and hugely followed in this part of the world taking place this year, it for sure is gonna be a lot of fun!

So for now, rush and go watch your favourite sports tournaments without missing a moment. Simply sit back, relax and enjoy them happening for such great events rarely ever happen so close to each other.

The Bourne Appraisal!

The best experiences in life, can be different and differently originating for different people. It can be through making music for some, through dancing for a few, via diving (Scuba-diving) for further more, and many more things for other people. There can be times when one wonders if that's the most wonderful thing one does, or the most pleasing time that one spends throughout one's days. (People remember and say adventure sports was by biggest experience, or deep-sea diving was my most memorable activity..)
While people have different pleasures, passions & leisure activities they also spend a considerable part of their times, and opportunities in doing them. Musicians compose, artists paint, drivers race, etc

I, on these lines love reading.
Whether it is the day or the night, summer or the winter, blissful or desolate, or any other mood or situation, I find absolute pleasure in reading. It is the most joyous time of my day (or night) when I open up a book to read on what's happening with the characters, or and what is going to turn up next. It is the most superb feeling/experience to discover the true plot of a novel or a book as you reach it's most important phase of the plot- the core of the story.

One such book collection I read and appreciated was- The Bourne Series by Robert Ludlum.


The Bourne Series is based on a man, who is suffering from amnesia. He finds himself washed on a shore, full of bullets, and suffering deep arsenic wounds. Trying to decipher the riddle regarding his identity, finding out who he is, he undertakes a dangerous journey across different locations and cities located all across Europe and America. Revealing such facts would only be easier for our guy, if it weren't for the International Police, and a highly Reputed and Renowned-Worldwide Assassin chasing him..

The Bourne Series is a collection of 3 books- The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne
Ultimatum, respectively.

  The Bourne Identity demonstrates the struggle of our central character, known to the world as as Jason Bourne, to find his identity, and uncover his past (to know) as to why the International police and all major international intelligence Agencies across Europe & America are chasing him, and alongwith that the reason as to why the World's Most Reputed Poltical Assassin is also hunting him down. Along the path to this discovery, Bourne finds Ms. Marie St. Jacques, a Canadian Economist (hailing from France) working for the External Affairs of the Canadian Govt. as his only confidante and helper. Together, they undertake the long, dangerous & uncertain journey of the Identity of Jason Bourne, and uncovering his reality and him being a name and it's history, so dreaded in the international world.


The Bourne Supremacy starts a few years after it's predecessor, The Bourne Identity. The Bourne Supremacy involves the story of the international intelligence professional- Jason Bourne, after he has laid low for a while, avoiding combat & other altercations in an effort to lead a quiet and peaceful life with his wife, Mrs. Marie Webb in the a University in United States. The story starts off revealing the fact that another international hire, by the name of Jason Bourne has taken our character's place, and is killing political & elite leaders in the Middle-East & China. Pushed to the scene of violence and danger once again, Jason Bourne is forced to fight for his identity, for his innocence, for all his cherished achievements and most importantly, for the woman he love the most, in his life.

The third installment- The Bourne Ultimatum, (story) picks up nearly a decade after the issue of the previous title. It stars Jason Bourne, now officially retired from the work and post of combat & counter-assassination from the Govt. and is living peacefully in his house, spending his pleasure days with his wife & family (2 kids) in ease. However, things suddenly take change for the worse, when Jason's most dreaded and renowned enemy resurfaces, and in a last ditch-attempt to re-take his title, wants to eliminate the man who took away most of his reputation and pride on an international level. So, Bourne must not only find him, (and protect his family), but end the story of his most celebrated and hated rival and enemy, once and for all.

By reading this, and not having any other knowledge about the above-mentioned topics will make you think as to why these have been mentioned here. They could have been easily mentioned in a place meant to review books or encourage forumns about the book. So, What is so important or special about these books to find a discussion about them here?

Then again, as they say, never judge a book or a person (by it's cover) or too soon..

 The highlight, of reading or going through this book did not lie in the story and actions of this extraordinary man only, but also in the beautiful portrayal of the characters of Jason Bourne and Marie St. Jacques. Known to the world as the most dangerous professional and warrior around, Jason Bourne is always found in the middle of all problems that happen everywhere. Unaware of the situation and the reasons of his fight or escaping, Jason must manage to outdo every intelligence & security personnel and eliminating international criminals and assassins to protect his most cherished causes. Without any prior information or sources, Jason relies only on his instinct, the instinct of a man trained to kill, to do the right things always, even in the toughest of situations. He does only what he knows how to do, and knows he can still do it. Every such moment or incident of  violence or a fight could be his last, yet Jason doesn't and can't care about himself, but only for the cause he fights, only for the girl he loves, and only for the rules he will always keep, no matter what. He only thinks of the innocent, of the people who deserve more from him, and the acts he has to undertake to ensure there is justice and fairness in this world.

 Marie (Jason's Wife) plays a very important part in the story too. Without her, Jason would probably not have wanted to live in the world itself. She is the reason for his unending inspiration to uphold the right things, to fight for the right causes, to ensure justice to all at all times. In moments of despair she is his only hope, in times of disappointment, she is his only encouragement, and in days of frustration, she is his only support. Marie is to David what a kid is to a teacher, full  of energy and complete, but without a cause or direction to go ahead in. She supports him, helps him, aids him, completes him and loves him.

Jason Bourne, is a man trained & licensed to kill, but one who chooses the right path, no matter what because he believes in upholding the righteous always, protecting the innocent at all times and helping the aggrieved as possible. He kills, but does so for a cause, for a reason, for a motive, and for the right activity, that he knows, must happen.

When you think that something is impossible, just open the Jason Bourne Series, and you'll be astonished to fin out and know what all a man can actually do, if he believes in himself, if he is willing to sacrifice everything in this world for his cause, and if he is willing to go all the way, without any issues!

If you want to read the Jason Bourne Novels, buy the Bourne Series by Robert Ludlum.
Also note that after Robert Ludlum's death, his close friend Eric Van Lustvader continued the practie of intoducing Jason Bourne to the word in his new adventures. These books are- The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Betrayal, The Bourne Saction, The Bourne Deception, The Bourne Objective, The Bourne Dominion & The Bourne Imperative respectively. Since I haven't read about these books, so I cannot express my views on them.
   

Vengeful eve-teaser's gang kills youth, injures two

Read on this story to know what the world is coming to...
This is an exert from the article written for the Mid-Day yesterday...

" Vengeful eve-teaser's gang kills youth, injures two

Six friends had gone for dinner in Amboli, when a barber's advances towards one of the girls led to a heated argument; he returned with a gang of 13 for the gruesome revenge

A friends' night out turned into a macabre night of horrors in Amboli on Thursday, ending in the brutal death of a 24-year-old youth. Another injured victim lies in a critical condition in Kokilaben hospital. The youths were attacked by a gang of goons after they protested the unwelcome advances of an eve-teaser.

'I'll be back'
According to the DN Nagar police, three friends - Keenan Santos (24), Reuben Fernandez (29), and Avinash Solanki (31), all residents of Amboli, Andheri (West) went out for dinner to a restaurant, Amboli, in the locality on Thursday.

They were accompanied by Santos and Fernandez's girlfriends, and a common friend. Having finished dinner at 11 pm, they stepped out for some paan.

As they waited by the local paanwala's stall, they were accosted by a drunken man, who has been identified as Jitendra Rana. Rana, who is a barber, allegedly made sexual advances towards Santos's girlfriend.

Unable to stomach his offensive remarks, Santos confronted the man, who then turned violent. A heated verbal exchange ensued between the two. Santos and his friends shoved the eve-teaser away, who beat a hasty retreat, promising that he would be back soon.

Though shaken, Santos and his friends did not take Rana's threat seriously, and strolled along, chewing on paan. Ten minutes later, however, Rana returned, this time with reinforcements.

Three friends - Sunil Both, Satish Durgaj, and Deepak - accompanied him. Soon, a gang of about 13 goons, armed with swords and knives, emerged from three auto rickshaws that pulled up in front of the youngsters.

Revenge rampage
Rana then reached for Santos and stabbed him in the stomach with a knife. The impact of the knife was so deep that Santos's intestines spilled out.

Panicking, the three girls ran back inside the restaurant. Noticing that the goons were pursuing them, Fernandez rushed to their rescue, standing in their way. The goons responded by stabbing Fernandez four times. Bali managed to escape with minor stab wounds.

Santos and Fernandez were rushed to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital. At around 1 am, Santos was pronounced dead by doctors. Fernandez is still struggling for his life.

Bereaved
Hearing of the attack, Santos' father Valerian rushed to the hospital. "I drove to the hospital, and reached to find my son struggling for his life. He breathed his last within minutes," said Valerian.

Santos, who was working at Novotel Hotel in Juhu, had announced his plans to submit his papers to secure a job in Dubai, hours before his death.

Santos's grieving girlfriend said, "When Rana approached me, I could smell the alcohol from his breath. He ran away when Santos shoved him. He threatened that he would come back for revenge, but we couldn't imagine
that he would retaliate in this manner."

Copspeak
Vijay Kumar Bhoite, senior police inspector at DN Nagar police station said that they had conducted a combing operation and detained 30 men from the locality. "We have arrested Rana, Both and Durgaj. We are on the lookout for the fourth accomplice, Deepak," he said.

"We have asked the hotel to give us their CCTV grabs, so we can find out how many more goons were involved in the crime," added Bhoite.



This is really sad to see. Something like this happening is a shameful event not just for the people of the place, but also for the law-enforcement agencies situated around.
Firstly, these people have the courage to tease a girl, then let alone gt into an argument with someone else for doing it, and if that was not enough, bringing "enforcements" to help injure the righteous.
I have no idea how the people around them, those who witnessed this can sleep at night. They, unwillingly become the partners-in-crime, by simply doing nothing, when they should have steeped up the ante.
Secondly, some eye-opening incident for the enforcement agencies, the cops. But what I fail to understand is the simple and basic fact that they needed such an event to happen to take any action.
Really, a shame to see this happen. Never should such an event be allowed to happen again, let alone reach this magnitude...

Please comment to post your views and help bring the perpetrators to justice..

Things to never do on Facebook

There is a set of guidelines to follow in a relationship, and then there is another set to be followed when exposing your personal life on a social-networking site. A breach of these could result in the shocking tragedy of Malini Murmu, the 23-year-old IIM student who committed suicide after reading her former boyfriend's tactless status update: "Feeling super cool today. Dumped my new ex-girlfriend. Happy Independence Day."

The onus of Malini's actions does not rest solely on her ex-boyfriend's keyboard happiness; there is more to the matter than meets the eye. However, this is an immense cause of concern about the far-reaching effects social-networking sites can have on people's lives. Especially since people tend to have more 'courageous' online personalities than offline ones.

Clinical psychologist Alina Philip says, "Much like the media, social networking sites reach everybody. Therefore, we need to follow ethics and be extremely sensitive to what goes up on them. "

Admit it
As much as social networks allow us to stay connected with people across the demographics, they are partly superficial.

And we get to be pretentious. Most status updates and pictures are to show how witty you are, how much fun and interesting your life is, how deep you are - basically a concentrated effort to dictate a perception of the unique snowflake that is you.

While there is nothing wrong in this, tread carefully when relationships with others are involved. Making and maintaining relationships need effort, time and direct communication - and all of it invested offline.

Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Varkha Chulani, says, "There's a fine line between sharing of information and emotional exhibition." "Love you darling. Muah", "Thanks for last night", "We need to talk" and "I think your sister is fat" does not need to make it on the Wall. These conversations are best had person to person. And if this is not the kind of thing you would say to his/her face, it makes it all the more cowardly to say it online.

Like Philip says, "Would you go to the middle of Azad Maidan screaming that you have broken up? Then why publicise on Facebook? Your personal space is your personal space. Respect it. Do not make a mockery out of it. Maintain the sanity of your relationship."

This extends to changes in relationship messages. From Single to Taken to It's complicated, it's less of sharing of good news and more of hungering for attention. Wouldn't it be wiser to decide on the status of your relationship after you've finished fighting and decided mutually on it?

Also announcing the cementing of your relationship through status change can be awkward if you have not had 'the talk' offline first. Otherwise ABC is happily 'in a relationship' with XYZ, but XYZ hasn't really changed her status from Single.

Be a suit
Taking office gossip and team rivalry online will not reflect well on your resume. Even here, it is better if you solve your problems face-to-face rather than resort to vague sarcastic comments on their status messages and photos.

And no matter how bad your day has been, don't bitch about a client or boss on your blog and Twitter. You may have a friend who knows a friend, who knows the boss. Besides, your future employers could be online and they will think twice about hiring a person with no discretion.

Keep it positive
A rule of thumb is to announce only the positive - a new job, a celebration or new degree. Steer clear of washing dirty linen in public. Do not talk about your bad day at work or your unpleasant marriage. Remember: 500 friends of friends do not need to know.

Pictures have ceased to be snapshots for posterity and grown into frames of exhibitionism. And here you need to be more careful. What seemed funny when you were drunk and in college, will not be as ticklish when you land a job, or when you wake up sober. When the pictures are of somebody else, the responsibility is greater.

You do not know what could land a friend or colleague into trouble and it is best to avoid uploading any picture or video that brings even a shadow of doubt. Happy smiling family pictures may be boring, but they are less likely to land you in a lawsuit.

Pictures of you with your arm around a bikini-clad babe, or shirtless dude after a break-up point less to you being cool and more to you being lame. "This reflects that you are providing solace to yourself that you have a good life, while revealing emotional instability," says Chulani.

DELHI METRO AND SOME GENDER JUSTICE…

Recently, there was the National Census Survey conducted in the National Capital Region of India commonly called Delhi NCR. According to this survey, conducted on an annual basis, regarding the sex ratio of the capital, it was found out that the figure or ratio for females had dropped from 1004 girls per 1000 boys in 2008 to 915 girl per 1000 boys in 2009, a steep decline of in the past one year. At a time when this figure was increasing consistently for the fast five years, this is taken to be just another exception.

However, different from the scenario conducted by this survey, there has been continuous progress of women in all sectors and areas of work, arts, sciences, corporates, and so on. One need not be an expert to see it all around. Naturally, the number of ladies headed to their offices far off from their homes is a very task now-a-days. Many of them drive to their destinations, in fact, to be very honest, most of the time when I am in the market, or whenever I am travelling, I am astonished to find that nearly 85% of the drivers I come across in moving cars are ladies!! It might be limited to my locality only, but it is quite astonishing to see such a quick rise in the number of female riders in the capital.

But, those who don’t have access to their personal vehicles are a left with little choice other than taking the Metro. I am not mentioning buses and if you disagree, come to Delhi and travel in a bus to find out yourself. But in recent times, with the decline in the number of buses, combined with the ever expanding network of the Delhi Metro, there is a considerable rise in the number of riders in the Metro. Earlier, you could easily travel in the Metro as the network was small, and only selected people opted for this mode of travel, but with the Commonwealth Games coming to Delhi and the need for fast and comfortable mode of safe travel to distant places on a rise, both among natives and tourists, the Delhi Metro never goes Jam-Packed.

Amongst all that, it is really difficult for ladies to undertake long distant travel in Metro coaches. On its part, The Metro Authorities have always kept seats reserved for ladies and Senior Citizens, but the Men of Delhi, recently have taken up the practice of occupying ladies seats. It is not difficult for us men, who really don’t care or mind, whether we have to sit, stand or even hang (yeah, people do hang) while travelling!! We can push people here and there, make our way into spaces, and amazingly still enjoy ourselves. But that is not the case with the ladies, who can’t do any of those things. Some girls smartly make their way out of such situations with grace using the trademark “female charm”, but the majority of them still suffer.

In that scenario, Delhi Metro’s decision to reserve the first coach all trains for ladies (apart from their usual system of reserving seats in general coaches for ladies) comes out as a major sigh of relief. Now, not only can women travel in the Metro without any hassles like rushes, overcrowding, pushing, and etc. but they also enjoy their rides with all the other female companions. It is a great decision, which will also promote more and more women to take the Metro, as a mode of convenient and safe travel.

But, as someone has truly said, men are men, always!! Ironically, you can always find, men hanging (yes, I am deliberately using this word here) in the ladies coach of the Metro. Maybe, the lure of an empty coach is too hard to resist for some. However, to counter that, recently, the Metro Authorities have started to impose a `200 ($4) fine on any man found to be travelling in the first coach.

Agreed, that it may be a little disappointing for many of us college-going Boys, since most girls go to the “kitty party” (yeah, that’s what we call the ladies compartment!!) honestly feel the Metro has become pretty gloomy and boring, after this rule (yeah, me included, and you can guess why!!), but for Girls, it is the new cool thing.

As it is, in today’s world, it is really hard being a female. With the additional corporate and work pressure, combined with domestic responsibilities, ladies do nearly double the amount of work than us, men. In such a situation, this decision of the Delhi Metro comes out as the huge winner. Even most men are supportive of it, as we also have appreciated this decision, since we also have our mothers, sisters, friends, and WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) travelling, and it is nice to feel assured that they can travel safely and comfortably to any part of the capital.

In the end, three cheers to the Delhi Metro, for making the travel in the city much safer and comfortable for the fairer sex. In the future, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an even all-female train being run at fixed intervals at various routes. Even though, this has pushed the status of men travelling in the remaining coaches as hanging, (yeah, now we don’t travel in the Metro any more, we “hang” in it!!!), but as I mentioned earlier, we hardly even seem to mind.