Saturday, February 27, 2010
Oh now... I m really tired of writing this about Chelsea again being cornered by another Manchester dialect... Blues thrashed again in a time of 10 days when they had just returned from San Siro crestfallen with an away goal -the only ray of hope. It seems as if the blues are losing the sublimity they preserved so well in the first half of the season... Drogba is the sole talisman but for how long?? Someone needs to step up. Or United is just a point behind now and really charged by heroics of Rooney who is in the form of his lifetime. Lets see what unfolds in Premier League.
Chelsea drubbed again...
Oh now... I m really tired of writing this about Chelsea again being cornered by another Manchester dialect... Blues thrashed again in a time of 10 days when they had just returned from San Siro crestfallen with an away goal -the only ray of hope. It seems as if the blues are losing the sublimity they preserved so well in the first half of the season... Drogba is the sole talisman but for how long?? Someone needs to step up. Or United is just a point behind now and really charged by heroics of Rooney who is in the form of his lifetime. Lets see what unfolds in Premier League.
Demolition at Motera (Figuratively ofcourse..!)
I had a strange deja vu at Motera... Blues again faltering against the Proteas. And its the same demolisher again... Abraham de Villiers did it in 2007 knocking 217* and here he is again with a century in 59 balls... he loves Motera I guess.
Friday, February 26, 2010
India look to wipe SA in the ultimate clash at Motera
Hi all,
The razzmatazz shifts to Ahmedabad as Team India look to narrow down on the Aussies for the run of Numero Uno in ODIs. Passion and patriotism will run through the veins tomorrow as the Indian team will take guard to claim the 3-match series against the Proteas. Exams are there, but who would want to miss Team India lifting the winner's trophy! I m there no matter what... I will also post every little worthwhile detail here. Absence of greats(Sachin n Viru) doesn't damp the occasion at all as Ahmedabad is always pumped and buzzing to welcome their national heroes...
Jai Hind.
The razzmatazz shifts to Ahmedabad as Team India look to narrow down on the Aussies for the run of Numero Uno in ODIs. Passion and patriotism will run through the veins tomorrow as the Indian team will take guard to claim the 3-match series against the Proteas. Exams are there, but who would want to miss Team India lifting the winner's trophy! I m there no matter what... I will also post every little worthwhile detail here. Absence of greats(Sachin n Viru) doesn't damp the occasion at all as Ahmedabad is always pumped and buzzing to welcome their national heroes...
Jai Hind.
Mourinho exults after win over Chelsea
"I always play to win, so we do nothing to draw and keep the record, nothing! I feel no pressure about it. I feel the record is so amazing that I must feel very relaxed. One day I will have to lose, and when this day arrives I will be very happy because I will be able to say: 'I didn't lose at home for x years, I didn't lose at home for x matches'."
Anderson and Ferdinand Ruled out for season
Manchester United FC midfielder Anderson has been ruled out for the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury and Rio Ferdinand could also miss the UEFA Champions League first knockout round second leg against AC Milan on 10 March.
Anderson was injured during Tuesday's 3-0 Premier League defeat of West Ham United FC and the 21-year-old Brazilian will undergo an operation in Portugal in early March. He is expected to be sidelined for six months. "With these injuries, it's usually something simple. He stretched to pass the ball and his knee just popped," manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. "It's a bad bit of news for him. He was just getting back into the team after being out for a few weeks. He was looking forward to it and was showing great energy in the match. So that is a blow, particularly with the Milan game coming up, because Michael Carrick is suspended for that."
Also likely to sit out Milan's visit is central defender Ferdinand, who skipped the West Ham match with a back problem which definitely keeps him out of Sunday's English League Cup final against Aston Villa FC at Wembley. "We think he'll be back in two weeks," added Sir Alex. "I don't think he'll be fit for Milan, but I don't think it'll be much longer than that." United, leading 3-2 in the tie, are hopeful that Ryan Giggs will be available against the Rossoneri as he returns to training next week following an absence with a fractured arm.
UEFA EURO 2012
The final tournament of the 14th UEFA European Football Championship will be held in Poland and Ukraine from 8 June to 1 July 2012. It will be the third time that the final tournament is jointly hosted by two countries (after Belgium/Netherlands in 2000 and Austria/Switzerland in 2008).
Sixteen national teams will compete in a total of 31 matches to be crowned European champions. The format of four groups of four teams will be used for the last time in this tournament. The competition format will change for the next edition in 2016 as the lineup of participants competing in the final tournament will be increased to 24.
The UEFA EURO 2012 matches will be played in eight stadiums, four in Poland – Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw – and four in Ukraine – Donetsk, Lviv, Kharkiv and Kyiv. The opening match will take place in Warsaw on 8 June and the final on 1 July in Kyiv. No fewer than 1.4 million fans will be expected at the stadiums and the matches will be broadcast live in more than 200 territories around the world.
UEFA Champions League - Chelsea Defeat
FC Internazionale Milano coach José Mourinho is confident of emulating past success when he returns to Stamford Bridge on 16 March looking to defend a 2-1 lead in the second leg of his side's UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie against Chelsea FC.
The Portuguese coach enjoyed three trophy-laden seasons with the London club and admitted it was strange coming up against his old team at San Siro. The acid test now awaits him at Stamford Bridge with Mourinho expecting his current charges to prosper there too. "Even in the tunnel before going out on to the pitch it was clear it was not a normal game for me or the Chelsea players," Mourinho said.
"Now I will return to Stamford Bridge, but in a different dressing room and sitting on a different bench. I will go back home but I will control my emotions because I'm a professional and I just want to win. This is not the ideal result, but I'm happy and the Chelsea players know I can be successful at Stamford Bridge. Before the game I told my players Chelsea are not superior to us. Both sides can play better than they did, but it's hard to deal with pressure in such important games."
The Italian champions were knocked out by English opposition at this stage in each of the last two seasons, and Mourinho believes victory over Chelsea lays down a significant marker. "We have proved we are a big team in the UEFA Champions League as well," he said. "Inter had failed to win games at this stage in the last few years. Now we have an advantage, but it's only the first half and Chelsea will try to change the result at Stamford Bridge. We know it's not over, but we created a few chances to score at Manchester United last season and I'm sure we can do the same at Stamford Bridge."
The match was an open affair, with Didier Drogba hitting the bar on the quarter-hour mark and both goalkeepers forced into key saves, so Cambiasso was pleased to have secured a slight edge ahead of the return leg. "It was an even contest between two top teams who wanted to win," he said. "We have a narrow lead at half-time in a 180-minute match. Now we have to go to London to play the remaining 90 minutes and qualify for the quarter-finals."
With all things said and heard, all remains to be seen is the all guns blazing Chelsea(or perhaps Inter??) to put up a redoubtable performance in 2nd leg or just pack the bags from the championship. Well, 16th March is the day!!!
The Portuguese coach enjoyed three trophy-laden seasons with the London club and admitted it was strange coming up against his old team at San Siro. The acid test now awaits him at Stamford Bridge with Mourinho expecting his current charges to prosper there too. "Even in the tunnel before going out on to the pitch it was clear it was not a normal game for me or the Chelsea players," Mourinho said.
"Now I will return to Stamford Bridge, but in a different dressing room and sitting on a different bench. I will go back home but I will control my emotions because I'm a professional and I just want to win. This is not the ideal result, but I'm happy and the Chelsea players know I can be successful at Stamford Bridge. Before the game I told my players Chelsea are not superior to us. Both sides can play better than they did, but it's hard to deal with pressure in such important games."
The Italian champions were knocked out by English opposition at this stage in each of the last two seasons, and Mourinho believes victory over Chelsea lays down a significant marker. "We have proved we are a big team in the UEFA Champions League as well," he said. "Inter had failed to win games at this stage in the last few years. Now we have an advantage, but it's only the first half and Chelsea will try to change the result at Stamford Bridge. We know it's not over, but we created a few chances to score at Manchester United last season and I'm sure we can do the same at Stamford Bridge."
The match was an open affair, with Didier Drogba hitting the bar on the quarter-hour mark and both goalkeepers forced into key saves, so Cambiasso was pleased to have secured a slight edge ahead of the return leg. "It was an even contest between two top teams who wanted to win," he said. "We have a narrow lead at half-time in a 180-minute match. Now we have to go to London to play the remaining 90 minutes and qualify for the quarter-finals."
With all things said and heard, all remains to be seen is the all guns blazing Chelsea(or perhaps Inter??) to put up a redoubtable performance in 2nd leg or just pack the bags from the championship. Well, 16th March is the day!!!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
International Instructables 2009 Winner Project based on Arduino
Instructables contest results
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
World Clock - winner of Instructables Arduino contest 2009
A couple of weeks ago we announced the Instructables Arduino contest, the results are now ready. The pretty World Clock won. I wonder if its maker will send me one this Xmass. The people at Instructables were overwhelmed with the response from the community. Believe me when I say there were a lot of entries, it was hard to be in the jury … the level in the projects presented got quite high.
I wish I had some time to join one of these contests myself. But … mm … it’s maybe better just being part of the jury, I don’t want to lose against you guys!
What Arduino is capable of...
All the Arduino lovers n aspirants plz have a look...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhTi8rcRmM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhTi8rcRmM&feature=player_embedded
NEWS
# Sachin Tendulkar (pictured) becomes the first player to hit a double century in a One Day International match.
# Bal wins the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first Turkish film to do so since 1964.
# Former U.S. Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig dies at the age of 85.
# Flooding on the Portuguese island of Madeira kills at least 43 people and paralyzes many basic services in the regional capital Funchal.
# The Dutch coalition government under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende collapses over disagreements on extending the country's military mission in Afghanistan.
# IUPAC officially names the element with atomic number 112 as copernicium in honour of Nicolaus Copernicus.
# Bal wins the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first Turkish film to do so since 1964.
# Former U.S. Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig dies at the age of 85.
# Flooding on the Portuguese island of Madeira kills at least 43 people and paralyzes many basic services in the regional capital Funchal.
# The Dutch coalition government under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende collapses over disagreements on extending the country's military mission in Afghanistan.
# IUPAC officially names the element with atomic number 112 as copernicium in honour of Nicolaus Copernicus.
Arduino - Open Source Hardware
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.
Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software on running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP).
The boards can be built by hand or purchased preassembled; the software can be downloaded for free. The hardware reference designs (CAD files) are available under an open-source license, you are free to adapt them to your needs.
Arduino received an Honorary Mention in the Digital Communities section of the 2006 Ars Electronica Prix. The Arduino team is: Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, Gianluca Martino, and David Mellis.
Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software on running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP).
The boards can be built by hand or purchased preassembled; the software can be downloaded for free. The hardware reference designs (CAD files) are available under an open-source license, you are free to adapt them to your needs.
Arduino received an Honorary Mention in the Digital Communities section of the 2006 Ars Electronica Prix. The Arduino team is: Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, Gianluca Martino, and David Mellis.
26/11 What happened and the Aftermath...
Dear Reader, forgive my self-indulgence, but I write this as an angry and anguished Indian citizen and south Mumbaikar as much as a professional journalist. Over the last few days, as I have watched the city of my youth being ravaged by mindless terror, I must confess to feeling helpless, almost violated, as if someone had defiled the shrine of an old unhurried, SAFE Bombay.
Each terror site ignites a flash of memories, the roll call of the dead consist of names I grew up with. In the geography of terror, the horror has come precariously close to home: my mother lives just a block away from Nariman House in Colaba, an area that has been traditionally the most secure in the metropolis.
Its almost as if in the space of 72 bloody hours, an entire universe of memories has been shaken, perhaps irretrievably. Leopolds Café where I had my first beer in celebration of clearing the high school exam; Colaba market, where in the congested bylanes you got the best chicken rolls and patties in the city; Metro junction where you slipped out of college to catch the latest matinee; VT station which you passed every morning to work, the Oberoi hotel which left you awe-struck, one of the first high rises that dotted the Nariman Point landscape; and, of course, the Taj.
Mumbai without the Taj is a bit like a Queen without the crown. The Taj experience isn't just about the rich and famous, it's a symbol of Mumbai's urbane, cosmopolitan identity, undoubtedly elitist, but reflecting the civility that is so precious to the city. As a south Mumbai collegian, a monthly visit to the Shamiana, the coffee shop at the Taj was part of the growing up years. You saved up for it because being in that ambience made you feel just a little adult and sophisticated. Just the thought of maybe, just maybe, rubbing shoulders with a cricketer or a film star at the next table was enough to spend hours over a cappuccino.
In that sense, 26/11 has blown apart a certain way of life, each grenade exploding the innocence of another era. Not to forget the friends one has lost. Ashok Kamte, Xavierite from the batch of 85, a police officer with the muscle of a Schwarznegger and the heart of a giant teddy bear. For Ashok, being a police officer was not just a professional option, it was a family tradition: his grandfather had been Maharashtra's first inspector general of police.
Sunil Parekh, a successful businessman, two years senior in school, shot alongwith his wife, even as they dined at the Oberoi. The ever-smiling Sabina Sehgal Saikia, a colleague from the glorious Times of India days when there were no 24 hour news channels to shatter the idyll of an extended editorial meeting. Ashok Kapur, ex-president of the Bombay Gymkhana club, whose colonial environs still provide an old school refuge from the cut and thrust competitiveness of new India.
I am not alone. Most people in this old Mumbai world have been touched directly by the terrorist. 26-11 has given a face to terror to a community which until now was happily insulated from it. While buses were blasted in distant suburbs, train commuters were targeted and the crowded bazaars of central Mumbai were hit, south Mumbai was somehow a sanctuary where you felt protected, where the tryst with terror for a majority was limited to watching it unfold on television in some distant corner.
Now, sitting in your home verandah and watching NSG commandos being airdropped and gunshots being fired, there was no escaping the reality: terror had entered your neighbourhood.
Which is also why 26-11 is very different from Mumbai's original date with terror on March 12th 1993. Then, the serial blasts across the city left us dazed and fearful. Then, we thought the terror had sprung from the ghettoes, from the grimy underbelly of the city. We knew of Dawood, although we didn't quite know what RDX was. We saw the blasts as a continuum of the riots, a cycle of violence and vengeance that we hoped would soon end.
Fifteen years later, after repeated assaults, the perpetrator of the bomb blast has transformed himself into a far more terrifying phantom than in the early 90s. In the 21st century, this lethal and evil force has just demonstrated that it can strike at will whenever and wherever it wants and so called Rising India can't do a damn thing. Which is why the fear this time is matched by rage. Its an anger felt by a citizenry which feels betrayed by their leadership. When in 1993, RDX landed on the coastal coast it was felt that this was an unfortunate breach of security. Now we know that this was no aberration: a combination of callous politicians, bumbling bureaucrats and an emasculated police force have created a feeble and corrupted system that is simply incapable of taking on trained and highly motivated terrorists.
This is not a partisan issue either: the fact is that bomb blasts have taken place across the country, from Narendra Modi's Gujarat to Vilasrao Deshmukh's Maharashtra. Intelligence failure is not the prerogative of any one political party or government, its reflective of an antiquated bureaucracy that is totally out of its depth when dealing with the international jihadist. Why, for example, does it take a formal request from the state government to the home ministry for the NSG commandos to be flown in several hours after terror has struck?
Where is the crisis management committee that needs to spring into action right away? And why should an officer investigating a terror case also be expected to be out on the street engaging in a gunfight with AK 47 wielding terrorists?
Today, every citizen is asking these questions. The candlelight vigils and sms campaigns may seem ineffectual, but lets not underestimate the power of an enlightened citizenry in the media age. There is a new vote bank out there, a vote bank of furious and articulate people, many of whom are directly responsible for driving the Indian dream forward. It is impossible for any politician to ignore this urban voter and rely on the rural masses alone. 26-11 has ensured that the Indian upper middle class emerge from its cocoon of privilege. The voices being heard at the Gateway of India are a slowly gathering momentum. Over the debris of the Taj, the Indian elite may finally be coming of age.
Above is the letter of a crestfallen common man - Rajdeep Sardesai...
Each terror site ignites a flash of memories, the roll call of the dead consist of names I grew up with. In the geography of terror, the horror has come precariously close to home: my mother lives just a block away from Nariman House in Colaba, an area that has been traditionally the most secure in the metropolis.
Its almost as if in the space of 72 bloody hours, an entire universe of memories has been shaken, perhaps irretrievably. Leopolds Café where I had my first beer in celebration of clearing the high school exam; Colaba market, where in the congested bylanes you got the best chicken rolls and patties in the city; Metro junction where you slipped out of college to catch the latest matinee; VT station which you passed every morning to work, the Oberoi hotel which left you awe-struck, one of the first high rises that dotted the Nariman Point landscape; and, of course, the Taj.
Mumbai without the Taj is a bit like a Queen without the crown. The Taj experience isn't just about the rich and famous, it's a symbol of Mumbai's urbane, cosmopolitan identity, undoubtedly elitist, but reflecting the civility that is so precious to the city. As a south Mumbai collegian, a monthly visit to the Shamiana, the coffee shop at the Taj was part of the growing up years. You saved up for it because being in that ambience made you feel just a little adult and sophisticated. Just the thought of maybe, just maybe, rubbing shoulders with a cricketer or a film star at the next table was enough to spend hours over a cappuccino.
In that sense, 26/11 has blown apart a certain way of life, each grenade exploding the innocence of another era. Not to forget the friends one has lost. Ashok Kamte, Xavierite from the batch of 85, a police officer with the muscle of a Schwarznegger and the heart of a giant teddy bear. For Ashok, being a police officer was not just a professional option, it was a family tradition: his grandfather had been Maharashtra's first inspector general of police.
Sunil Parekh, a successful businessman, two years senior in school, shot alongwith his wife, even as they dined at the Oberoi. The ever-smiling Sabina Sehgal Saikia, a colleague from the glorious Times of India days when there were no 24 hour news channels to shatter the idyll of an extended editorial meeting. Ashok Kapur, ex-president of the Bombay Gymkhana club, whose colonial environs still provide an old school refuge from the cut and thrust competitiveness of new India.
I am not alone. Most people in this old Mumbai world have been touched directly by the terrorist. 26-11 has given a face to terror to a community which until now was happily insulated from it. While buses were blasted in distant suburbs, train commuters were targeted and the crowded bazaars of central Mumbai were hit, south Mumbai was somehow a sanctuary where you felt protected, where the tryst with terror for a majority was limited to watching it unfold on television in some distant corner.
Now, sitting in your home verandah and watching NSG commandos being airdropped and gunshots being fired, there was no escaping the reality: terror had entered your neighbourhood.
Which is also why 26-11 is very different from Mumbai's original date with terror on March 12th 1993. Then, the serial blasts across the city left us dazed and fearful. Then, we thought the terror had sprung from the ghettoes, from the grimy underbelly of the city. We knew of Dawood, although we didn't quite know what RDX was. We saw the blasts as a continuum of the riots, a cycle of violence and vengeance that we hoped would soon end.
Fifteen years later, after repeated assaults, the perpetrator of the bomb blast has transformed himself into a far more terrifying phantom than in the early 90s. In the 21st century, this lethal and evil force has just demonstrated that it can strike at will whenever and wherever it wants and so called Rising India can't do a damn thing. Which is why the fear this time is matched by rage. Its an anger felt by a citizenry which feels betrayed by their leadership. When in 1993, RDX landed on the coastal coast it was felt that this was an unfortunate breach of security. Now we know that this was no aberration: a combination of callous politicians, bumbling bureaucrats and an emasculated police force have created a feeble and corrupted system that is simply incapable of taking on trained and highly motivated terrorists.
This is not a partisan issue either: the fact is that bomb blasts have taken place across the country, from Narendra Modi's Gujarat to Vilasrao Deshmukh's Maharashtra. Intelligence failure is not the prerogative of any one political party or government, its reflective of an antiquated bureaucracy that is totally out of its depth when dealing with the international jihadist. Why, for example, does it take a formal request from the state government to the home ministry for the NSG commandos to be flown in several hours after terror has struck?
Where is the crisis management committee that needs to spring into action right away? And why should an officer investigating a terror case also be expected to be out on the street engaging in a gunfight with AK 47 wielding terrorists?
Today, every citizen is asking these questions. The candlelight vigils and sms campaigns may seem ineffectual, but lets not underestimate the power of an enlightened citizenry in the media age. There is a new vote bank out there, a vote bank of furious and articulate people, many of whom are directly responsible for driving the Indian dream forward. It is impossible for any politician to ignore this urban voter and rely on the rural masses alone. 26-11 has ensured that the Indian upper middle class emerge from its cocoon of privilege. The voices being heard at the Gateway of India are a slowly gathering momentum. Over the debris of the Taj, the Indian elite may finally be coming of age.
Above is the letter of a crestfallen common man - Rajdeep Sardesai...
Rajdeep Sardesai's letter to Uddhav Thackeray
Dear Udhavjee,
At the very outset, my compliments for the manner in which you've literally 'stolen' the headlines from your cousin Raj in the last fortnight. After the Assembly election defeat last October, there were many who had written you off as a weak, namby-pamby politician, who would be better off doing photography. But now, it seems that the 'fire' which burns inside Bal Thackeray is alive in the son too. After years of struggling to establish yourself, you have finally discovered the mantra for success as a Shiv Sena leader: find an 'enemy', threaten and intimidate them, commit the odd violent act, and, eureka!, you are anointed the true heir to the original 'T' company supremo.
Your cousin has chosen to bash faceless taxi drivers and students from North India, soft targets who are totally unprotected. You've been much braver. You've actually chosen to target national icons: Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan, powerful figures who most Indians venerate. Shah Rukh is no surprise since the Sena has always been uncomfortable with the Indian Muslim identity. Forty years ago, your father had questioned Dilip Kumar's patriotism for accepting an award from the Pakistani government. You've called Shah Rukh a traitor for wishing to choose Pakistani cricketers in the IPL. That your father invited Javed Miandad, the former Pakistani captain and a close relation of Dawood Ibrahim, to your house is a matter of record that we shall not go into today.
I am a little surprised that you chose to question Ambani and Tendulkar though. The Sena has always enjoyed an excellent relationship with corporate India. Why then criticise India's biggest businessman for suggesting that Mumbai belongs to all? After all, no one can deny that Mumbai's entrepreneurial energy has been driven by communities from across India. The diatribe against Sachin is even more strange. He is, alongwith Lata Mangeshkar, Maharashtra's most admired and recognised face. Surely, you will agree that Sachin symbolizes Maharashtrian pride in a manner that renaming shops and streets in Marathi never can.
Of course, in-between some of your local thugs also attacked the IBN Lokmat office. I must confess that initially the attack did leave me outraged. Why would a political outfit that claims to protect Maharashtrian culture attack a leading Marathi news channel? But on reflection I realized that we hadn't been singled out: over the last four decades, the Shiv Sena has targeted some of Maharashtra's finest literary figures and journalistic institutions. That you continue to live in a colony of artists while attacking artistic freedom remains one of the many tragic ironies in the evolution of the Sena.
Just before the Assembly elections, you had told me in an interview that you were determined to shake off the Shiv Sena's legacy of violence. You spoke of the need for welfarist politics, of how you were saddened that rural Maharashtra was being left behind. I was impressed by the farmer rallies you had organized, by the fact that you had documented farmer suicides in the state. I thought that Uddhav Thackeray was serious about effecting a change in Maharashtra's political landscape.
I was obviously mistaken. Farmer suicides still continue, the after-effects of drought are still being faced in several districts, but the focus is now squarely on finding high profile hate figures. You claim to have a vision for Mumbai. Yet, on the day the Sena-controlled city's municipal corporation's annual budget revealed an alarming financial crisis, your party mouthpiece, Saamna, was running banner headlines seeking an apology from Shah Rukh Khan. You asked your Shiv Sainiks to agitate against Rahul Gandhi's visit to Mumbai, but why have you not asked them to wage a war against the water cuts that have made life so difficult for millions in the city?
At one level, I can understand the reasons for your frustration. The Congress-NCP government in the state has been thoroughly incompetent: the last decade has seen Maharashtra decline on most social and economic parameters. Yet, the Shiv Sena has been unable to capture power in the state. Your war with cousin Raj has proved to be self-destructive. The Assembly election results showed that a united Sena may have offered a real challenge to the ruling alliance. In fact, the Sena and the MNS together garnered around 43 per cent of the popular vote in Mumbai-Thane, almost seven per cent more than what was obtained by the Congress-NCP combine. Yet, because your vote was split, you won just nine of the 60 seats in the region, a result which proved decisive in the overall state tally.
Your defeat seems to have convinced you that the only way forward is to outdo your cousin in parochial politics. It's a strategy which has undoubtedly made you a headline-grabber once again. Unfortunately, television rating points don't get you votes or goodwill. There is space in Maharashtra's politics for a regional force, but it needs to be based on a constructive, inclusive identity.
Tragically, the Shiv Sena has never offered a serious social or economic agenda for the future. Setting up the odd wada pav stall in Mumbai is hardly a recipe for addressing the job crisis . Why hasn't the Sena, for example, started training projects to make Maharashtrian youth face upto the challenges of a competitive job market? Why doesn't the Sena give regional culture a boost by supporting Marathi theatre, literature or cinema? The wonderful Marathi film, "Harishchandrachee Factory", nominated for the Oscars, has been co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala, a Parsi, who like millions of other 'outsiders' has made Mumbai his home. Maybe, I ask for too much. Tigers, used to bullying others for years, will never change their stripes.
Post-script: Your charming son, Aditya, who is studying English Literature in St Xaviers College, had sent me a collection of his poems. I was most impressed with his writing skills. Let's hope the next generation of the T company will finally realize that there is more to life than rabble-rousing!
Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!
At the very outset, my compliments for the manner in which you've literally 'stolen' the headlines from your cousin Raj in the last fortnight. After the Assembly election defeat last October, there were many who had written you off as a weak, namby-pamby politician, who would be better off doing photography. But now, it seems that the 'fire' which burns inside Bal Thackeray is alive in the son too. After years of struggling to establish yourself, you have finally discovered the mantra for success as a Shiv Sena leader: find an 'enemy', threaten and intimidate them, commit the odd violent act, and, eureka!, you are anointed the true heir to the original 'T' company supremo.
Your cousin has chosen to bash faceless taxi drivers and students from North India, soft targets who are totally unprotected. You've been much braver. You've actually chosen to target national icons: Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan, powerful figures who most Indians venerate. Shah Rukh is no surprise since the Sena has always been uncomfortable with the Indian Muslim identity. Forty years ago, your father had questioned Dilip Kumar's patriotism for accepting an award from the Pakistani government. You've called Shah Rukh a traitor for wishing to choose Pakistani cricketers in the IPL. That your father invited Javed Miandad, the former Pakistani captain and a close relation of Dawood Ibrahim, to your house is a matter of record that we shall not go into today.
I am a little surprised that you chose to question Ambani and Tendulkar though. The Sena has always enjoyed an excellent relationship with corporate India. Why then criticise India's biggest businessman for suggesting that Mumbai belongs to all? After all, no one can deny that Mumbai's entrepreneurial energy has been driven by communities from across India. The diatribe against Sachin is even more strange. He is, alongwith Lata Mangeshkar, Maharashtra's most admired and recognised face. Surely, you will agree that Sachin symbolizes Maharashtrian pride in a manner that renaming shops and streets in Marathi never can.
Of course, in-between some of your local thugs also attacked the IBN Lokmat office. I must confess that initially the attack did leave me outraged. Why would a political outfit that claims to protect Maharashtrian culture attack a leading Marathi news channel? But on reflection I realized that we hadn't been singled out: over the last four decades, the Shiv Sena has targeted some of Maharashtra's finest literary figures and journalistic institutions. That you continue to live in a colony of artists while attacking artistic freedom remains one of the many tragic ironies in the evolution of the Sena.
Just before the Assembly elections, you had told me in an interview that you were determined to shake off the Shiv Sena's legacy of violence. You spoke of the need for welfarist politics, of how you were saddened that rural Maharashtra was being left behind. I was impressed by the farmer rallies you had organized, by the fact that you had documented farmer suicides in the state. I thought that Uddhav Thackeray was serious about effecting a change in Maharashtra's political landscape.
I was obviously mistaken. Farmer suicides still continue, the after-effects of drought are still being faced in several districts, but the focus is now squarely on finding high profile hate figures. You claim to have a vision for Mumbai. Yet, on the day the Sena-controlled city's municipal corporation's annual budget revealed an alarming financial crisis, your party mouthpiece, Saamna, was running banner headlines seeking an apology from Shah Rukh Khan. You asked your Shiv Sainiks to agitate against Rahul Gandhi's visit to Mumbai, but why have you not asked them to wage a war against the water cuts that have made life so difficult for millions in the city?
At one level, I can understand the reasons for your frustration. The Congress-NCP government in the state has been thoroughly incompetent: the last decade has seen Maharashtra decline on most social and economic parameters. Yet, the Shiv Sena has been unable to capture power in the state. Your war with cousin Raj has proved to be self-destructive. The Assembly election results showed that a united Sena may have offered a real challenge to the ruling alliance. In fact, the Sena and the MNS together garnered around 43 per cent of the popular vote in Mumbai-Thane, almost seven per cent more than what was obtained by the Congress-NCP combine. Yet, because your vote was split, you won just nine of the 60 seats in the region, a result which proved decisive in the overall state tally.
Your defeat seems to have convinced you that the only way forward is to outdo your cousin in parochial politics. It's a strategy which has undoubtedly made you a headline-grabber once again. Unfortunately, television rating points don't get you votes or goodwill. There is space in Maharashtra's politics for a regional force, but it needs to be based on a constructive, inclusive identity.
Tragically, the Shiv Sena has never offered a serious social or economic agenda for the future. Setting up the odd wada pav stall in Mumbai is hardly a recipe for addressing the job crisis . Why hasn't the Sena, for example, started training projects to make Maharashtrian youth face upto the challenges of a competitive job market? Why doesn't the Sena give regional culture a boost by supporting Marathi theatre, literature or cinema? The wonderful Marathi film, "Harishchandrachee Factory", nominated for the Oscars, has been co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala, a Parsi, who like millions of other 'outsiders' has made Mumbai his home. Maybe, I ask for too much. Tigers, used to bullying others for years, will never change their stripes.
Post-script: Your charming son, Aditya, who is studying English Literature in St Xaviers College, had sent me a collection of his poems. I was most impressed with his writing skills. Let's hope the next generation of the T company will finally realize that there is more to life than rabble-rousing!
Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!
Antenna Syllabus
From J.D.Kraus, 2.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,13,15... then, 4.1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,13,17... then, 5.2,3... That's about it...
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