Olympics and India

It was a truly historic moment to see Abhinav Bhindra win a gold at the olympics.
But why has it taken so long for India to finally win an individual gold.

THIS
article from Saumya, was thought provoking as to what we Indians(who have excelled in all other sphere's) are lacking and what could be done to finally see some gold.

Here are my thoughts. I was going to leave comments on her blogsite but it was long enough to warrant a post.

What steps can be done to improve the state of sports in India:
In my opinion unless the incentive provided is lucrative enough, the interest in sports cannot develop. Just a railways job is not good enough....there have to be better college/school scholarship's. Instead of the n number of existing quotas we can actually have some good college scholarships based on sports.

In India the stress has always been on education....sports is never a viable option. Nowadays parents are becoming more aware and trying to channelise and making their kids all-rounders. But then again they are caught in this web of fierce competition....so after a while it will be you have to score better to secure an engineering seat etc. the cycle continues. So at some level this basic thinking has to change. That will happen only if there is a push with more incentives and encouragement for taking up sports as a career.

Privatising sports is a very good option. Most sports that are privatised, with money flowing in thru events etc have done quite decently. It will be more organised...less bureaucracy!! Take cricket for instance.

Third thing I feel is from the olympics perspective we have to take a check on our strengths ie which sports we are likely to succeed. Sport is a combination of strength/stamina/skill/team work in varying levels. I personally think India would do well in sports that need more of strength/skill. Take the case of China too, they do well in sports that involve more of skill/team work/strength say synchronised diving/badminton/gymnastics. They may not do as well as US in sports that involve pure stamina/speed like track and field. I feel they should identify the area's where they are more sure to find success and hone their skills in those area's. Not stereotyping, but it is just some nations/people maybe cut out for certain sports more than others. Maybe once they identify the areas they want to focus their energy on those. If it is privatised they could have international coaches for training in those sports alone.

Making the training/infrastructure more affordable at schools/college level is another way to generate the interest early on. Schools could have better track and field areas/swimming facilities/sports events.

While typing this blog I was reminded of the essays we used to write for school. :-)
Hope it doesn't remain an essay. Any inputs are most welcome.

2 words. Many thoughts

Since I have procastinated long enough and not posted anything. I took up Aparna's tag.
So read along...

I am: quite a balanced person most times. Atleast I think so ;-)
I think: I have come a long way from my carefree days to trying to be a responsible mom to my twosome.
I know: I can't have the cake and eat it too. and don't aim for it.
I have: more than everything I ever wanted.
I wish: there was a sure shot way to calm a toddler.
I hate: hypocrites/double standards. Being late
I miss: life in India/watching movies in the theater/window shopping.
I fear: bad news/roller coasters/snakes. In that order
I hear: the constant opening and closing of the restroom door. thanks to my cubicle positioning.
I smell: the air.
I crave: for some quiet time!!
I search: always on google :-)
I wonder: whats next in store for me. Also what to cook for dinner!!
I regret: giving up on my hobbies and also not keeping in touch with some old friends.
I love: my kids more than anything in the world. followed by hubby.
I ache: when my loved ones are in pain and I can't be of help.
I am not: a great conversationalist. it takes me a while to warm up in a big group!!
I believe: There is a silver lining to every cloud.
I dance: with 2 left feet. yup I'm that bad!!
I sing: very well. in my head that is!
I cry: very very rarely. But when I do....its hard to stop the water gate!
I fight: very less with my hubby these days ;-)
I win: most often he does!!
I lose: my temper and my purse very less these days. signs of progression towards patience/responsibility.
I never: forget to say a prayer!!
I always: end up procastinating
I confuse: myself very often !!
I listen: carefully to any advice offered and then decide on my own.
I can usually be found: cooking/watching tv in my free time.
I am scared: of losing my dear ones to an illness.
I need: a pep talk once in a way!!
I am happy about: life in general
I imagine: this post could have been funnier
I tag: anyone willing to take up

Rewind 10 years...

Laksh's blog http://www.lakshmusings.com/musings/2008/07/16/living-my-dream/ bought me out of hibernation and gave me some fodder for thought.

Lets see 10 years back where was I
Having passed out of college in 1997, and secured a decent scholarship-job immdly thereafter. In 1998 I must have been at an all time high. Missing home, at the same time enjoying the new found independence. Forging new frienships and exploring places. My career was going great guns and I was parallely working towards an MS. So all in all I couldn't have asked for more. It was a carefree life with no responsibilities to shoulder. I enjoyed working till dead end of the day, as work was my life back then. Weekends would be the time to catch up with friends, movies, MS classes.

Aspirations...back then
10 years back, I would have wanted to be successful in my career. Maybe persue an MBA down the lane. I always wanted to visit the UK/US on project assignments( just to see what was the big deal, back then). But never for once thought of settling down outside India. I never gave much thought to marriage/kids back then, as I knew it would happen when the time comes. I always wanted to remain close to my family and still have that aspiration. Wanted to buy a beautiful house.

present
Got married in 2002, and settled down in sunny CA. One of my dreams of visiting the US were getting realised while another dream of successful career eluded me for a long time. Still, I was enjoying my new life settling down with a loving hubby and having a great set of friends for company. After a long Haitus, I re-started my career with consulting. Was enjoying it for a while, when pregnancy struck. It was all well planned, in the sense I hoped to have a kid after 2 years of marriage. What I didnt plan was having twins. It took us by a complete surprise. Since then, it has been a roller-coaster ride. It has been fun/stressful/exciting/challanging 3+ years and I'm sure it will continue to remain so. A lot of my dreams/aspirations now circle around my kids/family. Even though I do have a job to get to, I would call myself more of a homemaker than a career woman. Careerwise, sometimes i'm working, sometimes on a break, but it doesn't seem to bother me.

Looking back I can say I enjoyed the life I had 10 years back and I'm enjoying the current phase to the hilt. I wouldn't trade one for the other.

10 years down the lane, I hope we continue to enjoy good health and happiness in the company of friends and family. Oh yes, by then I hope we settle down in India for good. My kids would be teenagers by then, I hope not to re-live any scary teenage stories. Or rather god give me enough patience and maturity in handling them. would be in 40's by then and hitting a mid-life crisis, Hope to successfuly sail thru it.

blog-o-mania

blog orkut here and a facebook there.
here a youtube, there a blog everywhere a blog orkut facebook youtube......

I'm simply amazed at the surge in not just blogging....but orkut/Facebook the diff means of networking. A year back, when I was still new to the blogging world, being a silent visitor to a couple of blog sites. I happened to mail a friend whom I had no contact for the past year or 2. So general enquiries led to what have you been upto the past year/would you care to share some pics. The response it evoked was...."Its all there in my blogsite xyz." surprise surprise I didnt know where to look for information :-). It was like a whole generation gone past suddenly.

Rewind 20 years back.."Nobody has time to write(I mean pen and paper), when you are just a
phone call away".
10 years back "Nobody has time to call, when you can simply mail/instant message/SMS"
present --> "why bother emailing/messaging when you could more efficiently nerwork through
Facebook/just leave a blog for the whole world to read".

Why did I think of posting this. Its all been there for the past few years, nothing new there. What is new, is the dimension/spin added by this to - Politics, media, sports you name it.

For instance
- On Facebook, BO has 1,000,400 supporters while JM has 147,000.
Just wondering...can Facebook and like technologies be a difference maker in the broader general election?

- HC is said to have lost a few supporters, thanks to some of the Youtube ads misfiring.

- Back in India, a lot of the top brass of B'wood, have blogs as a way of reaching out to the masses/promoting
their movies/lashing out at their peers. It is become the latest fad.

Till recently I used to think of these as a mere hobby/timepass. But no, they can mean serious business to some. While on the topic of blogging....I never thought I would get so hooked(taken hook,line and sinker
if you may) to it. But I have had the best time blogging, and hope to continue doing so.

One nation in need of a vacation

As my own vacation to India looms around the corner, this article I was reading in VIA mag couldn't have come at a better time.

Its going to be close to 3 years since I last took a long vacation. I think the longer the gap between your vacations, the more the depression sets in and more the craving increases to get as far away as possible. That may be the reason I'm litrally counting days to jet set and be as far away as possible from my home/work/and familiar surroundings. Escapism, you may say. but hey everybody needs it!!

I have always been appalled at the paltry 15-20 days of vacation time offered here in the US. (we still don't take that little vacation we are offered) Acc. to the article on an avg we use only 11 days of the annual allotment.

Even Japanese have an avg of 17.5 per year. The french who gave us the word leisure - get 36 days and take 94 percent of them. In England you get 24 days vacation time.
Acc. to the researchers at NYSU, guys who took annual vacations reduced their risk of death due to heart disease by 30 percent. And women who vacation at least twice a year are less depressed than women who vacation every year. and why wouldn't they be. Studies have also shown that Americans would be more productive with the increased time off. In fact now some companies are mandating that their employees take the annual vacation.

I guess the article made a strong case. i'm def. going to stick to once in 2years trip to India and every other year in between plan a vacation close by.

In short it is not just our right to annually abdicate duty. Its our duty.

Gas Prices!!

Birthday blues??

Can you blame me if I have one!! Strange but true, somehow once you hit the magic number 30 you suddenly feel like a million years old and you actually want people to forget ur Bday!!I'm long gone, past the phase when people ask me "what are your Bday plans" and I actually have one.

2 years hence, I'm a little more saner and wiser today to realise it is just a number. I was attaching way too much importance to it. In fact I don't feel a day older than I was a year or 2 back.

Thankfully it is not hitting me so hard :-) In fact I'm looking forward to cutting the Bday cake with the kiddos and cherishing the great moments that this past year has offered and looking forward to making new memories. I was already in a super-duper mood thanks to the cutesy cards and Happy Bday singing in the morning courtesy hubby/kids/mil/fil/mom/bro etc. You get the picture. Needless to say, I'm grinning from ear to ear typing this blog.