The Fury of a Sleeping Giant!

The modern amenities too good to resists yet given a chance then certainly will prefer to live in a place which very close to the nature sans all comfort. I was lucky that a quite a few time I had the chance to visit places of such which can be call as ‘virgin nature’. Be it a waterfront or a thick forest or  mountains all attract me equally. Unfortunately most of my journey took me to the places that only can be described as  concrete jungle. My ultimate dream was to visit Himalaya but only three years back I able to fulfill my long cherished dream. That tour was more memorable because I travelled all by myself to the Valley of Flower and Hemkund Sahib. While returning  I stopped at Badrinath for a night. Things was not good even that year, a couple of days before I started my Trekking expedition, the weather was very bad and local peoples from Haridwar warned us against the expedition but miraculously we completed our expedition with any fuss and trouble but once I returned to Kolkata weather at Himalayan state was turned very hostile and many tourist got struck. Even our tour too was delayed everyday and every point for landslides. During my journey what surprised me more was the multi-stored buildings that either situated on the hilltop or on the river bank and finally today I am not surprised to see the structures are falling in the river like a pack of cards.

Most of the tourist who travel to Uttarakhand are on pilgrimage tour to Char Dham or on a trekking expedition. The peoples who touring to upper Himalaya to Char Dham are mainly families and hardly can cope with any natural disaster that can happen anytime there but people go for trekking are better prepared for it.

Basically the Char Dham are the names of four pilgrimage places in India that are widely revered by most of the Hindus: Badrinath in north, Dwarka in west, Jagannath Puri in east, and Rameshwaram in the south. However the char dham of Himalayan state widely trevelled and was known as Chota Char Dham. The Chota Char Dham  or  'the small circuit of four abodes/seats', is an important Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the Indian Himalayas. Located in the Garhwal region of the state of Uttarakhand, the circuit consists of four sites - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath is also one of the four destinations of the longer Char Dham from which the Chota Char Dham likely draws its name. While each of these sites is unique in its own fashion, inclusion in the Char Dham has, over time, caused them be viewed together in popular imagination and in pilgrimage practice.

The Chota Char Dham included representatives from all three major Hindu sectarian traditions, with two Shakta (goddess) sites, (Yamunotri and Gangotri), one Shaiva site (Kedarnath), and one Vaishnava site (Badrinath). Accessible until 1950s only by arduous and lengthy walking trails in hilly area with height repeatedly exceeded 4000 meters, the Chota Char Dham was regularly done by wandering ascetics and other religious professionals, and those who could afford a traveling entourage. While the individual sites and the circuit as a whole were well known to Hindus on the plains below, they were not a particularly visible aspect of yearly religious culture. After the 1962 war between India and China, accessibility to the Chota Char Dham improved, as India undertook massive road building to border area and other infrastructure investments. As pilgrims were able to travel in mini buses, jeeps and cares to nearest points of four shrines, the Chota Char Dam circuit was within the reach of people with middle income. Vehicles reach upto Badrinath temple and Gangotri,Yamunotri and Kedarnath are at a distance of 10 to 15 k.m. from nearest motorable road.

¨  Yamunotri, the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the goddess Yamuna.   

¨  Gangotri, the source of the Ganges (River Ganga) and seat of the goddess Ganga.   

¨  Kedarnath, where a form of the Hindu god Shiva is venerated as one of the twelve jyotirling (linga of light).   

¨  Badrinath, the seat of the Hindu god Vishnu in his aspect of Badrinarayan.

!!!Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation. - Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2415!!!

The End of an Era of Suspense!!!

In our school going days having a telephone was a distant dream. But I consider the life was more peaceful without the device than with the device, because it hardly worked on those days. I remember often we used to go to the local post office to make a call. However, my blog is not about the telephone, I already spared a page for it before. I am writing about Telegrame,  a service too provided by the same company, I mean BSNL.

Telegram or Telegraph

Telegraphy derived from Greek word Tele "at a distance", and graphein "to write" is the long-distance transmission of messages without the physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus semaphore is a method of telegraphy whereas pigeon post is not.

Telegraphy requires that the method used for encoding the message be known to both sender and receiver. Such methods are designed according to the limits of the signaling medium used. The use of smoke signals, beacons, reflected light signals, and flag semaphore signals are early examples. In the 19th century, the harnessing of electricity brought about the means to transmit signals via electrical telegraph. The advent of radio in the early 1900s brought about radiotelegraphy and other forms of wireless telegraphy. In the Internet age, telegraphic means developed greatly in sophistication and ease of use, with natural language interfaces that hide the underlying code, allowing such technologies as electronic mail and instant messaging.

Telegraphs have existed in Europe from as early as 1792 in the form of semaphore lines, or optical telegraphs, that sent messages to a distant observer through line-of-sight signals. In 1837, American artist-turned inventor Samuel F. B. Morse conducted the first successful experiment with an electrical recording telegraph.

The story of Indian telecom began with the telegraph when the first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour in 1850.

The telegram also known as taar, disappear for once and for all on July 15, outpaced in the age of text messages and emails. The telegraphic service began in India in 1850  by cable, later wireless but what spurred the Indian telecom revolution has eventually been overtaken by it. It is the end of an era. The last telegram was sent on July 15. After that, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to discontinue the service which started the Indian telecom revolution in 1850.

Whenever, I think of a telegram my mind swipe away to the days when a telegram means either good news or bad news. It also bring back the memory of a friend who was my neighbour too in Mumbai. How terrified she used to be only by sighting a khaki clad man armed with a telegram at her doorstep, as if she was going get a heart attack.

!!!This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last. - Oscar Wilde!!!

!!!The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life. -  Daniel J. Boorstin !!!

The Buzzing Bees that doesn’t Sting.

It is hearting to see the PIO’s ( Person from Indian Origin) and NRI’s to prosper in a big way. We feel proud with their success stories even they prefer to distance themselves from us like Venkataraman Ramakrishnan. For your kind information that Venkataraman Ramakrishnan an Indo-American has shared Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with a co-American Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath of Israel for mapping ribosomes, the protein procuring factories within cells at the atomic level. He was immensely irritated by the accolades generated from India and mostly from his native state. We are equally proud for Sunita Williams and she generously acknowledge it, that divide between best and better.  However, that is another story but when we get up to find the young faces flashed over the television from Indian origin we may be still shameless to rejoice it selflessly and feel proud. So, congrats to Arvind Mahakali for winning Scrips Spelling Bee.

The Scrips Spelling Bee

Nine newspapers collaborated to start the National Spelling Bee in 1925. In 1941, Scripps took over sponsorship of the National Spelling Bee. There was no Scripps National Spelling Bee during the war years of 1943–45.

The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is one of those language puzzles that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity

The program experienced steady growth between the between 1980 and 1990 the number of participants doubled. In recent years the program underwent a second growth spurt and a significant surge in popularity  thanks to live coverage on ESPN.

The first winner of an official spelling bee was Frank Neuhauser, who won the 1st National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in 1925 at age eleven.

Controversy

Arvind Mahankali, successfully spelled the word "knaidel", which refers to a small mass of leavened dough, to win the high-profile contest. But linguists at the New York-based YIVO Institute for Jewish Research have told the New York Times that the preferred historical spelling of the word is "kneydl."

Eleven of the last fifteen winners including the last six years have been Indian Americans, reflecting the recent dominance of students of this community in this competition. Indian Americans make up less than one percent of the U.S. population.

Year	Name	Winning Word
1985	Balu Natarajan	milieu
1988	Rageshree Ramachandran	elegiacal
1999	Nupur Lala[G]	logorrhea
2002	Pratyush Buddiga	prospicience
2003	Sai Gunturi	pococurante
2005	Anurag Kashyap	appoggiatura
2008	Sameer Mishra	guerdon
2009	Kavya Shivashankar	Laodicean
2010	Anamika Veeramani	stromuhr
2011	Sukanya Roy	cymotrichous
2012	Snigdha Nandipati	guetapens
2013	Arvind Mahankali	knaidel

!!!Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt!!!

!!!If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it. - William Arthur Ward!!!

Not! Just Another Love Story!!

Sad to see that more often inhabitants overlook greatness of the other people and try to dig into their personal life to ridicule them for some or other aspect. We have to wakeup to the realization that what is normal for me may be abnormal for others. Not only in my state alone, or in India but as a citizen of the world we are yet to accept certain things what we called as abnormal. We, collectively always failed to understand the peoples with different sexual orientations or preferences. Often peoples from different walks of the life never failed to humiliate them without bothering that it is none of their business. After sad demise of renown director Rituparno Ghosh, it is time for us to realize that a human should be treated by his or her merit. Rituparno Ghosh was a genius of his own right. When he made award wining movie ‘Unishe April’, Bengali cinema was going through dire straits and the movie can be described  as trailblazer. A small tribute to the genius who died on 30^th May, 2013.

Rituparno Ghosh was born on 31 August 1963. He completed his schooling from South Point High School, and obtained a degree in economics from Jadavpur University. In 1992, his first film 'Hirer Angti' released. His next was 'Unishe April' in 1994 and won National Film Award for Best Feature Film.

He has won 12 National Film Awards in India and several awards at international film festivals abroad. He also have 19 awards in his name for work in advertisement he worked for. Here listing is some of his works :

Year	Flim
1994	Hirer Angti
1994	Unishe April
1997	Dahan
1999	Bariwali
1999	Asukh
2000	Utsab
2002	Titli
2003	Shubho Mahurat
2003	Chokher Bali
2004	Raincoat
2005	Antarmahal
2006	Dosar
2007	The Last Lear
2008	Khela
2008	Shob Charitro Kalponik
2010	Abohoman
2010	Noukadubi
2012	Chitrangada
2012	Sunglass
2013	Satyanwyashi- Unreleased
2013	Mumbai Cutting - Unreleased

He also worked as an actor in the following movies.

Year	Flim
2011	Arekti Premer Golpo (Just Another Love Story)
2011	Memories March
2012	Chitrangada

!!!The Best Way To Get Praise Is To Die.!!!

Bitter Grapes - II!

“Hell has three gates: lust, anger, and greed” -  Bhagavad Gita

Last week I wrote about the people accused of cheating and destroying the sports for their personal greed. My last blog was mainly on Football. There is no doubt that football a sport that is more close to my heart but as an Indian once I was madly attached with the cricket. However, turn of events over the years the madness died down and main culprit is a demon name BCCI who is killing it. Betting and fixing are the hot topics in the cricket for recent past and mainly during IPL. Betting is illegal in our country and I don’t know how it will help even it is legal. Betting and fixing more and more coming into the games since shorter form came to the picture.  I feel “the Fixer” of any games should be treated as any petty criminal. These are the few incident and people who involved in the betting or fixing while playing the game.

Pakistan

Saleem Malik	Banned in 2000 for offering bribes. First Cricketer To Get Jailed.
Ata-ur-Rehman	Banned in 2000 for dealings with bookmakers
Mohammad Asif	Bowling planned no-balls against England in August 2010. In November 2011 he was sentenced to 12 months in prison by Court in England, for conspiracy for cheating.
Salman Butt	Bowling of no-balls against England in August 2010. In November 2011 he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison by Court in England, for conspiracy for cheating.
Mohammad Amir	Bowling planned no-balls against England in August 2010. In November 2011 he was sentenced to six months in a young offenders institution by Court in England, for conspiracy for cheating.

India

Mohammad Azharuddin	Declared guilty as per the BCCI. He rejects this and has taken the matter to court where it is currently sub-judice.
Manoj Prabhakar	In 2000 he tried to implicate Kapil Dev and others but it backfired as he was found guilty himself
Ajay Jadeja	Alleged to have associated with bookmakers

South Africa

Hansie Cronje	Guilty of accepting monetary rewards from bookmakers. For Forecasting matches
Herschelle Gibbs	Initially agreed to under perform in an ODI game at Nagpur, but reneged on the deal and scored 74 off just 53 balls
Henry Williams	Initially agreed to under perform in an ODI game at Nagpur by conceding more than 50 runs off of 10 overs, however got injured after bowling 11 legitimate deliveries and 6 wides, conceding 11 runs.

Kenya

Maurice Odumbe

Receiving money from bookmakers

West Indies

Marlon Samuels

Passing on team information to an alleged bookmaker

Indian Premier League

2010

Five uncapped Indian players Mohnish Mishra, Shalabh Srivastava, T P Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali was  suspened from IPL  in the wake of a television sting operation which claimed to have exposed corruption in the cash-rich IPL.

2013

Current version of IPL was most controversial. Cricketers, bookies, an IPL team owner,  a small time actor and an umpire linked to the fixing scandal. Three crickerts form  Rajasthan Royals team, Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, was arrested on the charges of spot-fixing. A numbers of bookies too arrested from different cities and it followed by the arrest of a small time actor Vindoo Dara Singh and Gurunath  CEO of CSK team. Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf became the another casualty of this sordid saga.

!!!Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.!!!

Bitter Grapes - I!

“The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed.”  - Mahatma Gandhi.

Having extreme greed is not a crime, success never comes without being greedy. The greed for learning, for money or for acquiring knowledge is not a crime. All great person who left behind their vast invention definitely were more greedy than us. People like Bill Gates and Warren Buffets too greedy for more money, only they used it for a cause. However, when greed comes as a package along with unscrupulous route then it is crime. Since last week we are experiencing so much regarding spot fixing in the IPL and being an avid sports junkie certainly felt being cheated. Earning as good as sixty lakhs rupees for not bowling a over properly, WOW and OUCH.  

Every sports have a history of fixing and betting but only the team game which more often popped in the picture but no body guarantee that a tennis or a golf match never rigged.

If a fixer in a game of cricket which only played among a few handful countries can earn sixty lakhs within five minutes then what if it is a game of football. Here is a few instances of Football betting and match fixing.

Football

Paolo Rossi (The Villain turned to a Hero) - Italy

While at Perugia, Paolo Rossi was involved in the infamous 1980 betting scandal known in Italy as Totonero, and as a result of this Rossi was disqualified for three years though this was later reduced to a two year ban.

Rossi returned just in time for 1982 FIFA World Cup and he scored three memorable goals to shock Brazil 3–2 to qualify for the semi finals against Poland. n the final against Germany, Rossi scored the first of Italy's three goals to win the match 3–1, giving his team their third World Cup. With six goals total, he won the tournament's  Golden Boot award.

Spanish League – La Liga (2012-2013)

This year just concluded The Spanish football league is investigating Deportivo La Coruna's 4-0 win over Levante on 13 April over a possible case of match-fixing.

Italian League –Serie A (2005-2006)

May 2006 by Italian police, implicating league champions Juventus, and other major teams including AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina when a number of telephone interceptions showed a thick network of relations between team managers and referee organisations. Juventus were the champions of Serie A at the time. The teams have been accused of rigging games by selecting favourable referees. The table shows how the teams severely punished.

Ac Milan	Deducted 30 .
Fiorentina	Barred from 2006–07 UEFA Champions
Juventus	Stripped of 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles. Relegated to Serie B.
Lazio	Barred from 2006–07 UEFA Cup
Reggina	£68000 fine

Champions League

A Champions League tie played in England is among 380 suspicious matches in Europe uncovered in a wide-ranging match-fixing investigation.

The European police agency, Europol, says matches they believe were fixed include Word Cup and European Championship qualifiers, two Champions League games and "several top football matches in European leagues".

425 match officials, club officials, players and criminals are suspected of being involved, while a further 300 games covering Africa, Asia and south and central America are under suspicion.

A Champions League game involving Liverpool FC is at the centre of the biggest ever football match-fixing scandal in Europe, police have revealed.

It was claimed that the 2009 home tie with Hungarian side Debrecen VSC is under scrutiny. Liverpool won 1-0 and are not under any suspicion. But it is reported Debrecen goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic was allegedly paid to ensure there were more than two goals in the match. Poleksic palmed a shot by Fernando Torres into the path of Dirk Kuyt, who hit the winner.

!!!Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. - Erich Fromm!!!

Scot Freed and Scot Caged!

No entrainment can beat a football match when two quality teams fighting out on the pitch. Only sport which involved us physically and psychologically be it on television or from the touchline.  It is not all about Uff’s or WOW‘s like other sports. Frankly speaking, it is difficult stay still while watching a football match, my two feet constantly react with every hit and miss. Since ages I am following English Premier League. Even long before television arrived in India, I was madly following the game. Not, denying. at that time I was supporting Liverpool, it was when Kenny Dalglish  was in his prime. In 80’s I switched my loyalty to another RED and obliviously it is the Red Devil, Manchester United. Even MANU hater have to agree that the glamour quotient of the club is never got any competition not even by Barcelona. In 1986 a man in his early forties took over the charge of the club as head coach at old Trafford and rest was the history.  It is difficult to imagine the same Old Trafford without a man who constantly chewing the gum and adjusting his watch with the playing schedule. Often he is angry and often breaks in to a jig with immense happiness. A tribute to the Scottish genius named as Alexander Chapman Ferguson and fondly known as Sir Alex or Fergie.

Sir Alex Ferguson

Alexander Chapman Ferguson was born on  31 December 1941in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland.

After his playing career, he briefly coached a few club in Scotland and then at the end of the 1984–85 season, it was reported that Ferguson was being considered for the Liverpool manager's job after the retirement of Joe Fagan was announced, but the job was quickly accepted by Liverpool striker Kenny Dalglish, he did eventually join Manchester United when Atkinson was sacked in November 1986.

Manchester United

Appointment and first years

Ferguson was appointed manager at Old Trafford on 6 November 1986. He was initially worried that many of the players, such as Norman Whiteside, Paul McGrath and Bryan Robson were drinking too much and was "depressed" by their level of fitness, but he managed to increase the players' discipline and United climbed up the table to finish the season in 11th place, having been 21st when he took over.

First Trophy

For the 1989–90  season, United went on to win the FA Cup, beating Crystal Palace 1–0 in the final replay after a 3–3 draw in the first match, giving Ferguson his first major trophy as Manchester United manager.

First League Title

In 1990–91, there were some excellent performances that season but lost to Liverpool and  2–0 home defeat by Everton. The game where 17-year-old Ryan Giggs made his senior debut. They were runners-up in the League Cup, losing 1–0 to Sheffield Wednesday. They also reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating that season's Spanish champions Barcelona 2–1. After the match, Ferguson vowed that United would win the league the following season, and at long last he seemed to have won over the last of his skeptics after nearly five years in the job.

1998–99: Treble success

The 1998–99 season saw United complete an unprecedented treble sweep of trophies: the league, FA Cup and Champions League. The success coincided with the club becoming the world's richest and most valuable sporting brand worldwide.

Orders and special awards

Retirement

On 8 May 2013, Ferguson announced his retirement as manager of Manchester United. During his 26 years at the club, he won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League and two UEFA Champions League titles. His last match for the United will be On 19 May, 2013, against WBA. Another Scottish, the Everton Manager David Moyes will be his successor.

Some of the Major Reward

    Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE): 1983

    Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE): 1995

    Knight Bachelor (Kt.): 1999

Statistics

Playing Career
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)
1957–1960	Queen's Park	31	(15)
1960–1964	St. Johnstone	37	(19)
1964–1967	Dunfermline Athletic	89	(66)
1967–1969	Rangers	41	(25)
1969–1973	Falkirk	95	(36)
1973–1974	Ayr United	24	(9)

Coaching
1974	East Stirlingshire
1974–1978	St. Mirren
1978–1986	Aberdeen
1985–1986	Scotland
1986–2013	Manchester United

Team	From	To	P	W	D	L
East Stirlingshire	1 June 1974	20 October 1974	17	9	2	6
St. Mirren	21 October 1974	31 May 1978	169	74	41	54
Aberdeen	1 August 1978	5 November 1986	459	272	105	82
Scotland	10 September 1985	13 June 1986	10	3	4	3
Manchester United	6 November 1986	Present	1500	895	337	267

Sir Alex Ferguson was a one-off, a freak of nature who more than earned his 27 years at a powerhouse football club and brought unparalleled joy and glory to the red side of Manchester. There will not be another Ferguson, at least not in this century. He leaves behind a lasting legacy, a stand in his name and a statue of his.

!!!Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. - Thomas A. Edison!!!