Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Soccer mania
It was shocking to see Italy win on a last minute penalty in their game against Australia yesterday. The panelist on ESPN pointed out that it was Italian and Spanish style to dive in the penalty area to get penalty kicks, and the Azzuri did succeed yesterday. The spirit of the "Beautiful Game" was forgotten.
I thought the Socceroos (Australians) played well to hold Italy for 90 minutes without a goal.
They go back with their head held high, and I reckon in 4 years, they will become a major force to reckon with.
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Various theories have been floated around the world by soccer fans, to justify why their team would win the Fifa World Cup.
Here is a sample:
1. Italy : When Italy won the last time in 1982, its players were embroiled in a match-fixing scam. This time too, many players in the national team are under match-fixing cloud.
2. Spain : Nostradamus has predicted that Spanish King and his army will conquer fields in Central Europe. Fans have interpreted the Spanish King and his army as the Spanish coach and their soccer players and, the fields in Central Europe as the football stadiums in Germany.
3. Brazil : Some numerical jugglery, making the sum of their victory year nos. to 3964. Since they won in 1958, and 1958+2006 = 3964, they are predicting a Brazil victory.
I thought the Socceroos (Australians) played well to hold Italy for 90 minutes without a goal.
They go back with their head held high, and I reckon in 4 years, they will become a major force to reckon with.
---
Various theories have been floated around the world by soccer fans, to justify why their team would win the Fifa World Cup.
Here is a sample:
1. Italy : When Italy won the last time in 1982, its players were embroiled in a match-fixing scam. This time too, many players in the national team are under match-fixing cloud.
2. Spain : Nostradamus has predicted that Spanish King and his army will conquer fields in Central Europe. Fans have interpreted the Spanish King and his army as the Spanish coach and their soccer players and, the fields in Central Europe as the football stadiums in Germany.
3. Brazil : Some numerical jugglery, making the sum of their victory year nos. to 3964. Since they won in 1958, and 1958+2006 = 3964, they are predicting a Brazil victory.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Soccer humour
If you are not watching the Fifa World Cup in Germany, you are not only missing some quality football, but also, some really humurous commentary.
Sample this (brackets indicate the match during which the comments were made) :
Trinidad and Tobago, who chances were written off more times than the Mexican national debt, have held Sweden to a draw. (Sweden vs Trinidad & Tobago)
Japanese problem about goalscoring, according to Zico (their Coach), is like constipation. You need only one moment, and then, you are relieved. (Croatia vs Japan)
The ball hit Crouch (English striker) rather than Crouch hitting the ball. (England vs Paraguay)
Brazil should remember, Australia is difficult to beat in any sport. (Brazil vs Australia)
He is going greyer by the minute, Carlos Alberto Pareira (Brazilian Coach). (Brazil vs Australia)
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Current Music : Mitwa/Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna
Sample this (brackets indicate the match during which the comments were made) :
Trinidad and Tobago, who chances were written off more times than the Mexican national debt, have held Sweden to a draw. (Sweden vs Trinidad & Tobago)
Japanese problem about goalscoring, according to Zico (their Coach), is like constipation. You need only one moment, and then, you are relieved. (Croatia vs Japan)
The ball hit Crouch (English striker) rather than Crouch hitting the ball. (England vs Paraguay)
Brazil should remember, Australia is difficult to beat in any sport. (Brazil vs Australia)
He is going greyer by the minute, Carlos Alberto Pareira (Brazilian Coach). (Brazil vs Australia)
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Current Music : Mitwa/Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna
Friday, June 09, 2006
Bhutan Diary - I
If you want to go to Bhutan, you will have to go through the border town of Phuentsholing. Phuentsholling is about 160 kms./4 hrs. from Siliguri. If you want to travel cheaply and comfortably, hop onto one of the Bhutan Transport Service buses, from Siliguri's Tenzing Norgay Bus Stand.
Indian nationals don't need a visa but a permit to enter Bhutan. You need an ID Proof like Passport or Election I-Card. If you don't have this and have some other document like a driving license, like we had, you will have to take some extra effort to walk to the Liaison office of the Indian Embassy and get it attested. Do not think that the red tape ends with the Indian border :-)
A narrow (about 8 ft wide) and dangerous road of 170 kms connects Phuentsholling to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. This road was completed in 1968 and is the only land access to Bhutan. For the whole stretch, a deep valley lies on one side of the road on which even a minor mistake can take you rolling deep down. If you take a Sumo, like we did, you might have to pray to God that the driver negotiate the road successfully. A cheap, comfortable and slightly safe option is the Toyota Coaster bus which is run by the Government. We took it while coming back.
FYI, the Bhutanese roads are constructed by the Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO), whose local unit is called "Dantak". I was going through the Project's website which mentions that 605 people sacrificed their lives during this project. It is very unfortunate that BRO had to lose its men in this project in our neighbouring country.
Indian nationals don't need a visa but a permit to enter Bhutan. You need an ID Proof like Passport or Election I-Card. If you don't have this and have some other document like a driving license, like we had, you will have to take some extra effort to walk to the Liaison office of the Indian Embassy and get it attested. Do not think that the red tape ends with the Indian border :-)
A narrow (about 8 ft wide) and dangerous road of 170 kms connects Phuentsholling to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. This road was completed in 1968 and is the only land access to Bhutan. For the whole stretch, a deep valley lies on one side of the road on which even a minor mistake can take you rolling deep down. If you take a Sumo, like we did, you might have to pray to God that the driver negotiate the road successfully. A cheap, comfortable and slightly safe option is the Toyota Coaster bus which is run by the Government. We took it while coming back.
FYI, the Bhutanese roads are constructed by the Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO), whose local unit is called "Dantak". I was going through the Project's website which mentions that 605 people sacrificed their lives during this project. It is very unfortunate that BRO had to lose its men in this project in our neighbouring country.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Saral means complex
The new form for filing tax returns (for the salaried class) has just got complicated with the IT department asking details of household expenses and other inflows.
The motto of the government seems to be if you pay taxes honestly, it will try to inconvenience you more and, try to siphon the last penny out of your income. And there is no effort to increase the tax base which is mostly the salaried class.
More of this here Draconian State Strikes Again by Rajiv Desai in DNA.
The motto of the government seems to be if you pay taxes honestly, it will try to inconvenience you more and, try to siphon the last penny out of your income. And there is no effort to increase the tax base which is mostly the salaried class.
More of this here Draconian State Strikes Again by Rajiv Desai in DNA.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
The Bhutanese experience
I have been wanting to write about my Bhutanese experience for quite some time now but lethargy was getting the better of me.
Not that it was something to write home about. We failed to get a permit for the intended trek (Jhomolhari), because we hadn't officially hired a trekking company (which costs a bomb). It is therefore a reasonable assumption that trekking in Bhutan is not for Indians. Even the guys at the Indian Embassy in Thimphu couldn't help us. So we spent about 3 days walking up and down the Bhutanese heartland, visiting the Taksang Monastry, the Makin Reserve and the Jele Zhong (3500 m.), things which didn't need a permit.
And, by the end, we had enough of Bhutan, and were thrilled after we crossed back into India at the border town of Phuentsholling.
More later.
Not that it was something to write home about. We failed to get a permit for the intended trek (Jhomolhari), because we hadn't officially hired a trekking company (which costs a bomb). It is therefore a reasonable assumption that trekking in Bhutan is not for Indians. Even the guys at the Indian Embassy in Thimphu couldn't help us. So we spent about 3 days walking up and down the Bhutanese heartland, visiting the Taksang Monastry, the Makin Reserve and the Jele Zhong (3500 m.), things which didn't need a permit.
And, by the end, we had enough of Bhutan, and were thrilled after we crossed back into India at the border town of Phuentsholling.
More later.
