Cricketers are a highly pampered lot in India

The incident post match between Punjab and Mumbai is despicable and that's probably an understatement! Like many Indians, I too wonder if he deserved all the support and sympathy we so gladly offered early this year, in Australia. While we can do nothing about the past, I am sure we can do something now. For a start, a 11 match ban is a very lenient one. He can plead guilty, apologise, hug Sreesanth, never mind. An action as shameful as this, cannot be condoned and let off so lightly. You see, if it were a case of physical abuse, do you realise what the ramifications will be? We would all want a full trial and the accused be punished even if he pleads guilty. Why, then, a different treatment for cricketers? Are they a cut above us, mortals? This, in my opinion is a very soft signal to the players, some of whom require detailed sessions on decorum to be maintained during and after play. Cricket is the number one sport that the citizens of this country looks up to, cricketers enjoy the adulation and praise when they do well, they might as well learn the wrath of Indians when they fail and don't live up to expectations. Its time, we Indians show them 'zero tolerance' for such behavior. BCCI, can you hear the voice of so many Indians?

Earth's Magnetic Field & Suicides

Like many Indians, I've been concerned and curious about the spate of suicides in certain pockets of our country. When I probed further, I found very interesting facts. Crop failure or money lenders were not the cause!! There was something to do with the place! I know you may think me to be out of my mind, but believe me, I have some hard facts to support me. Apparently, these very districts in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, some districts in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have had suicides even in the 1890s when there were no such social ills or GM crops to blame the suicides on...
I also had the opportunity to listen to the Director General of IFPRI a couple of months ago, on the same subject. He had an even more incredulous fact! He said, from the World data they have access to, the maximum suicides were from developed, super rich countries. Apparently, Canada tops the list and he said India is not anywhere close! He explained saying that suicides are a very complex phenomenon and there are many many factors that play a role. This got me thinking and more curious.
Today, I got to read the story on the New Scientist. The latest theory is that a number of intriguing studies have found a link between peaks in geomagnetism and either suicide rates or depression. This probably explains my earlier finding of 'something to do with the place'
Check the link for the full story
http://email.newscientist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBU7Y0MY5lJ0mli0EyuB0Eg
Maybe we are close to getting to the bottom of the problem.

IPL

Ofcourse, I too have been victim of the IPL bug! Its all very well, everyone needs to make money and budding and retiring players need opportunities! and all that bla bla.. But I wonder what the cheerleaders are doing there?? Is any player watching them? Are the people on the stands watching them, I wonder! We, at home have no option but to watch the weird jigs these cheer leaders do when the TV crew train their cameras on them. To put it plainly, they look comical and completely out of place! If they want to entertain crowds during the innings break, its still understandable.. but after a four or six, one would like a replay or the strategy for the field placements rather than this absurdity. Am I alone here or do I voice the opinion of aam aadmi?

Spur of the Moment

The constant news on inflation this past month got me thinking about people who have retired and I wondered how they cope. And suddenly it struck me that Insurance companies can develop policies to address this issue. I am not sure if its practical but can be fine tuned by economists ( and I am not one! ). The idea is like this... an individual maybe given an option to give his monthly requirements (grocery /fuel / vegetables /fruits) and the Insurance company can give a policy to meet these demands. This will ensure adequate safety for the policy holder against inflation and the insurance company will anyway benefit through the premia collected. I sounded this out to an expert who thought it was quite original:-). Any Insurance guys out there reading this post can suggest this as a possible product and don't forget to acknowledge me for the IP. Hahaha.

Footprint

I have been wanting to blog for a while now... here I am atlast! As I see it, I will be blogging on current affairs, a little philosophy and some issues concerning scientific advances, mainly related to Implications in Biotechnology. So, look out for posts on these topics and leave your comments.