We are the CHAMPIONS!!!

April 2, 2011: India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets and became World Champions. The last world cup that India won was on April 2, 1983 - 28 years ago.

The win was just unbelievable. After the first two wickets fell, everyone was disheartened. Somehow, the faith remained. Sachin (The God of Cricket) was the second one to be out, but we still had players like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj, Raina, and others.

Right after Sachin got out, I had to leave to go somewhere. I turned on the radio in my car to listen to the score updates. The radio jockey decided to play a prediction game of who will win and by how many runs/wickets. A guy named "Ali" called and predicted that India will lose by 100 runs. Another called and said India will lose by 177 runs. The score at that time was 75/2. I am not one to discriminate but I think those were disgruntled Pakistanis who wanted to see India lose.

As the game progressed, we saw a steady increase in Indian runs and the run rate. Gambhir played an outstanding game. I felt for him when he got out at 97 runs. I wish he had made his century. I agree with Dhoni that Gambhir was solely responsible for not reaching the mark. I think he was just impatient to reach that 100, and thought a four or a six will get him there quickly. At the same time, I think his out might have served as a boon for the Indian team. He was getting tired, and with new player (Yuvraj) on the field, the win just became more possible. The game had a perfect finish with Dhoni hitting that sixer. Dhoni is truly Mr. Cool. He did not even smile when he hit that six. He just turned around and calmly lifted one wicket and walked toward Yuvraj and then he smiled. India won by six wickets!

Who can forget Sachin? He is the God of Cricket who waited very long to hold that Cup. The team followed through with their promise and he finally held the Cup. I want to share a link just to show why he is the best:

Sachin Tendulkar – The Master who was Born to Bat

Best quote in the article is, "There are two kinds of batsmen in the world. One, Sachin Tendulkar. Two, all other batsmen. - Andy Flower." He has proved why he is called the "God of Cricket" by his actions. I think people need to stop speculating when he will retire. He has played for 21 years and even today, we can count on him. Let him decide when he needs to stop.

The win was possible because of one guy: Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is Mr. Cool, who led India to victory. He scored 91 runs under the stress. He was awarded "Man of the Match," which he rightfully deserved. On April 3, 2011, he showed up with his new bald look. I must say he is looking handsome. I LOVE this new look:

He has gone through so many different looks. He started with long here. I remember when he did really well and Aaj Tak's headlines were "Dhoni ki zulfo neih dho daala..." Then he went with short hair. Now completely bald. Here is another look at his different looks:

Yuvraj Singh was awarded with "Man of the Tournament." I did not watch all the games to know the stats, but heard about his achievements. I think he also deserved that title. I know he did wonderful in India vs. Pakistan game.

I heard it was crazy in Houston. People danced and partied on streets of Hillcroft. Restaurants gave away free dosas. According to the news channel, Indians had a parade in New Jersey right after the game. Celebrations in USA were nothing compared to how people celebrated in India. These are times that I miss India so much. There were celebrations on the streets and online as well. Twitter was bombarded by the tweets with minute by minute updates and people's opinions. Indian Homemaker did an excellent post noting the interesting and fun tweets. Check it out!

I am sure of one thing though. No matter where everyone was, they all had a big smile on their faces on Saturday and Sunday. We are still talking about it and we will continue talking about it even after we win the WORLD CUP 2015!

Source for images: Google search

The Hanging Tree

I am listening to Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This morning I listening to the chapter that had the "The Hanging Tree" song and the song is stuck in my head. Here it is:

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where I told you to run so we’d both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

I am enjoying the book. Since my last post, I have listened/read the following books:

• And Then There were None by Agatha Christie: Excellent book. I can't believe I never read her stuff. Loved the book. I can't wait to get my hands on the movie adaptations of the movie including Bollywood movie Gumnaam. It is a must read book. (10/10)
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Another great read. I think there are enough great reviews online.(10/10)
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: I read this on the plane to and back from India. The book is okay. The first book in the series is the best. (8/10)
• Sisters Eight series - Book 3 & 4: Cute children's book.
• Scott Pilgrim Vol 1 & 2. I watched the movie and I must say the movie was quite random. After some research, I found that the movie was based on Scott Pilgrim Manga. I am not a big fan of Manga but I had to pick this one to find out more about the movie. The books are okay.
• Room by Emma Donoghue: I listened to this book and absolutely loved it. Whoever read this book, I suggest you pick up the audio book. Michal Friedman (an adult woman) narrated the character Jack and she actually makes the listeners believe that they are listening to a five year old. (10/10)

I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand on my iPad and enjoying the book very much.

I will do another post about the trip to India and my sister's marriage hopefully soon. Over and Out.

Happy New Year!!!

2011! Wow! It is finally here! I think this year is going to be most exciting of all. I can just feel it.

The year is going to start on a positive note. My sister is getting married end of this month. I love weddings and celebrations. Since this one is family wedding, there is more excitement in the air. Packing is in progress and everything else is at starting stage (not good). Again, I have the feeling that it will all work out. I think this year has a lot in store for me, and finally things will start to look according to the plans.

2010 was a roller coaster, with many ups and downs. The best thing that happened was that I became a CPA. As for rest of the resolutions, I think I did fairly well. I read more books, baked cakes, and joined the gym. Besides reading books, I have no resolutions this year.

When it was Dec. 31, 1999, people predicted that all the computers would shut down because they cannot date further than 1999. A decade later, we have faster and better computers. Now the rumor is that life will end in 2012. Well, we will just see...

As for reading, according to Shelfari, I read 55 books in 2010. Shelfari makes it so easy to maintain the books. I think it should be 55.9 books, as I was so close to finishing Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella. I finished it this morning.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Blog Analysis

Here is Urlai's analysis of my blog: 



iPad: The Blog Killer

Two months ago, I bought my iPad, which is around the same time my last entry was posted. Do you see the connection? Every day I drove to work thinking that I will post something from my iPad today. However, every time I get a hold of my iPad, I am either reading, playing games, reading news...doing everything but blogging. Today morning I made a decision that I will write an entry the old school way - on my computer :)

After my rant, I am sure you have figured out why the title of the blog is "iPad: The Blog Killer."

Here is what all I have on my iPad:

1. Books: I uploaded tons of books on the iPad. I downloaded the apps iBooks, Kindle and Nook. I have used both iBooks and Kindle. All the classics books are free online. On top of that, Amazon has tons of free books, which include Tagore and historical non-fictions about India. I really liked the ability to highlight and comment on text and look up words in the dictionary while you are reading.

2. Games: I downloaded tons of games. The best ones are Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds, Sudoku, and Mahjong. What can I say? I am a nerd at heart.

3. Music: I love listening to music when I am doing chores around the house and having them on my iPad is definitely a plus. These two music apps, Shazam and SoundHound, recognize songs. It has happened many times when I have listened to a song on the radio and did not know the singer/band/album. Now I just record 30 seconds of it and let these apps figure out the song. It is awesome!!!

4. Photo editing apps: I am a sucker for photo shop and having the apps that make it easier definitely makes the whole iPad fun.

5. Other apps: I have news apps, entertainment apps (StumbleUpon), and social apps (Facebook and Twitter)

As you can tell, I love my iPad. Now if I can just find some cool noise-cancelling headphones :)

On to the books: I have read many books since my last book post. I am too lazy to talk too much about any of them.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bend - 5/10 - Some books start off good but leave a bitter taste in your mouth at the end. This was definitely one of those.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Audio Book) - 9/10 - This book is among the good books I read this year.

What is This Thing Called Love? by Gene Wilder  - 7/10

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Audio Book) - 10/10 - I am a fan of Neil Gaiman and love everything by him. This book was not an exception. I loved it. The book is actually based on the BBC show called "Neverwhere."

Serious Men by Manu Joseph - 9/10 - This was an excellent book. I felt this was better than The White Tiger.

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (Audio Book) - 7/10 - I am still so confused about the ending. If anybody knows what happened at the end, please let me know.

The Arabian Nights (Children version) - 10/10- I missed lots of stories but at the same time, the book brought back childhood memories. I remember reading Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves in grade school and some other stories. Someday I want to pick up the unabridged version of The Arabian Nights.

The Late, Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow (Audio Book) - 8/10 - It is a chic lit - enjoyable.

Arranged Marriage by Chitra Divakaruni - 8/10 - I was so looking forward to Chitra Divakaruni's Arranged Marriage. It was good; however, I must warn you, the stories are depressing.

London is the Best City in America by Laura Dave (Audio Book) - 8/10 - Another chic lit- enjoyable.

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok - 9.5/10 - This was a really good book.

The story deals with Asian American emigration experience. Kim, who immigrated to America, has to balance between work life (she is underage) and school life. She works to help her mother and make ends meet. It is really a touching story.

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession  by David Grann (Audio Book) - 8/10 - There are some topics that just appeal to me, and Sherlock Holmes is one of them. I have never read any of the mysteries but the books are definitely on my list. This book deals with real life events of "murder, madness, and obsession." I would listen to the stories and then check online afterwards for the full stories and the current status. I felt some stories did not relate; thus, I am giving it an 8. I highly recommend this book, along with other book that I rated above 7.

I read few more but I will talk about them in a separate posts.

I signed up the Audio Book Challenge last year. I chose the obsessed level, which was listening to 20 audio books. I had listened to 16 audio books before I took a hiatus. This post has five audio books, which puts me at 21 audio books. I just finished The M-factor, another audio book and will start The Hunger Games tomorrow. The total for this year is 23 audio books. I am done with the challenge. Yay!!!! This was fun. I am going to sign up again and will make a separate post.

P.S. I got my CPA license.