Month: August 2006

Book Review: Life of Pi

Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel

Excellent book. When I started reading the book I had serious doubts if a book based largely on animals would keep me engaged. I was pleasantly surprised. Extremely well written and very creative. Hats off to the author for such a wonderful novel. The level of detail with which he captures the teenager (named “Pi”) growing up in India is impressive. The teenager practicises Hinduism, Islam and Christianity! This leads to some interesting musings about religion. The second half of the book is mostly about Pi escape from a sinking ship in a lifeboat with a Tiger, Hyena and Orangutan.

p.s: I read this book quite a while back and I have been meaning to blog this but never got down to it. Now, I can’t remember all the details unfortunately.

Independent Joe? Nah!

Senator Joe Lieberman must call it quits. He failed as the VP candidate. He has been in Senate forever. He has been a strong supporter for the Bush administrations failed policy in Iraq. Finally, he has lost the support of his party. I’d think its time for him to move on and come to terms with the changing times rather than have a go as an independent. His independent run could cost the Dems a Senate seat. Its also ironical that an individual who was chosen to be the VP candidate clearly puts his self-interest ahead of that of his party.

Hats off to Dalmiya!

Dalmiya has survived the biggest challenge in his career and managed to hold on to CAB. He has even managed to create a temporary rift in the CPM!

You have to hand it to him. Clearly, he is down but not out. He refers to Ganguly as a “bacchha” in true filmy style. The guy might be corrupt but he definitely did a super job of expanding cricket, raising huge sponsorship, and filling up the coffers while he was head of the ICC. The current crop of BCCI officials are obviously out to nail him for good. It should be interesting to see how he fights back.

ODI, Tests, 20-20s and …

There was a big fear at one time (some of it still exists) that ODIs will hasten the demise of Test cricket. The truth is that the “slam-bam” mindset of ODIs has quietly crept into Test cricket. Just look at recent Test matches where teams are unable to survive even a single day. India, Pak, West Indies, England — most teams have crumbled to defeat in less than a day. Has batting on the last two days of a Test become any more difficult than in the Gavaskar days? Has bowling drasticaly improved? I certainly don’t think so.

Thanks to ODIs, batsmen these days, for the most part (barring the occisional Dravids) are incapable of playing to save a Test. To give it a positive spin, ODIs have ensured that most Test matches produce results. With 20-20s gathering steam, soon teams will not survive 50 overs. That’s the crossover point when baseball and cricket will come together for a grand World Series in 2030. 🙂