Life has changed

The last couple of weeks have been hectic, travelled more then 18,000 Kms to finally reach IIM Lucknow. I missed World T20 almost entirely, However I guess India's early departure should be a good enough excuse for missing World T20. Still sometimes I get a feeling that the teams which played in last two world T20 finals have had to play it for all the non cricketing reasons. India and Pakistan missed out on ODI world cup and had to bounce back, for which no better opportunity then playing in the finals of World T20 could have been there and now we spotted the two teams, which faced the terror first hand recently and their countries have been subject of security concerns for a long period of time. Also Pakistan needed to desperately win this event in order to save their identity at a time when no one is willing to play the game their country.

Coming back to my life, it has changed a lot, I don't need to go to office anymore or attend the long meeting over the phone, instead I have to now attend classes (Formally they will start on 29th ). Living in a hostel room and having food in the mess with friends (all new) feels good. Yes we are not having any classes this week, but still this is no lesser then the weeks ahead. Full day yesterday was taken by the formal induction module by the IIM faculty and alumni and then night and today's morning was for the seniors, who seem to be too nice to give us all the possible "GLOBE" (i.e. arbit gyan) about IIML Culture in just three days. the schedule remains the same for rest of the week and then the real stuff will start.

I will update about my trip to Miller Breweries and Kohler soon......

Its T20, where every one is equal

After the grand treat of T20 cricket in IPL, its time for some more serious stuff. The rules remains same, however the loyalties now shift towards the country instead of the franchise. World T20 did not start with a bang as was the case for IPL, but the results of the first match could be summarized on similar lines i.e. in three hours who plays best is the supreme without any regards to History. I won't say that Netherlands performance yesterday was a sheer luck as they bowled superbly only to follow it up with even better batting. Today Australia were thrashed by Chris Gayle in a manner even Bangladesh would feel bad about.

The point i want to make here is that the shortest the format of the game, lesser the monopoly. The way 8 senior test playing countries dominate in test cricket (Bangladesh is yet to win a test match against any of them), they fail to match in ODIs. ODI world cup 2007 was a prime example, where India and Pakistan were ousted by minnows. I hope the shortest format of the game will provide even more level field to the so called minnows, and that will be good for the future of the game as well as for the level of competition. For the past 12 years or so, world cricket in both Test as well as ODI format was dominated by Aussies, but I don't see any such thing happening in the T20s (Even though I would have loved to see India dominate in T20 as world stage every time). Aussies anyways are done with their dominance with departure of their great players (who still manage to dominate T20s in IPL), and others who follow them have failed to be consistent as Aussies used to be.

I am great fan of tests because of the level of skill it requires to win a test match as compared to any other format of the game, however for the same reasons I love T20s as there its just a matter of 40 odd overs and the best during those three hours emerges as the winner. Bangladesh can manage to dominate in a session or two of a test, but not for 6-8 which it takes to win a test. Now compare the time it takes for a session of Test game with the length of a T20 game. The team which can control the game 10-15 overs of the total 40 can look to win a game and sometimes even a lesser team can dominate 25-30 overs as it happened in WI vs Aus game.

I am happy for India, that they are looking great but this greatness will be put to tougher tests in future, and I can only hope that they don't meet New Zealand in the knockout stage (well i know history doesn't matter in T20s but sometimes I am a bit superstitious as I can't find any other reason as to why they always loose to NZ in T20s)

My Date with the History of Motorcycles

Milwaukee is famous for two things, first its home of Harley Davidson and then its also home of one of the finest breweries of America. So during my stay in Milwaukee i decided to take the opportunity to visit the base of Harley Davidson. First of all it was amazing to see their power train operations but the real glamor of the trip was the visit to Harley Davidson Museum.


It was great to see the history of motorcycles along with illustrative models to describe the working of engines, interactive system to tell about the complete product life cycle right from the concept stage, all the engines of Harleys in working condition and an interactive system, with which you can listen to the patented sound of various engines. It was not my first trip to a motorcycle factory, but still the experiences could not be compared with any other thing. And at the end of it all, I was allowed to configure my own Harley, and then it was sent to me by e-mail (unfortunately only the photograph).

It was nice to see the bikes built through the past 105 years, with the oldest ones resembling closely with Hero Jet kind of bicycles. with just an engine on the frame and guess what all the controls were on the top of fuel tank. You look at the photograph and you will end up saying.. oops that's an Harley, but once one goes through the whole range, s/he will realise that its not just the living creatures that followed Darwin's theory of evolution.

Just look at the stand of the bike, It would have been difficult for sure to the bike on stand.

And guess what a bit modern bikes in 1910s were even used for motor sports including Motor Cycle Polo (well you replace horses with Bikes) and racing.

It was amazing to see the way American Industry responded (might be it was an obligation) to the requirement by the nation at the time of war. During both the world wars Harleys played significant role and for some years even civilian models were completely blocked to dedicate all the capacity for defence production, and if some capacity still remained that was utilized to produce bombs. Even at Kohler, the scene was same, I wonder how a ceramic products factory can produce bomb shells but it has happened.

After the end of World war II, Harleys were back in action amongst the common people. and then started the era of experimentation with the bikes, and I tried capture a few of them I found most amazing. I have seen such bicycle with a couple (or more ) paddles but a motor bike with two engines and even two fuel tanks is a bit too much.

And then a tiny Harley, I still remember the tiny Rajdoot, but the size of this Harley was good enough to qualify it for children, which can fit in the back of a station wagon, but it was made of fully grown people.

Following I am not sure from which angle gets the qualification to be called as bike, with an engine as big as Tata Mini truck.

Then is the one which is a tribute to the long standing relations between Pakistan and America. You can compare it with pakistani trucks, looks like the designer was deeply impressed with the visual appeal of those trucks but I have enough reasons to believe that the experiment was not successful. (Actually this was done by some one who was supposed to stay home as he was ill)

Finally the engine room, which had all the Harley engines till date. I will post the videos later, which contain sound of Harley engines. The section also had very good illustrative models to explain the working of a four cylinder engine, gear box, fly wheel (and its gyroscopic action, which contributes to stability of bike). I think this would have made the Internal Combustion engines subject easy for us way back in 2002.

After all that gyan, I finally get a chance to sit on a modern looking bike made by the same company with Buell Brand.

You can see other photographs at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ashutosh.chandel/HarleyDavidsonMuseum

I am visiting Miller Brewers this Saturday and will update you all about the beer making.

We say OZ unsafe for Indians, how about the safety in India

Since the news of the attacks on Indians in Australia spread, I could not stop myself from comparing it with what had happened in Mumbai last year against north Indians (regional discrimination) and what happened during mass murders in the name of religion (84, 92/93, 2002). Its good to see the government responding in a positive way and taking the matters to the highest possible levels. But isn't it the same government's responsibility to ensure the safety of Indians living in India, or only the life of NRIs is important. When Raj Thackeray and his so called marathi followers were taking away the livings and lives of thousands of north Indians in Mumbai, same government did not come out with even a single official statement condemning such acts, instead they choose to encourage Raj thakrey to achieve political gains.

Today to my astonishment a statement came from the pitamah (and the pitamah of Raj) of regional discrimination in India. Bal Thakrey today came out with an statement against Aussies, demanding Aussie player's exclusion from IPL and restriction of business opportunities for Aussies in India. Probably before making such statement he should have understood the impact of his tactics on the lives of outsiders in Mumbai. In the similar lines could we demand exclusion of Sachin Tendulakar from Indian Cricket team or restricting business environment for Ambanis and Tata just because they live in mumbai (well for Thakrey they might not be mumbaikars). Amitabh, even after spending his whole life in mumbai, needs to get a certificate from Thakreys for his bilongingness to the city. Amitabh has long been a subject of regional discrimination and probably that was the reason of his out of proportion reaction to the events in Australia.

I am not saying that whatever is happening in Australia is correct or we should not protest, rather I feel the reaction by government is good. But I also feel that we should put the same value for the lives of Indians living in India. Why can't government take the similar or more strict (given the things are within the country) when any such acts are reported in India. I know its difficult to manage the political equation in a country as diverse as it can get with people speaking more then 20 officially recognised languages. I may find some more comfort in the company of Hindi speaking people (I know this also qualifies as discrimination, but don't we Indians move in groups when outside the country) but that does not mean I will find trouble working with a non Hindi speaking person, or I will be finding out the reasons to hit them.

My only point here is we should honor the rights of Indians in India, as we expect for the NRIs.