Incredible Saina.....

Hi friends...
Saina Nehawal made us proud to become india's first olympic medalist in badminton. Recently she had been the player of the tourney in IBL. It is relevent to share my experience with her carreer.
It was in the year 2002, mid june probably... I had the first opportunity to meet her. I was working as a news contributer to Eenadu telugu daily at Nandyal, kurnool dist, A.P. All India subjunior Badminton championship was being held at Nandi Pipes indoor stadium, Nandyal. Since it was All india level tourney much attention was given by the local people and sport lovers. I was assighned to give coverage on this event.
Saina nehawal was not known much by the public during that time. Every attention was on Gutta Jwala who came to play some exibition matches in senior level. She participated in the event just to give some light to the tourney. Infact by that time Saina nahwal, sharada Govardhini and few others were top rankers. Sharada Govardhini became a crowd puller with her game and her special roaring sounds. It was Saina who always kept silent on and off the courts. It was indoor stadium and was very sultry to sit inside. As one match finished off I was sitting in the Lawn and relaxing. Just infront of me an old man was sitting and staring at me. We started chatting about the tourney.. meanwhile a 13 year old girl came in sports shorts and simply standing and hearing our conversation enthusiastically. He introduced himself as Mr Nehawal and young girl was his daughter Saina. I developed lot of interest about the previous achivements of Saina. Then I interviwed both father and daughter. The article published in Eenadu. The following day at the stadium Saina rushed to me and thanked with all smiles. Thogh her father and Saina dint understand Telugu...she got it translated. After the article got published crowd's interest grown on Saina also. Saina was the eventual winner of the tourney. That was the first encounter with her.
Later in Hyd at Gopichand Academy... I had another interview with her by that time she became very popular in India. The third and last time was in Shamshabad Airport in the year 2008. She just came from Beizing Olympics losing in Semi finals. She was accompanied by her Coach Pullela Gopichand. Both of them recognised me and i had some happy movements with them. I discussed much about olympics and her semifinal match. I said my daughter wept at her loss in the match. Saina expresseed so much concern but did not speak much. Her face showed me enough confidence... that she would do it next time and she would see joy in my daughter. We travelled to Delhi in the same flight and in economy seats...
I wished to interview her as an olympic Gold medallist. But she made it to semis in 2012 olympics and made us proud so as my daughter.

who is the best.. sachin or federer..?

hi friends ...
today let us discuss on two sporting greats... Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer. No doubt both of them influenced on their respective sports. Now the question here is who is the best..?
Though it sounds different as the two belong completeley different sports. Even then we dont lose any thing if some comparative study is made.

Tendulkar has been playing cricket for the past 20 years... where as Federer appeared only after 1997 in Tennis. Tendulkar holds world records in highest number of centuries, runs etc... where as Federer holds grandslam records. Tendulkar performed in tests and oneday matches as well. Federer won the titles on all courts.

cricket is a team game where in the performance of the individuals depend on other team mates. Federer is a solo performer as the tennis requires so. There has been a debate on Tendulkar's supremacy in cricket. The critics only compare with the cricket greats like Bradman, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting etc. But Federer became as undisputed hero in tennis as he surpassed the records of Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and other tennis greats.

We can not see the carreer of Tendulkar beyond another 3 years. Where as Federer will have a carreer of atleast 5more years. The way Tendulkar made a double ton in one day match at the age of 37 years, proves he is more thirsty on records. And the way Federer came back like a lion from the mere downfall of his carreer... proves he is uncomparable. When he lost in 3 straight sets at french open final 2008 against Spain bull Rafael Nadal and when he wept in despair after losing Australian Open final against the same rival... no one expected federer to comeback to claim his no.1 rank.

Today though Tendulkar's double ton is remarkable... we can not claim him the no1 in cricket. But Federer is undoubtedly the greatest champion.

Ranvalona 1... Is she mad are shrewd..?

Hi friends...

To day I want to post about an extra ordinary historical lady. The lady... who terrified the European colonialists, who nullified the christianity and who never cared of the world except about herself. She was the lady... whose life has been picturised as a heroine with cruel nature, adventurous but mercyless, the female caligula and modern messalina and so on...

She is none other than Ranavalona 1, the mad queen of Madagaskar and belonged to merina kingdom. In the European colonial history of African continent, she could be declared as 'nightmare'. Perhaps no other king or queen might have restricted the colonialists to their roots... like that of Ranavalona 1. The story of this queen and her rising is really breath taking.

The exact roots of Ranavalona's is not known to the historians, but some opine that she belongs to 'menabe' tribe of Madagaskar and her initial name was Ramavo. Her father helped the future king Adrianamapoinimerina to come out of a plot by his enemies to kill him. In gratitude of this help, the king adopted Ranavalona to the royal family and married her to his son prince Radama. Though she was the first of Radama's 12 wives... she was never given due respect as she belonged to a tribal family and was an illiterate. After Radama became king she was probably waiting for the opportunity. She might have poisoned the king when he went on expedition to punish a revolted kingdom. The poison spoiled his health and irritated his throat so much so that he was unable to bear pain and cut his neck himself.

Meanwhile Ranavalona acted very fast. The legal heir for the thrown should be Rakotobe, the son of eldest sister of Radama. There was a prevailing custom in merina kingdom that if the eldest wife of the king ..i.e.Ranavalona... bears a child even after the death of the king, could be considered as a legal heir to the thrown. This might prompt Rakotobe to eliminate her. Hence Ranavalona thought that her life was in peril and she must act in time to strengthen her position. She called some armed followers from her native village and kept them to safeguard the palace. Only traditional priests and influential courtmen who supported her were allowed. To others, a strict warning was announced and given a chice either to support her or face the consequences. As higher ranks are grown up in Ranavalona's side... the palace and administration came under her control very fast. She killed Rakotobe and imprisoned his mother to starve her unto death. Almost all loyal supporters of Rakotobe were killed.

As she was illiterate, she needed much support from the military officials in the administration. She was crowned on 1st of August 1828. She was anointed with the blood of freshly slaughtered bull prior to ceremony.

"never say...'' Ranavalona demanded her crowd at coronation... "she is only a feeble and an ignorent woman. How can she rule such a vast empire? I will rule here to the good fortune of my people and for the glory of my name. Iwill worship no gods but those of my ancestors. The ocean shall be the boundary of my realm, and I will not cede the thickness of one hair of my realm."

This, according to her biographer, Keith Ladlier, shows her entire attitude towards her goal. She understood the need of legal heir and maintained sexual affair with a high level militry official by name Adrianamihija. Her son Rabodo was born after more than 10 months of her husbands death. Historians opine that Adrianamihija might have fathered the boy. Even then, the merina customs accepted the kid as the son of the deceased king. She soon cancelled the pacts with France and England that were made during the reign of her husband. She understood the danger of Europeans to colonise the Africa. She suspected they are entering the country in the name of christionity. By the time of her coronation, almost 1/4 th of the country had been christianised. She banned the preaching and practicing of the christionity and punished severely those who contempted the law.

She killed lakhs of people for the reasons of opposing her or on the name of christianity. In 1929 and again in 1935, there were attempts of europeans to cede the madagaskar. First by England and the second by the combined forces of English and French. Both the times she was able to foil the attempts. She pearced the heads of the European soldiers to spears and planted on the hilltops of the coastal areas... as a warning, so that no european colonialist should ever dare to think of occupying madagaskar.

Within the country, there were severe punishments to disobey her rule. There was a 'tangena test' a poisonous nut that has to be swallowed by the culprit to prove his innocence. Obviously no body could survive. Even Adrianamihija, once her lover, was also brought to the test and was killed. The reason for her angry might be... he had sexual contact with some other woman. Ranavalona's punishment methods were vey strange. The culprits were tied up like dressed chickens and were thrown from the hilltops repeatedly until they die. Some were dressed up with bloodshed animal skins and hunt dogs were unleashed. Some were tied up like cattle and left among the densely forests of madagaskar... when they try to escape their necks would broken up and the survivers were naturally become the feast of the forest beasts. Many were sent to the malaria proned swamps. One of Ranavalona's favourite method of punishing was... the culprits were tied in the pits of the foothills and boiled water is drained to the pits from the hilltops, so that, they die of burns.(The female cligula... written by keith ladlier)

There is probably no other ruler in the history, than Ranavalona who was so cruelous among her own people. Hence the historians call her the mad queen of madagaskar. But much of the records available that are only written by her opponents, especially europeans. A lot of fresh study should be made about the history of this brave queen and the real grounds of her nature should be brought out. She ruled for 33 years and kept the europeans at her bay as long as she reigned. She trusted the only european by name Jean Laborde who happened to come to that island when his shipwrecked. He was a young and energetic frenchman who managed to covince her with her engineering and military skills. He was satisfying the sexual urges of the queen and was helping in manufacturing the modern weapons. He was the earliest industrialist in madagaskar. He was the chief archtect of the royal wooden palace of Ranavalona. The palace was later outer lined by stone construction during the reign of Ranavalona 2. Even Laborde also was vexed of her deeds and couped to dethrown her with the help of her son Rabodo. But the queen foiled the coup with the help of her spies. The culprits were punished drastically, but her son was pardoned. The famous european traveller Reith was happened to be there in Madagaskar and was she was also dragged in to this case. She was sent to the malaria prone swamps, but was survived and returned to europe with declined health.

After continous and ruthless rule of 33 years, Ranavalona died peacefully in 1861 at her old age of 80 years. Now the argument is whether she was a shrewd ruler or a mad ruler of madagaskar. There are many books written on her historical biography, most of which are either exaggerated or illusioned. There is a popular pop song on her methods of punishment. Many europeans cut the cake to celebrate her death anniversary ... sounds some thing like celebrating 'narakasura vadha' during diwaali in India naa..! may be... but for those who suffered for centuries together (like indians) in the hands of europeans... she is definitely a great heroine. Hurray let us worship Ranavalona....

Refferrals..
1. history of madagaskar
2. the red island
3. the female caligula.. by keith ladlier
4. female rulers of African continent

cricket board is richest... play grounds are poorest...

Hi friends...

after cheering up 'Sachin da' for his extra ordinary double ton, let's come to reality about the future cricket in India. We might have heard many a time that our BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world, thanks to the cricket fever in India. Well, let us be proud for a while. But what makes us worry about being proud is ... the bcci is not showing any interest in developing the grounds. perhaps the board is too busy in counting the money it is gaining. In such a vast country like India... there is no scarcity for the talent. But where are the fecilities to the young cricketers at ground level.? We know that so many matches are played daily at school level in leagues. But at least can we find a single ground that is worthy of playing a match ? In hyderabad almost all the school league matches are played on the mats only and not on pitches. You can find hardly one are two pitches that are worthy of playing. When a boy is practiced on mats instead of pitches how can we expect him to perform in future..? More over, is there any ground with grown grass... so that our kids can improve fielding techniques. ? All the grounds are made up of sand or 'gachchu' which make the kids fall down and prown to injuries. In these conditions how can we expect the quality players to come up..?

Regarding the fees the bcci is paying... For the matches of state level a boy is paid rs.5000/ as pocket money. Imagine how much money and time could have been spent to reach up to the state level. Even there is no joy of taking that fees as earning since much of that goes to the coaches only. What if the player can not grow to the state level..? Is he given any priorities in the jobs..? the answer is no.
Hence the arguement is... there should be some encouragement to develop professionalism among the cricketers. First step is ... assurance of future for those who take cricket as a profession. The second step is ... match feeses should be paid by the bcci even at the league levels and substantial increase in match fees at state and national level. And finally, 20% of the bcci income must be spent on the improvement and maintainenance of the grounds.
I conclude, unless these revolutionary steps are taken up... the present trend of growth in cricket will soon decline.

Is there any future to Hyderabad real estate..?

With the ongoing movements of Jai Telengana and Samaikyandhra... Real estate in hyderabad has been scrambled. The fact that we can get a flat for rs.2200/ per sq.ft in Kukatpally and Miyapur areas... indicates the position of realestate. Some around 2 years back we could have to spend around rs. 3500/ per sq.ft. in these areas. In this phenomina what is the future of the business ? Shall we wait or take dare steps to invest.? If we are to invest where is the best place to buy the lands..? In my well investigated approach, I feel the jai telengana phenamina is only temporuary. Because, it is greater hyderabad that decides and not the telengana issue. Even if telengana is seperated the issue of greater hyderabad remains. The needs of Greater Hyderabad also remains. If not now atleast after 5 years.. the need of residential plots do exist in and around the city of hyderabad. Just imagine the over crouded city and over jammed traffic. Who on earth wants to live and continue with the horrible life for the years to come. To solve the problems of traffic and heavy crouds.. there is the only solution to develop and encourage new residential localities around Rajendranagar and shamshabad areas.. don't you agree..? By the way why don't we look at the areas of green belt ? The lands here can be procured with meagre investment of Rs.20 lakhs per acre. With the investment of a flat in central part of the city we can get 1000 to 2000 sq yards of farm houses in the greenbelt. And if luck prevails... there is a chance of lifting the 111 G.O. where the limitations of costructed area may be enhanced. If this happens... the rates may shoot up to 5 times.

jai ho sachin

After a long time India once again cheered up for one common good thing. India's cricket God Sachin Tendulkar has made it. By becoming the first man of double ton in one day cricket he proved us impossible is nothing.

Infact we are not expecting this sort of game from him as he is too old to do this feat. When Virender Sehwag reached his 130's within the span of 30 overs and yuvraj singh in 40 overs we expected this feat may be possible for these two young guys or at the most it may be Dhoni. But no body, including the ardent fans of Sachin expected that he could achieve this at this almost ending of his carreer. Hats of to Sachin...!

It resembles of Australian open days of 2009... where Roger federer the great wept virtually in despair as the spain bull Rafael Nadal defeated him in a hard fought final match.

But he proved a Lion is always a Lion. He not only fulfilled his dream of breaking the record of Pete Sampras record of 14 titles and completed the carreer grand slam by winning the french open. This year he once again roared back at Australian open and won the title in proud, proving Lion steps back only to jump further.

Let us hope Tendulkar does this magic again at the venue of world cup 2011 to fullfill his dream of lifetime. Let us soon start the discussion on these two legends as who is the best.

what an earth is happening to indian economy

when the world was shaking with financial crunch... India could manage to withstand thanks to the protective measures taken by the Manmohan singh's govt. Even then there were many losers in stock market as it felldown to two thirds. The stimulas packages announced by the govt gave some boost to the economy and the stock market as well. But today as the finance minister is annoucing the budget stating the gradual withdrawal of stimulas packages, once again the clouds of fear appeared among the investers. Now the question is whether the economy withstands or shakes. What should be the invester's approach ?. Except in the IT sector there is no good hope of investing. Let us wait and see the momentum of the market after the complete impact of the budget.