The name is ALI - Makonah-ALLI (Nimma's experiments on me)

What a week it has been...

As I sit here at my office desk slogging as usual on a Tuesday night two things that somehow I feel profoundly about have occurred. Firstly, in the morning the NY Giants were welcomed to the city by cheering crowds that lined either side of Broadway. I so wished I could join the parade but work kept me tied down in the afternoon. I have been following the NFL for the past 4 years but this was the year when Giants became 'MY' team. I followed them through the regular season and also their phenomenal run during post-season. The last 5 minutes were the best 5 minutes of football I have watched (Janet Jackson's nipplegate scandal comes a close second :)). Though Eli played like a true MVP(specially the clutch play with David Tyree) I felt Michael Strahan should have been the MVP. He along with Steve Spagnuolo masterminded the Giants defensive strategy and tormented the Pats offense all through out the game. Those precious few seconds that the Giants denied Brady in the pocket finally got them home.
The second thing of importance that is happening today is the primary election. The debates have been intense and things are just starting to heat up a little bit here. For most part the Rebulican nominee has been decided. As the votes are counted as I type this piece I think the next president of the United States is going to be chosen. I do not think a Republican candidate has a chance this time around. With the kind of budget Bush brougth out last week and Mccain promissing to go after terrorists even more vigoursly I think the GOP is headed in the wrong direction. The last Dem debate was very inetersting. Clinton seemed to have the specific answers while Obama rallied on 'hope' and 'change'. Two things that the times desperately seek but will they be enough to get him into the White House. A lot has gone in the wrong direction in the past 8 years and I feel we need a President who can hit the ground running. Making rookie mistakes might cause more damage. Clinton had specific plans to each of the issues. Like her husband she is well informed about the economy and proposed a plan to mitigate the effects of the impending recession. She has worked on healtcare and has a decent plan there too. But, what holds for Obama is that he is the man of change. Mccain and Clinton are the some more of the same. They are Washington and all that is wrong with it. Obama is fresh and brings along with him hope and change and just like JFK did in the 60's he might storm into the White House. It's going to be fascinating Tuesday and I can't wait to get home and call on Chris Matthews, Bill O'Reilly and Wolf Blitzer. May the best democrat win!!!

Me and my "Mii"

I've developed this habit of calling up mom when I'm on the train to work. Speaking to her almost every day leaves me with nothing much to say, except, what I had for dinner last night and what I'm going to have for breakfast. Mom though, always has something to say. She invariably starts with complaining about dad. How he did not get her the sari she wanted or how he did not take them to the restaurant that she wanted to go to or how dad helped someone she did not approve of. Then she would move onto how she bargained with the subjiwala or what my sis was up to or how Ricky Ponting is a devil and Dhoni is GOD’s gift to mankind.

So today, as my ‘Mii’(I started with ‘mummy’, then it shortened to ‘mom’ and now a mono-syllabled ‘Mii’) was going through why she had get a new sofa for the living room,I found my thoughts wondering off prioritizing tasks at work for the day. I even went through the agenda for my 9am meeting with my boss, as ‘Mii’, finished up with the sofa and started about how the flyover on the main road is finally getting re-built after a 4 year hiatus. All I had said in these 10 minutes was just a ‘hmmm’ as I missed out on all the details. Finally, feeling a little guilty for not having paid any attention to the things ‘Mii’ had to say I added a few lines in agreement to the government slacking off and that it should be replaced. Adding just two lines to the conversation seemed to fill ‘Mii’ with new found vigor and also a brand new set of things to talk about. The train closed in on New York City, as I continued to listen to ‘Mii’, and I thought to myself what a lucky sonuva gun I was. I barely had to give anything to ‘Mii’ to get the whole wide world in return. For ‘Mii’ these 20 minutes spent on the phone were probably the most important ones of the day. I’m sure she made a list of things she wanted to tell me everyday. It made me smile and feel fortunate at the same time. I wish someday I could offer so much to somebody for so little in return. I promised myself to call ‘Mii’ every morning just to listen to what was wrong with the world today and about the right way to go about fixing it.

Love you ‘Mii’

Things I read this week

1) Read this really cool article about the 'alpha' and 'beta' and how they should be interpreted. Written very nicely. I feel it gives a very negative view of the market particularly the hedge funds by calling the search for alpha as a zero sum game. Sad but true kinda article.
http://ilukacg.com/articles/Tao%20of%20Alpha.pdf.
2) Read some really cool articles in the economist about the Indian economy and the currency. Here are my take aways from them: With the rupee strengthening by 16% this year the factors that have driven the growth of the economy are under great stress. With the dollar falling the the advantage of high profit margins that Indian companies enjoyed in shrinking by the day. What needs to be seen is, if Chidambaram and Montek and the gang bring in tighter regulatory reform to stem the flow of $$ into India. But with the wave of liberalization that India has gone through can India do what China has been successful in doing. Bring in tighter currency controls and stricter rules for the banks. Hopefully the humongous work force India will bail out the country from the crisis that lies ahead. There is no doubt that the Indian services industry has to redefine itself to stay in the race and mere price advantage will not let India sustain it's phenomenal growth. Also, if India can keep up it's internal consumption high and develop a good internal market that will help in sustaining growth.
3) Also read the a bit of the "Kite runner". Beautifully written. More on this later...

Golf: Things I picked up today 11/23

I got a good couple of hours at the driving range today. Picked up my driver, 3 wood, 7 iron and my new Callaway sand wedge (which my buddy Vish got me for my birthday) and drove to the range. I've been having big problems with my driver and the sand wedge off late. I slice almost every shot with the driver and my touch with the sand wedge is bad to say the least. So I got up early(10am for a holiday is early, I guess) and drove off to Tara Greens, on Rt 27. I like this range here cause you can hit balls off of the grass unlike in other ranges where they have matted areas. It also has par 3 pitch and putt area and that gave me an opportunity to use my sand wedge. I feel quite comfortable with my iron game. I specially fancy my chances with my 7 iron on the 140-170 yard par 3s.
So I started off with my favorite club, the 7 iron. Hit some balls and tried to get some good elevation and flight. Hit the 150 yard mark pretty consistently. Picked up the driver next and tried to do a few things:
Open the face of the club a bit more than usual.
Kept my right hand loose and did not try to force my shot.
Brought the ball back a bit in my stance and did not leave 2 inches in front of me as I usually do.

Tried all these but did not get much out of it. Hit around 50% of them to the right as usual. I do agree that the short game is more important than the long but I think my game will not be as complete as I would like it to be without getting the driver right. I watched a program on Golf TV with Vijay Singh handing out some useful tips. The way he swings with the driver is so effortless. I think that is what I'm doing wrong. As they say, I try to "hit" the ball instead of "swinging" at it. Next time I'm on the range I'm going to try the one two count while hitting the driver. One on the up swing and two on the down swing. Also, i swing harder on the down swing. The idea is to keep the same club speed all the way. It's funny how sometimes we over complicate things to make it work. Many times (in life too...ok i'll stop preaching) , the lesser you try the better things get. So, next time I am on the range here the things to try.
Swing slow and with consistent rhythm. Try to hit straight first then we can go for distance. A 200 yarder on the fairway is better than 250 in the woods.
Stand closer and taller, don't reach for the ball
With the sand wedge, get the 70-80 yarders right. The flight is good but get the distance and direction right.
Decide on how to close the face of the club for different distances.
Feel the grass with the club several times before each shot.

So there goes. Few things to fix and a long way to go. Hopefully will get closer to my goal soon. Just for people who find quotes cocky/cliched I'll end this post with one.

What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive. ~Arnold Palmer

Keep swinging.

Things I did today...11/19

Watched "Before sunrise"...Julie Delpy...blew me away...everything about her blew me away. From her French accent to her smile to all the silly things she falls for in the movie...like what the fortuneteller tells her and the poem written by the guy by the river...neat role in a pretty decent movie. Screenplay keeps the movie ticking with interesting conversation between just two main characters or maybe i just too bored and this movie filled in the vacuum. All in all a good way to spend 2 hours in front of the tooobbbb...

First Post

My blog...my thoughts...my attempt to see how random and chaotic my daily life is. What I plan to gain from this....To see how I think and how I can best express my thoughts. Jot down things that piss me off, things that make my day. Say things that is 'cool' right now and see if they change over time. I'm just looking to keep tabs on myself. See if I have changed over time for good or for worse......................................