Sweet memories – Valentine’s Day!

It was the day when i came down to your house. Surprisingly your mom n dad weren’t there. I started reading books at your home with an alibi that I was waiting for your brother but I knew that you were aware of the purpose i was there. I looked at you relentlessly but you were so immersed in looking outside that you left me disappointed.

I was trying to peep at you and make a regular sound, but you were motionless. My body was growing cold with the cool breeze that flew across and your long blackish brown hair just shuffled over your chin because of the breeze, making me feel irresistible to you. When you just pulled it back from your rosy chin and ears which had faint streaks of hair it just killed me. Your white dress made you look like an angel. Your eyes were like pomegranates that have freshly taken birth. Your lips were as red as a red rose. When you walked, it created an angel path for me, when you gave me an occasional look I felt like I had been blessed with god’s best wishes. When you giggled each time it made me feel that I was growing closer to you. And when you yawned and stretched I felt sleazy; for your ignorance of a stranger.

What are you telling me, Don’t you mind doing things that you are not supposed to in front of a stranger or have you chosen me to be your man. I rush through a labyrinthine thought process. All of a sudden when you ask me “coffee or tea”, I out of confusion just utter coffee and see you smiling again. I wish that those moments were stretched to eternity and stored in my hard disk forever. I keep seeing you though I don’t own you; you keep giving me an occasional look and smile. When you keep doing that, my heart pounds like a battering ram and it keeps pushing me towards making you my Juliet.

I finally make a decision that I would do it today. I slowly gather strength and courage to propose to you. I pick up the rose that I had hidden secretly and start advancing towards you. When you hear my foot steps and turn back in surprise I just close my eyes to offer you the rose and tell you –

“I love you more than what a mother does to its offspring, more than what a Swallow does to a flower, more than what a man does to his life.Would you be my princess and accept me to serve your life as your better half?”

Then I turn back for your ultimate reply. You come after an eternal minute, then place your hand on my hand and smile at me tauntingly. With that a rush of warmth fills my blood, I go mad with joy and ecstasy and not able to control my 4 year love, I start sobbing.”

All of a sudden I woke up to the reality to find my watch showing Morning 8:00, February 14 th. Its 20 years since that day passed in my life. As I start brushing my teeth blood flows as the toothbrush strikes hard in my jaws. But tears flow through my eyes for what I faced that day even today. I still remember how you shouted at me when I proposed you that day. You did not like me, but more than that you had no right to punish me. You chose to vilify me and tell my parents that I created a problem for you at the college which I never did. The bell rang as the maid had come and I wiped my eyes with a towel. As I start going to my office in my car I remember how my parents kept crying for their son’s conduct. How they felt insulted when your parents came to my home to fight for the cause. And after that how I would become a laughing stock in my college days. I remember each time when you passed across me which created a murdering shiver and insult. That day when I unfortunately ran across you, which was by pure mistake, you made a mess out of it and complained to the principal. I still know how I was made to take off my shirt and walk while kneeling in those corridors. When my parents heard that, they could take it no more. The worst they stopped believing me.

I ran away from my house for the biggest insult of my life. I did not want my parents to own their son’s misdoings. Suddenly the traffic signal turned red. I reach my office and have just finished a meeting. My secretary says that she wants a half day leave with a wild smile because its 14th. I let her go. Again I remember the day when I chose to leave that locality since no body believed me. I left my home, my place and my IDENTITY.

After 20 years I still find it difficult to spend a lonely life abandoned by my home, abandoned by self. I still don’t dare to speak to a girl looking into her eyes; people take me for granted thinking that I belong to some anachronistic times. It’s a lonely life with no family of my own and I am already 42 today. And each time I see this date, I ask myself “Did I deserve this?”

Just then I see a greeting which carries the words – “Happy Valentines Day!”

And I laugh in my solitude, waiting for the next day to arrive…

“Not every one is lucky and not every one is necessarily brave. Let god chose to partner such hapless.”

Written by: Ravi Shanker J.P., Osmania University, Hyderabad

Eternal Sunshine on a Seamless process

The other day I was thinking- Why is it that I am feeling ownership of my senses- Can you just imagine-Why are we feeling ownership of a soul that is occupying a human body? Lets think- Why we should have got this sense when we were in this body and why we did not get the same sense since its birth where as after a certain period of time. There is no way I am going to agree that it is all science with our brain being the “master piece”. No! There is life not only within my body but also in my soul, but “where had it been before I took birth”; Was it in someone else’s body- then why did it forget its history. Or does it follow a progression that as time progresses our IQ and EQ increase. Knowledge is also energy, where does it go when my soul leaves my body. Does it collapse? These are few things which i could not perceive till today.

Leaving these questions, what is truth, what is good and what is God. Everything is subjective and relative. If light is the truth then darkness can we rule it as false. Same goes with everything- What some may perceive as truth may be false to some one else. They say the Universe was born out of a very energetic tiny spot that has been expanding and expanding. If a part of magnet can repel the other part, Then a part of that tiny spot may also have an impact on some other. I believe that everything is cancelled out in this world. The end equation may have infinite constraints and parameters but the result is “0”. Light/Darkness, Thrust/Gravity, action/reaction I believe P (Event) is a superset of two variables which are {Cause, Effect}. The sum of probabilities of both cause and effect is “1”. P (cause) need not be 0.5 it can be 0.99 or .000001. This defines the irregular cycles in life. I believe that If we are doing some thing in this life there is a certain cause tied to it, we all are governed by a cause. When the cause expires the effect is “1” we die.

I also feel that there is a certain truth in this world on whose realization we get promoted to the next dimension. Then why do these goals and aspirations exist, is it to delay the process of super promotion. May be then they are not exactly our goals.

Within so much confusion can we know what “truth” is? Well there is one truth which flashes regularly like a nature’s law acting on us which is “MATING” Yes it is a truth, Think over. God neither taught that to us nor did he to a street dog.

Written By: Ravi Shanker J.P., Osmania University

IT Blues – My experiences

Huh…! I apply for an MBA/ MS and the first question I should be prepared to face is “Son! You an IT guy. What prompted you to quit your job?” I try hard despite understanding that the odds are heavily loaded against me when trying to convince the world that there is a larger interest behind my pursuit of a higher degree. And the general opinion would be that I too must be yet another of those frustrated, lifeless desultory creatures who have either slogged in office 24*7 and were denied an overseas opportunity or those who sat on bench for a lifetime. I am craving for respect. I wonder if I might just as well loose my self esteem and identity in this wilderness.At college I used to wonder what must be happening inside those magnificent glass chambers, those imposing structures flanked by greenery all around. I was envious of those bright kids who made great careers in such a short span of time, of all those kids who traveled overseas on business trips. A business trip for me was real business then and that these whiz kids must be child prodigies. I dint realize how it happened until it actually did. Providence brought me too into one of those big IT Cos. And I never was the same again. A lot has changed. I realized so many inherent features in me. In fact, I should gleefully admit in all the modesty that I am a repertoire of everything. I, for the first time, realized the thrill of cribbing and complaining against anybody/ anything under the sky. I became more and more creative by the day. Now I can say with confidence that I have mastered the art of sarcasm and irony. I can very easily understand the leitmotifs of my boss whenever he opens his mouth. Among other things, I also mastered the art of deriving vicarious pleasure (Self-aggrandizement rather) from my fellow’s achievements. Perhaps that’s why we say- “Success has many fathers whereas failure is often an orphan”.

Another skill that I have developed over a period of time is the art of malingering – it took me some time to realize that I was good at this special skill. And of course, not to mention, I have understood and applied the infamous 80/20 principle at my work place with great success. The nature of work is really amazing. It invariably goes to those people who respect it and to those who feel that their contributions cannot be substituted for. Then of course, I stand as a symbol of socialization as demonstrated in those little get-togethers, the team parties and those occasional so called client- sponsored grand dinners. And not to mention, boy, my spoken English is just borrowed straight from the queen Elizabeth’s palace. I don’t bother to make full sentences anymore and I tend to be so very crisp, so very pithy that everything the listener would be caught unawares as soon as I finished speaking.

As I have mentioned above, I can write satirically on anybody and we have a case in point here. I have also embraced the Gandhian idea of civil disobedience and non violent protests at my work place, detesting every move of my boss by filling up my work place with a hazaar quotes about the rude-boss. Further, I have tried to show my disobedience by deliberately being unpunctual to work, inconsequential I know, but then I derived some pleasure out of these simple acts of defiance.
Therefore, the bottom-line is that whether it is about celebrating every moment of IT or about celebrating work or applying thought, I always remain a square peg in a round hole. 

Written By: Pavan Kumar Vemuri, Hyderabad

Gossiping

“People with extraordinary minds, talk about ideas. People with average minds, talk about events. People with simple minds, talk about other people. – Anonymous”

Gossiping has become such an imperative activity in our daily lives that it is difficult to survive in a society without experiencing it. We often gossip about our “achievements”, about our peers, about film stars and others whom we love to hate. Gossip can be defined as doctored information that involves maligning someone’s reputation. And the outcome of excessive gossiping will result in what we call rumors. So join me in exploring the frequently neglected but unconsciously practiced taboo called gossip.

Researchers say gossiping is good for health, so supporters have a valid point. They (supporters) also put forth opinions of psychologists who uphold the belief that emotions should flow freely, whether it is LOVE or animosity, without bottling up one’s feelings. So these arguments try to show a rosy picture whose authentication, in reality, is severely doubted. Before delving further, check out the following reasons why people gossip/spread rumors:

·Ignorance

·Creating Sensationalism

·Jealousy

·Inferiority complex

·Disappointment over something/covering one’s own short comings

·As a time killing technique

Since the reasons are numerous and beyond the realm of any conscious mind, let us confine our discussion to above mentioned “broad” categories.

It is the ignorance that makes people to gossip. Most people, who are ignored by others, try to put themselves in lime-light by sensationalizing any trivial matter. The issues these people raise will do no good to others, the solution lies in the cyclic process of ignoring their words. Self judgment should play a main role in dealing with these kinds of people.

It is un common to hear that gossiping often occurs out of jealousy. As a fact, people love to hate those who are hard working, who are dedicated, who are successful, who are happy in doing one’s job and the last one who are beautiful. Beauty causes such envy among others that sometimes it is the sole motivating factor leading to gossiping. In order to show their prominence over the above listed people, the accusers retort to the old trick called gossiping. Hear no word from them but accept that they are what they are. People, sometimes, do gossip to change the direction of conversation that is aiming towards any of their failures.

The last one in the list, gossiping as a time killing technique, is less malicious but having said that it is not to be taken lightly. Even though the intention is different, this method will put gossip mongers and their victims in a more dangerous situation as these kinds of people will always gossip for the sake of gossiping. These people start gossiping as soon as they wake up in the morning and continue it in every walk of life till they sleep at night. Their taste buds will only be satisfied through gossiping.

The irony is we, often, do gossip with or without being aware of it. So how do we grope with it? It is through self consciousness and having a cool head that settles the matter. So next time, when you hear any one gossiping or you start saying anything about others, just think why these kinds of thoughts are coming to some one else or to you. If you find the motivation behind these sayings, you are more likely to deal it in an effective way because we are the best judges of our thoughts and observations. The point is, you have to decide whether you want to be one among them (gossip mongers) or one apart from them.

Written By: Santosh Matala, Hyderabad

Moral Vision

BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE

To the man who lives for an idea, for his country, for the good of humanity, life has an extensive meaning, and to that extent pain becomes less important to him. To live the life of goodness is to live the life of all. Pleasure is for one’s own self, but goodness is concerned with the happiness of all humanity and for all time.

From the point of view of the good, pleasure and pain appear in a different meaning; so much so, that pleasure may be shunned, and pain be courted in its place, and death itself be made welcome as giving a higher value to life. From these higher standpoints of a man’s life, the standpoints of the good, pleasure and pain lose their absolute value. Martyrs prove it in history, and we prove it every day in our life in our little martyrdoms.

When we take a pitcherful of water from the sea it has its weight, but when we take a dip into the sea itself a thousand pitchersful of water flow above our head, and we do not feel their weight. We have to carry the pitcher of self with our strength; and so, while on the plane of selfishness pleasure and pain have their full weight, on the moral plane they are so much lightened that the man who has reached it appears to us almost superhuman in his patience under crushing trials, and his forbearance in the face of malignant persecution.

To live in perfect goodness is to realize one’s life in the infinite. This is the most comprehensive view of life, which we can have by our inherent power of the moral vision of the wholeness of life. And the teaching of Buddha is to cultivate this moral power to the highest extent, to know that our field of activities is not bound to the plane of our narrow self. This is the vision of the heavenly kingdom of Christ.

When we attain to that universal life, which is the moral life, we become freed from bonds of pleasure and pain, and the place vacated by our self becomes filled with an unspeakable joy, which springs from measureless love. In this state the soul’s activity is all the more heightened, only its motive power is not from desires, but in its own joy. This is the Karma-yoga of the Gita, the way to become one with the infinite activity by the exercise of the activity of disinterested goodness. Just as we find that the stronger the imagination the less is it merely imaginary and the more is it in harmony with truth, so we see the more vigorous our individuality the more does it widen towards the universal. For the greatness of a personality is not in itself but in its content, which is universal, just as the depth of a lake is judged not by the size of its cavity but by the depth of its water.

Religious Sanctity

I want to put forth my views on how religious sentiments are being played with at holy places. This is a complaint that every person has but there is no one to listen and act on it. The underlying sarcasm in this problem is that India is a secular country, but when it comes to exploiting religious sentiments, everyone wants his/her share in it.

Let me first explain my experiences. I am a Jain by birth. But from my childhood, I have been to most of the holy places of all religions in India along with my family – from Haridwar to St. Paul’s Church in Kolkata, from Palitanaji in Gujarat to Sanchi Stupa, from Dargah at Ajmer to Tirupati Balaji, from Jama Masjid in Bhopal to Raghunath Temple at Jammu. It always used to fascinate me how India has been able to evolve and merge so many religions.

But there is another side of the coin that dominates the sanctity of these places. Corruption and greed have become the motive of the administrators. In Benares or Kali Temple at Kolkata “pandas” try to thug people in the names of evils and angry gods and goddesses. At Dargah in Ajmer, the sufi saints will put a chadar on the devotee, speak a few chants, pray to God for happiness for the entire family and then ask for heavy charges for their services. Apart from that the pollution levels at these places have also increased with no one taking the responsibility to keep them clean. At Vaishno Devi or Parasnath, there is too much plastic and paper wastes.

One more important aspect that I would like to highlight is the way the locals loot devotees, be it through costly fancy items like colourful idols and plastic decoration items, or through expensive transportation systems. Recently at Rajgiri, we were not allowed to roam on our taxi, but forced to take a tonga (horse-cart) that charged us double of what the taxi would have charged. When I complained to the administration, there response was just a cold look followed by few sympathetic sentences about the employment status of local people. I do agree that holy places create employment that helps in growth and development of the area, but then they are robbing in the broad sunlight.

To me religion is an institution where people try to remove their fears, gain confidence when they are really down and attain self-actualization. But these malpractices at these religious places will only lead to dissatisfaction amongst the devotees.

The only way we can remove these malpractices at religious places is by increasing awareness amongst people, that Godliness cannot be reached by just giving away bribes to “pandas” and “maulwis” and “sadhus”. Moreover, the trusts at these places should also become proactive and understand their responsibility of looking after the comfort of the devotees.

I hope this way we will be able to maintain the purity of our religions.

Written by : Mohit Singhvi, IIM Indore

Generation Gap!

“Hey Mom, it’s so typical of you to think like that!!” said a young child to his mom.

These kinds of expressions are very common in today’s parlance and what they are referred to as is Generation Gap. The referred concept is very hyped and much discussed today. Each one of us can feel and realise it in our daily lives.

Unfortunately, I would like to differ from that concept. To understand it better let us look at the meaning of the term “Generation Gap” objectively. It consists of two words viz. Generation and Gap. The former refers to two generations and the latter, the more important one, refers to the distance between the two. What we effectively mean by Generation Gap is the weak link in the relationship that a younger generation shares with its elder one. For example: parents with their children.

Now, if we look into basic building blocks of a long term sustainable relationship, they are love, honesty, purity and unselfishness.
• Love means absolute love for someone we care for.
• Honesty is important because it forms a foundation for the trust which is very critical for building relationship. One would never want to have relations with a person whom he/she doesn’t trust.
• Purity refers to the purity of thought and hence that at heart. We must not have any mal-intentions disguised by our actions in any way.
• Unselfishness means putting others before self. In a relationship it is often necessary to put our parents’ interests before our own. One must not hesitate in doing so, because “There is no rose without a thorn” and similarly no successful relation is developed unless some sacrifice goes into it.

What has happened over a period of years is that that we have taken our parents for granted and hence fail to understand their importance in our life and consequently our responsibilities towards them. This ignorance, although subconsciously, makes us negligent towards them and spoils the relationship.

We often disagree to our parents’ view because what they say might be true in their age but not so today. But the way we react often hurts their feelings. We must try and understand their perspective and then try and make them understand our reasoning. Any misunderstanding should be solved by dialogue.

We often realise that the friendship we share with others is a give-and-take kind of relation. But we fail to appreciate this idea when it comes to our parents. Under this idea “How can we forget what our parents have done for 20 years of our lives to bring to a position we are in?”. Of course we are in no position to compensate for those years but what we can do at least is not hurt them, respect their feelings and be their support all through out or lives.

Every time we have an unhealthy argument with our parents, it leaves a dot behind. This dot might not be visible initially but when such dots accumulate in large numbers they form a line which might become apparent in later stages when it might be too late to apologize.

Our relationship with our parents is like that of a kite and kite flyer dependence. No matter how high we fly but our success largely depends in the values inculcated within us by our parents early in our life. One can do without friends but not without parents because our parents are indeed our first friends.

So friends, lets understand the role of our parents in our lives and our responsibilities towards them before it is too late!!

Written By: Shalin Shah, IIM Indore

Telecom in India

Impact of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sector on the economy of a developing country is of prime importance in directing the growth of the economy in the right direction and to the adequate measure. India is one such country which is on the growth path in the ICT sector.

Telecom growth in India has been divided into phases on the basis of policies that are being adopted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Government of India (GOI). The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reports show that the growth rate has exponentially increased during the phases from a negligible quantity to a significant number. India constitutes one of the fastest emerging telecommunications market in the world attracting several foreign investors. With a large number of additional subscribers every month, India could have a potentially high growth rate in the rural undeveloped areas. Hence there is a scope for demand and growth in such areas that are yet to be tapped effectively.

STATE OF INDIAN TELECOM IN THE PAST- 1948-1990

During these 50 years after India’s independence, the TRAI reports have observed that the growth of tele-density has been a mere 1.92%.

Monopoly by BSNL has been one of the important reasons which attribute to low growth rate. The telecom sector was a monopoly until reforms were introduced and liberalization of the economy was effected in the early 90s. BSNL was the incumbent monopoly operator in the telecom sector. Monopolies do not have sufficient incentive to perform. The incumbent firms are generally complacent because there is no threat of new entry. Since the market rates are set by the monopoly, and since the consumer demands are highly inelastic, due to the absence of alternatives, the rates are usually unaffordable by the common public. All these reasons attribute to poor performance and very poor delivery to the consumers.

The ending years of colonial imperial rule had left India in a staggering financial crisis and a pathetic economic condition with a negative growth rate. India groped to rebuild from scratch and certain factors that stunted growth to a great extent were:

– Flawed socialist policies (“Nehruvian Penalty”)

– Ineffective implementation of the 5 year plans made

– Chronic corruption in the government

– Poor quality of human resources.

These factors thwarted economic growth to a very meager rate of just 3.5%, which was 4% less than the projected and planned growth rate of 7.5%.

Another thing to note is the lack of emphasis that was given to telecommunications sector during this time, as the government was aiming at educating its people, removing poverty, improving sanitation and urbanizing villages. Telecommunications was not considered a priority then.

IMPEDIMENTS IN DEVELOPING A STRONG INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure is the structural backbone of the entire country. For a developing country, infrastructure includes power, road, water, etc. Development of infrastructure also aids in the growth of several related sectors like agriculture and transport. Most of the revenue from agriculture and related industries comes from rural India.

Therefore a significant portion of the contribution to the nation’s GDP is from rural Indian industries. Strengthening the infrastructure in these areas would help in contributing to the growth in GDP, which in turn would aid the developing rural areas.

The Communist parties in India have played a principal role in thwarting the government’s proposals on liberalization and privatization of sick industries. Unstable political regimes are a potential hindrance to the progress of the country in general, and it also applies to the communications sector. Corruption and red-tapism at several strata in the government structure is also a cause for hampering progress of the nation. This can only be solved with time and education.

Trained manpower is a great requirement for any developing country. India has a huge manpower base, which requires to be trained. Making new education policies and increasing enrolment in high school is a very effective way to tap this potential. It is well known that the rate of economic growth in a nation is directly proportional to the number of years of technical education imparted to its personnel. Thus India should strongly concentrate on educating its manpower especially in the rural areas in order to make most use of its largest resource – manpower.

Conclusion

On a concluding note, one can say that India is on the right track to becoming a telecom super power. In fact the BRIC reports suggest that India could emerge a super power in the world economy, provided the suggested policies are followed and the assumptions of the author are held in consideration. According to the BRIC Report projections, India will rise from contributing 3.5% to the world economy in terms of GDP to nearly 30% in another 50 years by adopting some fundamental changes to the existing economic structure.

Written By: Srividya Ramachandran, University of Colorado, USA

“I” – Is it me?

Remember the last time you lied for nothing but to impose what you aren’t. How much pressure, how much insecurity and finally when the truth divulged, what a shame! This is not something that happens occasionally, it is a usual phenomenon, as innocent as our body mechanism.

Somewhere I feel, we aren’t yet living a free life. Our freedom is but a sham. We are either arrogant of our riches (monetary, language, education) or cry of our poverty. Your residence decides your status, your money does it, your wealth, your riches, your luck, everything forms your identity, and not what you aspire, your ideals. Life has become objective to an absolute degree. We want to produce a good piece not for the sake of art, but to be claimed as a “great artist”.

Those with good knowledge of the English language find it easier to fetch a job, a trait conclusive of your parents’ choice and ability to send you to an English medium school. And as such, “Hindi is our national language.”

We claim to be a part of the largest democracy, yet we have realities of Nithari and Vibhadra, where human life does not stand at par to even a few pence. We see there is a lack of consonance between what we do and what we think should be done. It starts from an individual and extends to our nation, its policies, philosophies and records.

So, let us learn to be free, be what we are, and claim what is ours. Let us understand what Liberty, Equality and Freedom mean to us and not go by the definitions.

Let me test, let me fail, let me succeed, and let me be free, the way I define my FREEDOM.

Written By: Priya Tyagi, Miranda House, Delhi

Cricket World Cup 2007 – Revealed

The current ICC world cup has already got a lot of on-field and off the field events that some of the issues have not yet surfaced. This article also talks about an ‘unsung villain’ of the current edition of the grand event in cricket.

Maybe the paragraph above is not sufficient to make someone guess about what this article talks about. Well, It is neither about the so called “Team India”, nor about Pakistan cricket. It is about the scheduling of the event done by ICC. If you have a close look at the schedule of the world cup, the following things can be observed.

ICC wanted the event to be a ‘Grand Event’. This is evident from the fact that the number of the teams is huge for a cricket tournament. The World Cup currently has 16 teams. But there are some teams which can hardly complete the play of 100 overs. ICC should have looked only at those teams who can give fight till 85-90 overs atleast– In the end it doesnt matter if a certain team fails to win any match. Maybe, ICC gave chances to a lot of club class teams because they wanted it to be the ‘real world cup’. (The tournament cannot be called a world cup if only 10 teams take part in it.) But what this thing has resulted into is that the number of matches in the WC is highest; simply because of the number of nations taking part in it.

Now that the number of teams were much more than it should be, they planned less matches in the first round, and more matches in the second round. This was simply because the quality of half of the teams is not upto the mark. ICC, arguably, would have thought that eight minnows would be eliminated after the first round, and only the top 8 teams will play in super 8.

But the number of games a team gets in each round is:

1st round : 3

2nd round : 6 (Super 8’s)

3rd round : 1 (Semi-Final)

4th round : 1 (Final)

This planning is ridiculous. Ideally, the number of matches per team per round should decrease as the tournament progresses. Look at what effect it has: If a team loses two matches in the first round, most likely it is out of the tournament. But for the second round even if it loses five matches, it can play the sixth match!!

Now look at the total number of matches per round:

1st round : 24

2nd round : 24

3rd round : 2

4th round : 1

Look at the drastic reduction from second to third round, and also observe that the number of matches in first and second round are the same. There should have been a gradual reduction in the number of matches per round so that the tournament closes in.

And what has the above planning resulted in– Two upsets so far, and two better teams are out in the first round (namely IND & PAK). This is not to favor the two teams. But look at the worst part. Even though Ireland and Bangladesh continue loosing all their matches, they will play all the matches. So, in the end they get to play 9 matches each. Result: Poor quality of the tournament. And that’s what is happening.

Written By: Nilesh Vaishnav, Sasken Technologies, Bangalore