Euro 2008

Tonight the 2nd semi-final between Russia and Spain will be played. The second time that these two teams will be meeting in the tournament will probably see a reversal of fortunes.

While I love the Spanish way of football and prefer the La Liga any day to the Premiership, the fact of the matter is that the momentum lies with Hiddink's side. After completely outplaying an in-form Holland (another of my favourites), the Russians are more than ready to take on the Spaniards. And the man that has fashioned this little fancied Russian team is the man they call Andrei Arshavin.

I saw the Russia-Holland game. And boy oh boy! What a game it was! The strength and stamina of the Russians took my breath away. What a tempo they played the game at! The Dutch were completely outrun, outpaced, and outclassed. Another thing that struck me was the power with which the Russians strike the ball- Pavlyuchenko, Kolodin and Arshavin each strike the ball harder than the other.

For the Spanish, they are probably still revelling in the glory of beating (read: scraping past) World Champions Italy. Quoting noted Spanish sports writer Sid Lowe, "It would be foolish to claim that it doesn't even matter if Spain fail to win the tournament now but in a strange sort of way it doesn't. They've already won their tournament; 2008 is a success now, the greatest success in almost a quarter of a century. Spain have beaten their toughest opponents: themselves."

One thing is for sure: the game is going to be a cracker. The Russians will be seeking revenge for the league stage defeat while the Spanish continue to play their brand of attractive football and progress to the finals after ages.

My take:

Russia 2 - 1 Spain

Sun and sand at Devbagh

Last weekend was spent in Devbagh, an island in North Karnataka, about 2 hours south of Goa. I had gone there with my office colleagues (26 people in all) for a team offsite (read: merrymaking at the company's expense).

We left Bangalore at 4:30 PM on Friday and reached our destination at about 8 in the morning. The 520 km ride was made bearable by the ample supply of food and some beer. Once off the bus, we took a 15 minute boat ride to Devbagh island. The boat ride was less than comfortable with one having to put on a smelly life jacket and carry the luggage, all in a small excuse called a motor boat.

On the island, the Devbagh Beach Resort helpers were there to receive us. All the luggage was carried in a golf cart (thank God!) while we walked amidst the trees towards the resort. The place was serenely beautiful. On one side the Arabian Sea was lashing the stones and the sand; and on the other side there were trees as far as the eye could see. Walking through the trees, you could hear the calls of many birds- a rarity for city dwellers.

The accommodation itself was austere yet fairly comfortable. There were log huts and cottages. They were quite spacious with large bathrooms equipped with geysers. The rooms were a little dingy but then the sound of the waves and the birds more than made up for it. After a much needed shower, everyone hit the beach. The banana boat ride and the paragliding and the parasailing were all out of the question because of the bad weather. In the meanwhile, cricket, football, volleyball, frisbee kept all interested. And then there was the extended beach bathing session. The water was expectedly quite salty. But it was fun all the same, challenging the waves as they bore down upon you.

Once everyone had had their fill of fun (and salt water), lunch came as a great relief. Food was Ok, nothing to write home about. Tired from the journey and the frolicking on the beach, we retreated to our respective rooms for an afternoon nap. Some went in for a massage at the Ayurvedic centre. I chose to sleep outside on one of the many hammocks. It truly was a magical experience to lie by the sea on a hammock. God bless the soul who thought up the hammock!

Evening came and everyone hit the beach again. This time for a bonfire and booze (yippee!). There were enough spirits to keep our spirits high for a long time. However, a thunderous burst of rain cut short the merry-making and everyone retreated to the shelter of the "Gol Ghar" restaurant. Dinner done, most people called it a night. There was the "nature walk" in the morning that the resort folk had arranged for us. The more adventurous amongst us kept the party going and the booze flowing. Before we realized, it was 1 in the morning. We went out to the beach for a stroll. The sea looked magnificent. In my opinion, the sea looks best at night, by the moonlight. Truly magical.

Next morning when I woke up, most of the others had already left for the nature walk. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the rest of us as I later heard that the walk involved wading through neck high water. Haha. The "walk" took its toll on a few digicams and cell-phones.

Soon enough, we approached the dreaded team building activity in the afternoon. I am not even going to try to get into it (especially since I have bored you enough already). With that done, there was the customary speech "thanks yous" from a few folks. Lunch done, we retraced our steps, got into the boat (this time sans the life-jackets), got into the bus and drove back to Bangalore.

Off for a weekend of sun and shine (and hopefully no rain!!!)

After a tiring week, I am off to Devbagh for the weekend. Am going with office mates. Team-offsite.

We shall be staying at "Devbagh Beach Resort". Hopefully it will not rain...

A morning at the RTO

Why will there not be such chaos on Indian roads? After all, the authorities are here for that very purpose.

Thursday morning I was at the RTO to apply for my learner's licence. I queued up for the document verification process. After what felt like an eternity, the officer comes along at 11 AM! There is the cursory glance at each applicant's papers after which his seal of approval is embossed. The queue moved along at a snail's pace.

Apparently, there seems to be some rule (read: understanding) whereby ladies do not need to follow a queue. I saw the ladies come and go, their papers stamped well ahead of all the poor souls who had been sweating it out before them.

Then there was the "Oral" examination. I was not prepared for it. But then, I thought to myself, "How difficult can that be?" I had seen people on Indian roads shaking their fists and fingers at one another. Some candidate ahead of me was shown some symbol and asked to explain its significance. His answer : Right Turn. After a while there was a tirade in Kannada. It turns out that the synbol shown was of "No U turn". But then, men make mistakes. The chap got his licence (to kill).

I went in and performed the requisite task of showing him the hand signals for right turn, left turn, stop, etc, etc. My application was stamped and I was asked for 10 rupees. "10 rupees? What for?". "You have to give sir..."

And that was that. People in full uniform demanding money to do their duty. With much reluctance, but having no other option, I coughed up the 10 rupees.