Saying NO to external aid

As many of you might have read as I did with a lot of curiosity and maybe disappointment or joy, the Indian government refused foreign aid for the Tsunami relief efforts. While it opened its gates to relief agencies and NGOs, Indian said "No, thanks" to the global consortium of donors for the Tsunami relief effors like Australia, Unites States, UK, Japan and much of Europe.

When I first read the piece of news , I was shocked. I do understand that a 1 bn plus populace (with a lot of dollar expatriates) can fund the relief efforts. But saying No and then changing the stance could be political hara-kiri. And true to this thought, India amended its policy for forign aid to include organisations like World Bank since it realised that the donor efforts were far from sufficient. A political dichotomy seems to exist in India which wants to have US as a close ally in this fight against nature but cant align itself publicly by refusing to commit to the core group as requested by the US. What are we telling the world here ?

While many claim that India wants to assume more prominence as a player rather than a ballboy in the global political scene, it might be churlish to ward off support when it truly needs it. The UN which has swung into action in Indonesia and Sri Lanka has not made any entry into India courtesy the No invite policy. Are we setting a bad precendence here?

Yes, India is a big country which is heading towards completely self-sufficiency (if oil can be discounted from the picture). But are we capable enough to manage and coordinate massive relief efforts on the aftermath of natural disasters ? Money might not be a requirement someday. But what about advanced technology at the site of disaster to ensure food and medicines reach the farthest corners immediately. Does life justify the cost of continuing to be a regional power or a future UN Security Council seat ? Are we missing the big picture ?

Are we fools as an nation or is this the beginning of an era of significant Indian presence in the global political arena ?

The Big Apple

So I made on more trip to NYC on New Years Day (not the Eve, thanks but no thanks). There is something about the Big Apple that draws me to it time and again. And coming from a fanatic RedSox fan, it is something. The city has this aura of mystery and at the same time universal appeal. My wife, cousin and I landed at Times Square at night and true to its nature, the area was crowded and brimming with life. The place was abound with its trademark tourists and hawkers and lovers and families and singles looking for company. If there is one place in the world where every possible combination of the colors in the basic palette can be viewed, it is here. The electricity used up the the neon hoardings would be enowwwugh to light up a small nation for a week or more. For all its ostentatious display of color and money, the place appeals to your heart like none other on a breezy winter night.

I have visited Times Square enough times and more. But somehow I feel like going there again and again. It has a magnetic draw that is difficult to resist. I still have the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park and the Guggenheim left to see (among the more popular tourist destinations, of course). Also in the list is a Broadway play with my wife which has been a dream for a long time. If only Bombay Dreams had lasted a little longer !

For the Indian in me, a trip earlier in the day to Queens and then the Hindu temple in Flushing, NY was a lot of fun. The temple was glorious and amidst the surging crowds on New Year's day, I spent a few minutes praying for a better year ahead. The tsunami definitely warranted a shout out to the dead and the future of the displaced and homeless survivors. The Indian canteen in the tempe campus was a great place to get some tasty south Indian food and if it were not for the hour long wait, the entire experience would have been just fantastic.

In all, it was a nice day long trip that definitely set the tone for more such future trips to the Big Apple.

Some photos from my trip can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rangaprabhu

Tsunami Support

I'll not write much about the Tsunami since most of you know about it. All I can say is it needs your help and contribute as much as you can towards helping the people try to put their lives back together.

I personally chose AID India to send my money to since they have been great in disbursing the funds immediately. You can contribute to them at http://survivors.aidindia.org.

If you prefer to contribute to other organisations, here is a bunch of them:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1229/p10s01-usgn.html
http://www.bapscare.org/mediacenter/announcements/2004/tsunamireliefwork.htm
https://www.aidindia.org/aidadmin/DonateToRRF.jsp
http://www.idrf.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Hnnews&file=article&sid=157
https://www.myhelpinghands.org/tsunami.asp
http://www.ashanet.org/index.php?page=tsunami-relief
http://www.nextgenfoundation.org
http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,5595-1-2910-1,00.html
http://www.indianredcross.org/donation.html
http://www.seedsindia.org
http://pay.hindu.com/thrfpay/thrfpay.jsp
http://www.redcross.org or call 800-HELP-NOW
http://www.americares.org or call 800-486-4357
http://www.doctors-withoutborders.org or call 888-392-0392
http://www.mercycorps.org or call 888-256-1900
http://www.savethechildren.org or call 800-728-3843
http://www.careusa.org or call 800-521-2273

Also you can check the local and online news sources for other means to help. The following blog has some additional info on the Tsunami relief efforts.

http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

Just remember, you can make a difference.

Goodbye Texas !

I am leaving the Lone Star state to head towards greener and definitely much colder pastures of Pennsylvania. It has been a fun time in Texas. I arrived in summer when the heat was definitely unbearable but winter has been a very nice time indeed. Chill but not really depressingly cold. Since Irving has been my only experience away from the northeast, it would be interesting to compare the two regions.

Texas is wide, vast and huge - in all aspects. The roads are much wider with a lot of lanes, definitely much more than say the PA Turnpike or most areas of I-95. While there are a lot of people in TX too, the prevalence of more strip-malls mean that there is a greater sense of space and fewer people here than in Boston on NY where there are a lot of people everywhere. The street lights system is definitely a big plus in Irving while I sorely groped for light in the streets of eastern PA. Weather wise, the Texas area definitely gets pretty hot in summer and thats in Dallas. I cant imagine how hot it can get in San Antonio or Houston. But then the winters are definitely bearable. The same cannot be said for Philly or Boston where cold assumes a whole diffrerent meaning in January and February. Also, the year-long presence of an amazing Farmers Market is awesome for a fruit lover like me.

On the flip side, a weekend in Dallas offers very little option for the travel enthusiast. Not the same in the Northeast. From Philly for example, NYC is 2 hours, Boston is 5 hours, the Niagara and Toronto is 7 hours, Baltimore is 2 hours and Washington D.C is all of three hours. And each of these places require atleast 2-3 weekend trips to truly see everything that it has to offer. From Dallas, its Austin, Houston and San Antonio, again and again. I hear that Arkansas can be really beautiful in Fall but that is still all of 5 hours drive from here. I wish there were more things to do. Downtown Dallas when compared to the downtowns on Boston, NYC or Philly is really non-existent.

All said, it has been a great experience, the last 7 months in Dallas, TX. I have managed to enjoy the best of what Texas has to offer and hope to be back someday to visit the places I couldnt this time over-Houston, Corpus Christi and many more !

Till then, its sayonara Texas !

The Protocol of gifting

Well, its that time of the year when the roads are clogged and the malls buzzing with activity. Tensions are running high and people are making sure their gift lists are all inclusive of their near and dear, not to mention the "important" ones. I figured what better to write about than the whole protocol of gifting. While I dont celebrate Christmas, in India we do have Diwali where people exchange stuff but at a totally different scale. Its more of homemade sweets and new dresses and less of having to buy things thoughtfully for one and all.

I have asked a few friends of mine as to why there is so much importance attached to gifting during Christmas and well, not many had an answer. They said they were doing it because they have been doing it all their life and their parents did it and so on. Here is an interesting "Christian" article on why people give gifts on Christmas. I am not convinced. Its nice to give and receive gifts, always. But is there a reason why its done at this time of the year ?. Or is it one of the ways corporate America gets to sell its products worth billions to the masses with a reason to boot ?

Many of my male friends complain about having to go through the rigors of buying gifts and that it tires and bores them to no end. Not to mention the bloated credit card bills. If this is indeed the attitude of many, why do it for the sake of doing it? Isnt it the spirit of giving that matters and not the gift itself. As O.Henry so beautifully wrote in his short story, "The Gift of the Magi", isnt it really in the spirit of things to want to give rather than have to give ?

So what if they kissed ?

The latest big thing to hit the desi tabloids after the Delhi Public School MMS scandal is the so called "public kiss" shared by Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur. Lots of space has been used for this big kiss that I figured I gotta blog it. If you have'nt been following the story here is a link to it.

As a response to the photo article, Kareena and Shahid have denied that it was them. In addition, they have slapped a Rs. 20 crore lawsuit on the publishers of Mid day. Kareena has also claimed that she would "fight for her dignity". C'mon folks, who are we kidding here ?

Firstly, I think the issue has been totally blown out of proportion. Whats in a kiss ? She likes him. He likes her. So they kiss. I dont see any problem with that. If Mid Day publishes the photo, Id see Kareena feeling bad about it but suing them for it?. Thats weird. I mean, this is the same Kareena who can professionally strip to her underwear for movies and kiss and cuddle and what not "on screen". Now if the same person does it in real life, whats the big deal with it. The Indian public for long has had this really hypocritical view of things. While sex in all its glory shall be beamed in the various music video channels and movies after movies claiming to show "not porn" but the greatness of the Indian woman coming as a spurt, why do we still have issues with someone kissing in public. You wanna see it, see it. You think its gross, turn your face away. Simple as that. Why make such a big deal. This whole idea of keeping sex in the bedroom doesnt work anymore. Period. Learn to handle it maturely. Not like a convent school kid !

And Kareena and Shahid, grow up. If someone caught pics of you smooching, does it matter. Really ? Isnt it all too much to make a hue and "cry" about it. Isnt it time to either get a room to smooch in private if thats what you want or get over it and move on with your life. Isnt it how things should be?

And finally...

Finally its over. The Laci Peterson case is history. The California jury has pronounced its verdict. Its death for Scott and relief for millions of Americans. I thought people in this country had a lot to do other than follow a routine murder trial in some corner of the country. Boy was a wrong.

The Laci Peterson case has consumed reams and reams of paper, sites after sites on the web (last Google count was 295,000) and hours of discussion on the television networks. I can personally remember not less than 4 Larry King Live episodes dedicated to the topic. C'mon folks, dont we have better things to do with our time. There are so many things happening around the world that needs our attention. But we try to spend our time in what is really the biggest soap opera for everyone concerned other than Scott Peterson and the families of the parties concerned. My condolences to the Laci Peterson family but I definitely think they would have preferred a much peaceful aftermath to their daughter's horrific death than the abundance of media attention that has been thrown at them.

Are we really so gossip and tabloid crazy that we focus on such otherwise trivial murder cases with this amount of public scrutiny ? Dont we really have anything else to read, write or think of?

The Ego Thing!

Well, I definitely debated a lot before raking up this issue. For one, it is something I havent found an answer for myself, yet. Also, it is a trifle dicey for a lot of friends and relatives but what the heck!

When I left for the US to study and make it big, my argument to the folks who wanted me to stay back was that there werent enough "good" jobs in India for my liking. By good I was referring to R&D and development positions in the telecommunications industry. I was true then and my argument held. The year was 2000.

But things changed, albeit dramatically in the next few years. Companies started moving their work,lock, stock and moneyed barrels to India and it all kept moving. Meanwhile I had completed my Masters and was starting to look for jobs. As luck would have it I got a good position working on a 3G protocol stack development project and was happy. But I was alarmed to know that there were a few hundred if not more people, doing the same work in India. The year was 2002.

Its 2004 now and I have since then changed jobs or rather clients, twice. The last two jobs are heavily testing oriented and while they have been pretty interesting and cutting edge, they are no different from the jobs in India. In fact in the last one year, I have had interview calls in India for extremely exciting, cutting edge wireless positions. Somehow I am unable to let go of my American dream of 2000. Why?

Are we, the Indians in America, or atleast a vast majority of us, living a lie ? Are we really doing jobs that are so great, they arent available or open to us at home ? For me, I think its an ego thing. I love my life here. I admit I miss my family and friends. But the independence and standard of living I get here is good enough for me to not want to go back. Those do make good reasons but isnt that different from what we came here for?. I am still soul searching on that one.

Do you have it in you?

I have put down some of the key things that an Indian male needs to know and follow to survive two or three days weddings in India. While the list might be more applicable to south Indian weddings, it wouldnt hurt to read em anyways.

1. Be prepared to endure long nights and early mornings. If you are a coffee drinker, great. Else for all non-coffee folks like me, better get onto something that'll keep you awake. Grad students, rejoice. Its back to semester end project submission days where sleep was a precious quantity, rare and much valued and the owls retired to bed earlier than you did.

2. Learn to smile and keep it plastered on your face for hours together. You are going to have to smile so much, you'll probably stop smiling for the rest of life.

3. Make sure you have plain-glasses handy if you dont already wear glasses. The ritual smoke is going to fill your eyes and all others that can see or feel with a hazy feeling for the rest of the day. And yes, it hurts and irritates like crazy. I recommend a small bottle of Visine in your kitbag.

4. Think four times before choosing any pant or shirt that is light in color for your wedding related procedures. Trust me, its going to get stained and soiled and you dont want your hard-earned dollars and meticulously chosen shirt or pant condemned to the bottom of your closet for the rest of your life. Khakis are a strict no-no.

5. Make sure you are seen as a world-savvy individual who is street smart and knowledgeable. Else you be prepared for "The Talk". For the record, I didnt get one :)

6. Take some memory pills with you. You are going to be subjected to a never-ending stream of "Do you remember me ?" routine and its inhuman to remember so many people.

7. Start visiting the gym a few months in advance of your wedding. A soft and gentle person is well received, not a soft body with a *lot* of flesh all over. If you are a person on the heavier side, it still doesnt hurt firming up your body. You can then pass off with the "Mappilai is so chubby and cute" comment.

8. Learn to do the "Sample but dont eat" thing. You are going to be pummeled with food from all directions and its simply not possible to say No. Added to which is the nausea and tiredness you are going to encounter during the wedding, its not possible to really eat everything. For once, even too little of something is not too good. So learn the art of sampling (taking the food item to your tongue is considered sampling here) and resisting the urge to eat like you normally would. It helps, trust me. And yeah, the rest room even if clean and close to your living quarters is going to get messy and pretty much unreachable as the marriage procedures hit their peak.

9. Do not drink a lot of water. As I noted in the previous line, rest rooms are suddenly going to disappear or become inaccesible. Keep yourself hydrated but not too much.

10. Make sure you say "No" to gifts and presents in your wedding invitation itself. Or be prepared for 20 clocks and 100 Ganesha idols. Any takers ?

11. Concoct a nice story to describe your job. A standard software engineer doesnt work anymore. There are already enough and more out there. And yes, have an answer handy as to why you are not working in Bangalore or Chennai but in the US. The oldies are going to keep asking you to come back home and rightly so.

12. Finally, the worst of them all. Be prepared to watch all the beautiful girls in the wedding and realising the enormity of the situation- They are off-limits !!!. Its all over,gentlemen. Time to hang the boots.

Sapthapadi - The seven steps of life.More photos soon !  

Life in the crowded slow lane

I just returned from a fantastic trip to India and boy, was it fun ! Everytime I head home its a great few weeks of meeting umpteen relatives and eating by the cartloads and meeting old friends and spending time just talking with all and sundry. This time the trip was even more special because I had decided to hang up my bachelor boots and get married. So it was twice the number of relatives(old and new) and much more eating, not to mention a whole lot of travelling. It was a whirlwind trip where I barely got to spend time at home but was just moving from place to place. India has changed quite a bit and it was fun.

One thing that stuck me as soon as I landed inIndia is the fact that there is more money changing hands and there are much more middle and upper class people than there were before. Prices of essential items have shot up and the luxury brands of the world whichin the past, one could either drool at, or travel abroad and pay ridiculous amounts of import duty to own, are now easily available in most metros. Chennai has much more upscale shops and many more buyers but the place refuses to get cleaned up. This year the monsoons have been unusually very active and the roads were all damaged and slushy. How I wish the tax revenue is ploughed back into improving the infrastructure in an efficient manner :(

Coimbatore, my hometown has way more two-wheelers than before and also much more upscale hangouts to boot. More and more mansions of the past are being converted to apartment complexes which, while increasing the number of people in the area, also seems to be affecting the roadscape in a negative manner.

Nagercoil, a small town at the southern tip of the country, where my wife comes from was a town trying to stay small but grappling with growing pains. The countryside was picturesque though and the wedding was a grand affair.

Jobs are all over the place, expecially in the IT area and call centers seem to be mushrooming all over the country. Newspapers are filled with IT job openings and more and more MNCs seem to be setting up development (not testing) centers in the country. All this bodes well in the short-term for a nation filled with colleges with IT programs. In the long run, indigineous manufacturing and R&D should be encouraged to make sure the boom does not go bust.

In all, as my friend indicated in one of our discussion fora, things have never been more inviting for software engineers to march back home. Will we do it, setting aside our egos and American materialism, remains the big question.

God takes sides...

God takes sides….
(An Editorial article without the usual links and what not)

Or so we have been lead to believe in the last few months. In India,
when the elections happen, religion comes to the forefront rearing its
ugly head. The socialists are quick to pounce on it and start
aligning themselves with the so-called non-religious groups trying to
castigate the religious right. This sort of politics has been one that
has earned ridicule for the country both from within and from the
outside. Even being a person of faith, I was disgusted to see the
temple or mosque or church and state coupled so tightly together in
determining the future of the country. For long I looked at the US as
that democracy that strictly delineated the church from politics. The
country elected its leader not based on his faith but his adherence to
his principles for the better good of the country. While the 2000
elections first sowed the seeds of doubt in my mind, this election
confirmed the fact that say what one may, the US is as religiously
fanatic as any other country in the world, albeit in a different form
and manner.

Ohio was the most affected state in the entire union due to the
economic downturn. While the bosses in the Eastern seaboard continued
to prosper (thanks for some good tax cuts), much of rural America
struggled as more and more manufacturing jobs were lost and more sons
sent to the war in Iraq. The Iraq war has been the bloodiest in the
last couple of months and marines are lost everyday to suicide
bombers. Estimates put the civilian deaths in Iraq at more than
100,000. Given all this statistics, one would expect anyone standing
against the GOP candidate and now President elect George Bush to win
with overwhelming margins (Reagan, anyone?). But that was not to be.
Not only did the President wrap up Ohio but he gained all of 4 million
votes more than last election and won the popular vote which he lost
by half a million to Al Gore. The states that lost the most since 2000
were the states that overwhelmingly voted for Bush. The lower and
middle-income people turned up in droves to vote for their President.
What happened?

Well, for starters, the opponent of President Bush should have been
Howard Dean. People were finding it hard to differentiate between Bush
and Kerry. And for those who didn't, the GOP hype machine created
enough fear in the minds of people to make them vote Republican.
Fear, as someone said is always the key. This time it definitely was
the case. But what really clinched the deal for President Bush was his
ability to reach out to the vast evangelical moderates and Christians
who in the past had not voted or divided their vote between the two
parties. This time, the issues of embryonic stem cell research, gay
marriage and abortion stuck a very big chord with the increasingly
religious American populace. While Kerry initially downplayed his
religious beliefs, he was forced to play that card for the risk of
losing a big chunk of votes and lose he did.

For once, the economy, a losing war and a possible draft did not rank
among the issues that made a difference in the presidential elections.
Instead, fear and a generous helping of church going voters ensured
that the President stayed in the White House for another four years.
While I hope for a more sanguine and fiscally and environmentally more
responsible government in the second term, it definitely scares me to
think that in America too, religion is given that much importance in
the election of its Commander-in-Chief.

Election 2004 - Its finally here !!!

So it is finally here. After almost a year of hectic and by now, mind numbing campaigning, it all comes down to tomorrow. Senator John Kerry, the Democratic candidate from Massachusetts squares off against the Republican Party candidate and President George W. Bush. In what promises, at least according to the gazillion polls and surveys and statistical analysis, the results are too close to call and until the last bunch of results come in late night tomorrow, nothing is certain. In fact, predictions of a repeat of the 2000 elections where the Chad and Florida were at the center of a electoral controversy unlike any other have also not been ruled out.

Watchdog organizations believe that a turnout greater than 115 million could favor Senator Kerry and a lower turnout would help President Bush. Early polling numbers indicate that the turnout is expected to be much better than the last elections at least because of what is at stake this time. At stake are the country’s foreign policy and also the economy. While pundits predict that it might be homeland security that eventually decides the winner, many believe that some core issues like the environment and pollution have conveniently been swept aside.

Senator Kerry goes into the polls hoping that he has convinced the American people hard and enough that he is not the flip-flopper as he has been made out to be. His questionable decisions to support and oppose many bills in the senate have gotten him into much more trouble than he would have wanted them to. But he has made his bones working hard and uncovering major scams like the BCCI bank issues in the nineties. This points to a resolute individual who does not give up on anything he has started. In addition, the fact that he did go to Vietnam and came back to protest against the war talks of an individual who does his duty for the country but does not hesitate to question the purpose of the very war he went to fight. To stand up against what he thought was a wrong war after fulfilling his responsibilities for his country fighting the very same war speaks very highly of John Kerry’s character. In the final count, what would matter is if people believe he can safeguard the country against future terrorist attacks.

President George W. Bush has been the forerunner for most of the election campaign barring the weeks following the presidential debates. While his ability to relate to the locals in rural America has got him all the support he needs and more, his performance over the last four years have not really been as perfect as the Republican Party machinery has led us to believe. While the Afghan war was fully justified and supported by countries world over, the Iraq war has never quite been truly justified. The weapons of mass destruction are nowhere to be found nor are even the evidences of one such policy by Saddam Hussein. The 9/11 committee has categorically ruled out any significant relation between Al Qaeda and Saddam. The war is far from over and even as I type this blog, Fallujah is being ravaged by one of the most intense battles in the last couple of months. Last week alone has seen the death of more than 15 Marines not to mention the scores of innocent Iraqi civilians. The war seems to be never-ending and the insurgents seem to be gaining the upper hand by the day. This is far from the phenomenal and catastrophic success it has been made to be by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. In addition, it is undeniable that the respect and reputation of the US in the World arena is at its lowest in many decades. From being the liberator and champion of democracy, the United States has become the poster boy for the evil effects of being a superpower. This reputation needs to change and it seems unlikely that it would happen with President Bush at the helm. But to the Presidents credit, his popularity among the conservatives in America is at the highest in many years and so is his unique ability to reach out to the masses especially in the heartland states of America. The economy has not made many strides since 2000 even if we choose to ignore the lost jobs and fall in manufacturing. The President is campaigning on the sole platform of national security and it would be interesting to see if that alone gets his elected to a second term at office.

This election, there are more swing states than ever before not to mention the possible surprises that can be thrown up by traditional Red and Blue states like Arkansas and New Jersey respectively. In the heart of the swing states are people who have started complaining about being inundated with calls and ads and visits from party cadres to the point that they are tired of it. Residents of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Mexico, Arizona, New Hampshire and a few other states not to forget Florida are at the unique position of determining the next President of United States.

In all, the elections and the days that follow will make for tremendous drama and very many surprises. But what is undeniable is the fact that the voting public is divided as they have never been before and this kind of divisive politics will continue to haunt the next President of United States.

And by the way, if this blog from me is any indication, there are million such and some important ones are listed here.

At the hallowed homeground of the Boston RedSox earlier this year. I still havent got over the WS win !!! 

The Curse is broken !!!

Take than Babe !!!

So you thought we couldnt do it without you. To hell with you and your curse. I havent been as happy as today in a very long time. Its just minutes after Keith Foulke closed yet another game succesfully for the RedSox and 86 years of tears and misses go down in an epoch for ages. A 8 game streak that started after a miserable 19-8 loss to New York and it all boils down to this. As the team takes turn fondly holding the World Series trophy, the owners and Theo Epstein, one of the true architects of the team of 2004 get drenched in the champagne. I have been a teetotaller all my life and if there was one moment I wish I get deliriously whacked out, this is it. But me being me, I am just gonna scream my head off in my room and make sure I blow a wad of money tomorrow. I have already promised my fiance anything, I repeat, anything she wants if the Sox won and that was during the ALDS. So I look forward to keeping that word and seeing much more victories, now that the road block that refused to be blown away for 86 long years, lies in dust.

To a team that just refused to quit and to a whole lot of RedSox fans world over, guys, its over. Now we know who the daddy is !!!

Much more on this when I get back my sanity.

We believed :)

Sometimes even miracles happen...

And one such did last Thursday early morning at 12:01 am when Ruben Sierra grounded out to second and history was made.As I watched in a seedy Best Western somewhere in the outskirts of Charleston, SC (dont ask my what I was doing there), the RedSox came back from an overwhelming 0-3 deficit to win the 7 game American League Championship Series 4-3. It had never happened before in baseball and how could it ? For, to achieve such a feat, it needed much more than skill and temperment and patience and doggedness displayed by the RedSox. It needed that little thing which plays its part almost all the time against the RedSox, fate. Things needed to happen when it was most required and they did. Papi delivered twice for the RedSox and in the seventh game, a till now lacklustre Johnny Damon homered twice for a cumulative 6 RBI's to do it for the Sox. The Yankees were left just speechless while the famed RedSox offensive gave it to the depleted Yankees bullpen. Kevin Brown was taken off after a couple of innings only to be replaced by an equally ineffective Javier Vasquez. By the time the famed closer Mariano Riviera came out for the Yankees, it was all but over.

To me it was over when Alex Rodriguez, the highest paid sportsman in the United States, did the most unprofessional act not just in Game Six but in all of baseball by interfering with Bronsor Arroyo trying to run him out at first base. What was awful about it was the way A-Rod feigned utter disbelief in front of tens of millions watching all over the country and made sure he went down the history books as the highest paid sissy. While I have been a patient fan of the RedSox, I have had a grudging admiration for the Yankees who have time and again demonstrated their ability to come out fighting even at the most hopeless situations. Derek Jeter, in my opinion is one of the best captains baseball has seen in a long time. Given all that, what A-Rod did was a shame to himself and the pinstripes he so proudly wears. I am sure this is one baggage he will carry with him for life and that is the biggest loss of all, much more than the 4-3 thrashing. George Steinbrenner, the businessman is expected to make some big moves later this Fall and the steps could be big enough to warrant major changes in the Yankees lineup.

By the time I write this blog, Boston had taken Game 1 of the World Series defeating the Cardinals in an ugly game that could have gone either way until the Top 9th. Boston managed a win due to its offense clicking and inspite of an awful defense lead by Manny. It was also an early indicator of how good the Cards were at fighting back and ready to pounce on any error. With the second game slated for today, Boston needs not just the best from the old warhorse, Curt Shilling but also a continued blitz from the the offense and most importantly a much better performance in the field. David Ortiz is red hot and Manny seems to be getting his groove back along with a resurgent Damon and Bellhorn. Given all this, Game 2 and all the future games should make for a very interesting watch.

Go Sox..and yes, we continue to believe, much harder than before.

PS: My condolences to the family and friends of the girl who lost her life amidst the Sox victory celebrations.

PPS: I turned 26 at 12:00 am EST on Thursday and a minute later, got one of the best birthday gifts I could have asked for with the ALCS miracle comeback by the RedSox. If only I could hope for more such birthdays in the future....I would'nt be asking for too much, would I ?

How better to celebrate the RedSox win with a glorious shot of the Green Monster at Fenway. 

Ortiz is your daddy !!!

Before I start my blog, here is an call for heart specialists in Boston. Given the way the RedSox have been playing in the ALCS, a few hundred patients if not more are sure to complain of chest pain this week. Game 4 ALCS was the Yankees all the way, until the ninth inning. The RedSox, courtesy a single by Bill Mueller and then a repeat act by David Ortiz in the twelfth with a walk-off homer. The game tied the record for the longest post season game at 5 hrs and 02 minutes with 12 innings played. The RedSox had given their fans yet another reason to believe.

If that was a long game, then what could one say about the game today. Game 5 of ALCS had Pedro pitching against his nemesis, the Yanks. The Yankees were out to prove that they were indeed the big daddy. The RedSox were first on the board in the first inning with a RBI single and a RBI walk for Varitek. But the Yankees not to be left behind came back hard and soon were leading 4-2 with a three run RBI hit by Jeter in the 6th. Things were quiet again at Fenway and the fans were back to praying like the previous day. The Baseball Gods decided to bestow the fans with a homer by Ortiz and a sac-fly by Varitek in the ninth. The RedSox Nation had reasons to hope again. The game then assumed epic proportions with pitcher after pitcher coming in to the mound and soon the bullpens were empty. The previous day record was handily shattered and the game was into the 14th inning. And then it happened. A walk for Damon and then a walk for Ramirez brought Ortiz to bat. After a prolonged battle of fouls with Esteban Loaiza, Ortiz managed to yet again find a way to keep the RedSox alive with an RBI single. Game RedSox. For all the Yankees fan, it would be a reminder that only fools would think of rolling over the RedSox. For the New Englanders, it was yet another agonizing day that thankfully resulted in a win.

Tomorrow is a brand new day and while the Yankees are the favorites to win at Yankee stadium, the RedSox have demonstrated that they are far from being dead. Game 6 would be an important momentum game and an interesting one to see if the dominant Yankees or the resurgent Sox come tops. It may yet be that the Yankees might win the ALCS but to RedSox fans who were in the dumps after Saturday's 19-8 bashing, myself included, the last two days have been yet another reason to believe. And for all those who think baseball is really a boring game, guys, start with the RedSox and Yankees. Chances are you wont be ever bored or disappointed.

The Curse might live on, but we will continue to believe.

Update: The Houston Astros just nailed Game 5 of the NLCS with a walk-off three run homer by Jeff Kent. A game that was scoreless until the ninth was blown open and simultaneously closed by the massive homer. The Astros have demonstrated tremendous resilence by coming from a 0-2 deficit against the clinical St.Louis Cardinals and are now leading the series 3-2. Game 6 returns to St.Louis where the Cardinals will try to save the series. They need to first same themselves from Carlos Beltran who is having a record breaking, astonishing post season with 8 homers in 10 games. It really doesnt get better than this.

And by the way, Terry Francona just confirmed that Curt Shilling will be starting Game 6 with special shoes and padding and all. Here is hoping that the old warhorse still has some games left in him this post-season.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to October.

We believe !

While Buster Olney has reported for many such big series happening throughout this baseball season, it doesnt really get bigger than this. Its the Yanks and the RedSox, yet again for the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Its really not hard to see why this assumes so much significance at New York and Boston. For the next one week all eyes in the NorthEast not to mention most other parts of the US and even Japan will be glued to the TV sets and the newspapers. Will the RedSox stumble, again or will this year be any different ?

It has the makings of a surefire Hollywood epic. Great team with fantastic track record of success. Decides for various reasons to trade its best player to a rival team. The tables are turned. The traded player (to the few people who have heard of him, he is called Babe Ruth) then goes on to make history for his new team to such an extent that a new stadium, tailor made to his batting style was built in 1923. To this date, the RedSox have not won a World Series Championship since the trade in 1919. Some people refer to it as the 'Curse of the Bambino'. Others refer to it as just another trade which has since assumed cult status due to the press. It is said that the book "Curse of the Bambino" by Dan Shaughnessy triggered the idea that it was really a curse and something supernatural.

Whatever be the case, the RedSox have had something going against them when it comes to winning the World Series. They have come as close as an out to winning the game but it has never been the real thing. This year, the Sox believe they have their best team yet and if last weeks smothering of the Anaheim Angels is any indication, we could be in for a phenomenal series. The Yankees as always have been clinical with their wins, coming back from behind more times than anyone else in the league. Even with Johan Santana, arguably the best starter in the League this year at his best, the Minnesota Twins lost the ALDS to the Yankees courtesy A-Rod's resurgent streak and Derek Jeter's usual October histrionics. For the RedSox, both Manny and Ortiz have been red-hot pretty much all season long. They lead the league in a duo with most homers and RBIs and the count is only increasing. Last Friday, Ortiz put the final nail on the coffin for the favorites Angels with a 10th inning walkoff homer off Washburn. Manny drove in 2 RBIs in the same game and not to forget the two most important people for the RedSox; Johnny Damon, arguably the best leadoff hitter in the league this year and Curt Shilling, the best pitcher in the league who made it to the CS. With possibly their best team in years, the RedSox have their best chance yet at toppling the Yankees and making it to the World Series.

Will it finally happen this year or will the Yankees find yet another way to come back ?
Only time will tell. For now, here is to looking forward to the best week of baseball yet, in a year that has already produced some great matchups.

We believe !

If only we had more such people alive. The world sure would have been different. They dont make like 'em anymore.