The Game is called ‘Binary Cricket’ coz there are only two players per team. The matche are played in a box type enclosure like an indoor basket ball court with a rubber or plastic ball.
The game and how it is played:
Binary Cricket is a super condensed version of the Limited Overs Game of Cricket.
Each innings will consist of only 3 overs a side.
The fun part is even if you get out you get to bat on.
However, each dismissal will cost you 2 runs.
It is a batsman’s game so bowlers will be allowed to do only the underarm action.
Each ‘no ball’ and ‘wide’ will be punished with a 5 run penalty.
But batsmen will have to work hard as there are no fours or sixes.
And as the fielding side has only two players they too will have to (quite literally) cover a lot of ground. (No neutral fielders!)
Normal cricketing rules with regards to dismissals, runs, overthrows and other things will apply except no ‘Leg before Wicket’ (lbw) and no ‘leg -bye.’
The onus is on the team fielding to finish 3 overs in less than 15 minutes.
Failing to do so will invite a 10 run penalty per minute starting from the ‘first second’ of the minute.
As the game is played at a boisterous pace that can give Basketball players a complex. The fielding side is allowed one timeout of 1 min and the batting side can take two timeouts of 1 min each.
To encourage women participation the matches are played with a soft tennis or rubber ball.
If you like swing you can try a plastic ball.
The Game requires very nominal Cricketing skills but requires extra ordinary agility and aggressive athleticism plus an extraordinary ‘will to win.’
This is a ‘Unisex’ game any David can kill a Goliath.
Anyone with an able body and a good cricketing mind can play and win. Trust me when I say ‘any one can win.’
Wish you all the best...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Reality Check
It was a Wednesday in the last week of November 2008. I was as usual on some networking site trying to hunt for contacts of some Alumni or Student activist of a premium college in India.
Today was a little different because I was not at all with myself. My mother in Goa was sick and temporarily bed ridden and the impact of the Global meltdown was weighing on my mind.
Life has been always like this with me so it did not come up as a surprise when Hima my boss called me to her rooms and told me to get ready for my first international assignment – Dubai.
I must confess here that although I was internally very excited, I did think this was possible. I am a bit of a travel freak but always thought of international travel as a huge hassle. I firmly believed that India had a lot of places that I needed to explore yet. Most of my friends and family thought I was taking up the ‘grapes are sour’ line even before trying.
Any way I reluctantly walked up to the ISB travel desk to understand the formalities. First and foremost I needed a passport that was valid up to six months from the date of travel. To be honest I did not even know where my passport was. I asked Usha at home to check about my passport. In a few minutes Usha called to inform that my passport expires on March 24th 2009.
I spoke to many agents and officials that evening and tried to reason with them but it was of no use.
This simply meant I needed to renew my passport in the next two days and after that go and apply for a Visa which would take another 3 to 4 days. Knowing the formalities involved I realised that any task that has to deal with a Government department in India is not going to be simple.
Moreover being an arrogant Bombay boy who never wanted anything to do with Hyderabad, I never bothered to get any of my documents transferred. I had no proper address proof of a place I had been staying for the last 4 years and all my identity proofs were like me Bombay based.
My first reaction next morning was to get my passport renewed from Bombay. I thought this would be easier than to deal with a situation in Hyderabad. However, when I spoke to agents and officials in Bombay and Hyderabad, I realised this was not possible. I had been staying in Hyderabad for too long to be recognised at least officially as a Bombay boy.
For a ‘tatkal’ passport renewal in Hyderabad I needed 3 documents as proof of residence or a Verification Certificate from an IAS/ IPS cadre government officer who knew me in person. I had a telephone bill of a reliance FWP/ land line but no other proofs to prove that I was resident in Gachibowli Hyderabad for the last 4 plus years. I thought I knew no government officer.
Finally I gave up. I picked up the phone and spoke to Usha and said to her that we need to do a ‘reality check.’
Usha never gives up so easily. In a consoling tone she heard me out but gave me her trump card ideas as usual. She has a few tricks up her sleeves and as always she told me to do a few things that will work for me.
Usha reminded me that we had a Bharat Gas Connection and I could get my address on my bank account changed. This would give me the 3 ‘address proofs’ if we include the telephone bill. She also reminded me of a certain acquaintance of mine who worked with the income tax department. I vaguely remembered that he was a very high ranking officer.
She immediately also asked me to register online for a passport appointment in Hyderabad and get myself clicked.
I did as she said and spoke to my friend in the income tax department the next morning. To my delight things started to fall in place. My friend checked and realised that he was entitled to give me the Verification Certificate. He also decided to accompany me to the passport office as he knew some top official there.
In just 2 days my passport was in my hand and Usha still taunts me about the ‘Reality Check.’
Today was a little different because I was not at all with myself. My mother in Goa was sick and temporarily bed ridden and the impact of the Global meltdown was weighing on my mind.
Life has been always like this with me so it did not come up as a surprise when Hima my boss called me to her rooms and told me to get ready for my first international assignment – Dubai.
I must confess here that although I was internally very excited, I did think this was possible. I am a bit of a travel freak but always thought of international travel as a huge hassle. I firmly believed that India had a lot of places that I needed to explore yet. Most of my friends and family thought I was taking up the ‘grapes are sour’ line even before trying.
Any way I reluctantly walked up to the ISB travel desk to understand the formalities. First and foremost I needed a passport that was valid up to six months from the date of travel. To be honest I did not even know where my passport was. I asked Usha at home to check about my passport. In a few minutes Usha called to inform that my passport expires on March 24th 2009.
I spoke to many agents and officials that evening and tried to reason with them but it was of no use.
This simply meant I needed to renew my passport in the next two days and after that go and apply for a Visa which would take another 3 to 4 days. Knowing the formalities involved I realised that any task that has to deal with a Government department in India is not going to be simple.
Moreover being an arrogant Bombay boy who never wanted anything to do with Hyderabad, I never bothered to get any of my documents transferred. I had no proper address proof of a place I had been staying for the last 4 years and all my identity proofs were like me Bombay based.
My first reaction next morning was to get my passport renewed from Bombay. I thought this would be easier than to deal with a situation in Hyderabad. However, when I spoke to agents and officials in Bombay and Hyderabad, I realised this was not possible. I had been staying in Hyderabad for too long to be recognised at least officially as a Bombay boy.
For a ‘tatkal’ passport renewal in Hyderabad I needed 3 documents as proof of residence or a Verification Certificate from an IAS/ IPS cadre government officer who knew me in person. I had a telephone bill of a reliance FWP/ land line but no other proofs to prove that I was resident in Gachibowli Hyderabad for the last 4 plus years. I thought I knew no government officer.
Finally I gave up. I picked up the phone and spoke to Usha and said to her that we need to do a ‘reality check.’
Usha never gives up so easily. In a consoling tone she heard me out but gave me her trump card ideas as usual. She has a few tricks up her sleeves and as always she told me to do a few things that will work for me.
Usha reminded me that we had a Bharat Gas Connection and I could get my address on my bank account changed. This would give me the 3 ‘address proofs’ if we include the telephone bill. She also reminded me of a certain acquaintance of mine who worked with the income tax department. I vaguely remembered that he was a very high ranking officer.
She immediately also asked me to register online for a passport appointment in Hyderabad and get myself clicked.
I did as she said and spoke to my friend in the income tax department the next morning. To my delight things started to fall in place. My friend checked and realised that he was entitled to give me the Verification Certificate. He also decided to accompany me to the passport office as he knew some top official there.
In just 2 days my passport was in my hand and Usha still taunts me about the ‘Reality Check.’
Monday, August 17, 2009
2963
It was May 2006 and I had just bought myself a beautiful Yellow Wagon R (YWR). This was my first car and I hardly knew to drive it around. In my various sojourns I was generously helped by my friend Imtiaz bhai. They told me that I had to bring my car to a Maruti Service Station to get it serviced for the first time. This was part of the free service package. Besides this the Maruti Dealer had to give me a permanent number plate as I had already registered my car. The Service Station was at Somajiguda and I had never driven that far. Imtiaz bhai was my rescue idea.
After waiting for an hour at the Somajiguda office of Saboo motors I was told that since it was a Saturday, servicing the car here would be difficult and I would have to drive it to the Nampalli Service Station. With my limited driving skills this would have been impossible. Imtiaz bhai was also reluctant to drive further. So I was real angry with Saboo motors for having called me this far and not directed me to Nampalli directly when I had called in the morning.
To pacify me the sales man told me I would any which way have had to come here as my number plate had to be fixed and RC book/ card collected. I was still a little pissed off.
After another wait of around 15 to 20 mins what was being fixed on my car first surprised me, then shocked me and later flabbergasted me, but till today intrigues me as a mystery.
Long years ago when I was a little boy, my mother had told me stories about her father (my Nana) having various cars. She told me many stories about many cars but only one of them I remember till today. It was about a Morris Minor that my Nana owned somewhere between 1950 to 1965. I was only born in 1975 so I had not even seen this car. The story told so many times over the years had no plot as such but remained in my mind as the “ two nine khichdi” story. You guessed it right... Nana had a Morris Minor that had a registration number 2963. My Mamu named Chotu could not pronounce a term as difficult as “Six Three” when he was young and so called it “ two nine khichdi.”
The Registration number of my car too is 2963.
Nana I love You...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
This is how I got into ISB.
It was late August 2004. I had been married for less than one year and was going through one of the worst phases of my life. My wife had seen a lot of potential in me and had nagged me into giving up my job at St. Xavier’s College. I was now working for the Indo American Society as a Manager for Academic Programmes.
By changing my job I had not only lost my super star status at my workplace (something I had become used to) but also had to adjust to a new work culture. This adjustment was getting on to my nerves. I was getting some salary but was totally unhappy about it. More than me my wife was unhappy about it.
Moreover my wife got a superb job offer and had decided to take it up. Her salary was thus now going to be more than double my salary. She was thus ashamed of me and had left no stone unturned to let her displeasure be known to me.
Battered and bruised by her nagging and outright wild n abusive remarks, I went to work everyday.
At work, that day the electricity had failed and the only thing that was working was my computer because of the UPS. My mouse had a severe malfunction and was very difficult to use. So I by mistake clicked on a pop up of monster dot com.
Realizing what had happened I decided to make use of what had just popped up. It was 1135 in the morning when I finished filling in the details and went out of the office to tell the security man to instruct the student who had come for the 1130 class to leave as there was a power failure.
Many of the guys who had turned up for the class were agitated and thus I had to spend some time pacifying them. When I returned to my seat it was around 12ish. My secretary came in with an invite of her wedding and placed the card on my table. After exchanging the usual pleasantries she asked if she could go out for lunch with her fiancée. After she left I got a call from Simran Khara from ISB. She told me she had seen my profile on monster and was asking if I would be interested in working for ISB. At first I thought it was a practical joke but later said ok to the interviews on phone.
My first interview was scheduled for the next day at 11 and the next one at 2 pm. Both on phone. When I came back home that day I told this to my wife n she told me “be careful!” I just casually also told this to my dad and he told me the usual …. “Go! All the best but I am sure your worst will also get u through… so do ur worst!”
After I finished both the interviews, Simran again rung me up and told me I had to come down to Hyderabad for the next round of formalities. I had to book my tickets so I called my secy in to take down my schedule and see if a booking is available. As she left I noticed her wedding card on the table, I opened it to see an embossed Ganpati on it.
I flew down to Hyderabad for my interviews and came back with mixed feelings. The ISB is like the TAJ Mahal. Once a person sets foot here and is given an opportunity to imagine, you can be sure the guy will dream of making it big. I too came back with similar feelings. My interviews like always had gone off real well and there should not have been any problems.
However, even 10 days after there was no news. I had almost lost hope.
On the 11th of September, I landed up at my office as usual and was meeting up with this girl from ToI. She had a gift for me. An Idol of Lord Moreshwar one of the Astvinayak idols from near Pune. She was kind of afraid to give it to me as I am a Catholic. I put her at ease and took the idol and put it down on my table as if to install it and told her this will now always remain with me. She was so happy to see me accept it that she thanked me a lot before she left. As soon as she had left, Monica Reddy from the HR at ISB rung me up to ask why had I not replied to their offer letter. I told her I had not got any. So she checked with me for my email address and found a few ‘L’(s) missing. Soon she sent me the letter and the rest is history.
This is how I got into ISB. String of coincidences or just one huge miracle by the Man Himself?
By changing my job I had not only lost my super star status at my workplace (something I had become used to) but also had to adjust to a new work culture. This adjustment was getting on to my nerves. I was getting some salary but was totally unhappy about it. More than me my wife was unhappy about it.
Moreover my wife got a superb job offer and had decided to take it up. Her salary was thus now going to be more than double my salary. She was thus ashamed of me and had left no stone unturned to let her displeasure be known to me.
Battered and bruised by her nagging and outright wild n abusive remarks, I went to work everyday.
At work, that day the electricity had failed and the only thing that was working was my computer because of the UPS. My mouse had a severe malfunction and was very difficult to use. So I by mistake clicked on a pop up of monster dot com.
Realizing what had happened I decided to make use of what had just popped up. It was 1135 in the morning when I finished filling in the details and went out of the office to tell the security man to instruct the student who had come for the 1130 class to leave as there was a power failure.
Many of the guys who had turned up for the class were agitated and thus I had to spend some time pacifying them. When I returned to my seat it was around 12ish. My secretary came in with an invite of her wedding and placed the card on my table. After exchanging the usual pleasantries she asked if she could go out for lunch with her fiancée. After she left I got a call from Simran Khara from ISB. She told me she had seen my profile on monster and was asking if I would be interested in working for ISB. At first I thought it was a practical joke but later said ok to the interviews on phone.
My first interview was scheduled for the next day at 11 and the next one at 2 pm. Both on phone. When I came back home that day I told this to my wife n she told me “be careful!” I just casually also told this to my dad and he told me the usual …. “Go! All the best but I am sure your worst will also get u through… so do ur worst!”
After I finished both the interviews, Simran again rung me up and told me I had to come down to Hyderabad for the next round of formalities. I had to book my tickets so I called my secy in to take down my schedule and see if a booking is available. As she left I noticed her wedding card on the table, I opened it to see an embossed Ganpati on it.
I flew down to Hyderabad for my interviews and came back with mixed feelings. The ISB is like the TAJ Mahal. Once a person sets foot here and is given an opportunity to imagine, you can be sure the guy will dream of making it big. I too came back with similar feelings. My interviews like always had gone off real well and there should not have been any problems.
However, even 10 days after there was no news. I had almost lost hope.
On the 11th of September, I landed up at my office as usual and was meeting up with this girl from ToI. She had a gift for me. An Idol of Lord Moreshwar one of the Astvinayak idols from near Pune. She was kind of afraid to give it to me as I am a Catholic. I put her at ease and took the idol and put it down on my table as if to install it and told her this will now always remain with me. She was so happy to see me accept it that she thanked me a lot before she left. As soon as she had left, Monica Reddy from the HR at ISB rung me up to ask why had I not replied to their offer letter. I told her I had not got any. So she checked with me for my email address and found a few ‘L’(s) missing. Soon she sent me the letter and the rest is history.
This is how I got into ISB. String of coincidences or just one huge miracle by the Man Himself?
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