Cadbury - iconic brand of Britain

Cadbury the iconic brand of Britain for more than 100 years has gone to American hands. Impossible to think of, can you imagine an iconic brand like Tatas going to foreign hands. I am sure there will be a big hullabulloo from the so called champions of nationalism if ever Tatas were to go to foreign hands. But the fact that it happened in England shows democracy of any kind and particularly shareholder democracy is alive and kicking in England. Truly a democratic country.

Kalmadi - the big bully

At last, somebody to stand up to Kalmadi's big bully tactics, that he has been perpetrating for more than two decades. To think he had the verve to take over Hockey India completely as his serfdom after obliterating IOC to mere pawn shop. Kudos to Pargat.

Sachin completes his 45th

Sachin duly completes his 45th test century. Now he is playing only for statistics. I am sure that playing against Bangladesh, is like child's play to him after two decades of playing at the highest level. With Ricky Ponting charging up behind him, he is likely to have more sleepless nights as long as Ricky continues to be in the form he is in all the time. Unfortunately for Sachin, BCCI has not deigned it fit to have more test matches this year.

Nano experiences

Extracts of my letter sent to Business Today

With reference to your story in BT January 24, 2010 about experience of Nano users, Nano seems to have completely missed its market for which it was originally intended viz. the first time car buyers or the two wheeler owners who want to migrate to four wheels. All the interviewees in the story already have multiple cars with them and are definitely not first time users. Has Tata missed something here.

Giants of Science

Just finished reading "Giants of Science" a book of mini-autobiographies of leading scientists, innovators and thinkers starting from Pythagoras to Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, to Faraday, Hertz, Einstein, and Fermi among others. It gives a brief bio of their early lives followed by their scientific experiments and innovations, which has richly enriched modern lives. Highly recommended

Why Have'nt you Written

Just finished reading "Why Have'nt You Written" Selected Stories from 1950 to 1972 by Nadine Gordimer. The stories belong to that era when South Africa was under aparthied rule. Most of the stories deal with subtle tensions arising out of racial strife.

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning

Just finished reading the first book of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events". The first book is called "The Bad Beginning" involving the unfortunate events surrounding the lives of the Baudelaire children. I think post Harry Potter, children's books have undergone 360 degree change with calamities and disasters being the central theme of any series. Gone are the days of William series books by Richmal Crompton a delightful series involving the danger with which William regularly goes through his life. I guess, the danger part has been upgraded substantially. The first book looked good. Goodreads 4/5