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Twitter Shashi Tharoor gets a Taste of Twitter Lalit Modi !

Our Junior External Affairs Minister and UN ‘could have been’ Secretary General Mr Shashi Tharoor has been ‘twittering’ annoyingly and has been chided by his party, Congress several times…he yet holds on to his Ministership

His adverse and taunting Twitter comments on the Visa Policy Draft after 26/11 and on calling the Economy Class as ‘Cattle Class’ when commenting on the austerity measures had angered his Congress Party Leaders…many of who called for his scalp

Then he courted controversy again when staying in a 5 Star Hotel in Delhi instead of his allotted house…an MP who does not live by example !

I have followed Tharoor’s eloquent English on International Debate Forums and I must confess,I was disappointed….armchair stuff…not really a field worker and completely out of sync with the ground realities…simply had no pulse for and of the people….smirky arrogance was clearly my conclusion

Such a demeanour and behaviour can only emanate from one who’s well,I mean really well cushioned in life !….if you know what I mean !

Developing Proof of this is this new IPL controversy on the real Owners of the Kochi Franchise that was strongly supported by Tharoor and won the bids with a Rs 1500 crs + bid….Is this an Investing Mistake !?….this quantum of Monies !?…will the Franchise be able to recover it!…Is this a genuine Indication of True and Fair Franchise Values !?…It does not matter really what you think !…the ground reality is that such monies are being bid and paid !…Most are excited….few caution!…I’m one of those few !…..It’s always difficult to assess Intangibles…..and IPL’s,albeit growing, Brand Value is not an exception  

So I’m clearly bemused that we have the IPL Chairman,Lalit Modi locking cudgels with Tharoor over Twitter….In an ironic sense Tharoor is getting a taste of his own Twitter Medicine ! from Lalit Modi……Modi has revealed the Stakeholders of one the Consortium Stakeholders in the Kochi IPL Franchise…an interesting name is of Tharoor’s close woman friend,and rumoured to soon become his wife in his third marriage…another revelation is the granting of free equity to a few…Modi accuses Tharoor of pressurising him not to dwell too much on the identities of the stakeholders…There are rumours of Tharoor having a financial stake in the Kochi Franchise…..Tharoor denies this,saying he only spoke to Modi to inquire why he was delaying the signing of the Kochi Franchise Deal…there are strong reports that Modi favours Ahmedabad to be part of the IPL Franchise…but they had lost in the bid auction…..Kochi Franchise complained to the BCCI,accusing Modi of breaching a confidentiality clause and revealing stakeholders names on a public forum like Twitter read more

Coach,Kirsten has the Guts to come out and pinpoint the IPL for India’s early ouster in the ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup

I’ve said it before and I say it again…There is obscene money in Indian Cricket and the IPL is simply a creation and extension of this…what with those crazy auctions and High Winning Bids for a Team  !…you’re putting a tag on a cricketer like a commodity !…and the price tag level discrepancies between players,especially from the same Country,is causing resentment among them !

There is something as “Too much of a Good Thing” and IPL is just that…It’s tempting Cricketers to play more for Obscene Money,their Franchise and BCCI and not for India !…It’s devaluing the sacred Indian Cap !

I may be harsh ,but I’m calling it like how I see it !…and I believe Millions of other Indians too see it !…Mind you,I hold absolutely no grudge against players earning well…ofcourse you entertain during the IPL…but let it not be at the cost of the Indian Cap !

Easier said than done though ! Think about it ! if you were a Cricketer and were offered a Rs One Crore Annual Contract in IPL…that’s a little over US $ 200000…you’d be a fool to reject it ! unless ofcourse you think your’e worth more !…..A Rs 20 lakh Annual Contract from BCCI to an Indian Player may then not look that lucrative !

Money appears to be a better motivator than Patriotism !….. When a Player shores up his Bank Balance with IPL Millions there is visibly  a distinct slackening in attitude,intensity,motivation and competitive spirit to earn a place in the Indian Team….A place in the Indian Team, ofcourse, would be the Icing!…but the IPL Cake is big enough !

So who’s bidding so high in the IPL ! ? Should we then blame Shah Rukh Khan,Preity Zinta,Ness Wadia,Lalit Modi,Shilpa Shetty,Neeta Ambani and Dr Vijay Mallya for India’s poor show at the ongoing ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup !?

India was knocked out from the ongoing ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup and it was refreshing to see our Coach,Gary Kirsten,come out in the media and actually confessing,that it was in his view,the IPL that caused problems for India in the World Cup and led to their below par performance….This is the gist of what Kirsten said or implied :

  • The Indian Players showed fatigue and tiredness after a month long IPL tourney in South Africa
  • Many players carried their niggles from the IPL to the World Cup

Zaheer Khan injured his shoulder in the IPl and yet played for India in the World Cup…He will now probably miss the series with West Indies beginning on June 26…Sehwag  was injured in the IPL,but yet was part of the Indian Team at the World Cup…He just could not play in any match…and had to then reveal how  serious the injury was…he was replaced by Dinesh Kartick …so you had both,our bowling and batting spearheads incapacitated for the World Cup   read more

India just short balled out of the ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup

India and Dhoni just lost it ! Expect a Swift and Strong Media and Public Backlash in India 

I penned this blog title before the last ball was bowled!

We lost to England in a crunch Super 8 game by just 3 runs!… We needed 154 to win and 19 of the last over… We got just 15 !..4th ball was hit for a six by Pathan… fifth ball he hit to Long On and just a single was taken ! when Going  for Two would have put some pressure on the fielder ! and given strike back to Pathan… who knows ! he could have hit the last ball for a Six and tied the game !… what actually happened was that we needed an impossible 8 to win of the last ball and Dhoni managed a Four.We ended at 150/5 chasing England’s 153/7.

Dhoni needs to shoulder full responsibility as a ‘completely out of clue’ captain ! Get Anil Kumble back ! he commented on this lack of Intent in going for Two runs on the penultimate ball 

Dhoni, himself seems to have lost the art of hitting sixes on call or frequently !…. so vital to facilitate a win in the T-20 Format….. there was no real killer instinct to win !… they were playing matter of fact… no sense of intensity or even enjoyment…something is amiss in this Indian Team ! It seems divided !… Dhoni, you paraded your team last week to show unity and dispel Indian Fears of a split in the Team….This spirit was not evident on the field !

Dhoni needs to answer himself first before he answers the nation

He boasts in the Aircell ads how while playing Cricket he connects on Facebook through his Mobile to connect with Friends and have fun….. I wish he had connected with me on Facebook… I could have conveyed to him to bring Yuvraj in early to Bat… we would have won the Game.  

He held back the in form Yuvraj Singh till late… Jadeja scored 20 + but took over 30  balls to do it !Rohit Sharma and Raina failed in two consecutive games. Yuvraj came in at 4 down after 10 overs and hit the first ball he faced for a Six! he scored a quickfire 17 in Nine Balls before a brilliant Foster stumping of Swann got him.

And if you see the margin of just 3 runs that seperated us,I must comment harshly on Harbhajan Singh needlessly gifting away 10 runs by bowling two unnecessary wides that went on to cross the fence with Yuvraj misfielding one of these.

And Ishant continued to bowl short… and surprisingly Zaheer gifted easy boundaries continuing to bowl a wrong legside line  read more

Super Sunday in Trichy…Treble delight in the Triple Sundae !

Sounds like I simply devoured a Great Triple Sundae Dessert out there in Trichy !

Actually it was Trebly memorable Sunday in the Temple City of Trichy in Tamil Nadu due to

  • An Emotionally Uplifting ‘Darshan’ of Lord Vishnu and ‘Goddess Lakshmi’ at Trichy’s Main Temple at Srirangam
  • A very well received Two Day Workshop organised by one of India’s leading Broking Groups…Participants had come from Thanjavur,Madurai,Salem and Coimbatore and other places in Tamil Nadu 
  • A Sensational IPL Final and Closing Ceremonies 

Actually I just returned to Mumbai from Trichy yesterday after this memorable weekend…Had gone to deliver the above weekend Workshop

It began with our Jet Flight from Mumbai to Chennai on Friday afternoon….On landing in Chennai we were told of the cancellation of the connecting Paramount Airways Chennai-Trichy flight on Friday Night..wasn’t too keen to drive six to seven hours from Chennai to Trichy at night,so transfered to a Chennai – Madurai flight…they served a Tamil Nadu brand of Water called ‘Diet’ ! …Diet Water ! ?….Smaller 72 seater Embareur Aircraft…pretty comfortable and stable too in the air…full dinner service on a 55 minutes flight with proper linen and cutlery and crockery……+ Scratch a Card and Win one of several Gifts !…pay Rs 599 and you can collect these at Special AVA Counters at airports…collected a FOCE Watch at Madurai Airport…..They’re smart…rarely can you win the more expensive gifts like a Blackberry !…and even if you do you have to write to Haryana to get it…What is stocked at the counters are just Watches and Pearl and Leather sets !…..pretty gimmicky really…..stayed overnight at North Gate,Madurai…..actually worked on the Presentations till 3.45 am in the night to update Friday Closing Market Figures….left for Trichy by road at 5.30 am in the morning…reached at 8.15 am and began the weekend workshop at 10 am on Saturday

But it was Sunday that was really great

It began with a Special Darshan at 8.30 am at Trichy’s most famous Temple at Srirangam…The residing Deity is Lord Vishnu lying horizontal on a serpent….It was ‘Amavas’ and the hordes of worshippers had formed a long  queue…surely it would take them hours to seek God’s Blessings !…Fortunately the ‘Darshan’ was arranged after we were guided to enter through one of the Nine Gates of the Temple…It was truly an overwhelming experience…However, though ‘Lord Vishnu’ blessed us,we were unable to pray to ‘Goddess Lakshmi’ as temple timings had to be followed…I was disappointed and evinced a desire to return that evening for her ‘darshan’

I began the second day of the Workshop at 10 am .It was very touching that participants were quite effusive in their appreciation….I hope their feedback forms to the Client reflect all of this !…They got out of their shell from Saturday afternoon and began interacting and responding well with me on Sunday…Covered Satyam’s Valuation on a Participant’s Request and covered Reliance Valuation to convey why the markets were so excited that they had raced this scrip from Rs 1100 in early March to twice that now !…Covered Concepts like Beta and It’s Application in Valuation,Hedging and Momentum Trading read more

Some Wednesday Wanderings !…May’s Heat Wave causing a Lot of Bouncing !…Kingfisher Airlines Cheques…Adnan Sami…Tata’s JLR Debt woes forcing sale of TCS Shares…and our Sensex !

  • While the ‘King of Good Times’ bounces around in South Africa with his Cheerleaders cheering his ‘Royal Challengers’ in the IPL,his Kingfisher Airlines Cheques are bouncing here in India as the Airline faces more severe Royal Challenges that surely should be of a higher Priority
  • Have a look at the Times of India’s Mumbai Edition this morning…The’ve got Singer,Adnan Sami and his woes in three full blown reporting pieces on Page 1,3 and even 4 !…If you put them all together,it’s nearly a full page of Times Reporting on Adnan Sami !…They don’t even cover our PM like this ! Hey Guys ! You too have caught the ‘Bug’ Adnan Bug like his wife has !….It’s rather amusing that neither Adnan,nor his estranged wife are Indian Citizens…yet to settle their internal disputes and woes the’re using our Indian Police and Courts !…This is the beauty and graciousness of our Indian Democracy…welcoming one and all to come and use it’s facilities !….Just deport both to their own lands and see how their disputes will either be solved overnight or die a natural death quickly !…Hey ! Sami ! maybe crooning your hit song ‘Lift Kara De’ may be your prayer from out of all these woes !
  • Tata’s need to repay a bridge loan in June 2009 that was taken to part fund their purchase of Jaguar….Sigh !…yet again they have resorted to selling of part of their crown jewels !…Tata Sons have sold off 10 million shares of TCS today at Rs 627.25 to 15 different Institutions to raise Rs 627 crs…In fact in calender year 2008,TCS’s share price dropped by 44% ,twice the size of drop of competitor, Infosys….the reason was this very issue of selling pressure of  TCS shares by Tata Sons in 2008 
  •  Sensex is now 12000 and waiting for buying suckers…expect correction…the speed and scale of this 45% rise inside two months begs for it !

Caught the Promoters of Ras Extrusion and Ras KMK Lamipack excitedly cheering the Mumbai Indians in their IPL Match last Night…revived some sour memories

It’s Voting Day here in Mumbai today for the General Elections…so yesterday was a Dry Night and we were with Friends at the Club Pub !…. on a Dry Night !?…Believe me it was really nice to enjoy the Privacy of the near empty Pub and chill out on Ice Tea and a close IPL Cricket Match that involved the Mumbai Indians

What a Choker ! Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians lost by just 3 runs to Yuvraj’s Kings XI,Punjab…They had to score 120 to win and they just gasped and choked at the end

Mumbai India’s owner,Neeta Ambani was in a serious and pensive mood…in sharp and stark contrast to the hyper and excited Preity Zinta…So Near and Yet so far ! Mrs Ambani !?….Your auction choice of Duminy to prop up the batting was an excellent decision…He scored 50 and nearly won you the match…7 needed and he hoisted,what we thought would go on for a six,only to be caught right on the fence at mid wicket !…If it would have been a six it would have tied the game with two balls to go !

And Yes ! Hi ! Kajis…caught your intensity and excitement in the Ambani Camp at the Stadium……..I yet hold your Ras Extrusion Shares….Is your Company still quoted !? Rs 1 or Rs 2 perhaps !…Wish you Guys had showed the same intensity and excitement in running your companies !…Thankfully I sold out years ago from your flagship,Ras KMK Lamipack…Remember Samir Kaji! how you alloted lock in shares to my clients and to me Pre IPO,despite contrary promises made to a friend….And you stuck me with a five year lock in! ,while thankfully clients had just a three year lock in !…..I believed you would make amends by running your companies successfully….But your companies ran aground !……It was a Hope that was belied…I had to honestly apologise to my clients for this locked in placement…Had forgotten all about you…but last night revived some sour memories.   

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