Of "planned" trips, IPL2 & more

I have lately realized that I make lot of plans but most of them never see the light of day. During past 3 months, I have "agreed and given more than a thought" to visit Hampi (Karnatka), Kanha national park (Madhya Pradesh) and SriSailam (Andhra Pradesh)..but as fate will have it, none of those plans materialized. It would have been wonderful experience to go to all these places..but always, something or other came up at last moment which kept one or other in the group occupied. I love travelling to new places & I reallllly don't mind the effort involved in it, but then there is no fun in going to these places w'out frenz.

But hey, all was not lost. I did sneak to Nagarjunasagar Dam along with frenz. It is 125 sq km long water body in Guntur district(Andhra Pradesh). We also saw Ettipottala Waterfall there. All in all, a good way to spend a holiday!!! And oh yes, I also visited Bangalore recently to catch up with some old dilli wallee junta :))... just to reload some good ol' memories!!!

Nowadays, with the temperatures in most parts of India being above 40 degrees, leisure travelling is off the menu. Most of the people(including yours truly) have been busy killing time by watching IPL2 matches. Sadly, the tournament has been shifted off to South Africa. Last year, I watched a match in the stadium and it was an exhilarating experience...especially those Mexican waves were simply stupendous. I so much wanted matches to happen in India so that I can again go and enjoy the games..but well, nothing bigger than the players' security especially after what happened to Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan.

This year's IPL has been more balanced on-field contest between batters and bowlers. Tough to make any predictions on the winner yet. But off the field, we already have a winner... and it is a blog written 'apparently' by a Kolkata Knight Riders player under the nickname 'Fake IPL Player' and it has become a huge hit. It is a hillarious blog taking lot of jibes at various people involved with game..Don't know how true it is though!!! You can read it here: http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com

Apart from IPL, the other important event which is happening nowadays is General Elections. Lot of political parties are slugfesting in these matches...Everybody has got their heavyweights in the ring trying to win maximum seats so as to be in better bargaining position. The polling %age uptil now has been dismal to say the least. I thought that the people must have awakened in past 5 years but alas, it was not to be. A voting %age of less than 50% should ring alarm bells in the minds of powers that be. Questions regarding this need to be asked and answers should be found. Why this happened? Is it that people no longer believe in the democratic system??? I don't think so.. I think that they still believe in the democratic system but they don't believe in the "people" that run this system. However, not casting vote is not a solution. If we all want to change this, we need to tackle the bull by its horns... Each one of us needs to fulfill our responsibility by choosing a better leader.. and just in case you don't like any leader, you can use section 49-O to say you don't want to vote for anybody!!! I think that Election Commission should add another button in EVM for this option. Until that happens, this rule can't be properly utilized.

Adios.