Pitch Report

On to some stuff from the cricketing world. Kevin Pietersen is quite worried. Andrew Strauss has been "rested" according to sources. But English captains have been removed for other reasons recently. So KP is rightly worried that Strauss has not done a Terry. So will they shake hands when they meet again (Considering that Terry and Wayne Bridge hardly exchanged looks)

Pakistan have hit rock bottom. To give their team a better record in the current season, ISI is organising the anonymously sponsored "Four Nation Stan Cup" featuring PakiSTAN, AfghaniSTAN, TurkmeniSTAN and UzbekiSTAN. By the way Afghanistan are favourites considering they chased 494 to win a first class game against Canada.

New Zealand are researching hard to clone Daniel Vettori. Who would not considering the batting-bowling-fielding-captaincy options provided by a single player. But Sourav Ganguly says the move will not work since it will mean having multiple captains in the same team.

The latest security demands have come from the umpires. They have asked Lalit Modi to provide them with helmets during the IPL considering the belters Indian curators are so famous for. And people new to cricket are asking how come the World 2020 is happening in 2010!

Corporate farms?

Recently I attended an interaction session arranged for our class with the Executive Director of Tata International. We were asked to make a presentation to him on sectors that Tata International would find interesting. As with all B-Schools the guys concentrated on those so called "sexy industries", IT, Telecom, etc. The first response from the ED was, "I expected to see something about the agri sector."

Of all sectors, the maximum scope is in agriculture because our farm productivity is so poor that it can only improve. The Tatas have in the past thought about corporate farms. Large tracts of land owned and operated corporate style. A few such farms in different parts of the country can go a long way in increasing agri productivity. But the biggest barrier to agriculture is not economic, but social and political in nature.

This is exemplified by the fact that this idea has still remained a "thought". The rural society is highly divided on many bases, caste being not the least. And our politicians hardly want their vote bank to start thinking and be more independent. Just read Samajwadi Party's election manifesto for last year's parliamentary elections and you will know why.

The budget has just concluded. I just noticed the tax sops and do not know whats in store for agriculture. Contrary to popular agenda, the poor in India has been worse off over the years. The poverty rate may have come down, but what about the absolute numbers? From 162 million in the 50s to 400 million currently! And most of them rely on agriculture. And people talk about poverty alleviation!

Chugging along at its own pace

50 years ago, The Grand Trunk Express made its journey from Delhi to Madras, a distance of 2186 km in 44 hrs. The same train makes the same journey today in about 36 hrs. Indian Railways sure has come a long way, but at snail's pace. We are in the 21st century and boast of becoming a superpower in the near future. But when it comes travel infrastructure, we are still in the 20th century. Just 200 kms of access controlled expressways! And forget high speed trains, none of our trains average 100 km/h.

At this pace where will we find ourselves in the next 10 years? Mamata Didi has proposed a National High Speed Rail Authority. Proposals come day in day out, it does not guarantee execution. People may question the need for high speed rail, with that need served by the airlines. But such infrastructure projects go a long way in creating employment opportunities fuelling growth.

Also just imagine the prospects of travelling from Mumbai to Chennai overnight. (This just requires the trains to average 120 km/h...certainly not high speed) Such access will only seek to increase traffic. Students like me can be home for the weekend and back! Also I would be attending my friend's wedding and not give it up like now because of the time taken.

I just hope that Mamata and whichever Bihari or Bengali who succeed her to not lose focus. IR has been chugging along at its own pace. Its time it broke the sound barrier!

PS: Everyone is writing about Sachin that they forgot the railway budget! He is omnipresent!!

Here we go again!!

This is my third attempt at blogging. Considering the previous two did not go beyond three posts, I would consider those failed attempts. Just hoping the law of averages works in my favour this time round. Success just means to continue posting day in and day out.

The reasons for not continuing blogging earlier, includes, but is not restricted to my attempts to focus on either cricket or travel. Considering that risk can be mitigated if diversified, I will attempt to explore many avenues including cricket, travel and even academics.

I have wandered and I have been lost. And I have wandered till I reached The West Coast Road in India. This blog is like that road. It has everything (except this self coined name). Winding roads, mountains, beaches, heavy rains, big cities, nightlife, quaint villages, delicious food and the list goes on ;). This blog is just a leaf of any of the innumerable trees on that beautiful road.

Enough for starters. Expect the next post soon (I hope so.)