One of the great advantages of being at your home place for training is the unbelievable amount of time at your disposal to pursue one’s interests. Though initially I had the feeling that this ample time may lead to boredom at home, these undesirable thoughts were quickly dispelled from my mind within days of my arrival in the picturesque city of doon. For I found an unusual friend with whom I could not only spend a lot of time but can also share my feelings, my emotions, my passions.

For ranging from everyday politics to the French open , from Shashi Tharoor’s candidature for the post of General Secretary at UN to the ups & downs of fifa world cup, & now from Federer’s wimbledon to the recent terror strikes at Mumbai. It has indeed been a fascinating journey for me, for which I had the fantastic opportunity to cover with a true & sincere companion , who is none other than unarguably the most wholesome & accomplished newspaper of India: The Hindu.

Infact, my friendship with this legendary paper dates back to my hostel days, when I had a glimpse of the various flavours that this paper offered. But unfortunately due to time constraints, I could not do full justice to this friend of mine & had to opt for TOI. Its not that I didn’t like TOI, but “The Hindu” is on a different level altogether.

For no newspaper today can feed you with such a wide variety of news in one hand & on the other hand, carry out such detailed discussions on various contemporary issues that keep you engaged forever. Since its inception in 1878 as India’s national newspaper, “The Hindu” has not looked back. At first glance, the first thing about the paper that arrests your attention, is its well structured presentation. Everything about the paper seems to have an aura, charisma & royalty attached to it. And at the same time its sincerity, faithfulness & great discipline, inculcates a sense of attachment towards the paper.

If the front page is awesome & spectacular, then the ensuing pages which cover regional, national & international news keep up the rhythm. There is a continuity & freshness about the paper that is simply amazing. But if there is one thing about the paper that clearly separates it from everyone else, like a glowing titan among pearls, like an icing on the cake it is :

‘The Editorial page’. It carries on its left hand side two articles discussing about the most recent piece of news & what articles they are!!! An absolutely literary treat, you would not find more informative articles inter dispersed with high quality vocabulary any where else that leave an ever lasting impact on you. But my favourite one is the right hand side of this page which pertains to a complete & detailed account of contemporary issues along with treasured opinions from the experts themselves. Anybody of you all who is preparing for a competitive exam like CAT,GRE etc. which requires awareness about current topics, you can’t afford to miss this one as this is a must read. For you rarely find a discussion of such high quality & holistic approach. A ‘Cartoonscape’ right below it is a mocking revelation of political issues. Then comes “letters to the editor”, your chance to express yourself & let out your emotions, your feelings. This again is very interactive. On the next page is Paul Krugman’s column, which is too good to be left unattended. Right beside it, most of the times there is an interview of a world renowned personality, which is your chance to be one on one with the famous people of our time.

Another distinctive feature of the paper is its special coverage of sports in its ‘Sports page’. In fact, it is the most complete, updated & well compiled sports page that you will ever find ranging from 2 to 3 pages. The best thing being the special colored photo feature that is a part of it, for it is a visual spectacle worth a look atleast. The only page, that perhaps, is not quite able to maintain the otherwise very high standards generally set by the paper is the ‘Business page’. But it is also improving day by day.

The pull outs that come along with the paper are also top class. Be it the ‘Friday review’ & ‘The Young World’ that come on Friday or ‘The Hindu Magazine’ which accompany the Sunday issue. In fact all these make it the complete paper which entails to a wide age group & an ever increasing readership as well.

So through this article I don’t intend to mean that you all throw away your present newspapers & switch over to ‘The Hindu’. But I sincerely recommend to all of you who have never read it, to atleast give it a try, for you will appreciate its beauty & for those who read it already, to continue in the celebration of this paper. May your relationship with ‘The Hindu’ reach ever-escalating heights . But whatever be your opinion after reading the paper or not reading it, one thing is for sure that-

“The Hindu” is the voice of the nation & in a nutshell:
it is simply the best...

Well this was meant to be my opening post on the blog. Since from the time I was introduced to the term “blog” by one of my good friends, I have always yearned to find out more about blogging & related things like its origin etc. My subsequent wandering so as to fulfill this endeavor of mine unexpectedly reached its destination when I came across an article on “Amateur Publishing” in Science Reporter July edition. And now I could not resist myself from sharing its excerpts with everyone. So here goes my blog on blog itself…

The word ‘blog’, shortened from ‘weblog’, may sound alien to many. In common speech, the term blog is often used to describe an online diary or journal. And as you all know authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called blogging & of course a person who posts entries is called a blogger.

On 17 December 1997, Jorn Barger coined the term “weblog” to describe the process of “logging the web” as he surfed. The short form, “blog”, has now been accepted as a noun(weblog shortened) and as a verb. Almost 9 years hence, these online diaries are becoming a part of the daily lives of many teenagers & college students like all of us.

So the question arises is why blog is so much growing in popularity?

Well there could be no joy greater than that of seeing one’s writing in print. The feeling of euphoria & immense satisfaction that engulfs oneself knowing that yours article is being read by many is absolutely awesome. But since traditional publishing entails high cost as well as the huge risk of being rejected by the editor, so it becomes a sort of barrier to the entry of amateur & first-time writers. So the easier & better way out is undoubtedly publishing on the net as it does not involve heavy investments and there is a much wider readership that may be interested in your opinions or imaginations.

The appeal of this form of communication is that the recipient can read whenever it is convenient, and the writer does not need to remember who still needs to be updated with certain pieces of information- it is there, waiting, for whenever people wish to read it! Blog allows for easy filtering of content for various presentations: by date, category, author or other attributes. A blog need not always be operated by a sole individual, there are community blogs too, in which a group of people contribute, responding to each other’s ideas, as well as remaining in view to the other interested readers.

The blogs are good indicators of the writing skills of a person. In addition, there are infact publishers that are looking out for fresh talent on the internet, so if your posts interest them, they may approach you. So, in a blog publishing becomes as effortless as the straight drive coming from sachin’s blade or the riveting backhand of federer or a beckham free kick.
Since you don’t have to seek permission from anyone to write. Neither do you need to convince skeptical publishers of the viability of your writing!

Now the flipside of a blog vs a website. Your blog is at the mercy of the organization/proprietor of the blogsite. If tomorrow he/she decides to close shop, or starts putting some advertisements along with your posts, you cannot ask for any compensation for the work you have posted on the site. Quite fair, isn’t it?? After all you are not charged any money for the facility.

So this was a sort of summary of the article written by Rakesh mohan hallen with some appropriate inputs from my side.
I hope this serves to quench all the queries you might have about blogging. As we all know that to excel in any field in life its very important to know its very roots, the basics. So now friends as Sherlock holmes once famously quoted: “I always know what ever there is to know”, I hope you also have a firm footing about the what’s & why’s of blogging.

For those who have not yet started with this amazingly addicted thing called blogging (I am one of the addicts myself!), I seriously recommend to you all log on to a blogsite create an account & start blogging. And to all those who blog regularly keep up the good work buddies. For after sometime(maybe even after reading this post) , you all may start singing the Enrique Iglesias super song: “May be I am addicted…”!!!

Welcome to the world of blogging and you are all invited…

Finally the curtains were drawn over the biggest sporting extravaganza, the FIFA world cup 2006, with a majestic & spellbinding closing ceremony on 9th july. And as one looks back in retrospect over the whole plethora of events that occurred over the last month, a feeling of déjà vu engulfs me all over because this tournament has turned out to be a mixture of all spices: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.

From the great hospitality, friendship & “welcome all” attitude shown by the host nation to an ignominious & dastardly act from one of the greatest player of our generation(you all know whom I am referring to), this grand festival like everyone else for that matter, had its ups & downs. But of course we all have been fascinated by “The Good” of fifa world cup even overwhelmed at times. And since its inception this footballing “mahakumbh”, has always done a balancing act with its share of brutal tackles, yellow & red cards on the field as well as sometimes minor & sometimes major cases of hooliganism from few over enthusiastic fans off the field. “The Bad” has always formed an integral part of this battle royale. So “The Good” & “The Bad” have been the basic ingredients of every fifa world cup to date.

But what is troubling me the most is, infact the third one: “The Ugly”. And the reason that you all see this undesirable third term are events that not only tarnish the image of this game but also are against the motto of this WC which says- “Its time to make friends!”. And if this uglier face of world cup took its shape during the unforgettable pre-quarterfinal match between Portugal & Holland, which broke all previous records for the most no. of bookings in a single match with both teams left with just 9 players a side in the end. Then this face evolved into a whole body, in what was undoubtedly the ugliest moment of the entire cup during the last minutes of extra time of the grand finale itself between italy & france…

For what the soccer great zinedine zidane or as he is more famously known zizou did during that moment of madness will go down in sporting folklore as one of the most shameful acts of disgrace that sport has ever seen. And the greatest irony being the fact that this was supposed to be a fitting farewell match for the star player. But as Harsha Bhogle anchoring for ESPN rightly quoted after the match: “The most ordinary players are remembered by their best moments & the greatest players are always remembered by their worst moments”.

For how can one explain it: A virtuoso player who single handedly had taken france from utter darkness & danger of another early exit to extreme pride & self-belief in themselves & on the doorsteps of being hailed as world cup champions. From his electrifying display against Spain to a mesmerizing performance against Brazil to another charismatic show vs Portugal in semis. The stage was all set for zizou, the magician, playing his last international match, in the grand finale at Olympystadion stadium in Berlin, with the whole france & die hard fans behind him, to weave another spell of magic & give another sublime display of soul stirring artistry.

But but but… in an anti climax not exactly a Kodak moment, what he does is something that nobody who loves this game can ever imagine even in their wildest of dreams. He hits the Italian defender Materazzi in his chest with such ferocity like a crazy bull left loose. What happens afterwards is not that difficult to contemplate, for the referee shows zidane the much dreaded red card. Zizou is out, his fare(not so)well over & with it all French dreams vanish too. For the team reduced to ten, play the rest of the match like zombies, not quite able to comprehend what had hit them. The match goes to penalties. And when Grosso hits the fifth penalty yet again past the miserable barthez, wild celebrations overwhelm whole of italy. They become world cup champions for the fourth time & they all deserve it for their tenacity & never say die spirit!

But after some time when all the hype surrounding the world cup has died down, one question will forever continue to haunt me. A question for which maybe the exact answer, the gospel truth may never come out in public. And the question is:

WHY ZIDANE WHY???

The scoreline read : 6-2,6-0,6-2.
The whole match was over in just 77 minutes…

A layman could have been forgiven for contemplating that it was a first round match at the Wimbeldon championships. For such a scorecard is rather reminiscent of the first week matches at the most prestigious grand slam event of the year.
But how wrong could one be??

For this was an almost inexplicable & grotesque display of monumental quality by the living God of tennis at the zenith of his powers. Yes, infact it was the first semifinal match at Wimbeldon 2006 between the Swiss maestro Roger Federer & the miserable Swede Jonas Bjorkman.

Ah!! And what a majestic performance it was by the one & only federer. For this sensational effort could not be dared to be described in words, let alone to be written down on paper. Such was the charisma & grandeur, it was an unprecedented display of highest brand of quality tennis imaginable so much so that it looked almost inconceivable & unrealistic.

The Swiss prodigy who has inherited the throne of the “King of Wimbeldon” from the legendary Pete Sampras had dropped just four games & did not face even a single break point on his own serve en route to this relentless spanking.
It was like an artist at work showcasing the multifarious dimensions of his beautiful art very much like Beethoven’s soul stirring performance, Mozart’s voice which transcends all the boundaries or like Leonardo Da Vinci’s fantabolous painting of Monalisa.

The hapless Bjorkman stood in disbelief, absolutely bewildered, shaking his head from time to time seeking some mercy from the eternal champion. But on that day the old warrior was doomed, for “Roger, the Great” proved once & for all that at the moment he is on a different level altogether & an unparalleled class act at the pinnacle of glory.

In yester years, tennis has produced some great champions from Rod Laver, Emerson to the golden era of Bjorn Bjorg & Mc Enroe to the awesome rivalry between Sampras & Agassi.
But now the time has well & truly arrived to acknowledge that this human being, born in Switzerland, and after years of mind blowing spectacular performances consistenly over time deserves a place right there at the very top. Federer is in a league of his own, he is simply, concisely & precisely a “perfectionist”.
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Now the champion whose last loss at wimbeldon was in 2002 meets another teen sensation, the only player who has defeated him this year, not once, twice, thrice but four times & most recently in the French open final at Roland Garros : Rafael Nadal. So as the number one player in the world walks out at the Center Court on Super Sunday, another treat of unadulterated classic tennis will be on display once again from the great champ. And I can only say “God help Nadal!” because “The Lord of Tennis” is going to unleash again in full fury & the world will stand up to witness one of the greatest sporting extravaganza on this planet!!!

Hail the champion…

House No. 221 B, Baker Street, London.
This is the most well known address of a world famous detective made immortal by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes!
Its been quite a long time since Sir Arthur introduced us to holmes through his very first book: "Study in Scarlet" & its been an astonishing journey into the realms of greatness thereon for the legendary detective. His famous friend Dr. Watson, his infamous foe Dr. Moriarity & his greatest quote of all times: "The plot thickens my dear Watson!". All these are embedded in the minds of all his die hard fans...

Agatha Christie & the little Belgian detective who solves every case no matter how improbable it may seem.
Yeah i am referring to Monsieur Hercule Poirot, another world renowned detective,a very cunning & shrewd character in the writings of Christie. His unique way of deciphering facts, the aura surrounding his presence & always unfailingly delivering the goods. And the countless fans that love him...

And we have a million dollar question: Who is the greatest of the two???

Well if u ask me its one of the toughest questions to answer! maybe it does not even has an exact answer.
And thats because both of then are the best in the business almost incomaparable in their styles...
For if holmes takes pride in keeping everything up his sleeves till the very last moment of the case, Poirot has a more humane aspect to his approach. If holmes is the more moody of the two, he can sometimes go into fits of laziness & then suddenly work for days & nights on a problem without a break. Then poirot is more of a meticulous type, very methodical & planned about everything from start to end.

So comparing both of them is like asking who is the greatest amongst Sachin & Bradman, Sampras & Federer, Pele & Maradona! The debate can go on for ever...

In my opinion, though both of them are equally brilliant but holmes is the more gifted of the two & is a "perfectionist". Whereas, poirot is the more hardworking one & "effective" too.

Case solved my dear Watson...

For last one month if there has been an event that has hypnotized everyone around the globe; no matter what is ur religion,country,caste,age group etc. it is the biggest sporting event on earth: FIFA WORLD CUP. Starting with a grand opening ceremony on 9 june, it has been a journey full of twists & turns, passions & emotions. I have been following the world cup right from the first match between germany & costa rica and my goodness it has surpassed all my wildest dreams!
Since every team that i supported has fallen by the wayside, some of them deserved to be knocked out whereas some were just very unlucky to have lost. It all started with czech republic boasting of talents like nedved,baros & koller went out in the first round itself after a bright start. Losing to ghana was a shame for the czechs & they never recovered from there on. If this was not enough Portugal battled out holland in a match full of bloody tackles, poor decisions by referee. Everyone seemed to have forgotten the motto of these games: friendship!
Next on line was Spain, the team which played like champions in the group stage again lived up to its reputation of being huge "under achievers" at international stage losing out to france led by zizou's masterly display!
And then in the quarters came the biggest shockers which absolutely brought me to a state of extreme disbelief. It was the "trinity" of losses & the manner of their defeats. For three soccer giants perished...
Argentina
England
Brazil!
So this world cup has turned out to be a "favourites graveyard".
Lets see what is in store for us on 9th july at the grand finale in Berlin!!!

This is meant to be a blog of jitin sharma. Here I would be writing about everything ranging from my passions to my interests as well as general topics which excite me. So check this out!