rahulbhaskar

Now featured on New and Noteworthy on iTunes right above my favorite @stephenfry #humblebrag #CWC19 #podcast @desh @dillisingh

@nimishdubey Was Andy Flower part of your consideration set? To have that kind of record while being a wicketkeeper-batsman of the lowest ranked test team of the generation is quite something

People get surprised when I say that I rate Alan Knott as the best wicketkeeper batsman I have ever seen, and that includes Gilchrist, MSD, Sangakkara and Co. The stat brigade comes out with the usual "he averages just above 30, how can you even say" and other levels of blah. The reason is simple: his batting against close to peak West Indies and Australia pace (Holding, Lillee, Daniel, Roberts, Thomson, et al) and peak India spin in the 1974-78 period and that too in conditions that favoured them. And...AND...He got all those runs generally with not too mucb batting in front of him, unlike MSD, Gilly and Sangakkara who had some pretty hefty batsmen before and with them, and often came in with decent scores on the board, Knott batted bravely in series that destroyed the careers of the likes of Denness and Dennis Amiss and forced the English selectors to recall veterans. Even Boycott was on an exile from the team for most of this period. That's a very different level of performance. Yep, the others have the numbers but they had a lot of batting before them. And still averaged around 30-35 in an era when that was considered a specialist batting average. I keep wondering how many he would have got but for Packer. He had a horror of a series against West Indies on his comeback, but they got a final recall against Australia with Lillee and Alderman rampant, and typically saved the team twice.

@nimishdubey @ESPNcricinfo Yea. I am not really disagreeing with you on that point about fraternizing or being popular with the crowds Just that you could be intensely competitive and intimidating on the field while friendly off it is not mutually exclusive as the initial post seemed to suggest

As I said, sir, we must have seen different teams. The West Indies teams under Lloyd (especially after Packer) generally fraternised with the opposition and had skilful bowlers. Extremely popular with the crowds and often even the opposition. The chances of being hit were always there but I don’t think they went out to hurt the batsman. But as I said, we seem to have seen different teams. Fair enough.

Was unfortuately a tradenark of Viv Richards' cricket, especially post 1986. It was as if the King had developed a slightly petulant strain. He literally browbeat Indian umpires to give Dilip Vengsarkar out during the 1987 tour, and the West Indies conduct during the Pakistan tour of 1986 was not the greatest either with them often reacting angrily to the neutral (Indian) umpires. It was a huge cultural shock for many of us, as we had seen the team as an intense but generally cheerful side.

@nimishdubey @ESPNcricinfo Also, I think they wasted time in one of the late 80s matches against Pakistan (I think) to maintain their unbeaten record. Brian Lara was a ball boy and he has mentioned that he saw his heroes fall before his eyes in that game

@nimishdubey @ESPNcricinfo I did not say they bowled to hurt every time. But they did bowl to hurt and that's the point I was making They were intense like any professional team that wants to win. That cheerful image was the 50s /60s Worrel afterglow long gone by the time of the posted video

@dillisingh Haha. Had Read before the movie came out. Anyway, you have come across Higashino now. The rest of Detective Galileo series is great as well

the absolute worst feeling is picking a thriller book whose blurb looks super promising and 8 pages in you realise you've watched the hindi film based on it..

Only cricketer to have a Punjabi song dedicated to his eyes #billlawry

@b50 Disagree. Blog is short for web log. So my latest blog is latest log on the web. Might be right on podcast but lets take broadcast analogy. Latest episode broadcast of my TV show. You can shorten it to my latest episode broadcast. Drop the episode. Latest broadcast. It's simpler

26 letters, one alphabet Many songs, one album Many chapters, one book Many posts, one blog Many episodes, one podcast So please stop getting it wrong. On your latest podcast? No. It’s the latest episode. On your latest blog? No. It’s the latest post.

It's difficult for Indian Punjabis to pronounce z. I thought Pakistani Punjabis would find it easier since they are more Urdu-fied now and Zs are part of Urdu vocabulary (Zyada etc.) Or maybe the English teachers in Pakistan still teach the old Punjabi pronunciation (2/2)

Was speaking with a Pakistani Punjabi of my generation recently. He pronounced "measure" just like our parents' generation pronounces it (maee-yur). Other similarly pronounced words are leisure (lai-yur), occasion (occai-yun) Found it amusing (1/2)

Before founding Pier39.ai, I led AI products at @amazon & @awscloud for 4+ years. Spent countless hours obsessing over how to make shopping more intuitive and valuable for millions of customers. One insight always stuck: The magic happens after the purchase. 🛍️📷

@arunavaguin @greatbong Great point. I think the hypothesis should be updated. The protagonist in the Sanu songs (Devgan of Diwale, Dutt of Sajan) is not as polished as Amitabh/RK/Sanjeev Kumar of Kabhi Kabhie/Amar Prem/Aandhi Also, Sameer vs Sahir/Gulzar/Anand Bakshi

@greatbong Songs of Amar Prem , Kabhi kabhi , aandhi, main pal do pal are still popular. These are not exactly songs of exuberant happiness. But arguably more popular with the well healed today than 90s music. Why ?

One of the things I have struggled to understand is why the iconic 90s songs, in Sanu or Udit’s voice, are out of fashion among the well-heeled elite kids of today and yet are the only ones played in barber shops and in autos. My only hypothesis is that most great 90s songs are sad songs, even the apparent happy ones. They are of longing and of not getting, of standing looking up at empty verandas in the rain, and of playing piano in her birthday as she dances with someone else, and even when they are together, there is always the awareness that idea of love outlasts time, not love itself. In today’s world of elites, with Hinge and Bumble and Tinder, of swiping left or right, and instant consummation, where serial monogamy is liberation and personal growth, these songs are naturally all cringe, nasal over-melody, for a generation to whom 90s are quaint monuments to patriarchy or whatever social-studies label the Buzzfeed-Scoopwhoop-Film Companion-wallahs have tarnished my time with. Of course the working man is still stuck in the 90s, with no knowledge of current woke re-lensing, and so these songs speak to them. “Na pucho is mein kaise jeeya jata hai, aise hi yaar pyaar kiya jaata hai, chori chori”

Gave into the hype and saw Dhurandhar. Fairly well made film The Ghayal Ghatak hat tip to Sunny paji was my favorite dialogue Surprised that no references have been made anywhere to this Easter egg #Dhurandhar

@sidin Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sessions were televised live on DD national in the 90s as well LSTV/RSTV had other great programming (interviews with public figures) but how was it different apart from that

Sometime in 2009 or so I went to do a story on a then somewhat novel idea known as Lok Sabha TV. It had been set up some years before, but around 2008 or 2009 it started going... viral? I do not recall the exact trigger for this virality. Anyway. I wanted to do a piece on the team. And their plans to turn this new found fame into something more meaningful? More citizen engagement with politics? Pull democracy from darkness into light? Etc. Also there was a mutual benefit angle. Lok Sabha TV had a lot of video archives. And I was hoping we could use them at Mint in interesting ways. Budget speeches for our business audience etc. Anyway. I went there a couple of time. Very nice people. Very committed to doing their jobs well. And then towards the end of my reporting trips, when there was a trust between reporter and source so to speak, one of the senior fellows said: "You know all this might end very badly..." "Why? This is so good for democracy!" "Yes. But also it might turn the whole thing into a performance." "What do you mean?" "Some of the best parliamentarians we have are very low key fellows who quietly go about doing things in boring committees and what not. Most people haven't even heard of their names. But now... if this becomes a televised thing... it might turn into a form of entertainment for the cameras... and that means no serious work will get done in the Lok Sabha. It will just become a circus." "Oh... you think so?" "Maybe. But let's hope not. 99% of the work that happens in Parliament is boring but critical. I am just worried that the media spectacle means that the boring stuff will get done even more secretively. Or not at all." I think about this often.

@mukhoty @Gyaaneshwar_j5 Yea. Skinners Church was my first thought

@Gyaaneshwar_j5 Yes it does

A church in India built on land gifted by a Mughal emperor, shut down under the orders of a Hindu Rani, ransacked by Afghan invaders and re-built with donations from a German Catholic mercenary Guess the church?

@RamaniSumit Went to Yercaud in 2011. Very difficult to get around and there was nothing there

There are two ways to go from Bangalore to Rameshwaram. A: Drive straight for 10-12 hours and cover the distance of 600 KMs, and spend the remaining 6 days in Rameshwaram B: Drive to Yercaud and then to Thanjavur, followed by Madurai and Rameshwaram, reaching on the 5th day, leaving 2 days for Rameshwaram. Assuming you have 7 days. What would you prefer?

@pranav_modi @VishnuNDTV It is a technical problem with at least the US visa as well. I just met someone today who had a biometrics appointment in Hyderabad and the actual interview appointment in Chennaia few days later

@VishnuNDTV He is pointing out a technical problem while you are talking about a political problem. 🙄 is this intentional or are you actually dense?

I totally get your point, Raymond and therefore, this isn't an outrage tweet. But just, for a moment, imagine the reverse side of the story - It takes 6.5 odd months for an Indian national to get an appointment for a visa at, say, the US Embassy in Delhi. Families wait anxiously for months, line up, collect a ton of financial documentation, letters, permissions, bookings. They face INTENSE scrutiny at the counter - their dreams of travelling are often summarily dismissed and then, if cleared, even more scrutiny awaits them at the immigration counter upon arrival at their destination. Often ridiculous questions - not just in the US but essentially anywhere in the West. On a visit from Zurich to London a few years back, I was asked why I had been in Switzerland - I said I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos. I was asked, cheekily, ''Did you really?'' And was then asked to tell the officer the agenda at the World Economic Forum that year. Trust me, that is a VERY specific question. Fortunately I had the answer. To my point, the India e-visa application page may leave a lot to be desired - but India welcomes most people and rejects far fewer people than several other countries.

@pranav_modi @greatbong Nevermind coming from the US. Last night I traveled from my hometown 200km north of Delhi. And the assault on the lungs as I stepped down from the train was immediate

@greatbong When the problem of pollution is blindingly obvious why nitpicking on language? What is wrong with you?

There is a definitely a problem with “Ramanath Goenka awardee” if she doesn’t understand basic English. “zero problems with AQI in Delhi, *in the dramatic way this guy says*, while being much older to him.” To clarify, It’s zero problem after stepping off the plane, that’s to get your engagement.

1. One person going on time off means workload goes up by 15-20%. 2. No one queues up. People crowd around the seat of the rep 3. Instructions are also not always clear or the process changes for the customers arbitrarily

Customer service in-person experiences in India are among the most stressful for both the customer and the rep Banks are severely short-staffed. The branches staffed with 40+ people back in the 90s have a staff of only about 6-7 employees now. 1/n