deviation 3: China, cricket, music and nothing else really

What is with all this "bridge of friendship"(that's what Wen said) between India and China? Yeah get over that Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus hangover and take a long hard look at what's happening on the other side of the country. We signed an agreement with China on the border issue and they want to avoid any large-scale military action along the LAC. What is an agreement going to do anyway? All it has is a set of guiding principles and some kind of roadmap about what should be done. "For long, the Chinese have used terms such as 'fair and reasonable solution' based on mutual accommodation and mutual understanding, but refrained from stating clearly what these mean in the public domain." And now even Sikkim isn't a bone of contention anymore. So who's going to actually sit down and do it and when?
We Indians are total suckers for sweet-talk. Yesterday Wen said that China would support India's bid to be a PM at the UNSC. Now, all they're saying is that they "support" our country's aspirations. What the hell is that supposed to mean? All this diplomacy that China's showing is really pretty screwed up! China's playing it really safe. Not giving any clear, categorical statement. This will mean that all the 4 countries seeking to be PMs will now have to take a vote of confidence from all the members. Obviously they'll probably approve Brazil's or Japan's claim 'cos India is really too strong already and a position in the SC with a veto power will only make it omnipotent.
The only good thing, which is quite contrasting with our relationship with Pak, is that tho' India and China have our border disputes, we have made progress in other areas, such as trade and intelligence exchange. Indo-China trade is predicted to reach 20 billion USD by 2008. That is big money and China seems to be understanding the impact and value of a positive relationship with India. But why then do they have so many nuclear trading agreements with Pakistan? According to Wen, they're going to be used only for peaceful purposes like generation of energy etc. But you know what, I don't buy it. More later.
That's the damn thing. We have so many issues at the macro level that problems at the micro level, such as poverty and illiteracy, are being overlooked by the Govt. And that's where people like you and I can really make a difference. We should, in every little way that we can. There are so many NGOs in and around the area you live, study or work in. If you're really interested, all you need to do is google "volunteer place" and I'm sure you'll find there are a million things you can do. And if you feel that is too much trouble you can even volunteer online.

So that's all I've been doing. Watching TV the whole damn day and hanging on that stupid Wen's words, okay, his translator's words. I believe that this visit will decide the direction that the Indo-China relationship and thus the Indo-US relationship will take. Okay fine, I was switching between 24X7, DD Sports and VH1.
It's this amazing new music channel. If you're not getting it, you're missing something. Only music and not that shitty J Lo kinds. Mostly English classics and there are no ads, no vjs. I'm telling you, it's pure music heaven!
Been tripping over Alms for Shanti too. Amazing music. Amazing lyrics.

Anyway, Indian cricket seems to have hit a new low. We lost the World Cup to those Aussies. We were thrashed actually. I did say Saurav should emulate Mithali, didn't I? I eat my words. The Indian gals were totally unprofessional. There were actually 4 run outs. She blamed it on nerves! Beat that! It wasn't even being aired anywhere so I had to stay online and keep checking the score on cricinfo. It wasn't worth it at all.
Saurav isn't showing off his brilliance either. He was run out today. Everything seems to be working against him. Luckily, we won the toss. Otherwise, trust me he would've been in trouble. But no matter what people say, Saurav took Indian cricket to a new level. He's the captain for good reason. He atleast brings something of a killer instinct into the team. He is a great leader. I can't believe he's banned for the next 6 matches. I just hope the stupid selectors don't consider this a good way of promoting Dravid to the captain's position permanently. Rahul's amazing and I worship the man but I just don't think he's captain material. Today, he didn't do too well. Atleast his strike rate was good. What's the point? We lost in the end. But it was quite an exciting match. It was down to the last ball and I really think Saurav gave Sachin the ball for the last over 'cos he's the only one all the Indian supporters will forgive even though we lost the match. Imagine anyone else in his position. We would have almost murdered him. Today he played like the Sachin everybody's crazy about. He was awesome on the field. He made a fantastic century. He bowled like a dream till the last ball. Can't deny it. There's just something about Sachin. :)
I guess now we just have to watch Narain Karthikeyan and Pankaj Advani doing supposed-to-be pathbreaking things in sports I don't even care about. As if you can even call billiards a sport!

Oh this is the best! I'm going to Delhi for the cricket match!!! Yeah, I am! Go green with envy now! No matter how much I criticize the sport and the players involved, there really isn't anything like cricket to get my blood rushing! Just love the game man. I know I'm being quite irresponsible and all. I have my end sems from the 19th but then my dad's here for some meetings, my mom's anyway going there this Friday on work and Kav has vacations and they're the absolute best people to watch any match with. They're just big time crazy fun and when my dad came up with the idea(the last match we'd seen as a family was that sad West Indies-Zimbabwe World Cup match in Hyd), I really couldn't resist! Cricket fever baby!!