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Showing posts from April, 2009
Bahrain 2009 Qualifying Amidst talks of the Ferrari head honchos to not to panic, it was another forgettable day for the Ferrari’s even after making a few changes in the car. The two Ferrari’s only managed to finish 8th and 10th respectively with Massa leading. For the first time ever the two Toyota’s would be starting at the pole. Jarno Trulli led his team mate Timo Glock to the pole. The winner of the Chinese Grand Prix and the new kid on the block Sebastian Vettel finished 3rd. The reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton managed to finish 5th. The temperature shot to 40 plus degree Celsius at the track, one of Narayan Karthikeyan’s favorite tracks made it difficult for the drivers. The car tyres also proved to be a big challenge at this track in the Qualifying sessions. Race Day There was a stark contrast between the races held last Sunday at Shanghai and today at Bahrain. It was pouring last week end and this one would be a dry race. The Brawn GP and the Red Bull were lanes ahead o

Chinese Grand Prix’2009

Qualifying Can it be a Déjà vu? It was once again Sebastian Vettel who took the pole position today. He took the pole in Monza last year and won. This time he is followed by none other than Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber and Rubbens Barichello were fraction of seconds away from Alonso and very close to challenge him. The poster boy of Formula One and the winner of two previous races Jenson Button was fifth. Ferrari’s bad luck continued in spite of Kimi pulling out the best of the new car F60. Massa said that not having KERS would definitely be a handicap, however it seemed the current problems for Ferrari are more related to the diffusers and not KERS. Kimi was 8th on the grid with Hamilton behind him on 9th. Race Day While the IPL match between Delhi and Chandigarh started late in South Africa, the race in China started on time while it was still drizzling. For the first few laps behind the safety car it was very difficult for drivers to control the car as they kept spinning. After 8

Mushin-What is it?

Last week I went for a Bowling session with some friends. After a couple of chances, I was scoring well and was racing ahead. While I was getting ready for the next game one of my friends was in awe, and mentioned that I was the only best performer amongst all who were playing and he also said he was sure I am going to win. With a big smile on my face, I rolled the ball. But to everyone’s surprise the ball rolled into the next lane. The next two chances hardly fetched me any points while others did well. I finished second. I lost a game I was winning. Yesterday, in one of my Karate sessions, Sensei Jayesh was talking about Mushin which in Japanese literally means ‘No Mind’. Joe Hyams the celebrated Writer and a student of the immortal Bruce Lee also mentions about it in his book - Zen in the Martial Arts. Sensei said there are certain things that we do in our daily life without thinking much about it, for example when a fly sits on the nose, the hand automatically moves in that direct

Wonderful Wai

After site-seeing in Mahabaleshwar, the cabbie enquired if we wanted to visit Wai which is situated about 35 kilometers from Mahabaleshwar. Post lunch we practically had nothing to do and therefore decided to visit the temple town. Wai is known for its ghats, especially the Ganapati Ghat at the banks of river Krishna. Perhaps, one of the attractions to visit Wai, was to visit this Ghat where movies like Swades and Gangajal were shot. So, we were off to Wai, enjoying the strawberries available everywhere. Suddenly the air was cooler and dark clouds kept hovering over us. It was raining in short time. We were a bit tentative to move forward as it was raining and asked the cabbie if we can go back to Mahabaleshwar. He suggested that the highway was very good and there should not be any problem in driving the car on the Ghats even if it rained heavily. And thus we moved further exploring the postcard worthy landscapes. The Sahyadri range looked beautiful amidst silky white clouds. The road

Film Review-The Little Zizou

There was much anticipation about this film directed by Sooni Taraporevala who has been the screen-play writer of award winning movies such as Salaam Bombay and The Namesake. Secondly, the Hindi Film industry has too many talent Parsi actors and therefore this all Parsi film was expected to win hearts with its light humor. It does to a large extent. The film is a story of a little boy Xerxes Khodaiji (Jahan Bativala) who is a motherless child and is called Zizou because of his admiration for the football star Zinedine Zidane who is nicknamed Zizou. Xerxes is the son of Cyrus Khodaiji (Sohrab Ardeshir) who calls himself the religious leader and healer of all sins of the Parsi community. Xerxes’s uncle Boman Presswalla (Boman Irani) is opposed to Cyrus Khodaiji and publicly announces his dislike. Xerxes has an elder brother Artaxerxes (Imaad Shah) finds peace in caricatures and love in Boman’s elder daughter Zenobia (Dilshad Patel) who however loves Arjun (John Abraham in a special appea

Malaysia'2009

Qualifying With the Brawn GP doing good last week end and Ferrari doing well on Friday, we thought the gates were wide open for a thoroughly entertaining 2009. But that was not to be. Saturday was another petty day for Ferrari after a remarkable practice session on Friday. Kimi said that the new F60 lacks only grip, but the ever optimistic fans know that the start itself is not satisfying. Kimi would start 7th on the grid and Felipe 16th. Jenson Button led once again from the front to take pole position for the second consecutive week after a not so good practice session on Friday. His partner Barrichello encountered a gear box problem which needed a replacement and therefore lost 5 places on the grid to start 8th. Jarno Trulli was sensational and clearly look inspired from the mid-week result ruling of the Australian GP in his favour. He was 2nd on the grid. Timo Glock was 3rd. Force India were not able to do a great deal except to meet the numbers. They would start 18th and 19th. Rac