IPL

Still very much a once-in-a-bluemoon blogger! This way, everytime I post, there is a lot to say.

Settled well in Mumbai now. The city has not disappointed on most counts - the pace is as electric as everyone says, the work culture is as professional and the city as tolerant. The last point might seem hard to believe given the recent furore over "ganga kinaare walas", but believe me, this place is well and truly cosmopolitan.

Two major disappointments - the quality of infrastructure is far below even Indian standards (creaking old buildings dominate the cityscape) and "bursting at the seams" is a gentle understatement; the city doesn't have the one good English newspaper in the country. In other words, The Hindu does not have a Mumbai edition - I even wrote to them, puzzled that they don't print out of India's commerce capital, but they don't seem to have any immediate plans of launching a Mumbai edition. However, if it takes printing 4 pages of photos of expensively clad people every day to get circulation critical mass in the city, it might be better to stay away.

Anyway, it's been an eventful year - establishing base in the city, finding a house, experiencing the 3-month south-west monsoon. Mythili and Rishikesh have also got used to Mumbai and a husband/dad who is pretty much absent throughout the week.

In case someone still remembers the title, here we go: can any post be complete without the customary discussion on cricket? Indians have at last played to potential in the current tour of Australia. IPL promises more fun and a NBA/NFL style commercial packaging that cricket has never seen so far. I am very happy that players are getting such big paychecks! This will inevitably raise the standard of entertainment (not neccesarily skills) and in the end, that's what we all want - some better way to unwind than TV serials at home, malls, movies and restaurants outside!

Hopefully other sports catch up and start branding themselves well. It would be great to have 2-3 sports through the year and a few top quality teams to cheer for!