200* (147)

200*(147) - Period. "God" had gone crazy today & records came tumbling down. What an amazing achievement by the greatest Cricketer of our times - Sachin Tendulkar.

Atleast two times he had come close to scoring double hundred in one day cricket, but missed it. Not this time around, although there were tense moments in the last over when he needed just 1 run to create history. Even a die-hard fan like me had little hopes from Tendulkar to score a double ton in ODI, not because anyone can doubt his abilities, but more due to his age. Wow, doesn't he like to prove people wrong? Go Sachin Go, Get more before you call it a day.

There was more than one reason to rejoice over this stupendous feet. Previous record of 194 runs was held by a cricketer from our not-so-friendly neighbor & that too against India. I always wished for an Indian to beat that record preferably against the same neighbors. Alas, although it did not happen against them, Sachin scored his double hundred against a much much better side in world cricket. What else can one ask for?

This is an era of 20-20. It has changed the complexion of Cricket. It is becoming common for a team to score 400 runs in 50 overs & to a player to score century in 60 odd balls. So, 200 run mark is bound to be broken. But I wish that this record stays for a long long time to come, challenging the Cricketers to achieve this feat. Just compare this whole show against completely contradictory innings from another little master Sunil Gavaskar - scoring 36 runs after playing for 60 overs in an ODI, back in late 70's. It is difficult to predict what kind of records we will be witnessing in the days to come. But, whatever it is, Sachin is the greatest cricketer NOW & I hope he will be the greatest EVER. We take a bow Sachin. We are privileged to watch & witness all your great knocks.

Beggar Free Bangalore?

Government has launched a month long program to observe "Beggar free month" in Bangalore. Lot of our money already goes in beggar rehabilitation (to the tune of 6 to 7 crores per year). Not sure how this money has been utilized till date, but government now wants to make some use of this money. As per Indian laws, begging is a punishable crime & beggars can be sent for 1 to 3 years of imprisonment. 

Definitely it is a welcome sign, considering that even begging has its own mafia. But, I was wondering why government is targeting only the one-rupee-beggars, while the other bigger beggars getting in thousands & lakhs per day are left free to loot more. Government, can you do something with them too?

By the way, I had an encounter with another kind of beggar few months back  (refer to http://vikki-pedia.blogspot.com/2009/06/curious-case-of-ramanath-iyer.html).  A man & daughter posing as lost in Bangalore & wanting to get some money to go back to their home town. Some of us in the apartment had helped them with 2000 Rs. Now there are reports from different parts of the city that these beggars are looting people with the same story with little twist. Be it a rupee beggar or a sophisticated beggar, it is difficult to trust anyone. 

Just some thoughts on how to tackle this kind of situation if some really "lost" people approaches you for money & promise to return the money back after reaching the place:

• Easiest thing to do is to neglect them (with heavy heart, assuming that they are begging)
• If you really want to help, help them, but ensure that you also take few snaps/vidoes of them (with your friendly (Nokia?? :-)) mobile phone). If not it helps in tracking or giving complaints to police later, it will atleast have an impact on the beggar. You can find out if he/she is genuine or not by looking at their reaction to taking the video/photos.
• Offer them the help of local police to go back to their place. (You can just tell them that you know the inspector & inspector can help them).

These were some thoughts which came to my mind after I got duped. I wish I had taken any of the above steps to avoid that beggar. I hope you can take these precautions when you encounter such a situation in future.