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 05 March 2003 Relatively better budget for the salaried employees this year. Surcharge has been removed and none of the Kelkar recommendations are implemented. Good news for the car buyers as car manufacturers
have reduced the prices by a good margin, following the budget.
Cramps 1: Its been almost a year that I have seen a cricket match in TV. My access to cricket was limited to Match scores & news articles. And then came World cup. We asked the hotel owner to set up a Satellite Dish, where many of Boschlers stay, he obliged. While tuning the new Dish, we could find Turkish, Mangolish, Portugish, Egyptian & some other unknown channels but not Cricket. We later found out that that decoder was needed which was too costly for him to buy. One Down. Hey, a guy in Munich shows the matches for 7 Euro per match. Decent option, but it's 2 hour from Stuttgart and travel costs 60 Euros two way. Two Down. Meanwhile, Indian just edged past Holland and got smashed all over by Australia. Suddenly, 'Is it worth to see the matches given the pathetic performances of our Indian team?' Indian Team became public enemy No-1. Rahul's car windows was broken, a mock funeral for Ganguly, Kaif's home was tarred etc. People went to streets to show their unhappiness(?) that Prime Minister asked the people to calm down. Sachin said 'Hang on guys! Trust us(me)!'. Sachin doesn't speak much, but when he does, better you take it seriously.Then started Indian recovery, winning next 3 matches quite convincingly. I could follow the matches through Audio/Text commentary in some websites till the important match. India Vs Pakistan: I will be damned to Hell if I miss this match. I almost went to trip to Innsbruck, Austria that weekend, till someone told that we can see the match in Stuttgart in some Pakistani pub. Cheering India in a Pakistani pub? Sounds creepy! Never mind! Not often, I will see Sachin Vs. Akram in my life. Later, it turned out to be a University, where some Indian Students are screening the matches for 5 Euros/Match in a remote village of Stuttgart. Helped by Anwar, pakistan posted a good score of 273. 'Aalu' Inzamam once again ran himself out. During lunch, we experts discussed how India has a chance if they see off Akram and Aktar without losing a wicket in first 15 over for 50 runs. Afterall, everybody is a expert in Cricket. Shoaib Akter is always a spolied brat. As always, he boasted about his speed and how he is going to give a tough time to Sachin & Co. What a shot it was when Sachin smashed Aktar over the point for a six! My 10 Euros was worth for that shot alone. Shewag showed that the original is the original, by tamingly getting out. Saurav came and went. 50-odd for 2 - Somebody said "its 50-odd for 1, after all, do you still count Ganguly as a batsman?" :-) Sachin played and played.. One of best innings one could have seen. Then, the transmission went kaput & the Pakistani channel was down. ("Don't the Pakistanis ever improve their technology?") Luckily the organisers immediately, got a live connection through Internet and we could see again the match, by then, Sachin was down with CRAMPS and got out to a Aktar Snorter. If not for the cramp, Sachin would have finished the match even early. He really deserved that hundred than anything else in the world. Anyone still have the question whether he is the best batsmen in the world?? Finally, India beat pakistan convincingly, triggering a celebration across the whole country. CNN showed how Indian were celebrating the victory with sweets & fireworks etc. Prime Minister, Deputy PM, Sports Minister and every other leader sent their greetings to the team. Now, Kaif will get a new house or house refurnished, Ganguly's mock Birthday will be celebrated, Rahul will get a new car from some company and Finance Ministry already announced that players will get IT exemption. Fickle minded? May be Yes.. On the other side, Pakistan players are going to get a hot reception from their fans, Akram's house will be stoned, Waqar's car will be broken....Bechara!
India's world cup is over. What? Winning the cup? Doesn't matter, We have
won against Pakistan!! World cup is a Bonus!!!
Cramps 2: On Sunday, I decided to go for Ice-skating, when I heard of a place in Stuttgart. First lesson to start: Bundle your ego and throw it in your bag. It simply doesn't help otherwise. I grew taller by 5 inches by the shoe they provided. And I got into the Ice floor. And I was slipppppinnnnnnngg.. Thud! Never laugh at kids when they learn to walk at the age of 15 months. Its not easy, as I felt (fell) on the Icefloor. To walk 10 meters, it took 10 minutes and 500 calories. Kids who can't spell "Skating" were skating fast & smooth and I was just figuring out how to stand on Icefloor. It was fun, especially the free-fall on my back. My legs went numb becos of the cold and that jumbo-shoe. Without the wall on the sides to hold, it could have been worse. The Ice floor was fully crowded and so many young people around. Heartless people, no young girl came to help when I fell. :-) There were some fellow freshers, who also fell along with me every 20 meters. But slowly I improved, I took only five minutes to complete the whole circle. I was putting lotsa effort but was not moving at all. I heard quite a few 'Click', 'trick' sounds, but no bones were broken yet. But, my whole body was in CRAMPS. I planning to do it again till I learn it. I don't mind more cramps, but I do hope that Sachin will have Cramp-free matches ahead. Because, he is the only one who can bring smiles on One Billion faces! P.S : Eiffel Special
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"There are no traffic jams when you go the extra mile." - Anonymous (this guys
is everywhere)
That's all folks!! ciao! Your Friend,
Check the response for the
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Cut&Pasteright Euro Times 2002
