You are wrong there, Sire!

Just today, one of my faculties, in the dying stages of his class, was giving out not just a terrible analogy, but a very ignorant one. His analogy went something like, “Just like the Narendra Modi’s government has brought about the decrease in petrol price, your engineering exposure too should make you less stupid (or more grown up)”, which was in reference to one of my friends making a ruckus while the guy was taking attendance.

Well, don’t judge him on this analogy, because more often than not he makes sense in his class, and he makes an effort to make them interesting too. But this analogy right here, made me wonder. If somebody who is as educated, even though not in political sciences but in engineering, as him, could have such an ignorant grasp of the reality, then surely, there must be many more? Certainly the ones who put up duck faces and click selfies all day, and still participate to argue about the political order in debates with friends, acting like the condescending Sheldon Coopers? Well these stereotypes are everywhere.  

Anyway, I am not trying to belittle the ‘Good Governance’, here, all I am trying to say is to give credit when the credit is due, or in this case, the opposite!

The phenomenal fall in petrol price over the last few months has got nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the new government’s governance, but rather is a continuum of the global fall in the oil prices. Global Fall!

While there are a few reasons that led to the global fall in petrol price, but the simplest reason being a classic case of Supply and Demand, where the demand is far too less than the supply.

*United States domestic production has nearly doubled over the last six years, pushing out oil imports that need to find another home. Saudi, Nigerian and Algerian oil that once found a home in the United States is suddenly competing for Asian markets, and the producers are forced to drop prices.

On the demand side, the economies of Europe and developing countries are weakening and vehicles are becoming more energy-efficient. So demand for fuel is lagging a bit (SOURCED OUT from Times of India)*

You can read that entire article here:(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/Oil-prices-at-5-year-low-What-is-behind-the-drop/articleshow/45866129.cms?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=TOI)

Sometimes, it is not about knowing the right reasons, but about ruling out the wrong reasons. And I think, in today’s world, it has become increasingly necessary for us, voters, to be at the top of our game. We cannot let our guard down, and let ourselves be drowned in our own puddle of ignorance, however briefly it might seem. 

The Imitation Game

With Imitation Game, Benedict Cumberbatch has made sure that he will be remembered for more than his role as Sherlock. And more importantly, he has thrown in a performance here that makes sure Mr. Alan Turing will be remembered and deservedly so.

Alan Turing was a Cambridge mathematician who was instrumental in inventing a machine that could break the code of Enigma, a communication device used by the Germans in WWII to contact its naval bases and authorize surprise attacks on the allies.

And Imitation Game is an epic tribute to Mr. Alan Turing, whose war files have been kept classified for more than 50 years, and was, only as recently as 2013, posthumously honored by the Queen. The movie does extremely well to not just restrict it to the veiled heroics of an unsung hero during war time, but shows glimpses into the man’s personal life, that leaves the viewer in an emotional upheaval.

Mr. Alan Turing in 1951

The movie remains deeply engaging throughout, and those canny dialogues make sure that there is not a single dull moment in the film. The movie has its share of light hearted moments which sheds more perspective into the personality of Mr. Turing. While certain elements of the films are fictional, those could be accounted for the cinematic freedom that is essential for these films to make them commercially viable, and enjoyable.

Other than the performances, the movie’s high points are certainly the screenplay and the music score, and the men behind it, Graham Moore and Alexander Desplat have been rightfully rewarded with nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original score for the academy awards respectively. All in all, the movie has bagged 8 Oscar nominations including nominations for Best Picture and Best Direction, and after watching the film, one couldn’t agree less.

Benedict Comberbatch is simply outstanding, and The Imitation Game is a classic film. I would definitely recommend this and you, most certainly, wouldn’t be disappointed.

World Cup 2015: Darkest of the dark horses

England has experienced almost everything in the past year, except of course winning (Nope, a Test series win against India doesn’t count, because almost anybody could do it). And with the kind of challenges England has in 2015, things look all set to go terribly down south. Except.

Except that England has finally done what it should have done long ago: Sacking Cook from ODI captaincy and the team. While it is tough to ascertain things from a television set, that man surely took the London climate, of being wet and miserable, all around with the ODI outfit.

So the same team, minus Cook, looks altogether different, now. While many cricket experts do acknowledge this, they have most certainly, written off the English Team from the world cup. And they are fair to do so, because their new captain, Eoin Morgan, is struggling for his own form and he has hardly captained the English team on more than 10 occasions. And he certainly does not look like a MS Dhoni to learn it on the job. (Don’t forget the ’07 T20 world cup fellas, an inexperienced captain, did lift it)

But when we dig deeper than what the face value of this team offers, there is promise, potential and most certainly, the hunger. In Ian Bell, they have a Rohit Sharma, who is more likely to fail than succeed but on his day, has the potential to take the game away from the opponent. And in Moeen Ali, they have surfaced an opener who is willing to take his risks and set the scorers straight, and add to it his off spinners, he surprisingly, becomes one of the most valuable players of this team.

Chris Woakes performance could be crucial to this English team

And in Joe root, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara, they have got the class acts and cool heads that could guide the team through the tricky situations. And in Alex hales and Chris Woakes (as allrounders), and Jos Bulter (as keeper), they have got the men to give out killer punches. Though they lack the experience, they are reputed, established, T20 players, who could take bowling attacks apart on their day. The biggest advantage that these three would certainly enjoy this world cup, is the freedom. The freedom that comes along with absolutely no pressure of expectations.

And in Stuart Broad, they have got the senior who could calm the nerves of his bowling attack. While it remains to be seen if Jimmy Anderson makes it to the XI, Chris Jordan himself hasn’t been doing too badly. In Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, and Ravi Bopara, they have the seam bowling attack that could certainly be containing, and on their day, even lethal. And in Tredwell and Ali, they have got the spin attack that could tie things down from one end.

England seems to have the perfect balance that a few other big ticket teams lack. They have more than one seam bowling allrounder and one batsman who could spin. They have more than two destructive batsmen, and more than two class acts. If the experience factor and other off-the-field controversies are put aside, this team certainly looks like an ODI outfit that could go all the way this world cup. England could well be your secret bet.   

If History has taught us one thing in the game of cricket, then it is that, experience and statistics don’t matter in World Cups. Kapil’s Devils did it in 1983, MSD did it in ’07, and now can Eoin Morgan and this English Team do it? Only time will tell.