It's still Roger's Court

When Roger Federer won last year’s US Open in expectedly dominant fashion, the tennis world was on the cusp of unanimously declaring him the Greatest of All Time. Pete Sampras’s Grand Slam record would be smashed, perhaps, by June.

Fast forward not quite a year, and Federer’s stock had crashed with a resounding thud.

Really?

Sure, Federer had shown himself to be vulnerable this year, suffering from mononucleosis early in the season, getting thumped at the French Open, and abdicating his crown at Wimbledon. His forehand suddenly wasn’t as feared. His imperiousness had been punctured by the rise of Rafael Nadal.

How quick we are, though, to predict a star’s fall. All because the Swiss, who had reigned over men’s tennis with a velvety game and an iron hand for much of the last decade, only made it to the finals of two Grand Slams (losing one he’d won five straight years 9-7 in the fifth set) and the semi of the other.

How lackluster! How pedestrian!

Federer’s rule, it was said, was over. He’d dropped to No. 2 and was plummeting, never again to win another Slam.

Not so fast.

In thrashing Andy Murray and capturing his 5th consecutive US Open and 13th Grand Slam, Federer showed us, and perhaps even himself, that we were all much too anxious to write off a player of his ethereal caliber.

Federer is the consummate gentleman champion, seemingly impossible to root against. His artistry is unsurpassed; he does things with a racquet none of us had ever seen before. He glides around the court with a silent, superhuman quality. And he is as graceful off the court as on.

Over the past year, Federer has shown us that he is, after all, human. Instead of consistent displays of impregnable confidence, we saw him grimace and bellow in frustration.

And how lucky we were.

Nadal’s rise and gritty, muscular style of play – which unnerved Federer – was a felicitous counterpoint to Federer’s effortless game and long dominance over the field.

Yet so many of us were quick to revel in Federer’s vulnerability. Was it our want of a true rivalry? Or was it our inability to make sense of perfection? Was Federer too princely for his own good?

In the end, the New York crowd cheered Roger on as never before. His struggles made him more accessible to mere mortals in the cheap seats.
It was exciting to see Federer challenged, forced to respond to his pursuers and search for answers. And it has been thrilling to bear witness – again – to his greatness.

Federer, in staking his continuing claim to the throne, has shown he can turn things around as fast as his forehand can go from defense to offense.

Yes, he now shares the pedestal with Nadal. And the challengers are mounting, with Murray and Novak Djokovic demonstrating that they are capable of winning majors on any surface.

As always, Federer has everything in perspective. “I really believe tennis is at a great place right now, with a lot of incredible athletes.”

And he’s not backing down from the challenge. Not yet.

All is right again, in Roger’s Court.

A fully coloured Red Hat for my Santa

I am beginning to mess around too much with sleep patterns.The way things are going , I will soon grow big round eyes and a little beak and become a perfect owl in a week.Right now I am feeling like a baby monkey who has been air dropped in a chemistry lab.So I have no idea what this baby monkey is going to do. So, I have no idea what I am going to write.

I have to study for my GMAT. i don't understand a word of its Verbal Section. But at 1.45 in the morning , i am too useless to do anything but write.So let me think.

Its said that when most guys think , 80% of the times , they think about girls.I think that is wrong.When most guys think , they think only about girls. From the Anna Kournikova wallpaper on the desktop , to the coochie coochie late night talk with the third girlfriend in the last four months , there are more girls than grey cells in a guy's head. And I do not understand it.And I do not get why a guy needs to go gaga over girls.I hate two things. One. Mallika Sherawat. Two.Guys who change colours before a girl.And I see these guys all the time.

In class 4th , I had this boy, Gibran , in my class.I used to think he is one of my good friends.I used to share my lunch with him.Even when I got bread rolls for lunch.I saw Sholay.I saw the "Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge" song with Amitabh and Dharmendra on their bike.I used to think I am Dharmendra and he is Amitabh and our friendship is like theirs in the movie.One day , during the drawing class , I asked him for the red crayon from his new crayon box.He gave me the red crayon.And then the little girl , Nupur ( I still remember her name !) asked him for the Red Crayon.He took it from me and gave it to her.And smiled at her.I was coloring Santa Claus's Cap at that time.The half filled sheet lay before me as he snatched the crayon from me and passed it to Nupur.It broke my heart.The psychological scarring it caused me leads me to hate every squirming guy dying to impress girls.

And there are a lot of Gibrans around still.

I
Me : Heyyy Rahul , yaar please explain me the 17th chapter in economics.The exam is tomorrow , and right now I understand the chapter as much as our college security guards do.

Rahul : My dad just had an accident.My mom just had a heart attack.My sister just attempted suicide.I am sad.Leave me alone.

Deepika : Heyyyy Rahul , I hope we are meeting for coffee at the canteen in the evening.And please explain economics chapter 17 to me over the coffee.....pleaaaaaasse

Rahul : Oh sure , I am willing to stick carrots in my ears and paint myself orange and come riding on a donkey to teach you economics , Deepu ( whatever happened to the name Deepika).

II
Me : Heyyyy Ajay , you seem to be going to college , I guess I can get a lift on your bike.

Ajay : Man my bike suspension is real shaky these days.And the pen in your shirtpocket looks real heavy.Sorry.
Priyanka : Heyyy Ajay , I was wondering if you could give me a lift till Shiv Sagar (a 10 mins drive from college)

Ajay :Oh priya ( say the complete name dumbass ) , I can carry you on my shoulders ( priyanka weighs 84 kg , by the way ) and run all the way to afganistan .What are friends for yaaaaaaaar ( notice the extended pronunciation)

III
Me : Heyyy Gaurav , I am broke buddy.I need 200 bucks yaar.I will repay you by evening.

Gaurav : My dad's name is not Dawood Ibrahim or Bill Gates, man.I am real low on cash too. ( no extended pronunciation)
Richa : Ohhhh Gaurav , my dad is beginning to scold me for spending too much these days.

Gaurav (pulls out his ATM card and stuffs it in Richa's mouth) : All yours Richaaaa. (extended pronunciation again)

Ok.Things are a little exaggerated here.No guy is so desperate.But guys go extra soft around girls , and I do not know what for.Even here in the blogworld.A girl starts a blog and there are "sweet blogggg , cute bloggg , cool bloggg, i can completely relate to it, WOWW" comments before she clicks the "post it" button. (Nothing personal, Cosmo'G'al !!!)

So any guy who goes extra soft around girls is Gibran.I like good people who teach economics , give rides and lend cash. But be good to all.Good people should be good to all.

Bloody , my Santa Claus still sports a half filled red cap.

What a girl wants.......

Disclaimer: This Post is not by K

“What a girl wants…what a girl needs” sang Christina Aguilera before she turned ‘dirty”. Well it depends to who you put this question to.

Ask the guys and most of them would be clueless, while there could be others who would vaguely give the same old boring answers. Chocolates, flowers, money, commitment…blah, blah. The ones who had the misfortune of having a not-so-good experience with the opposite gender would come up with some really nasty suggestions while some who still haven’t tarnished the image of the ‘fairer’ specie would have rosy ideas of what they think a woman would want.

Ask a girl or for that matter a woman what she would want and you’d be surprised how confused she herself is about what exactly that would be. Is it her career, her family or her own personal space and sanity or is it money????? Well what would be the ideal order??? Why choose, can’t she have them all??? Well that happens to be the problem in the first place!!! The girl wants everything…and maybe even a little feels like having it all.

Ever hear a girl say that she wants to be independent but also wants to feel secretly possessed? That on returning home after a crappy day she would rather have a hug than a distant hi. That she be surprised and pampered in every manner possible…ahem. That she is admired for what she does and accepted the way she is. That she is understood and not mocked for choosing what she thinks is right. That she can still let the child inside her come alive when she feels like it. That she can just be….herself. That she…….oh well, if only there was a way people would just get the point. Hmmm.

Women. What really pleases them can be a hell lot of things. Everything and sometimes nothing at all can heighten their spirits. She wants a family that would mean everything to her. At the same time some time away from the same people would be like sweet heaven for her. There, she asked for nothing here…except maybe her peace of mind, her own space. Is that too much to ask….well, I don’t think so. Career woman. She may be ambitious, shrewd, and successful, a deadly combination of beauty and brains, a subtle taskmaster but deep inside there is the vulnerability she identifies with every other woman she meets. Women may be different but their basic needs are the same. It’s a pity guys keep whining about never understanding a woman. It ain’t that difficult you know. Not as hard as the rocket science it is made out to be. One needs to only tune in to the feelings of a woman. Just feel her pulse and you know what’s on her mind. You’d be surprised how differently she reacts, every time she is confronted with a similar situation. That would make a woman highly unpredictable. A whole lot interesting. And desirable. For men who look for variety outside their current relationship, just treat your woman right and a whole new side of your partner is unveiled to you. It’s as easy as action and the opposite (and sometimes equally forceful) reaction. You treat a woman special and she returns with all her heart. And when it is her heart that is involved the guy needs to feel lucky. Or in a language guys understand…he just hit the jackpot. See it’s that easy. What you been complaining about buddy???

Did I hear someone say something….something like- easier said than done???? Now, COME ON. How easy do you want the task to get…if you call wooing or pleasing a woman a task in the first place!!!! In that case you need to give up at finding any pleasure from her in the very first place, my friend!!! No pain…certainly no gain. Forget approaching her. Strategize how you gonna approach her first. Look at her and try thinking about the time when looking at her made you feel differently about her for the first time (this for those who did not feel the same way at the first sight). Think about the time when looking at her made you feel like you want to just be with her. Felt like spending every given moment with her. Felt... God damn different. Now that the feeling is in place think how lucky you got finding her. That woman chose to (genuinely) shower all she got over you. Not that you don’t deserve it but knowing how choosy we women can get…dude, you get the point. Remember me mention genuine affection sometime back. Ok back to where we were. Now that the feeling is renewed go and approach her. Look at her. Really look at her. Look at her looking back at you. Look at the look she gives you. God, just spend some time looking at what an exquisite person you have before you. She is the person who made you feel, didn’t she? What could have changed to make her seem any different? She is there, you’re there…and so are your renewed feelings for her. Hold her in your arms and feel how good she feels against you. How right. Call it instinct but the woman will just know what you are feeling at that moment. She will try to give back exactly what she gets from her man. You give her Genuine Love; and trust the woman to reciprocate with everything she got. Did I repeat myself? But then there was no other way of explaining the gravity of the feeling she generates for her man. Come on, learn to feel guys. Feel, FEEL, FEELLLL. That’s the key word. You feel, the woman feels and then you have a brand new avatar of the woman you thought you had enough of or thought you had seen enough of. Experiment with what you got. Find ways to pleasure the woman and see her want to give back and more. She sees her man go out of the way to make her happy; she just makes sure that the man feels great where he is.

Well enough gyaan given here. Time to get going and making good of every opportunity you get people. Ladies, don’t think…just be whoever you are. The more you be yourself will the pleasures you seek from life increase to levels you didn’t care to imagine. And to the men folks…well, look at what you have and just bring a twist to the current situations and then just sit and observe how a new world, a new person unravels in front of you. Don’t say that no one forewarned you of the effects of letting just that happen….hmmm. Surprise yourself and your woman as you both discover what exactly it is that a girl wants….and needs.

Posted by Cosmo'G'al

--------------------------xx----------------------------xx-----------------xx-------------This is K again

Celeb Sightings

Saw Marc Robinson & Mahammed Azharuddin at Land's End a couple of wees back when i was there for a meeting.

Azhar is TALL ...

Marc met some random babe - not Waluscha - and kissed her full on the lips !!! ... (the base sure was HOT, maybe some1 famous, but i could not recognise her - this is where i miss chili)

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RT will just argue about who speaks marathi n who doesn't & that all shops / commerical outfits have to bear their name in marathi on the outside. This is what it has come to. Welfare of the state, people - bhaad mein gaya. This is the most important issue.

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Till when will we tolerate these blasts. When will the government take action ? Please see 'A Wednesday' & you'll realise that EACH & EVERY WORD that Naseer makes in his final speech makes SO MUCH sense. It is so true & i can't say it in better words on the blog, so i won't.

btw, i feel that Aamir, Mumbai Meri Jaan & A Wednesday are the 3 movies of the year.

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BOY, BUDDY BOY !!!! i'll miss you dude !!!

I ll end this post by some phrases that you use....

"Tap it Buddy"

"Buddy Boy, Boy Toy"

"Len ki Den"

"waaaaaaaaaaaatttssss uuuuuuuppppppp !!!!!"

"duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudddddeeeee"

"F*** You Dude !!!"

All the Best Buddy, Rock it !!!!!

Indians: The most preferred guinea pigs?

A SHOCKING report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) leaves me wondering whether we can entrust our children to the care of our health sector. The said report states that 49 babies, all below one year of age, have died in AIIMS because new drugs and therapies were tested on them over the last two years and a half. This information was obtained by Rahul Varma of ‘Uday Foundation for Congenital Defects and Rare Blood Groups’, under the provisions of the Right to Information Act (RTI). He sought the report because some of the parents were unable to admit their seriously-ill children to AIIMS while ironically, children from some poor and illiterate families were treated at the hospital for too long a time. According to the report, 4142 babies, of which 2,728 were below the age of one, were registered for clinical trials by the institutes’ department of paediatrics. 49 babies had died since January 1, 2007. During this period, the department had conducted 42 sets of trials on babies. On August 18, Health minister Anbumani Ramadoss, after a meeting of the governing body, asked the AIIMS director to conduct an inquiry and submit a report as soon as possible on the whole issue. But the question is who will be ultimately held responsible for the death of the 49 babies.


First of all, there is the question of ethics underlying the said clinical trials. A clinical trial is the ultimate stage of the research. It is conducted to answer questions on the safety and efficacy aspects of vaccines, drugs, devices, new therapies and forms of care or new ways of using known treatments. In brief, each study attempts to find better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases. The most notable thing is that, in India, many of these trials are conducted using foreign drugs. It is only recently that India became Asia’s most admired destination for conducting clinical trials. According to statistics released by the Planning Board, 139 new trials were outsourced to India recently. This is not only because it is cheaper but also because it is easy to deceive the system in India, given that most of the trials are conducted on the poor. It is a fact that India sources life-saving drugs from foreign countries. Importers of such drugs do not print the price of the drugs on the package, thanks to the loopholes in our law. Retailers cannot afford to stock such costly drugs. So corporate giants like Subiksha, Reliance and Pantaloon (many of them already have retail outlets in many states) are free to sell the said drugs at any price they choose. Besides, the Centre has allowed drug manufacturers the freedom to price 70 per cent of their products. In the case of the remaining 30 percent of products, the price is decided by the government. So the absence of a regulator has led to a proliferation of spurious drugs.


The Masheedkar Commission, appointed in 2007 to detect spurious drugs in the country, reported that except in Kerala and Goa, the health sector in most of the states was characterised by spurious drugs. The AIIMS issue also points to the presence of fake drugs. Five foreign-manufactured drugs were tested during the trials at AIIMS. They were Zinc tablets serving as nutritional supplement, olmesartan and valsartan for treating blood pressure, rituximab for treating chronic focal encephalitis and gene-activated glucocerebrosidase for treating Gaucher’s disease, which affects the liver. The five top agencies which funded the clinical trials were the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Department of Bio-technology, the World Health Organisation and the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health of US. If carefully conducted, clinical trials are the safest and fastest way of inventing treatment. AIIMS report says that the deaths accounted for a mortality rate of 1.18 per cent.


But the ultimate question is the ethical aspect behind treating the babies like guinea pigs. AIIMS claims that before conducting the trials it had obtained clearance from its own Ethics Committee, the Health Ministry’s steering committee on ethics and the National Ethics Committee. Trials were conducted under strict protocol and every step was analysed through faculty presentations and data safety management groups. Then, why foreign countries choose India, avoiding their own population?


AIIMS admits that the families of patients were given social counselling before trials were commenced on them. In some patients, mortality was the normal outcome and AIIMS wanted to ascertain whether the drug (being tested) could improve the situation. But this is not a tenable argument. Most of the patients at AIIMS are illiterate and from extremely poor families. According to Varma, the ‘consent form’ that has to be executed by the parents was read out by the treating physician to the said parents who were not able to read it themselves. In the circumstances, it is debatable whether they understood what ‘clinical trial’ was and what their children were being subjected to. The parents are in a hurry to save their children, something the investors in the trials take advantage of. With the help of doctors they convince the patient’s relatives that the new medicine can save the child if they are permitted to use it on the child. The socio-economic condition of the patient’s family plays a role here. According to the report, the children are drawn from patients who seek out-patient and in-patient services. The eligible patients are chosen, based on the needs of the respective studies. The reasons behind the death of babies, their age or their gender have not been disclosed in the reply furnished by AIIMS because these details were not specifically sought by the applicant. But Varma says that he received an unsatisfactory reply from the paediatrics surgery department. After all, he had separately filed the same set of questions with the paediatrics department and its surgery department. Hence the reply from AIIMS has only given rise to even more doubts. But, at least, a part of what remained hidden has come out in the open now.


In conclusion, for international agencies, India has emerged as the favourable destination to test their products thanks to the ease with which they can enter our country, courtesy our pliant bureaucracy. Hence a nodal agency is needed badly and promptly. The government should act urgently in the matter to prevent the international mafias from exploiting our poor and illiterate country men by conniving with officers of the health sector. Otherwise we may end up as the next guinea pigs when we visit the hospital next time !