Dear (s)

For the cricket fans, it has been great time. At Kolkatta

India regained lost glory with a great win by innings and
57 runs with 4 centuries and a good team effort. The first
ODI was win by a whisker; the second was more of a
confirmation of Sachin’s status as world’s most adored
cricketer. His form of recent times has been the best
streak ever though he had remained unstoppable at many
points. After 21 years in the game, perhaps eventually
only his body rather than any bowler could get him and if
he can continue to play his sixth WC, India would reach
the pinnacle of glory. At Gwalior, he batted all 50 overs
and breached a barrier that none had done in the 39 years
of existence of ODI and 2961 of games – reaching 200.

Terrorism continues to haunt and the bomb blast at Pune

is a great concern. The efforts to have peace dialogues
becomes meaningless and the need for strong action
keeps growing. More worrying is the ease with which the
Maoists carried out their attack on a security camp in
Midnapore district killing jawans of Eastern Frontier Rifles.
That exposed the inadequate preparation, improper
infrastructure and lack of strong will to deal with terrorism
inside. The vulnerability of the force requires firm
administrative measures to take upon the challenge and
to arrest the deterioration. In the last few months, such
attacks and killings have been on the increase and
exposes the weak infrastructure of the police in WB as
compared to the talented Grey Hound commandoes of AP.
The problem could not be one of resources but more of
morale and the clear direction from those at governance.

SYMA was very active and the website had thousands of

hits especially on the day of Child Fest celebrations and
thereafter. SYMA Gold Winner Child Fest 2010 attracted
huge crowds on 6th and 7th of Feb 2010 and kudos to the
administrators and Organisers for grandly organizing an
event which saw participation closer to 4000. The results
were on web immediately and many would have read of
our activities at www.syma.in, which is unique this year.
Full details of Child fest are inside.

We continue to toil towards reformation of society in our

own way and the students of SYMA Growth are about to
take on public examinations after full fledged systematic
training. BLISS wishes them all the best and prays for all
of them to come out with very good marks and continue
their studies in progressive areas of their choice.

With regards – S Sampathkumar.

SYMA has been in the field of social service for more than
3 decades now and for almost 20 years we have been
conducting Child Fest. Besides our focus area of medical
area (the running of free dispensary), education (our own
tuition centre, providing uniforms to children, educational
aid), civic concerns (recent desilting and cleaning of the
temple tank, public amenity maintenance), we have
always felt the need to imbibe in children the qualities of
competitive spirit and participation in public events and to
inculcate in them the thinking of doing something for the
society. We have experienced that not all school children
are forthcoming and sometimes lack the correct the
environ for pushing them ahead. May be the cooperation
or support of parents and teachers could be not in the
right amount.

Our competitions aimed at bringing out the best in

children has seen the numbers growing and every year
the no. of schools that are participating is growing. We do
find the winners in our event promptly mentioned in the
School notice board and in their house magazines – which
shows the value of a prize in our competition. We ensure
that no child returns empty handed and take special care
in taking care of the children. Each participant gets a
certificate with their name incorporated, a participation
gift and warmth in reception.
We plan our events and have a team of volunteers in
place for proper conduct of the show and have discussion
after the conclusion to find out the lacunae. Your
suggestions are always welcome in this regard.
Yesterday (Saturday 6th Feb 2010) milling crowd of
students and anxious parents marching to the venue – The
NKT National Girls Higher Secondary School, Dr Besant
Road, Triplicane, Chennai 600 005.
At 8.30 am the programme was inaugurated with
invocation of God, Presidential address by TA
Sampathkumar. Doctors who have been rendering
yeomen service at our Medical Centre and HM of Muslim
High School who has been helping us in the tuition Centre
– SYMA Growth inaugurated the function by lighting the
traditional kuthuvilakku. Photos of the function would soon
be available on our website www.syma.in

The first event was the Singing competition (classical).

Next was the drawing competition for 6th to 12th further
divided into 3 groups. At 11.30am Film songs Singing
competition followed.

At 1.OO clock, the Quiz Preliminary round for two groups –

a written one at that – 20 Questions to be answered and
top 4 teams qualifying for the finals was conducted. This
was conducted by myself, greatly assisted in preparation
by my friends Sridhar Joshi, Rajaram and B Sundar. It has
been our endeavour to keep the children interested in the
day to day happenings and develop their general
knowledge manifold. There were no questions on the
tinseldom but garnished with sports (ala cricket). A
separate posting on the Quiz can be seen in the blog,
where I have posted 10 interesting Qs as well.

The much fancied competition where mother fight to out

vie each other followed. This year saw more than 500
children being lined up for this. The volunteers of
Soundarya Rathnamala have been of great help in
organizing these, as they had done in the past many
years.

To have semblance of order and to be of convenient to the

children, we have divided the prize distribution into two.
The winners of the Fancy dress competition were
presented the awards on 6th itself. The main function is to
take place today.
The Prize Distribution function started at 6.30 pm. It
started with a prayer song rendered by Mrs Prema
Krishnamohan of Soundarya Rathnamala. The programme
was compered by S Sampathkumar, Editor BLISS (Yours
Truly), TA Sampathkumar made the presidential address.

The Guests of Honour were 1) Mr Gopinath of Vijay TV

“Neeya Naana” fame and 2) Mr V Jayaprakash, Sr VP of
Star Health & Allied Insurance Co Ltd.
Gopinath enthused the children with his speech. He
advised that Indian parents have to learn appreciating
more. He said that the gene factor ensured that Indian
children were far intelligent than their counter parts in
other countries but here the parents have the habit of
thrusting their dreams and aspirations into the child and
sometimes impede their natural growth. The child must be
given the space to develop in the area of his choice.
Whilst parents do appreciate for the achievements of their
ward, they do not appreciate naturally and do not support
the children in small things – unconditional appreciation
would take the child to greater heights. Whenever the
child achieves something, the society would appreciate
but in preparation of that, it should be the parents. Indians
tend to become obese which is not good for their health.

His speech perhaps would have made the parents rethink

on what they had been doing to their children. Mr
Jayaprakash, the Insurance Expert spoke briefly but
impressively.

Mementos were presented to them by Sanjeevi who is the

coordinator of this programme and our Secretary MA
Sadagopan. Secretary SR Ragunathan gave the vote of
thanks.

The prize distribution followed. The function ended with

National anthem.

This day we had scheduled only 3 events. The Drawing

competition for Lkg to 5th Std; Instrumental Fusion and
Dancing competition. The Prize Distribution was slated in
the evening.
Drawing competition being the individual entry, always
draws largest number of participants and in some ways
tough for the Organisers. This year we did have plans in
place. There were three groups : A of Lkg & Ukg; B of 1st &
2nd standards and C of 3rd, 4th & 5th standards. Each
presented problems in their own unique ways. The First
group was that of crawling babies and the parents
intervention would be extraordinary, the second – would
allow their wards but would be too anxious. The third one
would be high volume, a bit unruly coupled with some
fostering parents.
Though the event was to commence at 10.00 am, milling
crowds gathered in at the front of the school slowly filling
everywhere. The registration form required for collection
of student details was distributed at very many places by
our volunteers. People were getting unruly and at times
impatient. We had 3 different blocks for the different
groups. The first block abutting the ground was the venue
for 3,4 & 5. We ensured that the entry (to be more
precise the to be exit point be only one, so that children
would not escape from all sides).
The kids of Lkg & Ukg were grossly managed by
Soundarya Rathnamala, the 1st and 2nd in the block after
the gallery. We tried to usher in systems by regular
announcements over the loud speaker – still some
confusion prevailed.
Each room was to have one room coordinator who would
collect the Registration slips, hand over the chart to the
child, ensure that details are filled in – write the
participation certificate and handover to the child the gift
and participation certificate. Fine on paper.
After the start of the event also, children were pouring and
even after an hour, some parents were arguing that they
had travelled long distance and hence the late.
Would it not be fair to be at the arena in time – school
children ; can they afford to go to school so late.
Fostering parents who would reel out reasons kept coming
late – though some did sound genuine. We were not
prepared to disappoint the children and kept extending
the time line though this tested our infrastructure and the
temperament of the volunteers at service. Sanity
prevailed. Then we were faced with acute shortage of
certificates. Some of us would have walked the length
and breadth of corridors very many days seeking whether
there could be some excess some where. In the end,
simply there were not enough certificates and some
children had to come down without certificates. The
parents and children were anguished.
SYMA can never tolerate this and we had some special
Xerox made. This 150 vanished into thin air. I did not lose
cool and kept assuring every body that all that was
expected from them was to wait for some time and we
would ensure certificate for every participating children.
Satyam Lay out responded in style speedily and soon we
had more than required numbers; some volunteers were
readily at the desk, jotting out cleanly the certificates for
the waiting children. SYMA apologises for the small glitch
which made some children (& their parents) wait. There
were some uncharitable remarks from some parents
though most cooperated well.
Then we had the Instrumental Fusion, organized for the
first time. This was very interesting. The concluding
programme was the Group Dance for children upto 5th
standard which had tough competition in 14 teams out
dancing each other. This has been a popular event.
Special mention for the children from Corporation Middle
School, Triplicane who come from a very low strata of
society and big hand to the teachers of the schools who
exhibited total commitment.

The Prize Distribution started at 6.20 pm. The event

started with prayer. S Sampathkumar {Yours Truly}
(Editor – BLISS) compered the programme. I started with
a tamil poem which meant that ‘ sweet words are always
the need of the hour as none would feel happy with harsh
words; the sea would ebb on seeing the cool moon and
not in the presence of the hot sweltering Sun’. This was a
comparison to our happiness in seeing a large turnout for
the prize distribution function.
Our President TA Sampathkumar rendered the Welcome
Address and dwelt at length about SYMA and mainly about
our Hospital and Education programme – the Growth. He
spoke of our cherished ambitions in graduating into a self
sustained education training institution and more plans.
The Chief Guests of the day were Mr M Murali of Sri
Krishna Sweets and Vivek – the famous cine comedian.
Our Secretary SR Ragunathan introduced Vivek – of his
education at American college, Madurai; his winning the
Film Fare award 4 times, Asia Net award and the Padma
Shri in 2009.
Mr Murali is no stranger to SYMA and has made financial
contributions in the past. He was introduced to the
audience by me. Sri Krishna Sweets is almost as old as
independent India, having been started in 1948. Murali
has won Visveswaraya Award; hailed as the Best Business
Person in 2006 by Indo American Business community at
New York, Newjersey, City of Pearl & Minnesotto State
honoured him for his commitment to quality and
excellence. A very benevolent person, he is associated
with almost all good activity in the State, exhibits special
care in carnatic music and is a member of very many
organizations like – Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Chinmayas,
Hamsadwani, Exonera, Chamber of Commerce, Rama
baktha sabha, Red cross and much more.
Mementoes were presented to Vivek by Durai @ Seshardri
our VP and to Murali by our Treasurer Sudarshan.
SYMA is 33 years young and is ageing gracefully. The
average age has been going up. This time it has changed
primarily due to Sanjeevi Ragunathan and his energetic
team of volunteers – a teeming group of girls and working
boys. This time their vigour and hard work was greatly
visible. Kudos to their commitment and planning. This
‘young brigade’ was called on to the stage and honoured
with special gifts.
Soundarya Rathnamala is a zealous group headed by Mrs
Prema Krishnamohan and this group excels in whatever
they do. Besides performance in more than 500 stages,
they actively do social service in the form of helping the
blind students and more. Mrs Prema herself has donated
blood for over 30 times. This group was also honoured on
stage.
SYMA has a face, a web of its own : www.syma.in. Child
Fest has a voice also – our land line 28441078 is known to
all as schools and parents contact this no. for all details
including the results. Mrs Vasudha Bakthisaran who
handles this was also honoured.
This time we placed the results on web dynamically and
today alone the count of visitors is more than 2200 ;
yesterday another 700 had clocked in.
I quoted another tamil poem which meant that for great
work one had to cut down sleep, for fame render good
music and for posterity in another world, should do lot of
donations and good things. This is apt for Mr Murali who
has the adage ‘society cannot change by itself unless
every individual contributes to the change’. He has been
doing lot towards social causes and he was invited to
speak. He spoke very briefly.
Another tamil poem which meant that for checking the
rice in boiling pot, one rice check would do and people
could be determined by one word that falls out of their
mouth. Vivek has expressed enough in cultivating the
society. Vivek had a thundering applause and delivered a
very entertaining speech. He said Murali made people
walk – in one way by starting the day with morning walk,
making others think that if such a busy man finds time for
walking, why not all ? in another way, the sweets caused
rise in sugar and people were advised to walk to control
this. ‘advertisement is required for bringing product into
limelight and publicity so for man’. The great
Subrahmanya Barathi lacked publicity with which he could
have commanded respect of the entire world and should
have easily won a Nobel Prize. He praised the vision of
Bharathi. He queried as to who the Superstar in T Nadu
(obvious reference to Rajni) in Andhra (Chiranjeevi) and
said the Supreme star of India was His Hon’ble A P J Abdul
Kalam. Just as there are days for Mother, Father, lover,
Children etc., he suggested that we should celebrating
APJ’s birthday as students day. He entertained the
audience with some short anecdotes - a story of mother
urging the boy to do some good; the boy wiping out the
blood of an aged person and attending to him medically
and then removing a bolster from the middle of the road –
the mother appreciated the gestures without knowing that
this boy had thrown that big stone which in fact had
injured the old man. He went on to repeat another story
of honest agriculturist who gets back his lost axe along
with silver & gold ones by an angel. He added the man
losing his wife and telling yes to the first present of a cine
actress and later telling that if he were to be honest and
angel giving him all – he would suffer. He quoted Bill
Gates as saying :if you are born poor, it is not your
mistake but if you die as one, it is yours. He quoted APJ as
saying that waves are always inspirational – not because
they fall but because they rise after every fall. He
rendered a medley querying as to how AR Rahman would
render the famous vadai story and had it to the tune of ‘jai
ho’. The crowd did enjoy.
Going by the Thirukkural that one has to thank in a big
way for even small compassions received, we thanked all
those who helped us in the conduct of the show. TJ
Ramani proposed the vote of thanks.
{Vote of Thanks to :
Main Sponsor : Gold Winnder (CR Sridhar & Media Dreams)
Other Sponsors : Mangal Tirth Foundations, United India
Insurance, Reynolds, Arun Ice Creams)
Venue : Principal & Staff of NKT Training college ; HM &
staff of NKT National Girls Hr Sec school;
Media for coverage specially Hindu Down town; State
arrangements and barricade : Cheran and Back drop :
Ramesh / kapali
All judges ; schools; participants; parents & teachers
All volunteers of SYMA, NCC cadets (Mrs Uthra Sarang for
organizing them), K Kesavan for the stylish certificate
writing.
Cleaning : SRP, D Veeraraghavan and conservancy staff
M Raguram for the masterly organizational skills in
keeping the main room. Durai, SRP & KS Varadharajan for
organizing the prizes.
Printing : Swaraj Graphics Mani, S Vivekanandan, Mr
Kumaresan of Laxmi Priya & Satyam Layout
Food : Raghavendran caterer; Electrician and
Photographer PS Babu
Thank you all of you.
===================================
==============
Child Fest has been for individual talents and collective
representation of schools. This year we instituted an
award for the “Best performing school”. The award was
sponsored by Sri Krishna Sweets and bagged by DAV Girls
Sr. Secondary School Gopalapuram. They secured 525
points outsmarting the next rival by 300 points. For every
1st prize the school got 100 points; 50 for second and 25
for the third. Mrs Kanakalakshmi collected the tropy from
the chief guests.
All the prize winning children were called to the stage one
by one and were handed over trophies and prizes. Mr
Vivek & Murali remained with us till the very end and we
are very thankful for the cooperation and the gesture.
The programme ended with ‘National Anthem’.
Well done SYMA – All Office bearers and all volunteers.
Special word of praise for Sanjeevi and his youth brigade
Regards – Sampathkumar S
We are arranging a farewell meeting for our students of
GROWTH(SYMA TUITION CENTRE)ON 13th Feb 5pm at NKT
BOYS HIGH SCHOOL. Mr.K Ramachandran, Educationist
and senior manager communication, Cognizant will
interact with students.pl attend.president
With regards

Communication skill Test for emp at brit council. Story of

carpenter at US house on leaving. House given to him.
Whatevr we do do with involvmt. Not for others. Self
realisation.
We do for others wheb it comes to doing for self. Reality is
somthng else. Leaders do hardwork. Sachin is 10th but
exceptional in his sphere. Whr we work look at yr admnrs
& leaders. Draw inspiration frm around. Old timers got
only book then radio newspapern tv now evrthg evrwhr.
How much u use is in yr hands. When to read is prsnt day
weAkness. Continuous evaluation. Life complicated. Too
mch of cinema distrbnce. Tk the right thing frm what u
get. Small q leave sum space useful whn u do revision.
Underlining. Scanned. & on net. A small margin cd mk diff.
Aim high at centum
In all instnts ther is rspct for all good qlfn. Natnl instt of
design. Tend yr innate talent. ISRO inst at tvm - physl
science. It is difficult to fail now a days due to opportuns
avbl. Official historian of Ford.
He is the anchor. Ford success story. MIT students study
history, growth of orgnns , how evolved. National science
foundation of US - indians outsmart chinese. Insprn is
inside. U r bldg yr own house - don't regret later. U can't
fail. Rday hindu editorial. St annes univ i- brit leave after
many wrongs. Pass mark of 1/3. Is a low benchmark. Raise
it frm demeaning levl. Science is indisputae fact. Sub
optimal limitation. Growing world specialisation is the
need. See dr now super specialities. At a lower lvl go for
substantive fields. Don't narrow dn yr chances by spl
selection
Basic fndn mus be very strong. On exam day don't read
new things. A small % wd be frm outside book. Prepare for
what u know. Keep playing & exercising

Q:
This section introduces you to the National Identity
Elements of India. These symbols are intrinsic to the
Indian identity and heritage. Indians of all demographics
backgrounds across the world are proud of these National
Symbols as they infuse a sense of pride and patriotism in
every Indian's heart.
• National Flag
• National Bird
• National Flower
• National Tree
• National Anthem
• National River
• National Aquatic Animal
• State Emblem
• National Calendar
• National Animal
• National Song
• National Fruit
• National Game

River Dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal of India. This

mammal is also said to represent the purity of the holy
Ganga as it can only survive in pure and fresh water.
Platanista gangetica has a long pointed snout and also
have visible teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. Their
eyes lack a lens and therefore function solely as a means
of detecting the direction of light. Dolphins tend to swim
with one fin trailing along the substrate while rooting
around with their beak to catch shrimp and fish. Dolphins
have a fairly thick body with light grey-brown skin often
with a hue of pink. The fins are large and the dorsal fin is
triangular and undeveloped. This mammal has a forehead
that rises steeply and has very small eyes. River Dolphins
are solitary creatures and females tend to be larger than
males. They are locally known as susu, because of the
noise it makes while breathing. This species inhabits parts
of the Ganges, Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers in India,
Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and the Karnaphuli River
in Bangladesh.
River dolphin is a critically endangered species in India
and therefore, has been included in the Schedule I for the
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The main reasons for
decline in population of the species are poaching and
habitat degradation due to declining flow, heavy siltation,
construction of barrages causing physical barrier for this
migratory species.

Move aside gharial, the Gangetic dolphin, a fresh water

mammal facing extinction, has made its big leap.

The Centre on Monday declared the river dolphin as the

'national aquatic animal' on a proposal moved by Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Bihar, where the animal is known as Soòs, accounts for

the largest number of Gangetic dolphins, whose number
could now be only a few hundred. Besides the Ganga, the
river dolphin is also found in the Brahmaputra, the Indus
and their tributaries.

The smooth-skinned, grey-black dolphins come with long

snouts.

"Like the tiger as national animal and the peacock as

national bird, we have declared the dolphin as the national
aquatic animal. It represents the health of the rivers,
particularly the Ganga," environment and forest minister
Jairam Ramesh said after the first meeting of the National
Ganga River Basin Authority chaired by PM Manmohan
Singh.

After the declaration, the government is expected to

unveil a 'Project Dolphin' aimed at saving the rare
freshwater species from extinction. The animal figures in
Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The species is very different in shape, size and

characteristics from the sea dolphins.

The endangered Ganges river dolphin has been declared

India's national aquatic animal. This was communicated by
a spokesperson of the Ministry of Environment and
Forests.

According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), India

statistics, there are only about 2000 Ganges dolphins left
in this aquatic system. And, this step would surely ensure
more protection to this species.

Stating the main reasons behind the drop in dolphin

numbers, the spokesperson said, "Poaching and habitat
degradation due to declining flow, heavy siltation and
construction of barrages causing physical barrier for this
migratory species are the main reasons for its decline in
numbers".

Earlier, the government had taken the decision to declare

the Ganges river dolphin as India's national aquatic animal
on Oct 5 last year during the first meeting of the newly-
constituted National Ganga River Basin Authority.

According to the WWF, the dolphins are sparsely found in

rivers of seven states such as Assam, Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West
Bengal. Their ideal habitats include the Ganga, Chambal,
Ghaghra, Gandak, Sone, Kosi, the Brahmaputra and Kulsi
rivers.

The spokesperson also said that the Ganges river dolphins

have been included in the Schedule-I of the Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972, which would enable them
the ‘highest degree of protection’.

A WWF, India spokesperson said, “despite this, the

absence of a coordinated conservation plan, lack of
awareness and continuing human pressure are posing an
incessant threat to the existing dolphin population".

He also said, “Financial and technical assistance is (being)

provided to the state governments under centrally
sponsored schemes for conservation and protection of
wildlife including dolphins and their habitat."

"Financial assistance is (being) provided for conducting

scientific research on the habitat, behaviour, population
status of river dolphins," he added.

The Ganges river dolphin has a powerful, yet flexible, body

with large flippers and a low triangular dorsal fin. It weighs
up to 150 kg. The females grow up to 2.67 metre and
males up to 2.12 metre in length. The calves are chocolate
brown at birth and become greyish brown in adulthood
with a smooth and hairless skin.

Males mature earlier than the females and the females

attain sexual maturity at an age of 10-12 years. The
gestation period of the dolphin is 9-11 months and a
female gives birth to only one calf, once in 2-3 years.

A trip to kodikarai

When raghu asked me ‘we are going to kodikarai this

afternoon. are you game?’i wanted to say ‘yes yes’ but
managed to say ‘ will call you back’. The reason, I had
plan with my family members for that days; It was easy to
get permission from meera!! difficult was to explain to
my daughter shriya why she cannot join this trip !!! On
getting the green signal, called raghu to confirm.

We left at 4.00 in the afternoon by car driven by raghu

joined by sudarshan and Krishna. It was a long enjoyable
drive ending at nagapattinam at 12.00 midnight, knocking
at the door of a government guest house to let us in. The
combined snoring level in the room would have subdued a
Ferrari f1 car at its full rev !! Left at 4.30 the next morning
and reached kodikarai, some 65-70 kms from
nagapattinam. On the way saw some teams with torch
light and binocular surveying the areas for bird population.
Then it dawned on me that there is purpose in raghu
selecting this place and date; the census of migratory
birds by the forest department was ongoing. We reached
point calimere bird sanctuary at vedaranyam coast at
around 6.30 am and, thanks to the guidance of the locals,
reached the area where the birds congregate. Raghu
started shooting the birds, not with a gun, but with his
camera. That day I realized how heavy the camera is with
the lens attached. Few minutes later the Wild Life Warden
and a friend of raghu, who has a doctorate in studying
migratory birds, reached that place in a Jeep and took us
a km or so inwards to the sandy shore. We had to walk in
a small swamp, muddy shore negotiating thorns and
pebbles to where we could have a closer look at the birds.
For me it was something like thousands of large birds,
birds with huge wings, brown crows, yellow beaked bird,
orange legged ones, whistling ones, birds flying in
formation etc. but our learned friends identified them as
Greater Flamingos, Grey Pelicans, Painted Storks, Marsh
Sand Pipers, Pintail Ducks, Brown headed gulls etc. etc
and their nationalities, Mongolia, Russia, Australia,
Siberia, Pakistan. The birds from Pakistan and india were
not fighting and were coexisting in the marshy area. We
were told that the birds flew to srilanka for breakfast, back
for lunch!! Raghu was clicking faster than if he had a AK-
47 and when the bullets, la memory sticks, were
exhausted we left the place, not before eating some
biscuits and fruits given kindly by the forest officials while
refusing their kind offer to make us walk 55 kms of the
shoreline to watch more birds!! We finished off the tasty
puliyodarai prepared by raghu’s mother and left kodikarai.
On the way took a break at nagapattinam, an example for
religious harmony with Sri Nagai temple, Nagore Durgah
and Velankanni nearby. Enroute to Chennai enjoyed the
rustic scenes, the newly built Karaikal port, pubs,
palappazham and cashew nuts on the panruti roadside
and the marketplaces. Raghu exploited the excellent
roads of NH-45 and drove with the single aim of
overtaking all the vehicles, taking advantage of the short
cuts his GPS suggested and dropped me home around
8.00 pm. That night I was dreaming I was bird and flying
to all the exotic locations in the world.

Chennai city is growing at alarming pace and traffic is

becoming maddening. The Corporation of Chennai is the
oldest municipal institution in India formed in 1688 by the
then Governor Elihu Yale, by a Royal Charter issued in
1687 by King James II including territories not exceeding
distance of ten miles from the Fort. After the
Parliamentary Act 1792, the Madras Municipal Corporation
Act 1919 gave the statutory authority for the
administration. The city has been growing in size and
population. The number of territorial Divisions have grown
from 30 in 1919 to 155. Now the population of the city has
gone up almost ten fold from 5 lakhs in 1921. Likewise
the area has increased from 27.6 sq.miles in 1921 to 174
sq.kms. The population is only expected to grow further
and better management and planning of civic amenities is
the need of the hour.

Generally, fragmenting into smaller units is suggested for

better administration. However, there is now a
recommendation to expand the municipal limits of the
city. A committee set up to examine has recommended
to choose either a greater Chennai Corporation spread
over an area of 800 sq.km similar to the large city
corporations of Hyderabad (650 sq.km) and Bangalore
(700 sq.km) or expand the city to a limited size of 420
sq.km and create two new Corporations with Avadi and
Tambaram as headquarters.

The move to expand Chennai and create a larger urban

agglomeration on the lines of Greater Bangalore and
Greater Hyderabad is intended to develop outlying areas
of the city.As many as nine municipalities, including
Ambattur, Alandur, Maduravoyal, Manali and Tiruvottiyur,
eight town panchayats, including Puzhal, Porur,
Meenambakkam, Perungudi and Sholinganallur, and 25
village panchayats in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram
districts will thus be brought under the present Chennai
Corporation limits, raising the city’s population to 56 lakh
(as per the 2001 census) from the present 43 lakh.

The boundary of the expanded corporation will be drawn

in 2011 after the term of the elected councillors ends. The
city limits will expand up to Uthandi on East Coast Road,
Sholinganallur on the IT corridor, Kathivakkam and
Madhavaram in the north, and up to Meenambakkam in
the south.

A well developed city such as Chennai needs less capital

expenditure while the new ones will need large
investments that will serve relatively lower density of
population. This proposal, for many, is an opportunity to
get better services. The Chennai Metropolitan
Development Authority held public hearings in Tambaram,
Ambattur and Tiruvottiyur for feedback on the proposals.
Finally, the state Cabinet, which met last week, took the
middle road to chart out a relatively modest expansion of
the city.

Do you remember Salil Ankola or test no. 1127 played at

National Stadium, Karachi on 15th Nov 1989. That was the
series captained by Krishnamachari Srikkanth when
something dawned for India. At Sialkot on a green and
seemingly live pitch, Indians struggled against Wasim and
Waqar. Vivek Razdan playing his second test match
bowled a lively spell and Indians were 74 ahead. A young
one, not even a major (he was 16 y & 205 days). was
tested with barrage of bouncers but batted like a
champion of three and a quarter hours. He was hit on the
nose by Waqar was bleeding, got up, wiped away the
gushing blood; though medical assistance denied kept
playing eventually getting out for 57.

At Peshawar, the ODI slated on 16/12/09 was abandoned

without a ball being bowled and to satiate the huge
crowds a friendly match was arranged. Indians had not
done great especially in Paki land and this 16 year old
played, perhaps it was not an official match. Course of 18
deliveries changed everything for 53 (unbeaten) runs were
made, Mushtaq Ahmed went for two huge sixers and then
the great Leggie Abdul Qadir was taken 27 runs in one
over – with 3 sixes in a row. Now who this little genius
is !!!

Recently I read about Mongoose bat – the innovation in

T20 which claims to pack unprecedented power that will
give the edge and thought struck me that more records
would be rewritten.

Reems have been written on this 37 year young man –

who at times had received unfair criticism about his
ageing, not scoring centuries in winning matches etc.,
For the cricket crazy nation, Sachin means so much to so
many millions; he is icon, part of national pride, national
consciousness; when he plays the Nation almost comes to
a grinding halt. The journey that began at Sialkot way
back in 1988 is streaming still. In the vast land, through
every nook and corner he could stir emotions and bring
smiles on the faces of millions.
He virtually owns all possible batting records ; in ODIs has
scored 17598 runs with 46 centuries. A few months back
at Hyderabad, Aussies amassed massive 350 and Sachin
almost single handedly handled the chase scoring 175.
Indians were close to victory requiring 19 off 17 – the rest
choked and critics blamed him for not completing task.
There was some unfair criticism that many of his hundreds
had not helped the Team to win. How untrue !! – the fact
is that 33 of them (out of 46) have come in winning
matches.

He has amassed 13447 runs in tests with 47 centuries and

more than 17500 runs in One dayers. At Gwalior, today, a
barrier that has never breached in 2961 One day
Internationals finally fell fittingly to this genius. (a small
statistical revelation at the end of this story). Yes the 200
mark was breached, Sachin scored an astonishing 200 in
147 balls with 100 of them in boundary hits alone –
perhaps another record of maximum four in a single ODI
innings. He did not get to face many in the last 5 (9 out of
30) yet finished unbeaten with 200. This innings came
against a classy attack who were ruthlessly decimated –
clueless as to bowl where, varied their length, pace and
did everything but kept conceding runs. Tendulya
dominated each bowler. This assault left the Pretorians in
disarray and the chase was never on, even for a team
which successfully chased a world record 434 at
Wanderers in 2006.

Arguably this would rank as the best innings in 39 years of

ODI cricket eclipsing the individual highest of Saeed Anwar
and Charles Coventry as Sachin unfurled all shots in his
repertoire taking the total past 400 mark. With a short
past backward point off Charles Langeveldt, he raised his
bat, took off his helmet and looked up heavenly – a land
mark had been reached. There were two 100 +
partnerships but they will be put to oblivion by the
individual brilliance of Sachin. Back home, millions
watching the match were getting restless even as Dhoni
tore into Steyn hitting 17 off 49th and retaining the strike
in the 50th and hammering the first ball for six. There was
still time for the little master to complete the magic.

Some tributes on his 200

I think if you ask Saeed Anwar, he would say he's happy
that Tendulkar broke his record. The reason for his
success is that he has a great respect for the game." -
Aamer Sohail, Saeed Anwar's good friend and opening
partner, pays a fitting tribute to the new record-holder
"He should aim for more. Maybe a Test innings of 450 or
an ODI knock of 250. And then he himself wants to win
next year's World Cup. There is a little boy in Tendulkar
who wants to keep playing. That spirit keeps him going.
It's absolutely incredible how he keeps going." - Keeping
with the Mumbai ways, Sunil Gavaskar
"Come on Sachin my friend get your 200. World record to
please! You deserve it… Nervous for my good friend
Sachin everything crossed for you mate… Glad I'm not
bowling to him today ha ha ha." - Tendulkar's old
pal Shane Warne tweets his excitement as he nears the
double-century
"It shows his mental and physical toughness. He's a player
who does not throw away his wicket once he's set. He
always places a huge price on his wicket." - Dilip
Vengsarkar salutes the attributes that such a knock needs
"Sachin - the greatest ever player ever - without any
doubt… I salute Sachin... World's greatest sportsman. We
can see him only rise. (He is an) inspiration to us all. He is
the best." - IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi waxes beyond
eloquent, on his twitter page
"What an innings it was. He had come close to achieving it
twice. I always felt that Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya
are capable of doing that." - Kumar Sangakkara has not
forgotten Tendulkar's recent dazzling form
"He is my favourite player. I had said that one day he
would go on to break all batting records and now you see
him scoring runs and runs." - Javed Miandad kinda saw it
coming
"Whatever record is seen to be impossible to achieve, he
makes it possible. That's all I can say. It seems as he's
getting older, he is becoming more and more mature. No
wonder Sir Donald Bradman saw himself in the way Sachin
bats." - King of parsimony Bapu Nadkarni is not
parsimonious with his praise.

Just as accolades continue to pour in, a woman had

achieved this feat long back that too on Indian grounds.
Yes, Belinda Jane Clark of NSW, Aussie is the first person
to score a double century in a ODI. On 16th Dec 1997 at
Mumbai Bandra ground, in Hero Honda Women’s World
Cup match, she tore the Denmark attack and amassed
229 off 181 balls with 22 hits to the fence.
With regards – S Sampathkumar.

Kolkatta is a very special place for Indian cricket – against Aussies in 2001,
we came back to win due to a marathon special by VVS and great display
of spin bowling including a hat trick by Bhaji. Yesterday it was another
good performance which enabled India retain its place in ICC ranking
ladder. The fight was nerve wracking and obtained late in the day at a
time when cows were returning home.

We could not get Amla out and the tail frustrated India a lot – when
shadows lengthened and end was drawing closer, Morne Morkel fell to
Harbajhan with just 9 balls to go for the stumps and victory achieved. We
have had 28 victories by a margin of an innings + runs – there are 16
above this; still this would rank very high coming it did against a quality
opposition after having lost the First test badly.

Occasions where India won by an Innings + more than 100 runs

Margin Opposition Ground Match Date Scorecard

inns & 239 runs v Bangladesh Dhaka 25-May-07 Test # 1833
inns & 219 runs v Australia Kolkata 18-Mar-98 Test # 1409
inns & 144 runs v Sri Lanka Kanpur 24-Nov-09 Test # 1935
inns & 140 runs v Bangladesh Dhaka 10-Dec-04 Test # 1725
inns & 131 runs v Pakistan Rawalpindi 13-Apr-04 Test # 1697
inns & 119 runs v Sri Lanka Lucknow 18-J an-94 Test # 1244
inns & 112 runs v West Indies Mumbai 9-Oct-02 Test # 1616
inns & 109 runs v New Zealand Chennai 6-J an-56 Test # 420
inns & 106 runs v Sri Lanka Nagpur 27-Dec-86 Test # 1063
inns & 101 runs v Zimbabwe Nagpur 21-Feb-02 Test # 1589
inns & 100 runs v Australia Mumbai 3-Nov-79 Test # 860

Every tour opposition would have a winner and this the 27 year old from
Durban Hashim Amla stood out stranded on a fighting 123 following his
first innings one and unbeaten 253 at Nagpur. In olden days, by fifth day,
wicket would be a vicious turner but this time victory was hard earned and
India sorely missed Zaheer. There were grave apprehensions due to the
loss of more than 3 and a half on Wednesday. Wayne Parnell delayed it
for long and at 264 for 9, all followers were looking to a wicket every ball
– they had to wait for long for more than 20 overs. The final set displayed
remarkable discipline and frustrated the bowlers before the moment of
pride came.

The score card in brief for posterity would read : India 643 for 6 dec
(Sehwag 165, Laxman 143*, Dhoni 132*, Tendulkar 106) beat South Africa
296 (Amla 114, Petersen 100, Zaheer 4-90, Harbhajan 3-64) and 290
(Amla 127*, Harbhajan 5-59, Mishra 3-78) by an innings and 57 runs.

The match was a remarkable display of grit as India had 98 overs to get 7
but more than 5o where played off by Amla. Mishra did bowl well and
produced a special one to get AB De Villiers just before lunch. In the
absence of Zaheer, Ishant sprayed a lot but preserved to get something
important. Last time against Aussies, Sachin had weaved magic but could
not make much impact this time.

This test win is very laudable and Indians could remember this for long.
Here are some interesting statistics.

Victory margin over 200 runs

 Margin Opposition Ground Match Date Test No

320 runs v Australia Mohali 17-Oct-08 Test # 1889

280 runs v South Africa Kanpur 8-Dec-96 Test # 1344
279 runs v England Leeds 19-J un-86 Test # 1047
272 runs v New Zealand Auckland 7-Mar-68 Test # 634
259 runs v Sri Lanka Ahmedabad 18-Dec-05 Test # 1778
255 runs v West Indies Chennai 11-Jan-88 Test # 1089
235 runs v Sri Lanka Colombo (SSC) 27-Jul-93 Test # 1228
222 runs v Australia Melbourne 30-Dec-77 Test # 812
216 runs v New Zealand Chennai 26-Nov-76 Test # 787
212 runs v Pakistan Delhi 4-Feb-99 Test # 1443
victory margin of 10 & 9 wickets
Margin Opposition Ground Match Date Test No

10 wickets v Pakistan Mumbai (BS) 13-Nov-52 Test # 357

10 wickets v Pakistan Chennai 15-Jan-80 Test # 869
10 wickets v New Zealand Hyderabad (Deccan) 2-Dec-88 Test # 1111
10 wickets v England Mohali 3-Dec-01 Test # 1574
10 wickets v Zimbabwe Harare 20-Sep-05 Test # 1767
10 wickets v New Zealand Hamilton 18-Mar-09 Test # 1915
10 wickets v Bangladesh Dhaka 24-Jan-10 Test # 1950
9 wickets v Bangladesh Dhaka 10-Nov-00 Test # 1512
9 wickets v England Mohali 9-Mar-06 Test # 1788
Avid cricket fan - S Sampathkumar