Visit to Narendra Modi Stadium , Ahmedabad

 Dt: 12 March 2026

Long Post alert 

Its year 2026 .I am back to blogging because something spectacular happened after a long time.India won the T20 World Cup 2026 as defending champions at Ahmedabad on 8th March 2026 .Yay !!!!

It all started with India making it to the Super 8 stage of the tournament quiet comfortably. We had to defeat SouthAfrica , WestIndies & Zimbabawe to make it to the next round , the semifinals. While it was quiet a certainty that we would make it to the semis , it had just become a bit tough since all the other teams in our Super 8 group were in outstanding form and we were actually facing group leaders from each group after Zimababwe & SriLanka famously knocked out Australia before super 8 stage .

On February 22 India lost their first Super 8 game to South Africa with & huge margin denting their NRR  & thus made their path to the semis very difficult.

Cut to February 24 the situation is tense as India runs a risk of not making it to the semis. In the back drop is a conflict in the Middle east which is also causing other concerns . I am on X going through the tweets trying to get a hold of both geo politics and cricket news after completing my day shift. Suddenly I see a tweet which says tickets to the T20 Worldcup semis & finals tickets are releasing at 7PM today. As has always been the case , these tickets are elusive and BookMyShow especially is notorious for having a stupid booking system where they add people to a queue once you express interest. I have been on those queues many times in the past and those never get closed in a successful booking.

But that day it was different. I was added to a short queue for Ticket to the Finals at Ahmedabad which read few lakhs waiting . I said to myself "Again the same thing ". Suddenly the queue went down to thousands and then in a few minutes to hundreds. I could not believe it. Should I be booking this ticket. How costly would that be .Will India make it to the finals. Who will I go with .Can I go alone. How will I go . All questions unanswered.  I enquired with my cricket community on Whatsapp if anyone would be interested in going as  I seemed to be getting closer to the online booking window. No one responded with an intent to watch the match. In your 40s you realize that your circle is shrinking & you don't have a go to gang to fall back on for every situation . Suddenly the booking window was live. 4 minutes to book the ticket. I went ahead and booked 2 tickets out of possible 4 .Idea was to cut the losses in case I didn't get to travel. Luckily the tickets were priced at 2k so i had some potential to mark that capital as a loss. So there I was with 2 tickets to the World Cup Final at Ahmedabad booked .

Over the next few days I kept this story to myself. BookMyShow had to send the physical tickets to my address only then I could travel .Luckily they were delivering to my pincode .I decided to patiently wait out the next 10 days. A lot of things had to fall in place for me to achieve my manifestation of watching India play the Final  at Ahmedabad.

Over the next few days things started to align .India defeated Zimbabwe on Feb 26 setting up a virtual quarterfinal against the Windies. We defeated Windies on March 1 in  a close game thanks to Sanju Samson's heroics. This set us up for a March 5 Semifinals clash with England at Wankhede .Ideally I should have booked tickets to this game .But may be destiny had other things planned. India defeated England in a game where close to 500 runs were scored and we could suppress the rampaging England only in the last over of an exciting chase set up By Jacob Bethell.

March 6th, Morning . India is in the finals . I have tickets to the finals & now I needed to make it there. There were a few things going on my personal front. It made me think about skipping the event. But eventually i felt that since nature has conspired to make my dream come true  I had to do my bit and close the manifestation and desire .Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad is the biggest cricket  stadium in India and Ahmedabad will host the Olympics soon. In 2011 I was too young to go and see the finals at Wankhede so probably this was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch India try to win a home WC. I roped in an old  friend who is also a cricket Paglu & we decided to go .

March 6th evening we had all options on the table Road , Rail & Air travel . Road travel was gonna be tiring and was not favourable to my friend .Air travel was too expensive and was not favourable to me .We decided that rail route is going to be the best option. But there was one challenge. All trains to Ahemdabad were booked  and people were on waiting list. My Friend suggested that we wait for tatkal tickets. Luckily he had an acquaintance who did the Mumbai Ahmedabad route frequently and she offered to book the tickets for us.

On 7th March we had an anxious few hours waiting for the tickets to be booked. Around 10 15 AM I got a message which said tickets are booked. Vande Bharat early morning on 8th and return train post midnight from Ahmedabad making us available for the working day on Monday. It was a pleasant news .We are finally going . 

I started early on 8th March and waited at the station for the train to arrive . Initially it felt like  I was stupid enough to be starting my day at 5AM on a Sunday morning to attend a game in a city 500 km away. Soon the scenery changed. Station which was largely white colored suddenly started changing to a sea of blue . Indian railways had added many special trains to Ahmedabad & I witnessed fans in their jerseys flocking the station all excited for the game in the evening . It started to look like a pre celebration of sorts in Mumbai . India is a cricket crazy nation .

I boarded the Vande Bharat for the first time . World class train similar to what I had experienced when I was in the UK in 2013 .Train sped past at max speeds of 130kmph and by lunch time we were in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad looked all prepared .On the way got to see Anand the city of Amul . Ahmedabad was buzzing. We hired a cab for 12 hours which would cover us for the day on the Savari app.

We decided to explore the city and created a small itinerary based on available inputs on the internet. We visited the Sabarmati River Front , from there we went on to visit Sabarmati Ashram .Our next stop was to have a good Gujrati thal at Achija Gujrati Thal . After lunch we decided to have one final stop at Adalaj Stairwell .This is  the same spot where Surya eventually came for his trophy photoshoot. We didn't know then that its also where Rohit & Cummins had their WC photoshoot in 2023.

Entry to the stadium was smooth although we had to walk a lot to reach Gate 2 . We reached early and therefore did not have to face  massive crowds. Once inside the atmosphere was electrifying . I was mesmerized at the sight of the massive Narendra Modi Stadium . This is a beautiful place to watch cricket .The view from almost every seat in the stadium is awesome .You get a full field view from the top stands. Truly World Class .

We were greeted with awesome performances by Falguni Pathak , Sukhbir Singh and Ricky Martin in the closing ceremony . The stadium was very hot at this moment as the sun was setting right in front of our faces. I had a deep desire to watch Falguni Live at least once in my life and that was also achieved on that day . Falguni knows how to perform with big crowds , her sound was sorted and she seemed to rock the show. Sukhbir also has excellent crowd presence. Ricky Martin was alien to Indian audience and most of the youngsters didn't recognize Livin La Vida Loca . 2009 was a long time from today.

As the day progressed Sanju Ishan & Abhishek just dominated the batting and took the game away from NZ once they put India to bat after winning the toss. This is always a wrong decision in a big final unless you are the mighty Aussies. Once 250 was on the board , the game was all but settled. People were worried since England came close to chasing the score down in Wankhede .I kept telling the crowd that this is not Wankhede and it wont be an easy chase . As the wickets started falling NZ resigned to their fate.

Namo Stadium did a beautiful laser show in the mid game slot , an awesome drone show before presentation and then an amazing fireworks show after presentation. This stadium elevated the whole viewing experience to a world class experience.

We travelled back tired to Mumbai and slept off in our upper 2AC  seat just like Shivam Dube did.

This was probably the most unexpected trip of the year. Looking forward to more such cricketing experiences . When you have a hobby you need to invest in it and this was one of the best investments.

This was a day of firsts

1.First outstation train from Borivali 

2. First Vande Bharat

3. First interstate boys trip post marriage

4. First India game in a stadium 

5. First World Cup Final in a stadium 

6. First game in a stadium outside Maharashtra

7.First time I booked tickets, Usually it was hopping on to someone else's planned tickets.

Signing off for now. Will be back when I have some more pleasant  firsts to share

Adding photos soon .

Another ODI WC Final Lost

 Dt: 23 Nov 2023

    We were waiting in anticipation .From the start of the World Cup 2023 there was talk that this was our best chance to bring back the cup which MS Dhoni had got for us in 2011. 

    However the challenges were many as we did not have a steady batting line up with too many injuries. Just before the WC we had Shreyas Iyer , KL Rahul , Rishabh Pant all in the injured list .These guys were the backbone of our  middle order and the cup could not be won without them. Pant was responsible for his  own injury by speeding a luxury car to his home and getting into a dangerous accident. He survived the crash but could not make it in time for India's ODI WC campaign.

  The only positive aspect going into the WC was that the captaincy debate was settled .Kohli had taken a back seat to let Rohit lead the team and although he was grumpy at the beginning he came back all positive and ready to win with a good attitude. Once he started getting back to form and scoring 100s again there was no looking back for us. 

   Luckily as the days for squad announcement neared even KL and Iyer were declared fit. Hardik Pandya was coming on the  back of 2 very good IPLs as captain for Gujrat Titans and looked excellent at no 6 with Jadeja at no 7.Unfortunately Shami had to miss out to add some balance to the team.

  The first ODI against Australia was a tough one with Gill out due to Dengue and Ishan taking his place in the team .India collapsed against the Aussies ..3 down with nothing on the board ..it could have been 4 down if Kohli was not dropped. Yet we came back strong and chased the Aussie target with KL missing his 100 and remaining not out. It was a confident start to the WC.

   What we didnt realise is that this team will go on to dominate the tournament and defeat every other opponent. Rohit Kohli & Iyer all getting 500+ runs and Kohli ending up as MoS. We won 10 games on the trot.At one point Hardik was injured and ruled out of the tournament .We  had to bring in Shami in for Shardul and replace Hardik with Surya. This was to maintain the balance .

   However Shami played a unbelievable tournament taking 5fers at will  .At one point during the semis when Williamson and Mitchell were going all guns blazing , Shami ripped through the NZ batting line up picking 7 wickets and ending up as the highest  wicket taker of the tournament leaving Adam Zampa behind. India set up a final clash with Australia who had come in after defeating South Africa in the semis. On the way they had defeated a resilient Afghanistan team where they had all but lost it. Maxwell had risen from the Ashes to score a not out 200 to take his team through.

  We had started feeling that this Aussie team could go all the way from thereon and during the semifinals we just hoped that SA could win since we dint want to face the Aussies. However the Aussies folded SA on a good Eden wicket for very few runs and chased the target easily.

  Come the finals the only thought for us as cricket fans of the 90s was to defeat the Aussies and get revenge for the 2003 WC final loss. Ganguly's team aided by some luck and some awesome cricket had reached the finals and although we had lost to Australia in the league stage in that tournament we hoped to win the finals .But the Aussies had other plans and they scored 300+ batting first and virtually  kicked us out of the game in 2003.

  All we wanted this time around  20 years later was to bat first score 300+ and knock them out. Things went to plan with Aussies deciding to field after winning the toss. We though that they made a wrong decision .However the abrasive pitch at Ahmedabad was so slow in the morning it hindered the stroke play of our batters. Aussies bowlers were ruthless. Their fielding was top notch and they must have easily saved 30 runs in the first  15 overs. Rohit was  going hammer and tongs but a splendid catch by Man of the Match Travis Head ended his stay. KL and Kohli stabilized the innings. Although it looked a very reassuring partnership at that stage, we realised later that our run rate had gone down drastically and we scored only 70 runs in 20 overs from 10-30. 

   We lost the game there since the plan to capitalize in the last 15 overs could not materialize as the ball started reversing and we lost KL and Jadeja together. Defending 240 was not going to be easy but we struck 3 quick wickets and set up the game well. However the pitch became easier to bat and Travis Head who was rested during the first half of the tournament made it his own and scored a beautiful 100 to complete the chase.

   We lost .It hurt the team and its supporters a lot .But what hurt more was that we lost to the Aussies again. Aussies have won the cup for the 6th time now. Its the mindset with which they approach the finals that makes them difficult to beat . We move on with hopes to win the Champions Trophy and the T20 WC .However the original WC is the ODI WC and hope the next generation keeps this quest for the cup alive.

Till next time...

   

 

Should you switch to the new tax regime proposed by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2023

 DT. 03-Feb-2023

 For the middle class the only question we have after every budget is that how much have the tax slabs changed. What new exemptions were provided and eventually how much will be our annual tax outgo. While this is a very narrow view of analyzing the budget it is also the most tangible and upfront relief that can be provided to the common man in a budget.

It is therefore very normal to have heated discussions  on whether the FM has done anything good for the middle class in every budget. While the Modi government has stayed away from distributing too many benefits to the salaried class in every budget they have slowly but steadily favored the new tax regime where

• There will not be any need to make unnecessary investments to save tax
• Reduced paperwork at year end proving your investments
• More cash in hand
• Eventually simpler and straight forward tax filing.

With this in mind I suggest that  everyone should start planning their journey to the new tax regime as the old one will become obsolete sooner or later.

Following calculation charts will help you make the decision. These are just based on my experience. Please consult your CA to get better advice.

I am not considering huge HRA deduction  of more than 1Lakh per annum as it adds tax liability to the Landlord (in most cases your parents).HRA deduction can be claimed but ensure that your landlord is paying  proper taxes. Also discounting health insurance premium and NPS premiums. If you have these add to your deductions.

                                                                                                    7.5 L

                                                                                     7L

                                                                                                 10 L

Caution Wider Images ahead

Till Next time ..Bye :-)

The Rise of Indian Sporting Prowess

 Dt 14 Sep 2021

 

   Its been quiet  a glroious patch for Indian sports over the last few months. It all started with Tokyo olympics 2020. The olympic games were postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the raging global pandemic and even when it started in 2021 it was subdued as no audience were allowed to enter the grounds and the whole games were  asked to be played to closed stadiums.

   After a disappointing start to the games with Indian shooting stars missing opportunities to win medals . It seemed like it was all going downwards once again when the medals started flowing from the most celebrated Indian sport - wrestling . Things were going good when suddenly news came flyng in that Indian Hockey teams both men and women have entered the semifinals of the hockey competition.

   The feeling of pride and nationalism that flew through the streets of India when India beat Great Britain in the mens hockey quaterfinals was phenomenal .The entire hockey crazy nation then was glued to their TV sets watching the semifinals against Belgium .Hoping and egging the team to go on and win the  match.Although we lost the semis , a spirited performance in the Bronze medal game won us a Olympic medal for the first time after decades.

   The womens team missed the medal but overall fitness levels had risen several notches .The   fitness itself is the main reason why Indian teams are now abe to challenge at the highest levels.We endend the Tokyo Olympics with 7 medals our best tally so far. Adding to that India went on to win 19 medals in the Paralympics . Most athletes have thereafter gone on to praise the Indian government for better managing the Olympic aspirants and giving them better access to funds and resources using the TOPS program. Lets hope India rises further and becomes one of the top 10 medal winners in the future games.

  Finally when there was so much glory we could not leave cricket behind. Virat Kohli's men went on to beat England in two test matches .Both matches looked like lost cases on the last day and seemed like heading for a draw. Inida's bowling talent has risen several notches and now we are no more a liability in Away tests . There might be a day in the future where we clean sweep a test series in the SENA countries.

   All said and done India now looks forward to the IPL and then the Cricket T20 worldcup to wind up the sporting year on a high.

   

Back to blogging

 Dt 31 July 2021

Its been quiet some time since I have been on this platform.Most of my time these days is spent scrolling on useless social media platforms . One of the reasons that have also contributed to my sabbatical was that I did not have  a fast enough laptop to get my thoughts on the blog and also make it look good.

So recently inspired by my wife and some tech vloggers on Youtube I deceided to buy ourseleves a mini computer .Basically we got a tablet and paired it up with a bluetooth keyboard.The setup resembles a mini tech typewriter and is inspiring enough to get me back to writing my blogs.

My aim is to write daily on various topics of interest ,Life is short and there are so many topics to be discusssed . Over a period of time I wish to log in all my thoughts on  daily national and international events and maintain this blog as a diary which will help me  publish out my thoguhts and ideas to a restrictive audience which will have little or no interest on giving me feedback on what I feel.

With that being said today's blog was  just a test to see how well does the keyboard perform.So far so good.Will try to make this interesting over the coming days and hopefully build a audience which still likes to read.

Signing off for today.

चुनाव खत्म होने को है ...

************    चुनाव खत्म होने को है****************

  23 मई की सुबह को  रुझान आने शुरू हो जाएंगे ।शाम तक नतीजे भी साफ हो जाएंगे और ये पता चल जाएगा की अगली  लोकसभा में वह कौन लोग होंगे जो देश का प्रतिनिधत्व करेंगे। इन 543 लोगों के कांधो पर देश को आगे ले जाने की पूरी जिम्मेदारी रहेगी और हम केवल ये आशा कर पाएंगे की जिन लोगो को देश ने बहुमत से चुना है वो अपने क्षेत्र और देश हित में काम करेंगे ।

   इस बार के चुनाव कई  तरह से निराले थे । सबसे बड़ा बदलाव  देखने को मिल रहा है कि इस बार कोई nota न दबाते हुए निर्णायक वोट डाल रहा है । दूसरी बड़ी दिलचस्प बात ये ही की आपके मोबाइल स्क्रीन पर चुनाव प्रचार हो रहा था । एक ओर मोदी जी को चाहने वाले  पूरी तरह एक जुट होकर उनका समर्थन कर रहे थे तो दूसरी ओर उनके विरोधी जमकर अटकले लगा रहे थे । 1996 से मैने देश की चुनाव प्रक्रिया से जुड़ने की कोशिश की है । इतने सालो में कभी नही देखा कि किसी प्रधान मंत्री को हटाने के लिए विपक्ष ने चुनाव लड़ा हो । शायद इमरजेंसी के समय ऐसा हुआ हो पर मुझे उसकी ठीक जनकारी नही है। इस बार जब सारे विपक्षी दल एक स्वर में मोदी विरोधी भाषण देने लगे तो लगा की बस मोदी का हारना तय है ।

    लेकिन जैसे जैसे चुनाव के दिन निकट आने लगे तो पता चला कि विपक्ष में किसी भी प्रकार की ट्यूनिंग नही हो पा रही । किसी भी लड़ाई को जितने के लिये आपका उद्देश्य तय करना और उस उद्देशय को प्राप्त करने के लिए सबसे उपयुक्त रणनीति बनाना आवश्यक होता  है । जब सारे विपक्ष ने तय कर लिया था की इस चुनाव का एकमात्र उद्देश्य है मोदी हटाओ  तब  वह क्यों आपस में लड़ने लगे । अगर हर सीट पर विपक्ष का केवल एक प्रत्याशी खड़ा होता तो भाजपा का  जीतना मुश्किल हो जाता।

    इस योजना के लिए आपको केवल मिलकर एक सर्वेक्षण करना था  और सर्वसहमति से सीटों का बटवारा करना था। जब आप ये निर्णय ही एक जुट होकर  नही ले पाए तो क्या प्रधान मंत्री चुनना और मंत्री पद बाटना आपके लिए संभव हो पाता ? बस यह बात जिसके पल्ले पड़ी वो समझ गया था की चुनाव कौन जीतेगा । इस से पीड़ित होकर नीतीश कुमार जी ने पहले ही इस गठबंधन का साथ छोड़ दिया था । हालाकि वो भी 2014 में मोदी का विरोध कर चुके थे पर जनता के हित में उन्होंने कुछ समझौते किये ।इसे कहते है सही राजनीती।

    अब जो भी ये विश्लेषण समझता है उसे ये तो पता है की जीत कौन रहा था । तो अगर जो जीत रहा है वो व्यक्ति लोकप्रिय है और आपके अनुसार उसकी कार्य प्रणाली से लोग संतुष्ट है तो क्या उसका समर्थन करना गलत है ?

     चुनाव में भाजपा का समर्थन पहले भी हमने किया है ।पर इस बार  काफी बातें सुन्नी पड़ी जो आवश्यक नही थी । आप इसे polarisation कह सकते है  और भाजपा को जिम्मेदार ठहरा सकते है ।पर विपक्ष समर्थको ने मोदी समर्थको की बुराई में कोई कसर नही छोड़ी । आप मुद्दों पर डिबेट करे पर व्यक्तिगत बातें करना आवश्यक हैं क्या ? दोस्तो से फिर भी झगड़ लो पर परिवार वालो की बात मानना तो दूर सुन्ना भी नही, इस प्रकार का polarization इस बार सोसिअल मीडिया ने कर दिखया है । जब हम छोटे थे तो वोट करने से पहले माता पिता से एक बार चर्चा कर लेते थे और सहमति बनाते थे । इस बार मुझे यकीन है कि बहुत से परिवारों में भी वोट विभाजित हुए है 🙂

     पिछली बार 2014 के चुनाव में सबसे तीखी बात जो सुनने मिली थी वो ये थी की "तुम्हारी समझ कुछ नही पढ़ रहा । तुम बस हवा के साथ बह रहे हो "। इसका आप उत्तर दे भी सकते है।
     पर इस बार जो बातें कही गई वो बेहद व्यक्तिगत और निंदनीय स्वरूप के थे । किसीने उम्मीद की कि जल्द आपके घर में घुसकर कोई आपकी कुटाई करेगा तब आपको पता चलेगा कि आपने क्या गलत किया। किसीने कहा की आप अंधे हो गए हो । किसीने हमे मूर्ख अज्ञानी बताया । किसीने कहा की आपने बचपन में संघ की शाका में पढ़ाई  तो नही की हैं । सबसे ज़्यादा जो बात चुभी वो बात थी फेक nationalism की । मित्रो देश उतना ही आपका है जितना हमारा और दोनो अलग अलग रास्तो से देश हित का उद्देश्य लेके ही चल रहे है , इतना  तो हम एक दूसरे के भावनाओ का आदर करे तो सही ही रहेगा । इतना तो सम्मान प्रतिध्वंदी के लिए बनता है। भावनाओ में बहकर हम सबने कुछ सीमाएं लांगी ।

      एक और शब्द जिसका काफी प्रयोग हुआ वो था 'भक्त' .मीरा भी थी।हनुमान भी थे । प्रह्लाद भी थे । शिव जी के भी है । कृष्ण के भी हैं ।राम जी के भी हैं । हमारे कुछ atheist /liberal भाइयों ने इसका प्रयोग करना उयुक्त समझा । पर अपमानजनक वाक्यों  में इस शब्द का प्रयोग मुझे तो  सही नही लगता । बाकी आपकी मर्ज़ी ।

      अब जब एग्जिट पोल के खुलासे हुए तो कुछ मित्र उसको भी ठुकराने में लग गए । में ये नही कहता की आप अपनी बात न रखे पर आप ये बात भी जानिए की ज्यादातर मतदाता आपकी बात से सहमत नही थे और नाही आप अपनी बात उन तक पहुंचा पाए।
      "पर वो तो फेकता है।झूत बोलता है।स्वार्थी है। चोर है ।" ..इस तरह की बात करना भी क्या सही है इस पर विचार करे।यह भी सोचिये की इस प्रकार से किसी एक व्यक्ति विशेष पर निशाना साधने वाली आपकी रणनीति कितनी सफल रही ।

    अंत में विपक्ष के समर्थको से एक ही बात सामने आयी है जो चर्चा का विषय बना सकते है। कि विदेशो की तरह क्या हम भी पब्लिक डिबेट्स नही करवा सकते । इसे हर सीट पर करना होगा ताकि सर्वोत्तम प्रत्याशी चुनकर आये। हो सकता है कि जब जनता और बढ़कर हिस्सा लेगी तो मीडिया वाले भी व्यर्थ का शोर न करते हुए ऐसे कार्यक्रम कर सकेंगे। पर हाँ इसके लिए प्रत्याशियों का स्तर भी बढ़ाना होगा। अगर मोदी को हराना उद्देश्य है तो आप अपना सर्वोत्तम प्रत्याशी उनके  सामने चुनाव के लिये खड़ा करें । तभी तो होगा वो मुक़ाबला बराबर का ।

       कल का दिन बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है। आज गणेश संकस्ती का पावन पर्व है । गणपति जी से प्रार्थना की  । पार्टी चाहे जो भी जीते मेरी हमेशा  यही मंशा रही है कि देश में एक स्थिर सरकार बने जो अगले पांच साल के लिए हमे प्रगति के पथ पर ले चले ।

      जय हिन्द । भारत माता की जय ।
      चौकीदार चले घर । अब अकेला काफी है ।


नोट : ये किसी IT cell का लेख नहीं है । ये मेरे मन की बात है ।

What has the Union government done to curb air pollution...

Dt: 9th April 2019

A friend asked ....
Do we have cleaner air in the last few years?
What has the Union government done to curb air pollution?...

A rapidly growing nation will always have increased emissions and worsening air quality.The poor situation has been highlighted in the last decade as the world faces drastic climate changes.The issues are more prominently observed in the developing world.India & China leading the show.

India has now  started taking this seriously and is committed to improving our environment for the benefit of the world and our countrymen

In 2015, Government of India, together with IIT launched the National Air Quality Index.We did NOT have a standard simple air quality measurement methodology in place before and it was more of voluminous data

In 2019, India launched 'The National Clean Air Programme' with tentative national target of 20%-30% reduction in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by 2024, considering 2017 as the base year for comparison. It will be rolled out in 102 cities that are considered to have air quality worse than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

The government has also taken several bold initiatives, including leap-frogging from BS-IV to BS-VI

World’s cleanest petrol and diesel started being supplied in Delhi after state-owned oil firms advanced rollout of Euro-VI grade fuel by two years in a bid to combat alarming levels of air pollution.

India's new vehicle scrap policy was given 'in-principle' approval to pave way to remove 20-year-old commercial vehicles from April 1, 2020.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that no permits would be required for vehicles running on alternative fuel, including CNG, ethanol and EVs, a move that is expected to boost the demand for such vehicles in the country.

First flight from Deharadun which used Biogas successfully landed in Delhi in 2018.According to some estimates, biofuel has the potential to reduce the aviation carbon emissions by up to 80 percent.
Biofuels are also being used in state run buses.

As the world continues to reel under the pressure of its fast disappearing green patches, India is setting a new trend.In a mere span of two years, the country has managed to increase its forest and tree cover by a whopping 8,021 sq km

Its easy to ask questions and be the ultra cool  "Social urbanite".But do these guys have the time to find answers to the questions they raise?

OUR Nation is moving in the #Right direction.Ignore the pseudo seculars & pseudo intellectuals.
#ThinkRight #VoteRight

Yet another Day of Firsts

Dt: 10th Nov 2018

   So I started the year with a resolution to spend more time on doing new things , things which  I have not  done before .
On those lines this year I started learning tableau which is a new age visualization tool .Post which I spent some time learning Alexa skill coding and also published my first Alexa skill. Apart from that I spent some time running Tableau powered predictor competitions which was a hit with select audiences.A few friends also revisited our old days by doing some musical renditions on Smule.Its fantastic how you can do things now sitting at home with your friends without actually meeting them .The world has become a lot more connected and there is more to come..

   Moving on..However I  realized that a lot of this year was spent on the technical front and I did not get time to witness the infrastructural changes around me.Mumbai a city of dreams .A city which is constantly evolving with its lifestyle culture , and its amazing adaptability. The spirit of Mumbaikars has always been looked up to by the world .It has amazed many how a city which has limited infrastructure is running huge businesses and housing billionaires.

   There was always a hue and cry that a  city which has so much  capability in terms of human capital needed better infrastructure,However the past governments have let the city down and people have stopped expecting much .
But things have changed at a real fast pace in the last few years in the city of dreams. So I decided to go around and review one such change that happened rather quietly in Mumbai's landscape.

  I am talking about  the city's new AC railway local .:-) .The new trains run on the western line for now . And for a asking price of just slightly above the first class fare offers one a cool ride from the Suburbs to the city and back.

When the services were launched there was only one train which did the to and fro journey .But starting this Diwali the number of services have been increased to Five and the number of halts have also increased.The AC train now halts at suburban stations like Dahisar , Miraroad & Bhayandar .You can view the M -indicator app for timetable and halt stations/.

  So on BhaiDooj which is a festive holiday we decided to try the morning local .We boarded from our local station at around 11 AM. The train  looks very similar to the normal locals .Apart from the obvious changes.
1. It has AC and  its very cool.The days of sweating in the Mumbai local were gone long back due to the new bombardier        racks but this is one level up
2.The doors close.This is a huge security upgrade.No chance of accidental falls in these trains.







3.The train is seamless.Which means the coaches are all connected.

4.Some other features which looked new  included an intercom to connect to the guard in every coach.
 








Once we reached Dadar we went to visit a few places which have not changed in Mumbai.
We had a hearty breakfast at Kamath's near Dadar station .This place still has authentic Indian food at very reasonable prices.
It has not change much over the years
We then went on to visit Shree SiddhiVinayak MAndir to seek the blessings of Lord Ganesha.This is the most visited place of worship in mumbai. and Mumbaikars have always gained blessings here.
We followed this up with a meal at Gomantak which is one of the best places to have non vegetarian  food/seafood.

We decided to end our travel by paying a visit to the Bandra Worli Sea Link .The iconic sea bridge was one of the best architectural gifts that the city got in this decade.This was only bettered by the Mumbai Metro.
The inauguration of yet another architectural marvel the Signature bridge in Delhi reminded us that Mumbai has got its own iconic bridge.

We ended our day after this by taking the local train back .On the return journey in Second class WR , I  realised that Mumbai , like the rest of India is fast turning into a dual identity geographical region.Where you have the poor  and the rich living together in harmony . The slums contrast with the high rises in Lower Parel .The second class local journey contrasts with the AC local journey . The normal line at SiddhiVinayak contrasts with the Quick Darshan line which comes at a premium of 50 Rs.

The broad classification is of the rich & the poor but actually if we get some social science teams to research then they can easily detect around 5 to 6 distinct classes of people living in Mumbai with some people hopping among the lifestyle choices of each class throughout their day ,,.


Please share your thoughts on this. Only that much for today...

IPL 2018 Prediction Contest

Dt : 04 April 2018.

Its IPL season and a lot of fantasy games have started surfacing.However each of these games require you to predict every day to get you a realistic chance of winning.

Considering that the busy generation that we live in most of us do not have the luxury to dedicate that much time on a daily basis, I have come up with a quick IPL predictor game .The game is inspired by a EURO prediction game which was run by one of our previous employers which was an instant hit.

We ran the IPL game in pilot mode last year and had fun throughout the season.This year I am throwing this open to  a wider audience.All you have to do is download & fill up the excel sheet in the link given below and email it back to me along with your name.

I will compute the scores and maintain the  leader board .

Send me the entries by 06th April midnight India time  so that I can design the leader board based on the response. Instructions are in the excel sheet . Also no negative points this year to make it a tough contest.Remember you got to predict the entire season .

So put on your thinking hats and lets play.

Excel:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxnwT-RSjoJhcXRQNS1qWUxPRXkxSzNvdHZuMUg5VHphSS1F/view?usp=drivesdk

Updated excel:(Added KXP to last 4 selections)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TTIpQU6hCGPBNrzuz8w7GF-cZ0K8UB_H

Download the copy and make changes 

Save and email it back to heroofblogging@gmail.com .Send your name  in your email.

IPL 2018 Fantasy League --- A Tableau Report on the Years Gone By

Dt.03 April 2018.

 We all know that a fresh season of the Indian Premier League 2018 is about to begin.The excitement is in the air .And since the dust has now settled on all the recent controversies on ball tampering and last minute replacements ,we can now sit back and get a quick summary of the years gone by before we deep dive into this season.

I have collected data from sports websites and summarized into a series of Tableau vizzes which are self explanatory.I will share the same with you in this blog along with short commentaries on the data as well as the Tableau type of report used for representation.

Lets start with the list of Winners & Runners up for all the years This is a Tableau TIMELINE report prepared using custom shapes.

Its disheartening to see my  home team RCB missing out on all of the winner  slots for 10 years. But my karmbhoomi's team MI has done extremely well in last few years .

Even though these were the winners the league stage looked completely different with other teams finishing number 1 before the league,Here is a tableau BUMP report done on a dual axis to highlight the same.

RCB ended up in the playoffs stage 5 times never to return back with a trophy. Notably Sourav Ganguly's KKR & PWI were very  lowly ranked teams.Tells a story about how he could not master the T20 game.

So here are the most successful captains of the IPL T20 format.Well its our Mumbai boy Rohit Sharma followed by the rest.Displayed below is a Word cloud representing the same.

Now lets have a quick look at Individual Players and records.

Top 10  Individual Scores in an innings

Sehwag holds the unique record for scoring the highest runs in an IPL innings for two different teams  DD & KXP.

Chris Gayle who was almost left out this year has the highest Individual score.(175*)

No ones has scored a  double hundred,This record could break this year

Top 10 wicket takers in an Innings

Sohail Tanvir took 6 in the first ever IPL  & Adam Zampa did a 6 wicket haul for RPS.

Top Run getters in IPL history

This goes to the Indian quartet of Raina Kohli Rohit & Gautam Gambhir. Unfortunately Yuvraj has not shined in this area.They have also been the backbone of success for CSK MI & KKR .

Top wicket takers in IPL history

This honour goes to the speedster from Mumbai .MA- LIN -GA ..This statistic is somehow not shown across too many times since this game is dominated by batsmen.Yet Malinga has been phenomenal in IPL with his rare slinging action.Another silent warrior is Amit Mishra the leggie who has been currently sidelined in the Indian squad.

While Ashwin might not have played all seasons , Bhajji has a better record in IPL.

Well this wraps up the Tableau summary for the years gone by.

Based on these reports you can now predict the winners for this season.My top 4 bets are.

1. RCB never won a trophy

2. CSK in the combeack year and fan sentiments running high

3. KXP with a  hurting Gayle factor & Sehwag as coach 

4  DD with Maxwell & Gambhir both hurting and ready to make a statement 

You can predict your winners too in the comments.

Trivia: Who holds the record for the most sixes in IPL history.


For people ineterested in the Interactive dahboards .Please visit my tableau Public Profile
https://public.tableau.com/profile/ashwin.puthran#!/

note: Data has been manually collected from various resources.Let me know if you observe a discrepancy.

Tableau Vizzes :Links to all blogs Summarized

Dt: 07th March 2018

I am listing down all the blogs together so that it will be useful for Tableau enthusiasts.

1.http://voice-of-the-heart.blogspot.in/2018/02/ipl-chennai-super-kings-tableau-public.html
2.http://voice-of-the-heart.blogspot.in/2018/02/income-tax-collection-in-india-hard.html
3.http://voice-of-the-heart.blogspot.in/2018/02/indian-literacy-revolution-tableau-maps.html
4.http://voice-of-the-heart.blogspot.in/2018/02/tableau-vizzes-from-twitter-feeds-part-i.html
5.http://voice-of-the-heart.blogspot.in/2018/03/tableau-vizzes-from-twitter-feeds-part.html
6.http://voice-of-the-heart.blogspot.in/2018/04/ipl-2018-fantasy-league-tableau-report.html


I will keep this list updated so that it can be referred from a single web page

Tableau Vizzes from Twitter Feeds -- Part II (Arsenal tweets)

Dt: 05th  March 2018

  OK as promised  I will be sharing the Tableau vizzes from the @arsenal search on twitter feed.The twitter extract was taken after the Carabao Cup Final which unfortunately Arsenal lost.

Here is how twitter reacted to the result .I have listed some tweets which were liked by twitterrati and retweeted the maximum times

Tweets

I extracted  around a few thousand tweets and this is the frequency of the tweets over a timeline

Timeline

A quick plot of the location of the people who tweeted will give you an idea of how the English Premier League & the Arsenal football club is followed  all around the world.You would be surprised to know that after US, UK & the Netherlands the maximum tweets came from India, Indonesia, Morocco & Kenya. Now thats where the merchandise is most likely to sell.Unfortunately the club is not in India in a big way in terms of selling merchandise.Something that they can do with FDI rules being relaxed in the retail space.

Mapped

Someone asked me about sentimental analysis and the most popular hashtags. I tried to analyse this by splitting the extracted tweets and getting the first hashtag on each one of them.Of course with some more SQL you could get all the hashtags but the first hashtag was good enough for me.This is how the hashtag cloud came up.

Hashtag Cloud

Of course #Wengerout was one of the more widely used hashtags .Fortunately/unfortunately he is not going anywhere :-)

Finally I wanted to know how we could summarize info on various twitter vizzes  onto one amazing dashboard which could be presented to the executives of these institutions.This is what I came up with. Of course the more creative ones will get better it better designed :-)

Dashboard

Well this is how amazing it can be. If someone tells you that they have expertise on R and Big Data and want  to demonstrate solutions , you got to ask them if they could get this done on a bigger scale.If they can do this then they have got it.As they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating :-)

Thats it for now .Will be back with more interesting features on Tableau reporting.
Signing off

Note:If anyone  knows what #coyg means then please leave me a comment .New generation language :-|