Its over!!

So another FIFA is over, the technological advances in recent times has provided an opportunity for spectacular visual treat for the audience (one wonders four years from now how much the world might have changed, maybe we will be able to watch these in 3D TV…oops I think they already have it…geez the way the world is moving!!). South Africa has done a stupendous job.

Spain is good team but must say the finals was not really very impressive match, don’t know but I thought the players were really very nervous (commentator even mentioned “stage fright”, “nobody wants to take the risk”), there were so many fouls, incredibly everyone, except the goalkeeper and Snieder, of Netherlands team were shown yellow card, one even managed a red. Some kind of record that one.!! One thing stand out is that Spain scored total of only 7 goals in the entire event, and wins the world cup. Now that is amazing!!.

Peculiar case of Mr. Paul: I have been quite intrigued by Paul the Octopus. Media has gone absolutely crazy, some channels even carried his predictions as breaking news!!. Some in Indian media have gone bongos over ‘psychic’ Octopus, and not to be left behind arranged special programs dedicated to him even introducing other oracular specialist including a parrot, a frog, even a camel I am told!!. Some call him Octopus Baba, other’s Pundit Octopus and so on. If it was in India they would have made a temple for him by now and declared him a god!. It is the craziest thing that has happened in recent times and Indians are quite susceptible to these. Sometime back the statues of Gods were found to drink milk and I went all the way to a temple in Cochin where people had gone nuts. What I observed was when people go nuts their eyes go wider and they speak more than they should!.

Talking of Paul (I am told the Spanish want to call him Pablo and Germans meanwhile want to barbecue him!!) he has been remarkably consist. But he was to choose from two that made the probability 50%. Importantly whether Paul understands that there are human beings outside the aquarium who have divided land into countries and then they play something called football, where you hit the ball into designated space to be declared a goal and so on. Incredulity is amazing!.

Beyond a point though it is not funny and I have a serious reservation on the business of future predictions, intelligent guess is understandable. In India predicting future is small scale industry; all kind charlatans do the round. These situations are horrendous creations of 24x7 media. It is not amusing since it tends to give credibility to some seriously crap people, superstitions and create regressive atmosphere. Is this news? Market thrives on gullibility, these events only add to the power of globalizing nonsense. On a lighter note if only I could predict even few second before the event, I would have made a fortune in turf club by now. I would go to race on weekends make a pot full money travel around the world and then come back make a pot full then travel around. That would be amazing.

Talking of Turf club, I am having some horrendous outings (monetarily, otherwise its great fun. Best thing to do), guessing horses are quite tricky the factors get compounded everytime. Probability don’t work since horses are not numbers, they are dynamic. Add to these when I was at turf club the other day and was having my fruit salad (the fellow serves in paper that is from some magazine, how much hygiene these are I am not even thinking!!). While eating I glanced into the content of the paper (written words are always magnetic!!) and it was a poem, it seemed to be school magazine (Top corner said Sophia…that must be the school located right in the center of the city). I scribbled it down from the wet paper. Read:

A Student’s Prayer
Now I lay me down to rest
I pray I pass tomorrow’s test
If I should die before I wake
That’s one less test I will have to take

Shreya Gopal (VIII A)

It saddened me lot, so much so I forgot to put money in the race. To make it worse the horse I was fancying won. There are occasion to do and not do things, turf club is no place for poems. But I being me am not able to avoid these and then it enters into the mind and then it plays havoc. Intelligent predictions need absolutely clear and rational mind, it needs lots of calculations on different parameters, no emotions. Must say the kid has written something quite touching and struck a deep chord in me. We need thank Kapil Sibal for atleast trying to make learning a happy experience. Cheers to that.