A Suspiciously Long Match....

This was one eye catching game which broke all barriers. The longest Tennis match ever and dear God it was really long. Lasting 11 hours and 5 minutes, with a total of 183 games, this mammoth match between Nicolas Mahut and John Isner ended with Isner as the victor with the scoreboard reading 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. Yes you read it right 70-68 !! At first I couldn't believe my eyes but a look at the official site confirmed it.

My first reaction was disbelief and then appreciation for both the players involved. Their effort and commitment was commendable and praiseworthy. My thought now moved on and I started thinking how exhausted they would be after such a performance. I knew the winner would definitely give up in the next match due to fatigue. As I kept thinking about the match, a hint of suspicion crept into my mind. "Would anyone really play that long ?"  "Could this match be fixed ?", I asked myself. Hmmm, very much possible. It could be a remarkably well-scripted marketing strategy I thought. Prior to this, Wimbledon was not occupying significant space in the news or the papers and it was not discussed by the sports enthusiasts(that includes me) at my workplace as well. Every inch of sports space in the news or the newspapers was taken over by the Football World Cup leaving Wimbledon news to the corners. Brands like Federer and Nadal also failed to catch attention. The success of the tournament was at stake now. At this time, probably the organisers took help from a few brilliant minds, who may have suggested something fancy like this that was utterly unusual and so strange that it would create a flurry everywhere. But who can the organisers approach to carry out their scripted play. Definitely not the biggies like Rafa or Fed as they would not like to jeopardise their careers for the success of a tournament. But two players like Mahut and Isner,who are hungry to get their names on the record books, may gladly oblige, and some publicity like this would definitely boost their brand value. So now we have two players, playing a record breaking match over a period of 3 days, at the end of which the players and organisers and viewers have something to take home. Also some space for Wimbledon in the news space and some substance for enthusiasts to chat about.

Wow. Now I have built up a great story which makes me believe that this match was possibly fixed. Looking back at how i pieced together a convincing story for myself actually brings a smile on my face. I am sorry if I have downplayed the real effort of the players with my "theory" (rather a hypothesis) but i am glad to have conceived and developed a fascinating piece of imagination here.  

Credit to the photographer...This pic shows a tired referee stopping play on Day 2...

Creativity.... unleashed or inspired..

Creativity is about hiding your sources. 

Many of us have fallen for this quote by Albert Einstein. Special mention would be our musicians.They have turned "Creative" by hiding their "sources". But when someone manages to dig out the "sources" these people claim they were just "inspired" by those sources. And by that time they have already received the "Creative" tag and would have run away with sacks of money.

However among the musicians we also have AR Rehman. His heavy talent has turned his works into a source for other people. But many of them have chosen to be "Non-creative" by not hiding him as the source.They have duly given him credit in their versions of his songs. I managed to dig out a few of them and I am sure a lot of "Creative" people too have emerged because of him.

Crisis...revisited...

The last 2 years really changed the lives of everyone.Well if its a recession it obviously would have had a big impact. As I recall it totally changed the mindset of the working class and more importantly the mindset of Techies. For once I observed that the Techies were now working harder or atleast pretended to. Everyone started loving their companies and strived to excel. Quality and efficiency gained prominence. People did all this and more just to stick on to their job. Many dreams were shattered and many had to make compromises with their personal life goals. Companies cut spending and outings and lunches were totally off. Also among the things cut-off were gifts and other goodies to employees. Forget hikes and promotions,for many of us it was a decrement in salary. And we braved it all.

But come February this year and normalcy was restored. The recession mood slowly disappeared. Techies grew in confidence and knew they didn't have to pretend to work.CVs were written afresh. Techies started doing what they are good at ,i.e, switch jobs, spend money, while away time, play around in work place, openly show criticism of work and working conditions, etc. Job sites saw a huge rise in traffic. And attrition at our workplaces are back to normal levels again.

The recession was caused by a catchy term called "Sub-Prime Crisis". I did manage to dig out and get a faint idea as to what it meant by googling around. Real estate market collapsed, banks and financial institutions shut shop and there was a ripple effect on all industries and people across all sectors worldwide. I then stumbled upon this video which made it crystal clear. Here is the video for all you folks who are yet to figure out the cause.