Test Cricket is Real Cricket

I have been a great cricket follower for about 10 years. Initially I used to watch all the cricket matches be it live or repeat telecasts. Later with maturity I started following only Test Cricket, ignoring One-day cricket. I still have more than average knowledge of One-day cricket though. Let me discuss why I have such a prejudice.

The Real Test
The name "Test" is thought to arise from the idea that the matches are a "test of strength" between the sides involved. It is a test of physical and mental strength, skill, character, patience, concentration, strategy and ability to handle pressure. Batsmen is not judged just by the ball he plays but also by the ball he leaves. Again, bowlers are judged on how much he can make the batsmen play. No matter how many matches a team wins on its home grounds on familiar conditions, pitch tailor made to suit their bowlers and batsmen, facing home crowds, enjoying their support and putting their opposition in difficulty by not providing them the facilities, the real test begins when they tour and play overseas. Australia is the only Team to win Test Series in all countries they have toured and deservingly they are the No. 1. The preparation level and the adaptability to conditions overcoming home-sickness becomes all the more important overseas. Nobody can be judged by their performance on 1 day in 1 innings, but we need 5 days and 2 innings to decide the result of a match and a series of at least 3 matches to decide on who the better team is in a bilateral series.

Weight attached
Test is the "highest and the longest form" of the cricket game and is the sub-set of First Class Cricket. Only 10 cricket playing nations have so far got the Test Status after proving that they have all the qualities required to play at that level. A Test Win, a Test Cap, the white jersey, test debut, test century, a 5 wicket haul etc are close to the hearts of any Player and is worth is weight in gold because very few people from his country to have got it. Robin Singh has played about 140 ODIs before finally playing his solitary Test. But, when I see a TV interview of him he is introduced as "Robin Singh, Former Indian Test Cricketer". A world record in tests is a real great achievement as nobody else has done it for 130 years in the game. So many grounds are used to play ODIs in India and everywhere else, but only a subset of them are qualified as a "Test Ground" which means a lot to those grounds. The quality of pitch, it should last for 5 days, facilities the ground provides allowing players to practice for 5 days, providing accommodation and so on. In 1999 world cup in England, Australia lost initial set of matches that were played in non-test grounds. But later when they played bigger matches in Test grounds they won and went on to win world-cup too. Showing that performance of teams should be judged by their performance in quality grounds (Test grounds) against quality oppositions (Test Nations) in bigger games.

Even contest between bat and ball
The real test of the bowler should be his ability to take wickets by planning and working the batsmen out. One-day game is more of a bats men's game, there is nothing in it for bowlers. A bowler is limited to bowl only 10 overs with run containing being his primary goal in defensive and restricted field settings. Whereas in Test cricket he bowls with the aim of taking wickets by placing his fielders in catching positions like slips and gully for fast bowlers and close in positions for spin bowlers. Wickets are very important in a Test match than in a one-day match, a side may be no loss or all down for 250 in 50 overs, still the chasing side needs only to score 251 runs to win the game. When wickets are so important batsmen has to cut-down in his risks and score runs only of bad balls. A good bowler doesn't bowl too many bad balls and then the batsmen has to do something different to break the shackles or try an adventurous shot in the process risks loosing his wicket. The Test for the batsmen here is the patience to wait for bat balls, ability to score runs of good balls, skill in understanding the bowling and fielding strategy, concentration in facing ball after ball and picking it the way it is released by the bowler, practice of playing off-spin or doosra, leg-spin or googly, fast ball or slow ball, short pitch or yorker. Even a short lapse of concentration can cost the batsmen his wicket, it might take him 200 balls to score a 100 but only 1 ball is enough to loose his wicket. Generally 1st innings of the test match is for the batsmen because the wicket is fresh and placid also the pressure on batsmen is lesser as he knows that irrespective of what happens now there still is one more full innings to go, while the 2nd innings is for the bowlers when the wicket wears and tears, odd ball keeps low, spinners get lot of turn and bounce from the rough patches around bats men's foot, pressure starts getting better of the batsmen, batsmen focuses more on the match result than on facing the next ball.

Luck factor
It is always the better team or the team that played better cricket during the period of the test , wins. In a one-day matches one or two lucky/unlucky moments decide the fate of the game. We have heard "Every dog has a day", so the team on its days wins in one-day matches. Whereas in a test match team needs to play well on majority of days i.e. at least 3 days. We have seen Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe and even Ireland win one-day matches against quality oppositions on its day. We never had such instances in Test Matches over last 130 years. We might have seen sub-continental teams loosing to Zimbabwe in Tests but it is more because of the unpredictability of Asian teams than the real quality of Zimbabwean Team. We also have seen Bangladesh coming close to beating Pakistan and Australia but when it came to the wire Bangladesh were simply not tough enough, while Inzamam and Ponting showed the real class needed to compete at the Test level in those matches respectively. In test cricket unlike one-day cricket it is not a case where somebody has to win. The match can end in a draw, which is very fair. England stole the 2005 Ashes though a draw in their Final Test at oval. A Test win is that much more valuable as the opposition can play for a draw thereby denying other team a win and the winning team should have put in an extra-ordinary effort to force the result. Some might say one or two bad umpiring decisions or unlucky situations as a reason for the Team's defeat. But the test match is not just about those one or 2 moments there are countless other moments over 5 days, 15 sessions, 30 hours, 450 overs and 2700 balls. Why weren't they in control of those moments if they really were the better team? Why did those 1 or 2 moments decide the fate of the test match?

I am not alone who tells this
Having watched so many matches, listened to commentaries, read newspapers, magazines, books and websites, I feel that all true cricket lovers agree with me that Test Cricket is the Real Cricket. When somebody talks about a Cricket Tour they talk about Test Matches or evaluate the winner of the tour by the result in Tests. Indian team of 2003-04 is considered as the best team ever to tour Down Under even though India lost badly in the One-day series. Australia tour of India in 2001 is one of their worst failures as they failed to conquer their final frontier. Who remembers that then Australia won the ODI series 3-2. 2005 Ashes series is considered the best ever series played in cricket and so many books and DVD are sold on it. Does anybody know that there were one dayers also played at all in that Tour, let alone knowing the winner.
Coming to the players themselves, the current generation has produced so many greats the likes of Ponting, Dravid, Lara, Sachin, Inzamam, Waugh, Muralitharan, Warne, McGrath, Kumble etc most of them are quitting one-dayers after 2007 world cup in a bid to concentrate on Test Matches. I am taking the example of current generation players in particular as they have played good number of one-day matches as well unlike the earlier generations. Steve Waugh in his Autobiography "Out of my comfort zone" has openly admitted this. www.cricinfo.com, the most popular cricket website run by Wisden group covers all forms of cricket but their focus is more on Test Cricket.

Who said it is boring?
If we see the game only to see batsmen hit sixes and fours or getting out, then it is boring as their frequency is a little less to keep anyone interesting. But if we understand the intensity and state of the game, in the context of the series, with the history of clashes between the teams, the team composition, their strengths and weakness, kind of pitch where the match is being played, contest between bat and ball, kind of fatigue/attrition the players are going through there is nothing as interesting in cricket as the longer format offers. Don't we think and plan at the end of each day, how the team should approach its next day, the first hour, first session and so on. When they should declare, what could be a competitive total, how many overs are necessary to bowl the opposition out the second time? What it it rains? If it is not interesting would we do that? I have seen the tense last hour at Chennai in 2001 India narrowly clinching the series against Australia, the target of 155 in 4th innings looked easy and India were well on track at 100 for 2 but what happened later was dramatic, even the likes of Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar couldn't handle the kind of pressure. With so much at stake, stopping Australians from conquering their final frontier, winning the series after looking like getting whitewashed 0-3 mid-way through the series. I don't remember how many heart-beats I have missed then. Whoever has watched the Centenary Test 1977 in Melbourne or The Greatest Test at Birmingham in 2005 Ashes or the India vs Pakistan Chennai Test in 1999 or Australia vs West Indies in Bridgetown in 2000 or the Tied Tests would get irritated when a naive cricket lover says Test Cricket is Boring.

Importance of One day cricket
Having debated the superiority of Test Cricket, One day cricket also has a role to play. One day cricket is useful in promoting cricket to the masses including not so serious cricket followers, it being the abridged version, we can see more sixes, fours, wickets at a faster rate, all matches have result and hence more entertainment. It is also the form the game that decides the World Champions which is the most prestigious tag to have in Cricket. Even lesser teams like Kenya, Ireland and Canada play them on a regular basis and cricket as a sport is spread there too. It is very important from Revenue point of view too. There are so many viewers hence so many companies promoting their advertisements and so many jobs created and so much money exchanged. Hence it is a win-win situation to the Cricket Board who sell the media rights, Media who broadcast the match luring advertisers, advertisers market their products effectively and reach more customers. It also creates a whole new market for gamblers. Players also find a stage to increase their popularity, endorse products and deepen their pocket. Better the performance of the player, better is his demand for advertisements, hence a great incentive for him to perform better which is good for cricket. So many non-cricket lovers become time-pass cricket lovers and become real cricket lovers and start following Test Cricket too. With the advent of one-day cricket we are seeing a revolution in Test Cricket as well. There are more results these days in Test Matches. Runs are scored at a faster rate, 4 runs per over has become a norm these days compared to 2.5 runs per over in pre-one-day period. Few of the most under-rated aspects in the past were fitness, ground fielding and running between the wickets. Come one-day cricket, these aspects got its much deserved importance. We see a lot more commitment from players now. We don't see many quadragenarians playing Cricket now, although we cannot rule that out with improved levels of fitness especially among Australians in recent years. One-day cricket now has scaled such a height that a score of 434 has been chased successfully but the highest 4th innings total to win a Test Match is only 418 ! Co-incidentally Australia was at the receiving end on both of those monumental occasions.

So all in all, both have their roles to play in Cricket and it is important for us to understand them too.

Disclaimer: Everybody is entitled to his opinion but the contents of this page are not merely my opinions but facts.

Orkuting

The write this repenting for having deleted my orkut account about a week back.

Orkut is an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends. An innovation by a Stanford Grad and Google employee Orkut Buyukkokten. Hi5 and yahoo360 are other such online communities. Orkut has 20 million users and is growing very fast.

One needs to get an invitation from somebody who is already having an orkut account. Naveen invited me in December 2005. Since then I had collected about 140 friends mostly from my school, college and office. I would have been in touch with only 10% of them if not for orkut. I not only get to know about them through their profile but also can write messages in their scrapbook. Also peep into others profiles and scrapbooks. Since April this peeping activity was limited because each one can know who all has visited one's profile. It will be bad if I know the person, visit his profile and don't add him as my friend. I myself had updated as much information as possible about me, not hiding anything. So anybody who visits my profile will know my full Biodata. I had also given link to my online photoalbum I wrote testimonials for Naveen, Kishore, Prasanna and Rahul. Naveen and Avinash each wrote it for me. Friends used to scrap atleast with anyone of "Hi, How are you?, How is life? How is work? Wassup? Where are you? Do you remember me? etc"

So it was good going in orkut. Good time pass and lot of time passed. What was time pass later turned into addiction with growing number of friends scrapping and inviting to join communities. I used to begin my day at office finding out what is written in my scrap entry and who has sent me friend request last night. At breaks I again visit orkut and forget the work being assigned to me. My colleages found me orkuting most of the time at office. Even my leaders and managers have noticed it a few times. A few colleages used to make fun of me, they used to ask at the end of the day "Tell me what have you done at office other than orkut and cricinfo?". I didn't have any answers. I can defend telling that I have finished all the work assigned to me. It is only upto what I know I have been assigned, my PL will know the works I had not done. Many like me at office began orkuting and company had to block the url itself. That didn't help, we always found one or the other proxy servers to open orkut. My actual priorities are CAT, Office and then Friends. With my orkut addiction it got entirely reversed. I come to office to open orkut.com, in spare time and late in the day do office work and go to sleep, with no time left for my main priority CAT.

Then one day out of madness, not able to find the right way to resist my temptation, I deleted my account. With this Naveen, Kishore, Prasanna and Rahul lost the testimonials I had written. Avinash had written a testimonial recently that ofcourse tells good about me but indirectly more good about himself as to how creative he can be. Whoever visits my profile will immediately find his testimonial and that increases his visibility among my friends. That is all thrashed now. All connections I managed to establish with my friends are lost. I really feel sorry for them. It is all fine if I am able to focus on my top priority and come out successful this time.

Why did I start Blogging?

I have been thinking of blogging for 3 months now and finally I started blogging. Initially in GooglePages where I have to do a lot of page editing myself. Now I am using Blogger which most I know is using. Came out of the starting trouble with a post or two. Now let me get to the basic question as to why did I start Blogging? Is it that everybody who uses internet blogs and so should I? Or I am crazy, that's why I am blogging. My writing skills aren't that great, I am not such a happening person or the most knowledgeable person to write frequently. These are some negative thoughts that come.

From the time I realised that time is a precious resource and I need to manage time. I started writing a kind of forward diary wherein I plan for the next day and write them down in a diary book. Next day I see to it that the things planned are done. This way I will not forget on a few important things to do that I have just thought yesterday. Also I have a documentation of the days I lived. Still, this approach is limited to myself and is not for sharing with others.

Later I felt like documenting about my travelling, experiences I had, interests, book reviews etc. I started writing them in a email to our mailing group (Avinash, Jeyson, Naveen, Harsha and Sudeep). We used to have active communication. I thought of sharing to more number of people, having it in a common place from where it can be accessed by anybody(including myself), anytime and from anywhere and that is the Blogosphere. What I have written now may not make much sense now but it will act as a good window to the past a few years later. Not everyone gives an opportunity to talk about what we like to the length we like in a way we like. Blogs are open to everything.

I have read a lot, but have hardly written. I used to avoid any chances to write essays, debate or speak publicly at schools and colleges. This is a space where I can try my hand at writing, make mistakes and correct them based on feedback from other well wishers. I have struggling to improve my vocabulary and grammar. And I think writing will help me a long way in this regard. With me aiming to crack CAT, GMAT etc, I think this is the time. Will try to post frequently on as diverse topics in the best possible way.

Bilikal Rangaswamy Betta

Place - Bilikkal Rangaswamy Betta and Mekedatu Sangama near Kanakapura.
Date - Saturday, 24, June 2006.
Group - 7 members, Anand(Leader), Anupama, MuthuSelvan, Rahul, Selvaraj, Sushmitha and I


We have going for Trekking around Bangalore quite frequently now. The group has a few common people like Anand, Anupama, Muthu, Selvaraj and I. Still there will be atleast 2 new faces for every trip. This time it was Rahul and Sushmita. Anand takes the responsibility of deciding the place and date, collecting information about the place, booking vehicle, inviting people and all other tour conducting activites. It would have been better if he even finances for us. The rest of us just go enjoy and come, not to mention the moral support and cooperation. More than anything else we tolerate him too ;-) I take a camera with me always, take photos mostly of scenaries around, less of people contrary to everyone's liking.

All of us came to Anand's House in Banashankari by 7.30 IST. Had Benne Dosa for breakfast at a hotel. Headed to Bilikal Betta by Qualis. To everybody's liking Jogi songs were played all the way. We reached the base of the betta by 11. We found 2 village children who can guide us to the top. We needed to cross a small river and start climbing. Sadly the river had little water this time. Compared to other hills around Bangalore, here there was some greenery with a few Trees.

The day was cloudy but no rain and it was a big plus to help us in climbing. We had only Water Bottles and some scacks to carry. With boys comfortably outnumbering girls, carrying job was almost equally shared. I took photos of the Hill, foothills around, flowers, river and people also sometimes. The climbing was thoroughly entertaining with Anand trying to pull other's legs and making blunders in the process, while I was getting pulled. Sushmita and Rahul singing old Hindi songs, they made a good singing duo didn't they? Slowly the climbing started to get tougher, real trekking started. We could not take frequent long breaks as we also need time to cover Mekedatu. Rahul was finding it difficult as he had to carry himself which was a Big deal, his back-pain wasn't helping him either. We started hearing noices from another group ahead of us. Mention of few good looking girls motivated Rahul (not that it didn't motivate others). When asked where they were from, they said they were a project team from another Software Company, led by their manager. What better work do these IT Professionals have, sit idle throughout the week and break the stillness by going for trekking on weekends. We overtook them, took a rather long break at a rock, drank water as if we have never had it for a long time. Recharged our batteries and continued our ascent. Finally reached the top at about 12.30, to find a temple on one side and a glorious veiw point on the other.

From Left - Sushmitha, Muthu, Myself, Anupama, Muthu, Rahul and 2 Local Boys

It was very windy at the view-point. It helped us quickly dry the sweat. We took a few group photos sitting at a rock(non-living on the edge). Anand practiced a few of his stunts that scared us more than him. Spent around 1 hour there enjoying the strong breeze, chatting, singing, pulling each others legs and eating. Visited the temple later, the priest told us that around 50 thousand people come there for Sankaranthi, inspite of the difficulty in reaching the place. It seems there is another route by which vehicles including buses can come.



Time was 1.30, we had to start going down as we also planned to see Mekedatu. Coming down was relatively easy, obviously though. But coming down slowly was more difficult, Rahul wouldn't agree any better as he was to last one to reach the top but the first one to go down. Going down puts a lot of stress on the thigh and calf muscles. But while climbing up the stress is on the Back muscle.

We reached down by 2.30. Had lunch at Kanakapura. Sangama was about 30 km drive from the Kanakapura. Buses are available to that place. It was about 4.30 by the time we reached the Sangama of 2 tributaries of River Kaveri. Going to Mekedatu and coming back would require atleast 2 hrs, so we skipped mekedatu and spent time bathing at Sangama. One must cross the river and take a bus to mekedatu. The water current was good enough to prevent one from making any progess while swimming against it. Rahul, Anand and I tried but could hardly move forward, not moving backwards was a big deal for us. But Selva used to defy all odds (current and fact that others couldn't) and mange to move. We then played tug of war including one girl also in each team. It was more fun to celebrate after winning than playing itself.

We started back as soon as it was getting dark at 6.30. Many of us fell asleep while coming back. Got up only after reaching Anand's house. Had another round of chatting at Anand's house, mainly discussing about how the trekking went about, who did what etc.

For Rahul and me the adventure was not yet over rather it only started. Our houses at Rajapalya near ITPL is a good 30km drive along Ring Road till Marathahalli and a deviation there. A horror was to happen at the Ring Road but we luckily escaped. We were going at about 40 kmph on Rahul's HeroHonda Passion. He cannot go much above that speed though. A lorry was coming behind us at its full speed coming closer and closer as moemnts went by. Rahul showed an indication to the lorry to slowdown as there was a speed breaker ahead. The lorry didn't slow down but it shifted to the right lane and hit a car which slowing down at the road-hump. It would have certainly hit us had it continued coming on the left side and it would have been the last day for us in this world. Only the car suffered the damage and nothing happend to people inside it. We felt lucky and just escaped from the scene not bothering what happened at that spot later.

I shouted at Rahul for him going in the middle of the road at such a slow pace and not taking any defensive measures when the lorry was threatening to run over us. He was not perturbed at all and was not understanding why I was bothered. He was wearing helmet for the first time and didn't realise everything that happened. He explained that he did the right thing by showing indication to the lorry to slowdown and there was no fault in him. I plead, "Boss, I agree with you that it is not your fault. Lord Yama doesnot give his verdict based on whose fault it is. It is our responsibility to take defensive action by going to a side and avoid being run over and killed."

My Parents' 25th Wedding Aniversary

My parents have completed 25 years after their Marriage on Wednesday, 15th June, 2006. I thought it will be fantastic for them to have their children around on that V V S (very very special) occasion. And I applied for 2 days leave well in advance which my manager kindly approved. Also booked a night bus to go to my hometown Puttur for the day before.

On 14th, with the ticket safely in my purse, I reached the KSRTC Bus stand by 9.10 well in advance to catch the 9.45 Bus. Had some snacks and was heading towards my Bus. I met my college Junior Narendra(fondly called as H1 Bioler Narendra) there, Oh, what a surprise! And we started conversing as follows

Keshava - Hi Narendra!!, looong time since we have met?

Narendra - Hi Keshava, yeah, long time, in fact 3 years, the time since you finished your college.

Then we talked about what happened in that period, which companies we worked, how many times we tried CAT etc. I changed the topic and the talk went like this...

Keshava - So, how come you are here? Going home is it?

Narendra - Yes, going home and about you?

Keshava - Me too, going home for my parents' 25th wedding aniversary, applied 2 days leave.

Narendra - Ooohh, me too for the same reason.

Keshava - So, what is special, How are you planning to celebrate it?

Narendra - We have a pooja at home, my brother is also coming.

Keshava - OK. fine. My brother is already at home. We are planning to go to a hotel at night and party. And are you presenting anything?

Then came the best part.

Narendra - Yes, I am gifting a Mobile Phone.

Keshava - Wow! I am also gifting Mobile Phone. 2 of them 1 for my father and 1 for my mother. That is the height of co-incidence isn't it? Our parents married on the same day, we are presenting the same thing and we have met after a long time.

Narendra - Yeeeaaah! This is a great co-incidence. We should add to this co-incidence by getting into IIMA this year. We have been dreaming about this for a long time.

The exitement got settled as I looked into my watch showing 9.35. We took each other's phone number, wished each other for the occasion and waved bye bye.

My brother had bought 2 Nokia 6030 Handsets, one black and other silver from a shop that he knows in Puttur. Agreed to pay for it the next day after I come. He bought it home safely so that the parents could notice it at all.

I reached home early morning on The Day. I settled down at home and after some time. We took the Gift Wrapped HandSets from the Hiding place, gave them to my parents and wished them. Gifting mobile phones, thats all we Rich Bangalore based IT professionals can do, isn't it? ;-( No where matches with what they have done for us everyday in the last 25 years. Still they had no expectations of getting a costly(?) gift, all that they wanted were the children to be around them and love them. They took it very happily expressing happiness over the gratitude shown by us. They replaced the SIMs from their Old Handset and we inaugurated the Sets by simply calling within ourselves.

Like we children had planned the parents also had a plan i.e. to visit the famous nearby temples Subramanya, Dharmastala and Southadka.

Subramanya's popularity as a temple has improved tremendously after Sachin Tendulkar's visit. Although it was a Weekday, devotees like us had to stand in long queues to get Lord's Dharshana. I am very fond of Thirupathi Laddu (only for its taste and nothing else), so I bought 2 laadu prasada. To my disappointment its taste no where matched that of Thirupathi's Laadu. We also visited Aadi Subramanya later.

The journey from Subramanya to Dharmasthala was fantastic with the Road going through the thick Rain forests. Bridges and Rivers occuring at regular intervals, Kumara parvatha and other peaks often visible. Road was also good and driving was smooth. It truly was a dream route. I wasn't happy that the vehicle was moving , I wanted it to stop at all view-points available, take few snaps so that I can see it again and again later. At one spot I was so desperate to stop and I told my father about the nature's call and demanded him to stop immediately. That was just before a bridge, River Kumaradhara flowing accross, Kumara parvataha and its reflection visible on the right side of the bridge to make it a spectacular sight. I managed to take a few photos at this place, the photo shown below is one of those memorable photos. But we could not spend much time there as we have to reach Dharmastala before 1 O'Clock after which entry to temple is suspended.

We just managed to reach there some time after 1, still we could manage to enter as my brother knew somebody and he influenced him to let us enter. I prayed for myself and family. Silently prayed for my mom "Dheergha Aayushman Bhava, Dheergha Sumangalee Bhava", Hope you live long healthily, happily with your Husband and Children. Then we decided to have Lunch in the temple itself. We thought of having special Brahmin's Lunch. It is supposed to have more food items, supposed to served with more respect in a cleaner settings. To our disappointment all our expectations were reversed. Our topic for discussion was about Reservation. After lunch we saw the Gomateshwara standing tall and nude. A photo is shown here on the right. One the way back we visited Southadka temple. I like the temple for its Sihi Avalakki Prasada. Spent some time there waiting or the ranga pooje. Headed back to Puttur.

On the road-sides locals used to sell Jackfruits at exorbitant prices. The tourists easily get attracted to it as it is still cheaper than that in their own places. So it is win-win situation for all. We are aware of all this, and we bargained in tulu to get the deal in our favour. Bought 2 Jackfruits in the process adding to 2 that our neighbours had given to make it 4 in total. I was at home for 4 days. So one Jackfruit per day. I am very fond of jackfruits and mangoes. Relatives had given us around 5kgs of mangoes. I dont mind cutting or peeling them myself and eating them alone ;-). So it was Habba for me.

After reaching home we relaxed for sometime. And got ready for partying at my favourite Hotel HariPrasad. Invited my uncle and family too for it. We had a few North Indian dishes in limited quantities (in my standards) and winded up the celebration. Later I withdrew money from the ATM and paid it for the mobiles. Brother bargained and managed to get 200 Rs discount, that amount was close to our Hotel Bill. Althought I enjoyed the day thoroughly it was a taxing day for me ;-)

I uploaded the remaining photos in myphotoalbum.