Thursday, May 13, 2010

Bachelor's party in Riga, Latvia

Where should I celebrate my Bachelor’s party in Europe? My friend Stefan invited me to Riga, Latvia during Easter holidays to celebrate my last laugh in the East European city of Riga ;). We had a group of 5 from Germany and 10 Finnish guys during the trip. Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics. The weather didn’t help us a lot during our trip as it was raining cats and dogs.

The old town of Riga has got some wonderful scenic architectural buildings and Churches. Riga's historical centre has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city is particularly notable for its extensive Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) architecture, which UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world. It was none other getting up in the morning, having breakfast, go to pub, drink loads of beer, play darts, stuff once again, take a nap, again to the pub, gossip a lot about the same story and finally ending up in discothèques and sleep next day till afternoon and continue the cycle.

I should say Riga has some amazing night life when compared to other European cities. Probably one of the best dance floors I experienced in Europe and fitting time to celebrate my Bachelor party with Stefan and Benny. Thanks to Air Baltic and Ryan Air which offered cheap tickets from Germany to Latvia and could increase my count to 18th country in Europe. Riga happens to be the last city in Europe during my European Voyage with Bachelor status. Let’s see what my married life offers during my next voyage of Life.


Good Bye Bachelor Life!
Sathish Kumar S

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Chennai Super Kings – Indian Premier League Champions 2010

It’s not Mumbai, it’s not Kolkatta, it’s not Delhi and it’s not Bangalore and it’s my Chennai who clinched the title and champions of Indian Premier League 2010. Thanks to Dhoni and his men who did an excellent job to come from no where to be crowned as Champions. Luckily I had a chance to watch an IPL match at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Kolkatta Knight Riders with my brother in laws and at that time my future wife ;).

It was all along CSK who dominated the match and hammered Kolkatta to the core. The atmosphere in the stadium was electrifying with 50,000 people cheering for CSK. I still remember I got 50 rupees from my dad to buy a Test match pass in the local gallery and bunked my college to watch a Cricket match with my friends. It was definitely my dream to watch a match in Anna Pavilion or MCC Terrace. Dream definitely came true to watch a match with my girl ! Thank god Anita loves Cricket as well! I always enjoyed the atmosphere and ambience in Chidambaram stadium dating back to my childhood and college days. Who could forget the standing ovation to victorious Pakistan team after the historic innings from Sachin Tendulkar and it was Chennai crowd and I was in M.A. Chidambaram stadium.

After experiencing English Premier League, Bundes Liga, Champions League etc in Europe, I always felt why we don’t have a similar concept in a Cricket fanatic nation like India. I still remember some legendry players from England, Australia, New Zealand refused to tour India in the late 80s. Now every top player from western world is standing in queue to enter Indian Premier League.

I personally consider Indian Premier League as a symbol of “Rising India” and India’s supremacy in World Cricket. A perfect entertainment for the Indian crowd to savor their evenings after long day at work. Even from Cricketing point of view, the local players get a chance to rub shoulders with world class players. At the end of the day, it’s all about money in IPL. But I don’t mind if that money is generated in my homeland and benefits India’s economy. It was certainly a day to remember!



Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S