I never felt so much excited about boxing match ever until i saw a recent match between a filipino boxer Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao and mexican boxer Antonio Margarito. You would find that this post is more about Manny (AKA Pacman/ Mexicutioner) and little about Margarito. It's partly because of my attachment with Philippines and partly for the kind of "player" manny is.
The match is announced and here comes Margarito surrounded by his coach and other fellas, moving on the ramp with gladiator looks. Then follows manny and astonishing to notice,
1. He comes smiling on the ramp, passing on his hi and hello to everyone. Who's seen a boxer like this? I never did. And, the commentator announces "He is such a nice man outside the ring but inside he is something else".
2. The moment he gets inside the ring, you would know that he is a devout catholic (being a filipino). He will offer his prayers at his corner and you can see him making "holy cross" sign many times during breaks. Surely, he remembers His grace and power. Common to see that devotion to God goes when riches come.
3. Manny is pretty small (5.6") against margarito (5.11") and lighter by 17 pounds. it's implied that Margarito definitely has better reach and heavier punches.
4. The first few rounds, it's going okay like a normal match and all of a sudden, i saw manny moving at the speed of light and hits margarito right at the bottom of right eye and the stream of blood comes right though. This was the first time Margarito took a back step. All through round 4 or 5, margarito was so stubborn and he was moving forward and forward so the he can take manny to the ropes or corner him for taking a whack at him. Because in an open space, it's almost impossible to get hand at manny, he moves like a jumping jack.
5. I don't know how but manny can hit several jabs within a second (seems like a challenge to rajnikanth) ;)
6. But Margarito is too stubborn to give up, he kept on moving forward and tried to knock-out manny. I totally appreciate his courage. It's scary if a tall and heavy man keeps on moving forward like a robot even though bleeding profusely. There can be a Knock-out at any point of time.
7. Margarito's eye is almost getting closed. Then like a god's own man, Manny asked referee to check if he is doing okay. Who does that? Only a gentleman!
8. Such a gentleman ...but only for a moment, he's been dodging margarito's jabs and hitting him in every possible nano-seconds. I never thought that a small man can do so much damage to a big guy. Margarito stood and faced all jabs until round 12 and manny was declared the winner. Manny managed to win without a scratch on the face (except little flossy blood in the teeth). But no one would notice it when he is smiling mollar-wide. He is the only boxer in the history to win 10 world championships in 8 different weight categories. Amazing, isn't it? Not even Muhammad Ali did it.
There was also an interview on the TV, where a old person (skipped the name) who arranged several fights for Muhammad Ali and he proclaimed that Manny is a better boxer than Muhammad Ali. When asked why, he explained that Muhammad Ali is a one hand man, but Manny can hit with both hands with same force. I wonder if our school books will have a chapter on Manny Pacquiao just like one on Muhammed Ali.
One of the news correspondent asked manny how much did he make when he had his first fight. He answered 100 pesos (appx INR 100). Then he asked how much he earns now, with no hesitation (like a lamb of God) he said "Millions" and laughed. I never heard any celebrity being so open about the money or compensation.
The catholic chuch in Philippines changed the mass timings because of the match. You would not find anyone on the philippines road/ streets during the match. Entire population is glued to TV, wherever they find place. Besides the pristine beaches in Philippines, they have manny to be proud about.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Go developing, go semi-automatic or go manual!
After spending most of my time in India and almost a year in US of A now, i again dared to do a comparison of few means that create jobs in India. Although most of them are of a lower class of the community and may represent small section in a developed country yet they are a source of employment. They provide means to the millions of families in India. It's not that there are poor people only in India, there is a poor class in every big and developed country. Few of the things noted:
1. All gas stations (petrol pumps) are only manned by one person, who is running the Grocery shop at the petrol pump (AM-PM stores, in & out, etc). There is no other person at a petrol pump to fill the petrol in car or check the air-pressure in tyres. A petrol pump in India at a minium employs 20 people, however less the wages may be but atleast there is a job. I am sure no corporate/ lala company will employ a person if there is no work.
2. There are huge shopping/ grocery malls all over America but there'll not be any sales person to help you out. There may be ONE but you have to find him/ her first in the countless aisles of big mall
3. Most of the domestic call centers will have a machine asking questions and providing answers. There will be no option to talk to an executive. Why would you do that? (I think being an Indian i find it extemely exasperating to pronounce words containing alphabets "T" "P" "B" 10 times before the machine understands it) ;)
4. There is almost no public transport in most of the cities. Why it's the only country where there is no good network of buses/ trains/ trams? Why these roads were created only for cars/ trucks? Public transport is success everywhere, not everyone wants to spend money on buying cars, fuel and insurance. A good public transport is a win-win for people and government.
5. Two men can lay a gas pipeline or repair a road or relocate you from one corner of the country to another or any other work under the blue sky. Both are supermen! It's not a bad thing after all, but they deserve a rest, don't they? :)
6. I asked a doctor that why her staff can't inform us when she is not on time and patients have to wait. She said we have limited staff. There are two receptionist at the medical center but it's not in their job to inform patients. Hire more people - create jobs, everyone knows doctors have lot of money!
7. Multi-tasking is alien to most of people here. You cannot ask a person to do additional work, when asked, it may imply that you are asking that person to either come early or go late or are willing to pay more. I think everyone knows why did jobs move outside US long time back.
8. Stop making pre-fabricated wooden houses. They just can't bear any windstorm and are prone to fire too. So much of damage happens every year/ season. Brick and mortar houses will generate more employment opportunities for mason and labourers and are more sturdy.
Seems like most of the low level jobs were eliminated in a process to become efficient. We may call it Job rationalization (from control rationalization =)). There are all kind of people in every nation (rich, poor, educated, illiterate, sick or handicapped), a better decision should be made by both country and corporates. I hope India doesn't elimiate all these jobs one day, just to be known as Developed nation. Actually, all first world nations should know from this recession/ bad time that there is nothing called developed nation. It's developing every day, every moment.
1. All gas stations (petrol pumps) are only manned by one person, who is running the Grocery shop at the petrol pump (AM-PM stores, in & out, etc). There is no other person at a petrol pump to fill the petrol in car or check the air-pressure in tyres. A petrol pump in India at a minium employs 20 people, however less the wages may be but atleast there is a job. I am sure no corporate/ lala company will employ a person if there is no work.
2. There are huge shopping/ grocery malls all over America but there'll not be any sales person to help you out. There may be ONE but you have to find him/ her first in the countless aisles of big mall
3. Most of the domestic call centers will have a machine asking questions and providing answers. There will be no option to talk to an executive. Why would you do that? (I think being an Indian i find it extemely exasperating to pronounce words containing alphabets "T" "P" "B" 10 times before the machine understands it) ;)
4. There is almost no public transport in most of the cities. Why it's the only country where there is no good network of buses/ trains/ trams? Why these roads were created only for cars/ trucks? Public transport is success everywhere, not everyone wants to spend money on buying cars, fuel and insurance. A good public transport is a win-win for people and government.
5. Two men can lay a gas pipeline or repair a road or relocate you from one corner of the country to another or any other work under the blue sky. Both are supermen! It's not a bad thing after all, but they deserve a rest, don't they? :)
6. I asked a doctor that why her staff can't inform us when she is not on time and patients have to wait. She said we have limited staff. There are two receptionist at the medical center but it's not in their job to inform patients. Hire more people - create jobs, everyone knows doctors have lot of money!
7. Multi-tasking is alien to most of people here. You cannot ask a person to do additional work, when asked, it may imply that you are asking that person to either come early or go late or are willing to pay more. I think everyone knows why did jobs move outside US long time back.
8. Stop making pre-fabricated wooden houses. They just can't bear any windstorm and are prone to fire too. So much of damage happens every year/ season. Brick and mortar houses will generate more employment opportunities for mason and labourers and are more sturdy.
Seems like most of the low level jobs were eliminated in a process to become efficient. We may call it Job rationalization (from control rationalization =)). There are all kind of people in every nation (rich, poor, educated, illiterate, sick or handicapped), a better decision should be made by both country and corporates. I hope India doesn't elimiate all these jobs one day, just to be known as Developed nation. Actually, all first world nations should know from this recession/ bad time that there is nothing called developed nation. It's developing every day, every moment.
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