Who named Black Holes and Warmholes?

You might have wondered - or just taken for granted - who coined the terms black hole and warmhole?

And the man who named these mysterious places (or absence of space) is no more. John Archibald Wheeler is his name. He has spent his time with greats like Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, and DeWitt. And his students include Richard Feynman, Jacob Bekenstein, and Huge Everett. Most of know about Feynman (for his lectures). Bekenstein proposed that a black hole's event horizon is a measure of entropy. Stephen Hawking is said to have discovered the fact that black holes radiate, led by Bekenstein's thinking. And Huge Everett proposed the idea of 'many worlds' interpretation in Quantum Mechanics. (Wikipedia says he left physics as he found that other physicists didn't accept his theories. However, he managed to become a millionaire, being a defense analyst and consultant.)

Back to Wheeler's story, he was the pioneer who sought to combine gravity and quantum mechanics, leading to the development of the field called Quantum Gravity. He was awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics in the year 1996-97.

And it's one more obituary in this column. We've lost another great mind.

Sir Arthur Clarke - The Futurologist

Being a futurologist is like ropewalking.
It's highly likely that people mistake you for astrologer or a supernatural power holder with an adept skill for predicting.
Yet, futurology is based on Science and facts, and the extraordinary power of extrapolation.

Excerpts from Raymond Whitaker's article in The Independent, Sunday, 23 March 2008

See what Sir Arthur Clarke had predicted. These five things have become taken-for-granted facts today:

1. Geo-Synchronous satellites - The ones that always seems over our heads like the sword of Damascus!
Clarke was the first to suggest that satellites which remain at a fixed point relative to Earth could be used for worldwide communications. The geostationary orbit is now known as the "Clarke orbit".

2. The Internet - Wherever you go, you follow the network!
The father of the internet, Sir Tim Berners-Lee credits Clarke's short story, Dial F for Frankenstein, as an inspiration.

3. Spaceguard - The Asteroid Tracking System
In his novel Rendezvous With Rama, Clarke created "Project Spaceguard", a system to track asteroids that might collide with Earth. When such a system was set up in 1996, it was called "Spaceguard", in homage.

4. The Space Station - 'I told you so....'
The space station, now under construction, was put on screen in 1968 by Clarke and Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

5. N-Powered Spacecrafts - Reactors on board
In 1951 Clarke envisaged nuclear-powered spacecraft, a prediction that came true with several satellites, launched by the Soviet Union, which had small reactors on board.

Cool! What's coming next?
Well... Here's the list:

1. Space Ladder
In his 1979 novel, In The Fountains of Paradise Sir Arthur Clark suggested a "space lift", a geostationary satellite tethered to the Earth's surface, that allows men and materials to travel up and down without having to blast into orbit. Advancements in Carbon nanotube technology may make the 22,000-mile-long tether feasible.

2. Prince Harry will be going into Space in 2013. That's more than possible.

3. Virtual Reality will be more real. By 2025 the brain's functions will be fully mapped, allowing us to experience full sensory immersion.

4. There will be two intelligent species on Earth - one biological, and the other non-biological. The so-called artificial intelligence will at least catch up with the natural intelligence.

5. The Universal Replicator. By 2040, a "universal replicator" will be made and it will be capable of cloning anything from caviar to diamonds.

A Tribute to Sri Arthur C Clarke

'Sri' in the title is not a typo, but has some relevance here:

1. He was living in Sri Lanka since 1956.
2. 'Sri' is roughly equivalent to 'Sir', because it denotes respect and reverence.

What do Jules Verne and Sir Arthur Clarke have in common?
Well.. it may be their profound interest and knowledge in the field they were writing.
In his own words: "To me, science and science fiction writing are two sides of the same coin. Science fiction writing can only be valuable to us if it is written by someone who has some knowledge of science."

Maybe there has to be a thin line between good Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Alas! We're often unable to distinguish, thanks to the generations that spoiled the genre.

Writing was just one of the passions of Sri Arthur Clarke. He is regarded the Father of Satellite Communication. He has contributed to the development of RADAR technology. And he was of the stern belief that one day we'll be intelligent enough to communicate with Aliens.

And Sir Arthur Clarke didn't believe in the supernatural or the paranormal.
But that's only an option. Does it matter?

Ten Toughest Jobs To Do in Chennai

You may be doing the toughest job in the world - sorting your e-mails, keeping track of facebook posts, and wondering whether you'll get the ticket for Jodha Akbar tonight. Never mind. Here are what I think the ten most toughest jobs to do in Chennai.

1. Scavenger
I've seen these men dip into the manhole in which we fall only in accidents, scoop all the litter in the underworld, dump them in a tray, continuing this process again and again, until the maistry is convinced. They do this wearing only the underwear. And they still manage to smile when they come out, cutting a sorry figure. These men are extremely healthy - for their immune system is boosted. And the last time a crow shitted on my favorite shirt, I was cursing all the crows under the sun. What about these people?

2. Garbage collectors
These people too are a strange species. They either work for the municipal corporation, or they are self-employed(!) garbage gatherers. The municipal workers can be seen merrily sitting on heaps of garbage they filled the truck with. Nowadays there's even a small spot on each side at the rear of the garbage truck. Long live the municipality. The ragpickers have a sharp tool to pick reusable plastic materials. Hope most of them realize the rags-to-riches dream.

3. Construction Worker
Day and night, rainy or sunny, flashing brightness or intimidating darkness, the work must go on. Yes, with the real estate industry on an unprecedented high that preceds an inevitable low, these people are always on call. Demolish old ones, build new ones. Build, build, build. I wonder what must be in the mind of a worker on a thirteenth floor construction spot, trusting only the makeshift scaffold. And if you're a woman, and your tasks involve carrying bricks and cement to places, wear your saree tight and right. It's such a safe world.

4. Traffic Controller
Why are these people in THIS list? Because they suffer a lot. Forget their salary. Forget their designation. They breathe the black city air; they tolerate the honkers' brays; and they have the risk of being run over by a speeding vehicle at any time. As we know, they have their heart in mouth when a VVIP passes by.

5. Bus Driver
Two wheelers overtake you on both sides. Mindless passengers get in and get out in signals and where there are no bus stops. It's a bumper to bumper traffic almost all the time. And yes, this is the life of a bus driver. And they have the repution of being rude. Some maybe right. And some wrong.

6. Cook in a local restaurant
You don't know today's temperature. But you know how hot it is. And there is no proper smoke exit. Perhaps you use the same cloth - to shift hot utensils, to wipe spilled curry, and to wipe your nose in case you have cold. Who cares? Welcome to the world of a cook in a local restaurant. I thought of giving the 6th spot to film operators in theaters, but let's be serious.

7. Ambulance Driver
I've seen an ambulance stuck up in a traffic jam for more than 10 minutes. And nobody gave way - nobody could. As if everyone is about to die soon. Think of the ambulance driver's pulse. Does he feel guilty of no mistake of his?

8. Courier Boy
You're not Jim Courier. They always suspect you. People always blame you for unclear address. You stroll around each nook and corner of the city - to find a worthless guy receiving worthless letter. Anyway, you have a job at hand. Keep it up!

9. Attender
This includes Office Attenders, and attenders of all sorts - for attenders nowadays have attenders too. You do all tasks not of yours. You pay someone else's electricity bills (of course they give you the money), you get lunch for some couch potato pretending to work with minimized Facebook window, you are the subject of rotten old jokes they manage to make. And yet you attend to everything.

10. Vegetable Vendor
I might sound a bit communist, or socialist. But with retail market invaded by giant chains, the vegetable vendor is left to the mercy of the lower middle class.
You have to pedal or push your vegetable 'store', park it so that you don't interrupt traffic, and sometimes need to talk business with Number 4 in this list, or some other man who is said to be running the law and order of the city.


I think this list is not to change for quite some time. Designations may vary, but not the problems. Are you one among the ten? If not, stop worrying. Mind your business.

தமிழருக்குப் பேரிழப்பு &

தமிழருக்குப் பேரிழப்பு - சுஜாதா மறைவு

ரங்கராஜன் என்கிற சுஜாதா நேற்று இயற்கை எய்தினார். தற்கால தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தில் தனி இடம் பெற்றவர். அறிவியலை அனைவருக்கும் அருமையாய் அள்ளித் தந்தவர்.


அடிப்படையில் ஒரு பொறியாளரான இவர், வாக்குப்பதிவு இயந்திர வடிவமைப்பு மற்றும் தயாரிப்பில் பெரும் பங்கு வகித்தார்.


ஆனந்த விகடன், குமுதம், கல்கி போன்ற இதழ்களில் எழுதினார். இவரது மறைவு தமிழர்க்குப் பேரிழப்பு. இன்னொரு சுஜாதா வர இனி எத்தனை நாட்களாகுமோ?!

Superconductivity Demo - Circuit Diagram

Thanks to http://flanture.blogspot.com/2007/08/howto-flash-content-on-bloggers-blog.html I could post my weird flash animation of the circuit used by Kamerling onnes to demonstrate superconductivity. (Embedding flash in blogger shouldn't be so hard, in fact!)

Observe that initially the switch S1 is closed, while the switch S2 is open. So, no current flows through the mercury.

Now, when the switch S2 is closed, and after a while, switch S1 is open. The currrent that was flowing through the switch S2 keeps on flowing. They call it persistent current. This was achieved when cool Mr. Kamerling cooled the mercury down to 4K. Eventually, Leyden was remarked as 'the coldest spot on the Earth', but hot research on superconductivity was going on.

And here is a vintage photograph of some greatest scientists, assembled during the Solvay congress in 1927.


The event took place in October 1927. In this fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons, world's most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. It was here that Einstein reportedly said, referring to the Uncertainty Principle, "God does not play dice." Perhaps getting bored of this, Bohr replied, "Einstein, stop telling God what to do." Seventeen of the twenty-nine attendees were or became Nobel Prize winners! And the persevering Marie Curie won Nobel Prizes in two separate scientific disciplines.

Tetris - Things will fall in place

Though I'm not a great video game lover, one simple game impressed me recently. It's an old game, invented way back in 1985, by a Russian named Alexey Pajitnov. And the name of the game is Tetris.

Well, my brother introduced this game to me - by sending it to my already cramped mobile phone. And soon I found the game worth playing. The thing I like the most in Tetris is that things fall in place - if you are quite lucky. And you got to manipulate things slightly - to make things fall in the right place - and at the right time. If you are too lazy, the wrong piece gets to the wrong spot. And if you're hyperactive, you end up making things messier.

You lose a game of Tetris for two reasons:

1. You can no longer keep up with the increasing speed
2. You select the wrong piece to be fit into a spot.

Back to why I love Tetris so much is that there is a philosophy clinging to this game of moving blocks. What I interpret is that things in life will be coming to you - whether you like it or not. Sometimes, they arrange themselves in a perfect manner, helping you keep moving ahead. At times, they are of the weirdest shape. And they come too fast, leaving you wonder 'What on earth am I to do now?'

But life goes on. Make some corrective moves to get things tidier. There is always some more time left. And if you don't catch up, you end up loser. Sounds tooooooooooooo philosophical? There is science behind this too.

According to Richard Haier, et al. prolonged Tetris activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. When first playing Tetris, brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. As Tetris players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task.(Wikipedia)

As with any other game, Tetris has disadvantages too. It may cauase repetitive stress symptoms. Your brain may be involuntarily fancying tetris combinations even when you are not playing the game. And we've got a name for it - the Tetris effect! Seriously, I had this effect for quite a while. But that fades off as you get used to.

And now, while waiting for bus, waiting for a friend, when I feel bored, or when I don't have anything to do, I pick my mobile, to move the blocks here and there - desperate to upgrade my level (which is currently level 6 out of 10) - trying to make things look better.

Levitation Demo

"It's been nearly 100 years since Kamerling Onnes first demonstrated superconductivity. How many of us have ever seen a simple demonstration of, say levitation due to superconductivity?", asked Professor Asokamani, in one of his Sunday lectures at the Periyar Science and Technology Center, Chennai. Well, how many of us have?

This weekend, we were eager to view the levitation demo. The scheduling of events in the Science and Tech center has a remarkable eccentricity. There was a Science Talent Exam for kids going on, and we were left with no room!

Professor was unyielding, never compromising on his plans and schedules. Then we got the air-conditioned Conference Hall. Yes, the demo started. The audience were but a few - some 4 B.E students, a Ph.D. student, Mr. Raj Mane,a learned man who has ready-made questions and anecdotes, the professor, and myself. The much-awaited liquid Nitrogen emerged, in a thermocoal flask.

First, I had the impression it was boiling and 77 K is the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. Well, at room temperature, it's more than boiling! To learn more about liq. nitrogen, click

And we didn't have an organized plan for the demo. Professor had acquired an 123 superconducting pellet - SmBa2Cu3O(7–delta) - from the Indian Institute of Science, Madras. And there was a strong magnetic pellet, which we expected to jump and levitate magically.

What is levitation?
Levitation (from Latin levare, to raise) is the process by which an object is suspended against gravity, in a stable position, without physical contact.(Wikipedia.org)

The person who bought the liquid nitrogen poured it inside a paper plate, having the superconducting material and the magnet. And we could see nothing but a dense white fume, and were left wondering what really was happening. The levitation was not significant. Nevertheless, we could find the magnet was floating on air when we inserted a paper strip in between the magnet and the superconducing material. The magnet was rotating. Well, that's levitation. Professor explained that the superconducting material would need some more 'oxygenation'.

Each of us enthusiastically probed the gap between the magnet and the superconductor, and exclaimed, 'it's on the air!' And thanks to Professor, I am also fortunate enough to see the hand-drawn picture of the first ever demonstration of superconductivity. I've tried my weird drawing skills to interpret what I saw on that book. And I bet you can never see the basic circuit diagram anywhere else, including google images. All you can see about superconductivity is the Meissner effect, and the I Vs V characteristic curve - showing the transition to superconducting state. Pardon me for my poor drawing skills.



Imagine the switch S1 closed initially, while S2 remains open. After some time, say at 4K, the switch S2 is closed so that the current flows through the mercury in the container. Well, the interesting part is that you open the switch S1. What would happen? How long would the current flow through this circuit. Theoretically (and practically too!) this forms the basis for perpetual current. The current flows through the circuit literally FOREVER - with zero resistivity offered by mercury! All this happened at a temperature of 4K. No wonder when Kamerlingh Onnes performed this achievement after attaining even lower temperature - with the liquefaction of Helium, Leyden, in the Netherlands, was known as the 'coldest spot on the Earth'!

After nearly 100 years, after millions of demonstrations of the experiment worldwide, we performed the astonishing demonstration - for most of us it is the 'first time in my life' experience. We applauded for ourselves, for we had just concluded a beautiful demostration of one of the magical phenomenon of Physics. I couldn't upload the photos yet, but still you can visit this link to see what exactly we too did - something similar!

வானொலி தமிழ்

அயல் நாட்டு வானொலிகள் எல்லாம் தூய தமிழ் பேச, உள்ளூர் வானொலிகளோ ஆங்கிலமும் கலப்படத் தமிழுமாகக் கத்திக்கொண்டு இருக்கின்றன. அறிவிப்பாளர்களும் நுனி நாக்கில் தமிழைக் கொன்று கொண்டிருக்கின்றனர்.

எனது முதல் தமிழ் பதிவு!

எனது முதல் தமிழ் பதிவு!



தமிழில் என் பதிவுகளை எழுத பெரும் ஆவல் இருந்தும் விசைப்பலகை விபரீதங்களால் பின் வாங்கினேன்.


தமிழ் இனி தொடரும்...

நன்றி: http://www.iit.edu/~laksvij/language/tamil.html

The Isolated Universe

Singularity, I used to be
Left alone, and let free
As a Big Bang, you came
Like a poor man's abrupt fame

Our secrets stored as Dark Matter
Lay still, as frozen water
Did we exist together?
Will we perish together?

The Strings that hold us
Are they tentacles of Past
Or beacons ushering us into Future?
What Time is it in heart now?

The Radiation remains
Pervading my cosmos
As a vague Background
And where on Universe are You?

My Universe
Is expanding
More, more...
And more

Where is my Boundary?
And Where am I?
Am I a Particle in a Box?
Or a point out-of-the-box?

I'm shrinking
Into an Oyster's shell
Into the minute cell
Into the eternal womb

And my Universe
Is expanding
More, more...
And more

The Song of Solitude

When everything goes wrong, someone, some ONE will be there for you. It may be your mom, your dad, your friend, your siblings, your lover, your God, or someone you didn't know so far, or all of them, but you're never let alone.


The chirping bird
Flew hilariously to the sun
Leaving the tree barren.

The mud clad children
Made their way to home
Leaving the street alone.

The draining river
Vanished into vanity
Leaving the shore empty.

The melting dew
Meandered all the way
Leaving the grass drained.

The probing wind
Passed through the bamboo
Leaving the melody unheard.

The playful waves
Played hide-and-seek
Leaving damp feet exposed.

The blinking stars
Woke up as nothing
Leaving the sky naked.

The drops of water
Broke the sunlight
Leaving a rainbow upside down.

The festive ocean of people
Sucked the blessings
Leaving the God alone.

Solitude is the language
Of a forsaken world.

The grave silence
Deafens the soul.

The cruel darkness
Blinds the beholder.

Yet, there is a light.
There is a hope.

When everything goes
Out of hands

Here in my hand...

I have a hand...

It's yours.

Last Sunday

Well, what a lazy bundle of bones I am!
Last Sunday was extraordinary - a mix of Physics, Art, and Biology.
Professor Asokamani's lectures on basic Physics has become a routine - sort of a Sunday mass - for I never miss that nowadays.
Once it was over, Saravanan, my friend, took me to the museum.
It was a fittingly older building - living to its promises of antiquity - as if some medieval traveler has dropped a treasure as he passed by - only to the beholder to judge the elegance - with dropped jaws.



One thing I can never forget is the magnificent view of the portraits of the Governor Generals of pre-independent days.


Portrait of Stanley, after whom the Stanley Government Hospital has been named.
Then there were the so realistically and emotionally seducing paintings by the famous Raja Ravi Varma. I had never imagined that I'll be viewing them from a touching distance. Masterpieces!

'Lady with the Mirror' by Raja Ravi Varma


You ought to fall in love -either with the art, or with the artist.

There were a number of sculptures, some strangely missing their head, or arms - was it the looters' mark, or mishandling while transportation, or negligence - I wondered.

The Zoology section had lot in store - the sharks, the whales, the crabs, the turtles, the giant eagles, the elephant - all displaying their skeletons - and I guess most of them will be reserved to be found in museums, rather than their natural habitat, or the zoo.

And you shouldn't visit a museum empty-stomached. Result: You are likely to end your quest for specimen in a restaurant. We started our search, and with the circuitous traffic arrangements, we decided we have lunch at home. Well, the day is worth writing about. But I still missed the Connemara library (Picture below).

Sharing What I Learned

Though I'm not a proponent of the idea of sharing what one learns, I thought it's worthwhile to share a few things before they evade my volatile memory.

Multiferroics: Imagine a magnetic material displays multiple electronic, magnetic, and structural behaviors like ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, and ferroelastic (sounds like T.Rajendar's movies where he does everything - Story, screenplay, direction, production, acting(?), singing, and more than all, do all the talking?). But such materials do exist and they are known as multiferroic materials. These materials have been identified by Science magazine as one of the areas to watch this year for breakthroughs in research. If successful, it will lead to advanced chips that combine logical and memory functions, bringing electronics and spintronics together. (Get ready to coin a new term - Electrospinnics? uh.

Spin more of it at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/5858/1848
http://shell.cas.usf.edu/fml/multiferroic.html

ROI: Ever wondered what it expands as? I'd been thinking it's the Rate of Interest. Geek. No! It is the Returns on Investment. It's one of the hotwords in IT and other businesses now. ROI is a measure of how effectively your business uses the capital and generates profit. So. to sound more IT and techie, use such words as ROI. You'll be respected, or at least listened to, nerd!


And there is even a formula to calculate the ROI. As a rule of thumb, 3 years is taken as the minimum period to assess ROI. Perhaps the pundits thought it's not at all a business if it can't survive three years. OK. The formula is:

net benefit year 1 / (1+discount rate) + net benefit year 2 / (1+discount rate) + net benefit year 3 / (1+discount rate)) / initial cost

To dig deeper, click http://whatis.techtarget.com/wsearchResults/1,290214,sid9,00.html?query=ROI

Tonometer? Remember the peculiar instrument the American doctor in our movies, who comes just when the hero's mom or sis has to have an eye surgery uses to test the eye? Yea, you got it right! It's the tonometer, which is used to measure the interocular pressure IOP in the eye. This instrument is extremely useful in the diagnosis of glaucoma - a condition resulting due to increased interocular pressure.

Apply some more pressure on ur eye to check this out: http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/tonometry-dictionary.htm


Heard of 'Chewing gum effect'? Even after a lot of googling, I found it difficult and at last, I got the answer from the thread of a forum on the same topic. It's the way people strain their tounge and mouth to pronounce words - rather like talking while chewing a bubble gum! Think about our access-conscious aunties twisting their tongues and rolling their eyes while uttering Americanized slangs.

Chew more of it @ http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t9616-15.htm

And a little bit of research about the much-hyped, and much-feared-in-India Wal-Mart: http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t9616-15.htm

OK. Hope that was a useful post. Read it with a chewing gum effect, not having to use a tonometer. Definitely, your knowledge ROI should have improved. I think mine has.

Remembering Hillary

Sorry about making this rather an obituary column. But Hillary is no more. No, not Hillary Clinton, even though she is in the process of ascension to the summit. I'm talking about one Sir Edmund Percival Hillary. Voila! The very man who, along with Norgay the Sherpa, conquered Mt. Everest on 29th May (that's my birthday!), not in 1981 but in 1953.

Sir Edmund Hillary with Tenzing Norgay

What do people achieve by setting their feet on top of a barren mountain? One may ask. But there is a sense of achievement - born out of a child's curiousity, an adventurer's perseverance, and a human being's tryst. I have the experience of climbing half a mountain, with my childhood friends, only to discover that the path ahead requires extreme physical and mental toughness. But there was a sense of childish pride - in seeing my home village and the green fields all over in a Lilliputian scale. We ate the mangoes we stole from a grove on the way to the hill. Then we dipped ourselves in a cool stream, and headed back home - with lots and lots of thorns and weeds and twigs making their mark on our bodies. Yet, we were proud. So think of Hillary's pride. He has conquered the world!

And the great man is no more. Sir Edmund Hillary died of a Heart Attack on 11 January 2008 at the age of 88. Everest will be weeping by now.

Jaipur Legs

I remember seeing, as a kid, a neighbor of mine having a funny-looking leg. It took time for me to identify it was fake. He used to ride his moped, walk in a funny-looking manner, and lead a life just like any other funny-looking guy.

Only at a later stage did I understand things like artificial legs, prosthetics and so on. And yesterday, I read the sad news about the death of the inventor of the so-called 'Jaipur Legs'. P.K. Sethi is his name. He had applied his innovation so that people who can't afford to the seemingly easier tasks that people like you and me can do can also walk proudly and do things we guys usually take for granted.

His innovation led to the realization of millions of dreams. To reduce the weight of the artificial legs that were in use, he came up with the idea of using vulcanized rubber which is more flexible and less massive. It is claimed that one can even climb up trees with these legs fitted.

When India is successfully implementing the Polio Eradication program, Sethi's contribution to the upliftment of disabled persons ought to be remembered.

Nadal in Chennai

Well, what a new year! For the first time in my life, I watched a tennis match 'live'. No. Why do people always want to watch something LIVE on television? My friend took me in his bike to the stadium of Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu, Nungambakkam, Chennai. Never ask me how I managed to get the ticket for the match. I'm not going to tell that anyway. One thing is sure - I have to improve my bargaining skills yet. OK. Back to Tennis.

We - my friend and I - were given the 'Brown' seat o'er the top. But I assure you that it is from where the best view you can have in a tennis match. The stadium is a colorful one - forget the footprints on the chairs and the left-overs of that overrated pizza box - it IS a good stadium with all the basic facilities intact. I didn't check out the fire exit though. And who cares - even if you don't like tennis, you can at least admire the glittering cheerleaders.

I saw Vijay Amirtraj and Charu Sharma from a distance people call a stone throw away. The first match started exactly 6 minutes behind schedule. Robin Hasse (Netherlands) outwitted Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) in straight sets. The second seeded Marcos would not have imagined his new year will start the way it eventually did. Nevermind. The next match was what I and almost everyone came for - the brutally strong and powerful Rafael Nadal's match.



Nadal was clinical in his demolition act, save that dragged match point when his opponent - Mathew Montcourt of France, showed some resilience and earned a break point - only to face the brunt of facing Nadal for some more time. Though not the quickest in serve, this lad from Spain has that trademark backhand stuffed with power. You can try bullfighting instead of facing him in a tennis court. I wonder how brutal Federer could be despite his innocent smile.

The matches were worth the money, and we had a tremendous new year day. No bargain this time.