Random Thoughts

Some Fascinating Facts & Figures At The Midpoint Review - 21st FIFA World Cup - Russia 2018 By - Lt Col D Purushothaman Pillay (Retd) Trends Herald The Dawn Of A New Era In World Football! The 21st FIFA World Cup is currently underway in 11 bustling historic cities, around the beautiful host country of Russia. After 11 hectic days of non-stop, group-match-action, which started on Thu, 14 June, two rounds of matches have been completed on Sun, 24 June 2018 in the eight different groups. The competition has therefore reached its mathematical mid-point of 32 matches, out of a total of 64 matches that are scheduled to be held at this World Cup. I have been closely following 11 Football World Cups starting from 1978. Once every four years I get bitten by this "World-Cup-Statistics-Bug". The details that have emerged from the personal notes that I have been meticulously maintaining about these 32 matches so far at this World Cup, after two rounds of ...

Russia 2018 - It is FIFA World Cup time once again! By - Lt Col D Purushothaman Pillay (Retd) Come On B-R-A-Z-I-L !!! B-R-A-Z-I-L !!! The ball gets rolling for the latest chapter of the "Greatest Show On Earth" the much-awaited 21st edition of this quadrennial global carnival - FIFA World Cup Finals, in the historic city of Moscow, today evening on this 14th day of June 2018. I am sharing a quick summary of some interesting facts that I have compiled for myself, from my inquisitive Aquarian perspective to understand the subtleties and fathom the major statistics in order to help enjoy the event better. A total of 211 national teams were involved in a protracted two-year-long qualification process to finally send 32 teams to Russia. Aside of Russia who auto-qualify as the hosts, Brazil was the first team to qualify in Mar 2017 and Peru the last team in Nov 2017. Further breaking down the teams according the football continental zones t...

FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil A Different Statistical Summary of The Group Matches By – Lt Col D Purushothaman Pillay (Retd) The past two weeks of World Cup Soccer, in Brazil has thrown up some astounding numbers. Being an avid World Cup Football fan, a soccer enthusiast, a student of the game and a lover of stats, I analysed the scores and have come up with some fascinating figures, which I feel many of you will find quite revealing and interesting. This blog-post is a result of introducing my 10 year old son, Rehan to the magic and madness of World Cup Football. Every match we occasioned to watch together, I passed on more and more information about the World Cup history and how the game is played etc, to him. He is a great learner with a million questions, so it was such a pleasure teaching him. In fact, I was rediscovering and revising my knowledge of the game. It really felt like, I was passing on a priceless legacy, to the next generation. So, ...

MY FATHER DEAREST By Lt Col D Purushothaman Pillay (Retd) My 'Father' dearest, known in his world as 'Appu' alias AVD Pillay, taught me the ABCs & 123s of my life. He first taught me to speak, then later, to read and to write. But then, even before that, from a time I can’t even remember, he used to walk me to sleep, in the middle of the night, when I cried in my cradle, as a newborn. He took me to school and brought me back, rain or shine, every single school day. He learnt with and for me, taught me my languages, history and the sciences. He taught me - grammar, the tenses and genders, math and multiplication tables, geography, currencies and capitals, to draw maps and the hibiscus flower. He told fascinating stories to put me to sleep. He taught me names of all the trees and flowers in our garden. He taught me how to catch butterflies, ride a bicycle and fly kites. He taught me all my good manners, my good mornings and good nights along w...