Journal Entry

Warne with a microphone

2012-01-21T22:56:00.003+05:30

T20 cricket has its critics and issues. But it has some really cool things going on as well.
I have not followed the Big Bash League (BBL) - the franchisee based Australian domestic competition which in its first season. I watched it for half an hour today and I had a terrific experience.
Shane Warne was bowling with a microphone attached and he was taking the TV viewer literally through each and every ball that he was bowling. I knew that this was something that was happening in this tournament, when this Mccullum dismissal had happened a few weeks back.

Nothing of that sort happened today. While I was watching, he bowled 3 overs to a couple of old adversaries - Herschelle Gibbs and Paul Collingwood. And yet, as he took the viewer through each and every delivery of his, I got a glimpse, an insight, a little peak, into the mind of probably the most fascinating character - the game has ever seen. I also got to see and listen, how he makes every delivery of his - an event in itself, each ball that he delivers - has a life of its own; how he speaks on the field and tries to get into the mind of the batsman; how he attempts to bluff and double bluff the opposition. This was genius at work and as a viewer, you could not get any closer to see him work.
A T20 match perhaps doesn't allow Warne to have an elaborate setup and deception that perhaps a long test match spell would offer. And yet, post his retirement from international cricket, we have been privileged to see him in short cameos playing T20 cricket. He has been wonderful to watch while playing and captaining Rajasthan Royals and now with the microphone on while bowling for the Melbourne Stars.
I am not sure, we will be seeing test matches with players speaking while bowling or batting any time soon. Perhaps we should keep it that way - I don't know. But this format of cricket did provide me something different and special. And it was terrific fun.

Testing Times

2012-01-14T00:15:00.002+05:30

I have a problem. I mean, I have many problems, but this is one of them. That I cannot give up on my old loves. Well of course, it is a problem in many different spheres of life. This cricket team of ours is just one such old love. The events of Friday the 13th, 2012 (take a look a the date - a combination of some seriously evil omens) have left me in grief and contemplating.
The Kubler Ross Theory states that there are 5 stages of grief. I think the combined test tours of England and Australia has been a journey in this for me as a fan.

Denial: It started with the first two tests in England. I lived in denial. I thought what was happening was an aberration. Some of our players were not fit. Some were coming off a long break and the general high of the World Cup win. Things were not as bad as they looked. I mean, how long could Barbie stay in form.We would come back.I now realise I was in denial.
Anger: We flopped again in the next two tests. This was bad. I was angry at the players for not playing well. I was angry at the board for not giving us enough time to practice. I was angry at the umpires, the media. Just angry.
Bargaining: We had the West Indies home series next, but my eye was already on the next tour down under. I thought things would get better. England was an aberration, give this team some time and we would get the job done. We almost did that in Melbourne, but fell short. I bargained for some more time - give us a good pitch in Sydney and we would do it. Definitely.
Despair: Then Sydney happened. Where we manojed, I mean managed to get ourselves out for less than 200 on a good batting pitch. Then let that bitch, I mean Pup, score a triple, effin hundred against us. And lost by an innings. It really was desperately poor stuff. Despair.
Acceptance: Day 1 Scorecard. India 161 All Out. Australia 149/0. Need I say more. It is over. This golden generation is history. I accept.
I am not really in a position to say what went wrong and why. You could say that this was over much earlier, but then I was a fool. I accept the fact today. I am skeptical of all those who are doing the post mortems. Some of the hysteria in the media is shameful and disgusting. Like one ex BBC sports editor calling Dhoni comes across like a State Bank of India clerk on an Indian television channel, a kind of double abuse, which is unfair to both MSD and an SBI clerk. It is perfectly honourable to be an SBI clerk and if Dhoni came across as one he would be doing fine. That gentleman would do well to remember his adopted country's world cup count, but then again being in the media, everything is fair game for him.
Some of the best writing has been from cricketingview such as this one. I do not believe that we lack fight or courage. Frankly, very few of us are in any position at all to judge the temperament of players. I would like to believe that our shortcomings are technical and not mental. Much of our batting problems are due to the problem of batsmen getting older and the fractional slowing of reflexes. Time has taken a toll on this most incredible of line-ups. Our bowling issues on the other hand are more structural. Lack of depth, lack of experience and general inconsistency are some of the problems. It was never our strongest suit, it is not exactly in the most pink of health now.
Yes, mistakes have been made in transitioning, but I am honestly not sure if I would have done too differently myself as a selector. I know that we will eventually move on. And get back up in the test arena. Till then I just have to man up. And take it on the chin.
The journey of the Indian Test Team from the lows of 1999-2000 to 2011-12 has been fascinating. We started from a low point. We are back down under now. But it was a thrilling ride. Thanks for the memories. And get well soon.

There and back again !

2012-01-10T21:02:00.001+05:30

First things first. A definition. GilbertoSilver tells us What is va va voom?
It’s many things. It’s a style, an attitude. It’s a grace, an impudence, a gallic flair. It’s instant control, a side-footed finish, and a shrug of celebration......
Last night I had a dream. Correction, I SAW a dream. I am certain millions of Arsenal fans across the world saw the same dream, at the same time. Live. About 60,000 in the stadium and the rest like me on their TV sets. Thierry Henry played for Arsenal Football Club and scored a goal. A winning goal !
Everybody loves old heroes to return. Now and then, you get to see famous stars come back and play - perhaps a benefit match, or a testimonial. Or even a veterans tournament. You check that out, you feel happy, you remember the good times.
You see that in films too, an old hero returns for a cameo appearance. You get a little nostalgic perhaps and giddy eyed for a moment. You feel good.
But, what if the return is for real ? If only for a short time, but for real. In the middle of a season, when you are struggling, you get the boost of your greatest ever striker turning up for a couple of months. You feel delighted. You wait with bated breath to see what magic awaits you. At the same time, it is at the back of your mind., that you should not expect miracles, this is not the same player anymore. He cannot be.
Except that when he got the chance last night - he just reminded you - how good he can still be.
Thierry Henry was a teenage hero of mine. I really have no words to describe him other than a hero. He was one of the most important reasons for me having a happy life back then. I used to worship him. When he took that sublime first touch, opened up his body and sidefooted the ball into the back of the net - inside out - in an oh so familiar fashion, time stopped. Bang in the middle of the night here in India. It felt like being transported back in time. Deja vu ! Va va voom !
I started with one great blogger. I will end with what another great one - Tim Stillman has to say here.
"..When you stick around it for enough years and you penetrate the hype of Sky`s 'Super, Mega, Ultra Sunday`, you see that every game is a potential classic. Every match a potential soap opera. And every game has a potential storyline that just lifts you up and takes you away. That gifts you the sort of moments that can make you smile at your desk, despite the chronic lack of sleep. It`s true you have to wade through some mediocre fare to get them, but when you do, it makes every second worth it. Life doesn`t give you many moments like that. But if you stick around long enough, football will give you plenty.
On the face of it and to the uninitiated, a 1-0 win 3rd Round Cup win over lower league opposition on a Monday evening has no right to produce such emotion. But it does. And there`s no explaining or rationalising it. You either get it or you don`t..."
By God, this was one such moment. Thank you Thierry Henry.

Welcome Home

The game, Mrs Hudson, is on

2012-01-09T23:15:00.000+05:30

I don't do (more accurately - can't do) movie reviews, and I rarely watch TV shows. A combination of factors such as : a) Being a childhood Sherlock Holmes fan; b) glowing reviews from a number of folks, including this one from @udupendra and c) some free time, meant that I watched Sherlock finally this weekend. IMDB currently rates it a 9. I would say that with a rating of 9, it is under-rated.
This particular version of Sherlock, created by Mark Gatsis and Steven Moffat, has got far less hype than the Guy Ritchie movies in India, at least. But I think, judging by twitter, the series is slowly gaining viewership and popularity.
A detailed review of a detective show would mean that I give out spoilers and so will not give out too many. This reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes is set in 21st century London, in a digital age, filled with mobile phones and blogs. This Sherlock now uses Text messages instead of Telegrams, Dr Watson writes an online blog about Sherlock's cases instead of a hand written diary. And yet, and yet, despite the dramatic change in surroundings, and over a century of difference in time, the series remains faithful to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation in a wonderful way. It took me less than 10 minutes into the first episode - A Study in Pink, to be absolutely smitten. Here when Holmes takes Watson's mobile phone (In Conan Doyle's original - it was his pocket watch I think) and summarizes his past using that, you can instantly start feeling the links to the original. And this feeling has continued through all the 4 episodes so far (3 in Season 1 and 1 in Season 2). I admit that someone who has read the books will love it more, but even if you have not, I would think the show has more than enough to attract you. Each episode is 90 minutes long and so is practically movie length.
A word about the two leads. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes is charismatic, enigmatic, brilliant and talks even faster than Jesse Eisenberg. Cumberbatch is bloody brilliant just like his character. Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson, plays the perfect straight faced foil. Freeman as Watson comes across just as you would have imagined Watson as a kid, without the moustache :).

There is not much else to add here. Watch it ASAP. As he says these days - The Game, Mrs Hudson, IS ON.
PS: Quick Edit on 22nd Jan to put my ratings for the 6 episodes in the first 2 seasons. I watched the last of the episodes this Friday night.
S1, E1: A Study in Pink: 9.5/10.
S1, E2: The Blind Baker: 8/10
S1, E3: The Great Game: 8/10
S2, E1: A Scandal in Belgravia: 9/10
S2, E2: The Hounds of Baskerville: 8.5/10
S2, E3: The Reichenbach Fall: 8/10.
As in the original post, I am not offering any explanations for the ratings to avoid giving out spoilers. It would be fun to compare them with other fans of the show.

42

2011-12-31T22:49:00.001+05:30

This is just a random blog post at the end of 2011. You know, the 42nd of the year. It was a year, just like any other. Like any other, it had its own unique moments. Happy and sad. Good and bad. And also surreal.

Many years down the line, I am not sure what will I particularly remember from this year. Other than this. Yes, my very own 42 moment. Calculated over a period of 22 years of cricket fandom for me. It meant The Life, The Universe, and Everything to me. And some more.

The Moment, The Answer

Freedom at 5

2011-12-25T22:59:00.002+05:30

At the sound of the 5 o clock alarm, when the rest of the country sleeps, Indian cricket fans will awake to cricket and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the bed to the couch, when a sleep ends, and when the soul of a nation's cricket fans, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of Indian cricket and her fans and to the still larger cause of test cricket.

Pic: Cricinfo

The Wonderful Wojciech Szczesny

2011-12-22T23:50:00.002+05:30

Every now and then, a player comes along that you take an instinctive liking to. It happens often enough with me. Sadly many of them do not quite turn up the way you have first envisaged. Some go on to become fine players, but not quite the way you thought. Perhaps they become good at other roles or positions. And then, on just the odd occassion, the player goes on to become everything you had imagined. And more.
As an Arsenal fan, I have seen some formidable folks in our goal. We had the magnificient David Seaman, followed by 'Mad Jens' Lehmann. And while when he was good, he was very, very good, he never gave me the same sense of security that Seaman did. After that we had Manuel Almunia for quite some time - a half decent keeper and a genuinely good guy, but one who never really convinced me fully. And in between we have had the impressive but erratic Polish keeper Lukas Fabianski spend some time under our bar - another huge talent, but one who has been a bit too error prone for my liking.
All this while, another young Pole, was creeping up the ranks at Arsenal and I started to hear about him on his loan spell at Brentford. A combination of injuries and bad form from others probably forced him into the first team a little early and boy has he made the most of it.
Goalkeepers are difficult to judge. There are all sorts out there - the brilliant shot stopper, but who might make "silly mistakes". The solid, but not spectactular type. Some are better with crosses and corners than others. There are those who are terrific when facing one on ones. Some are penalty specialists. But it is not just about stopping goals. It is about distribution of the ball, it is about organising your defence. There are so many intangibles at play.
It's hard to say, what was it about this guy , wonderfully and weirdly named Wojciech Szczesny (let's just call him Chesney), that struck me the most. However as good as his technique and game is, it is his personality that shines through the most. More on that later.
I think Chesney took giant strides during his loan spell at Brentford. The Brentford manager Andy Scott described him saying: “It reached the stage where, when he let a goal in, we wondered how he hadn’t saved it".
He has had to come through adversities. In November 2008, when, working with a heavy weight at the club's gym, he lost his balance and felt the bar crash down on to his forearms. He has come out through that and gotten stronger.
He has had some exceptional moments for us. I guess this penalty save against Antonio Di Natalie of Udinese itself was worth about 25 million pounds and stands out as his biggest moment.

Or take a look at this rather impressive performance for Poland vs Germany in an international.
He has had his horror moments. The Carling Cup final howler against Birmingham or that game at Old Trafford where he kept getting beaten from long distance by Rooney and co. There is plenty of room for him to improve, he is just 21 now. He has to improve his distribution, we will have to see how he deals with the really big, high pressure games and so on.
However, the more I see him, the more convinced I get, the more assured I feel. And trust me, having a goalkeeper that doesn't give you the jitters when the ball is lobbed into the penalty box is one of the best feelings for an Arsenal fan. For too long have we had our hearts in our mouth every time there was a set piece conceded.
But Chesney is a lot more than just a very good goal keeper. He is a personality, he is a character, he is a presence. Read this lovely report to get an insight into the type of guy he is. And the character that he is, it is actually not a surprise to see him do a Cryuff. Once here and again here either. These keepers will always be mad, I tell you.
All this is wonderful, but wait, there is a little more. Chesney is also a fan. A fan of Arsenal Football Club. You can clearly notice that in his interviews or his general banter on twitter. Not many people go out of the way to sing with the fans. Check this out as he joins the away fans in singing We are by far the greatest team... Or this picture as he kisses our Messiah of a captain Robin van Persie's left boot after the winner against Everton. Incidents like this make me extremely emotional, but in a happy and proud sort of way, of course.

In a world full of rich, mercenary footballers throwing tantrums and talking bull shit, Chesney comes across as a refreshing change. He plays with a fierce competitive spirit, a confidence that belies his young age, but the way he comes across, both on and off the pitch, as a fan of the game and the club has endeared him to even more to me.

I would like to think that there are a lot many Arsenal fans, who are absolutely smitten by this young lad. I would not exchange him for any other keeper in the world. Touch wood, he will stay with us for a long time and go on to be a club and country legend.

"He was a presence, on the field, in the game, in the media, in the mind." This was Gideon Haigh about Shane Warne. In twenty years time, this statement might just be fitting for Wojciech Szczesny.

An Open letter from a So Called Indian Cricket Fan

2011-12-03T11:40:00.001+05:30

Dear Respectable Journalists, Cricket Authorities, Media People and "Experts",

I have got it now. You don't like us much. We are your favourite target. You diss us whenever you please, but this year it has been a too too much. Can you please stop this displeasure for us now ?
First of all, one of your most educated, all knowing ones called us banal. Among many things, he simply said that we are not loving cricket only. I am quoting him here: "It is thought that India loves cricket. This is incorrect. India loves India. " Is it wrong to love my country ? We were taught in school : India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage..." and all that. So can I not love both cricket and country? Then he criticised us for dancing, jumping etc, writing bad banners, having bad manners and what not.
Recently, there was a test in Kolkata where less people went to watch. You have it on a Monday to Friday. Then one of you writes an article like an answer to a high school exam question with 16 marks (Essay Type). He notes every possible reason of why one is not watching a match. So again, you say we do not love cricket etc. (He is also talking of intensity of orgasm in sports - need to privately discuss later).
But few months ago, when more people wanted to watch matches and get tickets, you beat us up. Not just once, but two times . What the hell man ! I mean, you will beat us up when we come to buy the tickets, then when we don't go to watch matches you are doing social research and all on our behaviour patterns.
Now some of us are having little interest in Maths also. We are not that smart, but have managed to add up and know that Sachin Tendulkar has 99 100s. We are excited and are wanting him to score 1 more. Even that you are not appreciating. This one person -Novelist, essayist and historian based in New Delhi (he is 3 in 1) says things like this: "The real cricketing illiterates are the people who believe that adding ODI centuries to Test centuries and arriving at a hundred gives you a heroic landmark. It doesn't. This isn't just a meaningless statistic, it's a pernicious one, because it equalises two different orders of achievement." What am I supposed to do now ? Arey round numbers look good - no ? We celebrate 50 , 100, 200 etc, what is the problem with 100 X 100. Nice round figure it is.
I know how you want us to be. All matches should have full attendance, with crowds in fancy dress, who will write original banners in Victorian English, and do a clap-clap-clap (only 3 times). We have to be equally enthusiastic for all matches, Test or ODI or T20, home match of neutral. We have to provide equal support to home and opposition players - whether it is Ponting or Tendulkar, Afridi or Dhoni, we cannot have bias. Also, there is no need to celebrate milestones etc, especially "artificial milestones" by adding up numbers from different forms of cricket. Unlike you experts, I cannot write very long articles and all and get published in cricinfo etc. So I am putting an end to this here. But please, please, please - give us a break. Lunch, tea, whatever. I am tired. Please stop this Emotional Atyachar. Why don't you go and watch Kolaveri ? Or write essay type, narrative based hi-fi stuff on domestic cricket in Zimbabwe ?

With Best Regards,
So Called Indian Cricket Fan

An Exemplary Out of Office Letter

2011-12-03T11:15:00.001+05:30

I got this as a forward yesterday. It is an Out of Office Letter, which I wish I had written.

I have decided to be on leave, not tomorrow but some other time on 02nd XXXX 2011 till 06th XXXX 2011.
I am going away leaving behind everything, even the projects that I am supposed to be owning, pre-sales and my team. I feel sad, but this has to be done and there is nothing any one should try to do about it.
Backups are in the process of being identified, they would be forced to be my back up no matter what. For one thing there would be no back up and that is my mails. My mails get backed up automatically to my Archive_2011.pst and this is not a living being it is just a file on my laptop and it does not have the capability to send out emails.
Now coming to the main part, which is why am I giving you so much notice, because I want to and no other intention.
Please note that I am present in office from now till 01st XXXX 2011, and then after 06th XXXX 2011.
If you think there is a need to talk to me or see me, please destroy that need. It is really not possible, I am going to a place, where everything would be available, but I would not be available to reach those means.
Whenever in doubt, please think about those people who do not get access to my emails and be happy thinking how unlucky we (you and not me) are.
Leaving you with a favorite quote of mine – I am on leave from 01st XXXX to 06th XXXX , both days not inclusive.

(I am reproducing the parts of it above, which are not confidential in my opinion. I have not taken permission of the author, as I don't know him. Should he have a problem with it, I will take it down.)

Get Off My Back

2011-11-25T20:41:00.001+05:30

GOD I am dying NOW u !!!

Cricket, Bleddy Cricket

2011-11-13T20:57:00.001+05:30

The cricket world has been extremely eventful over the past couple of weeks. Too much, some would say. My thoughts on some of them:
1) RIP Peter Roebuck: One of the best cricket writers going around, many of us are extremely sad today on the news of his death (suicide ?). He was an opinionated and articulate writer, with whom you either strongly agreed or disagreed. I for one, have both enjoyed his articles and mocked them. This is a fine tribute for the man. He will be missed.
2) Prison sentences handed out to cricketers: In a world, where corrupt politicians and businessmen involved in million dollar scams are walking free, to have prison sentences for cricketers bowling no balls appeared bizarre to me. Having said that, one has got to respect the law of the land etc etc. Here is one fine piece by Aatif Nawaz which argued against the prison sentences handed out. I visited a couple of Pakistani news sites out of curiousity to check how was the reaction there, not quite sure what to expect. There appeared to be unanimous condemnation of these 3 criminals and jubilation at justice being done to these 3 players who had brought shame to their nation. This appeared to be the "Honour Killing" moment of cricket for me, where people were rejoicing the punishment meted out to folks who had in their opinion brought them shame and disgrace. Whether the crimes deserve the severity of the punishment remains a debatable matter, one which got lost perhaps in the aftermath.
3) Day 2 at the Newlands: Only the 3rd day in the history of test cricket, where all four innings of a test match took place on the same day - the events at Newlands were quite staggering. And none more so than the Aussies getting bowled out for 47 in their 2nd innings. To see them at 21/9 on cricinfo in my office was a quite unbelievable moment. I had not followed the match once the Saffers had got bowled out and when someone asked me to check the score, my eyes nearly popped out. Yet another day, when you wish you were in front of the TV screen, but then again, such is life that ...... damn it.
4) India find a new off spinner: R Ashwin has been around for some time. We have come to enjoy his bowling in the IPL and ODIs and he has now made a pretty good debut in Tests as well. Again, did not see the match on TV as all the match days were working days. This is one ball I definitely enjoyed seeing in the highlights.

What's also cool about him is the refreshing way he speaks - this is fantastic
5) Bleddy BCCI: I just had to say this. Who are the geniuses who do the itenary planning these days. Most people, that I know get holidays on Sundays. Some of them also get Saturdays off. Why would you then schecule test matches on week days. Ask someone who has IDEA, cause I ain't got any.

And as a post script how about reading this blog about how easy it was to see the match at the Kotla in Delhi. This has gone viral actually - READ IT.

PS: Just tought I will preseve a link of an article I read this week on the story of how and why the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore got its name. Here's an excerpt from the article:
"..But how did a cricket stadium some 3,525 miles away from Tripoli come to carry the name of a Libyan dictator anyway? To find the answer we have to go back to 1974, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was three years into his first term as Pakistan's first civilian leader and Gaddafi had been head of state in Libya for five years. Ali Bhutto was hosting the second Islamic summit conference in Lahore, a grand get-together of the heads of state from 37 Islamic nations. They were an eclectic bunch, including the Shah of Iran and Yasser Arafat, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Bangladesh. This was only three years after the end of the war of independence. As a way of wooing the Muslim world into supporting the Pakistani state at a time when India was conducting its first nuclear tests, Bhutto announced that several locations in Lahore would be renamed in honour of his fellow Muslim leaders. Lahore's Charing Cross district became Faisal Chowk, after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and Lyallpur was renamed Faisalabad.
Thousands of Pakistanis filled the Lahore stadium, as it was then known, to see Gaddafi, who had been lauded by Bhutto as a great friend and benefactor of the nation, give a thunderous speech in support of their nation's right to pursue a policy of nuclear development. And so the gratified Bhutto rechristened the stadium in Gadaffi's honour. Soon after Gadaffi allowed tens of thousands of Pakistani professionals to immigrate to Libya, and started giving financial aid to Bhutto's government.."

I ache therefore I am

2011-10-11T23:39:00.003+05:30

[A very personal blog post - made up simply using Marvin, the Paranoid Android quotes, which describes feelings not entirely unlike how I feel right now]

Life! Don't talk to me about life.
Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it.
Funny, how just when you think life can't possibly get any worse it suddenly does.
I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed.
Do you want me to sit in the corner and rust, or just fall apart where I'm standing?
I'm not getting you down at all, am I?
Pardon me for breathing, which I never do any way so I don't know why I bother to say it, oh God, I'm so depressed.
Why stop now just when I'm hating it?
Wearily on I go, pain and misery my only companions. And vast intelligence, of course. And infinite sorrow.
Life, loathe it or ignore it, you can't like it
Pic: Courtesy: Motiff.com

Body shopping and Innovation

2011-10-08T00:26:00.000+05:30

N R Narayan Murty made some comments on the quality of IIT students, which rubbed some people the wrong way. That included the greatest ever author in the history of the universe, who shot back with this gem.

Later, in this interview with the world's greatest journalist, he also raised questions about this aforementioned body shopping company's ability for innovation.

For a body shopping company, however it seems to have done rather well as per this list of a little known magazine called Forbes. Interesting - no ?

PS: The blog post reflects my personal opinion and not that of my employer.

A cultured left foot

2011-09-25T22:08:00.000+05:30

A cultured left foot is probably right up there among the Top 3 Arsenal blogs. It's a wonderful phrase - one which describes our current captain Robin Van Persie beautifully. He has a much talked about chocolate leg - his right one. But he is truly magical with his left.
100 goals up for The Arsenal. May he have plenty more to come. I fell in love with him from the moment he scored this goal. And the love has only grown since then.

Arsenal and Murphy's Law

2011-09-25T09:54:00.001+05:30

3 points yesterday and the world seems a happier place. A week back, and that was not quite the case. I wrote this long blog below on Arsenal then. The folks at @thehardtackle and @sounak in particular were kind enough, to read, edit and publish it as a proper article on their site.

Below is the original, "unedited" blog format.

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Murphy’s law states that if anything that can go wrong, it willgo wrong. Well, if you are an Arsenalfan, like me, you could be forgiven for thinking that the footballing Gods areusing our club for proving it.

For Arsenal fans, the last six months or so have been extremelydisturbing, distressing, depressing and demoralising (and in that order).During this period, the team has lost the art of winning football matches.Somewhere over the last six years or so, the club has forgotten the art and thedesire of defending as well. The annual ritual of selling some of our bestplayers for small fortunes has made the coffers heavy , but the team extremelylight on the pitch.

A look back at the transition of the team from the days ofbeing called “The Invincibles” to the present bunch feels something like this.Once upon a time, we had a team which had pace and power; a team which couldattack with precision & penetration and defend with both patience &passion. Slowly, as the years went by, the team made a gradual transition, webanked our game on the mantra of possession. Tippy-tappy, but rarely triggerhappy, the team got obsessed with scoring the perfect goal. Passing the ball and sometimes passing thebuck, somewhere it felt, that we got more obsessed about the means, rather thanthe end. That it became more important to “play football” rather than winmatches. And now with, many of the best creative talents having left forgreener, richer, more ambitious pastures, what is now left is a disjointed, ragtag, bunch of a team, struggling to find its feet and identity. It is a teamwhich has lost its aura and belief.

The slow decline over the last six trophy less years justgot accelerated in the last six months. Sure, the journey was not all downhill,but there were fewer ups than downs, but quite clearly the limit of ourambitions for quite some time has been getting a Champions League spot. And allalong, we have been also fighting philosophical wars, in acut-throat-competitive environment.

The global phenomenon, that is the EPL, was built on thepulsating, riveting rivalry of Manchester United and Arsenal. Let there be nomistake about it, but the advent of live football on satellite television inthe late nineties coincided with this thrilling rivalry and made viewers hookedon to football and their respective clubs for life. Sir Alex Ferguson andArsene Wenger, Keane and Vieira, the British base of Giggs, Scholes, Beckhamand the Nevilles against the continental flavour of Henry, Bergkamp, Pires andLjungberg...this was a rivalry for theages. And what is more, while the two teams did have contrasting styles – bothwere attack minded, which made it spectacular.

Somewhere, the economist in Wenger, realised that in orderto compete with United in the long term, the club had to move away from itsspiritual home of Highbury to a much larger stadium. A perfectly valid, well thought strategy. Whathe could not have predicted that football was about to be changed forever, withthe influx of oil money. Roman Abrahamovic and his millions came in at Chelseaand took the scene by storm. So, faced with a constrained budget at home andseeing the competitors having almost unlimited pockets, the club took toscouting talented youngsters and getting them in early at the club. But when, you are relying on youth, you aretaking a gamble as you cannot be sure of how a player will eventually turn outto be. Will he blossom into a Fabregas or regress into a Denilson? Would Diabybecome the new Vieira or not ? And quite clearly, very few of the many youthtalents, picked up at bargain prices have actually gone on to become worldclass players.

So, clearly handicapped financially and working on a riskystrategy of trusting on young players, the club has been further handicapped bythe salary structure that they designed. Wenger’s ideas of equitable pay havemeant that: a) The club cannot attract the biggest names; b) No bigdifferentials in pay between the better players and the mediocre ones at theclub – possibly leading to frustration for the good players and a false senseof comfort for the not so good ones ; c) Difficulty in transferring out theunwanted players, who are earning more than they deserve at the club because noone else will pay them that much.

And so while Abrahamovic and Chelsea, pushed Arsenal down to3^rd, Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh and Manchester City have now becoming thenew galacticos and Arsenal today are struggling to even be 4^th.City, in the process have also become a favourite place for Arsenal players tomove on – with some of the best 1^st team players in the last 5 yearsbeing transferred there. Arsenal, alsoface stiff competition from two other old rivals – Liverpool and Tottenham, whowhile not quite having the matching finances of City and Chelsea, quite easilyoutspend the Gunners.

Here’s what bothers me as an Arsenal fan. The club, evenafter all its budgetary constraints, has been turning in handsome profits. Theclub also charges the most from its fans, with very high priced tickets at thenew stadium. Deficiencies in the squad over the last few seasons have beenfairly obvious; the club’s refusal to address them has been disappointing. Noone wants the team to go down the Leeds United path, but the lack of someexperienced figures to bring together and solidify a team of youngsters hasbeen acutely felt, time and again.

Then we come to the matters of injury. Thisinteresting blog, tells us as to how many injuries Arsenal had to contendwith last season. The club has suffered three horrific injuries – Diaby,Eduardo and Ramsey in the last few seasons. A counter argument that can be made is that other big clubs sufferalmost the same as well and injuries cannot be used as an excuse. The thing isthat Arsenal’s core group of players – who can keep the team competitive in theleague is much smaller than their rivals – the lack of strength and depth inthe squad is exposed with injuries. To look at it another way, Chelsea orUnited – missing 6 or 7 starters can still put out a very competitive team, butnot Arsenal.

To come to matters on the pitch and it is sad that thedescription of Arsenal as a football club have got limited to a few damningstereotypes and clichés.

Arsenal play nicefootball but have no end product.

Arsenal can’t breakdown teams who defend deep.

Arsenal can’t defend alead.

Arsenal can’t defendfrom set pieces.

Arsenal can’t defendagainst the counter attack.

Arsenal can’t dealwith “the physical side” of the game.

Arsenal can’t do it ona wet, night at Stoke.

I could go on and on, but I am sure, you can visualise eachand every one of these stereotype and remember plenty of moments, when wevalidated them. The thing is that, while we have struggled against the topteams such as United and Chelsea, we could be forgiven for not having the personnelto match up with them. But the narrative has too often also been of Wenger andArsenal at war with the likes of Bolton, Blackburn and Stoke. These are teamsthat play football in a different manner and offer a contrast to our method.Their more aerial, more physical, more robust, and perhaps more English gamehas roughed up, distracted and defeated Arsenal far too often. And what hasfrustrated me has been our refusal to improvise, our reluctance to get on withthings. It would appear that throughout the club, there appears to be a senseof moral superiority and self-righteousness about the way we play football. Iam sorry – but that does not entitle anyone to victories and points. We havetoo often let our focus get distracted by players who can wind up theopposition, and rather than allow our technical superiority to take over thegame, we have either wallowed in self misery or got ourselves embroiled inpetty conflicts and skirmishes. None of this works, what does is putting a fewpast the opposition and going home with the three points.

The one constant in these tumultuous times has been ArseneWenger. So much of Arsenal’s modern history is down to the contribution of thisone man. The club owes him a lot for the glory days of the 98 double winnersand “The Invincibles”. He has given the club an identity, global recognition,some wonderful, wonderful football on the pitch. He had the courage andconviction to take a leap of faith and build a new stadium – something thatwill serve the club well for the next 50 years. However, the last few monthshave seen the club go backwards, unable to hold on to its most prized assets,possibly unable to attract the best talents any more. A passionate andcommitted football man, there have been times when I have actually feltconcerned about his health and well being. How much can a man take, to see sorepeatedly HIS players, let him down. Again and again, repeat the samemistakes. It must be difficult to see HIS players not believing in his“project” anymore.

I have long been a believer in “IN ARSENE, WE TRUST”.However, that does not mean that he is beyond criticism or always right. Idisagree with his wage policies and have found his refusal to sign someexperienced campaigners in the last 3, 4 years baffling. Arsenal was muchcloser to United or Chelsea then and a few more experienced campaigners mightjust have seen us get over the line. Acombination of circumstances has meant that the squad (even after the deadlineday signings) is far weaker that it has ever been under Wenger. I am not surehe is the man capable of turning around a squad, which is defensively soshambolic at the moment, that it does not take much to turn up and scoreagainst them. As someone said the other day – there are no transfer windows forcoaches – and I do believe that coaching room needs new voices and ideas.

There is one last thing about Wenger, which I have foundquite staggering and that is his steadfast refusal to criticise his players inpublic. This is an almost unbelievable, noble quality in today’s day andage. As an employee, if I had a managerlike that, I would be extremely lucky. And yet, has it always been in ArsenalFootball Club’s interest that he has been so protective of his players ? I amnot sure whether some public criticism would have actually fired up someplayers, but it remains one of the most remarkable characteristics of thismanager.

You either die a heroor you live long enough to see yourself become the villain – The Dark Knight.

I wonder if Arsene thinks along these lines.

These are also the times of social media, of blogs andtwitter. Arsenal is among the best followed clubs and there is great writing onthe club every single day. Movie quotes from The Dark Knight have actuallybecome very apt to describe the current situation at the club and werefrequently used in blogs. The night is darkest just before the dawn – wethought. Assuming that the Old Trafford massacre was the darkest point. IsArsene Wenger the manager Arsenal need at the moment ? Or is he the one wedeserve ? Injuries (at Arsenal) are likegravity. All they need is a little push ? J

Enough with the jokes, but things have gone topsy turvy forus. From injuries to bad signings, to facing rivals with unlimited coffers, ithas been an uphill struggle. But Arsenal have never finished outside the Top 4during Wenger’s tenure. Arsenal have qualified for the main stages of theChampions League for 14 consecutive seasons. These are staggering achievements.When you combine that with building a new stadium during the same period, theachievements become incredible. However, right now, the team is in a bad shape.From competing in 4 tournaments in March to – relegation like form this season,the fortunes have changed dramatically. There is plenty of rage and fury going aroundin the fan base. It only shows that people do really care about the club andthat it means a lot to them. It isimportant that the club comes out and tells us – the true state of ourfinances. What is preventing us from spending the money we earn from sellingour players. Come out and set realistic expectations, clear the air and getback to playing football. We could be in a mid table scrap. We could be in arelegation battle. Who knows ? I am not sure, how many Indian fans haveactually experienced relegation dogfights before, but that is what could awaitus this season. I sincerely hope that it is only a once in a lifetimeexperience, but you have got to back the team. The Club. The Arsenal. There isno other way.

Six years is not that long a barren stretch. Who knows, the nextMichael Thomas moment might be just around the corner J

Fan 1: What about last season?
Fan 2: What about it?
Fan 1: They were rubbish. They were fucking rubbish.
Fan 2: They weren't that bad.
Fan 1: They were fucking rubbish last year. And they were fucking rubbish theyear before. And I don't care if they are top of the League, they'll be fuckingrubbish this year, too. And next year. And the year after that. I'm not joking.
Fan 2: I don't know why you come, Frank. Honest I don't.
Fan 1: Well, you live in hope, don't you

- Fever Pitch

I do.

Vermaelen & Van Persie: Let's get the fighting spirit back

Amaron nahi to long life nahi

2011-09-11T18:44:00.000+05:30

A truly funny ad. After a long time. Enjoy :)

The Third Man

2011-09-10T17:35:00.003+05:30

The recently concluded England vs India Test Series and the subsequent limited overs matches are possibly best forgotten soon. But if nothing else, there will be plenty of memories of Dravid. Rahul Dravid batting. And Emoting.I am not sure how he has felt througout this ordeal, seeing one team mate after another perish. To injuries and to the English. And he has to deal with some tough conditions, tough bowling. And at times tough umpiring. The Bangalore boy has not got too much help from technology either. Yet he has kept on going about his business. As usual.Or maybe not. There has been a bit more feeling about this tour. Raw, pent up, emotions have come out. Of positive delight and uninhibited joy. His Pieterson like celebrations at Lords...

His disgust at dropping catches with this cap throwdown moment at Edgbaston (described so poignantly here by S Dayanand )...

His pumped up, wide eyed demeanor in his T20 debut / swansong, where he hit 3.. yes THREE consecutive sixes....

But among all this, some things have not changed. He has remained as classy, as dignified as ever both on and off the field. He has handled tricky interviews - on the DRS, on the Ian Bell goof up and generally on how bad the Indian Team have been, with grace and honesty.

Dravid in England has given us all this:

Three Centuries in Tests. Three Sixes in a row in T20. At his best dabbing the ball to Third Man.

India's Greatest Ever Number Three.

Rahul Dravid. More epic than Carol Reed and Graham's Greene The Third Man.
To Dear Jammy. Love and Respect.

One just gets the feeling, something's gotta give

2011-08-06T23:26:00.006+05:30

The England Tour has been particularly disappointing so far, and there are not too many signs of things improving at the moment. I guess, after winning the world cup, when some people suggested it was going to be all downhill from here, this is what they meant. But leave aside the cricket, if there has been a positive to take (besides Dravid's batting), it has been the spotlight on the commentary and punditry that we get from M/s Gavaskar and Shastri. Many, many cricket fans have long been turned off by the cliched, biased and painfully boring commentary that we get from India's leading media pair. However, generally the only thing to do for them would be turn off the volume, or more recently, perhaps listen to alternative versions of commentary on sites like testmatchsofa.com or the newly opened pitchinvasion.

Thankfully and in a delightfully amusing manner, there was a tipping point during the tour, which actually brought Shastri and his commentary to the fore - before the mainstream media, and from then on, it has been fun. It was this remarkably stupid moment at the end of the day, that led to a quite brilliant confrontation between Shastri and Nasser Hussain in the commentary box the next day, and since then it has been fun, reading all the stuff written, both in India and in England. (Confession here, while generally I find listening to Shastri extremely painful -it was box office gold, when Nasser was calling him - live on air). (Here is Nasser's written rebuttal by the way.)

The Outlook seems to be the one Indian magazine that is on the case earnestly and it started with Pradeep Magazine criticising the jingoistic nature of our commentators. They have now followed it up with this more detailed piece wherein they quite simply put that both Gavaskar and Shastri are on BCCI payrolls and hence in np position to commentate as independent observers of the game.

I enjoyed this cricinfo blog from Samir Chopra where he suggests having a television coverage with only on-field sounds and no commentary.

However, there has been nothing better and I mean nothing better than this. Barney Ronay of The Guardian came up with this headline that went like a Tracer Bullet: How Ravi Shastri, the big noise of cricket, called it wrong. He followed that up, by throwing caution to the winds in the article - and this particular story really had me in splits:

I met him briefly when I was about 10. He was wearing flared beige slacks and white lisp-on loafers and he said: "Congratulations!" when he shook my hand, appearing to congratulate me simply for meeting him, and projecting even then the air of an elite astronaut or a visitor from a taller, more urgent dimension.

No better way of describing the man I guess, and while it is difficult to imagine ESPNStar kicking him out like Sky Sports did to Andy Gray (for totally different reasons), it has been fun, seeing so many people go after him. At the end of the day, it was just what the doctor ordered.

For some fun, here is Shastri goes to wimbledon. And also this Ravi Shastri Commentary generator.

How shite is Indian cricket ?

2011-07-30T16:01:00.003+05:30

This has been that type of an English summer. When words like sabotage, mockery and most of all ARROGANT have been used to describe Indian cricket and its players.
It started with the Daryl Harper incident in the Caribbean, which left MSD looking like playing the unrepentant villain, prompting the veteran Mr. Peter Roebuck to write: Dhoni needs to rethink his approach to the game. Fair points all, I suppose from a respected journalist - so listen up fellas. Moving on to England and the Indian team was greeted with this headline from the immensely wise Mr. James Lawton of The Independent:
James Lawton: Arrogant tourists' refusal to embrace technology was nothing short of sabotage . Among other things, this article had this really impressive line: "The Indians say that the predictive capacity of Hawk-Eye is less than infallible and, scientifically and practically, they may have a point..." Not much for us to say in rebuttal, is there ? In any case, as the bloke from DeepBackwardPoint has anyway admitted - we are arrogant.
But presumably having attended courses on persuasive communication and being an exponent of the theory of broken records, and also presumably thinking that most readers are stupid and need to be told things again and again, he came up with this even more hard hitting headline: James Lawton: Arrogance to blame if India abdicate their no 1 throne .
Here are a few gems: "...Abdicated, that is, their role as the cricket nation of the richest talent best equipped to play all forms of the game.

And why? Maybe because they got too rich, too arrogant too sure about their ability to cherry-pick the profits that came with the explosion of popularity, however fleeting, of Twenty20, and their eventually nerveless triumph in the recent World Cup. The Indian conclusion, all the evidence suggests, is that they were simply good enough to skim along, riding their natural gifts and luxuriating in their newly achieved, money-based power..."

Hmm...
Somewhere in between MSD turned his arm over for a few overs during the Lord's test which lead India's other world cup winning captain Kapil Dev, calling it a mockery of test cricket

The English would like to think of India with a patronising view as described here. But these days, they tend to concentrate on India and its financial clout more as this interesting read shows.

So let us sum up all that has gone wrong:

1) We have behaved arrogantly on the field with an umpire who gets 96% of his decisions right and made derisive comments about him after the match.

2) We have sabotaged test cricket, again by being arrogant, and not using the DRS.

3) We have acted "timidly and selfishly" by refusing to chase a target against the West Indies to protect a 1-0 series lead.

4) We have again been arrogant to go into the test series against England by playing only one warm up match.

5) We have made mockery of test cricket with our arrogant captain coming on to bowl, when the team's number one fast bowler got injured.

6) Our number one fast bowler was arrogant enough to come into the test team by playing just one warm up match thereby sabotaging the team's chances and a great contest.

7) We have lost the 2000th test match, which was played at Lord's.

8) Sachin Tendulkar failed to get on to the hallowed honour's board at Lord's - something he will regret forever with Matthew Hoggard.

9) Our gentle medium pacer Praveen Kumar showed dissent against the umpire to get fined. It was so bad that that Pavops wrote this !!!

10) We have made Barbie look and feel like a world champion.
11) We still have Harbhajan Singh playing test cricket for us.
I could take all this (other than Point No 10), but this next thing pissed me off. A rather badly written, part satire, part troll in the Telegraph, got so much under the skin of Indian "fans" that it is unreal. And the Telegraph is taking the piss with this piece here . WTF DUDES !! If the countrymen of @bigfatphoenix and @sidin, if you can't get this - I don't know what to say.
HOW SHITE is the Indian Board, the Indian Team and the Indian Cricket Fan ??? HOW SHITE is Indian cricket ???
All this in a year, when this happened.

A voice like no other

2011-06-25T17:35:00.002+05:30

Hemonto Kumar Mukhopadhyay sung Hindi film songs with the name Hemant Kumar. And while, he is possibly the greatest Bengali singer of all time (debatable - given the huge array of Bengali singing talent over the years), he did not sing many songs in Hindi. It was after all, the era of Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore.

Nevertheless, he did sing some absolutely wonderful songs, here is a sample of five of the best.

Jaane Woh Kaise Log The (Pyaasa, 1957)

Hai Apna Dil To Awara (Solva Saal, 1958)

Beqarar Karke Hume Yun Naa Jaaiye (Bees Saal Baad, 1962)

No Tum Hume Jaano (Baat Ek Raat Kee, 1962)

Tum Pukar Lo (Khamoshi, 1969)

To be honest, if I had a choice to pick anyone's voice before being born, I would pick his.

PS: Got into the Hemonto mood today, thanks to a song posted by a friend today.

Why is the BCCI against DRS ?

2011-06-18T14:26:00.001+05:30

With the World Cup won and the IPL over, there really is not much out there for cricket fans to talk about. Other than the Decision Review System (DRS) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) (no relation to the more popular Bored Cricket Crazy Indians) refusal of accepting the system in all bilateral series. Involving India that is.
So what are the reasons for BCCI not accepting the DRS ? Choose the right answer from the below options:
Option 1: The BCCI do not have an internal DRS. So having once decided to say no to the system, they do not have any mechanism to review it. Hence they are stuck with not accepting it.

Option 2: To maintain the fairness of the game: The BCCI took the allegation of Pakistani journalist Shahzad Chaudhry extremely seriously after Sachin Tendulkar was given not out by the DRS in the semi final. The journalist had this to say " The IT hubs of Bengaluru worked overtime to provide Tendulkar the escape in the Decision Referral System (DRS) when he was actually plumb on an arm ball of Saeed Ajmal ". So in order to maintain fairness, the BCCI refuses to use the DRS.

Option 3: Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and the BCCI by not having the DRS is trying to preserve this tradition. So, as umpires will continue to have the power to give random decisions, the viewer is kept on the edge of the seat and allows commentators like Sunil Gavaskar to talk about the glorious uncertainties of the game. With stupid Nobojit Sing Shiddu.

Option 4: It's not all that complicated - it is because as the Bored Members have pointed out here.

The DRS: Making Geometry popular in high schools since 2011

A Bit of Genius

2011-05-21T19:59:00.000+05:30

Surfing through some videos on Youtube a few days back, I came across a video from an old series called A Bit of Fry and Laurie. I did know that Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are famous artistes, but I had not seen any of their work (other than few minutes of House here and there) before. A few videos later, and I was completely hooked into the brilliance of the two actors and the British humour. I am not sure how many of you have seen it, or in fact are big fans of this show, so am just putting it out there in case you haven't seen them.
Here are a few samples to see if it might interest you:
Sample 1:

Sample 2:

Sample 3:

Sample 4:

Here is the entire script for the Sample 4 Sketch:
The last 40 odd seconds is simply hilarious:

Stephen Er, of course it is, of course it is, of course it is. Language is a whore, a mistress, a wife, a pen- friend, a check-out girl, a complimentary moist lemon-scented cleansing square or handy freshen- up wipette. Language is the breath of God, the dew on a fresh apple, it's the soft rain of dust that falls into a shaft of morning sun when you pull from an old bookshelf a forgotten volume of erotic diaries; language is the faint scent of urine on a pair of boxer shorts, it's a half-remembered childhood birthday party, a creak on the stair, a spluttering match held to a frosted pane, the warm wet, trusting touch of a leaking nappy, the hulk of a charred Panzer, the underside of a granite boulder, the first downy growth on the upper lip of a Mediterranean girl, cobwebs long since overrun by an old Wellington boot.

Hugh Ner-night.

Luckily there is a site http://abitoffryandlaurie.co.uk/, where you can get most of the scripts and the sketches of the 4 seasons of this season. I am absolutely captivated by this discovery of mine - even if it is 20 years late. Perhaps one or two of you might enjoy it as well.

Left Over !

2011-05-14T18:06:00.002+05:30

They say - All good things come to an end. Thankfully, some bad things come to an end as well. The CPI(M) led West Bengal govt's rule finally came to an end after 34 long years. A govt which did nothing but Suppress Oppress and Depress the people of the state, which did Atyachar which was not just Emotional, was given a long over due break by the people of the state.
I have mentioned it before - the communist rule in WB was like The Matrix, where the party - the machinery, the cadre - invaded every sphere of your life. A regime which, after its initial achievements in land reforms, became so power hungry, so controlling, so dark - that it pushed one of India's most forward, progressive states to the back of the queue. It made West Bengal - the leader in the number of sick industries in the country, by a country mile. It converted the state into a running joke of playing Counter-strike - where more than 60% of the entire nation's manday's lost used to happen there on account of bandhs/ hartals/gherao and other such time pass.It blocked education in English. And thanks to historical blunders, it made itself and West Bengal a redundant entity in the national arena. In hindsight, the bigger historic blunder has been that of the people of having the CPI(M) rule for such a long time. As Kolkata's leading daily points out - it is now a graveyard.
The state of West Bengal had become a lot like the West Indies cricket team, the only thing "Western" about them, being their name. A place/team which had a glorious past, but is in a terminal state of decline. One where the best talent cannot stay and make a decent living, but has to seek greener pastures outside. And all one keeps doing there is keep thinking of the heritage and the past.
Budhadeb Bhattacharya will be looked back like Ricky Ponting. So, while Ponting lead Australia to their first Ashes defeat in nearly two decades, Budha Babu "led" his comrades to their first defeat in assembly elections in 34 years. The fact that they have been living in denial, in complacency, in their own reality is best summed up by listening to their veteran (one of their many) leader Biman Bose over the last few days. He called the alliance of the TMC and Congress - one formed under US pressure !!! With all the exit polls, clearly showing a massive win for the TMC, he said something like this. And even after the defeat - he basically dismissed exit polls as fluke !!!
A few words on the lady who single handedly destroyed the Myth, the Monster, the invincible Marxist government. For all her hystrionics and madness, one cannot deny that there is no bigger fighter in India's political landscape than Mamata Banerjee. In 1991, a CPI(M) goon fractured her head in 1991 at Hajra crossing. 20 years later, she was still there fighting, and this time, they were calling her a whore . If nothing else, one cannot just be amazed by her single minded determination to fight the Communists.
We do not know where the state will go under her rule. A lot of the intelligentsia have very low expectations from the TMC and Mamata. This from @greatbong is a balanced piece on the state of affairs.
For me the best part has been the to know that the Communists can be defeated. The fact that people can vote out a government, and bring about a "Poriborton" is what gives me optimism. It has made elections and voters - relevant once again. No longer will future elections be mere formalities and foregone conclusions. The results should make the losers a little humble and the winners a little responsible. I honestly had given up hope of seeing a non Left front government in Bengal. But the unthinkable happened and how. Yeh Laal Rang Ab Hume Chorega !!!

My take on Barca

2011-04-28T22:37:00.002+05:30

FC Barcelona call themselves "Més que un club". More than a club. The past few years have seen them play a unique brand of football - tiki-taka - seeing them dominate in Europe and domestically. It has been the driving force behind finally seeing Spain fulfill their potential on the internation stage as they have gone on to win the Euro and the World Cup.
The thing about Barcelona is this: they play this unique possession based attacking football that is beautiful and devastating at the same time. As this article on Run of Play, the author mentions a definition and then gives his own interpretation: Richard Williams’ concise description outlines tiki-taka as “a game of patient accumulation in which the ball is coaxed towards the opposition’s goal while barely touching the feet of players who are constantly in fluid motion. At all times aware of each other’s changing positions, they take opponents out of the game through deftness and movement rather than muscularity.”
Frankly, Barça never looks patient to me, and their long passes, of which they are many, are anything but “coaxing.” Any possession game is frustrating to opponents, but the real, deep wrenching comes from conceding goals. Barça, instead of patiently settling like other possession-based clubs, scores in spades. It would be more accurate to call it “tiki-taka-goal”. There is something utterly unique about Barcelona—their craftsman-like work ethic, their belligerent, almost litigious style of play.
Barcelona and its players are not shy of expressing their greatness either. Xavi (probably the best midfielder in the last 20 years) describes their epic 5-0 win over Real earlier this season here: That game was wonderful, the best I've played. The feeling of superiority was incredible – and against Real Madrid! They didn't touch the ball. Madre mía, what a match! In the dressing room, we gave ourselves a standing ovation. (!!!)
Barcelona aslo have many of the world's best players. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Busquets, Pique, Puyol - the list could go on and on. They also have a coach in Pep Guardiola (who was one of my first footballing heroes as a kid - a confession) - a man described as The Extra Special One !! They have the La Masia - the world renowned football academy which produces most of their team filled with skillful players.
On their way - Barcelona have been involved in some heavyweight clashes which have made more news due to refereeing decisions. There is a feeling in a lot of the footballing public that they have been unfairly advantaged. No one spoke more forcefully on the matter than Jose Mourinho last night. Some football fans have been far more vocal - basically suggesting that Barcelona use corrupt means to get referees on their side, who play an instrumental part in their victories.
Here's my take on it: If you believe that indeed there is corruption, then continuing to watch football makes no sense. Then it is time to shut the TV and go to bed. Very often a refereeing mistake is used as a convenient excuse by the losing team to deflect attention from their own failures. It is also true that Barcelona have some genuine complains of their own as this blog by Mahek Vyas points out.
Could it be that their visible superiority on the field, the moral high ground that they take - on and off the pitch of playing football the right way, subconsciously influences referees to tilt towards them on close calls ? Probably not, but I am just thinking aloud here.
For me, till proven guilty, they are innocent. They are so much better than any other team at the moment - that any defeat that they suffer will be a one-off. An upset. When I think about it, why would a club that has so much going for it - actually risk corrupt practices, given the possible consequences.
This Barcelona team's place in history is assured. They will go down as one of the greatest and arguably the greatest footballing side of all time. But like Paul Scholes, they too have a dark side. Some of their play acting on the field, and bullying in the transfer market is extremely disappointing to put it mildly. Which means that they are also humans, not gods. They are just like other clubs. They just happen to be playing better football than others.
Some will not like them, but for some others - they will always be torch bearers of the beautiful game. And while they can go from the sublime to the ridiculous, for me they are more sublime than ridiculous.

Rabindra Sangeet in Films

2011-04-25T23:02:00.004+05:30

I grew up in a family, where Rabindra Sangeet was always around, my mom being a devoted exponent. However, I was not the art appreciating type as a kid and till date my knowledge of Bangla art, culture, movies and music is extremely limited. However, I do miss listening to Bangla songs a lot these days - especially since I have been out of Kolkata for quite some time.
This last Saturday - the best of Bangali tweeters were discussing about Ray's death anniversary, and one or two links from their tweets led me to some youtube videos of Rabindra Sangeet songs in Bangla movies. I had no idea of the existence of these videos being there before. I am utterly smitten by the beauty and simplicity of the cinematography which blends so perfectly with these beautiful songs. Check them out. Lovely stuff.

1st edit: Adding this thanks to Oldmonk_mgm's link after the post.

2nd edit: Found this gem now.

PS1: Thanks to @oldmonk_mgm, @bongopondit and co who had that lovely discussion on twitter last Saturday.
PS2: How beautiful is Madhabi Mukherjee !!!

Protect the Indian Wedding MEAL !!!

2011-04-22T21:43:00.000+05:30

It is a well known fact among my family and my (very few) friends that I dislike attending weddings. I find very few good reasons to attend them. Very often, as a kid, and then as a teenager, I was forced to attend weddings of folks I had never met before and never met afterwards as well. The wonderfully weird traditions and customs at weddings also never made any sense to me - like where the girl hides her face from the boy or whatever. What made me go to weddings along with my parents was that if I didn't I wouldn't get food to eat for dinner - because there would be none cooked for me. And what made me look forward to - was to have some good food. FOOD was and is the only reason for me to even contemplate of attending a wedding ceremony.

So, when the other day I read this news piece - India to study one-dish wedding law of Pakistan to cut food wastage - I was frankly disgusted. I mean, you will allow only ONE DISH at a wedding !!!

Ok, wait - what does that even mean. Does it mean

a) You can have only ONE item in the menu for the entire wedding ? ; or

b) You can have n number of items, but each person can have only ONE DISH full of food and no more ?

Let us take scenario a. What would be the ONE Dish that you would want to have. It's like saying - you can have Puri. But no Sabji. It has to be Chicken Biriyani for me. Preferably from Arsalan or Paradise or some iconic place. Otherwise don't bother calling me. And in case you are a vegetarian - try having Tandoori Shaslik Paneer Sizzler or some such dish - where you can throw in as many variety of veggies as possible in a single dish. So we can pick and choose the ones we like. Or ok - duck that stuff. Just have a Blueberry Cheesecake. Fine- eggless if you will.

Option b is interesting. Possible ways out of subverting this would be having massive Railway style Thaalis with lots of compartments for different dishes. At least enough to have a proper Gujarati Thali. Or providing 2 feet long Banana leaves and calling them ONE DISH. And then putting the entire menu card on them.

Whatever it is, it is really a disgusting day when we copy laws from Pakistan.

Protect the Indian Wedding Meal. Protect Indian Culture.

Issued in Public Interest by a food loving Indian.

Bill Cheese Kya Hai, Aap Meri Gyan Lijiye

2011-04-11T21:57:00.003+05:30

So you "Like" Anna Hazare ? Oh, you are "Attending" a "Facebook Event" to join a fast to stop corruption. I get it - You - "Support Anna Hazare against corruption! Corruption in India must stop NOW!!" - it seems. Oh you fasted for half a day. And shouted slogans at Jantar Mantar and Freedom Park? Well Done.
You see all this happened between me still trying to recover from a World Cup victory and an insanely busy week in office. Well, after recovering from the initial disappointment of finding that Anna Hazare did not look remotely as good as Anna Kournikova - I did some reading up to understand what the whole hue and cry was all about. Here are a few things that I found and so sharing it for reference.
First of all, Who is Anna Hazare ? Wikipedia and your daily fail newspaper aside, read this blog post from Gaurav Sabnis which gives an excellent introduction to the man, about whom I did not know much hitherto.
Secondly, what is the Jan Lokpal Bill ? Well, it appears that the Govt of India has been spending considerable amount of time drafting another anti-corruption law called - the Lokpal Bill. But according to better informed folks than me, it is not good enough and so they are drafting an alternate bill called the Jan Lokpal Bill (People power baby !!!). If you have the time, inclination and patience, you can go to Anna's site and read up both the versions - http://www.annahazare.org/. See the bottom left hand corner for both the drafts.
Yes, something needed to be be done. You can read a thousand articles in support of the "movement", but no one puts it better than the genius Ramesh Srivats. Read this and tell me you were not moved.
But just in case you think - this Bill will do the trick , just hold on. I am a little skeptical. Here are 3 very cogent articles why:
1) This from Nitin Pai (@acorn): Jan Lokpal is no solution .
2) This from Amba Salekar (a practicing lawyer): The Jan Lokpal Bill: Good intentions and the road to hell
3) This from the Kafila website: At the Risk of Heresy: Why I am not Celebrating with Anna Hazare
All in all, I am very confused.
"You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!" And like it or not, as Indians we will always be part of social experiments. It seems to me that The Jan Lokpal Bill is not the hero India deserves, but the hero India needs - no correct WANTS right now.
I just wish someone could say - The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming. I just wish.
PS: This came in today from GreatBong. Superb piece. http://greatbong.net/2011/04/13/on-the-jan-lokpal-bill

MSD & YUVI

2011-04-03T22:17:00.000+05:30

16th to 19th December, 1999. Punjab played Bihar in the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. Bihar make 357 in the first innings. With a certain keeper batsman scoring 84. Punjab reply with a massive 839 as they go on to win the match. But more importantly one bloke from Punjab makes 358. Yes, he beats the score of Bihar all by himself.

Well, of course - we know who these two blokes are. The first - India's World Cup winning captain and Man of the Match in the finals. The other - the Player of the Tournament.

Some of us, including myself - had questioned the tremendous faith shown by Dhoni on Yuvraj Singh. To be honest, I would have preferred Raina over him to start the tournament. But I guess, when as a kid - you've seen this bloke hit 358 against your attack and then you get a chance to pick him for your side - you would have faith. If you've had him in your side and he has won you the T20 World Cup - you would have him in your side. If you have a record of performing in the biggest of games, you deserve a place in the side.

Well done MSD for keeping the faith. And well done Yuvraj - for repaying.

PS: I used to visit, Ranchi (Tatisilwai actually) quite often between 2005-2007 and MSD had got into the Indian team in those days. Meeting people there - quite often the conversation would move towards Dhoni. And I would listen to people say things like - My son goes to DAV Shyamali. Same school as Dhoni. You could quite clearly feel the pride they felt. And over the years - he has made them prouder. As a DAV student myself, I feel that pride myself.

And this moving story today in today's newspapers brought out another fascinating aspect of Dhoni's life - one that is hidden behind all the million dollar endorsements and ads. He has come a long way. MAHI WAY.

World Champions ? Well, Of Course !

2011-04-03T20:41:00.003+05:30

Sometimes, just sometimes, things work out the way you want. Not exactly as planned - but you get the desired result. Twenty plus years as a fan, a supporter of the Indian Cricket Team means that I had seen everything - from the tremendous highs of incredible victories to the disappointments and despair from gut wrenching defeats. But nothing matches the feeling of becoming World Champions. Not sure - anything will ever be so good again.
Going into this World Cup - the feeling was different to all others in the past. A World Cup comes once in 4 years and in all likelihood this was going to be Sachin's last one. There are a thousand adjectives to describe him - GOD, legend, icon etc etc - but let me use a very personal word to describe him. He is my HERO. So, while it is a dream come true to see your hero lift the World Cup, it is also a frightening, devastating thought that he would end his playing career without winning the World Cup.A thought that has passed my through my mind many times. It is something very hard to reconcile with - but something one has to prepare for - not everyone gets all that they wish for.
So, as we entered the World Cup as favourites, all the pressure of "Do it for Sachin" (justified and unjustified at the same time), this incredible media hype, the first World Cup in the age of Twitter and Blogs and Facebook - with all the instant reaction and criticism - you can go from being a hero to a villain or a joker in a matter of seconds - this was going to be a tournament like none before. And as the initial matches happened- a lot of folks came to the conclusion that we were a poor bowling side - a "painfully slow" fielding side and a batting side that frequently loses its way in the latter part of the innings. As things worked out - we had to go through the 3 time defending champion - Australia in the quarter final ; PAKISTAN and all the historical, political, emotional baggage they bring along with their sensational bowling, in the semis; and a wonderful Sri Lankan team in the final. And go through them - we did - with a combination of responsible batting, disciplined bowling, a fielding side which kept improving every day - reaching quite astonishing heights in the final and the calm leadership of MSD.
When I look back at these three games - we certainly had to do it the Tough Way. Perhaps you will agree - the tension before the Australia was of the type that we had never experienced before. The hype before the Pakistan game was equally unprecedented. So much so - that on the day of the final - it was only a little bit of anxiety and thoughts of what will Sreesanth do today that were bothering me :).
We discovered or should I say re-discovered new heroes for generations to come. Zaheer Khan led our bowling attack magnificiently. His opening spell in the final was splendid as was his ability to come on and take wickets at crucial moments throughout the cup. Gautam Gambhir - kept getting starts without really making the big ones - till the day of the final - where he played an innings of a lifetime. Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh - not in their top form - but still delivered absolutly massive moments of magic and inspiration at different times- but especially in the semi-final - Sehwag with his devastating little cameo at the top against Gul, Harbhajan to get rid of Akmal and Afridi at a critical juncture.
Other players chipped in as well - Kohli - consistent if not spectacular with the bat throughout - with plenty of significant partnerships, Raina - two clutch innings in the quarters and the semis, Ashwin - splendid against the Aussies, Munaf and Nehra - two top spells against Pakistan under immense pressure,
Which now brings me to the next two guys - the captain MSD and the Man of the Tournament - Yuvraj Singh. Coming into the tournament - Yuvraj had not been in good form for quite some time - but MSD stuck with him - even if it meant sacrificing Raina in the starting 11 initially. Boy did he make it up with 15 wickets, over 350 runs and some fantastic fielding in the knock out matches. And what about MSD - a man who's every decision is scrutinised and debated in news rooms to board rooms, from drawing rooms to chat rooms - kept getting a few things wrong but most things right. He had a quiet World Cup with the bat though - which was reason enough for some folks to say that he would not be a deserved winner if he did not perform as a batsman. People criticise him, abuse him, ridicule him, but the dude remains himself. And as some of us know - the dude from Ranchi has balls of steel and he played a quite stunning innings to finish off the final. LIKE A BOSS.
Which brings me finally to Sachin. He batted throughout the tournament - as he is expected - he finished as the second highest run getter. But more importantly - he provided us with moments of joy and inspiration - moments that will remain our most cherished memories. And so when it finally happened, to see him being carried around the field by his team-mates, to see him celebrate like a kid and with his kids, to see him pop the champagne, to see him kiss the cup that had eluded him for so long - was a feeling of ecstacy, a feeling of catharsis. And what was even more touching was to see the love that his teammates had for him - summed up best by this quote from young Virat Kohli - He's carried the burden of the nation for 21 years so it's time we carried him on our shoulders"
It is important to note - that this triumph is to be shared with the legends who just missed out - Kumble, Dada, Dravid, Laxman and Srinath. They are all builders of this current Indian team and so we must salute them as well along with our 15 champions. And also time for a salute to Gary Kirsten and his coaching staff. All proper Indian legends now. A job well done.
For my generation of cricket fans - the ones who were "born World Champions" (born between 83 and 87), this is the moment which repays the hours and hours that we have spent watching the telly. What a World Cup this has been ! We have experienced anxiety, nevousness, tension, relief, joy -in a cycle repeated time and again and again. We have beaten worthy opponents and beaten them well. It has been the journey of a lifetime. And in the end - it had a happy ending.
So this is how good it feels to be World Champions ? Well, Of Course.
PS: The Cricinfo Gallery is a must watch, as is this blog post from Sidvee - describes what all of us feel in a far more eloquent way.

World Champions.

Thank you Team India. Thank you very much.

We ain't got a clue

2011-03-31T20:55:00.002+05:30

It was a game which had a lot of mistakes. MSD (as he told later) misread the pitch and included an extra seamer. And so as the game began - a lot many folks including myself were moaning and complaining about having an 11 with Nehra and Munaf - BOTH in it. Sad jokes were cracked throughout the day. And on the other hand - Pakistan created what is surely a genuine Guinness World Record of dropping SRT 4 times. FOUR TIMES. In the end - their mistake proved to be more costly as we posted a competitive total of 260 and then stiffled the Pakis to win it by 29 runs.
Sometimes - we get on the case of some players - far too much than justified. Yes, Munaf Patel is not Glenn Mcgrath. Yes, Ashish Nehra is not Wasim Akram. But -hey - they are part of the best 15 players we have got and so having a little faith would not be too bad. But our "intelligence" often comes in the way of faith as we moan and bitch far too much.
But then again - who doesn't love a pleasant surprise ? And so when these two dudes bowled a couple of wonderful spells - my bosses in the office came up with this - I thought it was very apt. So respect. And love. To the two LEGENDS !!!

For the record - THAT Munaf delivery to get the RAZZLER out was one from Venkatesh Prasad's stock. The leg-cutter to get the most dangerous of death over hitters in the game is the biggest highlight for me to add to the epic IndoPak World Cup moments collection.
This World Cup has been an epic journey for me. There is a lot - lot - to write. But will do that all after the finals. There is one last game to be played. Good Luck India. God-Speed.
PS: Hey Pakistan. The score is FIVE AND O. Yeah 5-0. PAANCH. Ok.

Tough Match

2011-03-25T00:00:00.002+05:30

There was very little sleep last night. Got up and started working from 5 am to cut the tension. Not very useful. Read this absolutely delightful post from Sidvee on the bus. Mood improved a little. Had some yellow coloured Semige Bath for breakfast. Yellow being the key here.
To give an analogy, the last time I was this tense was on the day of my CA Finals Result. Anyone who has ever become a CA will tell you exactly how nervous one gets on that day. But then again, one can give the exam 6 months down the line, here - today could be Sachin's last World Cup match. There is no turning back from here. As the Indian Express Headline said - It's like death - you don't want to talk or think about it - but when that nasty thought comes.......
Worked very little, full tension about the match. Then it all started, with well of course, MSD losing the toss. Aussies batting first - Brisbane, Mumbai, Oval, Jo'burg - now Motera too - Damn. But well bowled overall - but pRicky scores yet another hundred against us. In a big game. Don't like him - but he is too good. What to do ?
Back home by 6.45 - first ball I watch and there is a referral against Sehwag. Close call but he survives. What follows is the chase of a lifetime. Sachin - Mt 18K, Gambhir - 2 mins of madness. But hey Water Boy was on fire !! Yes, he "fished" outside the offstump a lot, but boy did he and Raina finish it off. We will have new World Champions. "Aussie kee taisi" and all that. Yes - don't like most of their bunch - but respect (probably because I am in a good mood) to Pwnting, BLEE and Mr Cricket. What players.
Next up - Pakistan. But for now, we live to fight another day.

It all ends this Thursday

2011-03-21T22:18:00.001+05:30

India vs Australia is NOT the quarter final match up I was looking for. We have not beaten them in a world cup match since 1987. We have come close though - a 1 run defeat in 1987, a 1 run defeat in 1992, a 10 run defeat in 1996. But after that the gap has grown - a 77 run defeat in 1999, followed by two massive defeats in 2003 - a 9 wicket loss early in the tournament and then the 125 run defeat in the finals.
Given how poorly India have bowled and fielded and batted in the latter part of their innings in the Group Stages - it is hard to expect a win. Given our dismal record against the Aussies in the world cup, it makes it even more difficult. We have beaten them in big games before though over the years - The Titan Cup matches, Sharjah 1998, Dhaka, 1998, Nairobi 2000, the Tri Series win down under in 2008 to give a few. Few and far between yes, but we can do it on a given day.
If we are to lose though, I want the team to go down swinging. Like Sachin in The Desert Storm.

Naama-Sutraa

2011-03-19T12:37:00.010+05:30

[Disclaimer: This post is an utter waste of time and space. Read forward only if you have a LOT of time to kill. This was written on some day when I was a bit "mental", but now that it is in my drafts - I am posting it anyway.]
About 9 or 10 months ago, I had come to Bangalore in the company of the great Anand Radhakrishnan (when I was still living in Mangalore) apparently for only speaking on a random topic for 2 minutes. And then they asked me to speak on: "Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying". I had no clue that this was a famous quote from a certain Ralph Emerson and the phrase was actually a positive one. I spoke some shit (there is a Youtube video of that apparently but please do me a favour and don't watch it) and came back from the stage and the first reaction I had was - Oh ! I could have cracked a few Navjot Singh Sidhu jokes - he certainly is a loud personality and most of the time I can't hear what he is saying.
Identity and personality can be tricky to establish as this dialogue sequence from the most awesomely awesome Tropic Thunder shows
Kirk Lazarus: I know who I am! I'm a dude playing a dude disgused as another dude!
Kevin Sandusky: What?
Kirk Lazarus: You're a dude that don't know what dude he is!
Tugg Speedman: Or are you a dude who has no idea what dude he is and claims to know what dude he is...
Jeff Portnoy: What the fuck are you guys talking about?
Tugg Speedman: - by playing other dudes?
Haha.....

But let's leave aside all these deeper, philosophical thoughts about identity and personality and just focus on simpler thing such as names.
If people around the world would also have been as obsessed about our "bhalo naam" (Good name) and "daak naam" (Pet name) concept, some famous dialogues/ quotes might just have been a little different:
William Shakespeare would have written:
"What's in a good name?
That which we call a rose
By any other good name would smell as sweet."
Ian Fleming's super agent would introduce himself as :
The good name's Bond.... James Bond.
And the man known as The Gladiator would have said this to Commodus: “My good name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance...."
Then again all these are foreigners who know little about Indian culture and language. What pisses is me of is the lack of common sense on the part of Indian film directors - Why shouldn't the famous hit song be called - My good name is Anthony Gonsalves ...... And why o why is the Karan Johar movie not called - My good name is Khan........Had he told the blokes at the airport - Mera Bhalo Naam Rizwaan Khaan haai - they would have immediately identified him as the bloke who is pretending to be a Bong as the owner of KKR but is actually an actor but certainly not a terrorist.
Let's face it - we Indians take our names extremely seriously. The good name part of it at least. Pundits and priests determine what would be the first letter for a kid's name - no less. One of my friends had a son and it was determined that his name was to start with a "Y". As we were working in the IT industry, I suggested the name "Yahoo!" very enthusiastically, but it was not really met with much appreciation.
The only movie that gets this apparently simple but complex issue spot on is The Namesake. An exceptional movie which talks about identity and names. The Good and the Nick(or Nikhil) part of it, if you know what I mean.
And one last thing - having a good "good name" is not good enough. The spelling has to be just right as well. No wonder people are changing Ks and Cs, adding the extra H here, the extra K there and the extra I somewhere in between. But it is still all very confusing. When I read this link some time back from @supriyan . Granted he is a dictator and a very powerful man, but having 29 (and counting) different versions of your spelling is a bit much I think.
So come on now - tell me what is your 'Daak Naam' ? What is your 'Bhalo Naam' ? Do you have a namesake ?
For the record - they call me Babuntoo at home.

But can Sachin score on a cold, wet night at Stoke ?

2011-03-07T22:40:00.001+05:30

As Sachin Tendulkar continues to score more runs, his tally now standing at a not too insignificant amount of over 32,000 runs in international cricket, his critics on the internet also just seem to keep rising. For example, just a couple of days ago, the editor of a business newspaper of India was blunt enough to suggest that Sachin is just a selfish player. And when compared to him, Sreesanth at least fields.
And last night, this random bloke called abhility asked a very pertinent question. He tweeted that while it is all very well for Sachin to score a few runs here and there - Can he score on a cold, wet night at Stoke ? It is to be noted that world famous football commentator and champion of sexism, Andy Gray has often raised similar doubts on Lionel Messi's ability to perform on a cold, wet night at Stoke.
On being reminded by several Sachin followers that Stoke is not a cricket team and that Sachin had scored a century at Old Trafford -which is good enough - for most football fans - abhility replied that the Stoke challenge is far more significant given the fact that it is widely believed that Stoke also play a game which is not football. It is also to be noted that there is a long held belief among several pundits led by the Big Sam Allardyce, that Sachin is known to not like it up him. A well directed two handed beamer from Rory Delap should be good enough to take care of the little fella. And as a final point in his argument - it was said that Sachin Tendulkar was only 2 years old when Tony Pulis, the Stoke City coach, made his professional debut.

Why I can't dance Saala

2011-03-05T00:57:00.002+05:30

Among the vast number of "life-skills" that I suck at - for eg - cooking, painting, writing (or hand-writing to be more precise), driving, speaking and so on - dancing has to be on the top of the list. I am not putting singing on this list, because as I have mentioned in this post, had I been not cruelly cut short as a kid, my singing career could have gone places.
But coming back to dancing, and I am the type of person, who makes Sunny Deol look like Hrithik Roshan. And Sourav Ganguly as Prabhu Deva. The song Pappu can't dance Saala could well have been written about me... Other than the spectacular, muscular part of it.
And so while I have outwardly pretended to not care about this particular shortcoming of mine and dismissed any picture taken of mine at attempted dancing - as random movements of my various body parts under the influence of mild alcoholic beverages, I would be lying to say that it has not bothered me. Not too much to lose sleep for nothing bothers me that much, but just enough to cringe within when seeing these reality dance shows. Or watching friends dance at parties.
So when I came across this link on Google News today, I learnt a scientific explanation of why some people can't dance well. Quoting from the article here:
"...Large changes in a chemical messenger, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is partly to blame for those among us who are clumsy dancers and unable to grasp the nuances of this form of art, claims a new study.
........
Scientists found the proportion of the substance GABA tends to rise and fall dramatically in brains of people who are good at learning sequences of movements.

However, the level of the chemical is more stable in those who have trouble with the task at hand..."
So there I have it - while Dada could conquer the Gabba, his GABA factor is far too stable to make him a good dancer. Or me, for that matter.
On that point, here's a #youremember video to make you smile hopefully. Or cringe.

I was there

2011-02-28T23:20:00.002+05:30

February 27th, 2011. Bangalore. India and England played a cricket match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. I am pretty sure that highlights of this match would be replayed over and over again on sports channels for the next 50 years.
After having expressed my outrage that my beloved Kolkata had been denied the chance to host this match, fate had taken a turn for the nicer when Bangalore - my current location - got the match. And thanks to a friend of mine, I did get a ticket for the big game, although I did have to pay a small fortune for that.
It was a nice and cool day and I reached the stadium rather early. Before that, there was the small matter of a breakfast at MTR, but curiously enough they had run out of Vadas and Sambhar. But then with Idly and Dosa in my tummy, and hope in my heart, there we were - almost right above the sight screens in Block N.
Reaching early gave me the chance to have a closer look at the two teams - who went about their practice in rather different fashions. The English - a lot more brisk and business like, the Indians - relaxed and laidback. The crowd was already beginning to find its voice though and there were particularly loud cheers for KP - the RCB hero - a massive hit here. Well, of course the cheers for Sachin and Dhoni were louder when they came out to practice.
Somewhere in between, we had Sourav Ganguly and Nasser Hussain, Sunil Gavaskar and Mike Atherton come out and have a look at the pitch. The experts were in the middle and there was a lot of "expert advice" coming from the crowd as well.
And so the toss and there was an upset straightaway. MS Dhoni won a TOSS!! and as the crowd had been wanting all along - India were going to bat. A quick word about the crowd - they were in all shapes and sizes. The massive hunk with the 16 inch biceps to the petite, young teenage girl, the young kid in his shorts to the Dadaji in his pyajamas. And in between - a fair number of Englishmen - all of them extremely sporting and cheerful - with some of them even getting the tricolour painted on their cheeks as a symbol of goodwill. I suddently realised that this was India's first World Cup game at home since THAT evening at the Eden Gardens in 1996. Dravid and Ganguly never got a chance to play a home World Cup and I felt sad about that. Indian cricket has changed totally since that game. Well, almost. Because there was Sachin Tendulkar - still a constant - like the sun - he was the brightest star then, he is the brightest star now.
Time for the national anthems then. The English one first and God Save the Queen got a generous round of applause. And now time for Jana Gana Mana. Now I have sung the anthem in school assemblies and Independence Day/Republic Day functions. Perhaps in crowds of one or two thousands at the maximum. But the feeling of singing together with 30-35 thousand people, with our heroes and icons out in the centre is quite undescribale. Goosebumps and all that - you have to be there to feel it - hope you get a chance for that as well.

And then the match began. Sehwag on strike and as his game - he was "living on the edge" from the first ball itself. And then suddenly the roar of the crowd went up dramatically. It was like someone put the volume of a TV up to the max, the decibel levels went up quite incredibly. Yes, God was on strike and what an innings he went on to play.
And the innings went pretty much as per the plan. A Sehwag cameo, a Gambhir 50 in a controlled fashion, a Yuvraj 50 to signal his slow return back to form and a few staggering hits by Dhoni.
But most importantly, a Sachin 100. To see him play the way he did - controlled, determined, precise, immaculate -I pinched myself a few times to believe it was all truly happening in front of me. He did have a slowish start though - slow enough for a couple of aunties behind me to crib - Oy Sachin - score runs yaar - useless fellow - wasting balls. But he made it up. He made it all up - by bringing up his 47th hundred, hitting no less than 5 sixes in his knock. The sensation of seeing him get the 100 was quite something. Divine is the word.

And so while it finished in a bit of a rush of wickets - we had got 339 on the board (or so we believed - the 1 run deducted proved to be oh, so crucial) - and time to have some food. The rather expensive ticket of mine entitled me to some free food. There was a piece of Jalebi thrown in. Little did I know that the shape of the match would be resemble that.
So back with some food in the stomach and the Englishmen were right on top of our bowling from the start. KP really had Zak's number and it took a fortuitous catch from Munaf to get his wicket. Trott came and went, before Bell and Strauss put up what eventually became a staggering partnership. Over after over - the runs kept coming and the slowly but surely they kept coming at the target. The confidence in the supporters started to waiver, then shake, impatience came, followed by desperation. The Bell UDRS drama only increased the frustration as a few cheater chants were thrown. With Ganguly and Hussain, both in the crowd, it looked like Lord's and the Natwest win might just be avenged here by the English.
A few words about Strauss' knock. He played as relaxed, as controlled, as composed a knock as he almost comes across as a person. He stays so still at the crease, so balanced - his movements so economical and so precise. 150 of the very best ODI runs you would see - scored in a clinical fashion, but this was not really what the Doctor (Mallya) had ordered for the Indians.
There was talk of rain as well before the match, but the weather remained nice and cool throughout, just like Andrew Strauss in the middle and so Messers Duckworth and Lewis (who had England in the lead almost througout) were kept at bay.
The practical (the ones who have to reach home early - as the next day is a Monday) and the smart ones (India will surely lose) left early - somewhere in between the Strauss-Bell marathon. The passionate and the stupid however remained. And while most of us where grumbling and muttering about our abject bowling, unathletic fielding and the flat pitch, there was always someone in the crowd - a totally hopeless moron who would start a chant every now and again - trying to galvanise the crowd - one more time - one last time.
The English took the Power Play in the 43rd over. Something incredible happened then. It's hard to describe what happened but suddenly the desperation of the crowd created what can only be be described as a "magical atmosphere". An atmosphere charged with intense frenzy, emotion, passion. It was crowd pressure on the English of the highest order. And then in two balls two wickets fell - Ian Bell clearly affected by a little injury picked up in the last order, succumbed to the crowd - hitting a skyer, followed by a yorker from Zaheer to get Strauss out LBW. It was almost like the Zaheer of 2000, as this one zoomed in middle stump. The crowd erupted with joy - now there was hope when 5 minutes ago there was none. And Collingwood, Prior and Yardy - perished in the delirium as the match swung dramatically in India's favour.
The Power Play had started with England needing 58 to win of 42 balls with 8 wickets in hand. It ended with 29 to win off 12. We had wrested back the game from the English who it appeared had picked our pockets and run away with the game.
But there was a sting in the tail of this one. The next over from the young Piyush Chawla produced 15 runs with 2 massive sixes. The roller coaster had suddenly taken yet another turn - this time for the worse and suddenly we were nervous, shaking, panicking again. They needed 14 of the last over and the stunning six of the 3rd ball by Ahmed Shahzad, reduced the equation to 5 of 3. The last 3 balls were better from Munaf and the match ended in a Tie.
Funnily , I had told an NRI supporter who was curiously enough cheering with both the Indians and the English that I think it will be a tie - whatsay when the powerplay started. I was joking of course, but I have got into this habit of predicting absurd results correctly from some time.
We left the stadium - half happy, half sad, half relieved, half gutted. We had got out of jail, we had blown an easy win. The term mixed feelings came to mind. But for those 5 magical overs - the scenes in the stands were incredible. We were high fiving with absolute strangers in the crowd - people whom you have never met before, people perhaps you will never see again - united by the love of the game and support for the team. The now twitter joke of "In the end, cricket was the winner" also came to mind. Walking out - there was a few nods of respect to the English fans as well - in all fairness their team did not deserve to lose. But neither did this crowd. A tie was a fair result.
This Indian team has its limitations. We all know it. And so for us to go deep in this tournament, we will need our crowds to do their bit. So if you are in Chennai, Nagpur, Delhi, or indeed if and when we play the Quarter Finals, Semi Final or indeed the Finals in Ahmedabad, Mohali and Mumbai - go out and shout. You can make the difference.
Truly unbelievable stuff. And yes, I was there.

(Pics courtesy: Aditya and Cricinfo)

Viru Almighty

2011-02-19T22:49:00.004+05:30

Viru: Who are you?

God: I'm the one. The Divine Being. Alpha and Omega.
Viru: Oh, I see where this is going.
God: Viru... I'm God.
........
Viru: Where are you going?
God: I'm taking a vacation.
Viru: God doesn't take vacations. Does he?... Do... ye?
God: Did you ever hear of tennis elbows? Besides, I'm covered. You can clear everything up in five overs, if you want to. Right?
God: [walking across the pitch with Viru] You have all my powers. Use them any way you like. There are just two things you can't do: You can't tell anyone you're God. Believe me, you don't want *that* kind of attention.
Viru: And the other?
God: You can't mess with YOUR free mind.
Viru: Can I ask why?
God: Yes you can! That's the beauty of it!
.........
Viru: [standing in the middle of the pitch] I am Viru Almighty! My will be done!

God: Aaila !! He's got the Power !!

Thank You Arsenal

2011-02-17T22:05:00.002+05:30

The wonderful Gilberto Silver of Gunnerblog created this wonderful blog post based on Rudyard Kipling's IF . It has become a sort of rallying call for Arsenal fans (at least for me) before a big game on twitter and I actually get very moved every time I see the page. And may Gooners would have visited the page yesterday as well.

Last night's win against Barcelona is one of the best feelings I have had being an Arsenal fan. It's over a decade now - I don't remember exactly when I became one. But it's been a long time for sure. I started watching the match and somewhere in between went to sleep - exhausted by my day's work and seeing Barcelona's tiki-taka. They were playing bloody brilliant. But there was something about the way we were playing which just made the heart swell with pride. And the pride of Arsenal was wonderfully on display in the form of young Jack Wilshere battling against the likes of Xavi and Iniesta.
And then we scored two goals, got a bit of luck and it finished 2-1. The term EPIC WIN is appropriate to describe this. I think.
For posterity's sake - here is today's Arseblog. And I am taking this picture from there (so credits to @arseblog and @tottz82). Every picture tells a story. This is THE story.

So, Thank You very much Arsene and my beloved Arsenal. Godspeed.
[PS: Some beautiful pictures from the most beautiful of nights.]

There is only one Dada

2011-02-12T00:28:00.003+05:30

It is difficult for me to write about Sourav Ganguly. It gets very personal, very emotional and hard to string together coherent sentences.

Sourav Ganguly divides opinion among cricket fans like no one else. Some love him and some hate him. But very few could ever ignore him. Till the IPL 4 auctions happened and no one made a bid for him.

I had tried to write something about him since then, made a few attempts and then gave up. And then I thought why not put down some interesting things written about him by the writers that I admire and so cricinfo archives provided me the place to go and get the "good stuff". This blog is more about that "good stuff" and less from me.

When I think about it, his early years were like one of those beautiful elegant cover drives. There was a certain sense of freshness that he brought to the crease - an aesthetically pleasing left hander - the first that I had seen in the Indian team. Those days he was, as Rahul Dravid famously quipped, the "GOD of the off side".

Then came the captaincy phase - years I would described best by his dance down the crease lifting spinners out of the ground. Quite simply a triumph.

And then his latter years - the trials and tribulations and the comeback - best portrayed by the shot which he played quite often in ODIs - charging and making room on the leg side against the fast bowlers - flaying them over the 30 yard circle for a four. A shot of defiance.

How he batted on ODIs is described in a beautiful but simple way by the genius Sidvee here in this random match report I picked where he made a modest 59. There is a touch of nostalgia about it as well, considering that this is written in 2007:

Ganguly comes with his tailor-made methods, backing away, taking his right leg out of the way and connecting with awesome timing. It is these violent, manic innings that suit him best. Streaky one moment, controlled the next. That is the Ganguly we knew, the one who was quite an unstoppable batsman in his prime.

Dileep Premachandran, one of the best out there wrote this recently No one divides like Ganguly

Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, no other Indian cricketer has inspired such devotion. Even after he quit the Test arena, with an innings of 85 and a first-ball duck, "Dada" would be lavished with admiration wherever he went. I've been at IPL games in Mohali and Bangalore where other opposition players would be booed and jeered. But for the man perceived as Indian cricket's lionheart, there was only adoration.

The well respected Australian Peter Roebuck wrote this article The many sides of Sourav on Ganguly's retirement:

It has been an astonishing career. Some men prefer to follow a predictable path and their stories tell of a slow rise to the top and an equally measured decline. To that end instinct is subdued, contention avoided and risk reduced. That has been altogether too dull for Ganguly. Throughout he has toyed with his fate, tempting it to turn its back on him so that once again he could surprise the world with a stunning restoration. Something in him rebelled against the mundane and the sensible. He needed his life to be full of disasters and rescues, and comebacks and mistakes and memorable moments. To hell with the prosaic. At heart he is a cavalier, albeit of mischievous persuasion.

The wonderful Rahul Bhattacharya, cricket writer extraordinaire (and a Bong) wrote the following as the first paragraph in this wonderful article The Heart of the Matter:
At some stage, hard to say when, Sourav Ganguly no longer remained a cricketer and turned into a folk hero and a folk villain. Averages and the rest came into it but with Ganguly things became a matter of convictions of the soul. Anything he did or did not do could provoke an outcry. Everything that was done to him or not done to him could provoke an outcry. Ganguly issues took the form of movements. In many ways he is the cricketer-phenomenon in India's modern pop culture

It really sums up almost everything I would want to say about him, but with far greater beauty than I can ever come up with.

There is this great mystery in my mind as to how good a captain he really was. Was he truly instrumental, single-handedly responsible for making India an overseas test winning, aggressive outfit ? Or was he simply lucky to be the captain of side which had God, The Wall, VVS, Sehwag, Kumble etc. I don't think it is quite possible to objectively segregate the collective contribution of these legends and the impact of Ganguly's leadership, but I will say this. Being the captain of a cricket team in these days of intense media scrutiny, match referees, oppositions who sledge and involve in gamesmanship et al is not an easy job. My belief is that as a captain of the Indian team, Dada allowed the more talented amongst his team-mates to get on with their games, concentrate on their individual contributions and make the most of their considerable talent and skills, while taking the flak of the opposition and dealing with those who threw the rule book at him. He did the dirty work and the others flourished around him, with him.

[Quick Edit: This tribute by Greatbong is a must read as well: His Last Bow ]
All this is fine but how does one end without mentioning the most memorable of Ganguly moments. The moment which Sidvee (again :D) recalls so vividly (literally) here: Ganguly takes his shirt off . Here's a few lines from that to end on a happy note:

I remember it vividly. Mum was woken from her sleep, dad was going ballistic in his rocking chair, and I was prancing between hall, kitchen and mid-air. All of a sudden, one glance at the television and there was Sourav Ganguly baring his torso, swinging his India shirt, hurling invective, making quite a spectacle of himself. ...

An extraordinary match got its perfect climax - hero extracting revenge and indulging in a war dance. The Wankhede and Lord's would be treated equally. We needed no further vindication that this Indian team was playing an inspired brand of cricket, not only with bat and ball but also with the head, and that it would wear its heart on its sleeve...

I think it is fair to say, Indian cricket was changed that day. And for the better.

Known or Unknown #youprefer

2011-02-05T19:33:00.002+05:30

Donald Rumsfield once said:
As we know,

There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
For some stupid reason, I thought this was very smart and had quoted this in a letter to someone, trying to be a smart alec. That person obviously did not find it very funny.
Reading The Black Swan this week, sort of triggered a flashback about this quote, so sharing this again. Enjoy.

Eden Gardens: A timeline

2011-01-29T16:01:00.000+05:30

1987: Host of world cup final. A crowd of 90,000 or so comes to watch what is an anti-climatic final between Australia and England. The venue comes out with great credit in what is perhaps the best world cup final till date.

1996: Host of world cup opening ceremony and semi final. After digging up the pitch to have Beauty queens emerge from within the earth, by the time the second innings of the semi final was underway, the pitch had become a mine-field. The match ended amidst riots and tears.

2011: Given just one match of some significance. India vs England in the group stages. But the Cricket Association of Bengal is unable to get the stadium ready on time.
The time line is fairly indicative of the decline of a ground. Whether it is indicative of a decline of a city, state, culture and its people or not - I leave it for you to decide.

I have just one word for all this. Disgraceful.

Best of Luck, Sachin

2011-01-26T19:05:00.001+05:30

When Sachin Tendulkar made his debut, I was 5 years old. When I saw my first cricket world cup, I was 8. From 1992 to 2007, we've had 5 attempts without winning it. In four of them at least, we did beat Pakistan though. A small consolation, but a good one nevertheless.
1992 was tough, we were not really a great side and we did not do much other than beat Pakistan at Sydney that time. 1996 was different. We were the hosts and Sachin Tendulkar had become the pre-eminent player in world cricket around then. We had a great win over the Pakis in Bangalore in the quarter finals and then we messed it up against the Lankans in the semi-finals. 1999 in England and again a fairly average performance as we failed to go past the new concept of Super 6s. Somwhere in between Sachin lost his father and the country mourned the loss. And then cheered as he came back to play for his country. Beating Pakistan at Old Trafford was fun, but the killer blow proved to be that extremely silly defeat against Zimbabwe earlier. 2003 was brilliant. We had a superb team and we beat everybody we faced. Rather easily. Including Pakistan at Centurian with a Sachin special. Other than Australia, who to be fair, were a much better team than us. And so finishing runners up was actually a fair reflection and while it was terribly disappointing losing in the final, I could take it. 2007 was just a case of bad timing all round, it clashed with my preparations of CA Final Exams, it clashed with us having Greg Chappel as coach etc etc. So basically no memories from that to take away.
2011 is here now. 22 years since Sachin began his debut. OUR 6th World Cup together. And the last chance to win it. Can we win it ? Yes. Will we win it? Don't know.
Not everyone fulfills all of their dreams you know. For instance, not everyone gets into the college they want, gets the job they want, marries the boy/girl they love etc etc. Seeing Sachin win the world cup has been a bit like that. An impossible dream so far. But there is still one last chance. And till we are not out of it, I will continue to hope, and pray.
This recent ad that is on TV showing kids helping prepare Sachin's kit is beautiful. The ad is literally an example for the term 'labour of love'. Kids who were not even born when he started playing helping him get ready for battle. Come to think of it, is there any person out there (other than my parents) that I would do something like that ? No, none other than Sachin. And while I understand that the kids in the ad are all lovely actors, the mixture of love and awe on their faces looking at Sachin is exactly what I see myself having if I was there.

Very few things in life are unconditional. Especially love for someone. Unless your name is Sachin Tendulkar.
Best of Luck, Sachin.

It's all so fuckin' hysterical

2011-01-08T14:51:00.007+05:30

A conversation from Road to Perdition.

Peter Sullivan: Why are you always smiling?

Connor Rooney: Cause it's all so fuckin' hysterical.

Whenever something about the IPL happens, I cannot stop smiling. You know why ? 'Cause it's all so fuckin' hysterical'. Whether it's the cheerleaders, the "sweat-equity", the after match parties, a national team cricketer slapping another, the auctions, a very long and inspirational speech ;) or a team based on TV Series from the 80s, much amusement is guaranteed.
I don't know if IPL is taking cricket on the Road to Perdition, but it sure is fuckin' hysterical.

So long and thanks for all the wickets

2011-01-08T11:18:00.001+05:30

This week Anil Kumble retired from all forms of cricket. The event passed without me getting much time to reflect on it, thanks to a hectic work schedule. But reading this article by Sidvee got me thinking about this colossus of a cricketer and just share an incident with you.
A couple of years ago, Kumble was the Chief Guest at the Excellence Awards Function of my company. With me being in Mangalore those days, I was watching it on a large screen via video conference. And when his turn came to speak, he was asked the usual questions about his career, cricket in general, excellence and so on. And while I don't remember the exact words, he gave a lovely comparison of Sachin's career and his own.
He said that throughout Sachin's career he has had the challenge of proving the pundits right. And throughout his own career, he has had the challenge of proving the critics wrong. And both of them had succeeded in doing that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought it was wonderfully put across. Just think about it. Sachin Tendulkar came to the cricket scene as a child prodigy who was destined to rule the cricket world. He has done it and continues to do so. Kumble however was the man, who was written off even before he started for his unorthodox action, lack of turn etc etc. However he went on to become India's greatest match winner in test cricket.
For a man who apparently could not spin the ball, he got a fair number of wickets. It's hard to pinpoint the moment when he first captured my imagination but I think the Hero Cup Final against the West Indies at Eden Gardens where he got 6/12 probably did the trick and made me a fan. Forever.

Since then it has been a pleasure of following his career. And along with all the cricketing pleasure of seeing him take all those wickets, and even score a test century or be involved in the odd match winning partnership; for the cricket fan in me it has been a character building journey of following a man who epitomised determination, perseverance and patience.
Thank You Anil Kumble.

Pwntingface

2011-01-01T13:32:00.002+05:30

In the 'The Dark Knight', Harvey Dent says - "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

I sometimes wonder if Ricky Ponting thinks about that these days ? Probably not but who knows.

PS: Ponting deserves a longer blog post with a lot more seriousness and I will write about him. Probably after the world cup.

PS 2: Whoever it was that originally came up with the Pontingface idea is a genius. Love all the twitpics and such that have been made :)

The Bhaat Trilogy

2010-12-18T11:11:00.008+05:30

Note: This post is meant only for Bengalis or at least those who understand Bengali. And are preferably non - vegetarian :)

One of the great thing about following interesting people on Twitter is that you come across some really funny, interesting links. And just like that I came across the videos I have linked here.

As a Bengali living outside Kolkata for the last 2-3 years, I miss having conversations in Bengali about food. And drinks. Especially with the true connoisseurs, of which there is no shortage back in Kolkata. I fondly remember the lunches and dinners I shared with a manager of mine, when I was doing my articleship, during which he would talk about Hilsa and Chingri; about how soft the mutton is in Karim's Delhi; and how a Biryani on Jumma day taken from the top of the pot at Shiraz is better than the rest; among other things.

So when I came across these links - it certainly made me nostalgic on one hand and absolutely delighted to listen to some classic Bangali Bhaat (Bengalis would know what I mean here).

So I present to you what I call the Bhaat trilogy: 3 talks covering food and drink and a lot more. Delivered by this unknown gentleman. Sit back and enjoy. And go about them one after the other to enjoy the flow.

The Bhaat trilogy comprises of

Scotch Puran

Brandy Bilas

Shuorer Mangsho o Grand Canyon

Football transfer spends - Part 1

2010-12-11T21:35:00.001+05:30

Some time back I had stumbled across this very informative site Transferleague.co.uk . This site provides quite a detailed and comprehensive information about the transfer activities of English Football Clubs.

Let me provide 3 snapshots from this site - which capture very effectively the transfer spending of various football clubs in the Premier League Era.

Net Spend of English Clubs since the start of the Premier League.

Net Spending of English Football Clubs since 2003 (Post The Roman Revolution). The impact of the Oil Money flowing into the premiership can be clearly seen at the top of the table.

And Finally a snapshot showing the effect of significant events on Transfer Spends of the Bigger Clubs in England.

I intend to follow this up with a more detailed analysis sometime in the future, especially from an Arsenal viewpoint covering topics such as the correlation of spending with success on the pitch and which clubs have bucked the trend and how
For the time being, I invite the readers for their first comments on the spendings of their clubs over the years and what do they foresee in the future.

Toilets and writings on the walls

2010-12-05T18:27:00.001+05:30

Late last month, I visited Kolkata for a holiday. The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (aka Dum Dum) was ....well...let's say quite different from the Bangalore International Airport. So I took a couple of pics of the toilets in the two places just for the sake of comparison. You tell me which pic is taken where ?

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

Interestingly, I also found this written on the walls of the same BIAL toilet, but could not find a comparative one in Dum Dum. Perhaps the impact of the movie Gunda has been more in Bangalore :)

PS: Suhel Seth continues to write in the Graphiti (which also means writing on the wall) magazine - published every Sunday by The Telegraph. This one had to be shared. More insulting than amusing - but then that's his style. On asking my younger brother (a Class XII student), as to why would anyone even write to this Bhodrolok - his reply was interesting. He said that he is convinced that Mr Seth creates his own questions and answers. Word, I say.

The mother and sister of English

2010-11-13T20:34:00.004+05:30

I am sure you have noticed that the English language used by most people these days is hardly ornamental. Or flowery. Or sexy. This article today in Livemint shows how every Ram -Shaam, Jodhu -Modhu is becoming an author. And even with their numerous grammatical mistakes, they are hardly amusing to read. Check out this example from the same article - Chandraprakash Mohata’s Patyala Down De Throat… A sweet melody from pegs to riches
"...It was in a short time we had made ourselves comfortable with the computer machines; a bomb shell babe attracted our attention with an interruption. She seemed pretty with a perfect ten. Long hairs, sharp nose, thin lips twisted in a snarl.". In twitter lingo - #EpicFail.
What I really miss is seeing some good, old Legalese, where legal terms are combined in long-winded sentences, or varied or with permutations, with the initial design of legal or drafting precision but which otherwise add unnecessary complexity or inadvertently resulting in confusion. What fun I say ! Take this example taken from here.
When a layperson wants to give you an orange, he or she merely says, “I give you this orange.”
But when a lawyer - a master of legalese says it, the words he or she uses are:–
“Know all persons by these present that I hereby give, grant, release, convey, transfer and quitclaim all my right, title, interest, benefit and use whatsoever in, or and concerning this chattel, otherwise known as an orange, or citrus aurantium, together with all the appurtenances thereto of skin, pulp, pip, rind, seeds and juice to have and to hold the said orange, for his own use and behoof, to himself and his heirs, in fee simple forever, free from all liens, encumbrances, easements, limitations, restraints or conditions whatsoever, any and all prior deeds, transfer, or other documents whatsoever, now or anywhere made to the contrary notwithstanding, with full power to bite, cut, suck or otherwise eat the said orange or to give away the same, with or without its skin, pulp, pip, rind, seeds or juice.” Is it not wonderful ?
I am also pained by the diminishing use of Babu English or Butler English all aroundme. Take this example taken from here : "The extreme stimulus of professional and friendly solicitations has led me to the journey of accomplished advantages to proceed elucidatory and critical comments: wherein no brisking has been thrown apart to introduce prima facie and useful matters to facilitate literary pursuits . If the aimed point be embraced favourably by the public, all in all grateful acknowledgement will ride on the jumping border from the very bottom of my heart". Did you #getit ? No ? Ask the meaning in an IIM interview and seperate the men from boys.
Or another one from the same article here: A book of ready-made letters for all occasions, recommending an ideal letter to a newly married girl says: "You adjusted yourself in the family of your in-laws. Always give good impression and impact to them by your every action". Pure epicness.
The point is this: If you want to write in English, write well. Or be funny (even unintentionally so if possible). Or at least write good Indian English, but Abeyaar, Don't do Maa - Behen of Angrezi. Pliss.

My Musical Career

2010-11-06T22:34:00.004+05:30

(Title fully and content mildly inspired by Stephen Leacock’s – My Financial Career – taught to us in Class XI (or some other class) CBSE English)

When I was in school I was a leader. I was a leader of outstanding ability, who took on great responsibility. (Ok, more like someone – who stood “outside” the classroom a lot and was “held responsible” for the general noise coming out of the classroom too.) Being a leader (called “Monitor” and not CDO (Class Discipline Officer) for some weird reason), I had to take several important roles. Like “maintaining silence” till the teacher came to class, or “conducting the assembly”.

A morning assembly at DAV Public School Patna, where I studied from Class II to VIII, (you know Roman Numerals don’t you?) was no ordinary session. We used to have chanting of Vedic Mantras (including the Gayatri Mantra – we never removed our shoes though – although when BIG B did that he got into trouble), followed by “The Pledge” (where we used to pledge among other things – “...all Indians are my brothers and sisters...”), Thought of the day (where we used to say some proverb or something – stuff you frequently see as Facebook statuses these days), News of the Day (prepared by diligently copying Headlines from the 8.30 News on DD the previous night – must be hard doing it now when you have to take the news from Arnab Goswami’s mouth), Poem of the Day (where students “by hearted” either English or Hindi poems from their text books – mainly to impress their teachers to give them more marks), Song of the Day ( patriotic songs written in the school diary – most of which were later found by me to be Hindi Film Songs – such as Hothon Se Choo lo tum, Itni Shakti Hume dena Data etc) and Shanti Path. Add to that, there was a drum – beaten to shift people from “Attention” to “Stand-at-Ease”.

I had been performing all roles (with elan I thought) apart from singing the Song of the Day, but was fairly certain of graduating to be able to do that. I had been confidently rattling off my shlokas with impeccable pronunciation (regular viewing of BR Chopra’s Mahabharat gave me the added edge) and my Shanti Path rendition was world famous in Patna. Some of my poem recitals had received spontaneous standing applause from the students (mainly because students had to stand during the assembly). I had a rich, baritone voice (although my mother kept insisting that it was a case of voice breaking during adolescence). I had a great stage presence (being “healthy” as a kid helped matters). My mother was an accomplished singer and so my genes were all right as well. All in all, my future as the next Kishore Kumar seemed well and truly on course.

In Class VI, a new Maths teacher – Mr Ram Kumar - arrived. He quickly went about impressing the girls by claiming that he was also a “famous singer” on All India Radio, Patna. Very soon, Math classes became part rehearsals for his next song on Radio (I exaggerate this part). And then the moment came. My turn came for “conducting the assembly” with the said Math teacher now playing a Harmonium next to me. I went about my business as a professional and delivered yet another great performance (I thought). And then I moved to the back to allow others to perform. I was taken aback a moment later, when the teacher hissed to me with clenched teeth – Don’t you ever come close to the mike again!! You don’t have the voice to sing!!! (Or something on those lines) My confidence in my voice was Shaken. And Stirred. And Snapped. And a lot more. My musical career received a devastating blow.

So that has been one blow I am yet to recover from. And while I have received offers from various sources, I have never again sung in public since that day, other than in group Antaksharis among friends, where I am found gently humming and lip-syncing.

Aiyyo-dhya

2010-10-02T23:19:00.004+05:30

The word "Ayodhya" (अयोध्या) is derived from the Sanskrit root "Yudh" (युद्ध) , meaning "fight" or "wage war," and it translates to either "not to be fought" or, less literally, "unconquerable." Is it not ironic that India's longest running dispute over a piece of land claimed by both Hindus and Muslims is IN Ayodhya - a place which is not to be fought over. (For more read here)

The verdict of the High Court on 30th September effectively asked the disputed land to be divided into 3 parts - one to Ram Lalla (the child form of Lord Ram), one to Sunni Wakf Board (the party representing the Muslims) and one to Nirmohi Akhara. Which lead to people asking who were these people ?

Nirmohi Akhara are a Hindu religious group about whom not much is available on the net, but this article here and another one here gives some idea... Interestingly enough the term "Nirmohi" (निर्मोही) means having no "moh" (मोह) or attachment., i.e. people who have renounced the material things of this world. Well, I found it ironic that people belonging to a group called "Nirmohi" would be "attached" to a piece of land which happens to be India's most disputed and controversial.

But then don't they say - Life is stranger than fiction.

Football like Politics

2010-09-25T17:06:00.005+05:30

The Run of Play - the most incredible website on the wonder and terror of football has featured some articles over the last few weeks wherein football has been described as comedy and tragedy among other things.(For all those who share an interest in literature or the English language along with football, the site is a must visit.) That got me thinking on the bus back home this week, as to there must be other things too to which football is similar to. The obvious thing that came to my mind is club football is a lot like business..... till I figured it out in 5 seconds that Club Football IS Business (Later they actually featured a post on football billionaires too - incredibly). And then it suddenly hit me that football is a bit like Indian politics. Here's why: (BTW This post is not written in a Run of Play style. It is more like a Class 12 CBSE Board Exam answer paper style )

1) Powerful few: There are probably as many football clubs in the UK as there are political parties in India. And yet, the likely winners remain a powerful few....... You know which ones I am talking about....

2) Money matters: Money can buy the league, money can buy you cups in football...... In India, money power can win you seats and elections...

3) Hooliganism/ Gunda Raj: Football fans of many clubs indulge (or at least used to indulge) in Hooliganism or unruly, destructive, aggressive and bullying behaviour. Well, in India, so do political party workers and activists at times.

4) People switch sides often: Footballers often switch sides, moving from one rival club to another..... More worryingly so do politicians in India, moving from one party/ coallition to the other. For each William Gallas, we have a Kalyan Singh, Mamata or a Mayawati. And side switching (Dal-badal) takes an entirely different dimension if you go to Bihar as this link illustrates.

5) Excessive Media attention: The English or for that matter Italian or Spanish media pays far too much attention on Football in general and more disturbingly, the darker side of the private lives of the footballers. Here in India, there are too many not so nice stories about politicians filling our newspapers as well.

6) Controversies: With high stakes to play for - there is a controversy a day in football. Did the ball cross the line ?, Was the red card given correctly ?, Was it a penalty ? Was the match fixed by having favourable referees ? . Just to name a few footballing controversies. And in the same spirit, Indian politics is filled with controversies as well: Was the election rigged ? Was the CM involved in misappropriation of funds via fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious livestock" for which fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured ? And then there are controversies about KICKBACKS - a term a very appropriate in both football and Indian politics.

7) Leadership of the unpopular: Almost nobody in France wanted Raymond Domenech as their coach of the national team but he remained in the post for over six years. Also almost nobody in India wants Suresh Kalmadi to head the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. But he has been so for God knows how many years.

8) It's all about bragging rights for the public: So your team wins the league or the party you support wins the election. All you get essentially is bragging rights - to go and brag to your neighbour or office worker about how you won and so on. Cause, let's face it, your team/party winning ain't raising your salary too much is it ?

I could have gone on a bit longer for the similarities don't end here. I am probably missing the most obvious connections The problem is I am a bit of a sucker for both European football and Indian politics. And I am not sure if I love them for all the wrong reasons ??

Cricket and Immorality

2010-09-01T12:30:00.003+05:30

Sports resembles life in infinite ways. The good, the bad and the ugly of our society and culture are all displayed, in varying degrees on the sports fields. So, when we live in a world, where corruption is a fact of life, where crime is all around us, it will be naive to expect our sporting fields to be free of them.
Now, whenever a sporting scandal happens, I find that it often gets disproportionate media attention and coverage. Which brings me to question, whether something like spot fixing on the cricket field is more worthy of attention than the day to day bribery which happen in our government offices for instance ? And secondly is it fair for us to expect our sportsmen to be on a higher plane of morality, or more incorruptible than the average man on the street ?
Anyway, moving on let me look at the various forms of cheating/ immorality that happens on our sports fields. For I find that certain forms are more reprehensible than others. Or to look at it differently, some are far more easier to understand and even empathise with than others.
1) Cheating done to help your own team in the natural course of play: Many, many examples come to my mind, but I will stick mainly to cricket for examples. For most of us, we relate to it best. Batsman gets a faint knick through to the keeper and doesn't walk off. Rather he waits for the umpire's decision and let's say 1 in 5 times he gets away with it and continues to bat. Or a fielder claims a catch which he knows to be a bump ball. Or appealing for a wicket when you know the batsman is not out. Somewhat similar to a handball on the football field. Or diving to win a freekick or penalty. Or doing what is termed as a professional foul. Now strictly speaking this can be termed as something wrong which is done by our players.Often the argument made by people in their defence is they play to the whistle or the umpire's decision. And there is some merit in the argument. For if there is a batsman who walks when his team is 210/1 but doesn't when 20 runs are required to win with just two wickets remaining, then he is simply misusing his image as a "walker". Now, when a cricketer does any of these things on the field, which are some form of cheating, he is opening himself up to criticism. My own take is that I understand why a player would do that, and at the end of the day it has been done to benefit or help your own team - so be it. I shall not lose sleep over arguments that cricket is a gentleman's game etc etc. Fact of life - so move on.
2) Well Planned cheating/ strategy done in a systematic manner to help your own team: Two examples from cricket that come to my mind straightaway - Bodyline and ball tampering. There was definitely a sense of pre-determination in both of them, an effort to bend the rules and derive maximum advantage of the situation and playing conditions. Perhaps these are more condemnable than category one. And while I don't subsribe to them, but still I can understand what is the purpose - which is to help your team and win. Systematic and targetted sledging can also be an example here - but then we can just call it attempts to mentally disintegrate the opposition and walk away
3) Immoral activities/ corruption to "screw" your own team: In other words, things like match fixing. Where players take money to underperform and lose a match. I find this to be most disturbing and absolutely unpardonable. For this has no greater objective or goal in mind i.e. winning a match for your team. Rather, the player is letting down millions of fans/ countrymen. The financial incentives for doing that make it comparable with any financial fraudulent activity which people in the corporate world indulgem. But as a sports fan, I find this category of cheats most disgusting.

4) Trivial and ridiculous incidents which have no greater purpose in mind: And this brings me to the incidents which have happened in the cricket world in the last two months. The Suraj Randiv no ball (assuming it was intentional) to deny an opposition batsman a century. Or the latest spot fixing where the Paki players are making a quick buck by bowling a no-ball or playing out a maiden over. Frankly in my opinion, these are trivial and ridiculous.
This incident of spot fixing is something which made me laugh a lot. And on deeper thoughts the main persons being cheated out there are the "honest" people who are laying bets on these little events of a cricket match. The beauty of betting is that you are making an attempt to predict correctly events which are uncertain, by spot fixing such things the uncertainty involved is being removed, "the sanctity" of a bet is being compromised :).
Anyway, coming back to these incidents in general, I fail to see why 24 hour news channels should be working themselves up in an indignant fury. The only worry is whether these incidents are just the tip of an iceberg of match fixing, but then they can't be determined in a television studio, can they ?
As mentioned before, of all the forms of sporting corruption, what has disturbed me the most has been match fixing. For let us not kid ourselves, sports is a serious business and sporting stars are our heroes. Ten years ago, the match fixing scandals had left me a very disturbed and sad individual. And then I had found my redemption in the 2001 India - Australia series and since then cricket had been good fun once again. This time, the older and perhaps more cynical person in me has found these incidents trivial and rather than being shocked and saddened, I have merely shrugged a shoulder.
And one last thing. I just hope the all the people out there criticising the corrupt cricketers on TV and on the internet are the types who never fudge medical bills, pay their taxes fully and never pay a bribe to get things done for themselves.
PS: There has been still been some good stuff written by bloggers about this latest spot fixing controversy, which are well worth a read - so here's some of them: Greatbong in his typical style, Anthony Chettup on Short of a Length (where you get other nice links as well) and an extremely serious and moving piece from Venkat Ananth. I highly recommend reading them.

Just an old story

2010-08-29T20:16:00.000+05:30

About two and a half years ago, in January 2008, I had gone on an audit trip to a place called Hathidah in Bihar. It was a factory visit, one I quite enjoyed. The client was excellent and organised and the trip was very satisfactory from a professional standpoint. But perhaps, I enjoyed the trip a lot more, simply because I was visiting Bihar after some time and got the opportunity to converse in the language and dialect I so love once again.
We were put up in the guest house within the factory and would be joined during meal times by some of the officers. During the dinner time conversation on the first night, I was warned by one of the officers not to go outside the factory without having security with me. On asking him the reason, the gentlemen replied with a perfectly straight face that if I ventured out alone, I was liable to be kidnapped and then forcibly married !!! He then went on to describe how young factory workers - young unmarried men in their 20s were accompanied by their fathers when they came to office. He also told me how one guy working in the stores department had been missing the last week and when he returned - he had been forced to be married in the mean time.
I found the conversation rather amusing that time. Growing up in Patna in the last decade, I had known all about the fear of parents sending their children to school and so on, but this kidnapping and forcible marrying of young boys was a phenomenon I had been unaware of. I have shared this story with a few friends and it has been received with varying degrees of amusement and incredulity.
So, while browsing through Google News the other day, I came across this review of a new movie called Antardwand. And what caught my attention was the subject of the movie - " the kidnapping of marriageable boys by desperate fathers of wannabe brides".
And this made me recall the story I just narrated. Well, having a movie on this topic sort of lends credibility to my story - Doesn't it ? :)
PS: I am looking forward to seeing the movie some time soon.

Introspection

2010-08-01T18:05:00.002+05:30

My first significant interview was when I was changing schools in Class 9. Prior to that, school changes had been handled by my parents and in those days, toddlers and kids were spared the horrors of gruelling interrogations on stuff like metaphors and the fibonacci series. At least that was the case in Patna in the late 1980s and 90s.
Moving ahead, the point that I am coming to is whether it is an interview for an admission to a new school, or college or a job, one of the commonly asked question is "What are your strengths and weaknesses ?". Or in management lingo, do a SWOT analysis of yourself, with greater emphasis on the S and the W. And if one has the company of experienced and sensible seniors and elders around, it is quite likely that people will advise you to prepare for such a question. I too had been lucky and would always go prepared mentally for facing such a question. (It's another matter that the answers would never come out the way I had prepared, but then that's another story.)
Looking back, the strengths and weaknesses that I mentioned in my interview (or at least planned to) seem a little different to what I say are my current strengths and weaknesses. Rather more disturbingly, some of the qualities that I used to think were my strengths might be honestly put in the weakness bracket today.
And all this brought me to think that when I was younger, whether the strengths that I had mentioned, were more the qualities I wished I possessed rather than them being actually the qualities I possessed ? Was it the case of those qualites being more aspirational rather than real ? And to that a few qualities which I think the person on the other side of the table wants to listen and the S of SWOT is ready. I tend to think, that was the case. Having said that, I also believe it is a perfectly appropriate way of going about presenting yourself.
Wonder if anyone else feels on similar lines on the topic ?

The Magic of Murali

2010-07-22T21:15:00.002+05:30

"Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige". - This is how Michael Caine's character Cutter describes a magic trick in Christopher Nolan's brilliant film 'The Prestige'.

Muttiah Muralitharan has been giving a fairly good demonstration of what is said above over the past two decades. Murali's PLEDGE is the cricket ball in his hand, same for every other bowler on the planet. And then he begins his mesmerising bowling action, eyes bulging in concentration and focus.... His TURN is literally that... A lot of turn.... No one has turned a cricket ball more than him. And he has mixed his turn, with flight, pace, direction and a lot of smiles. And then comes his PRESTIGE - the crowning moment - when he gets his man - a wicket !

My favourite Murali, and for that matter Sri Lanka, performance is his 16 wicket haul against England at the Oval in 1998. In a match where Sanath Jayasuriya hit a sensational 213 and Aravinda De Silva a magnificient 152, it was ultimately Murali's magic which brought the Lankans that brilliant win. You can enjoy some of his wickets here .

And like, Alfred Borden, the question Murali has been asking the batsmen over the years has been a simple one: "Are you watching closely?" As it turns out today on his retirement from test cricket, 800 times, they were not.
[PS: This blog has been inspired by the brilliance of Murali, Christopher Nolan and this blog by Gradwolf where he reviews INCEPTION. A must read if you have seen the movie]

The Tic Tac Toe Finals

2010-07-10T19:55:00.003+05:30

In its current format, it takes 62 matches in the World Cup to determine the two finalists. The 63rd match is largely pointless, the winner gets the consolation for finishing 3rd and then we have the Final. The most important match in world football for four years.
The 2010 World Cup, hosted quite beautifully by South Africa (if I have a concern, its been the sluggish nature of pitches which have not lent well to quick passing along the ground), has now reached the final stages. Tonight Germay and Uruguay will play in the 3rd-4th place play-off match, but really everyone is waiting for tomorrow when The Netherlands and Spain will face-off in what is an unlikely final match. Unlikely because, inspite of having produced some of the finest footballers in the world; inspite of having clubs that have often been kings of Europe (Ajax, Real Madrid and Barcelona), these two countries have continued to under-perform at the world stage for a long time. Things have changed this time for the better, and I am particularly happy to see both these teams in the final. So here's my take on both the finalists
IN DEFENSE OF THE DUTCH: Ask anyone (who pretends to know football) about Dutch football, and chances are they will start talking about Total Football and Johann Cruyff. The term has stuck around the Dutch team for far too long and for no reason. The two final appearances in 1974 and 1978 remain the high points of their history along with the magnificient team of 1988 starring Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkard that lifted the 1988 Euros. And despite having some of the world's best footballers through the nineties and noughties ( Bergkamp, Overmars, the De Boer brothers, Stam, Kluivert, Van Nistelroy, Seedorf, Davids to just name a few) and coming close several times (W Cup 1998 Semi finals, Euro 2000 Semi finals), the Dutch are reaching a major final for the first time since 1988. The thing to note this time is that this team is very different from the Dutch teams of the past and comparisons have almost inevitably led to criticism.
This Dutch team doesn't play Total Football (circa 1970's). This much we know. Has any other team played like that ever ? Not that I am aware of. So the point is: Not playing Total Football cannot be a reasonable ground for criticism. What has however, also been missing is the usual free flowing, attacking football and flair, that one has come to associate with the Oranjes.... But a closer look at the team and the current talent pool will tell us why.
In goal - Stekelenburg and the back four in front of him - Van Der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen and GIOvanni van Brockhorst are competent players. None of them are what one might call world class. Apart from a couple of dodgy goals let in by the keeper from shots outside the box, they have been solid, without being spectacular. Well, other than, GIO's screamer of a goal in the semis against Uruguay that is :).
Next we have the defensive mid-field partnership of Mark Van Bommel and Nigel De Jong. At their best, they are two tigers on the prowl in the centre of the park, who have been extremely effective in stopping the opposition attack; at their worst, they might be accussed of two thugs in disguise. In fact, some of Van Bommel's challenges have been horrendous to say the least, and yet he has got away with just a couple of yellow cards. The joke going round on twitter is that Harry Potter wants his invisibility cloak back from him, so blind have the referees been to his indiscretions so far.
Up front, they play with Sneijder as the playmaker, Kuyt on the left wing, Robben on the right and Van Persie up top. Four very different players, who have at times not combined very well at all. Dirk Kuyt provides work-rate, defensive cover for Gio, and intelligent runs and passes, and has had a very good tournament. Robben, who started the tournament late, recovering from an injury, has been playing the way he does best, making runs on the wing, cutting in at times and shooting. He has drawn a lot of fouls too, and has sucked the opposition into kicking him as Brazil did. He dives, sometimes, to win freekicks, generally makes most of whatever contact he gets, and then produces the occassional moment of magic or brilliance which can turn a game. Van Persie, coming into the world cup from an injury plagued season at Arsenal has remained largely subdued, and yet with the talents at his disposal keeps the opposition sufficiently occupied. His off the ball runs and some deft touches around the box are all that we have seen and yet he has been at the centre of confusion in the opposition penalty box when the Dutch have scored. And the person who has been doing most of the damage has been Wesley Sneijder, the man, who I believe has been influencing more big games in the last 3-4 months in world football than anyone else. Sneijder plays the game with intelligence. Often he drifts in and out of games. His genius is in picking moments to make a sublime defence splitting pass (as he showed for Inter against Chelsea or Bayern) or a shot/ cross as he has done throughout the world cup with his 5 goals. Off the bench, Van der Vaart remains their most likely creative force capable of changing a match and he has played well at times during the tournament. The Dutch as a team in this tournament have been a reflection of how Sneijder has been playing. Largely functional, effective and efficient for the duration of the game, yet having moments of brilliance and inspiration, doing just enough to get the job done for a match and then move on. What they have done well so far is not to have an implosion wherein they lose their bearings during a crucial period of a match, or get too gung ho while attacking, leaving their defense exposed. They appear to have a resilience about them, as witnessed in the comeback against Brazil, in a tournament when not many teams have over-turned deficits to win. They have managed to get goals from unlikely sources too - headers from Sneijder and Robben, (two not too big, bald men), proving to be winners in the quarter finals and finals. Their success has come at the cost of beauty and flair, but right now Coach Van Marwick and his men would be happy to follow their sponsor Nike's tagline and JUST DO IT!!
(Note: In case you are interested in knowing about Total Football, how the current Dutch team are nothing like it, read this interesting piece from Brian Phillips . It's just that I don't agree with his conclusion)
PASSING the parcel with Spain and other fun and games: Spanish football, so often at the top of the European club scene with Real Madrid and Barcelona had been the biggest under-achievers in world football till 2008, when they won the Euro, with largely the same team. In fact it is remarkable to note that this is the first time they have ever reached the world cup semi-finals, let alone the finals. A country that has always produced talented footballers over the years, often believed to have failed due to dissensions and in team politics, Real vs Barca fights and so on. However, something did change in 2008 when playing a short passing and movement game based on the style that has evolved over the years in Barca, popularly known as Tiki-taka, the Spanish conquered all comers and won the tournament in some style. However, as Sid Lowe (this link provides a brilliant analysis) has pointed out tiki - taka is as much a defensive tactic meant to suffocate the opposition of possession, as it is an attacking ploy. While the aesthetic pleasure derived depends from person to person, its a matter of taste after all; the effectiveness cannot be questioned, having gone through six consecutive knock-out matches now (Q/F, S/F and Final in Euro '08 and Round of 16, Q/F and S/F in W Cup 10) without conceding a goal. Watching Spain pass the ball around with care and style, with a quickness of foot and mind, is a bit like seeing a jealous boy-friend taking around his girl-friend around a park, always possessive and protective from others.
A look at their team now and as we go along we will see how significant the influence has been of the style and the personnel of one club - Barcelona. Iker Cassilas, goal-keeper and captain, world class keeper for a long time, has been largely under-used throughout the cup; his highlight coming in the penalty save against Cardozo. The back 4 is largely settled with Ramos at right back and Capdevilla at left back; Ramos rampaging on the right, more often than his counterpart. Pique and Puyol provide an all Barca centre of defense and have been very good, Puyol having the added honour of scoring the winner in the semis against Germany. Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets are the defensive shield in front of the back 4, yet very different players. While Busquets who has come through the ranks at Barca is an interceptor of the ball, who makes very quick and efficient use of it, quickly moving it forward, Alonso has the added advantage of having possibly the most comprehensive passing range in the game. His ability to hit long passes almost makes him "quarter-back" like on a football field and provides a wonderful variation to the generally short passing style employed by the team. Just in front of them is Xavi, the conductor of the orchestra, the man who symbolises Tiki-taka in all its glory. Arguably the greatest midfielder Spain has ever produced (Pep Guardiola his Barca coach is a tough contendor though), Xavi plays the game with such simplicity and grace, that it can leave the spectators and often, the opposition, simply admiring his beauty. Andres Iniesta, the puppet master can make runs, dribble, pass and shoot from all possible ways and is mesmerising at times. David Villa up front has provided the much needed fire-power, the elusive end product, scoring 5 goals, and basically establishing himself as the world's best striker. He often starts on the left wing, cutting inside, he can shoot from distance or can score from a scrappy situation. That makes 10 almost certain starters. The 11th player has been different from time to time and coach Del Bosque has some incredible options to chose from. He could go for an out of form Torres, who on his day, is a spectacular striker with pace, power and precision; Pedro - Barca's pacy little winger who can run rings around the opposition; Cesc Fabregas - Talismanic captain of my club - who can provide penetration and finishing from midfield. Or he could go for David Silva or Jesus Navas - exceptional wingers or a target man in Llorente - the options are simply mouth watering. And any of these can come in later in the game to make the difference depending on the game situation.
THE MATCH: There will be several intriguing match-ups especially in mid-field which might go on to decide the match. Unless something extra-ordinary happens, Spain will have a majority of the possession.The Dutch will not be too bothered about it. Iniesta and Villa will make the runs and test the Dutch defense thoroughly. How Van Bommell and De Jong deal with Xavi and Iniesta will be interesting, how Howard Webb will deal with Van Bommell will be even more so.... A quick yellow card and Van Bommell might just become more careful, subdued and less of a problem. The Dutch will try to find Robben on the flanks, his matchup against Capdevilla is one of the few they will fancy to win. And then there will Sneijder, lurking, stalking, waiting for his moment to strike and change the course of the game.
I suspect it will be a very close game. I am going for a very tight Spanish victory (2-1), although I would be more than thrilled if The Netherlands become world champions. (Why is that - I am a massive Denis Bergkamp fan :D)
PS: This match is all about Johann Cruyff. If The Netherlands win, his country would have become the world champions. Or if as he predicts here, Spain win, it would be the successful culmination of the short-passing game that he developed at Barcelona. In other words, his style would win. Take your pick :)

Happiness is LSD !!!

2010-07-10T12:43:00.003+05:30

Switching through channels about 20 minutes ago, I stumbled upon this wonderful show called Business Sutra on CNBC TV 18 (which I watch occassionally), where the remarkable Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik links our mythology and customs to business fundas in a wonderful way (The hyperlink also has links to the episodes of Business Sutra in case you are interested). And the line that caught my attention was - Happiness = LSD !!! And here, LSD is not Love, Sex aur Dhokha ( which by the way is the best Hindi movie of the year so far :D). Instead, LSD stands for Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga - 3 of the most important Goddesses in Hinduism.
He then goes on to telling that Lakshmi represents material wealth/ happiness, Saraswati represents intellect, knowledge etc and Durga represents our emotional wealth/ state of mind. And how, Lakshmi is fully measurable, Saraswati - partially measurable and Durga is not measurable at all....
The bottom line being that Happiness is a combination of things, only parts of which are measurable; some factors will forever remain immeasurable at all times.
Fascinating stuff and a line of thought which had never occurred to me. So just wanted to share with this my friends.

Semi Finals Predictions

2010-07-05T22:48:00.000+05:30

I have been doing fairly rubbish in these world cup predictions so far. And still I make another attempt here to show off my football punditry.
Netherlands - Uruguay: Looks likely to be a battle of attrition, considering how Uruguay approach the game generally and how the Dutch have been playing in this tournament so far. However, with Uruguay having just one match winner in Forlan, as opposed to several for the Netherlands, I will go for a Dutch win in normal time. 2-1 to the Dutch, with Dirk Kuyt scoring the winner. (Yes, you can laugh at it if you want)
Spain - Germany: Promises to the best game of the tournament so far. This youthful German team has pleasantly surprised everybody with their attacking prowess in the tournament. The Spanish, much fancied on the other hand, have underwhelmed to a certain extent, relying heavily on David Villa to take them to the semis so far. And yet, it has to be considered, that it is Spain's best ever World Cup performance (at least since 1950 where the format was different). Coming into the tournament, a Spain - Germany semi-final would have had Spain as the firm favourites, but I am going for a German win 2-1 in extra time, simply considering the momentum they have behind them.
So a Netherlands - Germany final is what I predict. What about you ?
PS: I definitely want to see the Dutch play in the final, I have been supporting them throughout. I am an admirer of this Spanish side since 2008 and would normally back them, but have developed a soft corner for this German team during the tournament, so planning to be strictly neutral in the second semi-final

Quarter Finals Predictions

2010-07-02T00:12:00.002+05:30

After a largely exciting Round of 16, which produced some terrific football at times, here we go into the quarter finals. So here's another attempt to play the now famous Oracle Octopus myself.

Netherlands - Brazil - Brazil to win 2-1 although it could even go to penalties...... Rooting for the Dutch though :)
Uruguay - Ghana - Uruguay to go through comfortably - 3-1. Once again rooting for the underdog here - Come on Ghana !!!!
Argentina - Germany - Tough Match !!!! Going with Argentina 3-2 - Messi to have a blinder :) . But has to be a cracker of a game. No favourites here. Just hope the better team wins.
Paraguay - Spain - Easy choice. Spain win 2-0, as long as they don't get complacent. Torres to open his account.

And so my predicted semi-final line up looks like - Brazil v Uruguay & Argentina v Spain. What's yours ?

World Cup Round of 16 predictions

2010-06-26T19:13:00.000+05:30

The Round of 16 starts today and here are my quick predictions for these 8 matches coming up. Now logic or explanation given - just going by gut feeling for now

Uruguay - Korea Republic - Prediction - Uruguay 2-1
USA - Ghana - Prediction - USA - 1-0
Germany - England - Prediction - England on penalties (1-1 after 120 mins) (Yah I know - stupid prediction :D)
Argentina - Mexico - Prediction - Argentina 3-1
Netherlands - Slovakia - Prediction - Netherlands 2-0
Brazil - Chile - Prediction - Brazil 3-2 :)
Paraguay - Japan - Prediction - Japan on penalties (2-2 after 120 mins)
Spain - Portugal - Prediction - Spain in extra time (1-1 after 90 mins)

I am convinced I will get at least one score line correct :). Let's see.
Here's hoping for some thrilling football !!

Capello Pep Talk ?

2010-06-24T23:39:00.004+05:30

With England playing Germany on Sunday - if I were Fabio Capello, I would think of using the following lines said by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) in Inglourious Basterds as a pep talk before the match.

"......We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty they will know who we are. And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the disemboweled, dismembered, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us. And the German won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, and our boot heels, and the edge of our knives. And the German will be sickened by us, and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us. And when the German closes their eyes at night and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with. Sound good? "

Haha - Correct right ?

Jokes apart, expect an epic match this Sunday. May the best team win

European powerhouses

2010-06-19T13:43:00.006+05:30

Watching England take on Algeria last night was an effort to stay awake. And in order to stay awake, I decided to do some basic research to find out as to who have been the best European teams in major tournaments for the last 20 years. I took 1990 as I cut off because 1990 World Cup was the first one I ever watched. And I have considered both World Cups and European Championships for this exercise as I believe the Euros are played at almost as good a standard as the World Cup.

The point scoring system that I have used is as below

And after that it was just a task of fitting the results of the teams into a box to come up with totals to find out which have been the best teams in Europe. And the results are below (Click to see the entire table)

A summary of the results is here below:

And the results clearly show that Germany has been the best European team of the last two decades. They were clearly the dominant team of the nineties - head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the countries. The Netherlands coming a distant second. However there has been no such dominant team in the noughties - the Italians coming marginally ahead with 27 points over Germany, France and Portugal - all of whom have 26 points.

And so the best 3 teams from Europe over the last two decades have been - Germany -64 points, Italy - 47 points and France - 44 points. Netherlands, inspite of not having won any World Cup or Euro in this period are a respectable fourth with 42 points. England (31 points) struggle to come in 6th place, just ahead of Portugal (30 points). Spain, perennial under-achievers (like the English in fact) - jump into 5th spot - thanks to their Euro 2008 win.

I think this gives a sense of perspective when we call some teams as big teams. Clearly Germany and Italy are the 2 teams from Europe which have over the years, including the last two decades, done remarkably well. France (1998-2000), Spain (2008 - 2010 ?) and Portugal (2004-2008), underachievers for long, all have had purple patches during the last two decades, possibly because of having their all time greatest squads being assembled in this period. Portugal of course can be debatable as their so called Golden generation was supposed to be playing in the 1990s, but once they started qualifying for these big tournaments consistentely in 2000, they have done quite well for themselves. While the all time greatest Dutch teams have been in the 1970s and 1980s, they have been fairly consistent in these big tournaments, thanks to their individual talents, without really cracking it big yet. I, for one, am hoping that 2010 is the year for the Netherlands.

And where does that leave England in the midst. Considering all the hype and attention that they garner, thanks to the Premier League, England have been largely disappointing in major tournaments. And with 2 draws in 2 games so far, things are looking grim for them once again.

This blog will be updated with the results of the 2010 World Cup and it will be interesting to see which European team goes the furthest in this year's edition.

Some thoughts on quizzing

2010-06-06T19:50:00.001+05:30

A few months, probably on twitter and then in personal conversations with friends, while discussing quizzing, a few of us were lamenting about the lack of quizzing on television. As it so happens, currently the Indian television scene is filled with a mind-boggling array of reality shows, talent hunt shows and such assorted stuff which frankly becomes very hard to relate to for some boring, nerdy folks like me. And a quality quiz programme is badly missed.
Growing up in the 90s, Sunday mornings used to be spent watching some mythological show, followed by some cartoon and then the Bournvita Quiz Contest. Hosted by Derek O’ Brien, BQC was an essential part of the Sunday routine for many young ,enthusiastic quizzers like me. And many young children who got some of their earliest taste of quizzing from BQC went on to become quizzers for life.
As I grew up further, I began to appreciate other, higher standards of quizzes. Two such shows - Mastermind India and University Challenge, both hosted by the remarkable Siddharth Basu, are particularly note-worthy in terms of the quality, format and presentation, which opened up new horizons for what a quizzer can look forward to.
And then came the era of the Game-shows such as KBC (incidentally produced by Siddharth Basu himself), which on the one hand brought quizzing to a much larger audience and for some time capturing the imagination of the nation itself, on the other hand however, it can perhaps be argued that it also sounded the death-knell of the other regular quizzing that we had on television. The point being who would care to attend or organize a quiz show where the winner gets Rs. 500/- when you can win lakhs and crores by answering some simple stuff and get to meet a superstar as a bonus.
All along of course, schools and colleges in India have always had a culture of quizzing. Come to the larger towns, the 4 metros, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and we can find quizzing forums who conduct regular, open quizzes which are attended with great enthusiasm by quizzers. We also have a few Corporate Quizzes on TV such as the Tata Crucible or the Brand Equity Quiz by ET, both extremely prestigious, which keep the flame of quizzing burning on TV now.
I feel that the best time to create a quizzer out of person is when he or she is young and that the absence of a programme like BQC or even the ESPN School Quiz Olympiad, will perhaps be felt perhaps 10 years down the line.
Having said that, I work at Infosys, Mangalore and we conduct an annual school quiz here for kids of class 8-10 – SCHOLARS and the incredible levels of participation and then performance of the kids last year left me in awe of them on one hand and a little humbled as a question setter on the other, considering how well they cracked my questions :)
Perhaps the future of quizzing is different. For instance we have quiz blogs such as this one from my friend Suhel, which provide tremendous food for thought on a boring working day. Social networking is bringing together like minded folks a lot more than before and more open quizzes will probably be a reality. Internet and the new media will no doubt provide plenty of material for current quizzers to test their skills. I however have my doubts on its power to draw in new quizzers. That's just something we have to wait and see.
Talking about quizzing, you would always meet the types who say that quizzing is for nerds and you need to have a strong GK for it etc etc (and they are mostly right J), there is a lot more to quizzing than mere general knowledge or mugged up stuff. Going through the net, I found these two quite, brilliantly written articles on Quizzing. The first by Amit Varma: Quizzing is not just a trivial pursuit and the second by Salil Tripathi: What quizzing teaches us. Both are must reads for quiz lovers and articulate beautifully the various facets that draw people towards quizzing and why we love it. And both also talk about the ultimate question which distinguishes a good question from a bad one, a good quiz / quizmaster from a bad one: How is the question asked and not what is the question is what counts. And the more quizzers and quizmaster we have who understand this art, this skill, the more people we can draw to the world of quizzing.
Till then, Happy Quizzing :)
PS: This blog was triggered by an argument I had with a friend in office over a quiz, which later got me thinking about quizzing and writing this blog post which I had planned to do for some time.
[PS2: 3rd October: This post by Arul Mani is added here, simply because it is a collector's edition.]

सूनी सांझ

2010-05-24T23:44:00.003+05:30

मेरी सबसे प्रिय कविता । शिवमंगल सिंह सुमन द्वारा रचित सूनी सांझ । बारहवी कक्षा में पढाई गयी कविता आज भी याद आती है । हालाकि मुझे यह कविता कंटस्थ तो थी, लेकिन फिर भी मैंने कई बार इसे इन्टरनेट पर ढूँढने का प्रयास किया । और फिर मुझे मिला http://www.kavitakosh.org जहाँ पर हिंदी कविताओं का एक भरमार मौजूद है । तो अगर आप में से जो कोई भी हिंदी कविताओं में रूचि रखते हैं, वे ज़रूर इस वेबसाइट का उपयोग कर सकते हैं । और उसके पहले मेरी प्रिय कविता सूनी सांझ को एक बार ज़रूर पढ़े ।

सूनी सांझ

बहुत दिनों में आज मिली है
साँझ अकेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम ।

पेड खडे फैलाए बाँहें
लौट रहे घर को चरवाहे
यह गोधुली, साथ नहीं हो तुम,

बहुत दिनों में आज मिली है
साँझ अकेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम ।

कुलबुल कुलबुल नीड-नीड में
चहचह चहचह मीड-मीड में
धुन अलबेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम,

बहुत दिनों में आज मिली है
साँझ अकेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम ।

जागी-जागी सोई-सोई
पास पडी है खोई-खोई
निशा लजीली, साथ नहीं हो तुम,

बहुत दिनों में आज मिली है
साँझ अकेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम ।

ऊँचे स्वर से गाते निर्झर
उमडी धारा, जैसी मुझपर-
बीती झेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम,

बहुत दिनों में आज मिली है
साँझ अकेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम ।

यह कैसी होनी-अनहोनी
पुतली-पुतली आँख मिचौनी
खुलकर खेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम,

बहुत दिनों में आज मिली है
साँझ अकेली, साथ नहीं हो तुम ।

- डॉक्टर शिवमंगल सिंह 'सुमन'

Some Random Cricket Thoughts

2010-05-15T16:59:00.004+05:30

The ICC T20 World Cup started almost immediately after IPL 3 finished in a most anti-climatic way. The headlines by then had almost entirely shifted to off the field matters and while we are no nearer to clearing the mess the Indian cricket, the cricketing world has moved on with the finals of the World Cup to be played tomorrow. So here are a few random thoughts that I have had over the last few weeks, in no particular order:
1) The fast bowling cupboard for the Indian team is looking alarmingly bare. None of our fast bowlers - ranging from Zaheer, Nehra, Ishant, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel etc seem to be able to sustain their pace, form and fitness for a sustained period of time. We don't have too many exciting talents coming along either - Umesh Yadav and Abhimanyu Mithun being perhaps two who just might make it at the international arena, but I am clutching at straws here. They have a long way to go before they become international class, so worrying times ahead in this area. Add to that, we have not even produced even one bowler of the class of the folks mentioned here, since IPL has started leads to me to believe that playing T20 cricket is proving to be detrimental for Indian fast bowlers. As of now, it is as Ravi Shastri says - Just a feeling, but I hope that we get lucky and find a couple of good quick bowlers soon.
2) On a slightly more positive note, there has been a resurgence of Indian spin bowling with Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla, being more than capable of playing for India at the international level in my opinion. The key would be to pick the players in form to get the best out of them.
3) While India's batting woes on bouncy pitches in the T20 World Cups has caused great distress amongst cricket fans, I am sligthly more positive. I agree that this area needs a lot of improvement, but the talent is certainly there. Imagining a Test match batting line-up with Sachin, Rahul and Laxman - perhaps 3 years down the line as follows: Sehwag, Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Cheteswar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina actually fills me with a lot of hope. And while I rate the numbers 3-6 higher, it is quite conceivable that folks like Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane will make the cut.
4) The size of the Indian grounds seem to shrinking or so it felt during the IPL. For instance - The Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengalure, while having a brilliant atmosphere, is just too small !!!! And then when we see a larger ground like the DY Patil Stadium or the new ground in Nagpur, it just improves the contest between the bat and bowl, making it a bit more even and interesting.
5) This current Australian pace attack, while lacking an all-time great bowler, is pretty damn exciting with Nannes, Tait and Johnson bowling really top speeds. And they have great depth there for all formats with Hilfenhaus, Ryan Harris, Doug Bollinger etc being more than able backups.
6) We have not seen the emergence of even one truly great fast bowler in the last ten years. The only one who comes close to it Dale Steyn, but even he would struggle to be called an all-time great. And hence batting feats of the 2000s must be looked into with that perspective. A Sehwag for instance, never played an Ambrose or Walsh. And very little of Akram and Mcgrath. Sachin however started when Mcdermott and even Malcolm Marshall were around.
7) South Africa's continous stumbles in run chases in ICC event has become a sad joke that is now running for a very long time. They really need to take a hard long look at their cricket. There just seems to be a lack of people who are willing to take risks. Playing risk free cricket all the time does not work any more, especially in limited overs cricket.
8) I had thought that the commentary and the pre/post match programming during the IPL had plummeted to all time lows on Set Max. Sadly, however, ESPN, Star out-set maxed them with their show cricket crazy. And commentary remains cliched and lazy irrespective of the channels. Which is why www.testmatchsofa.com is a refreshing new innovation. Try it out sometimes, you might just like it.
9) Michael Hussey's 60 of 24 balls against the Pakis last night is an all time great innings. Was a privelege to watch. The fact that he smashed someone with "Ajmal" in his name made it even sweeter for me, but that's besides the point.
10) MS Dhoni has been a very good captain for India. However, the time to question his selection of the final 11s that go out on the field (irrespective of the squad) is becoming extremely difficult to understand.
11) And finally - a few lines reserved for that man - Ravindra Jadeja - who it seems is in the Indian team based on some Reservation or Quota. Don't know what that is till now. Perhaps he has won some reality show that makes it mandatory to pick him in the final 11. A colleague of mine had said this about his selection some time back - The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. He has now effectively cost India 4 out the 6 super 8 matches that we have played in the last two World Cups. That is just unbelievable.

Good Night, and Good Luck

2010-05-01T18:54:00.012+05:30

Watching Good Night, and Good Luck directed by George Clooney was an amazing experience. The story showcases the conflict between the veteran journalist Edward R. Murrow, played by David Strathairn and the Senator Joseph Mccarthy over the witch-hunt of Communists carried out by the Senator and his Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Now as a story, this did not appeal greatly to me, nor could I directly identify with the conflict. However, a couple of brilliant speeches given by Murrow in the movie, albeit in a different context, hold very true for television, media and the kind of reporting that we see today all around us. And so just as a reference I am reproducing a few parts of what Murrow so brilliantly said in the movie here and highlighting what I do believe is truly relevant and though provoking.

""No one familiar with the history of his country, can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before legislating. But the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the Junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. His primary achievement has been confusing the public mind as between the internal and the external threats of communism. We must not confuse dissent from disloyalty. We must remember always, that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another, we will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason. If we dig deep into our history and our doctrine, we will remember we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who dared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Sen. McCarthy's methods to keep silent or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom wherever it still exists in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the Junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his, he didn't create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it, and rather successfully. Cassius was right, the fault dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Good night, and good luck ""

And then there is the speech given by Murrow to the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 1958, where he talks the power and inded the potential that television has to inform and educate the public which you can read it in full here . I am reproducing below small parts of it, which comes in IMDB's memorable quotes about this speech :

"" It is my desire if not my duty to try to talk to you journeymen with some candor about what is happening in radio and television, and if what I say is responsible, I alone am responsible for the saying of it. Our history will be what we make of it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred year from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes of one week of all three networks, they will there find, recorded in black and white and in color, evidence of decadence, escapism, and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. We are are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable, and complacent. We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information; our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses, and recognize that television, in the main, is being use to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture, too late. ................. ""
Fascinating indeed, and most of it is true even in today's day and age.
The other remarkable part of the film is that it is in Black and White. Every now and again it is refreshing to see a movie in Black and White and just like Schindler's List, this too is a visually superb experience.
It goes without saying that I strongly recommend you to watch this movie.
Trivia: The famous concluding catch phrase "Good Night and Good Luck" that is the title of the film, was a habit Edward R. Murrow kept from his London years as a war reporter for the radio, when British people under constant night German bombing systematically ended their conversations with the very same words, uncertain to meet again. (Source IMDB)
Right then, as Mr Murrow used to say - Good Night, and Good Luck.

How to Bath and Use Toiletries

2010-04-02T18:06:00.010+05:30

Some days ago, while reading 'The Economic Times' I came across this article Daily baths harm environment . And then I realised that this article is exactly what lazy, hydrophobic boys needed as a weapon against their eager, over-zealous mummies hell bent on making them bath n number of times a day, so that they can stay clean. I know folks who as kids were forced to bath once before going to school, bath after coming back, bath after coming from the playground, bath before going to bed etc etc.
In any case now, for folks to be "Cool", you need to be a member of the eco-club at the school or college, show your concern for the environment by switching off Lights for one hour on a randomly selected day, participate in Greenathons and other such stuff. And so, how can you continue to take baths everyday, when #1 - IPL commentators are asking us not to take long showers as it wastes water and #2 - Research shows that increased usage of toiletries is polluting the environment.
So, in order to help all the environment-conscious people I have decided to draw up the following 10 point-policy of How to Bath and Use Toiletries:
1) Bathing is allowed only twice a week.
2) One medium sized bucket filled 3/4ths with water is allowed for bathing.
3) Soap can be applied only a once week (during the two baths mentioned in #1).
4) Shower baths are a strict no-no. However on special occassions like birthdays and anniversaries, a quick 30 second light-shower can be indulged in under strict supervision of your guardian or partner.
5) Brushing teeth is permitted for twice a day only. Needless to say, taps must be closed while brushing is in progress.
6) Men can shave twice a week at most. Usage of shaving cream is recommended over shaving foam.
7) Shampoo to be applied on hair only once a month. In case you have too much dandruff, going for a bald look with bandana is preferred.
8) Deodrants and body odours to be applied on Monday mornings only.
9) Perfumes can be used for special ocassions limited to a maximum of six usages in a year. Choose them carefully.
10) While effect of usage of hair oil and hair-gel on the environment is still being debated, it is suggested that a limited usage of both can be continued for the time being. However, the usage is prohibited currently on the two days of the week, when bathing has been done.
General Note to the environmentally conscious: The above guidelines refer to the MAXIMUM usage allowed. Folks are encouraged to "optimise" usage of water and toiletries in as many ways as possible. As an example - hostel folks can go in for a "Group-bath" as illustrated in the movie 3 Idiots. Care must be taken however, the total usage of water of x number of people bathing together should not exceed x buckets of water.

PS: It has to be mentioned that my current bathing patterns and usage of toiletries, while not exactly conforming to the aforesaid policy, is actually very similar. I have been protecting the environment all these years, without actually realising

My take on MIHYAP - The Book

2010-03-20T15:18:00.004+05:30

I finished reading celebrated blogger Arnab Ray aka Greatbong's first book - May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss ! just now. I found the book to be an extremely enjoyable read. So, while I am too lazy to write a proper review of the book, I am enthusiastic enough to list down a few of the highlights for me.

1) The two short-stories - 'A Short Story on Terror' and '1-900 Hotties' - both surreal, funny and sad for a multitude of reasons. Laugh and cry at the same time as they hit you in unexpected places.
2) Chapter 9: An Indian Wedding - Let me say this upfront, that I have never been part of any wedding ceremony other than for the dinner part. A combination of apathy, absence and excuses has worked well for me in avoiding weddings. So when the author gives an incredibly funny first hand account of what happens in a typical Indian (in this case Bengali) wedding, it had me laughing and cringing at the same time. Laughing, because it is so insanely crazy, made crazier by the author's take on it ; and cringing because there is the fear at the back of one's mind, that I might be the victim of something similar one day. Now I know some of you reading this who know me well, might be laughing as to how I am even fancying getting married. However, just in case .....just in case it ever happens I will try my best to do a court marriage.
3) Some of the remarkable theories expounded in a most scholarly fashion. For example: - a) The Khanna Patel Lahiri Desperation malaise which is remarkably similar to the more popular usage of the first letters of the four words of the title of the theory.
b) The 'Bait and Switch' theory of song writing used by bollywood song writers in the 90s as demonstrated in songs of films like Khalnayak and Dalal.
c) The Quickly Minimize Windows Hypothesis'. Now let it be known that this works only when you have a presentable desktop picture. Also, that the most important keyboard shortcut which should be taught in Classes 7 onwards is the 'Windows + M' or 'Windows + D'. Unfortunately most of us learn this only when we enter the corporate world, but the utility of such shortcuts on late nights at home cannot be over-emphasised.
4) The incredibly scholarly analysis of several "over-looked" Bollywood movies especially 'Gunda'. Just one line quoted here from the book should be enough to bring the readers to buy the book - This depiction of the eternal conflict between good and evil where each character is an anthropomorphization of historical forces, makes Gunda transcend all cinematic formulae, kind of like a Mahabharata of the times.'
5) The exposure of the reason as to why some of us don't like these new "bold" Bollywood movies which have all these "hot babes" delivered in one telling line - The dislike stems from a deep well of "Where were these types of girls when I was growing up?" angst which people of my generation will surely understand. Understand??? I feel it Sir.
Well, these are just a few of the highlights of this book and be sure I have kept the best ones unwritten here for you to go and enjoy it while you read it. This book is one of those which makes you all nostalgic about growing up in the 80's and 90's. While reading the book at times, I was smiling with the 'I have done that' feeling. And on some other occasions, I had the feeling - Oh shit, I didn't do that or I didn't see that one - Would have been fun - no?
All in all a book I recommend to all those who have a sense of humour. And just one question to the author posed here - Dada, these Poltu's diary entries are actually yours. Right ???

How to pronounce Kolkata

2010-03-14T15:22:00.009+05:30

Now that the IPL is well and truly underway, commentators, wannabe commentators, anchors, wannabe anchors, cricket fans, newsreaders and people all around the world would generally be talking about the world's greatest cricket team - KKR. Yes the Kolkata Knight Riders. Love them or hate them, but you can't ignore them. And as a result, one gets a lot of people saying the world Kolkata and all too often in a wrong manner. Something that makes me cringe. And Kolkata is a very simple and easy word to pronounce. It's not as if you are pronouncing Thiruvanathapuram or Machilipatnam - is it? Some of the common ways in which people have been going around mispronouncing are :
CALL-KATA, CALL-KATTA, COOL-KATTA, KAL-KATA etc etc. For your understanding when I say, CALL here I am refering to the pronounciation of CALL as you would say CALL CENTRE. All right, enough of these.
So here's how you pronounce the word - KOLKATA. Try it like this by breaking it into three parts:
COAL- KAA-TAA. Yes, COAL (कोल) as in Coal the fuel or Coal India. Like that. KAA is simple - KAA (का). And TAA is like you say TAA in ताल (Ya - TAAL The Subhash Ghai movie) and not like TA (टा) of Tata Steel. This is how the word is pronounced in Hindi text - कोल का ता
And I am doing this as a public service initiative because even Tata Sky Active will not teach you this "pronunciation".

Look I don't mind you calling Kolkata as Calcutta or Kal-katta when you are speaking in English or Hindi or whatever. But when you are trying to say Kolkata then say it properly.
And if you don't listen to me about how to pronounce Kolkata, then I will cut you in mid-speech. Or simply as Mamata Di said - "If you don't listen na, I'll cut".

An unnecessary and totally useless preview of IPL3.

2010-03-09T23:30:00.070+05:30

The greatest cricket-cum (cum in hindi means less) entertainment (zyada) show on earth will be starting in a few days time. So, I decided that an in-depth, knowledgeable preview to IPL 3 from a cricket expert like Harsha Bhogle, might just spoil your IPL-3 experience by becoming too serious and detailed. What you need is a fresh perspective from an obtuse angle. So that when you see the matches, you can differentiate between the leg-spinners and the fast-men.

This preview will contain a look at all the eight IPL-3 teams starting from the north in an anti-clockwise manner.

Team 1) King’s XI Punjab. First things first, the squad consists of more than XI people and unlike the Indian hockey team, non-Punjabis also play for it. This year has seen the captaincy change with Yuvraj Singh giving way to Kumar Sangakkara as a result of which a sharp reduction in the post-match hugs and kisses from Preity Zinta is expected. We are still sceptical about the chemistry between Preity and Sanga, but expect lot of action in the pavilion with both the injured stars (that is what I call a "Hurt Locker (room)) – Yuvraj and Brett Lee vying for the lady’s attention. Also, in other news, it is expected that Irfan Pathan’s balls are expected to reach the other end at the lightning speed of 105 kmph.

But then, why am I talking about all this non-sense. The team name contains the word – King and that is for a reason – Sreesanth. Quite simply, he is the best actor, dancer, motivation expert and cry-baby going around the IPL circus. With a ball in hand, he becomes a premier swinging fast bowler. But that is not all, with Sreesanth in the team, all those following Sidin Vadakut on twitter can expect a tweet twice in every Sreesanth over, which is reason to get excited in itself.

Team 2) Delhi Daredevils. A team owned by the GMR group is as solid as a good corporate house. Not too many background stories around this team unfortunately. A team filled with batsmen such as Sehwag, Gambhir, Dilshan (of the Dilscoop TM fame), David Warner (the Aussie batsman who slogs like a hog) and AB De-villiers is expected not to face too many challenging bowling attacks. But then who needs bowling attacks to bother you when your matches are at the Feroze Shah Kotla pitch whose pace and bounce is as unpredictable ..... as well..... Ashish Nehra’a line and length. All in all, a completely avoidable team for the paparazzi, which is as serious as their captain – Gambhir’s name. Watch them only for the cricket.

Team 3) Rajasthan Royals. Lead by the maverick leg-spinner Shane Warne, the team has created history by becoming the first cricket team to have different jerseys for home and away matches. Seems rather odd to me, as they would be playing very few games at home in Rajasthan. Interestingly enough, some of their games have been scheduled in Gujarat. Did they ask Warne before doing that? FYI for Mr Warne – It’s a dry state (hahaha).

This Royals has team has never really recovered since the departure of their social and religious philosopher – Sohail Tanvir from their team. They have been further hurt by the loss of the Indian Garfield Sobers (aka Ravindra Jadeja) due to non-cricketing reasons. However, with a Shilpa Shetty (albeit now married) cheering for them, expect some Halla – Bol from these Royals.

Team 4) Mumbai Indians. Ok can’t joke around much about this team. They have GOD playing for them. Other than that – the team has an emphasis on WEST INDIANS (Bravo and Pollard) rather than NORTH INDIANS, which I am sure is purely coincidental in nature. The team employs a rotation of cheer-leading filmstars – Kareena one day, Raveena Tandon the next. It is the lack of consistency on and off the field which has cost the team in the last two editions. Expect Harbhajan and his doosras to do a better job this year.

Team 5) Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is a team filled with South Africans (past – Pietersen and present – Kallis, Boucher, Steyn). Hence, liable to choke. But with Kumble and Dravid in the team, they still might win lot of games.

I will keep my analysis of RCB brief and simple. Point 1: The team knows how to have a good time. Point 2: Celebrity cheer leader is Katrina Kaif. Pure class. Nuff said. (See the pic and enjoy)

Team 6) Chennai Sooper Kings – A cult team lead by the Super Cool Captain Cucu aka YEM YESS DHONI. Filled with old and unfit allrounders like Flintoff, Oram, Kemp and Albie Morkel, they will rely heavily on the dirty Aussies – Hayden and Hussey to come through the tournament. ~~The team is also a launching pad for sons of Chennai based ex-cricketers with Anirudh Srikanth (son of Krish Srikanth) and Vidyut S (Son of LS ;)) being prominent in the list.~~ [Quick edit - In light of squad changes and questionable paternity of some players, this sentence is striked off. Alternate useless fact is the brand ambassadors of CSK are the ex-dasher Srikanth and the dashing VIJAY]
On the bright side, expect the most sporting crowd of all to come out and support at the Chepauk Stadium, which will include the genius Sivamani at work. Also expected to be bright is their yellow jersey, so Rizwan Khan is asked to stay away from the CSK games.

Team 7) Deccan Chargers. Defending champions, the winners of IPL2 have strangely not won a single game in Hyderabad till date having played 10 games there in IPL1 and the CL T-20. The team has very cleverly found a way around this and used the Telengana agitations to quietly shift their home matches away to the very stretched edges of the Deccan plateau – Nagpur and that place which Mamata Didi called Kotok. Expect Indian Railways & not Air Deccan to reach these places.

On the cricketing front, the dynamic Adam Gilchrist will be leading from behind (the stumps i.e.) as usual, but all eyes will be on the awesome Andrew Symonds and his latest antics. Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha are two India hopefuls on whom a lot rests in this team.

Team 8) Kolkata Knight Riders. The most famous sports team in sporting history. Period. Famous from Ballygunge to Bangladesh and all other places were Bengalis inhabit. The team, the brand is exactly what the IPL is all about – entertainment. Their exploits are well known and need no repeating. And this season they intend to go the extra step. SRK has already gone ahead in a campaign with Nokia called Main Bhi Coach campaign wherein any fan can send SMSes to 9664555555 and “coach” the team. Expect many prospective Buchanans and Greg Chappells showing fingers to the team when they disregard their advice.

The team will be appearing in a shocking, body hugging (LUX Cozying), purple jerseys this year and the sight of Ishant Sharma running into bowl like that might just make a few batsman sick and get retired hurt. The team will benefit from having Dada as captain for the time being, but in case he gets injured, all hell is expected to break loose once again. This is a team which has seen almost everything in the last 2 years – with world class players like Mashrafe Mortaza, Tatenda Taibu and Akash Chopra often donning their colours - but the appointment of a coach with the name “WHATMORE” does appear to be a sign of desperation. For cinematic effect, they also have a player – who can really say, My Name is Bond, Shane Bond. And finally, with most matches at Eden Gardens expected to be hit with “load-shedding”, Dada & Co are said to have practiced extensively in the dark – justifying their name – NIGHT RIDERS.

Coming to where to follow IPL, obviously, you would have to see it on the channel which broadcasts it (most probably Set Max). But for detailed analysis of the finer points of the game, switch to the "Aman-Asha" channel Times Now. They are most likely to have the legendary Charu Sharma and "Chicks on Flick" anchor - Neha Sareen along with such cricket experts as Arbaaz Khan (h/o Malaika Arora Khan - FYI) and the celebrated cricket historian Boria Mazumdar to discuss about fielding positions - silly points, fine leg etc. Cricket really gets serious with these folks You can also follow it on You Tube. (Google you are warned - hope you have cricket servers in place - I hope you guys know what happened to Cricinfo here)

A few important issues have been intentionally left untouched. Firstly, the various stages of undress of the different cheer-leaders. No photos here as it is quite possible that my family members might read this some day. Having said this, this is my all-time favourite cheerleader story. Read and enjoy. Secondly, no IPL article is complete without mentioning Mr. Lalit Modi. But after seeing him call this blog by Anand Ramachandran on cricinfo a fake, I decided not to push my luck.

And finally, you might be thinking after reading this post, that I don't like the IPL at all. Well, I do have my reservations about it but it is a good thing at least for one reason. It has something for everyone in the family and a much better way of spending time as compared to watching "Saas-Bahu" serials or Arnab Goswami talk.

Apna Sachin

2010-03-05T23:35:00.005+05:30

We Indians, myself included, have a tendency to get extremely excited whenever he breaks yet another record. So the euphoria that surrounds Sachin Tendulkar just reached a new crescendo on the 24th of February, when he reached the almost mythical landmark of 200 runs in an ODI innings at Gwalior against the South Africans. And yet, records are just a small part of what Sachin Tendulkar means to me and perhaps some of us Indians.
It will not be an effort to establish his greatness or his “greatest-ness” for they are activities of a futile nature in my opinion which do no one any good. What I am about to write here is extremely personal. But, I also believe that my feelings are shared with countless other Indians who have been following cricket in general and Sachin in particular for the last two decades or so. I hope that what this post perhaps lacks in structure is compensated for by my emotions. They are as genuine as they come from me.
My earliest memory of Sachin is listening on the radio along with my grandfather of him hitting Abdul Qadir for 3 or 4 sixes in an over. Sachin was a childhood prodigy and stories of his record breaking exploits had spread far and wide. But he could not have made his debut under more trying circumstances against Imran, Wasim and Waqar in Pakistan. The term ‘Baptism by fire’ cannot have a more apt usage than this. Somewhere during the tour, as a 5 year old kid I learnt that Sachin had been hit on the nose by one of these evil bowlers (Waqar). But the slightly older kid – Sachin had not given up, rather he had wiped the blood of his nose and said to his partner (Sidhu) – Main Khelega. I am of the firm opinion that this story has inspired me and millions of other kids of my generation. Getting hit while batting (even if it was from a tennis ball) and continuing on the crease went on the become a symbol of courage and pride for me and my friends. And if our mothers ever tried to come in between, we would never let them do so, after all, our hero Sachin had not retired hurt.
Sachin was the one of the role models for all of us growing up in the 90s. He was the man that all of us wanted to become. In a sense, our generation has been lucky to have cricketers like Kumble, Dravid and Sachin for us to hero worship – individuals whom our parents were only glad to allow us to idolize. For Sachin along with some of his peers has been a symbol of hard work, dignity and courage – the values which all Indian parents would want to inculcate in their children.
Sachin’s earlier years in the 90’s coincided with what can only be called as a tough period for the Indian team. Often it would be Sachin playing a lone hand trying to save the game for India or fighting an uphill battle in a seemingly lost cause. And it is here that in a team of mere mortals who lost more often than won, Sachin would still give the Indian public a cause to smile. We may have lost a match but then a 50 or a 100 from Sachin would be the only saving grace, the silver lining in the dark clouds surrounding Indian cricket. Yes, we also had Azza in batting, Srinath and Kumble coming up in the bowling department, but we were a far cry from becoming the world beaters we are today. The point I am making is that we often found that while our team as a collective unit did not give us much to cheer; we had a world beater amongst us who was world-class, who was going to be an all-time great. And so we became obsessed as much, and in some cases even more, with his success and his records, than of the Indian team. Perhaps this was a legacy of the Gavaskar - Kapil Dev era, I am not sure, but for us, it is clearly for Sachin that we went on to become the cricket crazy generation we are today.
When India won the Hero Cup in 1993 – the most unforgettable image of that tournament was Sachin bowling the last over against the South Africans at Eden Gardens, winning us a match from an improbable situation. And as a kid you got two things in mind – #1 Sachin can do just about anything and #2 - I want to be the hero and so I want to bowl the last over of every match. It is a moment which to me signifies many things – a case of a person taking personal responsibility of a situation in a moment of crisis; it is a case of a young man keeping his cool under incredible pressure and expectation; it is of a person who trusts his skill and ingenuity to outsmart the opposition.
There is something about Sachin that I have personally felt and observed with many other friends as well. And that is a deep and personal connect. It is a sense of shared ownership of his achievements. Sachin is a representation of oneself on the field of cricket. When Sachin plays, we feel that we are a part of the action. His successes feel like your own and perhaps more importantly his failures feel even more your own. (To give a personal example – I used to remember each and every Test dismissal of Sachin’s till 2002 after which perhaps it became all a bit too much to carry in my head). No moment has been more devastating for me in cricket than the moment when Sachin got out in THAT test match against Pakistan in Chennai, leaving us desperately close but short of the target. But perhaps nothing has brought me closer to the man that that. We have both lived through the pain of those moments, so now that the good moments come, we can enjoy with that much more pleasure. The 1999 Chennai defeat vs Pakistan overturned in the 2008 Chennai victory vs England. The disappointment of the magnificent yet incomplete 175 against Australia at Hyderabad, wiped off by the 200 vs South Africa at Gwalior. And these are just two examples of how Sachin has set the record straight run by run, giving us occasions to celebrate – sometimes with joy and sometimes with vengeance – over and over again.
We Indians love stories. And Sachin’s story is the kind of story that all of us love the most. A regular boy, perfectly eligible to be fashionably called ‘the guy next door’, humble and down to earth, who goes on to conquer the world with sheer determination and hard work, making the most of his God given abilities. Is this not the story line that all of us want to have for our own lives?
Sachin has provided us with a sense of national identity like no one else. And that remains at the core of his appeal. Since Sachin’s debut, more than 70 players have represented India in test cricket and more than 100 have gone on to play for the country in ODIs. Many of them have gone onto have massive fan followings throughout the country. And yet somewhere down the line, Ganguly is more popular in Kolkata than Delhi. Kumble’s appeal is perhaps more in Karnataka than MP. Dhoni, for all of his achievements, is still not a universally respected figure. Sreesanth rocks, but mostly in Kerala. All of us have that special corner in our hearts for the player that we call “our very own”. Loving someone who comes from our own state is very natural as it is an expression of our regional identity. And yet, we make an exception for Sachin. For Sachin is our favourite player regardless of whether our hometown is Chennai or Cuttack, Patna or Patiala. He has transcended regionalism like no one else. And unlike anyone else, from cricketers to film stars to politicians, his support is not limited to pockets of fanaticism but is based on the individual love of a billion citizens and the collective reverence of a nation. Sachin unlike anyone else and like the great city from which he hails – Mumbai – truly belongs to all of India.
There is so much to say about Sachin, but I will consider this as a limited over exercise and leave the rest for another day. This can never be a complete post for Sachin's innings is a long way from being over now. It is perhaps just stumps at the end of a hard day and a good time to reflect. I will sign of by saying only this:
Sachin Tendulkar has been an integral part of millions of Indian families for the last 21 years. On the days he plays – he becomes the head of the family.

Let them say......

2010-02-15T21:20:00.012+05:30

The film Troy ends with these lines in a voiceover: If they ever tell my story let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles.

Well, here's something I might want people to say about me and my time: If they ever tell my story let them say that I watched the giants. Batsmen rise and fall like the stock index, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Sehwag, tamer of bowling attacks. Let them say I lived in the time of Sachin.
Pic courtsey: Cricinfo

A mouthful from Afridi

2010-02-02T19:06:00.026+05:30

My mom has never been a cricket enthusiast. In whatever little cricket that she used to watch on TV, when I was a kid, one thing used to concern her particularly - Cricketers putting their fingers on their tongues to get the saliva and shine the ball. She felt that it was "totally unhygienic" and used to warn me of never trying that when I used to go and play.

I am kind of hoping that she doesn't see this picture in the newspapers or TV.

The latest Shahid Afridi antic is an absolute beauty. My favourite headline is this one from The Age: Afridi bites ball in bizarre twist as Pakistan bites the dust.

Here are some of the terms going around to describe the situation:

1) Shahid Afridi was "having a ball".

2) Shahid Afridi "made a meal" of the entire situation."

3) Shahid Afridi was "biting the cherry".

4) Shahid Afridi has now "bit more than he can chew".

5) Shahid Afridi "has the balls" to say that all teams indulge in ball tampering.

The justifications coming around from Afridi and his board have been impressive to say the least. He is saying all this together:

1) He shouldn't have done this but was just trying to help the bowlers.

2) He was frustrated.

3) All teams tamper with the ball.

4) He will never do it again.

Check out this link which substantiates Points 1 - 4.

5) He has also said that he was just "trying to smell the leather".

Can we reasonably draw the conclusion from this that in the future while all teams will continue to tamper, the Pakistanis in general and Afridi in particular will never tamper with the ball.

So how would the thing actually taste: Geoff Lawson has said it best here in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald: "It would taste shithouse, it's un-hygienic and you just wouldn't do it. If I was trying to get a ball to move I wouldn't do that."

So, while Shoaib Akhtar might have been a hit with the dance reality shows, I fully expect to see Afridi in some cookery shows on TV soon. How about starting off with the Aman Ki Asha people's channel's show - The Foodie, chatting with Kunal Vijayakar and tasting balls of various types.

The Rules of SPEECH CLUB

2010-01-29T23:29:00.006+05:30

Well, thinking of Fight Club the other day, the most striking scene of the movie for me is when Tyler (Brad Pitt) gives out the Rules of Fight Club. Here they are:

#1 - The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club.
#2 - The second rule of Fight Club is, you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.
#3 - If someone says stop, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over.
#4 - Two guys to a fight.
#5 - One fight at a time.
#6 - No shirts, no shoes.
#7 - Fights will go on as long as they have to.
#8 - If this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight.

Thinking about them, I thought couldn't we have some similar rules or at least similar "sounding" rules for our INFYnity Toastmasters Club down here. So here are the rules that I propose for my club aka from now SPEECH CLUB:

#1 - The first rule of Speech Club is, you do talk about Speech Club.
#2 - The second rule of Speech Club is, you DO talk about Speech Club.
#3 - If the timekeeper shows the red flag, the speech is over.
#4 - Two parties to a speech - the speaker and the evaluator.
#5 - One speech at a time .
#6 - No mobile phones and no cross-talk .
#7 - Speeches go on only as long as they should.
#8 - If this is your first evening at Speech Club, you have to speak.
Wonder how it sounds to some of my fellow Toastmasters oops, fellow SPEECH CLUB members ??

The '3 Idiots' Files

2010-01-26T19:15:00.028+05:30

Very few films have caught the imagination of the public in recent times as "3 Idiots'. The film came with great expectations, but very few could have predicted that it would go on to be such a massive hit. So remarkable has been the success that it became the first Indian movie to make it to the IMDB Top 250 list. The movie was followed by an equally amazing controversy and helped in keeping the film in the limelight.

Over the last month or so, there has been a plethora of reviews, articles, blogs, spoofs and cartoons about the movie. This post is essentially an archive of the best of the web on 3 Idiots - from the ridiculous to the sublime.

As with any movie, there are innumerable reviews available for 3 Idiots. The one that I liked the best came from Mayank Shekhar in the Hindustan Times. When it comes to movie reviews of my choice Greatbong’s review has to be kept here as well as he articulated beautifully why this movie is something a lot of us can relate to.

As most of us, already knew, the movie was "based" on Chetan Bhagat's book - 5 Point Someone. Whether it was "loosely based" or "adapted" or "70% based", I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. However, with Bhagat's name appearing only at the end, and after being urged on by thousands of his fans, he decided to create a hue and cry about it. Here's what he had to say about it in his blog. Well, that led to quite a fight between the makers of the movie - Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Raju Hirani & Co on one hand and Bhagat on the other. I believe they have kissed and made up since, but this clipping showing Chopra's reaction - SHUT UP - SHUT UP in a press conference is priceless :D

Vir Sanghvi put the right perspective on the whole issue - while what the makers did with Bhagat's name was legal, it perhaps showed a certain lack of grace.

A slightly more unconventional look back at the controversy by Manan Singhi in his blog here - Yeh Kya Hui :D

As the film kept becoming a bigger and bigger hit, Aamir Khan tried to do a TZP by demanding tax exemption for it. The last I know, it hasn't been successful.

The Management Gurus were quick to pick up on all of Baba Ranchoddas ka gyan as they neatly summarised all the lessons from the move here.

With the Management Scientists at work, could the real scientists be left behind. Livemint's LabRats came out with all the science bloopers in the film.

One person, who clearly didn't get the film's message (as usual) was the world famous Sagarika Ghose of CNN IBN, who prophesised how this film shows that we are going to become a nation of idiots, following this movie.

Coming to the lighter side of things, this cartoon review/spoof from the vigilidiot is mind blowing. Equally interesting is this cartoon from Satish. Do have a look at them.

As far as I know, the only people who didn't whole-heartedly enjoy the movie were some SRK fans (:D). So here's my friend Ajit, yet another SRK fan, paying an underhanded complement to the movie

And finally while the entire nation keeps repeating All is Well, All is Well, about 74 times a day, there has been a much more profound impact of the movie. My friend Vageesh, a lifelong Aamir Khan fan, has been so impressed by Boman Irani's character that he now takes power naps for 7 and a half minutes everyday in the office. Don't believe it - Have a look :D

Unhappy feet

2010-01-21T23:14:00.007+05:30

There was always something wrong with them.
It all began when I discovered that my trusted pair of Sandals had got torn and could not be worn again. After a brief period of grief, I decided that it was time to get a new pair. Now, coming from Kolkata as I do, I am a bit of a sucker for Bata. And conveniently enough, there is a Bata store just about 500 metres from my house. So I hopped over there, chose a smart looking black coloured pair and came home, satisfied with my latest acquisition.
Things took a slightly odd turn next day. Accompanied by a visting friend, I was walking on the road towards the market, wearing my new sandals. Within a minute, I felt something wrong with my feet. I checked and found out that my left feet had a sandal of size of 8 and the right one - size 9 !! I entered the Bata store immediately (which was luckily along the way) and demanded an immediate exchange of my left sandal. Overcoming their feeble protests, of the sandals not quite being in pristine condition, was not to much of a problem, as I visibly demonstrated my shock at this atrocity on my feet. It's a separate matter that coming home having bought sandals of two different sizes is carelessness of unacceptable magnitude.
The next few days were uneventful in the lives of these sandals, with me not wearing them too much. In between, I had got into the stupid habbit of keeping my footwear outside my door. However, last Saturday morning, when I went to wear them, I could not find them. I was absolutely shocked to see them missing. Preliminary investigations did not reveal much as to who might have liked them a bit too much.
Alas, it seems that they are lost forever. And I am back to being in another grieving period :( . (With Holmes not releasing in Mangalore anytime soon, I have given up hopes of recovering them, much like Sir Henry Baskervilles had to do in The Hound of the Baskervilles.)

14 of the reasons why I love test cricket

2010-01-08T21:23:00.005+05:30

Test cricket has been rather interesting of late, hasn't it? There are many reasons why I love test cricket, here are just 14 of them:

1) It is played by people wearing WHITE clothes - reminding me of my school days wearing the white shirts and sometimes white pants.
2) It is played with a RED ball, which sort of justifies calling it a "CHERRY".
3) Knowledgeable and serious cricket anchors such as Mandira Bedi generally stay away from it.
4) The crowd can pay full attention to either the game or go to sleep rather than being constantly distracted by celebrities like Shilpa Shetty or Preity Zinta hugging players or blowing kisses.
5) The people who do the cheerleading are the ones who pay for it (i.e. the FANS) and not those who get paid for it (i.e. the "professional" skimpily clad ladies).
6) POWERCUTs are not a major issue with games finishing before sunset. Test cricket conserves energy.
7) There are no "Strategy breaks" after every ten overs.
8) It is played over a period of FIVE days, which is a good reason to bunk studies/work for five days.
9) Bowlers sometimes DO FEEL they have a chance of taking a wicket or two.
10) Spinners can't complain about the "WET BALL" and they have a better chance to get into the game with an "OLD BALL", fast bowlers can look forward to the "NEW BALL" which is truly new.
11) Delightfully named fielding positions such as SLIPS, SHORT LEG and SILLY POINT are used.
12) Batsmen can take a little bit of time and afford to play a DOT BALL or two.
13) Batsmen generally get full value for their good shots as most fielders are NOT on the boundary.
14) The players and spectators get sufficient time to rest and eat with LUNCH, TEA and DRINKS.

Stating the Obvious

2009-12-16T20:39:00.012+05:30

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
A few days ago, Arindam Chaudhary released his book - Discover the Diamond in You - a book to be read fast ( a la fast food). The book release however made the headlines for all the wrong reasons as SRK declared there that he wants to be a porn star. But that earth-shattering statement did not make the ripples it normally would as within days, the country's attention was brought to the state of Andhra Pradesh, or Telengana or somewhere around that.
And to analyse this, IndiaTV brought Chaudhary to their studio. With his tremendous intellect, he said that the thing which has the most impact on people and indeed the politicians is books. And the turmoil in Andhra can be attributed to the release of a very recent book, which has been already read by all and sundry. A book so important, so sensational and yet so simple that from school kids to surgeons, from professors to politicians, almost everyone in the country had read it in the last two months. The IndiaTV anchor was well... not so well read.. and so he asked - but Mr Chaudhary which is this book that has caused this situation? And Chaudhary, a little disappointed that his book didn't quite have the same impact, said well... it's obvious, isn't it? - Chetan Bhagat's - TWO STATES... what else?
And just like that, without contesting a single election or even giving a single political speech, Chetan Bhagat had impacted the politics of this country with the same effect as that of the Mandal Movement. KCR had been the first one to understand the absolutely simple meaning of the book - or at least the cover - TWO STATES. And now within days, wherever there is ONE STATE today, people started to want TWO. Gorkhaland from W.Bengal, Maru Pradesh from Rajasthan and Bodoland from Assam are just some of the many demands cropping up.
The only state where politicians have rejected the TWO STATES theory is of course UP. In a rare show of political consensus Rajnath Singh, Mulayam Singh, Ajit Singh and Mayawati came together to say that UP is a state, which if it was a country would be the sixth biggest in the world. And hence they want many states, not just two and they will follow the policy of divide and rule of the British, rather than of the new kid on the block - Chetan Bhagat.
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Among one of the many new state demands that came into the news, was that of Kosal or Kosala in Orissa: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/demand-for-kosala-state-picks-up-in-orissa_100288588.html . The name somehow triggered the Ramayan in my mind. So to check it further, I visited the website of the party demanding the state - The Kosala Kranti Dal. And lo and behold - my instinct was right. It seems that the demand for this state had been from the
time of Lava and Kusha - the sons of Lord Rama !!! - http://www.kosal.org/?page_id=189 .
So, I strongly suggest that you bring out the epics from your shelf and map out your current location to an ancient kingdom. And then go on a little fast. You shall soon be in a hospital and then have your very own little state.
And this news just in: Amar Singh, who has been on a book reading spree, announced in a press conference, that he had just finished reading Dan Brown's - The Lost Symbol. He also said that the ending of the book had been under the influnce of the CBI (The Congress Bureau of Investigation) and he rejects it. According to him, The Lost Symbol is - The Cycle.