Lens

Anitha@Thought Raker has an finished story to which I attempted some endings. Had good fun, the power to change course of lives of characters is thrilling and satisfying. Can’t imagine the fun God up there must be having.

If you read this post, let me know which ending you liked ?

The story:

Dec 10, 2006:
What I really need now is a miracle.

Consider this: I’m forty-plus, I was fired from my job as a Project Manager in a leading software company six months ago, my wife left me a fortnight ago taking our two kids with her, and I was rendered homeless yesterday after my building was razed down as an illegal structure.

I’m sitting amidst scattered boxes in my friend’s apartment, and I light up a cigarette. It is my fifth for the day, and it’s just ten in the morning. I guess I should consider myself lucky that this place was available – it was between tenants. I haven’t spoken to Sharad about the rent, which is just as well, considering the state of my finances. My credit card bill for the month showed mainly liquor purchases, which, I suppose, is an indicator of how I am drowning my sorrows.

Feb 12, 2007:

It’s Valentine’s Day in two days. The romantic mush all around the city is making me sick. I remember our first Valentine’s Day . I was scornful, but Nicky spent the whole night putting up little love notes everywhere. The first one I saw was on the bathroom mirror, and it said: Love you always! They popped up throughout the day, those silly notes, in my pockets, my mail, my lunch-bag… it didn’t feel real. I didn’t think she loved me all that much. It was just her way of being part of the gimmick. She hasn’t contacted me in more than a month. Perhaps she really never loved me.

June 26, 2007:

I’m still in Sharad’s apartment. He hasn’t bothered me much thankfully, just calling sometimes to ensure that I was doing ok. Cash is running real low. I’ve begun selling empty bottles and newspapers to buy my soma. I found this exquisite sculpture hidden inside a cupboard. I hope Sharad doesn’t miss it. I got just 150 bucks for it. But that’s enough to get by. I am not too worried.

Oct 3, 2007:

I almost burnt down the apartment. It was my goddamn cigarette that did it. The security guy had given me some of his cheap liquor (I can’t afford my brand now), and I had passed out before I finished my smoke. Most of my boxes which were still unpacked were reduced to ashes. I don’t even remember what they contained, so it’s just as well.

Jan 13, 2008:

Nicky had come to see me today. With Sharad. She said I was a total wreck. Ha! Talk about irony. What I really need now is a gun.

My Endings:
One:

Jan 15, 2008: Bought a gun. Testing it now upon myself. Goodbye.

Feb 12, 2008: Yeah, I’m still here. I don’t recall everything clearly. I was so drunk. Gun was not real, of course I hardly could afford a real one. I fell exhausted in house for 2 days. Sharad returned from his out station visit. I am admitted to hospital now.

Feb 14, 2008: Nurse smiled. I smiled. That took lot of effort.

Mar 18, 2008: She said, it is not worth it. Sharad said he would recover from me every penny he has spent on me after my recovery. Heh! sometimes friends are a limit. I am going to be admitted to rehabiliation center. She said she would meet me alternate days.

Oct 3, 2008: I am going back to Sharad’s apartment. She is moving in with me (she said just to take care that I dont touch the bottle and cigarrettes again. She knows I wont do it). My ex-CEO called. He is starting on his own. Asked me if I could join him - with a salary 1/5th of what I was earning but he says profits would be shared equally.

Dec 10, 2008: She said Nikita had come when I was asleep and returned not wanting to disturb me. Disturb, ha. What Nikita did not know was, I was not sleeping. Sharad offered me a peg to celebrate my rent payment. I said not when she is looking. Both of us were joking.
What I really now and forever need is what I have - laughter,love.

Two:

Jan 15, 2008: Bought a gun. Trying it on myself. Goodbye. Wait, there is a knock on the door.

Mar 18,2008: Nikita had come that day. No, fate brought her there. I made her past tense. But memories ! Memories will always remain in present tense. I accepted my crime. It was easy.

June 26,2008: Life in jail. No complaints. I have a “legal” shelter (which will not be brought down overnight), I get to eat food, I have no boss who would fire me ! All I really need is paper and pen to pen my thoughts and life.

Three:

Jan 15, 2008: Bought a gun. Have placed it next to bottle and pack of cigarrettes. Which are next to a photo of Nikita and children. The photo was taken after the recovery of Nikita’s fatal accident. She was in coma for 2 days. And was hospitalized for a month. The work,money,dreams,life was in shatters. I was angry at my helplessness which I showed on client and team mates. Client complained and I was fired, citing my mental illness. I am staring at the photo, bottle and gun.

Mar 18, 2008: Don’t know how long I stared at them that day. Finally the bottle won over. I am in hospital now. Nikita and children had come in morning. With Sharad. Nikita said, get a life. Ha. She left. With Sharad. What were those Sharad’s eyes saying - pity or a hint of victory ? I am kicking the bottle. “Get a life”, she said!

June 26, 2008: Havent drunk a drop from 3 months..smoking has come down to 2 a day, which will eventually go. I convinced the computer institute to give me a job. I am teaching “Business Communication” among others, ha talk of irony. I am moving out of Sharad’s house to a rented house.

Jan 18, 2009: I got a divorce. I could have actually won the claim to children, but I let it go. I heard Nikita and Sharad will soon marry.No anger towards Sharad, he saved my life.

( Optional extension 1 below )
Oct 3, 2009: Nikita and Sharad came to leave children with me. They were very stubborn not to stay with new father. Nikita will come and meet them once in a week.

Four

Jan 15, 2008: Bought a gun. When I put it to head, suddenly I felt afraid. It takes great courage to die. Even greater courage to live, my mom used to say. After all, what is there to lose now ? I shot at bottle using the gun. I kept staring at the spilled liquor for more than 2 hours. In the reflection I saw, from the day Nikita got close to me to the day she drifted apart. She may be wrong, may not be. I told myself “Get up, wash your face!”.

Feb 12, 2008: I visited Nikita. We did not speak. Sometimes, silence is enough. She moved with me to Sharad’s house.

Oct 3, 2008: Children wanted to go on a roller-coaster ride. My life has been a ride - what a fall, what a rise ! As if everything was for good, I got posted in a MNC and have been immediately sent to US for long term. Life is good.

Five:

Jan 15, 2008: Am pushed out of Sharad’s house. I am begging on streets. All I have is this book and pen. I dont eat, instead I drink with collected money.

Jan 31,2008: I am still alive.

Mar 18,2008: I am being treated in this community hospital. I can not see the poor and deceased here. I have pledged my service to this hospital after I recover.

Jun 26,2008: Great satisfaction is attained by serving people.

Oct 3, 2008: Nikita found out that I am here. She has a job now, but she realized what she lacks. She came to say sorry and rebuild our life. I have no hatred towards her. But I gently declined and said bye. Her tears may or may not move me, but surely I did not want to see them.

We first went to book the tickets in advance but returned after hearing negative opinions about movie. The reaction was like “Is this the same person who used to watch almost all movies and used to write reviews.” Wow..I had a reputation to keep!! Yes, among other things like this blog had not been updated for 4 months or so, my tastes, thoughts, activities had all taken a detour for last few months. Oh, the details, the world will never know. Or it may. Anyways, for now I think I will restart blogging..will slowly re-invent myself. Or the resolve might long as long as I take to write this post only!

Coming back to movie, read few more reviews (esp of Bharadwaj Rangan’s ..which seemed to suggest it is watchable for certain factors and romance.) and decided to give it a try. Contrary to general conception about me that I like romantic movies, I actually am not particular - and especially am almost fed up of love stories unless there is breath taking newness or freshness in them - like Jab We met.

In Summary, movie did not work for me. If you either wish to see it or wish to like it, do not read further !

Jodha Akbar:
So this period romance starts with some history lessons. How Jalal grows up and builds empire etc, how he gets trapped in an intercaste marriage. Now, come on, I did not think he sacrificed a big deal or he took any major earth shattering decision -it was so simple..he could get the whole Rajput land, plus a beautiful Aishwarya all for allowing her to do a pooja in her corner and not to ask her to convert her religion. That simple decision!

Now I am not that interested in history but if I went to a historical movie I obviously wanted to know more about it..so that I could make up for my ignorance caused by showing no interest to history in high school. But I guess there is not much in this story. Since there was so much romance, instead of actual war and politics, I wonder why love story was not present in history text books. At least that would have made it little interesting - the history lessons!

But what a love story it turns out to be too…it never really took off for me…except for few great moments here and there. But surely it did not need a periodic backdrop if all there was to tell was this. The major reason people would visit halls for this movie is for the stars -Hrithik and Aishwarya, but unfortunately I am not a big fan of neither of them. Ok, they look good (oh! Ash’s costumes nd colour !! ), but I can not go to a theater for fashion parade! So I almost felt it was like Dhoom2 - esp when Hrithik displays his curves, sword swirls and glances at Ash, I almost heard “Are you ‘like’ checking me out?” dialogue from Dhoom2.

The one compelling reason that took me to hall was Ashutosh Gowariker’s name. In Swades and Lagaan, the romance was on backdrop, the central theme holds the pulses of audience and touches heart. Here,sugar candy was central theme-and it for some reason never really takes off-and the backdrop of politics is there as if it is a compulsion. For eg, after taking one decision about exempting piligrimage-tax (or some such thing), Jalal is hailed as a great king. The respect is never built up. Or at least I expected a major war sequence with all gory and glory but all that was shown was elephant crushing heads and a boring duel.

When it is a movie based on history, I am very concerned about how many things shown were for real - if you are taking cinematic liberties to an extent to change what exactly was - I would be disappointed. But here, since my history is weak, I don’t even know what is right - for eg, did they do the duel in the end instead of actual war ? Did Jodha know to use sword ?

There are few funny moments and I doubt if it was intended.Left to myself I would have mocked this movie like anything! My biggest grouse about the movie remains - there was no sign of Birbal.

Among my regrets in life, not staying in hostel will find its place in the top of the list. I know it comes with its set of disadvantages, could be utterly boring for some, but still I envy those who had the privilege to stay in hostel. My cousins are in hostel and I enjoy listening to their hostel stories. (There used to be a coloumn in Vijay Karnataka that included some hostel stories and I used to enjoy them!)

Here is one prank by my cousin:

I don’t know that whether spirit exists or not but I believe that what the students call spirit in hostel is just cock and bull story. One day our neighbors (next roommates) planed to call spirit. some how my friend came to know about it and we decided to have some fun with them so we wore white shirts and white pants with white masks, just like spirits.

At 1 am our neighbors were calling spirits, I and my friend went there with white dress, we stood near the window and suddenly we pushed the window which made big sound and the people inside were in perspiration.

We suddenly went inside the room, by seeing our horrifying dress the people inside the room became terrified and they ran to there rooms.

At the same time we spilled some red ink mixed with kunkuma on the window keeping a red lemon beside window which was more horrifying .Next day our neighbors decided to not to call spirit in there life time. Still our neighbors don’t know that we are the spirits!!!!!!!!

I propose we celebrate today, March 5th every year as Lamentine day. Lets celebrate the joys of lamenting by allocating a special day for it. Why today, why not 15th of March? Don’t ask me. From the divine powers that be, it suddenly dawned upon me, through an body-less sound’s sound suggestion(ashareeravani- similar to the ones that came from clouds in Mahabharata) that this day is as auspicious as any other and I should immediately announce to the world - I am merrely carrying out the order. Actually the initial name I thought was Lamenter’s Day or Ranter’s Day or Cribber’s day..but since Lamentine rhymes with its another cousin day, I have zeroed in on this name.

So, what do we do on this day. We lament. Like valentine’s day, on L day we will show our talent by cribbing about anything and everything. At anything bad (as usual) and also at anything good. For example, you hear phone ringing and you start saying “This phone was one of the very annoying inventions ever made. It rings loud..it rings when not required. It invades the peace and privacy. It is more of a luxury to owner than a necessity….” You see Tv and start saying”This is one of the most dangerous inventions ever made..it deprives children of their physical activity, it wastes time, it is rightly an idiot box….”.

We lament/rant/crib about work (as usual), money, politicians, nature of people, imperfect and imbalanced society, infrastructure, partners,..you get the point. We will even lament about lamenting.

Unlike some other days which particularly target specific people (women/fathers/mothers/lovers), we dont discriminate anyone and our day is open to celebration by all people who are capable of cribbing given any situation.

I can even envision the future for this day - as usual the card companies will come up with some funny cards that could be exchanged with fellow lamenters. There would be contests on Fm radio to identify who the best cribber is. “I will give you a situation and all you have to do is tell me how many minutes you can rant on this topic..message me your expected duration and I will give you a call to the lucky person..”

What are the advantages, you ask ?
Plenty. First of all you will feel proud that you have the basic necessity to be called a lamenter - a mouth and the knowledge of a language. You will be so proud that it will increase your confidence at tackling the same. You will perhaps be able to laugh at yourself going by how illogically you could rant, or laugh at others. When you realize that there are so many who are willing to complain, you will feel not to be left alone. And most importantly, once you speak out what sits in your mind, you will be happy to take on next step (probably search for topic for next cribbing).

Why, you ask, should we have a reserved day for lamenting, when we (can) do that all days in the year. The answer is same as why we have Valentine’s day.

Ok, got to go now. Need to create orkut community, design badges, hold press conferences and processions to spread the awareness.

Long live lamenting.

Ps: This post should be categorized under its own category - Rant, for this is not completely satire/humour.
Pps: Did I “take” a break from blogging ? No. Do I resume to post as earlier ? Don’t know.

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I have upgraded now to WP2.3 but this time it wasn’t smooth as last time.
First of all, the one-shot automatic upgrade provided by this plugin stopped before completing the job (when it had to upgrade database). After which I used its step-by-step and started from beginning and hence had to activate plugins myself

Second, due to some enhanced security stuff, I could not log in to wordpress. But I initially thought it was a forgotten password issue - due to my recent nightmarish lost-pwd cases that I would highlight sometime - I reset the password after lot of breaking my head. (But it was very easy actually)

But I was still unable to log in, because it was not the case of wrong password in first place ! So after breaking my head again, I commented out the security code. ( I feel it was not working as it intended to)

There are many changes in 2.3 of which, the tag thing has broken my existing wonderfully working UTW tagging system, & that is frustrating. I even imported the old tags but the “modifying theme to make it work with tags” and breaking the earlier working system is highly irritating.

So not very happy with this upgrade.
**

The other day, had a very satisfying “outing” in Innovative Multiplex. The theatre which I had avoided almost for its first two years, for the sole reason that it is too far and the time so much spent for a movie is not worth it. I always felt it was so awfully out of the city !
The distance is still the same, but now it has become very near ! I mean, I daily travel 7kms further to it, so it has sort of become interior now !!
Another practical reason to head out there is that, it is so empty even on weekends and we can get tickets even 1 minute before the show ! Now even the normal theaters inside city have priced their tickets too high to their worth !
Coming back to the outing, it was Dhamaal, a convenient but hurried lunch break, followed by Manorama Six Feet Under.
***
Talking of multiplexes, there is a new multiplex inside the city not many would be aware of ! It is called Vision Cinemas and it is listed in ToI. BK and I went in search of it the other day. ( hint: It is near Lalbagh. ) Since it is not publicized and as it is new, there is hardly any crowd coming to it ( we wish it remains like that for as long as possible ). The autowallahs too are not aware - when we asked directions for new multiplexes - they showed the way for PVR and INOX ! When we mentioned in this area, all mentioned Urvashi. For regular movie-goers like us, it was a huge laughing stock, because we specifically mentioned “new” and they were going from Inox to Pvr to Urvashi ! Finally a rik-driver had a late realization and ran behind us to inform of the location. (another hint: lot of eating joints are seen to the road and the actual building is far behind). And the building does not even carry the name plate, so I wish it remains anonymous for more time !

The following is what I wrote on Flixter to my flixter account through FB

I wish I could give it 5 star rating! The progress is good, the first half builds the entire premise and second half goes around tieing the lose ends, but it is not until last few frames that the entire picture becomes clear. Classic novel-like script makes it a tight watch. All the actors pitch in with terrifc perfomances and leave a lasting impression.
A thoroughly impressive debut direction, impressively shot in Rajastan and the slow and steady flow not once bores.
Full paisa vasool but if you are looking for jolly entertaining no-braner stuff for a lazy sunday afternoon, then turn to some other crappy stuff which is being passed off as comedy these days.

It is sometimes excruciatingly difficult to blog, esp to write a post (not the linking stuff). Writer’s block is one thing and having too much to write but finding no time to write is another.
And then, like it has happened today, the whole time is spent in browsing, chatting, installing and stuff. I haven’t been able to draft a single paragraph!

Part 3:

# Saw these movies: Great Escape, Where Eagles Dare, Green Mile, No man’s land, Saving Private Ryan, Silence of the Lambs.

Silence of Lambs was very gripping and good story telling. Though I did not clearly understand the climax - was the person she searching happened to be main criminal - was it a just co-incidence ?

What an acting. Just less than 15 minutes of acting got Anthony Hopkins an Oscar.

# Went to Ooty, Coonor. Travelled in the Chayya Chayya train. Had great fun. Clicked lot of pics.

# Had been to Wide Angle Photography exhibition.

# Sholay details on flixter was mixed up and screwed up. I mailed and they corrected

# Enjoying facebook. Nice to see orkut changes too, but trying not to use orkut. FB is like all you want to know about me - twitter is there, flixter is there, songs i like is there, goodreads is linked there, pics uploaded would be notified there plus for playing games.

# It took few seconds before I realized it was DURGAMBA which I read as DURGA MBA !

# too many spam is coming into inbox these days in gmail contrary to good old days of gmail which combated spam well..what changed ?!

# Migrated my pics to flickr from yahoo photos. Flickr looks so vast..took time to learn the terminologies. They are offering 3 months pro - unlimited upload..thought of taking backup of all my pics. They said only 3 albums will be visible if I dont upgrade. But they also said my photos submitted to group pool will remain - I created pools, will submit photos to that and they will be seen after not upgrading ! Rangoli kelage nusulodu antaralla…

# Enjoyed the trashing reviews of Aag

# What I want: “Note this” in Google reader.Other way round-sharing the notebook items in reader has 1 drawback-doesn’t readily show source.

# Attended a very interesting and thought provoking talk by Prof Sadagopan who had come to our office. He mixed humour, real life examples, facts, knowledge and it was a refreshing experience. I still remember some of his points in good detail, feel bad that I didn’t put down most of the talk on the same day.

# Wrote lot of private post-like mails. ( But feel bad for not managing to write about Coonor trip & team outing in detail )

# No more long posts. Might even convert my twitter updates into posts.

Sometimes a Good Morning quote ignites a conversation. A recent one ignited two :

ONE::
Rk:

I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war. Marcus T Cicero

Adiga:

should it be the otherway round? prefer righteous war to unfair peace? I heard it that way.

Rk:

Many replied like that … this is what Marcus said..may be righteous war was what Lord Krishna said.

Adiga:

No, I heard some foreign author said it.

Rk:

If internet is the right source, I find the quotes I sent only ..and not the other way round quote….

Adiga:

Ya,,,,,file a review to that site and question its correctness.

P.S. Marcus Cicero made a failed attempt to establish peace in Rome. So if he is frustrated because of this, then what internet told is wrong. If he still believed his fundamentals despite his failure then its right.

Rk:

It is there in ALL the sites…and if you need to prove them wrong, you should have source & proof to the correct quote … burden of proof lies on you

oh thanks for the info…

Adiga:

 Burden lies with Marcus himself because the world doesn’t know whether he is frustrated or not…Lets close the debate.

Rk:

Ok., lets close the debate
It is unfair to close debate..but it is peaceful

TWO (More food for thought) ::

Rk:
I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war. Marcus T Cicero

SY:
I tend to disagree with Marcus’s statement!!

I would prefer to have a “just WAR”, instead of anything unfair.

Rk:
Well, I was just thinking under which category does “marriage” fall.

Joke apart, there are very few quotes I send which I personally do not agree with but just want to display the thought a great person might have had. I can say, this was NOT one of them.
For me, life & peace is more important than war - because war is inherently unfair in more ways than one.

May be ek discussion hojaye

SY:
My views
Regarding Good Morning quote:

Assume, I have unfairly gained advantage (escaped from being hit) just because some body chose to keep quiet rather than hit me. I would feel so uncomfortable, that I will not be able to continue my daily activities peacefully. I will lose my peace of mind for the unfair peace that I gained.

Assume, I have unfairly lost advantage just because I chose to keep quiet rather than hit some one else, OR some body forced me to keep quiet. I might repent later on and start developing hatred against that someone. Again I will lose my peace of mind for the unfair peace that I gained*.

*All words used should be taken at face value.

Rk:

First of all, being hit is no way equivalent to a war. War is when those who are not involved are also hit, killed. Possibly you are trivialising war.

In first scenario, it shows that you are a good human being. In which case there was no way you were to be get hit in the first place which will rebut the first sentence. Secondly, even for a moment we consider the first statement to be right, the result is “you lost your peace of mind”, which is FAR better than war or he killing you/hitting you One more thing, the peace gives you chance again and in case of war, it is over. Hitting will instantly result in you hitting you (because that is according to you  - rightful war). Something on the lines of eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

In the second scenario, if you are developing hatred that is only because you do not believe in the qoute. If you agree with the quote there is no confusion, it is unfair but it is peace. So you will not develop hatred. On the other hand, the effect is only “repent later”, but in war, there is no end until one of them is hurt. So since it is NOT only one hit you will return and he keeps quiet (bcoz he might also believe in war - righteous or not )  , and hence it is not known who is going to give a final blow. So it might happen that there is no “later” for even repenting.

Thats how I see it. I hope I am making at least some sense …

However, unfairness is not to be tolerated. (But since war is also unfair, war is not the solution, I think). Unfairness is not to be tolerated - which is why we had Freedom Struggle, which is why Nelson Mandela fought against racism, which is why feminists are fighting, which is why …etc.

If I made some sense, we can consider the debate closed. If I have not made any sense, probably you are right and hence the debate is closed - in this case, it is unfair to close the debate, but it is peaceful

Finished reading “Kane and Abel” - the first novel I have read of Jeffrey Archer.

Haven’t found a good review of the book, if you know, let me know. The search on Google throws up results about two musicians and their music.

My thoughts/comments :

Again enjoyed the initial story thoroughly. The struggles of Abel (Wladek) were thrilling to read. Even the business like smartness of Kane in his initial school years ( like collecting match box covers )  were detailed and interesting in the early pages. After he grows up that detail is missing.

Abel after became successful must have visited the lady who’d helped him in the train. There is no mention of it afterwards, though he visits embassy and all.

Though it was little distracting for me, liked the links and references to actual facts and history - like war, President elections, stock market crash etc. ( Though am not aware of Polish-German conflicts. ) And kept hoping/guessing this was a real story

The war efforts of both Kane and Abel almost looked like a forced distraction/deviation. It is so detached from the main story, looked like, from a meeting room they went out for a smoke and came back. Their meeting during the war, I thought would have some link/effect in their story later, but was disappointed, more disappointed that it didn’t even get a mention in the final letter.

Few sequences/passages I very much enjoyed are 1. the golf rounds Kane plays with Alan Lyold, 2. Zaphia meeting Abel surprisingly after he becomes successful 3. Kane’s sudden marriage in a foreign land.

As usual as these days, kept imagining how a particular sequence is realized on screen. Should watch this movie sometime.

I was expecting the feud to end earlier but it didn’t, and it seemed at the end as though it was getting elongated for no reason or with no happening. Also was disappointed that Kane got ill-treated though he was good and did right things - and he was a better human too - did not ditch his wife. It was also wrong that he lost the chairmanship - it would have been better if he had died before that.

For all the detailed smart moves of Kane, like hiring a detective who would be all knowing, Abel was too dumb. Was expecting Kane to buy out Abel’s hotels and give a slap back to Abel in his own business.

Why Kane’s friend had to die off abruptly like that - may be it was thought when the character is created itself coz his bank has to go to Kane but, for the reader it is abrupt. The unpredictability like this surfaces at many places right from Abel’s friend’s death to Kane’s losing chairmanship in his own bank to losing it finally in Lester’s to his death.

For me, the novel felt elongated after the affair of their children- which if at least had fueled/patched up their rivalry it would have been meaningful to invoke that plot. I dislike the plots which don’t necessarily add to the main story - which I thought was their rivalry because the cover pages & title suggested that - but for me it would have been perfectly fine to outline two characters and not have any connection - like in the early pages - thorough out the novel highlighting perhaps the similarities or the contrasts in their lives.

Wonder who the two anon people author mentions about/dedicates to in the first page and how they are related to the story.

For a novel, 550+ pages big, and for a novel that occupied my travel time for 15days or more, these comments/thoughts are less

I first read a hope from GreatBong well before the start of Twenty20 cricket:

If Dhoni can do a Tunbridge Wells, if Yuvraj steps into Mohinder Amarnath’s shoes, if Sreesanth can shake his ass like the generously endowed Roger Binny, if Rohit Sharma becomes a Yashpal Sharma, if Hayden leaves an outswinger that then swings in and takes off stump, if Gilchrist top-edges a pull to midwicket, if Pathan can regain his mo-jo and Sehwag can blast the ball past his beer gut then who knows—-those who have come to scoff may very well remain to pray.

Indian fans (the ones that actually care to follow the tournament) can take comfort in the fact that 24 years ago, another such inexperienced motley crew of bits-and-pieces no-hopers went to foreign shores sans any hype and expectations.

if GB wasn’t GB, he would have claimed to have known all things before hand due to his supreme powers and due to the placement of stars !

Not to forget, his post wasn’t just a wishful one , he had then went on to analyze what was missing and what was required very well.

He then followed it with another excellent post after India had reached certain stage:

And one of the reasons for these small miracles has been, no doubt, what I had referred to as the only positive for Dhoni’s men—-they had gone to South Africa unheralded, with no expectations and no accompanying hoopla. This was in sharp contrast to the team that went to West Indies earlier this year amidst the “Cup jeetke lao” and the “Blue Billion” corporate-fuelled hype and got hopelessly eliminated in the first round. While Dravid’s men played like zombies with the weight of expectations of the entire country weighing on their shoulders, looking increasingly forlorn, disconsolate and on the edge after each setback , the new Team India, no doubt because nothing was expected from them, has been free-spirited, uncluttered and fearless even when faced with enemy ships that have outsized and outgunned them.

in the glories of the last few days of cricket—-Yuvraj Singh with supreme arrogance flicking an express delivery from Lee for a 119 meter six, Rohit Sharma running out Kemp with an amazing diving throw, Kartik’s airborne catch to get rid of Smith, Stuart Broad’s red embarrassed “teenager with his first dirty magazine” expression as Yuvraj gets stuck into him, Sreesanth slapping the pitch with his hands like Hannibal Lecter in front of a fresh corpse as Hayden’s stumps lie in disarray and Dhoni’s simple nod of affirmation to Harbhajan after Bhajji rattles Symond’s Michael Clarke’s timber.

It has really been the most fun one can have with their clothes on.

And after the win again, he wrote an outstanding post:

Mr Dhoni we understand. It is not easy wicket keeping, strategizing, blasting deliveries to all corners of the park, praying that Joginder Sharma does not get hit for a six , hoping that Sreesanth does not slice a batsman with a pocket knife, while all the time carrying on your shoulders the weight of a million expectations.

See the smiling Pathan brothers there—-one of whom strangled your team’s progress in the middle overs and the other led a rousing charge on your opening bowler. Tell you what, they also belong to the “Muslims of the world” and yet are deliriously happy at your defeat . Why wouldn’t they be ? They caused it.

And whole of other things he has said over there ( Dear Flintoff, Dear Aussies, Dear Lankans,Kiwis and South Aftricans) is delightful to read !

**
Sidin’s open letter to Flintoff was another delight :

nce again proved without doubt that England should restrict itself to inventing games but not actually expect to win any of them. This is a small selection of such sports and games for your perusal:

- Football
- Cricket
- Tennis
- Hockey
- Rugby
- Badminton
- Anything that involves running (except running industry to ground), throwing (except throwing up outside pub) and jumping (except jumping on head of supporter of rival football team).

I know some Singhs who have two washing machines at home: one for washing clothes and the other for making Lassi.

Mr. Sidhu once had a minor tiff with another individual in a traffic-related situation. Now I am aware that Englishmen also get into traffic tiffs and then resolve it by hurling abuse at each other or a little pushing and shoving.

Mr. Sidhu, after due thought and introspection, killed the other man. Kaput. Khallas. Phineesh.

**
Gaurav feels bowlers will love Twenty20

Which is why, at the end of 2 weeks of cricket of quality and thrill levels not seen in the last 4 ODI world cups, it was the bowlers who made the difference. It was a bowler who got the man of the match in the final. It was a bowler (though the wrong bowler) who won the player of the series. Go through every match (except for, possibe the SA-WI run-fest) and it was bowling that tilted the scales.

**
Amit Varma thought it through :

Speaking of new stars, a big reason why this World Cup was so important for us was that it gave us a snapshot of the future. The decision by the Dravid-Tendulkar-Ganguly trio to withdraw from the tournament was a magnificent one for Indian cricket, as it gave us a chance to see what a young Indian team, without the baggage of the past, would look like. MS Dhoni’s team looked united, confident, devoid of politics and happy together.

That does not mean that we should discard the older players, for we need them in the season ahead, and should persist with them as long as they merit their place. But it does invalidate the argument that we should stick with our legends because the newcomers aren’t good enough. This tournament showed that we have eager, hungry young players waiting their turn, and any seniors who underperform should be shown the door—respectfully, but without regret.

***

Finally my few words about it. I saw some part of semis and nothing much of earlier matches (Sleep always dominated!). I followed the results keenly though.

I was stuck with work in office when all other cricket enthusiasts were glued to the TV for the finals. While coming by road, the road was empty and free flowing like no other day. Very frequently there were many groups in front of a showrooms which put the screen for the passing by crowd to watch There were loud cheers - for both dropping a catch and for taking a wicket - so it was very confusing for me as to which side the match was tilting. The cab driver got some updates on phone and by which I could guess it was a seesaw match. I came home just after it finished.

**
The fact is the trio-Dravid,Sachin,Ganguly- haven’t won the world cup for India despite having a strong team, despite being talented. The fact is the young team did it. But leave it at that. The conclusion based on these two facts can NOT be: the seniour players caused the team to loose or that their re-entry is not called for.

I am one of those few fellows, who despite had had disappointment over the way some players failed over and again, who would have been even more happier if the trio were part of the WorldCup winning team. I do not think their presence would have failed the team in any way. This Ponting talk of - it is unfortunate the winning team members should make way for seniours is CRAP. Now the failure would be tagged to the presence of seniours and the victory would be tagged to the world cup winning team’s “momentum”. Now I feel Rahul’s decision’s timing was very right, much before Dhoni’s team won the cup - if he had taken later/or if he had not resigned he would have had to face several other criticisms !

**
Despite the takl of “Chak De” movie reforming the game for the masses and media, after the Asia Cup win, not many covered it in bold. And this was to be highlighted and protested against at that very time. Now that saying “You are giving them and not giving us” sounds sad. Hope the media, govt and other companies (yesterday ToI carried an ad by Oil PSUs congratulating the heroes for winning the Asia Cup - is akin to giving a chocolate to a crying baby) will not repeat such bias in the future. I don’t accept that Asia Cup was smaller than cricket world cup - Asia Cup too had 11 playing teams and India did superlatively well - remaining unbeaten, defeated tough teams and setting few records.

**
Last few weeks Indian sports is doing better in almost all outings - billiards, chess,cricket, hockey, tennis. Here is a wishing and hope that the dream run continues.

# Watched “Heyy Babyy”. What a waste of money - Rex has increased its price overnight. I noted that the comedy scenes were all shown in the promotional videos. Rest is all emotional crap. This is the first movie where I feel, trailer is the only best part in the entire movie. What a cheating. Grrrr….

There is one totally entertaining scene in which I almost died laughing - the scene of slow-driving the car.

Also observed those who apparently hadn’t watched trailers were enjoying movie to the core. Especially two girls in front of us. Even in the scenes I barely managed to smile, they rolled on the floor (laughing). Only reason to forgive someone who actually believed he could extend the toilet jokes that he cracks on a TV hosted show to a movie and can call that movie a comedy, Sajid Khan, but you are forgiven - you managed to make some people laugh.

I so wished SRK married Balan. They should give choices of which climax I would want to see and I should be able to select them.

To console myself, I say that there was one single compensation for going to theater - 2 scenes of Vidya Balan. One throwing flowers in the introductory song sequence and entire song sequence is watchable just because of her (or that I did not see anything else). And another in red saree, I for a second felt I was seeing Kajol. Go Balan go, just for this one reason, I am ready to forgive small things about you which I don’t enjoy - oversmiling for one.

Given the box office earnings for this movie, we are in for films like this in the future.

Finished reading “To kill a mocking bird”. It was one of the few books which did not take off. For first few days again and again I was in initial pages and used to get lost in thoughts/ to go to sleep and I repeated same sentences. I knew not the reason, was it suddenly jumping into terminologies I did not understand. Or was it because it probably did not feel like the beginning itself. After hearing similar experience by SK, I was bit relieved. But I was determined to read this and it slowly picked up speed.

There were lot, a lot of things I wanted to note and make a mention in this post but I carried no marker while reading. There is an element of suspense through out and yet it did not make me impatient or hurry through the pages. I swallowed each and every sentence and moved slowly.

I liked the English. I liked the very small observations done, which could only be done by small children, from whose eyes the novel is seen. I think the writer maintained a diary and some things were picked up from that. The childhood stuff was good fun, at times a bit nostalgic too. How I wished it continued like that !

It gets complex and touches upon various aspects in a totally detailed way that I was doubting if it was on track (Same experience I am having now with Kane and Abel - the detailing part).

Mrs Dubose’s plot was moving.

In the cover it is mentioned, the author still maintains it was “a simple love story”. For most of the initial part I kept looking for that thread - was it between Scout and Dill ? Or was it b/n Scout and the hidden boy next door ?  But now after reading the novel, I am disappointed. Not that I was looking for a love story but I was misguided. Don’t tell me that it was about a “love for human kind” in general, I am not immature not to get that but that certainly does not deserve the claim that it was a “simple love story”.

There were some surprisingly thrilling moments like when the daughter sends back the people who had come to attack her father.

Tom Robinson’s death was totally unexpected and I felt the void suddenly.

After having gone into so much detail, perhaps it required a better treatment. And after the death, the plot moves irritatingly slow.

Since I knew this was made into a movie, I kept thinking how would a particular scene appear in the movie. Must watch it sometime.

I went to watch this play for the sole reason being - it was a thriller/suspence play. Been sometime since I opted for anything but comedy. The story in brief is like this: There is a couple who plan in detail to cheat the law and become rich, by ( perhaps very common in the stories) cheating the insurance company. There is an inspector who sees through their plot and tries to take advantage of the situation. And then there is a final twist.

The set and lighting arrangements were detailed and good. The performances were okay but for one or two scenes in which they manage to excel. I could never approve of the third person’s acting - probably it was meant to be like that !  The lady often said wrong numbers - like she mentioned 8 months since marriage once and next time 6 months and like 50 thousand for 50 lakh - when the audience loudly murmured in a way of correcting her that it was Lakhs and not thousands. Lack of preparation or nervousness might have caused which was strange because she did some scenes convincingly - the one where she explains her interview with Inspector. 

The final “twists” have become quite predictable nowadays and I always look for the inconsistency it causes with the whole previous happenings. And whenever I find some I disprove/dislike the final twists. In particular in this play, if the final twist was true, many things looked like redundant. ( There is a small justification though - the entire play was played out for the third person - I know this is not explaining correctly, but those who’d seen would get it).

The play is originally of Marathi by Yogesh Soman, translated to Hindi by Prashant Kirwadkar , which is translated to Kannada by Dr Tippeswamy. Directed by Anoop Joshi and the group was Rangayana. 

What an experience it was to watch “Chak De”. I have always loved a sports theme based movie - Iqbal, Lagaan, Million Dollar Baby, so it was almost a given that I would like this movie and add to that there were positive reviews. However the experience was something even better - the crowd, the shouts, the whistles. When I had been to watch Rajini I could not get so involved and wondered what was it. Or rather when was the last time for me - involvment and celebration together ? Was it Lagaan ? Was it a laugh riot like Hungama ? Was it Swades ? When was the last time ?

Now I can say, Chak De. I admit, it was surprising for me at few points, but overall it was cliched and predictable, yet it was totally entertaining. For which half the credit might go to the highest paid screen writer in Bollywood.  

It could have got a little more detailed, at least a cursory look, into what went into those 7 years. And why “7″.

I wouldn’t rate SRK’s performance higher than his in Swades.

Most importantly, the movie was more dearer for it was based on a real story of Mir Ranjan Negi. Got to know more details like he took active part in the movie and coached the movie’s hockey team. 

I knew few dialogues ( from reviews ) but my favorite is the one where SRK says, “Kisi gore ko pehli baar tiranga lehrate hue dekh ke maza aa raha hai”. Priceless ! I enjoyed many other moments.

There were few other points I wanted to make, not recollecting now. What a loss !

Part 2:

# I had been to Flower Show at Lalbagh - solely for the reason of photographing flowers. I am not sure if I am too happy with my photos, however here are they for your viewing pleasure. Why do “Macro” mode results in photos that look as though they are painted in water colour ?

# Went to PESIT college for Independence Day, attended flag hoisting and sang National Anthem. Now, how many of you did/can do that ? DJ’s speech was not very original, he just read out a speech by Narayana Murthy. Though it made me look for it on the net link, it was not in usual DJ’s style. “I always look for what is in it for me” he said, “and if one person among this audience becomes like one of the visionaries mentioned in the inspiring speech, that is enough for me”. Like any dreamy eyed teenager, some of us thought he was referring to us itself ( I still have to get the feeling that I am not a teenager any longer, sigh !) . The article deserves a read.

# There were lot of flowers in the garden and I regret not having carried the camera with me.

# Another best thing done on the Independence Day was to watch “Chak De”. Some detailed thoughts will follow in next post. 

# Also watched Checkmate play at RS on Independence Day. Some comments will follow after Chak De review.

# RBoTaH will continue after those posts

# Despite being in the company for more than 3 months, I had spoken only to 3 or 4 people and this occasion was helpful to know the team and to know what others are doing. I also enjoyed the activities/games. I wanted to write a long write-up in my usual style and was sure I could impress and surprise everyone in the team - it has happened quite often that I am not boasting - but I could never manage time. Something or the other came up. When it comes actual life - watching movies and meeting friends and meeting dentist - I never allow my self interest - like getting praises and impressing others - to take a higher priority which was why I could never sit down to write a decent write-up. However I had jotted down some stuff which I had sent to a friend, let me reproduce that here :

From office we had been to team building… had good fun. Will try ( I’m dead tired and it takes hell lot of time to write) to write a Minutes of Meeting and if done will send it to you.
Otherwise important highlights are :
1. We built a raft and we did rafting on it. It was a quiet lake, nevertheless, I was instrumental in our team’s race winning. Proud of myself
2. I could crack few funny stuff and impressed few people.
3. Snipped [Rant]
4. Did a boring bonfire. No music. People sang and some had real good singing talents. Oriya, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil , Konkani, Bengali, Kannada & English songs were sung !
5. Got to know who are in our team. The team was only 30 but even after 3 months of joining I knew only 3 ppl in our team. It looks like the company environment problem and every other person was frustrated and they were also disappointed with this.
6. I climbed and got down a wall which was more than 10 ft high. I still don’t believe that I did that. Of course lot of support was there on both sides. Remember we were in pitch dark jungle.
7. We went on a sort of night trekking but it was just a walk. I noticed lot of people are too scared with forest and nature but I was very brave until I faced that human made 10 ft high wall.
8. I was smart in many games where I gave nice suggestions, and where I got the idea very fast, co-ordinated well etc. But in one game I did very bad.

# Looking back, if there were two things that stand out, two is less and difficult number, it should be climbing the wall. I had never climbed and never wanted to do and would never want to. But when life offers only two choices and rule out one choice, I had to agree to climb the wall. It must be my most horrific moment in my recent life. That tells what a luxurious life I lead. A good photo of me looking as if it was all over for me, would be posted soon. The second event that could stand out was building the raft and I almost single handedly winning the rafting race for my team. *&^%@ to those who made fun of my weight.

# To do: upload few pics and link to them. Especially of climbing the wall and of the rafting.

Part 1:

# Alert : Might turn out to be a loong post. Feel free to skip if you want to miss out on my thoughts and happenings in my life, but anyways if you expect anything greater than that on this blog, you are bound to be disappointed. So read on

# I guess I have to yet again resort to Random Bursts of Thoughts and Happenings ( RBoTaH ) format solely for not having enough time immediately to update. Also I want to update everything in the same chronological order that they happen and which is why sometimes even though there is enough urge to write, I procrastinate till I write about the previous event. Let me say, I don’t enjoy myself this style of mixing too many things in a single post, but I want to record everything for posterity purposes - when I become rich and famous, writing a separate biography would be a burden, no ?

# On the other hand, it is good, I tell myself, that I have been so occupied ( and doing bloggable stuff ) that I delay doing something - something that I enjoy - blogging / updating for my well wishers ( thats you! ). See, I don’t always talk about me.

# Again, this post would be just an index for forthcoming posts, if time and mood permits.

# So where was I last time ? After that, I had been on a 2 day team building from company to a nearby place called Wonder Valley. It was a true “team building” - because we had lot of activities and learning. It was superbly handled by a firm called “Navgati”. Will put up a post next. RBoTaH will continue after the break!

This bowl out in Twenty20 is so stupid and childish! Wonder who got that stupid idea and suggested and wonder how other people accepted it ?! First of all, by run rate/ number of wickets fallen, ( Duckworth-Lewis or something like that ) easily a side could be declared winner.

But understanding that you want to make it thrilling in the last minute and all, even then this bowl out looks so disgraceful to cricket. It is not equivalent to penalty shoot out in football/hockey, it is roughly equal to kicking at the goal post without the goal keeper.

Why is it being reduced to only bowling accuracy ? Kicking a goal and defending was what they did it all the time in a football game but in cricket it is more than that. Why not consider batting accuracy and let the batsman hit a ball by tossing it himself in the air ?

Also it is quite simple to bowl at the stumps. Just bowl plain dead slow ball ! I am sure just after few tie-breakers, one will see all the bowls hitting the stumps, then what ?! I think they will be asked to bowl at single stump ?! When that also does not break a tie, they should do it with eyes closed. Wah !

If a tie breaker had to be played, then an extra over each team of normal cricket is most perfect. ( And again, not in an empty field without fielders! ).

In advance wishing you all a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi.

Ps: Some posts coming soon. Also sharing lot of things on link blog
Pps: What do you think of new theme ? Click on those tiny pics on top to change the look.

Happy Independency Day to All Indians !
Lalbagh Photos:

# Yes, somewhat old movie, but watched it recently only.

# Directed by Zoya Akthar, Farhan’s sisReema Kagti. (Corrected after C’s mail

# She also heads to Goa like her brother. Goa does not tire you.

# 6 (right?) couples go to honeymoon in a bus.

# Each of their story is told, not at once, but as it moves on. The advertising plug of Radio Mirchi was unintrusive and sounded natural.

# Whoa, that superman bit was one thing I felt was out of place. Frankly, I did not get a hint until it was disclosed and was very surprised. The lorry repair, the girl catching coconut made sense was what I could connect only later ! There are very few occasions where I am so clueless, and perhaps none with so many obvious hints.

# However on second thoughts, this movie was like a fairy tale, but is not careless and includes some serious reflections of life. I am surprised how the director/script-writer pulled it through, though, with such contrasts. At one corner you have an old couple, who probably both wanted to end their life, but have been on honeymoon and the sadness is just not completely forgotten, yet they smile in front of each other and get away to reach out to their inner feelings, separately, hiding from the other. Boman’s daughter’s tale was executed amazingly well - with so little screen time but with lot of impact. Except for the sermon by Shabana Azmi, which perhaps was required, but I felt it got a little preachy and a littler long, but could have been done in a different manner - just a slap, if you ask me.

# On the other corner, forget it, I would not want to discuss each tale.

# Had a hint at the different interest of Mridula’s husband. But did not understand, how the end was closed. What was that bathroom coughing scene ? What next for Mridula ? However the pair was mature from the beginning.

# Re-entrance of Diya’s tale was unexpected !

# Amisha looked like over-acted. But, actually, the character was thus.

# Reema Sen’s karate kick and probably her entire character is likeable. The parasailing bit was beautifully executed.

# Ah, I think I forgot something.

# Enjoyed the movie. Am sure there are stuff to make a sequel and how I wish Zoya does that as well !

# Oh, not to forget totally lovely groovy track.