The world cup fever is beginning!
The T20 world cup brings alive memories of the astounding victory of 2007 and sends me into a reverie.I can still clearly visualise the scenes in my hostel's T.V room.The room was cramped like a compartment from a local train of Mumbai.There was an unusual silence when Mizbah hit consecutive fours in the beginning of the last over and threatened to pull off an unbelievable comeback.Mizbah failed to scoop the next ball above fine leg and Sreesanth caught the most important catch of his career.The room erupted!For the next half an hour noise levels soared to new heights.People were jumping,shouting and dancing and the atmosphere was absolutely electric.We had to stand on top of the chairs to get a glimpse of the television.Cricket had just united a nation!
That win brushed aside all speculations on whether Indian cricketers will be able to adapt to the new format.Two years down the line you wonder,"Can they really do it again ?"Fortunes take few minutes to change in a T20 game.The unpredictability of the format makes it very hard to pick a favourite.But if one had to pick a favourite it has to be India.There is great depth in the batting, more variety in the bowling,a lot of experience in the format (courtesy IPL)and last,but not the least,a skipper who's arguably the best that India has ever produced.
Team India is ready.Bring it on!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Dilliii
Damn! It’s been ages since I’ve posted. It’s due to a sheer lack of time. I’m doing a 2 month Internship in Delhi.
I have to go to office everyday! Honestly, it’s not like I’m doing a lot of work here. But from sleeping half the time (and watching movies the rest of the time) to a 9-5 life is a drastic change!
I’m in love with the city. It’s beautiful. The roads are fantastic (rajdhani after all!), forts, mosques, loads of lush green gardens, there’s an amazing variety in food, the size of buildings are colossal and the there is a mall in almost every nook and corner of the city. I’m still struggling to figure out the place (trust Me. it’s HARD!) I still wonder how they define a sector. For example in the place I live, at one moment your in sector 6, another moment in 10 and sector 11 is also somewhere in the midst of it (not that all this makes a difference anyway!).Another day I and my friend were looking for our MBA coaching centre. We roamed for 15 minutes only to land at the exact junction from where we started searching! : P. Thanks to the Delhi Metro I don’t get lost while going to work. I wonder what would have happened otherwise.
I guess an article on Delhi is incomplete without a word on the Metro. The first time you travel by the Metro you actually stop to think “Are we really in India?!” The system is world class. The stations and trains are fully air conditioned (and surprisingly clean), there are escalators, elevators and lifts at all stations, everything’s automated and it all looks perfect! It’s so exciting to see a system in India that is as flawless as the Delhi Metro!
One thing scares me! Life moves in a fast forward mode. The city’s alive by 5 in the morning! Everywhere you look people are running around. It’s almost like the people don’t have a moment to spare and appreciate the beauty of this lovely city. I’m hoping that I don’t end up like one of these robots at the end of 2 months! : P [just joking...no offence meant Delhiites]
I have to go to office everyday! Honestly, it’s not like I’m doing a lot of work here. But from sleeping half the time (and watching movies the rest of the time) to a 9-5 life is a drastic change!
I’m in love with the city. It’s beautiful. The roads are fantastic (rajdhani after all!), forts, mosques, loads of lush green gardens, there’s an amazing variety in food, the size of buildings are colossal and the there is a mall in almost every nook and corner of the city. I’m still struggling to figure out the place (trust Me. it’s HARD!) I still wonder how they define a sector. For example in the place I live, at one moment your in sector 6, another moment in 10 and sector 11 is also somewhere in the midst of it (not that all this makes a difference anyway!).Another day I and my friend were looking for our MBA coaching centre. We roamed for 15 minutes only to land at the exact junction from where we started searching! : P. Thanks to the Delhi Metro I don’t get lost while going to work. I wonder what would have happened otherwise.
I guess an article on Delhi is incomplete without a word on the Metro. The first time you travel by the Metro you actually stop to think “Are we really in India?!” The system is world class. The stations and trains are fully air conditioned (and surprisingly clean), there are escalators, elevators and lifts at all stations, everything’s automated and it all looks perfect! It’s so exciting to see a system in India that is as flawless as the Delhi Metro!
One thing scares me! Life moves in a fast forward mode. The city’s alive by 5 in the morning! Everywhere you look people are running around. It’s almost like the people don’t have a moment to spare and appreciate the beauty of this lovely city. I’m hoping that I don’t end up like one of these robots at the end of 2 months! : P [just joking...no offence meant Delhiites]
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
What do i do??
This director of ours has gone crazy!!....or is it our chief warden?.....(i think he looks the more psycho type)...THE NEW RULE in my "great" college is that you cannot leave the college without an ID card (even the library card won't do!) !Now i've lost my ID card and there's no way of getting out of the college!....How many more times am i going to climb and jump that 12 feet wall(even jails mus be having shorter walls!) at the back end of the college to get out.(making me feel like one of those pre-historical ancestors of ours) :P..And the latest rumours are that they are going to keep a guard to prevent people from jumping the wall.Anybody having contacts with the mafia are invited to take supari to finish our director(and the chief warden)!...I'm sure the students will be willing to contribute to this cause! :P
( Just In case the INGENIOUS idea 2 make a new ID card entered u'r mind let me tell you that we need to launch a FIR and make an affidavit..and even 4 dat i need 2 go out!!...All this for an identification card...that's right...it's CRIMINAL to lose the ID!)
( Just In case the INGENIOUS idea 2 make a new ID card entered u'r mind let me tell you that we need to launch a FIR and make an affidavit..and even 4 dat i need 2 go out!!...All this for an identification card...that's right...it's CRIMINAL to lose the ID!)
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Funny
Hey people this was posted on one of the notice boards in my hostel.It's quite funny.
The timing has changed of attendance register due to winter season.News papper are reading only in main gate.don't carry in our room.
One of my teachers starts every new chapter with
"Here what is there" and this one's common "Don't talk in front of my back"
A notice that was put up when a person had lost his wallet
First it had the details.Then it ended it like this
Yaar agar kisi ne chori ki hai toh driving license aur ID card kisi aisi jagah pe rakh dena jahaan se mil jaye.Uska kya karoge yaar.Bhagwaan tumhara bhala kare :)
The timing has changed of attendance register due to winter season.News papper are reading only in main gate.don't carry in our room.
One of my teachers starts every new chapter with
"Here what is there" and this one's common "Don't talk in front of my back"
A notice that was put up when a person had lost his wallet
First it had the details.Then it ended it like this
Yaar agar kisi ne chori ki hai toh driving license aur ID card kisi aisi jagah pe rakh dena jahaan se mil jaye.Uska kya karoge yaar.Bhagwaan tumhara bhala kare :)
Federer vs Nadal :The race to be the best
Well, you may have deciphered my fascination for sport by now.Today i pick up a topic which is one of the greatest rivalries in contemporary sport.What is it about these nadal-federer epics that gets our adrenaline to flow and spines to tingle?Let's look at these champions one at at time.
Roger Federer's exploits are phenomenal,to say the least.237 weeks at the top.Nobody even close to him.He's arguably the greatest player the sport has ever seen.But how could a player who's the greatest ever have a record as poor as 6-13 against another player?(i'll come to this point a little later)
Now Rafa.The epitome of strength,stamina and ruthlessness on the court and a very humble person off it.The current no1 in the world and boy, he must be one real talent if he has managed to oust the great roger federer off his throne.Six grand slams by the age of 22.A prodigy.If form continues,who knows,he may leave even federer far behind.
The rivalry.
One thing i'd like to point out about the head to head is that these numbers provide a distorted image. Ten of their matches have been played on clay and nadal has a 9-1 record.Without doubt Nadal is leaps and bounds above federer on the red surface.Meanwhile Federer leads 5-4 on other surfaces.Another point i'd like to make is that early in his career nadal used to not make it past the early rounds in hard court tournaments .We would have probably seen a more narrow margin if there were more matches played on the other surfaces.
Out of 19 matches 5 of them have been 5 setters(many of the matches were best of 3).There's absolutely nothing to choose between the 2.And they produce their best tennis when they play each other.The Wimbledon Final of 2008 was hailed by many as the greatest game the sport has seen.I think federer is unfortunate to have played at the beginning of an era which has produced a player who will eventually end his career as the greatest clay courter ever.But nothing better could have happened for the sport.It has produced some of the most electrifying encounters and the two of them have taken tennis to a level which was unseen.Though we haven been fortunate enough to watch the likes of rod laver and bjorn borg, when we watch players like nadal and federer one is forced to think "Can there have been be players who were better than this?".
And the respect they have for each other is overwhelming.True connoisseurs of the game.
The next 2-3 years will probably determine where the two of them stand on the pedestal of history.One thing is definite.The battle is far from over.
Roger Federer's exploits are phenomenal,to say the least.237 weeks at the top.Nobody even close to him.He's arguably the greatest player the sport has ever seen.But how could a player who's the greatest ever have a record as poor as 6-13 against another player?(i'll come to this point a little later)
Now Rafa.The epitome of strength,stamina and ruthlessness on the court and a very humble person off it.The current no1 in the world and boy, he must be one real talent if he has managed to oust the great roger federer off his throne.Six grand slams by the age of 22.A prodigy.If form continues,who knows,he may leave even federer far behind.
The rivalry.
One thing i'd like to point out about the head to head is that these numbers provide a distorted image. Ten of their matches have been played on clay and nadal has a 9-1 record.Without doubt Nadal is leaps and bounds above federer on the red surface.Meanwhile Federer leads 5-4 on other surfaces.Another point i'd like to make is that early in his career nadal used to not make it past the early rounds in hard court tournaments .We would have probably seen a more narrow margin if there were more matches played on the other surfaces.
Out of 19 matches 5 of them have been 5 setters(many of the matches were best of 3).There's absolutely nothing to choose between the 2.And they produce their best tennis when they play each other.The Wimbledon Final of 2008 was hailed by many as the greatest game the sport has seen.I think federer is unfortunate to have played at the beginning of an era which has produced a player who will eventually end his career as the greatest clay courter ever.But nothing better could have happened for the sport.It has produced some of the most electrifying encounters and the two of them have taken tennis to a level which was unseen.Though we haven been fortunate enough to watch the likes of rod laver and bjorn borg, when we watch players like nadal and federer one is forced to think "Can there have been be players who were better than this?".
And the respect they have for each other is overwhelming.True connoisseurs of the game.
The next 2-3 years will probably determine where the two of them stand on the pedestal of history.One thing is definite.The battle is far from over.
Friday, May 8, 2009
NEWS CHANNELS - A NUISANCE???
Hey people this article is written by one of my friends.I'd invited the person concerned to post the article but the person chooses to be anonymous so m posting instead.Really good article.Do read it.
Gone is the age when the media restricted themselves to only reporting the daily events. Now, it is all about the implementation of the Right to Information Act....... in order to increase the public awareness....... but the question is – IS THE MEDIA USING THEIR RIGHTS TO CREATE AN AWARENESS?? Or has it converted to a just another money making business.... that isn't concerned with the truth or with justice anymore??? The media has launched their own bureau of investigations against crimes.... and the end result in most cases is that the accused is convicted even before the trial begins!
There have been cases where the intervention by the media has been a boon. Where the pure determination of the reporters to expose the truth helped to bring the victims to justice... The Jessica Lal murder case is one of those rare instances. And hands down to those journalists who helped to bring about these drastic change of events... but these incidents are outnumbered by cases in which the outcome has not only harmed the public but also the Indian Judiciary System.
How can the court give a fair hearing to an accused whose sentence has already been awarded? Not only does the judge's decision get biased, but the humiliation inflicted is unimaginable. Every person has the right to a fair hearing..... and unless convicted by the court, no individual is termed as CRIMINAL. The Aarushi murder case is a classic example....
The hype caused by the media diverted the minds of the public and the inefficiency of the police maybe due to the same. The mere idea of judging a 13 yr old deceased girl's character is revolting! But the media, not only broadcasted the statement of the police but also went hand in hand to spin theories about how the girl's character is at fault! When this incident was condemned by the Supreme Court, there wasn't a single channel that failed to broadcast the condemnation. But neither was there anyone to claim responsibility to the same or for that matter apologise to the grieving family!
If the Right to Information Act was implemented in the appropriate manner then perhaps the Nulclear Deal, which is so much talked about and debated, will become unambiguous to the public. How many of us know about the INDO-US Nuclear Deal??? Everyone must have heard about it... but how many know more than the fact that it is a Nuclear Deal between India and USA???
Maybe instead of reporting Deepika Padukone's new tattoo, the media will report more pressing matters! If only... Rakhi Sawant slapping her boyfriend on Valentine's day would help solve the nation's problems.. then perhaps there would be some point in repeating the same telecast over and over again!!!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire and India
Slumdog Millionaire.The movie which won 8 oscars.It bombed in india.Surprising?
Not really.I'm not among those who's going to question the movie.Rather,i have a few questions about the indian attitude towards the movie.
The movie didn't work with the masses.The language barrier could have been one reason.But even though there was a dubbing it still didn't work.The masses know exactly what danny boyle was trying to portray.They didn't want to see it.Simply because they'r all probably going through similar lives.The people want to see large palaces,people flying private airplanes and actresses dancing in semi-nude clothes in movies like K3G.So that,atleast temporarily, they can get out of their misery.Their reason,i would say,is justified.
What i fail to understand is the attitude of the middle class and the elite.There was widespread criticism from people like Arindham Chaudhury,Priyadarshan and many more.They claimed that the westerners get a sort of sadistic pleasure out of watching poor India.And they claimed that India is not like that anymore after the economic progress we are making in this century.I can't comment on the first part.But the latter is definitely not true.The real India is far from making progress.Everyone knows where India stands on the scale of Human Development Index.Our very own Arvind Adiga has shown us the stark reality of India in his book "The White Tiger'.The difference was that he was hailed (after all he won the booker's prize!).And he was labelled among those making India proud .So then why are we getting so hypocritical when an outsider(Danny Boyle) tells the "Indian story".Why does it pinch us so much.The reason is because deep down we all know that its the truth.The real India is not Marine Drive or Gurgaon.It's Dharavi.The real India is DEV KULI (Bihar),a village which belongs to a community of outcastes who,uptil 1 year ago,used to dine on rats!
Delhi is a great example.On one side you see a mall in every nook and corner,the development of the metro and roads which would look as good as any in the world.But if you watch Delhi from the trains when they approach Hazrat Nizhamuddin you know exactly what reality is.Old Delhi looks like a totally different planet.Behaving like poverty does not exist will not change the facts.700 million people in India still live on half a dollar per day.
And we see advertisements of "India Shining".The upper class and the politicians are less offended about the abject poverty that exists in India than being offended about the fact that an outsider has made a sinciere attempt(maybe not the best ever but atleast sinciere!) to tell the true story.How long are we going to turn the eye?
Not really.I'm not among those who's going to question the movie.Rather,i have a few questions about the indian attitude towards the movie.
The movie didn't work with the masses.The language barrier could have been one reason.But even though there was a dubbing it still didn't work.The masses know exactly what danny boyle was trying to portray.They didn't want to see it.Simply because they'r all probably going through similar lives.The people want to see large palaces,people flying private airplanes and actresses dancing in semi-nude clothes in movies like K3G.So that,atleast temporarily, they can get out of their misery.Their reason,i would say,is justified.
What i fail to understand is the attitude of the middle class and the elite.There was widespread criticism from people like Arindham Chaudhury,Priyadarshan and many more.They claimed that the westerners get a sort of sadistic pleasure out of watching poor India.And they claimed that India is not like that anymore after the economic progress we are making in this century.I can't comment on the first part.But the latter is definitely not true.The real India is far from making progress.Everyone knows where India stands on the scale of Human Development Index.Our very own Arvind Adiga has shown us the stark reality of India in his book "The White Tiger'.The difference was that he was hailed (after all he won the booker's prize!).And he was labelled among those making India proud .So then why are we getting so hypocritical when an outsider(Danny Boyle) tells the "Indian story".Why does it pinch us so much.The reason is because deep down we all know that its the truth.The real India is not Marine Drive or Gurgaon.It's Dharavi.The real India is DEV KULI (Bihar),a village which belongs to a community of outcastes who,uptil 1 year ago,used to dine on rats!
Delhi is a great example.On one side you see a mall in every nook and corner,the development of the metro and roads which would look as good as any in the world.But if you watch Delhi from the trains when they approach Hazrat Nizhamuddin you know exactly what reality is.Old Delhi looks like a totally different planet.Behaving like poverty does not exist will not change the facts.700 million people in India still live on half a dollar per day.
And we see advertisements of "India Shining".The upper class and the politicians are less offended about the abject poverty that exists in India than being offended about the fact that an outsider has made a sinciere attempt(maybe not the best ever but atleast sinciere!) to tell the true story.How long are we going to turn the eye?
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