Disaster Sunday

This Sunday was an absolute drab.. Schumi had to start from the pitlane after he was penalised for delaying tactics in the closing stages of qualifying. That he fought back to finish fifth was, but a small consolation.

Then in the evening, off we went to watch the eagerly awaited Fanaa.. A lot was expected out of this flick which starred Aamir Khan, fresh from his RDB success and Kajol, the numero uno heroine making a comeback... It turned out to be one of the all time great movies ever to grace Indian Cinema. The same love story, remade prehaps for the 45698th time, uncreative music (been hearing the same from Jatin-Lalit, Anu Malik and the other also-rans for ages), admirable over acting by Rishi kapoor and Kiron Kher are some of the high points of the movie, which makes it fascinating to watch. There are some amazingly insipid fight sequences and a gibberish child character, who keeps on repeating the same lines throughout the movie to keep the viewer interested. If you get bored inspite of all these, then try figuring out one thing - other than the lead cast - good in the film, and I am sure that you will have a rocking time, like I did... One of my friends had taken his girlfriend on a date to watch this epic. So depressed was the girl, that she actually threatened to shoot him like Kajol does to Aamir at the climax.. Oops, have I revealed the climax.. Dont bother, you aint missing on anything... So if you are looking for a plan to extract revenge on your mother-in-law, then do not bother to look any further. Just sponsor her tickets for Fanaa!!

And to top off an uneventful day, the Indian cricket team orchestrated a sens(ex)ational collapse, to go down 1-4 to boost the confidence of a sagging West Indies side. Uthappa, Raina and Kaif deserve due appreciation for their efforts to keep the West Indian flag flying high...

There she goes....

Seems that Papa Bear has brought along with him all of his family members to visit us.. The Indian Stock markets are witnessing an amazing fall over the last 3 days of trading. Experts attribute a myriad of reasons for the plunge. Rising Interest rates across the globe, the US Consumer Price Index, the weakness in FTSE due to metal stocks leading to losses in India, Brazil and Mexico are some of the causes being stated. But for all the small retail investors whose love affair with the markets has gone rough of late, the only real matter of concern is 'Will all my f***ing money ever come back? Or Will she desert me like the vamp who comes in the movie I saw this weekend?'

Last Thursday when the stock markets crashed by over 800 points, the sharpest fall in history, Finance Minister termed it as a 'manufactured crisis'. Calling it uninformed reporting, which led to the market crash, he said: "There is a lesson for everybody. Uninformed reporting and reaction to uninformed reporting is not a desirable thing." If the stock market slumped because of the "uninformed reports", put out by a news agency, the logical thing would be for it to bounce back with a vengeance this week onwards. Instead, it haS slumped even more today. Smell something fishy here??

I found a few of the folks here heading to Antartica. They seemed to have taken the statement 'Markets heading south' too seriously. And they also seemed to know that polar 'bears' are not found in the Antartic :-)

Beating the heat

Phew... The summer has arrived and it seems that it is here to stay. Each passing day is getting hotter than the previous, and folks are flocking to the comfort of the air-conditioned office to escape the sun. Here are a couple of tips to beat the summer heat:

1. Shut yourself inside a room. Because it does not matter what temperature a room is, it is always room temperature.
2. Learn to enjoy the heat. They say that you need not be a nut to ask for a screw, but if you are a nut, then you'll definitely enjoy the screw :))...
3. I just said a couple of tips and I am a man of my words!!!!

Anointed Parrots

Its kind of funny to see how these player interviews and opinions are becoming too drawling and monotonous. A few years back, I remember us queueing in front of the TV, when a Kapil Dev or a Sachin Tendulkar used to come on TV for interviews. But today. one gets to hear the same thing after every match from almost everyone. You can hear Rahul Dravid - with all due respect - explain how well the boys played as a unit, and how brilliantly matchwinners like Dhoni, Raina and Pathan performed. And invariably, it would be followed up with a query on the poor form of a couple of greats, to which you would hear that they have won India many matches in the past and Team India believed in them.

I am a great fan of Rahul Dravid, both as a player and as a captain. Very few have contributed so much to the progress of Indian cricket. He is perhaps the best player India has to offer when playing on foreign pitches, because he handles the short ball very well. One can often see Rahul, all of that steely determination we associate him with, ducking with ease under a Brett Lee bouncer. But as a captain, when you are faced with bouncers from the media, you are expected to hook the odd ball for a boundary, instead of ducking underneath every single one of them.

Every cricket follower in India, with the exception of a few former cricketers who need to comment to earn their bread, realises that the amount of cricket played these days is too much for any player to handle, no matter how fit he is. But try questioning Rahul on player burnout, the reply would always be a diplomatic 'Yeah. Its like that nowadays and our job is to play and win every match'. Agreed, his job is to win every match, but playing in worthless tournaments throughout the year can really take a toll on players' fitness level, during a tournament like the World Cup. Secondly, Saurav Ganguly was one of the finest one day player, the country has ever produced. It was for everyone to see that his form was deserting him, and he did himself no good by blurting out after his painful century against Zimbabwe, but still the way he was handled by the board, leaves a lot to be desired. He was sacked ignonimously, brought back into the Test team, then for no apparent fault of his, was sacked again. Question Rahul on this one, and the answer would be as diplomatic as his previous one, if not more.

A couple of days back, the vice captain of the Indian cricket team Virender Sehwag, when queried by the media, said that there is too much cricket played and that the players needed a break, and then he went on record saying that the team missed the relinquished Saurav Ganguly. A day later, he gets a warning from the BCCI stating that as a player, he cannot put forward his comments on another player. And Sehwag is not the first to be pulled up. Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh have faced warnings earlier. What is wrong in supporting a captain who had groomed you and invigorated your careers? To make it worse, as per the BCCI, even taking the name of the former captain is taboo, and if you happen to praise him by mistake, then one should be ready to face the music.

All in a democratic country, known for its freedom of speech. If only we had it our way, in a country of free speech, there would be no phone bills :)........

Burp....

Consider this..... Manchow soup, Vegetable Fried Wantons, Schezwan Fried Rice, Vegetable Soft Fried Noodles and a dish which consisted of eight different vegetables - cauliflower, baby corn, broccoli, carrot, i dont remember the others, but u name it, it was there in it and to top it all a Schezwan Date Pancake... My lunch today was a treat by a friend for his new job..... And I have a presentation scheduled for the evening... Forgive moi if I am blabbering.... I am zzzzleepy, and I really need to get working now!!!!

My element

Since this was on almost every blog, I decided it was time for 'My element' to grace my blog too... Does the element resemble me?? Hmmm.. Lemme think!!!

The Shawshank Redemption

This weekend, I watched 'The Shawshank Redemption'. It was not the first time I am seeing this classic.. I do not even remember the number of times, I have been through this incredible film, but this one is one of those movies, that gets better every time I watch it again... The plot is the story of a brilliant banker Andy Dufresne, wrongly convicted to serve two consecutive life sentences at Shawshank Prison.

The backbone of the movie, apart from the storyline, are the dialogues. Here are some of my favourites:
- Andy: On the outside I was a man straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to become crooked.
- Red: When they put u inside the cell and those bars slam home that is when u know it is for real. Old life gone in a blink on an eye . Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.
- Red: Andy Dufresne, he crawled thru 2 miles of shit and came out clean on the other side
- Warden: Praise the lord, your ass is mine. Welcome to Shawshank.
- Red : These walls are funny, first u hate them , then u get used to them and as time goes by u get dependent on them

Best of the lot:
- Red: I hope to cross the border. I hope to see my friend. I hope the pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope....
- Red: Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and good things never die.

Bridge over Troubled Water

One of my all-time favourites from Simon and Garfunkel. One of the best lyrics ever written for a song.

When you’re weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I’m on your side. when times get rough
And friends just can’t be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I’ll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

Of Mocking Birds and Reservations

To Kill a Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee is one of the all-time favourites for many. Its on my list too. The book makes a deep impact on the reader and is arguably, the best of the lot, when it comes to taking up cudgels against the torture and pain people were subjected just because they were not born with white skin. The title of the book is taken from the advice given to the main protagonist Jean Louise Finch and her elder brother Jem by their dad Atticus about firing their air rifles at birds: "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird". The blue jay is a very common bird, and is often perceived as a bully and a pest, whereas mockingbirds do nothing but "sing their hearts out for us". Metaphorically, several of the book's characters can be seen as "mockingbirds", because they are constantly attacked despite doing nothing but good. The mockingbird represents innocence, and to kill one is to metaphorically kill innocence. Superstar of yesteryears Gregoty peck won the Oscar for best actor, playing the role of Atticus Finch in the movie adaptaion of the novel.

This was a 1960 novel, and to some, it might seem irrelevant in the present day. But come to think of it, one could easily draw a parallel with the arm twisting going against the 'so-called' forward class of the present day society. By introducing reservations against them in every sphere of development is very much similar to killing mocking birds just because they are easy prey. And the proposed reservations in IITs and IIMs is the limit. The reservation system is spreading its wings and it is sometimes scary to imagine what the future has in store. A few years down the line, do not be surprised to see the boundary rope shortened for a non OC player the next time India is playing Pakistan, a four hit by him is counted as six and he is allowed to get out twice in each innings.