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For the second time in my life, I cried while watching a cricket match. The first was during the 96 World Cup. No. Not during India's shambolic defeat against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. I cried during India's group match against West Indies. I am a leftie and Lara was the only southpaw performing well the world over(India din't even have a decent left handed batsman in its line up then xcpt for the ever in n out vinod kambli). So naturally, I was hoping Lara would come good against India(din care much about patriotism back then...).Srinath bowled a peach of a delivery and Lara edged it to the keeper. West Indies were bowled out for 180 odd and India won comfortably. I cried.

I cried again yesterday night. Mind you, I am not a regular cricket watcher these days. I would prefer watching football over cricket. But WC is something special and I was hooked to the tele yesterday right from the first ball that Zaheer sent down to Jayasuriya.

India bowled really well and the fielding was gud enough. But Lankans had an edge over us. Even when Munaf Patel and Agarkar were bamboozling them, they dint flinch and were ready to wait for the bad balls. Compare this with Indian batting: Four dot balls. Ganguly went for a big hit and lost his wicket. One ball down the leg side that almost hit the stumps;Sehwag suddenly lost all his confidence and edged one to the slips couple of deliveries later. The less said about the other batsmen, the better I guess. This ain't the first time. Even against Bangladesh, the same thing happened. In fact, Zaheer and Munaf Patel batted better against Bangladesh compared to the top order. Atleast now I hope, we wouldn't be referred to as the strongest batting line-up in the whole world!

Tactically too, Lankans had an edge over us. Asking Sangakkara to keep upfront for Vaas was a brilliant ploy. And the positioning of their fielders was superb. Indian batsman struggled to get the ball past the 30 yard circle. Sachin should have opened and Dravid should have come at number 3. Knowing very well that Murali feared Ganguly, he should probably been sent down the order. Of course, its easy for us fans to suggest things. But where the heck was Greg Chappell and what the f**k was he doing??Booking tickets for the trip bak home??Chappell's performance has made even Sven Erikson look like a great manager.


During the post-match interview, Dravid said that we din deserve to go the second round. He was spot-on. With a selection chief openly criticizing his selections and a coach whose tactically superior brain churning out one dud after the other(experimentation with the top order, pathan fiasco,etc), what could he do? I think he was ready for such a thing to happen even before the WC began.

India went into the World Cup with High Hopes. Ready to sizzle and bring back the Cup. And what happened? we all became comfortably dumb by witnessing the Great GiG in the sKy(Floyd overdose..I know).Things can't get worse for Indian Cricket. Watching all those ads during the match only reaffirmed my view on Indian Cricket:the vultures are feasting on the carcass. Or is there still life in it as yet?
[©pictures from cricinfo.com]

Labels: ICC Dravid Chappell Ganguly World Cup Sri Lanka Bangladesh

Once upon a time...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
".... this is y......"

(stare at each other...)

"...goodbye...."

(they walk off in opposite directions..)

'if only...'

"if only..."

(turns..luks...waits...turns back and walks off...)

(turns..luks...)"heyyyy......."(waits)

(smiles...turns..)


(smiles bak...)"fuckk off..."(....wickedly...)

( face turns red..points middle finger...)

(....they turn and keep walking....)


'...good riddance..'

"...good riddance.."

------------------------------------------------------------

Labels: Story

Trinity Teal had tagged me...so finally got sth to blog abt..
its a set of 10 qs..here r my answers

1..One thing you are very much afraid of?
What if all those dystopian thoughts in my head come true one day..??

2.Two incidents you can never forget in your life?
1.Watching DDLJ with my dad and sis sometime during feb '96...last days of innocent childhood..
2.My engineering studies...an exercise in futility.

3.Three books you would love reading again and again?
Tried voting here...
realised i have not read anything at all..:-(

rmmr:these r books i enjoy reading again and again...ther r whole lot of books which r gr8 but i cant read them again..

.Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
.I met a lady by Howard Spring
.Barbarians at the Gates by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar.

4.Four women who are most beautiful?
.Elisha Curthbert.
.Ayesha Takia.
.____________
.____________
[to be filled in later...;-)]

5.Five of you favorite food items?
.Onion vetha kuzhambu(with tiny pieces of fried coconuts :D) and deep potato or cabbage or kovakka fry cooked by ma mom(unlyk my sis, my mom deep fries it..i prefer it tat way)
.Akka's patented veg. rice and whole lot of other food items[she experiments a lot..almost everytime i ve been the guinea pig :-( ]
.Paati's puri masala and rava kesari.
.Coffee@5 30 am...@Chennai...no adding any water to arokya milk and rite amt. of dicoction and sugar.(for the exact formula, ask my dad)
.Finally,Martini, shaken but not stirred :P(seriously,vodka...)


6.Six words you use very often oral/written?
Fill it wit six swear words in any lang...fuck tops the list tho

7.Seven things you like about yourself?
And I thot this was a tag...not a job interview :P

8.Eight film personalities who are your all time favorites?
.A. R Rahman and Illayaraja
.Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Hassan.(Sivaji only b&w...exception:thevar magan..)
.Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro
.Al Pacino.
.Steven Spielberg,Tom Hanks and Janusz Kaminski
.Mani Ratnam, P.C Sriram and Santosh Sivan.
.Darren Aronofsky.
.Countamani, Senthil, Vivek and Vadivelu
.Jyothika.....first heroine on whom i had a crush..
[yeha i ve listed more than 8..cant count..so wat? :P]

9.Nine movies you wont mind watching again and again?
Gonna watch Scorcese's Raging Bull, Goodfellas this weekend...
1.Godfather( I and II)
2.Iruvar, Mouna Raagam.
3.The Departed.
4.If Only
5.Reservoir Dogs, City of God(this movie deserved an Oscar for the best picture..)
6.The Matrix Trilogy (duh!)
7.Munich, Saving Private Ryan
8.American Beauty,Requiem for a Dream
9.Karakaatakaran, Micheal Madana Kaama Rajan, Singaara Velan.

10.Ten songs you would like to listen to everyday?
Been listening to rock for quite sometime but listening to it seriously these days[yt to listen to metallica,iron maiden and lots of others..studyin II std in the skool of rock :-)].
1.Stevie Ray Vaughan cover version of Hendrix's voodoo child(first song in any playlist of mine...SRV=God)
2.John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess' Hang On and Furia Taurina(Petrucci and Rudess create magic!)
3.Illayaraja's melodies from the 70's,80's,90's(any time,any day..)
4.Breaking the Habit from Linkin Park's Meteora(lyrics speak for itself)
5.Dream On and Janies got a gun by Aerosmith(truly inspiring stuff!)
6.Your body is a wonderland by John Mayer(even romantically challenged wud b swayed by Mayer's singing)
7.Santana's Evil Ways and Smooth[Santana's guitar+Rob Thomas' voice=Grammy ;-) ]
8.Bob Dylan's Things have changed[Best lyrics in any english song i ve heard till now..]
9.High Hopes by Pink Floyd.[Best Pink Floyd song according to me]
10.Music Director: A. R Rahman. Song:_________ (U can fill it :D)

Anyone who wants to continue this tag,feel free to do so :-)

Labels: Books, Food, Movies, Questions and Answers, Tag

Two very popular literary figures breathed their last the previous month: Sidney Sheldon and Art Buchwald. Both have had a profound impact on my life: The former's novels allowed me to glimpse the cynical attitude prevalent while the latter showed that being funny is the best form of revenge.

I was introduced to Sidney(Windmill of the Gods) during my class 6 vacations. Fast paced action with a lucid storyline, his novels saved me from eternal boredom during my high skool years. His masala novels have inspired many a bollywood and kollywood writers(even serial writers).

My sunday mornings used to begin wit a cup of coffee and The Hindu. And the first article used to Art Buchwald's syndicated column. At first, I use to find it difficult to understand what he wrote about(american politics was as alien as pizzas back then!). With time though, I was able 2 appreciate his humor. If laughter is the best medicine, then i guess researchers don need 2 look far to cure AIDS.



Both the writers would be sorely missed :-( May their Soul rest in peace

Labels: Art Buchwald, Author, Sidney Sheldon, The Hindu, Writer

Disclaimer: The author doesnt endorse or support any liquor or any kinda smoking
1. Reality bites. So stay away from it.
2. Ganja is cheaper than liquor(even the spurious ones! expect our FM to tax it this budget:P)
3. I kept up my new year resolution for all of 15 days. My resolution was to stop drinking coffee. I managed 3 cups for the first 15 days. The next 13 days, I had arnd 40.
4. Rushdie is in no way equal to GG Marquez. Its lyk claiming that Big B is equal to Al Pacino.
5. Shilpa Shetty finally proved that she can act; Jade Goody made an ass out of herself; And the whole episode proved that all those who even talk about it are morons.
6. How can one justifyKannagi burning the whole of madurai for her husband's unjust killing?
7. Last year it was Atlas Shrugged, this year it was Midnight's Children: book i read for 6 consecutive hours during a train journey.
8. I have fallen many times but (un)fortunately, never in love.
9. If we Indians are good at one thing, it is this: Snatchin defeat from the jaws of victory.
10.Truth is bitter. Beer is bitter. So is drinking beer seeking the ultimate truth?(I think i have read this somewher..not sure)
11. Quizzing, not water is the elixir of my life :D
12. These days, I am most comfortable when its just the two of us: Me and my EGO.
12. And finally, we stood for a minute in silence expressing solidarity wit US after the 9/11 attack. But till now,I dont recall us standing for a minute to express solidarity wit the ppl of Kashmir(Arundati Roy, take note)

Friday the 19th:
Its not every evening that u walk into a city and the first thing that u notice is a thalluvandi selling second hand books. Much to my delight, thats what exactly happened.I walked into CBE and the first thing I noticed was the ubiquitous thalluvandi selling books instead of gobi manchurian(or in some cases, kaka biriyani :P).The usual fare: Rushdie,Roy,Stephen Covey; an iCON here, a Road Ahead there. My favorite book haunts were the three bookshops(I call them thrimurtis of luz) that dot the luz corner. But I was not ready to pass up an opportunity to buy a book at cbe(A souvenir :-P). God chose not to play dice and I found a lil book hiding behind "Seven steps to Succes" (or was it "Seven approaches to success?" who cares!). It was the booker prize winner "Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai. An Indian winning a Booker prize is a rarity and trusting the judgement of the Booker Committee members, I bought it. My patience as usual ran out and I started reading it the moment I got into the train.
Strangely, I felt disappointed after reading the first few pages. Oh no!not another novel on post colonial angst and pseudo-Anglican thoughts! As I read on, I realised that the book had lot more to offer. But I was still stuck by one thing: why is there an obsession with everything Raj? Do Indian-English writers still write to please the Sahibs? Or is it the only thing that gets them recognised? Of course I may be wrong. But glance through all award winning Indian authors (Roy, Rushdie, Naipul,Jhumpa Lahiri, Vikram Seth and now, Kiran Desai) and you will realise that the recurring themes are the effects of colonial past and the pressure of being a migrant somewhere outside India. I do accept that the two above stated issues have affected our lives but can't our writers write or think about anything else? Why should it always be about stuff like racism,colonialism,imperialism and all the shit that comes along?? Or are the authors caught in some kinda time warp which forces to look behind these issues?
Two articles that shed some light on these issues:
1. Writing the Raj way by Una Chaudhuri
2. The Currency of Arundhati Roy by Amitava Kumar

Bak to the few hours @CBE:
After buying the book, I had some time to spare and so walked around an empty Race Course Road. The road seems to have been given a neat facelift and there are models of Architectural landmarks like Tower of Pisa, Red Fort, Hawa Mahal,etc placed arnd the Road. I paid a visit to my favorite Sringeri Temple. I was visiting it for the first time in 4 years. And its still the same. One among the very few places where my mind somehow manages to stay clear of all unwanted things and I feel truly who I am.

Yeah, I still love the city :-)

Sunday the 21st:
People of Chennai, listen up!!Therez a Higginbothams@Alwarpet. Seems they are clearing out stock to make way for fresh arrivals.Guess wat this means???A "Midnight's Children"@ Rs. 100(added that to my lil collection of books :D). I even found a book on David Feckham(yeah, the spelling is rite!) and a psycho analysis of Samuel Beckett(how absurd!) but I wanted Vikram Seth's Golden Gate.Unfortunately, it wasnt available. No II hand bookshop seems to sell it these days:-(.Nevertheless there are lots of other gud novels and non-fiction stuff available. The collection is gr8 and all are available at rock bottom price.

Before plundering Higginbothams, I had spotted a gem at a bookshop near the LIC building@Mount Road: We, the People by N.A. Palkhivala. It is an incisive analysis of what went wrong with India 20 years back(1984 edition). The author has expressed much pain and regret about the state of public affairs in our country. If the eminent jurist were alive today, he wouldnt have made many changes to '84 edition. But he does hold onto an "unquenchable confidence" in the long-term future of India. The same confidence which we hold onto even to this day.