I first did it in the late Fall of '99 and was panned by a certain lady in The Indian Express for "showering encomiums" on the MRF man, who had just then added his first 2T to his overflowing, back-breaking kitty.
Cut to seven falls and as many summers later, I can't help but recall this and there we go, I am tempted again...
I shall follow Lord Krishna's sermons and forget the "phala" and focus on the "karma" here. In the final stages of this "karma" the MRF man settled once and for all, why few men are entitled to those precious three letters on their willows.
Steve and Brian would nod in agreement.
How often has one seen a cover drive being converted into a maximum over the ropes? Atleast for me, a first... and not once, not twice but thrice in a short span...If the janta had gone ga ga over the slash cut of Johannesburg '03, they had better watch this one...
I am also tempted to draw a parallel by bringing in another maestro from the deccan who has more or less matched his counterpart across the Vindhyas in terms of popularity... Both lads burst into the scene with a bam, and took the term "whizkid" to new levels; and by not dying early deaths, thank god, they have been sources of pleasure to their audiences... The flashes in the pan, for a change, were here to stay...
Both have been accused of being too text-bookish, too straight, repetitive and what not, over years.. and yet they have retorted only with sober silences... Both were under the tutelage of their godfathers, and yet they escaped being in their awe forever...
One has had disturbances in the form of lads and clones from the north of the Ganges- high on testosterone, gel-haired, long flowy locks, less diplomatic mouths, and very high on the typical Aryan aggro... The other had nasal waves threatening to wash away his serene houses by the shore, with crooners wailing away to glory what with their "wet lips" and "thirsty hearts" .
The two were low on their TRPs and recall factor and yet they bounced back and how! While the soundtrack of Jan '06 was simply put KICKASS, yesterday's climax act was class, a denouement of sorts... One had an array of shots within an innings and the other, a spectrum of tracks in a single album. talk of versatility!!
I wonder how difficult it would be for stars to keep shining always when a few luminous freaks seem to come with a dazzle and hog the limelight. When the high priests of two religions in India decide to take the centrestage, it's a pleasure being at the receiving end.
My error of '99 seems justified now.
Sanjay Manjrekar! go take a walk...
