Picture...Perfect

courtesy: Columbia Pictures, Phedon Papamichael

Will Smith's Christopher Gardner walks out of the firm after being told of his appointment as a new broker. But this moment arrives not until after a series of mind-sickening, confidence-numbing harrowing moments in his life. So this only makes what follows special; the bursts of joy, of the pent up tears.

Gardner with his teary eyed face, erupting in absolute joy in a sea of undulating faces, and with his self worth intact, stands tall


literally and figuratively.

Meet the Gods

Now contrary to what the scriptures have had us believe, King Raavana has also been acknowledged for better things, credited to be an erudite, and apart from everything else a staunch Siva bhakta.

We have been told Raavana owed it to Lord Siva for his name, for his powers.

Raavana needed Siva. May be history repeats itself.


If the grapevine is to be believed, Santosh Sivan would soon join Madras Talkies' Raavana after the original cinematographer walks out on the team.


No regrets, this shall only be one holy communion. Sure the Gods must be crazy.


:)

Chew this Beatle (sic)

courtesy: UTV Spotboy


Ronnie sure Screws the rest.


Welcome back Tigmanshu Dhulia.


Dil Se...

Congress Grass or Gross Congress?

The result of the victorious Indian National Congress?




"Rahul... naam to suna hoga!"

Angles (sic) & Demons (within)

One of the tracks on my Pod right after a viewing of Ron Howard's latest,

"Do aur do ka jod hameshaa chaar kahaan hota hai
Soch samajh waalon ko thodi naadani de maula"

..................................................................... Jagjit Singh


:)

Political Swearing In Ceremony

DMK, DMKD, AIADMK, DVK, DTMK, DMC, DMDK, DP, DPK, AIAMK, AIMMK, AK M.G.R DMP, A M.G.R K, ATMK


For you, the ever uninitiated, who thought the above were the choicest of Telugu cuss words, they are political parties in Tamilnadu.

Promiscuity and Incest

thy name is Andhra Politics

fuck democracy... fuck democratic thinking... hail autocracy... fuck equality... fuck respect... fuck dignity... fuck decency... fuck courtesy... fuck manners... fuck maturity... fuck "grown-up"... fuck nicety... fuck "point-of-view"... fuck "others'-points-of-view"...

let there be only one point... let there be only one view...

fuck "in-others' -shoes"... let there be only shoe; yours with the sharpest of spikes that are going to trample others who don't listen to you


let there be absolute dictatorship... abide, survive.; rebel, have your organ chopped off.

one rule, one life

The Loss of Independents

"...If more than 90 per cent of distant Nagaland’s people come out to vote when less than half as many do in South Bombay it shows how parts of the country where real democracy was denied for long are so much more enthusiastic about it..."

..............................................................................................Shekhar Gupta, Indian Express



Subjective to the core, cynical to the core,nevertheless, this Shekhar here is a mover.

debo'nair millio'nair

No, that's not a new movie I am producing but that perfectly sums up what this gentleman Shashi Tharoor is for he commands attention from my mother-in-law and a little more, worse, from my wife.


UNequivocally!!!

Good News

The answer to jaane kahaan gaye woh log is as follows


1) Shivendra Kundra is one half of Kundra & Bansal, an international law firm. Whatever happened to his moustache!

2) Usha Albuquerque is a Delhi based career counsellor.

3) Sunit Tandon is into theatre and is a big shot at National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) whose movies we used to despise before any masala behemoth started on big screens.

4) Shammi Narang, I saw of him last in Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool (2003)

5) Tejeshwar "roar" Singh is a big publisher.

6) Neethi Ravindran, who I have also encountered on recorded messages on telephones and service providers, is a big voice expert and offers professional voice services.

7) Rini Khanna and Sukanya Balakrishnan are on Facebook :P ;)

If there was a mini celebrity who could make me drink wine at 8 or 9 it was Sukanya Balakrishnan ("in aankhon se mujhe peene do" hai hai! ;))

8) Ved Prakash is a journalist, and with a media school; the last I met him was in 1996 at Kendriya Vidyalaya Gole Market, New Delhi.

9) Bhaskar Bhattacharji has had to honor an early appointment with God.



God bless these souls!

Jayant Kripalani

When I chanced upon this trove full of erstwhile gems, I was delighted to see this very likable gem which featured one of my favorite television stars of all time.




I have admired this gentleman for his frame, his mane, his persona, that naughty glint in his eyes and more than anything else that sugar-salt-pepper coated grainy voice of his with such fantastic voice character.

Then he chewed up the scenery when he teamed up with Farooque Sheikh, another favorite of mine, on Ji Mantriji (2002) for Star Plus; a series that ranks high high on my lists for being synonymous with class and sheer class. Now it looks like he is in the company of good men at Exper.




Gosh! nostalgia is so injurious to one's mental health.

Shoe'd Away

George "W" Bush, P. Chidambaram, Naveen Jindal (Congress MP), and now L.K. Advani

From the trend this list doesn't seem to be exhaustive.



Last heard Bata was running out of stock!!

ten tena ten ten tena!

First twin-metal ten rupee coins issued by the RBI.




Age can do nothing to some childhood fascinations

Rubious Distinction?

I hope it is not, for there goes an urban legend in the U.S that red cars get pulled over more by cops, and horrors of horrors, command higher insurance rates.

Obviously this is not what I want after months of research (beating my own academic research ;)), agony, pain, frustration, desperation, irritation, endless wait to acquire a brand new


'09 Barcelona Red Toyota Corolla Sedan


:-)


recorded for posterity!

separated at birth?

Sourav Ganguly.......................................Jaideep Sahni

separated at birth?

Sirivennela S'sastri...................Parakala Prabhakar



courtesy: Google images

e N T R a p p e d ??

Of late I have been catching up on some political developments in Andhra Pradesh. Whether the party in power has a direct influence on me or not, it has interested me for long. But make no mistake they can be more engaging than your regular Friday matinee. I never believe in the political hearsay, or hearsay in general by principle. But somewhere I also believe in there being no smoke without a fire. Anyway I have never respected or admired Chandrababu Naidu only from what I have seen or read about him. He has always carried the tag of being a manipulator, a veritable Chanakya of modern day political scenario.

Again though I have never had to say anything big about Jr. NTR ( Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao), I admire the brat's guts, his readiness at such a tender age, his ability to make his age defying high-voltage histrionics very believable. As a guilt pleasure, oh I have many, I have always followed his interviews. Make for nice read, listen.

But when I saw this young chap's face smeared in blood courtesy an accident while returning from a political campaign all in service of C'babu Naidu, I really felt bad. After all he is a kiddo. There has always been this perception/opinion that Jr. NTR was/is never considered a part of the prestigious Nandamuri family, and that he has always made efforts to get closer only in vain. Also, it is said that Naidu would "dump" the kid once he has pulped his popularity, his charisma, his pull among the masses on the basis of region, and caste. Whether the Nostradamuses of Andhra are true or not, I really don't care, I want the kid to get back to medical normalcy, and return to be doing what he does best.

Add to my guilt pleasure, my little happiness and as they say, be a total paisa vasool.

truck loads

Nothing beats the sight of beastly, giant, intimidating transportation trucks on the U.S. freeways/Interstates that is if you care to look away from natural wonders; mountains, hillocks, pools, ponds, rivers, grasslands, pines, plains, amazing traffic islands that line these amazing roads, simply the best of the U.S. infrastructure.

One could be on either side; facing these trucks coming from the opposite direction, or better have them pass you on your left. Each possibility can leave you with your senses overwhelmed for sure. My heart goes for the drivers who handle these beasts with such fine precision, discipline and self control that you are in awe in minutes. It must be so difficult to change lanes, stick to lanes, maintain speeds, be aware of their limits and the physical, spatial limits these trucks throw, and yet race against time to finish job at hand. Doff my hats off!

I thought I was crazy developing a fascination for rail engines, heavy duty trucks with respect to their nose shapes, and the aerodynamics. I forgot there was YouTube.

Whenever close to these 18-20 wheelers in motion or at rest, I have wanted to capture them from unusual angles like say the dutch tilt, for these angles add to their machoness, their larger-than-life quality and their ugliness.


In this ugliness lies their actual beauty.

boy with pizzazz

what a personality!!!

Canada Dry

"Make no mistake: The flight may have been Air India's, it may have taken place off the coast of Ireland, but this is a Canadian tragedy."

Paul Martin, Canadian Prime Minister




courtesy: AirIndia 182, and YouTube


Waiting to watch this chilling account of a far more chilling scar, an example of those innumerable instances when humanity was killed



...religiously

Zip Code

Apparently Akshay Kumar doesn't have one, or so claims Anil Nair, one society conscious, well meaning, social activist leading to the Mumbai Police registering a case against the actor.

Akshay Kumar, supposedly, had his actress wife play with his fly, in jest, on his ramp walk.


Where? Lakme India Fashion Week. Not the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi during the civilian honors.

What sort of people attend that? The glitterati who, I presume, don't give a flying fuck to some jobless arsehole's sense of propriety, and have a good laugh, good time.



Again, who cares? But for this jobless arsehole, none.


Not the least, Twinkle Khanna. Not a flying fuck

dis parity

As we meet and interact with people holding different passports on them, we realize that because of various constraints in language, in culture, in backgrounds ideas do not get communicated well. At least as much as we intend to. People often either wince or draw blank faces, they cannot help but stare at you as if looking into black holes not knowing where you could be coming from. Then we realize how different we are, how much diversity there exists in all aspects and move on.

Yet,

I have noticed that there are a few phenomena that are, to put in the simplest form, universal. No matter how different we are, there are a few things at random experiencing which you either sigh, or smile, or wince as the case may be thinking no matter where we go things are the same. Here are such non-exhaustive random things I have noticed.

• education, craving grades, craving GPAs and CGPAs
• higher education
• brands
• Sex
• interest in the opposite sex
• vanity
• avarice
• fear of law, not necessarily respect for law
• freedom hot spots

Predictable?

That would be an understatement.


Stuff which is getting more predictable than breaking news on national TV, surprises and walkouts in reality shows is, surprisingly, Google/Gmail's April Fool gags.

Now they have been doing this over years, and in the initial years they were smart, creative as is apparent in Ramanand's chronicles. But with this year's Autopilot have they stretched it too far now? It looks so obvious, so lame and so silly, and more of a ritual to be scored off their to do lists.

Sad, I have to say this about Google.

destined terror?

The courts, the system will want to believe

Uparwaale, kasab (ka) haath hai

I want to believe

Uparwaale ka sab haath hai

youth, innocence, faith, trust gone haywire?

All Time Merry

I have been crying for this for so long and Jesus, it had to happen!

In a landmark order, the RBI mandates all the banks in the country not to charge non-home account holders any service/penalty fee for withdrawing money from their machines. The service/penalty fee, though petty, is substantial from an Indian standpoint. The serpentine queues in front of some select high volume banks will be a sight of the past, and having spent close to two and half years in Bangalore, I relate to it and I should know


All The More

it is already tomorrow in australia

:-)


god bless all those souls who were involved in the conceptualization, the execution, and the realization of the dream.


should have been a real dream come true and what a tribute to the man who was the first to reach god before everybody else, all in the service of god.



Margazhi Raagam ('08, '09)

Caste Iron

Breakfast that has nurtured the American maamis and maamas!





(courtesy: Google images)

consummation

...నిన్నటి దాక నేనొక హల్లుని
నువ్వొచ్చాక అక్షరమైతిని...

...ninnati daaka nenoka halluni
nuvvochhaka aksharamaithini...

hallu : consonant
aksharam : letter


There aren't many sweeter, nicer, poetic, grammatic ways of expressing one's gratitude and love, I guess.

fame

When do you think one has really arrived in a place like India? How do you quantify someone's fame in a country like India? Arundhati Roy and Shashi Tharoor are famous, and so are Hrithik Roshan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But are they all on an equal footing? The answer, I reckon, is a big no! Do the needles point to same values on popularity scales in their case? no.


One of my long held ideas is that you are really famous when your photos appear in small time magazines in really small scale towns. You are found at really obscure places like chocolate wrappers of locally made chocolates, you appear on those shiny gaudy plastic sheets that cover various food items. You appear on labels, stickers, you are found on those transparent cheap plastic sheets that wrap that cheap plastic toy gun, or the water game your little one craves in a town mela. You appear as a model for those Z grade beedis and cement brands on those rickety walls in those rickety towns. You appear as generic line diagrams standing for those qualities you are known for in primary school text books. Your picture stands next to the word cricket, consciously or unconsciously, in those text books.

You are famous when the miyas of old Hyderabad decide to honor you by having you adorn their display boards. Where? The ubiquitous bone setting centers.

But you as an entity or a concept have really arrived when the firework companies in Sivakasi decide to have a firecracker preferably of the noise variety named after you. You appear on the cartons that contain "hydrogen/laxmi bombs" or on the display sheets in those "parachute rockets".

e.g. Ghajini Rockets, or Ghajini Bombs.


There, I truly believe, the Roys and the Tharoors don't stand a speck of a chance.

madras digest

TOIng with madras

For the kind of change it apparently wanted to bring about, the The Times of India's entry in Madras is definitely a shocker. In retrospect, one could justify the paper's presence in cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, and of course Bombay. Madras was always thought to be The Hindu's bastion and now with the TOI's entry it remains to be seen what The Hindu's strategy would be. A sign of changing times, may be.

The Times, London makes this note

"...It is read not only as a distant and authoritative voice on national affairs but as an expression of the most liberal - and least provincial - southern attitudes..."

also,

"It might fairly be described as a national voice with a southern accent" :)



Young Turks

If you are to ever capture gobsmackingly gorgeous portrait pictures of little ones, say aged between 3 and 5, look no further than those from Iran, Turkey, Israel. They with their combination of tones, features, textures, innocence of another order take beauty to a different level. Try this if you are close to any. I should know, trust me. God promise.


Seeti of Joy

A Bengali's cry of late (and you wouldn't mind this ;) )

"Joy! Ho"

Kodak Moment

12:15 PM cheri: celebrating Rehman :)

??

12:17 PM me: since 1992!

12:18 PM cheri: :)

correct

I liked that reply


courtesy: Cheri Abraham

Yes, I too liked that Cheri. It was honest, and not "moment-inspired".


PS: Good music or good art in general should motivate you, make you look at, appreciate other facets of life. Oh, there is so much! I shall take a break from this Rahman-Chalisa for a while.

H Sridhar

What does it take for a man of an ilk so mercilessly relegated to background to elicit such warmth, words of highest appreciation, and feeling of gratitude from men who usually hog the limelight? Mere talent doesn't get you that, and that is an understatement.

When do people miss you the most? Is it when they stand to gain from you both materially and otherwise? Is it when you apart from all the things said make their life richer by your mere association?

When was the last time a behind the screen man given such due and on such a scale? How do you judge his work as an end user who would rather be swaying to the tunes and the accompanying lyrics? How do you qualify to be a judge on a reality show where in the TRPs and glamour dictate who it is that should be facing the camera? He is so nice to listen to when he starts off at 3.13 here and my absolute favorite is the period between 3.51 and 4.08! Between 5.18 and 6.12 here.

When was the last time people posted videos saying "Sir, we miss you"? To a sound engineer! here

Labelling Sridhar who has added immense amount of richness to ethereal quality scores a mere Sound Engineer or a Mixing Engineer would be so disrespectful.

Rajeev Menon probably says it the best when he and A R Rahman pay their tributes here and here to a man who I had first heard about a decade ago, and who in his salt & pepper beard and that gracious talk reminds me of some arbit professor from IISc who is always buried in his grants, proposals and publications.

I wish I had known of him more. I wish there were more interviews and more literature available on this erstwhile guitarist and keyboard player.

courtesy: YouTube and various other sources


Probably to the people who were close to him and who have gained so much from him, his absence and the resulting silence roar in dolby.


crystal clear.

a p p a r e n t l y !!!

He has been an inspiration for a long time now. It has been like that for ages, and funnily I have been only conscious about it in recent times. Funny because I always knew it without actually knowing it; who my pillar of support was, who was behind me, beside me at all times. May be it is a right mix of acknowledgment and realization now. Whatever, it is heartening.

For the background he came from, for the milieu he grew up in, for the upbringing he claims he has had, his tastes always reflected a certain amount of class. Probably this was one of those examples of the fact that environment, no matter how influential, cannot take away you from you. Thanks to him for being his true self. His ear for good sound and consequently good music is near legendary in immediate family circles as was his collection of those HMV plastic marvels. The sheer range of books, the company he has kept and still reads is close to boggling. He could and can quote from memory almost verbatim. I will not disrespect him by saying all this ran in the family, the blood being the same. Yes, it was the case but he still was what others were not. The most delightful aspect is how he has kept pace with changing times, tuning himself accordingly showing immense respect to the new wave, and never in the process losing out on his old world self. This balancing act of his was never surprising for the pattern has been the same across all walks of life. How could one person do it with so much dignity, class, maturity, and cool very well respecting his limitations is beyond my comprehension. His pace has been remarkable, at times beating me to the acquisition of many a material aspiration! He was there when Philips offered its best tape recorders; he was there when Dyanora had a small array of color televisions then. When I, sorry we, wanted to migrate to bigger ones he was looking at nothing less than a Panasonic, when all I was looking was for a Philips multi CD-VCD changers. He understood the need for a big screen with the same ease with which he said yes it’s time for a DVD console. Knowing all this my wish is to set up a small media room for him which will let him stock his collection of books and house a near state of the art home theater system.

This is not meant to be a vulgar display of affluence of any kind, but a gentle reminder to myself as to how he read the pulse sans any contempt, and without being a Luddite. All these actually pale before the tremendous amounts of spiritual, emotional, intellectual maturity he has shown. Why am I even comparing! Make no mistake the times he and I have lived in lend themselves to a classic case of generation gap, a wide one at that. But he never made that chasm look wide, all the while retaining his self.


Kudos!


Yet with all this there was a constant desire from my side to know what went on in his mind. How he felt about things I was giving apparent and obvious importance to. What were his two cents on subjects, and matters I held close to my heart? With all the open communication we have practiced, ironically there was that inexplicable gap. Was he feeling burdened? What hid behind those diplomatic veneers? Or simply was he playing roles? What baffled me was how he could encounter all events, phenomena with such a straight cucumber face almost all the time. I could only mull over.


For all he has done for me, given me, taught me I have never been able to return the favor in any form. The sheer magnitude makes me think it’s even futile giving it a thought. However, after much persistence from my side, and due to a modicum of his own interest, he has relented. I will always feel good about myself for having brought about this change. I hope this is a fantastic beginning or rather a restart if he ever had stopped.


Funnily, to see what the future holds for us I have to now delve into his past. He is letting me peep. I hope we take the journey together.


Mistakes be pardoned, typos be overlooked, punctuation be damned.



appa is blogging.

Rx

Very often people rush to the nearest drug store in anticipation of some quick fix solution or some sure cure, before they knock on at the doctors' doors. As often I find myself in a similar situation this act is not without any merit! Now since I am a pharmacist myself, and have had loyal customers come by my store what potions and pills would I serve, offer to pull them away or may be jolt them from their blues?

In the past I have sold Piya Haji Ali (Fiza 2000), Do Kadam Aur Sahi (Meenaxi 2004), Lukka Chuppi (Rang De Basanti 2006), Jaage Hain (Guru 2007), Aye Hairathe'n Aashiqui (Guru 2007), Khwaaja Mere Khwaaja (Jodhaa Akbar 2008).

Now don't take this for a paucity in my store. My store abounds in loads of such drugs in different concentrations and dosages. Every customer who has had come by has gone back happy and has more coming my way with his recommendation. I am happy seeing a smile on their faces. It makes my day. Do Kadam Aur Sahi, I am told, takes most of them to a different world, and they have trouble beating a retreat. I am not surprised! I am bombarded with requests to stock up more like them. Added to this is the frequent request to give them that something which will have them asking for more. The current ones, they feel, have outlived their best by dates.


What do I do? I cannot run the risk of having my stores closed. I have waited, and here it comes. An absolute cracker of a drug carrying no dosage restrictions, suitable for all ages, but best enjoyed by those with years behind them.


What do I call this over-the-counter panacea?


Dil Gira Dafatan (Delhi 6, 2009)



Thrice a day with no meal restrictions.

Pop Quiz Hot Shot

What would a stereotypical Telugu movie director's team be called?

Caste & Screw

ab dilli door nahin

sach mein, AB bilkul nahi!

Dil Se

I am extremely happy for A.R.Rahman on his Golden Globe; irrespective of the veracity of awards in general this is no mean feat.

But I hope he doesn't become inaccessible to the mainstream makers back home who bring out the best in him. A Golden Globe today, and possibly an Academy tomorrow shouldn't take away the child in Rahman.

I hope he doesn't feel burdened or obliged to come up with heavenly, heavy weight music each time only to justify these prestigious awards in retrospect. India is not short on cynics who will pounce on him every time his score fails to attain instant popularity.

I hope he remains true to himself irrespective of any accolades that come his way or otherwise.

I hope he continues to dish out fare with the same child like enthusiasm as ever. As such he is away from the regional film music for a while, these awards shouldn't distance him further from the local breed at least the Tamil directors who supposedly milk him the best. Make no mistake all his regional scores with their immense local flavor have helped him push the envelope gently but surely before acting as the precursors for more dramatic Bollywood fare painted with larger brushes and painted with larger strokes.

I reckon he makes more sense in terms of commerce than some of the so called stars and actors in the fray. The awards and all the hype that follow shouldn't make him more inaccessible, and ergo expensive. Small, intimate cinema needs him as much as the monsters with gargantuan casts.

I hope the cynics who had utter contempt for him earlier do not start quoting these awards to quantify Rahman's genius now, saying we said so, this was expected. He has always been a pleasure, and he himself would be cognizant of the fact that he has churned out better fare before.

I hope people do not grudge this just a jingle maker, machine whiz kid, his well deserved success and fame.

I hope he remains true to himself on course to achieving all his goals, music and otherwise.



That is the true hallmark of a genius.



Insha Allah

a n ikon in the making?

The wait is over.


It is definitely a step forward.


I hope I find a newer me.


She arrives soon.

as good as it gets

Lakshmi and I had been meaning to catch up on a good flick for a while now. Though we had had a few decent outings in the form of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and not so decent in a Valkyrie, we had been longing to check out one in the cozy confines of home on a large screen. It never materialized owing to our hectic schedules and my erratic sleeping patterns.

Until today.

The day started fine; bright, cold yet warm, sunny. After running a few errands, I headed straight to the Mitchell Memorial. Now visits to the Mitchell Memorial have been more for their DVD collection than the academic resources at least for a while. Formalities taken care of, it was home beckoning me. What an organic, fluid, warm start to the day just like the movie that was to follow.

Jack Nicholson at his very charming, charismatic best, shows what good acting of high caliber could do to a seemingly simple script. Everything about him; the mannerisms, the behavior, the act, the costume design was absolutely water tight. It felt as if the director had them measured to the last ounce, and with the needles pointing to the right balance served them on a platter.

The goddess a.k.a Helen Hunt's Carol Connelly just had asking me for more. Women like Helen Hunt make movie watching an absolute pleasure which at times cannot be described to the fullest. Supple, graceful, witty, and vulnerable Helen Hunt is one of those rare movie personalities that make you want to know the person more in real life beyond the characters they get to enact. If I said Jack Nicholson takes the seemingly straight, simple narrative to an altogether different level it is not without the support from Helen Hunt. It happened to me earlier in Balki's Cheeni Kum where going by the chemistry between the lead pair I had naughtily wished for them to be a real life item too. The same happened here as well. The fact that this was repeat viewing never mattered.

Simple, classy, unpretentious, sexy, warm, organic the film and its title, I didn't know, would actually symbolize a perfect Sunday afternoon spent in absolute joy, and calmness after a long time together.


Just like "good times, and noodle salad" of Melvin Udall.

underdog millionaire

Take a bow, A.R.Rahman!

Dus

With the world around me indulging in some kind of retrospective lists it is only incidental that I chanced upon this page.

So this is also looking back; I had heard about it long ago but never got to see it in its entirety. I let the legendary BBC fonts (my favorites for long) on the page distract me, I let the colors take over me but nah! this was a definitive list, so it claimed. A list of songs supposedly culled from the umpteen out there, questioning its actual requirement. I wish I had known the rest of them, I was willing to read, know, and admire.

But then 2, 4 and 9 were just too overwhelming for me to do that.

chinks in the wall?

Rahul's scorecard

	Inns	Runs	Hs	Avg	100	50
Since relinquishing captaincy	34	881	111	28.41	1	5
In the year 2008	26	669	111	27.87	1	4
In last 10 innings	10	195	68	19.50	0	2
In last 5 innings	5	21	11	4.20	0	0

courtesy: Rajneesh Gupta/Rediff




Dravidian fall 2008?

harsha bhoggles

"in my quizzes I only ask the questions and am aware that the participants know more than I do. in fact I think that is true of all quizzes! all I see my job being is that of a pleasant conduit between the person who sets the questions and the person who tries to answer it"

says my man in an interview on some nondescript page, somewhere on the messy web.


Isn't that what all quizzes and quiz masters should be looking to achieve? In an ideal world, I am speaking.

and here is some more

"if people haven’t enjoyed themselves at the end, whether they have won or lost, I think I have lost"

Aaah! precisely that is what I have been trying to drive home ever since my Picket days. I have had harrowing moments convincing my partners right up to my college days as to how important, at least for me, it was to have a ball at quizzes. To have fun, to go up and down the emotional ladder in quizzes. Not to take anything seriously. Not to take yourself seriously. Not to let your ego come in way of immense amount of joy that you could get. Of course it was always fun ending up on the winning side, but when it came to having real fun, winning never ever mattered.


Never.

Engine Failure

I searched for happiness.


Google couldn't help me.

Lifetime Achievement

WOW!

go get a life

redifferent!

Now no matter how gimmicky that sounds, the fact that Rediff.com has exercised some caution, shown immense maturity, and sense of timing, discretion is praiseworthy. This tabloidish portal is known for its inflammatory message boards irrespective of what topic it is. Nothing and just about nothing escapes the sharp tongues of the Indians in these "discussion" forums showing what sort of cynicism has crept into us.

Right now, owing to the terror times in Mumbai, the site has closed all the discussion boards.

Even as I write this, I go back and check. Yes, I am right. It is not a problem with my internet connection and the page has loaded to its full potential.

There are no discussion boards.

Landmark.



P.S: If what I am talking about is to be seen, let the terror go into background, let the Mumbaikars show the famed "resilience", and then let the site be visited.

Dus ka Daud

Making a bucket list of things to do and going about fulfilling, realizing each one of them makes for such a compelling drama. It gets compelling if this list were to be made with sad yet definite knowledge that you are going to breathe your last very soon. You win some, you lose some, you get some, you forget some. After all life is such a bitch.

Yet again Vinay Pathak ratifies my belief and immense trust in actors who excel at comedy, humor. In what could be the finest display of ensemble acting in recent times, Vinay Pathak and his team of actors best known for their television gags take honest, simple acting to a different level. In a show that walks a fine line between wallowing and again honesty, Pathak proves what he could do to a film given a meaty, beefy part. Ranvir Shorey, Saurabh Shukla, Suresh Menon, Rajat Kapoor, Suchitra Pillai, Purvi Joshi, Sarita Joshi, Gaurav Gera in their minuscule yet important parts prove that a lead actor can shine only if the accessorial roles are neatly etched out. Nowhere do you feel the need to sympathize with the Pathak's Amar and you only root for him to get what he aspires for. You wish him a dignified death somewhere content he has lived the few moments he has on him. Few real moments. This movie is good for the relaxed pace in which it lets its protagonist go about settling things running against time.

Any movie that can make Neha Dhupia look normal, act, respond and react naturally has to be good.

Dasvidaniya is a reminder of a movie. Reminder of the unpredictability of life, the shortness of life.

The bitchiness of life.

not so hillaryous

If the babus and the coteries were to have their way, Hillary Clinton might as well be made the Secretary of State. This could throw to the bins the apparent disparity between her and my man when it came to Iraq, and more importantly Iran.

Our lady had warned Iran of an assault if Iran were to bombard Israel with nuclear weapons.
My man wants to sit down for talks with Iran.

Quantum Mechanics

When Fleming, Forster, and Craig decide to take you on a ride as a practical for their class on Physics, Kinetics, Chemistry, Systems you are at the receiving end. For a change, among many those instances, being at the receiving end is a pleasure. You enjoy the ride. You not surprisingly dismiss logic, throw caution and sense to air. You just submit, you just listen, you just see, you just watch. You stop questioning.

When in this silly ride across places, ethnicities, people, colors, races you get is what is termed as paisa vasool, where is the question of solace?!

chaand ka tukda

While it might not mean big to the pioneers, nor it might turn any heads but for the people who are involved in this, it definitely is a moment of inexplicable pride. I perfectly relate to the teams instrumental in this little landmark. The fact that groups (or millions) before you might have done it doesn't or ideally shouldn't take anything away from your success.


Your success is your success.

Whether it is earth shattering, or gives you a reason to be over the moon.

Short Circuited!

Circuit City adds to the list of the behemoths in the US filing for bankruptcy.

Something like this happening to an electronic store chain is shocking. The fact that it might be delisted off the NYSE is no pleasing news either.

There are reports that Circuit City started showing signs of an imminent fall early on, and it is only in retrospect now. Funnily for a company to go through this bad a phase, there were no obvious signs of it when I made a visit last fall for my first Canon. Nothing about the display, nor the environment showed there was something bad. Electronics is something that flies off the shelf with good reviews particularly in the US.

This had to happen in the holiday season? Sad!

Won't be a good Thanksgiving this time.

Fall 2008

In sanity, be damned!!!

"Do aur do ka jod hamesha, chaar kahaan hota hai
soch samajh waalon ko thodi naadani de maula

Chidiyon ko daane bachhon ko gud dhaani de maula
garaj baras pyasi dharti par phir paani de maula"



Nida Fazli / Jagjit Singh

The Secret's Out

I have always liked those supersmart, eagle-eyed, sharp suited Secret Service Agents who ought to protect the President of the United States, among others things to do. They, like their counterparts in New Delhi, the Special Protection Group, mean pure business. Now imagine one of those agents, tall, dark, again sharp suited, with cropped hair, elegant sunglasses on, decides enough is enough and comes to the foreground, and takes centrestage. What do you get?

Barack Hussein Obama

Character Ark

Yet another hero of mine hangs up his boots. I always thought getting into one's boots was tough, but hanging up one's boots?

The former is still tough because this shoe size is big, real big.


God bless you, Anil Radhakrishnan Kumble.

Classic Mild

If the Centre were to go by the linguistic experts' recommendations, Telugu and Kannada will soon be given the classical status. While I am in no position to comment on Kannada apart from it being a crisp, simple, powdery language, easy on ears (I will stop here before the Karnads and Karanths get me!), Telugu has been a way of life for me. Some of the most poetic, pathetic, pristine, and poignant stuff gets expressed through this language. I have been forever proud of being a Telugu, and moreso a Hyderabadi Telugu at that. That is important. Twenty three years of existence in Hyderabad hasn't diluted my respect for Telugu, nor has my Telugu gotten corrupted. I bet I would leave no hints to a place I could belong to going by my Telugu.

The language grew on me, and I have to immensely thank Ramoji Rao's Eenadu for that. My initial exposure to Eenadu gave me such a base that I do not once regret having been sent to a CBSE school. The articles, the style are read to be believed and this held true for a long time. Thanks to Sridhar's Idhi Sangathi, and Gudipudi Srihari for that. Then the parochial attitude the paper smacked of started surfacing. I will not go there for I have to be grateful to Eenadu for all that base I talk of. I am no jingoistic, "culture" shouting language fanatic, yet I have somewhere felt good being a Telugu. You like the language for all the flexibility it offers despite being the ocean that it is. You like the fact that you could think on a global level yet be proud of your roots without experiencing any amount of adjustment issues. I could safely say not many languages do that. I have immensely enjoyed the itsy bitsy knowledge of business Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam (it really gets itsy bitsy itsy bitsy there), and of course Hindi. Ah my liking for Hindi merits a different post altogether. In experiencing, enjoying all these languages I have, like I said, felt absolute joy in the fact I actually belong somewhere.

Let me not get into specifics of language, but I bet for the sheer fact that no other language in the world (apart from Kannada may be) can boast of that godly linguistic exercise called Avadhanam, Telugu wins. Then there is the legendary sweetness on ears, the gentleness, the rhythm, the tempo, the style.

All this love is for the language, and not the Telugu culture at all. All the pride I enjoy in the association with the language gets nullified by the fact I do not, I repeat I do not, belong here at all. It makes me cringe when I even think about it. When you have submitted the language and the culture to those demons called Caste & Telugu cinema, one can't help but squirm. Trust me when I say that! You feel bad that there is no representation on a global level at all. Do not even try point at those ATA, TANA and all that fucking pigshit tandana. For all the resources that this language possesses, any other culture would have been so aggressive in nurturing it, imbibing it, and doing what not. Forget global, there has been no national identity on us. If ever Andhra Pradesh is spoken of it is Hyderabad and its material achievements in recent years that get talked about. Funnily we so lack in an identity that we don't even get mimicked! There are scores of performances where a Gujarati, a Bengali, a Tamilian, a Malayali, a Punjabi gets mimicked, and you get the caricatures in all forms and styles. There has been absolutely no cultural, linguistic identity of ours something that the current generations could identify with, and relate to. Apart from our penchant for high academic degrees, technical jobs that become our identity and our parents could boast of, Telugus don't seem to be doing anything pathbreaking. Bloody we are so conscious of not being the laughing stock by trying something unheard of, and tread in an uncharted territory that all we end up being is a cynical, narrow-minded society. With all this, our so called presence across continents doesn't count at all. How does it matter that there are swarms and hordes of us when we have not done the right thing? It is as if settling in NewJersey, Florida, Virginia, Houston, Dallas, Washington, and California is the be all and end all of all Telugus.

I hate to say this but let not Avakaya, Tollywood Cinema, Pattu Langa, Parikini, Meesam, Rosham, faux pseudo machoism, Caste-false-pride be our calling cards. Blame it on the Puri Jagannadhs and the Ravi Tejas.

It is sad.

...kahenge, Logo ka kaam hai kehna!

Finally they are out, and I lay hands on mine! The Indian Student Association out here had a contest asking people to come up with logos and captions/punchlines that symbolized the living here. Among all the entries sent, the one sent by yours truly was selected, and chosen to be used on the official ISA t-shirts, other publicity material, and merchandise, if you will.

IndiaSporA symbolizes all the students, student families, and employees here who almost share a common origin, who are here on an almost similar mission. It is a portmanteau of two words India and Diaspora, and this is apparent. The three letters I,S and A have been capitalized for obvious reasons to add to the effect. I have employed a cliche here, ... in togetherness we excel which is another form of saying the classic lines.

The logo and the caption were released on the 15th of August this year, and the stuff is out now.

It feels really good. It doesn't hurt if you are given a laser engraved Apple iPod for all this. Just adds to the kitty ;)

Boyle's Down To This

raw, kinetic, tantalizing, earthy, unkempt, peppy, a.r.rahman

Boyling Point, indeed!

Happy Diwali

I sincerely hope this Diwali and all the Diwalis that follow stand for good times, harmony, and add to the joie de vivre. Let Diwali stand for rockets and sky touchers like these, and not crackers like these and these.

Wishes don't get more sincere than these.

Decadent

10 years of Satya, 10 years of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

10 years of Saving Private Ryan, and 10 years of Dil Se

what a contrast!

deteriorating decade, or decade on the rise?

Will leave it that

Silly Gilly!

Adam Gilchrist slams Sachin Tendulkar accusing him of not being a "sport".


Raj Thackeray ko phone lagao!


What on earth were you smoking Gilly?! I am sure the Buchanan's coaching manuals didn't have a chapter on Marathi Manoos

Gilli Dhand... aahh!

"Gilchrist's views make it clear that he isn't a fan of Tendulkar, who has been a hugely admired figure in Australia ever since he first played in the country as a teenager in 1991-92."

"Gilchrist not only accuses Tendulkar of being a bad sport, but also goes on to criticise his role in the 'monkeygate' scandal involving Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds earlier this year in Australia."

courtesy: IBN Live

Who do my loyalties stay with? A cricketer who I, we, have all grown up on and deified, or a gentleman like whom they don't make any more?

hEnry Thomas

courtesy: YouTube

Da Da Win ci Code

off... dance-down... drive... aggro... gentle... hoist...

silk... slash... steel... smooth... smile...

monarch.... madness... majestic... elegant... eloquent...


glory... guts... gumption... gore... gifted...


God

Wall-E xquisite!

A truly fitting tribute to the man who I haven't necessarily held in high regard for reasons.
A bulwark, anyway.

Can Billo Barber make the right cut?

What Rajni Kan't,


Shahrukh, Can?

Generally Speaking!

courtesy: Shoshana Brackett

I finally reached home coming out in absolute awe of this apparently affable general. It was only a godly intervention and call that made me walk to it.

It only struck me later that holy shit, this was a four-star U.S army general I was dealing with. He needn’t have been a Secretary of State or a National Security Advisor to be that punctual.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What a personality, I thought to myself. I was indeed expressive of my appreciation for him. It came out naturally I realized. Such was his impact in those 45 minutes of crisp, smooth, clear, peppy, humorous talk. I feel when people reach summits others could only dream of, they tend towards simplicity in all aspects of life. Simplicity becomes their tool so much so that mere mortals are baffled. Is it so easy being this simple? Was being simple this simple?


While the address abounded in some regulars like “Terrorists can never change the nature of who we are”, it was also peppered with the following which really made it worthwhile.

“I think one of the things the next president has to do is restoring a sense of confidence ... and restore the confidence that the rest of the world should have in us because we’re basically the same America we’ve always been but we’ve lost some standing in the world in recent years.”

“And we have to regain that I think by listening to others and hearing what others have to say to us in the world. ... The first priority is reach out to the world and listen ... and be very, very realistic about what we’re able to achieve and understand we can’t achieve without friends.”

“We have been a land of immigrants. Let us welcome more people into it. Yes, after some jolts we have received, we are a little circumspect and will do everything that will not jeopardize the security of our nation. But that should never stop talented and deserving individuals from coming here. They pay full fare (grins), they learn, they teach, they contribute to our growth. Then they go back, contribute to their economies. I think that is good because that is the only way to drive, keep them away from terrorism.”

Powell addressed as a keynote speaker in the 2008 HD Leadership Summit organized by the business school.
“The essence of all leadership is follower-ship. ... The job of a leader is to inspire ... so they are self-motivated.”
“Talk to enemies. It’s easy to talk to friends.”


Was Colin hinting at the circle of life when he recounted on how he was the most powerful and influential diplomat in this world, next in power only to the U.S president one day, and the following day he was a normal man walking down the road?

Then he went to narrate a heartwarming tale that was met with respectful, sober applause.

“I still walk up to the hot dog store in Park Avenue, New York, which I frequented even I was the Secretary of State. Only this time I wasn’t one. I enter the shop, order mine, and when it is time to pay up, the man across the counter refuses.”

and continued Colin Powell in a much mellowed tone as if almost orchestrated to elicit that sympathy,

“Aren’t you General Powell?”

“Yes!”

“I cannot charge you Sir. Only I know how this nation welcomed me when I was nothing and only I know where I came from. This nation has paid me enough Sir. I cannot charge you.”

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Will he be the same person who I had only seen on television and was definitely awe inducing? Will he make it on time? I have heard of their discipline, punctuality and all that jazz. Will the most powerful diplomat in the world do it? Will he set an example? Or is it that even they are like us, human?!

No sooner than I entered the coliseum flashing my pass, than he started his address.

8.00 PM sharp

oh! it's elementary, my dear

Just when the cynic in me thought all adverts were aimed at eyeballs with no iota of sensitivity, or honesty, here is a piece that should silence me for some time. It only makes me reiterate that eye-popping visuals go to the background when you are bowled by the concept in the message in question and the honesty to go with it. This applies to any medium.

Being away from T.V for a while now, I reckon this is easily one of THE best ads I have seen in a long long time, quite ironically on the tellytube.



video courtesy: Dow Chemicals, YouTube

nano ya na nano

What a contrast! While one has been seeing constant rebirths or retouches with the current ugly duckling out in its 4th generation, but current nevertheless, the other hasn't quite started revving yet.

Give me my fat, petite 3G any day(don't I love mine!) to the slim, anorexic back-to-square (pun intended) pretentious bitch. Wonder when I could say the same about the other. Will I get to do that in near future? What a pity!

The two true faces of technology.

Let me reword that

nanotechnology

class apart

It is a pleasure to be going to the same school as she does, and this course in particular. Lakshmi and I attended a class together this afternoon after a gap of about four years. So much water has flown under the bridge since those days of late 2004! But our outlook towards Science hasn't changed a bit. In fact goals and aspirations wise there hasn't been a wane. May be more clarity has set in. Just that folks back home are a lot calmer, happy, and moving ahead with their lives. I am really glad about that. It is a nice feeling to be in control of what one really wants.

chiru korika

I wish the celestial bodies stayed where they belong, for they cease to be when they take a descent.

Nevertheless, here is a brilliant piece that is a tight slap to people like me!

no Phony thought this

TRAI allows Internet telephony, STD rates may drop.

Wish the same could be said about the venereal counterpart too!

Par Where'z, Democracy?!

"He will be remembered as the man during whose period a watershed development took place in Pakistan, which is that the middle classes, the educated classes and the people of Pakistan began to understand in a very tangible way the significance of rule of law, of a constitutional democracy." -Political analyst Nazeem Zehra


True.

High Five

it hasn't been necessarily all the while. Each one of us has seen the ebbs to go with the highs and hopefully learnt from every experience. While I had met and known some of them prior, the journey that started with them exactly half a decade ago has been defining, and enriching in its own way. It has been a pleasure knowing each one of them. What personalities!

Cheers to Avinash Waghray, Anita Agarwal, Vijai Srinivasan, Chandan Bhuyan, Lakshmi Narayanan, Priya Sundar, Matthew John, Sabariya Selvam, Pratima Patil, Surendra Mohan, Sashikanth Gollapudi, Vandana Iyer, and Subhadra Rajaratnam!

May each one of us get to do what we set out to do and everything we aspired for. Thank you all for making August 11, 2003 a date to remember.

US Open

still! and it has been advantage me in the one year that's gone by. The match point is a long way to go, and whether I play it Singles or Mixed Doubles I want this match to be a long one.

Cheers to me.

Spiel Berg

Sorry Steven! you didn't make it. Just what the hell were you thinking when you made War of the Worlds (2005). Was it a proposal film making for you? Why were you so dishonest to Rick Karter, Joanna Johnston, John Williams, Michael Kahn, and Janusz Kaminski? Did Cruise walk straight from the sets of Minority Report(2002)? Why did he seem so listless? A mere adherance to H.G.Wells' classic concept with Lucas' ILM at your disposal would fetch you moolah, and you thought so? Seriously!? What was David Koepp's screenplay all about? Horrendous. You must have outdone yourself in the quantum of cinematic liberties you have taken. Somehow looking at the bigger picture, things didnot fall in place. Extravagant and seemingly laborious production design, individually good visual set pieces do not a good film make. Pity, it is you!

For a man whose power supposedly enables him achieve just about any god damn thing in the showland, War of the Worlds is a big let down. All your talk about the philosophy of the movie proves to be a big spiel and that's a huge berg of that.

I didn't know things could get so literal, name wise.

Sunny Days

seem to be over for this Deol. I reckon this happens to people at least from performing arts who are not versatile, who peak too early, who don't try expanding the circumference of their comfort circles. This is so true when looked at his contemporaries like Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, and Sanjay Dutt, in the increasing order of their charisma, and who all started in the early 80s.

Pity, this man has had such a magnetic pull at the box office. Such a majestic roar (pun intended) has turned into a ghoulish silence. What an irony!

Czech Mate

I hope my man from Brno, Czechoslovakia finds his partner soon. Let him complete the circle of life.

Let good things happen to good people. He deserves good. Real good.

Rogered again...

and third time in a row.


"28-0 record at the French Open and a perfect 41-0 record in best-of-five clay-court matches" (Courtesy: ESPN)

Tch!

What a Spain in the arse?!

AB kuch baat hai?!

IIFA 2008 Thailand

Best actor: Shahrukh Khan for Chak De! India

Best actress: Kareena Kapoor for Jab We Met

While this pattern has been a sure leif motif of all the popular movie awards this season, what really irks me and adds credence to the words of people like Shatrughan Sinha is stuff like this of the Bachchans.

Best Male Acting Award: Abhishek Bachchan for Guru
Best Female Acting Award: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for Guru

I mean what the fuck!



P.S. Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador of IIFA

Loo and behold

What does one do when the seat is laid claim to, at the break of dawn?


Don't blame me for an incoherent thought; not that it never existed before, but this time I do warn. No wisdom of hindsight that!

rgv ki BL aag

Finally he is here, shooting straight from the lip. I haven't read much of Big B's page but I expect real fireworks from Varma. His page should be a breeze, a verbal equivalent to the way his Arri BL4s cut loose on Satya (1998). The man as always is simple, knows his stuff, and speaks his mind; the best thing being that nothing comes measured and weighed.

Trance

for me would be the knowledge of functional & pure Urdu, doing good lifting Science, pure & authentic Jazz music, reading some good pieces of writing, may be new books, some more music, writing more, and soul lifting stuff above and beyond the mundanities of daily material existence. I have said this before and it is so true even now.

I agree with so many wherewithals at disposal material, and otherwise, realizing most of this stuff is in my hands.

mani matters-3

It is noteworthy that the team the magician has comprises of people who wax eloquent and who hold forth on any platform on any given topic, not just cinema. Probably it is the synergy of all these positive energies and thoughts that has made his work click for almost close to three decades now, and stand the test of the time over which many a man has come with far more promise. Probably as someone put it his success could be attributed to the fact that he chose the right pearls lying scattered and threaded them into a nice garland. Read, watch any interview of Sujatha, P.C.Sreeram, Santosh Sivan, Sabu Cyril, A.R.Rahman, Rajeev Menon, H.Sridhar, Sreekar Prasad, Thota Tharani, Ravi.K.Chandran, Balu Mahendra, and in a different league Ramgopal Varma, Shekhar Kapur, and it will be clear what I mean. What delights me is that these people are the behind-the-screens variety, and yet give the stars and starlets a run for their fame. Each understands and acknowledges the medium as a whole rather than projecting his own craft as the limiting factor. Isn't that an advantage for any director who has the padding of so many "directors" and alter egos? Sreekar Prasad is an Editor and H.Sridhar is a Sound Engineer, and their interviews are read to be believed. When H.Sridhar talks about planting red herrings in Hassan's D by not showing two of the ten roles leaving something for the audience to ponder over, you know these guys understand human psyche more than anything else. Then broaching 6- track, 4-track, stereo, mono, DTS would sound dumb! The irony is that in the overall success, and the general impact generated by the movie that is in question these souls are never the recipients of instant and direct fame.

Yet they contribute, and how!

Kabhi Kabhi

I have written reviews for movies and I picture myself doing the same for soundtracks, but going ga ga over a single piece is a first. A.R.Rahman's tracks take time to warm up to and that is a known. So it came as a surprise that one of his latest offerings needed no time to get hooked to. It is such a relief to see him get out of period, patriotic, issue based stuff which of course he has been doing for a while with much panache in a way only he can, and get into contemporary fare. At least I have looked forward to him doing that, and what a track! I haven't ventured into listening to the rest of the album and I blame it on this gem of piece from Jaane Ya tu Jaane Na. Part jinglish, part fun, the first two lines from Abbas Tyrewala are magic and Rashid Ali's vocals on Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi seem so lissome.

awesome

I Pee L

Unparliamentary title aside which reeks of urea, I think the Sreesanth-Harbhajan-BCCI episode smacks of smart, sickening revenue strategy generated by smart asses in the Modi-Shah Inc. I am willing to hedge a bet on the likelihood of the scenario comprising of the PR/Chartered Accountant/Treasury guys involving the top brass at BCCI with a willing pair of scape goats in Sreesanth and Bhajji, pitching proposals across tables.

"Sir, we have noticed that the gate revenue isn't as much as we expected, and this is a blow to the very format which promised a couple of hundred crores to our kitty"

After careful deliberation it might have been decided to play the dirty card which everyone is up to in the entertainment-amusement-media-sports industry today; pluck the eyeballs when you fail to grab them. Oh, the instances are many, the mediaspace abounds in such examples. Rakhi Sawant tamasha, the Star News tamasha, the Yash Raj tamasha preceding any release are legendary.

They would have found two readily available jackasses in the said pair, and within time that would have subnuclear reaction times to shame, decided to have a drama at whose expense, the ever gullible junta janardhan.

"Sreesanth aur Bhajji ko line pe lagaao"

Come to think of it,

1) Harbhajan slaps Sreesanth hard in the field/dressing room
2) Sreesanth lets his emotions get better of him, sobs on the field like a kid who has been robbed of his candy by the highway dacoits
3) The fellow cricketers run up to console him
4) Hours later when IBN reporter asks him how it felt, Sreesanth plays the slap down cheerfully, smiling when he says "The shakehand was at the wrong place" with his sense of wit intact
5) Punjab XI complains to BCCI who take up the issue seriously, and what have we now Harbhajan faces a life ban

It doesn't take a Harvard MBA grad brains to smell the urea in this! I am all for banning a cricketer, sportsman when he doesn't uphold the spirit, or brings disrepute to the game at frequent intervals taking the very game for granted.

But at the end of it if Bhajji and Sreesanth are seen waltzing to Daler Mehndi beats at the closing ceremony, do not shocked or let the feeling of having been taken for a ride bother you.

Or is it that I am showing the signs of early senescence? Should I be taking all this with sacks full of salt as I am supposed to, and enjoy the circus?! Since IPL, ICL, 20-20, Honkong Sixes, Sharjah were always meant to be the junk versions of cricket aimed at the coffers any amount of cheap publicity or gimmickry was deemed okay. So this might have been one more instance.


Whichever way I look at it,

it is not cricket Gentlemen.