This one qualifies (and might win) the award for the laziest person in the whole world...
And if that one was not good enough, here is another one...
Both these, courtesy S... Enjoy!!!
WELL SAID - 2
This one comes from Randy Pausch in his last lecture. The whole lecture qualifies under this series, but one sentence particularly captured the gist of the "last" lecture.
How apt in that scenario!!!
We can not change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
How apt in that scenario!!!
Logged in to www.timesofindia.com to check out the latest news and this is how the page looked.
1 - Something terrible happened 14 months ago and even today we have not done anything about it. There is 1 fellow caught, he denies everything he was caught doing and we are spending crores to protect him.
2 - A person with dubious history of financial dealings gets Padma Bhushan simply because he supposedly facilitated a very important deal between India and US, though he did nothing really.
3 - A political party surviving for existence is trying to squeeze one more drop out of an issue which has already been chewed to death. Apparently with an election due in 2 years.
4 - A celebrity craved for publicity does another act, just to stay in the limelight.
5 - Tips to get a gun.
6 - Finally, one achievement for India -- and immediately someone else has to comment on it.
7 - Another publicity hungry celeb gives a "byte"
8 - No comment on children and pornography. They just dont fit in the same world.
9 - One stupid player bites the ball and creates news. Its called "Bite-gate".
10 - A home minister can not guarantee safety of the countrymen promises security for Australian cricketers.
11 - Stray dogs reach black bucks before Salman-Saif can.
12 - One family likes its d-i-l and it makes news. Thats 2 times in the day for the same family. Target achieved for the day, lets think abt making news tomorrow.
What is there to look forward to read when you open the website? (Read it as -- what is there to read when you get the newspaper in the morning?)
Reminds me of a very good article I had read many many years back. How true can an article be, even 10-15 years after it is published!!! How I wish I could get a picture of that article?
Those were the days when Yasser Arafat was alive and Israel-Palestine were going at each other fiercely. Just one day ago, there were 2 suicide bombings in Jerusalem claiming the lives of at least 20 odd civilians. Try taking a guess that the day's newspaper headline.
The headline was about how an old couple had grown a beautiful garden in their backyard in spite of the terrible summer that year. It had elaborate pictures of all the rare flowers they had grown in spite of all the water problems. A smiling picture of the old couple sharing was at the top center of the page.
And no, that newspaper did not live in denial. The details of the blasts from the previous day, the names of the victims and other grim details were listed on page 2.
But that article at the forefront of the newspaper ensured that anyone who opens the newspaper starts to read it with a sweet smile. The smile will survive the scars of page 2 for sure. More importantly, the reader will enjoy reading the newspaper. Even after the newspaper is folded and kept aside, the happy news will keep on showing up and continue to soothe even the quickest of glances. And most importantly, the reader will look forward to reading the newspaper the next day... every day...
How I wish I could get a picture of that article? Not only for my blog readers, but for the news reporters and newspaper editors of tomorrow.
1 - Something terrible happened 14 months ago and even today we have not done anything about it. There is 1 fellow caught, he denies everything he was caught doing and we are spending crores to protect him.
2 - A person with dubious history of financial dealings gets Padma Bhushan simply because he supposedly facilitated a very important deal between India and US, though he did nothing really.
3 - A political party surviving for existence is trying to squeeze one more drop out of an issue which has already been chewed to death. Apparently with an election due in 2 years.
4 - A celebrity craved for publicity does another act, just to stay in the limelight.
5 - Tips to get a gun.
6 - Finally, one achievement for India -- and immediately someone else has to comment on it.
7 - Another publicity hungry celeb gives a "byte"
8 - No comment on children and pornography. They just dont fit in the same world.
9 - One stupid player bites the ball and creates news. Its called "Bite-gate".
10 - A home minister can not guarantee safety of the countrymen promises security for Australian cricketers.
11 - Stray dogs reach black bucks before Salman-Saif can.
12 - One family likes its d-i-l and it makes news. Thats 2 times in the day for the same family. Target achieved for the day, lets think abt making news tomorrow.
What is there to look forward to read when you open the website? (Read it as -- what is there to read when you get the newspaper in the morning?)
Reminds me of a very good article I had read many many years back. How true can an article be, even 10-15 years after it is published!!! How I wish I could get a picture of that article?
Those were the days when Yasser Arafat was alive and Israel-Palestine were going at each other fiercely. Just one day ago, there were 2 suicide bombings in Jerusalem claiming the lives of at least 20 odd civilians. Try taking a guess that the day's newspaper headline.
The headline was about how an old couple had grown a beautiful garden in their backyard in spite of the terrible summer that year. It had elaborate pictures of all the rare flowers they had grown in spite of all the water problems. A smiling picture of the old couple sharing was at the top center of the page.
And no, that newspaper did not live in denial. The details of the blasts from the previous day, the names of the victims and other grim details were listed on page 2.
But that article at the forefront of the newspaper ensured that anyone who opens the newspaper starts to read it with a sweet smile. The smile will survive the scars of page 2 for sure. More importantly, the reader will enjoy reading the newspaper. Even after the newspaper is folded and kept aside, the happy news will keep on showing up and continue to soothe even the quickest of glances. And most importantly, the reader will look forward to reading the newspaper the next day... every day...
How I wish I could get a picture of that article? Not only for my blog readers, but for the news reporters and newspaper editors of tomorrow.
MORE FLICKS
S and I continued on our movie mania in the new year. This weekend we saw 2 new movies -- one which I wanted to see from some time and the other one was totally unexpected.
S and I were at a local grocery store when we accidentally bumped into a Red Box kiosk. We had been contemplating for a while to try it out. So, we start browsing on the movies available for pickup. After rejecting a bunch of unattractive ones and a few already seen, we zeroed in on this one.
This movie is a remake of a 1956 film noir movie. It was gripping from the start and never let the grip loosen. Every sequence kept us interested and the ending was very good. Considering that we had never heard of the movie and picked it out of the blue, it ended to be a very pleasant surprise.
Even though we knew the ending (at a high level), it was the "how" that kept us glued to the sofa. And that is the sign of a very good movie. If a movie has the capacity to hold you interested even when you know the ending, then the director has succeeded in his act.
After the movie, I read more about the movie online. It turned out that this movie has just a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Something must be definitely wrong with the people who rated this movie. From my end though, totally recommended at least for one time viewing.
The second one was something which I wanted to see for some time. Have been hearing from many that this one is hilarious. And it did not disappoint even an ounce. Every minute of the movie ended up cracking us like crazy. Reminded me of my crazy adventures in Mumbai especially Saturday nights when we used to end up wasted at Carter Road near the Sea Face.
Today, coincidentally, I was talking to a friend and found this movie's DVD at her desk. The DVD mentioned in bold -- "KILLER FUNNY". Could not agree any more.
S and I were at a local grocery store when we accidentally bumped into a Red Box kiosk. We had been contemplating for a while to try it out. So, we start browsing on the movies available for pickup. After rejecting a bunch of unattractive ones and a few already seen, we zeroed in on this one.
This movie is a remake of a 1956 film noir movie. It was gripping from the start and never let the grip loosen. Every sequence kept us interested and the ending was very good. Considering that we had never heard of the movie and picked it out of the blue, it ended to be a very pleasant surprise.
After the movie, I read more about the movie online. It turned out that this movie has just a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Something must be definitely wrong with the people who rated this movie. From my end though, totally recommended at least for one time viewing.
The second one was something which I wanted to see for some time. Have been hearing from many that this one is hilarious. And it did not disappoint even an ounce. Every minute of the movie ended up cracking us like crazy. Reminded me of my crazy adventures in Mumbai especially Saturday nights when we used to end up wasted at Carter Road near the Sea Face.
Today, coincidentally, I was talking to a friend and found this movie's DVD at her desk. The DVD mentioned in bold -- "KILLER FUNNY". Could not agree any more.
DIGITALLY ENABLED, MENTALLY DISABLED
S and I were at a birthday party at a friend's place. After the dinner was done, we were all yapping our way to glory when suddenly one of us noticed -- there were 3 kids in the room and there was absolutely no noise.
The kids were playing nicely -- on their respective parents cell phones. All the kids were sitting the same room but there were no toys around. They were not playing with each other, for that matter not even looking at each other. Each one was totally engrossed in their cell phones, playing some game. The parents were more than happy to lend their cell phones to the little ones as long as an hour of yap time was ensured.
Far from our days when meeting cousins or kids of the the same age was good enough a reason to raise hell. Playing outside in the backyard continued until parents threatened to break our legs.
That really reminded me of how much our day to day life is now dependent on the digital instruments. My nephew has very subtly captured it here. Today we have items to do some things which leave me totally stunned --
The kids were playing nicely -- on their respective parents cell phones. All the kids were sitting the same room but there were no toys around. They were not playing with each other, for that matter not even looking at each other. Each one was totally engrossed in their cell phones, playing some game. The parents were more than happy to lend their cell phones to the little ones as long as an hour of yap time was ensured.
Far from our days when meeting cousins or kids of the the same age was good enough a reason to raise hell. Playing outside in the backyard continued until parents threatened to break our legs.
That really reminded me of how much our day to day life is now dependent on the digital instruments. My nephew has very subtly captured it here. Today we have items to do some things which leave me totally stunned --
- Usage of digital toothbrush is one of them. How can one be so tired / bored of brushing their teeth that they need a tool to do that?
- Or for that matter, how many of us remember the route to the friend's new home that we visited a few days back? GPS and Mapquest has reduced the sense of direction to a mere history.
- The art of remembering TO-DO's has been made dispensable by presence of reminders on cell phones and organizers.
- Kids have forgotten what it meant to play like zombies during summer vacations and instead play uno / car racing and cricket online via internet, sitting in the cozy comforts of their rooms.
How ironical that digital inventions that were supposed to make our life better is actually making us dumb and obsolete?
ITS ALL OVER
Its all over now...
Just 6 days after S and I went and met M, I got a call today to inform that cruel fate eventually won over eternal hope. Alls the doctors and deities together could not pull off a miracle.
May P's soul rest in peace. May god give M and her family all the strength at this difficult moment.
Just 6 days after S and I went and met M, I got a call today to inform that cruel fate eventually won over eternal hope. Alls the doctors and deities together could not pull off a miracle.
May P's soul rest in peace. May god give M and her family all the strength at this difficult moment.
BAT UP BOY
Never realized that my last post was actually my 100th post.
Never thought that when I wrote my first post almost 3 1/2 years ago, that this blog will reach 3 figures. Actually, my blogging frequency is going up every year (7 posts in 2006, 18 posts in 2007, 25 posts in 2008 and 44 posts in 2009) and what more, I am really enjoying it. This is already my 4th post in 2010.
Just like we cheer up any batsman from our team when he hits a century, I am cheering up myself today -- BAT UP BOY!!!
Never thought that when I wrote my first post almost 3 1/2 years ago, that this blog will reach 3 figures. Actually, my blogging frequency is going up every year (7 posts in 2006, 18 posts in 2007, 25 posts in 2008 and 44 posts in 2009) and what more, I am really enjoying it. This is already my 4th post in 2010.
Just like we cheer up any batsman from our team when he hits a century, I am cheering up myself today -- BAT UP BOY!!!
AAL IS WELL? Really?
After almost 10 years, I went to a hospital on Sunday. Both S and I are fine by god's grace, we went there to see someone.
The last time I had been to a hospital was in early 2000 when my granny was not well. Every time I used to visit her and see her howling out of pain due to a broken pelvis, my heart used to bleed. I used to come out of the hospital helpless and forlorn.
Since then, the only time I had visited a hospital was to donate blood (twice actually, once to Jayadeva hospital and once to Narayana Hrudralaya) and actually came out satisfied both the times because I had a chance to meet the receipients of my donated blood. One was a IISC scientist and the other one was a farmer.
Other than these 2 chances, I never went to any hospital in the last 10 years. Not to see a newborn, not to see any accident victim or not for any good causes. So, last Sunday, when I had to visit Duke University Medical Center to see someone, I knew that it was not going to be some experience.
M is my colleague and good friend (both of us are Maharashtrians). M's husband P is seriously ill and admitted to Duke. The memories that I have of P are that of a tall, slim and handsome man. He brought a sense of calm to the room by his sheer presence. Always branded a smile which was very contagious. A very nice person to talk too as well. A loving father of a 4 year old son and a 1 year old daughter.
The long walk from the parking lot to the main hospital was unnerving. Took the elevator to the ward where P was admitted. M's father met us outside the ward and gave a pass which I could use to go in. Only 1 visitor is allowed in at a time, so S stayed outside with M's father.
I went in and saw P sleeping calmly. There were a bunch of tubes hooked on to his hand each one administering some sort of medicine which will try to bring his vital functions back to normalcy. His lame body had collapsed on that bed and was cutting a sad figure, entirely different from the smiling face we met first time at their son's birthday.
M saw me and her eyes said everything. She controlled hard not to shed a tear. She just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping aside the stotra book, which she was reading continuously, she came out of the room where P lay.
I tried to talk abt anything other than P, but was ridiculously short of words. Words deserted me at the most difficult moment. So I asked -- How is he?
Her reply was -- No improvement. Doctors detected a minor infection of pneumonia today. There is minor bleeding from the nose and blood pressure is abnormally high. Because of some medication he had taken, he cannot be operated for another 3 weeks and the doctors are not ready to keep him on the life support system for more than a week.
I just muttered -- keep faith, everything will be alright. Do not lose hope.
S never went inside the ward. I promised all the help that I could, within my limits. Then S and I left the corridor and took the uncomfortably long walk to the parking lot with very heavy feet and even heavier hearts. S was sobbing uncontrollably. We did not speak anything for some time.
I just felt like asking one Q to myself -- Can M try consoling her heart by saying "AAL IS WELL"?
The last time I had been to a hospital was in early 2000 when my granny was not well. Every time I used to visit her and see her howling out of pain due to a broken pelvis, my heart used to bleed. I used to come out of the hospital helpless and forlorn.
Since then, the only time I had visited a hospital was to donate blood (twice actually, once to Jayadeva hospital and once to Narayana Hrudralaya) and actually came out satisfied both the times because I had a chance to meet the receipients of my donated blood. One was a IISC scientist and the other one was a farmer.
Other than these 2 chances, I never went to any hospital in the last 10 years. Not to see a newborn, not to see any accident victim or not for any good causes. So, last Sunday, when I had to visit Duke University Medical Center to see someone, I knew that it was not going to be some experience.
M is my colleague and good friend (both of us are Maharashtrians). M's husband P is seriously ill and admitted to Duke. The memories that I have of P are that of a tall, slim and handsome man. He brought a sense of calm to the room by his sheer presence. Always branded a smile which was very contagious. A very nice person to talk too as well. A loving father of a 4 year old son and a 1 year old daughter.
I went in and saw P sleeping calmly. There were a bunch of tubes hooked on to his hand each one administering some sort of medicine which will try to bring his vital functions back to normalcy. His lame body had collapsed on that bed and was cutting a sad figure, entirely different from the smiling face we met first time at their son's birthday.
M saw me and her eyes said everything. She controlled hard not to shed a tear. She just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping aside the stotra book, which she was reading continuously, she came out of the room where P lay.
I tried to talk abt anything other than P, but was ridiculously short of words. Words deserted me at the most difficult moment. So I asked -- How is he?
Her reply was -- No improvement. Doctors detected a minor infection of pneumonia today. There is minor bleeding from the nose and blood pressure is abnormally high. Because of some medication he had taken, he cannot be operated for another 3 weeks and the doctors are not ready to keep him on the life support system for more than a week.
I just muttered -- keep faith, everything will be alright. Do not lose hope.
I tried to talk to M's father abt everything other than P and his health. He personified a dam with a wall full of cracks, just about to explode. Just M's presence in that corridor and a very wet handkerchief plugged the leaks.
S never went inside the ward. I promised all the help that I could, within my limits. Then S and I left the corridor and took the uncomfortably long walk to the parking lot with very heavy feet and even heavier hearts. S was sobbing uncontrollably. We did not speak anything for some time.
I just felt like asking one Q to myself -- Can M try consoling her heart by saying "AAL IS WELL"?
WELL SAID - 1
Everyone says religion is flawed. But that is because man is flawed, every one of them. Every one of us, including me.
-- From the movie Angels and Demons.
-- From the movie Angels and Demons.
FLICKS GALORE
Started the new year by watching 4 movies in the first 2 days. To exaggerate it, we saw 4 movies in 26 hours.
On 2nd Jan, we saw Avatar. And it was fully worth it. The graphics, the special effects, sound quality (IMAX) was really worth the cost. Even though we had to sit in the front row (gandhi class as we called it during college days) and ended up with a sore neck and bad headache, it was fully worth it.
Next day, saw De Dana Dan and 8x10 Tasveer in the morning. De Dana Dan was a typical Priyadarshan no-brainer. Not at all in the Hera Pheri class, not at all funny and strictly recommended to stay away from. If there was a negative rating, I would give this movie a negative rating.
8x10 Tasveer was surprisingly a very good movie. The suspense was held back very well until the climax. No one can guess the end although S did guess it partially correctly. Though I am not a big Akshay Kumar fan, I saw this movie only because it was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. I was hoping that Nagesh will live up to his standards and he did not disappoint at all. Fully recommended for the mystery buffs. The way the movie reveals a strand of the plot reminded me of Vantage point, another must see IMO.
Last, in the evening, saw Sandra Bullock's Premonition. Very nice movie, keeps the viewer perplexed till the end. You can never figure out what is going on in the movie, until the last 15-20 minutes. S and I loved it.
Nice way to start the year. ;-)
On 2nd Jan, we saw Avatar. And it was fully worth it. The graphics, the special effects, sound quality (IMAX) was really worth the cost. Even though we had to sit in the front row (gandhi class as we called it during college days) and ended up with a sore neck and bad headache, it was fully worth it.
Next day, saw De Dana Dan and 8x10 Tasveer in the morning. De Dana Dan was a typical Priyadarshan no-brainer. Not at all in the Hera Pheri class, not at all funny and strictly recommended to stay away from. If there was a negative rating, I would give this movie a negative rating.
8x10 Tasveer was surprisingly a very good movie. The suspense was held back very well until the climax. No one can guess the end although S did guess it partially correctly. Though I am not a big Akshay Kumar fan, I saw this movie only because it was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. I was hoping that Nagesh will live up to his standards and he did not disappoint at all. Fully recommended for the mystery buffs. The way the movie reveals a strand of the plot reminded me of Vantage point, another must see IMO.
Last, in the evening, saw Sandra Bullock's Premonition. Very nice movie, keeps the viewer perplexed till the end. You can never figure out what is going on in the movie, until the last 15-20 minutes. S and I loved it.
Nice way to start the year. ;-)
COUNT = COUNT + 1
Yep, thats what this means to a programmer. One more year over.
A lot of good things happened this year --
A lot of good things happened this year --
- S and I visited India for the first time after getting married. We had a blast for 1 full month.
- Clocked the 3-Oh. But consoled myself saying "30 is the new 25". S took it as "27 is the new 16".
- Worked probably the hardest since 2002. And as in 2002, I did not get the reward that I desired. Someone has said "You don't get what you desire. You get what you deserve." I have tweaked it to "You get what upper management thinks you deserve, as long as there are enough rewards allocated". ;-)
- Sucked at cricket, but ended the season on a winning note.
- Took my resolution seriously for once.
- A little one entered the lives of someone very dear to me. The last time I was so excited was when my sis gave birth to my nephew.
- Clocked the 3-Oh.
- Worked probably the hardest since 2002. And as in 2002, I did not get the reward that I desired.
- Sucked at cricket.
Oh!!! Yes, I forgot to mention one more good thing that happened this year. I decided to be more optimistic about life.
On that note, wish all my (4) readers a very happy and a prosperous new year. Cheers.
REPEAT
Yep, someone has said that history repeats itself. And we thought of proving the someone correct for once.
Just like the proverbial London bus, the second one followed immediately after the first one. We won the tournament again this year.
We started the tournament disastrously - losing miserably against the eventual runner-up. Not only that, there were a lot of words exchanged during that game, primarily because we were responsible behind ousting them in the semi-final last year (in a tense bowl-out). The other team were hurting and when they won convincingly, they gave us an earful abt what they felt.
The next game was against a kids team on a freezing day. We were too easy on the kids and eventually our skipper had to give us another piece of his mind to ensure that we win the game.
The 3rd game went till the last over. At one point, the opponent was down and dusted with 40/4 in 10 overs but recovered to make 139/2 in 20. We needed 42 off 3 overs with 6 wickets down and then smashed the hell out of 2 overs to win with 5 balls to spare.
Lost the 4th game by some stupid batting and had to depend on rains and other results to fall in place for us to make it to the quarterfinals.
Somehow, everything worked out for us from then onwards. Played out of our skins in the quarterfinal and won by just 2 runs. The opposing team put us under so much pressure but we just held firm, 1 ball at a time. Eventually, winning by just 2 runs.
Semifinal was even difficult. We were done with abt 5 down in 3 overs but smart batting by lower order got us a tricky total. We bowled like possessed bowlers and won the game by 20 runs.
I had tickets for Panthers-Falcons game at Charlotte, but eventually made the hard decisions to not let the team down. Played the semi-final instead and won it for the team. Could not play the final, but then, our team was well set by then.
Played the Final against the same team as the first game and won very convincingly. We did not utter a word in retaliation. The pictures say it all, more than a 1000 words this time.
Just like the proverbial London bus, the second one followed immediately after the first one. We won the tournament again this year.
We started the tournament disastrously - losing miserably against the eventual runner-up. Not only that, there were a lot of words exchanged during that game, primarily because we were responsible behind ousting them in the semi-final last year (in a tense bowl-out). The other team were hurting and when they won convincingly, they gave us an earful abt what they felt.
The next game was against a kids team on a freezing day. We were too easy on the kids and eventually our skipper had to give us another piece of his mind to ensure that we win the game.
The 3rd game went till the last over. At one point, the opponent was down and dusted with 40/4 in 10 overs but recovered to make 139/2 in 20. We needed 42 off 3 overs with 6 wickets down and then smashed the hell out of 2 overs to win with 5 balls to spare.
Lost the 4th game by some stupid batting and had to depend on rains and other results to fall in place for us to make it to the quarterfinals.
Somehow, everything worked out for us from then onwards. Played out of our skins in the quarterfinal and won by just 2 runs. The opposing team put us under so much pressure but we just held firm, 1 ball at a time. Eventually, winning by just 2 runs.
Semifinal was even difficult. We were done with abt 5 down in 3 overs but smart batting by lower order got us a tricky total. We bowled like possessed bowlers and won the game by 20 runs.
I had tickets for Panthers-Falcons game at Charlotte, but eventually made the hard decisions to not let the team down. Played the semi-final instead and won it for the team. Could not play the final, but then, our team was well set by then.
Played the Final against the same team as the first game and won very convincingly. We did not utter a word in retaliation. The pictures say it all, more than a 1000 words this time.
MATCH WINNER
This blog is about this cricketer RKH. When he was playing domestic cricket, there were lot of good things heard about him. He played in domestic cricket under the leadership of VVC. No one knew whether he was a batsman or a bowler or a good fielder. The only thing that was known was that he was a player of genuine match winning ability. And like so many domestic players, no one knew if he will even get a chance to play international cricket.
Then he got a chance to play international cricket, primarily due to the captain VVC. He was a unknown entity at the world stage at the time of his debut.
In his first match, he surprised everyone with his (comic) timing and his unusual approach to the game. No one expected that the game could be played that way. It was just so positively surprising that not only he won the game for the captain VVC, he also won the hearts of the viewers. Not just that, he actually resurrected the careers of 2 players SD and AW.
Everyone was then looking forward to see RKH play again. They thought that this new "feel-good"approach will not work again and wanted to see whether he can live up to his standards.
He played the next match, in the same series. Most of the players (AW, BI and SD) were the same this time around. This second game, he was really very very good. This time, it was his sensitive side which touched the spectators. He pulled out a very old tenet, which was deemed to be totally irrelevant and outdated, and presented it in such a beautiful gift wrapping that everyone who saw the game, started believing it in again. That way, he again won the game for the captain VVC, he also captured the hearts of everyone who saw the movie. The careers of players like SD, AW and BI really got the impetus it needed.
Everyone were looking forward to the third game of the series. It was unfortunately cancelled, because one of the players SD had problem. It was a huge disappointment and everyone was worried about the future of this partnership.
Then RKH played his third game in another series. VVC was still the captain. The regular players (SD, AW) were missing and a few others stepped in (AK, RM, SJ). But really, everyone wanted to know how the game goes. They knew that if RKH plays well, all other players will perform superbly.
And he did not disappoint at all. The game was really good. His timing was good, there were many a sensitive moments in the game, there were a lot of funny moments as well. He stressed on an idea which was long long lost, and illustrated how it can be achieved. He left many a people with teary eyes (due to touching scenes) and achy stomach (due to too much laughing). He hit the sixers when it mattered and won the game, again. No one who saw the game left the stadium unsatisfied.
So, if you have not seen the game yet, go and see it. You will love it.
And after you see the game, instead of worrying about which game was the best, understand that all the games were very good. The spirit of these games was so good. And most importantly, all the games were won.
RKH won all the games, handsomely for VVC. Looking forward to seeing him play and win many many more games.
Now, let me unravel the mystery --
RKH -- Raj Kumar Hirani
VVC -- Vidhu Vinod Chopra
AW -- Arshad Warsi
BI -- Boman Irani
SD -- Sanjay Dutt
AK -- Aamir Khan
SJ -- Sharman Joshi
RM -- R. Madhavan
First Match -- Munnabhai MBBS
Second Match -- Lage Raho
Third Match -- 3 Idiots
WELL SAID - 0
Whenever I read a good article or interview, I find some good quotes which make so much sense and impact me in a certain way. This old post is one such quote which I still remember. This series "WELL SAID" is an attempt to list them at an easily accessible location. I will also mention the source of the quote, so that the readers can find out more.
Read this one from Amit Verma's post where he gives tips on how to be a good blogger. I just love this line, it makes such an impact.
Style should be a slave to the substance -- while writing a blog, the focus should be on the WHAT of the message to be conveyed and not on the HOW of the message to be conveyed. But what a classic way of driving the message home.
Read this one from Amit Verma's post where he gives tips on how to be a good blogger. I just love this line, it makes such an impact.
Style should be a slave to the substance -- while writing a blog, the focus should be on the WHAT of the message to be conveyed and not on the HOW of the message to be conveyed. But what a classic way of driving the message home.
PLAYING WITHIN THE RULES
One of the reality shows followed by S and I is Amazing Race. The latest season of Amazing Race finished last weekend and this season lived up to the high standards of AR. No wonder this show has been voted the best reality shows for so many years.
AR tests the participants in multiple aspects -- capacity to handle pressure, physical strength, thinking out of the box, adjusting to different cultures and being prepared for the unexpected. It takes you around the world and shows unique aspects of cultures around the world. And, of course, India features in most of their seasons.
But S and I like this show for another reason -- this show leaves your fate in your hands. Of course, there are twisters like U-turn once in a while, but most of the time, you play well and you make it through. If you mess up, you ruin your chances of going through to the next leg. There is no nomination for elimination, no plotting and planning, no backstabbing like some other shows (e.g. Survivor or Big Brother). This keeps the whole vibe of the episode very positive. Everyone is bothered about their individual performances without bothering to trip the other person.
This season was different in another aspect as well. This time I saw teams collaborate with each other and achieve common goals. They solved puzzles together, gave tips and pointers so that everyone gained in tough roadblocks. They shared clues and cabs. They gave each other crucial hints which altered the dynamics in a matter of minutes. They competed WITH each other instead of competing AGAINST each other. And this was not a pre-decided strategy. All these were decisions taken on the fly. Teams helped each other and moved on without any expectations of favors in return.
And funnily, the organizers could not do anything about it because no rules were broken here. It was all within the books and totally legal.
And in a very strange way, the teams which gelled like this benefited in some way or other. All the 3 finalists played the game in the right spirit, without any pre-determined alliances, and benefited at crucial junctures of the journey.
Obviously, there were players who played dirty games and made it ahead. But, they lost the trust of the other teams and it hit them at the worst place and worst time. But most of the teams played it the good way.
And this made the whole experience of the season a very positive one. Sunday nights were never depressing. We actually looked forward to having a freshly cooked meal in front of 1 hour of positive entertainment.
And see this --
Please can someone explain to the participants of some of India's stupid reality shows what "playing within the rules" means.
AR tests the participants in multiple aspects -- capacity to handle pressure, physical strength, thinking out of the box, adjusting to different cultures and being prepared for the unexpected. It takes you around the world and shows unique aspects of cultures around the world. And, of course, India features in most of their seasons.
But S and I like this show for another reason -- this show leaves your fate in your hands. Of course, there are twisters like U-turn once in a while, but most of the time, you play well and you make it through. If you mess up, you ruin your chances of going through to the next leg. There is no nomination for elimination, no plotting and planning, no backstabbing like some other shows (e.g. Survivor or Big Brother). This keeps the whole vibe of the episode very positive. Everyone is bothered about their individual performances without bothering to trip the other person.
This season was different in another aspect as well. This time I saw teams collaborate with each other and achieve common goals. They solved puzzles together, gave tips and pointers so that everyone gained in tough roadblocks. They shared clues and cabs. They gave each other crucial hints which altered the dynamics in a matter of minutes. They competed WITH each other instead of competing AGAINST each other. And this was not a pre-decided strategy. All these were decisions taken on the fly. Teams helped each other and moved on without any expectations of favors in return.
And funnily, the organizers could not do anything about it because no rules were broken here. It was all within the books and totally legal.
And in a very strange way, the teams which gelled like this benefited in some way or other. All the 3 finalists played the game in the right spirit, without any pre-determined alliances, and benefited at crucial junctures of the journey.
Obviously, there were players who played dirty games and made it ahead. But, they lost the trust of the other teams and it hit them at the worst place and worst time. But most of the teams played it the good way.
And this made the whole experience of the season a very positive one. Sunday nights were never depressing. We actually looked forward to having a freshly cooked meal in front of 1 hour of positive entertainment.
And see this --
Please can someone explain to the participants of some of India's stupid reality shows what "playing within the rules" means.
TIGER in the WOODS?
Everyone knows whats going on with Tiger Woods. But I am totally surprised with the public reaction to these happenings.
Don't get me wrong. No way am I supporting or approving whatever he has done. He has let his family down. Period.
But what I am unable to understand is, who are we to question him, ridicule him, mock him and humiliate him. There is so much negative media spotlight on him. There are Christmas cards, Christmas carols and songs written on him. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is making fun of him on radio talk shows and TV shows.
Don't get me wrong. No way am I supporting or approving whatever he has done. He has let his family down. Period.
But what I am unable to understand is, who are we to question him, ridicule him, mock him and humiliate him. There is so much negative media spotlight on him. There are Christmas cards, Christmas carols and songs written on him. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is making fun of him on radio talk shows and TV shows.
He is one of the best golfers ever and someone who was a role model to millions until last month. He was regarded as one of the best sportsmen from the US. An able testament to his class was that he recently featured in a Gillette ad with Roger Federer, Derek Jeter and Rahul Dravid. He is a partner in Tag Heuer as well.
He was made a hero by the people because he was very good at his profession. He gave it back to the society as well with umpteen charities to the needy ones.
According to me, TW is answerable only to his family. Everyone else is immaterial.
Who are we to make fun of such a great player? What have we achieved to point fingers at such a legend? Probably, the answer to this Q lies in another Q -- How much media attention do you want when you do a mistake?
Top of the stack
So, the Indian team finally reaches the top of the stack called ranking system. There will be umpteen but's that the team may be ranked #1 but still is not the best or that how can we be #1 when we have not won any series in SA and AUS etc. etc.
Everything accepted. But for now, let us salute to the players and the support staff who made this possible. Hats Off and Thank You.
The best part about this achievement is that it was achieved in the longest format of the game. Ironically, success in this format takes the longest to achieve. Any team can win 20-20 World Cup by great performances by just 1 or 2 players over a period of a week or 2 (just like Afridi did it earlier this year). A good team can win the World Cup by just being in top form just that season (just like Pakistan did it in 1992 or Sri Lanka did it in 1996 or for that matter, India did it in 1983). But to do that in Test matches, it takes consistent performances for a period of years.
According to me, this journey started in 2001 when India defeated Australia in that epic series. We were a very young team (Fab Four and Kumble were just 28-29, Bhajji-Zaheer others were even younger) and that series made everyone believe that the right ingredients were in place. The right guidance and direction were going to make this a success.
The super performance in Australia in 2004, Pakistan in 2004, England in 2006, WI in 2007 and NZ in 2009 were just additional levels built on that excellent foundation. The core group stayed in place (Fab 4, Kumble, Zaheer, Bhajji, Sehwag etc) and the journeymen (Bangar, Gambhir, Pathan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Yuvraj, Dhoni) supported them. Some of them excelled to be the core group (Gambhir, Dhoni) and some perished away to the grinds of domestic cricket.
But, as a result of consistent performances over the last few years, the crowning glory was achieved today. Today, at least due to this statistical achievement, the cricketing world will take a note. Today, we are not a team who are afraid to play SA at Kingsmead or Australia at Perth or England at Headingley. We actually look forward to challenge them at their fortresses. We are a team who expect to win away from home.
In a couple of years, most of the seniors, especially the batsmen will retire. Whether the replacements may or may not fill these huge voids remains to be seen. But for today, thank you for making us proud, once again.
Everything accepted. But for now, let us salute to the players and the support staff who made this possible. Hats Off and Thank You.
The best part about this achievement is that it was achieved in the longest format of the game. Ironically, success in this format takes the longest to achieve. Any team can win 20-20 World Cup by great performances by just 1 or 2 players over a period of a week or 2 (just like Afridi did it earlier this year). A good team can win the World Cup by just being in top form just that season (just like Pakistan did it in 1992 or Sri Lanka did it in 1996 or for that matter, India did it in 1983). But to do that in Test matches, it takes consistent performances for a period of years.
According to me, this journey started in 2001 when India defeated Australia in that epic series. We were a very young team (Fab Four and Kumble were just 28-29, Bhajji-Zaheer others were even younger) and that series made everyone believe that the right ingredients were in place. The right guidance and direction were going to make this a success.
The super performance in Australia in 2004, Pakistan in 2004, England in 2006, WI in 2007 and NZ in 2009 were just additional levels built on that excellent foundation. The core group stayed in place (Fab 4, Kumble, Zaheer, Bhajji, Sehwag etc) and the journeymen (Bangar, Gambhir, Pathan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Yuvraj, Dhoni) supported them. Some of them excelled to be the core group (Gambhir, Dhoni) and some perished away to the grinds of domestic cricket.
But, as a result of consistent performances over the last few years, the crowning glory was achieved today. Today, at least due to this statistical achievement, the cricketing world will take a note. Today, we are not a team who are afraid to play SA at Kingsmead or Australia at Perth or England at Headingley. We actually look forward to challenge them at their fortresses. We are a team who expect to win away from home.
In a couple of years, most of the seniors, especially the batsmen will retire. Whether the replacements may or may not fill these huge voids remains to be seen. But for today, thank you for making us proud, once again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)