Turned over a new leaf today.....

I dunno where to begin and what to write, rather what not to write because so many thoughts are circling in my head.. Bob Woolmer dead! - splashed across all TV channels today and the first news on New Year's was this :( Terrible is how I felt, for the man who died was no ordinary one in the game of cricket. He was an icon,a coach who founded a concept,new to the cricket world, one of systematic,methodical,analytical approach to bettering cricketers and their careers and the sport as a whole.

Two days ago,India lost to Bangladesh at the word go. To see a young Bangladesh enjoy the fall of an Indian batsmen(supposedly the best in the world),not once but multiple times over,in quick succession,reminded me of a young Pakistan years ago,the difference simply being that this time around, it was the Pakistan on the eastern side. It was the same fervour and fire within to be the best on that day, I have seen in the eyes of a Miandad or an Akram ages ago.

On the same day,a bigger tragedy struck. Pakistan lost to Ireland,thus losing their honor, chances in WC and above all ,a fantastic coach! Pakistan lost in the real sense because even today, many of us rate them as the potential danger unit in this game. Until now, we did. Today,things are different. Neither do they possess the ability to fight back like they did in 1992 and lift the cup,nor do we possess the ability to meet them in a semi/quarter final World Cup match,a virtual final for any Indian or Pakistani cricket fan..In short, we both lost!,as the papers said, together we lose... :)

Who is to blame ? No one,because after all this is a game and in sports such things happen. Everyone, because it is we (collectively fans,media and general public) who hyped up this game and turned it into a lucrative business. Vishwanathan Anand has done India proud just at the time when a Tendulkar or a Dravid or a Sehwag has let us down. Yet we don't care. Our hockey team is treated like s*** outside because we dont provide them with enough gear and support. It is we, who let noodle straps interfere with an in-depth analysis post-match, by experts. We are the ones who enjoy casual,double-meaning comments spawned by a mediocre cricketer and term it 'Siddhuism', while an Imran sits helplessly waiting for his turn to mouth some genuine cricketing ideas.Mandira Bedi or Sidhu is not a personal target but it is unbearable to see professionalism being replaced by mediocrity, class replaced by common, the gentleman replaced by a rogue..And we are responsible!

In a way am glad this happened. WC 2007 is a moment afterall and 4 years down the line there will be another WC and life will move on.. Bob Woolmer will receive his sympathies and tributes and Pakistan will get a different coach. Flintoff will probably quit drinking or quit playing, depending on which is more important. India's loss will be forgotten in a day or two hopefully, if we get back into the groove after this jolt ( we Indians need a slap afterall to realize ! ) or if India go the Pak way, we will all get back to normal within one week of frenzied media hoopla,someone will lift the World Cup and that someone appears to wear yellow...( form is of no consequence when u are damn lucky!)

What will change will the be the attitude of cricket fans, I hope. As I can speak for myself, I will venture to write down my new resolutions with respect to this game, hoping that every cricket fan will extrapolate this.

1. Cricket is a game, just as much as chess, tennis or hockey is.
2. Sachin is no God, he is a class player, nearing his retirement and having played enough takes it easy many a time, so it is time for me to move on beyond him.
3. Dravid is an excellent sportsman but he might be a better coach than a captain.
4. From now on, I shall watch every match India plays ( in Hockey ofcourse), atleast attempt at understanding Indian Hockey.
5. Bangladesh and Ireland are upcoming teams and it will be interesting to watch their growth in the years to come.
6. I will try to watch cricket matches telcast on DD rather than Sony Max for the simple reason that I can watch the complete over and also the wickie walking half-way across, however bad the transmission is.
7. I will not buy Pepsi,Coke,Anchor switch,toothpaste,jam,shoes,Bournvita,Boost ,anything that is endorsed by the Men in Blue.
8. I will no longer consider a day off for an India-Pak match,rather will want to watch an Ind-Bermuda or a Ind-Ireland in the future. Or Bangladesh ofcourse...
9. I will not bribe God during an Ind-Pak match :)
10. I vow to be a sports fan rather than a cricket fan,taking every game with a pinch of salt and a spirit of sportsmanship..

May the best team win WC 2007..

P.S :- My previous blogs on cricket stand null and void :)

Nostalgia...

I grew up on music, am sure most of my blog-readers would know by now. Surprisingly for you, it wasn't Carnatic music! I grew up on old hindi film songs mostly,the others came only later.

My first memories of the golden-era of hindi films were on that LP gramaphone system my dad had. ( he still does but it doesn't work anymore :( ) Of the many things am grateful to dad for, this one is one the top :)

My growing-up days were fun-filled in a different sense. Lots of play,lots of fun,both in real sense. Come summer and I can still visualise my sis and I playing all day on the streets, then return forcibly in the evening to amma's calls only to wash up, eat and then listen to THE ALBERT HALL,London LP of Lata Mangeshkar's. This one was a big recording, two LPs with live talk of greats of Indian cinema interspersed with Lata's golden voice. Some memorable songs from that LP :-

1.Aaeyegaa Aaanewaala ( with that small 'Khaamosh hain zamaana' piece in the beginning - the ultimate I have heard so far..)
2.Aaja re paradesi ( my all-time fave)
3.Piya bina piya bina ( visualise a young Jaya Bhaduri surpassing tall and lanky Amitabh with her class!! )
4.Yeh Shaam ki Tanhayiaan (Lata's young voice is unparalleled here!)

so many more..

Then would follow the movie-specific LPs. My dad has around 100 LPs of old movies!! which he collected as a bachelor,when he started working,he tells me. I'm in awe of that period, of those days.. When life must have been simple,when people used to sit together and listen to music and feel the heart-beat of the movie made miles away in Mumbai..Guess Mumbai dreams were born that way to many people who later went on to make it big in Bollywood...

My stint with hindi film music increased by the passing of the day until it grew on us( my sis and me) and we started out on our own, ofcourse this time we had the luxury of a tape recorder and casettes.At one point, we had more casettes than books!!

Those days, when we had power-cuts, 'Antakshari' took upon us like a storm. We used to emit out all the songs we had learnt so far :) and play on for hours even after the lights came back. Duets,sad-songs,Lata,Asha,Kishore,Rafi,everything and everyone..

Teenage kicked in and the hormones went hither thither :) It is so funny to ever imagine I went through that phase.. Never fell in love then but as SP says, romance is a subject dear to all and teenage years give you the kick :) :) That's the time, when I fell in love with songs in raag 'Pahaadi'. It does something to me even today...amazing how they knew to compose a love/romantic duet in this raag and get the 'just right effect'..

Somewhere amidst all this,Carnatic music came into my life. Slowly the hindi songs started taking a back seat,not because I din't like them anymore but more because the newness and unique musical appeal of Carnatic, demanded my attention and took me away,I would say.

This is not a regret but there are moments when I long to hear those old numbers and go back in time when life was more colourful..I long to think of myself as Madhubala in Mahal,Waheeda Rehman in Guide,Jaya Bhaduri in Abhimaan,Nargis in Aah or Sadhna in Mera Saaya,a melodious number playing in the recesses of my soul, me lost in the beauty of Kashmir or the valleys of Himachal,snow-capped mountains and rivers,free in spirit,romantic at heart....

my feelings at the moment reflect this song from 'Noorie'(1979,YashRaj Films)

dard jagaaye meetha meetha, armaan jaage jaage..
pyaar ki pyaasee mein diwaani kuch na sochu aage...
aaja re.. aaja re O mere dilbar aaja
dil ki pyaas bhujaa jaare..
.....

[Dedicated to my dearest friend Sheeja who has kept the flame of 'old hindi music' alive in me :) SP dear, you were so wise when you said to me once,'Rex,Romance is a subject and it never dies thus...']

T Muktamma is no more - Obituary (delayed)

She was the one of few of 'that generation' with a grand lineage of music and dance. Unparalleled in javalis and padams which her school was renowned for,a lot of contemporary musicians used to frequent her home and learn even very recently.

May her soul rest in peace.

You have just won yourself 100$

i lost all my pictures taken from my digicam in the last 3 years. No trace of them on my office comp, on my usb hard disk, on my laptop and definitely erased from my digicam !!!

i need sympathy... visit this blog of mine and for every comment you give, you will get 100$ worth gift coupons.....

-devastated-self-sympathising-no-hope-of-recovering-them-
-tragedy-struck-stupidest-idiot-on-earth-me

Footnotes and morals....
1. Never clean up your comp..
2. Never have too many backups, none of them help when you need them most..
3. Never take pictures( this one is just a filler... somehow I need atleast 3 points silly me...)

my mood at present : self-pity,angry,amused...

Hungry kya ?

...with permission from AV, am presenting this poem penned by the great actor Kamal Hassan. These are a few lines, yet they speak volumes of the ingenuity of this man - Kamal Hassan - in my opinion one of the finest actors the world has ever produced..

AV has been kind enough to translate this for me in English(thanks buddy!).

"Manidha kadalile oru nal
En chinna thoondilil
Sikkinar sila Nyanigal
Andreno pasiyillai
Samayalukku aalumillai
Kadalileye vittuvittu
karai nokki viraindhu vitten
- Kamal Hassan

ONE DAY IN THE SEA OF HUMANITY,
IN THE HOOK OF MY FISHING ROD,
A FEW SCHOLARS GOT HOOKED,
SOME HOW I WASNT HUNGRY THAT DAY,
ANYWAYS NOBODY HOME TO PREPARE TOO,
SO I LEFT THEM BACK IN THE SEA,
AND WENT BACK ASHORE SOON
- Translaton by Anand Vanchi


Life presents us wonderful opportunities in the form of relationships. The best and the worst in us is determined by the people who come into our life. Many a time,as Kamal here says,we are not hungry and leaving them aside, we come ashore not realizing that we have just lost a chance to better ourselves. Every relationship that we make,be it an aquaintance, a friendship, a lover, a spouse,determines just how much we are gonna progress in our life...A good fish and our meal is the best, a bad one, our meal is ruined, yet we have a chance to make a better meal the next day.
Worst is, when we are not hungry!,and we give vague reasons like 'none to cook the fish' as the poet puts it so beautifully.(a great metaphor for vague excuses we give !)
- 2 cents for my synopsis.

I would love to hear, maybe different interpretation than mine.. That's the fun of reading poetry isn't it ?

marriage woes for Liz.. I find it funny and silly...

just read on indiatimes that Liz Hurley Nayyar who married thrice (the same guy ofcourse!!) is already having problems with her mother-in-law.. so funny.. the media would have been one lucky bastard had it not been World Cup season...

Lizzie,(apologies to Jane Austin for using this nickname)
wrong timing baby!!

To the Wall and his boys in blue...

Dear Rahul,

I wish you bring home the World Cup this time atleast for the following reasons :-

The media has spent so many millions on you and your boys and your families and your wives' families in bringing them to the TV, asking them questions, tarot reading,blah blah, have some regard for that ok ?

You yourself have come on NDTV, 24by7, Aaj Tak and all their brother and sister channels telling all junta in your ever-professional manner, in very many ways that you will get back the Cuppa for us.., keep up your word..remember you are THE HONEST man out there...one of the last surviving gentlemen in the game-for-not-so-gentlemenly...

You have strived so hard to see that your dearest pal, Veeru is included even though playing cricket is the last thing on Veeru's mind at the moment.. With this one,dear Rahul,I feel you may have made your life's biggest mistake!! but let me not discourage you, afterall hope is life and life is cricket and cricket is WC at the moment..

I know and fully agree that your team is one of the best as of now, especially with the Down-Unders being down and under but dont you forget that 4 years ago, you were almost degraded by the simple Kenyans in the very first match and this time around, you are playing our friendly neighbours from the east who are not so dangerous like our friendly neighbours from the west so..dont you dare be over-confident.. ufff...

Coming to the friendly neighbours from the West, there is little chance you will not be playing them on April 15, anyways, am glad it is Sunday and not a Friday :) but that doesn't mean you can give your bat away.. on this front,am a little more confident owing to your history, however it is my duty to forewarn you...

Most importantly, you have to win the WC because Guru Greg, your teacher for the moment,has been paid such a huge 'Gurudakshina',not by you but by the entire country ... and now is the time to give back. Understand that money rules and is the most important commodity in world cricket today (you know it by heart by now!!)

and,don't forget to tell that little guy in your gang that it is his last chance to pack away his enemies-with-the-microphone to the moon or Mars or wherever. If he doesn't,he can go back to his upmarket kitchen and cook for the rest of his life..and then also tell him that if he doesnt play now, he will become 'the little man' litrally!!

Finally, remember that lots of Gods and Godesses up above are also helping you this time.. especially with all the bribes they have been getting, it would be stupid and un-Godly to not respond,wouldn't it ? So,use that to your advantage, don't forget to bribe them before you pick up the bat and walk into the stadium...ask your boys to do the same too,it helps you know when everything else fails...

Some do-s and dont-s for you personally (as if all this isnt enough)
1. Don't bite your nails no matter what.. it is a bad habit..
2. Don't keep that 'about-to-weep' face when Inzi is on the crease, learn some coolness from instead.... (Substitute Inzi with anyone else... doesnt matter!!)
3. Don't fight with Dada, he has fire-in-the-belly this time;use it to your advantage
4. Don't do everything Guru says,afterall he is also a human.. ofcourse,you can always make up later by chanting 'Gurur devo bhava'
5. I know you bat well (that's why am writing this letter) but can't you bat faster please ? You are wearing blue and the ball is white, don't forget that yaar...
6. Practise before your matches, don't sit there and swim,surf or ogle at those beauties, they aren't going to give you the Cup...
7. Learn to lead my dear Rahul, No one seems to take notice of you... Your word is the last one,drive that to their heads.. especially that Veeru.. oh how afraid I'm of his abilities...
8. Trust those children - Robin,particularly. I like him..
9. Have you given enough thought to them ? oops! I mean the 5 musketeers who bowl ?
Make it six at times of emergency, the little guy is unpredictably smart in situations.. remember Hero Cup finals ?

Last last one.. when u get the Cup which I think u will after all his hammering, don't remove your shirt and fling it.. you are a criceketer not a male model...

That's all, I know you dislike me for writing this long letter, but Rahul,I'm your big big fan, so you see I'm concerned for you..

ok bye and all the best....

fanning you forever...
-Rekha