Well Of Course -- this was Important!!!

The media would tell you that there are many reasons why winning this cup was important
-- It ensured that Sachin Tendulkar was a World Champion before bowing out of the game.
-- It established that Dhoni was among the best captains that India had ever had
but none of what they say , would be important for a generation that was scarred by the 1996 World Cup Semi Final.

For my generation, although the 1992 world cup was telecast and followed, the hype machine was truly at work only during the 1996 World Cup. It was the first cup that I followed ball to ball. Enterprising folks released trump cards with cricket stats during this time as opposed to the wildly popular WWF cards. But I deviate.

Having won "that quarter final",India were the favourites to lift the trophy. Despite a loss to Sri Lanka at Kotla, for most of my friends and me... the Semi-Finals were a done deal. There was no way , India would lose twice in a single world cup , against a nation, which till some time back had been playing Tamil Nadu often to improve their cricket. So cocksure were we.. that we even spoke about what a travesty it was that we had to play the finals in Pakistan instead of India. But Sri-Lanka knocked the living day-light out of us. What hurt was not that Sri Lanka had won, but the feeling that India had not played to potential and let us down. ( I later realised that this SriLankan team was perhaps one of their best ever.. especially during the 18 months that Jayasuriya ran amock).

2011 therefore was very important. In 1999 and 2003 , India had pummeled Sri Lanka into submission but it was not the home conditions. India like conditions in 2007, and we faltered again. This final therefore was important. It could reopen the old wounds or it could heal them permanently. When the entire team was talking about doing it for Sachin.. and the other side was commenting about doing it for their country... you were worried, Worried because one persons overpowering ambition might burn the entire house down. And on cue when Tendulkar was dismissed , the memories of a famous collapse while chasing resurfaced. However Gambhir, Dhoni , Kohli and Yuvraj prevented any such mishap. While one feels for Tendulkar (for  not getting his 100th century in the WC finals) it is perhaps poetic justice that a generation that was inspired to play cricket because of Tendulkar , rose to the occasion when the little master himself failed and helped heal the wounds of 1996.

Journalists curse?

Every once so often we hear about the commentators curse - What should we call this?

Just this morning I read this article on Cricinfo. Just check the Subtitle of the article.

And then this happens - Australia's first Innings Hussey gone for a Duck. :)

Will India Inc./BCCI let Team India boycott the tour?

As events unfold one by one after the 2nd test at SCG , an interesting angle involving Corporate India and BCCI seem to be evolving as well. With threats of boycotting the tour ( which is absolutely justified IMHO), A lot of companies would be anxiously waiting for the events to unfold.

A whole lot of companies stand to lose if India decides to boycott the rest of the Tour.

ESPN/Star Sports - as the owner of telecast rights- ESPN/Star stands to lose a chunk of money as they lose out on advertisement revenue. Companies that had earlier spent money in buying Ad slots would be reimbused by ESS if the series stands cancelled.

Companies with Australian Cricketers as Brand Ambassadors(Timex,AMP,etc...) would not want to air the ads that have already been created , in light of all the anger that is being shown against the Aussie Players by the general public.

The Australian Players themselves stand to lose as Indian Companies rethink the idea of associating themselves with 'champion' Australian cricketers.

The BCCI has a whole different agenda with its IPL(The 'formal' 20/20 league) and the effects that boycotting of the tour would have on its IPL.BCCI would be trying to maintain good relationships with Cricket Australia in order to woo the Australian Players for the IPL. (Would they still want to have them ?)

With so many people likely to be affected , would the Indian Team be allowed to boycott the series?

It comes down to

Sense of Justness+ Respect vs Cricket - The Money Spinner.

Harsha in a candid Interview.

I have been a big fan of Harsha Bhogle ever since I started following cricket. In a very candid interview , he talks about what it takes to be a commentator and a presenter. Some of his statements about Radio commentary and the state of affairs are very candid. One of the things that I have enjoyed over the years in Harsha's commentary is his choice of words. Even in this Podcast - his choice of words to put his ideas across are brilliant. His opinions on Dravid and Ganguly were interesting and it was surprising to see no mention of Tendulkar from him ( or did I miss it?) . All in all a really nice Interview

Link to the Podcast

Proof that Thalaivar is the best

This clipping is just another piece which proves why Thalaivar is the best. Just listen to the Dialogue delivery in the two videos and see Rajni Punch. Class Act!!!

India does it!!!

When Australia was on the verge of losing to Zimbabwe , my GChat status message was - will it be a repeat of 1983? , but I had no inclination of what was to happen with the Indian team. All I had in mind was Zim Beating Aus in a first round match like in 1983. A week and a half later , it was India doing that 1983 Jig. India had beaten England , South Africa , Australia and Pakistan in a series of must win matches to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Tournament.

Some similarities with the 1983 World Cup.

It was a Team performance , with no major person standing out

One of the openers was the top scorer in both the finals (Srikanth and Gautam Gambir)

Just when needed , Yuvraj played a couple of Blinders just like Kapils 175 against Zim when India were down at 17/5

India had batted first in the finals and had managed a below par score. After a couple of wickets early on ,Imran Nazir threatened to get the game away before brilliance on the field stopped his innings short. Similarly - India made 183 in the 1983 finals and after a couple of early wickets - Richards threatened to take it away before , Kapil's Brilliant catch stopped his innings short.

Karunanidhi - The legend of two tongues.

The recent Ram Setu 'debate' is not a debate anymore. It is a public slandering match played out in front of the media and The Honorable Chief Minister of Tamilnadu wins the battle for making the ugliest and most insensitive statements on record. Even for a guy who has thrived on suppressing the Hindus in order to gain an electoral advantage from the numerical majority of the state , the recent statements are insensitive and inflammatory. Mr. Karunanidhi might be an atheist but in a secular country , It is only fair to respect other people's faith - especially when you are in a public position of respect and power.


Every election that he had stood for in his initial days - the promise was for a dravidanadu. He won his elections based on promises that he never upheld. (I am not even for a minute suggesting that sedition was a good idea - It never is and it never will be - a united India moves forward much better than the multiple factions that can be created out of it). The Sangh Parivar has also brought to the attention of the media the foreword written in the Gazeteer of Ramanathapuram district in 1972 by Karunanidhi. Well - Perhaps there was enough scientific evidence for Karunanidhi to change his views. There are multiple cases of his flip flops and one more would be his welcoming of Indira Gandhi to power although he had criticized the establishment of dynasty rule before she came to power (transfer of power from father to daughter - eh? what has he done to Tamilnadu Politics now?).

Perhaps people will start realising that the days of winning people with just words is over and vote them out of power.

Here is the video in which Karunanidhi calls Rama a drunkard and the Rama being a lie

Biggest Sixes Funda

Watching all the matches in T20I World Cup , there is this interesting part of biggest sixes statistic. Misbah-ul_haq has scored the biggest six at 111m so far. How do they measure these distances once the ball is out of the ground? If it is inside the ground , I agree that you know which stand it fell in and you know the distance from that stand to the center of the pitch, but how do you measure the distance traveled by a ball that is hit out of the stadium? - If I had to venture a guess , I would think that just like Hawkeye traces the motion of the ball from the bowler's hand , there would be a technology to track the ball after it has hit the bat and will extrapolate the distance based on the speed and elevation it was traveling, when it left the ground. The commentators at Cricinfo (read people who write the commentary while I keep hitting that F5 button) commented that it might be out of luck. Anyone knows how it is done?

Yuvraj - Imperious

Dot , Four ,one , Four , Four , one , Six , Six , Six , Six , Six , Six, dot , two , Six , Out.

No no no- That is not me playing stick cricket. This was how Yuvraj's Innings panned out. The fastest fifty in T20I ( forget it - in any form of the game) , First person to hit 6 , sixes in one over in T20I and the so the record books went on. Stuart Broad who had the rather respectable bowling figures of 3 overs 0 for 24 till he started his last over must be wondering why Mascarenas hit 5 sixes of Yuvraj in the last over of a match that they eventually lost. Boy o Boy was that some hitting or what!!! waiting for the clips on youtube to see them :)


Update: -- Got the Youtube video and would you believe it - The man who was doing the commentary at that time was another slugger who hit 6 sixes of an Over - Ravi Shastri. You can listen to him getting charged up after the 4th six. he shouts the 5 and 6th even before they are sixes - he absolutely enjoyed that. Tilak Raj refused to pose with Ravi Shastri after the 6 sixes - would Broad be gracious enough to pose with Yuvraj and the bat he used? :)

India Against England at Kingsmead ,Durban in a WorldCup

Memories from a glorious night for Indian Cricket and Ashish Nehra.

Four years ago , it was the same headline. India were starting their roll with impressive victories in the 2003 World Cup. On that night however Ganguly called the toss right and was well rewarded. The Kingsmead ground is notorious for its producing prodigious swing under the lights. India batted first and made 250 thanks to some belligerent batting from Tendulkar ( how can anyone forget Tendulkar hook off Caddick for a six ) and the reconstruction effort of Yuvraj and Dravid. 250 was a decent score we all thought, something that was defendable but also overhaulable easily. It was the final year of my college and watching with friends was the joy. Srinath and Zaheer produced one of the best opening spells that I have seen by an Indian pair. The ball whizzed around for the first 10 odd overs and it was time for a bowling change. I had never been a great believer in Ashish Nehra's talent. I always felt he was overrated and feared that all the good work done by Srinath and Zaheer might be undone by Nehra. I even voiced the opinion and crossed my fingers in the hope that that wouldn't happen. My roommate in college - Vijay - just had this to say - He bowls quick and it swings for him. He is bound to bowl well today. That was a sort of premonition as Nehra hit the straps and ended up with 6 wickets and the best spell by an Indian in a world cup match. Puking on the ground , eating bananas didn't seem to affect his bowling that day. it was on the off , it either swung in suddenly or moved away from the batsman very late. Batsman after batsman succumed to that clinical display of swing bowling. Ashish Nehra as the picture shows was unstoppable

With another match today with the same title as this one , I hope India can win this match which has become a must win for them to stay in the tournament.

Lewis Hamilton - really good

There is a lot of activity going on off the field in Formula 1 and quite a few questions need to be answered after the recent hearings at Paris and the decisions by WMSC. There is however a lot of action on the grid , which has sadly been overlooked because of this spying scandal. Lewis Hamilton's manoeuvre showed what a true racer could do. I didn't buy into the whole Hamilton Hype and the driver of the future Hype , until I saw the USGP at Indianapolis earlier this year. This chappie was fast and he was fast even if he locked up his wheels from time to time. I moved through the infield and saw the car with the yellow helmet , send out fumes of smoke from time to time. Alonso was however never had a chance. Hamilton just soaked the pressure without letting it affect his speed.

ITV has a nice article on what it takes to overtake in Formula 1. It is not easy to overtake in Formula 1 these days with all the sophisticated aerodynamic packages and the drivers have in most cases chosen to create a procession on track and fight out for the places in the Pits. The Pit Strategy had become more important than , actual racing on tracks. I like to watch Formula 1 , for the crashes, the overtaking manoeuvres and hard charges. I don't mind seeing a race in which the order remains the same as long as there is always action in it. Over the last two years , watching F1 has started becoming a chore , rather than a fun time. There have been far few battles on the track and it is good to see hard racers take up the tracks. It is also good that the racing committee is looking into keep the safety as well as aid overtaking.

Meanwhile let us toast to the arrival of a racer in the form of Lewis Hamilton. Although I am of the opinion that , Hamilton and Alonso also had to be expelled from the championships , I believe , it is a treat to watch Hamilton race. 3 points separate the top two drivers and this by itself makes for riveting drama. If Hamilton continues to make moves like that one at Monza , I might just consider it sad that he was not able to share one season of racing with Michael Schumacher.

Luciano Pavarotti - The first among the 3 tenors

The first time , I heard about Luciano Pavarotti was when the Pavarotti and Friends concert was aired on STARTV. It was the time when television opened up a whole new world. There was this craze for Yanni , and then the Spice girls ( yeah yeah , I listened to them , when we got cable connection for the first time in my house). But there was always something special about Luciano Pavarotti. Celine Dion for some reason was a pretty known face at that time in India ( I believe this was even before Titanic was released) and I found her singing while I was flipping through thr channels. And then there was this booming voice in the background - and the camera focused on a portly man. I was naive to believe that Celine Dion was the star and he was just accompanying. But after a couple of songs I realised that Mr.Pavarotti ( note the respect that I had after juat 2 songs) was the main act and others where just making fleeting appearances.Over the years , Pavarotti became synonymous with Opera and for all quizzers weak in Opera and the likes , if an operatic piece was played it was always Pavarotti. Such was his influence - Just like the villagers in Morning raga think any song with beats in a Michael Jackson song - our guesses were always Pavarotti . BBC recently had this obit. for Pavarotti and there have been many obits. on blogs and the papers , but no amount of writing will ever capture the magic of the voice. R.I.P Mr. Pavarotti.

Apple faces more competition

Nokia and SanDisk have sounded Apple with what might be the biggest competition for Apple iProducts. Nokia with its dominance in the mobile phone market is not taking it easy after Apple unleashed its iPhone into the market.In almost direct retaliation , Nokia takes a dig into the Apple Store/itunes model with its own OVI platform.

-- Nokia would be charging €uro 1 for a song a €uro 10 for an album. This is higher than what iTunes already charges its customer.The direction that Nokia are taking might be right , but their pricing strategy might just be the weak link.The file format (WMV) could also be a deterrent for people used to MP3 consoles.

Sandisk on the other hand launched the Sansa Clip which would be in direct competition to the iPod Shuffle. The clip also comes with a FM radio , voice recorder and a display. Sandisk has however priced this product at just the right price with a 1GB model priced at $40 and a 2GB model priced at $60.

Nokia and Sandisk both have their advantages in bringing the competition to Apple's doorstep. Nokia being the largest mobile phone manufacturer already has a huge customer base for their products and added functionalities like these help in retaining the customers. Nokia with its Nseries phone ( the N95 in particular) has already demonstrated the ability to create smart phones like the iPhone. With iPhone receiving a lot of flak for having a single service provider (AT&T) and not letting people unlock their phones, It might be the right time for Nokia to enter into the US market - where they do not have a major presence.

Sandisk being in the flash memory business already will find it easier to cope with pricing issues , if Apple decides to fight the pricing war.Sandisk has the advatage of being a leader in flash memory technology and being a respected brand and it also has a decent market share in the music player segment ( although it comes nowhere near the cult status of iPod).

These are interesting times for the technology industry and everyone is eagerly waiting for Apple's next move. The September 5 iPod event in Sanfrancisco should be an interesting one.

Update Sony brings in more competition to the Ipod. Check out this article about the new Sony Walkman on Utility Belt.

No electricity in Chicago!!!

Yesterday was the first time I experienced a blackout in America.(I was given to understand that America never blacksout during my younger days - although this myth was broken the day NY blacked out. I didn't quite expect it). There had been a tornado warning near the suburb that I live and the storm gusts had uprooted trees and electric poles. My whole community was out of power. But thanks to the good souls working for ComEd ( the poor guys are working 16 hour a day shifts in this weather) -I managed to get the electricity late this afternoon.

P.S - this Mt Prospect community is 4 miles from my house :)

iPhone

There are some people who swear by brands like Apple or Google and think they can never bring a bad product to the market. There are a few others who take their time and wait for things to evolve a bit before jumping into the hype. The second group might just have hit a treasure chest because of this hacker. AT&T holds the rights as the sole service provider for the iPhone in the US. Now that need not necessarily be the case.

Update - Apparently there are now three different ways of doing it

Oh and -- If you thought having an iPhone was cool - think again - AT&T sends an itemized billing and sometimes runs up to 300 pages. Check this for example



People really should choose e-billing and stop all this deforestation for a monthly phone bill. Don't ya think? (ah! The environmentalist in me)

Update - AT&T gets back to smaller paper
bills.

Kiriket in Oosaa

All was well for the first few weeks in US as a bachelor - I got to watch all the TV that I wanted on weekends, got to eat from different cuisines ( although it was mostly Taco or Pizza Hut) , and got to see all those new places. After a couple of weeks though , I realised that
1) I was being spendthrift
2) I was gaining weight at an alarming rate , with all the cheese in the food
3) And I was being eternally lazy , sitting in front of a computer or a TV.

Thats when it dawned that , I needed some physical exercise or some sort of cooking at home. Discouraged by the bad return on Investment while cooking at home ( imagine having to cook for a couple of hours and having all that you cooked go into your stomach in 10 mins - aint that bad returns? ), I started looking out for people willing to play cricket. Having found a team and having had the net sessions and all , I was ready to begin my career as a 2nd Divison player ( yeah thats what they call it here -- Too much).

Wearing a dress that distinctly reminded me of the Holland jerseys ( the jerseys were apparently chosen to make sure they are never worn outside of a cricket match - duh!!!), I got into the field enthusiastically. After a couple of minutes , I realised that I might be able to dive on the ground. I didn't want to try the dive but I finally managed to slip and fall due to the dew on the grass. The ball managed to stick to my hand as I slipped and fell and it was misconstrued as a valiant dive to stop the ball (If only my teammates knew). After cheering for the bowlers in my team , I was called onto bowl. After a rather brilliant spell of bowling , I was given a well deserved rest.
Yep, That is me - holding on to a bruised toe after an intense bowling performance , where I managed to bowl more full tosses and wides than legitimate good balls :) After many gulps of Gatorade ( yeah we are the quintessential athletes) and a breezy knock , I headed home.

Tall poppy Syndrome -- Do Indians suffer from this as well?

I once asked about the Tall Poppy Syndrom as a question in one of my quizzes but this came to my mind when I read this post and its comments on Chinmayi's Blog.
The question that I had asked went something like this

This is a pejorative term used in Australia and New Zealand to describe what is seen as a levelling social attitude. Someone is said to be suffering from this when his or her assumption of a higher economic, social or political position attracts criticism, being perceived as presumptuous, attention seeking or without merit. The process can be linked with anti-intellectualism, especially with public criticism by the media or community leaders of particular academics or members of the intelligentsia.( I accept this was right out of wiki) but I came across this when I was reading Mark waugh's biography in college.

The thought of leaving anonymous hate comments on a public system like a blog somehow strikes very similar to a Tall Poppy Syndrome to me. People do not have ( in some cases , have) the pedigree to comment on other person's art or do not have the gumption to put their name in the comments. This is prevalent across the system.


Take the criketers of India for example. Sachin Tendulkar hitting a century in a test match is not good enough any more. The fact that he doesn't hit attacking century seems to be a grouse. Since when did a century in test cricket not matter. People who are struggling to score even 50's in club cricket have their right to criticise player's of much superior capability and that too on public forums like blogs. This is more like - if you are not able to achieve what the other person is acheiving , undermine the other person and bring him to your level kind of thing.
Are we becoming a group of whiners who like to bring down people who are trying to achieve something?

Sivaji - The Boss

( Contains quite a few spoilers)



The reason , we go to watch a Rajni movie is to see the charismatic mannerisms and punch dialogues and to be entertained for 3 hours. Sivaji manages to gives us the mannerisms and dialogues in good doses but leaves the viewer thinking that there is always something that is lacking. The movie stops and stutters through the entire first half but manages to entertain due to Rajni's strong screen presence and Shreya's ravishing beauty.

The style is evident right from the first sound byte that we get from Rajni. All we hear is just an 'Ummm'. This is perhaps the first time when the protagonist of a movie has been introduced with his face masked in a tamil movie. Shankar's storyline seems to go nowhere during the first one hour but more than compensates in the grandeur of the songs. Shankar had earlier shown his penchant for painting things for his songs ( Painting mountains in Anniyan) and his continues the trend in this movie , painting the potbellies of a few 100 people. Ballelaika is as good an intro song as any of Rajni's recent intro songs and Nayantara looks hot. The 'comedy scenes' of socializing with Shreya's family and Solomon Papaiya was pedestrian at best. Vivek though tunes right in , from the first scene and his timing and his dialogue delivery is thoroughly enjoyable. Vivek manages to be for Rajni what Coundamani was to Arjun in Gentleman , with a touch more class perhaps. A fight scene in the warehouse of a music store reminds of the Drum dance in Chandralekha and is again expensively made.

Shreya looks hot throughout the movie and is a sight for sore eyes ( nothing sore about the visuals of the movie though). During parts of Vaaji Vaaji , Shreya looks so damn hot , you forget that Rajni is part of the frame. ( That doesn't happen often in a Rajni starrer , so Shreya - Take a bow) .The set resembling Babylonian palace is wonderfully constructed and Thota Tharani shows that he is in a league of his own.

The sore point from the first half is the stagnant screenplay. You expect racy stuff from rajni movie , with one wave of emotions surpassing the other , but this movie manages to stagnate into still water , despite Rajni's charisma.

Suman as Adiseshan is a welcome change from the screaming villains of the recent tamil movies. He brings an understated performance to the screen and makes the character believable. He excels in the few scenes where he has extensive dialogue , especially the one in which he gives Sivaji the one rupee coin. The movie moves into a different orbit after that scene and races from one scene to the other.

Rajni , with his inimitable style carries the movie on his shoulders and delivers great entertainment. He reinvents himself with a bubble gum( As cigarettes are banned on films- Duh!!!) , throwing it into his mouth from umpteen different actions. His flipping of the coin is another class act and has the crowd ( that obviously includes a hoarse throated me) in raptures. His scene on a tea kadai bench with Suman is one for the ages and brings out the star in the superstar. Punch dialogues like ' Panninga thaan kootama varum , Singam Single aa thaan varum' are delivered with characteristic panache and makes you stand up and scream your appreciation.

The car fight in the second half seems farcical but , I didn't go to this movie expecting logic , so it was laugh riot and complete entertainment. Seeing cars move to the sounds of King Kong is the limit , but you can't help laughing at that scene (oh! that was supposed to be a solid fight scene. Sorry Shankar , that just doesnt cut through as a fight scene. Comedy scene yeah perhaps).

Rajni's imitation of Shivaji, MGR and Kamal during his first night explanations with Shreya are a revelation and is fun to watch. Adhiradee is a blatant 'tribute' to the Mariachi Trilogy of Robert Rodriguez and is meant to be a fun track.

Pyramid Natarajan, Vadivukarasi , Manivannan ( from villain to father's brother to father - manivannan has travelled a lot with Rajni) , Raghuvaran , Solomon Papaiya all make fleeting appearances on the screen from time to time.

The scenes with Mottai Boss are vintage Rajni. Just when you thought that Lakalaka laka was the best performance in recent times, Rajni ups the ante and turns on the style and charisma. His landing from the helicopter and his scene at Adi's office are sheer power scenes. You eagerly wait for things to unfold and lap up all that is being offered. Personally , the piece where Mottai Boss comes into the movie is my favourite.

Shankar has as usual tried to give a social message in this as well , but it is old wine in a new bottle, and we would like some other social message other than corruption. How many times is Shankar planning to grind the life out of this theme ( Gentleman , Indian , Mudhalvan , Anniyan and now this ??). Shankar provides an extravaganza of unseen scale but needs to work on tighter scripts.

Rajni - is the real boss of the Movie!!! Welcome back !!!


Oh! and a Big Thank you to the distributors of this film who got the Pottis in time.

Other reviews and live updates that you can read.

Anantha's Review

Sudhish Kamath's Updates

Rediff's Review

A different but rather inflammatory review by Karthik

IndiaGlitz Review

Oh My God!!!

In the last 15 years of watching Formula 1 , I have seen quite a few shunts but this is as scary as it gets. This crash reminds me of Alex Zanardi's crash in Spa. Thankfully, according to initial reports , Robert Kubica is safe. Look at the way the car clips the toyota and proceeds to surf over the gravel track and hit the wall. Kubica would be happy to have come out of this humongous shunt , alive and unhurt.



Have a look at the Alex Zanardi crash to see the similarity. Zanardi however was involved in a horrific crash in CART racing and lost his legs.

Google - Intentionally Funny or Genuine Mistake?

One of the things with Google is that you never know if something that they are doing is intentional or a genuine mistake( unless they tell you). Check this link for example and look at Number 17. This seems to work for any two points across the Atlantic . Try Milan instead of Paris or try New York instead of Chicago.