Misbah misses, Dhoni kisses

So, finally a world championship for India! I really don't care what form of cricket now! Tired of seeing the Aussies grab it all. And what an epic final between the Indus rivals!! The Twenty20 world cup was like a perfectly executed blockbuster script. Great action (BIFF!POW!BANG! with sixes), energetic item dances (cheerleader gyrations), sensational twists in plot (Australia lost 3 games) and a riveting climax (India/Pakistan final) where the hero ultimately won (at least for us Indians!!)! India won both the encounters with Pakistan. In both the games , only one man threatened to take the game away from us - a previously unknown warrior named Misbah. In both the games, he brought the pakis into the game but failed to finish. On the second occasion, it was purely due to a quixotic shot he attempted. At that point, thanks to some very ordinary bowling from Joginder, he already had one hand on the cup and the Indians were getting ready to resign to their fate. This moment reminds me of the last ball six of Javed Miandad. Yes, the results were different. But in both the cases, they depended solely on the batsman and the 21 others were mere spectators! Maybe that is the difference between being brilliant and being almost brilliant. But apart from that moment, India was totally in control throughout the tournament. We were never fancied to become the slam bang champions of cricket. Australia, Sri Lanka and maybe even Pakistan were considered. But definitely not the land of Gavaskar and Dravid. Twenty20 is an amazing concept for marketing the game. 3 hours of this is far more exciting than 3 hours of Baseball! And i think the spate of changes effected upon the One Day game could have been introduced here instead. This form of the game definitely provides the minnows with a glimmer of hope. This doesn't require the patience, temperament, elegance or classical textbook skills that Test matches and to some extent ODIs require. Overall, it was exciting and fun. Mission accomplished - for Indians and the organizers!

A bridge that widens the gap!

The furore across the nation regarding the sethu samudram project is one instance highlighting the extremities of thought existing in our country today. The UPA claims that Lord Rama never existed and Ramayana is mere fiction. The traditionally atheist dravidian DMK supports this. The hindu fundamentalist BJP and it's allies believe Ramayana is not only a symbol of hindu faith but also a true story with abundant physical evidence. TV, websites and newspapers have been ripped apart with heated arguments and counter arguments! I personally would not side with any of these sides. I believe our perspectives are totally messed up. At one end, we are passionately defending physical evidences for religious beliefs. At the other end , we try to quash all matters of faith by proclaiming there is no god. The believers should try to channel their energies and thoughts towards following the spiritual morals of their religion and the atheists should work towards humanitarian ideals since they are aware of the human existence as opposed to that of god. There is more of questioning each other's beliefs rather than following one's own ideals. Most of our politicians (Islamic fundamentalists, pretentious & seemingly 'moderate' UPA, hindu nationalist BJP/VHP, all opposing communist and caste driven dravidian parties) are mere opportunists! It doesn't really matter what they believe in! It is the struggle for power which they are interested in. As for the Ram Sethu bridge, it's existence or non-existence , has not affected millions of people who have read the Ramayana and understood it's essence. Nor will it in future. How many of us have seen it? Has it ever affected our faith? Religious fundamentalism or atheism should not be reasons to oppose or support the project. My concern would be more from a scientific perspective. Would the destruction of this natural barrier have any ecological/geological effects? I think it would, and that is what has to ascertained. I'm opposed to destroying nature for mere human material gain!

Scintillating Soccer Sorcerers

India wins an international football tournament! This headline is so simple yet has been so elusive! The resurgence of indian football's blue boys, hopefully, is the beginning of a sporting renaissance in this cricket crazy nation. I was a fervent fan of indian football till I came to the US. After that, due to lack of opportunities for me to watch and enjoy Indian international and domestic games, there has been a steady decline in my interest. This probably was one single major reason for the lack of popular support for the game in our country. Zee Sports has done a commendable job in whipping up this passion once again by injecting a new zing! Far removed from the dull 'Dour'darshan telecasts, Zee has successfully marketed the sport to today's youth. Ofcourse there is more distance to be covered to even provide a semblance of competition to Cricket, but they are right on track. Coming to the Nehru Cup win itself, it was great! After eons, finally our team looked like a well oiled international side worthy of respect. Earlier , we would have minuscule sparks of brilliance but no cohesive plays and good finishes. But now it seems Bob Houghton has been able to train the team to accumulate all the lessons preached by the innumerable coaches who preceded him, and put them to practice. But I should admit, motivation for these players is not easy to get. They entered and survive in this sport, knowing it is regarded as a second class sport in this country. It can't even be compared to Hockey, since hockey is our national sport and we have 8 Olympic golds (though none of them won recently) to show on the international scene! The 'World's most popular sport' tag is the only one keeping it a rung above Volleyball, Basketball, Handball etc. This victory is a fitting tribute to Bhaichung Bhutia, the face of Indian football in the last decade! He achieved that rare endorsement worthy stardom that eluded players like IM Vijayan, Bruno Coutinho and Jo Paul Ancheri! Every sport needs a star to stir support amongst the masses. Dhanraj Pillay for hockey, Limba Ram for archery, Jaspal Rana for shooting, Leander paes & Sania Mirza for Tennis, Prakash Padukone & Gopichand for badminton, PT Usha for athletics, Malleshwari for weightlifting, Geet Sethi for billiards etc etc etc! Bhaichung filled that gap for football. The scores of cash incentives announced after this victory should continue as this will secure the financial futures of the players. Zee Sports' coverage of the National Football League (NFL) , has brought the game out of the traditional enclaves of Bengal, Kerala and Goa. Cue should be taken from the USA, where even little league baseball games are telecast on national networks. Watching sports in a stadium, bar or home should become a major pastime like going to the movies. Hope there are several more such revivals in sports such as Athletics, Boxing, Gymnastics & Swimming.

Jail and Jelly Beans...

The 1993 Bombay Blasts case has finally come to the verdicts stage. 14 years is a pretty long time. I don't know what slowed the process down....political/judicial red tape or lethargic investigation. I can't believe that it just takes this long to complete an investigation and handout a verdict, since the part of nabbing the accused was over pretty quickly. The time period gives an opportunity to miscreants to distort evidence or harm witnesses. Depiction of the circumstances during the incidents also gets fuzzy. The victims and their kin had to endure this excruciating wait for closure. The common man ignored all the verdicts except one. Sanjay Dutt a.k.a Munnabhai. He got 6 yrs rigorous imprisonment for trying to conceal an illegal weapon. Everybody was so shocked with the verdict, calling it very harsh. But i was happy that he was treated as a regular person and given the sentence his crime deserved. He might be a good and more importantly popular human being with a not-so-long rap sheet.But I think he had no business having the weapon and above all an illegal one. I couldn't think of one possible rational explanation! I just hope this serves as a deterrent to all the ultra rich celebrities who think they can stretch their money power well beyond legal limits. Moving from weapons to wickets, India snapped up a tremendous Test victory at Trent Bridge. The lovely conditions for seam bowling were exploited thoroughly by Zaheer and RP. When they were bowling in tandem, it reminded me of the Srinath/Prasad combo! This is one test in a long long time, that we won purely due to bowling. The batsmen did their bit, but the bowlers really nailed it. This will be named the famous 'Jelly Bean' test thanks to the dumb prank played by the english cricketers. Guess they were just 'spilling the beans' that they had officially 'lost it'!I wonder where their cheerful naughty selves disappear during the Ashes! Hopefully we go on to win this series.

Sivaji The BOSS - (B)ox (O)ffice (S)uper (S)tar

I was one of the lucky few to catch Rajini's 'Sivaji' the first weekend, here in NJ! ***THOUGHTS JUST BEFORE THE SHOW - Man, it can't get bigger than this. Rajni, Shankar, Rahman! it is going to be soooo different from the other Rajni flicks. innovative story, racy screenplay, awesome visuals and Rajni's new stylish look! ***THOUGHTS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SHOW - hmmmm! usual masala formula. No innovative screenplay. Great visuals but some graphics were a trifle overdone. RAJNI ROCKZZZ! The movie as such was definitely a disappointment considering the tremendous hype and the story being kept under wraps with great difficulty. It was an outright Rajni formula flick with attractive eye candy being the only contribution from Shankar. We all know Rajni's movies are for pure entertainment and not masterpieces. Those who are shocked by the physics defying stunts are just too naive. We need such movies to relax from our already complicated lives. And there are others like Kamalhassan and Manirathnam to provide thought provoking, revolutionary and uplifting cinema. Variety is the spice of life. Rajni as usual plays to the gallery and enthralls his fans. His electrifying screen presence especially in the climax is unmatchable. The first half was definitely a drag. Comedy seems forced into the script, but Vivek props up this section with his own punch dialogues! The scenes involving Rajni and Shreya too were ill scripted and boring. But i've got to say Shankar definitely knows how to project his heroine as the epitome of glamour. She is smokin' hot in the songs. At the interval, i felt a little let down by shankar, the man who provided the engrossing and equally entertaining 'Anniyan'. Now it was left to the superstar to provide an explosive second half... and that he did. The 'Athiradi' song and the mottai boss fight were amazing. Wish the whole movie was like this! Blaaze's rap number at the end was great. at the end of the day, one gets the impression that Shankar played it too safe and tried to preserve the Rajni formula. I respect Manirathnam for making a gripping movie like 'Thalapathy' despite ignoring this same formula. But what shankar achieved was to cater to the tastes of true Rajni fans. Action, Drama, Comedy, Dance!!! The movie displays the highs and lows of technical finesse! As with many of shankar's earlier films, cheap overdose of graphics like the rocket flying into Shriya's home and the drivein theater fight sequence provide a picture quite in contrast to the 'Style' song and the climax fight. The message that he tries to deliver about 'Black Money' gets lost in the sheer frenzy of the Rajni phenomenon. It didn't make an impact anywhere near shankar's earlier movies like 'Mudhalvan' and 'Anniyan'. It seemed like it had to be there to preserve Shankar's trademark. Maybe the director himself felt that too, as he stuffed the ending credits with his novel ideas, rather than let the hero mouth them. My Verdict (if it matters at all) - Does not justify the hype but projects a suave and explosive Rajni! Let the box office be inundated!

PS: Dancing and Shrieking Fans are an integral part of the Rajni film, and you have got to experience it at least once!

Its Rahmania!!!!!!

Finally finally, a chance to see the 'Mozart of Madras' live in action. The musical genius and his equally talented entourage fired up the passions of thousands of NY area desis. He lives barely a 5 min. walk from my home in Chennai! yet this is the first time i saw him in flesh and blood (though from a few hundred yards away)!The 3 hr traffic congestion ridden drive from jersey to Long Island was really worth it. The moment we reached Nassau Coliseum , we realized the reach of Rahman's music. We could hear a multitude of languages on our way to the entrance. it is true. music transcends barriers! The almost jam packed stadium roared as if on cue, when Rahman appeared for the first time. And then what followed was 3 hours of bliss. There were a few things though which proved to be dampeners. The acoustics were really not worthy of a Rahman concert. Due to last minute changes in the schedule, the troupe had to do a concert in Dallas friday night and perform again Saturday night here in NY.The voices of all the singers sounded strained. And then there were no fireworks.....literally! But despite all this , the kind of energy that flowed amidst the audience more than made up for these! Chanting, Shrieking, tapping, clapping, dancing.....the crowd was alive and kicking! As Rahman was delivering one hindi hit after another, the enormous 'SI-VA-JI' chant thundered! and Rahman yielded. It was pure madness after that! Rahman left out most of his 'staple' hits from movies like 'Lagaan', 'Rangeela', 'Minsara Kanavu', 'AlaiPayuthey', 'Gentleman', 'Kadhalan' ....etc!!!But then u can deliver only so much in 3 hours. Besides, he had to cover his recent hits like 'Guru', 'Sivaji' and 'Rang de Basanti'! He had a generous share of tamil hits to satisfy a big number of tamil fans in the crowd. But if you are a true Rahmaniac like me , you wouldn't care about languages! Blaaze and Sivamani added colour and energy to the show. Neeti with 'Mayya Mayya' left the crowd spell bound. Hariharan did some crazy antics but singing wise he was spot on as usual! Sukhwinder was good but he really has to know when to stop. the white guy with his 'jathi' was awesome!My picks for the best renditions of the night were 'Mayya' and 'Secret of Success'! At the end of the show I wondered if any other musician can cast a spell over the entire cross section of Indians (across languages, regions, musical tastes, age...!)like Rahman did. He is GOD of MUSIC..at least for the current Indian generation!

Howdy Spidey?

I reluctantly trudged to the cinema to watch spiderman - 3! For me the second installment dulled the hype! Part 2 was more of a 'Karan Johar' type sob saga!Spidey 3, thankfully, had more action. yes there were several melodrama spills along the way, but in the end was my money's worth. The visual effects were as expected stunning. Tobey had to bring his histrionics to the fore in this one without his famed mask. He did a decent job till the climax. The supposedly tear-jerking scenes in the climax though, had the audience in splits!Even TR would have bettered that. He was crying for his friend Harry. It looked more like he was crying for candy snatched out of his hands!Bryce Howard looked stunning with her blond URBAN transformation from 'The Village'! The noises made by the Eddie Brock (Venom) character, was more like he was preparing to spit!The phrase 'Spitting Venom' makes sense! In the end, the movie was not a bad watch. But the spiderman cartoon i used to watch back in India , is still my favorite!