#13: Glengarry Glen Ross

It's very tricky when a movie has a cast of 6 stellar names- each of whom could star in a solo film and deliver an unforgettable performance. It's even trickier when unlike The Bridge Too Far or Spartacus or How the West Was Won, the movie is nowhere in the vicinity of 3 hours; instead it's all of 100 minutes. It is trickier because in crunching time each of the leading names gets a smaller duration of time to showcase their skill and exhibit consistent character traits. But it can happen if the script in such a case is so watertight that you forget who's delivering the lines but what are the lines that are being delivered. David Mamet with his story in Glengarry Glen Ross gives us a fine illustration of how it is to be accomplished.

Now consider a motion picture all of 100 minutes with Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin and Jack Lemmon- all packed into a real estate office going full throttle with verbal volleys against each other and what you have is the setting of Glengarry Glen Ross. That sales office has a monthly sales contest which has salesman Ricky Roma ( Al Pacino) leading the figures. If he stays there, he wins a Cadillac. The other guys competing with him are old hand Shelley 'The Machine' Levene ( Jack Lemmon) who hasn't got a penny to his name on the sales board along with Moss (Ed Harris) and George ( Alan Arkin).

Apart from Roma, everyone's struggling and needs better leads. They're brought in by the hot shot department head Blake (Alec Baldwin) who has a cameo very similar to what he would play in The Departed years later. He has got one monologue in the movie and that's all he takes to sweep you off your feet. Those leads are handed over to the unit manager John (Kevin Spacey) and overnight those premium leads that everyone is so desperate for are stolen from the office. The story from there on is to find out who the culprit is.

The shooting took less than 40 days, all of it shot mostly in sequence with the majority of the action taking place in one office. The movie has a terrific pace going for it, first tickling you a bit in the beginning as the characters get introduced and as the action progresses gripping you in the action. The project had a hard time getting off the ground with few people willing to finance it because of the strong abusive language involved.( Fuck - 138 times, that 1.38 fucks per minute compared to 1.32 for Scarface - don't you love this ? Where else would you get data with such precision sliced and served for you). Investors involved small-time cable and television companies and yet the troubles didn't end. The producers had a fallout and sued each other and to top it all the movie didn't even recover it's cost.

And yet whenever we guys get discussing about movies around work, this is one movie that brings a spark to the eye of every person on a drinks table who has been in sales and seen this movie. As I said in the beginning, make no mistake, author David Mamet is the hero of this movie- his insights, his dialogues laced with the trademark profanity amongst sales guys and the desire to 'always be closing' is something Mamet brought from his own experience of having worked in a real estate office and how he nailed it!

Glengarry Glen Ross will be a very special movie for you if you've been in sales but the beauty of the movie is that it will still be a very special movie even if you haven't.

Rating: 8/10

#12: The Treasure of Sierra Madre

What do you say about a movie that has no female character through the entire duration of 126 minutes, is adapted from a book by a mysterious author who couldn't be traced and one that has the son directing his father in a role which wins the father a best supporting actor Oscar while the son goes on to win the Oscar for best director.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre is a movie that has so much history going for it, so much off-screen trivia that I could write an entire post on it. (Not that I won't be able to slip a few inadvertently during this review.) The pre-production for the movie began many years before the year of it's release in 1948 but the word was that execs at WB were really keen to have John Huston direct this movie and so they waited until he returned from the war even though they had a ready version of the script with them. So once John returned from the war, this was the first movie he directed.

With a title as simple, the story was obviously going to be about a group of people setting out in search for treasure. In this it turned out to be three men in search of gold in the mountains of Mexico. One of the first things that John Huston got right in the movie was the casting. Tim Holt as Curtin played the subdued partner to Humphrey Bogart's rugged and greedy personality of Fred Dobbs and whenever Walter Huston's character Howard spoke on screen, he simply stole the limelight. There's this one dance which Howard pulls off during the movie which is one of best expressions of happiness ever on-screen ( Do I note this down ? I don't but they stick in mind e.g. Will Smith's expression in the climax of The Pursuit of Happyness ). The story goes that this was a dance which Walter Huston brought from one of the plays he had acted in and was not a part of the original script but when John saw what his Dad was doing, he let the step be in the movie. The magic moments don't end there. The character of the Mexican bandit who comes up with the famous 'We ain't got no badges...' line and the pleasant digression in the movie about the tribals taking a liking towards Howard keeps you hooked as a viewer. The contrasting styles of the three main characters give room for suspicion, jealousy and fear that enhances the drama with the only binding factor between the protagonists being an unfulfilled quest for gold.

One of my favorite stories about the movie is how the author B.Traven was corresponding with John Huston regularly over letters and John was quite keen that the author come over to the sets as a consultant. The reluctant author would always refrain from agreeing to visit but instead sent his assistant by the name of Hal Croves to the film's sets. After working with Croves, almost everybody at the sets was convinced that Hal Croves was actually B.Traven himself but nobody could affirm it for sure because nobody has ever seen B.Traven.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre is a peach of a story with a very smart director handling the script. More often that not, that is good enough for a movie to sail through with mediocre actors but here's a movie where the actors give so much to their respective characters that it's impossible to be not swayed by their emotions as the story moves along. In the DVD, Martin Scorcese quotes a famous director about being fortunate to be in the business that made movies like The Treasure of Sierra Madre. .
Now, who am I to better that, as a humble viewer?


Rating: 8.5/10

#11: Capote

It has an intriguingly lovely beginning with a young girl climbing up the stairs of a forlorn house in Kansas countryside and calling out for somebody called Nancy. As she enters a bedroom, we see Nancy lying sideways on a bed with blood splattered on the walls. 3 of a family have been slain and that attracts the attention of Truman Capote ( Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is looking for ideas for his next book.

Along with his childhood friend Nelle ( Catherine Keener), Capote sets out to find more to write an article for the New Yorker. Within days, he knows he has enough material to write a book and stays on. The book eventually is released and goes on to become Truman Capote's literary zenith. Capote is a movie that tells the story of the making of the book and what Capote went through in those years interacting with the perpetrators of that heinous crime.

The beginning was so fascinating, I am wont to believe that I raised my expectations too high. Consequently, the movie did very little for my senses thereafter. Just when I thought it would be a classic murder mystery, we saw the murderers getting caught without any explanation. When I thought Capote's gay leanings would be explored to make this movie interesting, I didn't get that either. The character of Nelle Harper Lee, the author who during the same time also worked on "To Kill a Mockingbird' was in my mind the catalyst who would challenge Capote but that didn't happen either. At 114 minutes, the movie did get tedious at times.

What of course worked was Adam Kimmel's poetic cinematography. His filmography really should be more impressive than what it is. Each scene crafted with a delightful languid punctuation that embellished the dialogues. Now let's come to Philip Seymour Hoffman who won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal. While he's done a really good job, as a viewer I failed to be affected by him and somehow that put me in a fix whether that was because he was trying too hard to be Capote or whether director Bennet Miller just didn't have in the movie that one shock, that one twist that it so badly needed that the character's conflicts never interested me enough to take notice of what Hoffman was trying to portray. I am a devotee of Phil Seymour Hoffman's work who with his performances in movies like Doubt, The Boat That Rocked, Charlie Wilson's War, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead has always stood head and shoulders above so many of the other popular names in Hollywood. Because of which I am going to stick my neck out and say that if they gave him an Oscar for this, he should've easily pocketed one for each of those other performances as well.

To sum it up, Capote is what we call in our social circles, a decent movie. Bennett Miller got a decent debut going too as director ( so christened because his first movie The Cruise was a documentary) but overall the experience of Capote was underwhelming.

Rating: 5.9/10

#10: The Talented Mr. Ripley

It's a classic. Period.

With that kind of a beginning to a review, I think am making things difficult for you as a reader and me as a writer. Nevertheless, I must let you know that I wrote that first line thinking that it would be a great disservice to take any time to praise The Talented Mr. Ripley.. It is here that I must also confess that since this falls in my favorite genre of crime, I might be a bit biased in my adulation towards this gem.

So the movie is adapted from a Patricia Highsmith novel (she had also written Strangers on a Train) by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, Breaking and Entering, Cold Mountain) who also directs it. Given that it is based on a book, it is clear from Anthony's commentary on the DVD that while he did bring his own touch to the screen, he's treated the original book as a Bible and any of those changes that have been are made deftly and in the spirit of deference to what essentially is a great novel.

The protagonist Tom Ripley, played so brilliantly by Matt Damon is a struggler doing odd jobs in the US. In a swift but fateful twist of circumstances Tom finds himself going to Europe and befriends the wealthy son of a shipping giant - The Greenleafs. Dickie Greenleaf essayed by Jude Law excels as the millionaire deviant playboy heir and his friendship with Tom Ripley, shot against the backdrop of 19th century Italy, becomes very thick in a short while. Just when all seems to be going well, Dickie Greenleaf realizes the imposter that Tom Ripley actually is and from that moment on, it's all edge-of-the-seat stuff.

And if the plot isn't mouth watering enough, you'll soon realize that there's not one character in the movie that you will want to have enough of. The highlight of the movie is the portrayal of Matt Damon - he is so likeable as Tom Ripley that although you realize that Tom is doing all the bad things in the movie, you do want him to get away with it. Now hand on your heart, who was the last villain, you felt like that for in the last 25 years ? How preciously rare must that writing be if it makes you feel so?

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Gwyeneth Paltrow play Dickie Greenleaf's best friend and fiancee and between them represent Dickie's fantastic easy-going life before Tom Ripley rips that world apart in no time. Needless to say, with their charm and craft, all these characters leave you yearning for more.

I can't finish this piece without commenting on two more elements that elevate this movie to a peak of cinematic excellence. First, the the exquisite background score by the oh-so-accomplished Gabriel Yared and the stunning photography by John Seale - both of whom have been long-time collaborators with Anthony Minghella. The ease with which the movie appears on screen, as if it's a glass of Montrachet being served exclusively for you, sure has a lot to do with all three of them working in unison. The emotions pour itself out on screen because the script, the shots and the score are in sync in every single frame.

I have seen the works of Jules Dassin, John Huston, Jean Renoir, Jacques Becker, Otto Preminger and I have sampled enough and more of Hitchcock and Wilder so what I am about to write here, I would like to believe with a grain of vanity, is not an outcome of a limited study of the genre of crime. In my estimation, The Talented Mr. Ripley is as good a movie there ever was and is as good as any there will ever be.

Rating: 8.95/10

#9: The Damned United

As far as screenwriters who adapt works from other sources go, they don't come better than Peter Morgan (State of Play, Frost/Nixon, The Queen) and as far as actors who portray real life characters on screen go, they don't come finer than Michael Sheen ( Frost/Nixon, Queen, The Deal). And that explains why these two people have collaborated with each other so often in a fairly short span of time. And in doing so have brought to screen alive some of the best work that can be seen on film.

The Damned United spans the career of Brian Clough( Sheen), touted as the best soccer manager ever to have not coached the English National Team. The movie traces his path as starts out by managing a small-time second division club and from there on his journey to managing Leeds United - the most feared club in those days. His partner-in-coaching is his long time ally Peter Taylor ( Timothy Spall).

Based on Clough's coaching years from 1968 to 1974, the movie takes it's viewers through a whole range of emotions. The character of Clough and his partnership with Taylor is the foundation of the movie. That camarederie is neatly built upon to show an interesting conflict later that makes for a riveting story. The team of Leeds United is another critical character in the movie whose dominance of the EPL runs parallel to Clough's ascent as a coach. Director Tom Hooper stays away from any temptation to focus on the action of soccer instead keeping the story solely based on Clough's characterization. Needless to add, Michael Sheen nails the character.

Few of the scenes in the movie are moments of magic. There's one where Sheen asks for an unreasonable sum of money to do something and another manager disgusted with Sheen's expectation asks him: ' Who the f**k do you think you are ?'. Just for that one reply from Sheen (saving the spoilers), the movie will be well worth your time.The Damned United is one sports movie that I've never seen mentioned in any list of top sports movie compilations. Simply put, it belongs right up there with the best.

Rating: 8.75/10

#8: The President is Coming

It's probably the only movie in it's genre atleast all through this year. Taking the route of what is know as a mockumentary, The President is Coming is an earnest effort by Anuvab Pal.

Featuring an impressive lineup of actors ( read impressive not popular), the movie has a unique screenplay. While the story moves forward in a linear manner, we often see characters speaking directly to the camera and giving an insight of what they've gone through in their childhood or in the past. Anuvab Pal has always listed Woody Allen as one of his major influences and this is clearly one instance of that influence.

The plot surrounds the visit of George Bush and a PR company's attempt to select one Indian who would be fortunate enough to shake hands with him. With an ensemble cast led by Konkona Sen Sharma and a veritable group of reliable actors from theater, the movie has it's moments of joy. Among the characters those played by Anand Tiwari, Namit Das and Ira Dubey particularly stand out. The film could've been a tad quicker with it's pace and does somewhere becomes predictable after the first half. A couple of sub-plots ingrained in the story fail to make the movie any more interesting too and could've been easily done away with.

Where the movie does score is it's interesting main plot and some of the conflicts as displayed amongst the other characters and good performances by it's cast. The President is Coming is not a class act and it doesn't pretend to be. It is that fun flick that could be caught on DVD on a Sunday evening over popcorn with friends.

Rating: 6/10

#7: The Wild Bunch

If they move, kill 'em, thus begins The Wild Bunch. Freeze frame as a sketch of William Holden's face takes over the screen and the music peaks. Riveting !

William Holden as Pike and Ernest Borgnine as Dutch strike you instantly as characters with a mission with guns.Yet one can't help but feel a certain sympathy for them inspite of them being shown as outlaws. As the movie progresses, you come to know of the good times Pike has been through and how he fell through with Deke Thornton played by Robert Ryan. Little incidents etched in the past are shown to the viewer through a simple yet hugely effective screenplay which make you come closer to Pike and his team.

Based on the tempting premise of 'one last score', you certainly wish Pike and his team get to retire with enough money on their hand because Pike is essentially not a bad guy - he's just someone who wants to make a living and the only way he knows is to use his gun. Age though is catching up with him - one particularly poignant scene is the one where Pike rides on after falling off his horse leading his comrades to comment - 'How could you side with anyone, if you can't even ride a horse.' It is a scene beautifully crafted to show Pike's declining aura and ability yet you know that Pike won't ditch on his friends.

The movie from there on is an interplay of Deke chasing Pike and his gang and how Pike strikes a deal with a Mexican warlord for that one last score. It is not apparent at any point of time as to who will have the last laugh as director Sam Peckinpah gives that showdown a nice balance.

The Wild Bunch is considered to be a classic western movie because of it's relevance to the era of 1910s it is supposed to be set in. What I found immensely interesting is this movie is unlike a lot of caper movies where the gang falls out after the loot is captured, this is one movie - where the gang stays loyal to each other. The camaraderie between the robbers is so rare and so special. A noteworthy performance is that of Sykes played by Edmond O' Brien, the affable robber who can dissolve any heated situation with a light-hearted comment. It's the depth of such characters that make the Wild Bunch the enigmatic classic that it's come to be known as. It is indeed a fine fine western.

Rating: 7.55/10

#6: Anjaana Anjaani

I caught this movie on the basis of a couple of recommendations from friends who said that it wasn't a bad movie. 2 hours, 25 minutes after having sat through Anjaana Anjaani, I must confess it wasn't a bad movie at all. It was atrocious!

The movie's about two characters who wish to commit suicide at the beginning of the movie - Akash and Kiara played respectively by Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. If the reason for both of them to get to that point itself was a bit of a stretch, what unfolds from there on mercilessly tests the patience of the viewer. So there are no other major characters- just these two lost-in-life souls trying to take the movie forward in what is a completely idiotic story. If Geoffrey Boycott were in Bollywood, you would've surely heard how even his Mum could've written better.

If I do meet Siddharth Anand some day I really want to ask him why did he waste so much money in shooting the movie abroad? When the movie ends how does Akash actually get rid of the $12Mn dollar loan he had taken ? What does Kiara's character actually do in the movie ? All questions that the director assumes the viewer is idoitic enough to overlook. Ranbir is listless as Akash and Priyanka inconsistent though she's done the best she could to salvage the movie - with some spunky acting.

I've barely written anything in this piece and I am at a loss of words as to how to trash the movie. And that is the best thing I could probably say about Anjaana Anjaani.

Rating: 1.5 /10 ( Its actually .5 for the movie and 1 for the songs)

P.S: Ratings have also considered deduction of 1 point for copying the poster for An Education

#5: Whatever Works

Since 2006 when I first encountered a Woody Allen movie to this day, I've seen 33 of his movies. A greater part of my life beyond working hours since that day has been spent on finding more about his movies, his life, his inspirations, his books and everything else around him. Suffice to say that, I would count myself among the top 5 fans across the world notwithstanding the fact that I am always speaking ahead of time and turn.

With that background in place, I set out to now review 'Whatever Works' - his directorial work of the year 2009. The most striking element of the movie is that this is a movie without Woody as the lead but very much with someone ( Larry David) who knows and attempts to display on-screen every mannerism that Woody has displayed in his earlier movies. So much so that if know your Woody Allen, you're almost irritated as to why Woody himself didn't essay the role.

The plot is a familiar one - of a relationship between the protagonist who is a physicist genius Boris - played by Larry David and a young girl who hasn't seen much of the world. That being the core, the supporting cast of the girl's parents join in along with Boris' friends and attempt to cook up a 90 minute drama that fails to impress. Compared to some of Woody's earlier movies which are based on similar themes of infidelity like Husbands and Wives or Hannah and Her Sisters, Whatever Works is a pale imitation.

The highlight of the movie has to be Larry David and some of the lines, that Woody Allen the writer, has conjured for him. Larry David tries to do justice to the character of this mildly eccentric physicist, Boris who once almost won the Nobel Prize. The movie is told from the eyes of Boris and viewer is led through the time from when he meets a young girl. The absence of any sort of conflict and a weak supporting cast of characters do not help the movie in overcoming the monotony that touches you after the first 15 minutes.

I've always held that every movie offers something new, something that will stick the movie in some corner of your memory or something that you'll be able to talk about in a conversation. Whatever Works just doesn't work in even this modest regard. It is at best a watch for those who just will watch anything for Woody Allen and yet will stand out from his filmography as one of his weakest movies, if not the weakest movie.

Rating: 5.5/10

#4: Phas Gaya Re Obama

On a Tuesday night, if a movie is running to a packed house in Bengaluru, it says something about the movie.

In one line Phas Gaye Re Obama is a new age variant of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. It's a two hour scathing satire that uses humor to highlight the effect of recession on a bunch of small-time kidnapping goons. The last cracking satire I had seen was Well Done Abba and even then it wasn't hard to ignore certain actors (read Sonali Kulkarni) that could've been done away with and in this regard PGRO is an outright exception. Each and every character plays their part to the T. You want to believe when Neha Dhupia enters that this won't be such a good idea. To let her play Munni, the female goon and nothing else was just one of symbols of restraint that writer-director Subhash Kapoor brilliantly uses all throughout to keep the script above all else.

Sample this:
1.)This is an entire movie about goons, robbers and the politic-criminal nexus and yet no bloodshed is shown.Except one funny scene where a guy accidentally shoots himself in his hand.

2.)Rajat Kapoor is returning from America after a number of years and thankfully no accent to exaggerate the fact that he's been a US Green Card holder for very many years.

3.)Equally refreshing is the fact that Rajat Kapoor doesn't get any last minute pangs to stay back in India and call his family back.It takes a highly evolved director to not give into any of these temptations and the director does just that.

The entire plot is actually a dexterous mirroring of the collapse of American financial institutions through a passing-the-buck kind of a kidnapping of a supposedly rich Indian American who himself is bordering on the brink of bankruptcy. (To explain, what I just wrote is to give away the movie- so...) Rajat Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Manu Rishi excel in their respective characters and neatly blend with their accents, dressing and mannerisms in the milieu of western U.P . Whether it's the movie's stunning one-liners such as 'Itne ki toh thukaai bhi nahi huyee hain, jitne ka lahanga phat gaya...' or the absolutely hilarious 5 minute appearance by an English teacher reprimanding Manu Rishi for his bad behavior in class, every minute of the movie has the audience glued to the screen.

To make the script of a good comedy movie great, the element of wit has to shine through and it is in this department that PGRO exceeds itself. I didn't think the year would end with any movie surpassing Well Done Abba as the best comedy of the year. The fact is Phas Gaya Re Obama does.

Rating: 8.2/10

#3: Leatherheads

Sometimes a movie is just plain good. It isn't more, it doesn't pretend to be and it isn't in anyway disappointing because you had a good time watching it. It won't feature in your top 10 recommendations but you will also not dissuade anyone in case they happen to pick the DVD in your presence - Leatherheads is that movie.

A rare comedy centered around an American professional football team set in the 1920s, the movie begins with a memorable sequence. A bunch of players dash across what appears to be a green field and as the camera pans ( or zooms out, can't remember exactly), the viewer sees a couple of cows grazing on the very same field. From that moment on you know, there's something pleasantly quirky about this movie.

George Clooney directs himself and Renee Zellweger in the lead with John Krasinski as the able supporting actor. While the movie primarily focusses on George Clooney's attempts as Dodge Connelly to revive his teams fortunes, it also has a couple of interesting sub-plots that take the movie forward. One of those being journalist Lexie Littleton's (Zellweger) prying attempts to manufacture the scoop of the year for her newspaper Chicago Tribune. The chemistry between Dodge and Lexie is one of the highlights.

A definite flaw with the movie is that it isn't able to decide whether it's a screwball comedy - the premise with which it begins, or a serious sports movie based on facts of the 1920s, or a plain romantic comedy set against the backdrop of professional football. In the process, the movie ends up being a tad too long.

All in all Leatherheads is a commendable effort by George Clooney- a man who increasingly is straddling the worlds of being a director and actor with consummate ease. Watch it because when your friend is picking up the DVD, you really want to say - "It's a good watch."

Rating: 6.7/10

#2: Band Baaja Baarat

I was sceptical of it as I entered the hall. No reliable actors, a movie about wedding planners, based in Delhi- it had a few too many factors against it to go for it. But there I was with the popcorn in hand sitting on a Saturday night with a couple of friends.

Pleasantly surprised- just about begins to capture it as it turned out to be one of the most refreshing new-age love stories to come out of Bollywood. Indian film-makers have often resorted to a flat storyline of a boy-meets-girl and lately there've been a slew of movies that tried to replicate the in-college infatuation of the Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na... ilk that eventually turns out to be love for the protagonists in the climax. I guess it all probably began with the eminently forgettable Neal-n-Nikki and lately went on to afflict movies like Pyaar Impossible, Break Ke Baad and I Hate Luv Storys.

Whats different about BBB is the setting. To weave the story of the lead actors against the consistent thread of a wedding planning agency is what does the trick for the movie. Both the actors emote well and with the help of some smartly written quips evoke laughs all throughout. While I've been told this is the remake of a Malayalam movie, the fact that the Delhi-ism of the movie itself is a character that stands out through the movie should be noted as a credit for the director Maneesh Sharma. Although the movie could've had quickened it's pace a bit in the second half, an investment of 2 hours and 20 minutes wouldn't be a waste on this movie. Just before the first half, there's an intimate scene between Ranveer and Anoushka that should rank right up amongst one of the best on-screen kisses in Bollywood.

Often in a theater it's not hard to see when the audience starts getting fidgety with the on-screen fare. The fact that such moments were few in this one speaks a lot for this one.

Rating:6.8/10

Here we start #1 - Julie and Julia

So I am back tonight to write. Maybe this is a start to some discipline to begin with.

In recent times, I haven't seen a movie as special, as fresh and as endearing as Julie and Julia. Recommended by Viggy as the most delightful movie she'd ever seen, it often peeped at me from the shelves of Clixflix but somehow I stayed away from it. And then one day I just felt like picking it up. The next 2 hours actually turned out to be the most delightful time I've ever had watching a movie. Movies evoke different kind of emotions but this movie through and through is all about how far one would go to fulfill a passion.

Meryl Streep is so above everybody else, they should make a Statue of Streep ala Liberty in every little province in the world. Amy Adams does her part incredibly well. I'll some day write about this other movie in which Adams and Streep act together Doubt which in itself was a fantastic movie. And then there's the ever reliable Stanley Tucci. During the director Nora Ephron's commentary on the DVD she also mentions how Meryl Streep actually insisted that no one else other than Tucci should play this part. In short everything about the movie is perfect - even the tagline that I think is one of the best taglines ever - Passion. Ambition. Butter.

After the movie, I checked out Julie's famous blog, Julia Child's videos, read up on the real Julie Powell and what not. That's what a great movie will always do to you as a viewer, make you dig deep about the background of the movie.

And sometimes a greater movie will also inspire you to replicate what you see in the movie in real life and that's what I'm trying to do with this attempt of one review every day. Let's see how far we go !

Overall Rating: 9.05/10

A decent after-life plan for a dead blog

It had been so long I thought I must've forgotten the password to the Blogger account until the familiar Gmail window popped up. Am going to try something new from here on to save this blog. Actually I can't say I can save this now- this blog has been dead for quite sometime. So let's say, this is my shot to give this blog it's own shot at having a decent afterlife.

It's been over a year since I moved on from HT to a sports marketing startup in Bombay from Fever. But few things have changed really except the fact that I travel a lot these days, not to any fancy foreign destinations but the familiar usual suspects of Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and the like. This has meant the modest beer belly I had managed to keep in abeyance over the last couple of years is increasing with an onslaught of food from hotels and pubs. Now this has also meant that time's at a premium because of which this blog got sedated since March and has been on life-support since then.

Consider my life in numbers over the last 14 months.

a.) I've met 247 new people with regard to work. In the same time, I've met 4 new people for leisure.

b.) Since August I've taken 36 flights for work. That's an average of 7 flights every 20 working days. It has led me to believe that I could be the Indian-ized version of Ryan Bingham am except that I seldom bump into anyone like Alex Goran. (But I do have access to KF Lounge at all airports now and about 15,000 miles to redeeem!)

c.)I began the year with a 150 GB drive laptop from office. I have 19 GB free space left. I just deleted 15 GB just so that I feel better about this.

d.) My gmail operates at 97% capacity. I have to constantly delete all CDR's and Pdf's to keep it going.

e.) My post-work activities have taken a hit. The sports viewing has come down drastically, so has my writing. This is my first post in 10 months.

Yeah, I know. With my exagerrated sense of writing, I could give you the sense that I'm busier than Ratan Tata which is not so true. I've still found time for the one thing that at this stage of my life I depend a lot on in times of joy, anger and anguish- the movies! According to records at my rental store Clix Flix, I've rented 108 movies since August - that's an average of 21.6 movies per month. And this doesnt include gems like Radio, I Hate Luv Storys and Break Ke Baad and numerous others that I've caught in the theaters.

So there, maybe it's not all bad. And it is an inspiration from one of the recent movies I saw that tells me there's a way to give this blog the decent after-life for which I began this post. Let me see if I can come back tonight and find time to post about the movie and the plan. If I do, maybe we're in for one post every day of the year from now on. And maybe if you're movie-goer yourself, you already know the movie in question !

The rest of the Trilogy and more

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The Best of IPL Trilogy - Batting

So the news is on the front pages every day now. First the player auction, then the snub, then the excitement for the 2011 season, then the Youtube deal and surely by now, you would’ve also caught one of the teaser ads from Sony Max. Yes it’s here. And if the build-up itself has been such a cracker, one can only imagine the mania that awaits us from March, 2010.

Imagine having the comfort of knowing that post-work you can sack back at home or outside with friends or family or just with your dog or alone and have some cracking cricketing entertainment played out on your television screen for over 40 days at a stretch and all you will pay for it is your cable fees. The marketing packaging of the whole circus is that of entertainment but make no mistake, its cricketing skill in its rawest form. A lot of it is superhuman and somehow the frequency of brilliance is so rampant that one can hardly remember all of it at once. And that is quite a pity, considering that the levels of skill on display aren’t any different from that of an international match. A diving catch, a late in-swinger or a last-ball six against men of caliber and repute must be preserved in memory- whether in a test match or in a T20 game. However, the circus around the whole affair does take away the cricketing part of the tournament. More so often, when one doesn’t have any choice but to just grin-and-beer the Shettys and the Zintas of the world giggling right back at your face in the midst of all the action.

Last week, the Martin Scorcese tribute video for the 2010 Golden Globes ended with a quote from the man himself, “Movies are the memories of a lifetime. We must preserve them.” Similarly for cricket fans, the IPL is a wonderful basket of memories of joy. We must remember them. Starting this trilogy, is an infant-step towards that end.

I begin with batting performances.

Andrew Symonds- 117*(53) V RR, Hyderabad (2008): In what is till date, the best innings in IPL in a losing match, Andrew Symonds scored runs at a blistering pace coming in at 32-2 on a lovely batting track in Hyderabad. Warne brought himself on to stem the flow but to no avail – the contest between bat and ball was at its peak and Symonds was winning it hands down against his ex-team mate. Warne gave away 47 in 4 overs. Symonds took 35 of those. Ironically though, Warne had the last laugh in a stellar batting display off the last over bowled by none other than Symonds himself.


Adam Gilchrist- V MI, Mumbai (2008): I will leave the scorecard summary for this one.
Mumbai Indians: 154/7 - 20 overs: Bravo – 34(18), R.P. Singh -2-15
Deccan Chargers: 155/0 -12.0 overs: Gilchrist 109* (47)

Ten sixes! The highlight was the one that took him from 94 to 100.

Virendra Sehwag – 94*(41) V DC, Hyderabad ( 2008): Whatever you were upto on 22nd April, 2008, I hope you weren’t cheering for Deccan Chargers on this date. Because if you were, I doubt if the scars left by Sehwag’s blazing willow on your emotions have still healed. Mine haven’t. Rohit Sharma had played another one of his umpteen T20 gems and got DCto a respectable 142 for 8. He had taken 26 off one Maharoof over and I was left wondering, who else could beat this record.

I didn’t have to wait for long. Sehwag took 30 off one Symonds over barely an hour later. The scoring sequence: 4, 6, 4, 6, 4, 6. Can you feel the rhythm of that sequence?

Saurav Ganguly – 86*(53) V KEP, Kolkata (2008: If ever a captain took over an innings only for the sake of pride in front of a packed crowd, this was it. KKR were down and out by the time they played their last match of the 2008 season. Though they had begun the season with a thunder, their campaign soon fell on rocky terrain. By the time they came into this game, it was known that they will not make it to semis yet Ganguly played a lone hand in what to this date is his best innings in a T20 game. When Umar Gul had fallen at 155-7, KKR needed 20 runs of 9 balls to win the game. Ganguly’s next scoring shots were: 4, 1, and 6,2,6,1. Ganguly got those 20 in 6 and Ishant faced a delivery in between.

Shane Watson- 74(40) V DD, Jaipur (2008): In their home game, DD has decimated RR by 9 wickets but RR had made considerable progress by the time they got their home game against the Daredevils. By now, RR and DD were looking the most formidable outfits. The question was whether RR was just flattering to deceive. DD made a respectable 156 and were well and truly on top when they had RR at 15 for 2 at the end of 5 overs. At the end of 6 overs- they were at 21-2- the lowest score in the tournament till that time. And then Watson opened up in the seventh over taking 12 runs off one over. From then on, Watson maintained a cool head, hit 6 sixes, farmed or milked the strike as they say and brought up a very important win for the Royals- a win that made them believe they could easily beat opponents who had slashed them mercilessly just two weeks back.

Dinesh Karthik – 56*(32) V MI, Kotla: This is one of those innings that will just get buried in the sands of time because the man who played it isn’t headline material. What got him a lot of admiration on this one was because it was a must-win game for DD. The man came in to face a hatrick ball and a required run-rate of 9.66. And he won it for DD, with all leading names back in the pavilion and Maharoof at the other end. A six off Andre Nel in the 19th over – the piece de résistance!

The Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa Show V MI, Wanderers (2009): All said and done, Uthappa’s walk-down-the-track -six is a lovely sight when it comes off. And so are Kallis’ textbook cover drives. Now combine both of them and there’s a sight to behold. More so, when the partnership lasts for over 15 overs and results in a win for RCB in a do-or-die situation

Rohit Sharma 32*(13) V KKR, Wanderers (2009): This deserves the title of the best cameo till date in IPL. Again a chase brought down to the last over that saw Mortaza taking on Sharma in what was a critical game for DC. 21 were required off the last over. Rohit hit the first ball for four and unexpectedly got a no-ball benefit as well. Then one more six and four followed. 1 was needed off the last ball. That delivery landed at least 15 rows back.

Ross Taylor 81*(33) V KKR, Centurion (2009: So the situation is a must-win for Bangalore and they’re down at the deep-end chasing 173 against KKR. After 12 overs, the required run-rate is 11.75 and RCB are delicately placed at 80-3. Ross has scored 11 off 7 by now. By the time RCB won, Ross had scored 81 off 33 balls. You do the math!

It works out to a strike rate of 269. What can’t be measured is the impetus this single innings gave to RCB’s campaign thereafter.

Adam Gilchrist – 85(35) V DD, Centurion (2009: Indisputably, the most important innings in IPL till date. There won’t be another that can surpass this innings. In due course, it’ll get matched, the strike rate will be overtaken but what no one will be able to take away from this innings is the fact that it came in a semi-final, in a winning chase and against the best bowling attack of IPL. Nannes was on fire all through IPL-II; in this match he was on-fire, if you can sense the difference being hinted at. I’ll leave only one other stat to refresh your memory on this. Nannes opened the bowling and Gilly opened him up with 5 successive fours in the first over. The game was over!


This list is by no means meant to be exhaustive, just memorable.

P.S. Memorability of innings mentioned above is defined as a complex function of (match situation, bowling attack, chanceless nature of batting and tournament context and a sprinkling of personal bias)

Why 2009 was like any other year for Indian Cricket ?

Though we became No. 1 in tests, we realized we anyway don’t play enough number of tests. So BCCI again pulled strings, revised schedules and packed more cricket to keep everyone happy!

We won the ones against mediocre opponents – against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies.

However, when a half-decent side visited us for a seven match series, we gave up in the sixth match. To call that Australian outfit a second-string side is actually according that team a fair amount of respect!

When it came to the world stage, we failed to make the cut. We never do well when we begin as favorites whether it’s the WorldTwenty20 or ICC Champions Trophy.

We made batting pitches that put Sri Lankan curators to shame.

Our selectors treated yet another senior cricketer with no respect. And yet again Rahul Dravid, from the non-striker’s end , saw all the big names fail with the Indian score at 32-4 on the first day of a test match. And yet again, he maintained composure and replied with a 177!

Virendra Sehwag ran up a triple and still seems our best bet to be the first to score a double century in one-dayers.

VVS Laxman saved us a test match abroad. This time at Napier and once again we forgot his solid contributions.

We still haven’t found our next best spinner after Harbhajan Singh and our next best fast bowler after Zaheer Khan.

As television audiences, our action replays were once again cut short by a barrage of advertisements. We were subjected to LS for one more year and once again we didn’t have a choice but to stay put.

Our grounds were still packed. As fans we still don’t understand the “too-much-cricket concept” because we love the game and we love our heroes. We still flocked to the stadiums. We even cheered for Sreesanth. Yet, towards the end of the year, the average Indian cricket fan was once again asked to leave the stadium because one of the richest sporting federations in the world couldn’t ensure a decent playing track. In 1997 at Indore, on Christmas Day, we first got to know what a dangerous pitch meant.

Exactly twelve years later, the BCCI still didn’t care!

The Departure of the Prodigal Son

In his very first test, he managed what few batsmen get to list on their resume in a career span – be at the crease in the fourth innings of a test match in a winning cause. In his next six innings he scored two doubles, two centuries and one half century.

As seventh grade students, our most enduring memory of that dream run used to be that while we never knew what the day’s score was till we got home, we used to invariably find Vinod Kambli batting on one end. This began in his very third test when he ended the second day at 20 not out and was still batting at the end of the third day on 164 not out. The run-fest continued for a few more tests.

Meanwhile in school, if anyone batted well those days, we would call him Kambli regardless of whether the batsman was right or left-handed. We also stopped asking or caring how much Sachin scored. The question was more on the lines of “Is Kambli around?”, “How much did he score?”, “How did he get out?” To put in perspective, in the last twenty years such a phase has occurred only one other time – when a certain Virendra Sehwag relegated Sachin briefly to the status of an afterthought of a second question. The new question in mid-2000’s was “How much has Sehwag scored? And Sachin? ” I suspect that will remain the case for sometime now but nevertheless coming back to seventh grade.

Ah ! The summer of ’93! We had a new spin trio already being compared to the spin quartet, our captain was again beginning to flick the deliveries from outside off-stump to the square leg boundary, Sachin kept reminding us of his greatness every other test and just then, we thought, we had also unearthed our Bradman.

But the start was too good to true. Barely two years down the line, we saw the man weeping in front of a packed house in Eden Gardens. We felt for him but we didn’t know what was happening. It was beginning to sink in that unlike what we would’ve wished, the man had delivered his best so early in his career that he was struggling to cope with expectations, form, media and luck, all at the same time. His leg stump would go flying now more often than Batmobile. We started seeing what seemed odd to us first- him ducking awkwardly and scooping tame catches. And then we realized we had never seen him deal with bouncers before Walsh and company came to India. Reports of him being wayward with his after-cricket hours weren’t helping his case either. To top it off, he ran himself into what effectively was the worst ankle twist ever seen on television. Not to forget that he was the 12th man in that match and it took an entire year for him to get back to normal. No wonder, they say sometimes luck can be cruel but more importantly the cookie had crumbled sooner that we would’ve liked.

We can’t look back and find out if he really deserved another shot in the test side after nine comebacks to the ODI team. For a man who played his last test at 24, he probably did. We’ll also never know if he could’ve been more disciplined and would that have helped him prolong his career. We also don’t know whether his temperament itself was just not good enough for the highest levels. But what we do know that at one point of time, he was our childhood hero.

That’s why it hurts sometimes to know the man we loved seeing at the crease at one time, has been reduced to a contestant on reality shows. But what we still see in him is his zest for life and maybe if he is happy doing all that he is doing now, we just ought to be happy for him.

The Accomplishment

Monday: Familiar with numerous stories of failed attempts before, Rohan was a bit skeptical of whether he would really be able to make it. He knew this was the fastest route. Quick, yes but would it be smooth? He was soon going to find out.He had done his homework. He punched his coupons and with steady steps began the climb. But this is exactly when it was all beginning to hit him.

As he began the climb to get to Platform Number 2, he felt he had migrated to another planet altogether. It felt like being in a circus- you just didn't know where the next big trick was going to come from or from whom. Men with their bags & newspapers speeding by, cobblers with that rhythmic sales pitch of knocking their brush with on the ground and suddenly out of nowhere, the clamor of bells and sounds of people singing bhajans on a train that just zipped by- all of it seemed like perfectly oiled parts of the biggest automated machine in the world.

He stood there on the platform with nervous eyes. He clutched his laptop as the train approached. He was told he just had to follow the crowd. The train slowed and suddenly in the midst of a hundred armpits bang under his nose, he got where very few mortals manage on the very first day of taking a train- his left foot was on the train. He balanced himself and held the pole with one hand. His right foot was in the air but he was there. Until this one pull came so hard at him, that in a split second he found himself with both his feet, back on the platform !

The train was a distant sight by now.

Tuesday: He still couldn't get in.

Unlike yesterday, he went to Jogeshwari by rickshaw and tried getting into the fast local from there. Goregaon, he was told that day by his colleagues at work, was near impossible unless he travelled back to Borivali. Today again though, he didn't have a chance.They had said Jogeshwari might be 'relatively' easier to get in.The train was gone in the blink of an eye. Relatively speaking, he couldn't even figure today if this better or worse.

He waited for one more train to come into the station. The next one was even worse.He didn't even want to attempt it. Yesterday, it had taken him over two hours to get to Nariman Point by road but he had no choice.He stepped out of the station in a hurry and asked for a rick to Bandra.

Wednesday: He started off early and reached the Goregaon station at 7:20 a.m. He knew the odds that he had to beat by now.Something told him, he would beat the odds today. He felt in good nick. There were not as many people at the station today as at 8:20. This was a good enough reason. To make things easier, he had left his laptop at office too. Things seemed to click- he felt like a part of the crowd. He saw the old electronic sign right above his head. "F" , "7:29", it read. If the previous 2 days seemed like a bitter struggle, today seemed a struggle alright but a sweeter one. He floated through the crowd and no sooner than he realised, he was IN !

"We are the champions"- the song ran through this head. He smiled. He almost giggled to himself. Sweet !

Fifteen minutes later, a radio set crackled far away in Dahisar: " Abhi abhi khabar mili hain ki aaj savere kareeben saade saat baje, Mumbai mein, paanch trainon mein..."

The Pursuit of Happyness

Different routes ?

Get the one thing that you want most in life right now - like Ali and Zara

Change the world - like Gandhi

Speak up - like Jeffrey Wigand

Fulfil your dream - like Iqbal

Leave your existing baggage and do what you loved when you were in college - like Aditya, Jo, Rob and KD

Just be with someone you love - like C.C. Baxter

Go back to your best friends in life - like Sameer, Akash and Sid

Find a purpose - like Oskar Schindler

Take revenge - like The Bride

Forgive someone - like Cristina Peck

Make the one unforgettable sacrifice for someone you love - like Rick Blaine

Get lucky - like Bacon, Soap, Tom and Eddie

Live your life for someone else - like Chris Gardner

Or work inch by inch and minute by minute to work your way out of the shit around you - like Andy Dufresne...

Class of '98 at Goa !

We still recollect our school days from 1996 and can laugh on any of the Fire Extinguisher, Artifical Snowfall and Cell Diagram episodes. And I also learnt yesterday that Vijay had made something called Lancelot (Merchant of Venice?) Cell. What I can't seem to explain is why we laughed our guts so bad on this new bit of information that our tummies hurt !

One of us got married yet we can't help trying to better each other in cracking bad PJ's. Our hit ratio is worse than Courtney Walsh's batting average but it just doesn't seem to matter - we keep trying.

We can still just laze around all day and feel we've done ourselves a world of good. What's changed though is now we invariably want a beer in hand and now these days are very few and far in between. But we've made a start.

Rajputana Pride, Cricket, 'Nothing is Impossible' are recurrent phrases in our conversations. We've heard them all and still want more.

Tomar Sir, DD and Kho-Kho got their mandatory mentions.

We haven't seen each other's families in years yet everytime we meet, we feel our families have come closer.

We learnt a new way to say Boolean in sign language !

I introduced her to them. Touchwood.

Gaurav, Jaydeep and Vijay - Words fail me but I thank the Lord for still keeping us friends.

We want to meet atleast once every year from now on. It makes us feel like we're in St. Mary's and that means it makes us feel that God's in his heaven and everything's right with the world. Amen !

Date

I've set myself a date of August-end to finish off something - some sort of a personal goal. In school and college, I used to be quite particular about these date lines but this is a new one...

A Channel of Discomfort

Aman pushes the door aside with his hand on the knob and this girl pressed against him. They’re passionately kissing each other, his hand sometimes moves to her hair and sometimes to her waist. It’s love making like now or never. On the edge, volatile, this is sexual intimacy at it’s violent best with clothes on. They close the door behind while still kissing each other.

Aman manages to turn the lights on with one of his hands that search for the switchboard. It’s only for a second that he takes his hand off her but it feels to him like forever. His hand is back on her like a flash.

And suddenly they take their hands off each other.

The look in her eyes says it all. She wants all of him. Not an inch of his body will be spared tonight.

The sweat over his eyebrow says it all. He’s invested too much in this tonight to let it pass. It’s been hard work getting her here.He reaches out for her hair in one final lunge of a kiss and then he realizes he wants more.

“Can I do you tonight?” he asks fearlessly.

“What on earth makes you think I need to answer that?”, she says.

“I’m sorry I asked.” he screams out loud passionately and tears open her top.

She screams out loud too. This is it. This is the peak of his mundane 32 years of existence.

She isn't done screaming.“Why the fuck did you have to tear it off? It was my favorite top. I got it from Chanel.”

He’s… He’s…, He’s …well… stunned, to put it politely.

He mumbles and reaches out for her caringly. She will have none of it. All her passion has just dissolved in the Chanel top that lies on the bed, almost geometrically torn into two shreds now, held by this teeny-weeny button that’s somehow holding the whole thing together.

“Do you have any fucking clue what you’ve just done? I spent months trying to get this exact piece.”

"Hey…don’t worry baby. I know Channel. I’ll get you more… I’ll get you the exact piece. Don’t spoil this moment now…”

“It’s not Channel you nincompoop, it’s Chanel. Get out…”

Just about...

... settled in Bombay.
... figuring friends out.
... finding way around
... keeping sanity.

The Deccan Chargers have arrived !

We have it!

After 13 months of when I first wrote about it and a month after I last hinted we might be moving towards it, the job's done.

Three sights that will forever remain from this year's final.

a.) Gilly urging his team mates just before the RCB innings took off. The passion in his eyes and his animated quick discourse firing up his team mates to win this almost told you DC will win it but the players had to live up to the captain and live up they did in style. If you need anymore proof of this, just replay in your mind Harmeet Singh's catch to dismiss Vinay Kumar in the 19th over - as good a catch as any you will see in any form of cricket! And possibly the best in a long time given the context of the game.

b.) The other is Pragyan Ojha's reactions - first after getting Manish Pandey and then after getting Van Der Merwe. If Gilly's eyes were all about passion then here was a man who wanted the win so badly he was going to get everyone from RCB out if they gave the man a few more overs. That belief in his ability shining through his face.

c.) The reserve bench running towards Gilly's arms after the game ended. As a fan, I would've to confess, that was something to see and not to write about.

All in all - sometimes it is indeed a function of how badly you want to achieve something. Looking at both the teams especially, looking at the way DC came out all fired up didn't you get the feeling Gilly wanted it more than Kumble?

Or maybe like analysts of all hues, I'm just trying to make sense where there's none.

In anycase, DECCAN CHARGERS - good on ya mates!

Moving to Mumbai and IPL

Two things affecting my life right now.

IPL is turning out to be 'happening' !

And my internal transfer to Mumbai office is happening.

A Start

I wished this last year .

Don't want to jinx it .

So touchwood!

And prayers...

Amen!

P.S.:Follow up to previous post: 20 WA movies done! :-)
Next stop: To bring it up to 25.

On Woody Allen!

It's no big deal for everyone else I know. But for me it is! Am personally kicked about achieving this milestone of having seen 20 Woody Allen movies. For the record am on 18 movies now and seem to have a plan in place to complete 20 by Easter Sunday.

Among all movie buff friends I have, I seem to have a decent headstart over all of them. (What's a little harmless brag!)

Special mention to Mahesh for introducing me to Habitat and Spidey for couriering me 3 movies across shores and sands from Bangalore to Delhi.

Needless to say, I would consider my life complete, if by the remotest hand of fate, I get to meet WA in New York... That will be the day!

Time's running out though, our man's already 74.

The Exchange

It’s a nice and casual evening at the city park and people are enjoying their walk and conversations. Nothing is different about today. Even the loafer, who is lying on the last bench of the West Gate end gate of the park, is observing people, with his head resting on the arm of the bench, just like every other day.

With his lazy gaze, he is sifting his eyes through the bunch of people from a distance. Right next to him is the bench on which he has seen this couple many times before. The guy is formally dressed today while the girl is wearing a salwar kameez. They’re always holding hands. The loafer has seen more intimate couples before.

At this point, he notices a boy selling Frooti packs approaching the couple. The loafer wants a Frooti pack for himself. With this intention he fixes his gaze on the vendor. He has to wait now because the couple wants Frooti too. He sees them asking for 2 packs. The loafer observes the guy taking out money from his trouser pocket directly and not from a wallet. But now!

The guy on the bench took out a 100 Rupee note and some paper also seemed to have fallen from his pocket as he pulled out the money. He waits to see if the vendor or the girl has noticed the paper that fell out. From his bench he tries to wave to the guy that there’s a paper of some sort that is lying right next to his shoes. The loafer is not in the couple’s focus of conversation. They would rather now sip the Frooti. The loafer is too lazy to get up. He starts looking around and focuses his gaze this time on a juice vendor. After a short while, the couple leaves. They don’t know about the paper that lies right under their bench. The loafer slowly gets up behind them and walks up to their bench. With curious eyes, he bends down to pick up the piece of paper. His eyes light up!

The piece of paper is a 500 Rupee note! There’s a look of glee on his face now. He quickly glances around stealthily to see if anyone’s noticing him. No one else seems to be bothered. His assured right hand now is a fist holding the note tightly. He calmly puts his hand in the pocket and walks briskly towards the juice vendor. His body is upright and his walk is suddenly purposive now.

His right hand that was till now clutching onto the note in his pocket, now comes out and is thrust in the face of the juice vendor. He confidently asks the juice vendor for a change of 500 rupees. The juice vendor, however is not in a hurry. He suspiciously looks at the loafer and sizes him from head to toe. The vendor takes a second curious look at the 500 Rupee note. He senses something about it is not right, especially the paper. It feels too thin compared to other notes. He quickly draws another note from his cash box and places both of them next to each other. The loafer gets impatient and urges the juice vendor to give his change quickly. The juice vendor is still diligently comparing the notes. He holds out the just received note in the sun for a final check and he doesn’t see the Mahatma Gandhi watermark associated with genuine notes. He knows he has nabbed a culprit and quickly looks around.

A little further away, he sees a cop, the one who is a part of the State Police Team providing security for the park. He rushes towards him and gets to him in a flash. Excitedly, he shows him both the notes. The loafer meanwhile is quizzically looking at the two of them who are coming towards him. He quickly realizes the cop is coming towards him and makes a dash towards the exit gate. The cop whistles loudly while taking out his gun and chasing the loafer. The loafer doesn’t make it to the exit as the juice vendor and the cop catch up with him. He is callously held by his collar by the cop. The loafer begs him for mercy and tries to narrate what happened. The cop would have none of it. After much persuasion, the cop lets go of his collar with a forceful push. The cop appreciates the juice vendor’s initiative and steps out. He asks him to come to the police station and meet his friends in the police station.

“We need more people like you”, the cop tells the juice vendor. The juice vendor merrily walks back to his stall and wipes off the sweat with his towel that was wrapped around his neck.

The cop steps out of the exit gate and proceeds to walk towards a paan waalah’s shop. He nonchalantly hands over the 500 Rupee note to the paan waalah and asks for a pack of cigarettes. The paan-waalah hands over the pack.

The cop asks him, “How much is the Benson & Hedges full pack ?”

“80 Rupees. I will give you 420 Rupees back.” replies the vendor.

Soccer and Test Cricket

I think I might get lynched for writing this about a sport followed by all galaxies of the universe yet I must.

Soccer is instant relief. One pass, one dodge, one free-kick, one goal and there you have it! It’s like masturbation- it’s over even before you know!

Test Cricket is wooing a pretty dame from first sight, asking her out, ascertaining where you stand for her, making the move and then the climax!

Hero and I

I saw Marley and Me last night and nearly every scene reminded me of Hero.

The jumps, the tearing of the sofa, the poop, the licking, the posture, his ageing, everything...

What's worse, it reminded me of how I lost his best picture which I had kept in a book I was reading on a flight. I forgot to take the book when I de-planed and there went the best picture of the best looking dog ever... :-(

I think am an ass sometimes. I really must be one to keep his picture in a book instead of an album.

Hero was with us for ten years.

Things to do

I have to open 6 different couriers that I've got.
I gotta courier a document back home.
The left sole of my black shoe has come off and I gotta go to a cobbler.
I've been wanting to open a bank account in a nationalised bank.
I have to shift a trading account from Delhi to Bangalore.


And that has been my list since whole of January. But I'm thinking February is another month and tomorrow is another day! :-)

The one sign of a good movie...

... when you don't get up right after the end credits start rolling!

Khojguru.com

These are tough times and I sincerely believe that the youth and intellingentsia of this country have to speak up, act and deliver through whatever platforms they're operating on to participate actively in the nation-building and nation-healing processes.

A very dear friend who owns a fast-emerging city search engine is pledging Re. 1 to the National Defence Fund for every registration on their site. The contribution will be made on January 26th, 2009. So just go right ahead and click the words - http://khojguru.com/ on your web browser and make the difference that you can.

The Best of 2008 - Cricket and Sports!

Top batting performances
Graeme Smith's 154 not out at Birmingham against Eng
South African top-order at Perth against Oz
Virendra Sehwag's 83 at Chennai against Eng
Bhajji & Zak's 80 run partnership at Bangalore against Aus
Ramnaresh Sarwan's 128 at Antigua against Oz
J.P. Duminy's 166 at MCG against Oz
Ganguly's 87 at Kanpur against SA
Kevin Pietersen's 144 at Mohali against India
Gautam Gambhir's 67 and 104 at Mohali against Oz
V.V.S. Laxman's 79 at Perth against Oz


Top batting performances - Special mention
Sehwag's 104 at Adelaide against Oz
Sachin's twin innings in the CB series finals at Sydney and Brisbane
Symond's century against Rajasthan Royals at Hyderabad
Rohit Sharma's beauties in the IPL

Top bowling performances
Dale Steyn at Ahmedabad.Period.
Ajantha Mendis and Murali's 19 wicket- haul at Colombo against India
Mitchell Johnson's 11 wicket haul at Perth against SA
Ishant Sharma's one wicket haul at Perth against Oz in the second innings
Bhajji's 10-wicket haul at Galle
Jimmy Anderson's 7-wicket haul at Trent Bridge against NZ
Mendis 8-wicket haul at PSS Colombo


Top bowling performances - Special mention
Mendis in the Asia Cup Final
Shoaib Akhtar against Delhi Daredevils
The Sohail Tanvir show in IPL

Shot of the year
KP's switch hit - all over again!

Dismissal of the year
Ishant's wrecking Ponting's stumps at Mohali

Catch of the year
De Villiers ( Pick any of his, really!)

Drop of the year
Hussey and Ponting grassing chances in MCG against SA

Runouts of the year
Mishra running out Ponting at Nagpur
Ian Bell running out Sehwag at Mohali

Best sporting moments of the year
Abhinav Bindra shooting a near-perfect last shot to give us Gold!
The final of finals at Wimbledon
Revival of Celtics-Lakers rivalry & Celtics thrashing Lakers!( You can imagine me with a 150W smile here!)
Usain Bolt!
Hamilton making it (finally...)
Roger Federer pulling one back at US Open

Sportsman of the year
Michael Phelps!

Have a great year folks and stay away from drinks if you driving!

The Best of 2008 - Movies, Music & Books

My list for 2008- The best in each category.(Or worst.. as specified!)

Movies - Best of New Releases
Mumbai Meri Jaan
Lives of Others
A Wednesday
Dark Knight
Rock On!

Movies - Best of old movies- English (seen this year)
Stalag 17
Body Heat
Escape from Sobibor
Sideways
Day of the Jackal

Movies - Best of old movies- Hindi (seen this year)
Ek Ruka Hua Faisla
Sparsh
Do Aankhen Barah Haath
36-Chowringhee Lane
Dev

Movies- The Best of dark horses - (old and new- seen this year)
Dasvidaniya
Midnight Run
Shoot on Sight
Biwi-o-Biwi
Leon
Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye

Movies - The worst of the lot
Singh is Kinng
Wanted
Wall- E (Blame me... but I absolutely despised it to the core)

Songs- The best of Hindi
Teri Ore - Shreya Ghoshal, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Sindbad the Sailor/ Tum ho toh - Farhan Akhtar
Kahin to- Rashid Ali
Kehne ko jashn-e-bahaara- Javed Ali
Kaise Mujhe - Benny Dayal

Songs- The best of English
Touch of Love- Allen Toussaint ( And thanks Axe!)
Violet Hill - Coldplay
The Day that never comes- Mettalica
Just too busy being fabulous - Eagles
Bubbly - Caillat

The best of books(read this year)
Classic Cricket Clangers (The undisputed #1...)
A Maidan View
Indian Summers
Maximum City
Beyond a Boundary

Concluding part on "Cricket and Sports" to follow.

No good this

I took a cab in Hyderabad last week, and as I always do, started chatting up with the driver.

"What's your name?"

"Ahmed Hussain."

Something rankled me a for a second. Could he be involved?

Normal conversation followed. But in that one second, I went from being suspicious to feeling guilty for having just judged him for his religion.This had never happened to me before.

And I'm convincing myself it'll be the last time.

But do the perpetrators see the futility of it all?

Who's the enemy?

The mail from Deccan Mujahideen was traced back to Russia. The terrorists had Mauritian identity cards. Two of the terrorists were British-born. Their ship started from Karachi. They killed a Jewish Rabbi.Lashkar has it's camps in PoK, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

For all you know, every country in this world as I'm writing this, has at least one person who's sitting back in his chair and smiling at the success of these nefariously gruesome attacks.

This was not how the world used to be, when I was in school. This was not the India, I thought, I would grow up to live in.

Dasvidaniya - A reflection!

That's what the movie is about. A reflection into your own mundane life:

- of friends from school.
- of drab 'things-to-do' everyday
- of dreams-to-fulfil someday
- of the impact of Mithun Chakraborty when we were growing up
- of Gunmaster G-9! (Had to be referenced for those who came in late!)
- of Old Monk.

And the movie has it's "moments". Here's mine...

Savio: What man? You have some problem in life kya?

Amar Kaul: Yes man. Life is a problem...

O Captain, My Captain - To Dada!

O Captain, My Captain,
a fairy tale is done.
The team has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, I look back thanking!

O heart, heart, heart
For the winning habit you brought,
At home and abroad.
And today, as you, my Captain retire,
I stand, salute and admire!

Moments... Again!

Dhoni and Bhajji jumping in the air celebrating Watson's wicket in the first innings.
The Ponting runout in second innings.
Bhajji getting Hayden again.
Dhoni getting Dada to captain, calling Kumble to take the trophy.
And then getting hands on the trophy itself.

Although the trophy has always looked trashy, (atleast it's getting better compared to the first one), the fact that an Indian captain got hands on it all over again just made it very very visually appealing.

Mission acccomplished by our lads, I say.

Jumbo!

There wont be another! Thank you!

Serendipity of a master!

Until now that is. Had seen Pyaasa when I was a child with Dad and it didn't stay on after that. Saw it again recently and along with it Kaagaz Ke Phool and Mr and Mrs. 55.

And right now am in the phase of realizing what a genius the man was and how late I woke up to the party.

Like they said, better now than late!

The state of our stadiums

No good. Went early morning today to Chinnaswamy and no information was available on where to get tickets, when will the gates open and on whether were tickets still available. That I still thought this was better than Kotla should be a fairly honest reflection of the state of our stadiums of the most popular game in the second most populated nation of the world.

Of course, all this because Ticketpro itself in the first place proved to be a mess of a site with "unexpected errors" cropping up everytime you proceed to pay. Another friend got lucky on the 6th attempt.

Cleaning in Progress

Settled in Bangalore. Took a while to get the net connection back in. But finally through. Will be regular from here on. Definition of regular being worked on.

And for all it's worth, comments is back up too.

Bucket List

1.) Watch Clapton in Concert.
2.) Watch Led Zep in Concert.
3.) Watch an ODI/Test in every cricketing nation.
4.) Direct a movie
5.) Direct a successful movie.
6.) Watch a Sacramento Kings versus LA Lakers game at Arco Arena
7.) Watch 1 All-Star game
8.) Drink draught beer in a German city
9.) Visit the Jack Daniels distillery
10.) Go wine-tasting at Champagne
11.) Stay at Waldorf Astoria, NY
12.) Stay at Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong
13.) (Repeat, cos it's really important:) Travel around the world watching cricket
14.) Blow some really big money at the Bellagio

That's it for now.

Kumbh Mela Brothers ?

1. Sayaji Shinde and Mohammed Kaif
2. Nasser Hussain and Vladimir Putin
3. Damien Martyn and Hrithik Roshan
4. Dinesh Karthik and Hashan Tilekaratne
5. Swapnil Asnodkar and Romesh Kaluwitharana

More when I can think of them. More invited. :-)

A post-mortem: Deccan Chargers

This blog is dying. It's been for a while now. A lot of things have contributed to it's downfall.My negligence, lack of time (really), other interests taking over writing but I do want to keep it alive for as long as I can. So in a small initiative I think from now on I'll keep coming back once every week to put something on. I should've done it long back but better late than never.(We cant do without cliches can we?)

So to start off with, for all Deccan Chargers fans here's an appeal to not lose heart and keep our hopes high. We will come back next year and irrespective of whatever we do, we will do better than this year. However, a quick post mortem of what went wrong.

1.Laxman's captaincy: Should we've won our first game against Royals we would have been a different team today. Laxman should've given that over to Sanjay Bangar. That game took the morale of the Royals to a new high and that of the Deccan's to a new low.

2.Erratic Gibbs: He just failed to fire.

3.Afridi the dog, devil and angel: He bowled well and kept pegging the run-rate and taking crucial wickets yet didn't contribute a dime with the bat. If he'd scored even 30 runs more over these dismal ten games, DC would've been a contender for the semis. He failed everytime he was expected to deliver down the order.

4.Local talent not firing: Pragyan Ojha and lately Venu were the only guys who stood their ground. Vijay, Krishna, Ravi Teja even Sanjay Bangar- none of them were consistent.

5.Vaas and Zoysa: Hate them. Vaas came off a series where he was smacked for a six on his last ball and he continued that form and I doubt if Zoysa ever was in any form except his own uniform.

6. Tepid Franchise Owners: We've heard every franchise owner stand up for or (in one case, uptil now) against their team's captain's or strategies. Only one owner has detached himself from the whole proceeding. Not to say making sweeping statements would've made a world of difference but hey someone please own up this team!

Depressing, I tell you...

Catches of IPL- Part I

a.) Gibbs doing a superman to pouch Badrinath off Afridi at backward point at Chennai.

b.) Steyn,a full-length dive at a critical moment of the match to dismiss Afridi at Bangalore.

c.) Sean Marsh, at backward point again, catching Kalyankrishna off Pathan at Hyderabad. Did remarkably well to get stuck into it.

d.) Yuvraj Singh, a one-handed superlative effort to dismiss Manoj Tiwary at Mohali.

e.) Both Warne and Kohli went for Dinda's catch. Warne missed by an inch and Trivedi caught it at his fingertips. If this is not teamwork what is...

So that was for the first leg.

Wonder if I've missed any other favourites...

The irony of it is not lost on me...

Familiar?

Our lips move but we can't hear what we're saying... Familiar?

One for the Deccan Chargers

When the first edition of ICL was getting underway, I'd written about how I was looking forward to it and now that grand daddy IPL is on it's legs, you can only imagine my excitement of wanting to sit in front of the TV all day!

For the record, yours truly is all for Deccan Chargers!What fun is sport if you don't have a team to support.And for the few of you who visit this place and the fewer of you who might wonder why Deccan Chargers, here's why:

Gilchrist: For his knock against Pakis at the Bellerive Oval, for his fastest double century(at that time) and for his knock in the final of the 2007 WC and for his walk in the 2003 WC.The only cricketer for whom I've written something.He was undoubtedly my most favorite overseas cricket player perhaps only preceeded by Lara and closely followed by Klusener.

Laxman: For his 167, way before his 281, which was way before his precious little fifties in inevitably every overseas win or draw that India has played in.

Gibbs: Remember Dan Van Bunge? Or his trademark six over extra cover. Flat, fast and furious.

Symmo: For his knock against Pakis in 2003 WC, for his shoulder charge against the streaker( Ha, ha I saw it live!), for his throw to run out Uthappa by taking out the middle stump in the Twenty20 World Cup, for his belief and ability to trust that he will effect the run out on his own and he did! Symmo is just Symmo!

Afridi: I hate him for being a Paki but I did like him when he once carted Kumble for 24 runs in an over... ;-)

Rohit Sharma: For his 50 in the Twenty20 WC against SA. For his 6, with which he got there!

Robin Singh:: The self-effacing coach, who as a player,gave it all he had with whatever cricketing ability he had.For saving us from disgrace at Benoni, for the final of the Independence Cup when Kanitkar took all the glory for his last-over four but nobody remembered Robin Singh's crucial knock of 80-odd at #3, for his dives and for giving nothing less than 100% for every moment that he spent on the field.

And last not the least, the Deccan Chargers for their logo and their wallpapers.

I do hate the Sri Lankans in their side but I guess with so many other fave players, I'll manage the stink of their presence.

Very simply and quickly

This, cos a few people have been asking me how did this whole thing came about.

Dreams do come true if you want them so badly to come true.

a.) Always wanted to watch a match in Australia.
b.) Always dreamt for the winning side to be India.
c.) One hope was Star Cricket's Dream Job.That's now a footnote.Crashed out of the final 18.
d.) In the Aussie summer of 2008, only 2 matches were to go before the best-of-3 finals.
e.) Received a call from History Channel, asking would I like to go to Brisbane for the second final cos I'd won their online quiz.

Yep, it's true. If you do want things so so badly in your life, I guess they do come to you, sooner or later...Visa prayers got answered and the rest is history!

Thank God!We often say that but this time I do mean it more than any other time I've said it. And for the record, that match did turn out to be the last match of the Ozzie summer of 2008 and the last tri-series final in Australia.

Amen!

Next stop: South Africa! ;-)

The Proclamation

A potpourri of emotions, an expression, a movement and then... "Oye!"

The admonishment and then back to normalcy.

Looking for a script to expand the above.

Enough of...

I'm done with what women want.

Now I want to dwell on what men want.

I think in one phrase, a "pick-me-up" kind of friend.

If I'm down, pick-me-up.
If I'm high, take me higher

OTIS Elevators? The finest in business???

Phenomenal, what else?

Excepting the World Cup final in 1983, was this our greatest ODI win ever?

Brisbane, 4th March, 2008

I was there!

The last match of the Australian summer of '08... :-)

Passion

It's a dangerous thing. Passion for work, hobbies, women...

And if you're onto wines, it's a different ballgame altogether! :-)

Calvin Hobbes Ke Taare Zameen Perth...

a. ) Am a sucker for useless movie trivia so here's one :

The sequence of the maths quiz question of 3 X 9 and the subsequent clash of the planets in Ishaan's mind is taken from the Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snowgoons in which Calvin comes with an answer of 6 to the question of "6+5 = " . For the record, the sequence is on pages 38 & 39 and Ishaan's answer was 3.

b.) The look on Ponting's face in the Perth post match press conference.Priceless doesn't quite sum it up!

Shameful , Ponting, Shameful!

i) It could well be true that Bhajji said what he said.
But how and why can one's man word be considered more pious than the other's in a judicial hearing? And if the umpires, who were the neutral parties, didn't hear anything, shouldn't it have gone in Bhajji's favor? After all, our case was that nothing objectionable was uttered and the umpires said they hadn't heard anything objectionable.

ii) Sameer, a dear friend, had a neat theory and I quote him. " Maybe he said, Behen Ki, Maa Ki... and it came across as Monkey..."

iii) The most shocking umpiring I've seen in a while. And while Australia have received many many decisions in their favor at home against a number of touring teams, this test match alone has to take the cake.

iv) Kumble: Like Sunny said, you're a fantastic ambassador for Indian Cricket. We're proud to have you on our side.

v) Ponting: Your batting is the only good thing about your existence on earth.I would wish even my worst enemy to wear some more character than what you displayed on Day 5 of the Sydney test!

vi.) Life moves on.I now own the entire set of C&H including the Sunday Pages and Tenth Anniversary Book. :-)

To '007!

January : Musical.
February : Eventful.
March : Slipping.
April : Recovering.
May : Smiling.
June : Fretting.
July : Cribbing.
August : Hoping.
September: Thinking.
October : Reeling.
November : Crashing!
December : Halting.

2008...

U C ICL ?

I will.Lara,Inzy,Zulu,Cairns! I love them all. Okie, I dont like anyone in particular from Jets or Superstars but that's only 2 teams out of 6 which means I've teams not only to cheer for but also teams that I wish would get buried in this competition. So effectively, its like any major cricket tourney where I've my favorites to win, underdogs to cheer for and not-so-faves that I wish would would get humiliated.

I'll tell you another reason why you should watch ICL. 20:20 is fast becoming the most dynamic format of cricket and it's a pity that the Laras and Zulus of the world couldn't play this form of the game. As a result I'm not gonna let the BCCI-ICL tussle coming in the way of seeing some of the best in the game ever, pick up the bat and ball for an honest contest. Infact I'll also get over the fact that we might've some crappy commentators but hey we might've Dean Jones, the original Piper or should I say Pfeiffer!

A lot of us fans were left wondering how a Keith Miller or Vinoo Mankad might've approached ODIs. Thanks to Zee, we won't be left wondering how a Lance Klusener or Chris Cairns might've approached 20:20!

Long and short of it being, if they turned up even for the Ugandan Cricket League, I would still watch them...:-)

Run, Issac , Run!

Dedicated to myself!

Finally, a post!

I think I owe it to anyone’s who’s come here even by mistake. I know it. I promised blogging and I’ve been procrastinating. I made an attempt in my last post on one topic that actually comes really easy to me- good lines (or corny?) and I came a cropper. Its time I made amends. The guilt is over powering.

So I start again with something that comes easy to me. Good lines. But these lines are really good because they’re not mine. Here’s a selection of some of the best lines I’ve come across in some of my favorite movies. I’m trying to make this list a selection of some under rated lines because I think history has bestowed enough glory on “ Of all the gin joints…” but not enough on “ I hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck....” (Bogart, Maltese Falcon, 1941).

The make-you-fall-in-love line: I had to, had to begin with the best line any man has ever spoken to any woman, in any language in motion picture:
“You make me wanna be a better man”, Jack Nicholson at his charmingly flirty evil best over a dinner table to Helen Hunt. (As Good as It Gets, 1997)

The devilish-like-hell line: “Detective, Detective… Dee…ttecc…tiivvee.” the drawl of Kevin Spacey with blood on his hands in the lobby of a police station to Brad Pitt. (Se7en,1995)

The cool-as-a-cucumber line: “ When you ought to shoot, shoot, don’t talk”, Eli Wallach in a foamy bathtub with his right index finger on the trigger that has just laid the one armed man to rest. (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, 1966)

The hurtful-husband’s-death-knell line: The line stuns you because of the dialogue preceding it. Here’s how it goes:

Larry: Do you enjoy sucking him off?
Anna: Yes!
Larry: You like his cock?
Anna: I love it!
Larry: You like him coming in your face?
Anna: Yes!
Larry: What does it taste like?
Anna: It tastes like you but sweeter!
Larry: That's the spirit. Thank you. Thank you for your honesty. Now fuck off and die, you fucked up slag.

Clive Owen and Julia Roberts take off on one another in one of the most hurting onscreen moments .The build up and the intensity of this last line has to be seen to be believed. (Closer, 2004)

The you-couldn’t-wait-to-listen line: “Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too..." . Morgan Freeman. Seriously, who else? ( Shawshank Redemption, 1994).

The I-wanna-say-this-someday line:
“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster…”, Ray Liotta in his performance of a lifetime as a rags to guns Henry Hill. ( Goodfellas, 1995)


The least-cheesy-Bond-movie line : I’m not too much of a Bond fan but I gotta say Daniel Craig was superb. Some of his lines with his ladylove were as flirtatious as any in the history of Hollywood. My favorite of the lot:
Vesper Lynd: If the only thing left of you was your smile and your little finger, you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever known.
James Bond: That's because you know what I can do with my little finger... (Casino Royale, 2007)

The stand-up-and-applaud line : There are a few movies when you watching them, you end up rooting for the actor, the ones you feel like jumping on your bed and cheering for the guy who’s fighting a lot of odds. Al Pacino was fighting a lot of odds and I was jumping like crazy when he said:
“Attica! Attica! Remember Attica?” (Dog Day Afternoon, 1975)

The Godfather line: So at this time into this post I’m thinking how can I not mention Godfather. I don’t want those heard-over-again-and-again-lines which is also practically impossible when it comes to Godfather so I’ll go for a line that is probably an underdog in the trilogy. To my mind, it’s one of the best I-love-you-but-I’ll-kill you lines on cinema.
Michael: I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart. (Godfather II, 1975)

And finally a dialogue between Natalie Portman and Jude Law from Closer, the mother of all or any movie with relationships as a theme:

Dan: At six, we stand round the computer and read the next day's page, make final changes, put in a few euphemisms to amuse ourselves...
Alice: Such as?
Dan: "He was a convivial fellow" - meaning he was an alcoholic. "He valued his privacy" - Gay. "He enjoyed his privacy" - Raging queen.
Alice: What would my euphemism be?
Dan: She was... disarming.
Alice: That's not a euphemism.
Dan: Yes, it is.

Now, I haven’t ever complimented a lady with the word “disarming.” I wish I did…

Or maybe I must!

Fahrenheit 102!

I've begun my bit all over again at blogging.This also comes at the momentous occasion of a 100 posts on this blog. No speeches on how I never thought this day would come blah blah blah but yes I want to thank my Airtel Broadband for keeping it going.

And since I've no defined direction on what to write on this one, I think I'll make this into one of my random posts with no head or tail or body.(Basically if you're one of the 2 people who I think visit my blog, you'll be treated to the same level of perfection in this post as the previous 101...)

I actually had stashed a collection of my own cheesy one-liners at college and I think its time these pearls were unleashed on the blogosphere so here goes...

1.) I dont remember a single one and my computer crashed a few months back taking along with it a fair bit of data , so it'll will take some time for me to recollect.Please move on to point number 2 while I recollect.

2.) Damn,I still cant remember a single line...

3.) Amnesia: Can people actually pinpoint the exact moment when it strikes?

Winters!

And how I'm scared of them.

Winter pushes you to be protective of yourself.It pushes you into your bed, scares you to come out to drive on the road and makes you feel lonely. And I get the feeling that this winter is going to be particularly bad. Probably the worst in sometime. More so, because events in the last week have shook me up a bit.

Maybe blogging will pick up... :-)