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... :-)
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Fixing it when it aint broke!
I must confess something’s disturbing me a lot at 12:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning. India has just got to the final of an extreme humdinger of a tournament called the ICC Twenty20 World Cup. I’m bleary eyed but a colleague’s messages over the course of the tournament have kept me immensely engrossed. For starters, he’s predicted correctly, every result of every major match in the tournament even before the matches had got underway. He’s suggesting big money, sponsors, Asian influence and the inevitable dirty word - “Match-Fixing.”
Today, when when Symonds & Hayden were cruising towards 188 in the semi-final , I got a message from him saying. “Too much Naatak, India is winning this… ”.
Another message from another colleague, “Is this fixed?”
The verdict on the final is that Pakistan is winning it.
I don’t know. And I don’t want to know!
Today, when when Symonds & Hayden were cruising towards 188 in the semi-final , I got a message from him saying. “Too much Naatak, India is winning this… ”.
Another message from another colleague, “Is this fixed?”
The verdict on the final is that Pakistan is winning it.
I don’t know. And I don’t want to know!
Monday, September 03, 2007
I shall overcome or The Conspiracy!
It always seems to me that the modern marvels of cell phones, computers, credit cards, online bookings, DTH or music system are always conspiring against me. It’s almost like each of them have been selected as snipers to be used in the second edition of Reservoir Dogs to harass me to the extent of beating the shit out of my mental faculties.
Wiser people before me have suggested that examples prove theories better so here are a few:
1. I’m currently expecting to get an amount of Rs. 1832 to be refunded to my Credit Card account. The transaction took place in February.
2. I recently reversed a purchase of Rs. 13649 on my Debit Card because of some shoddy customer service at an Essar-Virgin Mobile Store. It’s supposed to take effect in the next 48 hours.
3. My mobile charger conked off 2 weeks back and I’d to spoil 3 hours running from store to store on a Sunday morning hunting for the innocuous looking instrument
4. At any point of time, my broadband modem might just hang. It has some stupid problem that 2 different service executives have failed to rectify.
5. I’m yet to fill the form the cable operator wants me to fill to get Star Cricket permanently on my TV.
Screw the 21st century comfort of ATMs and Credit Cards and Internet. I, for sure, led a more hassle free life in the last century!
The funny thing is once you actually get all or any of this sorted , there is this definite sense of accomplishment but the whole process might just leave you too exhausted for you to even realize that it’s over…
Wiser people before me have suggested that examples prove theories better so here are a few:
1. I’m currently expecting to get an amount of Rs. 1832 to be refunded to my Credit Card account. The transaction took place in February.
2. I recently reversed a purchase of Rs. 13649 on my Debit Card because of some shoddy customer service at an Essar-Virgin Mobile Store. It’s supposed to take effect in the next 48 hours.
3. My mobile charger conked off 2 weeks back and I’d to spoil 3 hours running from store to store on a Sunday morning hunting for the innocuous looking instrument
4. At any point of time, my broadband modem might just hang. It has some stupid problem that 2 different service executives have failed to rectify.
5. I’m yet to fill the form the cable operator wants me to fill to get Star Cricket permanently on my TV.
Screw the 21st century comfort of ATMs and Credit Cards and Internet. I, for sure, led a more hassle free life in the last century!
The funny thing is once you actually get all or any of this sorted , there is this definite sense of accomplishment but the whole process might just leave you too exhausted for you to even realize that it’s over…
Sunday, July 15, 2007
The Passerby
I generally refrain from posting about my childhood days. I have a feeling that it might make me feel bad that they’ll never return and I’ll be left brooding over how great life used to be in those days. Yet, I guess I should do this exercise sometime lest all those memories themselves sweep by with the waves of time and age. So here’s a list of some of those things from childhood that I could’ve spent a lifetime on…
My pet: My dog, Hero. We named him after Hero, the horse in the Phantom series. He was nothing short of a roaring cub when I first saw him. He stayed with us for over 10 years and was simply the best looking living being that ever walked on this planet. Ferocious like a wolf at times and as gentle as a rabbit at times, he made coming back home from school that much more special. If I made a list of all the things of my childhood that I’d want back in my life today, Hero would top the list by a mile. You had to be blind to not admire Hero!
Cricket: Galli cricket, to be precise. I used to play a lot of matches in tenth standard in flannels in lush outfields. I was reasonably good and made it to the trials of the under-16 U.P. state selection as well but my best memories of winning are from the matches we used to play in the lanes in front of our house.
Television: TaleSpin and the underdog of a pilot called Baloo, always fighting bad engines, a demanding boss and some wicked people in every episode. I used to identify with Baloo simply because Baloo’s favorite pastime when not flying would be to aimlessly laze around in his room.
Video Games: Contra, Road Fighter and the incomparable Mario, especially the latter. I might’ve become India’s answer to Albert Einstein if I’d spend those countless hours on science and research but what the heck!Getting to the princess was worth every second.
Hunger: There was something about Parle-G when I was growing up. It was a part of a daily snack routine. Once at 11 in the morning and the other pack at 5 in the evening. The other accompaniment to Parle-G used to be this particular brand of rusk biscuits called Madhurima Rusk.
Thirst: Those days, a bottle of Limca or Fanta would be consumed only on special occasions, like someone’s birthday or maybe once a week after the Sunday matches. The common favorite to beat the heat used to be something called a Chuski or the lip-smacking Kulfi.
Movies: Our acceptability of Hindi movies used to be far higher in school days. Believe it or not, watching movies like Waqt Hamara Hain, Aaj Ja Shehanshah, Fateh , Tirangaa and Tadipaar used to give us a kick.
Cycling: Racing on our cycles used to be another cracker of a pastime. The other variants of this would be slow cycling, letting go off your hands off the handles or trying to skid the back tyre of the cycle by braking suddenly and leaving a mark in the ground. The last of the lot used to be most fun!
Women: Let’s face it; impressing women had a different meaning those days. It used to mean a lot special. You also thought your chances with a particular girl were better if you got a few 3-pointers in a basketball game or scored above 30 and hit a couple of boundaries in a cricket match.
Computers: It used to be so hard to get hold of one when I was growing up. I don’t remember a single occasion when I was in a computer lab in school and I didn’t have to share a system.
Physics and Literature: An unlikely set but my favorite subjects in those days. Whitman, Tennyson, Shelley, O’ Henry, Shakespeare, Maugham, Greene used to be names that would mesmerize us. Our group was so impressed with O’Henry’s “After Twenty Years” , that we actually have a pact to meet at a particular restaurant in Ghaziabad in 2017! Newton, on the other hand seemed to have a role in every conceivable principle of Physics. It’d be rather safe, in case you were in doubt, in an exam as to why a particular force acted in a particular way to respectfully leave your answer as: “This occurs because of Newton’s law of motion.”
Sometimes when I look back at my childhood, it’s amazing how much life’s changed. Those days, one of our common grudges used to be “When’re we going to grow up?” and these days, our oft repeated grudge is “Why did we’ve to grow up?”
It’s a funny life...
My pet: My dog, Hero. We named him after Hero, the horse in the Phantom series. He was nothing short of a roaring cub when I first saw him. He stayed with us for over 10 years and was simply the best looking living being that ever walked on this planet. Ferocious like a wolf at times and as gentle as a rabbit at times, he made coming back home from school that much more special. If I made a list of all the things of my childhood that I’d want back in my life today, Hero would top the list by a mile. You had to be blind to not admire Hero!
Cricket: Galli cricket, to be precise. I used to play a lot of matches in tenth standard in flannels in lush outfields. I was reasonably good and made it to the trials of the under-16 U.P. state selection as well but my best memories of winning are from the matches we used to play in the lanes in front of our house.
Television: TaleSpin and the underdog of a pilot called Baloo, always fighting bad engines, a demanding boss and some wicked people in every episode. I used to identify with Baloo simply because Baloo’s favorite pastime when not flying would be to aimlessly laze around in his room.
Video Games: Contra, Road Fighter and the incomparable Mario, especially the latter. I might’ve become India’s answer to Albert Einstein if I’d spend those countless hours on science and research but what the heck!Getting to the princess was worth every second.
Hunger: There was something about Parle-G when I was growing up. It was a part of a daily snack routine. Once at 11 in the morning and the other pack at 5 in the evening. The other accompaniment to Parle-G used to be this particular brand of rusk biscuits called Madhurima Rusk.
Thirst: Those days, a bottle of Limca or Fanta would be consumed only on special occasions, like someone’s birthday or maybe once a week after the Sunday matches. The common favorite to beat the heat used to be something called a Chuski or the lip-smacking Kulfi.
Movies: Our acceptability of Hindi movies used to be far higher in school days. Believe it or not, watching movies like Waqt Hamara Hain, Aaj Ja Shehanshah, Fateh , Tirangaa and Tadipaar used to give us a kick.
Cycling: Racing on our cycles used to be another cracker of a pastime. The other variants of this would be slow cycling, letting go off your hands off the handles or trying to skid the back tyre of the cycle by braking suddenly and leaving a mark in the ground. The last of the lot used to be most fun!
Women: Let’s face it; impressing women had a different meaning those days. It used to mean a lot special. You also thought your chances with a particular girl were better if you got a few 3-pointers in a basketball game or scored above 30 and hit a couple of boundaries in a cricket match.
Computers: It used to be so hard to get hold of one when I was growing up. I don’t remember a single occasion when I was in a computer lab in school and I didn’t have to share a system.
Physics and Literature: An unlikely set but my favorite subjects in those days. Whitman, Tennyson, Shelley, O’ Henry, Shakespeare, Maugham, Greene used to be names that would mesmerize us. Our group was so impressed with O’Henry’s “After Twenty Years” , that we actually have a pact to meet at a particular restaurant in Ghaziabad in 2017! Newton, on the other hand seemed to have a role in every conceivable principle of Physics. It’d be rather safe, in case you were in doubt, in an exam as to why a particular force acted in a particular way to respectfully leave your answer as: “This occurs because of Newton’s law of motion.”
Sometimes when I look back at my childhood, it’s amazing how much life’s changed. Those days, one of our common grudges used to be “When’re we going to grow up?” and these days, our oft repeated grudge is “Why did we’ve to grow up?”
It’s a funny life...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Here's to Cricket, kid!
Can’t say more.
Posting a compilation of some of my favorite cricketing trivia from around the world.
Jack MacBryan is an interesting name in the annals of cricket. Wikipedia describes MacBryan as " an amateur and right-hand batsman" who also was the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1925 . He played a test for England at Old Trafford against SA in 1924 , that got washed out after 66.5 overs were bowled. He never played a test again making him the only cricketer to have never bowled a single delivery, caught anything or scored a run in his test career! Wikipedia also describes his test appearance as "imperceptible".
I think a lot of people know about who had the best streak of successive half centuries in Tests. The record belongs to Everton Weekes. However, a lesser known fact is that the best streak in ODIs is that of Javed Miandad’s who had 9 successive scores above 50 in ODIs.
Chris Tremlett of England was on a hat-trick against Bangladesh in a 2005 ODI. Mohammed Ashraful , the batsman strode in and defended with a straight bat, only to see the ball hit the ground and then proceed to hit the stumps. Tremlett didn't get his hat-trick though. The bails refused to budge!
If all the names of cricketers were written in alphabetical order Zulqarnain would be the last name on that list. (His name is also a synonym for “nothing noteworthy” in all languages.)
Of the 12 team captains in the 1999 World Cup, Hansie Cronje was the only one who didn’t wear a jersey numbered 1. He wore the number 5 and since his death no South African has ever worn that number.
Eknath Solkar at 1.96 has the highest catches per test match record. Bob Simpson is next best with a fairly distant rate of 1.77.
When Craig Wishart was caught in 2001 test at Chittagong by Mohhamad Sharif, then 16, off Mohammad Ashraful’s (then 17) legspin, he became a victim to the youngest combination to take a test wicket. ( If you’re thinking that this is quite a bizarre fact to know, you know how I felt writing this! )
Merv Hughes has the most complicated test hat-trick in tests spread over 2 innings and 3 different overs. It was accomplished at Perth against WI in 1988. When I read about it, I thought it was so complicated that the person who pointed out that it was hat-trick must’ve been knighted. Or at least taken out for a beer by Merv.
Apparently, Brian Lara was dropped on 18 once in a first class innings. He added 483 more in the same innings. (Ha… ha… I like the way I've framed this one.) The culprit was Chris Scott, the wicketkeeper.
Two-thirds of the world drives on the right but not one team among the test playing nations drives on the right.
Surprisingly, unlike the best actor Oscar, no one can be a Wisden Cricketer of the year more than once.
One for the Monty! The first instance of a Sikh bowling to a Sikh in test cricket was when Harbhajan bowled to Panesar in a Nagpur test match.
And one for my most favorite cricketer: Brian Lara has scored the maximum number of runs in tests in a 12 month period. It amounts to an astounding 1949 runs between April 2003 and April 2004.
Mike Hussey’s highest score in both forms of the game is 156. His is the highest among players who have highest identical scores in both ODI’s and Tests. The next best is K. Srikkanth with 123.
And lastly, a gem of a freak dismissal.
Over to a Wisden Cricketer archive article : Playing for Warwickshire, in 1948 against Middlesex, Donnelly had reached 55 when a delivery from the left-arm spinner Jack Young hit his foot and bounced over his head, landing about a foot behind the stumps. Strangely the ball then returned to bowl him - from the wrong side of the stumps. The ball may have picked up some backspin, though a bowler's footmark was thought the most likely explanation.
Ah… The game!
Source : The veritable guru, Steven Lynch
Posting a compilation of some of my favorite cricketing trivia from around the world.
Jack MacBryan is an interesting name in the annals of cricket. Wikipedia describes MacBryan as " an amateur and right-hand batsman" who also was the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1925 . He played a test for England at Old Trafford against SA in 1924 , that got washed out after 66.5 overs were bowled. He never played a test again making him the only cricketer to have never bowled a single delivery, caught anything or scored a run in his test career! Wikipedia also describes his test appearance as "imperceptible".
I think a lot of people know about who had the best streak of successive half centuries in Tests. The record belongs to Everton Weekes. However, a lesser known fact is that the best streak in ODIs is that of Javed Miandad’s who had 9 successive scores above 50 in ODIs.
Chris Tremlett of England was on a hat-trick against Bangladesh in a 2005 ODI. Mohammed Ashraful , the batsman strode in and defended with a straight bat, only to see the ball hit the ground and then proceed to hit the stumps. Tremlett didn't get his hat-trick though. The bails refused to budge!
If all the names of cricketers were written in alphabetical order Zulqarnain would be the last name on that list. (His name is also a synonym for “nothing noteworthy” in all languages.)
Of the 12 team captains in the 1999 World Cup, Hansie Cronje was the only one who didn’t wear a jersey numbered 1. He wore the number 5 and since his death no South African has ever worn that number.
Eknath Solkar at 1.96 has the highest catches per test match record. Bob Simpson is next best with a fairly distant rate of 1.77.
When Craig Wishart was caught in 2001 test at Chittagong by Mohhamad Sharif, then 16, off Mohammad Ashraful’s (then 17) legspin, he became a victim to the youngest combination to take a test wicket. ( If you’re thinking that this is quite a bizarre fact to know, you know how I felt writing this! )
Merv Hughes has the most complicated test hat-trick in tests spread over 2 innings and 3 different overs. It was accomplished at Perth against WI in 1988. When I read about it, I thought it was so complicated that the person who pointed out that it was hat-trick must’ve been knighted. Or at least taken out for a beer by Merv.
Apparently, Brian Lara was dropped on 18 once in a first class innings. He added 483 more in the same innings. (Ha… ha… I like the way I've framed this one.) The culprit was Chris Scott, the wicketkeeper.
Two-thirds of the world drives on the right but not one team among the test playing nations drives on the right.
Surprisingly, unlike the best actor Oscar, no one can be a Wisden Cricketer of the year more than once.
One for the Monty! The first instance of a Sikh bowling to a Sikh in test cricket was when Harbhajan bowled to Panesar in a Nagpur test match.
And one for my most favorite cricketer: Brian Lara has scored the maximum number of runs in tests in a 12 month period. It amounts to an astounding 1949 runs between April 2003 and April 2004.
Mike Hussey’s highest score in both forms of the game is 156. His is the highest among players who have highest identical scores in both ODI’s and Tests. The next best is K. Srikkanth with 123.
And lastly, a gem of a freak dismissal.
Over to a Wisden Cricketer archive article : Playing for Warwickshire, in 1948 against Middlesex, Donnelly had reached 55 when a delivery from the left-arm spinner Jack Young hit his foot and bounced over his head, landing about a foot behind the stumps. Strangely the ball then returned to bowl him - from the wrong side of the stumps. The ball may have picked up some backspin, though a bowler's footmark was thought the most likely explanation.
Ah… The game!
Source : The veritable guru, Steven Lynch
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Broken Panes
P.S. ( The Pre-Script) : Nothing eventful has taken place in the last 2 weeks to voice an opinion over and hence a garbled mess of a train of thought follows. Proceed at your own risk and do not forget to recommend the following post to your enemies.
Dial M for Murder is an excellent movie. Of the 10 movies directed by Hitchcock that I've seen thus far, I think it's his best. But since IMDB credits him with 66 movies that he's directed, I do humbly acknowledge that the excitement could very well be premature.
I bought "Something Under the Bed is Drooling" today. This leaves me with only 2 more C&H books to complete.
While on comics, I think it's pertinent to mention that as a tribute to Georges Remi's birth centenary, I'm also on track to finish off the remaining 5 Tintin comics that I haven't read. My favorite thus far have been the Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure.
I got hooked really bad to Woody Allen movies last month and the craze hasn't subsided yet. I've run through every Music World, Planet M and Crossword store in Delhi to get some of his movies but to no avail. If you know any place that you could direct me to, please do leave a comment. ( I've ransacked Palika and depleted Seventymm's collection too...)
Me and Bro are huge Sanju Baba fans so when the world said Shootout at Lokhandwala was mediocre while I loved it for Sanju Baba's daredevil fling of the bulletproof jacket, I was a little worried if Bro would think it was over the top too but a short conversation with him alleviated all those fears. ( And now I cant wait for Alibaug...)
Paul Collingwood is easily the guy who's pulled out the best catches of our generation. Youtube can smash any of your disagreements to the above. Your best defence could be Adam Bacher but I said "catches" not " a single catch".
I love the Zen Estilo jingle. I think it really has as much potential as the Hutch song or the Airtel tune. It's just the sort of thing that people would talk about and pass the ringtones around of and I get the feeling that Maruti is clearly underselling it.
If I get to make one movie in my lifetime, I'll flip a coin to decide whether it should be a murder mystery or a story on relationships. And then , the winner of this round would compete against a gangster theme on another flip of the same coin.
My favorite TV programme thus far has been this series called "Exploring the Unknown" that used to come on AXN. Nobody I've spoken this about to, has ever seen this programme. If you know what I'm talking about and you're a woman aged between 24- 32 , you are my soulmate and I'm supposed to be dating you. I know you're itching to call me. My mobile number begins with 9 and just to see if you're of my calibre I want you to find out the remaining 9 digits!
This is an end to your torture. Thanks for being nice. You've inched my blog closer to 7000 hits.
P.S. : Hoping underdog Cavs get past the Spurs...
Dial M for Murder is an excellent movie. Of the 10 movies directed by Hitchcock that I've seen thus far, I think it's his best. But since IMDB credits him with 66 movies that he's directed, I do humbly acknowledge that the excitement could very well be premature.
I bought "Something Under the Bed is Drooling" today. This leaves me with only 2 more C&H books to complete.
While on comics, I think it's pertinent to mention that as a tribute to Georges Remi's birth centenary, I'm also on track to finish off the remaining 5 Tintin comics that I haven't read. My favorite thus far have been the Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure.
I got hooked really bad to Woody Allen movies last month and the craze hasn't subsided yet. I've run through every Music World, Planet M and Crossword store in Delhi to get some of his movies but to no avail. If you know any place that you could direct me to, please do leave a comment. ( I've ransacked Palika and depleted Seventymm's collection too...)
Me and Bro are huge Sanju Baba fans so when the world said Shootout at Lokhandwala was mediocre while I loved it for Sanju Baba's daredevil fling of the bulletproof jacket, I was a little worried if Bro would think it was over the top too but a short conversation with him alleviated all those fears. ( And now I cant wait for Alibaug...)
Paul Collingwood is easily the guy who's pulled out the best catches of our generation. Youtube can smash any of your disagreements to the above. Your best defence could be Adam Bacher but I said "catches" not " a single catch".
I love the Zen Estilo jingle. I think it really has as much potential as the Hutch song or the Airtel tune. It's just the sort of thing that people would talk about and pass the ringtones around of and I get the feeling that Maruti is clearly underselling it.
If I get to make one movie in my lifetime, I'll flip a coin to decide whether it should be a murder mystery or a story on relationships. And then , the winner of this round would compete against a gangster theme on another flip of the same coin.
My favorite TV programme thus far has been this series called "Exploring the Unknown" that used to come on AXN. Nobody I've spoken this about to, has ever seen this programme. If you know what I'm talking about and you're a woman aged between 24- 32 , you are my soulmate and I'm supposed to be dating you. I know you're itching to call me. My mobile number begins with 9 and just to see if you're of my calibre I want you to find out the remaining 9 digits!
This is an end to your torture. Thanks for being nice. You've inched my blog closer to 7000 hits.
P.S. : Hoping underdog Cavs get past the Spurs...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The List- II ( Of a different kind...)
Call it breathtaking inspiration or cheap imitation, one can’t deny that Hollywood has always served enough for an Indian film maker to directly lift scripts from any English movie. Some acknowledge it, some don’t , some deny and some fret but at the end of the day one can always find that one little scene, that twist towards the end or that line that acts as a complete giveaway.
A couple of weeks back I happened to see Tara Rum Pum regarding which, Khalid Mohammed wrote in the Hindustan Times “…the screenplay of this movie is as original as the output from a Xerox machine”. A number of times while watching a Hindi movie, I’ve jumped from my seat saying, “Hey! That’s a copy…” and while I wish I’d made a note of every single jump thus far , I guess it’s never too late for anything. So here goes a list of my top copied scenes that I recollect sitting in my room in an attempted chronological order.
1. Tara Rum Pum: The most recent copied scene I’ve seen. Saif Ali Khan begging for money in a New York pub. Co-incidentally even Russell Crowe was also supposed to be in a New York pub in Cinderella Man. I picked this particular scene because of how Ron Howard used a different shade of light to show the interiors of the pub. And Siddharth Anand was inspired in his sleep to give the same effect in his movie.
2. Guru: Abhishek Bachchan’s trial scene towards the end of the movie seemed a little too similar to Howard Hughes deposing before Senator Brewster in the Aviator. Though many differences can be noted in this case, I think it’s the treatment and how Alan Alda and Roshan Seth act as impeccable judges that make the scenes similar. Al Pacino’s deposition in Godfather-II could also possibly be an inspiration.
3. Dhoom II: Surprised? Well, the scene between Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan over a table in a restaurant and the ensuing conversation was a lift from the Al Pacino-De Niro classic Heat. In my books, I’d refer to this scene by a very special name: Fall from Grace.
4. Sarkar: Another re-make but this time I think RGV did all he possibly could to minimize the damage to the gripping monologue of a man in distress appealing to the Godfather for justice. Of the scenes I’ve mentioned this far, I think this one made me feel least disparate.
5. Aitraaz: The first attempted rape of a guy in Hindi cinema ? A la Disclosure? Would you rather be in Michael Douglas’ shoes than Akshay Kumar’s?
6. Deewane Huye Pagal : While the movie itself was heavily borrowed, the dog-shock scene was a direct lift from There’s Something About Mary. I don’t think however that they got the Border Terrier breed of dog used in the English version. (Yup, the kind of trivia Google can throw up is amazing. :-D)
7. Musafir: What a blatant copy this one is! Both Sameera Reddy and Jennifer Lopez wear red skirts while Anil Kapoor and Sean Penn lend a helping hand to their backs. The difference: Sameera was trying to get inside her house and J’Lo was already in her house trying to fix some drapes in U-Turn.
8.Murder : Diane Lane, you beauty. And to be fair to Mallika Sherawat, you tried ! Funnily, after all the making out, the director made even Mallika Sherawat travel by a train on her way back home replaying what she’d just gotten herself into. If you looking for a subtle difference, you wont be disappointed. Diane Lane had her knee bruised in Unfaithful while Mallika didn’t .
9. Kasoor: “I lied to you. I didn’t want to. But I had to…”. Glenn Close listening to Jeff Bridges’ confessions in a picturesque setting, in Jagged Edge was directly transliterated to make way for Aftab’s disclosure to Lisa Ray. When I told a friend I was planning to write something like this, she hit the nail on the head when she said, “… your list will comprise all Vikram Bhatt’s movies…” . I had to include at least one.
There are a few more scenes in my mind but I’m getting a little bored of this now so just to add a little bit of variety, I want to point this out. I think a few of our film makers are simply too indifferent (or lazy) to the thought of adding even a dime’s worth of originality to anything that they copy. So much so, that even when someone from Yash Raj Films decided to re-make My Best Friends Wedding , he just couldn’t come up with any name other than “ Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hain”!!!
P.S.: For the record, Casablanca is reportedly being re-made in Hindi too…
Sigh! It’s time to sleep.
A couple of weeks back I happened to see Tara Rum Pum regarding which, Khalid Mohammed wrote in the Hindustan Times “…the screenplay of this movie is as original as the output from a Xerox machine”. A number of times while watching a Hindi movie, I’ve jumped from my seat saying, “Hey! That’s a copy…” and while I wish I’d made a note of every single jump thus far , I guess it’s never too late for anything. So here goes a list of my top copied scenes that I recollect sitting in my room in an attempted chronological order.
1. Tara Rum Pum: The most recent copied scene I’ve seen. Saif Ali Khan begging for money in a New York pub. Co-incidentally even Russell Crowe was also supposed to be in a New York pub in Cinderella Man. I picked this particular scene because of how Ron Howard used a different shade of light to show the interiors of the pub. And Siddharth Anand was inspired in his sleep to give the same effect in his movie.
2. Guru: Abhishek Bachchan’s trial scene towards the end of the movie seemed a little too similar to Howard Hughes deposing before Senator Brewster in the Aviator. Though many differences can be noted in this case, I think it’s the treatment and how Alan Alda and Roshan Seth act as impeccable judges that make the scenes similar. Al Pacino’s deposition in Godfather-II could also possibly be an inspiration.
3. Dhoom II: Surprised? Well, the scene between Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan over a table in a restaurant and the ensuing conversation was a lift from the Al Pacino-De Niro classic Heat. In my books, I’d refer to this scene by a very special name: Fall from Grace.
4. Sarkar: Another re-make but this time I think RGV did all he possibly could to minimize the damage to the gripping monologue of a man in distress appealing to the Godfather for justice. Of the scenes I’ve mentioned this far, I think this one made me feel least disparate.
5. Aitraaz: The first attempted rape of a guy in Hindi cinema ? A la Disclosure? Would you rather be in Michael Douglas’ shoes than Akshay Kumar’s?
6. Deewane Huye Pagal : While the movie itself was heavily borrowed, the dog-shock scene was a direct lift from There’s Something About Mary. I don’t think however that they got the Border Terrier breed of dog used in the English version. (Yup, the kind of trivia Google can throw up is amazing. :-D)
7. Musafir: What a blatant copy this one is! Both Sameera Reddy and Jennifer Lopez wear red skirts while Anil Kapoor and Sean Penn lend a helping hand to their backs. The difference: Sameera was trying to get inside her house and J’Lo was already in her house trying to fix some drapes in U-Turn.
8.Murder : Diane Lane, you beauty. And to be fair to Mallika Sherawat, you tried ! Funnily, after all the making out, the director made even Mallika Sherawat travel by a train on her way back home replaying what she’d just gotten herself into. If you looking for a subtle difference, you wont be disappointed. Diane Lane had her knee bruised in Unfaithful while Mallika didn’t .
9. Kasoor: “I lied to you. I didn’t want to. But I had to…”. Glenn Close listening to Jeff Bridges’ confessions in a picturesque setting, in Jagged Edge was directly transliterated to make way for Aftab’s disclosure to Lisa Ray. When I told a friend I was planning to write something like this, she hit the nail on the head when she said, “… your list will comprise all Vikram Bhatt’s movies…” . I had to include at least one.
There are a few more scenes in my mind but I’m getting a little bored of this now so just to add a little bit of variety, I want to point this out. I think a few of our film makers are simply too indifferent (or lazy) to the thought of adding even a dime’s worth of originality to anything that they copy. So much so, that even when someone from Yash Raj Films decided to re-make My Best Friends Wedding , he just couldn’t come up with any name other than “ Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hain”!!!
P.S.: For the record, Casablanca is reportedly being re-made in Hindi too…
Sigh! It’s time to sleep.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
I so so hate people!
I hate people. I hate organized groups. I hate communities. I hate religion and I hate anything that has a say on my life and the way I want to live my life!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Stories
I love stories. I just love any media that tells a good story. Be it a movie, a comic book or a play. However, songs and poems are not about stories. They're more about expression of a sentiment and less about narration. Yet , when a song does incorporate a story, it becomes all the more beautiful because of the very sublime element inherent in the medium of music.
The medium of music is about no fuss. And when you do have a story to top it off, nothing like it!
"Ten years ago, on a cold dark night
Someone was killed, 'neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran, looked a lot like me
The judge said son, what is your alibi
If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die
I spoke not a word, thou it meant my life
For I'd been in the arms of my best friend's wife
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
Oh, the scaffold is high and eternity's near
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But late at night, when the north wind blows
In a long black veil, she cries ov're my bones "
- Long Black Veil originally sung by Lefty Frizzell
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me...
The medium of music is about no fuss. And when you do have a story to top it off, nothing like it!
"Ten years ago, on a cold dark night
Someone was killed, 'neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran, looked a lot like me
The judge said son, what is your alibi
If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die
I spoke not a word, thou it meant my life
For I'd been in the arms of my best friend's wife
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
Oh, the scaffold is high and eternity's near
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But late at night, when the north wind blows
In a long black veil, she cries ov're my bones "
- Long Black Veil originally sung by Lefty Frizzell
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The scourge of women (Or their allure?)
Babubhai Katara is a despicable man. Last week he was in the news for having been caught red-handed while trying to smuggle a lady abroad by passing her as his wife under a fake passport. What's funny is that he'd cleared the immigration and the customs check and both of them were merrily seated in the airplane with less than half an hour to go for the takeoff and that's when, that's exactly when his crookedly malicious fate decided to shake a leg. A fellow lady passenger aboard lost her passport.
The officials started pulling out all the documents and in a routine check asked Babubhai Katara's supposed wife what her name was and in a lyrical moment, she will rue every single day of her life, the lady blurted out her real name of Paramjeet, instead of the name she should've given, Sarada Ben, the name on the fake passport she’d used. Needless to say, with that swift stroke Babubhai Katara's political and personal life has come to naught. That he deserved it is beyond any doubt. But that the disaster could've been avoided if the woman hadn't been so idiotic is equally obvious.
Now at this point I want you to spare a thought for Babubhai. What wrong did he do in scheming it up? So perfectly planned. And the only thing beyond his control got him into the deepest shit ever for no fault of his. Come to think of it, it's not the first time that a man has got screwed because of a woman around him.
Since the very beginning, women have proved too tempting a presence for man to ignore and too devastating a force to survive alongside with. Think of Eve coaxing Adam to go for the forbidden fruit and damning all humanity in the years to come.
Think of Samson revealing the secret of his locks to Delilah and his consequent capture by the Philistines.
Think of Draupadi mocking Duryodhana in her palatial abode and thus paving the way for Duryodhana to swear for revenge.
Casino, a movie based on the true story of gangster Frank Rosenthal played by the inimitable De Niro, is another classic example of how a man did everything for and yet was betrayed by the love of his life. In Frederico Garcia Larco’s popular play , Blood Wedding , the bride runs away with her childhood sweetheart on the day of her wedding. Her childhood sweetheart and the groom kill each other in the end. One wouldn’t have imagined that Macbeth would murder Duncan if it were not the Lady’s instigation. Everything came to dust. What was the bloody need for Paris to steal Helen and give way to the most important war waged in Greek mythology. Two fantastic warriors, Hector and Achilles were lost in the fight for a woman. To be precise, somebody else's woman.
Whether you like it or not, plays, books and movies are based on societal influences and observations by writers and directors. It’s not as if Shakespeare suddenly got a brainwave to script a character like Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare and his ilk draw from characters they’ve seen around in their society. More often than not, your favorite movie turns out to be something that you relate to. If playwrights long back could identify characters like that, they must’ve stemmed from real characters like Larco’s bride or Lady Macbeth in the society. For the record , the phrase Femme Fatale originated in 1912.
Hell, even Shane Warne could’ve played the 2003 World Cup if it were not for his mother giving him pills to look good. That’s probably stretching it a bit but my point is that when it comes to women , I think a lot of us men stop seeing reason.
What gets me to write on this topic is an advice I’ve been giving a friend to let go off a girl he’s been clinging on to. Irrespective of any advice that I can give him to part ways, he’s been hoping against hope that things will work out. And I can see why. I think women have this innate quality to get men to do a lot of things that they otherwise wouldn’t. A smile here, a nod there , a wink here , a nudge at the back, any little goddamn thing will make men go weak in their brains to begin with, followed by the knees and God knows where else. Try as I might, I can’t get this friend to forget his lady and after a point one has to just leave it at that.
And just at the point when I’m about to curse this friend of mine for not being able to see reason or logic, I’m reminded of Al Pacino’s immortal line in Scent of a Woman:
“Women. What could you say? Who made 'em? God must've been a fucking genius. Hair. They say , hair's everything you know. Have you ever buried your nose in a mountain of curls and just wanted to go to sleep forever? Or lips. And when they touched yours were like that first swallow of wine after you just crossed the desert…”
And I smile and tell G, “It’s alright. Go for her… What can I say?”
Maybe when Neil Diamond paid US$ 150,000,000 as divorce settlement for his wife Marcia Murphey and remarked “She was worth every penny”, maybe , he let the curls and the lips get the better of him, his reason and his money.
Just like all men before and after him and how can we blame him for that?
The officials started pulling out all the documents and in a routine check asked Babubhai Katara's supposed wife what her name was and in a lyrical moment, she will rue every single day of her life, the lady blurted out her real name of Paramjeet, instead of the name she should've given, Sarada Ben, the name on the fake passport she’d used. Needless to say, with that swift stroke Babubhai Katara's political and personal life has come to naught. That he deserved it is beyond any doubt. But that the disaster could've been avoided if the woman hadn't been so idiotic is equally obvious.
Now at this point I want you to spare a thought for Babubhai. What wrong did he do in scheming it up? So perfectly planned. And the only thing beyond his control got him into the deepest shit ever for no fault of his. Come to think of it, it's not the first time that a man has got screwed because of a woman around him.
Since the very beginning, women have proved too tempting a presence for man to ignore and too devastating a force to survive alongside with. Think of Eve coaxing Adam to go for the forbidden fruit and damning all humanity in the years to come.
Think of Samson revealing the secret of his locks to Delilah and his consequent capture by the Philistines.
Think of Draupadi mocking Duryodhana in her palatial abode and thus paving the way for Duryodhana to swear for revenge.
Casino, a movie based on the true story of gangster Frank Rosenthal played by the inimitable De Niro, is another classic example of how a man did everything for and yet was betrayed by the love of his life. In Frederico Garcia Larco’s popular play , Blood Wedding , the bride runs away with her childhood sweetheart on the day of her wedding. Her childhood sweetheart and the groom kill each other in the end. One wouldn’t have imagined that Macbeth would murder Duncan if it were not the Lady’s instigation. Everything came to dust. What was the bloody need for Paris to steal Helen and give way to the most important war waged in Greek mythology. Two fantastic warriors, Hector and Achilles were lost in the fight for a woman. To be precise, somebody else's woman.
Whether you like it or not, plays, books and movies are based on societal influences and observations by writers and directors. It’s not as if Shakespeare suddenly got a brainwave to script a character like Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare and his ilk draw from characters they’ve seen around in their society. More often than not, your favorite movie turns out to be something that you relate to. If playwrights long back could identify characters like that, they must’ve stemmed from real characters like Larco’s bride or Lady Macbeth in the society. For the record , the phrase Femme Fatale originated in 1912.
Hell, even Shane Warne could’ve played the 2003 World Cup if it were not for his mother giving him pills to look good. That’s probably stretching it a bit but my point is that when it comes to women , I think a lot of us men stop seeing reason.
What gets me to write on this topic is an advice I’ve been giving a friend to let go off a girl he’s been clinging on to. Irrespective of any advice that I can give him to part ways, he’s been hoping against hope that things will work out. And I can see why. I think women have this innate quality to get men to do a lot of things that they otherwise wouldn’t. A smile here, a nod there , a wink here , a nudge at the back, any little goddamn thing will make men go weak in their brains to begin with, followed by the knees and God knows where else. Try as I might, I can’t get this friend to forget his lady and after a point one has to just leave it at that.
And just at the point when I’m about to curse this friend of mine for not being able to see reason or logic, I’m reminded of Al Pacino’s immortal line in Scent of a Woman:
“Women. What could you say? Who made 'em? God must've been a fucking genius. Hair. They say , hair's everything you know. Have you ever buried your nose in a mountain of curls and just wanted to go to sleep forever? Or lips. And when they touched yours were like that first swallow of wine after you just crossed the desert…”
And I smile and tell G, “It’s alright. Go for her… What can I say?”
Maybe when Neil Diamond paid US$ 150,000,000 as divorce settlement for his wife Marcia Murphey and remarked “She was worth every penny”, maybe , he let the curls and the lips get the better of him, his reason and his money.
Just like all men before and after him and how can we blame him for that?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Funky Chicken Jig!
Way better than the Brett Lee leap or the Shoaib Akhtar bird flap motion or Sreesanth's mid pitch dance!
Hail Langford-Smith! :-D
P.S. : Some pesky browser issues have prevented me from blogging from work. Am on my way to getting a broadband connection at home.
Next post around the corner about the scourge of women, in less than a week's time.
Hail Langford-Smith! :-D
P.S. : Some pesky browser issues have prevented me from blogging from work. Am on my way to getting a broadband connection at home.
Next post around the corner about the scourge of women, in less than a week's time.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Professional Exigencies
One fine day:
Super Boss: Hi Issac. There’s this interesting new project I want to involve you with. It’s going to be very exciting. It could probably be the best learning you’ve had thus far in HT. It’s blah blah blah blah…. Let me know what you think of it.
Me: Umm…Well… Err… Actually I don’t think I’m the right guy for this. I mean, I don’t think this interests me enough.
Super Boss: Oh ok. Good day
Me: Good day…
Another fine day:
Super Boss: I think you should do a stint in this new department. It’s going to be very unique and challenging and will give you an insight into this aspect of business.
Me: Umm…Well…Err… I don’t think I’m keen to do this. But…
Super Boss: Ah… it’s ok. Good day.
Me: Good day.
Another, another fine day, in office:
Friend: You wanna play on the terrace?
Me: Oh yeah, but didn’t we lose the football we last used?
Friend: I got a new one today.
Me: Let’s go…
So we went playing on the terrace. I was leading 9-5 in the game and the football fell off the terrace.
On my super boss’s head.
Super Boss: Hi Issac. There’s this interesting new project I want to involve you with. It’s going to be very exciting. It could probably be the best learning you’ve had thus far in HT. It’s blah blah blah blah…. Let me know what you think of it.
Me: Umm…Well… Err… Actually I don’t think I’m the right guy for this. I mean, I don’t think this interests me enough.
Super Boss: Oh ok. Good day
Me: Good day…
Another fine day:
Super Boss: I think you should do a stint in this new department. It’s going to be very unique and challenging and will give you an insight into this aspect of business.
Me: Umm…Well…Err… I don’t think I’m keen to do this. But…
Super Boss: Ah… it’s ok. Good day.
Me: Good day.
Another, another fine day, in office:
Friend: You wanna play on the terrace?
Me: Oh yeah, but didn’t we lose the football we last used?
Friend: I got a new one today.
Me: Let’s go…
So we went playing on the terrace. I was leading 9-5 in the game and the football fell off the terrace.
On my super boss’s head.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Undeniable
The lull after India got kicked out of the World Cup...
I am not of those die-hards who wanted India to win it. I'd rather see one of West Indies, South Africa or England pull off this one. Yet I cant deny the void that's looming around after the disaster against SL...
I am not of those die-hards who wanted India to win it. I'd rather see one of West Indies, South Africa or England pull off this one. Yet I cant deny the void that's looming around after the disaster against SL...
Monday, March 26, 2007
At Bermuda again!
Little did I imagine , when I wrote a post supporting Bermuda a week before the WC took off, that midway through, a billion people will be cheering for this nation!
The event also went in line with my previous post of "Multiplicity...".
On a serious note with both India and Pak out, hope to see less of ads cutting through the commentary along with less of match- fixing, doping, chucking and tampering in the remaining days of the World Cup! And hopefully , no more murders...
Maybe both India and Pakistan getting out was a toast to Cricket!
Join in! Cheers! :-)
The event also went in line with my previous post of "Multiplicity...".
On a serious note with both India and Pak out, hope to see less of ads cutting through the commentary along with less of match- fixing, doping, chucking and tampering in the remaining days of the World Cup! And hopefully , no more murders...
Maybe both India and Pakistan getting out was a toast to Cricket!
Join in! Cheers! :-)
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Multiplicity of an Indian Cricket Fan
The fate of an Indian fan is entwined with the fortunes of other teams. Invariably.
In tri-nation tournaments,we've seen this often becos we would win only one match and then hope that the most dominant team beats the second most dominant team by a huge margin and then we'll eventually go through to the finals thanks to Net Run-Rate or a washout or some stroke of luck, like a Virender Sehwag century.
It's allright in these small tourneys , I'm sure we can cheer for a third team to win or lose but right now we're on an ICC World Cup and we don't know if we'll qualify to be one of the best 8 ODI teams out a game that's played by 10 test playing nations to begin with.
For a start, if I'm a genuine Indian fan today, I'll cheer for Bangladesh. I cry hoarse for them to win it, run like tigers, take wickets, celebrate like chimps , take catches like dolphins and basically beat the sh*t out of Sri Lanka while I eat Hilsa ( I hate it but I'll do it) and sing the Bangla national anthem.
On Friday, I'll obviously cheer for India.
And today if Bangladesh doesn't beat SL, then on Friday I'll become a Bermudan. I'll shout on top of my voices for Leverock and company. I'll want them to beat the sh*t out of Bangladesh. I'll change my identity and scream "Hail Bermuda" with a passion equal to that of Mogambo's sidekick.
I'll do it but even in this age of globalisation, wouldn't transmogrifying 3 national identities, in a space of 4 days, have been quite an ask for Calvin too ?
In tri-nation tournaments,we've seen this often becos we would win only one match and then hope that the most dominant team beats the second most dominant team by a huge margin and then we'll eventually go through to the finals thanks to Net Run-Rate or a washout or some stroke of luck, like a Virender Sehwag century.
It's allright in these small tourneys , I'm sure we can cheer for a third team to win or lose but right now we're on an ICC World Cup and we don't know if we'll qualify to be one of the best 8 ODI teams out a game that's played by 10 test playing nations to begin with.
For a start, if I'm a genuine Indian fan today, I'll cheer for Bangladesh. I cry hoarse for them to win it, run like tigers, take wickets, celebrate like chimps , take catches like dolphins and basically beat the sh*t out of Sri Lanka while I eat Hilsa ( I hate it but I'll do it) and sing the Bangla national anthem.
On Friday, I'll obviously cheer for India.
And today if Bangladesh doesn't beat SL, then on Friday I'll become a Bermudan. I'll shout on top of my voices for Leverock and company. I'll want them to beat the sh*t out of Bangladesh. I'll change my identity and scream "Hail Bermuda" with a passion equal to that of Mogambo's sidekick.
I'll do it but even in this age of globalisation, wouldn't transmogrifying 3 national identities, in a space of 4 days, have been quite an ask for Calvin too ?
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
World Cup Post-its : III
So India got screwed.
Nobody was celebrating the World Record win against Bermuda. Aptly so. Having got themselves in such a bad corner, it'll take a million things to fall in place for India to still qualify for the Super 8's. That group is bloody messed up. Somebody has to beat somebody, somebody must beat somebody by a good margin, somebody must win by not so great a margin, somebody must sneeze in time or somebody must pick his nose before the toss. God knows how many million things must fall in place before India qualifies...
On a serious note, I don't care about India losing out but I belong to the community , the news of which you must've read on the front pages of any prominent newspaper in India.
" Broadcasters to lose 150 Crore if India lose out."
" Advertisers pulling out in the face of India's loss"
And if there's money on the table to be made if India does well, I'd rather see them in the Super 8's than see them lose out and eventually screw our industry revenues.
Once in college , when I was a student, I'd stopped short of thinking in a discussion about money and Indian Cricket. Those days my views were rather simple.
"India should do well in any competition. It makes us feel great and proud about ourselves."
Today, sitting on the other side of the fence I'm thinking:
" India should do fantastic at cricket. It makes us feel rich about ourselves."
Pride?
Well...Umm...Errr...That we can manage at other sports...
Nobody was celebrating the World Record win against Bermuda. Aptly so. Having got themselves in such a bad corner, it'll take a million things to fall in place for India to still qualify for the Super 8's. That group is bloody messed up. Somebody has to beat somebody, somebody must beat somebody by a good margin, somebody must win by not so great a margin, somebody must sneeze in time or somebody must pick his nose before the toss. God knows how many million things must fall in place before India qualifies...
On a serious note, I don't care about India losing out but I belong to the community , the news of which you must've read on the front pages of any prominent newspaper in India.
" Broadcasters to lose 150 Crore if India lose out."
" Advertisers pulling out in the face of India's loss"
And if there's money on the table to be made if India does well, I'd rather see them in the Super 8's than see them lose out and eventually screw our industry revenues.
Once in college , when I was a student, I'd stopped short of thinking in a discussion about money and Indian Cricket. Those days my views were rather simple.
"India should do well in any competition. It makes us feel great and proud about ourselves."
Today, sitting on the other side of the fence I'm thinking:
" India should do fantastic at cricket. It makes us feel rich about ourselves."
Pride?
Well...Umm...Errr...That we can manage at other sports...
Saturday, March 17, 2007
World Cup Post-its : II
SA have been wronged every time in a World Cup. Consider this:
1992: Rain rule.
1996: Got docked an over. Lost by 2 runs.
1999: They didn't lose the semi-final and yet didn't make it to the final.
2003: NZ didn't travel to Kenya last World Cup and Kenya got free points.Consequently, SA lost out on the 3rd spot.
I'm not a huge SA fan but if they do win it, I think in many ways it might do justice in the overall scheme of things. So when I saw Boucher and Gibbs and Kallis pounding the sh*t out of Netherlands, I loved it. It wasn't funny. It was hilarious!
However, my moment of the match was when during one of the slog overs Van Troost pitched a ball way too short and Kallis was about to go for a hook over his head. By now, the wicketkeeper who had so haplessly seen every ball hit the middle of every South African's bat had already given up hope of any batsman letting any ball go through to the keeper. At the last moment though, Kallis let go of the delivery only to see J Smits taken completely taken aback by it.
The result: 4 byes over Smit's head. Which brings me to think, would this also have been the match in which least number of balls went through to the keeper? :-)
1992: Rain rule.
1996: Got docked an over. Lost by 2 runs.
1999: They didn't lose the semi-final and yet didn't make it to the final.
2003: NZ didn't travel to Kenya last World Cup and Kenya got free points.Consequently, SA lost out on the 3rd spot.
I'm not a huge SA fan but if they do win it, I think in many ways it might do justice in the overall scheme of things. So when I saw Boucher and Gibbs and Kallis pounding the sh*t out of Netherlands, I loved it. It wasn't funny. It was hilarious!
However, my moment of the match was when during one of the slog overs Van Troost pitched a ball way too short and Kallis was about to go for a hook over his head. By now, the wicketkeeper who had so haplessly seen every ball hit the middle of every South African's bat had already given up hope of any batsman letting any ball go through to the keeper. At the last moment though, Kallis let go of the delivery only to see J Smits taken completely taken aback by it.
The result: 4 byes over Smit's head. Which brings me to think, would this also have been the match in which least number of balls went through to the keeper? :-)
Friday, March 16, 2007
Bermuda Woes
Bermuda, I thought they'd be an underdog. They seem to be more like an underpest or undercaterpillar. They're nowhere close to being a dog...
Thursday, March 15, 2007
World Cup Post-its : I
One swallow does'nt make a summer and one match does'nt quite indicate how the World Cup will eventually span out but here's my take thus far:
I think in some ways this World Cup is going to be like the '83 World Cup. More bits and pieces players will come into play and hence my hypothesis of the Windies doing well keeps getting stronger.(...Or I dont know if I'm making this up because I really want them to win.)
I found out the other day that Danish Kaneria's fielding is probably as bad as Monty Panesar's. A throw to Kamran Akmal during the match was stupefying to say the least. It wasn't even as if the bastmen were scampering for a quick single and Akmal was dying to take off the bails but Kaneria was surely dying to throw. I mean, just throw, you know; like a javelin or maybe a shot- put. I also like the way Panesar cups his hands when he's about to catch a ball. I think its meant to be more like a prayer posture or something. Can't wait to watch him drop another one soon. I think Munaf is also in the same category. A friend once told me that apparently he used to be called Kachra in his college days after that character in Lagaan who with his crippled hands could never hold a ball properly. Funny guys these , Munaf, Panesar and Kaneria. Definitely my bowling trio for the Worst Fielding XI at this year's World Cup.
Say what you will but Tikolo is class. I've seen him treat Kumble with as much disdain as would Lara so nice to see him getting some runs early in the tournament.
There's something about Aussies' fitness regime. Hogg is 36 and so is Hayden and you should've seen them throwing themselves around against a pony of a team called Scotland. And we have Kumble also at 36.
I like Kumble, I really do. It's just a co-incidence that he's at the receiving end of this post. That too twice! Now, I dont want to make it a hatrick. After all , he doesn't have a hatrick to his name anyway, so why credit him with one! ;-)
More post-its to follow! :-D
I think in some ways this World Cup is going to be like the '83 World Cup. More bits and pieces players will come into play and hence my hypothesis of the Windies doing well keeps getting stronger.(...Or I dont know if I'm making this up because I really want them to win.)
I found out the other day that Danish Kaneria's fielding is probably as bad as Monty Panesar's. A throw to Kamran Akmal during the match was stupefying to say the least. It wasn't even as if the bastmen were scampering for a quick single and Akmal was dying to take off the bails but Kaneria was surely dying to throw. I mean, just throw, you know; like a javelin or maybe a shot- put. I also like the way Panesar cups his hands when he's about to catch a ball. I think its meant to be more like a prayer posture or something. Can't wait to watch him drop another one soon. I think Munaf is also in the same category. A friend once told me that apparently he used to be called Kachra in his college days after that character in Lagaan who with his crippled hands could never hold a ball properly. Funny guys these , Munaf, Panesar and Kaneria. Definitely my bowling trio for the Worst Fielding XI at this year's World Cup.
Say what you will but Tikolo is class. I've seen him treat Kumble with as much disdain as would Lara so nice to see him getting some runs early in the tournament.
There's something about Aussies' fitness regime. Hogg is 36 and so is Hayden and you should've seen them throwing themselves around against a pony of a team called Scotland. And we have Kumble also at 36.
I like Kumble, I really do. It's just a co-incidence that he's at the receiving end of this post. That too twice! Now, I dont want to make it a hatrick. After all , he doesn't have a hatrick to his name anyway, so why credit him with one! ;-)
More post-its to follow! :-D
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