India win thriller against SA and retain No. 1 position

Hurray!!!!!! You bet I am delighted. This was test cricket at it's best. Congratulations to team India for a splendid show and for retaining the No. 1 spot.

Ofcourse, SA supporters can argue that SA was a better team overall in this series.Well, probably they are right. But India's performance in the second match was nothing short of brilliant. MSD & Co. came back superbly after the defeat in Nagpur. Being one down in the series and the no. 1 position at stake there was enormous pressure to deliver and boy did they!!

It all started with the incredible bowling performance in the post tea session on the first day by Sharma, Khan and Bhajji. Then the magical  Sehwag - Sachin and Laxman-Dhoni partnerships to take the match out of SA reach. Finally Bhajji, Mishra bowled superbly on the final day.

Yes, can't help but  feel sorry for  Hashim Amla in particular. Few batting performances have been as heroic, or as tragic. His unbeaten knock in the second innings will be remembered for a long time.

My name is Khan : Review

Saw MNIK over the weekend. Good performances, nice message and though some portions in the film are really lousy (the second half drags and the climax was ultimately disappointing), it's still worth watching once.

What's it all about?
Directed by Karan Johar, MNIK is essentially a love story starring his favourites SRK and Kajol. SRK plays Rizwan Khan, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome and Kajol plays the role of a Hindu single mom Mandira. They meet, fall in love and get married. Life for them is a happy ride, as Mandira’s son also bonds well with Rizwan, until 9/11 happens. The tragic events that ensue, deliver a personal blow and takes Rizwan on a journey to meet the US President in an attempt to win back his love and give the message that all muslims are not terrorists.

What I liked
SRK gives a terrific performance as he not just acts but becomes Rizwan Khan. The restraint and subtlety in his performance, reminds one of Chak De. Ironically, even in that movie he portrayed the role of a Muslim which makes u wonder if playing the role of a wronged / misunderstood Muslim brings out the best in him. Kajol is splendid as usual. She looks like a million bucks and acts as only she can. The famous SRK – Kajol chemistry dazzles the screen and makes their scenes together a delight to watch. The remaining starcast comprising of Zarina Wahab (Rizwan’s mom), Jimmy Shergill (brother), Tanay Chheda (young Rizwan) , Yuvaan Makar (Mandira's son) give good support and make it worth watching even when the script falters a few times. Karan Johar’s direction is praiseworthy as he tackles an unusual subject with great flair.

What I didn't like
The script seems to run out of ideas in the second half. The flood scene looks contrived and forced as a result and doesn’t even make emotional sense. Similarly, the climax when Rizwan meets the US President is a tad disappointing.

Finally, is it worth seeing?
MNIK remains watchable thanks to the great performances of it’s two leads and Karan Johar’s direction.

Thackeray - SRK spat

Shiv Sena’s usual "dadagiri", Bachchan’s typical "jee huzoori", Rahul’s refreshing "train musafari" all that and more showed up in the recent Shah Rukh Khan and Shiv Sena standoff . The only redeeming quality of the entire circus was that SRK stood his ground and did not buckle under Shiv Sena's threats. I just wish we had more of his kind in this city.

Back to blogging

I’ve started blogging again and hoping to be more regular this time around, enough so that my propensity for expressing myself anonymously is satisfied :)

A to Z of Parenting

• A ccept your child for what he/she is, not what you want him/her to be.
• B e consistent in your behavior towards the child.
• C riticise the deed, never the doer i.e. the child.
• D o activities together as a family.
• E ncourage sibiling harmony by not comparing them.
• F ollow through if you make threats.
• G ifts can never be a substitute for your presence.
• H itting teaches your child to hit others.
• I nstill values in the child by being a role model.
• J oy of eating together at least one meal helps in bonding.
• K eep increasing freedom as your child becomes responsible.
• L ove your child completely and unconditionally.
• M otivate your child with praise instead of criticism.
• N egotiating with your child is not a sign of weakness.
• O ffer suggestions but let your child make the decision.
• P articipate in events which are important to your child.
• Q uit labeling children as “naughty boy” or “clumsy girl.”
• R estrict television, video and computer games.
• S pend time with your child with diversion.
• T each your child that choices have consequences.
• U se bedtime to discuss what has happened during the day.
• V isualise what qualities you want in your child as an adult.
• W ork out a routine and follow it.
• X cite the child’s interest in books by providing material.
• Y our child needs limits to make him/her feel secure.
• Z estful fun of the child’s short-comings lowers his self esteem.

Did Modi's antics in Mumbai cost BJP Delhi?

I do not think BJP lost because of Modi. He was just one of the million reasons why they lost. We Indian citizens are no fools. When BJP blames the ruling party for terror, we would like to ask them what have they done? Why were they not letting Mr. Karkare do his job as ATS chief? When they were in power, what did they do? They may have forgotten the Parliament Attack or Kandahar. We have not and we will not. When they were in power, they shrugged their shoulders and blamed their allies for not doing anything. When they are in opposition they oppose the government for everything; most of the time at the cost of national interest. I salute Mrs. Karkare for standing up against these shameless thugs. I know that very soon BJP will start a campain against her that she is anti Hindu , anti national blah blah....My message to Advani and co : Grow up or get lost......

A bit of a scare

For the past few days, I had struggled with shortness of breath. Now, this by itself, was not a cause of concern as I suffer from allergic asthma and go through repeated attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, especially at this time of the year. I got concerned when I started getting chest pains which I hadn't really felt before. I felt lousy with fever like symptoms and couldn't walk very far without wheezing. With these symptoms, I got a little scared that I might have got infected with tuberculosis from someone very close who was undergoing treatment for that. So, I went in for an XRAY. The XRAY report, showed left hilal lymphadenopathy seriously scared me. I was told that this could be a result of an infection, an abscess, or cancer. So, I was advised to undergo a CT Scan the next day. That night was the longest in my life. I could see the tension written on dad, mom and namz face. Worrying comes very easily to my family and here there was enough to worry about. The night was spent with very little sleep. Fortunately, the CT Scan revealed no abnormalities. Doctor tells me that due to chronic asthma and allergy , there may be inflammation of the wind pipe and the surrounding area causing pain and enlargement of lymph nodes. Although this is a big relief, I still am concerned about the continuing fever like symptoms. I hope with proper care and attention those would pass soon. I realise that this is as good a slap in the face as I need ... a great reminder that I need to be more health conscious and need to take better care of myself.

Season of giving...

Give children the chances in life they deserve. Donate online at www.giveindia.org

Twenty-20 World Cup: India in finals after beating Australia

What a great match it was.

The hero of the match was once again Yuvraj Singh who played the innings of his lifetime to help India amass a formidable score of 188 for five after India won the toss and chose to bat.

Yuvraj, who had earlier against England, hit Broad for six sixes in an over, continued with the same form to hit Australia bowlers for five fours and five sixes to score 70 runs off just 30 balls.

Credit is also due to great bowling from Harbhanjan Singh, Sreesanth, Pathan and R P Singh who did not let the Aussie batsmen get away.

And not the least to Dhoni for his smart captaincy all the way.

India, now play Pakistan in what could be the greatest final ever. Let's just hope that it lives up to the hype.

Twenty-20 World Cup: India in semis

The ongoing Twenty-20 world cup is turning out to be more fun than I thought it would be. Thanks to Dhoni's Durbanators, Indian fans have got plenty to cheer about in the last week.

Who would have thought that this Indian team of youngsters, without the Big 3, would advance to the final 4 stage. Yesterday, in another must win match, India beat South Africa by 37 runs. And once again it was a team effort.

On a track that had plenty in for the seamers, young R Sharma with captain Dhoni helped India post a decent score of 153. And then RP Singh, Pathan and Harbhajan Singh bowled beautifully to restrict SA to 116 runs.

SA is now out of the tournament, once again unable to shrug the 'chokers' tag which they have earned for themselves.

The best moments of the match for me were :

- R Sharma's six off the last ball of Indian innings. India needed a boundary to reach the psychologically advantageous score of 150. R. Sharma did better to hit a difficult high fulltoss over midwicket for maximum.

- D. Karthik's acrobatic catch in the slips to dismiss G. Smith. Karthik is fast turning out to be a great utility cricketer for India. Over the last few months he has shown some great all round skills.

- R. Sharma's quick pickup and throw to run out the danger man Kemp. The young Mumbai lad was rightly adjudged the man of the match.

India will now face the Aussies in the semi finals. As we all know, when it comes to big matches, the Aussies lift their game a couple of notches. I just hope that this fearless till now Indian side do likewise and manage to give Aussies a fight.

Switched to Debian

Yesterday, I removed Fedora Core from my PC and installed Debian etch. The
installation ( good gui based installer) was a breeze, except that I had to reformat and repartition my swap space.

With this, I also switched to KDE desktop replacing GNOME. So far it's been lovely.

Using 'aptitude' was a little confusing, till I got a hang of it. I love it now.

I managed to install wvdial and configure it for my tata indicom net connection. No
problems in that too.

As of now, I am happy with the change...

Uthappa's match winning knock

India, with a rare display of gutsy batting went past England's total of 316 runs to level the series 3-3, with one match still remaining. The victory came in the last over with 2 balls to spare. Robin Uthappa, in his first match in the series, played a delightful knock of 47 runs. It surely was a match winning knock coz when he came out to bat India needed almost 9 runs per over with Sachin, Sourav, Dravid and Yuvraj back in pavilion. The innings showed a lot of character and ensures Uthappa's place in the side for the final at Lords.

This was a must win match for India and the win now gives India a great psychological advantage going into the final.

Ofcourse, the anti climax came in with the man of the match announcement. The less deserving Tendulkar ( as has happened so many times before) got the man of the match
award.

Interesting Facts About Rajni...Hilarious stuff!!!

1. There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Rajnikant has allowed to live.

2. Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Rajnikant.

3. Rajnikant counted to infinity - twice.

4. When Rajnikant does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.

5. Rajnikant is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

6. Rajnikant doesn't wear a watch, HE decides what time it is. (LOL)

7. Rajnikant gave MonaLisa that smile.

8. Rajnikant can slam a revolving door.

9. There are no races, only countries of people Rajnikant has beaten to different shades of black and blue.

10. Rajnikant's house has no doors, only walls that he walks through.

11. Rajnikant can divide by zero.

12. Newton's Third Law is wrong: Although it states that for each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, there is no force equal in reaction to a Rajnikant turnaround kick.

13. When taking the GRE, write "Rajnikant" for every answer. You will score over 1600.

14. Rajnikant has 12 moons. One of those moons is the Earth.

15. Rajnikant grinds his coffee with his teeth and boils the water with his own rage.

16. Archeologists unearthed an old English dictionary dating back to the year 1236. It defined "victim" as "one who has encountered Rajnikant"

17. If you Google search "Rajnikant getting kicked" you will generate zero results. It just doesn't happen.

18. Rajnikant can drink an entire gallon of milk in thirty-seven seconds.

19. Rajnikant doesn't bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint.

20. It takes Rajnikant 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

21. The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Rajnikant kicked one of the corners off.

22. There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Rajnikant lives in Chennai.

23. Rajnikant once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.

24. James Cameron wanted Rajnikant to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

25. Thousands of years ago Rajnikant came across a bear. It was so terrified that it fled north into the arctic. It was also so terrified that all of its descendants now have white
hair.

Chappell Quits

Greg Chappel handed in his resignation on Wednesday. The news was unexpectedly expected. The world cup debacle followed by his showdown with the team seniors had left him with no option but to put in his papers. Given the circumstances , I don’t think he would have been allowed to continue even if he so desired.

Greg Chappel took over as India coach in May 2005. His tenure had a few triumphant moments like India’s win over Sri Lanka 6-1 , victory against England 5-1 and the test series win in the Caribbean.

Having said that, I am afraid he would be largely remembered for being one of the main reasons, if not the only one, responsible for India’s world cup fiasco.

His public fall out with Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar , his disregard for the Indian cricket lovers and Indian cricket at large, would have been overlooked by all, had he only delivered what he promised when getting the job.

Now that he’s gone, we can atleast look forward to a better coach, coz getting a worse one would be a daunting task even for BCCI.

Set Max's pathetic coverage of the world cup

The pathetic standard of the world cup telecast on Sony TV makes my blood boil. The advertisements shamelessly pop up even as the live action is still on. Mandira bedi looks completely out of sorts and Charu Sharma can't touch Harsha Bhogle even with a barge pole. How I miss the good old ESPN Star days. Their fantastic team of commentators and the pre - post match shows made the dullest or the most disappointing of matches watchable. Mind you, the adverts were there even then, but not at the expense of live action. Can't BCCI be more judicious in awarding the television rights? (slap, slap) how did i even use BCCI and judicious in the same sentence?

The day after the defeat.

Well, so India has suffered it's worst ever defeat in the world cup. And news channels are asking people who should be blamed? Sachin Tendulkar's perennial ineffectiveness in bailing India out of crisis is now being expressed in studios and as for Dravid, he is fast becoming the perfect example of how great players do not necessarily translate into good captains!!! Anyways, well done Bangladesh!! U really deserved to win.