A Sunday well spent !

The other sunday i really had a ball in my house. As usual got a bit late for it being a Sunday and switched on the TV. Now Star One has become a favourite and hence just rolled over it. And so much to my desire found the Laughter Champions going on. I thought it might be for an hour or so but it was for the whole day , in and out. I was indeed thrilled for had got a chance to see some of the missed moments.

And then after that, episode after episode i was bursting in laughter. It was some kind of laughter boughts. I knew that my day is made and it was really exhilarating to watch the talent this country has. Ten episodes from which they selected 12 candidates for the semis and again cut those to half for the finals. Sidhu ( through i feel he is a quite overboard) with his superb "kahavate" and Suman with his usual regal really captivated the judges chairs and they were very fair in their assesment.

To my liking all the ones whom i liked were in for the next round. Raju Srivastava,Ahsaan Quereshi,Sunil Pal and Navin Prabhakar but felt bad for the one from Rajkot. Now see the impact, i really don't remember his name but the contents ( incoming chalu hain , outgoing is blocked. Alag alag ringtones baj rahe hain ...). The other whom i liked but failed for the finals was Deepak Raja.

But let me recount some of the most memorable performances of these performers.
1. Sunil Pal : Verrappan capturing Madhuri ( Nasser Shah : kisi ko is tarah se pakad lana yeh Gunaah hain ..., Suneil Shetty : Ayehhhh ... Verrappan , Johny Lever : Tu Verrappan hain, kitni gandi shakal and finally Irrfan Khan : "Bhaiyya kya lagaya yeh .. and after seeing Gun : Are yaar tumne to marneka program bana liya. Bhaiyya hum to yahan kaam mangne aaye the ... )
2. Raju Srivastava : He impressed me the most really with his variety and his items :
a: Visiting places with Bill Clinton (Umm.. hmm... Nice arrangement)
b. Daku attacking village ( Buddhe tujhe to main nahi chodunga .. mera naam Gajodhar Pandey hain par log pyar se mujhe Sunita bulate hain)
c. And one of the best was about shaadi of the sister.He just reflected great emotions over there.
3. Ahaasn Quereshi : Very unique style of his own and very classy i felt. His potshots were very deep rooted and not so simplistic to understand. His outstanding item was the "Jabalpur-Nagpur bus journey".
4. Bhagwant Mann : I very very much liked the Punjabi and Haryanvi mix of his presentation.His item on the Policeman's recuitment process was very very funny.
5. Parag Kansara : "Tashrif ko Dil" says all about him. Very compulsive thinker of things i suppose. But very innovative in the process.
6. Pehchaan Kon : Navin Prabhakar. This introduction fits well. Really amazing in the sequence but didn't had good variety.

And some top notch stuff was , Deepak Raja's parody in the PagalKhana. Really superb performance.

And amongst visitiors , the small kid was tremendous. (Bipasha Basu in the mandir ..... )

Johny Lever just glimpsed us about why is one of the best comedians in the business.
And story told by Rajpal Yadav just manifested the fact that some uncut diamonds have got lucky to get chiselled by the cutter to perefection.

Big thanks to Star One to bring forth such amazing talent that this great country has.

Whip of fresh air in life !

Recently, i got an opportunity to make my second international travel. And the destination was Montreal, Canada. When the name struck, two things from the back of my mind came forth: 1. Nadia Comaceni's first perfect 10 & 2. Quebec's struggle to separate out from Canada.
So the journey was quite ardous since the flight was going to be a very long one.Went to Mumbai first and the by BA to London.I was very lucky to get a transit Visa in UK ( after 7/7 and me posing a french beard). I went outside along with my colleague who already had his program chalked out.So we went to his friend in a suburb named Milton Kenyes. I must say i was extremely impressed with London and UK.Tradition just oozes out, old taxies and many other things.

So after this good break we proceeded ahead to Montreal. Weather in Montreal was just perfect.Good sunshine and no rains.We were put up in downtown by mistake though(booking of the hotel was messed a bit) and hence everyday we commuted to the office by taxi....Hotel was really good ... and the evenings were also very nice since being in downtown.The week went fine ... and then the weekend. So on saturday we went out ... to the old port ... Took a 2 hours cruise in the river and the feel was exhilarating .... That was what we did on saturday as my colleague was to proceed on his return journey. He again had a stoppage of 2 days in London in which he covered, Mecca of Cricket and WIMBLEDON.

On sunday i changed my hotel close to the office. Had the first view of a Limousine but i repent that before i could take a pic it vanished.Then on monday ( it was a holiday there) got in touch with an Indian fella ( from the office we had visited). He was really enthusiastic and took me out. So we first went to the Olympic stadium.I was just lurking to get a snap of Nadia and i finally got it. From there on we went to the Casino .. but just like jokers.I was amazed with the amount of gamble that happens there. 12 floors .. all full ... pokers of different types .. machines, cards, roundtable ...And then my desi fella sprung a surprise ... by taking me to the F1 circuit. In a splash we arrived there and it was like a dream come true. It's a really nostalgic felling because when, what we follow we see in reality ... And so snaps were taken to make it a memoir....So that day was again great.

Then the next week started ... work and work ... and everyting went well During this week one day we went to another suburb and what was one more dream was fulfilled.Had a very long view of "Ferrari & Maserati" showrooms... Gorgeous it was .. Class it was People say and they say seriously "If i get this lady i won't want a wife".. Again i had a saturday in hand as my flight was on the sat night .. So again my indian fella joined me ... and took me on a trek .. Mount Royal ... Beautiful it was ... through the woods ... lots of green .. and then atop. Great view of montreal was captured ... it was really good .... So then my return journey kicked off ... and it was really cumbersome ... There was no good break in London ... But the big thing that riled me was the view of my fav aussies falling apart. I saw those pictures during my both journeys at the Heathrow... (4th & 5th tests).

Thus ended ... what i would really say a fantastic trip ... Everything was good ... And yes .. like i always wished to be someone like "International Cavalier" hope this is just the begining.

Tour Diary - Vaastu Visit - I

In this edition i want to capture the moments i had during the recent more than a week long visit to mumbai and pune, the occassion being the "vaastu pujan" of my new house. Here i will take stock of my visit starting bangalore - reaching mumbai - reaching pune.Pune story will be in next edition.
So i started for mumbai(rather kalyan) on 27th May with Udyan.I had gearerd up for the gruelling journey and indeed for dying for it to start.The travel was not so OK, since our S1 coach was a picture of a General compartment since our coach being first to the General coach, it was thumped like anything. Imagine my seat number to be 3. "Dushkalat teravva mahina". I reahced Kalyan on 28th at 7.00 PM. Instead of going home i decided to wait at the station for the big party to arrive from Nasik. They all have reached there for a Maha puja of the Lalingkar's household at "Saptashrungi". In between i being a "petu" went outside and had a bite of "Khadak" Paav bhaaji ...
Then i joined them at platform 5 and we headed for the house.
The program for mumbai was already chalked out. Next day i.e 29th it was Mumbai darshan. Since one of my aunt dropped out from Nasik i took that position.It was a very good programme from the travels.Crisp, short but a lot faster. At times it was like joining the 200m race. The highlight of the program being the "Nehru Planetorium" show, "boating in sea" and "houses of filmstar". I really wonder how hit would Dev Anand had been , since my father and uncle were "trupta" to see his house. That's why , it's "Evergreen Dev". So all in all the day was great. But since life being a balance, i lost my mobile functionality of the slaty waters of juhu beach and it went dead.
Next day was slated only for children, as they headed to Essel World. I already had decided against it as i wanted to leave for Pune. So in the morning, after the baccha party went i with my father and kaka went to prachi's place to invite her inlaws and then headed to Pune via Dadar. It was a boring journey as there was quarrel of the driver at the start. At around 6.00 i reached pune and called pushkar who came to collect me and we headed to Prasad's house. In between rain caught us and i alone went to prasad's place. I had to take charge of atleast a bike since it was needed to local travel. I had plans to see my house that evening as that was to be my debut there but as it was raining heavily i stayed back.
So tuesday morning i strated for my house ......

A thing of pride !

Bhartiya Rail ...... the most spread enterprise around the world . It covers so many thousands of kilometers and infact is the lifeline of India. Statistically they say that every day the railways carried some 1.5 crore people which is the population of say Australia. And forget the goods transport which would be equally the same in number.
From my childhood i had been in awe of the railways. My father used to take me to the railway station every sunday when i between 4-7 to see the Howrah Express . Such was my fascination that i had remembered the stoppages of Gitanjali Exp between Bombay and Howrah. And everything about this liking got fulfilled since my house is just 250 meters from the railway track. Visting the railway line in the evening has been some of the best moments. Putting a coin on the rail so that the train runs over it and one gets to see the "chaplela" coin.
Also i have been very fulfilled since i travelled with the railways to so many parts of India, meter guage,broad guage and narrow guage. Travelling to Khandwa by meter guage is such a beautiful journey.
In my late teens i started another type of journey which is "Up-Down" or commuting as is the name. Going to college some 100kms away every monday and returning every saturday made me a regular traveller. How economical it was to travel like that ....... And railways can offer one of the cheapest fares if you travel by a "Passenger". Imagine Rs.14 for a 100km journey and mind you it was done in just 3 hrs ... not so slow ... huh..
Travelling in mumbai in the local trains gave me some more joy. The ethos of the travel is just fabulous. The frequency of the trains, the different routes, different types of trains all is very captivating. Another journey that i relish is travelling through the ghats. Mostly i have travelled in the Kasara and Khandala ghats. It's truly majestic to be there.
And above all i enjoy travelling II class sleeper. It's such a common place environment with lots of people and importantly interactive people unlike in the AC. Well i do admit that travelling in summer in II class gives lot of problems but otherwise it's the best travel.
All in all the railways has been a big part of my life. My adulation for them grows each day. So many trains, so many routes to manage, complex time tables of the trains but they are doing a very good job i feel. And now with the outstanding reservation system in place ..... i think it has made travel a lot easy ....

Kudos to Railways ....

Chuck man ! It's a rule now !

The recent hearing of the ICC about the chucking rule has left many of the people from cricketing fraternity in the lurch. It's indeed a very disappointing outcome and ICC has really cold shouldered the whole issue instead of digging it deep.

Clearly i see a lot of trouble with this which is enlisted as follows :
1. It will be very difficult for the umpires to judge a chucker in a match situation wherein no hitech components will be there.
2. Bowlers can easily change their actions during scrutiny and during the actual match scenario.
3. No way a bend of 13,14,15 degress can be a legal delivery... it can be a throw also ...
4. How can teenagers be scrutinized at smaller cricketing centers where there are no hitech facilities.
5. How can old coaching methods be used , beacause a suspect may still continue hoping that he is below 15 degress.

It is going to make things very very difficult. Controversies would be much more in times to come.

I think the calling of Muralitharan started it all. My personal view is that , Murlitharan's action is not correct and may be that can be attributed to his shoulder deformity. But onc cannot allow somebody to bend the cricketing rules for the sake of deformity. Even at times i think Lee and Akhtar also ocassionally change their actions , for a express delivery.

All the powers about calling should be given to the umpires. They are the best judge because they see the bowler very closely and in match situation. Instead of reporting , umpire should be asked to call a bowler thus removing the biomechanics. Also, a committe of umpires should be formed to visualise the bowler in match situation to scrutinize the things.

The reason i am stressing on the visual test is that, this degress theory have "proved" that genuine bowlers like Lillee, Holding, Imran and Dev have been chuckers. Now it's a big no no ... instead i would like to point out that people like Griffith,Meckif were sidelined and certainly they didn't have correct bowling actions. Again it was a visual test that called them chuckers.

ICC is bending to pressures from some of the member countries since the people under scrutiny have been a lot successful. But i am sure there are lot of people who in private would admit about the legality of the suspect bowlers.

With such attitude, ICC is killing cricket and it would be very dangerous because it would cause lots of problems. So please don't do like that. Have an umpires panel and give them the total power. I feel it's the best foot forward else in future cricket would loose it's charm for the sake of few.

I am a Man now !

Recent visit back home was a great eye opener. I was there to attend the marraiage ceremony of my cousin sister (mama chi mulgi). I just couldn't believe it that she is getting married. All my childhood had been in her company as she is just six months younger to me. We had spent nearly 15 years together as everyday after school i was at my grandmother's place.
We played a lot together, fought a lot, slapped each other, shared gossips, riled each other for names and what not. We had such a time , that we will cherish for a long time. And for the company we had my younger sister, her younger sister and other brothers and sisters.
And i was aghast to see her getting married. Indeed the cruel time does fly. Seeing her getting married indeed made me realised that i am a man now. Even after graduation , joining companies, swapping companies i looked myself as a kid but now things are serious as it seems. And talks during the wedding were that "Sameer che kevva karta lagna ? ". And pretty obvious i felt as the time is coming closer.
But why does man want time to stop. I feel because, he has spent the best time and doesn't want to come out of it. In my case , i felt the same. 25 years of my life had been made beautiful by may parents, "Maaibai"(my aaji), uncles and aunts, bros and sis and ofcourse friends. Now since i can't go back, i want to make the next 25 equally good. And hope i get a life partner who will make that sure.
Life is indeed great but suddenly i am feeling that the time is not running but sprinting. Now i have very less time to fulfill my so many wishes. Somewhere everyone wants the time to stop, isn't it ?
My mind is very much turbulent with emotions and feelings which i cannot express.
And the great puzzle is there , "What's life ?, Why i am here ? Who am i ?", right questions at right time ? or too early... i am not a psycho please......
But otherwise i know one thing for sure that i am a MAN !

Appreciation - Damien Martyn in 2004 !

If there happens to be a feeling of spirit in the surrounding especially on a cricket field then the right candidate who seems to have such a characterisitic has to be Damien Martyn.When he is at the crease one hardly feeld he is out there. Such is his silent, sedate and serene presence.
Martyn has had a very topsy turvy career so far and recently ( 2 years back ) he has established himself in the star studded Aussie lineup. This has been possible only after the farewell to the junior Waugh. But then such turns has been deserving ones for his indifferent form and performances. He was almost crucified for one reckless shot against the Proteas way back in 1994 which cost the aussies the test. He was kept out of the side for fairly long time. The middle order was quite packed with the Waughs at 4&5 and Blewett and Punter grabbing the 3 & 6. Later Blewett was out of favour and it was then filled by Langer and untill Langer himself moved up at the top to fill in for Slater there was hadly any chance for Martyn. So around 2002, when Mark Waugh was dumped Martyn started to get regular look in. Obviously there was no doubt in his ability but a question mark remained on his temperament.
But the selectors persisted with him even after he started poorly but slowly he started to bloom. His class was quite evident with the offside strokes and the ease at which he played those. Also the fact that he was a better spin player along with Hayden in the side gave him a solid look at the crucial no.4 spot. Even the likes of Ponting and Langer have been found wanting against quality spin.
He played well in SA and NZ around 2002-2003 in both the versions and ofcourse extremly well against the Lankans. He got those crucial centuries in the emerald island which helped the Aussies thrash the Lankans 3-0. And later in the year came the much hyped 'Final Frontier' tour. The fact that the aussies were ready to stay the wicket, show patience was their secret when they changed 35 year old history. Indeed , 2001 team was far superior but their all out strategy was their undoing. But here the epitome of this new strategy was best displayed by Martyn. His knock in Chennai was something for which one gives a certificate. It was like a pure traditional test knowck. Concentration, shot selection, patience everything was perfect about it.This innings really stamped his profile for being a class player.
On the home soil he has been a decent and consistent performer. His contribution is indeed huge for the aussie juggernaut which is still rolling.
Also, he has been an excellent fielder especially in the outfield and very determined character. More than anything though he has become the mainstay of their batting with slide for Hayden and Ponting patchy at times. He turned out as the 2nd highest rungetter in 2004 and seems that will continue his good work for another 2-3 seasons.
And ofcourse he must have exorcised the ghosts of failures for himself more than for the Aussie team with tremendous showing in India.