Whiny Winners

Last week was a chaotic one in cricket world. India lost a test match, thanks to some horrendous umpiring, Australia equaled the most number of test victories with that of Steve Waugh’s record, Harbhajan had been labeled as racist and handed a three test ban, Team India refused to lead the series further demanding the axing of Steve Bucknor from standing in the following test and reevaluation of Harbhajan’s case. Back in India, media made most of the incident, piled profits on the repercussions of average man. They held some talk shows, they collected the opinions of former cricketers, they covered the anger of common Indian, and some even took an interview of Harbhajan’s mother on the umpiring frailties and racism abuses. People rallied on street holding the banners and screaming slogans against Team Australia, Umpires and match referee (Some placards read satyameva jayathe, what is that to do with cricket) and burning their effigies. As Suresh Menon wrote in his article for cricinfo “The President-elect of the ICC, Sharad Pawar, is upset. This is not something trivial like farmers committing suicide, which he can ignore in his other avatar as the Minister of Agriculture. This is the real thing. The BCCI runs the ICC and the media run the BCCI.” Eventually ICC had to come down and removed Steve Bucknor from the upcoming test match and scheduled a rehearing of Harbhajan’s case. And as a result of this, Team India agreed to continue the tour and the people back home cooled off measurably. But looking back at the things, can we call it fair game? Is sportsman spirit prevailing in Indian side?

Everybody knows BCCI runs ICC. BCCI plays major role in modifying (manipulating) or introducing the rules. BCCI made ICC to step down Bucknor from the third test. But the question is, won’t he be standing in the any of the matches that involves team India? If he does, what happens to the trust that exists among teams and umpires, will it be there? If he does, then lot of scrutiny would fall on the shoulders of Bucknor. What if he doesn’t participate, the elite panel, which consists of just eight umpires, would grow slimmer.

But my concern is, how can we justify the removal of Bucknor from upcoming test? It never happened before in the history of cricket. Umpire selection shouldn’t be based on team’s choice. A team shouldn’t select the umpire. This will not be considered as fair game. Indian players, who criticized the OZs for their ill-spirit, have themselves slipped down into the same pit of shame and blame. This whole incident reminds me of my childhood incident.

When I was in high school, I used to play cricket with my brother. My brother was a way better cricketer than me and I would always end up on the loosing side. Every time I loose a match, I would demand him to bat left handed (he is a right hander), just to secure a pity win. As expected, I did win most of the times, and had been called a cry baby. Whenever I recall, at first I get embarrass and then laugh out loud. I laugh at my unsportive, mean manipulations to taste the victory chug, pity!!

Whiny winner, its not just me!!

Chaotic Cricket

This year’s Border-Gavaskar trophy will be remembered for many reasons. This tour is supposed be last visit to Australia by senior players like Sachin, Dada, Dravid and Kumble. The four giants, who have been standing tall as four pillars to this dynasty of cricket India, who have been the face of cricket India for almost decade and half, have come together to try one last attempt to make it a remarkable hurrah. Unfortunately, the tour has become a bad taste in mouth.

Men in blue had started off New Year auspiciously. First session of the second test match was controlled by Indian bowlers. They bent their backs and continuously bowled at right line and length. Just when I thought, India were cruising along very well, from no where, Steve Bucknor made his presence felt by pricking the balloon of cheers, by adjudging Symmonds not out. But the fact is Symmonds had nicked the one off Ishant, a young debutant, which could be heard by one sitting in the middle of crowd. Although, this was not the first one that went wrong, but I believe it was the crucial one. It changed the face of game and affected badly on young debutant, who couldn’t pick up the wicket through out the test match. It was a series of errors by elite panel members of ICC. Ponting stood his ground after nicking one to keeper; Symmonds got three undeserved chances, Jaffer bowled off Lee, where Lee clearly overstepped, David’s dismissal in the second innings, Dada’s undoubtedly questionable catch by Michael Clark and many more.

It wouldn’t be fair enough to demand umpires to come out correct all the time. But some of the errors were too clearly visible to be blindfolded. On top of that, current technology would be handy to make some decisions wisely. They chose not to refer third umpire, who was clearly accommodated to adjudge at the times of obscurity/uncertainty. Baffled, I am!! Rather they took the advice from Ponting, whose integrity itself is in doubt, in (mis)judging Dada’s dismissal. If Ponting was honest at the first place, he would have walked after nicking one to keeper off Dada. Certainly, in the middle of heated contest, a player tends to forget ethics to sniff the victory. Player’s integrity and sporting spirit is not as sacred as it used to be. It was clearly inadmissible to see OZs playing the game in ill-spirit, who have been world champs and have onus of setting the standards for cricket world.

The only fragrance from the dirt mud was spread by Tendlya’s 38th test century along with charismatic century by nemesis of Australia, Very Very Special Lakshman. Tendlya’s innings was a classic, conventional test innings filled with authority, and dexterity. Where as Lakshman’s was full of aggression and sweetest timing possible. For Sidneysiders, it was one last glimpse of wristy wreck by Lakshman and one last waft of deft and dash by ‘Bradmanesque’ Tendulakar, who is unarguably one of the greatest cricketers of all time.

The verdict of the Match referee after 5th day of the test match took the blemish out of the frying pan and into the fire. Harbhajan was labeled as racist and banned for three test matches, even though there were no evidences were presented. That was totally ruthless and clearly objectionable. Everybody agrees that Australians are not only a bunch of better cricketers but also better sledgers. It was weird to learn Harbhajan get penalized for abusing racially against the team which is deeply notorious for altercations with all the cricket teams in the world. Baffled, again!!

Anyway, it was one of those tests which will go into history for all the wrong reasons and one of them being, Gilchrist’s appeal to get rid of Dravid off Symmonds, where Dravid left a foot gap between bat and ball. Clearly, one has to question if we can still call cricket a gentleman’s game.

Retrospection - 2007

I don’t know how to start on my second half of the year. My second half was more eventful than my first half. It was like a happy ending in a bollywood movie.

July month was the beginning of all the fun and frolic. I was all excited and stoked with my scheduled trip to India in August. Believe me I was much more eager this time than my first visit, and this is all because it was not a regular visit. This time is was a purposeful visit, a ceremonious visit. It was my sister’s marriage. I think it was one of the precious moments of my life. I did all the shopping and bought the tickets and was waiting for my time to fly high.

The trip was fabulous. Journey was really smooth and slick. The event was tremendous. I lived in the event; I soaked fully in the tears of joy. It was heartening to see my sis in bridal ware. It wouldn’t have happened without the association of my brother. He worked hard to make this occasion memorable. Kudos to one and all.

Then came September, and I had to wake up from my dream of stay in India. Work was calling me. For the second time in the year, I had to fly back to rat hole. But this time with satisfaction filled eyes. I felt a kind of accomplishment this time. But deep down somewhere I was terrified with the fact of returning to isolated/quarantined myself and it resulted in taking me down for a week or so.

After this, in the following three months, I had reunions with my friend. One in North West, one is west coast and last one in central east. All these were a bundle of joy. I really cherished each and every moment of these GTs. I lived my life in each of them and waited for another one to come along, like waiting for sunrise to banish the darkness. It was enthralling to see some of my friends after years. Even though time gone by, our friendship is as strong as and as beautiful as wall of china.

This brings me to December. This month was supposed to be a month of happy holidays. I did have holidays, but the work load was overwhelming. I was completely occupied with the work and deadlines. And in the holidays I took trip of Charlotte. Stayed over there couple of days and got back home after Christmas. Stay was joyous and back journey was like an onus on me. I spent my holidays home all alone. My daily schedule was get up watch a movie eat and watch a movie and have dinner and watch a movie and sleep off. I spent my days mostly under roof, locked inside my apartment. I dint speak for two days. It was like living in an isolated island, but the truth is I am living right in the middle of the town, as one among the society. I am not blaming anyone but me. I am the reason for what I am today. I regret and love it. Anyhow this is me and my year 2007. It was neither a spectacular one nor a sordid one. It was jus like any other year.

Today is December, 31st. Ring of the mobile woke me up, and it was my mom. She woke me up to remind me of the date and remind me to keep myself safe. Moms are all like that. They just want their kid to be hale and healthy. And just like that my day started with all smiles. Believe me today is lot shinier even though sun was still sleeping and darkness was still reigning the central zone of US.

2K7 - A Retrospect

December, last month of the year, always brings smiles on many faces. It's the month to recollect the cherishable memories of the whole year and ponder some decisions that may or may not have affected our lives. It's about time to reflect on some of those events, incidents and predicaments.

This year has been an eventful one, in many ways, to me. I still remember moments of my stay at home on Jan 1st , 2007. It was a delightful welcome to New Year, with my family after so many years. Last time I spent my New Year day at home, with family, was in the year 1998. This time it was quiet an auspicious start to a new day, new year. Since that day I had enjoyed another a week of joyous stay at home before I made myself back to rathole (believe me, I had to), that is to US. I fell ill with the change in weather but more bothering turmoil was the reaction I received from people here, it was like rubbing salt into my wounds. So the month which started off with a peak ended up as a rough slide into a deep valley of fluster.

Feb was the month when I wanted to be in India. Of course, some dreams remain as dreams. Feb was the month of marriages; my good friends tied knots and jumped into a new phase life. A little disappointed for not being able to make it there, other than that, I am very happy for them. As a matter of fact, Feb. and March, both months truly belonged to marriages. They say spring brings hopeful attitude, but for them spring brought something more than hope. A new season, a new life, and blooming flowers greeted them warmly and prompted them into green stage of married life.

April was a regular one for me. Except for one blissful trip to Boston, nothing great to ponder on. Few of our friends got together at Groton, CT. We spent couple of days with ourselves and with our past lives. During that trip, I paid a visit to MIT and Harvard Universities. It was a memorable one. At last I could make it to MIT, somehow. Like always, time spent with my friends was surely heavenly. I feel these get togethers are like pit stops, where a car stops during a race for refueling, for new tires or for any repairs. And I believe we all essentially need these to keep ourselves alive in the race of life.

May was most sober month of this year. I dint go anywhere, spent my time with the work and work. The only positive is that I learnt few things about engineering, especially about steam and valves. Other than that, it was month of rest and relaxation. So was June. Nothing notable or great happened during these two months, except for some unusually interesting and undoubtedly understandable phone conversations. As a result of these unanticipated confabulations, I made few friends and I lost some much sooner than expected. After all, these phone services are not reliable ones. You never know when a bad/cross connection kicks in.

This is me in the first half of the year 2007. It was a fairly smooth ride, except for couple of bumps, but those hiccups were not big enough to put them on the paper (some were too big to put them on paper, better if I keep them to myself). But in all occasions and actions music (ArR's RDB) was there, constantly backing me up and keeping my spirits fresh and alive.

Thundery 'Thanxgiving'

This year my thanksgiving weekend was special. I took a trip over westcoast, that is to California. I have been longing to visit Calif since a long time. The visit bacame a special one with the participation of all my freinds.

It was a preplanned trip. We had been planning this since September and since then I was praying for a smooth trip all together. But luck backstabbed me and my plans jolted by weather and there by the delayed flights. By the time I reached LA it was 1AM in the morning (delayed by almost 5hrs), but the spirits were still strong and high. We were eager to confront one another, we were bursting to share some joy, we were agog to go wild and soak ourselves in the fountain of youth. Believe me, we lived upto the expectations, we kept ourselves awake, to see the rising sun, in the midst of interventions by cops and neighbors. Oh man, that was fun, silly fun.

The drive to Vegas was fabolous. Ofcourse nature was beautiful, the drive was smooth, weather was pleasant but the more pleasure was to see all of us picking on one another. That was spree of pulling legs. It definitely took me back to my college days. It was immensly satisfying to see the undying sarcasm of my freinds coupled with the maturity of riposting every comment wittily and funnily.

Stay at Vegas was fabolous. Everything was great about Vegas. Illuminating nights, Stunnig Casinos, long standing Stratosphere, gorgeous fountain show at Bellagio, 'never say die' attitude of people walking on the roads all night long, catching the glimpses of beauty flaunted by juvenile girls and the list goes on and on. I had all kinds of fun. I would love to write more about what I did at Vegas, but as they say 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas', I better keep my mouth shut (otherwise my friends would go gaga on me). I think it would be better if you visit Vegas and be a part of the fun rather than reading it in my scribbles. Anyway, it was an amazing experience. A three days of trip left a tremondous amount of memories to cherish. I believe, no matter where I go for a trip with my friends, I would enjoy to the fullest.

Till then everything was good, but the journey back to home was the worst one. My flight got delayed, and then had mechanical problems, and atlast got canceled.It took me more than a day to get back to Louisiana from Calif, poor me!! By the time I was home, I was tired, exhausted and depleted. But looking through the pictures of the trip, had envigorated me to script down the memories.

Nine Yrs to 'Nostalgia'

November 9th is one of the greatest days of my life. On this very day in 1998 I started the brightest chapter of my life. Yes, on this very day I stepped into the premises of College of Engineering, Osmania University for the first time, to amass everlasting memories, to collect perpetual reminiscences, to feed in unfading experiences of life time in four years of joyride.

I have been unreceptive for quiet a few days. I was low on confidence. My motivation had been on the thinner side. But looking at the date itself boosted me to write this up. I couldn’t control my urge to mention this special day on my blog. I still remember my first day at OU (Osmania University). I was thrilled, elated, excited and at the same time, tensed. It was a grand beginning to new life style. It was an exuberant instigation to a unique journey with full of highs and lows. I was rustic; I was naïve to that culture. I definitely took sometime to settle in. I believe we all did take sometime to come in terms with the conditions there, to get the grips of circumstances there. We were like newly bought, empty hard drives. We had lot of space to absorb, we had lot of room to learn, we had lot of freedom to fly high, to scream loud, to ride rough. We did all that, and much more. Attending classes, studying courses was like an extra curricular activity. We were always seen busy in unquestionably joyous deeds. Oh boy, how can one forget those countless trips from canteen to kinnera via main building, which has surely been the best route I have ever traveled. Of course, college days without girls, simply unimaginable. 10 minutes rendezvous would have generated at least an hour of debate in the evening while sipping the garam chai along with Osmania biscuits. Not only this, the moments when we all got drunk for every small stint, the moments when we shed tears at the loss of one of our dear friends, the moments when we all beat the hell out of invaders, the moments when we all zoomed in midnight ride for fruit juice, the moment when we all danced to eternal music on those colossal steps of main building, and the moment when I made most of my accidents and the list goes on and on.

I believe, the journey wasn’t a smooth one, there were some hiccups. It could be termed as safe flight with little turbulence here and there. We surely had some differences, which was quiet natural, considering our cultural and regional differences. But in the end, most of us have come out good and in fact as better persons. We learned so many things in those 4 years at OU, not only the subject, but also we all got cultured enough to gauge and stand against the different predicaments of life.

Well, I am blessed to be part of highly energetic group of my friends. Even after 5 years of engineering farewell, we are still going strong and slick. And real icing on cake is, few of us are having a reunion today. It will all be fun and frolic over the weekend. I am all excited and over the moon, who wouldn’t be??

Five Point Someone - Chetan Bhagat

“Five point someone”, this is the first novel in my life that I have read completely without any interruptions. FPS is penned down by Chetan Bhagath, a former IITan (IIT-Delhi), and incidentally FPS was his first attempt at writing. FPS is the story of three IIT students who found difficult to cope up with the hectic schedule of IIT and ended up falling into the zone of five point range GPA.

FPS starts with day one of IIT life of three friends, Alok, Hari and Ryan. They start their IIT career with a disaster and continue to build their heap of increasing declinations. Amazing thing is that they always back themselves up even though they are stuck deep in the mud of failures. It is not that they are dumb or dull in grasping the knowledge; they get carried away with unwarranted habits of teenage. They soak fullest in the stinky fountain of youth. IIT, the impression that we have on this institution would not reflect even a bit in the lives of these three young ruffians. It starts with the first day of their college life and ends on the day they all graduate from IIT. It talks about different kinds of transformation underwent by these three students, the classes, assignment, mugging, exams, cigarettes, boozing, movies and of course, girls.

The novel was an easy to read kind one, especially for people like me (I am not really into this novel reading). It was written in simple English and each chapter is short and sweet. Even though, it sounds interesting till the end, I am not really inclined with the way novel ended. The climax seems too cinematic. Looks like author wanted to end the novel on a happy note and he tried not to ruin the impression of IIT by showing the protagonists as failures. But the way the whole novel runs makes us to forget this as a small pebble in the grassy path of garden.

The only reason I have read this novel is the strong recommendation by a friend. The person strongly insisted that characters in the novel would remind me of my college days and I readily agree that now. It surely reminded me of my college days, not just in one instance or in one chapter, most of the time, through out the novel. That could be one of the reasons which made me to read the book in one try.

Alwidaa, Inzy...

12th Oct 2007, yet another memorable moment in the cricket world. Inzamam-Ul-Haq One of the greatest batsmen of my generation has bid adieu to cricket. Sixteen years of illustrious career came to an end in the midst of emotional breakdown from everybody all over the cricket world.

Inzamam a.k.a Inzy stormed into the cricketing world with a blistering, aggressive innings against New Zealand in the semi final of 1992 world cup. The young Inzy thumped bowlers all around the park bringing the team home out of dire situations and eventually added the jewel in the crown of glory in the form of world cup. Since then he stamped an unforgettable mark on the history of Pakistan cricket. He gave a new definition to middle order batting skills. His role was often rescuing the team from a disastrous crumble. Consolidation and construction were his pets. He pulled through the Pakistan from umpteen numbers of embarrassing predicaments. His innings to pull off the thrilling victory against Bangladesh with the aid of tail enders was an inspirational fight. Even though it sounds silly to praise his skills against Bangladesh, but given the conditions and his temperament and the dreadful patch he was going through at that time that could very be one of the brightest innings of his career. Other than that there are many more innings to talk about, his triple century against Kiwis, consecutive centuries against England, fighting half century against Ozs to bring team home, and more than couple of brilliant knocks against India, its just a mammoth list of sheer brilliance and vividness.

Like in any other field, his career also has ups and downs. But in all those circumstances, he was always nonchalant, obliged and of course witty. One of the real lows his career when he was dropped from the team after a terrible display in 2003 world cup but he bounced back strongly and proved his irremovable presence on the Pakistan cricket. The other low might be the early exit from 2007 world cup of pak. He couldn’t repair it though, but it remained as a small blemish amid the long, radiant, dazzling career.

On the whole, I was most fortunate to witness some immaculate batting displays by Inzy. He was with one of the best safe pair of hands in the slip cordon. Without him, it would be a Herculean task for Pakistan cricket board to fill those long, hard shoes. I hope he will have a peaceful and successful retirement life.

Alwidaa, Inzy…

Tracks to Perdition

My recent visit to India was exhilarating and entertaining and had flown by very fast. It was full of fun and frolics. As they say no fun is full without a tragedy. The tragedy was the demise of one of my cousins. She was too young to die. This one was a big hiccup to live with all through the wedding ceremony.

Ammulu, she was just 18 years old and had been married for four months (lets talk about early marriages in another writing). One fine morning she met with an unceremonious accident, a bright sun shine brought darkness in her life and eventually our lives. She had been living with her husband in Pune for two months, where she used to assist him in his business. On that day, they were waiting at the railway station to catch a train to get to work. They started to walk to aerobridge to get to the other side of the platform as they realized change in platform numbers. While in a hurry to catch the train she didn’t realize the speed of oncoming superfast train which passed by her creating a force which pushed her into the air making her to fly and a take a leap of 10-15Ft, before hitting the a pile of unused gravel. The moment she hit the rocks her head got split open and blood rushed out and she died on her way to hospital.

This is not new to railway department in India. On average, every year 4000 people die on the tracks of Mumbai railway only. These deaths comprise of suicides, homicides, accidents like electrocuted by overhead power lines or killed as they lean on one foot in a jam-packed carriage. Every day six million people commute on Mumbai railway and amazingly at peak hours they carry 550 people in each carriage of capacity 200. Getting back home in one piece is always a luck factor. People hang from the coaches or sit on the top of the roofs just to get to home. In the process, some people fall to death and some people dragged under the wheels from the platform in the tussle to get in. It’s like a struggle for existence everyday.

As I dug deep into details, I realized that railway department allocates a small percentage of its annual budget for these deaths on the tracks by spending money on the white blankets. Every station has a stock of white blankets to cover the corpse, but not to control the deaths. Instead what I suggest is, to form a small group of professionals to come up with a method with which can lower the number of deaths. Every problem has a solution, it just needs to be addressed and investigated thoroughly.

4000 people on average every year and on the top it just the number of deaths in Mumbai, imagine the number all over India. The number is almost equal to the deaths in WTC tragedy. And amazingly this is not the result of any terrorist attack.

Anyway, my cousin, who was innocent and young and who crossed the village border for first time had never come back in one piece. Like her, hundreds of the innocent/ignorant people travel across the city just to end up falling prey to these unremarkable lapses. The only remedy to these mishaps is when government comes up with a method with which a naïve can gain knowledge of these common, typical catastrophes. Of course this is all possible if we are ready to lend a helping hand.

Men with 'Blue-Ribbon'

India crowned T20 world cup, I still feel butterflies while reading that headline. Winning a world cup after 22 yrs and on the top beating Pakistan in the finals, it doesn’t get anything better than that. And believe me, they grabbed the cup without the services of three musketeers, Sachin, Dada and Dravid, who were the main pillars of Team India for the past 15 years, gooseberries again.

How did it all happen?? Before the start of the tournament India entered as Infants at T20. They just had played one match against SA and surprisingly they had to enter without big guns who pulled out themselves, which is the only way of keeping them out of the game. Hence the new captain, Dhoni, and he was leading a bunch of young guys who were hungry and roaring to go out and prove their potential, and to be honest they had nothing to loose even if they failed at their stint. For some reason South Africa, the venue, has always been lucky one for India. Even in 2003, we reached finals, thanks to Sachin, for his outstanding display of aggressive cricket.

Every victory was hard earned, they fought like warriors, they snatched the matches from the opposition, instead of tagging themselves victorious on the mercy of an error or whether, they displayed a characteristic/ an inspiring performance which left opposition in the helm of catastrophe. The commitment was always there right from the beginning but the momentum stepped in when Yuvi smacked the six sixes in an over. He single handedly took India home and from there he never really looked back. The innings against Aus was the best from Yuvi. India beating Ozs in semis, I don’t have to booze, I am on high. Just for the record, this victory was a long waited one, Last time India beat Ozs was back in early 2004, it has almost been four yrs, what a way to break that timeline.

The real big match was final against, Pak. Wow, doesn’t get anything better than this, its huge. I believe, it took 22 yrs for two subcontinent teams to reach into the finals of world cup at the same time. Believe me, I never thought, I would see this type of contest, I mean India playing against Pak, in world cup final. As expected the match was an absolute cracker. It went down the wire and in the end it was India who held their nerves, and Pak missed the target just by a kitten’s whisker. The show they put on was an absolute humdinger. After almost 10 years we had a chance to witness the true finals.

On the whole T20 is a big hit; sponsors must have been on cloud nine. With this victory, whole subcontinent will jump into cricket fever again. Other than that, it was really stunning at first and then thrilling to watch these young and energetic Team India beating teams black and blue. Their batting was eye-catching, their bowling was surprising and fielding was electrifying. To sum it up, this future team looks completely promising. It’s high time for big guns to think future of Team India.

Off to SWADES..

I am extremely happy these days, as I will be visiting home soon. This time it will be a special visit, and the occasion is one of the biggest in my life, my sister’s wedding. I have been looking forward to this moment for a very long time.

Weddings are always pleasurable, especially if it is your siblings, you can’t express the bliss you undergo. Commonly, they say, one wedding would make way to another and, luckily, I am already in line. It’s really touching to learn that I would see my sister in bridal ensemble. Sometimes I feel it’s too early, may be, as we have been living together for these many years, the attachment drives me to consider her as a kid. I am sure emotions will be at peak when the bidaayi time comes. Even now, my eyes are getting wet. This is the toughest moment in a family. We know that this moment is on the cards, but still never care about it till we get to that very moment. And I feel, in these things women are stronger than men. Women are mentally more stable than men. They can live thru any trauma. They might be weaker physically but certainly men won’t stand any where close to women in mental maturity. I know it’s hard to digest the fact guys, but let’s digest that fact to reduce the difference in maturity. I am sure we can have an unending debate on this topic, as I had some in the past, but all will prove ineffective/futile in real life.

It’s very hard to learn the fact that a woman would have to enter a new family and start all together with new people with different perspectives, leaving behind the family with whom she lived all her life, and just carrying the memories, memories of affection. Whatever enjoy and whatever fun she had with her family will now be ripped into a small piece of footage in her mind. She just has to play it again and again, till she get to a point where she starts copying the new stuff. But that transition is not as easy as I am writing here. To live with this ordeal and still be capable of bringing smile on face, hiding tears is a Herculean task.

Anyway, I am all excited for the big occasion and hope my sister’s life will be filled with all the joy and fun in coming years.

Meanwhile, I would be on hunt for a girl, who has brains enough for two.

ill-FATEd

Look at the irony, a fortune deficient fortune teller is sitting on the footpath of Bangalore road who thinks, can read the fate of others; in fact she herself needs help in learning the harsh reality of her own fate, a fate that is full of unsympathetic and unpleasantful predicaments caused by many unwanted elements of society which can not be read or seen in the cards.

I believe, she could be a victim of either ignorance or negligence.

(Photo Courtesy Sandeep K.Siddamsetty)

అందమైన అబద్ధం

మళ్ళీ దేశం వెళుతున్నందుకు చాల సంతోషంగ ఉంది. చాలా రోజుల తరువాత మళ్ళీ ఆనందం వెల్లి విరిసింది. ఒక ఖైదిని బెయిలు పైన కొన్నాళ్ళు విడుదల చేసినంత ఆనందం. ఇదంతా తాత్కాలికమే అని తెలిసిన, తెలియనట్టుగానే ఆనందపడుతున్నాను. కొన్ని నిజాలు తెలియకపోతేనే మంచిది.

నేను 8 నేలల క్రితమే దేశం వెళ్ళాను. కాని ఈ 8 నెలలు చాల క్లిష్టంగా గడిచాయి. మనసులో నిండిన ఙ్ఞాపకాలు మోయలేనంత బరువయ్యాయి. నాలో ఉత్సాహాన్ని నింపే ఙ్ఞాపకాలు నన్ను పీఢకలలా వేధించాయి. మర్చిపొవాలంటే భయం, గుర్తుతెచ్చుకొవాలంటే భయం. ఇక వేరే దారిలేక నాఫోను పైన భారం వేయాల్సి వచ్చింది. నేను ఇంటికి రెండు గంటల దూరంలొ ఉన్న నాలుగేళ్ళలో కూడ మాట్లాడనంత సేపు గత 8 నెలలలో మాట్లాడాను. ఒక గొప్ప వ్యక్తి అన్నట్టుగా దూరం అంటే సాగదీసిన సాన్నిహిత్యమే. కాని దూరం అవుతే తప్ప తెలుసుకోలేని విలువకు నిజంగా విలువ ఉందా? అల తెలుసుకొన్న విలువకు వెల కట్టెదెలా? పోని ఈ దూరానికి కారణం ఆ విలువకు సరితూగగలదా? నా దృష్టిలో మాత్రం ముమ్మాటికి కాదు, సరితూగలేదు.

ఇక్కడ అత్యంత బాధకరమైన విషయం ఎంటంటే నిజాలు తెలిసి నిమ్మకు నీరెత్తినట్టు బ్రతుకుతున్నాను. నెమ్మదిగ నన్ను నేను మోసం చేసుకొవడానికి ప్రయత్నం చేస్తూనే ఉన్నాను. అప్పుడప్పుడు నాలోని నేను నన్ను నిలదీసి అడుగుదామనుకొంటే, నాకు తెలియక నేనే నా నుంచి కనుమరుగువుతున్నాను. ఇంతకు ముందు అన్నట్టు కొన్ని నిజాలు తెలియనట్టు ఉంటెనే ఆనందం. ఇంక ఎన్నాళ్ళు ఇలా? ఎమో, అది తెలిస్తే, ఇంత బాధ ఉండకపొయేది. ఇప్పుడు తెలిసిందల్లా, నా దేశ ప్రయాణం. అది ఎన్నాళ్ళు అని అలోచించక, ఆనందానికి అవధులు లేవనుకొని గడపాలన్నదే నా ఆశ.

కల

ఎకాంతపు కొలనులో ఒంటరిగ ఉన్న పువ్వును నేను

అలలు సృష్టించగ వచ్చిన గాలివి నువ్వు

రెక్కలు తెగిన వికారి తొడిమిలాగ మిగిలాను నేను

అలను సృష్టించి కలలాగ కనుమరుగయ్యావు నువ్వు.

చీకటిలో నడి రాతిరిలో నీ జతకై నేను

మెరుపులు మెరుస్తు వెలుగులు చిమ్ముతు ఆరని జ్యోతిలా నువ్వు

వెన్నెలవై వెలుగునిస్తావని, వేల్పువవుతావని నమ్మాను నేను

వర్షమై, వరదవై కన్నీళ్ళు మిగిల్చావు నువ్వు

కలల లోకంలో నేను

కలల లొకమే నువ్వు

కన్నీళ్ళు కార్చింది నేను

కన్నీళ్ళలో కరిగింది నువ్వు

ANKUR..

Ankur, the title itself makes you think deeply. Ankur is a Sanskrit word, which means Seedling or a new beginning and the movie depicts the same. The plot of the movie is a true story happened in one of the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh state. The way it has been portrayed on the silver screen is really commendable. The notable thing is, this movie was the first venture of Shyam Benegal, a director who showed the new angle in the film making and went on to give us some memorable films. The irony is this one was also the first movie of Shabana Azmi, who probably is one of the greatest performers of Indian Film Industry.

The stroy of the movie goes like this..

Surya (Anant Nag), the college-going son of a well-to-do farmer is forced into giving up his studies in order to look after the family property. He is married against his will to a young girl, Saryu (Priya Tendulkar), who would join him when she attains puberty. Bored and lonely in his farmhouse, Surya finds himself attracted to his maidservant Lakshmi (Shabana Azmi), wife of a poor deaf-mute potter Kishtaya (Sadhu Meher) but she spurns his advances. Kishtaya is caught stealing Toddy and is punished. Humiliated, he runs away from the village. Lakshmi, now destitute gives in to Surya who promises to look after her. Their brief idyllic association ends with the arrival of Saru who senses their past relationship and dismisses Lakshmi. Lakshmi, who is now pregnant, wakes up one morning to find Kishtaya beside her, giving her the money he has earned in his absence. Lakshmi breaks down but is reassured when he appears pleased at her approaching motherhood thinking the child to be his. Kishtaya goes to Surya asking for work and to tell him the good news. In a frenzy of conflicting emotions and fearing exposure, Surya beats him mercilessly. Lakshmi rushes to her husband's rescue and hurls a torrent of insults and curses at Surya. Surya cowers at his own pain and prevarication, coming to terms with his circumscribed life.

Every actor in the movie lived their roles. Probably this one is Shabana Azmi’s one of the greatest performances, and at the end you just remember her as servant maid Lakshmi (but not as Shabana) who is destitute yet defensive, remorseful yet rebellious if someone harms her love, her life and her self respect. The best scene of the movie comes in the very last frame, when a small boy throws a stone at the window of Landlord house. The personification of revolution, the personification of fall of a boulder is praiseworthy. Even the powerful, dominant landlord becomes cowardice when a small boy turns his back and ignites the flames of revolution by throwing a stone at landlord’s window and all this time landlord hides himself behind the closed doors weeping at the fall of a boulder, a boulder of unquestioning tyranny.

Even though this movie was made in 70’s, I feel it still fits to the current situations of the society. Slavery and oppression are still a part of the society in some places of independent India. The only change is, people stopped making these kind of movies, which is unwanted and unworthy and unyielding.

(for more info, click http://www.upperstall.com/films/ankur.html)

Procrastination.

Some days are lucky, and some days are like a ride over Atlantic with lot of turbulence in the air. Right when you are enjoying the picturesque blue water of ocean, you hear the announcement over PA about the presence of turbulence. The very moment of luxury becomes a frightening comfort. In the above case you can hardly find a solution to nullify the nature’s act. But there are some circumstances where we can definitely avoid some uneventful moments, but there lies our laziness which constantly backs us up in letting us down and throwing us into unwanted doldrums.

That day I was driving to DMV (dept of Motor Vehicle) to renew my driving license as its expiration was due in one more day. I knew when it would expire, but I waited till the penultimate day to move the things forward. The drive was fine and I parked the car in the lot and just when I was about to get out of the car, I saw a cop standing right at the back of my car with lights flashing on his car. I was perplexed, as I drove obeying the traffic rules. He came up to me and asked for driver’s license and registration, explaining the problem as the expiration of number plate. I was unaware of that. He asked me if I had received any notice from the DMV regarding the renewal of number plate. I said ‘NO’, but deep down I was yelling at myself on my ignorance at the mail from DMV, which I had been avoiding as an error from DMV. Then he glanced my driver’s license and reminded me the expiration date of it. I told him I was there to take care of renewal of license. In the meanwhile cop tried to get a peek on state inspection tag, and he couldn’t believe what he saw. Believe me I was embarrassed to the core. My inspection tag was also expired and expired long back, a year before, to be exact. I am sure that cop was surprised at my freedom with which I had been driving all this time, all over the places. He had no words of sympathy. I had no excuses, and even I stopped to thinking of excuses. I knew there was no escape out. I knew this day would come, but I was always carried by my sluggishness, negligence. The cop, who got tired of my listlessness, issued a citation and reiterated the deadline quite a few times. After that grueling session with cop, I rushed into DMV as it was at the verge of closing. I hurried to the counter and submitted the license and much to my disappointment, I was asked to pay the renewal fee in cash, which I was unaware of, again, and it was exasperating to hear SORRY from the person behind the counter. It was like rubbing salts on my wounds. I was confounded, distressed. Just then I felt I learned lesson of being lazy.

Today, I paid the fine, cleared the ticket. It needed a big check to flush the negligence. And again, I thought, I learned the lesson, but not really, coz I paid the ticket, as I had to pay it today, as it was the last day before I get summoned from court.

(I know, couple of my friends will be furious to learn this fact, but believe me, I am trying my best to get out of this trauma. It is not a habit, it is just a result of lack of motivation.)

Rich Povery

The recent survey by planning commission shows that, in 2004-2005, 27.5% of the population of India are living under the poverty line, which is which is significant development considering to the number of 36% in 1993-1994. According to the numbers, one out of every four persons is poor. How did they come to this conclusion? What exactly is Poverty line? What's the basis for the calculation? Let’s try digging into the details.

The Poverty threshold, or Poverty line, is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living, which includes food, shelter, clothes, education, medical, vacation and savings. The definition of the poverty line by National Sample Survey organization (NSSO) is quiet different, in fact unbelievable (or should I say disbelievable). The official estimates of the poverty line are based on calorie norm of 2400 per capita per day for rural areas and 2100 per capita per day for urban areas. The poverty line is decided on the basis of the amount of food consumed by a person every day (per Capita per Diem), I mean just on the basis of food.

In the '70s, when our governments first began using this definition, the monthly cost of the "basket of food" required to supply the stated nutritional levels was calculated to be Rs 62 in rural areas, and Rs 71 in urban areas. With inflation, those numbers rose to Rs 328 and Rs 454 respectively, by the year 2000. Considering the inflation, in 2004, if you lived in an Indian city and you earned more than Rs 540 a month, you were considered above the poverty level. Remember again that, this figure is the estimated cost of that basket of food on which you spend all your money. We are not talking here about the money required to spend on shelter, clothing, transport and other amenities. So what we are saying is that if your total earnings amounted to more than Rs 540 a month, you were not considered poor. /*We are saying that if you earned, let's say, Rs 600 a month, out of which you paid Rs 540 for food, you were not considered poor. */ And it is by this calculation that we estimate that 26 per cent of India is below the poverty line; that we are pleased that that number has declined from 36 to 26.

But World Bank's definition of poverty line, for underdeveloped countries like India, is US$ 1 per day, per person in other words, $365/year/person, which is more than double the poverty line defined by Government of India.

My concern is not about the amount or the numbers. The disheartening thing is the fact that the Govt of India is hiding the numbers to fit the country in the developing curve. Unfortunately, the truth is far behind the projection or presentation. We are jumbling the numbers to hide our poverty, our scarcity, our deficiency. What are we going to fetch with this false impression of development? Why is the government forcing the people to live in delusional growth? I believe the very definition of poverty line by Govt of India should be changed to a meaningful one. The definition should take into account, all the expenses of adequate living requirements rather than just a basket of food which can sustain mere survival but not a decent livelihood. The rich future of India can be achieved only when we acknowledge and understand our poverty level and strive to get out of the cobweb of dearth.

(For more info, http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/mar/ddz-povline.htm)

నిరీక్షణ..

చీకటి ముసిరిన నా కళ్ళకు నిన్ను చూడాలని

మూగబోయిన నా గొంతుకు నీ పేరు పలకాలని

చచ్చుబడ్డ నా కాళ్ళకు నీ నీడ వైపు నడవాలని

స్థంభించిన నా ఎదలయలో నీ రూపం కొలువవ్వాలని

అలలవంటి నా కలలకు నీ కన్నులు తీరం అవ్వాలని

నిస్తేజమైన నాకు నీ ఊపిరి ఉషస్సు నింపాలని

నిరాశ నిండిన నాకు నిశాంత సమయములో

నవ్వుల నీరజనాలు పలికే నీ కొసమే

నా నిరీక్షణ...

Katha

Last weekend I watched the movie called Katha, made in early 80s, directed by Sai Paranjpe. The star cast was slim but astounding, Naseeruddin Shah, Farooq Shekh and Deepti Naval. The main plot of the movie is so simple and is narrated in the simplest way possible.

Rajaram (Nasseruddin Shah) is middle class clerk living in Chawl, Bombay (Chawl is a housing complex like today’s apartments, where 10-15 different families live at one place.). He is secretly in love with the girl next door Sandhya (Deepti Naval). Rajaram is a real honest guy who is always ready to be helpful to others at any given situation. One day his old friend Bashudev (Farooq Sheikh), who gave up the schooling abruptly and ran away to Delhi, visits him. Bashudev is pretentious and cunning. He is a smooth talker and a con man, who doesn’t have any qualms even stealing from his own friend. With his mastery, conceited skills he impresses one and everyone at chawl. Sandhya and her parents get dazzled with the ostentatious Bashu and which leaves Rajaram heart broken. Bashu escapes the premises right on the morning of the wedding day deserting Sandhya as he has no more moves left to play with. Devastated at the situation, Rajaram offers his concern and asks Sandhya to marry him. Sandhya even though delighted at his offer, she reveals that she had been very intimate with Bashu. Will Rajaram accepts the Sandhya or not, remains to be seen on the screen.

This movie is inspired from the classical story of Hair (Farooq) and Tortoise (Nasseruddin). The presentation is simple and effortless. Protagonists played their roles perfectly. Amazing thing is, the actual chawl residents played their same roles in the movie. The movie doesn’t have any gimmicks or any adulterated jokes. It is just a plain uncomplicated, straight forward movie.

Silsila..

Yeh Kaha aagaye hum, one of the best romantic songs ever. Truly it creates vibes of exberance in me. Added silver lining is the voice of Amitabh bachcan. The voice sets the mood of the song. One can sense the emotion and passion for love in that voice. This was from the movie Silsila, One of the hit films in 1980’s, which had lot of resemblance to real life of Amitabh Bachchan.

Tanhayee(solitude) is not always the best feeling one can ever experience but it definitley helps in realizing many realities and the importance of things in life. You have space to think, space to dream, space to learn and of course lot of space to write. Here the poet writes how it would have been if she (his lover) had been with him.. Well, that’s a quite an imagination. He elucidates the picturesque of tryst eloquently.
Sometimes expectations can be really high, larger than life itself.

--MALE--
Main aur meri tanhaai aksar yeh baatein karte hain
Tum hoti to kaisa hota, tum yeh kehti, tum voh kehti
Tum is baat pe hairaan hoti, tum us baat pe kitni hansti
Tum hoti to aisa hota, tum hoti to vaisa hota
Main aur meri tanhaai aksar yeh baatein karte hain

--FEMALE--
Yeh kahan aa gaye hum
Yunhi saath saath chalte
Teri baahon mein hai jaanam
Mere jism-o-jaan pighalte
Yeh kahan aa gaye hum
Yunhi saath saath chalte

--MALE--
Yeh raat hai, yeh tumhaari zulfein khuli hui hai
Hai chaandni ya tumhaari nazrein se meri raatein dhuli hui hai
Yeh chaand hai ya tumhaara kangan
Sitaarein hai ya tumhaara aanchal
Hawa ka jhonka hai ya tumhaare badan ki khushboo
Yeh pattiyon ki hai sarsaraahat ke tumne chupke se kuch kaha hai
Yeh sochta hoon main kab se gumsum
Ke jab ki mujhko bhi yeh khabar hai
Ke tum nahin ho, kahin nahin ho
Magar yeh dil hai ke keh raha hai
Ke tum yahin ho, yahin kahin ho

--FEMALE--
O, tu badan hai main hoon chhaaya
Tu na ho to main kahan hoon
Mujhe pyaar karne waale
Tu jahan hai main vahan hoon
Hamein milna hi tha hamdam
Issi raah pe nikalte
Yeh kahan aa gaye hum
Yunhi saath saath chalte
Mm, meri saans saans maheke
Koi bheena bheena chandan
Tera pyaar chaandni hai
Mera dil hai jaise aangan
Koi aur bhi mulaayam
Meri shaam dhalte dhalte
Yeh kahan aa gaye hum
Yunhi saath saath chalte

--MALE--
Majboor yeh haalaat, idhar bhi hai udhar bhi
Tanhaai ki ek raat, idhar bhi hai udhar bhi
Kehne ko bahut kuch hai, magar kisse kahe hum
Kab tak yunhi khaamosh rahe aur sahe hum
Dil kehta hai duniya ki har ek rasm utha de
Deevaar jo hum dono mein hai, aaj gira de
Kyoon dil mein sulagte rahe, logon ko bata de
Haan humko mohabbat hai, mohabbat hai, mohabbat
Ab dil mein yehi baat, idhar bhi hai udhar bhi

--FEMALE--
Yeh kahan aa gaye hum
Yunhi saath saath chalte
Yeh kahan aa gaye hum