YadaYadaYada.....

Avatar: My review

2009-12-21T14:38:00.002+10:30

Sometimes when the hype is built up too much more often than not its very hard to live up to. I was really looking forward to watching Avatar. There was almost delerious hype and the talk of the movie seemed to be everywhere. So I was afraid it was going to be a damp squib given my luck with these things. But after watching it all I could say was WOW. I mean the 3D animation, the special effects were amazing!

The plot is really nothing to write home about. A combination of Dances With Wolves, The Last Of The Mohicans to The Power Of One. Plus not mention the heads up given by Eric Cartman in Dances with Smurfs. Its just a simple fairy tale in a kick ass world with awesome huge birds which you are supposed to tame like the cowboys and 6 legged horses with whom you really have to connect, and this is literally speaking! ;) Last but never the least, a kick ass world with very humanly appealing alien princesses who thankfully has picked up American English. Talk about beauty being universal! And the the bad guy is like a villian straight out of the GI Joe clan.

One thing I also have to mention is the movies length. I could swear it was almost 3 hours long. Thats insanely long for an English film. For Indians used to watching long Bollywood movies this is a piece of cake but not sure how the westerners would react to this. To be fair to Cameroon the pace of the movie especially in the latter part really picks up so odds are you wouldnt even think you've been in the theatre with the 3D glasses that long.

Don't go watching it expecting a cinematic masterpiece. But watch it like a fairy tale movie your grandma would make for you if she had half a billion bucks. ;)

opinion on Raj

2009-11-23T10:24:00.003+10:30

I was reading Gaurav Sabnis's post about Raj Thackeray yesterday and couldn't stop nodding my head in agreement all the way through.
After that, since I have been so out of touch of late with Indian and Marathi politics, I saw some of Raj's interviews with the national media. Raj Thackeray is clever and definately more nuanced that Balasaheb. I loved how he spoke in Marathi on these channels; using it as a medium to come across as a saviour again. I can't beleive the hosts of the shows, from Rajdeep to Arnab fell in the trap; trying to ask him the reason why he is not speaking in Hindi, why he hates Hindi etc. Raj's answer is and always has been, its better he talks in a language he feels comfortable in and repeatedly said he has nothing against Hindi and giving examples of other people who do the same ie speaking in their own language thereby shutting up the hosts on that. Another point served with his growing, sympathetic support base, how Rajsaheb stands up for Marathi.

In fact the interview with Arnab Goswami was really good. Have a look here. I can see why Raj strikes a chord with so many people. After reading some of the comments again I see how the national media have blown him up so much that he is the modern day Jinnah apparently! People have to realise that the more stupid and generic anti Marathi statements they make, only contributes to make Raj bigger and bigger.

The actual matter in Raj's statements is what we need to look into I think. He seems to be too busy just repeatedly clarifying himself on issues which I think that even now the national media doesnt seem to get. Eg Chath puja. Celebrating the festival isnt his problem, the problem is the show of "political strength" that comes with it seems to be his main grouch. Same with Hindi, and anti-North India campaign, where he has repeatedly clarified that he isnt against all outsider just UP-Biharis. Still a crappy stance, but every time the media uses the term anti outsiders its just a point to Raj. See how the national media doesnt quote me correctly. Hazar da sangitla tari kahi farak padat nahi.

Most of Rajs logic seems to be like; 5 other people are doing it then why are you only telling me to straighten up. A very juvenile and stupid argument. Take him up on that! Ask him how he will actually do some good for the people and not bring the Marathi asmita into a question all the time. The more airtime Raj gets to justify Marathi and rant about how he has been vilified by the national media, the bigger Raj gets. Expose him on some substance and actual ground issues.

Oh and loved how he shut Rajdeep up in that Thackeray Vs Thackeray piece, when Sardesai kept hammering at Raj wanting an answer if he will go back to the Shiv Sena. Raj tried dodge for a while before shooting at Rajdeep, "Tell me will you go back to NDTV" lol!

Oh my previous blog on this was a long time ago. Sigh its still an issue :(

Me and my Mo

2009-11-14T10:09:00.001+10:30

What is it with Aussies and their Mo? From the time when I was a tiny tot to now, the legend of the Aussies started and ended with their signature Mo. Who can forget big Merv swearing at the batsmen or just commanding the respect of the crowds everywhere. Theres no way he could have done it without the Mo. Same for Boonie, Rod Marsh, Ian Chappel to name a few. In fact in Tassie theres a legend* about Boonie and how he stopped the ball in his mustache.

Why all this all of a sudden? Its Movember people! It's a basic assumption in these waters that men don't like to talk about mens health or charities but growing a Mo for charity; now thats different. Movember is a charity that supports mens health. This year I have shaken off my inertia and have decided to sport a hirsute upper lip.

Australians clearly believe in the power of the Moustache and this November I have decided to do the same. You can go here to support me <http://au.movember.com/mospace/313176/>

*The legend of Boonie lacks any factual evidence and may be a figment of the author's imagination, but has been reproduced here for a noble cause ; )

The List (Cont...) Shot at Gold!

2009-07-20T16:11:00.001+09:30

After the eventful weekend, there was the small matter of completing what was started. Martin had two days rest, when in theory he should have completed the Max challenge ;) Then came Wednesday. There was going to be an attempt for gold. The number 1 item on The List was going to be completed. Martin was prepared (he came with a pack of Kleenex ;) ) and so were we (Nhiem, Kamran and me)

Let me just describe the dish first. He was supposed to eat the Spicy Beef Schezuan. Its mainly beef, chilli and a sauce served in a huge bowl and normally serves 2-4 I think.

The Beef Schezuan was ordered by the time we reached Noodle Kingdom and the sense of expectation was overwhelming. The dish came and well have to say Martin I think they had toned down on the red chilli. And then they brought 4 bowls.
"Thats alright mate, only he is going to finish it.", I try and tell. The dude was well a lil bit surprised to say the least ;)
The came the classic conversation.
M, "Can I get some rice"
Chinese waiter, "Sure"

5 mins pass and the rest of us have got our meagre portions. Martin starts working on the gravy and has some of the chillies until he realises there is no rice yet. So again,
"Can I get some steam rice?"
Waiter: "hmm what?"
"Ricce rice"
Waiter looks blank as hell. A few more awkward glances later,
"Eating rice.RICE.(perhaps a hint of annoyance) 1 serve of it." Giving him the finger. Mmm that sounded wrong. Lets just say gesturing with the index finger to show the one ; )
Waiter: Finally understands and quickly fetched a bowl.

Strangely there was relatively less whinging and he got through half the portion quite fast and easily. And then the fun started. M had gone all red. And well I knew this was going to be interesting. Starts with making all kind of weird faces as he eats the chilli and sauce(which btw was delicious) pleading with us to help him out. Then being good mates, we did dutifully taste a spoonful. Em, make that 5 in my case.

"Oh my mouth is on fire. This is incredible stupid(sic)"
"The water is not helping". This line came out often perhaps 100 times in the lunch time conversation. Sometimes in some minute variations, "This water is not helping one bit" . The concerned staff at Noodle Kingdom were at their best. They have never been as prompt in giving water before! And well they did keep an eye on Martin all through, often pointing and laughing. Ok I made that last bit up, but you get the idea ;)

He made so many weird faces during the remainder of the meal that some customers in adjoining tables were grinning ear to ear too as they realised an interesting lunch was taking place on our table. Oh and of course Martin was breathing fire and just had to exhale in someones direction to fire a round of hot chilli breath! I am sure that drew peoples attention ; ) .

And oh not to mention all the while, the remaining non sufferers i.e. us the audience were having an awesome time and could not stop laughing. Martin must be cursing the time he said that he can eat the Beef Schezuan!

Then he came up with his last plan. "I said I would finish the meat but not the sauce" This was not unexpected and Nhiem and I had made sure we and accounted for this before and Martin then had his classic, "yea right" moments.
And I have to say he almost finished it. But then as he apparently had done with the beer, gave up. Nhiem convinced him to literally "drink" the sauce with a straw. The waitress was amused more than shocked when we told her to get a straw to help him finish the liquidy sauce/gravy.

Well but he did give up. And how close he came to finish it. As a esult of the bet, Martin had to pay our lunch and well had "too much chilli" related problems the next day anyways ; ) An expensive loss indeed.

Oh and btw he had Japanese cake after with us all to round off an awesome lunch! :-D

Martins Bucket List

2009-07-16T16:44:00.019+09:30

Whats a good Australian send off? Well ask Martin. Since he is leaving, he has to complete a certain list reproduced in full in an awesome handwriting above. ; -)

Let just update all you folks on what has happened so far. Martin started acting on the list on Saturday when we were at Nhiem's place. The first challenge attempted being challenge no 3.

Challenge 3 Put a weird status message on Facebook:

This one was a piece of cake really. And well the line chosen was hilarious, “I found a huge boil between my legs”I am sure Jess had something to do with that ;)

The next challenge perhaps appealed to the German in him. So we attempted challenge no 10.

Drink 15 beers and 4 Jägerbombs:

Well have to hand it to the bloke, he completed this more or less honestly, (there was some confusion at the end with 3 beers) but overall a good job. Whats more he even had an extra

Jägerbomb just for good measure. ;-)

After that was a case of basically he was on a roll so next challenges attempted in the night were going to be, number 7, 3 and 2.

Challenge No 7 snort 1 line of castor sugar:

After all the drinks the main character of the blog, Herr Schnorr, was quite confident of this; leaving aside ofcourse the trademark winging!

But when Nhiem lined the sugar he wasn’t sure anymore. Again quite typical ;)

Martin: "Unbeleivable I need more beer!"

And then he starts. Slowly but surely getting it right. And of course all the while winging ;)

Until there was none left. But then I guess he had problems breathing or to quote M , “My nose is on fire. ”

Oh and I think he got to keep the 20bucks for his efforts.

I am sure the more astute readers have already noticed the parrot on M’s shoulder. Lets just have a story on that eh. That was the next challenge attempted.

Challenge Number 2 Parrot on shoulder for a whole night

Honestly the challenge seemed harmless. He has to have the parrot (a fake one of course) on his shoulder for a night. That meant going to a pub with it. And if someone asked “Why do you have a parrot on your shoulder?” , M is supposed to answer, “Why don’t you?” All seemed like awesome fun after a lot of drinks.

What we didn’t actually take into consideration is how much M would actually like the parrot. I mean he didn’t keep it off even when we were at Nhiem’s house!

And well just reproducing one of the pictures that captured the love ;)

Now by the time we reach the city. M is pretty much gone, dancing and has totally forgotten about the parrot. Then when he does take it out, he fumbles and the parrot falls amongst a crowd of pretty young girls and I am sure one of them stomped on it and it broke and boy did they freak out.

Random Girl: “Wtf was that man!”

M: “My parrot” with a sad face

By this time the parrot was broken into 2 pieces and I am sure the girl didn’t realise it was fake.

Random Girl: “What?! Nooo way..” a very concerned face, probably wondering if the liquid on the floor was blood and not just “harmless” alcohol.

But then Jess, the good girl that she is, explained the situation and Martin got half of his parrot back.

Which reminds me mate, what did the vet say about the parrot?? ; )

After this the working week starts. And well he did go for number 1 and boy was that hilarious too.

Lets keep that for another time shall we?

I just don't get it

2009-06-03T10:33:00.001+09:30

Ok I am sick and tired of relatives in India calling up to ask if I am fine in Australia. Yes I am! Australia is NOT a land full of racists. There are idiots everywhere in the world, learn to accept it. Which brings us to the events. Pardon me if this all just seem like brainstorming notes.
I am sure everyone has heard of the incidents where the Indian students got bashed up. It is interesting to note here that this news wasn't covered in the Australian media at all when it happened. The Indian media on the other hand reported it to death. I mean they have whipped up such a frenzy that I am sure if I would have changed my mind about coming to Australia if I was thinking of it now. As a result we have two extreme at ends of the spectrum. By the time the Australian media woke up, the coverage seemed to be more of how the events have been covered by the Indian media.
My major gripe with all this is exactly that. Why didn't the Aussie media give any importance to these events, when they happened. I have heard people say that education is the 3rd biggest export of Australia so perhaps they don't want to demean the sector. I disagree with it totally. I can safely say that an average potential international student would read/listen to the local media and definitely not be up to speed with the Australian media. So no logic for it not to be covered here. If anything it would have made the people aware and alert. That is after all why the media exists.
I think it is ridiculous that I have to read an Indian newspaper to find out what is happening in Australia! Thank god mum and dad were in Australia itself when that happened, so they at least know what the real situation is.

Hell on earth

2009-02-12T11:31:00.004+10:30

Another really random blog. Things that I have been mulling about.

The fires continue to burn in Victoria. The toll is supposed to cross 300 it seems. The stories you hear and the amount of destruction caused is overwhelming. The mere fact that some of them may be arsonist's work just fills me with disgust. When I went to the cricket on Tues it was so heartening to see the people generously donating and the mere fact that the Adelaide game raised 7 million shows the compassion that people have. I hope the goodwill continues up in Brisbane.

Now the cricketers have visited the victims as well as the PM and other "VIPs". The cynic that I am, I just wonder how much this helps the affected people. The cricketers I guess help to take the mind off the tragedy a bit. Not too sure of the politicos. Though have to say Rudd looked really sincere when he was talking with the people. I just hope these people know the real work will be when the rebuilding begins. The hearts need to mended as well destructed properties. Will people return? I wonder if I would go back if I was in the situation.

The important thing to consider after the fires have been put out are the lessons learnt. What can be done to stop it from happening again? If two fires would merge it will cause untold destruction. So is there any way to stop that if it comes to it?

Food for thought. Have a great day! :-)

My Mumbai she burns

2008-12-03T11:21:00.003+10:30

Well my 0.02A$ worth.

Time for India to put up a brave and "united" face but it is only like a PR exercise I feel. The real issue needed to be looked into is how do we stop terrorism or more to the point can we stop terrorism. I beleive the answer to this lies within the Muslim community all over the world itself, more so than any other. How many times have we heard after every attack the oft repeated cliche, "Not all Muslims are like that". Something I know for a fact but for someone who has lost a loved one it may sound as bull crap.

Lets just take the case of terrorism against India. Of all the terrorists caught attacking India how many were Muslim. My guess: 99.99%. The community has to help root out these idiots from amongst them because well its only going to bite them in the arse(religious profiling etc) if they dont.

Can rattle on but well this should suffice for now ;).

Please read Tarun Vijay's articles in the otherwise abonimable Times of India, (I know I have been guilty of reading it ;-) ).

Esp this article India battles to win.

A proud Marathi?

2008-04-09T14:26:00.001+09:30

Every time I read current stories from India, regarding the Thackeray-marathi manoos things, I feel really uneasy. Wrong signals seem to be sent in every direction. This post is just my attempt to write down things going on about the issue in my head. So well there is a high chance that the output will be muddled.

The question that needs to be contemplated is this.

Is there unrest amongst the Marathi population regarding "outsiders".
The extent and possible reasons/solutions.

By Marathi, I mean people who are born, brought up in Maharashtra and speak-understand Marathi. The unrest is there, sad to say. Is it widespread? Not really. But when politicians want to brandish the parochial sword, there is real danger that the unrest will spread.
Simple example, these were the times when MNS wasn't formed. Advertisements for the Mumbai postings for Indian Railways weren't given in any of the local Marathi newspapers, but all the Bhojpuri-Hindi dainiks carried the news, (supposedly). No doubt this created unrest in the local population. Raj Thackeray wrote about the issue, managed to inflame people further, and then causing the infamous Sena backed ransacking on Railways Mumbai Office.

Why is the unrest there? Aren't we one nation? Well the demographics of Maharashtra, Mumbai in particular have changed a lot in the last 10 years. People will react when language that is different to the commonly prevalent ones, keep falling on their ears. I can state the example of my beloved Pune. I could not imagine a place in Pune where I would hear anything other than Marathi. But now like Mumbai, there is high chance that two strangers starting conversation, won't do it in Marathi. This is not a bad thing at all, but it sure as hell is different. And most people as a rule are resistant to change.

I know so many individuals who after spending their lives in Pune have picked up the language. In fact it's assumed that they will. But I doubt we can make those assumptions any further.

Marathi or Hindi? Hindi is our national language. I think most people in India know the language. I think Marathi people in general don't mind the rashtrabhasha, but I think people may be peeved when, the "outsiders" don't take up Marathi even after staying here for 10-15 years. It can't be Hindi at the cost of Marathi.

Anyways, in this global age how important these things are is debatable. For me I am glad that I know, have learnt English. Because ironically, I think that is the only language that truly binds our great nation. To each his own I guess.

why is the IPL bad?

2008-03-30T00:37:00.001+10:30

I just keep reading articles after articles in papers here or on Cricinfo. Then I read this today and thought ok thats it. I had to shake off my extreme inertia and blog.

I don't understand why papers in Australia, UK and even media in general are so quick to react negatively to the IPL? Why is the Indian Rupee that bad for cricket? And here I would like to make clear that this post is only focussed on the IPL and not ICL.(which btw I also dont understand why is being made out as the black sheep)

I read Harsha Bhogle's views on the IPL and that I could not agree more with. Has anyone from overseas thanked India for giving them opportunities to ply their trade here? Another brilliant read on the topic was Amit Verma's piece on Cricinfo. If this doesn't shut the negetive vibes nothing will.

The fact is the IPL deserves a chance. Its a concept that is going to take cricket in exciting directions. Who is to say the future is necessarily bad?Who knows because of the franchise/league like concepts, cricket may make headway in regions like US or other countries thus expanding its reach. Why shoot it down before it takes off?

The cricket world needs to understand that the dynamics of the game are changing. And it would be fair to say, so would the tastes of the audiences by and large. Simplest example, the T20 match at the MCG this summer;close to 85000 people came to see it. Thats footy like audiences. Compare those figures to any attendance figure in the tests or ODIs here and you would definitely get the answer.

For some reason statements like these
"
...the true lovers of cricket, and of Indian cricket more especially, must
hope that the IPL will fail as a commercial proposition. It offers,
arguably, a degraded form of cricket; and it will promote, certainly, a
degradation of character..."
that Mr Guha, whose articles on cricket I really like (normally), has used here, really pisses me off. I always thought of myself as a "true" lover of cricket, but I guess I cant use that tag anymore since I have unabashedly brandished my support for the T20 format.Damn!!

Am I a true Indian cricket fan then. Hmm lets see. The IPL gives the Indian audiences a chance to see the big names turning out for their cities. See their performances up close with more frequency than normal. Imagine Shane Warne coaching a leggie in Jaipur, whilst he is there on IPL duty. Oh that would be horrid for Indian cricket wouldn't it! So yes IPL is evil, the very fact that Indian audiences can watch Warne, Kallis, McGrath, Lee, ... is not going to be good for Indian cricket. So I guess I can peacefully sleep knowing I AM a "true" Indian cricket fan. Yes I am hoping the IPL fails Mr Guha.

Its all happening Down Under

2008-01-10T16:12:00.001+10:30

The incidents that have dominated the media here in Australia have been, not surprisingly, to do with the Sydney Test match. Umpires copped some stick as you would expect. It's the other stuff that has dominated post-match news more. I just think because of the insane amount of coverage this issue has got, there are opinions flying around left, right and center. This has only made matters worse. It would be far to say the "media" went overboard.

What the Aussies just don't seem to understand:

1> This is not Bucknor at his worst for the first time against India. He has a history, clearly given here by the GreatBong in his post.

2> With the Harbhajan issue, the Indians feel their word was not taken into consideration, and what more, as Procter says, "one set of players was telling the truth". This has made it a question of honour. So the situation so far is this, 3 Australian players heard Harbhajan say it, umpires did not, stump mics did not, and well if I add,Sachin did not. So there is no evidence. How then did Procter ban Harbhajan? And if he has any other source of information, share it with the public. Can't help but think the ICC is gagging all the parties involved, and this in fact has escalated this issue.

The grouch with the Aussie team is that they seem boorish and arrogant in their behaviour. The naive "pact" was not followed by Ponting and the Indians feel aggreived. Rightly so.

In the interview with Channel 9 Current Affair the day before, Ponting says about the post-match conference fiasco, that he did not expect any question about the Dhoni dismissal and so was taken aback. He claims he did not see the replay till untill later. Well that to me is symbolic of what all that is wrong with their attitude. He hasn't seen the replay for that, so one would expect the captain of a nation to say he hasnt seen it so no comments, or something along those lines. But no Ponting is aggressive and rude towards the media guy.

Ponting is a fantastic batsman, and his team is the best as far as playing cricket goes. If they want to be liked they have to start and accept, they are not liked and respected like the previous great teams from the Carribean etc. As Geoff Lawson has said,"Whether the team themselves think that is another issue, but I can guarantee you the rest of the cricket world certainly feels that about this cricket team".

All this said and done, I definiely think that Ponting shouldn't be sacked for sure but needs to realize that something is amiss and rectify it for the future at least.

I think the Steve Waugh and Border theories of cultural differences seem even more relevant to me now. An excellent article here by Waugh. Read these "neutral" articles as well. 1. 2. 3.

A balanced view from the blogosphere.

In the Australian media, the reaction have been more or less balanced, compared to the Indian counterparts. The Channel Nine site, the Australian also has some pretty clearly pro-Aus biased articles. You have to go see them. The Nine one had this video on the site yesterday, saying WWS team has dug up a gem from the past. Also today they have these videos of Dhoni claiming Peiterson at Lords, and Harbhajan refusing to walk. What timing! Coincidence?

US dollar collapsing??

2007-06-27T13:59:00.001+09:30

I have limited knowledge of economics and the finance world ;) but chanced upon this article the other day which was a rather alarming read. Would love to hear peoples views on that.

The 12th Man

2007-06-17T12:40:00.001+09:30

Hearing an Australian icon in action is "Marvellous". Ok I am talking about cricket commentary here and by that I don't mean the great Richie Benaud. The person I am referring to is Billy Birmingham, who does kick-ass impressions of the Nine commentary team, most famous for doing Richie Benaud, Tony Greig, Bill Lawry impressions. :-)

After hearing some clips of the The Twelfth Man, I am hooked on to this stuff. The last album Boned seems hilarious as well.

Catch some here especially Marvellous 2006. :-)

October Sky

2007-06-14T15:57:00.001+09:30

Am blogging about something after a long time. Since I last blogged a fair few things have transpired in the world of cricket; India pounded Bangladesh as expected, Lara retired from international cricket and as usual the BCCI have screwed up. :-)

On a more personal note, have started watching South Park again.;-)

Also saw lots of movies,thanks to my house-mate Bhargav. Lots of great ones like Momento, Se7en. One of the long list is "October Sky".

I had never heard about the movie before so was a little skeptical about watching it. Well the movie is simply amazing. The plot very simply put, is about a young 17 yr boy from Coalwood, a small mining town in West Virginia, who becomes fascinated with rockets after watching the Sputnik in the October sky. It's based on a true story by Homer Hickam himself.

The performances are mind-blowing. The confrontations between Homer, played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal and his dad, played brilliantly by Chris Cooper are something special. Also the student teacher interactions in the purest form and the small town setting and way of life is beautifully encompassed. The strong undercurrent of family ties and bonds that flows throughout the movie is superb as well.

Do watch it fellas, it is awesome. :-)

Why blame the bowlers

2007-03-30T12:48:00.001+09:30

Well India are out of the World Cup. Thankfully there haven't instances of violence directed against the players yet. Now the whole Pandora's box has opened with people calling for the heads of all the seniors and Chappel.

I side with Gavaskar when he said that there is no reason to replace Dravid. He's 34 and probably at the peak of his career. India could consider moulding a younster under him, ala Sri Lanka, where Atapattu was dropped as captain between the 2003 WC and this one.

Again and again there are people calling for changes in the bowling attack. Drop Agarkar, drop Harbhajan. Very frankly it was not the bowling that let us down in the WC. It is arguable weather Pathan should have played instead of Uthappa, but the bowling did not lose us any match. Even after the Bangla debacle we decided to make only 1 change in the team. Drop Kumble and get in Harbhajan. Agarkar has been steady thru the World Cup. In fact against Sri Lanka he was at the receiving end of some harsh LBW decisions, including Jayasurya first ball. All said he finsihed with decent figures.

AB Agarkar (India)

28.0

112

3/38

28.00

4.00

42.0

(Stats courtesy Cricinfo)
You really can't blame and axe a bowler for that.

In all the games it was the batsmen that lost the matches. Full Stop. Against Bangladesh we just did not bat well, repeat that for Sri Lanka as well.

It would be naive to think that there would be less changes after the debacle. We always tend to over react. I hope the people in charge understand what component did not deliver and tinker with that rather than finding scapegoats in other departments.

Nostalgia

2007-02-07T23:02:00.001+10:30

The routine has been set. Six days work and one day for relaxing. That unfortunately is the story of life currently. The uni has not started yet, and the feeling that the break between two semesters is just too much keeps crossing my mind again and again.

have managed to keep myself occupied by doing lukkhagiri on the net. Orkut, loads and loads of crap movies and Simpsons are generally sufficient to spend time. Just last week managed to have a look at the Rajshri site. I was elated to find Malgudi Days on there, which I think is one of the best series on Indian television. Plus theres Fauji, on of SRK's early successes. And then of course theres Mahabharat. What do I say about this epic series. I still remember Mahendra Kapoor crooning MaHaaaaabhaarat... Ah nostalgic bliss.

It seems you have to pay is you want to download the stuff, but you can watch it online for free. Thanks to my ADSL2+ connection watching streaming stuff is manageable.

So have to get back to Harish Bhimani's, from the "main samay hoon" fame, recitals. So long guys...... :-)

Warnie calls it quits

2006-12-22T11:37:00.001+10:30

Amongst the speculation, the great man has finally announced it officially. Shane Warne is set to retire from cricket. I loved to see him in action ,having a go at the batsmen, always having fun. I think he has chosen an appropriate time for his last bow. The Aussies have got the Ashes back and are heading for a white-wash.

My only grouch against Warne has been his poor figures against the Indians, who are the best players of spin. I was just having a chat about this with my Aussie friend the other day. It all starts with "Mate that guy was the best bowler in the world". Best in Australia, YES! But definitely not best in the world for me. For him to be called the best, he should have performed against all teams and in all conditions. His bowling figures against India are not too flattering, and those in India even more so. Have a look at this. I know there have been several questions asked about the inability of the Indians to play abroad and therefore they are not rated as the "best" by people. For me same should apply for bowlers as well. Warnes biggest test yet was bowling against the Indians and he hasn't done well there has he? But who cares about not performing against India, as long as you get to play more against the Poms and the Proteas.

If Anil Kumble had played as many times against the English and South Africans, I am sure he would have been near to Warne. Wanna bet!! ;-)

The Simpsons: Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore

2006-12-21T11:18:00.001+10:30

I hope you guys have seen the episode Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore. If not watch it asap. It is easily one of the funniest episodes for me. It's got an awesome sarcastic take on outsourcing. The best part of it though is the song sequence at the end. Watch it. It's too good. :-)

In the country

2006-12-21T11:00:00.000+10:30

Had gone for a week down in the country to Port Pirie. Was absolutely thrilled to watch the Flinders ranges stretching parallel to the road. I was almost scared to travel here. There were miles and miles without a living soul. It's like there is no civilization in the interim. The country people are really friendly and surprisingly knowledgeable. One of the things that I love about the Aussies is the love for sports and the importance given to it. In a pub at Pirie there was an excellent collection of memorabilia starting from the 1948 Invincibles signed photo to Don Bradman's bat to Rossi's signed photo.
I saw some emu on the way back to Adelaide and a roo as well. According to my Aussie friend we were lucky that the Kangaroo did not veer to our path. These blokes are huge and do have a tendency to topple a few cars. ;-)
I really am starting to enjoy the vacation here. Lots to look forward to as Christmas and New Years approaches.

The favourite game

2006-12-21T10:31:00.000+10:30

Its been awfully long since I posted anything on the blog. I won't bother with the lame excuses either. I was just too busy ;-) . Lots of cricket stuff to talk about.

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Starting with the Ashes. The build-up to the series was just too much. As the Brisbane test got closer people just were bugged about the ads and wanted the bloody thing to start. And start it did. England lost the first test comfortably. The atmosphere in Adelaide for the second test was phenomenal. The Barmy Army descended in huge numbers. There is a sizable British population living in Elizabeth and some other suburbs of Adelaide. So England actually had equal if not more support at the oval. After the first four days, with a draw looming large, day 5 began slowly. The way England batted that morning was just stupefying. They somehow managed to lose that game. For the last session, since there were plenty of seats available, the gates were thrown open for the public. Australia pulled off an unbelievable victory.

England lost both the games because they did not field the best team. Monty should have walked in the squad. How Giles can ever be preferred over him only Fletcher knows. He still claims that he has the respect of the squad after all that, then I guess the Poms are pretty forgiving in nature.

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India's tour of South Africa started poorly with a defeat in the warm-up game. Not surprisingly India lost the ODI series. Not for one instant did they look like they could win a game. To be fair to Team India they really had no time to acclimatise. Probably by the time they did the series was already dead.
The first test was won by India convincingly. Shreesanth was easily the star. The way he bowled was fabulous. And of course the war dance or whatever he did after hitting Nel, was something that will never be forgotten. :-) Handy innings from Tendulkar, Ganguly in the first and Laxman in the second molded the Indian victory. I am glad Ganguly is back in the Indian colors and playing well. He has plenty to offer to Indian cricket especially in Yuvraj's absence.
The series now is one to look forward to unlike the Ashes.

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One of my favorite batsmen Damien Martyn retired after the second test. He was highly under-rated batsmen. He has won games for his country in all kinds of conditions. If there is someone to be brought in ,automatically it seemed like Martyn would get the axe. I really admire him for taking the decision when he did. He could have easily stayed on the squad, handled the urn, but he took the last bow with his head held high. I hope he has a good life after cricket.

There is talk that McGrath and Warne may call it a day at the culmination of the Ashes. That will be the end of an era for sure.

It's all lop-sided

2006-10-09T16:51:00.000+09:30

I have enjoyed myself in the last couple of months. Have not felt out of place here in Oz at all, except of course when people start talking about "footy" ;-).

Saw Lage Raho Munnabhai the other day. I loved the movie. It is simple and I think if it is successful in getting people interested in the Mahatma, it's good enough for me. I never was a "Gandhigiri" expert and never will be. I think it's upto the individuals to see how much of that they can inculcate in their own life. Anyways, this was good to read as well.

Was in for a surprise when I saw some road block near the main city square. I thought I saw Priyanka Chopra.It was the last place I thought I could catch a Bollywood "celeb". And sure as hell it was Priyanka Chopra. Some Bollywood movie having her is being shot here.Well ok, heres a surprise!! So Adelaide will now be treated to the sight of Bollywood dancing, action, emotion. Hoorray!! I wish a Katrina Kaif movie were to be shot here! ;-)
On a more serious note the the coverage the production is getting here in the local media has been quite good as well.

The shocker came yesterday,though when I read this. What the hell is happening in the world! I guess Pune is on the world map. I wonder if this is a valid reason though!!:-(

Anyways, guys see Pandora if you already haven't! :-)

An update. FINALLY!!!

2006-08-25T23:08:00.000+09:30

A lot has transpired since I last wrote on the blog. Things just happened in a blur. I had my first plane flight in the interim. That too a gruelling journey, where I stopped at Singapore, Jakarta and Sydney before coming here to Adelaide. Kinda a half-way around the world
;-). Some interesting experiences there. The Air India air-hostesses from Mumbai to Singapore were horrible. But the replacements at Singapore were rassaaa as Kunal S would say. Again from Jakarta, the Qantas flight and service was top notch. No complaints whatsoever.

Adelaide is a beautiful city. Not a big metropolis by any means, but still has a charm of its own. I think theres an uncanny resemblance to Pune 10 yrs back; similar climate, nice greenery, quiet , content place. The Uni campuses are good so are the services offerred. My general perception about Indians abroad has really undergone a drastic change. Will blog about that later for sure.

Another drastic thing to adjust to , is the method of teaching here. It's just too different to what we(atleast us MESCOEites) have experienced. Its a very informal method in the tutorials where the one on one interactions are expected and the lectures are given by people who know their subjs well, unlike in MESCOE. ;-)

I hope I can regularly post stuff from now on.

A part of life??

2006-07-13T02:35:00.000+09:30

Of all the bakwaas on TV luckily found a discussion going on NDTV about the Mumbai blasts. One of the members in the discussion was Rahul Bose. I wrote here how I liked the way Amir defended himself. Well hearing Rahul Bose speak was also interesting because he made some remarkably precise observations and generally made sense.

One of his statements was ,it is next to impossible to preempt a terror attack for any government. I agree. It's not been done before and there is no 100% guarantee that an attack can be stopped. I mean even US could not prevent 9-11 neither could the UK. Take Mumbai's example. A huge city, with one of the highest concentration of population. The density ie population per km is also high, roughly 30000. How many people can the police stop to check? Maybe it's just possible to check a persons movement in the open. What if he boards an overcrowded local? There are thousands of people in the train. How will anyone ever pin-point that so and so person has a bag and looks suspicious? I think it's impossible to tell in that situation. Very frankly the police had no chance to stop the attack. Only a suspecting co-traveler could have, but again in a jam-packed local that's next to impossible. Intelligence is the only thing that could have stopped the attack. And the odds of that happening are similar to finding a needle in a haystack.

So where do we go from here. We have to accept first of all that terrorism is very much a part of our life and it will happen. The chances of it happening are more than the chances of it stopping. A cynic that I am, this is my view. We have to be practical about it. Move ahead. Live our life. Thankfully that's what most of Mumbai seems to be doing.

Tags: Mumbai, Rahul Bose

Its all about profit

2006-07-12T20:39:00.000+09:30

Saw Corporate the other day. As I liked Page 3, I went to the theatre with some high expectations. And returned with most of them fulfilled.

After putting the glam&gilitz world under the scanner, Madhur Bhandarkar turns towards high profile Corporations. I think the story of the movie is average at best. The movie does get predictable and an intelligent viewer can surely guess what happens next. So that is a big downside.

Performance wise I think the movie scores. Kay Kay is superb again in the movie. Raj Babbar, Vinay Apte and Rajat Kapoor are also good. In fact Rajat Kapoor has given a stupendous performance, in what is probably the best role ever offered to him. Bipasha Basu is strictly OK. Nothing great. She has a long way to go before she can be called at par with Tabbu and Konkona Sen. Minissha Lamba offers some eye candy and does well with whatever little her role was. I really don't know what Samir Dattani was thinking when he signed the movie. The extras have more role than him. ;-)

None of the characters is all white, i.e all goody goody. There are only shades of gray. It's a philosophy I believe in, so I could accept the way the characters are picturised. But in our world of Hindi cinema, where theres only good and bad , I wonder how the movie will fare..

Tags: Corporate, Madhur Bhandarkar, review, Bollywood

In the aftermath....

2006-07-12T14:49:00.000+09:30

Yesterday this happened. 174 people feared killed. Madness! Thats what the terrorists wanted anyways.

I am always fascinated by Mumbai's reactions in face of comman tragedy. Right from the problems during the rains last yr, to yesterdays blasts. The human face of this otherwise labelled as "commercial" and "superficial" city comes to the fore. The Mumbaikars may not be the most couth of their fellow "major" city brethren, but when the time to help comes, they surely aren't behind anyone.

TV channels covering the event were pathetic. The news articles and some online reports were more precise and factual. I hope Sharad Pawar's advice about VIPs not making a beeline for the affected areas does not fall on deaf ears.

I just hope and pray that Mumbai does not stop today.

Some helpful links for people who want info about the status on Mumbai.

Mumabi Help.

Also do look at this wiki.

Tags: Mumbai, blasts,