tee jee eye eff

Thank God...
It's been a dull Friday so far. No different from the week that went. It was the usual stuff throughout the week.

Post-it on my PC monitor reads thus "The trouble with a rat race is that even if you win you're still a rat." These words keep inspiring me to do things which I would not have done but for my compulsions. Giving up and giving in - they make a world of difference. I guess I would stick to give-in for now. I need my fingers. That's all I care.

Looking forward to a fun filled weekend. And hopefully a better week ahead.

FYI,
Bangalore Habba is back... Check out the schedule http://www.bengalooruhabba.com/home.html
Any of you reading it in Bangalore, contact me if you are game for the plays at Chowdiah Memorial.

wat u doing tonite? v need a hero for dis country.

NDTV is having an opinion poll to decide the Indian of the Year award. Votes can be casted through sms, mail or phone calls. Here is the link to the website: Indian of the Year

Now here are the nominations:

CATEGORY: LEADER

• Mayawati (Ab Dilli Door Nahi)
• Prakash Karat (Mr Unflappable)
• Manmohan Singh (The Visionary)
• LK Advani (The eternal no 2)
• A P J Abdul Kalam (People's President)

CATEGORY: SPORTS

• Viswanathan Anand (Tiger of Chennai)
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India's T20 Glory)
• Baichung Bhutia (Bending it like Bhutia)
• Sania Mirza (Climbing The Tennis Ranking)

CATEGORY: CINEMA

• Shahrukh Khan (Chak de India)
• Rajnikanth (The Boss)
• Shilpa Shetty (Celebrity sister)
• CHAK DE GIRLS (Women Power)
• Himesh Reshammiya (Rockstar Reshammiya)

CATEGORY: GLOBAL INDIAN

• Indira Nooyi (Fizz kid)
• Arun Sarin (Hello India)
• R K Pachauri (Weatherwise)
• Mira Nair (The Elementary Director)

CATEGORY: BUSINESS

• Tulsi Tanti (Creating Wealth out of Wind)
• Kumaramangalam Birla (Showing his Metal)
• K P Singh (Building homes for millions)
• Azim Premji (Putting innovation into IT)
• Mukesh Ambani (Fuelling growth)

CATEGORY: MUSIC

• Vishal & Shekhar (Hit pe Hit)
• Sukhwinder Singh (Chak De India)
• Pritam & Metro band (Metro)
• Sunidhi Chauhan (Mindblowing Mahiya and Sajna pe vaari jao)
• A R Rehman (Guru" of music)

CATEGORY: UNSUNG HEROES

• Irom Sharmila (Mission Manipur)
• Auto Raja (Bangalore's angel)
• Indian Soldiers (Super Heroes)

I happen to attend one of their talk show in Bangalore. From the time I saw the nominations I knew it was going to be a waste of time to attend that show. I attended that nonetheless. And it turned out to be a great experience in terms of seeing how a program (specially a talk show or a discussion) is conducted.

My votes:
Leader: [This category should be called Political Leader] Manmohan Singh (For keeping the Indian economy floating.). I strongly oppose Advani's nomination in this category.

Sports: Vishy of course. If Dhoni and Baichung can make it to this list then there should be a place for Prabodh Tirkey too. And then there is Pankaj Advani too.

Cinema: None of this. You must be kidding by giving nominations to Reshamiya and Shilpa.

Global Indian: Mr Pachauri. He has got a bigger distinction anyways.

Business: I need to go and refresh my GK to find out the special contribution of all the nominees in last year. As I see Mr DLF man has built the biggest construction company in world (Indian share market sher). So for now my vote for Mr KP Singh.

Music: You must be kidding again. Music as a category. And then too all nomination from Hindi Cinema. Grow up... There is more to music than just bollywood shit... I am really happy they did not have Mika's nomination here.

Unsung Heroes: I have my reservations against nomination for Indian Soldiers. They certainly deserve this award but then there are hundreds others who need to come in limelight too. Irom Sharmila is my choice for this award.

OSO - it's me myself and my ego

SRK, you rock.
You really do.
You have shown that you really are the King of this film industry. A song with 30 odd of bollywood's who's who really shows that you rule this world of Hindi cinema. You spoof them but still they don't say a word. It's all taken in good spirit. Only some old mad fellow showed some guts to stand up against him. And guess what!! SRK wins over his heart too. That too in full public view. It's my way or the highway.

You cheered India coz there can not be a bigger stage than a cricket match between India and Pakistan. While corporates pay millions to showcase their logos and merchandises during those matches, you did it without even paying a single penny. And guess what!!! They termed you the lucky charm for team India. Why not? if they can wear the same (lucky) underwear in each match, they can easily afford to have you there in the stadium. They can always doubt their talent and capabilities, but luck? No... Luck always plays a bigger role.

You know how to handle, or should I say manipulate, the media. They need news, they need God and you can be both. "I am a dog," rightly you said some days back. You really are a big one. And mean too. Everything is fair in love and war.

You and your friends make lovely movies. If bollywood is about dream cinema, you provide it its character. We Indian's can not do without masala, be it our food or the films we watch. Just like the dhabewala on outskirts of every town, you know how to add masala. Thoda sa suspense, thodi comedy and lots of emotions - taiyaar hai ek perfect masala picture. Par bhaiya, khane ka asli swad to tabhi aata hai jab vo aankho ko bhi acha lage. And there comes your showmanship. Make news if there is none, generate controversy if you are not in spotlight. OSO became a super hit even before it hit the theatre. If paisa was the success criteria, this one might become the biggest hit we ever had in hindi cinema. Kudos to you.

But then...
Isn't this movie more about you than any damn thing in world? It's SRK from beginning till end. OM is lost somewhere. Same thing happened with Shanti also. Just because it was her debut in Hindi cinema does not mean she can become larger than the character. I guess in your world of larger than life cinema, this is the way things work. The audience pays from their khun pasine ki mehnat to see you enjoy your life the way you want to. It's indulgent cinema. You made what you wanted to. "Nobody tells me what to do," you seem to say every moment you come on screen. When AK makes No Smoking, he is doing it for himself. And you do the same. You all are same. Self-indulgent SOAB.

We, the people, are here just to see you indulging yourselves in your ego. That too on our experience. We pay to be mind-fished. We pay to befool. We love you coz you joke on us and make us laugh at the same time. You make us feel something. Good or Bad - does not matter.

I really loved watching OSO. Why? Coz it served me exactly the same dish that I had imagined it to be. A masala flick sans any sense. I wanted to see SRK telling me again and again - you fool, again you are here. You will always come back. Look at this bunch of jokers all around you. You all will come back...
Kyunki..
Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost...


Keeping everything aside: my ranking for OSO - 3/5
Watch it if you like Hindi Cinema.

the pursuit

Got this comment from Rout on my last blog day minus 1

"wish you all the best! from personal experience: although I've experienced such burdenless mornings, somehow I rue the loss of the pursuit. Because now there won't be any chasing of a goal, at least not immediately. A little vacuous and mundane life will be until you're hot in pursuit of the next thing."

I could not expected this one to come from anyone else. I always wonder how he sees these subtleties in any situation. It's the experience - one thing for sure. But then there is more than just a feeling of knowing it all. It's the keenness to look beyond the apparent. Each and every moment/event has multiple meanings. And Rout has got this brilliant ability to interpret the meaning other than the obvious.

Hats off to you dude. I am really happy that I met you and have you as my friend.

day minus 1

Its 6am and I am wide awake.
You may ask me - Usme naya kya hai. Ye bimari to tujhe bachpan se hi hai.
I respect your emotions.
But today I am awake coz I had a sleepless night.
na na na, don't even think on those lines of pyar-vyar. Not yet...

Just that a burden is off my shoulder. And for the first time I am feeling relaxed.
I want to sleep now. And dream for sometime.

So here I am signing off. Will try to sleep.

ground zero

First there was confidence...
and the spirit to conquer the world.
It's my time - I announced to the world.

And now?
There is only hope...
I don't say I have lost. I haven't.
I just hope.

Amen.

numero uno

Yes. It's the time.

Two roads diverged in a wood...

94, 99, 93, 99 and now 97
Only he can tell us how does it feel to be "Almost there".


"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference."

Board plans to go the Aussie way

Board plans to go the Aussie way

Many Reasons Why BCCI Shouldn’t Kill The Golden Goose

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

An estimated 700 million people all over the world play chess. About 60 million play tennis and women among them constitute less than half that figure. Vishwanathan Anand is not only the reigning world champion in chess he is an all-time great, being one of only three people ever to have crossed the 2,800 ELO rating. Sania Mirza has not yet broken into the top 20 in women’s tennis. By any yardstick, Anand’s sporting achievements are way above anything Sania has done so far. Yet, there is absolutely no doubt that Sania is the bigger brand in India than Anand.
What does all this have to do with the BCCI? Everything. There is a lesson in the Sania-Anand comparison for the worthies who run cricket in India. Sania is a huge brand because the media has covered the ups and downs of her career so intensively, discussed and analysed her game threadbare, while Anand has much fewer column inches, and certainly much fewer photographs, published on him in newspapers.

The short point - and the lesson for BCCI - is that the media is crucial for adding value to sporting brands. The reams of stuff written about sporting personalities, the large pictures published, the analysis, pre-event build-ups, all go into making icons out of them.
The BCCI seems completely oblivious of this process by which sportspersons become icons and brands. It seems to believe Indian cricketers become folk heroes purely because of its patronage to them. Only such a blinkered perspective can explain its willingness to go the way of Cricket Australia and demand that media should pay for using images of cricketers, since they are the board’s property.

The board is planning to get sponsors for teams playing in the T20 Indian Premier League for crores of rupees. Would these sponsors come on board if they were not confident of their logos being splashed by the media and, in the process, reach audiences of millions? Clearly, the BCCI has not figured that the media adds value not just to the cricketers brand, but also to the amount sponsors are willing to cough up to have their logos displayed by these cricketers.
If the board did its maths it would realize that the money they hope go garner by making photo agencies and the media pay for images of cricketers would be piffling compared to the mega bucks it makes from sponsors. If the media boycotts cricket matches - as it has boycotted the Australia-Sri Lanka series - the sponsors will certainly lose their enthusiasm. It should be clear that the BCCI gains as much by providing the media free access to its cricketers as the media gains by writing on them.

Indeed, if the BCCI’s logic were to be accepted that the media gains by printing pictures of cricketers, the media too could also demand that it be paid a portion of the sponsorship money by the BCCI for providing the audience.

If the BCCI sticks to its current stance of making media pay for the images, the consequences will be bad for both the sides. Small newspapers that struggle to keep their head above water will be forced to reduce visual coverage to keep costs in check. That would reduce the popularity of the game and hurt particularly in the small towns ^ the very areas from which Indian cricket has of late been tapping talent.

The other media companies, too, would then be justified in demanding that either the BCCI shares its sponsorship revenues with them or else they would start blurring out sponsors logos from images, which would obviously mean the sponsors would be willing to pay BCCI much less than they would otherwise have done - that is, if they come forward at all to sponsor BCCI events.

All this debate can be made irrelevant if the BCCI recognises that sports associations and media have a win-win relationship that works to their mutual advantage and to the advantage of the fans.

Rather than let its greed run amok, the BCCI should stick to the earthy dictum: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

>> Taken from TOI Bangalore edn dated 15th Nov.

teen deewarein

I am getting restless now.

jine ke hai char din...

Here are some of the recent search strings that pointed to my blog.

• chartbusters 2007 rap
  
• ramdev schedule on aajtak
• nineteen eighty-four events
• hi joker
• what you have ended up owning you
• javed jafari
• utopia asperger
• fun to do stuff for diwali
• use of oranges in godfather
• how to get to anandashram
• bicycle theory
• clifton inn in yercaud
• rajju langda
• ravi heda
• the sixth sense- imaginary journey
• mast kalandar food bangalore

ham paanch

Read this nice article on Ram Charan yesterday. It's a long one but worth reading.

The strange existence of Ram Charam

"The trouble with a rat race is that even if you win you're still a rat."

the sixth sense

Movie: Dil Dosti Etc...
Apporva enters in a posh pub. A loud dance number playing in number. He enters and dances with the crowd.

Movie: No Smoking
K refers one person to Prayogshala and gets one of his finger back. He fixes it and is trying to convince another person for Prayogshala.

Two endings. So different yet so significant.

"Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's."

Seven Samurai

Read this poem some days back.

Ten little Injuns standin' in a line,

One toddled home and then there were nine;

Nine little Injuns swingin' on a gate,

One tumbled off and then there were eight.

One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injun boys,

Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injun boys.

Eight little Injuns gayest under heav'n.

One went to sleep and then there were seven;

Seven little Injuns cuttin' up their tricks,

One broke his neck and then there were six.

Six little Injuns all alive,

One kicked the bucket and then there were five;

Five little Injuns on a cellar door,

One tumbled in and then there were four.

Four little Injuns up on a spree,

One got fuddled and then there were three;

Three little Injuns out on a canoe,

One tumbled overboard and then there were two.

Two little Injuns foolin' with a gun,

One shot t'other and then there was one;

One little Injun livin' all alone,

He got married and then there were none.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None

mahi ve...

Q: who the fcuk is Mahi?
A: In principle, Mahi is the nick name for Mahendra Singh Dhoni iff [if and only if]
1. India won T20 Championship in SA today.
2. India won T20 Match against the mighty Aussies in Mumbai today.
3. Dhoni got a hair cut and paid first visit to his hometown after T20 WC.
4. Dhoni was selected as captain for Indian ODI squad for any tournament.

Corollary:
Mahi is not defined when:
1. India loses any of its ODI or practice match against any team.
2. Any other day which can not be categorized in cases above.

...

yeh ash tray...
bharati hi jaa rahi hai...

bored to death

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hertercvxcvxcvgertertertdfgdfghdfh
vsdfasdfstbcxcvxcfgergerergdfsdv
astwercdvzxcvagryergfbgdasdfrtert

I'm so dead...

mama i can see it now...

I'm almost there.
Just few more steps...

"You've done all the hard work. It's time to be a winner now!!!"