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Monday, March 29, 2004

Sehwag and the Ashok Chakra 

First, now I know who this Sehwag character is :)

At one point in the match yesterday, the commentators focused on the shots played by Sehwag in the innings. They had the visual aid of the computer generated image that showed what one thousand words might have expressed. The interesting part: it looked like the Ashok Chakra in multihue!

I think its high time the "sehwag ki maa" tag is removed and a new one added:

Sehwags' dad: "Bas kar yaar...."
Sehwag: "Ki karen papaji, petrol katham hi nahin hota..."
Dad : "Champion!"

:D

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Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Jeetega bhai jeetaga...India jeetega!!! 

Faith is a strange thing.
Complete faith is religion.

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Monday, March 22, 2004

Complete Exoneration!! Ha! Ha! 

I thought I had a confession to make. Whenever I watch India play, India loses. Sad, no?

I have almost never seen Sachin bat. Whenever I feast my eyes on the exploits of India, Team India starts fidgetting on the field, throwing nervous glances over their shoulders and generally behaving like an erstwhile fluffy pomeranian that's just come in from a rather vicious rainstorm (You almost kick it back out because you don't recognize it save for those sad eyes). That's Team India to me 99% of the time.
Of course, I have heard of the exploits of Team India from people around me and from papers too. But u know what they say about things you hear. Worse things are 'said' about things you read. Barring the paradoxes (doxii??) in the above sentences, I had a very sceptical view of our cricket team.

The only person I could safely watch is Dravid. For a long time I thought SayWag was a gregarious reporter tagging along on the tour. Fleeting glimpses of another Tendulkar at the crease used to bother me but by the time I blinked the surprise out of my eyes, the double would have disappeared leaving me with a strong suspicion that some strange(er) game was afoot. Oh, right...another wicket gone!

Thus it came to be that for years and years I have not watched India play without India losing, barring a few occasions. When India met Pakistan in Bangalore in the Quarter Finals of WC 96, I was on a train back to college. The entire compartment cheered together when we came to know the news the next morning. In 1997, I had just walked into the room when Sachin cut to square and was caught(the ball was grounded but the umpire gave him out) by Jonty Rhodes diving full length to his left. The accusatory glances that I got for that was enough to make me rethink staying on long enough in Nagpur to complete college. In the current Indo-Pak tour, I completely missed the first match and India scores a thrilling victory. (Or so they tell me). I watched the second match long enough to get Sehwag, Laxman and Ganguly out before I rushed back to my seat and played Halo to keep my mind off cricket. Next thing I know, Sachin has scored a century. So on the way home, I stop my bike and join a cheering group outside a shop and watch while 3 wickets fall in 1.2 overs (India needed 53 of 36 balls then). Harrased, I turn away and ride home while Powar and Balaji revive India's chances. I had just parked my bike when the watchman and a Pizza Hut delivery guy shout urgently, "come saar, Nehra batting, 9 balls 13 runs to win". I rush to the radio and Nehra gets bowled out. Ouch! Sujith strikes again!

Over the weekend, however, I was thinking of the few times when I had seen Sachin/India grab victory. WC2003 Mar 1st, India-Pak. Hmm...Ok, One. Sachin's amazing last over against SA in Hero Cup finals. Two. Kaif and Yuvraj beating impossible odds to win the Natwest Trophy. Well well well...at last a pattern emerges. I distinctly remember having complete FAITH in the Indian team in all these encounters. In fact, In the Natwest finals, I had reached home when India were at 180/5 and was exasperated to see my roomies switching channels because they had given up. Sufficient anger welled up in me to snatch the remote, put the match on again and sit through the whole drama with a grim determination that India will prevail. 13th June 2003.

To cut a (really) long story short, Sunday found me in front of the TV with all the determination, grim and otherwise, I could muster and cheer India onto yet another sedate yet exhuberant victory.

You can bet I'll be full of this newly discovered superstition when India meets Pak on Wednesday. India WILL WIN. Statement of Fact.
No ifs. No buts. Meanwhile I'll enjoy my respite from the Guilt Trip.

:)

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Thursday, March 04, 2004

1001 camels poop in your eye! 

I swear!!!

Thats' all today, folks!

er..nothing personal, you understand...just one of those days when you want to use everyone of those scarlet words :)

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Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Books into Movies 

LOTR:ROTK wins 11/11 Oscars!
Billy Crystal said it best: "Now it's official, all of New Zealand has been thanked!"

On a very general principle, I do not like books being made into movies. It totally undermines the intention of the author to convey the story at his pace, the commitment needed of the reader to complete the book (and quite often lament the fact that the book is over) and most importantly, the imagination that the reader has to employ to give the story colour,sound and well...life. Down the ages, story telling was always an art form that needed the narrator to create his world of ideas and convey it in simple terms (read language) to the listener/reader who constructs his own world out of those ideas. That is magic.
I am sure that my imagination of say...Alice in Wonderland is quite different from anyone else's perception of that world. It's more personal. To stress the point, my imagination of the moment when the Lord of the Nazgul was slain in the fields of Pelenor outside Minas Tirith included a lush green field, a backdrop of tall trees, Lady Erwen crouched low over Theoden and Merry running in ankle deep grass to stab the Lord of the Nazgul. Well, understandable since I was reading it early in the morning on the bus from Bombay to Bangalore in mid-June about 3 yrs ago. Lush green fields all around. Aha!

I saw the movie on a bad print VCD about 2 months ago and I was totally floored. This particular scene was on a parched ground(a war was being fought there, how can it ever be lush?), the Lord of the Nazgul was smaller than my version and it was mid-day. Also, the castle coud be seen in the backdrop. In my imagination, I was on a hillock, the castle was behind me and I distinctly remember not wanting to go nearer because the Lord of the Nazgul scared me. In the movie, we have a face-shot as if I was sitting across a coffee-table with him.

A movie can never match the brilliance acheivable by a book because its the reader who can take it to heights never possible by cinema.
Another thought on the same issue: Reading/Listening to stories allows the imagination to soar and helps you recreate the world in your imagination. Both the author/narrator and the reader/listener improve their imaginative prowess.
Movies, however, make you accept the world shown to you. In such a scenario, only the movie maker's imagination grows. Comments on this welcome :)

Alternatively, the Dude Legolas surfing on the "elephant" was pure joy to watch. All said and done, the trilogy was amazing and truly deserved all the accolades.

Meanwhile check out this link to see how 'different' it could have all have been...shudder...

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Monday, March 01, 2004

81 ways to tie a knot! 

No, not the kind that feels like a noose around your neck slowly strangling you and mocking at you while you try to look respectable and presentable in the eyes of the world. The totally other kind, involving a narrow band of silk that you wear on utterly useless occasions. I should know, I wear one to work.
As I was saying, there are 81 ways to knot that tie. I have got it off a site (forgot which one :( ), but I have compiled the salient features in a .doc file which I could send to you if you'd leave your emails with me. heh heh heh...spamillions...here I come! oops..did that get out loud? :)
Seriously, don't leave your emails, just leave a comment that you'd like the doc, don't be knotty (a'pun my word!) and I'll make sure you get it.

Listening to rock at its decedent ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H decadent best: Ozzy Osbourne!

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