Wow! What a match! India won after playing catch-up with England for the first 3 days. They chased down a total that was 100 more than the previous highest fourth-innings chase in India. And 200 more than the highest successful chase in Chennai. Sehwag again played an amazing innings and set the match up perfectly and Yuvraj might have cemented his place in the Test team. But these are not the reasons why I loved it. Yesterday, Sachin finally exorcised the ghosts of Chennai 1999.

I still have vivid memories of that fateful final day. It was a Sunday and I had Accountancy tuition in the morning. By the time I returned and switched on the TV, India were five down with less than 100 on the board and Mongia was giving company to Sachin. All seemed lost. Surely, even for Sachin this was too much. (And mind you, this was a time when Sachin was so important to the Indian team that he played the next test in Delhi inspite of back problems because the team management thought that his absence would give Pakistan the decisive edge.)

But Sachin didn’t think so. Slowly and steadily, he built a partnership with Mongia. It was fascinating to watch him take on the fantastic Pakistan attack, comprising the great Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saqlain Mushtaq at the peak of his powers. I sat riveted to the TV, realizing that something special was on. Everything that Akram and Saqlain threw at him, Sachin had an answer. And then, the unthinkable happened. Sachin got out. He played a lofted shot to Saqlain and was caught. I just could not believe it. Sunil Gavaskar was on air and you could sense his anger as he spoke about Sachin leaving the job unfinished. But a tie was just 16 runs away and with 3 wickets in hand it wasn’t impossible. Still I was so nervous that I sat there just listening to the commentary and not daring to look at the TV, fearing that me looking would bring bad luck. I couldn’t look but I couldn’t go away either. But the agony didn’t last long. Saqlain and Akram cleaned up the tail in no time and I sat there with tears streaming down my face as the Pakistan players jumped with joy, kissed the pitch and did a victory lap. Call me a chauvinist, but it was agonizing to watch. That India had lost was bad enough but to lose after such a superhuman effort from Sachin was hard to accept. He did not deserve to lose. Someone had said that during the 1990s the Indian team consisted of Sachin and 10 jokers and it never sounded truer.

And yesterday, after almost a decade, Sachin erased the scars of that match. He couldn’t have done it without the outrageous start given by Sehwag (rightly chosen the MoM) and the mature innings played by Yuvraj and that just makes me wonder how much more he would have achieved for India if he had got similar support during the 1990s. Credit should also be given to Dhoni, under whose captaincy the team seems to be going from strength to strength. Sachin Tendulkar is an all time great and I am thankful that I have the privilege of watching him play for India.

Online Petition

Please take the time to read and sign the below mentioned petition:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/26novAct/petition.html

I personally do not agree with all the steps mentioned there. Politicians in India do not have the political will to implement Step1 and Step 2 is not practical. Step 3, though, has been due for a long time and at least now we should modernise our security infrastructure.

Please sign the petition and hope that it brings a change.

No cricket with Pakistan

This is in response to Sambit Bal's piece 'Why India must tour Pakistan' on Cricinfo.com. India should not tour Pakistan not because of security fears but because we need to make a statement. It is naive to compare the refusal of England to play in India with India's refusal to go to Pakistan. How can we expect our players to go to Pakistan and play cricket knowing well that this is the country responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent fellow Indians. Yes, Sambit is right that 'It will amount to little in tangible terms if India's tour of Pakistan is called off, but it will be heavy on symbolism' and that, to be honest, is the most I've come to expect from my government. I would love it if India adopts a policy of hot pursuit of these terrorists and sends troops across the border but again, as Sambit points out, that is ‘not an option’. Pakistan is no Afghanistan and India is certainly not US.

And how can he even compare the state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan with India’s dismal attempts at fighting terror, when he says 'It's another matter that the Indian government itself stands similarly accused'. According to him, the only thing Pakistan is guilty of is ‘prolonged inaction against terrorists originating within its borders who wreak havoc in the neighbouring country’. Someone should remind him that this is the country of ISI, the organization whose only aim seems to be to finance and promote terror in India. Pakistan has given shelter to Dawood Ibrahim, the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, the US has spoken of evidence that proves the involvement of the ISI in the Indian Embassy bombing in Kabul. And being a senior journalist, Sambit would know better than me that a terror attack of this magnitude would not be possible without the active support of some elements in the Pakistan establishment. The reason Islamic terror has reached such horrific proportions is because of the support from countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It has been the case for years and it will remain the same in the future. Nothing that India says is going to deter Pakistan from formenting trouble in India. And definitely, India doesn’t have the ability to take any action against it except for sacrificing its numerous brave soldiers at the altar of Pakistan-bred terrorism. We, the hapless citizens of India, are doomed to live and die under the shadow of terror and violence.

Don't talk to me!

I love books. Every time I go to a bookshop I'm tempted to buy at least a dozen of them. Which obviously I can't. So I do the next best thing. I go to a bookstore, pick up a book I would like to buy, open some random chapter and start reading till I'm satisfied. I do this fairly often at Landmark at the Forum Mall. Which brings me to the point of this blog. I generally don't like conversations. My friends (or those who are remaining, thanks to my laconic conversations) will vouch for that. And I can be pretty straightforward. Or as others put it (and I don't really disagree), I can be rude. Real rude. So it's not really a great idea for a stranger to approach me for a polite conversation while I'm merrily browsing through a book. But believe me, it happens. And quite often at that, especially at Landmark. Now why would a guy whom I've never seen before want to compliment me for my choice in books, based on the one book that I'm holding at that moment? Puzzling?? Not really. It's not the book I'm holding that interests him. It's the money in my wallet that does. Well, all these pleasant looking, smartly dressed guys who seem so interested in me and are impressed by everything I say are actually part of some MLM scheme who need me to lighten my wallet in order for them to fatten theirs. MLM, for the uninitiated, is Multi-Level Marketing. Put simply, if you are a member, the more members you enroll into the scheme, the more moolah you make. And to become a member, you need to shell out money. And that's where the conversation will eventually lead to, even though it started with a compliment on the colour of my trousers. But experience has enlightened me. This is how the conversation proceeds if some MLM guy approaches me now:

1)

MLM Guy: Hi.

Me (This was the moment I was dreading. So I just look enquiringly, no reply. Actually, I do say a lot of things, but only to myself. And they are not fit to be reproduced here.)

MLM Guy: That's an interesting book you are reading. You like Jane Austen?

Me (No. I hate the guts of her. But I couldn't find any book written by you. So I had to make do with this. Poor me! (Again, I don't say that aloud): Yeah. (And give him a stare, which should be sufficient to tell any sensible guy that I don't bear fools gladly. But these guys don't give up easy.)

MLM Guy: Have you read all her books?

At this point, I just slam the book shut and walk away.

2)

MLM Guy: Is that a book a good read?

Me (It was, till you turned up): That's what I'm trying to find out.

MLM Guy: Are you going to buy that?

Me (Why? Will you complain to the Prime Minister if I don't??): Don't know.

MLM Guy: My friend has that book.

I don't reply. I don't even bother looking. I just take two steps away from the guy and continue reading. Hardly anyone dares to continue a conversation after that.

Current Mood: amused

Why I do not need a television! (contd...)

Originally posted here on November 10th, 2008

The other reason was the absolute rubbish dished out by the news channels, with Aaj Tak leading the way. Every news item is ‘Breaking News’. And every channel has ‘Exclusive’ rights to it. All attempts are made to sensationalize any news bite. News is treated more as entertainment and less as information. Which explains events like the wedding of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai or the eviction of some participant from Bigg Boss hogging primetime news. And this problem is more prevalent in Hindi news channels as compared to the English ones. Of the few channels I had the opportunity to watch when I went home last month, CNBC seemed to be the only one which one could watch for a reasonable stretch of time without getting irritated. The problem, I think lies in the fact that there are so many channels, and only so much news. So each channel tries to outdo the other by manufacturing news. And we, the unfortunate viewer have to hear about the lost dog of a police commissioner or about Amitabh Bachchan catching a cold.

Finally, the only regret I have is that I couldn’t watch Roger Federer during his best days. Apart from that, if at any time I have missed not having a television it is when India is doing well in cricket. But that is generally few and far between, so doesn’t matter much ;-)

Current Location: Bangalore

Why I do not need a television!

Originally posted here on October 13th, 2008

I’ve been in Bangalore for close to two and a half years now and have spent almost all of it living alone as a paying guest with another family. For this entire period I’ve lived without a television.

Growing up in Delhi, when I was with my family, TV was an important part of our lives. Dinner was incomplete if the TV wasn’t running though we were not as TV-crazy as some other families, primary reason being none of us was an Ekta Kapoor fan. After dinner, I would generally watch the 10’o clock news on NDTV with Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami before going to bed. And one of the things I didn’t like about going to Chennai during the summer vacations was that all I could get to see would be some Tamil serials. Finally, I was a huge cricket fan. I didn’t miss a ball even if India was playing Kenya in some god-forsaken part of the world in a stadium with less people watching than the players on the field.

So when I contemplated living in Bangalore without access to a television, I thought it would be tough. The previous year, I had spent the final semester in Bangalore, also without a TV, but on that occasion I was putting up with friends. This time my only resources for entertainment would be books, radio and my desktop. But it didn’t turn out to be half as difficult as I had imagined. Having to travel to work by bus I generally started early from home to beat the morning rush. And having nothing much to do at home, I returned late, leaving just enough time to freshen up, have dinner and go to bed. Mom kept telling me to get a TV or at least a TV Tuner card for my system but I wasn’t interested. I was starting to enjoy the liberation from TV. I no longer had to worry about missing a good movie on HBO. I did not have to worry about coming home in time for a TV show. No longer did I spend time sitting in front of the TV and just flipping channels in the hope of catching something interesting. And if I wanted to see some movie, I could just rent or buy a DVD, instead of having to sit through 10 minute-long commercial breaks every 15 minutes. I believed that not having a television actually made my life better. And whatever little doubt I had was dispelled when I went home for Diwali.

I had heard of the huge success of Indian Idol and the numerous reality shows that had been launched as a result, but had never had the chance to watch any. When I finally did see one, I was glad that I had to wait so long. The singing and dancing were good but that was only one part of the package. What made the shows tick were the histrionics of the participants and more surprisingly, the judges. If one judge thought that a performance was excellent, you could be sure that the other would disagree. It wasn’t uncommon to see judges fighting over whose opinion was correct. And the less said about the participants the better. The stage was not the only place where they performed. Their performance began from the time they were in the audience, to going backstage before the performance, performing onstage, hearing the result from the judges and going back to the audience. Their emotions varied from disbelief to hope to ecstasy to helplessness to anger to frustration to worry to confusion to pure joy. And this was an infinite cycle from which they never seemed to emerge. All this seemed extremely silly to me and I found it hard to believe that in some parts of the country people held rallies to protest the voting out of the participant from their region. But the show that really irritated me was MTV Roadies. The participants of the singing and dancing shows, with all their fake emotions, seemed like angels when compared to the Roadies participants. I’ve seen 2 or 3 episodes and I fail to understand the point of the show, except that it promotes bitchiness, nastiness and backbiting. The hosts of the show, namely, Rannvijay, Nikhil Chinnapa and an absolute irritant called Raghu Ram, who is also the creator and producer of the show, seem to revel in the power they have to embarrass and humiliate the participants, not that the participants mind it one bit. It is surprising to see the limits people can go to ensure that they are not the ones voted out from the show. They scheme, they gossip, they lie, spread malicious rumours. Anything goes, as long as they get to be on the show. But these reality shows are only part of the reason why I didn’t get a TV.

Nagarhole Trip

Originally posted here on April 21st, 2008

The last time I went for a safari was in Bandipur and it would be fair to say it wasn’t exactly a success. Not that it was bad, but after going around a jungle for 45 minutes, if all you get to see are deer and monkeys, it isn’t terribly exciting. So when we were waiting for the safari to start in Nagarhole, I wasn’t expecting to see too many exciting things. To make matters worse, one of the persons who had just returned from the safari said they only got to see some herds of reindeer. Anyway, we got on board the bus and the safari started. Five minutes into the safari and we came across a herd of reindeer. The bus stopped and people clicked some pics. Ahead there were more reindeers and closer to us. The driver waited till everyone had taken pictures and started again. We had moved for hardly five minutes when suddenly a herd of running reindeers crossed the road right in front of our van. The vehicle stopped and people started shouting, “Tiger, tiger”!! Tiger?? In a safari?? No way, I thought. You don’t see a tiger in a safari. We can’t be that lucky. Just a week or two back Rahul Gandhi was here and even he didn’t get to see any wild animal. How could we? But people were still shouting, so it was for real and it seemed I was the only person who still hadn’t seen the tiger. In my desperation to catch sight of it before it disappeared, I looked here and there but could hardly see anything before Rao pointed out the beast lurking near some bushes. There it was! A real tiger, prowling in the forest, maybe waiting for us to leave so that it could carry on with its unfinished business. But we were hardly in any mood to leave, so after waiting for some time, the tiger had to disappear in the forest.

We had started for our two day trip early in the morning on Saturday, the 12^th of April. It was almost 7 I think, by the time we managed to pick everyone up (around 12 of us) and started from Bangalore. We reached Kutta, where we had booked our home stay (or was it Irpu?? Not sure……I’m bad at remembering places, distances, time etc) by early afternoon. The house was a beautiful little place surrounded by greenery all around. The kind of place you want to go to escape from the rush and madness of city life. We took some rest, got fresh and reached the Nagarhole National Park in time for the 4’o clock safari. After the safari, we went to Irpu falls. The waterfall was not very big and at the bottom there was only place for 4-5 persons to stand under it. Nevertheless, it was fun. Waterfalls always are, even though I didn’t get wet. There was still one more day to go and I didn’t want to go to bed with a headache. Or maybe I was just plain lazy to change clothes. Whatever! We spent some time there posing for pics, climbing whatever rocks we could, playing with water and having fun till it was dark and we had to start back for our home stay. At the home stay, we had planned to have a camp fire before dinner.

With the camp fire ready, we decided to play Dumb Charade and divided ourselves into two teams. Sunny hadn’t played DC before so we quickly explained the rules and got started. Generally, we were able to guess whatever the other team gave us. I got two relatively easy ones, Paycheck and Chameli. But what took the cake was Shubhra’s enacting of Hatim Tai. Before we started playing, we remembered Jalaj trying to enact Aar ya Paar while playing DC during our trip to Pandavapura and had a big laugh over it. But if someone thought that would be our funniest memory of DC, they were clearly wrong. Shubhra beat him by a mile. Sad, we don’t have a pic of her trying to fly ala Hatim Tai. But all credit to Sunny for guessing it in an instant. With star performers like her and Jalaj in our team, what chance did the other team have? Though Syed did try to hand over the advantage to the other team by just standing there and doing his best impersonation of the “I’m not going to do anything, let me see how you guess the movie…….ha ha ha” man. Finally, we beat the other team by a point, even though Sandeep somehow managed to guess the movie “Is Raat ki Subah Nahin” from just the word Raat. How, we were left wondering!! By the way, during the game, we did come to know that Umakanth thinks Sridevi is ‘mast’. :))

To be continued........

(When I had written this blog, I had intended to write about the second day of the trip too but after some time I just lost interest.)