TEAMing with Champions

At the time of writing this article the Indian team would be probably comfortably ensconced in their hotel in Hamilton....... The whole cricketing world is waiting eagerly to see whether India can actually take their forms in the shorter form of the game to the five day version. Even though on paper the teams are not matched at all but green turfs and India's dismal record evens up things ever so slightly..

The last one dayer exposed our team's weaknesses against the swinging deliveries. And if the New Zealanders stop their warm hospitality then tomorrow could be a hostile day for us. But then if NZ wins the toss and decides to bat then Zaheer and Ishant are themselves capable of routing NZ's in a session or two. Not to forget Bhajji who would be eager to fox the Kiwis not only with his doosra's and teesra's but also the new maa..ki's and behen..kis he would have added to his repertoire

If we are batting and Sehwag manages to bat for about 20-30 overs..it might just take the Kiwi's breath away for not just the day but maybe the series..And if he and Gambhir can actually stay till lunch then we all know only one team would be having their lunch..:)

If Sachin can overcome his injury and add another century or double to his overflowing account, it would be money well spent for the spectators in the ground and a good trade off for people in India who get up at 3 to watch the match.

If Dravid scores a Dravidesque century then he would have answered a lot of unnecessary questions which "We the Unforgiving People"....(sorry Barkha) have asked him in the last year. It would also tell the Kiwis that they need to climb the WALL to actually think of beating the Indians.

At this point of time I am actually thinking I have already counted so many match winners in the team. That's not enough...Yes because Yuvraj in any situation can murder a bowling attack and Kiwis would be hoping that he doesn't carry his dream form into the series. Yuvraj could be just dealing in 6s keeping in mind the size of the grounds..

And that brings me to the one man who I have consciously kept in the end...Its not an insult to him but its like the icing on the pudding..Whether you say luck, skill, charisma, leadership skills..MS Dhoni has everything in plenty..And if he gets his act together the Indian team could well climb to the #1 spot by the end of the series. What ever we say India just keeps winning under the guy and nobody can deny that. Ok he has a great team but then Ponting lost the ashes in 2005 when he had Mcgrath and Warne. So there is definitely some magic which Dhoni comes up with everytime we are in a spot of bother...

Lets hope Dhoni never runs out of his magic potion.........Cheers !!

Creak Cat

Sugar Free and Hot Chocolate Fudge

Well don't be confused by the above title. This just shows the economics of convenience which people like me have started practicing. While having coffee or I would insist on a sachet of sugar free but insist on the dollop of chocolate sauce or crazily have an ice cream for dessert. It just shows that most decisions in life these days we take as per our "convenience". While its ok to give some money to the beggar, we do not have the time to actually go and work at the grass root level and not even for a day..we say that we are keen sports lovers but the only physical sport we indulge in is switching channels between Star Cricket/ Sport/ ESPN and Neo..This was further proved yesterday when most of us celebrated a Diwali of 4s and 6s by Sehwag inside our living rooms when the whole world outside was with their Holy Guns..:) (yes the pun is definitely intended)

Most of us feel have actually started taking the maxim, "the pen is mightier than the sword" way too seriously. People feel by blogging and becoming social commentators they are going to change the world. And before anyone says look who's talking....I confess...am also stuck in the same rut. and I want to do something but dont know how..Any suggestions are welcome...

I want to write more but some other time..some slides to fill...wish they were beer mugs..:)Damn the weight watchers...

Roger...Tough Luck...By Chance

Consciously or unconsciously this blog of mine is becoming a diary of "How I spent my Weekend" which is generally by watching some cricket, a movie and cribbing about life...(in no particular order)...

This weekend was no different except that I was fortunate to watch the Rafa-Fedex rivalry reach new heights...But in the end the matador from Espaniol was too hot for the Swiss Ace..Roger to me has become error prone as he comes to terms with the reality that players are catching up with him.....

Last night at 10 o clock we decided to watch Luck by Chance and "by god kee kasam" we just about managed to get tickets...What followed in the next 2.5 hours was an amazing masterclass of creativity and narration that I have not seen before in cinema (keeping in mind my limited knowledge of the subject)..But I feel this movie is more a satire of the industry by Javed Akhtar and his gift to his children. I feel somebody so young and inexperienced like Zoya might not have enough experience to comment on the industry in such a masterly fashion..Anyways that is all in the family and who am I to spoil Zoya's party...But I thank Sumita for pushing me to watch the movie..

IN other enlightening experiences, I also learnt how important it is to have vitamin B-complex medicines with antibiotics otherwise an antibiotic for a throat infection can screw your stomach..

Anyways enough gyaan for the week...I will try to write more..but I am wondering how to make life more interesting so that I can write more..Dont know...??????//

Wall Street to Slumdog to Malabar Hill

Last week I saw two movies which showed two very different perspectives of money. While in wall street bombarded me with the "Greed is Good" jingoism..Slumdog millionaire is at a totally opposite end of the money ladder...But the ultimate truth in both of them is how the lack of money or too much of it influences and shapes are lives..... Anyways the movie was damn good..very "filmy"....very bollywood..And AR rehman take a bow..

Read somewhere that the parents of the slum children who acted in the movie are complaining of not being paid adequately. Seems like the parents of these children are now feeling they have lost out on something big. Somehow I am getting a feeling the parents have realised the movie has become much bigger than what they had imagined and now want to be a part of the commercial success...:) And if u see from there perspective there is nothing wrong in that as if we take a hypothetical example of a person X working in a small start up. If the start up becomes really successful that person would also want a bigger share of the pie.. so I think these kind of issues are quite normal and as long as there will be human beings these issues will arise...

Finally the highlight of my weekend was my meeting with Mr. Kharas...my former landlord who although didnt recognise me (he is 90 years old)..but then just seeing him sitting on his bed..dressed in a cool T-shirt..as if he was still ready to work with the TATAs.. was something which gave me a lot of happiness...and when i shook hands with him..he said to me..." u take care"..I would like to believe that in that moment he did remember me..someone who used to share a drink and a smoke with him..especially on the day of the Parsi new Year...along with some Dhansak..I still remember how he would go on and on about how his children were the toppers in everything..like all our parents do..but then it was also disturbing to see that nobody was living with him in this stage of life..Yet he was so proud of them that he would repeat the story for all of those two months I was there...

COUGHy with Gaurav

Sorry for not writing for quite some time...just too much happening..or maybe.just nothing happening to pen down my thoughts...just trying to figure out the next steps...

2009 has started and already we are almost a month down...i am seeing so many more confused faces....Raju's ASATYAM..has not helped matters...people are trying to hold on to what they have..

Waiting for better times...and also Slumdog Millionaire..which releases tomorrow..:)

Its the movie of "hope" and in these trying times there cant be too much of it.

Tuff Times

It has been a strange sort of month....Nothing much happening...in life..in markets..have postponed my American dreams for a year...November 26th ..thanks to the media is still very fresh..for me it was the best testament to the fact how we have become suckers to reality TV...I am thankful to God I chose have dinner in Bandra that night and not go to our favourite Colaba Causeway..
As always we have pointed fingers at our neighbours..and they have thrown mud at us...I don't know how long this will continue...Some say War is the only solution while others say that the only thing War will solve is ..Nothing...Condoleeza Rice's hurried visit to India shows how the US views this problem..I just fear...that they don't turn Pakistan into another Iraq...These are definitely tough times...

Finally I feel Kevin Petersen has shown himself to be a true statesman and conducted himself and the team in the best possible manner..Convincing the "homesick" Harmison and Flintoff shows he has got a good hold on the team...