Prison Break ... !!

One of the most thrilling TV shows that I have ever seen ... that would be an understatement. One that has kept me glued to my DVD player/laptop for the last 2 weeks. Here is a brief run through of the show.

Michael Scofield is a stuctural engineer who wants to rescue his brother Lincon Burrows from the Fox River jail in Chicago. Lincon has been falsely charged with the murder of the Vice President's brother. Apparently, there is an organization called The Company who is behind this incorrect framing of Lincon. They have trapped him in such a way that the video tape of him shooting the Vice President's brother looks very real. All attempts to prove him innocent go a begging. There is Lincon's ex-girlfriend (Veronica, who is an attorney) who is giving it a last shot at the behest of Michael.

So what about it? Well, Michael knows the internal path map of Fox River jail and has inherent "genius" capabilities. By this, I don't mean that he is a magician but he has an amazing analytical mind. He has the blueprint of the jail tattooed on his upper body. The only thing remaining is that he needs to get into the jail. He does so by attempting a armed bank robbery. And Michael enters Fox River.

But life is not rosy at the jail. He has to share his secret with his cell mate, played fantastically by Fernando Sucre (reel name). But then various other characters flare up unknowingly who also want to get away. Each character is well penned and has a telling impact on the storyline. Parallely, Veronica is being hounded by the Company at every step. Michael also falls in love with the jail doctor, Sarah.

The first season is all about creating the path out of jail for Michael and his co-conners. The build up is immaculate and leaves you wanting for more. The climax to the first season is mind boggling. They leave the prison after another potentially disastrous secret is leaked out(I don't want to spoil the fun).

The second season basically deals with the conners running all around America trying to escape the police as well as the FBI (headed by Alexander Mahone). The conners go their separate ways (Michael and Lincon go together of course) but its apparent their paths will cross again since all of them now know about the secret. Its a bit odd to start watching season 2 with the focus shifting to outside the prison since you are so used to seeing the prison all the time.

Michael trains his mind on proving the innocence of brother, which is no trivial task. This includes a wild manhunt for all the Fox River detractors across the map of America. In the meantime, all conners meet again as destined at the place of the secret. The way each one of them ends up there is amazing. This is one of the most thrilling phases of the series. Although, they unearth the secret, not everything goes according to plan for Michael and his brother. The conners separate again.

Michael and Lincon get their hands onto some crucial evidence which can exonerate Lincon of all charges but the story takes a crucial twist which again sends the brothers on the run. Season 2 ends on a fantastic note and Season 3 promises to be just as lively.

My personal favorites from the series are ...

1). Sucre's undying love for MariCruz.
2). T-Bag's ruthless and cunning character.
3). Michael's determination to save his brother.
4). Mahone's relentless pursuit of the brothers. He matches Michael punch for punch in Season 2.
5). Kellerman's character
6). C-Note's love for his family
7). Their first attempt to escape
8). The way Sarah prevents herself from expressing her love for Michael
9). The camaraderie between the brothers
10). Michael's plan on his tattoo
11). The Dont-Trust-Anyone attitude of every escapee.
12). Fox River. I would love to end up there. Its beautiful ... :).

My top 3 characters from the series would be Sucre, Lincon and T-Bag.

I can go on and on. I start Season 3 tonight ... Cheers ... !!

Hooked onto movies ... !!

Yeah, I never imagined I would be saying that of all people. I have never been a movie freak and in some sense, I am still not. Its just that I have never seen (or wanted to see) so many movies in a short duration. Having a USB DVD player is the biggest motivation I guess :)

We started of seeing Manorama Six Feet Under. The genre is more or less like Johnny Gaddar, although the narrative is completely different. You can call it a thriller and to be honest, I quite liked it. Something to do with an offbeat cast that always catches my fancy ... !!

This movie really kick started my fad. When I came to office the next day, I logged into our office movie Server and asked some of my more esteemed movie afficianado friends to help me select some good movies. The 2 that I took home that day were THE PRESTIGE and THE DEPARTED. Since I do not understand English movies all that well (I hate that), I could never dare to watch it alone. My wife gave me company for both the movies.

THE PRESTIGE was the first one. We started watching it at around 9 pm and I fell asleep watching the movie at around 10 pm. This is no way speaks about the movie. Its just that I was sleepy. We completed the movie the next day and I didn't understand what was going on. Blame it on the non continuity ... !! My wife had to painfully explain each and every part of the movie, literally dissecting the movie. I could sense the irritation coz I was not able to fathom the simplest of things. Me and my English movie jinx.

Anyway, later in the week, we visited a multiplex to watch Jaane Tu ... I liked the movie. Reminded me of my college days and my group of friends.

We sat through THE DEPARTED in a few days time. Though there was not a lot in this movie to not understand, a quarter of the movie was dedicated to swearing. We had a tough time separating the proper words from the so called expletives. But still, the confused look on my face wasn't going to go away. This time I didn't ask my wife anything about the movie ... which does not mean I grasped everything ... :)

When I came to office the next day, it was back to movie hunting. I saw the Oceans series on the movie server and took it home. Unfortunately, Oceans 11 was corrupt and I didn't want to see the sequels before Oceans 11. So I came back to office the next day and began the routine again. Some of my friends had suggested that a TV series called Prison Break is very nice. I asked one of my colleagues to get the first season of this series.

Currently, we have seen the first 3 episodes of the series and it sure is gripping. All this has happened in the last week or so. But one thing is for sure. My constant grappling with English movies is here to stay ... I expect to go one up sometime ... Cheers ... !!

All in a day's time ... !!

One of the most tiring days of my life.

We(Biwi, Dinesh and I) had planned a trek to Rajmachi. We left from Pune by train at 8 am. Since we were late coming to the railway station, we had to stand all the way till Lonavla. After we reached Lonavla at around 9:30 am, we had breakfast in a nearby hotel which was a 10 minute walk from the station. We then headed towards Tungarli Dam, since the way to Rajmachi was from there. It took us another 45 minutes to walk upto Tungarli. The Dam itself was not very appealing. After spending some time there, we started walking towards Rajmachi. It seemed like a never ending walk. Slopes and Climbs were the order of the day. We kept walking till 2:30 pm until we cam across a waterfall. We had asked several people on the way about distance left to Rajmachi. Every person told us that it would take a long time. When we reached this waterfall, we were still 2 hours away from the base village and another 30 minutes away from the fort. We were walking since 9:40 am. We had walked close to 11 kms till now.

Since we needed to get back to station (and more importantly out of the jungles before dark), we decided we will abort the trek and head back. We started walking back towards Lonavala with the Rajmachi peak lurking in the background. By the time we descended from Tungarli, we were almost dead and we had walked close to 20 kms.

We found solace in a Bhutta vendor who was also serving tea. Though we didnt have any Bhuttas and neither did we have a lot of tea, we gorged on the tasty Farsaan he was vending. So much so, that we finished all the Farsaan that he had. A samaritan (God?) dropped us till Lonavla station when we asked him for a lift. God Bless Him.

It was 7:20 pm when we reached Lonavla station. Fortunately, there was a train waiting there bound to Pune. Biwi got into the ladies compartment where she found a place to sit but Dinesh and I were not so lucky. Another 90 minute ordeal !!!

I was so tired that I removed my shoes inside the compartment amidst such a heavy rush. We were glad to find a place to sit in the doorway at Pimpri.

Finally, we reached Pune at 8:50 pm and bid adieu to Dinesh. It was 9:15 when we got home. We badly needed a bath and we also needed some alcohol. After the bath, I realized it was Sunday and I knew there were lots of sporting events taking place.

When I switched on the TV, I expected news channels to flash the winner of Wimbledon. But I didn't see anything. When I tuned into Star Sports, there was no live coverage. The play was halted due to rain with Nadal leading 6-4, 6-5, 4-5. Man, this was unexpected. I mean I knew Nadal would play well but 2 sets to love was amazing.

Biwi was rooting for Federer and I was cheering Nadal. By the end of the 4th set, we were cheering both. When the final rain delay came, it was frustrating as a viewer. But when it restarted, Nadal pushed Federed to every corner of the court to win 9-7 in an epic final. Easily the best final that I have seen. Reminded me of another epic between Agassi and Ivanisevic in the 1992 final.

Lewis Hamilton also rejoiced by winning a rain soaked British Grand Prix at Silverstone. India lost the Asia Cup final to a deserving Lankan side. Luke Ronchi and David Hussey hit 20 ball half centuried against the West Indies.

To cap it off, we raised a toast to the eventful day by sipping a shot of Antiquity, even though our heels, calfs and thighs ached throughout the night.

I will definitely give Rajmachi another shot ... Cheers ... !!

Birthday tragedy ... !!

I was in the middle of a conversation with one of my friends who was celebrating his birthday. When I asked him his age, he told me that it was his 26th birthday. When I asked him his birth year, he told me it was 1982. I didn't speak for the next 10 minutes or so. I don't know what struck me but I felt weird about the way we celebrate birthdays. It was like someone hitting me with a rock. I couldn't quite fathom the fact that the day we are born isn't counted as our first birthday. Think of it.

Citing my example, I was born on April 29th, 1982. So, that should count as my first birthday. Yes, we are talking numbers ... plain numbers and not AGE. So, I should be celebrating my 28th birthday in 2009 and not my 27th. Yes, I will be 27 ... but that's my age. I would say AGE and BIRTHDAY COUNT are 2 completely different entities. I feel its grave disrespect to the day that we are born as to not count it as our first birthday.

In essence, the birthdays that follow the first are not actually birthdays because ... If you take the simple English meaning, BIRTHDAY translates to THE DAY YOU ARE BORN. 'Anniversary' or 'Remembrance' may be better words for it.

I cant strike out one birthday from my life ... I just cant ... especially if its the reason I live today ... Cheers ... !!

King of forts ... !!

I feel very lucky being in Pune. Its like the epicenter of all tourist destinations. Beaches, forts, renowned temples (read Ashtavinayak and Jyotir-ling) ... everything is accessible with minimum of effort. Due to monsoons hitting Pune earlier than expected, all monsoon plans had to be preponed. Yes, preponed and not postponed. Last weekend, we (read Biwi, Omkar, Dinesh, Prakash and I) visited a fabulous point at Mulshi and we didn't want to waste this weekend too.

The original plan was to trek from Arthur's seat in old Mahabaleshwar to Pratapgad on Saturday. But Dinesh had to stay in office on Saturday. So we rescheduled it for Sunday. We called up a person in Mahabaleshwar to inquire if traffic to Mahabaleshwar is proceeding. The answer dampened our spirits a bit. Apparently, traffic to Mahabaleshwar it halted at Panchgani itself during heavy rain. So, now what?

Oye koi gall nahi baashaaon. We decided we will trek Rajgad. So, everyone assembled at my place at 6 am sharp (quite a surprise huh?). We stopped 16 km off Rajgad to have naashta and then proceeded to reach Rajgad at 8:30 am.



I could vividly remember my first trip to Rajgad on Republic Day in 2005. That was CoV's first official trip and what a joy that was, although it was in January when most of the greenery was wiped out and we had skipped the trek to Baale Killa. Cut to 2008.

We started our trek from a place called 'Gunjavane paayta'. It was a pleasure to be amidst such a green and misty locale. The scenic horizon tempted us to hurry up with every step.



The last section was extremely treacherous, at least when we saw it first. It was a vertical climb with a few railings for support. But we managed to negotiate it and reached the top at around 11 am.

The atmosphere around the lake was astonishing. Almost surreal.



We had tea at a place called the 'Kacheri'. There was a nice statue of Shivaji Maharaj kept over there.



Sipping hot tea along with chips was the perfect recipe for this kind of weather. Did someone say 'Kaanda Bhaji'?

But then started the fun part. We had to go up to Baale Killa. This was even more hazardous.



Kudos to everyone who pulled their weight and completed the 2nd trek successfully. No wonder that everyone was overjoyed on reaching Baale Killa.





It was even more misty and windy at the top.



After spending around an hour on top, we started trekking down, which was non-trivial. It was a long time before we came back to Gunjavane. I guess it was 5:30 pm. We reached home at around 7 pm.

One of the most enjoyable as well as difficult treks so far in my life. King of forts as well as King of treks ... RAJGAD ... !!



Cheers ... !!

Trends ... !!

Its funny how trends change. In fact, if they wouldn't change, I don't think such a word would have existed. Its worthy to note how you discuss stuff with your family/friends at various junctures in your life.

For instance, during childhood, your eye would always be on your friend's toys. Why cant I have that toy? Why don't I have his fancy shoes? Some more years down the line, you would be inquisitive about the school your friend goes to. Your conversations with your friends/cousins would revolve around exams, marks, weird teachers, etc.

Your first bicycle would draw comparisons and lead to discussions. For days, you will discuss how many times you fell off while learning to ride your bicycle.

During the 10th grade exams, the focus would be on each other's preparations for the exams. Your strong and weak subjects. As soon as the exams are over, the focus shifts to expectations, possible career paths and colleges. Once the results are out, accompanying each other to various colleges for admission.

Attraction to the opposite sex is a long term activity, which is at its peak during these days. The time you spent talking to one particular pretty lass makes you brag about it to the entire circle. Then its about career, specialization courses, etc. IITs, IIMs, Engineering, Hotel Management, Business, etc. This becomes normal jargon.

At the end of your education, its basically talking about jobs. Indulging in your family's business or seeking an opportunity in an MNC? You are dead curious to find out where your friends/cousins are placed and how they are doing.

Then comes marriage. All of a sudden, everyone starts getting hitched. All you know is that you are running from one marriage hall to another to attends weddings. This doubles when you are married yourself since you have to attend weddings of all people related to your better half.

Then kids take over. Its moves from marriage halls to hospitals and Baarsaas.

I don't know what the next phase would be in my life. But I don't think this will stop. Trends will remain just that .... trends ... !!

Cheers ... !!

Fairytale finals ... !!

No, this is not related to cricket, soccer or tennis or any other fad sport followed by Indians earnestly. Its about basketball. Yes, its NBA finals time and ever since the Playoffs started, I had been rooting for just 2 teams ... they go by the name of Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. For some, these 2 name might sound like ... What? ... while for true NBA fans, it will sound like the biggest sporting phenomenon in the world. Yes, a NBA finals comprising of the Lakers and the Celtics is almost like a fairytale ... in fact it is a fairytale.

Now, why is this a fairytale. Well, just looking at it from a historic point of view. For starters, just talk about the legends who are part of this storied rivalry. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are two unparalled icons in the NBA history. Both were pillars for their respective teams, almost like blood running through their team's veins. Talk about the hookster Kareem Abdul Jabbar (famous for his hook shot), the sublime Bob Cousy, the irresistable Bill Russell, the energetic Danny Ainge, the most amazing Jerry West or the larger than life Wilt Chamberlain. Each champion willing to slug it out till the last second with its competitor. 4 quarters of 12 minutes looked like a never ending highlight reel.

Who can forget a forward/guard like Magic Johnson filling in as Center in place Kareem to win the deciding game for the Lakers in one of their Finals contests. Talk about colour ... White and Green for the Celtics and Purple and Gold for the Lakers. Talk about the venues ... the Boston garden and the Forum at LA.

They have met 10 times in the past in the finals. Boston have won 8 of them. It does not reflect the intensity with which these two teams have played. Its just that Boston has upped their tempo in the clutch moments. Together, they have won a staggering 30 titles together. Phenomenal.

So its no wonder that when the playoffs started, I desperately wanted these 2 teams to be in the finals. So who will win? Or whom do I want to win?

My heart says Lakers but I think the Celtics have a better team. Its gonna be Garnett, Allen and Pierce from the Celtics against Kobe Bryant of the Lakers. Yeah, Lakers dont have that kind of "Big-3" force but if their bench plays the same way as they played against the Jazz and the Spurs, then Lakers might just pip the Celtics. I cant wait to watch the finals. As an update, Celtics won Game 1 tonight. My prediction is 1-1 in Boston ... then 2-1 to Boston in LA and finally 1-1 in Boston again. So my prediction is 4-3 to Boston ... but I would still like the Lakers to win ... Cheers ... !!

First brush in 2008 with favourite season ... !!

Yeah, my favorite season has kicked off ... just at the right time ... since IPL just concluded ... ;)

My first brush this year with the rains wasn't according to script though. I was in the middle of a meeting when the sound of thunder forced us to peek out of the room. At that time, it was just dark clouds and plenty of thunder and lightning. But what followed was the true essence of the Monsoons.

After completing my naashta at office, I took off for home at around 6 pm. It was going according to script till Mehendale Garage (by script,I mean enjoying driving my bike in rain). After that, it was a first for me. There was a traffic snarl close to Mehendale Garage. This is another bare essential about rainfall, especially in Pune. You cant keep traffic jams and monsoon away from each other. In fact, % increase in the number of vehicles added in a year can be thought of being directly proportional to the % increase in time you spend in traffic jams (during monsoons) between the 2 years in question.

I kept my bike running for the initial 100 meter struggle. But after that, I heard the sound of my bike at around 10 pm, when I was close to City Pride (Satara Road). It was a tough ordeal not to drive my bike for 4 hours but just push it forward as and when the traffic inched ahead. This was my first stint with the Kothrud-home stretch in the monsoon since for the last 3 years, I had been going home from Aundh and I could easily escape from Khadki station during those days. But Kothrud to home is like a nightmare since it includes negotiating Mhatre Bridge, Shastri road, Sinhagad road, Swargate/Parvati and finally the chaotic BRTS Satara road.

But thats what monsoons are all about. A little hit here, a little whimper there. I made some friends during this horror journey. Yes, I call it a journey. I was audience to some of the most hilarious conversations. There was this woman who was on her Spirit and she was constantly getting calls (presumably from her home). When she received the first of such calls, her response was ... "Mi ata traffic jam madhe adakli aahe ... maala vel laagnaar ghari pochaayla". Fair enough. Next call ... "Naahi, azun tithech aahe ... khup vel laagnaar asa distay". Encouraging. Next call ... "Naahi, tithech aahe". Sublime. And the clincher was ... "Ho baal radat asel, pan ata mi pan radnaar aahe". That was brilliant.

Two college going boys were at the extreme left of the road, almost kissing the footpath. This footpath was very narrow. Hardly one person could stand at one time without falling out. Plus, the footpath was surrounded by short trees/plants/shrub. So, if someone was to walk on the footpath, he/she needed to jerk their head outwards to avoid the tree/plant/shrub. These 2 guys were immersed in some college conversation. Just then, 2 girls came walking from the opposite side. The first girl now had to avoid the tree/plant/shrub but if she bent her head outwards, she would be touching this guy who was driving the bike. The guy obviously wouldn't have minded. And these guys were the typical taporis. Good girl or bad girl ... comments would not stop. This is what their conversation was like ...

Boy 1 - arey bagh bagh ... ithech thaambaayla paahije hi ... majaa yenaar mag ..
Boy 2 - saalya maala de naa gaadi ... ata mi thoda vel chaalavto
Boy 1 - veda beda zhaalay ki kaay ... thoda vel thaamb ... hechya pudhchi mulgi tujhi
Boy 2 - chal zaao de ...
this is when the girl came agonizingly close to the guy. I really pity her.
Boy 1 (in a slight hush)- kasla scent maarlaay re ... gaadi nasli asti naa .. tar ... (i will skip this) ..
Boy 2 - chal pudha chal pudha ... raatra bhar ithach naahi thambaycha aplyaala ..
Boy 1 - Chyaaila ... maagchya 15 mintaat ek hi gaadi pudhe naahi geli .. ataach zaaychi hoti kaa ... B*******
Boy 2 - tula aadhich saangitla hota maala gaadi de ... tuzha luck futka aahe ...
Boy 1 - gapp re ch****, tuzha luck baghu pudhchya chowkaat ... aey pan mi tila vicharu kaa kuthla scent hota?
Boy 2 - vichaarun kaay gh**** karnaar aahe ... ladies asnaar .. tu laaun kaay karnaar?
Boy 1 - arey mi maajhya baayko laa laavnaar naa ...
Boy 2 - ho ... milaali tula baayko ... chal pudhe aata ...

This is what i call ... once in a lifetime experience ... ;)

There was another chap on a bicycle just in front of me ... since everyone was moving forward inch by inch ... I too tried to occupy every inch available. On one such occasion, the front tyre of my bike brushed the bottom part of this guy's trouser. He looked back ... I wasn't apologetic ... this happened again after some time ... this time he couldn't help but respond ...

Man - arey bhau ... zara baghun ...
Me - kaay zhaala?
Man - tyre laagla tumcha maajhya pant laa ...
Me - mag?
Man - dusryaanda zhaala he ...
Me - arey paaus padtoy, traffic jam aahe ... he tar honaarach ...
Man - te barobar aahe tumcha ... pan don da naahi hoyala paahije ...
Me - kaa?
Man - kaa mhanje kaay? ek daa zhaala ki theek aahe pan tumhi don daa kela ...
Me - Ok Ok ... sorry.

It seemed he had a tolerance value of 1 ... ;)

One person was coming from the opposite side of the road (wrong side) in such a huge traffic jam ... I was so angry at him that I told him ... "arey ch****, kuthun gaadi kaadhaaycha prayatn kartoy ... (and some more ... lets leave that). I expected him to reply aggressively. Instead, he was calm as a cucumber. He didnt say anything. I told him ... "arey aiku naahi yet aahe kaa ... shivi dili tar kalat naahi kaa?". His response was so surreal ... "arey kaay karu ... shambar shivya aiklet ith paryant ... tula kaay vaat ta ... mi correct side try naahi keli kaa?".

I couldnt help but smile at this.

It was surely a first for me ... trapped in a traffic jam for more than 3 hours ... what a start to the monsoons ... I need to get down to business planning my monsoon ...

I hope such encounters visit me day and again (just the conversations and not the traffic jams)... Cheers ... !!

IPL heroes ... !!

As an exception, IPL lived upto its hype if not surpassed it. It had become such a habit to head back home and sit glued to the TV for 3 hours while indulging in a cup of Coffee/Kokam/some X drink and a bowl of snacks. For all its worth, it has been a tremendous success ... atleast for the viewers. Its scary to think about the void left over as a consequence of the curtains coming down on the first edition.

But there have been lots of heroes ... local and non-Indian. Its worth to note I am categorizing even our Indian international players as local. It would be quite befitting to come up with a pool of 20 local and non-Indian players based on their performance in the IPL. Lets start with the local team of XX.

Well, a team should contain 4 openers, 2 wicketkeepers, 4 fast bowlers, 3 spinners, 3 all rounders and 4 batters

Lets start with the wicketkeepers ...

MS Dhoni cant be left out. Though he didnt do justice to his price tag, he was basically trying to cope with the loss of Oram, Hayden and Hussey throughout the tournament. His captaincy stood out again and his team almost won the trophy. The other wicketkeeper would be his team mate from Chennai ... Parthiv Patel. His glove work was great but he surprised with his batting. He raised his game when it mattered in the last 2 league games and in the semis and finals.

Now the openers ...
Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan were extemely consistent. Though Dhawan came in at No. 3, he is primarily an opener. I would also pick Virender Sehwag as one of the openers. This format of the game suits him and he played some murderous innings. The 4th opener would be Swapnil Asnodkar. The dimunitive batsman did well whenever he was presented with an opportunity.

Now the fast bowlers ...
Manpreet Gony is the first that comes to mind. Apart from his sharp pace, he also exploded with the bat. Sreesanth would be the next. His opening spells were a joy to watch. Ashoke Dinda was another impressive performer from Kolkata. The last one would be YoMahesh from Delhi.

Now the spinners ...
Piyush Chawla was undoubtedly the best on view. Amit Mishra was the surprise element from Delhi. The third would be Pragyan Ojha from Hyderabad. He did well in patches but his performance was creditable.

Now the allrounders ...
Irfan Pathan can be termed as one of them. He was great with the ball and hit some out of the park when he batted. Laxmi Ratan Shukla was a revelation in all departments of the game. Finally, one of my favourite players of the tournament ... Yusuf Pathan. He rocked with the bat and got crucial wickets when it mattered.

Finally, the batters ...
Rohit Sharma would be an automatic choice. Abhishek Nayar was also a good performer. Venugopal Rao struck gold late in the tournament in an otherwise disappointing team display. The last spot goes to Suresh Raina. I am wondering why this man is still not in the senior team (atleast in Tests).

So the final team would be as follows:

Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Shikhar Dhawan
Swapnil Asnodkar
Rohit Sharma
Suresh Raina
Abhishek Nayar
Venugopal Rao
MS Dhoni
Parthiv Patel
Irfan Pathan
Laxmi Ratan Shukla
Yusuf Pathan
Piyush Chawla
Amit Mishra
Pragyan Ojha
S Sreesanth
Manpreet Gony
Ashoke Dinda
YoMahesh

Notable absentees from the World Cup winning T20 team are Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa and RP Singh for obvious reasons.

Now, for the non-Indian team ...

Lets start with the wicketkeepers ...

This one was easy ... since there were just 3 contenders practically ... Gilchrist, Mccullum and Sangakkara ... 2 of these didnt play all the games ... in fact Mccullum played just 3 games ... so I would say it will have to be Gilchrist and Sangakkara.

The openers would be ...

Shaun Marsh without a shadow of a doubt. He was awe inspiring. The next 3 spots are quite straight forward ... Hayden, Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith though Hayden played a handful of games.

Fast bowlers ...

Makhaya Ntini came in late but was magical. Glenn Mcgrath proved that age doesnt matter. Dale Steyn was quick and effective. The last spot would go to Sohail Tanvir. His opening spells as well bowling at the death was phenomenal.

Spinners ...
Shane Warne would be the first. Shahid Afridi purely as a bowler wasnt bad. And you cant leave Murali out.

All rounders ...
Shane Watson of course. Farveez Maharoof would be the next. A toss up between Hopes, Bravo, Morkel and Pollock ... I would go for Morkel since he was more effective with both ball and bat and was instrumental in guiding his team to the finals.

Batsmen ...
Not many options here ... the 2 Husseys will certainly be there. Bravo will be another. The last spot according to me should go to Cameron White. I dont know why he didnt get many opportunities but he is a devastating T20 player.

So the final non-Indian XX looks like ...

Shaun Marsh
Mathew Hayden
Sanath Jayasuriya
Graeme Smith
Micheal Hussey
David Hussey
Dwayne Bravo
Cameron White
Shane Watson
Farveez Maharoof
Albie Morkel
Adam Gilchrist
Kumar Sangakkara
Shane Warne
Shahid Afridi
Muttiah Muralitharan
Makhaya Ntini
Glenn McGrath
Dale Steyn
Sohail Tanvir.


so what about the dream team? well, it can be something like this ...

Gautam Gambhir
Shaun Marsh
Sanath Jayasuriya
Graeme Smith
Rohit Sharma
Dwayne Bravo
Suresh Raina
David Hussey
MS Dhoni
Adam Gilchrist
Yusuf Pathan
Shane Watson
Albie Morkel
Shane Warne
Piyush Chawla
Muttiah Muralitharan
Glenn McGrath
Manpreet Gony
Sohail Tanvir
S Sreesanth

well this is just my dream team ... :) I hope to see IPL going from strength to strength ...

Cheers ... !!

Appraisal ... smile or frown ... !!

The Appraisal process was completed in office last week. Since I was on leave, I was one of the very few who hadn't received my revised compensation. I was relieved to get it on my first day back at work. I was happy with my compensation and also with the new designation. The title of Team Lead is quite misleading though, coz I don't know whom I am supposed to lead. But anyway, its quite a happy moment. For the record, I have had a new designation in each of my appraisals so far which can be something extremely difficult to live up to.

In hindsight, I always wonder whether I should be happy or sad. Happy, coz I get more money, a better job profile and more authority. Sad, coz I am enjoying my moment of joy and luxury at a job that I never wanted to do. This jolly moment means that I will now have to stick to this job for longer than I had anticipated. I never thought I will be complaining about excess of money but sadly thats a fact. How I wish that one rainy night at Mumbai in 2000, I should have never called one of my friends.

But as the saying goes ... The show must go on ... so adhering to that ... Cheers ... !!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S frenzy ... !!

I have been thinking of posting this for some time now. During the month of March, my wife and I happened to experience all 10 seasons of the iconic Friends series. I had seen it quite a few times but it never gets boring. For my wife, it was the first time so she was in splits 25 hours every day. Watching Friends is extremely addictive. You just cant stop. Weekends were consumed finishing off atleast 20 episodes. By the end of it, it felt miserable especially the last episode when the entire apartment is empty.

Anyway, I have posted this for some of my most favorite hilarious dialogues ... here they come ...

"You are 18 and she is 44 ... when you are 36, she will be 88" - Joey to Frank (Phoebe's brother) (Frank replies with - "You think I dont know that?")

When Ross is playing the bagpipe horribly ... "Why is your family Scottish" - Monica to Chandler. Chandler replies with ... "Why is your family Ross?" (since Ross is Monica's brother)

During Ross and Emily's wedding, this is how Emily's Dad introduces Ross's parents to his wife ... "Darling, meet the Gellers ... this is one and this is the other one" (Ross's surname is Geller)

"Its OK Pheebs" - Phoebe to Rachel. Rachel says ... "Pheebs is your nickname". Phoebe says ... "Oh, is it? I thought thats what we all call each other lovingly"

"Ducks is heads and Clowns is tails" - Joey to Chandler when they lose little Ben and start finding him. They get 2 babies and cant decide which one is Ben. One of the babies in wearing a shirt with Ducks and the other baby is wearing one with Clowns. So they decide to flip a coin and choose which one is Ben. Chandler asks "Why heads for Ducks?" ... Joey replies ... "Coz Ducks have heads" ...

When Frank brings his 44 year old teacher cum girlfriend to the Cafe and they start kissing in front of everyone ... Chandler says ... "If that doesnt keep kids in school then what will?"

When Phoebe enrolls for a job for a telephone operator to sell something called Toner, the person in charge explains everything to her about how to speak, how to market Toner, etc and finally she asks Phoebe ... "Ok ... all fine?" ... Phoebe replies ... "Yes, but just one thing ... what is Toner?"

Joey to Chandler ... "Imagine if our Duck and Chick have a kid, what will we name them ... Chuck" ... Chandler replies ... "or ... Dick"

Chandler is watching Yasmeen Blith on Baywatch and his Chick is making some noise ... he starts talking to the Chick ... "You both are chicks (Chick and Yasmeen Blith) ... I love you both ... but in very different ways"

Monica is a cleanliness freak and she doesnt like anyone tinkering with the arrangement of her apartment. Chandler plans to surprise her by changing the arrangement. Ross walks in and tells Chandler that Monica will freak out. Chandler gets worried and suddenly Monica knocks on the door. Chandler goes upto the door and says ... "You cant come in because Ross in naked" ... then he goes upto Ross and tries to explain ... "Ross, I had to take your name coz Monica has seen me naked millions of time" ... Ross asks ... "Why does anyone has to be naked?"

Joey to Ross - "If they homo-sapiens were indeed HOMO sapiens, is it the reason why they are extinct?"

I am sure there are many more but these are the ones at the top of my head. I think the best lines have been given to the guys ... Chandler and Joey pull off every dialogue remarkably.

It doesn't annoy me seeing any episode of Friends any number of times ...

Cheers ... !!

Do favors exist in RELATIONSHIPS ... !!

Do they?

Parents often hide the intricacies of how they raised their kids just to keep their kids aloof from stress or the struggle they went through. This is true for poor or rich, just that the level of struggle varies. But does that mean its a favor for their kids? I know there are bucketful of cases where parents harass their kids (to the extent of murder, prostitution, etc) no end but I am talking about the not-so-horrible parents.

Is there anything like a favor in a relationship and even if the answer is YES (for me, the answer is NO), does it give the favorer (the person doing the favour) the right to commit atrocities on the favoree. I don't think so. Does it give a person the bragging rights to always remind someone that their existence is only because of them.

If a person falls sick and someone in the immediate relationship takes care of him/her, how can you use that as a favor? I mean, if there are kids, parents will have to take care of them. If there is a younger sibling, the elder one has to take care. Why is it so difficult to understand? How can you term it as a favor? In any case, even if you consider this as a favor, how can you undo all that by committing hedious crimes on someone who isn't even objecting to anything. This may be sounding a bit abstract.

For parents, how does it matter if some offspring of theirs earns more/less than the other or why one of them should get less/more if the other one already has more/less of something. If it is such a big favor so as to kill your offspring of mental torture, then they shouldn't have done a favor in the first place. What joy can parents get by initiating hatred between their off springs? Why is there such a lot of difference between a daughter and a daughter-in-law? Or for that matter, mother and mother-in-law or any set of parallel relationship. Why is every concern of yours weighed in terms of money? Why is your concern for anyone termed as an effort to gain monetary advantage of that person?

I know I will never get these answers. The reason being, people are so entrenched into thinking about you in certain way that they cant possibly think about the real you. And finally, if you have ever done a favor on your child/sibling/parent, please get that spirit back because for the person being favored, that was Love and not a favor.

Relationships have gone off flavor for me ... !!

Less of BAD is GOOD ... !!

I didn't hope to stumble upon the practical instance of this phrase so soon. During the bull run of the Indian stock market in the last 4 to 5 quarters, the Technology stocks have been the only laggards with Infosys, Satyam, Wipro and TCS leading this bunch. The weakening dollar, credit concerns in the US (since most of their clients are financial companies based in the US) and the global economic meltdown are some of the catalysts responsible for the downward growth graph for these blue chip companies. The sentiment has been so pessimistic on Technology that the time has come that even a straw of good news is being lapped up as potentially positive news.

Infosys came out with their yearly results yesterday. Growth was about 9% (slowest in history) and they upped their EPS guidance to Rs. 93 (the market expected something less - I guess it was 90). Interesting to note that the growth in itself isn't very substantial but because it beats market expectations, it becomes good news. Funny.
Adding on, Infosys declared a dividend of 145% (Rs. 7.25 per share) which is great comparing it to the dividends it dished out the last 3 times. But the SAY IT ALOUD fact is that it declared a special dividend of 400% (Rs. 20 per share). So the total dividend comes out to Rs. 27.25. Now, how do you explain that as a correlation to economic slowdown.

The global markets collapsed on Monday and traded with a negative bias on Tuesday. We were closed on Monday. So we were expecting our markets to collapse yesterday. And so we did. We opened with a 200 point gap down. But then Infosys declared its numbers and BANG ... no looking back. Infy closed around 80 rupees up for the day and the markets boomed 350 points. All this on the basis of just beating market expectations (which were abysmally low).

So there will be talk of economic slowdown (Infy themselves admitted it), but all it needs for the market to sustain its march ahead is some low expectations. There is something much more to this market than what the common man knows.

For now, its pomp time for me. I hold 96 shares of Infosys.

Cheers ... !!

No new games ... !!

Since my last post was about 2 games, I have started wondering why there is a dearth of new games. You always hear or read about some path breaking innovation in some Eks Wie Zee walk of life but personally speaking, its been a while that I have heard about a new game being originated. Just imagine some people spending time to come up with a game. The thought itself is hard to digest. Games we know, seem so natural like they were ought to be that way but if you keep everything aside to think of a new game, it will take a lot more out of you than the so called WORK PRESSURE at your job. The thing that will kill you is that you know it is not something you will hate doing but still you will struggle to make a game of your own.

I am game about not creating a new game ... Cheers ... !!

Remembering Persistent ... !!

Yeah, its been a long time since I blogged. I am not going to quote any cliches for doing so ... :)

After spending 3 years at AirTight, I finally experienced a means of leisure in the form of a Table Tennis table (quite a word that ... ;)). Thoughts raced back to mid 2004 when I joined Persistent Systems Private Limited (Private is struck off now I guess). 2 games that had caught my fancy then were Carrom and Table Tennis. Though I tried my hand at both, I could never graduate past "below average" in TT, though I managed something better in Carrom. But I am relieved to be playing better TT than what I used to play in PSPL. Now, I need to pester our HR to get a Carrom board.

Till then, I guess I need to hone my skills on the TT table (I hate using this term ... reminds me of terms like 'FC college' and 'short nap').

I also hope I can get back to blogging ... till then ... Cheers ... !!

Chak De India ... !!

You would to yell out that slogan in order to get people going to see this movie. Yeah, its precisely that good. This being said by a person who hates SRK top to bottom. For the time being, I need to keep my reservations against SRK aside. Only the 2nd SRK movie that I have liked so far. Of course, there have been some that I haven't seen yet. But lets talk about the movie.

From the opening sequence till the time the team lands in India with the World Cup, the movie is rivetting. Though the onus shifts to the actual matches in the 2nd half, it doesnt make you lousy. I must say this is an intense performance by SRK. He is especially good in the scenes where he is displaying the plight of facing the wrath of the entire nation after he misses the penalty stroke against Pakistan. His sense of accomplishment after winning the World Cup makes you admire his expressions.

But the movie belongs to the interactions between SRK and his team. And what a team. No wonder we use the phrase "Unity in Diversity" so often. Even though unity will always fall short of diversity, it still makes for inspirational viewing. There are some highlight reel scenes when SRK takes the entire team out for lunch and when the team loses against the men's team of India.

In hindsight, you always know what is going to happen but the journey is quite fulfilling. I would seriously recommend this movie to every Indian. However, the movie doesnt make me feel that I will now watch all SRK movies :).

Cheers ... !!

New Arrivals ... !!

Well, don't read that title as an extension of my married life ... ;). Its just that our home has been blessed with the arrival of new electronic goods as well some other stuff. Its quite obvious that my wife has been the catalyst for more than a few of these new attractions.

Since I am quite a laid back organism, I seldom buy new stuff for me (read: clothes, footwear, bags, etc). My wife had been coaxing me to pay a visit to Camp or Laxmi Road (I'm sure these 2 hot spots are not the only 2 options anymore on Pune's shopping map) to get me a new look. On a lazy Sunday evening, we hit Laxmi Road in our endeavor to shrug off my ragged look. We had received a Gift Voucher from my company of Rs. 3500, the reason being that I got married while I was in AirTight. Keep them coming folks !!

In an hour's time, I had doubled (or maybe tripled) my clothes count of the last 5 years. 4 trousers, 4 shirts, 3 t shirts and a belt. I have never had to strip so many times in an hour before. I am sure I lost at least 2 kgs in the process. We went on to buy a raincoat and a bag for me (I had to bid adieu to the Persistent bag after using it for 2 and a half years).

We moved from Laxmi Road to FC Road. My cell had been troubling me for some time now. We got a new Sony cell in exchange for my old Sony cell. After hopping across to JM Road, we got a new wristwatch for my wife. Aah. so much for one day ... !!

Back home, our TV was also showing signs of being on its last legs. My Dad had been talking about a Plasma LCD TV for a long time. Last Thursday, when I went back home after office, I could hear nearly all the members of my family in unison as I made my way towards our apartment. No wonder the hue and cry was coz of the new Plasma TV that has just arrived and what a beauty it is. 32 inches of Black Beauty. Ahem .. mind your imagination ... ;).

What a coincidence it was when I came to office the next day and saw a Digicam on my desk. It was the one that I had asked my colleague to get from the States. He had just returned a day back and I was overjoyed to finally get my hands on my own camera.

I had picked up some photography nuances from my dear friend Amit Gupte just 2 weekends ago. I was looking forward to put them in practice and I feel I have done a decent job.

















So its like me and my family have been upgraded to the next version with so many new arrivals ... it would be tough replicating this sequence .... Cheers ... !!

The Wishing syndrome .... !!

Wishing ... Aaah, nowdays its like an achievement if you wish someone on time, given the so called hectic schedule that drives people nuts. Over the years, I have stumbled upon an interesting, yet weird, pattern about wishing people. Instead of classifying your friends as good, bad, best, bitch (ahem .. !!), you can group them according to the way you wish them.

There are many sophisticated ways to wish people in the modern era. So what exactly are the categories ? To sample a few, there is the good old fashioned greeting card (hard copy of course) which can be used to wish a friend who is marginally better than another friend for whom the soft copy version of the card may suffice. Mind you, BETTER over here is in terms of friendship ... ;)

Then you have electronic mail, a telephone call, an SMS or Orkut that can double up as a birthday alarm too. What a pity that you need a birthday alarm to remind you about the special days of your friends. In this case, not wishing someone can mean lots of things too ... ;)

Of course, meeting the person in person (confusing ?) takes the cake as well as the bakery it seems. There is no better feeling than to wish a person by meeting him/her. FEELING over here means the feeling of the person being wished ... ;)

Here is my prioroty list for wishing, in descending order of FRIENDSHIP.

Wish in person
Post a greeting card
Call the person
SMS
Email a greeting card
Plain simple Email
Orkut scrap
Dont wish

So how do you categorize the friendship (or the lack of it) of your friends ?

Cheers .... !!

Cows and Bulls .... !!

You never know what would make you nostalgic. During the week, I experienced one instance of NOSTALGIA when I drove my friend's scooter for a while. Memories of Wadias came storming back when I used to have immense pride in going to college on my Dad's Bajaj Super every Saturday. The pride originated from the fact that on other days I had to be content in driving my sister's Sunny which isnt the most "pridey" bike you can ever ride. But after reminiscing about this piece of History, I thought I wont feel nostalgic for quite some time but I was pleasantly mistaken. After a hectic schedule at office for over 5 months, I found myself idle. Coinciding with my leisure was another interesting occurence. My wife found a way to be online on Yahoo which hadn't happened for the last 3 years. Since she was also idle, we decided to play a game. The game goes by the weird name of COWS AND BULLS.

I remember playing this game in all the periods (since I am talking about School, I am calling it periods instead of lectures) in School that were either boring or I was occupying one of the last 2 benches. The primary pre requisite of the game is that you should have an equally enthusiastic opponent. Here are the rules.

Its predominantly a 2 player game though nothing stops you from making it 1 vs n. Lets assume that its a 1 vs 1 game. Lets call them Player 1 and Player 2. Now Player 1 thinks of a 4 digit number. There are some constraints on this number. Firstly, it should not start with a zero. Secondly, no digit in the number should repeat.

Now, Player 2 starts guessing the number. Suppose Player 1 thought of 2758 and Player 2 guessed 1786 in his first attempt. Player 1 would compare the guessed number (1786) with his own number (2758). Player 1 will find that 7 and 8 are the digits that are present in his number (2758) whereas 1 and 6 aren't. Now he will compare the positions of 7 and 8 in his number. 7 is the second digit in the guessed number as well as his own number. All such digits that are present and also in the correct position are called BULLS. But 8 is not at the correct position since it is the 3rd digit in the guessed number as 4th in the actual number thought of by Player 1. All such digits that are present but at the wrong position are called COWS.

So Player 1's response to the guess of 1786 by Player 2 would be 1 BULL and 1 COW. Player 2 will then know that out of 1786, two digits are correct and 2 are wrong. Out of the 2 correct, 1 is at the correct position and 1 is at the wrong position. Of course, Player 1 doesnt mention which 2 digits are BULLS AND COWS. Player 2 takes note of this and proceeds with his second guess and so on until Player 2 guesses the number correctly. Both players keep track of the number of attempts to guess the number.

Now, Player 2 thinks of a number and Player 1 guesses. If Player 1 guesses the number in lesser attempts as compared to Player 2, Player 1 wins and vice-versa.

I find it tough to imagine this as a game since it can be an extremely challenging exercise to hone your Logical Reasoning skills.

Its interesting thinking that I spent 3 years (Grade 8 to Grade 10) playing this game in school but only hit upon it 9 years later.

Happy Playing .... !!

Cheers .. !!

Half baked movies .... !!

It feels great to return to Blogging. The last six months have been the most gruelling in my life. Getting my house in order post marriage, running errands on weekends, meeting up with my millions of in-laws and top it all, the work schedule at office are some of the things that have kept me busy. The inspiration to write again arose from one of the movies I caught up on TV over the weekend.

The movie made me think about the number of movies having contrasting halves. Either the movie is great before the interval or picks up in the second half. The movie in question is Hera Pheri. Yes, I know most of the people rave about it a lot but personally I feel it loses its charm in the second half.

Other such first half masterpieces according to me (I am sorry I have to use "according to me" to avoid being blasted) are Ishq, Satte pe Satta, Aankhen, Ram Lakhan, DDLJ, Khuda Gawah, Khalnayak etc. Of late, Cheeni Kum is being criticised to follow the same trend but I feel it is a bit harsh. Even the legendary Sholay wanes in the second half.

There are movies that follow an opposite trend of a lacklustre first half brightening up post interval like Satya, Company, Mr. India, Karma, etc.

But there are some that keep you hooked for their entire length like Trishul, DON (old one), Maqbool, Sarfarosh, Andaz Apna Apna, Ardh Satya, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Amar Akbar Anthony, Bheja Fry, Sarkar, etc.

I wont go into the details of movies that are pathetic in all respects.

Happy patchy viewing.

Cheers ... !!