Love Actually.

Before i embark on writing something that might sound crazy I swear upon Mogambo gabbar Singh and Harbhajan singh that neither am i a racist nor a Sadist. So yeah this Blog had been coming for quite long, but i just didn’t know from where it could start. But a recent development spurred me into writing something on this whole stuff called love. I am no Shakespeare nor yash chopra to be waxing eloquently about love but just some plain thoughts..Aah..So first thing first, the special development that spurred me on to write this. Yet another of my closest friends has just broke-up with his special one (not the first nad hopefully the last)..Haha...Funny enough. As all love stories would have it the villain was the Hero's family. All of us had expected a happy ending to that love story but unexpected family pressures of a Muslim-Muslim(not a typo) marriage acted as Amrish Puri in that love story. As one who had his fair share of break ups and been close to those who have undergone break ups of the highest magnitude i am acutely aware of the hell my best buddy would be going through.
But why is that despite being aware of all this that most of my aged guys and girls "fall in love”. Whoever be it, was indeed a clever guy who expected a fall, in love.
Love stories have a very familiar story line beginning with the pehla nasha feeling when you find someone that is physically attractive or probably captures your mind with some trait of theirs. Those traits could range from a laugh to the way a girl ties her hair. I for one believes that those haven’t fallen in love when they were in their teens having really missed out on something special. Then it would gradually develop into all those weird telephonic conversations where you talk about everything under the sun, from Dilwale to Chemmen, from Ksrtc to Volvo, you wouldn’t have to Google to find topics during those early days for sure. If Graham bell had an orkut account I would bet that he would be the one with most testimonials. Anyways after all these ordeals finally when u hear those three most raped words in English literature” I love you” you fell a sense of accomplishment without realizing the pit falls that awaits you.Lol.
The love story of my close friend which just saw “The End” had started some 7 years ago in high school, stood the test of Professional college (primarily due to the fact that both were in the same college), withstood the pressure’s of campus placements but succumbed to the ultimate pressure machine (Family). The risk involved in maintaining an affair 7-8 years before were much higher than it is today. I would not want to think about 20 years ago when telephone wouldn’t have been this popular and writing love letters would have been the only option. Looking back, those years when I used to lock up inside my car and put "Sach keh reha hai deewana" in full volume now seems so funny. Anyways the girl in the mentioned marriage will be getting married soon and I do believe my friend would be invited.
My colleagues (predominantly Chinese) cant believe that an arranged marriage system still exists, whereby your parents and a broker find you the girl with which you have to spent your entire life. They do have similar thoughts about the dowry system too. For the Malay race it works the other way wherein the guys have to pay the girl’s family money in order to wed the girl.

“Proud to Be an Indian”
J

Uniquely God's OWN

Oh definitely i wouldn't be writing something on the various cultures that we have in kerala,which unlike majority of the bloggers i feel makes kerala unique. Well this has been something that has been playing in mind for some years. To put into words that seems to be the "in" thing in Kerala these days, Especially the Christian Household's in Central Travancore(read kottayam,Idukki,Ekm ).one are the days of Male Supremacy and male dependence in God' own country. I add the term Christian cos i have never come across one Muslim Nurse in my whole Life. But the truth that Women in their culture are never allowed to make money is a different thing. . The in-thing at the moment if a girl passes her +2 is to Stitch her a few white frocks and send her to some BSC nursing Schools. Teach her the basics to get a good score in IELTS or some similar English test and pack her off and wait for pounds, dollars and dhirams..One positive of this phenomenon would be the decreasing rates of female infanticide in Kerala. But one deep look into the so-called "in" profession and things wouldn’t be as nice as the dollars they earn. First of all i have never come across one nurse in my whole life who has the freedom to spent for herself. It is a sorry thing to write but then, is this really what is meant by women upliftment and stuff. They are probably forced to work odd shift hours, to earn quick bucks. but yeah at the end of the day what matters in Kerala is the Foreign Exchange that comes in. I have never looked upon any profession but definitely i have my reservations about this one. Women up-liftment shouldn't be making women earn for the family and earn for their marriage, it should be giving her the freedom to live the life she wants. And above all nursing is a divine profession. It takes a lot to be helping the sick, but it shouldn’t be something forced upon kids. I personally know a few nurse's in Singapore who were brilliant in their studies, Scored high in the science streams but were forced to take up nursing as a profession due to family pressure. I firmly believe that this thinking is not there to stay seeing that very fact that most of these nurse's never allow their kids to become one. I for one could proudly testify that none of the girls in my class took up this stream, and yet they are successful in their own lives. It looks so sexy to see the girls wear their Kurti's and jeans and pack off early to a TCS or a Satyam or a Wipro Rather than a "Holy saint's" hospital.J

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Yesterday was UDF's harthal back in Kerala against god knows what.(Do they really need a reason for hartals.UPA govt hikes the petrol prices and in God's own country congress party calls one for hike in Milma rates) .And yeah it is just the start of what looks like an ekta kappor series of hartal's. IBN Live reported about some sms campaign running through kerala asking these politicians to withdraw the harthals. But campaign or not there was reportedly no auto rickshaws plying, very few vehicles going around and yeah a considerable amount of common property destroyed. What exactly these dumb politicians and political parties gain from blocking common people live their life is beyond my ordinary and poor brain. Pelting stones at govt owned propertied shouting slogans against some price hike, all these sounds so old fashioned. High time political parties think of some unique way of protesting price hike. Get the money these people spent on election campaigns and give it to the poor would sound one socialistic (Utopian) and advisable form. At least then the number of politicians who call for hartals would dwindle. But i do have to add that these political bandhs and hartals were eagerly awaited during my school days, for the extra hours we could play cricket.

JODHAA AKBAR---A Classic...

It was expected to be a good movie. Coming from the director who had made two Classics Lagaan and Swades(this one had SRK"s best work till date) this had to be a god movie...But the movie has really exceeded the expectations one had from a Historical . This one is a love story to stay...Miles ahead of Veer- Zara and all those rahul-simran lovestories, this movie is a must watch for movie buffs. It has got everything, Glamour, Great songs...Stunning Visuals and what not..Hrithik and Aishwariya really live their part as Jallaudin later coined Akbar and Jodha the princess...I was totally amazed at how aishwairya (for a change) enacted the role of jodha with such grace (stunning looks included, those eyes are something that could keep you awake for a weekJ) and. As for the music, whenever Ar rahman works on biggie he rarely lets u down, and jashn-e -bahara and Khwaja mere khwaja will be at you, in you and with you for the coming years.
The last Friday wasn’t exactly the greatest one with a disappointing Horse race for which my friends and me turned quite hopefully ,of making Quick Bucks and ended up with Deep Burns in our pockets as well as bank accounts. if only we had Akbar's Horses racing for us that day...Luckily Ashutosh Gowarikar and his team saved the day by turning our ten dollars well spent. But even still this month moves on a tight budget from now until Pay day.
And yeah special mention about priyadarsan the genius, maverick who is making the big moolah by making the North Indian belt laugh to his remade, rehashed comedies. These people just don’t have any control over the emotion (if it can be called one) called laughter. It was such a nuisance having half the theater filled with giggles for even the drop of a hat. If only Raj Thackeray and his team of Marathi manoos could come down to Singapore and at least taught them some manner’s. There is nothing wrong in clapping and hooting but then laughing out loud when a war is happening doesn’t make sense, does it? Hope RACE doesn’t disappoint.

Something That should be read over and over again

Posted below is an excellent write up i came across on Cricinfo on the master blaster Himself.I have to admit that i wasn't the greatest fan of Sachin tendulkar until the last 2 years.I beleive he is playing the best cricket of his life time just for the enormous pressure he was in ,a couple of years ago and the way he has responded to it.The shuffle across the crease is back,the pull,the hook,the paddle sweep,the straight drive which is as straight as it could get....the signs are enormous,and India can begin to Dream again.


"Australian idol"

Just what is it that endears Sachin Tendulkar to crowds and cognoscenti alike Down Under? We asked a selection of Australia's great and good for their opinion

Nagraj Gollapudi
January 29, 2008



Loved to bits: the SCG gives Tendulkar a standing ovation after his 154 © Getty Images

Back in Melbourne, "Aussie Ana" was adding to her ratings. Twenty-year-old Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the 2008 Australian Open finalist, endeared herself to sports fans Down Under thanks as much to her knockout good looks as for her tennis skills. A nation that feeds off the deeds of its sports persons, Australia has always welcomed the talented with open arms. It was the same 16 years ago, when another youngster, the 18-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, arrived on his maiden voyage and returned with two spectacular centuries, leaving behind impressions that still endure in the minds of the natives.

Now, nearly two decades on, it is almost as if they have adopted him as one of their own. There have been other visiting champions during this age, such as Brian Lara of the West Indies, but none has attracted quite the sort of rapturous applause that has greeted Tendulkar every time he has walked out onto a cricket ground in Australia during this series. Yes, much of it has to do with this tour probably being his last, but it was much the same in the 2003-04 series, and in 1999-2000.

Just what it is about Tendulkar that the Australians so love? The reasons have as much to do with Australia as with the man himself.

Bill Lawry, the former Australian captain, points out that Australians have always had time for champions. "We've always enjoyed champions and they could be in any sport." Peter Roebuck, who captained Viv Richards and Ian Botham at Somerset, and enjoys something approaching Tendulkar-like status in cricket writing himself, reckons it has to do with the sentimentality of Australians. "It's a new country, and its people get excited when they see great innings like Tendulkar's." He goes on to stress that the likes of Lara and Shane Warne were "mixed blessings", while Tendulkar is not.

Gideon Haigh, historian and cricket writer, agrees that his countrymen admire anyone who does well against them, but presents a unique point. "It is partly a mark of respect, partly a symptom of national narcissism. I think Australians are also fascinated by Tendulkar's status in India. Australian cricketers are hugely popular in their own country, but they do not need protection from their fans in the fashion Tendulkar does. His fame, to us, makes him an emblem of Indian extremity and exoticism."

There is also the matter of two ringing endorsements, delivered by Australian greats.

When Tendulkar was at his peak in the mid-to-late-1990s, one day Sir Don Bradman called his wife Jessie to the television set and said how he could see himself in the young man he was watching play on the screen. Then Warne, talking about his contests with the Indian, said Tendulkar gave him "nightmares".

Mark Taylor, another Australian captain who played against Tendulkar and has been an admirer from the day he first watched him play, thinks the Bradman compliment was a major head-turner. "Suddenly people thought, 'Hold on, you don't have the greatest batsman saying things just like that.'"

Taylor also points out that part of the admiration has to do with the sheer amount of runs Tendulkar has made in Australia. Six of Tendulkar's 39 Test centuries have come in Australia, each worth its own photo album. Haigh's personal favourite was the MCG Test of 1999. "The Indian batsmen struggled awfully. [Rahul] Dravid was lifeless, inert," he remembers. "But Tendulkar was so immediately at home that it was almost like the Aussies just gave up trying to get him out and decided to work around him." Haigh calls Tendulkar not just a great batsman but a fascinating batsman: "so correct, so compact, as intricate and exquisitely functioning as a Fabergé egg."

Tendulkar came to Australia for the 1991-92 series as a impressionable youngster. His legend was already on the way to being established, thanks to the world record he had set with Vinod Kambli in school cricket. When he arrived in Australia, people wanted to see the young phenomenon. "People loved him then because he seemed to be still a boy but played brilliantly," recollects Mark Ray, a senior Australian journalist.

Ray, the author of Cricket Masala, a brilliant photographic travelogue of his various cricketing tours, touches on another aspect of Tendulkar's appeal. "His modesty is a bit old-fashioned these days and appeals to many Australians. We have an image of being tough, very self-confident sportsmen, but most of the public here still prefer the modest champion. He stands out in that regard." Jim Maxwell of ABC Radio believes it's Tendulkar's flawless character that has defined him. "Australians like the humble, the laconic, no-complaining types, which Tendulkar is."

Mike Coward, the eminent cricket writer, says: "Humility and civility have followed him all his life." For Coward it is Tendulkar "who has raised awareness about Indo-Australian cricket, given it a profile more than anyone else. He is someone people can relate to."



'Australians like the humble, the laconic, no-complaining types, which Tendulkar is' © Getty Images

Tendulkar for his part has valued the importance of gaining the respect of the most feared opponents around. Ravi Shastri, a team-mate at the time, recalls how Tendulkar, even on his first Australian tour, wanted to take the fight to the Aussies. "We were at the SCG and the contest was getting heated. Both of us were batting well and the Aussies were shooting sledges from all directions. I told him that I would take care of them while he focused on his batting. He was mentally charged. I still remember him saying, 'Let me get past my 100, then I will give it back', in Marathi. Let me point out again that he said he wanted to get to the century and only then would he distract himself."

When asked recently if Australia ever felt like a second home to him, Tendulkar said, laughing: "I only have one home. But it's truly a special feeling to walk in to such a reception, when I don't know if I am batting on zero or on 100."

In private conversations with friends Tendulkar has talked about his appreciation for the respect he has been accorded in Australia. He told a senior Indian journalist friend how satisfying it was to score his 39th Test hundred at the Adelaide Oval, the home of Bradman, who would have been close to a hundred years old if he were still alive. Tendulkar wouldn't admit that in the public lest it was mistaken for false modesty, but thereby he adds another layer to his greatness.

General Peter Cosgrove, a former head of the Australian Defence Force, delivering the 2008 Sir Donald Bradman oration at the University of Western Australia two weeks ago, said, "Australians are among the most overtly competitive people on the planet. Cricket defines our approach to competition: it has rules and teams, it demands focus and self-confidence. It entails an intense desire and will to win; it needs an abundance of skill, stamina, courage and perseverance." Indeed, these are the qualities Sachin Tendulkar has come to define for Australians among others. And in so doing, he has come to represent an unreachable ideal.

Greg Baum, columnist at Melbourne's Age, wrote in Wisden Asia Cricket magazine a few years ago: "Here is a man not susceptible to human failing in any endeavour, a man not so much invincible as invulnerable." He ended his appreciation by calling Tendulkar "the game's secular saint".

Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at Cricinfo.

Blogging from work.......

Oh well..This is ultimate..Till yesterday Blogspot.com was banned by websense.And today lo....The ban has been removed.Guess the IT department in my company has come to terms with the ground realities.......Well back to the point...So here i am blogging for the first time from My work place...A good cure to a deadly disease named boredom....Work has never been broign just because of the wonderful colleagues i have here.....Beautiful Girls are not a rarity down here ,though a deep knowledge of Chinese is needed to find your way through to them.....As for me the only words that come out are 'Tabole tahan"(which translates as a kind of expression used when people are sick of something) and few choice abuses that i guess everbody in singapore wld be well versed with .They have a good balance here of various races which is indeed amazing,given that it is not the same at other companies.And the people here dun forget to switch from Channel 8 to Channel 5 when you are involved in some convo.That is something that truly amazes me.I cant imagine back in kerala, me or for that matter any 2 malayalis having casual conversations in English .Oh well i guess there might be some Trademark or IP rights violation if go on and blog about the work that s done at my company...So i wld raather cut short this blogpost.Hope the Diwali goes well with some much needed heavy dose of partying and makkanand not to forget Om shanti Om and sawariya...

T-20 and All the Hype

Sad to see one great player by the name of Andrew symonds being subjected to racist taunts and monkey chants by the hooligan Mumbai Crowd. For all the top brass of the BCCI being Mumbaikars I would bet more my last penny on the fact that there will be much more of the same happening at Wankhede again and no action will be taken.We,indians including me are poor losers. And we have to admit it. We were trashed big time by the aussie juggernaut in the one-day series. The worst thing to have happened for Indian Cricket was its T-20 victory .Overnight Indian team was regarded as world beaters. The seniors were regarded as unwanted, and the young team was touted to be one that would take India to gloried heights. With all due respect to the T-20 victory, a 20 over game ball is as different from a 50 over game like baseball is from football. The differences were all to clear to be seen. None of the T20 heroes managed to score something more than a 40-50, barring yuvraj and dhoni.Indian bowling was always good in breaks. Barring a few good spells of 4-6 overs Indian bowling lost its way big time. Take this into a t-20 game and you have a winning combo there. A good spell of four overs,a quickfire40 and you are home.Yuvraj ,was is and will remain yuvraj Singh. The Agarkar of Indian Batting.he was always touted to be a great batsman. But with the kind of inconsistency showed by him at a position where his aussie counterpart Symonds scores runs for fun.He has always spoken abt the frustrations of not breaking into the test mould,and with the kind of batting he shows it will remain a distant dream.He is nowhere near replacing Laxman or Sourav in the Indian Middle order.
And for rahul dravid,it seems the curtains are falling slowly. Hopefully he is given a good chance to go on a high.The best world beating batsman India had seen since Mohinder amaranth and Sunil Gavaskar retired from international cricket.The above made statement might sound exaggerated but then records and statistics speak the truth na.Take all the major Test Victories of the past decade or so.When I say test victories ,I wld like to mention test victories abroad,There hasn’t been one without any significant contribution from the master Player.


And for all the racist taunts by the Mumbai crowd, I would like to add ,that as an indian i am ashamed and digusted.But for once are we surprised that this has happened in Mumbai.Cmon Mumbai is the same land from where movies ridiculing fellow Indians are made.Punjabis despite all the sacrifices made for the country will still be shown as Loud and stupid. South Indians, people with more literacy and education and the Infosys’s and Satyam’s,will still be shown pronouncing the SIR’s as Saar.A Malayali Captain Harshan Gunned down in Kashmir and winning an Ashok Chakra will never be major headline news in a Cnn-Ibn or a Ndtv.The least said about the north-east people who will never be more than goorkha’s, for the ChannelV and Mtv Vj’sWe are used to this ..aint we..Poor Symonds got taunted for his skin colour.Welcome to India Symonds...Hope this doesn’t lead to any repercussions to the Indian diasporas in aussie land....

A few moments that just passed by......

Cricket has been my favourite sport ever since childhood when i used to see Mark GreatBatch and Allan Border (a few of my childhood heroes) smash the red cherry round the park. Well the basics of cricket was instilled in me by god i guess..Cos seriously i don’t remember who taught how to hold a bat....During my nursery days the best cricket i used to play u was with my brother inside the house using those fancy plastic cricket bats...Ever since I joined Loyola school cricket just became such a big passion for me. I dun remember if I ever played cricket during my 1'st 2'nd and third classes...But yes i do remember when i was in the fourth standard me Manu Shankar and Arnab Mukhergee playing the now-famous tree cricket during our games period .and yes there was quite a funny incident when i walked to Elaine job madam to complaint about Manu Pattar not sharing the cricket bat....Also we used to have the card board cricket which was quite prominent during exam days when a bunch of used to gather and play cricket using the card boards we use to bring for the exams and paper balls. During those times Jojo Job a.k.a Vasu was quite a hero amongst us cos he could hit sixes when playing with paper ball when the boundary was some 10 metres away from the batting spot...Well fifth standard saw qutie a high rise in the number of cricket enthusiast...with the addition of names like Thasseem,anoop roy,Hari G,Ravisankar.. and quite a few more people joining us....Also we used to get the middle wicket (the middle portion of the football ground) to play during our games periods...And i believe it was in sixth when we were allowed to play cricket even during the After noon breaks.....Well the cricket during the afternoon breaks was quite an expensive affair as most of us would lose our lunch boxes,as they were used to be kept as wickets at the runner's end. Time passed by...And the occasional A vs. B matches were played with much vigour..Then came the split of our group into the ICSE batch and SSLC batch..Ya while we were in seventh we had this new boy SOju who was also quite a cricket enthusiast...Even after the split we used to play togethre during the afternoon breaks...Between the Icse batch and SSLc batch .But that was quite short lived as spate of poor umpriing decisions forcing me to lead a walkout wiht our team...Hehe...Well all this things sounds quite funny now...There was one traitor in our team who was MANU.R.C who stuck with playing with ICSE batch till end(All those guys were our good mates and are even now).While all these was going on there was a group of cricket enthusiast playing under the able leadership of Subin and GOPI at a different venue. To be fair initially we had the option of playing with them but we thought it would be more competetitive to play against our B batch mates....The SUBIN's cricket as it was famously known was quite a tense rivalry between two teams lead my GOPI and SUBIN George. We used to hear of Neil Stephen being a prolific batsman and Kiran Prince the leading Wicket takers but we just couldn’t cut down our ego to play with them..Well if u are wondering about the WE. The self proclaimed senior team of A division lead by the able leadership of your's truly .Well if u are wondering why i wa smade the Captain of the team. Very frankly even i am not sure. But still maybe it was due to the fact that whenever i used to write the team sheet i made it a point to include the heavy weights (both literally and physically)like KIRAN MENON,SABARi,RAHUL ALBERT,SANJU in the team...and also my best mates like rakesh,jatti, ravi,jojo ,Ajay.s(a good wicky and had a great reverse sweep shot which he nevre succefuly played )and a couple more...The division of the class was such that during one time there a 8 A "B" team led by neil .The strangest thing was that the strength of our class was just nice to have three cricket teams.....Well if i am not wrong it was in the ninth when the self proclaimed egoistic players returned to play SUBIN's county cricket. To be fair to them they didn’t even show a bit of reluctance to accept us...And to be fair we did enjoy a bit of high profile status there cos we were always like the first names on the team sheets. But the status didn’t really transform into performances as most of us were big flops while playing there.....The biggest scandal which i have ben involved took place that year. The INTER CLASS INTER HOUSE TOURNEY..Well it involved cricket matches between the houses involving teams conisting of players from both the divisions .It did have a grand launch by the organising comitte that had me also..But the biggest fraud was the treasurer who collected money from players of both the teams citing the reason of buying trophies fir the winning team...Well he did manage to collect a good sum but the trophies...Maybe the presentation ceremony will come in a few years.....that tournament had it its fair share of controversies but eventually AP house led by Sharath(obviously i was also there as the Vice) won the tourney. Well AP house did have it's share of good player like the author. the captian..vinod ,Gopi(he was the top scorer in a few matches),soju to name a few...Well for the three years since the 8 A and 8B teams had been formed we the A team idd enjoy a stranglehold over the B team which continues even till now...The culmination of all the cricket i played in Loyol aSchool was the inter house cricket final played in front of the whole school when i manged to pick up five crucial wickets to help our House life the trophy.....And in the end picking up the Best Bowler of the tournament recognition. Well I have heard great people relish great stages......Well shifting to BVB the only possible chance to play cricket was the INTER HOUSE matched played in the very little place that was available ther.The reputation of the "BEST BOWLER" was there but to be true i failed big time to live upto it. Even though i did manage to end up on the winning side once and reach the Final the other time a high amount of wides in the first final i played did harm my reputation and confidence big time....Even though i made it to the school team i had to sit out of the solitary match the school cricket team played in the whole 2 years i spend there......Coming to Singapore i had a fear that i would have to forget my cricketing dreams..But to my surprise i found out that our poly had a cricket team also that there were a few cricket clubs here playing league cricket...well getting into the team wasn't a tough ask as there just one left armer around....So getting and playing for the team wasn't a tough ask. So even now i continue to play my cricket for one club playin in the Division three league here......Cricket has been quite a big part of my life and still remain to me as the my number one sport...Hope it remains so.....