is it good bye?

Most people who know me know that I am crazy about cricket and even more crazy about Sachin Tendulkar. For me, he is the symbol of authority and passion.

But the way he has been playing over the last year and a half, I must concede that his era is now finally over. No longer does he stamp his authority on matches, the way he used to. No longer does he dominate over the bowling. No bowler seems to have wet pants before bowling to him anymore. No more is Sachin the Sachin we loved.

Out of the last 9 innings he has been dismissed for a single digit score on 7 occassions. The other two being a decent 55 and a very scratchy 20. On top of that, he has been out either bowled or LBW on most occasions and bowlers like De Bruyn and Andrew Hall are managing to scatter his stumps. Five years ago, these very bowlers would have been smashed all over the park and thrown out of gear. Gone are those days when careers of bowlers were destroyed just because they had to face the bad luck of bowling to him in the early stages of their careers.

The way he plays these days, he just faces 'n' deliveries and then goes out for a cheap score. The urge of scoring quick runs and putting the opposition under pressure seems to have disappeared altogether. They say that as a person gets older, he loses his impulsive nature (‘khoon ki garmi’) , but with Sachin this transformation has come about a bit too early. He does not play the glorious drives in the ‘V’ anymore. He just tries to nudge the ball on the sides and as a result becomes a victim of incoming deliveries.

The most disappointing fact is that Sachin does not seem to realize that this change in his batting style isn’t doing any good either to him or to the team. He feels that since he is one of the senior members, he must bat with more responsibility. It’s all crap.

All I have to say is that I don’t think that Sachin will get back to his old self, at least in test cricket. The dream that Sachin will set unbeatable records in both forms of the game will remain a dream. Four years from now it will be time to bid adieu, but if he continues to play in this way, he must be kicked out in year or two.

The kind of movies I hate..

I found this review on rediff.com and really liked it. Just wanted to share it with all u ppl ...

Basically the filmmakers have a strategy based on which they promote the film as a 'love legend'. So whether you are ready or not, this spoonful of gooey, old world, sentimental romance will be thrust down your throat like that gluey rice porridge Mommy forced into your salivating mouth as a 7-month-old.Oh, but didn't you somewhat enjoy the taste of it initially?

Ditto with Veer-Zaara. It's not entirely inedible. You got to watch it like any other Yash Chopra film – with your eyes and heart wide open. After all, apart from that stray Vijay and Parampara, the King of romance had never given any reason to complain.Like any other Yash Chopra film, it has oodles of open-air romance, sensual chemistry between the lovers and teary-eyed emotionality.

Like any other Yash Chopra film, it has multiple cameras zooming in and out of mustard and sunflower fields, gushing waterfalls, snow-clad mountains and untimely rains.Like any other Yash Chopra film, it has its hero and heroine running towards each other from opposite directions to give that one passionate embrace.Like any other Yash Chopra film…wait a minute. Am I saying Veer-Zaara is like yet another Yash Chopra film? Guess I am. But then the makers need some strategic difference to project is as a 'love legend'.

Oh yeah, the hero, Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) and the heroine, Zaara Haiyyat Khan (Preity Zinta) belong to different nationalities – India and Pakistan, respectively. You don't need to be too focused to notice just how much stress is given on their names and nationalities. It also stresses on how to improve the social standing of the fairer sex. You soon reach a point of 'okay, okay I get it. Now, can we get on with the movie please?' As Amitabh Bachchan's character (in a guest appearance) casually points out, "Hindustani ho, Pakistani ho ya phir Chini, Japani - ki farak painda hai"?

The story of Veer-Zaara, in a nutshell, revolves around two individuals who fall in love in two days and are forced to spend 22 years apart from each other owing to circumstances. Veer is now in a Pakistani jail serving for no crime or reason. He is a 50-something wobbly old man whose ca(u)se is taken up by a lady lawyer Samiya Siddiqui (Rani Mukherjee). Where is Zaara? What is the original problem? Now now, that would be telling.The funny thing, however, is that it's not that the Indo-Pak factor that really works against Veer and Zaara. The real reason is so ridiculous that at the end of it you feel it's you and not them who have been inflicted with needless tragedy.

craziness...

Diwali went by and frankly speaking, it was not as enjoyable as it usually is.

The only enjoyable part was going to a place called ‘Champahati’ to get the crackers. Not that there was anything special about the place and neither did we get any amazing crackers there. Basically what happened was that I heard that one could get good crackers out there and that we can go to that place by local train. That was enough for Varun and me to try that place. We had no idea of what kind of place it would be, what would we get there, how would we get back, etc. Basically it was a sort of a mini-adventure – another attack of craziness and it was this feeling of craziness that I really enjoyed.

In fact this time I wasn’t waiting for diwali as much as the day after diwali – India vs. Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. Though India lost, it was a wonderful experience. The electricity in the atmosphere is breath taking. It cannot be described in words. One has to be there to know what the feeling is to be there. The Mexican waves are just wonderful. Thousands of people rising in series one after the other is an awe inspiring sight. The noise, the frenzy, the madness – it feels as if one is in a different world altogether, the real world outside is forgotten for that period of 7-8 hours. That is what is most special about watching a match at Eden Gardens.

Well I don’t have much more to write now… more later…