Siddhu's Sphere

A Dream

2010-07-30T04:07:00.000-07:00

"You HELD your bat for CLOSE TO TWO DAYS to SAVE India? Which game are you talkin about? That's not cricket!"

"It so IS cricket... if that isn't what is? Those annoying insects flying around the garden?"

"Well, can't say no! But Grandpa this is unreal! Are you saying that the first ever IPL match was played for five days?"

"I truly don't believe in spanking children, but I might have to sell my belief to the situation"

"Whoa whoa whoa! You don't wanna go to jail do you?!"

"I wouldn't mind going to any extent if you don't speak like a true Tendulkar"

"Well I do respect the game and stuff! And I am aware that you were once the poster boy for Indian cricket! But what is this playing-for-five-days and having-tea-in-between business?"

"Funny you mention it but business is what it has become child! IPL and its set of successors and predecessors alone are not what cricket is all about! But let me not complain a lot here I have had my share of profits too"

"Ofcourse you would have! You have a decent record in the IPL don't you? About 1700 runs in four seasons at an average of about 34 is pretty good!"

"Child this is getting unacceptable! You are only aware of 1700 of whatever I have scored?"

"Alright 1700 and odd, and add to it the captaincy stint for Mumbai Indians who won the 2011 Trophy under you (wink wink) Now show me one person in this world who knows the stats of his great grandpa who maintained a strike rate of something less than 150. 200 is the standard to get into my school team today"

"Oh first ball six and second ball out, and you are in the team huh?"

"Well that's how I got into my school team and ofcourse some smart asses in my class gossip that it's also because of my family name... alright so tell me about this five-day thingy! You say that you have a good record in that funny format so how many City Moments of Success have you accomplished in that? Just curious coz 3/match is the current standard to be called the best player"

"Ailaaaa...." (Shills loudly in anguish)

Unlike now, one day Sachin Tendulkar will be a very old man! And unlike now he might want to boast about all his achievements then! And then is when the above dream should not be true! Test cricket doesn't deserve to end not just for Tendulkar but for cricket itself!!!

Yet another hapless hopeless Sunday

2010-06-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

Wakin up at half past eleven covers most of the Sunday for any normal bein, but with me who loves to be nocturnal durin weekends, yet another Sunday begins without a proper plan. Lemme not take all the blame here!! What can we plan with most of my best friends out of town to 'study', one of them livin two streets away but is infuriatingly commited to his girl friend and with cousins who look up to me with eyes filled with hope waitin for that magical solution to be uttered for all their ennui to vanish? Seriously what do we plan when the whole world is conspirin against you?!

Televisions stand first in the list of best inventions horribly utilized, thanks to those who telecast stuff that test my patience. I dont wanna keep changin channels for the whole day. Books are a good option but cant do that for more than an hour or two unless its unbelievably engrossin. Cricket, thanks to the weather in Chennai and the idiocy of the Sri Lankan Cricket board, will just not happen in any form today. So, after three to four rounds of elimination like these we realize that we need a destination to hit.

City Centre sounds like a plan. Ofcourse it isn't as happenin as it was during its inception.... Inception - that's a plan! But will we get tickets - that's the big question! Coz we are talkin about the evenin show of the brainchild of Christopher Nolan but this brainwave's struck us as late as the afternoon. After eons of hapless discussions we have realised that plannin just isn't our strength. Be it Inception or even some random Telugu movie, we do not have that ability to brainstorm an outing. It's just about gettin there and gettin lost! So lets rally our horses fellas, City Centre Mall it would be!!

My Name is Khan - Movie review

2010-03-01T03:04:00.000-08:00

Man with a Mission
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol
Story and Screenplay: Shibani Bathija
Dialogues: Shibani Bathija and Niranjan Iyengar
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Direction: Karan Johar
Producer: Karan Johar and Gauri Khan

To watch 'My Name is Khan' (MNIK) is to witness a talented director unravel the magic of a script on screen, with a Superstar paving way for it! Shibani Bathija has taken a sensitive theme of people's (especially Westerners') tendency to think every Muslim is violent and the grossly misunderstood concept of Jihad. With the help of that, she comes up with a neat screenplay to take us on an enriching journey. In simple words, MNIK is about Rizvan Khan (Shahrukh Khan) who suffers from Asperger Syndrome (a form of autism), his wife Mandira (Kajol) and her son. Rizvan is on a mission to meet the President of the United States of America to deliver a message - "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist".

His character is well established at the very beginning in a simple dialogue where he tries to explain his difficulty in social interaction, "I am not mad! I just can't understand why people think something but say something else" (I watched it with subtitles). The Bathija-Iyengar-Johar trio have played with this throughout the movie. For example, in a scene when Rizvan disturbs Mandira asking her to cut his hair when she is actually busy with a customer she says,"Rizvan I am dying to cut your hair but not now I am busy" for which he replies, "Oh no! Don't kill yourself just cut my hair." In another instance where she starts the conversation by asking,"You know what Rizvan?..." he immediately says "No I don't."

It is indeed a gutsy decision by Shahrukh Khan to act in this film apart from producing it, but the Baadshah has proven a point yet again. While he has seen runaway successes in run-of-the-mill stuffs, he hasn't failed to take part in films like Swades and Chak De India as well. MNIK would probably be the best in that list! While his detractors and others who are used to see him as the 'item-boy' might comment that he has overacted, his performance remains one of the best in Indian Cinema. He has also appropriately used his own style to make the character even more interesting and lovable. Rizvan Khan is probably another dimension of his role in Hey Ram and it is evident that he has a personal bonding with the theme of misunderstood Muslims.

Kajol is the pristine candlestick that glows brightly throughout the film. She has done complete justice to the well written role of Mandira who oozes with courage and conviction. With sparkling eyes and a sensuous presence, she gives her best to carry forward her chemisty with Shahrukh and relive the magic of Kuch Kuch Hotha Hai (which for a long time remained the only Hindi movie I've ever watched). A true performer, that she is, looks equally at ease in humourous and emotional scenes.

According to me, the movie could've ended immediately after Rizvan is released from jail. However, Rizvan Khan being Shahrukh Khan, Karan Johar being Karan Johar and Indian Cinema being Bollywood, it had to take the longer route to reach the finale, the dramatized one. Nevertheless, MNIK is an outstanding show as it passionately describes the stance of a true Muslim.

Forty four months ago....................

2010-02-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer - Whatever is about to follow is an episode of the past and has little effect on the present

It was June 30th, 2006. The Music Academy in Chennai was the place. We, the commerce students of PSBB, were taken there for an educational play - 'Chanakyashastra'. Our accounts professor, the legendary Mr. Rajagopal, had announced initially that it was only for those who were interested. However for some fishy reason, it was made compulsory for all the commerce students to pay Rs.100 and attend it. We wondered which account was the amount being debited into :P Probably it wasn't just us who thought that the play was going to be boring because even the Music Academy had stationed attractive girls to give away free 'Red Bull's before the night began. However at the end of it, I felt that it deserved much more than Rs.100 and the sole reason would be SHE who must not be named...

I distinctly remember that it was my pal Shriram who was ogling at her before turning my attention onto her. To honestly describe the moment I saw her (without bothering the thesaurus) would be to say that it was euphoria and excitement with a dash of desire. Although many (including the present me) would call it a crush or infatuation or adolescence or even lust, I knew that at that second I attained the level of LOVE. On a filmier note, I did hear the bell ringing inside my head and felt the bulb glowing brightly above it.

She was the most beautiful female present that night and till all went dark for the play to begin, needless to say whom I was looking at. When the ghost of Chanakya (central character in the play) finished explaining how his ancient literature on courtroom administration (Chanakyashastra) written during monarchy times can be related to modern-day management, the lights were turned on. I followed her all the way back to her bus when one of my teachers told me that I was taking the other one which was going to our school.

Thanks to my not-very-genuine efforts to befriend her, she hasn't qualified herself to be my sweetheart today! The girl I saw that night might not be the only girl I have ever loved but definitely the one girl whom I will always reminisce about. Happy Valentine's day to everyone who believes in love....

Will you?

2010-01-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

A perception hitherto unknown,
A dream that it is, singing
A song awaiting the day it comes true!
A secret I didn’t wanna hide’s
Blooming out of its shell
To become the reality
And to remain the serendipity!

Am filled with joy unbound
Wanting to realize my true self!
Denying me my sleep and endurance,
Days roll by....
Unfailingly striking me everyday, the dream’s
Killing me without presenting death!
Will you come along with me
To travel the long journey....

The Kamalian Perspective

2009-11-18T01:05:00.000-08:00

"When mediocrity is set as the standard, the ordinary becomes acceptable and anything more is considered genius" - Kamal Hassan on him being called a genius

The above is a pristine addition to the list of brilliant quotes that the quoter is less famous for! Dr. Kamal Hassan today is more than fifty years old in an industry which has always fascinated me. His proficiency in it is widely known, duly credited and adequately written about. I say this not to belittle what he has accomplished in Indian cinema, but I believe that his excellence in the tinsel town has been excessively diffused thereby overshadowing the person in him. I am talking about the person who makes himself available to his receptive audience through every medium possible, who takes the maximum effort to battle against age and retain the charm in his presence, who effectively argues to primarily make the layman aware of a pertinent issue and possibly instigate at least a mediocre but healthy argument even at that level. I feel this person deserves plaudits and accolades equivalent to what the Sakalakala Maanavan (Student of all arts) in him enjoys, if not more.

I call him Sakalakala Maanavan unlike the more prevalent Sakalakala Vallavan (Expert of all arts) because the former is what he calls himself. Whether he is really a modest person or not is something I don't know, but the way he conducts himself while addressing the media and public does reflect his understanding of how important is humility in life. While a cynical critic of Kamal would term that demeanor as 'false modesty', Kamal's stature is gargantuan enough to the extent that him faking modesty is still bound to inspire a significant amount of the South Indian population to be modest themselves. I am talking about his admirers who have been transformed, from being obsessive fan club members to real-life heroes working towards humanity, by their on-screen hero. Kamal Hassan indeed set a healthy trend by converting every fan club of his into a welfare association of, for and by the society.

Kamal's social awareness was further evident when he said, "Naangal ungal saayangaalangalai santhosha padutha mattume irukkirom. Cinema is not an essential service." According to me, this simple quote of his will remain his best for two reasons. One, it reinforces the fact that he doesn't fancy his admirers to be so notoriously obsessed with films, including his own, when they can actually be doing something useful to the society. Two, it literally rubbishes the notion of fundamentalists in favor of Kamal who think that he lives and breathes cinema. I wouldn't really blame those fundamentalists as Kamal indeed relentlessly strives to innovate and tries the maximum to put India's on-screen offerings on par with those of the world. However the reason for that would be something as simple and practical as an adage that our parents and grandparents keep telling us - "Even if you end up in a profession of cleaning toilets, try to be the best in it". Perhaps another quote of his will add clarity - "Yes. Cinema is also only a business, but business is not always only about making money."

Film-making is undoubtedly Kamal's passion and that helps his cause of achieving excellence and constantly improving himself in it, but I feel that the fundamentalists shouldn't believe in emotional illusions such as Kamal living only to improve cinema as he himself knows that he does nothing more than making a living out of cinema. Rather, they can try responding to Kamal's call for social awareness and begin relating to the diligence and dynamism that constitute his work ethics. Imbibing those attributes and applying them in their own professions is bound to work wonders because most of them should be in a far better position in their fields of expertise compared to where Kamal and Indian cinema were in the early stages of his career.

I feel that Kamal's occupancy in the society as a useful citizen of the democracy, that he strongly believes in, is more relevant than his occupation of venturing into unexplored territories on the silver screen. However after writing this novel, it would be gross injustice if I avoid mentioning the following. Salutations to one of the biggest Stars of Indian Cinema on his rare feat of having completed 50 years in the film industry!!

- By an admirer of Kamal Hassan and an even greater one of one of his contemporaries ;)

Another History...

2009-10-09T04:07:00.000-07:00

Taking a lone walk in Elliot’s Beach (in Chennai) watching the painted sky with awe was something Reena never failed to do on any Diwali evening, and Diwali 2004 was no exception. What was exceptional and thoroughly unexpected was she living her dream for a few moments! Like any girl whose childhood’s staple diet had been Cinderella and Snow White, Reena too had been waiting for her ‘Prince Charming’. And there he was - swiftly slackening the rented horse - and Reena couldn’t avoid eye contact! Needless to say it was love at first sight for Rutvik whose jaw involuntarily dropped on seeing her. For Reena it was a mixture of emotions as he got down from the horse with the extravagance of the firecrackers in the sky providing a heroic aura. The momentary similarity between Rutvik and ‘Prince Charming’ was so powerful that a genuine effort from him to build a conversation would have at least sealed a conditional deal. However to Reena’s dismay it was:

“In Good Old Holy Cupid’s Lake
You’re the Duck and am the Drake
Here I am with my very own proposal
Original and showing my Love Colossal
Oh just say you love me, my Lamington cake!”

“Would you please leave me for God’s sake?”

““I return the question with a spelling mistake!
Would you please LOVE me for God’s sake?
Ok! Let’s cut the crap,” let out a hand, “I am Rutvik”.

“Yes am indeed gonna cut the crap, hyphen, Rutvik!”

She kept walking without turning back but Rutvik didn’t stop trying. He managed to catch up with her in the same beach during her early morning jogs. While Reena was rubbishing every bit of his limericks in the mornings, she was having a hearty laugh about them with her friends in the evenings.

A month after their first meeting he suddenly stopped seeing her. Reena didn’t feel a thing initially but gradually felt that her mornings were beginning to miss listening to vacuous drivel. She did fear this earlier when she didn’t want to go to another place to jog or take any effort to avoid him except consistently using ineffective phrases like “Get a life!” and “Leave me Alone!” Almost a fortnight had passed since she saw him and, by that time she desperately missed her Prince Charming. Suddenly, one day he was there in the beach by the sea where she usually starts her jogging session.

“Did you miss me? Sorry if you did, I was busy with my visa documentation. I have been admitted into the Medical School of the University of Otago.”

“What! Oh good…Err…Congrats”

“Before I take leave, I have something to say and hope you don’t mind listening to it…”

Reena was almost heartbroken as she felt that he had never loved her but saw her only as a pastime. She wore no expression, expecting another stupid limerick that bids adieu to her.

“It was serendipity when I saw you for the first time. I wanted to ask your name, but as I started walking towards you I became nervous. So I came up with a limerick to hide my nerves and all this while, been using the same trick. I realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere so I used this break to gather myself and find out more about you – your name in particular. These few days have been hell without you and it now dawns on me that,” took a flower bouquet from his bag, “Reena! I love you!”

Reena was teary eyed as she nodded and accepted the bouquet with a gentle smile, “You were kidding, about Otago, weren’t you? You just wanted me to miss you all this while…”

“Ah am afraid not! Got my visa and I’ll be flying to New Zealand in two weeks by Cathay Pacific… But don’t worry that won’t make any difference… If we can fight our respective religions we can fight the distance too… and I will be back same time next year… Will you be there for my homecoming?”

“I will but only if you feed me a meaningless limerick now!”

Rutvik looked around, checked his watch, smiled and ran to stand on a raised platform near the sea. He dragged her along with him and held her hands,

“As we stand on this celestial podium
There’s a dearth of ideas in my cranium
To recover and come up with a limerick
I need the sweet taste of your Chap Stick
Now, on December 26, 2004, at 6.30 a.m.”

Terrace Cricket

2009-05-25T04:20:00.000-07:00

Cricket is something which has manifested itself in my life in various forms. However today, I get fondly reminded of the days when I used to play the best form of the sport - underarm cricket on the terrace in India. Thank you Sesha for giving me this idea long ago when I badly needed a topic to write about. Sorry that I could only now find the time and mood to fit it in. Terrace cricket was jointly found by Bharath Shriram and Siddharth Subha Venkat (Yours truly). Since this classic game has now been played for years together, it would probably suffice to assume that it was found by the two cousins on one of those many days when efforts to force the terrace's fresh air, to inspire them to study, miserably failed. What started off as a time-killer went on to become one of the most entertaining activities they have experienced, thoroughly eligible to find its significance in the annals of Prajwal Vijay Niwas (my home in India)!

Standards- The following are the basic rules for playing quality games on the terrace. Players should try their best to stick to these. The fact that not all terraces are the same has been considered.

1. Underarm: A few might argue that this preliminary rule of the game is a necessity only for short terraces, and might be a barrier to those who love playing cricket with proper bowling action and have huge terraces favoring that. However even on a spacious terrace underarm bowling alone will ensure the lack of needless momentum in the ball, before it reaches the batsman, thereby removing the possibility of the batsman hitting the ball outside the terrace and coming up with lame excuses like the extra pace or bounce in the delivery forcing him to hit the ball outside the terrace. Although occasionally when an extra bit of pace or bounce yields a wicket in underarm, it would be better if the batsman considers it unfortunate and gets on with the game without arguing a lot over it.

2. Runs: Running between the wickets to score the runs is strongly recommended here just to make batsman work for his runs. However the fours would be where the bulk of the runs would be scored. If a wall does exist at the terrace behind the bowling crease, sixes can be allowed but the batsmen are strongly cautioned against exerting any amount of needless power to get those sixes.

3. Wicket: Apart from getting run out and bowled, a compulsory rule is that when a batsman directly hits the ball out of the terrace he is out. In order to make batting a much tougher ordeal than just picking the slow underarm deliveries, rules such as one-pitch catches and body-touches might be useful.
a) One-pitch catches: Once the batsman hits the ball, he can either be caught directly by the fielder/bowler or after it hits the ground once. In both the cases, the batsman is out.
b) Body-touches: This is almost like an lbw decision in actual cricket. However the only difference here is that if the ball touches any part of the batsman's body before hitting the bat, the batsman is said to have had his first body-touch. Deciding on how many body-touches equal a wicket is left to the players' discretion. A unanimous decision taken by all players involved is required here.

4. Fielders: This can vary according to size of the terrace and what the players think as the best option. In a short terrace it would be better to have no more than two fielders in which case it is compulsory that both the fielders should NOT be placed on one side of the field. This is because it will be exceedingly difficult for the batsman to play with the existence of the body-touch rule and two fielders waiting to grab the ball either directly or on the first bounce. As a result it would also encourage some negative bowling of sorts from the bowler.

Conducts- The following are the basic disciplines which will lead the players to be successful. Therefore, following the following would result in the betterment of all three departments of the actual game as well- namely batting, bowling and fielding.

1. Batting- Apart from making sure that not too many balls would be lost, it would also get the batsman a lot of runs if he purely relies on timing and placement rather than power. Certain amount of footwork and the ability to read spinners off their hands would be advantageous. Concentration is another key aspect.

2. Bowling- A varied repertoire would be an advantage. Having scored and conceded a lot of boundaries in the past, I can confidently say that any ball short of a length, immaterial of its pace, is bound to go for a boundary while even the balls bowled at perfect line and length can be thrashed if they are too slow. While the former has been proved many times the latter can have exceptions especially if the bowler is bowling to a particular field and plan.

3. Fielding- Fielding is pretty much the same where reflexes and agility are of paramount significance, in fact it is a lot easier than actual cricket with the existence of the one-pitch catch rule.

It has been a while since I gibbered here and what better than writing about one of my favorite games can keep me going! As I stand before the beginning of a whole new semester with loads of anticipation and fear, here is something I share with you guys to take a walk back memory lane with a gentle smile :) :)

Nokia's need to be 'Loved' not 'Loud'

2009-05-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

The leadership that Nokia is enjoying was created by radically changing the industry, coupling its own successes and failures with those of the industry’s. It has come a long way from its humble beginnings, and have now been the market leader for quite some time. However, things are changing and drastically at that! The entry of the I-Phone has given another turn to the industry. The fact that it has also come from a huge brand is significant, because of which Nokia will have to relinquish some of its market share to yet another competitor. In this situation, there is a need for Nokia to think beyond the leadership position. It needs to get itself into the league of a love mark or so, the attainment of which will depend on the complete enhancement of all the elements of its marketing mix.

As far as the product itself is concerned, the high end products of Nokia are now relying on 3G and multimedia features – the upcoming Nokia N97 is packed with these. Basic phones with core features alone are also available. Accordingly, the prices too vary from low prices to premiums. Since Nokia is a global brand, it distributes its phones all over the world through stores selling electronics and mobile phone networks like Vodafone in New Zealand. They have also planned on setting up outlets in USA. Apart from these, the online clubs such as Club Nokia and other online franchisees are huge revenue generators for Nokia. In promotion, Nokia is into heavy advertising more than anything else.

Being the market leader has always been an advantage for Nokia, allowing it to charge a premium on its products, especially the new ones. However it is harder to maintain leadership than to attain it! Some of the operators fear that they would become too dependent on Nokia, thereby conceding a significant amount of channel power to the company. However there is not much the operators could do if the end consumers prefer Nokia over the others. But the bigger question for Nokia is whether they are really preferred over the others. They need to understand that market share information doesn’t say it all!

Nokia is one those companies which have been terribly hit by market saturation – the very reason for the inadequate development of replacement phones sales. In other words, if a person is fed up of using a Nokia N79, there are more chances for him/her to go for the I-Phone or Samsung, than for a Nokia N95. Therefore up gradation here mostly leads to switching of brands which might not be the case if the product is an Apple I-Pod (a reputed love mark). This brings us to the problem of consumers wanting to differentiate them selves by not choosing the Nokia brand.

Despite being the market leader, Nokia advertises its products much more than required. They needn't really push their products. Alternatively they can shift their focus to 'pull-strategies' such as viral campaigns by also involving the consumers to communicate. A classic example would be that of the I-Phone which went on to be the next big thing in the market due to the photos and tech-specs which got 'leaked' from the board meetings.

Taking all these into account, Nokia should be thinking whether their competitive advantage – which is their leadership position - will be sustainable in the long run or not. For it to be so, they need to cut out a fair bit of advertising, watch out for potential new entrants, existing players and also have a close eye on the changing needs of the consumers.

IPL 2009 - Predictions

2009-04-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

While I am slowly but surely recovering from a terrible cold, I can already see myself getting caught by the IPL (Indian Premiere League) fever. Today would kick-start the second season of the league in South Africa and the first match is between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Mumbai Indians (MI). The sixty-day tournament of unlimited Twenty 20 cricket is definitely something I am looking forward to, but hoping it not to be too much of a distraction. Nevertheless I don't see myself missing any match played by CSK - the team which I support for the obvious reason of being a Chennaite. Whatever is about to follow is about where I think every team stands in the league and what I expect of them this season. Readers don't forget to vote for the poll at the end of the page.

1. Rajasthan Royals (RR) - The champions of the previous season! Despite the fact that they clinched the title only by a whisker from Chennai, it is also a fact that they throughly deserved it for playing good all-round cricket. Led and coached by Shane Warne - one of the greatest players cricket has ever seen - they made a strong statement right from their second match. Shane Watson, Yousuf Pathan, Asnodkar, Graeme Smith and Ravindra Jadeja were absolutely ruthless in their respective departments. The surprise was that even Munaf Patel looked to have taken a cue or two from his team mates. On the whole, shrewd captaincy was their forte! Since I would like to witness a different final this time I hope that they drop out in the semi-finals!

2. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) - Without doubts, the highly spirited team in the league! Even an outsider would accept that CSK were the only team to have gelled so much. Here again, the captain holds the key. I believe M.S.Dhoni can build a quality team even out of the street-cricket dudes. The man thought of as the embodiment of luck by many - at times me included - was a tad unlucky to have lost the finals. However the way he formed a huddle after the defeat and the way in which he came and spoke in the presentation ceremony, showed character. The team comprises of unbelievable talents like Mathew Hayden, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath, Manpreet Gony, Makhaya Ntini and Muthiah Muralidharan. The recent and expensive addition to the list, Andrew Flintoff, should also be useful. The team at times struggled with consistency and bowling, and I hope they put up a better show. GOD SAVE THE KINGS!

3. Delhi Daredevils (DD) - Many believe that this is the team to beat this season. While they had to lose the local boy - Shikhar Dhawan, a wonderful talent - players like Paul Collingwood and David Warner could be useful additions. Their biggest strength is the opening combination of Sehwag and Gambhir - probably the best at present. A.B. Deviliers, Collingwood and Warner are the middle order. In the bowling department, they perhaps have the best bet. Glenn Mcgrath for medium pace and Vettori for spin. Despite having a well balanced team, they had problems in showing consistency. Many of the defeats saw the opposition taking the maximum effort only to remove the top order.

4. King's XI Punjab (KP) - Last year saw some great performances from this team. The opener Shaun Marsh was the find of the season according to me. Sreesanth walked the talk by taking most of the wickets for the team and Sangakara too chipped in at times. However the highly anticipated Yuvraj was not the match winner even in one occasion. In captaincy too he looked a little ugly at times. While this team might not have the perfect balance or many stars in the squad, tight bowling and an opening assault could yet again see them through to the semis.

5. Mumbai Indians (MI) - Had I not been from Chennai or been someone even from Bihar, I would have supported this team. One force called Sachin Tendulkar would have been the reason and that will remain MI's biggest strength - especially as an opening partner to Sanath Jayasurya. The bigger advantage would be Sachin's availability for the whole tour this time. Zaheer will add the pace and swing but still it will be hard to replace Shaun Pollock. Players like Dwayne Bravo and Jean Paul Duminy are capable of giving full value for money. The team really fell short of expectations last time but much can be attributed to Sachin's late entry and some misfortune.

6. Kolkatta Knight Riders (KKR) - They promised a lot initially last year but never lived up to the hype and hoola. And that hype began way before the tour even started - right from when the team was bought by filmstar Shah Rukh Khan. Many things hhave changed and the team has only gone through more shit in the form of John Buchanan and his multiple-captain theory. All that has only resulted in the sacking of Ganguly from captaincy. Despite all this, they do have their positives in the form of fast bowling sensation Ishanth Sharma, Chris Gayle, Brendon Mccullum, David Hussey and Mashrafe Mortaza. Hoping for a better performance from them this time!

7. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) - I have got used to hating this team so much that I still feel that they will end up in the lower half of the table, despite the added presence of players like Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder. They were insulted as a test team and they proved the insults right. The captain Rahul Dravid was openly blasted in a public forum by franchise owner Vijay Mallya and probably Dravid deserved it for pedestrian captaincy. However the stature that he has reached commands the blasting to be done in private, but the liquor baron took it to the media. The team of controversies that RCB has been saw to it that they reached the seventh place and also played the role of no more than a spoiler. This time around, I personally would like to see them a spot below, though without a bias I must say that they would put up a better show this time!

8. Dccan Chargers (DC) - While I hate RCB for not proving their critics wrong, I was disappointed with DC for not justifying the expectations of their fans. Laxman is never the best choice for playing Twenty 20, let alone captaining a side. Rohit Sharma was a revelation but he too couldn't do much in taking the team to victories. According to many they were clearly the best Twenty 20 team on paper in the previous season, and they ended up last. In this season even RCB has a better team, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see DC last in the table.

Let me tell you that this is only my prediction, and it takes a lot more than having a good or bad team to win or lose matches respectively (or otherwise). Whatever the result is, it is going to be a roller-coaster ride. Hope it's not too bumpy for Chennai though!

போட்டு தாக்கு சென்னை 'CUP'எ தூக்கு!!!!!!!!!!!

Yavarum Nalam - Movie Review

2009-04-16T01:10:00.000-07:00

Cast: Madhavan, Neetu Chandra, Saranya
Director: Vikram Kumar
Cinematography: P.C. Shriram
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

A Gripper which ends up being a Total Ripper!!!!
It is one of those movies that make you feel proud to be a patron of Indian cinema. Director Vikram Kumar has given a stunner which will linger in the minds of the audience for at least a week after watching. The last movie which created such an impact in me was Dasavatharam. The so-called flaws of these kind of movies are that there are many questions still left unanswered at the end. Be it Dasavatharam or Yavarum Nalam, minute dialogues and facial expressions constitute to the tightly penned screenplay, and hence being really alert in listening to every dialogue should answer those question marks. The director has indeed paved way for the understanding of such details as he totally grabs the undivided attention of the audience in the first half. An absolutely new concept of the influence of TV serials in Indian households does the trick.

Manohar (Madhavan) is a part of a joint family which includes his wife (Neetu Chandra), mother (Saranya), elder brother and his wife, and their kids. They move into a new flat numbered 13/B which is bought on a mortgage to be repaid in 20 years. Strange things occur in the house for which Manohar tries to find the reason. To his shock, he finds out that the happenings in a TV serial - 'Yavarum Nalam' - are also happening in his house. When things go beyond control, he is even more shocked in finding out that the serial is being telecasted only in his house. Manohar seeks the help of a friend who happens to be a police officer to engage in research about the history of the house. They also seek advice from Manohar's family doctor. The research and what the doctor says reveal a whole set of things which happened thirty years ago, providing adeqate logic and reasoning to the movie.

Yet another stunning performance from Maddy! In a time when people who have developed their acting skills attempt to become big stars by doing crap movies, here is a talented actor who has perfectly recognised where he stands in the industry. As a loving husband and as a responsible son, he has pulled off his character in the most loveable way that he alone could do. Neetu Chandra is adequate and adds oomph in the epilogue. Saranya as usual comes up with a neat performance as the hero's mother and a TV serial addict. Performances of the police inspector and the doctor are also commendable.

I have never been able to appreciate cinematography in any movie. I probably don't have that artistic eye. I even remember saying that I was unhappy with P.C. Shriram's work in Alaipayuthe as he didn't use the zoom anywhere (I was studying 5th then and said something just for the sake of making a comment). In this film however, the camera work helped me to travel along with the movie. It can be seen that right from the legendary cinematographer, everybody has enjoyed working with the script more than anything else.

What starts as a spoof on the Indian women influnced by soaps, develops into a complete chill-down-the-spine horror with plenty of turns leading into the climax. However the number of twists and turns become a little too much, especially towards the end. The effort of the screenplay witer in Vikram Kumar, to zero in on the antagonist shows, making it yet another horror flick with a difference. However, the treatment of the difference itself and the script otherwise is an absolute treat to watch. As far as Tamil cinema is concerned, the hollow space created due to the lack of a quality horror flick has been filled.

Selling Tono

2009-04-13T01:18:00.001-07:00

Aesthetics:
The aesthetics of our sales plan was more or less similar to last year’s “Re-Fringe Yourself” campaign but it is not because we intended to replicate or repeat it. However, it so happened that the target market that we, along with Tono, defined consisted of postgraduate students, lecturers and others who at least had a basic idea of politics, economics, history and philosophy. These people consider movies and other form of entertainments as ‘fringy’, or as a break from their long and hectic week. While the week of a lecturer might not be as tiring as that of an employee working from nine to five, the former also needs some leisure time. Hence we planned to pitch this show to them as an alternative to the obvious choice of a movie as their weekend plan. The fact that the show was happening in the weekend and the price of the ticket - similar to the price of a movie ticket - were to our advantage in doing so.
We tried to be consistent in reflecting the aesthetics throughout, thereby maintaining the spirit of the Fringe while executing the plan as well. We tried fitting in sentences like “We do need a generalist-specialist now and then to keep things going, don’t we?” If the replies were that of approval, we added “That’s exactly what the Fringe is all about!” before heading to try close the deal. These of course, are things apart from sticking to the rules such as ensuring the presence of the “Dunedin Fringe” logo in every poster and pamphlet we circulated.

Ethics:
Ethical considerations weren’t very significant, but they did exist. Tono had given us the license to offer any deal we wanted as his focus was more on the size of his audience than the revenue. As the show was nearing, we hadn’t sold a considerable number of tickets. Some prospects were still not sure about their weekend plans even on Friday. We promised them that we would even be able to drop in at their houses to give them tickets at deals which they will not be able to avail elsewhere. The consideration was not that it was a false promise, as we were indeed willing to visit their houses to deliver the tickets at great deals. After all every seat filled from then on was gold for Tono. However we weren’t able to promise this to others, who had earlier raised objections on needing time to decide, when we proceeded to close the deal. If any of the prospects whom we initially contacted, came to know about this special treatment to prospects contacted on Friday, they might sense some partiality in our behaviour. The situation needed us to be a little more persuasive than usual because of which we had to give up a little bit of ethics. Otherwise, we were quite ethical in whatever we did.

Closing the deal:
Unfortunately we weren’t able to close many deals. The objections raised were generally related to need and time. Most of the prospects had other plans for the weekend or felt that even Friday was too early to commit anything for the weekend. However, one particular prospect had an objection related to the source – the Dunedin Fringe Festival. He claimed to be thoroughly aware about the festival but didn’t even want the look of any pamphlet associated to it. Perhaps we got the pre-call planning wrong there, and it was evident that he was even more annoyed with our cold calling. We might not have sold a lot of tickets but convinced many by giving them the time they needed to think about it. On leaving their office, we were also greeted with “Hope to see you at the Globe Theatre” at a few places. Thus we can say that we did make an incremental difference to attendance.

A week in Auckland and Christchurch - Part Three

2009-03-25T04:10:00.001-07:00

"Ladies and Gentleman! The Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni has won the toss and elected to bat"

O Sayaa.... Aye Oh...

The whole stadium erupted on hearing it. This was the influence the movie Slumdog Millionaire has had over the world - the stadium was filled with this ! A.R. Rahman was at his best in his high pitched voice, and needless to say that I was absolutely elated on hearing it. The music and the excellence of his voice started to fade slowly, as the bowling team and the umpires entered the field. When it completely stopped, in came THE MASTER! "One genius paving way for another," I thought. The crowd - including me - were shouting like mad! Sachin Tendulkar ambled across the pitch to the crease at the non-striking end!

The rest - as they say - is history! India won the match in a convincing manner but (as usual) without forgetting to concede a few hopeful moments to the opposition. As expected it was "JAI HO" all over the stadium at the end of it all. Sachin Tendulkar and A.R. Rahman were, are and will remain the best in their respective fields. Any comments, disagreements and arguements are thoroughly welcome!!!!!!!!!!!

A week in Auckland and Christchurch - Part Two

2009-03-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

Conditions were perfect for cricket - that was the first heartening thing I observed while driving from the airport to the hotel. With the first game marking India's dominance, the second had ended in a quagmire. In Christchurch too it was reportedly raining till the previous day but there wasn't a cloud to be seen that morning . Relief! At least a full game seemed a certainty!

Back at the hotel, a quick shower was needed. Call it urgency, anxiety or madness, but as I was taking a shower I was immediately pushed backwards by the sudden rush of hot water from the nozzle. It was so unexpected that I completely lost balance and hit the floor. Fortunately the landing turned out to be sensible - facing the ceiling with my head and legs leaning upwards - because of which my head escaped from the huge thud which instead took its tole on my back. However the impact couldn't keep me down there for long as I kept reminding myself that the match was about to start in an hour and I was yet to be at the stadium. It took me three days to figure out the scratches I sustained on my shoulders.

I got myself into my precious possession - the Team India T Shirt (with TENDULKAR written on the back, bought it for NZD 35) and was all set to zoom. Then came the next trouble. How are five 'XXL' sized people supposed to fit into one four-seater taxi? I could already see and hear Dhoni winning the toss and electing to bat in my mind.
"No worries! I'll occupy the boot. We have no time. Let's move people!"
And inside the boot space of the taxi, I was in the same posture as I was a few minutes ago (after falling off from the shower). But it was alright! After all, if GOD is to give you a boon,you have to go through a penance right? Thankfully for me it was no more than a 15 minute drive to the AMI Stadium, Christchurch.

"Ladies and Gentleman! The Indian skiper MS Dhoni has won the toss and elected to bat!"

A week in Auckland and Christchurch - Part One

2009-03-09T04:31:00.000-07:00

It was the onset of the first week of the semester, in other words the end of an enjoyable 10-day break, but I had no reasons to feel down. After all, it was the THE week for which I have been waiting for months together - the excitement of which had kept me eagerly counting days even when I was in India last summer. The trip to Christchurch to watch the third ODI between India and New Zealand on Sunday was the cynosure of the month in my calendar. The budget had been worked out and the rental car was about to be booked. However, at the beginning of it all, little did I know about the few surprises that were in store for me!

Meanwhile, the week started off with the introductory lectures on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. As expected, they were nothing more than discussing the course outline and introducing the faculty members responsible for the three papers I have taken. There were no tutorials in the first week which meant that I had Thursday and Friday off. Ah! I was soaking Wednesday eve in the happiness of celebrating the long weekend in Christchurch. "Time for some cricket" I thought. Text messages were exchanged and in a couple of hours we were at the cage. It was then that it happened through something as simple as a phone call! The normalcy of the situation increased even more on seeing that it was a call from my dad who was in Australia, but what he told me wasn't very normal. He was going to be in Auckland the next day, and he wanted me to be there to receive him!

Why didn't he tell me earlier? Apparently, he planned it only the day before, and it took him a day to get the visa. How was I supposed to reach Auckland from Dunedin in less than a day? Apparently, I would already find the details of a confirmed ticket in my inbox. What about the game on Sunday? He will be accompanying me to Christchurch to watch it. The answers weren't very convincing but I was distracted by the speed at which he got the visa and booked my ticket, and also by the excitement of seeing him after a while. So without further questions, I rushed home to find that everything was just as perfect as he had explained. Extempore was never my strength, especially in packing. However necessity, being the caring mother of invention, took charge of the situation completely and before long I was travelling in the early flight to Auckland on 05/03/09.

Auckland city looked the same as what I last saw of it. I received my dad and his friends at the airport, and spent the rest of the weekend in a five star hotel - the luxury of which I was experiencing after a long time. One big advantage for south Indians in Auckland is undoubtedly the food - the innumerous idlys and dosas have helped me gain some weight yet again. A ferry trip to an island, visiting a couple of family friends and plenty of sleep in the hotel constituted to the rest of the stay in Auckland.

Sunday had finally arrived and more importantly we had arrived at Christchurch that morning. The early morning flight made dad tired, but I couldn't sleep. Along with a couple of dad's friends, I ventured into the heart of the city to try my luck in meeting a couple of players on the streets. Unfortunately I could only catch a glimpse of Venkatesh Prasad, Pragyan Ohja and Robin Singh. The MAN I was dying to see wasn't there despite me being near the hotel where the team stayed.
"We need to go back to the hotel Siddhu. The match starts in 2 hours."
"Yeah Let's go! What if I don't see Sachin?! He'll definitely score a ton today."

One night at the clubs

2009-02-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

I have always wondered where the people are in Dunedin! Wikipedia tells me that Dunedin is the largest city in land area in New Zealand, but the whole place has always looked so empty to me. Take a walk through George Street in broad daylight and you'll know what I mean! The sun does a little bit of an overtime here, so the emptiness occupies - pretty much - the most of the day. As I was walking back home from the university after finishing an exam I was thinking,"Where the hell are you all, people?" My question was answered at the end of the week when I finally accepted the invitation from Roy to accompany him to the clubs with his friends - CLUBBING as it is called!

I was prepared for a few minutes of boredom coz of the teetotaler that I am, but also for the new experience of witnessing club happenings! The latter was beckoning me and I was up to it! As I entered South Bar, I was quick to realise the answer to my question. "Where else can the people - out of which the majority are students - be during weekends?! Which other place can be as busy as this one, at this time of the night?" For the first time in my one and a half year stint in Dunedin I was struggling to find a space to stand, among 200 and odd people. Such spaces and places have never been hard to find in Dunedin till then, but that night revealed a VT Station (in Mumbai) or a Ranganathan Street (in Chennai) in the name of South Bar. The two differences being that, here the smell of the place was much more bearable and the people around you were dancing.

"Siddhu can't dance saala"! Like always, it felt so odd shaking my legs. Hence I decided that am not gonna to do it. Not that I didn't dance, but didn't shake my legs at all. Thankfully there was no Michael Jackson or a Prabhu Deva next to me but my dance should've been quite funny as I was trying to groove along with the music without moving my body a lot. After a point it got boring.

Next Stop - Monkey Bar! The craziest thing about Monkey was it being an erstwhile church! The Holy Altar is now the stage for the DJ to sizzle, because of which the sound of the church bell is replaced by the noise generated by the DJ Mixer. On the wall, which used to bear the huge cross, hangs a poster containing an ad for "42 Below Vodka". The place where people used to assemble to offer prayers to God and/or attend relegious ceremonies, is now the dance floor. The marketing student in me immediately realised that he had some food for thought - "The idea is definitely not (just) to save some money on renovation but to come up with an ingenious innovation (wow it rhymes)! While there can be plenty of reasons for this extreme change in the purpose of the building to happen, retaining the setup of a church inside a bar can be nothing else than an innovative marketing strategy. Probably the very reason the building was bought! It might sound as a blasphemous idea to the old-fashioned grey-hairs, but the fact that it has materialised and is doing successfully, is a clear indication of the changing times."

While I can keep gibbering and jabbering and blabbering about marketing, Dunedin, New Zealand and its culture (which I am yet to embrace completely), my mind asks me to take a break and concentrate on something else.

Tin dollars aye!!

2009-02-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

"Aye!" This is something which one will not escape from hearing, if one comes to New Zealand. It will keep beating the ear drums so often that it forms a kind of a rhythmic pattern inside! ENT specialists say that there is a connection between the ears and the mouth! The rhythmic pattern I am talking about, makes use of this connection and after a while one automatically starts using it in New Zealand. So what is this 'Aye'? It is one of the words/sounds/syllables which distinguish the Kiwi accent from the rest. As far as I can comprehend, it is a question tag like 'isn't it' or 'wasn't it'. What's new in this is that, I have hardly heard an accent where a question tag occurs in almost every sentence. Here is an example:

Myself: Hey bro how're you?

Kiwi: Not too bad aye!

Hang on! This doesn't make sense! If I ask you how you are, you are replying "I am good ain't I?" That's what I am asking YOU. Grrrr.... chuck that! Maybe 'Aye' is not a perfect question tag.

Myself: Hmm...So whatre' you upto?

Kiwi: Nothin much! Exam week comin up. Need to study aye! Roamin around with a book all the while. It's bin tin days since I got on the piss!

Now this IS confusing! I can figure out that, by 'tin' he means 'ten'. How extraordinary is not being able to piss for ten days?! A few more days in New Zealand and I find out that 'getting on the piss' coloquially means to drink alcoholic beverages! Hmm... I didn't know that these boozers had such a cynical view on drinking!

Myself: Oh so studious huh?

Kiwi: Yeah when exams are round the corner! By the way tell me about you Sid! In which hole do u live?

WHAT?! Is he mad or tryin to make fun of me?

My friend who was with me: Oh he lives at the Aquinas Residential 'Hall'!

Kiwi: Oh that's a pretty big hole bro! I found it very good when I was there!

Myself: Anyway we'll cya sometime later bro! Gotta lecture now!

Kiwi: Sweet ass!

Yuck! Sweet ass?! Especially, comin frm a guy that sounded so gay but eventually I decoded that one too! Weeks later when he sent me a long text message he ended it with the same phrase except that it read as "sweet as". Alas, it dawned on me! 'Sweet as' actually means, "As sweet as sugar" or "As sweet as candy". It's a kind of a short form. Phew!

We all have our own accents which can be made fun of! This was also only written in jest. While it might lack the genius of a Russel Peter's take on the Indian accent, I hope it amply justifies the title of this blog! :) :)

Goosepimples

2009-02-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

The news of the Victorian Bushfires is freaking me out completely. If the reports are to be believed, almost 200 lives have been lost, making it the biggest ever calamity in Australia. On 10/02/09 I tried logging in on orkut only to find my homepage flashing "The smoke from the bushfire is reaching out to as far as New Zealand". That was when I felt completely shocked. I had no clue about the bushfire till then, which was about two days after it has been having its effect.The reason for my goosepimples was not as obvious as being the closest country to Australia, but having witnessed the cause of a calamity without realising it. Yes! Although Central Dunedin couldn't see any smoke, the sky taking odd colours was clearly visible.

We were at the cage on a pretty boring day of cricket on 08/02/09. It was the second last weekend before the exam week. A Sunday's game is always expected to be energetic, but none of us were really moving that day. Mustafa, who is always cracking jokes and taunting the opposite team, was not wearing any expression on his face and was texting 'someone' silently. It was an unusually hot day(33 degrees) and we figured out that the heat should be playing on him. In an effort to liven things up Roy said, "It's so hot! Wonder what's wrong with the weather! I think there has been a nuclear war!". And I was like, " Haha yeah! The sky looks so pink today!"
"Haha Pink! Yes the world is gonna end today!" And he was right! A part of the world - namely a few towns in Australia - were completely destroyed.

In New Zealand all houses are made of wood. I had always thought that it was a brilliant plan, as the place is prone to earthquakes. However, with an atmospheric pressure settling in a nearby sea and bushfires eating up many lives, the goosepimples are only becoming more intense. As our good old Fido (a friend of mine) says, "Shit happens but life must go on"! After all, if Summer is here, can Winter be far away?

Discovering myself en route to Dunedin

2009-02-11T05:10:00.000-08:00

Why am I writing this? For a start, am bored! The excitement of cutting through the air against gravity has left me for good, and for the better. The wolf-whistles of novices give me nostalgic memories of my first air travel, but I am glad to have come over it. As a result I am able to smirk at those thrilled ones around me. This is one condescendence which I can flaunt, but for which many others apart from me are equally responsible if not more.

While I have been giving this unconvincing but convenient answer to those queries directed to me regarding the one time writer in me, I feel proud to have gone against it now. The answer I gave was simple - "Creative writing has taken a backseat to suit the formal-writing demands of my course." And for those who figured out the idiocy in it, and frowned, I assured, "Don't worry! New Zealand's a beautiful country! It's bound to come back!". Ironically, it isn't the green and pristine grasslands of Kiwiland but sheer boredom of a 9 hour flight that has urged me to write. And did I say backseat? The happenings outside the window of an aircraft, and the lack of them, have set my pen rolling.

It feels so good to write with a pen and without a Word processor. No red or green underlines to correct my spelling and grammar respectively or otherwise. Channelising my thoughts into my finger tips is made far easier with the latter enclosed to hold a pen. And yeah, creative writing is finally at the driver's seat!

Its been an hour and my food's due. Flight foods are not the best but the anxiety, in opening the foil paper to discover what lies inside, hasn't left me. Roasted peanuts have set me up for a delicious and sumptuous meal, but the mixed experiences in my previous flights beg me to curb my expectations.

As I finished the decent dinner, I thought that the rest of the flight would end in an ordinary way with some movies and/or songs. However, out of the 500 ones in the aircraft, my multi media player alone has some probem in playing music and video. Without much of a choice, I take this as some celestial message asking me to keep writing. As a brainwave it occurs to me that this piece of shit shouldn't end here, but should be a starting point for something substantial. Something that would not let me lose touch with the writing which I have regained after a while. And when I say 'regain' I obviously don't mean the ability but the urge. I am definitely going to take a copy of this immediately after I reach Dunedin and follow it up with more.

This is the reason for me to start this blog! Unforunately it has taken me more than a month to find the time and the 'urge' to take a copy of my first piece of gibberish of the year and my blog. I know I am very late to be smitten by the 'blog bug', but better late than never! I also believe that 'gibberish' is the right title for this blog, as most of the content would be filled in during my spare time. I welcome you all to the place where not-so-intelligent stuffs reside gleefully!!!!