Bheja Fry !!!!

Well ,everyday all of us encounter one or the other situation which makes our 'bheja' fry .Three-four months back there was a movie of the same name by Rajat Kapoor starring Vinay Pathak ,Ranvir Shourey,Milind Soman,Sarika and himself.I was busy with my exams at that time and hence could not watch it then.When i did have time ,it was off the multiplexes which fried my bheja little bit.But two weeks back while wandering aimlessly in 'my computer' i managed to locate the movie.I started viewing the movie, but after 30 minutes or so the movie again started from the first scene which at first i thought had something to do with some subconscious clicking of mouse on my part.I tried to fast forward the movie but the win-dvd movie player refused to budge.After trying all tricks of the trade which included rebooting the pc ,i resigned myself to watching the movie from the start again.But this time after watching it for 10 minutes or so ,i noticed that the audio was not in sych with the scene and it led to more frying of the bheja.I started the movie again and thankfully this time there was no such issue ,but afer watching it till 30th minute ,it again started from the first reel ,and by this time i was really exasperated.I realised that i was not just watching the movie but also experiencing it.The fact that I had enjoyed the movie till that point and was unable to watch further really made me cringe.
And just when i thought that my half 'bheja fry' will not get completed anytime soon ,i received a pleasant shock.Tonight Sahara Filmy showed "Bheja fry" and
i could watch the movie and fry my bheja completely.A really nice movie and true to its title !

Hockey and Cricket

All of a sudden Indian Hockey is on the center stage albeit for the wrong reasons.For some strange reason,media and the people in general are reacting with disproportionate shock and surprise at Indian men's hockey team not making it to the Olympics.It is not that Indian hockey was in a very good shape till yesterday.Indian hockey has been on a downward slope for quite some time.The advent of astro-turf(earlier it was played on grass) in hockey made the game more suited to european style of play which was based more on power than plain skill.Other than this,the step-motherly treatment of Hockey by the government ,the media and the public has also hurt its prospects.It is easy to blame the Indian Hockey Federation led by supercop K.P.S. Gill for all that is wrong with Indian hockey but the malaise runs deeper.Without big money coming into the game ,youngsters will not take to hockey and therein lies the catch.Money will not start coming unless the sponsors are assured of the game's popularity among the masses and with Indian hockey team performing poorly it seems a far-fetched idea.Another disconcerting aspect is the differential treatment meted by the government to cricketers and to other sportspersons.After the 20-20 win, the cricketers were showered with money from almost all the state governments but the Indian hockey team which won the Asia Cup(by any standards a more creditable achievement)was hardly given its due.And after all this we raise a hue and cry if Indian hockey team does not qualify for Olympics ....

Unity in Diversity ???

India is a country that prides itself for its unity in diversity.It is next to impossible to find a country having so many ethnicities,languages and cultural variations as is seen in India.In fact ,India has never been one united nation as per historical accounts and so the Indian identity as such is a comparatively recent phenomena.It was only the Mughals under Aurangzeb(bigot par excellence) and later on the British who united India under one administration for their own selfish motives.
The Indian freedom struggle nurtured the pan-Indian identity and weakened the regional feeling among the people.In 1956 the states were reorganized on linguistic lines and since then language has become a rallying point for all kinds of regional chauvinists.What is happening in Maharashtra today is old wine(originally brewed by Raj's uncle Bal Thackeray)being served in new bottle,but the concoction remains as harmful as ever.We all know that there is an undercurrent of sympathy among Marathi Manus(Marathi people) for anti-outsider agitation ,but surely nobody wants the recourse to violence.The definition of outsider needs a rethink as a person of Bihari lineage born in Mumbai is more Marathi than a person of Marathi parentage born out of Maharastra.At the same time ,people coming from other regions should also try their best to assimilate into the local culture but this cannot be done by use of force.
One important point to ponder for Thackerays and all other politicians would be that if tomorrow Indians(who incidentally may be Marathis) are attacked in a foreign country ,with what conviction can the Indian govt. demand that its citizens be protected while it is failing to do so within India !

Poetic Justice ....

India's tour to Australia has generated plenty of heat ,both on and off the field.Racism,bad umpiring,and two evenly matched sides made for some gripping cricket and lots of news for the media.Aussie cricketers wanted to teach Indian team a lesson but they were in for a surprise.It was the Aussie team which came in for a lot of flak for its unsporting behavior throughout the test series.India's test victory at Perth came as an apt reminder that 'nice guys' need not always finish second.Though India lost the test series 2-1 to Australia ,but the Sydney test was an aberration and an anti-thesis of this gentleman's game.
Nobody ,including yours truly , gave India a chance in the tri-series.Everybody was more upset with the exclusion of Saurav Ganguly and a drubbing was more or less expected.But the young team defeated the mighty aussies and the wily srilankans to lift the tri-series cup.It was a dream final for Indian fans as the Indian team defeated Australia twice in the space of two days to lift the Commonwealth Bank Cup.The victory in the tri-series does not mean that India has taken over the mantle of world champions from the Aussies but it does mean that they are not invincible anymore.

Super Sunday !!!

It was truly a Super Sunday for India as Indian teams won both in Kualalumpur(Under19 World Cup)and in Sydney(first one of the best of three finals).Sachin Tendulkar played a masterful knock and helped India to gain a 1-0 lead over Australia in the best of three finals of this tri-series.Though,India lost two of its earlier three matches with Australia,but in all the three league matches India was competitive and gave the Kangaroos a run for their money.
After a long time ,one saw Sachin playing a match-winning knock while chasing a decent total.All the news channels(especially Aaj Tak :Sabse Fake)would now go on praising Sachin until his next failure.A sense of proportion is totally lacking in the news media.One day they raise a person to a very high pedestal and the very next day they pull that person down.But icons like Sachin deserve much better treatment.People are quick to present statistics to show that Sachin does not have a very good(mind you,by his own high standards)record in finals and conveniently forget that most of the times the team makes it to the finals because of his stellar performances.Great people often get trapped in their own greatness and Sachin is no exception.