KBC - Season VI

Hooray good times are just around the corner; My, yours and everyone's favourite show "KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI" or KBC as it has come to be popularly known will be making a much wanted comeback on our television screens at 8:30 p.m. on Friday September 7, 2012 through the Sony Entertainment Television network.....


This epochal show which has fulfilled numerous hopes, aspirations and dreams and provided the much abused and villified common man an avenue or platform through which he/she can take homw a sizeable sum of money with the quantity beiong determined by a heady combination of your intellect, presence of mind, awareness of what's going on in the world and your surroundings and last but not the least huge dollops of lady luck......

Fortunes have been made, dreams fulfilled, aspirations given wings to and heart felt desires come true on the floors of this show anchored adroitly with just the right amounts of charm, grace, oomph, empathy, camraderie and brotherhood by the superstar of the millennium Shri Amitabh Bachchan who has not only ensured that this shows ratings have gone through the roof in every season where he has been involved but has also seen a quantum increase in the number of Crorepatis who make it big through the opportunities provided to them by this epochal show......

In fact, Shri Amitabh Bachchan and KBC have become synonymous with each other to the extent that the television viewing public almost singularly rejected this show and gave it a resounding thumbs down during it's fourth season as Mr. Amitabh Bachchan could not anchor the fourth season for reasons known only to him and the television networks head honchos who deemed it fit to replace the superstar of the millennium with a wannabe superstar who answers to the name of Shahrukh Khan and his sparkling presence and effusive charm was still not enough to stop this immensely popular television show from plummeting to it's doom.........

Like every success Kaun Banega Crorepati did spawan a series of rip offs in the form of inane imitators like Dus ka Dum. Sawaal Dus Crore Kaa, and so on and so forth ,but the fact remains, poor country cousins or not, pale imitations or not; kaun Banega Crorepati goes on from strength to stength leaving all the competition or wannabe competition gasping in it's wake.........

There is no earthly reason why the sixth season of this hugely successful show should be an even more resounding success in comparison to it's bygone season as Mr. Bachchan will be back once agin, so will Computer Babu, Tak Takiya or Tik Tikiya as Mr. Bachchan in his inimtable style calls the clock that ticks of the seconds or then time limit allotted to the contestant on the hot seat to answer that respective question; here's looking forward to a season that spawns at least half a dozen Sushil Kumar's and may Mr. Bachchan's legendary charm and empathy continue forever, all the best KBC and Sony Entertainment Television

Adios...Sachin Tendulkar....

Time and tide wait for no man and the same holds good for Sachin Tendulkar too, agreed this individual has given all us legions of cricket fans reason to cheer more times than one can begin to remember, but then every article or then human being comes with an expiry date and alas Sachin Tendulkar's expiry date is a stark reality staring him in the face despite all his dubious claims to the contrary.......


Yours truly would be the first person to admit that Sachin Tendulkar has accorded Indian cricket a place of immense pride in the hierarchy of cricket playing nations, but then the same can also be said about his equally illustrious predecessors Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar........

No individual can ever be greater than the game, but alas, misplaced vanity or sheer arrogance makes Mr. Tendulkar believe the fact that the game of cricket will become that much poorer with his departure; why will it when it didn't become any poorer with the departure of the greatest cricketer who ever played this gloroius game namely Sir Donald Bradman.......

One wonders why the BCCI mandarins and selection committee are bending over backwards in a sickening effort to please the whims and fancies of one individual who seems to think that he is doing all and sundry a huge favour by simply turning up for a game at a time and a place of his choosing, equally illustrious cricketers like Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar were not accorded the honour and distinction of choosing their test and ODI appearances so then why is the system being convoluted in the favour of a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.......

This gentelman was previously obsessed with the dubious distinction of achieving the hollow personal landmark of hundred international hundreds and his painful and exasperating crawl towards the same even ensured that his team suffered the ignominy and humiliation associated with a defeat against cricketing minnows Bangladesh........

His equally illustrious and far more selfless counterparts Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have all hung up their boots one after the other when their minds and souls told them that their time was up and didn't wait for a nudge from either the paying public or powers that be within the BCCI before hanging up their boots with due pride and glory........

The fact of the amtter is that though the mind may still be willing, the body is failing to keep pace with the demands imposed on it by an increasingly demanding mind as no matter how many hours you put in in the gym or then physically toning and conditioning your muscles and other body parts, the reflexes automatically start slowing down once a person crosses or goes past the age of 35.........

Seeing a rookie like Trent Boult reduce a undiputed master like Sachin Tendulkar to a shocking parody or then sorry caricature of his esteemed self was the last straw as far as numerous fans of Tendulkar like yours truly werew concerned, Sachin was certainly a yard to slow and his bat came down eons after the ball had made a resounding contact with timber leaving a set of shattered stumps and dreams in it's wake...............

For both the sakes of your esteemed self as well as legions of your fawning fans, please read the writing on the wall Shri Tendulkar and go when the world is still asking why rather than when the world starts asking you why you don't hang up your boots as your best years are well behind you and nothing more than a fleeting memory of a bygone era.............

Go with your head held high and make way for a deserving youngster who will serve the cause of Indian cricket with equal distinction, deciation and fervour; as well as giving back to the game is concerned, well you can always open a cricket school or then lobby for the post of the Indian coach with your BCCI chums.............

Memories of Ganesh Chaturthi ... at 37 Domlur Layout

Ganesh Chaturthi means a lot of things to lots of people; for some it's a period of piety and divinity, for others it's a period of fun, frolic, gaiety and joy, as for the real afficionados this period is all about feasting and frolicking; as for me, this period used to be a period of joy, fun, gaiety, feasting and merry making during my heady childhood days spent within the four walls and compound of 37, Domlur layout, Bangalore..

My earliest memories of this period are that of earthy smells of clay and paint emanating from within the house of my next door neighbours the Rajgopalans, Ganesh Chaturthi at their house was always a period of piety, divinity, prayer, incense and last but not the least gorging on soondals, chakkali, and at least two kinds of ladoos who's names I never bothered to find out.
Ganesh Chaturthi at Kaaley Aunty's house was always filled with mirth, laughter, shouts of gay abandon, gfaiety, prayer and soft and succulent puran polis that used to melt in your mouth and always had me begging Kaaley Aunty for just that one more...
The venue or then should I say nerve centre of this divine festival gradually shifted to the Nadig residence as one grew older; one fondly remembers the colourful pandal on their roof that used to play host to nearly half the residents of Domlur layout and the waves of humanity that used to throng the same; the crowning glory of the festival for moi however used to be the delicious and aromatic bi

si bele bhath and curd rice that Nadig and Chhaya Aunty used to so thoughtfully ladle out in gigantic drums so that everybody who used to frequent their residence had their due share; we youngsters of course were entitled to double shares as we played our part as hosts by ladling out and serving the delicacies to all and sundry.

Is it any wonder then that a significant majority of me and my friends owing our origins to Domlur Layout have hearty appetites and still swear by a good meal and are prepared to scour the countryside in quest of wholesome taste and succulent food that has you salivating at the first whiff; the day of parting or Visarjan used to be a heart rending one as everybody either immersed their idols in th

e numerous wells that frequented Domlur layout or then in one of the two ponds that were a integral part and parcel of the daily existence of this rowdy bunch of kids; however this heart rending period also had it's moments of unwitting hilarity when someone used to come down on their backside with a hearty thump when they slipped in the slush or then when one had to jostle with the buffaloes who always felt that they had the right of way when it came to seeking entry into the ponds.

Ganesh Chaturthi today is a far more formal and sombre affair and restricted to family and immediate neighbours aarti's and prayers at my parents Bangalore residence, though one does still enjoy the festive period, one does really miss those boisterous and carefree childhood days and would certainly give more than a leg and an arm for one last opportunity to rewind the clock and soak in the irreverent atmosphere of Ganesh Chaturthi in Domlur Layout one last time..........

Dark cloud ... silver lining.

Well, every dark cloud does indeed have a silver lining and the Indian under 19 team's World Cup victory on Australian soil has certainly given all those souls who were despairing over the rather bare Indian spinning cupboard more than enough cause to rejoice......


The answer to India's spinning woes has come in the form of a dimunitive sardar who answers to the name of Harmeet Singh and this lad certainly has the experts singing hosannas about his uncanny ability to flight the ball in varying trajectories, use the depth and angles of the crease by varying the spot from where he delivers the ball at least three to four times during the course of every over and above all his mastery over his wrist position that makes it seem as though he seems to have the ball tied on a string and the same object was solely intended to do his bidding.......

Aussie cricket legend and doyen of television commentators Ian Chappell has gone as far as saying that Harmeet Singh is currently one of the finest spinner's going around the cricketing world and is second only to England's Graeme Swann amongst the phalanx of spinners operating at the present moment.....

Infact, Mr. Chappell did venture as far as offering words of wisdom to the Indian selection committee and ventured to say that these five supposedly wise men should draft this youngster forthwith into the Indian test team if they had an iota of wisdom and cricketing sense amongst them.......

The youngster who reminded Mr. Chappell of his old foe and lifelong mate Bishan Singh Bedi with his loop, flight, arc of delivery and languid and pleasing on the eye bowling action seems destined for international stardom and is all set to make his mark in the annals of the traditional form of the game (test cricket) if the manager of the World Cup winning team Pritam Gandhe is to be believed.....

One can only hope and pray that divine wisdom does indeed dawn on the five purportedly wise men entrusted with the onerous responsibility of ensuring India's presence amongst the topmost echelons of the test playing nations and that these very same men emulate the example of the irreperessible Pathan Imran Khan who remained steadfast to the policy of drafting in exceptionally gifted and talented individuals into the test team without waiting for them to got through the grin and make their mark on the domestic scene for at least three consecutive seasons before being picked for the national team.......

Hope the same fate does not befall this teenage prodigy called Harmeet Singh who deserves to don the Indian test colours without further ado........

Woodowne Cricket Shield in the making!

I ardently want to institute an annual cricket tournament dedicated to the sterling deeds of two individuals namely Mr. A.J. Wood and Mr. C.A.Browne who gave wings to my flights of fancy and played an instrumental role in making me the individual I am...


The tournament in question will be of forty overs duration and comprise of teams from Bangalore's ICSE schools, the same will be held on annual basis on the hallowed grounds of very own FAPS cricket pitch and net the winning team a handsome prize money of Rs. 25,000/- coupled with a complete cricket kit and rolling trophy which shall be called Woodowne Cricket Shield......

I am more than willing to come down to Bangalore for a fortnight to do the necessary groundwork and run around for like minded sponsors who would be willing to contribute their time and mite towards the resounding success of this annual extravaganza......

Any and every chum of mine desirous of contributing their thoughts, moolah and time to the success of this noble venture may please feel free to get in touch with me forthwith so that we can take this proposed venture forward; I do hope and pray that my good friend Alan Stevens will serve as the points man and give me the necessary support and guidance that I would indeed require in making this proposition an Eastman Colour production..........

selection committe .. wake up !

Why are our so called cricket pundits chary of throwing in youngsters at the deep end; cause' if you don't start throwing them in at the deep end how will you ever learn which of them has the inherent ability to make it in the face of seemingly life threatening odds, so oh five wise men (?) please don't pay heed to the naysayers and throw players like Unmukt Chand, Baba Aparajith, Harmeet Singh and other prodigiously talented youngsters in the deep end.......


Take them on the next slated "A" team tour preferably to countries like England, South Africa and England where the ball swings and seams around while bouncing around rib cage height at the same time as only such tours will help you in differentiating between the men and the boys and help you in embellishing your absolutely bare spin cupboard with men of mettle who can hold their own in spinner unfriendly conditions.....

These youngsters have already displayed the penchant, talent and mental acumen to succeed at the highest level by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat both against arch enemies Pakistan and the Kiwis in the quarter and semi-finals respectively......

Similarly there was a dramatic stage in the finals where the Indian team was reduced to a paltry total of 97/4 after 26 overs in pursuit of a then Himalayanesque Aussie total of 225, and it took some resolute as well as swashbuckling batting on the part of "Captain Cool" Unmukt Chand and wicket keeper batsman Smit Patel to not only dig their team out of a deep, deep hole but also lead it to a memorable victory that will be spoken about by all those who witnessed the same....

Our domestic cricket structure is in a shambles to say the least and bowlers no matter their pedigree and prodigious talent have always relentlessly struggled to make their mark in extremely batsman friendly conditions that not only serve to dent their confidence but also make them question their own abilities as bowlers......

So do take a few bold decisions and throw in at least a couple of youngsters into the cauldron called international cricket so that the eternal debate about whether or not a successful under 19 cricketer can make it big at the biggest stage of them all can be settled once and for all.........

On Money

Does money rule mankind; or does mankind rule money, that indeed my friends, fellows and countrymen is the crore rupee question.....


Money was primarily invented or evolved as a medium of exchange, a store of value and a convenient tool that could and would facilitate inter as well as intra country trade; but alas!!! over a period of time paper money and it's numerous manifestations have assumed threatening proportions that have all but overwhelmed the noblest emotion termed HUMANITY......

Money,Money,Money, it's a rich man's world; is how an immortal song sung by the Swedish Pop group ABBA sums up the rather sorry state of affairs prevailing world wide with regard to the evil of money. One wonders how these seemingly innocuous pieces of paper have gradually become a manifestation of all that's seemingly wrong with the universe as whole today......

First World countries or then developed countries as we have come to know them lord over the rest of the lot through their seemingly greater money power that enables them to ride rough shod over their less fortunate brethren; look at the peace keeping agency dubbed as the United Nations Organisation which for years has been nothing more than the hand maiden of the two present super powers the US of A and China who blatantly misuse, twist and manipulate the same to suit their narrow sectarian, partisan and increasingly megalomaniacal ends.......

The very same money facilitates the closure of criminal and civil cases filed by you against law authorities and right thinking people, enables you to buy votes, influence electoral officials and guarantees your arrival on the political scene as a force to reckon with; facilitates the purchasing of high falutin and sounding educational degrees without ever appearing for the exams that the rest of the lot strive to excel in, smoothens the way for your entry into heaven or Nirvana as the case may be and in some cases also provides you with a certificate of atonement for your barbaric sins....

Money has indeed become the single biggest existing enemy of the notion of mankind or INSAANIYAT as perceived and propagated by any and every religious order and system; thereby raising the urgent need for some serious introspection on the part of humankind and a critical examination of what they have allowed themselves to become in this insatiable quest for material wealth and creature comforts......

Money is nothing more than a means to an end and cannot buy you unconditional love, fawning admiration of your true friends and well wishers, redemption for your sins in the eyes of the good lord, and last but not the least will certainly not open the gates of heaven for you come what may........

Creature comforts or then the sublime pleasures attached to being a loving, caring, sharing, warm, committed and GOOD human being; well the choice is yours, but I can certainly vouch for one thing and that is the fact that you certainly don't need money to be a good human being and make a difference no matter however insignificant.

On Suicide

The act of committing suicide and taking your own life is nothing more than an act of abject cowardice, a sin in the eyes of the good lord and every form of established religion and above all a crime visited by due punishment under the criminal procedure act as well as the Indian Penal Code.....


Life is all about living it to the fullest, burning the candle at both ends as suggested by George Bernard Shaw, standing up for causes dear to your heart and soul, just being there for your near and dear one's and above all making a difference to the lives of a few if not all individuals who come in contact with your during your earthly sojourn.....

What I would like to ask the dear departed lady is what purpose her suicide has served; the same will not make an iota of difference to the life and times of her ex/erstwhile boyfriend who allegedly dumped her and indirectly goaded her into ending her time on planet earth perfunctorily and prematurely......

More importantly, did the dear departed soul pay even a seconds' thought to the plight of her family and the few people who genuinely cared for her and as to how her selfish act of tame surrender would end up wreaking havoc with their lives by tearing them asunder and constantly questioning their absence at the time when the lady in question needed them around herself the most, isn't the lady who committed suicide responsible or culpable of the crime of reducing her near and dear one's to moping caricatures of their former selves???????

"Revenge is a dish best served cold" and the lovely IIM Bengaluru lady should have bided her time and made her presence resoundingly felt at the time when her former paramour was gallivanting around town in the arms of his new found partner; that indeed would have been sweet revenge and the same act would have put paid to her former boyfriend's hopes and aspirations of establishing a new relationship with somebody else.......

Please don't take recourse to utterly cowardly ways and means of ending your lives, life is a rare treasure to be nurtured, nourished and enjoyed to the optimum; so live life and set a sterling example for others to follow in your wake and if you're ever feeling depressed and down and out turn to your true friends or then helplines for solace and succour instead of even beginning to contemplate this act of supreme cowardice......

As for slights real as well as imagined, and opportunistic boyfriends and girlfriends who are here today and gone tomorrow; are they even worth your while to begin with???????

On Matters Sporting.

One really wonders what the rationale behind having a 32 year old passenger in team India colours in the form of Subramaniam Badrinath, agreed that he had a less than inspiring domestic cricket season for the Tamil Nadu team, yet the selectors in their infinite wisdom(?) deemed it fit to include him in the team despite his season of horrors with the bat; now that you've picked him please play him as benching him is only denying a younger player the golden opportunity of soaking in the atmosphere of team India's dressing room and gaining tonnes of wisdom and cricketing acumen by rubbing shoulders with the likes of a Tendulkar and a Sehwag, do pardon me for sounding like a doubting Thomas, but I do feel that a 32 year old is past the stage of doing the above.........


One really wishes that team India had a buccaneering, dashing and go-getting coach like a Sourav Ganguly or Shane Warne instead of a dull, insipid, taciturn and lacklustre Duncan Fletcher as the go-getters would have always taken the bull by the horns and ensured quiet a few more entries in the victory column notwithstanding the occasional loss on the triumphant path to ultimate victory.   Rain plays spoilsport and checks team India's relentless march towards an innings win at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in the first match of a currently ongoing test series; but on a brighter note, tomorrow is yet another day as the wise one's who preceded us famously said...... Let's stop exulting over a hollow victory achieved against a lame duck New Zealand side on a designer pitch suitably altered to suit the needs of our spinners who are tigers at home and sitting ducks abroad; India is number 5 on the ICC test rankings and the Kiwis a lowly eight so you would always expect the higher ranked team to beat the lower ranked one nine times out of ten, so what's the big deal about beating a side that is ranked three places below you; sterner test await the Indian team in the form of the English and Australian sides and I will only be exulting when team India has beaten these two teams on home soil comprehensively.  

On Cheteshwar Pujara .

The only real gain from the just concluded India-New Zealand test match at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium has been a resolute and compact batsman who answers to the name of Cheteshwar Pujara; so let's all give this new found kid on the block the much needed breathing space he so richly deserves instead of fawning all over him and giving him a swollen head and exalted ego in the pro

cess; mature, cool and responsible heads a la Pujara is the need of the hour as far as team India is concerned, so let's all maintain a healthy distance from this rare individual who has kindled hope and aspirations in millions of Indian hearts with his sterling exploits with the bat and accord him the opportunity of nurturing and developing his inherent talent at his own pace and convenience.....

Is Cheteshwar Pujara another Rahul Dravid in the making???? well it's too early too pass any qualitative judgement on that epochal question in my humble opinion, however all I know is that he certainly has the technique, temperament, gumption, patience and wherewithal to make it at the highest level, the future of team India does indeed seem secure in the hands of Virat Kohli and Chetreshwar Pujara; one only wishes and prays that two out of the trio of Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Suresh Raina come good sooner than later and manfully back up the sterling exploits of the afore mentioned individuals.........

India's under 19 world cup Win !!

Kudos to the India under 19 team for annexing the World Cup for a third time and doing India proud; the icing on the cake seems to be the unearthing of a rare talent in the form of the dimunitive and hard as nails skipper Unmukt Chand who seems to be a rare amalgam of Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli while at the batting crease and a talent who will certainly serve team India with distinction in the very near future, add to this his unflappable temperament and distinct ability to maintain a cool head under the most trying circumstances and you have a talent who can be groomed to lead the national side with grace and distinction in the next 7-8 years.......


Let's all rejoice in the glory of a team that has succeeded in annexing the under 19 World Cup for the third time in it's history after a four year long interval; a ticker tape parade on an open top bus is certainly the demand of the hour, so let's hope that the BCCI mandarins wake up from their period of perennial hibernation and concentrate their energies on making arrangements to welcome the world conquering team in a manner befitting their status........

On Lance Armstrong ....

Strange indeed are the ways of a world which seems to derive perverse pleasure out of dubbing every honest, upright and principled man a fake and the latest victim of this reprehensible tendency is none other than the sporting icon of millions Lance Armstrong; seriously the mind boggles as to how a man who has served as a source of hope and inspiration to cancer survivors and lesser mortals like me can be a fake to begin with; someone with an axe to grind seems hell bent upon settling scores with Live strong in this underhand manner and should be exposed for the demon he is before a god like figure is ostracised and crucified for no fault of his............
Live strong Lance Armstrong and continue to fight on relentlessly with the grace, composure and dignity that has become a second nature with you; fight on till the false and trumped up charges against you are dismissed honourably and your honour is both vindicated and redeemed beyond a shadow of doubt; me and legions of your other fawning fans are standing steadfast in your corner like the Rock of Gibraltar and rooting for you no matter what, so don't give up and fight on as the ultimate victory will always be won by the forces of truth and righteousness and the dark forces of lies and falsehood shall be banished from the very face of this earth for eternity.......

Kevin Peterson - Straight from the heart

Why does one always have to pay the price for telling the truth; or then rather one's perception of the truth, Kevin Petersen ardently felt that he was being persecuted in the English team dressing room and shared some of his innermost thoughts with his mates on the South African side; so then why is he being crucified for it????


Horrendous crimes have been perpetrated on mavericks and eccentrics in the name of team spirit and captains and team managements have not been chary of adopting the vilest methods in order to ensure that individuals who seem to have larger than life personas or more importantly don't bow tow before the powers that be in the team are shown their deemed rightful place no matter the damage wreaked on their minds and psyches......

Kevin Pietersen or Petersen is the latest victim of this herd mentality and has fallen foul with the powers that be within the ECB as he supposedly committed the cardinal sin of leaking out team England's worst kept dressing room secrets thereby denting the already shattered morale of a team trailing it's opposition by a 1-0 margin and hence should be made an example of......

Why are team managements petrified of individuals like Petersen, Sehwag, Bedi, Ganguly or others of their ilk who have always believed in calling a spade a spade and letting their heads rule their hearts; as they have more often than not let their bats and wrists/fingers do the talking and proved to be the fulcrum around which their less fortunate or blessed team mates have revolved......

DO let mavericks and eccentrics within team set ups remain what they are as they add the much needed spice, sizzle and colour to the game; or then as the doyen of cricket writers Sir Neville Cardus said, "CRICKET WILL SOON BE REDUCED TO A GAME PLAYED BY MEN WITHOUT SPIRITS OR CARICATURES OF MEN, WHO WILL SOON REDUCE THIS GLORIOUS GAME TO A MIND NUMBING EXERCISE OF STERLING BOREDOM", so for the good of the game and paying public who continues to patronise this glorious game come what may, do let the Petersen's of this world continue to remain what they are...........

New Look Indian team

Even beginning to imagine an Indian batting line up without the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman for the first time since 1996 especially while ushering in an entirely new and cramped cricket season does indeed evoke a queer feeling in the pit of one's stomach.


The afore mentioned stalwarts not only scored Himalayanesque runs for team India, but more importantly succeeded in evoking a sense of self belief in their team mates and that sense of self belief enabled a team that was consistently written off both at home and abroad the wherewithal to start winning test matches if not series in alien conditions with nauseating regularity.

Well every era does indeed come to an end eventually and the golden era of Indian cricket has certainly come to an end with the retirement of these three stalwarts who provided us with fond memories that will certainly last us this lifetime and beyond; however as the cricketing cliche goes, the game has to go on and go on it must so what if these three gentlemen will no longer be around to provide manna from heaven to both your heart and soul.

Cheteshwar Pujara is indeed a replica of the irreplaceable Rahul Dravid and comes closest to him in terms of his single minded dedication, voracious appetite for runs and inherent ability to spend long hours at the crease wearing down and grinding out the opposition bowlers, indeed welcome attributes that any and every number three batsman worth his salt should possess.

What more can be said about that redoubtable Sachin Tendulkar who will willfully continue to man the number four mantle that he has done with distinction for the last two decades and more and Virat Kohli at number five only makes me salivate at the prospect of watching a virtuoso performance by the master and his unabashed disciple in tandem as Virat Kohli without a shadow of doubt established his test cricketing credentials on an otherwise disastrous tour to Australia earlier this year with a masterly century thereby underlining the fact that he is indeed the future and the bulwark of the Indian batting order for the next decade and a half or so.

The problem lies in creditably filling up or manning the number six position as India has failed to find a suitable replacement for the tough as nails Sourav Ganguly despite a good four and a half years having elapsed since he hung up his boots for good; as far as yours truly is concerned, he would certainly be more inclined towards seeing Subramaniam Badrinath occupying this crucial position by virtue of the very fact that he has scored a truckload more of runs than Suresh Raina at the first class level plays the short ball with a lot more aplomb and comfort than the afore mentioned individual, is as good if not a better fielder than his Chennai Super Kings counterpart and the cricketing logic behind picking him to make a comeback at the ripe old age of 32 will indeed be defeated if he is simply made to warm the benches.

Well all one can say in conclusion is good luck team India, may you annihilate the hapless Kiwis in your own backyard and do credit to the lingering memories of the dashing triumvirate who played an instrumental role in making the present team India what it is..........

Careless Whispers ??

Rajiv Shukla is indeed doing credit to his minister of state parliamentary affairs portfolio if his supposedly hushed whisper in the ears of the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha asking him to adjourn the house for the day as repeated demands for a highly ineffectual prime minister's resignation by the opposition parties on the floor of the house in his presence was only adding to both the PM's as well as ruling dispensations discomfiture certainly prove his sterling credentials.....only pity being that the entire nation and it's cousin was privy to the game underfoot between Messrs Shukla and Kurien......"CARELESS WHISPERS" a la Rajiv Shukla did I hear someone say????

Indian Cricket Team - My Selection !!

The Indian cricket selectors have done Indian cricket a huge disservice again as is their wont by selecting a team that is neither here nor there for the forthcoming brief tour of the emerald isles of Sri Lanka and thereby missed out on a great opportunity to blood some new talent and test the mettle of the up and coming youngsters........

Virat Kohli would have been my choice as captain for the fortnight long tour and Suresh Raina would have served as his deputy and Rayudu would have donned the keeping gloves as I for one have always felt that he did a more than decent job behind the stumps for the Mumbai Indians franchise whenever accorded the opportunity anf let's face facts, he has been Mumbai Indians best batsman by far over the last couple of seasons of the IPL; and Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav are certainly the future as the fast bowling attack is concerned so why are they not being provided with the opportunities that they so richly deserve??? only the so called five wise(?) men of Indian cricket can answer that one..........
I for one, would have rested Messrs Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni, Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar and given an opportunity to Messrs Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav instead of the afore mentioned stalwarts thereby giving them one more opportunity of proving their worth and making a concerted effort towards filling some really large boots that have served the cause of Indian cricket with distinction for the last decade and more.........

GOD PARTICLE ??

Two groups of scientists claim to have found the "GOD PARTICLE" and allegedly are 99.99% sure of establishing the why's and wherefores of the "Big Bang" that is believed to have given rise to the planet all of us currently inhabit; so will these scientists start appropriating the role of the almighty unto themselves in the forthcoming future and will we see new scientific additions to the pantheons of the Gods??????

Mr.Rahul Dravid ... Batting Coach ?

I know that coaching a side is a thankless job and also know that more brickbats rather than bouquets will sum up your lot more often than not; but then somebody's just got to bite the bullet and get on with the job and who better than the "WALL" Rahul Dravid to take over the reins from the present incumbent thereby providing the beleaguered cricket team with the much needed impetus and new sense of both purpose as well as direction..........

THe Whistle blower .. Team Anna

Team Anna is back to doing what it knows best namely raising issues of immense concern to the common man and untiringly trying to wake a highly unresponsive and increasingly arrogant government from it's deep slumber of convenience; and therefore it is the duty of very right minded citizen who cares an iota about the menace of corruption to raise his/her voice in chorus with that of team Anna's, so do wake up guys and gals and come out onto the streets of your respective cities to lend your might,voice and support to this movement expressly devoted to ensuring a corruption free and meaningful life for all of us........

Media ...do they have their hearts and souls in the right place

one really wonders whether both the print and electronic media have their hearts and souls in the right place, we have horrendous and heart wrenching incidents like the one of the nineteen year old girl who was thrown of a moving train by four would be molesters in Mandya and the humanitarian crisis in Assam that is assuming threatening proportions, yet the media with the notable exception of Times Now decided to concentrate their energies on an inconsequential swearing in ceremony that matters a tuppence to the quality of lives we lead or our stature as so called human beings.....so much for their tall claims about being the conscience of the man on the street.......

Security on railway trains ...

Mukul Roy pays obeisance to Mamata Didi while a nineteen year old young woman is thrown of a moving train in Mandya, 26 year old engineer butchered despite lodging repeated complaints about his baggage being stolen and highly offensive behaviour of a group of fellow passengers with the concerned Railway Police authorities and hapless passengers travelling in two Assam bound Rajdhani expresses are 

stranded at a wayside West Bengal Railway station for the last four days; all one can say in conclusion is that.....this happens only in India.......and highly incompetent and utterly callous Railway Ministers continue to hang onto their minsitries despite doing everything else but the jobs that they are being paid to do.........

Teachings of Shirdi Sai baba

I subscribe to the Shirdi Sai Baba school of thought that says that a man only has three real friends; namely his aged wife, faithful dog and money in hand, which school of thought do you subscribe to?????

Sorry State of Affaris !!

What are we celebrating-----the fact that we rank amongst the most corrupt nations in the world, the fact that couples are forced to sell their youngest offspring for a measly 20,000/- rupees in order to facilitate the treatment of their elder offspring, the fact that our glorious country that supposedly venerates the female form boasts of the most skewed male female sex ratio in the world or then the indisputable fact that we are all denizens of a land wherein we take great in touting the slogan "MERA BHARAT MAHAAN" at the drop of a hat despite knowing that "SAU MAIN SE NINYAANVE BEIMAAN".....cause enough to celebrate; did I hear someone say........

Punjab de Sher .. welcome back !!

Two irrepressible sons of the land of five rivers "PUNJAB" deservedly make it back where they belong after fairly lengthy intervals and promise to set the cricketing stage aflame with their sterling exploits; way to go YUVI and BHAJJI PAA, TUSSI PUNJAB DI SHAAN HO, GREAT HO, AUR MERE AUR LAKHAN PUNJABIYAAN DI AAN BAAN AUR SHAAN HO......

Mr Asad Rauf ... ...

Asad Rauf, an umpire on the elite ICC panel has allegedly been caught with his pants down and gallivanting around Mumbai's derelict streets if an aspiring model and actress is to be believed; whatever next the BCCI and PCB presidents doing the Bhangra, giving each other pappis and jhappis and swearing everlasting bhaichaara while singing Aadmi Hoon, Aadmi se Pyaar Karta Hoon at the top of their voices ....I fervently hope I am not giving some people the wrong ideas

Jago Indian Jago ... apne Desh ko Bachao !!

Friends, fellows and countrymen; the time has come for us to take the reins of this glorious country into our own hands, steer it towards a new beginning, a dawn where very Indian will see all his ardent hopes and long held aspirations being fulfilled, a corruption free India where merit will be the sole governing criterion and your wherewithal will determine your standing in society; Shri Anna Hazare has shown us the way forward with his movement aimed at empowering and enabling people, let's all dedicate ourselves to this cause and usher in an INDIA that all of us can indeed be proud of...
Eagerly awaiting the launching of team Anna's political party that will put paid to the deceitful and immoral hopes and aspirations of the establishment as a whole and well entrenched political parties in particular.....will canvas for them, suggest candidates, campaign for them and most importantly make sure that I cast my invaluable vote in favour of a party that will further the cause of the nation and society instead of it's own narrow, self serving and seemingly nefarious ends........

Independent ?? now what's that ??

what does being independent truly mean; the freedom to express your thoughts with fear, favour or censure, the right to resolutely stand up for whatever you believe in as long as it is not to somebody else's detriment, real, absolute and brutally honest equality and emancipation or then the unbridled right to loot and plunder the country blind without as mush as a by your leave.....well, we all know which option would be most favoured by our political elite.....

Mamata Didi has gone down town with her pronouncements on alleged instances of corruption within the highest echelons of the judiciary.....the latest version of the Jack Nicholson classic "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" a la Ms. Mamata Banerjee......

My Worries .... on cricket..

I only hope and pray that Rayudu is not forced to go the way of an Amarjeet Kaypee, K.P.Bhaskar, Bantoo Singh, Saad Bin Jung or Connor Williams who never ever donned the Indian test teams cricketing whites despite scoring thousands of runs for their home as well as adopted Ranji trophy teams season after season with nauseating regularity.........
I have always been an ardent follower of the "horses for courses" policy, the only problem being that the convoluted Indian cricket team selection committee has turned this dictum around on it's head by selecting the 32 year old Subramaniam Badrinath after a dismal Ranji trophy season wherein he scored a pithy 292 runs from 8 matches and 14 innings at a dismal average of less than 35 and not when he was at his very best and scoring in excess of 1,000 runs per season for five consecutive seasons; another instance of regionalism and biased selection prevailing over cricketing logic???


Badrinath is already 32 and 36/37 is and has always been considered to be the age when most of of our batsmen go into cricketing hibernation for good, so does that mean that the very same Mr. Badrinath will only be around the Indian test team for the next four to five seasons; and pray will one of the five supposedly five men enlighten me on the reasons behind not making a certain Ambati Rayudu a part and parcel of the Indian test team, Rayudu has been the prima donna amongst the Mumbai Indian batsmen during the last two IPL seasons and the top scorer for his adopted Broda Ranji trophy team during the same period; one really wonders why the fact that this dimunitive batsmen cum part time wicket keeper was associated with the now defunct ICL for a couple of seasons is being held against him despite him swearing his allegiance to the powers that be within the BCCI......

C'MON SELECTERS YOU CANNOT FORGET YOUR EARLIER DAYS !!

One wonders why these illustrious former cricketers conveniently suffer from memory lapses and set aside slights dealt to them by the BCCI mandarins during their playing days, has the incumbent chairman of the selection committee one Mr. Krishnamachari Srikkanth erased the ignominy of being unceremoniously dumped as the captain of the Indian test team despite a honourably drawn series against the then seemingly invincible Pakistani team lead by a certain Imran Khan on Pakistani soil or has Jimmy Paa (Mohinder Amarnath) condescended to set aside the unpleasant memopries associated with the fiasco enacted by the then BCCI president who promised to anoint Jimmy Paa as the Indian captain and then opportunistically forgot his promise and appointed the "Colonel" Dilip Vengsarkar as the Indian test captain instead of Mohinder "Jimmy" Amarnath, one wonders why these noble sons of India do not put sense of dignity and honour before self and stand up for cricketing dignity and respect instead of selling their hearts and souls for a few lakh rupees???????


Come on JIMMY PAA, one certainly expected better from you, have you also erased the bitterness associated with a certain Ravi Shastri being favoured over you despite his averaging a measly 6.40 runs per innings against your seemingly Himalayan average of 16 plus runs per innings during your last series in Indian test colours; you had then resorted to slamming the then Indian selectors as "A PACK OF JOKERS" and announced your immediate retirement from all forms of the game with immediate effect as you were willy nilly aware of the fact that you would never again be picked to represent team India come what may.

Do summon up the courage to call a spade a spade and take up cudgels in favour of long suffering budding Indian cricketers so that they do not have to put up with the whims and fancies of the BCCI mandarins and watch their long cherished dreams of representing team India go up in smoke due to the shenanigans of a few individuals who cannot distinguish between the front end and back end of a cricket bat........