SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TOO.........

You cannot keep Saurav "Dada" Ganguly away from a cricket pitch for too long or can you........
Notching up yet another feather in an already burgeoning cap; former Indian captain Saurav Chandidas Ganguly will be one of the very few legendary cricketers turning out for the first of it's kind Masters Champion League that is slated to be held at various venues throughout the length and breadth of the United Arab Emirates next year (2016)..........
This first of it's kind T20 tournament (for the UAE) will feature six teams comprising of retired stalwarts and cricketing legends of the eminence of Brian Charles Lara; Adam GIlchrist; Wasim Akram; Jacques Kallis; Virender Sehwag and Dada Ganguly all of whom have been anointed as "icons" who will set the grounds ablaze with their masterly strokes and unplayable deliveries between January 28 and February 14;2016.........
Abu Dhabi; Dubai and the Sharjah Cricket Stadium which have staged an umpteen number of test; one day as well as T20 matches will play host to the six teams mainly owned or co-owned by Indian expatriates featuring in this much anticipated and eagerly awaited tournament.........
Dada Ganguly will be turning out for the Pooja Jhunjhunwala co-owned Libra Legends along with fourteen other cricketers of repute as each of the six teams gracing this iconic tournament will comprise of 15 members each thereby taking the numbers of cricketers featuring in this cricketing extravaganza to an astounding 90 cricketers or thereabouts.........
Every team is firming up it's team members in active consultation with the icons who are already on board and this more than a fortnight long tournament will not only be an unforgettable spectacle but also rekindle fond memories of the immortal exploits of these cricketing legends both with the bat and ball depending upon their area of expertise..........
Here's wishing this cricketing smorgasbord unprecedented success and sporting immortality........

JUSTIFIABLE CAUSE FOR CONCERN..........

What will our omnipresent and scient bleeding hearts as well as self appointed guardians of juvenile criminals say/remark after this.........
 In the most shocking; macabre and morbid incident to come to light or then grab headlines in recent times a 16 year old long term resident of the national capital's somewhat down market Mukundpur region was taken into custody by the Delhi police personnel late on Sunday night........
 His 22 year old accomplice and comrade in arms who helped him ensnare; subdue and sexually abuse the 25 year old deceased victim is still at large and wanted by the Delhi police.......
 According to the case's investigating officer the 16 year old and four of his friends held an impromptu drinks and dinner party running into the wee hours of Saturday morning at the 16 year old's modest dwelling and three of his friends left the dwelling after sloshing themselves to the gills.........
The remaining 22 year old friend/accomplice who is still at large then saucily remarked that all this drinking had greatly enflamed his libido and that he needed immediate gratification or release through intercourse with a woman or else he would simply implode........
 On hearing his desire; the 16 year old remarked that his 25 year old female neighbour was home alone most of the time and could prove to be the answer to their wild and wanton sexual desires and proclivities........... Thoroughly inflamed by their insatiable desire and spurred on by the liquor flowing through their systems; the duo surreptitiously made their way to the said woman's first floor tenantment through an adjoining terrace forcibly broke into the same and then gagged and bound her before taking turns at sexually violating and defiling her...........
Thoroughly taken by surprise and overwhelmed by the sheer brutality and barbarity of the demonic assault; the 25 year old soon swooned into unconsciousness and tried to grapple with her assailants and force her way out of the undesirable predicament in which she found herself............
Totally incensed and infuriated by their victim's valiant struggle for freedom; the murderous duo strangled her to death and then proceeded to dump her semi clad body in a nearby densely wooded thicket where they continued to satiate their seemingly insane carnal desires with the deceased's senseless body........
. Concerned and alarmed family members who were startled and dismayed by the 25 year old's abrupt disappearance from her home and hearth stumbled upon her near naked body in the afore mentioned thicket after a day long search (late on Saturday morning) and promptly informed the police about the discovery of their kin's body.........
 Swinging into action the area police firstly rounded up all the known anti-social and criminal elements in the crime area and managed to identify and apprehend the main accused late on Sunday morning after intensely questioning at least a 100 people or so residing in the very same area............
 Knowing that his game was up and all avenues of escape were now closed to him; the 16 year old not only more than willingly confessed to his inhuman and ghastly crime but also named his accomplice and fellow assailant as one Abhimanyu who had been known to him for the last 8 years or so..........
 A mini truck that was used to transport the victim's body from her dwelling to her transit resting place as well as her mobile phone was recovered from the very same densely wooded area on the fateful Sunday after the 16 year old sexual offender and murderer revealed the whereabouts of the same..........
 Will our moribund and procrastinating government wake up to the stark realities about the heinousness; deviousness and ghastliness of the crimes being committed by juveniles with growing impunity and nauseating regularity or then will they continue to pretend that all is well and look the other way as is their wont...........

MUCH DESERVED HONOUR AND ENCOMIUMS..........

It is both gratifying and heartening to note the fact that a few state governments still care for our former sports persons who have shed their blood; sweat and tears in their effort to bring sporting laurels to our motherland........
 News about the incumbent Delhi government's laudable and noteworthy plans to honour and felicitate Delhi cricketing stalwarts like Mohinder Amarnath; Bishen Singh Bedi; Kirti Azad; Virender Sehwag; Gautam Gambhir; Ashish Nehra; Virat Kohli and last but not the least Ishant Sharma during the course of the fourth and last India South Africa test match beginning on December 3 at the city's famed Feroze Shah Kotla grounds is just about making it's appearance..........
 Kirti Azad; Madan Lal; Mohinder Amarnath and the unheralded Sunil Valson who were the four Delhi Cricketers to have made their way into the annals of Indian cricketing history and folklore for their soul stirring efforts in annexing India's first ever World Cup way back in 1983 will be accorded due honours for their World Cup Winning exploits..........
 I for one am well and truly aware of the fact that Valson did not figure in the first eleven throughout India's triumphant march to cricketing glory but that does not deny him his rightful share of glory and honour by just being there and having done that.......
 While Messrs Kohli; Nehra; Gambhir; Sehwag and Ishant Sharma will be felicitated; lauded and rewarded for their stellar exploits during team India's triumphant journey during the 2011 World Cup of Cricket that was held on hallowed terra firma...........
 Yes it is indeed true that Bishen Paa did not figure in any of these World Cup winning teams but the Delhi government does indeed need to be praised for showing both the sagacity and grace to honour this inimitable spin wizard who more than played his fair role in making team India what it is today both as a hard as nails captain and somewhat eccentric and unpredictable manager who had his wards squirming and fretting over his next eccentricity.......
 Here's wishing all these noble and indomitable sons of mother India the very best for their futures and remaining years of their lives and hoping that other state governments would follow suit whenever the opportunity is accorded to them..........

MAKING ASHWIN APPEAR BETTER THAN HE IS...........

Is Ravichandran Ashwin really the answer to team India's prayers for a genuine match winner or are the designer pitches being provided to team India making him appear so........
 Well; I guess the answer to the question would lie somewhat in the affirmative considering the lack of pedigree; technique; temperament; application; dedication and perseverance in the ranks of the opposition batsmen.........
While there is no denying the fact that Ashwin is indeed a much improved bowler who has tirelessly worked on developing a stock delivery rather than depending on his innovations like the carrom ball or straighter one all the time there is also no denying that most if not all the batsmen confronting him during recent times have more than contributed to their own demises with rank bad shots that almost defy logic at the best of times.........
 Call me whatever you will but I for one firmly believe that the pitches being provided to team India off late make Ashwin look much better than he actually is as any bowler with some mastery over the art of spin bowling would excel on pitches that start turning square from ball one in my humble opinion.........
I for one would only want to pass judgement on Ashwin's mettle and place/rank in the annals of spinners who have adorned the pathways of this hallowed game when he starts producing similar if not as spectacular results on pitches outside the sub continent that are not half as conducive to finger spinners like Ashwin and provide the opposition batsmen with a far greater opportunity of negating his spinning abilities with dexterity of foot and inimitable hand eye co-ordination..........
Yes there is no denying the fact that team India is going to be playing a minimum of two more home series in the near future and the rank turners being provided to it on demand (home conditions/advantage and all that you see) would prove more than handy in bloating Ashwin's strike rate and bowling figures; I for one would like to see him ensnare batsmen in his intricate and beguiling web on a sporting pitch that does provide the hapless batsmen with a more than equal opportunity of showing off their batting prowess...........
Well in my opinion for whatever it is worth; anointing Ashwin as India's finest ever spin bowler would be doing a great disservice to the real greats like Bhagwat Chandrashekhar; Erapalli Prasanna and the stormy petrel Bishan Singh Bedi who ensnared batsmen with far more pronounced abilities to play quality spin bowling in their webs with far more wizardy and mastery..........

ALL SET TO EXPLODE ON THEATRE SCREENS..........

It is indeed heartening to note that avid film buffs are still enthusiastic about patronising real and rivetting cinema.......
 Bejoy Nambiar one of the most promising up and coming directors on the Hindi film firmament is indeed a happy and contented man after seeing the heartening response to the official trailer of the much awaited "Wazir" (the same is directed by Nambiar)........
 A gushing and overwhelmed Nambiar quipped; "I for one was indeed petrified when we released the official trailer of our racy and pacy action thriller a little over a week ago or so considering the fact that we had released the first look or teaser trailer of the film exactly one year ago".........
 "What is even more satisfactory and gratifying is the fact that discerning and mature audiences are taking due notices of the official trailer and giving rave reviews to the same as my entire team and me spent many a sleepless night studiously working on the same and the more than gratifying response has indeed left us all humbled and ecstatic at the same time"; Nambiar signed off..........
 Starring or featuring the ageless wonder of the Hindi film industry Amitabh Bachchan; Farhan Akhtar; John Abraham; Neil Nitin Mukesh and Aditi Rao Hydari in stellar roles the films 120 second or so trailer certainly grabs you by the throat and leaves you breathless by the end of it with it's raciness and death defying action scenes.........
 The same also does give you a inward glance or glimpse into this mind blowing action thrillers taut and intense storyline as you are able to figure out that both Farhan and John play Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) officers who are pitted against an international terrorist (Neil Nitin Mukesh) who wants to reduce India to a glowering mass of humanity..........
 One also deduces that Shri Amitabh Bachchan essays the role of a wheelchair bound senior citizen equipped with a razor sharp brain that belies both his age as well as physical infirmity or disability while the petite and gracious Aditi Rao Hydari is Farhan Akhtar's love interest in the same........
 Co written by Abhijaat Joshi and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra; the near two minute long peek a boo thrill a minute action adventure sure left me spellbound and waiting with bated breath for the much anticipated and eagerly awaited January 8;2016 when this "Wazir" will explode on the silver screen..........

ON ERRANT FATHERS AND LONG SUFFERING DAUGHTERS...........

Will young girls trust and revere their fathers after this horror.......
 A 40 year old labourer was apprehended by the Gurgaon police sleuths late on Thursday night on the grave and heinous charges of sexually brutalising his biological daughter when the two of them were home alone earlier in the day or then should I say fateful night.........
 As per laid down procedures; the accused was produced before a local court on Friday morning which remanded him to seven days police custody for further interrogation and medical tests carried out on the 14 year old survivor at a government hospital have conclusively established the occurrence of the alleged crime.......
 According to the still petrified and traumatised 14 year old; she was home alone at around 11 pm or so on the fateful night when her seemingly sozzled father sauntered into their home and hearth and asked her to disrobe as he fancied a sexual piccadiloe with her.........
Taken aback by her father's indecent proposal the indomitable 14 year old steadfastly refused to accede to his inglorious demands only to be be callously disrobed slapped around till she almost lost her consciousness and then to compound her agony brutalised till she was reduced to a copiously bleeding mass of humanity.........
 He then wandered out of the house without as much as a backward glance but not before threatening to cut his very own daughter into tiny pieces if she much as breathed a word to anyone about her sordid fate........
 Concerned neighbours who barged into the house on hearing the 14 year old's plaintive cries for help did indeed spot her father fleeing from the spot but were too late to accost and detain him; they however rushed the trembling and cowering girl to an adjoining police station where her statement was initially recorded and a manhunt launched for her accused father on the basis of the same..........
 Lo and behold; the local police sleuths successfully managed to arrest the demonic and deviant father from a friend's house where he was enjoying his usual or then preferred brand of tipple in the supposedly august company of his mates and boasting about his sexual exploits at around 1:30 am or so on the very same night/early hours of the morning........
 An FIR has been registered against the errant and murderous father under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (threatening to kill) of the Indian Penal Code and he has also recorded his putrid confession under section 164 of the Indian Penal Code in the presence of a judicial magistrate while his tormented and grievously injured daughter who is recovering in a city hospital also duly recorded her statement under the same section identifying her very own father as her assailant.........
 According to senior Gurgaon Police officials; the public prosecutor will be asking for the maximum punishment in this case as a deterrent to all such fathers who harbour malicious hopes of doing the same with their daughters..........

EVERY DONKEY HAS IT'S DAY..........

I for one thought that I had heard it all but this is a first for jaded; world weary and cantakerous old souls like me.......
Donkeys bearing the name of Shahrukh; Aamir; Salman; Narendra Modi; Rahul Gandhi; Nitish and last but not the Laloo; Maya, Mamata and Mulayam will be sold by the thousands during the course of the five day long annual "Gardhabraj Mela" (donkey festival that is unfailingly organised from the Probdhini Ekadashi (November 22 onwards) in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain town (55 odd kms away from Indore city)..........
 According to both proud and preening owners as well as oily and manipulative traders thousand of donkeys are sold during the course of this five day long annual jamboree with a fortunate and blessed few even fetching astounding and astronomical prices of Rs. 20,000/- or thereabouts........
 Owners generally name their donkeys after film stars and politicians owing to the belief that the humble and ubiquitous beasts of burden fetch a far more commanding price if named after resplendent film stars and politicians whose fortunes and stars are on the ascendant when the fair gets under way............
 Sample this for example; Laloo; Nitish; Shahrukh; Aamir and Salman are the current flavours of the season and hence a few hundred donkeys might end up bearing their names; donkeys bearing these seemingly hallowed names and glowing fitness are bought far more easily and openly in comparison to their less fortunate brethren..........
 Letting the cat out of the bag a wizened old gentleman who is gracing this annual event for the 25th time or so says; "I for one and a lot of other sagacious gents like me buy our donkeys and quote prices for the same depending on the number of teeth adorning their mouths at the current time".........
 "Two teeth signify or point towards the fact that the donkey is around two to three years of age while three teeth mean that the beast is four to five years old and so on as younger the beast better his load bearing capacity and virility and these two are the most priced virtues in any donkey worth his salt"; this veteran signs off.........
 So mock; ridicule; lampoon; castigate or whatever else you will; the fact of the matter is that Laloo and Nitish are not only ruling the roost during the course of this one of it's kind five day long festival but fetching astronomical and jaw dropping prices too........