Sachin..

The name says it all.

I grew up epitomizing you, you were my Guru and inspiration outside family. You are not just a Cricket player, much more to the country as a sportsmen and so much more to millions like me as a Superstar, Master and God.

My childhood was a bouquet of your batting. Your fifties, hundreds and double hundreds used to be my bread and butter. As swashbuckling innings from you would keep the smile intact on my face for days to come and even your 20s and 30s would make me cheer like a kid with inexplicable toys in hand. My scrap books were all you, you were more important than my academics, you were my only reason to get up and watch a cricket match with Chicken pox. Eden, Lords or MCG – doesn’t matter, I will watch the game as long as I see you coming in to bat.

Your batting was my soul, you being in the 11 was good enough reason for me to watch the entire match including the commentary that talks about your replays. Your presence in the field meant adrenaline unlimited for me and the team. You are my ‘Bahubali’ plus ‘The Dark Knight’.
You were Sachin and for me, your name gave me goosebumps.

Your cover drives made me topple with joy, your flick was my life’s sweetest menace, your on drive was a delight to savor and your straight drive made me go crazy. It was not the strokes that made me fall in love with you, it was ‘You’ and the batting in ‘You’ that made all the difference in a world of meandering cricketers. ‘Sachin’ isn’t a name for me, you were my lifeline.

I remember most of your epics, your test centuries, your ODI gems, your World Cup exploits in 1996 and 2003. Your debut, your birthday, your first ODI century – some of the very few dates I remember in my life outside family. For me, they are not dates. They remind me of your legend, your batting, your iconic aura and the magic of God.
As Harsha aptly said – ‘Absolutely Divine’.

I yelled at my mother as I was extremely upset over your dismissal in the 2003 WC final and my mother has still not forgiven me for my innocent burst of anger. At that point, I and India were shut down. And that’s an usual behavior towards any of your dismissals because I never believed that you can fail. And, you taught me to succeed.

Your discipline is a subject of awe for me. Your humility stuns me, your simplicity is contagious and your aura inspires me.

Cricket is still being played, we still have superstars and the game is still very popular.

But, for me, there will never be another Sachin.
And, since, Cricket has never been the same for me.

As the planet says, Happy Birthday!

photo talk

Pre iPhone era. When photos were shot with devices we don’t see around today. Yet, impressive images with limitations and strong hands to shoot them. Out from the archives but still looks gorgeous!

What’s your pick?

when wait is life

yes, waiting is an art. waiting in the wings, waiting for time to salute you. waiting for the tide to adopt a different gear. waiting means you are almost there, but yet not there. yes, waiting does matter. holding on and not let go when the last barricade gives you a tough time. yes, waiting is tough.

waiting is to play with time. time isn’t everyone’s toy. it’s a toy with its own game plan, without indicators and warning bells. it happens, it moves, it turns, it again happens.

wait is for the time to occur for you. for me, for us.

Kaatru Veliyidai – Different Terrain

Sometimes, our love stories don’t need bad guys to create a rift and separate 2 made-for-each other souls. Our nubile minds are just enough and too good to create miseries for self inundated human beings.’KV’ is a bi-product of such individuals who live and smurf themselves with their ego to destroy superlatives.

Love, lust, sex or marriage – we all live in a volcano of emotions that’s ruled by ego – tiny, small, big. It’s available in all sizes and is devoid of caste and religion. It just resides, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. It depends on how we use our ego – to create or to destroy. Ourselves, sometimes everyone else who is around us. It is celebrated with a cacophony and mourned with anguish. Mani Ratnam’s film deals with such familiar yet anonymous components of human life. Not commercially, but in his own way. What better way to make 2 people fall in love amidst war? Classy patriotism.

‘KV’ begins with the carnage of Kargill and ends with a household whimper. No surprises here, and all ends well. But the journey of love, togetherness, ego, separation, pain and ecstasy are bundled up in a dramatic deluge of thrills and bore. It is inspired by true events – I don’t remember seeing this tag line in a Mani Ratnam film since’Bombay’ in 1995 but we were not that explicit way back then with such catch phrases. Times have changed, so has cinema. Mani Ratnam has forged in to a fascinating collaboration – romance amidst tumultuous waters. It works, sometimes it doesn’t.

The thrill moments – Mani and his cameramen are made for life. Ravi Verman’s exploits in ‘KV’ takes us to another planet. Right from the start – the credits that overlap the blood of Kargill war, the snow laden mountains that look like sleeping in your lap every now and then, the dust laden camps – all look like pieces of divine particles put together to etch an epic love story. Aditi Rao Hydari gives a refreshing performance as the leading lady, I hope the pretty face moves ahead after this memorable stint with Madras Talkies. Karthi as the flamboyant Air Force officer and an eccentric individual does justice, often handsome and often unpredictable. The last 20 minutes of the film is a stunner – the high voltage chase scene in a jigsaw puzzle-like roadway and a riveting background score by AR Rahman will just take your breath away. Absolute brilliance. Plus, ARR’s songs are already a chart buster. I am on a rewind for the past couple of days with ‘Nallai Allai’ and ‘Tango Kelaayo’. Just hooked!

The dull moments – ‘KV’ isn’t your commercial wannabe, and it had to be quite pacy to get attached with the audience. It does but not consistent enough. Mani Ratnam’s definition of romance in itself is a bit unconventional, but it isn’t as ravishing as we expect it to be in his kind of urban love. The could-have -been better editing is compounded by ordinary dialogues which makes few sections of the movie stoppable. The story isn’t iconic, and all his usual suspects appear inadvertently – Srinagar, snow, closed door dialogues, Red Cross to name a few.

Comparison trivia – I don’t want to but irresistible me! It has few similarities with his own films – ‘Roja’ and ‘Alaipayuthey’. Some uncanny resemblances with ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Pearl Harbor’ too.

Mani Ratnam isn’t the kind of filmmaker anymore whose films will set the cash registers ringing. But his films possess class, and technically way above the rest. There is something about his films that I rave about, I like his kind of cinema. Few notches high, the ground below still looks clean. That’s ‘Kaatru Veliyidai’ in a nutshell.

Dilemma

Hazy, yet not saying it’s not clear. Confused, yet clarity hides behind the cushion covers of the holy mind.

Dazzling, yet not impressive enough to torment achievements and wake them from sleep to google inventions. Rusty, because too much is still not enough to consume riveting stories.

Perplexed with such goodness around you, the anti still lives to see some life and squeak through for blemish-less happiness. Yet, good times ahead.

 

the march of 17

There is something conspicuous and fascinating about the climate of March, not just applicable for 2017.

Turnovers, number games, profit and loss, employment jigs, disappointment and optimistic stories. March is loaded with all that a year promises to pack in a 365 day juggernaut.

I term it as the month of U turns, if you love taking those turns. I am one who doesn’t like the word – ‘settling down’, unsettles me quite a bit. I back my decisions, and work hard to make them happen. In a way, it’s true for all of us as long us we are not scared to take that unlikely decision of our life to get transposed to the next level.

March is one such month of anxiety and ecstasy. It ends and begins at the same time. It provides hopes, we can see them either crashing down or being catapulted to the highest order. Much depends on how you see the proceedings unfold – much of a derailed notion to a more teething issue. What’s important here is the perspective, what we have seen and experienced in years to do what we do today. Differently or desperately, results will come through.

For me, March is the Baap of all spoilers and delinquency. Turnarounds, decisions, introspection, celebration, magic. All happens in a spate of randomness and takes us by a storm.

How was your March? Do let me know and we can discuss the gigs over a cup of tea.

Irony

We worship, we slaughter. We despise, we adore. We nonchalantly care for them, we treat them as commodities.

Creation of God whatsoever, what separates us? Caste, Creed or Religion? Well, all 3 I would say.

Rules are meant for all, written by few for all, practiced by very few but the clan is the same, race is the same, behavior pattern is the same.

What’s different? The geography. The map. The outside world. The inside world.

Destiny.

Mayapur – The Sublime Town

I wasn’t very keen when Dad popped up with this idea to visit Mayapur. No, I ain’t an atheist but not the spiritual kind as well. Perhaps, I am the usually found under average human being immersed in success, money and  big dreams. Nevertheless, I did make this weekend trip.

What it turned out to be remains unexplained beyond words. I came back mesmerized, and wiser – if it’s measured by tantamount feelings of realization and sanity.

A world of it’s own, with people swimming around outside civilization and with a touch of spiritual eagerness that at least shows up in the attire – not disputing their intentions in any way, that is. Just being there under couple of days gives you this feeling that there is indeed a world outside the juxtaposed self imposed amphitheater that we all live in. If that looks pretentious, ours is equally appalling. It’s just that we adorn ourselves inside the carpet of civilization that stems out of the roots of the supreme – as they say and as we cease to have faith in.

Interesting stories that kept me hooked up in a sting of conversation that seems to come from a different world, different thought process, different desires, different kind of people. Yes, they are different. Not the outside but the inside that matters. I am to believe that consistently faking yourself is a difficult task and hence my faith remains abducted to my principles that comes from a blessed value system. Long story cut short, I felt strong.

Piece of history was unleashed in front of my eyes and it was a curious visit, if I can say that way – with information about the legend. A weekend of heat and blessed aura that keeps me afloat in testing times.

Thanks to my parents who took my unworthy tantrums in their stride, I owe it to them for all the joy and bliss.

Truly, this is one of it’s kind.

Source of Idol Photos: Mayapur ISKCON Website

how much is really enough?

There was a time when we had no internet, no sprawling streaming sites asking to you get glued and no mobile operators. I guess, life was much simpler then, sans mayhem and greed.

Today, the crucial question is – how much data is enough data? Just when you settled in for 2 GB and happily going around in a month to ensure you spend judiciously, out comes this huge, iconic announcement that changes everything. Customers are bull dozed with data, and just more data, luring customers to go crazy and ask for more. Trust me, 100 GB is not good enough today.

What has changed? Why this surge in data consumption and the drive to possess beyond limits?

I don’t know, may be you can answer better. Or may be, we are just changing. Remember, supply always is meant to meet the demand. We, as consumers have become in-delectably addicted to this urge of being glued to our mobile phones – sizes galore and so does our data in our disposal. We do everything, yes, almost everything with our mobile phones. We have become device maniacs.

We pay bills, we whatsapp all day, we FB like there’s no eternity, we tweet like hell, we check and send emails, we stream and download movies, we do music, we create presentations, we read news, sometimes we just browse – nothing to everything. See, I told you. We do everything with our mobile data.

Now we know, why this evolution that has led to a revolution!! Gosh, we have become paranoid, big data junkies who start the day with GBs and end it with just more and more GBs.

I am profoundly and fondly guilty of data consumption, are you? We are talking now.

Grounded

We all savour that moment in our life and perhaps wait for eternity to get a glimpse – a clean, effortless, magical straight drive. And then, welcome to reality. Still, life looks beautiful. Sober, pleasing and more relished. If we could have the content inside us to draw saturation points, our lives will never need filters.