tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60271815732313155392024-03-05T05:04:15.096-08:00Vacillating Reflections of an Oscillating MindIdentity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-48828172829667782852020-09-28T01:03:00.001-07:002020-09-28T01:03:38.183-07:00Antaryaaami Alasiti Solasiti... Thank you Baalu đđ<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuo8xogSVF2HJYeKu61IulNdWKIbDGgSiBKuDW_-Ik9BWtxToZnDGw9MtftgRQ5WWtUKuCOSj1gr1idjqsFgvx22gwuD6DJsR4Gf-DEpPEYXMJzHid7V-rv12EbJSRx-HsM20IdhAk82I/s696/SPB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="696" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuo8xogSVF2HJYeKu61IulNdWKIbDGgSiBKuDW_-Ik9BWtxToZnDGw9MtftgRQ5WWtUKuCOSj1gr1idjqsFgvx22gwuD6DJsR4Gf-DEpPEYXMJzHid7V-rv12EbJSRx-HsM20IdhAk82I/w640-h258/SPB.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: black; font-family: verdana; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Itâs not always that greatness has a successor. History gave enough instances to make us believe that âPandita Putra is always a parama sunthaâ (son of a great person is always a useless dud or may not be that great)..</span></span><p></p><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Shivaji & Shambaji; Sunil Gavaskar and Rohan Gavaskar; Akbar & Jahangir; (No fault of Rohan here)</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">However, we also have instances of some exceptions, Raja Raja Chola & Rajendra Chola. Though not a father-son duo, Sunil Gavaskar -Sachin Tendulkar, Sachin Tendulkar- Virat Kohli. A similar analogy can be drawn to Ghantasala and S P Balasubramanium.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Ghantasala was indeed the toughest void to fill for his mellifluous voice saw the golden era of Telugu cinema with superior music, pristine lyrics, that it was impossible to emulate or fill in the gulf. </span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Stepped up Balu with an iconic debut alongside arguably the greatest Playback singer of Indian Cinema in the film eeka veera through the song âPrati raatri vasanta raatri"</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">As time flew by and music and melody were replaced by beats and cacophony, he was the last man standing who probably deserved to be called a legend. </span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">The singer who made his name synonymous for clarity, diction, energy, and quality was a household name in India - with over 40000 songs in 16 languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Tulu, Malayalam, and Hindi. The legends of Hindi Cinema, R D Burman, and Lakshmikant Pyarelal were in total awe of him and he became the voice of Kamal Hasan and then Salman Khan.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">It would be impossible for any neutral music lover to identify that the man who sang the following songs is the same person</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Soodu Pinnamma paaadu pilladu</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Seekatamma seekati muchataina seekati (beginning of nammaku nammaku ee reyi)</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Sach mere yaar hai (Saagar)</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Imitating Nutan Prasad in âIntenti ramayanam title song or</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Kotta devudandiâ from Rajadhi Raju</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Life is shabby without you Baby (Padamati Sandhya raagam his own composition)</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Maate raani chinna daaani kallu palike oosulu (one of the few occasions where sang for himself)</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">It was an unprecedented and astonishing god gifted ability to mimic the voices of the character on the screen and make the audience believe in their subconscious mind that the actor on the screen is the one singing. This was generations before mimicking a voice became a serious profession and a source of livelihood. </span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Like all well-fulfilled lives, Baluâs life can be divided into three thirds. The first one where he led for himself and honed his extraordinary music sense to become what he was about to become. From the 20s to 50s be the flag bearer of Indian Cinema, establish a monopoly, and leave a legacy and all of this without any foundation in classical music. </span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Thanks to A R Rehman and more importantly Ramoji Rao and his ETV, in the final third of his life, Balu became a bridge that merged the first three generations of Cinema to the last five and ensured that his legacy is passed on to the future generations. </span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">While I personally was a bit cringy about his nitpickiness as a judge on some music shows, the anecdotes which he used to share about any particular song, musician, actor, lyricist or any behind the camera narrative of any movie from any era was unparalleled bliss, it was like the fairy tale for a toddler which made us give the Channel some more view time till his narration was complete.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Most singers usually have a gargle before a recording, legend has it that sometimes Balu even had a plate of Mirchi Bajji followed by Ice cold goli soda and yet came up with a flawless rendition. The same guy who when singing a devotional song as seen in the picture below takes off his slippers and closes his eyes with utmost dedication as if he is in conversation with Lord Venkateswara. I'm glad that the Lord paid heed to his ultimate prayers when he said Antaryaaami, Alasiti Solasiti..(literal translation coming to 'oh my supreme controller, am tired & jaded, please take me with you')</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: verdana;">Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam thank you for being such an integral part of our lives and we are truly blessed to be born in your era & thanks to the technology your voice and works will be savored for generations to come.</span></div></div>Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-49638556847508798942020-09-28T00:54:00.003-07:002020-09-28T01:05:00.532-07:00 So Long Professor Deano!<p><br /></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoXDxn50eDZr9XnmADWmHnQNIzSFwFbKl0tIKszJ-usxqqBgDzxWE86EdyJOKx_9JvcjI2JTLoxKcwVsw3SAq2LADEoOX_k2eaFLcHaAkiRoLCBvJQrXlA1uQYwRMNVdksLqFuxt5F-0/s859/Deano.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="859" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoXDxn50eDZr9XnmADWmHnQNIzSFwFbKl0tIKszJ-usxqqBgDzxWE86EdyJOKx_9JvcjI2JTLoxKcwVsw3SAq2LADEoOX_k2eaFLcHaAkiRoLCBvJQrXlA1uQYwRMNVdksLqFuxt5F-0/w640-h366/Deano.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Fielding never came naturally to me and I was guilty of dropping some crucial catches in my limited career as a playe</span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">r. Though sometimes a more relaxed self was taking tough catches making them look simpler, it was only by chance rather than conviction.</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Last night was watching Select Dugout (always prefer this channel for the insightful views the pundits there give instead of regular star sports). The match was going one way; while enjoying the ranting tweets of the greatbong, catching up the later part of the game having my dinner with little realization that these were the last Live minutes of Dean Jones on air.</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">During the course of this one sided game, Professor Deano managed to make the telecast interesting by coming up with a priceless bit of advice; viz. while attempting to catch skiers, always ensure the hands are partially overlapped and your dominant hand is receiving the ball so that it remains intact and does not spill off. Was thinking if only such cricketing intelligence were passed in the commentary box more often instead of redundant liners like "run your first run harder and put pressure on the fielder" etc, the bits and pieces cricketers like us would have learned and enjoyed so much more..</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The commentary career of Professor Dean Jones was fraught with analysis like this. The man who revolutionized ODI cricket with aggressive running, above the infield shots, sliding stops, fielding with shades, sunscreen lotions continued the change the world of commentary as well with his Prof. Deano Calculations and analysis.</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">He was the fulcrum of the resurrection of the Australian team which won the 1987 World cup. He somehow never got his proper due or send off which a legend deserves and was hurried off into retirement while Marsh's and Moody's got a longer rope..</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">RIP Dean Jones, it was fascinating the way you approached your game, and thanks for all those wonderful memories on the field, even though most of your great knocks were against India, there was no feeling of resentment as we fans always watched you with a sense of disbelief and awe.</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Ideal that he breathed his last in India, the land/team that made him immortal whether it be the epic Chepauk knock of 211 o the 90 in a thriller in the 1992 world cup..</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl oo9gr5id gpro0wi8 lrazzd5p" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/selectdugout?__eep__=6&__cft__[0]=AZUXluT0E4SurtumSX0FhS-WyeR5OBt7DfSruwqSX1ACTdYD73HwAekaiN2xBAQbndh9oXxWAO6w1kIUlOYiOzYQxUF4ouSp6JeISlXVbauwoZf9skTay7WBZrTJJ8g3bx4&__tn__=*NK*F" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">#SelectDugout</a></span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> may not be the same and will definitely miss your Professorly insights and you seem to have passed on the baton of Wisdom to Scott Styris, Bret Lee Mike Henson, and ilk..</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">So Long Legend..</span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-51659877983283581972020-06-26T06:02:00.004-07:002020-06-26T10:02:45.310-07:00 Thank You Jurgen Klopp!!<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg023zzstzLyFg53eqFvNJ57LogqjcEmtrwzlbTsPQVi7dyRqkm0VbtkYvyhYsoHURuYWBgnLE5thKLawN-UoHAI8ETuMH0OG16DlzflBT-cEglsGL2y6hSjq5l8zgwtaVwqUXm_4pu6j4/s909/JK.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg023zzstzLyFg53eqFvNJ57LogqjcEmtrwzlbTsPQVi7dyRqkm0VbtkYvyhYsoHURuYWBgnLE5thKLawN-UoHAI8ETuMH0OG16DlzflBT-cEglsGL2y6hSjq5l8zgwtaVwqUXm_4pu6j4/s320/JK.jpg" /></a></div><font face="georgia"><div><font face="georgia"><br /></font></div>When Jurgen Klopp inherited Liverpool Football Club, the club was enduring a driest possible spell of the decade. They have won one title
in the last eight years, an insignificant league cup, our star players
periodically started to leave Liverpool, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano,
Fernando Torres, and most hurtfully, Luis Suarez just after extending his
contract 6 months back.</font><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia"><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Brendan Rodgers who bought Liverpool a very close title race
paid no heed to Champions League or European football, the legacy on which
Liverpool Football Club is built on. Liverpool failed to qualify for the
Knockouts of Champions League got beaten 6-1 by Stoke in what was club legends
Steven Gerrardâs last match featured a second-string side against Real Madrid
in a must-win group game and was unable to hold on to Luis Suarez and bought
the mercurial Mario Balletoli as his replacement.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Brendan Rodgers got sacked after a 1-1 draw with Everton 6
games into the new season.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">I was on my way to Tirupati when I got this news from my
cousin who messaged Jurgen Klopp could be the replacement. I always wanted a
European manager for Liverpool because Liverpool is not English in terms of
European legacy and English managers are shite by and large and we hardly see
any world-class English Manager around.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Klopp won two back to back titles challenging the Supremacy
of Bayern Munich in the usually unchallenged Bundesliga where Bayern has been
dominating for a good part of the decade. One bad season and the management at
Borussia Dortmund felt Klopp has drained out and allowed him a sabbatical which
worked quite well for Liverpool.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">His appointment was confirmed. He said he is the normal one
and he wanted to change Liverpool from doubters to believers. He said he wanted
some time before we start delivering results.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">The glimpses were there to be seen, beating City in their
own backyard 4-1 and then Chelsea. The run into Europa League finals where he
almost won a trophy in the first season.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">He united the Kop when Liverpool dramatically equalized
against WestBrom. He demanded that the fans should not leave the ground when
the team is having a poor match day. He said the fans did not have the right to
celebrate the clubâs success when they canât stand by them when enduring a dry
spell.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Klopp and Kop formed a connect right then. The media started
liking his candid interviews, Sir Alex Fergusson said he is uncomfortable when
he got to know Liverpool appointed Jurgen Klopp as his manager.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">There seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel for
Liverpool and something special was being unfolded, the fans started to believe
again. In Season Two, the team put in a good fight and got Liverpool to 4th
position which qualified them for Champion League playoffs. Where it actually
belongs.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">In Season three Liverpool reached the finals humbling Bayern
Munich in quarters and breezing past few other clubs. It was humbled by Real
Madrid after his best player was wrestled down in 30 minutes and had to be
replaced and his Goalkeeper made two howlers in the most important final for
Club football.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">In season four thanks to the reinforcement of a world-class
center back and goalie, Liverpoolâs misery in defense which was there for the
past decade was finally sorted. They started leaking fewer goals and getting
more solid in defense.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">That also enabled them to be ahead in the ever-eluding
Premier League title race till matchday 37 before Pep tipped him to the post
with 98 points. Kloppâs Liverpool secured 97 points and still finished runner
up. There were years when League titles were won with a tally of 74-80 points
and such was the quality of English football that this was not enough.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">The spirit of a lesser mortal would have been shredded to
pieces. Klopp rallied a miraculous semifinal comeback when against FC Barcelona
which had the likes of Messi and old sons Suarez and Coutinho.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">They had to beat them 4-0 and they did. Karma took a U-turn
for Mohammed Salah and he scored a first-minute penalty in last years finals
while Divok Origi, the club legend, and big-game player scored the second goal
to lift the 6th trophy 2-0.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Two more titles followed to finish the unprecedented treble,
the UEFA Super cup, and Club World cup.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">The Premier League that was still out of grasp after so many
close races took off at a different level boost. By January Liverpool was ahead
of its closest rival by 25 points. The final frontier seemed all but conquered.
We were winning games 1-0; Earlier the team had to score thrice or have a
two-goal cushion to reassure victory, it was not the case anymore.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">But then nothing comes easy for a Liverpool fan without a
skip of heartbeat and COVID19 happened. Sanity prevailed, the league resumed,
and the formality was completed and 30 years later, Liverpool won the topflight
football league again taking their tally to 19 and overall titles tally to 48
with Manchester united standing at 45.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Overall Jurgen Klopp took some tough calls; he sidelined
Mohmadau Sakho when he had some discipline issues and never featured him even
when Liverpool was badly in need of a center back. He waited for the right buy
and bought Virgil Van Dijk. He gave enough rope to his goalies but when none of
them impressed, he bought Allison Becker for a then world-record fee.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">As promised in his first-ever interview, at the turn of the year
Five, he had 4 titles all of them coming in the last 12 months.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool restored its European
supremacy after Rafa Benitez left & he won the much evading Premier League
after three decades & two generations.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">The fans canât thank the man enough. A chord was formed
between Klopp and the Kop (one side of the goal post which allegedly sucks the
ball in if itâs a Liverpool player and drifts it away if itâs an opponent).<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font face="georgia"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="georgia">Like the club legend, Steven Gerrard said, this man deserves
a statue while he is around.</font><o:p></o:p></p><br />Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-24726904998291402532020-04-29T23:18:00.001-07:002020-04-29T23:24:19.781-07:00đ Om Shanti Om.. Shanti Shanti Om..đ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zFtiCN1THfm4OL6HoMEeBaexbOyvN73VxDM1XhfPiteCisPN8O6uFJDcoinYJDypTJvhcdr0wesLaKmagB6tJasiP95SPNoBRZ7yxKT96jXhjFZKS3GdvjHHRG4J7hPUxBO8NXJ5TY0/s1600/RK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="709" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zFtiCN1THfm4OL6HoMEeBaexbOyvN73VxDM1XhfPiteCisPN8O6uFJDcoinYJDypTJvhcdr0wesLaKmagB6tJasiP95SPNoBRZ7yxKT96jXhjFZKS3GdvjHHRG4J7hPUxBO8NXJ5TY0/s640/RK.jpg" width="472" /></a></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From the adolescent of Mera Naam Joker, to the Romantic Hero of Bobby (the name trendy enough to prompt someone very dear to refer me with that endearment) and other early RK films, to the youthful hero of the mid-late 70s, to Manmohan Desai's multi starers like Naseeb, Amar Akbar Anthony & Coolie, </span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">âŠTo the solo hero of Karz & for being the life of beloved Mohammed Rafi's comeback to Stardom Qawwalis of AAA & Hum Kissi se Kam Nahi, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To being the middle-aged leadman of Yash Chopra<span class="textexposedshow"> movies, to playing the second fiddle in the launch film of the new Badshah of Bollywood in Dewanaa to the Twilight classics of Hum Tum, Kapoor & Sons and Agneepath rehash. The Journey of beloved Rishi Kapoor has been legendary, yet understated and underutilized..</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks for being such an integral part of our lives..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="6qdm"><span style="background-size: contain; display: inline-block;">đ</span></span> Om Shanti Om Rishi Kapoor..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Your offspring, the finest actor of the current generation, will ensure your dad's dream of the Kapoor show to go on...</span></div>
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-34555504803877635892020-04-21T00:15:00.001-07:002020-04-21T08:53:21.193-07:00My Lucky Stars!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBhOWFONS4ftgGhbG_XEeA0nyoeCesbbJi6tqvmCxxHiUtyrYCbb47TihjPIcO_SycLP8N3VT1DjbV8Yl66LV1H6lbPkEtpsfbGDGzZqOaiMzA-1-IIsWQm_0e5vocb7fvZsSYSTW1IA/s1600/MLS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="983" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBhOWFONS4ftgGhbG_XEeA0nyoeCesbbJi6tqvmCxxHiUtyrYCbb47TihjPIcO_SycLP8N3VT1DjbV8Yl66LV1H6lbPkEtpsfbGDGzZqOaiMzA-1-IIsWQm_0e5vocb7fvZsSYSTW1IA/s640/MLS.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Stargazing has been one of my passionate habits at the onset of Summer. Today after a serious thunderstorm, I was surprised to see a fairly clear night sky and my surprise heightened when I could spot some stars in the midnight sky from the balcony. Without wasting much time, rushed upstairs around 1 30 Am to reunite with the companions of the night aka the Stars and Constellations.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">While I was able to see some stars if not all, the following are the Stars that a novice in me can instantly recognize even today.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Venus â The morning star of the Northern Hemisphere, easily the brightest planet visible even after the onset of bright morning Summer Sun.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Mercury- Little below Venus, not as bright but definitely visible in the morning sky.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Mars- Staying on the eastern side of the night sky, Mars is the reddest star you can see with the naked eye, while the reflection of red light is quite evident.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">One basic rule I was told is Stars twinkle and planets do not twinkle. The planets stay constant in light without a flicker or a blink.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Saturn: The second-largest planet is also the second biggest star towards the eastern night sky and is a bright spot of light. The one in little less shape and less than half the brightness and exactly parallel to Saturn is Andres. The distance seems like goal post to goal post or a 22-yard pitch given which game you like to visualize.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Jupiter: The brightest star in the night sky and is as bright and big as Venus is in the morning. You look up any time in the night and the brightest non-twinkling star of the northern hemisphere sky is Jupiter.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Saptarshi Mandalam- or the Bear constellation. The seven-star shaped like a bear with the middle of the three having a twin star which the mythology calls as Arundathi, the only visible wife of sage Vasishta whose form, the wife of lord Agni was not able to take as per the legend.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Parallel to the top two stars of the bear star is the evergreen Pole star or the Dhruva Nakshatra.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">While all planets and stars move as the night goes on, the Pole star does not move or shows the least movement given its directly lined up with earthâs axis of rotation. The sailors of the bygone era used to navigate sea routes using polestars at night times.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">The three dotted Star or the three wickets star, known as Orion, is another bright set of three stars one cannot miss once we tilt our head 70 degrees upwards into the night sky. This is a part of the bigger constellation but I put a cap on my awe in recognizing this set of Stars alone.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">I was not able to add many Stars to the list I already know even as the agenda to visit a planetarium has not been ticked yet.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">The only other heavenly body I can recollect now is the moon with the most proximate Star to the moon is his favorite wife, Rohini or Aldebaran.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Feels good to reunite with a lot of childhood and adolescent passions & special thanks to my Brother Bunnu & Sister<br /><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100002785177230&extragetparams=%7B%22__tn__%22%3A%22%2CdK-R-R%22%2C%22eid%22%3A%22ARAhzWugMdboCPvnON_1qOLD7qHGYO8h9vuLWSOYcInWObGp7VGzcLeYGp66i1WERvd0Ve7jMT-_p3iQ%22%2C%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/geetha.patri?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARAhzWugMdboCPvnON_1qOLD7qHGYO8h9vuLWSOYcInWObGp7VGzcLeYGp66i1WERvd0Ve7jMT-_p3iQ&fref=mentions" style="cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Geetha Patri">Geetha Patri</a> for evoking interest in stargazing from a very young age.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">The only thing done to pamper this interest was invest in a 7k worth telescope from Amazon to be duly mocked by the seasoned sky watchers from the fraternity.</span></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-22219942059016958542020-04-17T03:04:00.001-07:002020-04-21T08:59:07.475-07:00Hemanta Kumar!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JPWAcctCe2U/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JPWAcctCe2U?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span cccccc="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">There were times during my growing up years, which had the usual the annual visit to my place of birth Guntur for Summer Holidays.. among a lot of
things there, one striking aspect was how all families were united by the love for
Music, Indian Classical as well as Western.. Back then, almost inevitably at
least one member from every known family knew how to play the Harmonium aided by
a voice with nasal touch..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span cccccc="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">They would never shy away from showcasing their limited range of
songs agai<span class="textexposedshow">n and
again year after year with the universal favorites being the Nagin been music
& couple of songs from films like Waqt etc..</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span cccccc="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span cccccc="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Saw this Video during idletime
YouTubing & just thought how good should the legendary Hemant Kumar be if
his supremely rich, velvetly smooth, Baritone voice sounded this good with
Doordarshan mics.. He was I think aged around 69 at the time of giving this
rendition..(passed away at 70)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span cccccc="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span cccccc="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Was great to see this interview
of the original voice for Dev Anand & may be even Guru Dutt perhaps<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span cccccc="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">I'm not a great face reader by
any stretch but if there is a person whose face reflects the epitome of a
flawless, pious, saintly professional of the bygone era balancing work and
personal life with equal devotion, then this could be it.. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span cccccc="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">anddd at the other end of the spectrum you read the news scrolls pertaining to the adventures of Anu Malik or
Kailash Kher or some random Mohapotras about their music auditions, very little
about which is actually pertaining to music..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-48019090228556111112020-04-17T03:02:00.002-07:002020-04-21T09:01:23.475-07:00Rohit Gurunath Sharma!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg-eUZ5HYE9IlYVNBcTgqKSVwl-SQJps_pdInh0TDFcVZnBcA21aeRAhLP40NGpW9gYWoCuknCuphsrY9vDva7uPb_PhHGloQYFc_MN99sIvE39FR7ylvl2D6vi3pLGTi5AwtD8vxykg/s1600/RS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="297" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg-eUZ5HYE9IlYVNBcTgqKSVwl-SQJps_pdInh0TDFcVZnBcA21aeRAhLP40NGpW9gYWoCuknCuphsrY9vDva7uPb_PhHGloQYFc_MN99sIvE39FR7ylvl2D6vi3pLGTi5AwtD8vxykg/s640/RS.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A long due ode to en erstwhile enigma of sports, who for the
first five years of his career might have given more income to the stand-up
comedians and trollers than he did for himself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a sports fanatic, I have a hierarchy spread in terms of
allegiance I have for Sports personalities & teams.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Top of the list & a thing of beauty that would never return
to full-fledged action would be Stefan Edberg. I don't think in my limited view
of sports, I have seen a more graceful poetic movement in a sports arena.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Followed by that for a neck to neck tie is the Indian Cricket
team and Liverpool football club, who don the Silver medal by the narrowest of
margins. Will torment about these two in a later post.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before I get to the bronze, I would like to make some honorable
mentions of Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Mohd Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni
and Sachin Tendulkar in that very order, who I really adored to watch during
their peak and had an emotional connection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bronze, however, should go to the one and only Rohit Gurnath
Sharma, the Hit-man. Strangely enough, the nickname he has is a big irony given
the grace he gets to batting and the time he has to play his languid and
exquisite stroke play.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He is probably the only reason for me to still follow Indian
cricket even on non-ICC events and sometimes those meaningless bilateral events
which India plays so very frequently these days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My first tryst with Rohit was when he was a teenager in the T20
world cup where I think he scored a crucial 50 in a must-win encounter against
South Africa on his debut and won the MOTM and also scored a crucial 30 in the
finals against Pak to propel the score to 154 or thereabout to give his team a
fighting chance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though people were in awe of Robin Uttapah during those times,
Rohit's backlift, his lazy allegiance & I guess subconsciously, his
connection to the Telugu/Hyderabad/Vizag roots did have a strong reason for me
to follow this guy. Not to mention a calm, unruffled demeanor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I remember doing a lot of fire fighting for this guy with a lot
of friends who felt he is a burden to the team and a talent which was never
backed by attitude etc and thanks to the masterstroke of MSD (probably to get
one up in his cold war with Viru) Rohit opened the innings in ICC Champions
trophy 2013 and he never looked back.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=6027181573231315539" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span cccccc="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">For a country which booed its favorite sons Sachin and Dravid in Mumbai and Bangalore
respectively, we cant expect patience with an unproved talent and for this I
won't blame the naysayers for the impatience shown, <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75"
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o:title=""/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span class="7oe">:-)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He may not be as effective as his captain Virat Kohli yet in
terms of winning games single-handedly or his mentor MSD to pull a rabbit out
of hat from unfavorable situations but he definitely has the wherewithal to
perform under pressure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To know the true worth this guy has, one needs to watch all his
100s he scored against Australia in Australia (Channel 9 commentary being must
instead of the nasal Laxman Sivaram Krishnan commentary).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can't single out one fabulous knock he played from the many but
for me, the most hilarious anecdote is his first double hundred in Bangalore
when my significant other, took a leave on what was a Friday to watch her
favorite Virat Kohli bat and when India was one down & I received a
message from her which read "Ben Stokes" Rohit Sharma, I quickly
checked cricbuzz to realize that Rohit ran Virat out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course two hours later when I was in Chutneys In-orbit, I
enjoyed what would be his first double hundred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today is a tip of Iceberg of what Rohit could possibly do and
this is precisely what we expected from Sachin Tendulkar when he was at the
prime of his prowess. Treat India with the Rabbit out of hat victories when the
backs were against the wall. But then expecting that would be like expecting
rain from Sun God and hence came the finishers in Yuvraj Virat MSD and to a
lesser degree Rohit and Raina.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">India never had its Miandad, Inzamamul Haq, Alan Lamb, Neil
Fairbrother or even Basit Ali, but thanks to the current generation superstars
we have all of them to the power infinity and more.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rohit Sharma might have had a fabulous world cup but if he would
have added another to his tally in the semi-finals or finals in a winning cause
for India, he would have been on par with the Kapil Devs, Yuvrajs, MSDs and
Virat's in the great Indian folklore of limited over champion match winners!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just hope he plays long
enough to up the proverbial ante and rubs his shoulders alongside the true
greats of Whiteball limited over cricketers!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br /></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-49798277780643296512020-04-17T02:54:00.003-07:002020-04-21T09:02:59.491-07:00Ala Vaikunta Puramu looo-- A Review!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbE9Q2UWdloU4_ipxGgqAET6EBnd7c3BbsypsXI4pK4-jrHsInnSeuK-tfHjMb_QtrD-UpEYU6Ann8JPE4rqZeb9B0HDZXG55TLRMFnK59s2CN6ouCj1yp8KxRxnohqq8FYGHETO6n8I/s1600/AVP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbE9Q2UWdloU4_ipxGgqAET6EBnd7c3BbsypsXI4pK4-jrHsInnSeuK-tfHjMb_QtrD-UpEYU6Ann8JPE4rqZeb9B0HDZXG55TLRMFnK59s2CN6ouCj1yp8KxRxnohqq8FYGHETO6n8I/s640/AVP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The usual saga of Trivikram Sreenivas movie is you go with a certain amount of expectations only to be let down by what you see but then you
realize that what you saw may not be as good as you thought it will be but it's
novel and re-watchable enough and the movie becomes a cult classic eventually.
And then it's a rinse repeat cycle when you await his next movie.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alaa Vaikunta Puram lo is no exception, you wished the writer
stuck to his core attribute of dialogue writing during a crucial phase of the
first half instead of the protagonist showing his macho muscular brawn to
convey a point but at the same time you do not regret the length of the movie
as the basic elements of the story has lot of content and we await the unfolding
of drama with a certain amount of expectations no matter how predictable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3v also has a known tendency to get back, yesteryear actresses
and weave a graceful and arrogant character around them, it was Nadiya few
years before, Kushbo last year and Tabbu now, and he could have done bit more
justice to her character.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we reach half time (pardon the football verbiage) one only
hopes that 3v habitually does not deviate from the main track and get into his
usual needless unrelated comedy tracks like he has done in this duo's previous
combination S/o Satyamurthy or Attarintiki Daredi after a promising start.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The director does not disappoint this time again and gives story
the driving seat like he did in Aravinda Sametha. A habit or a practice one
wishes he continues. The way he closed the movie also has a novel touch to it
instead of making a commercial potboiler predictable emotional saga.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Allu Arjun is the visible on-screen star of the movie along with
Murali Sharma & the Maharashtrian veteran actor (Sachin something, who is
reminded about his roots proudly by my movie-going companion ever since NTR's
Kathanayakudu or before ) & Thaman striking the right chords with songs and
BGM.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While leaving the large Prasad's Screen to enjoy the richness of
the magnum opus called Vaikunta Puram, and with the crowd passionately
discussing the climax and possible interpretations, we know that Ala Vaikunta
Puram lo is rightly pipped as the Sankranti Blockbuster.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As for Trivikram Sreenivas, we only wish he could have revisited
some scenes to deliver a more satiable masterpiece. His best one till date
where he stuck to the plot was undoubtedly Athadu and if only he focuses on making
a single delicious dish like a Biryani instead of a Solar System like
North/South Indian Thali out of his movies to satisfy all sections of the crowd
thereby compromising on the core of the movie.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Till then guess he won't be doing 100% justice to the undiscovered
talent powerhouse he is or maybe he is too lazy to do so and sticks to the
tried and tested cliches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And like rightly summarized by one of the reviewers, if only Ala
Vaikunta Puram Lo could have been Ala why couldn't it have been a little
better..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All said and done, still content with the output but given our
previous experiences will keep the expectations grounded for the next
Trivikram Movie..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span blue="">IMHO, a two-time watch!</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br /></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-1765451797787886532020-04-17T02:50:00.001-07:002020-04-21T09:04:21.431-07:00The God, Me & the Karmic Connection<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vKxGWmcIy-SB1zFxg2ELDlJQ0E6i518GrOTFYpewxU_XIy9F_wFHdCiW-LRbHCSDqxkoFyYXR-eSfX21xljONtlSdlrifuZYREXkNQWf5009ITedSAVf4nBsxLcOdMK3nrXW9VtBse8/s1600/God.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vKxGWmcIy-SB1zFxg2ELDlJQ0E6i518GrOTFYpewxU_XIy9F_wFHdCiW-LRbHCSDqxkoFyYXR-eSfX21xljONtlSdlrifuZYREXkNQWf5009ITedSAVf4nBsxLcOdMK3nrXW9VtBse8/s400/God.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Long post with back and forth screenplay & introspection
& good luck if you read it through.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A while ago, was on my way back home after taking care of some
annual rituals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The road leading to the home was blocked by four back to back
heavy vehicles and<br />
just in nick of time, I took a left turn so that the shorter cut can overtake
the four heavy vehicles and the last Kilometre or so can be a smooth ride.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Wagon r also swiftly followed me and I had a fleeting pride of
being a pioneer in adverse situations, I reached the end of the road in no time
only to notice a ditch with varying measurements apparently dug in to stop the
usage of the road.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I promptly put aside my pioneer hat and donned the safety one,
got down to gauge the width of the ditch and made a calculated assessment that
the car would be safely negotiated if it's taken from the extreme right corner
and tried the same, only to realize that the front left tyre was badly stuck in
the Pit. When I got down for the second time within a minute, I realized that
my sole follower was already changing his path to stick to the main route.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What followed next was both very gratifying and amazing
experience and without jinxing, it was not the first time. A two-wheeler
stopped to make the assessment & after a few futile attempts from our end,
a young duo got down from a very new looking premium branded Sedan and started
giving their insight. Within the next 7 minutes, there were around 20 people in
an otherwise isolated area, parking their respective vehicles and assessing the
situation. Some of them, who are professional drivers tried their own ways but
to no avail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They finally got some granite dug the ditch further to make a
better grip for the front tyres and asked me to see-saw the vehicle a bit, made
a U-turn of the original plan(which was reversing the vehicle) in the last
minute & successfully got the vehicle out with me in the driver's seat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was overwhelmed to say the least for the obliging and
accomodating nature that was on display for a lone unknown passerby & my
battered ego received a minor boost when some of them said they knew where I
stay. I dutifully handshaked all of them and before I got back into the seat,
the crowd was dispersed by 80%.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I thanked the first two-wheeler gentleman who was there
throughout to see this through and lastly, a stern-looking middle-aged man came
with a piece of advise that the ditch was dug so that vehicles do not take this
route & even if it takes few extra minutes, its ideal to stick to the main
route.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not that I had any choice in this matter but I obediently took
his advise and rode back home & almost instantly decided to dedicate a
blogpost for these helping Bowrampetians.. only thing which I missed, as am not
a natural at it, is taking a victory picture of the 20 odd crowd of various age
groups that gathered to help out a stranger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Knowing me, I would have probably driven past my vehicle if I
noticed others were already there or even if I got down, would have made zero
contribution to the cause, but the takeaway definitely is to be helpful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now to the slightly sentimental/religious tailpiece: 95% of the
cases with me(or most of us), the Karma is quite instant. As is proved in this
incident. So there was an opportunity for me to overtake those heavy vehicles
from the wrong root via an uphill road before I took the left turn but I could spot
the head of the biker taking that empty road from the opposite direction thereby
potentially blocking my way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I gave a mouthful of expletives to him only to realize that the
biker was on Ayyappa-Mala. I was immediately apologetic for my short-sighted
reaction as I have a lot of reverence for the ordeal they go through and the
devotion. (of course, he had no idea of any of this) and within a minute I
encountered this 15-minute conundrum.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Interestingly, the misery of my stuck vehicle only ended when a
'Swamy' came and put some heavy granites in the path of my front tire and and
orchestrated the revival.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Had another opportunity to
apologize to my beliefs or fears, thanked all and him in particular and then
moved on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br /></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-60418049166799719082020-04-17T02:44:00.002-07:002020-09-28T02:29:57.299-07:00Deconstruction of The MegaStar!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2dOjJezDfjDJsCNaKmizpKYP2LHvAxcNg-770rad8Cvr0XlTest4IJP-3TXC3_Fz42UVKQssxxHI1kPHy_NMhFTLnsqOhWZKQgheQHru5Rwgda8EMnGeCO5DuHsmdH6PpzjT-muyBCpU/s1600/Mega.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2dOjJezDfjDJsCNaKmizpKYP2LHvAxcNg-770rad8Cvr0XlTest4IJP-3TXC3_Fz42UVKQssxxHI1kPHy_NMhFTLnsqOhWZKQgheQHru5Rwgda8EMnGeCO5DuHsmdH6PpzjT-muyBCpU/w640-h426/Mega.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" left="" quot="" sans-serif="" text-align:="" verdana=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Chiranjeevi post his Megastar-dom has mostly been a conflicting
personality. The guy who after modest and industrious beginnings has seen the
unsurmountable highs till the time of âGharana Moguduâ (A Rajini remake, remade
in Hindi as Ladlaa) later sunk to inexplicable inconsistencies ever since and
has become more desperate to regain his invincible status.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The harder he tried, the more difficult it was to reconquer the
invincible summit, till he finally gave up after various futile attempts by way
of forgettable films from 92-97. Of course, he slowly rediscovered the Midas
touch by picking some well thought off scripts and signed off with a hattrick
of blockbusters in the early millennium. Once he reached the second pinnacle, a
downward slide was seemingly inevitable again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The next slump took him to the lowest ebb in his life when he
started an innings in Politics, where he failed miserably. His trusted
lieutenants (including himself) again let him down and Chiruâs fragilities in
decision making was exposed as he constantly made contradicting statements and
decisions. I think he probably wanted to go to the next level and match the
legendary NTR and create a Mega wave so to speak but he failed to assess that
the era of NTR and MGR was gone and the current times were different and so
were the masses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Unfortunately, his popular dialogue of âjust time gap anthe
timing lo no chanceâ was one of the chief contributors for his political
debacle. Andhra was vexed with Congress and Indira Gandhi & NTR was at the pinnacle of his career and had a certain demi-god status back at the time, and
everything just magically fell into place when NTR made his political debut.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">That was not the case with Chiru at all as there were some
haunting episodes before and during his political journey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">There is that enduring fiasco of Uday Kiran & how a failed
engagement with his daughter allegedly led to the downfall of Uday, which mixed
with other factors ultimately culminated in his sad, premature demise. The
silence of Chiranjeevi in this entire episode was rather uncomfortable for his
neutral & rational fans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">To be fair, Chiru was himself in search of his acting successor.
Earlier, he rather prematurely drew parallels with Srikanth and how a
âPellisandidiâ was Srikanthâs âKhaidiâ but that was a one-off blockbuster for
Srikanth. He then found Uday Kiran who again made it to the big league on his
own and he might have thought he would give him a lease of life like Chiru was
given by his legendary comedian father in law, in a way that he never looked
back, but Uday was not in sync with this and while Chiru was magnanimous enough
to accept the decision of Uday, the forces behind Chiru were not that graceful
and the rest is a rather sad part of history.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Then there is Chiranjeevi the parent where his youngest
offspring dragged him into the news for wrong reasons right before his
political launch & he maintained his composure and tried to set things
right momentarily. The timing of this incident drew obvious parallels to his
leadership, guidance, and administration.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">As a person, he never looked to be at peace for the last 20
years for the most part and always seemed like an out of form batsman who is
very eager to regain the form and ended up chasing the wide away swinging
deliveries only to be caught constantly in the slip cordon. Listening to
contrasting advise from multiple coaches and changing his technique too
frequently.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Except of course when he was Chiranjeevi the actor! When you see
him on the silver screen, you tend to forgive and forget everything and relish
and relive the moments that made him the Megastar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Ace director K Balachander once said that Chiru was the
amalgamation of the class of Kamal Hassan and the mass of Rajinikanth. Iconic
director Bapu said that his biggest asset was his eyes and how right the two
legendary directors were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Kamal might not do a Thalapathy or Rajni cannot do a Sagara
Sangamam but Chiru could don both the roles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Finally watched Syera and while the initial part of the movie is
slow and the script in some places is weak, the Megastar showed us that when
you have appropriate theatricals, wonderful voice and effective eyes, you donât
need the machoness of a Prabhas or the ferocity of a Rana nor years of training
in Gym with equipment worth in crores to make an impactful scene.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The audience would forget that the protagonist is a 65-year-old
senior and all one would see is an ageless aging Megastar who would make you
forgive the inadequacies of a weak script and take you on one tidal wave after
another on a Tsunami called Syeraa where one would relish the high-octane
action-packed surfing!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Chiru often faced criticism for his overindulgence in directors
role and eventually make the film look quite stereotype, but over here, he took the special care that Chiru the Megastar is not the one who we see on the screen
but itâs Chiru the actor, the one we just cannot take eyes off from the screen
even if the other person sharing the screen is Big B himself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span blue=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Wishing the Megastar an
eventful third innings as an actor and hope he explores more roles and treats
the audience with the actor in him after a three-decade hiatus.<br />
</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/syeraa?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="58cl"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; text-decoration: none;">#</span></span><span class="58cm"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; text-decoration: none;">Syeraa</span></span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br /></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-66250130727761717532020-04-17T02:38:00.001-07:002020-04-21T10:15:48.088-07:00The King of Good Times!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipREux3lYWGuz1tWIAFV_efMGXDXCFCyYGaF-AqPrxtHlAFy4B7AFC38fecUWIS68NOsZzyQjEnQCCEs8rdbgpWcnoX2IgTROxkuc_kgMX2HeKMJUVR4_Wf0ZuMqztuRFCoZwa2GwESRA/s1600/UV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipREux3lYWGuz1tWIAFV_efMGXDXCFCyYGaF-AqPrxtHlAFy4B7AFC38fecUWIS68NOsZzyQjEnQCCEs8rdbgpWcnoX2IgTROxkuc_kgMX2HeKMJUVR4_Wf0ZuMqztuRFCoZwa2GwESRA/s640/UV.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were a person who grew up watching cricket seriously from
the 90s, you would associate a peculiar pattern with Indo-Pak games. As a
classic example, the fans would line up for a game with high expectations at
Sharjah against archrivals Pakistan, where Pak would pose a formidable 250 to
start the great Indian run chase. The Indian chase and the match would
effectively end within the first 5-6 overs once Tendulkar falls to Wasim Akram
or Aaquib Javeed.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In another scenar<span class="textexposedshow">io, the opponents pose an imposing total of 250+, thanks to
Sachin, India remains the chase till the 30th over. Panic then creeps in and
the unavoidable Indian batting collapse would ensue spearheaded by the master
himself.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The advent of Yuvraj Singh has
challenged this stereotype and predictable loop of agonizing so near yet so far
Indian run chases. India started winning matches while chasing. It wasn't the
Kanitkar Boundary or Rajesh Chauhan Six or another handful of matches we could
easily count nor was it the Sachin Tendulkar's overly stretched revenge saga of
Henry Olonga anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Earlier, the objective would have
been to keep the margin of defeat within acceptable magnitude.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yuvraj has become the chief
architect of modern India's greatest ODI triumphs to the extent that doing the
improbable was constantly becoming the norm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">India finally had its own
finisher, which until then were patented only by the renowned Pakis, Javid
Miandad or Inzy or England's Neil Fairbrother or Alan Lamb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The legacy was carried on by MS
Dhoni who went to become the finest ODI finisher and then King Kohli took it to
a different level.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While a certain Wasim Akram
augmented the gulf in the win ratio of Indo-Pak ODIs, the finest Southpaw ever
to bat for India reduced the gap.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If not for his trendsetting
exploits of chasing down some daunting totals when the odds were stacked
against team India from the new millennium, the 2011 World Cup Finals against
Sri Lanka would have ended the moment Sachin got out, just like the semifinals
of the 1996 world cup did after Sachinâs fall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you, Yuvraj Singh, for
entertaining us with a Caribbean flair and for being the man for the big ICC
events for Indian cricket right from 1995 under 15 world cup to 2011 cricket
world cup. Fate then had different ideas but your resilience ensured that it
was only temporary and you did come back with a bang giving us more moments to
relish, while the end was seemingly near and inevitable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If not for Indiaâs fab four in
Tests, you would have had an equally great career in the longer format as well,
but you did enough for ODIs and T20s that will go down in cricketing folklore
for generations of fans across the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt="" font-size:="" inherit="" serif=""><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank You!</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-83792053477624874192020-04-17T02:31:00.003-07:002020-04-21T09:08:10.283-07:00Gone too Soon- Sridevi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQghiw3ZueBFQ5uMZYuTJyTgwLVAeIS8uqCraBgKdfkk0hz0sXXnj_uYUx20pKU90gBWjxkRhnAYX923N8qbVjCgcgTpA-RbexdmoR-hsHQr9SI9tQKk0x1odIe1IACa1Z8AQD0KIzjlU/s1600/SD.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQghiw3ZueBFQ5uMZYuTJyTgwLVAeIS8uqCraBgKdfkk0hz0sXXnj_uYUx20pKU90gBWjxkRhnAYX923N8qbVjCgcgTpA-RbexdmoR-hsHQr9SI9tQKk0x1odIe1IACa1Z8AQD0KIzjlU/s640/SD.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gone too Soon.. Sri Devi.. She carried Bollywood on her
shoulders when the Big B was fading, Anil Kapoor was finding his feet and did
so with aplomb till the Khans arrived..</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's also unfortunate that the tremendous acting potential of
this fantastic actor of the 80s and 90s did not find the directorial talent and
range of experimentation that we now have..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Her second innings which began on a fabulous note with two back
to back performance blockbusters in English- Vinglish a<span class="textexposedshow">nd Mom was interrupted by this
unexpected and premature departure..</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hope her Kids, who are still very
young get proper guidance, support and protection & have a more secured
life than their mother personally & equally impactful life in whatever
profession they choose..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sri Devi the finest actor of my growing years and the first
female SuperStar of Bollywood who gave us Sadma, Chandini, Lamhe, Mr India,
Chalbaaz, JVAS, Kshana Kshanam to name a very few and whose acting prowess was
revered, cherished and worshipped by her subsequent generation artists &
film makers more than her contemporaries of the 'late 80s'....<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Om Shanti <span class="6qdm">đ</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-10013195414697355572020-04-17T02:27:00.000-07:002020-04-21T09:09:38.596-07:00Playing the Big-Brother to the tee!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouf7ROdqdlEqE38_f74-b4gIgvzFPO59S_JTfUVlsOOhCbYt0tbcGr1tn7d-gu06pM-QAXSbWiQCpXaQRuhS7DJhPSf8u9pdWC-Wt_R6qd3mh8TnuPu7tGgt1Xwnj4_0RKAK-cVlbcwc/s1600/Pak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouf7ROdqdlEqE38_f74-b4gIgvzFPO59S_JTfUVlsOOhCbYt0tbcGr1tn7d-gu06pM-QAXSbWiQCpXaQRuhS7DJhPSf8u9pdWC-Wt_R6qd3mh8TnuPu7tGgt1Xwnj4_0RKAK-cVlbcwc/s640/Pak.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" blue="" font-family:="" font-size:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">India continues to set the benchmark for Pakistan. We won the
Rothmans cup in 1985 at Sharjah; they win the Australasia cup in 1986 at the
same venue (Miandad last ball six). We win the world cup in 1983, they win it
in 1992, we won the T20 world cup in 2007, and they do so in 2009. We win the
Champions trophy in 2013, they oblige with by winning the next version in 2017.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Always admired the way they play their cricket. Their element of
unpredictability makes them a very likable<span class="textexposedshow"> and well-respected team in world cricket. In the year 1992,
Pakistan was on the verge of getting knocked out of world cup against New
Zealand in the semifinals. I saw Inzamam ul Haq bat before and I kept telling
my folks back home that these guys can still win the game. They won; I rejoiced
my hunch and was duly banned in the cousin group for my pledged allegiance to a
tabooed neighbor. However, as true cricket lovers, we all wondered why or when
India would get our own Wasim, Waqar or Saqlain. Just as in football, attack
wins matches and defense wins you titles, in cricket, batsmen win us matches
but bowlers win you trophies.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A bit of 90s Dejavu today,
typically Pak set us a target of 300+, back then it was 250 and we were over
and out even before our chase began as a certain Wasim Akram would rattle through
our top order for us to tamely surrender at 160, well short of their score. It
was Akram then, its Aamir now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No team deserved to win this
tourney more than Pakistan. To beat South Africa, Sri Lanka, England and then
their ICC nemesis India in the same event does take a special doing. It wonât
be long before they lose a bilateral series to Bangladesh or Afghanistan and
Sarfaraz will be removed as Skipper, but for now, may the mercurial cricketing
nation enjoy this special triumph and may India continue to be a positive
influence on matters other than cricket.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A special mention of the post-match
presentation speech and press conference by Virat Kohli. Always liked the post-match
speeches of Ganguly, MSD, and Kohli, very candid and to the point.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-34582126978156927812020-04-17T02:23:00.000-07:002020-04-21T09:10:41.783-07:00Nirmal Sekhar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHTmfjR8d3N38iBsX5ieE8Wh90wIyXnXEVYty3eFFf26CcQnvH5HoU_ouKCvT5WjoX7zde3GB-3eEw-P3PZOr1HGYMOehlJxbiAzCW_8eOIwGklrc6hjzUatjsh040Bh84zxt45PdRKw/s1600/NS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="286" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHTmfjR8d3N38iBsX5ieE8Wh90wIyXnXEVYty3eFFf26CcQnvH5HoU_ouKCvT5WjoX7zde3GB-3eEw-P3PZOr1HGYMOehlJxbiAzCW_8eOIwGklrc6hjzUatjsh040Bh84zxt45PdRKw/s640/NS.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back at the time when only Grandslam Tennis was covered on
Doordarshan and later Prime Sports, The Hindu and Eenadu were the only news
papers that covered the masters events and other important ATP tourneys..</span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When my Stefan Edberg adoration was about to peak, I found from
the lines of a Hindu sports columnist a similar like for the sport and this
sportsman in particular. I was hoping that one day I will meet him and discuss
his writings and the Ste-Fan fondness with him..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Sadd<span class="textexposedshow">ened
to see in the Paper today that ace sports journalist and the editorial brain
behind Sportstar & The Hindu, Nirmal Shekhar has passed away at a fairly
young age of 60.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span 10.5pt=""><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On a Gone too soon note, Om
Shanti Nirmal Sekhar..Tennis wouldn't have got this next to cricket
recognition India had it not been for your writeups editorials and coverage
Sire..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-6346484060580768842020-04-17T02:19:00.005-07:002020-04-21T09:11:51.116-07:00Dangal Dangal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CMxqZwPQcJD5-yyU4OR81nhpYZaJ63qqcbuHE33V-tWNhdyzUkMg6cUgbAgLbQMRDb2V-rgyceYxkRSN7-xmR7xadaQ9OfK6o9M9-mz4DGwYwbyT4U6W4QGWWHzTIWxS_hHK7OT0AYY/s1600/DD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="301" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CMxqZwPQcJD5-yyU4OR81nhpYZaJ63qqcbuHE33V-tWNhdyzUkMg6cUgbAgLbQMRDb2V-rgyceYxkRSN7-xmR7xadaQ9OfK6o9M9-mz4DGwYwbyT4U6W4QGWWHzTIWxS_hHK7OT0AYY/s640/DD.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;">
<span 10.5pt="" blue="" font-family:="" font-size:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">So then watched Dangal.. the quintessential sports movie where
the underdog is the winner against all the odds and itâs a very neatly taken
with all apt commercial ingredients intact to give the audience many goosebumps
inducing moments and a much welcome non-stereotypic climax..itâs a story told a lot of times in all sports based movies but the take, the effort put in by the
four girls to learn the sport and narration definitely deserves to be given a
very special mention.</span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><span class="textexposedshow">The entire cast did a perfect job, perfectly led by the perfectionist of Bollywood
himself, Aamir Khan.. I could draw a lot of parallels with his intense eyes
where they did most of the acting and communicating to that of tollywoodâs
megastar Chiranjeevi, but sadly unlike Aamir, Chiru summons his supreme acting
skills only 10-15% of the movie in garb of âEntertaining the massesâ, citing
which he successfully almost negated the actor in him..</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Aamir also reached a different
level by consciously keeping away his Satyameva Jayate emotions while playing
the role..Till the arrival of Sarfarosh, he was pretty much in the shadow of
the King Khan himself but with the advent of Y2k, he easily held his own with a
series of memorable performances to the extent that the Badshaah once advised
on national television talk show to the new Sahenshah that he should be content
with what he does and try not to improvise all the time..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">His momentarily lapse of reason
last year when he echoed with the tide of the award wapasi brigade on
intolerance was more than made up when he included the National Anthem in the
climax scene and few scenes leading to the climax (which a keen {read cynical}
observer will quickly notice)..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">He was also quite honest in the
beginning about the cinematic liberties taken to add some drama to the elements
but personally, I still feel MSDâs biopic is the one I liked the most on real
stories of sportsmen and was told the great Mohammed Ali liked Madhavanâs Saala
Khadoos as one of the best films ever made on boxing..</span><span 0in="" 4.5pt="" background-attachment:="" background-clip:="" background-image:="" background-origin:="" background-position:="" background-repeat:="" background-size:="" initial="" margin:="" style="o: p></o:p></span></span></span></div> <div style=;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-72916459514687793922020-04-17T02:15:00.000-07:002020-04-21T09:13:34.170-07:00Rants on Biased IPL Commentary!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURPn29WlwyH0BF_VaYfQRJ1lhER3_idqFgWqgDe5DmCLdq1NExekAig1LmXaS3sb7VbmGU8st6fo8opSNlUovkRVxgVL5EdvAlh_acg1HNbIamLrcrXP8xnnm68sBvzyMSzDUyu42J9A/s1600/Trio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="229" height="614" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURPn29WlwyH0BF_VaYfQRJ1lhER3_idqFgWqgDe5DmCLdq1NExekAig1LmXaS3sb7VbmGU8st6fo8opSNlUovkRVxgVL5EdvAlh_acg1HNbIamLrcrXP8xnnm68sBvzyMSzDUyu42J9A/s640/Trio.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Yet another long post on biased Broadcasting. Missing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bhogleharsha/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDHC4arJ_Pm7Wbbew1CQqFaI7jyMMNp_QOMauTtoFqatxAoE4XrkYY9qTroPZlrPpcVC3fqAkqNOwAe1Fh4EV6yAx8_u19BV9wNqYg5CBAihxzYuykVkaGd8KJl7OqlIr64lsNzTE-TLLSgwFCMQDJR-n6dtit8UjqXZCFno1Am6wOvoBO3V_dVQgGPcZzhINzVhOanpCih6Q&__xts__%5B1%5D=68.ARDe3vcnGb_4H3UH1qCqBdPX-iEbcHT2sSsxbAOENsYGfQiz755V81278l2FBiI5EQFlJXnnkay-PEAZgvVCY1yL57EaYLOLEWnw12LOdd9a2ZZUnI2XlttKhZQazIH0bl2qUly_-qJFk6AgZkho1xD61DcA7yGcLaXHQcf4wFReTnh0gdwFJ6KqR2iR-dSfq49Ge6sbuRLDbw&__tn__=K-R&eid=ARAO-afo70KpGDMLCepGqrXGDOxbDER8-k7pXotBdFBJ809RsmZBGrYRSpfXx95v7fIgHOoyNKseCHmN&fref=mentions">Harsha Bhogle</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Geoffrey-Boycott/103813349658106?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDHC4arJ_Pm7Wbbew1CQqFaI7jyMMNp_QOMauTtoFqatxAoE4XrkYY9qTroPZlrPpcVC3fqAkqNOwAe1Fh4EV6yAx8_u19BV9wNqYg5CBAihxzYuykVkaGd8KJl7OqlIr64lsNzTE-TLLSgwFCMQDJR-n6dtit8UjqXZCFno1Am6wOvoBO3V_dVQgGPcZzhINzVhOanpCih6Q&__xts__%5B1%5D=68.ARDe3vcnGb_4H3UH1qCqBdPX-iEbcHT2sSsxbAOENsYGfQiz755V81278l2FBiI5EQFlJXnnkay-PEAZgvVCY1yL57EaYLOLEWnw12LOdd9a2ZZUnI2XlttKhZQazIH0bl2qUly_-qJFk6AgZkho1xD61DcA7yGcLaXHQcf4wFReTnh0gdwFJ6KqR2iR-dSfq49Ge6sbuRLDbw&__tn__=K-R&eid=ARAJD8OnnuIFHv8lzU0k-_Nr4TzExXKfNCDsquE7MNVjt_UIuwLMYpvA4pBOqH5koYKj_9jH8V3UiiGD&fref=mentions">Geoffrey Boycott</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">We grew up listening to Harsha Bhogle, Henry Blofeld, Geoffrey
Boycott, Ian Chapel, Richie Benaud, Navjot Sidhu, Sunil Gavaskar, Rameez Raja , and Ravi Shastri. But I am afraid I cannot take names of the last three
commentators in the same breath as I did the other cricketing analysts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Itâs okay if they kill you with their cricketing clichĂ©s like
âIn the end, Cricket is the winnerâ, âForm is temporary class is permanentâ etc;
but as a presenter, if you take sides and start expressing them relentlessly in
their views, then the cricket viewing experience is definitely adulterated and
we will be forced to watch the game in mute mode. Here are some of the bloopers
of the big three of Sunny Ravi and Rameez that I can recollect in the recently
concluded VIVO IPL.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">a) Eliminator 2, SRH vs GL, Sunny picks Gujarat Lions because
they have as many as six impact players (including Sir Jadeja). He failed to
mention the fact that the famed GL line up came a cropper twice in this very
tournament against SRH bowling attack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">b) Rameez Raja is surprised when more educated and erudite
viewers select SRH as the favorites to play RCB when they voted 61% and somehow
reckoned that home tigers and Wasim led KKR had a better chance to qualify.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">c) In the Finals, Warner was dismissed and there were three dot
balls and Sunny Gavaskar goes gung-ho on the air saying âthatâs what a wicket
does, it dries up the boundariesâ Just after three freaking balls!!!
Befittingly Yuvraj shuts him up by taking on the RCBâstar bowler for a four and
a six in the very next over and a boundary in the beginning of another over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">d) Ravi Shastri, when Shane Watson starts the penultimate over
with two wides and follows it up with two dot balls âThis has been an
exceptional over so far by Watson, it has pulled back the SRHâ. Expectedly
Watto concedes a four and a six in the remainder of the over along with few
singles to take the tally of the âexceptional overâ to 16.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">e) Rameez Raja in the Studio. These are two contrasting teams;
âRCB is a balanced side, while SRH is riding on the high of a one-man army, its
leader, David Warnerâ. One man army Rameez?? What about the purple cap holder,
the emerging player of the IPL, big-game player Yuvraj, all-rounders, and MOTMs
of Semi-Finals and Finals, Henriques and Cutting, Shikhar Dhawan, and useful
contributions when it mattered from Deepak Hooda and Naman Ohja?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">f) Sunil Gavaskar when the big three were dismissed, Rahul
Watson & Abdulla also gone and Chris Jordan was batting and his sitter was
dropped by Sran, Sunny exclaims âDid he just drop the Cupâ Yes Sunny!! drop the
cup when the entire starlet of RCB is back in the hut and an innocuous Jordanâs
sitter was dropped and SRH drops the cup. Sunny Leone would have done more
justice to his role there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">g) Watch for the reaction of Sunny when the two Ws were
dismissed. The spirits that soared high when Warner was dismissed were depleted
when Watson bowed out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">h) Finally when an improbable 37 were needed off 18 or something
like that, Sunny still exclaims, âitâs not impossible, it has been done beforeâ<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">That could have been the final nail in the coffin for a logical
viewer, who relishes quality commentary as an integral part of cricket viewing
experience. We had to bank on Danny Morrison, Pommie MBangwa, and Mathew Hayden
and even Sanjay Manjrekar and Sidhu back in the studios and Sameer and Gaurav
the anchors to get sanity to proceedings from these prejudiced views of the
biggest scars of Indian Cricket, Gavaskar, and Shastri ably supported by their
stooge, Raja.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">In his younger and more refined days as a commentator, Sunny
always used to say that he likes boundaries which keep the fielder interested
till the end as he gets tired by chasing it. In a similar manner, Iâm very glad
that SRH did not knock their opponents out with a knockout punch but slowly and
gradually decimated their challenge thereby killing the hopes of these
misfiring commentators as many times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-3197257390773440922020-04-17T01:49:00.000-07:002020-04-21T09:16:53.233-07:00Orange Army Wins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVugN7zUkraRs_kVfAwO4FQ1LS2Z5FnCvm0idnz8w-nrKZ7Y2DsyjFu6eEfMOQOoLmH0qoDFZJ9gvjb05Fj6WZIRgnMmJFQxDSVjk6rFUAaIoaODdw2wLFg3EoeRqQBIJcMtB3OArd6-M/s1600/SRH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="301" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVugN7zUkraRs_kVfAwO4FQ1LS2Z5FnCvm0idnz8w-nrKZ7Y2DsyjFu6eEfMOQOoLmH0qoDFZJ9gvjb05Fj6WZIRgnMmJFQxDSVjk6rFUAaIoaODdw2wLFg3EoeRqQBIJcMtB3OArd6-M/s640/SRH.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">So then Eight years after winning the first trophy, the
Hyderabad Franchise has lifted yet another IPL.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Sun Risers Hyderabad has been the most balanced team and few
lines of gratitude for all the men who mattered. Before that, the starlet of
clowns Sunny Gavaskar, Rameez Raja and Ravi Shastri, the official naysayers of
SRH, Sunny being the most disgraceful with atrocious bloopers in the finals
itself. Itâs a pity BCCI has banned Harsha Bhogle and threw these clowns in the
ring to broadcast a showbiz event as an IPL. They constantly felt SRH was a one-man team and hereâs a microscopic look at the cardinal members of team SRH..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><br /></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">David Warner: Led from the front and has been extremely
consistent. He has converted those flashy 20s and just 50s to something more
purposeful this year as can be seen in the games against Gujrat Lions and the
triple RCB encounters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><br /></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Laxman and Tom Moody: Great team selection to go for guys like<br />
Deepak Hooda, Ben Cutting, Mustafizur and last but not the least Yuvraj Singh.
The understatedness of both the men at the helm along with Murali got better of the
exuberance of the RCB think tank.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><br /></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Bhuvi and Fizz: Great bowling at the beginning and the death and
you add their wickets and Bhuviâs purple cap along with the efforts of Sran and
Nehra, itâs a formidable bowling unit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><br /></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Henriques and Cutting: Good that a level headed Cutting was held
back at the business end of the tournament for he is the perfect all-rounder.
Big Tom might have had a big hand in his selection. His knock against Kings XI
which almost confirmed our qualification against Mohali made the SRH fans to
believe that we may go beyond the one-off playoff this season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><br /></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Bipul Sharma: Great contribution in the last three games, his
efforts against KKR to get those extra 17 runs to disappoint Shastri and Sunny
and to follow up with the batting against the Lions and then his match-changing
catch to get Gayle and the prized wicket of the coincidental and unfortunate
final choker ABD.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 4.5pt 0in 4.5pt 0.5in;">
<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Yuvraj Singh: Ever since Rohit Sharma left, the Hyderabad
Franchise lacked a strong Indian presence in the lineup and though Shikar
Dhawan made it up to an extent, the inclusion of Yuvraj under the mentorship of
VVS was a huge boost for he made an impactful contribution in all the important
games in a way that only Yuvi could. The moment of the IPL for me is was when
Yuvraj ran MS Dhoni out and the fire and zest he had in his eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana=""><br /></span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Lastly, Virat Kohli, a great leader, and a graceful loser wish the
RCB fans had more voice when their team was doing a lap of honor.<br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span blue="" font-family:="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" verdana="">Kudos to team SRH and takeaway for Virat Kohli is, even if he ends up selecting
three more devastating batsmen in the lineup, he will have to realize that
Batsmen win you Matches and produce those unforgettable moments of magic but
Bowlers win you tournaments. The Ashvins, Bhajis Malingas Sunil Naraines and
now the Bhuvis and Mustafizurs not the Kohliâs Rohit Sharmas Dhonis or ABDs and
Gayles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span blue="">@YUVSTRONG12 @SunRisers
@bhogleharsha</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-7495652850940045722019-07-02T00:36:00.003-07:002020-04-21T10:14:59.207-07:00Yuvraj-The Prince of Tough Times!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrZLzlok1dkAKsCU8seiMexbZyjaj1ab2g6eWHw3_zxlNhBWD2dHbZPKt1wPneGmuy19u_9dqJ2Caj02yecePd8CD2oRetNYS8asQLAQiSLwMjijg_Aj0_a77V-HYm7_Fv0g023oUSHQ/s1600/Yuv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrZLzlok1dkAKsCU8seiMexbZyjaj1ab2g6eWHw3_zxlNhBWD2dHbZPKt1wPneGmuy19u_9dqJ2Caj02yecePd8CD2oRetNYS8asQLAQiSLwMjijg_Aj0_a77V-HYm7_Fv0g023oUSHQ/s640/Yuv.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were a person who grew up watching cricket seriously from the 90s, you would associate a peculiar pattern with Indo-Pak games. As a classic example, the fans would line up for a game with high expectations at Sharjah against archrivals Pakistan, where Pak would pose a formidable 250 to start the great Indian run chase. The Indian chase and the match would effectively end within the first 5-6 overs once Tendulkar falls to Wasim Akram or Aaquib Javeed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In another scenario, the opponents pose an imposing total of 250+, thanks to Sachin, India remains the chase till the 30th over. Panic then creeps in and the unavoidable Indian batting collapse would ensue spearheaded by the master himself.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The advent of Yuvraj Singh has challenged this stereotype and predictable loop of agonizing so near yet so far Indian run chases. India started winning matches while chasing. It wasn't the Kanitkar Boundary or Rajesh Chauhan Six or other handful of matches we could easily count nor was it the Sachin Tendulkar's overly stretched revenge saga of Henry Olonga anymore.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Earlier, the objective would have been to keep the margin of defeat within acceptable magnitude.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yuvraj has become the chief architect of modern India's greatest ODI triumphs to the extent that doing the improbable was constantly becoming a norm.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">India finally had its own finisher, which until then were patented only by the renowned Pakis, Javid Miandad or Inzy or England's Neil Fairbrother or Alan Lamb.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The legacy was carried on by MS Dhoni who went to become the finest ODI finisher and then King Kohli took it to a different level.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While a certain Wasim Akram augmented the gulf in the win ratio of Indo-Pak ODIs, the finest Southpaw ever to bat for India reduced the gap.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If not for his trendsetting exploits of chasing down some daunting totals when the odds were stacked against team India from the new millennium, the 2011 World Cup Finals against Sri Lanka would have ended the moment Sachin got out, just like the semifinals of the 1996 world cup did after Sachinâs fall.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you, Yuvraj Singh, for entertaining us with a Caribbean flair and for being the man for the big ICC events for Indian cricket right from 1995 under 15 world cup to 2011 cricket world cup. Fate then had different ideas but your resilience ensured that it was only temporary and you did come back with a bang giving us more moments to relish, while the end was seemingly near and inevitable.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If not for Indiaâs fab four in Tests, you would have had an equally great career in the longer format as well, but you did enough for ODIs and T20s that will go down in cricketing folklore for generations of fans across the world.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank You!</span></div>
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Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-61439468676057404672013-01-07T22:10:00.000-08:002020-04-17T08:04:56.954-07:00A SOS on COC - Commodization of Cricket!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
From early 2ks, ESS (EspnStar or then Star Sports) has been
trying to advertise the game of cricket by glorifying the rivalry of any
upcoming series. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just that they chose to go the cinematic way of doing it
than the accepted way of promoting a sporting event giving a brief history of its
rivalry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Starting from LG âAll the best, LG ki Duvaâ to the 99 India
Team that went to the World cup, to early 2ks, And the hope against hope, come
on India, dikhado, India ko Jitado, when all we had was Sachin and ten duds to
fill the 11 in those days.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Badlaa (Australia V Pak) a revenge for Pakâs loss to
Australia in WC-99 final. Barood (India v Aus) and Sarfarosh (Aus Pak India tri
series), the campaign clearly did not yield the desired results. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Predictably, Aussies won the Badla and Barood Test series
6-0.They also won the tri series with the men in then light blue managing just
one win from 8 games. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Much better was the world cup 2011, add where rope walkers
from different countries try to walk on a tight rope to the world cup. That was
an advertisement for the event itself and not in blind support of a team. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The most recent one to the list being, âAara ha hain
Pakistanâ to which MSD coolly replies, âAnadoâ. We now understand why. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even more infuriating was the kuch aise hi tha bachpan se
âKohli or Ashwin or anyoneâ. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Itâs understandable if these superstars are performing such
heroic larger than life stunts while promoting some Brand as part of their endorsements.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If these attempts are to publicize the game itself which
needs no promotion in a Country where it is regarded as the strongest and most
uniting religion, they just fall flat and their effect if any is quite
dampening, appalling and adverse. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The best example of how to glorify an event can be taken from the Barclays Premiere League game promotions. Important games are promoted by adding lot of historical anecdotes that are tagged to each fixture. Like Aston Villa Vs Everton being the most played fixture in top flight. Liverpool Vs Manchester United the game of English Football and likes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Hope the Broadcasters stop seeing the filmy side of sport and stop dishing out a comedy footage in garb of promoting an event & instead fill the events with facts and analysis that intensify the passion and stops giving the fans a feeling of Dejavu and an inevitable doom with this unsolicited optimism & exuberance! <br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-67412256232531785482012-12-27T22:28:00.001-08:002012-12-27T22:32:39.748-08:00You Will Never Walk Alone!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIuPpAY8QJtF-hnR0KClxMXpYaL3SlFWtX5lGERQ_2gI_5_7CHIMcHxmvjQ5ZLF1x2J5S6zuN7zMrQhbrvybIv8m-7UBEuVQNJlHTU4aXTDUV8nL42Pz3vr8pk-YoaclSIoZYkfMBSCfU/s1600/Liverpool_FC.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIuPpAY8QJtF-hnR0KClxMXpYaL3SlFWtX5lGERQ_2gI_5_7CHIMcHxmvjQ5ZLF1x2J5S6zuN7zMrQhbrvybIv8m-7UBEuVQNJlHTU4aXTDUV8nL42Pz3vr8pk-YoaclSIoZYkfMBSCfU/s1600/Liverpool_FC.svg.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Certain good things in life are stimulating, certain great things come instantaneously; certain other wonderful things take you to a stratospheric zone of happiness which no other thing can take you. One of the fewest such things in life for me is Liverpool Football Club.<br />
<br />
I always liked England and I liked Liverpool as the name which has a personification of English elegance to it. But itâs only in the early 2ks when English Premier League was introduced to India, courtesy Star Sports, ESPN, I got to know about clubs like Arsenal Manchester United and Liverpool. I stuck an instant chord with the club because they were well past their glory days and were an only trying to be a shadow of their Glorious Past.<br />
<br />
My Cousin Vamsi introduced me to the fanaticism of Liverpool Football Club. As there was representation of Arsenal, United and Chelsea already at work place, people were glad to assign me the fourth team among the Big 4 of English Football even though my awareness of English football was quite dismal.<br />
<br />
The Champions league 2005 triumph followed by the FA Cup 2006 and the Premiere League season 2008-09 were enough for me to get glued to the club for ever. Though the happy moments ever since have been far and few in between, more so after the departing of Xabi Alonso and the unceremonious sacking of Rafa Benitez.<br />
<br />
Am glad to be associated with a football club which has such a great history and tradition & none of its fan base belong to the glory hunting brigade.<br />
<br />
I wish Brendan Rodgers all the best and sign off with a hope that Steven Gerrard will play another champions league season and will also lift the Premiere League trophy.<br />
<br />
You Will Never Walk Alone!
</div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-44900827543223800682010-06-17T21:06:00.000-07:002010-06-17T21:14:57.019-07:00Match of the Century...What a Match it was, Liverpool Vs Spain, a club Versus Country.<br /> <br />Spain took lead and soon a found itself in a two goal cushion. Torres pulled one back from an Aurelio cross. <br /><br />Van Persie of Netherlands drew it level. Score was 2-2, Spain again went one ahead and Torres again leveled it for Liverpool to make it 3-3. <br /><br />On the brink of half time, Spain again went ahead 3-4. <br /><br />Liverpool struck back once the second half began and this time itâs the ever working Carlos Tevez who leveled things at 4-4. <br /><br />Torres who was making darting runs for Liverpool from the right put an excellent cross to Fabio Aurelio who was responsible for the first two Liverpool goals with excellent crosses from his magical left foot. He bicycle kicked Liverpool to Lead for the first time in the Match 5-4. <br /><br />Once ahead, Liverpool resorted to time waste tactics and attempted to play possession football though it was only 75 minutes. A defensive error allowed Spain to Level this time to make it 5-5.However an 85th minute goal made it 5-6 in favor of Spain. <br /><br />The score remained 5-6 and Spain beat Liverpool at Anfield. The contrasting part though was all of Spainâs Goals were scored by only one striker, Fernando Torres. <br /><br />And if you are still confused the said Match of the Century was played on my Play Station, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. <br /><br />I have Van Persie as the second striker and Carlos Tevez and Torres as my Center Forwards and they work quite awesome & I dint want to turn off the match as I normally do because if am trailing as the Artificial Intelligence earned and deserved its victory over its human counterpart albeit a mediocre oneIdentity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-18469718769609573962010-06-17T20:46:00.000-07:002010-06-17T20:53:59.682-07:00Vamossssssssss ArgentinaMy Love for Football started in 1986 when in school just after my summer holidays, all I was hearing was Maradona. Dint have a clue about that but I heard he is really good and stuff and Argentina was implanted in my infantile mind and thatâs the team I rooted in Italia 90 My First ever full fledged world cup. <br /><br />Thanks for the timings most of it was midnight and I avidly followed Argentina and Maradona was the only name I knew. I later got acquainted with Burruchaga as the one who scored the winning goal in 1986. The one who stole my gullible heart and capture my attention was Claudio Canigia the thin lanky striker who scored winning goals against Arch rivals Brazil who I hated at the first site thanks to their irritating yellow color and also a late equalizer against Italy, both thru Maradona thru passes. I was crest fallen when I came to know that Canigia wont be part of the finals coz of the Yellow carded offence and painfully endured the boring finals of Italia 90 in which Argentina lost to West Germany thanks to a Klinsmann dive and an ensuing Penalty converted by Brehme in the 85th minute. Football became a love ever since and Argentina the team to follow. <br /><br />I was elated in 1994 USA when Argentina made a tremendous display beating teams like Nigeria Greece in the earlier rounds but lost to Romania in the knock out stage as Diego Maradona was tested positive for a banned substance. Am sure like me the whole of India were deflated at the outcome of the Drug analysis. Rest was insignificant though I heard the tales of an Italia 90 upcoming hero Roberto Bagio and his goals and Italian comebacks from friends in college. I supported Italy in the finals just because the opponents were Brazil but something said that the arrogant Romario and co were a bit too much for Italy and it turned out that way with the divine ponytail missing a penalty in the finals of the world cup after almost single handedly getting them to the finals. I still remember Meenakshi Seshadri telling on DD that with a player like Roberto Baggio any one would root for Italy. The curse of Glory hunters I thought;<br /><br />France 98 was memorable only because France beat Brazil in the finals. I loved when Argentina beat England on penalties and heard and saw a bit of Michael Owen, but I dint care then. It was again tough to see Argentina lose to Netherlands in Quarters this time after its most skillful player Ariel Ortega considered second Maradona landed himself in trouble with a RedCard offense and Dennis Bergkamp scored a Bergkamp special from a long pass to seal Argentinaâs fate. <br /><br />2002 Argentina were painfully eliminated from the group of Death after David Beckham redeemed himself from the error he committed four years ago against the same opponent and scored from the Spot Kick. Fact that he missed several other spot-kicks to be finally taken out of that responsibility is a different story but an English commentator always mentions the name of Beckham in the long list of famous players who missed from the spot likes of Maradona Platini, Baggio &&&& Beckham⊠phew⊠<br /><br />By 2006 I was more of an English supporter but an Argentina well wisher. They I guess lost to Germany and it was a little painful to see them lose. <br /><br />But now with Messi around and strikers like Aguero, Higuain, Milito, Carlos Tevez & wingers like Maxi Rodriguez & more than anyone else a defensive midfielder and a Liverpooldian at heart like Javier Mascherano at the helm, they are definitely looking threatening to go lot further in the tournament and hope they really finish deep, because if not Maradona the extremely talented bunch of names mentioned a while back deserve a world cup glory and none deserves better than Lionel Messi. <br /><br />Vamosssss Argentina while my heart also supports England and feels neutral about old and regular horses like Italy Germany and the Netherlands but preferably no Brazil. <br /><br />PS: Yesterdays thumping of South Korea purely coincidental not to be construed as the Glory Hunting Adrenaline rush...Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-72899242679398563312010-02-25T05:27:00.000-08:002020-04-21T10:06:13.051-07:00Tribute to the Master by an unknown MediocreâŠ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1nFdkOxWUrbYYjxT5UUTrDVjqLIRvHrvGqeFVIOkt8F8J90EfIncE73KCchDZrDRAEj4TO2sHUc_ZBxZ-1VdwKZxLPamHqjJexnrSyYomsK2y5q-rxC4OB5xxNWeLT1z9asuAL0MOwo/s1600/Sach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="905" data-original-width="603" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1nFdkOxWUrbYYjxT5UUTrDVjqLIRvHrvGqeFVIOkt8F8J90EfIncE73KCchDZrDRAEj4TO2sHUc_ZBxZ-1VdwKZxLPamHqjJexnrSyYomsK2y5q-rxC4OB5xxNWeLT1z9asuAL0MOwo/s640/Sach.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the year 1989, I was very excited about a young Indian Prospect by name Sachin Tendulkar. The reason for my excitement during my no different very limited reasoning prowess was the amazement that surrounded the fact that a boy aged 16 can face pace bowling at the highest level. His debut was anxious for me and there was no coverage on DD at least for the first test. When I heard India were asked to bat and were bailed out by Kapil Dev and Kiran More, the folks around me put water on my excitement asking what happened to the young prodigy the arrival of who I was so enthralled about.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I very patiently waited till the next day to read R Mohanâs write up on Hindu and I directly looked at the scoreboard which read Sachin Tendulkar b Waqar Younis 15. My joy knew no bounds. If a boy aged 16 can put bat to ball against the most fearsome attack then in world cricket and survive for 30 minutes and make 15 and also had the power in him to score two boundaries, then this kid should really be something. He did turn out to be something in the very series when he clocked 59 in a match-saving effort along with Sidhu. He had a sensational ODI debut a match that turned to be an exhibition encounter when he took apart Mushtaq and Abdul Qadir to score 50+ in 20 oddballs. Started his ODI career with a duck (much in the same way as the Don ended his Test career with a blot), Sachin Tendulkar was becoming an integral part of the lives of me and close to billion other Indians. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I remember England Texico Trophy again courtesy the BBC Radio when Sachin sealed the win for us with a 30+ knock which had 6 boundaries in it and the BBC commentator saying immortal âWe donât have words to describe the talent of this manâ. His match-saving effort at Old Trafford when he hit 119 to save India from a certain defeat. His twin centuries down under, the second of which at Perth has been described by some Aussie Journalists as the best knock after the Second World War. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As Sachin grew in stature so also did the expectations and the inevitable green-eyed comparisons mostly from the proverbial friendly neighbors. My Favorite cricketer from the Paki Land, Imran Khan at least brought six cricketers in the last twenty years as Pakistanâs response to Sachin Tendulkar (I appreciate the onus he took on himself to do this and my respect for the man only deepened as he stuck to his task even though his own people mocked him and labeled him as a political misfit) & only Inzamam-ul-Haq came closest in terms of matching Sachin. I have great respect for Inzamam and I rooted and backed this boy wonder in the semis against Kiwis in World Cup 92 as I have seen him bat before and was quite destructive and Inzi never let me down. The others that couldnât stand the comparison were Md Wasim, Hassan Raja, Taufeeq Omar, Imran Farhat Imran Nazir and so on. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He reached his predictable peak by the 1996 World Cup and had particular liking to annihilate the Aussie bound attacks led by Shane Warne and Glen McGrath. By the year 2002, it was quoted that Sachin Tendulkar reached his saturation and the hunger is not there anymore to continue. He silenced his critics by destroying attacks in the 2003 world cup. The critics say he misfired in the final, but the final was realistically lost even before the chase began, well what is the pursuit of 360 + against an Aussie attack in a pressure game. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sachinâs form saw an apparent dip after the world cup and all the vultures that were waiting to crawl on their weakening prey started to site weaknesses and flaws in his technique. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sachin had his share of shortcomings, the most prominent one being his Achilles heel, when we as fans need him most he is usually not there. We endured so much of a pain in those agonizing Sharjah afternoons when our old friend used to pile up a total of 250+ and the Master often gave a good start only to deceive. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We as fans also had to take inevitable comparisons with Inzamam saying Sachin is not a match-winner. Well the stats do say otherwise and they do attest that when he makes a Century more than 75% of the times India wins, but for the cynics, a match-winning effort only means taking a rabbit out of the hat and winning against all odds. He did so in Sharjah against the Aussies but such things donât count and are written off as exceptions. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then back home under the able pioneer-ship of âThe Times of Indiaâ Sachin dusk was skillfully sketched by the local Media men when his failures in the 2006-2007 Pakistan tour were glorified as his lack of ability to counter express pace bowling and showed signs of aging as the main reason. Ironically one of the greats of Pakistan Hanif Mohammed stood by the master and said that players like Rahul Dravid Ricky Ponting and Inzamam are great players, but Sachin is way beyond all of them. Then after a disastrous World Cup people were asking for Sachin to be sacked and even his beloved Mumbai crowd betrayed him and went thru the popular notions and booed him when he was outscoring very little after facing many deliveries. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Honestly, that section of the crowd present on that test match day let Mumbai and even India down by resorting to such an appalling act and makes me believe that the crowds in Chennai Bangalore and Hyderabad know their cricket and their players more than the crowds in some of the other cities. I am more than certain that Sachin would never have faced such humiliation in any of the aforementioned cities. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then the inevitable resurrection of the Champion came and in all candidness, I never expected a comeback of such magnitude even though I claim to be a diehard well-wisher of Sachin. I did my bit of fire fighting against all the assaulters who joined the anti-Sachin Bandwagon a little too early (probably to address their own insecurities from the more learned) and were mortal enough to write-off the Immortal God of cricket. Itâs normally said nobody is bigger than a game, but I guess itâs fair to say that Sachin is as big as the game and Sunil Gavaskar rightly said on the arrival of Sachin that he is godâs gift to the game of cricket. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And as agreed upon vehemently by all of us, Indianâs are in awe of statistics and the BCCI being aware of this fact and the core constituents of that committee are full of uncompromising statistical minded Indians, am sure they will give Sachin a go ahead and allow him to play as long as he possibly can and make him not only break all possible batting records but preserve them in a way that nobody can even come close. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, Mr. Ponting, you are playing a catch-up game and never underestimate the might of the BCCI to influence the Aussie cricket board to get you even sacked if you continue to pose a threat to Sachin. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Normally I donât watch cricket matches in India even if the opponent is Australia for the simple reason that Indian pitches are maniacally batsman-friendly and itâs no fun to watch a 50 version game when the bowler gets smacked out of the park right from the 1st ball to the 300th. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I was glad that a super dear pal of mine gave a reminder about the game yesterday and once I was done with the call and had nothing much to do except to joyfully procrastinate the things I had to do. I switched on the TV and was overjoyed to see Sachin on 88 in 70 oddballs. I saw him get to his 100 and switched off the TV but given the earliness of the century, I was mindful of the likely outcome if he stayed at the wicket and as a fan of Sachin is forever the optimist. When I saw him race to 139 in my next visit to the channel I knew something was on cards and on my third visit I saw him in the 170 range I knew this could be his day. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So I was glued to the TV and waited till the 49th over as he crossed milestone after milestone and the most pleasing one being the Saeed Anwar Milestone more so because he did so in an unfair manner when Afridi ran for him more than 100 runs and incidentally Sachin was the captain of that Indian side and talk about generosity to allow such a gesture only to be knocked out in our own Independence cup much earlier than wanted. I was glad finally that it was Sri Lanka who won the cup and not the old foe. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sorry for drifting, such is the nostalgia of Sachin Tendulkar and thank you Master and Salutations for all your hunger interest perseverance and I only have one suggestion to make, never take things for granted and consolidate your records as much as you can so that they can be cemented in your name for eternity. The simple reason being never in my lifetime can a cricketer debut at the age of 16 and play for two decades and I hope to see a silver jubilee in career years for you. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And the immortal words said about you by a blogger I admire most. It is the best way I can sign this off⊠</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The old Sachin radiated heat. The new Sachin gives light. But he still remains the sun.</span></div>
Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-80847685863930137432010-01-30T14:42:00.000-08:002010-02-01T18:07:54.323-08:00Rann...That does not run a tight ship...Having gone with no idea what so ever as to what this movie was about, it dint take much beyond the titles for me to know what Rann had to offer and its fair to say that it did not make me Run for the money I invested in the movie at a multiplex after a long and strenuous drive on behest of a pal who insisted on absence from the busy ness of busy life to places far away.<br /><br />God Father is implanted in the mind of RGV and he can never make a movie which is completely devoid of it. Godfather, Bad Son, Son-in-law with a negative shade, his aversion to anything which is immoral (drugs there yellow journalism here), closely knit family which has few apparent frictions and tensions within them etc. or I can add a birthday party of the lead man to which all friends and foes attend and now I can definitely use etc just to tell you that am not falling short of comparisons. <br /> <br />I had to say that I did have little confusion with respect to the magnitude of the negativeness in the role of Jay (Sudeep) and was rather glad that it was not a ridiculously negative characterization which would have branded this film as an outright clichĂ© with tried and tested formulas implemented from the films which attempted themselves to be made under the âdifferent from the restâ genre.<br /><br />But as the movie unfolds, you cant help yourself from drawing comparisons with movies of similar themes & Corporate comes closest. RGV subconsciously & inevitably drifts to his favourite plot of underworld crime & nexus with the same tenacity as your car which is in need of wheel alignment drifts to the left side. <br /><br />As the movie moves on you very well know how the climax would shape up and strongly believe that Big B was taken away from the scheme of things only to extend the length of the movie. You also are quite amused by the convenience with which Big B errs in his judgment of publishing the scandal on someone who holds the office of a PM & his return back to senses once he realized that he messed it up. Both are too unconvincing for a man who is portrayed as a hardcore upholder of Journalistic ethics and morals.<br /><br />The actions and reactions get as predictable as the outcome of India Pak Game at Sharjah during mid 90s after Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal. RGV desperately attempts to make complete use of the emotion emitting range of Big B and even as the young protagonist (Ritesh Deshmukh) comes to take over the reigns in the climax after few words of appreciation from his mentor, you clearly feel that a self proclaimed stoicness of RGV is strongly attempting to entice allure and persuade the audience to buy the tearful emotions emoted by his star cast and feel for them & add Rann to one of his brighter feathers of his mixed hat which was quite dismal in the recent past with the exception of Sarkar Raj. <br /><br />The subtleties taken care by RGV usually deserve a mention but they are as integral a part of his style of film making as a Godfather storyline & an underworld touch are. He should realize that people donât expect his films to be different from the routine formulaic films anymore & should attempt to raise the bar by focusing a lot more on his script to ensure that the sub plots are much more convincing & are properly weaved with the main plot to architect a well synchronized effort. <br /><br />Amidst all this it has some decent performances from the Big B himself for whom this role should be a piece of cake and stroll in the park, Paresh Rawal, Rajath Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav & also Ritesh Deshmukh. The performers in the female lead with the likes of Neetu Chandra, Suchitra Krishna Murthy and Gul Panag were all quite apt. <br /><br />At the end of the show, he may have been successful in his desperate bid to convince the audience that he was completely out of the juvenileness that made him do the âRGV ka Aagâ but you would have rather put your money on a Madhur Bhandarkar to handle such a wonderful concept which has so much potential to explore instead of an RGV who invariably and inevitably drifts from scope of things the subject of yellow journalism for TRP ratings had to offer & instead gave us a tiresome stereotype output.Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6027181573231315539.post-89785880712643090922010-01-22T09:00:00.000-08:002010-01-22T09:10:50.198-08:00Review...'2012 the World is coming to an End'... very late but very true...Last month of the year we got to see a Multi Million extravaganza of a Hollywood film which was supposed to be an action flick but might as well find itself a nomination in the first ever category of âAction turned into unintentional Comedyâ genre at the Academy Awards. The elite crowd with which I went to watch the movie was quick to trade few SOS texts but our minds were collectively programmed and brilliantly synchronized to decided that there will be more than Moneyâs worth if this movie is construed as a comedy, albeit an inadvertent one. <br /><br />The doomsday epidemic announces itâs out-break with a massive Earth Quake followed by a tsunami & the Terminatorâs California is drawn into the Pacific Ocean. The ground level protagonist steers his kin out of harms way but as the Ground is shifting, he needed the expertise of a part-time pilot in Gordon (his ex wifeâs current husband) in the first escape sequence which would have been good enough to be a climax in any movie given those excellent state of the art graphic works. But if you would have watched at least 1/5th of these Hollywood flicks as any movie buffs did, it would have been easier for you to predict that the director climaxed way too soon and lost sense of direction. What you see thereafter is only a Play Station 7 version Video game played in God-Mode as the lead men navigate their families from one doomsday disaster to another. You have Volcanoâs erupting, Earth Quacking, Tsunamiâs inundating the left over land in a manner that all it requires is one hour for the Earth to be submerged in high seas & thatâs when the movie reaches un-scalable heights when the BBC announces as part of the Breaking News that the 2012 London Olympic Games are cancelled, a chronological disarray given the fact that we are in the third quarter of December 2012 & announcement is made about games that should have by now been concluded. As the destruction spirals around the globe more attention is given to the family of the writer protagonist either paying very little heed to the intelligence of the audience or with the underlined assumption that the audience watching the movie are long considered lost in the mayhem caused by this catastrophic epidemic. <br /><br />The movie also touches the 1980s America Russia Cold War discrepancies when a narrow minded Russian billionaire who doesnât own the Chelsea Football Club is ridiculed in a way only Hollywood does showing scant respect to the existence and intelligence of other lands & cultures. Amidst all this the lead-men continues their jolly good run in the middle of the doomsday chaos & falls short of their ultimate destiny by about a few 1000 miles as their Super Jet crash lands. The director may be taking liberties from the brain-dead audience tweaks the script in such a way that the havoc created by the forces of nature displaces the actual destiny exactly to the place where the plane crash landed. After all itâs a Video game being played in God Mode and God alone has control on the forces of Nature was his cosmological premise perhaps. <br /><br />You also have the presidential Elect of the United States (who has a very pretty daughter pursued with all earnestness by the scientist who prophesied the doomsday outbreak) prefers to stay back in White House to fight the inevitable and tries to boost the morale of the sinking Nation and World caused by the apocalypse thru a Television address.<br />The impending catastrophe doesnât allow the Vajpayee paced Presidential address to complete because it still has a world to cover and deadlines to meet. <br /><br />Once all the lead characters finally reach the mega Titanic Vessel supposedly good enough to quell the force of natural disasters, further drama ensues when the prospective Son in Law of the now late US President fights a case of humanity by urging the authorities to accommodate more people in the Vessel. He obviously does not have many takers but thanks to his emotional outburst that would have made all the life time subscribers of God Channel proud, the gates are opened for the remaining people so that a new civilization can be started on a non devastating note. Amidst all this, the Protagonist of the God Mode Video Game messes up with the gates of the huge Vessel in his endeavor to gain unauthorized entry which hinders the start of the big engine & with Mt Everest fast approaching, the end is inevitable. <br /><br />In further twists and turns to the story all the Characters now considered redundant to the lives of the main characters are eliminated which also ruthlessly includes pilot Gordon who has navigated the Jumbo Russian Flight to safer snowy lands. The differences between the writer father (the protagonist) and the early teenage son are resolved by way of son helping the father out in clearing the jam so that the gates close and the Engine starts, even while their family has a drenchy reunion. Any indulgence of hormones by the reunited lead pair would have left the fate of their children submerged for good. (But I would have never doubted the directorâs ability to pull another rabbit out of the hat to save the kids and the lead men in spite of any eventuality).<br /><br />The immortal words by President Obama in the 2004 address were collectively called upon and echoed louder than the Digital-Dolby stereo effects by the audience not to save the World but to save themselves from this movie. <br /><br />Hope in the face of Difficulty. Hope in the face of Uncertainty. Hope in the face of Adversity! The Audacity of Hope! In the end, that is Godâs greatest gift to mankind, the bedrock of the entire IMAX audience belief that the â2012 end of the Worldâ does have an end if not the real World & the audience quite ironically leave the theatre in High Hopes once the credits start rolling.Identity Maskinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897712169864217457noreply@blogger.com0