CRICKET BEYOND SACHIN TENDULKAR !

                                         The Irrefutable fact is that, the first and the foremost sporting hero that any Indian kid born during the early 90’s would have known is Sachin Tendulkar. You can never deny this fact, either you love him more now or you don’t. As a kid and a teenager, I watched all his games closely and that’s where all my dreams started. I watched Tendulkar on TV and have thought many a time that I want to be like him, one day playing for India. It will never happen and it is too late, that I couldn’t chase the dream and I end up writing this commendation for him. The passion and love for Tendulkar kept growing more and more as and when I grew older which eventually mutated me into an avid cricket fan.

The kid that carried the hopes of a billion Indians for more than 23 years!

                             
During my childhood as an ardent sachin aficionado, I have emulated him many a times. May it be sticking the Hand written “MRF” paper to the pad and the locally made bat which I used or may it be adjusting the crotch guard just like the very same way he does or may it be sticking number “10” on the back of my T-Shirts while playing and what not ? He has influenced my life to such an extent, that I have hypostatized myself as Sachin, solitarily in my terrace, spent a lot of time padding up just like him, playing all those stunning straight drives, flamboyant flicks and those pleasing paddle sweeps. I did soliloquize and commentate those dreamed-up shots in the air and have conquered many imaginary victories most particularly against Pakistan wherein sachin has never scored anything less than a three figure mark.

The Jersey that can never ever be replaced !

It has been more than 18 years now, ever since I started adoring this little man, the love and the respect for sachin hasn’t changed at all instead it grows more and more.

And They said the Master  played for his personal records !  

                 

                “While I was a kid, I did cry out to my dad and mom

                   When India and Sachin failed to perform,

                   Gone are those childhood and teen ages,

                   I still have the same passion towards sachin

                   And India but in a self-restrained manner,

                   Now I won’t cry out or sob when he gets out or

                   When India is on the brink of defeat,

                   Because they call me a man,

                    When people and my friends start scathing sachin,

                     I pretend as if I don’t care for it, but the pain

                     Within Still grows badly, Then I say it to myself

                     My sachin will prove them all wrong as

                     There is always a Next time,

                     People and critics haven’t taught him his

                     Cricket, they will never know

                     What his body and his mind are up to,

                      People writing off a champion like sachin

                      Just like that, has created a revulsion in me,

                      He is just a mere human like you and I,

                      His lean patches doesn’t mean that he has 

                      Faded and perished, for all that people have

                      Spoke about him, the day is not so far when

                      He will revive back to class

                      With an extraordinary resilience,

                      I know the master will never let me down,

                      Waiting for that moment wherein

                      The master will look into the sky,

                       With his head and willow high,

                        Kissing the Indian flag carved in his

                       Helmet again, to prove them all wrong in the tests!

The Picture Says it all !

 Yes we can’t help him rejuvenate or reverse his aging process. Sachin is getting older just like you and I and I agree he is in his crossroads; the sooner he will be hanging his boots and calling it quits from all the forms of cricket. For all the joys, jigs, excitements, sore throats, innumerable patriotic and those proudest moments he has given us being an Indian all these days, we all need not show a pinch of gratitude although it won’t be sufficient for what all he has done us, but at least we should have not been writing him off.

                        

                               

Cricket has had greats, cricket has had phenomenon’s: it has had legends but it will never have another Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, whose every single run from the willow has been a history. No human can ever surpass these records: 23 years, 463 matches, 18246 runs, 49 centuries, 96 fifties, highest of 200*, an average of 44.83, 21367 balls faced, a strike rate of 86.23, 2016 boundaries, 195 sixes, 61 man of the matches, 15 man of the series and the list shall go on unless he is named “Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar”. 

Love you Little Master ! Hail sachinism and proud to be your  perpetual follower!

                          

Thank you sir, it’s been a real pleasure and a privilege watching you bat all these days making each and every Indian proud, with the blue jersey numbered “10”. Proud to be born in the era when you started playing for India. There were days in the past when everyone loved you unconditionally. People may change, time may change but my love and respect for you and the game of cricket shall never change. 

It’s imperceptible to my senses that I won’t be seeing you again in the Indian colors and I have gone restless and literally tearful ever since the morning.

Cricket shall just be another number game for a person like me to whom god is one and he is Sachin!

One Man, One Nation, Only God- Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!

               

               

THE FIVE LETTER SPELL - “V I J AY” AND HIS ALL NEW THUPPAKKI REVIEW

NOTE: AN ABSOLUTE FANBOYISH EULOGY

                                            

                                              

                            When the above video goes viral and when “I am waiting” and “Google Google” becomes your Anthem, then there is nothing that would stop a fervent Illayathalapathy Vijay aficionado like me and others from exhilaratingly sprinting and marching towards the silver screens, if not on the first day of release, at least after the first few days of release. There was no wonder and it was unanimous that I started loving the movie even before seeing it. Three reasons are

1. The Plot being an Indian Army Stuff (Army is the Noblest Profession as far as I am concerned)

 2. My Favorite Hero illayathalapathy Himself playing the protagonist

 3. The Men with the Midas touch, ARM and Santhosh Sivan being the director and cinematographer respectively.

THE MAGICAL NAME -“VIJAY”:

                       Vijay - Fondly called as “Illayathalapathy” and “Vijay Anna” is always being loved and worshipped by many, all because of his “Guy Next door image”. He neither needs to be handsomest like others nor he is, he neither needs to be fair Skinned like others  nor he is, he neither needs to be all herculean or beefed up like few to pull in people’s attention nor he is. Despite all the above traits that he lags, the charisma, the charm and the spell, which bonds him to his profuse enthusiasts ranging from juveniles to patriarchs or a small toddler to a nonagenarian, is his cute and enthralling smile. He isn’t all muscular but he is jocular with his splendid and propitious humor sense. The one thing that comes in your mind instantaneously when you think or speak about Vijay is his dance. The agility, The Grace and those effortless feet tapping movements which makes us dance along with him and those steps he makes in a jiffy are a discernible delight to watch.

                                       

                      When the name “Vjiay” comes on the screen, Kids start jiggling and bawling out of joy. When he appears on the screen smiling at me, I go berserk and forget the enormous amount of bleakness, anguish and the dismal dumps that were accumulated in me. He is Fun loving and humble as always. He is plainspoken, pragmatic and rustic. He is calm, composed and silence personified off the screen and is an absolute contradiction on the screen. 20 years in Tamil Cinema (4-12-1992 to 4-12-2012) is no mean joke although there was someone behind who pushed him in. 

                                        

                            The journey of Vjiay wasn’t placid or smooth all throughout; he had thorns, barricades and impediments all the way. He was criticized, humiliated, mocked by critics. He was and is being subjected to oodles of destructive criticisms rather than constructive ones. He didn’t give up; He toiled hard and harder; He overcame all the uphill battles that was put forth in his path; He kept improving and improvising himself in each of his ventures and that is why he is the darling of masses and he is being cherished and celebrated as “Illayathalapathy” by everyone now. He is a trend setter and a trailblazer for the way he dresses; for the way he dances and for the way he gestures.

                                  

THE ALL NEW VIJAY AND THUPPAKKI:

                           Trust me, I won’t reveal the plot, because I know that almost half the population of Tamil Nadu would have seen the movie by now and the positive reviews are a plenty in number over the internet. The all New Vijay looks pumped up, sturdy and brawny. His Gait is freaking elegant and resplendent. All praise and special thanks to komal shahani for sprucing up vijay to the smartest extent possible and the outcome is Vijay looks “The Best “in this movie. You would be in love with Vijay’s kinesics in each and every frame of this movie (The way he wears the coolers, the way he solves the Rubik’s cube and for the way he decrypts the master plan) no matter what so ever, Vijay will undisputedly rule your heart all throughout the movie. 

Along with the Crowd I went insane and berserk on three sequences; one was the pre-interval block where in the 11 Army Men headed by Major.Jagadhish Dhanapal (Vijay) will be having a shootout to kill the 12 sleeper cells, the second was the hair rising “I am Waiting” interval block which vijay delivers to Vidyut jamwal and the third is when vijay will be escorting the hostages from the terrorists with the help of his sniffer dog. The BGM’s by Harris on these 3 sequences are just soul stirring and breath taking I must say, they just contribute to more than half of the Goosebumps inciting moments, despite the songs being  chart busters even before the release of the movie.

                                 The Villainous and the all Muscular Vidyut jamwal was such a treat to watch and it has been ages since we saw a powerful and a brainy villain like him. Sreekar prasad’s editing made the movie spicy, racy and hypersonic all throughout. The stunts were realistic and weren’t exaggerated. The Dance, singing and stunt sequences have always been a cake walk for vijay and he made it spotless as always. The accent in which Vijay delivers the Hindi dialogues is just speckless and majestic. Santhosh Sivan’s camera is as beautiful, splashy and picturesque as anything else could be. The Second hero of the movie is unanimously the director A.R.Murugadoss himself, having a pretty ordinary storyline, you need a clever wit and a dexterous skill to keep the audience engrossed all throughout the 3 hours and he has done that spotlessly to perfection.

        

          

The Indian Army Eulogies which Vijay delivers will unwittingly make you clap and make you feel that a dormant patriotic Indian is inside everyone. The Movie being a tribute and an ode to the Indian Army and their families at the end was ARM’s Touch. When men with extreme talents team up, the ultimate result would be an emphatic success and that’s what Thuppakki has achieved. Thuppakki overcomes the gargantuan hype and serves you a full-fledged military meal.

VERDICT: 
Thuppakki is an Absolute matchless, classy entertainer with illayathalapathy Vijay ruling the roost all the way!

VIJAY: Thanks a lot for entertaining and amusing us all these 20 years. Need a lot more of your elegant dance and smile to get rid of all the woes, stresses, pains that has crept inside many of us. Thank you on behalf of every single illayathalapathy Vijay Fanatic in this world. 20* years in Tamil Cinema and still counting and “WE WILL BE WAITING……” for all your future ventures to shout out loud and hail you as always. Proud to be an Illayathalapathy Fan.

                            

       

PS: To all the Anti-Vijay Fans, There is nothing to hate Vijay; just because you like someone more it doesn’t mean that you hate Vijay. So stop exaggerating as if you were born just to hate him. I dedicate this post to Illayathalapathy Vijay on behalf of all his fans all around the world.

ADIOS- RICKY THOMAS PONTING (PUNTER)

                               If you are a cricket aficionado born during the 90’s, then the year 2012 is not the one you would have ever wanted to witness. Being a passionate cricket follower it is really a gargantuan task to digest the fact that most of the cricketing legends that made your childhood memorable and a historic one are calling it quits in a flurry. First it was Rahul Wall Dravid, then Very Very Special Laxman and now in the list comes in the Aussie “Ricky Thomas Ponting” fondly called “punter” by the fellow Aussie’s. Apart from Sachin and Lara, Ricky perfectly fits in the spot as the third best batsman in the world and he is a legend undoubtedly when it comes to the modern day cricket. He should probably make it in to the list only next to Shahid Afridi when it comes to the most hated cricketers by the Indians; those are just because we had been man slaughtered by ponting many a times, special mention not to forget the WC 2003 final. He plays for the Tasmanian tigers and the Hobart Hurricanes in the domestic level apart from playing for the National Australian side.

The Punter- A Perfect Hunter:

                                          

                            Yes he was cranky; yes he wasn’t genuine many a times while edging it to the keepers or the slips, yes he was arrogant in nudging sharad Pawar out of the Dias; yes he was known for his impertinent nature; yes he was delusive while clasping many catches. Yes he was savagely violent or brutal against India. But these above mentioned traits may not depict a person as a good human but who cares? His duty was just to serve cricket Australia and not us! His duty was just to entertain the cricket fans all over the world as a classy, elegant cricketer and he has done that immaculately to perfection. A man who has been a part of a humungous 108 test victories of the entire 167 tests he has played till now is no joke. As a captain he has lead his team to a whooping 48 test victories out of the 77 tests which no captain has ever achieved.

                              

                                The 257 he scored against India brings in nightmare even now when he comes to bat against us. I never meant to say he is a flawless cricketer, as every other human and as a cricketer he too has had lean patches in his career. The cricket Australia has dropped a player of such a caliber many a times during the period of his lean patch and he has fought it very hard to get back to the national side. The phenomenal feat is that Ponting has been a part of the WC winning Australian Side for three consecutive times 1999, 2003, and 2007.    

                              

Ricky Ponting is not just a superb batsman; he is a “live wire” when it comes to fielding as well. Can never forget all those brilliant catches and those fabulous saves he has to his credits. The Pull Shots and the hooks were redefined by him in the cricketing dictionary; His Graphite coated Kookaburra’s Gentle front foot push has never fetched him anything less than a boundary. The ease and the facile manner at which he plays those toughest shots are just mind blowing. Having been grown closely watching him play with the yellow jersey numbered “14” and the baggy Green Cap with the white gears, I will definitely be needing some more time along with the Australians to make my heart and brain accept that he won’t be playing anymore.

                              The Yellow Australian jersey, numbered “14” will be badly missed from now on. The one down position for the mighty Aussies will be a back breaker to fill in. Its goanna be tough for the Aussies to prevent the run leakage in the forward shot leg, covers and the slip positions. The elegant push and the classy pull along with the flamboyant hook will now be into the history books. Ricky Thomas Ponting -thanks a lot for entertaining us all these years with such a terrific cricketing display, you and your attitude towards the game of cricket will be missed. Wishing you all success with the Tasmanian tigers and the Hobart hurricanes. Eagerly waiting to see you as a cricketing coach. Farewell Ricky!!! 

MOVIE REVIEW – PREMIUM RUSH

                             

                                Hi People, Hope you are all in pink of your health. I am pretty sure, when you are blessed with good health it ultimately means that you have a bunch of keys with you, one key among them is the key to open the door to attain tranquility despite you don’t have wealth or a peace of mind. It was October 24, 2012 and it was a holiday on the eve of “Vijayadhasami” here in Bangalore. So I decided to take a sojourn to my office buddy Imran‘s house near Agara. I was accompanied by my office friend Nadeem to Imran‘s place. Having Imran, his roommate and my new friend Arif, I bet you guys it’s the best place in Bangalore to get rid of all your Mulley grubs. Arif whom I met for the very first time in my life didn’t even take an hour to gel up well with me. I have never seen such an energetic, invigorative and a practical guy like Arif in the recent times.

                              After scrutinizing and debating about our company policies for more than 2 hours altogether, the time was quarter past four before we decided to break for lunch. The twilight lunch at “The Bhagini Restaurant” was more expensive but also a pompous one to be frank. After the meal we 4 decided to watch a movie at the Gopalan Cinemas, Tin Factory. The 3 guys around me were insatiable Hollywood movie freaks and “Premium Rush” was the only new release left unwatched by them so we decided to give it a try although the IMDB rating was not too high for this movie. A Tamil Guy, A Malayali, A Bihari and a Bengali in a place where they speak kannada predominantly, buying tickets for a Hollywood movie can for sure never happen anywhere in the world other than ethnically, culturally and traditionally richest country, India and I am really proud and exultant being an Indian. Ok folks let us not deviate from the topic of interest, here we go

PREMIUM RUSH – MY RETROSPECTION:

                                                                            

                                                                            The Movie starts with a scene wherein Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) hits the deck from his bicycle and he starts bleeding badly. The clock goes back 90 minutes before wilee got injured. Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his Ex-Girlfriend Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) work as a bicycle Messenger in a courier agency in NYC. Their daily routine include ducking and dodging speeding cars, trucks, two wheelers and pedestrians with their superb light weighted, No brake and fixed gear bicycles to reach the recipients destination within the stipulated time with extreme riding skills which might prove suicidal and insane most of the time. Nima (Jamie Chung), roommate of Vanessa delivers a sum of $50,000 to Mr.Leung (a Chinese hawaladar) that she has saved for more than 2 years and exchanges it for a ticket which she must deliver to sister chen before 7 pm so as to bring her son and mom to US through a ship that smuggles people from China to US. Nima reaches wilee to dispatch this ticket to Sister Chen. Wilee doesn’t actually know what is there inside the envelope and picks it up from Nima to deliver it to Sister Chen. Meanwhile Lin, a local goon learns of the ticket and approaches Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), a gambling addicted NYPD cop and tells him to bring the ticket so that in return bobby Monday need not repay his huge debt.

                                               

                                               Bobby comes to Nima, asks for the ticket and gets to know that wilee has already gone to dispatch the ticket to sister chen. Bobby chases wilee and confronts to give the envelope containing the ticket to him. Wilee shrewdly escapes and heads to the nearest police station to lodge a complaint on Bobby. To Wilee’s dismay and astonishment, he comes to know that bobby is a NYPD cop over there and starts running back to the courier agency to give back this life threatening envelope. Manny picks up this envelope from the agency after wilee drops it over there and starts heading towards the destination, meanwhile bobby calls and changes the address to be delivered and Manny is now heading towards the villain’s address. Vanessa gets to know the seriousness involved in the envelope containing the ticket from Nima and tells it to Wilee. Wilee then feels guilty for Nima and joins hands with Vanessa so as to deliver the ticket to Sister Chen before 7pm and then the drudgery and the combat Wilee and Vanessa faces through Bobby Monday (NYPD Cop) while delivering the ticket to Sister Chen is what the rest of the plot revolves around. In the end Nima gets her child and Mom transported to US through that ship. Wilee and Vanessa Rejuvenates their broken relationship in style.

                                                The Movie was indeed racy all throughout except in certain dribs and drabs. For the first time I could find a logical loop hole in a Hollywood movie wherein I didn’t understand why a NYPD Cop chases wilee using a “bicycle” all throughout the story all though they had sporty and Racy cars and bikes in their department. We weren’t born yesterday to believe such a crap till the end of the movie. David sardy, the music director has given us some soul stirring BGM’s coherent to the situations in the movie. Hats off to Mitchell Amundsen, the cinematographer who has given us such a crystal clear visual delight although the movie was shot in the heart of the Manhattan and the NYC wherein you could no way see a beautiful scenic background rather than sky scrapers and buildings all the way. A big round of Applause and all praise to David koepp and his team for giving us a racy thriller with such a terrific screen play despite having a Numb and a Null impact storyline.

MY VERDICT:

                             

                              Fixed Gear, Steel Front, No Brakes and No strings attached and that is “PREMIUM RUSH” worth its brag J 

AN ENCOMIUM ON MAJOR MARIAPPAN SARAVANAN

I know very well that, this post is an obsolete one. Better late than never! And it’s not too late. I consign this post to My Beloved Brother S.K.Shiva Subramani. It gives me an immense sense of pride, privilege and a plethora of hyper patriotism when I start typing this post and feeling really proud in dedicating it to a real hero for a change. This post shall be an accolade for the “Hero of Batalik” and for an officer in the most esteemed Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army, Major Saravanan.

               “Men Love their country not because it is great, but because it is their own” said Seneca, the roman philosopher. The above slogan was indeed outlived by Major Saravanan. The Name “Saravanan” is a customary common name as and when you come across men from Tamil Nadu before 29^th may 1999, until, the hero of this article, Major Captain Saravanan lost his precious life while combating and killing four Pakistani intruders in the Line of Control during the Kargil War.

                   He was possibly the first Indian martyr to have been killed in the Kargil war. Major Saravanan was born on 10^th August 1972 in the island of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. It’s not that easy to decide about your future when you have kids of your age group around you telling that they want to become a cricketer, Software Engineer, An IAS, A doctor, a lawyer and what not? But Saravanan was an exceptional kid who showed deviance from the rest. Having been born to an Lt.Colonel it would have been inane if Saravanan had chosen something else as his career rather than joining the most prestigious Indian Army; it was no wonder that the Army Blood was innate in Saravanan.

                    Saravanan Graduated from St.Joseph’s college, Trichy. As a first step towards joining the Indian infantry he joined the NCC infantry unit in his college. From then there was no looking back, Saravanan made rapid strides in his Army career, he joined the first Bihar regiment as a lieutenant. His dedication and sincerity then made him grow by leaps and bounds. He was ranked captain and Major in the successive years. When you spell out the name “Major Saravanan (INDIAN ARMY)” aloud, it will bring you boundless joy and a spirit that could ignite your minds with some positive vibration.

                    “Forgiving Terrorists is left to God, but Fixing their Appointment with God

                       Is our responsibility “ - INDIAN ARMY

         

                            As the above Awe-Inspiring Quote goes, Major was assigned a new operation. He was supposed to move to Kargil from Assam that would never be an easy mutation for any normal human being even if you are in your pink of health. Adapting to the coldest weather of Kargil all of a sudden from a sultry hot Assam weather is neither a joke nor that easy that too at an altitude of 14500 feet. Saravanan never knew that May 28^th, 1999 was going to be his last day in this world. It all happened when Major was assigned the operation of capturing a Pakistani position at the above quoted altitude in the Batalik sector. 

                              He and his fellow army men planned an attack at around 4 am. The plan was perfectly executed when our Army men along with Major Saravanan shot a series of bullets at first, which was then followed by an intensive back firing from our most hated rivals. There were plenty of ammos scattered all around that area which failed and fumbled to pierce the Noblest Indian Army. The brawl got intense and so our Major had to use the Rocket launcher during the combat which would have easily weighed somewhere between 3 to 5 kg. He triggered the launcher which killed two of our foes, during the launch Major Saravanan got badly hit by the shrapnel. He was then acutely injured; he never gave up.

                          
                        Major made the motive crystal clear in his mind “DO IT FOR OUR MOTHER AND THEN DIE”, his perseverance to save our mother India made him continue the combat. Meanwhile the Pakistani soldiers charged a volley of bullets which injured many of our men. The Commanding officer ordered our Major to retreat and elude because too many Indian Army men had been injured.  Major Saravanan was code named “Genghis Khan” for this operation. “Genghis Khan Fall back” came the order, “Not Today sir, we are almost close to the enemy position and the objective” replied major. He then went on to kill two more Pakistani soldiers, but this time Major Saravanan got hit by a bullet straight in the head. Major cuddled and curled up slowly before he became a martyr and his name got carved in the history of Indian Army. His fortitude and patriotism will always be etched in our memories. A true warrior, for whom the artilleries were the only backbones, had bereaved us.  You might wonder what is so very special about this particular martyr while there are plenty of others as well; yes it was only because of him I got to understand the meaning of a martyr for the very first time in my life when I was just 9 years old. It was he who taught me “For our better tomorrows the Army men have been giving their todays”.  It costed him his precious life to receive the highest individual award “VEER CHAKRA” posthumously.

MY SMALL TRIBUTE TO BELOVED MAJOR:

  “Major Saravanan would have enjoyed sleeping in his mom’s lap just like you and I

    He would have enjoyed his mom’s food just like you and I

    He would have enjoyed his childhood and adolescence just like you and I

    He would have enjoyed being with his friends just like you and I

    He would have enjoyed Rajni and Kamal just like you and I                                       

    He would have enjoyed Rahman and Ilayaraja just like you and I

    He would have also enjoyed Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly just like you and I

    But in the end he died for a stranger: U and I

If ever there is something called rebirth or next birth in my life, I would desperately want  to join the Indian Army and serve my nation. I take a bow, Respect and Salute all the martyrs of India who sacrificed their most precious lives in the noble cause of protecting our Mother India. Proud to be an Indian forever.  Long Live the Indian Army!

A DAY AT THE CHINNASWAMY STADIUM !

INDIAN TEST CRICKET - A FADING ART?

When people say “The Gentlemen’s Game”, we obviously envisage the men in white gears or the men playing test cricket. With the sudden burgeoning of T20 cricket and the extravaganza it has given us, I am sure most of the cricket lovers have lost the interest and patience in watching the test cricket ball by ball. When you have just lost the interest in watching the test cricket even in the television for that sake, no wonder test cricket has indeed lost its luster, charm and grace for which it was meant to be. The indelible fact is that, the recent Indian test cricket has been constantly failing to entice and captivate the crowd just because the “FAMOUS FIVE” (Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Sehwag) as few say, and the mighty “FABULOUS FOUR” (Excluding Sehwag) as many say, have already hung their boots up and the very few in fact just two are on the verge of calling it quits very soon.

PULLING PEOPLE IN:

Despite Legendary Anil Kumble and speedster Javagal srinath’s poignant efforts to abate the ticket fares for the test cricket in Bangalore, I and my friend Sathish had to take a humungous effort in convincing my other friends to witness the second day of test cricket between India and New Zealand on September 1st 2012. The Ticket price was freaking nominal for just 50 Rupees which ploughed some sort of interest and eagerness amidst all of us to see our entire favorite Indian cricket stars live in action.

FIDGETY EVE:

The previous night before the second days play, all my friends were fast asleep, I was tossing and turning and was wide- Awake with an exorbitant enthusiasm and excitement while my friend Sathish was burning all his midnight oil mutating himself  into a nocturnal brux  in the office the other night. With my gang of 8 (Mukunth, Gokul, Sathish, Balaji, Raja, Hari, Debin and Omar) I was of the jejune intuition that these 8 guys are going to resurrect and rejuvenate the very interest in Indian test cricket as if we were there just to steady the fumbling KSCA board. There was a huge sigh of relief when my friend Sathish turned out early morning from the office.

OFF TO CHINNASWAMY:

 Guys then turned hare footed and we reached the Chinnaswamy Stadium much before the anticipated time with the help of “Namma Metro”. As we were nearing the “D Lower” and Gate 18, the adrenaline rush emanated up than ever before. The Stadium was under a serious bomb threat it seems, so we were all acutely scrutinized as if we were from Al-Qaeda or Al-Ummah. Once the checking got over we all shouted and ran inside the stadium like a bunch of guys who had got their Eye vision just quite some time back for the very first time in our lives .The Ground was indeed a visual delight and you can very well call it lush green .We entered the ground when the kiwis got bowled out by Ojha’s heroics.

We took some time and got settled quite near to the deep backward or Deep-Midwicket positions as and when the bowling end and batting end changes respectively. The Crowd went blatant and deafening when the Indian openers Gauti and Viru entered the ground. The Crowd was Ear-Popping and so I was not able to hear even the phone calls I was receiving from my friends. Much to my excitement my colleague and Good friend Praveen Bamane was just few rows above me. It would have been more fun if Imran Bhai, My office cohort had been with me, so that we both could have discussed some good cricketing statistics as we usually do in the office hours, but he was seated somewhere else with his gang. There were a plenty of hair-raising moments during the match, one was when the crowd went berserk when sehwag smashed the first boundary of the Indian innings. The Mexican waves made by the crowd were really a happening hullabaloo and a visual treat as well.

GOD’S ARRIVAL AND EARLY EGRESS:

There was a sort of awed hush amidst the crowd when Gambhir was bamboozled by Southee. Then came in Pujara who faltered for a meager sum playing a poorly calculated hook shot. This time we weren’t booing or there wasn’t a pin drop silence for a change when an Indian wicket went down. Yes the crowd ruptured, erupted, turned boisterous, went berserk for a while with a deafening noise as if someone was raising the roof, it was all happening out there at the Chinnaswamy stadium just because  the little man who usually comes in at two down for saving India is already padded up and is about to enter the ground. Here comes in the cricketing God for millions, my impetus, inspiration, Role Model and what not? “Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar”. We the spectators exploded in joy shouting out loud “S A C H I NNN ……… SACHINNNNNNNN....  The Moment I saw him at the crease, I just veritably forgot the enormous amount of bleakness, anguish and the dismal dumps that were accumulated in my mind. The Master took some time to execute his shots to perfection. The first and the only phenomenal straight drive came after an hour or so from the god’s willow, that was his 2000^th test boundary to add to his flurry of records. Sachin wasn’t playing his natural game that day (I wonder whether it was just because I deliberately burdened him with all my sorrows, agonies and stresses) A sudden chill went down the spine and everyone Indian out there went traumatized when sachin was castled by Bracewell. Then came in the in-form, rampant Virat kohli who timed each and every ball flawlessly along with the reposing Suresh Raina whose timber sounded as sweet as honey every time the red ball met his willow. Kohli and Raina went on to reach a century partnership with their individual fifties as well. Raina then got out to a blinder of a catch by Van Wyk. Then came in captain cool MSD for whom the plot was a fitting one and a cake walk to show his flamboyancy and elegance. Mahi did play his natural game although he took some time to read the pitch conditions earlier. It was half past two when the crowd went for a short nap during the tea time. Bang… Bang….Bang….it was the usual trademark helicopter shot from Dhoni which had woken the spirit depleted crowd up this time. Kohli started piling up his scores silently on the other side.

BAD LIGHT CALLS IT A DAY:

It was fifteen past five and we still had 9 more over’s left for the day, Kohli went in to his 90’s and Dhoni neatly crafted an artistic 45. Bad light couldn’t lit up the spirits of the players and the umpires and it even ended up in playing spoil sport when kohli and Dhoni were about to make their personal milestones of a ton and half a ton respectively. An eventful and a spirited day halted to a standstill end when the umpires called it stumps for the day due to bad light. At the end of the day I must agree that I witnessed a splendid day of test cricket, an indelible one amidst the busy corporate life and the monotonous and melancholic personal life.

PS:  I swear, it was not a combined effort from me and my friends to have just gone there to rejuvenate or resurrect the lack luster Indian test cricket or to see the entire Indian cricketing heroes play live in front of us, On the contrary, I hereby confess that I went there to Chinnaswamy only to witness one man called “SACHIN ” padding up and walk into the centre stage so that I shall salute and bow down for all that he has done to make me and the millions of Indians happy all throughout our lives .

 

PHENOMENON CALLED NOLAN !!!

It’s been a couple of months since I blogged and met you all lastly. Since then I never found anything interesting on the cards to be written on my blog until I was down with “The Dark Knight Rises” fever. I don’t want to call this a movie review because it is purely gonna be from my perspective or I can say I am not that good in reviewing someone’s sheer drudgery and uphill battle. I have to confess that I saw the batman trilogy last week only. I wonder and regret for having been missing it until the last weekend.

Christopher Nolan: 

                              Note that I am not a voracious or an insatiable English movie buff like that of my other friends, but on the contrary this gentleman and a prodigy named Christopher Jonathan James Nolan has mutated me into an ardent, insatiable Hollywood Movie buff. When you have a profuse fan following, the pressure that is built on you is sky high and having been given us the awe-inspiring, breathtaking and the magnum opus prequels like the “The Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” you need a witty and a clever gut even to think about the hype and the pressure you are about to face. Nolan has handled the enormous pressure that was heaped up on him, with such an ease which is evident from the way he has scripted and carved the final part of the trilogy “The Dark Knight Rises”. Nolan has indeed been bestowed with the natural talent of script writing, screen play and direction which is evident from the way the audiences are glued to their respective seats until the last scene and the very last frame of the movie. The casting, the logic and the plot at any point in the movie never ever resembled like it was emulated from the DC comics. If you are a person who will look over the nook and corner of any movie for its logical flaws and loop holes, then I must say this is not the movie you are looking for. The Nolan mesmerism and hypnotism will never let you think about the logical flaws for the entirety of the movie I must say. Let me conclude saying that Christopher is a real epitome of legendary direction and script writing. Now it’s time to hold the wire for the “Man of Steel” from the subtle man who has never disappointed his fanatics till date. I don’t care about the hype this is gonna create but I am damn sure that he will deliver a sucker punch to all his critics yet again. 

The Dark Knight Rises:

                                        Most of the guys must have definitely watched the movie by now or many would have read those bounteous reviews about the movies by now and for those who haven’t watched it yet, I don’t want to reveal the plot and I don’t want you to lose the thrill, the magic, the suspense and those hair rising moments which I personally underwent and experienced while seeing the movie. Please do make sure you watch it only at the theatres else you will be missing a master piece in your life time. I must definitely say that me and my two other friends Bala and Jerald who accompanied me for the movie personified ourselves as the citizens of “Gotham City “ initially when the movie started and ended up personifying ourselves as “The Batman “ alias Bruce Wayne who is the savior of the city.

Casting:

                I must definitely say that each and every person who has acted in the movie has indeed made cent percent justice to their characters. Christian Bale, as the multi billionaire Bruce Wayne shall be renamed as Bruce Wayne from now on. Tom Hardy, as the bane was banal at times, that’s just because you are missing the legendary Heath ledger here. Anna Hathway was a perfect fit as the cat woman and you will be blown away by her stunts in the movie. Michael Caine as “Alfred” and Gordon Levitt as “John Blake” were scintillating in their performances. Morgan Freeman and Gary Old man have lived as “Lucius Fox” and “Commissioner Gordon” respectively.

Hans Zimmer:

                         When two legends join hands together you can never expect anything less than a power packed project. Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan are not a mere exception here. The Sound Tracks and the BGM’s contribute to more than 50 % of those hair rising moments in the movie (G***a G****a moments as usually portrayed by my friend Navanee when he is in his peak of excitement). The legendary Oscar Award winner Zimmer was as usual an epitome of excellence.

Verdict:

               A Technically Sound and uniquely Crafted Master Piece in which you will hypostatize yourself as the citizens of Gotham City waiting a bit too long for the Batman to save you and your city for the entirety of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Take a bow - Christopher Nolan and three cheers to the entire crew of the Trilogy.