Good game ....

A Cricket post after a long time, since India played well against opponents of caliber after a long time.

India v South Africa, 2nd ODI, Belfast
June 29, 2007

India 227 for 4 (Sachin 93, Yuvraj 49*, Karthik 32*) beat South Africa 226 for 6 (van Wyk 82, Boucher 55*, Yuvraj 3-36) by 6 six wickets

"On another day, it might have been enough. But after Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist had pulled alongside them during the World Cup, this was an afternoon for the old firm of Tendulkar and Ganguly, who reclaimed the record with a 17th three-figure partnership. The halcyon years may be long gone, but as Tendulkar demonstrated, there are days when he can still shine like the sun." .... Dileep Premachandran in Cricinfo

Nuke-Shuke & all that

While the rest of the Indian News Media is engaged in debate regarding the possible next Indian President & how deep in shit she really is, there was a very interesting article on the Indo-US nuclear co-operation deal.

It was supposed to have been cleared much earlier, but negotiations had stalled over certain objections raised by the Americans (ignorant as usual, about geo politics in this part of the world). They apparently want India to declare a moratorium on testing & agree to some sort of limitation on reprocessing. I mean, here we are surrounded by hostile nations on all sides (except for Bhutan & maybe Sri Lanka & Nepal) which are headed by authoritarian, military regimes, two of them having already initiated wars against us & the Americans want us to declare a moratorium on testing! After us having already declared no-first-use!

Anyway, the cause for worry here was that some idiots in the union ministry were willing to accept whatever Uncle Sam wanted, but as this article states, there has been a change in India's stance & tactics recently which might even lead to something that is to the satisfaction of India's nuclear establishment.

Oh, & as usual, the article appears on The Telegraph .... while all that makes the headlines on the others is Mayawati/Amitabh/Rajnikanth & the like.

R.I.P. Chris

I've been seated only for 5 minutes at my cubicle when I get an SMS from Vipin .... "Chris benoit and family found dead at home. I cant take it any more :-(. What the hell"

I'm too numbed to say anything right now. Things had hardly moved on after Eddie's death when his best friend decides to do this .... sad, really sad!

Don't ever get into philosophical discussions with your parents.

America's got talent?

I came across this while going through some Pakistani blogs. The guy's name is Kashif Memon, he's Pakistani & he's doing his stuff for America's Got Talent, dancing to Hrithik's Ek Pal Ka Jeena.



The thing is, he's a bad dancer .... if this was India, he wouldn't make it past the 1st round of the backstage eliminations. But India this is not, & you just have to listen to the crowd & watch how the judges' reactions change from boring to interested to amazed. Plus, the attitude of the guy .... he's totally enjoying himself & doesn't care a fig for whoever's thinking whatever.

Very entertaining, maybe we have our next Sanjaya!

Saturday night @ Soumya's

This has pretty much been the routine over the last few weeks on Saturday nights.

Around 7 PM - Salil/Soumya - kya plan hai?
Me - kuch nahi be
S/S - aa jao phir
Me - nahi yaar, Friday bhi bahut ho gaya tha
S/S - abe theek hai, Saturday night ghar pe nahi rehne ka, I'm coming to pick you up
Me - OK

Head over to Ruchi Rich, pack biryani.

Go over to the friendly neighbourhood booze shop, get 3-4 quarters of vodka.

Stop at the general store near Alliance, get 2 big packs of Haldiram's All-in-Ones; a 2 liter Thums Up bottle; dhaniya; onion & mirchi.

Reach house no E-199. See Soumya & Salil squabble as the party is set up.

Watch as Abhay gets his CDs out & sets up Soumya's TV/DVD for the next 5 hours of non-stop Trance.

Appreciate as Salil works his magic on the dhaniya/mirchi/onion & Haldiram's to come up with the most awesome chakhna ever.

And finally, booze with the vodka, trip to the music, gorge on the biryani & puff away on Abhay's joints .... till sleep overwhelms the self.

Weekend manao to aise :-)

Oceans Thirteen

I'd loved Oceans Eleven but didn't like Oceans Twelve that much. Saw the 3rd installment ....


.... Oceans Thirteen today & it's made me a fan all over again. Super movie.

India on 4 wheels

The 1st definitive pics of Tata's 1 lakh car to be released next year are now coming out. This ....

.... was on teambhp.com.

And this ....


.... was on Overdrive.

Must say it looks better than I thought it would.

Awaited .....

Chak De India - After the fiascoes called 'Tara Rum Pum' & 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom', Yash Raj has a chance to redeem itself with this one. Based on a true Hockey story that most in this Cricket obsessed country are unaware of, it should be one of Shahrukh's better films.


The Simpsons Movie - My favourite American family on the big screen .... I'm expecting a laugh riot.

Tata's latest

The Magic & ....










The Winger.










I reserve my comments.

US GP

Hamilton wins it again .... what a debut he's having! Alonso follows for another McLaren 1-2.

Ferrari? ... well they trail by more than 30 points now in the Constructors'. I don't care who wins as long as they're driving for McLaren .... guda, guda.

Tokyo Drift

Finally got hold of a good DVD print & am I thankful I hadn't watched it before!

The best stunts I've seen this side of MI:2; riveting background score; a credible story line (more so than the 1st 2 FnFs); a revelation in the form of Sung Kang & last but definitely not the least .... the cars, oh the cars .... the cream of Japanese automotive excellence tuned & pimped to the max!

Han - I have money, it's trust and character I need around me. Who you choose to be around you lets you know who you are. One car in exchange for knowing what a man's made of .... that's a price I can live with.

Look at all those people down there. They follow the rules for what .... they're letting fear lead them.

Sean - What happens if they don't?

Han - Life's simple .... you make choices and you don't look back.

Loved it. And drifting has a new fan.

Changes ....

I guess being a part of the process, I don't realise the pace with which this country is changing.

This post from the great bong captures it aptly. He talks about how one of the most ubiquitous North Indian institutions, the neighbourhood sweet shop (as opposed to bakeries here in the South), is undergoing dramatic transformation.

It's happened in the metros, & the changes will soon reach the small town I call home (if they haven't already). Better go back soon & take it all in before things change irreversibly.

Now watching

Jolly and me must have watched this movie about 20 times during the summer holidays of 1988. Bobby had the VHS & had forgotten about it after having lent it to me. A total candyfloss, feel good movie, watching it after about 19 years bought back so many memories of those times.


Okay, this one's trailer I had seen on 'The World This Week', the one proper program telecast by DD (during the whole week) when India was still the socialist backwater that it used to be back in the late 80s-early 90s. Needless to say, it made a big impression, especially Brian 'The Boz' Bosworth. Watching it had always been one of the to-do tasks at the back of my mind & I finally got around to doing it this weekend. Crappy Hollywood action, but good timepass nonetheless.

F1 in India

India gets it's 1st F1 race in 2009! It's confirmed.

Let's hope they come up with an awesome, awesome track.

There's always a 1st time :-)

Chevy Optra Magnum

In 4 months, GM has launched the Aveo U-VA, the Spark & now this .... the diesel Optra Magnum. The front end is lifted from the SR-V & I think it looks good.

Skoda's run of the premium diesel sedan market is gonna get difficult from now on.

Indian Idol: update

The eliminations at Indian Idol are over & all 3 of my favs, Emon, Chang & Prashant made it into the final round.

The thing that stands out is, out of the final 10 of season 3, 2 guys & 2 girls are from Bihar/Jharkhand. If one includes West Bengal into that, the number goes up to 6 in all! They should rename the program as East Indian Idol.

And last but not the least, Alisha absolutely sucks as a judge. She's biased, shows favouritism & disregards real singing talent. She shouldn't have been on that chair.

Opel Corsa GSi

GM shouldn't have killed off Opel in India. Look what the Swift would have had to contend with!

Aerosmith @ Bangalore

It was their 1st ever India concert yesterday.

Knight Rider Season 1

It's mine. After a mammoth download lasting almost 3 weeks.