IPL 2010 - halfway

Mumbai have been the surprise for me.

Bangalore continue last year's strong form.

Rajasthan started off slow, but are improving.

Delhi play as usual - somewhat consistently.

Deccan have dissapointed after a good start.

Kolkata are better than they were ever, which is still not good enough.

Chennai have been surprisingly bad.

Punjab just don't seem to be in it.

LCH flies!

The LCH gets airborne for the 1st time ever. And it's a looker.

I'm already imagining a convoy of these along with the Dhruv WSIs. What a sight that would be!

Total Mall

... used to be my hangout during 2008 - early 2009. Being so close to the office, we'd drop in ever so often for a burger, shopping or just plain timepass. Then, the recession kicked in, the team was downsized & I had to leave the cosy confines of M4.

And before I realized it, it had been 10 months since I had last stepped into the place. Till today, that is, when Shanu came up with the idea of a visit to the nearest McDonald's. Reached there around 6:30 in the evening. And I was not prepared for the changes.

The roads & general infrastructure outside have improved from their previous state of perennial construction & reconstruction. Good. But inside, it's a different story. The luxury store from where I'd got my G-Shock has long gone. Replaced by three different discount readymade stores. All pretty downmarket. Huge contrast.

The ground floor MusicWorld is gone too. A horde of trinket & cheap jewellery stalls have taken it's place. Not very appealing. The CCD outlet still manages good business, but is crowded out from view by icecream parlours & ladies bag stalls. Plus, there's a stall advertising spoken English courses & another selling roach poison! The Reebok showroom lies empty & desolate. And no sign of the Levi's outlet which used to be there near the lifts.

There's a new John Players store ... but that's about the only positive. All in all, a pretty huge trade down for the mall's image. But I guess they've got to do what they've got to do. Footfalls were probably never enough to support those stores in the first place.

Had my Chicken Maharaja Mac & moved out. Things have changed pretty fast.

Videocon d2h

Jai ho Joy Bhaiya!

Personally, I was happy with cable, but Shanu thinks the world of this thing. So it's fine.

There was a minor flutter when I couldn't find MAX under Sports or Entertainment. Finally turned up under Movies! Yeah I forgot, they show movies when the IPL isn't on.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Entertaining comicbook adventure.

2012

Far too many coincidences. Okay otherwise.

IPL 2010 is go

Wake up at 6. This being a Friday is another initiative. Leave for office by 8:15 am. Swipe in at quarter to 9.

Rajesh has been dropped hints all week, courtesy Nilanjan, that no one's gonna be around by 6 on Friday evening. It's a light load day & passes quickly enough.

Shalini has her 'supplementary' driving test. She passes. Very happy.

I leave at 5:30 on the dot. Traffic is light on the way home. Buy a couple of 'Feast's to celebrate. And am in just before the inauguration.

Kick back. Relax. Shanu rues the upcoming 45 days of non stop T20. But I don't .... not one bit. Heh heh.

The opening ceremony is a damp squib. I mean, who wants to watch UB40, Abba Revival & Lionel Ritchie in this day & age? Lalit Modi might have managed a package deal on the cheap for them.

Kolkata take on Deccan in the opener. The last team of 2009 vs the champions. And Kolkata win! SRK is mercifully missing from the screen for the duration of the match. A good win for KKR nonetheless. I'm somehow inclined to back them for this year.

saved

Speeding down the back road near Silk Board junction. A kid, looking left, starts crossing the road .... from the left. About 5 metres ahead of where I am.

The guy standing near the tea stall understands the situation, whirls around to see what happens. Not that there's anything he can do. The kid is still oblivious.

The rear brake is pressed hard. The wheel locks .... the first screech ensues .... the kid whirls around, his eyes widen. The bike starts skidding to the right. I squeeze the front brake lever harder while upshifting quickly.

The kid has halted by now. I'm about a meter from him .... but I've managed to point the bike away from him. The kid stands frozen. I realize it's gonna be okay as I almost come to a standstill. He's saved by a couple of feet.

It all happens in a couple of seconds. I rev into 2nd & ride away.

@ the office

Arun Balakrishnan is a dead ringer for Siju Thomas who was with me back in college. The way he talks, his gait, the physique .... everything matches. Maybe the one above instantiates every new individual from one of several basic templates.

Meanwhile, The dumb asses in charge of blocking 'unwanted' websites at the office have zealously managed to block every cricket related site on the web. But iplt20.com remains accessible in all it's glory, with just 3 days to go for the start of the 2010 season. Maybe they look for the word 'cricket' in the URL.

And finally, as one friend leaves, another fills in .... Div joins the company a few weeks after Sittu's departure.

>70

71.5 kilos! A gain of 3 kilos in less than 3 months. And the 1st time I have crossed the 70 mark.

Time to go easy on Shalini's cooking.

Back to the 90s

nWo re-forms as 'The Band' on TNA with Hulk, Bischoff, Nash, Hall & Waltman. It brings back a lot of memories of the Monday Night Wars. What a time that was! However, it remain to be seen if Impact can give Raw a run for it's money. McMahon won't stay still, that's for sure.


And coming to McMahon, he has brought back Bret Hart to the ring. It was great, just great, to see my fav wrestler back in the squared circle & I hope he continues for some time.

Just points to the fact that the present lot of wrestlers just don't have the appeal or the mic skills like the ones in the 90s used to have. Probably that's the reason why they keep going back to the old gimmics.

Avatar

One word - Awesome!

Another Indian in F1

Karun Chandhok becomes the second Indian in F1 after signing up with HRT F1. Cool!

3rd March

Vini's b'day & the ol' home town's too. Me misses.

Ford Figo

Launched at 3.5 onwards for the petrol & 4.5 onwards for the diesels. Undercuts the Polo & Swift by thousands if not more. The fully loaded diesel with ABS & 2 airbags comes in at 5.5, a price point at which the Polo diesel starts.

Impressive Ford, very impressive. Tata, Hyundai & Maruti must be a worried lot.

Public Enemies

Fantastic. The story, the performances, the direction, the authenticity, the score ..... so very well put together.

Kaminey

Definitely NOT the vanilla Bollywood film. It's dark & takes time to grow on you.

Vishal Bhardwaj is coming along really well.

Holi