ME & MYSELF...: 2008

The Taj Mahal Hotel

I can't forget this very scene...taken on Children's day..it was pre 26.11...

It was like this is is Mumbai...nothing else that time could have wooed me more than the natural beauty of this historic monument......

Its sad on our part that things like that happened....

...................."PRINCE OF KOLKATA" WALKS INTO THE SUNSET

In an extraordinary gesture that reflects the camaraderie in the Indian cricket team, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday invited Sourav Ganguly to lead the team for some time as India were closing in on Australia to win the fourth Test and the series here on Monday.

On his last day on the field as an international cricketer, Ganguly, country's most successful captain, led the side for a few overs when the last Australian pair was at the wicket

Sourav Ganguly on Monday bid farewell to international cricket amid emotional scenes with more than 18,000 runs under his belt and leaving a rich legacy for the posterity at the end of a 16-year controversy-marred tumultuous career.

In between his century in the debut Test in 1992 and the Bradmanesque exit for a duck in the final innings, Ganguly's has been an unputdownable story with umpteen twists and turns and in the end of it all, the 'God on the off-side' walked out with his head held high.

His retirement, topping Anil Kumble's exit after the third Test, was timed with the same precision that has been the hallmark of his batting. With the departure of these two, three of the 'Fab Five' - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, will still continue to don the Test cap for India.

Whether the controversial soccer-style shirt waving from the Lord's balcony or the easy-going manner that got him a sobriquet 'Lord Snooty', Ganguly had his own style that also often him in controversies.

His brush with new coach Greg Chappell got him out of the team and he also picked up a fight with his mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya only to make up with him later. He staged a come back into the national team after cooling his heels for nine months.

In the midst of media speculation over the 'Fab Five', Ganguly also hit back saying he knew when to go but when the actual announcement of his retirement came before the start of the series, it did come as a surprise to many. He will now play in the Indian Premier League - domestic cricket with internationals stars.

In an era dominated by Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, Ganguly was also one of the best batsman around, both statistically and aesthetically. Each of the 18,000-plus runs he scored, mostly piercing the off-side, showed he knew how to put the bat to the ball.

His weakness against the short-pitched stuff was well-documented but he was neither the first nor the last batsman with a clear discomfiture for the chin music.

And for a batsman, who at one stage was considered almost paraplegic to anything pitched on the leg, Ganguly overcame this flaw as well in the subsequent phase of his career. He may not have been as effervescent like Lara on the leg but Ganguly was effective nonetheless.

Quitting with a 40-plus average in both forms of the game and 38 centuries against his name, Ganguly surely carved a niche for himself as one of the greatest ODI batsmen ever.

While fans will fondly remember his silky cover-drives and soaring sixes, Ganguly the skipper is likely to overshadow Ganguly the batsman in the history of the game.

Ganguly inherited the team at a time when Indian cricket was struggling to shed the match-fixing slur and by the time he was through with it, Ganguly had established himself as country's most successful captain, courtesy those 21 wins that came under his stewardship spanning 49 Test matches.

Once his highly successful partnership with coach John Wright came to an end with the affable Kiwi returning home, Ganguly's subsequent career was marked by umpteen intrigues and irony and the left-hander, credit to his resilience, survived it all.

Ganguly played a key role to get Greg Chappell as the new India coach but soon sparks flew as two men of equally strong personalities found it difficult to go together.

Subsequently, Ganguly first lost captaincy and then his place in the side to vanish into the wilderness and few believed him whenever he talked about the possibility of a comeback.

But for someone who always derived some pleasure out of proving people wrong, Ganguly kept his word and clawed his way back into the side and with a new-found consistency and ironically it was Chappell who eventually had to quit after a tumultuous stint.

Since his comeback, Ganguly hardly put a foot wrong. He returned with an altered batting philosophy which put industry before incendiary and application before aggression. Those lofted sixes or uppish cuts were less frequent as Ganguly saw the virtue in patience.

Ganguly never hid his disappointment after getting axed from the ODI squad and once he was ignored for the Irani Cup, the left-hander probably saw the writing on the wall.

For someone who dictated terms all along, Ganguly wanted to go on his own terms. Although talks about cricket's version of Voluntary Retirement Scheme did the rounds, Ganguly insisted he was going on his own.

A charismatic leader who had a wholesome hatred for Australia's hegemony in world cricket, India shed their 'poor traveller' tag under him and learnt to win Tests abroad.

Turning up late for toss, figuring in many an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontations, doing something as outrageous as taking off his shirt and swirling it at the hallowed balcony of Lord's - Ganguly evoked both admiration and irritation but never boredom.

The English press dubbed him 'Lord Snooty' while Australia fumed at his 'delaying tactics'. But for his legions of admirers, Ganguly was the captain courageous, who backed his teammates to the hilt and never indulged in regionalism that plagued Indian cricket for long.

ARIES by GOODMAN

AND THATS ME.....

A "specialist" in love at first sight, the Aries man falls in love immediately and does not take no for an answer, nor he accepts tarrying. He fancies thousands of plans including the chosen of the moment and he does it with sincerity.

It’s an adventure to date an Aries man. The chosen one can have all the joy she wants and sometimes even more. Her satisfactions with an Aries man are numerous, although living by his side can sometimes look like a bowling game with grenades instead of balls. Caught in a bustle in which everything happens by one hundred km per hour, the Aries man’s partner can feel overwhelmed and she has to be very fit not to feel exhausted.

DADA's Career Ending D Way It Started in 1996

Nagpur:
A dream debut. A fairytale ending.
Sadly, it didn’t exactly turn out that way. Sourav Ganguly was just 15 runs away from a perfect ending to his gripping but tumultuous career when a thin edge came along and stole his thunder.
But then isn’t that how the Sourav story has unfolded over the last 17 years? How could it end without a touch of bitter-sweet irony? The irony, like it has always been in his case, doesn’t end here though; in fact, it might not really be all over yet.
Yes, the virgin track here at the new VCA stadium, true to form, has already swayed from one extreme mood to the other: after being all lovey-dovey towards batsmen on the first day, she showered her affection on spinners just after lunch.
By the evening, though, she went back to her first love; so now you can’t be sure who she will eventually grant her favours too. It is, therefore, quite possible that Ganguly would get another shot at completing his fairytale. After all, isn’t he the original destiny’s child?
Indeed, right from the beginning, Ganguly has been a man of second chances. He made his international debut in 1992 but was immediately sent back to his palace: there was no place for the Maharaja among the commoners.
Four years later, though, he came back and made his dream debut in Tests; his magical timing and divine drives catapulted him into the elite class straightaway. But then, equally quickly, bowlers noted his hate-hate relationship with bouncers.
Even as vicious rumours were spreading, Ganguly was carving a place for himself elsewhere: in Onedayers. With severe restrictions on the use of short-pitched deliveries here, he used his hand-eye superiority to reinvent himself. Soon, he became the other part of a formidable opening pair with Tendulkar.
By 2000, Indian cricket had been through a catharsis. Shortly after Tendulkar’s misadventure with captaincy, Azharuddin came back to the helm; but then, the match-fixing scourge emerged from its dark alleys.
Tendulkar, then, had another torrid affair with the crown before he gave it away.
Dravid was in the race too but then Ganguly, really, is the man with all the chances. He took over and breathed a new life, and a new fighting spirit, into the team. Steadily, he created a mean machine and India were winning matches abroad too; almost inevitably, he became the country’s most successful captain.
The black clouds were, however, gathering again. Entrapped in a destructive cocoon created by himself, he was soon scampering for runs, form and friends. As irony would have it, the one man who he thought would help him, turned against him.

As the fight with Greg Chappell spilled over, Ganguly found himself in the black corner: alone, bitter and exposed. Eventually, he was haunted out of the team, and seemingly, there was no way back. Only that nobody realized the power of his second chance.
As the Indian run-machine sputtered in South Africa, the selectors turned to him again. After a dramatic, and not so welcome return, he rediscovered his form, friends and appetite for short-pitched bowling.
It wasn’t easy but he braved through this tough phase with grit and steadfastness.
On Friday, as he battled for his fairytale finish, he displayed the same grit and determination all over again. He took his time to re-gauge the pitch and recover the middle of his bat; once that was achieved he went about looking for his elegance and beautiful shots.
As the day progressed, he found most of them: a delicate breeze through the covers, a soaring six over long on, delicate flicks, glances and a couple of late cuts too. In the end it was a virtuoso display, nearly reminiscent of the old Ganguly.

It’s just so ironic that the fairytale ending eluded him; maybe, it is just the beginning of something equally beautiful...............

Ganguly Walks In

From TOI

Nagpur:

At exactly 3.45 pm, with 22 overs still to go, the languid partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman came to an abrupt end. By now, the VCA stadium, looking like a colossal but haunted spacecraft, had already yielded half of its light to shadows.
As the drinks trolley ambled towards the pitch, the yawns stopped midway and gave in to excited murmurs; but the stands, awash in their brand new blues, reds, greens and oranges, were depressingly empty. Maybe, cities don’t travel to their outskirts for Test cricket anymore.
Eventually, Sourav Ganguly stepped out of the players’ enclosure: he was fashionably late again. Luckily, it was the mandatory break and the clock was not ticking away; anyway, neither Steve Waugh was waiting nor Ricky Ponting frothing yet to spark up the moment.
Ganguly took a couple of slow and calculated steps and, like always, looked up towards the skies; he hunted out the sun, made eye contact. And blinked. Who knows this could be his last innings as India’s batsman; after all, there is no guarantee that there would be a second chance on this comatose pitch.
Suddenly, his walk picked up pace. Even from behind, he looked perkier than he has ever done; the muscles rippled in his half-sleeved shirt; the red bandana, symbolizing his fighting spirit, peeped out of his helmet. Clearly, he hasn’t stopped waking up early or working on his fitness yet. The empty stands miraculously found a voice and rah-rahed him.
Ganguly walked up to Tendulkar and exchanged a partners-in-crime smile. The little master-blaster, already into his nineties, was trying his best to gift another debutant his wicket. Luckily, he failed in both his attempts, and after a painfully long battle with himself, made it to his 40th Test century.
In the meantime, like always, Sourav tested the patience of the Aussies: he took his own time to study the pitch and to take guard. A slip, a silly-point and a forward shortleg surfaced in response. Luckily, it was the debutant spinner (Jason Krejza) on attack. Full ball, near his feet. No worries.
Next over, Mitchell Johnson attacked his leg side. But the track had already shown that it had neither pace nor bounce to lose any appetite for runs. Ganguly flicked it gingerly towards mid-wicket. Single. It wasn’t going to be the secondmost famous last match duck (assuming there is no second chance).
Three overs later, he flicks a full toss wide of mid-on. He makes a mad dash for a single, even though an easy one was there for the taking; well, he has never been a great judge between the wickets. Eventually, he punched one through covers, thumped the new ball to the squareleg boundary and lofted the spinners high into the air.
There was, however, no sign really of the divine drive, or magical timing. But as the shadows lengthened, serenity descended over him; he looked at peace with his batting and the footwork seemed sublime too. He stayed unbeaten on 27 at stumps, with India well poised at 311 for five.
Tomorrow is, of course, another day. We will surely see all the strokes, through the off and on, that made him so special over the years. He has this uncanny ability to convert a wonderful platform into a grand occasion too; so don’t be surprised if he does exactly that and makes his farewell Test truly memorable.

"Anti" Raj Thackrey

DARE NOT HURT US...

Rahul Raj is now no more.And he is not to blame.If he had not come for what he aimed ..another one must have for sure,hit the bulls eye.

Has the constitution of India given right to Mr Thackrey to act oversmart and pass such comments on people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh now and then.See his daring ability,publicly decriminating the north indians...

The world knows Bihar as a poor state...contrary to that..we are the richest.We have the sharpest brain in the whole world.It is an irony indeed that wherever u go you will find us..and it is an example of it.There is not even a single place in India where you dont have Biharis managing backbone.We are the ones who come out in search of harmony when war is there.we are ever ready to help others.

When the constitiution says that the citizen of India has the right to live in any part of the country then how come this man is roaring high.
If we Biharis are very hard working sort of people,we also have the power to do anything,anything.With the activities of a person one can figure out a Bihari.He is bold,daring and has the capabilities to outdo any difficulty and that to on his ownself.

Raj Thackery has invited a trouble for himself.For his knowledge (as it seems he doesnt know),in Mumbai there are more 'Northy' than 'Marathis'.And why the hell he is interested in it.What difference does it makes if an Indian speaks Hindi or Marathi?The backbone of Mumbai (which is the financial capital of India), is under Northys.Every top positions in companies are occupied by us....

I wish more Rahul Raj come out and his era...

This is a wonderful mail circulating in favour of RAJ Thackerey. Have a look

We all should support Raj Thackeray and take his initiative ahead by doing more...

1. We should teach our kids that if he is second in class, don't study harder.. just beat up the student coming first and throw him out of the school
2. Parliament should have only Delhiites as it is located in Delhi
3. Prime-minister, President and all other leaders should only be from Delhi
4. No Hindi movie should be made in Bombay. Only Marathi.
5. At every state border, buses, trains, flights should be stopped and staff changed to local men
6. All Maharashtrians working abroad or in other states should be sent back as they are snatching employment from Locals
7. Lord Shiva, Ganesha and Parvati should not be worshiped in our state as they belong to north (Himalayas)

8. Visits to Taj Mahal should be restricted to people from UP only.
9. Relief for farmers in Maharashtra should not come from centre because that is the money collected as Tax from whole of India, so why should it be given to someone in Maharashtra?

10. Let's support kashmiri Militants because they are right in killing and injuring innocent people for benifit of there state and community... ...

11. Let's throw all MNCs out of Maharashtra, why should they earn from us? We will open our own Maharashtra Microsoft, MH Pepsi and MH Marutis of the world .

12. Let's stop using cellphones, emails, TV, foreign Movies and dramas. James Bond should speak Marathi
13. We should be ready to die hungry or buy food at 10 times higher price but should not accept imports from other states
14. We should not allow any industry to be setup in Maharashtra because all machinery comes from outside
15. We should STOP using local trains... Trains are not manufactured by Marathi manoos and Railway Minister is a Bihari

Dare not hurt us...because when we hurt...it really hurts.

Delhi Days

DILLI 6

An Excerpt...

Don’t think that this post has anything to do with Abhishek and Sonal Kapoor starter Dilli 6 as the name suggests.

It was in 06.06.06 that I first came close to Delhi.Rest of the time it was just spending vacations with sisters and uncles.

This time it was something new.I got into DPS R K Puram as a boys hosteller(‘HOSTEL’ gives a sense that it restricts freedom to know Delhi well because...u know.But it was not as I had suppossed things would turn out.Even on the very 1^st day there was something to explore...the nearby SANGAM CINEMA, an advantage for a movie freak like me who was eveready for this sort and especially when it was of SRK’s...

Apna “PPC” (PRINCE PAN CORNER)..The owner of this Pan shop should also be called to IIM-A to give an insight into how to run a super successful Buisness...if our Honourable LALU PRASAD YADAV can,then why not this man?But to be honest,I didnt like the juice they used to give...and once I had to gulp Banana juice because there was no mango...and I hate the former juice...and the bad way it was made..added to the spark.Prateek was suppossed to give me a sort of treat and so...this was it.

Going to PRIYA was not of my concern because the only thing i observed was that ppl go there only for RPM...and a few toHABIBS for a haircut for a whopping Rs 1000 and that didnot make sense.

But once I went there,my Uncle was to meet me there.That was my 1^st interaction with Priya,VASANT VIHAR.The only thing I could remember at that time was the McD at the entrance.Later during my 12^th Boards,after the Physics paper(which went far better as compared to rest of the schools),me and Utkarsh decided to do something adventuorous and off we were to PRIYA on foot.It was simple...wear barmuda,go to the Dhobi Ghat,and jump the fence to Nivedita Kunj and we were out...Mathse xam was a week away...and there was no worry in our face.We had our usual Hangout place TRIPLE D (DADA DA DHABA) on our way..roasted chicken were already put up at the fireplace..I cudnt resist my temptation and decided to have dinner after Priya.After half an hour of walking on the streets of south Delhi (also taking a nap on a bus stop) and then finally reaching Priya where we did nothing to be honest, just roamed around(we didnt hav a penny in our pocket) and observed ppl drinking in the garden when utkarsh screams-“saale inhi logon ki masti hai...dekh bandiyaan pata rakkhi hain aur piye jaa rahen hain...mere ko ek bandi chahiye...life men feel nahi aa rahi aajkal”.It was his usual saying but this time in drinking mood.Anyways,we were getting late an so we backed out....to TRIPLE D...had 2 full plate Roasted Chicken(Hhmm !!),straightened our shorts, jumpd the wall and were back to Hostel...the dinner was Maggi...and foofdpass was not being signed...we were giggling amon ourselves for the feast just happened....

Iwill keep on writing like this if I dont end now...even when I try to cut short,i am not able to...

More memorable incidents...to follow soon...

Till then...Wishing Biharis/Jharkhandis,

A Happy Chhath Puja.

Vandanam Tragedy

Why did I choose this day to begin with?Only because,yesterday i did a very gud work....

I helped my friend suffering from severe viral fever,chest and body pain...with a running temperature of 104...I took him to the medical college,vandanam...sum 30 minutes drive from my home at 12 am sharp.

It was the first time I was cuming to a hospital and that too in such situations...

To be short...everything worked out well..he was admitted immediately...I was there wid him whole nite...

partially sleeping on the floor because there was no place for me to sleep...I m glad i cud make it..

He is fyn now..and the expression of his eyes tells me...sumthing unsaid ...which makes me feel proud.