India & Saurav : Futures and Options...

Verbatim from Anshul's blog

the indian team has disappointed beyond measure and words. that we lost the match in bangalore is sad, but an occupational hazard of playing and following sport. that we failed to win the series which would have been the first back-to-back victory of an indian side against pakistan is painful, but acceptable. clearly, pakistan could hold their own and in the bangalore test especially, were clearly the superior side.that the indians bowed and virtually gave up under pressure at bangalore is intolerable.

that they fail to admit that they had a defeatist attitude sucks worst of all. lets start with ganguly's ridiculous statement after the match... on being asked about the team's strategy after sehwag's dismissal, he said "we decided to play normal cricket". i may not be the wisest cricketing pundit around, but in my opinion whatever happened on day 5 at bangalore was the most abnormal cricket that i have seen from india in a long time. sachin tendulkar scoring 16 runs off 98 balls, when kumble scored 37 off 52 later in the day? the reputed indian middle order apparently deciding not only not to go for the target, but not to make a single run if they can help it? scoring all of 189 runs in the whole day when the previous day saw over 350 runs being scored? normal cricket? bantha phoodoo!

a decade-old one-day game comes to my mind. i think manoj prabhakar and ajay jadeja had to make some 60-70 runs in the last 10 overs, and they surprisingly decided to just play the 10 overs out. bangalore could have been a mirror image of giving up hope. at this moment, as then, the prospect of an indian team giving up remains unacceptable. if we had been 214 all out at tea trying to go for the total, we would still criticize but not be depressed, and even proud at the team's spirit. like we were at the demolition against Australia in the World Cup final. sadly, though, even a show of that spirit was denied us.

the indian team has long been accused of hanging on to the coattails of one star player - be it kapil dev, sachin tendulkar, or the latest star, virender sehwag. is this wise, or necessary, especially with this indian side? even as overly critical and deeply cynical fans half a decade ago, we used to retain hope till the last recognized pair had left the crease. at times, our prayers would be answered with great innings from then-unlikely stars - jadeja, mongia, agarkar, yuvraj and kaif. but now our esteemed captain says, we stopped thinking about the target once sehwag got run out. excuse me? at 87/1, with four middle order players with a combined experience of over 350 test matches and 26,000 test runs yet to come to the crease, you give up? and not just give up the chase, but apparently decide to go so much into a shell that the opposition can put seven fielders around the bat and not suffer a single run for 52 balls? against the might of proven bowlers like kaneria, arshad khan and afridi?

it is time for rethinking and a time for action. sport is about facing challenges - all the more bravely for the fact that you can afford to lose. we need a new drive, and we need a new leader. and if it means losing our most experienced and "talented" players, so be it.

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From a mail i received :

You can see the following message behind maggi 2 minutes noodles pack: Step 1: boil one cup of water Step 2: as soon as ganguly goes for batting, put the noodles in the boiled water and put the tastemaker. Step 3: stir till ganguly is onfield. Step 4: As soon as ganguly is back in pavilion, your noodles r ready to eat.

What is the next number in the series 21, 12, 12, 1, 2, ... . . .
Only Ganguly knows it. Because these are his scores in the latest Test series

This is the precise summary of the third test match, as expressed in DH - Editorial today: India's defeat Sir, The Indian cricket team losing the third Test match to Pakistan in Bangalore brings to mind an old Arab proverb: "An army of lions led by a sheep can be vanquished by an army of sheep led by a lion "

India Pakistan Match has started. As to be expected, it's a charged up atmosphere and the heat is really on! .......... India is put in to bat. As to be expected, three wickets down, for a measly score. .......... There is phone call for Ganguly, at the Dressing Room. The Team Manager picks up the call. .......... "Hello ! I am Ganguly's friend speaking . Can I talk to him now ?" ......... The Team Manager replies : "Sorry ! He has just gone in to bat . " ....... The caller replies "No problem . I'll hold the line ! "

Shoiab Akhtar admits Ganguly is faster and quicker than him. "I haven't seen any one get out so fast. Man, I envy his speed. I am quick but he is quickest.", he says. "I think I should now cut my run up short when I bowl to him. Or else, he might be gone when I am half way thru my run up."


2) How can u say "Get Out" to Ganguly politely? Ans: Ask him to go to bat

3) If Rahul is "The Wall", what is Ganguly? Ans: The hole in the wall

5) Who is the only cricketer who does not bat, bowl or field and yet plays international cricket? Ans: no comments.......

Q: Any Guesses which is Ganguly's favorite movie? A:Gone in 60 seconds

Life chugs on...

Unless you are an engine driver or a guard waving the flags for a living, it is not often that you would find yourself on a train for 8 consecutive days...

*break for a half an hour chat conversation followed by a 29-minute phone conversation with J*
Having lost that train of thought about the trains completely , let me train my eyes on a fresh start..

I have always maintained that Lady Luck (also known as Luck with the ladies), has failed me time and again, without fail, when i set foot aboard the billowing caravans that run on tracks.. In all of the last month, when train journeys were more the order of the day than any kinda stationary shelter, she has always managed to be conspicuous by her absence, consistently making sure to pied pipe the rest of the female species with her too, leaving me to fume with some dhaadiwallahs and beediwallahs that so often try to chat me up with endearments like 'thambi enna panndraappola', and the like.. Not even guys my age. Not that i am particularly lookin or longing for them either... A guy is certainly not an adequate replacement for a girl on a train journey. period.

When i eventually reached the Delhi rly stn by auto (worth a mention is that the autowallah was an old OLD man, with a osama-like beard), i didnt know wat was coming. Lady luck was practially dead. Picture this.
Of all the days in the english calendar, and of all the trains that Shri Laloo deems fit to criss cross the vast expanse of Mother india, and of all the pitstops that that these trains take time to fart at, the 17th of March, 2005 Tamilnadu Express train was the chosen one. here is how.
As many as 6 second classes coaches were bulk-booked by a home for the old-aged. apparently by some asylum that planned to shift all its inmates from delhi to chennai suddenly, moving my destiny closer to me in effect. And as if that were not enough, 3 of the remaining 5 coaches were snapped up by a school for the blind. This meant only one thing. S4 to S12 was wasteland (unless you are a good samaritan like some of my friends out there..). And being in S11 and the pantry somewhere near S5, i never got farther than that, into greener pastures (the optimist in me..) Worst kannaa Worst..

I have been told that the number 7 is lucky for me ( in hindsight, 7 was my speaker number at FMS), but that simply doesnt justify an atrocious frequency of berth number 70 being allotted to me everytime i ask for an upper berth (for my eunuch-phobia again). being the last berth on the compartment, and closest to the exit means two things. One, i have to sleep like an idiot, using my briefcase as a footrest to make sure someone doesnt whisk it away while i am slumbering away.. and Two, i am CLOSEST to the toilets - western and indian - and thus having to courageously brook the fusion of various foreign fragrances that assault me everytime someone heeds a call of nature.. these indians never bother closing the door behind them.. lil wonder then that the only time i managed some words with females on previous occasions was when some female forgot to close the door, and since the scent from the toilet is crass irrespective of the beauty quotient, i ventured into a polite word askin them to close it. the door, i mean..

On day two, the sun decided he had to do his bit to spoil my party (??) too.. and scorch he did.. I was armed with a copy of Ignited minds by Kalam, but it was my behind that was close to ignition, given the skyrocketing temperatures.. had a real tough time toweling myself with some cold water every second minute.. And as a corollary that i derived from the Alchemist, "When someone up above decides u r gonna have it, all the world conspires to let u face it"..
No lunch on board. Next station in 2 hours. Hungry as hell. meant a long trek to the pantry car, making way for all those oldies, all clad in whites (Life's way of throwing subtle hints?), only to finally find that they had nothing but a loaf of plain bread, with nothing to go with it. a bottle of water might help.
so that was how i finally ended up eating half a loaf of bread all morning and afternoon.. trust me, i made a pathetic picture..
J called in the evening to give me good news - of an FMS admit - that instantly seemed to make life look a lot more considerate... Instantly decided that i deserved better than the remaining half a loaf for dinner, and waited till the next station to get myself some cup noodles, which made for a much better dinner..

Next morning, went back to relive some old memories.. stood at the entrance at 6 Am, and thrusting my face into the biting wind and chilling cold, bravely sang Sonnaalum ketpadhillai and the others... My early morning throat was as coarse as the skin of an old male bufallo sufferin from peptic ulcer, but today, I wouldnt relent. The sun refused to oblige too, and finally i gave up my battle and took my seat, absently singing Yaar yaar sivam.., when suddenly the sun peeked out mischievoulsy from behind the end of the earth... i had goosebumps. 'A thing of natural beauty is a joy forever'. Suddenly, I was in a different league altogether, and read 4 chapters of ignited minds in one go, and alighted a satisfied man in madras central...

The indian railways aint all that bad after all.. We must do something to help the old and the blind.. and on-board railway restrooms are harmless too..

Life chugs along.. lol..

The feel-good factor...

The past week threw at me a strange new challenge, one that i have never been thro before..
A couple of friends called me asking if i could help them with their music for the popular Sun TV show, Sapthaswarangal. With no idea of what was expected of me, but with nothing much to do in life otherwise, I decided to give it a shot, and maybe win a few acquaintances on the way..

Day 1 (at harini's place) was highly unproductive, and things didnt seem to be going anywhere near smooth, especially given that they were facing a formidable Hindustan College band in their quarterfinals...

The wheels were set in motion the next day - at Sujatha's place - when we sat down and composed a freaky lil instrumental piece that bordered on lunacy.. Everything seemed to fit in, somehow though..

The news of an unexpected victory against the much vaunted Hindustan band came as a pleasant shock, but this meant only one thing - more work for the semifinals...

It wasnt much of a contribution from my side for the Semifinals, and all i did was to kinda oversee some of their stuff, with Ravi singing a Thillana, ably supported by Sriram and Bharadwaj (the savior), and another splendid remix composition by Prashanth, Venkat and Nut...
Sujatha's mom deserves more than just a word of thanks for her delicious lunch and tea.. putting up with all that noise, what with some 12 of us cramming up their 2nd floor apartment..

The guys managed to win their semifinals too, and this meant a LOT of work - a rehash of an old song, a completely original composition and a brand new instrumental piece - to be done in ONE day! S-O-S!!
In what can be nothing but God's grace, RR had this one line in mind that we worked on, and the lyrics evolved on their own in an hour's time... the original composition was suddenly ready and looking good...

Thanks to a complete lack of time, and some poor management, I had to stay overnight (the idea was not to leave it half-done, having come this far), and thanks again to Sujatha's folks for the wonderful hospitality.
Harini is an extremely gifted keyboardist and a ridiculously fast learner.I couldn't have asked for an easier person to work with.. Andhi mazhai pozhigiradhu was remixed at the speed of light.. Prashanth - though highly temperamental - is quick to learn and adapt, and is an asset to the side..
Aishwarya - who i mistook to be Aarthi for a long time - reminds me of 'cute'. She played the bass on the keyboard, and was very easy to teach. Aarthi was on the other keyboard and it was mostly Harini's responsibility to co-ord the 3 boards..

The own composition - a difficult one for the vocalist, given one day's time - was painstakingly learnt by Ravi, who shut himself up in one of the rooms and rewound the tape so many times till it yelled back at him.. Again, the orchestration was smooth thanks to some inspired work from harini, sriram and Prashanth..

Composing an instrumental piece doesnt get easier than this... Laughable it might sound, but I am confident that the group wont take more than 10 mins to do a whole new instrumental piece, given the way we have been workin on these.. The piece in raag Chandrakauns happened automatically . Flute Srikanth, younger bro of our own G.Srinath, finally shed his inhibitions and hit form...

I was feeling all the while that the female vocalists - Sujatha and Ranjini - needed to be given more work, and watchin them sittin without much work to do didnt do any good.. which was why I insisted on a female solo for the 4th round, and had them learn it overnight. And learn they did, and had me satisfied when they sang for me after half an hour... Ninnukori Varnam...

This bunch of highly likeable and enthusiastic musicians gave it their all in the finals of sapthaswarangal. Completely satisfied with their performance, calling it their best ever, they sounded pretty positive on their phones and SMSes when they were waiting for the results..
Unni menon was the judge it seems.. no idea how he is qualified enough to judge a group music thing at the Sapthaswarangal finals..

And then it came. They had lost.
And then they partied, for all the memories and for all the camaraderie and the sheer fun of the past week... The loss hurt, yes, but they knew to put things in perspective. And God bless them for that.
In a party that happened at a Roof garden restaurant late in the night, they pushed me close to embarrasment with their ovation and all the affection that they showered on me unconditionally...

If any of you are reading this, let me tell u guys that I had an absolute blast. It was seriously amazing, and I loved that night-out, with drooping heads singing full throatedly, and the poor gurls being woken up rudely to learn their parts for Ninnukkori.. Prashanth on the phone was rolling-on-the-floor funny.. Thanks guys for being what you were... keep the enthu going...


Coincidentally, one line in our composition went.. 'NinaivugaLe... nirandharame... sugam tharume..'
Its amazing how some things just fall into place..

Mr. Gareth Callaghan says...

Interesting link at THIS PAGE, to supposedly find what ur british names are...
Could be just a bit addictive..
I looked up mine, which was Gareth Callaghan.
I had half a mind to look up all you folks too, but then decided i better put on a cloak of busybeedom...
On a related note, here is the same site that supposedly gives you your future partner's name. I know this is stupid, but arent we all? {MY wife is supposed to be some Gloria norman..} Praise the Lord!

Cheers..
(ah I am learnin to be shorter with my posts, since people supposedly are busy...)
:-)