Keep the Faith

After a rather painful and completely unexpected Super Eight elimination in the ICC World Twenty20 Championships, the bits, pieces and a meaningless match against champions-elect South Africa are the only sources of minimum redemption and face-saving hope that Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his fallen heroes can pick up. The barrage of criticism that has followed the exit of the Indian cricket team from the prestigious event in England is, not to say the least, shocking.

The media, in particular, has again demonstrated typical opportunism and singled out Dhoni for the utter failure of the defending champions. Undoubtedly, Dhoni has made errors not suited to his cricketing brain but to lambast a man, who has sacrificed his entire batting career for the thankless job of the Indian cricket captain, for defeats in two matches (one by a close three runs) is shameful to say the least. The media is clearly still nursing the wounds of that clash with Dhoni regarding team spirit and Virender Sehwag. In the wake of that ugly confrontation, they have been presented with a roaring opportunity to get even with the Ranchi cricketer. And boy have they have made use of it.

TV channels are running amok with excessive replays of specific errors made by Dhoni in the key defeat against the West Indies and experts from all spheres of life are castigating him for tactical errors. How unfair. To single out Dhoni and give a clean chit to the likes of Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir is extremely unjust and what is even more ridiculous is that this inevitably makes captaincy in cricket indirectly or even directly responsible for the poor form of other players. And this even defies logic.

As expected, opinion polls are waiting breathlessly at the end of the tunnel of Dhoni’s journey with many fans and news websites pondering whether sacking Dhoni could pave the way for a new era in Indian cricket. Whether India are better off without his ultra-cool demeanors on field and excessive rotations of the batting order.

Well, the simple answer is No.

To pass a judgment on the career of Dhoni based on a single tournament smacks of rhetorical nonsense of the worst kind and there is clearly no single stand-out successor to Dhoni in Indian cricket’s current scenario. The likes of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh are better off captaining their respective IPL teams while the leader in a Rohit Sharma or a Suresh Raina is clearly an infant who needs time to blossom.

If Mahendra Singh Dhoni is fast becoming the problem, then he is also the only solution. In him lies the brain to intellectually sort out the wrongs of the current Indian set-up and it is he who has the calmness to realize his and the team’s mistakes and rise out of the ashes. And mind you, it’s only his first major failure. The immediate apology offered by him at the end of the game speaks volumes about Dhoni’s level-headed nature and mental toughness and he is one man who knows and feels the pain of an early exit and collective failure. And what it means to a billion people.

Keep the faith. This isn’t the end of ends. This is a new beginning.

[Posted on Wordpress]

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Trailblazer

Site Maintenance

As I have observed and as was also pointed out by Mithe, the current template on this blog has exceeded the bandwidth limit.

Since I'm not too keen on other Blogger templates, I guess I will use this breakdown to complete a long-pending move to Wordpress. And also get my own domain name.

Be back soon. New and improved.

Delhi-6: More Clichés

If there's one significant line that is worth keeping in mind at the end of a draining re-run of tormenting and heavily clichéd themes-filthy rich guy, simple town girl, impossible love, fill-in characters, overdose of drama, Hindu-Muslim clashes in a small neighbourhood- it is "How can a monkey be a Hindu or a Muslim?". And the irony is that just right there even a neutral's view of the Hindu-Muslim conundrum is converted into a drab chestnut. And one wonders whether it is eventual boredom that will lead to the end of the problem as even mutual hatred joins the list of clichés. At least in movies.

A rich young man plans to ensure a smooth return for his grandmother to her family home in the crowded streets of vintage Delhi. He becomes a part of the neighbourhood to such an extent that he is no longer just the admired-from-a-distance, sweet NRI with a crooked Western accent. He falls in love (you don't know when it happens, how it happens and why it happens), meddles in the personal lives of a few orthodox well-wishers and ends up being beaten to death, like a man who dares to mess with the rigidity of conservatism would. But he does come back alive, of course.

Rakeysh Mehra's previous efforts have been way better than what he has brought out for the cinegoer this time around. Mehra's intrinsic focus on how he will patch raw beads into a beautiful necklace lose pace as early as the beginning of the movie. A typically chaotic introduction to innumerable characters, who then keep popping in and out of the screen at unexpected times and an effort to stitch together the culture beauty of Purani Dilli for the audiences leads to a jamboree of confusion that one just cant comprehend. Rakeysh Mehra probably observed the average Delhi life, made a checklist and somehow infused every point from that list into a package. Plot - doesn't matter. Sense - who cares. Audience - bewildered.

In the middle of it all, you are taught how to slap with resounding acoustics, how to change channels from the TV remote without using your hands, how to jump from one building to another in a congested neighbourhood like a fleet-footed chipmunk chasing a banana-filled truck, how to see through a monkey's eyes and how to be insane about Indian Idol. The starcast gives a thoroughly average performance. Nobody in particular stands out. Except Sonam Kapoor's natural Chandni Chowk ki chhorri looks.

The music is impressive, but that is the least one can expect from a man who has just bagged two Oscars for some rather ordinary work in Slumdog Millionaire. A R Rahman's work in D-6 however is truly worth savouring, as are Prasoon Joshi's lyrics. But the movie is very disappointing. In an effort to build a cultural beauty and to demonstrate how long-drawn communal conflicts can be erased by projecting a common enemy, Mr. Mehra misses the point, the plot and gives us a rather average Bollywood flick. The dots just dont connect.

Verdict: Avoidable

[Image courtesy: Showhype]

Sidenote: Congratulations to A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty for their phenomenal wins at the 81st Academy Awards.







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The 25 Things Tag

1) I have lived more than half of my life outside India.

2) Deciding to pursue engineering was not the wisest move in my life. I wish I had the conviction in me to pursue a career in sports, political science or even become a pet detective (Ace Ventura style).

3) I detest fame of all kinds, but secretly dream of hot women screaming my name.

4) My social skills are not terrible, just plainly weird. Sometimes, I dont know why I've behaved in a certain way, spoken certain things in public and made certain acquaintances.

5) I like football more than cricket. In fact, I am fanatical to the point that the craze has become an addiction. I cant live without football (playing, watching on TV, brainstorming, gossiping). Period.

6) By posting the same comment five consecutive times on one of my blog posts (an example here), I do not understand your point better than I did after reading it just the once.

7) I am a vegetarian. I have had my spell with smoking. I drink very, very rarely.

8) Sometimes, I like playing the uber-cool fool when I am surrounded by people(women) I wish to leave an impression upon. Sometimes.

9) I dont enjoy being in the company of cynics and sycophants. Other types will do, but these two categories of people make me feel like I need blood donors.

10) Thank God, I've reached Number 10 on this list.

11) I think Bollywood plays a hand in keeping India united. On a personal level, Bollywood is not for me (Reasons here). I am your occasionally-found-at-multiplexes kind of guy.

12) I was NOT a bully in school. I did NOT rag anyone in college. As far as I can remember.

13) I do not enjoy dancing, of the type in a discotheque with coloured lights and 'rocking' music. I enjoy Garbaa and Dandiya Raas, the folks dances of my home state.

14) During my school days, a history teacher who educated me on the Indian freedom struggle, the World Wars and Mahatma Gandhi was one of my role models. I scored 55 in Social Sciences in 10th. I dont know why (Dont smirk! One of the toppers in my school scored 49 in Social Sciences and 90s in all other subjects). I still believe this was a CBSE-sponsored conspiracy.

15) I hate obsessive love. Simple love is fine. But some lovey-doveys are overtly obsessed with their opposites. I feel life loses pragmatism with this kind of 'love'.

16) The Fair-N-Handsome effect doesn't fancy me one bit.

17) I think religion has been misunderstood by people to an extent I had never imagined. And it's getting worse. And the only tonic is tolerance.

18) I think Priyanka Chopra is very beautiful. And hot. I think Mallika Sherawat is very hot. But not beautiful. In an ideal world, I'd want to marry Priyanka and have an extra-marital affair with Mallika. ;-)

19) When in my teens, MyHotBoard.com was one of my favourite internet haunts. It doesn't take a genius to interpret what the site was about, from the name of the site.

20) Sourav Ganguly is my all-time favourite cricketer. During the NatWest final in England in 2002, at 146/5 (when Sachin Tendulkar got out), I made an instant bet with my uncle that India will chase down 326. And we did.

21) I try not to lie. But there are certain situations in life where you just cant seem to 'go ahead' if you choose to not lie. I also try not to lie in those situations. But what eventually makes me lie is that greatest fear of 'being stuck' in compromising situations.

22) Yes, I realize that I've wickedly used this tag to promote some of my previous blog posts.

23) I am usually very calm. MS Dhoni, for me, is a soothing brain that one should attempt to emulate.

24) Two things in the world elevate me to instant bliss - 1) making people laugh 2) scoring a goal in a football match.

25) Thank God, this tag is over. I usually dont enjoy tags. Anybody in the whole wide world can take up this tag from here. Dont pile the pressure on me by expecting me to come up with a list. :-)

Stay safe.

[Tag request: Indian Home Maker]

(I have a gut feeling that there may be others who would've requested this. If you(blogger/reader/Ram Sene hooligan/Congress stooge/BJP hardman/ISI agent) requested one before reading this post, kindly get in touch. A courtesy link is then a necessity.)






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