Bits and Pieces - Aftermath of Mumbai Mayhem

I was glued to the TV watching the nail-biting fifth one-dayer between India and England. Flipping the channels was strictly not allowed. The match ended with India's win in the match as well as 5-0 lead in the seven-match series. One step ahead towards a whitewash. After the win, I changed the channel, just to see the news (of over-excitement of Indian news channels) of India's win.

Forget the good news, there was the news of firing at four places in Mumbai. The reporters, initially, tagged it as a gangwar. But i sensed something much much more fishy. A gangwar can not take place at so many places at the same time. Within minutes, the news of a blast at Vile Parle flashed on the screen, affirming my belief of a terror attack.

At that time, the victory in the cricket match looked so very irrelevant. Cricket is not larger than life, not even in India, where it is said to be a religion. IRONICAL !

I didn't even watch the presentation ceremony. All I was doing was flipping between the news channels.

The terrorists had already started firings at the Taj, the Oberoi-Trident, CST, Cama Hospital, Leopold Café.... I couldn't sleep that night, even though I knew that allmy near and dear ones were safe.

Next day, the picture became clearer. Those guys had taken a lot of people as hostages, including foreigners, in the Taj, the Oberoi-Trident and Nariman House. I thought these guys had some demands to make. The news channels were doing LIVE coverage of the rescue operations, something which could've posed a bigger threat since the terrorists might have been watching every move of the security personnel LIVE on the TV.

Bullets. Fire. Grenades. Hostages.

I kept watching silently.

I had seen our Home Minister changing clothes after the blasts in Delhi. And that night I saw him informing the whole world on TV that NSG men are leaving to take on the terrorists. He gave the details. Number of NSG men, what time they would leave and what time they would start the operations.

Thank you Mr Minister. The terrorists were watching you on the TV.

And I was watching it all silently.

That night I also wondered where was Raj Thackeray and his 'brave' men who wanted to save their beloved Mumbai from North Indians. Why was he seen nowhere to save the lives of Mumbaikars? And did he ask the NSG commandoes whether they are from north or south? Or do they speak Marathi? Since the NSG commandos arrived 9 hours later, Raj and his men should have been sent to 'save their Mumbai' in the interim.

Mumbai for Marathis! NO!!! Mumbai belongs to all of us. Attack on Mumbai is attack on India. And that night all the Indians were worried and glued to TV and praying for the safety of hostages. They were not praying for Mumbaikars or Marathis or South Indians or North Indians. They were praying for all the INDIANS.

Even I prayed. I prayed for the well being of those inside, except the terrorists of course.

That night I also read Amitabh Bachhan's blog. Day 218. And I was stuck at the last sentence of the blog.

"Before retiring for the night, I pulled out my licensed .32 revolver,
loaded it and put it under my pillow. For a very disturbed sleep."

Disturbing times indeed.

I am still silent. But I know its time to speak up. Speak up and ask our damn good-for-nothing politicians and administrators how long they are going to cage us in fear and insecurity?Speak up and ask why don't we have a leader who can come out and say YES WE CAN !

We were tired of waking up each morning to the news of terror attack in some or the other part of the country, at least I was. I needed some result. Some damn result !

The Oberoi-Trident was cleared by evening and Nariman House by night. But the terrorists were still playing hide-and-seek with the security forces at the Taj. The Taj was cleared by next morning, thus ending the biggest terror attack on India in 59 hours. By late evening, it was found out that they were just 10 terrorists who carried out the inhuman act.

This was an example what a few 20-somethings can do. These 10 guys halted the world's largest democracy, the world's future superpower.

All of us are tired. Tired of facing terror attacks. Tired of the reports of the insensitive media. Tired of trusting people. Tired of being helpless. As a friend put it,

Why we, the youth of India, can't do a fucking thing to change the
fucking system at the moment?

I still sometimes wonder that why do Indians fight with other Indians in the name of caste, language, race, etc instead of fighting the motherfucker enemies of the country.

The aftermath of terror attack was something even more painful than the attack itself. With the media trying to reach everywhere, even at the cremation grounds and at houses of the martyrs, its much much more painful to see someone's funeral LIVE on the bloody idiot-box, and its even more painful to see the state of the kins of the deceased. The media fraternity (as they call themselves) must STOP doing such a crap. Just for the sake of your viewership, you guys are making commercial use of something like DEATH.


Another aftermath took in the political circles with Shivraj Patil (coincidentally from Maharashtra) vacating the post of Home Minister. He resigned taking the moral responsibility of the attacks. P Chidambaram is given the Home portfolio while the Finance portfolio (earlier held by P Chidambaram) will now be held by the PM himself.


Well much said about the good-for-nothing politicians and of course the insensitive media. Its time to end this post. But before ending, I would like to mention a message, which reads like this :

Forgiving the terrorists is left to God. But fixing their
appointment with God is our responsibility.

- INDIAN ARMY

Mayhem ends after 59 hours

Almost FIFTY-NINE hours of fierce gunbattle and exchanges of grenades has ended just a while ago when the Marine Commandos (acronym :: Marcos) and NSG commandos killed the three terrorists in the iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel's Heritage Wing. The 103-year old heritage structure stood completely devastated after the attack that started on Wednesday (November 26, 2008) evening.

It is reported that all the terrorist threats have been neutralised in the Taj building. But search operations are still on. The Trident-Oberoi was brought under control yesterday in the afternoon, while Nariman House was in control later in the night. The casualties toll rising further with 183 killed and over 350. The dead include 22 foreign nationals and 20 security personnel.

The operation, codenamed 'Operation Cyclone', to flush out terrorists from Taj is now over, signalling an end to the 59-hour siege. However, the NSG is still sanitising the hotel to check if any remaining terrorist or explosive is still there in the hotel.

The landmark Taj, especially the heritage wing, is totally devastated by the grenade attacks. It has been found out that the taxi that blew up in Vile Parle was headed towards the Airport. Had it reached there, it would have been much much more disastrous.

Of late, terror attacks have been increasing in India. Why is it that our Intelligence networks have become such a failure? The porous borders also add to the woes. The PM has doubted a foreign hand behind the attack. The Foreign Minister has confirmed the Pakistani link.

Its now time to speak less and act tough. Our focus must be to PREVENT such incidents rather than fighting them later. Plus the security forces must be trained and kept ready for such unforeseen events. Stringent anti-terror laws must be framed so that nobody can ever think of repeating such heinous acts.

My salute to the martyrs and bravehearts.... And condolences to those who were killed in the attacks....

Praying for peace.....

Mayhem in Mumbai

Warning :: THIS POST IS FULL OF ABUSES..... READ IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.... THIS POST IS THE VENT OF MY FEELINGS AFTER THE TERRORIST ATTACKS IN MUMBAI.... I DON'T CARE IF BLOGGER BANS ME FOR THIS....



Why the hell are those bloody motherfuckers doing this.....? And those sitting in the air-conditioned government ministries, what the hell are you doing to stop there kinda cowardly acts???

Those bastards have the guts to come to India and do such things here every now and then..... And we guys are like helpless fellows who can't do anything except sitting at home watching TV and commenting on the incident, or in my case writing a blog about it.....

Its high time now..... Enough is enough..... When the US can attack Afghanistan 'coz of just one terror attack (its a different matter that they couldn't trace the mastermind Osama bin Laden), why the hell should we suffer just for the sake of the dummy 'Won't-Attack-First' image of ours.... Are we, the Indians, meant to suffer such heinous acts....???

India can send the Navy into Somali waters to kill the pirates and save some sea vessels which may or may not have Indians on-board.... Even if there are Indians, they might not be more than a dozen or two..... But India can't send its army to Pakistan (there's sufficient evidence that there are terrorist training camps in Pakistan) and curb them.... Why can't we stop those assholes to save more than a billion Indians.....???

These fucking bastards attacked at 10 different places in Mumbai (including the iconic Taj hotel, the Trident (formerly Oberoi) hotel, Leopold Café, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Madame Cama Hospital, Vile Parle, Wadi Bunder, Nariman House, Capitol Cinema) killing more than 100 people and injuring more than 200 (at the time of writing this post) including some top counter-terror officers (ATS chief Hemant Karkare, ACP Ashok Kamte, Encounter Specialist Inspector Vijay Salaskar among them)

Indians are now fed up with these kind of attacks.... We have been defensive for so long.... Now its time to become aggressive and give a tough answer to the bastards, so that nobody can even think of doing it again....

The number of terror attacks have increased so much in recent times, that everybody is now sort of used to it..... And even the government is so helpless in preventing such attacks..... The motherfucker terrorists strike anywhere, anytime in India..... and that too AT THEIR WILL..... There's an immediate need of stringent counter-terror laws.... The government, for the sake of its vote bank, is not acting on the honorable Supreme Court's decision to hang the terrorist Afzal Guru involved in the attack on the Parliament way back in 2001..... Seven years down the line, India is still waiting for the bastard to be hanged.....

With every terrorist act, we get evidence of Pakistan's hand in it, yet we need to maintain cordial relations with them.... Why??? Its better to have no neighbour than such a fucker.....

They can send terrorists to our country to kill innumerable innocents, then why can't we send our army to kill those bastards? I'm sure almost everyone agrees to it.... I'm a peace loving guy, but when they can resort to such lows, we have to do something to counter them.... Aren't we supposed to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people....?

I'm not at all apologetic about what i wrote.....

LET THERE BE PEACE.....!!!

Pappu can't VOTE saala....

Finally, I'm back from a damn tiring trip to Mumbai..... My schedule throughout the trip was so hectic, that i couldn't meet so many people....

Moreover, the scorching heat in Mumbai made the trip more tiresome..... And here in Rajasthan, its so very cold.....

But there's definitely some other heat in Rajasthan..... Yes.... With elections on head, the season is very hot with only 10 days remaining for the D-Day.....

This is gonna be my first election (as a voter... not a candidate...) and i'm pretty enthusiastic about it.... What about those who don't vote??? We are supposed to vote for the most suitable candidate rather than cursing the elected candidate and the government for the next 5 years.....



'Pappu' - This name doesn't need any introduction.... The movie 'Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Naa' made him famous overnight..... He's a man who is popular, who has "Rado ka watch", who applies "Gucci ka perfume", but the poor guy can't dance..... I would like to add a new dimension to this fictitious character.... What will you call a person who has got everything but no time to exercise his right to vote....?

Yaah !!! You got it right.... I'll call him 'Pappu'....

This post is dedicated to all such 'Pappus' who are endowed with the right to choose the leaders of the country.... who in turn will decide the fate of this country and people like you and me.... for all those who have the right to vote but no time to vote....

On the polling day, 'Pappu' would like to stay in the comfortable confines of his home, or rather watch a movie with friends (not letting the other 'Pappus' vote), or even plan an outing if the polling day falls with the weekend.... But the most ironical and the most interesting thing about the 'Pappus' is that despite of showing his 'interest' in the political system, he'll rather curse the same system and the leaders part of it..... He might not even think about his own contribution in the making of the system....

But the question is Why Pappu can't vote???

Some common reasons cited by the 'Pappus' for not voting are :

"Politics is not my cup of tea..."

"Whom should I vote for...?
They all are same... All are equally corrupt...."

"No one cares for the
aam-aadmi (common man)... Everybody's busy in making money...."

Well.... I know and even you know that the list doesn't end there....

The leaders come into power on the basis of the number of votes polled by people like you and me. It's you and me who make them 'the leaders' and drive the rest of us which we might later like or dislike...

Every vote counts.... Every effort counts.... A single vote can make or break the government, it can block the right person or pave the way for the wrong person to be there or the other way round....

When there's a flaw in the system, there isn't gonna be any 'divine intervention' to change the system.... Its us who have to stand united against any such flaw.... We all blame the system for almost everything.... We want a change in the damn system.... But tell me what is stopping us from doing that...? You have the right to do so.... I have the right to do so.... Everybody has the right to do so.... Then why not do it? Why not vote and bring the necessary change in the system....?

Its time to make a collective effort to put the right system in the right place for a better future of you, me and everybody....

So my dear 'Pappus', its time to wake up !!! You have it all.... Rado ka watch, Gucci ka perfume and of course the right to vote.... Please don't waste the right once again.... Your vote is worth millions, don't let it be wasted..... And don't give yourself a chance to complain about the system for the next five years....

'Pappu' might not dance but he will definitely vote.... He will vote for himself, for the right system, the right government, the right people and for the best of the nation and its future....

So, all the 'Pappus', get ready to vote this time.... so that nobody can say

"Pappu can't VOTE saala...."

so vote and don't remain a 'Pappu'....!!!

Journey with Foreigners

Hi guys !!! This is the first time, i think, when i've had 'international co-passengers' during my train journey..... They were 4 of them, all from different countries, all travelling alone, all going to different places..... Yet all of them were allotted adjacent seats.....

One was Gerald, from France..... He comes to India every year since the last three years..... This guy knew good Hindi but with a French accent.... At Bandra Terminus station, there were a few guys talking to him in English.... Meanwhile, some of them were abusing him in Hindi, and guess what.... he told them to SHUT UP ! Yeah.... Those guys were unaware of the fact that Gerald knew Hindi..... That was a great sight.... He knew very much about India.... Of course, he had been visiting India every year.... He had a typical French look.... with a bit of Indian touch !!! He was impressed with the Indian way of living and dressing.... He loved eating Samosas...!!!

Moving on to another foreigner, Murray Gordon, from Cape Town, South Africa.... This guy was so skinny that he could've given a tough competition to Indian models (females)... In fact my health was much better than him, even though i don't possess a great body..... And in front of me, he ate SIX bananas one after the other..... How can one eat six bananas....??? Isn't it too much? Yet he was so thin.... I hate eating bananas..... Thank God my mom wasn't there with me at that time..... She would've definitely made me eat at least one or two....

Third one was Hernan Itoiz, from Spain.... He had long hair.... He looked like a typical foreign tourist..... dressed in t-shirt and shorts.... with camera around his neck.... On one occassion, he asked the tea-wallah something in Spanish.... Neither i knew Spanish nor the tea vendor did..... Just a few seconds later he realised he was in India, and not in Spain..... Then he told me in English to ask the vendor the cost of a coffee..... Another rare occassion...... He had his relatives all over the world, in almost every country....

The last one, Matias, from Argentina, was a real dude..... He was visiting India for the first time and was totally impressed with the country and the people in the first four days of the trip....

All over the way they talked about almost everything..... I guess they had discussed around 28 countries they all had visited..... I wondered these 30-somethings have already been roaming around the globe while at this age we Indians are still busy raking the moolah.....

They felt bad about the Indian people not caring about the rich heritage of the country.....

Anyways, it was a different journey altogether..... And i didn't meet any of the species of the co-passengers as i described in my earlier post.....

Well, i've still two hours travel left in the train to reach home.....

And i'm bored now..... I wrote 4 posts in the last 14 hours...... Tired of writing posts and moreover tired of travelling.....

I need a BREAK....!!!

When Rain God decides to play Rain Devil - Part 3

Oh !!! I didn't know that the Duckworth-Lewis method can ever become helpful for the side batting first.... Well..... With pretty impressive bowling and fielding put up by the Indian side, it was nearly impossible for the Englishmen to clinch victory in this match.....

Actually, I was in train and couldn't watch the game live on the idiot-box.... Although, i've been listening to the radio commentary, but one can't exactly visualise what actually happens.....

Talking about the match, although India made 166/4, England were given a revised target of 198 in 22 overs.... But thats not a big score keeping the Twenty-20 format in mind.... They still had 10 wickets in hand and they had to play just 22 overs.... Even then, they could only score 178/8....

Yeah !!! India won the match by 19 runs (D/L) and the 7-match series 4-0. It were the seamers and the fielders that helped India win..... The seamer trio (Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel) picking up 2 wickets each and Harbhajan Singh getting one wicket, all of them at almost regular intervals, kept the required run rate always high from the reach of the English batsmen.... The top scorer in the English innings was Owais Shah who slammed 72 off just 48 deliveries with 9 fours and 3 over the rope.... Tendulkar picked up a fine catch off Zaheer's bowling and showed him the way to the pavilion....

Sehwag was adjudged the 'Man of the Match' for his brilliant knock....

Well.... Winning the series isn't enough.... Is it? Winning it 7-0 makes a hell lot of difference.....

Buck up India !!!

When Rain God decides to play Rain Devil - Part 2

I didn't know I'd be writing a post so early.... It hasn't been an hour since i wrote a post.... Well this is just a sequel to what i posted earlier.....

Yeah its about the India-England cricket match..... The match was further reduced to 22 overs a side.... India scored 166/4 in the 22 overs.... Thats 40 runs in the last 5 overs (8 an over !!!) The match is now more like Twenty-20 !!!

Do hell with the Duckworth-Lewis rule..... In my view it should be renamed 'Rain Devil Rule'..... England now have the edge in the game as they know with what rate they have to score runs.... India didn't know this.... FCUK Mr Duckworth and FCUK Mr Lewis.... I don't know what the rule means and what fcuking calculations does it says.....

Well the English team definitely has the upper hand in this game....

WHATEVER !!!

I still hope that India decides the fate of this series in this match itself.....

When Rain God decides to play Rain Devil

First of all..... Sincere apologies for not posting anything for 5 days..... But i can justify it..... I was busy travelling and attending weddings..... And i was damn tired !!! During this 5 day gap, there were a few occassions on which i wanted to write a post, namely Weddings (in general) among others.... And ya, there was a 'Why Me' kinda experience too..... But due to lack of time (and stamina of course) i resisted myself from posting anything..... Well i've already apologised....

Keeping apologies apart, lets talk about Cricket !!! Rain God is today impressed by his own darker side and is playing Rain Devil.... The fourth One Day International (in short :: ODI) in Bengalooru (formerly :: Bangalore) has been halted twice due to rains..... There was a change in the Indian playing XI with Sachin Tendulkar replacing Rohit Sharma. England retained the same team that played in Kanpur.....

English captain Kevin Pietersen won the toss and decided to bowl in this Day-and-Night match.... Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar opened the Indian batting.... India got a strong start with Viru slamming a boundary off James Anderson's ball..... He followed this one with many more. But Tendulkar, who's making a re-entry in the Indian ODI side after 8 long months, found it a bit difficult to match him from the other end.... Ultimately the legend from 'Aamchi Mumbai' fell to Stuart Broad when the latter's moving ball hit the off-stump.... Tendulkar scored 11.... Gauti came in at number 3.... Both of them played some nice shots till the game halted for the first time when India's score was 82/1 in 14 overs.... The play was stopped for more than an hour..... The match was then reduced to 44-overs a side..... Viru and Gauti picked up from where they had left.... But the covers were on again with just 3 more overs played, 17 in all.... India were at 106/1 at the time of posting this blog..... At this point of the game, Sehwag was at 61 off 53 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes and Gambhir scored 30 in 28 calls with 6 fours....

With the 'Rain God' or should I say 'Rain Devil' allowing, the match would resume and I want India to continue the winning streak to clinch the series in this match itself....

I'm writing this piece of post sitting in the train, on my way back to home from Mumbai, with 4 foreign tourists (all from different countries.... Good !!!) so with a hope that i'd write a 'Travelogue' post within no time, i'll stop here.....

Hoping that India wins !!!

Cheers for the 'Men in Blue'....

Ind-YEAH !!!!

First Rajkot...... now Indore..... The creators of the Gentlemen's Game (read :: England) have bowed down to the young Dhoni brigade (read :: Team India)

On the starting note, this match was considered out of India's reach..... at a time when India had lost 3 precious wickets at a mere score of 29..... Then enter Yuvraj Singh aka Yuvi, the hero of Rajkot..... He, alongwith Gautam Gambhir, stood for the wicket and made a much needed 134-runs stand..... Gauti stands like Rahul Dravid..... He not only stands but also hits the ball like hell..... He's an aggressive 'Wall'..... There was a time when people thought the scoreboard will read past 300.... But then the English bowlers struck again....

It would be partial if I don't mention the innings of the elder of the Pathan siblings, Yusuf Pathan...... His unbeaten knock of 50 in just 29 balls took the score to 292-9..... Another plus-point with Pathan's firebrand fifty was the bowling of Yuvi & Viru..... This pair of not-so-regular bowlers picked up a total of 7 wickets....

Yuvraj scored a 118 off 122 balls with 15 fours and 2 sixes.... His bowling figures read 10-0-28-4 (thats 10 overs - 0 maidens - 28 runs - 4 wickets) Sehwag who couldn't score from bat (1 run off 4 balls) struck with the ball... The bowling figures of 5-0-28-3 says it all.... Its a welcome change in Indian cricket that the top order batsman giving all-round performance..... Another change that will pave the way for becoming the superpower of Cricket.....

Talking about England, they couldn't cash on the early successes..... They might not have won, but there was a clear improvement, especially in the bowling side.... Stuart Broad (bowling figures :: 10-1-55-4) created a lot of trouble for the Indian batting line-up.... Flintoff also posed a threat with his good-length bowling.... Rest of the bowlers still need to match up with the improvement of these two..... And the batsmen still have a long way to go.....

With a 2-0 lead, India has the upper hand in the series.... But with some more superior performances from both the sides, I hope to see some nail-biting finishes..... and obviously India's win....!!!

I feel like saying.....

Come on India.... Baja do England ki Band...!!!

The Great Indian 'Kavita'

Yippee !!! Exams are over..... So i'm a bit relieved now.... And i'm on a trot.... (not exactly a trot....) to Nakoda-ji, a Jain pilgrim centre in Rajasthan..... And there was a grand 'Kavi Sammelan' (english translation :: Poetry Recitation) organised for the night..... With all kinds of 'kavis' (read :: poets) reciting their creations, one can not sleep (not coz of the love for literature..... but coz of the large amount of noise created....) Though i'm not the one who likes the 'kavis' and their 'kavitas' (i'll use the Hindi words..... for the feelings....) much, i decided to attend the 'Kavi Sammelan' rather than cursing the poets and organisers for caring a damn about my sleep.... One can't sleep with that kinda noise being generated less than two hundred meters away..... and courtesy the modern inventions (read :: microphones & speakers) i was having a surround sound experience..... Huh !

Anyways it was a nice experience since i couldn't sleep..... The invited poets (and poetesses..... * i'm not anti-feminist) were so good that i was glued for almost 5 hours in the midnight..... There were a few of the poems which touched my heart..... Really.... I was assured that the decent and real poetry is still alive.....

Talking in general terms, the poets and their creations have stoop to such low standards, that the charm of the 'Kavi Sammelans' has almost been lost.... But this one recreated that charm in the minds of the people..... at least those present there, including me.... One of the poets narrated this incident. He attended one such 'Kavi Sammelan' where Mr Amitabh Bachchan was also invited.... Big B listened to all the poets.... In the end, he commented :

"If this is poetry, i wonder what my father did....
And if my father did poetry, then i'm wondering what is this??"

(for those who don't know, Amitabh Bachchan's father Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a great poet....)

This statement of the superstar clearly indicates the downfall of the great Indian 'kavita'..... Its not only the poets who are to be blamed, actually everything works on the 'Demand-and-Supply' rule.... What we want is what we get..... So on a larger perspective, the listeners are much more responsible for the degradation of the great Indian 'kavita'....

The list of the invited 'kavis' was quite impressive..... There were 'kavis' from all over the country.... All of them were quite awesome.... Since it was a pilgrimage centre, lewd and double-meaning (in short :: cheap & degraded) 'kavitas' were obviously out of question.... So that was a great thing.... Only nice 'kavitas' were allowed.... All of them were great.... Some of them were excellent pieces of work.... Some of them damn emotional & sentimental..... Some of them were filled with the colours of patriotism..... The comments on day to day life..... on the politics and politicians.....

In short, sacrificing my sleep was the least i can do to witness such a nice event.... Isn't it?

I wish i could've posted some of the masterpieces here, but then i thought, its their creation & posting someone else's creation isn't right..... On this note, I leave you with these beautiful lines promoting Vegetarianism.... (i liked them so much that i couldn't resist writing them here....)

"यदि आप शाकाहारी होंगे.....

तो पशु पक्षी आप के आभारी होंगे...."

(english translation ::
"If you'll become a Vegetarian....
Then Animals and Birds will be thankful to you....")

Some More Random Thoughts....

Cool..... With only 17 posts and just less than a month old on blogosphere, my blog has seen 1055 viewers at the time of writing this post (courtesy :: easy counter & more recently site meter).... Gr8 ! I dunno if this is a nice response.... But for a person like me, who never tries to comment on many issues (well.... I've done that on my blog) its a welcome change and the word i'll use for the response is 'overwhelming'.... at least for me it is..... Love u guys for that.....

Anyways to continue this 'overwhelming' response from you, i'll have to post more..... Topics....??? Any idea? Cricket? Naah TV? Neither.... News? Nothin new..... Ahem ahem..... Politics..... Best topic to discuss with the election season on head !!! But that'll be an overdose of the politics injection..... Everybody talks about it..... But nobody wants to be a part of it..... Ironical.... Isn't it?

I won't bore you more.... Lets change the topic.... Hmmm.... Can't think of anything as such..... May be some of my 'Why Me???' kinda experiences would be liked by you (* i know you guys laugh at those not-to-laugh-at bizarre incidents of my life....) but i haven't faced such incidents of late.....

Well..... With Dada making an unprecedented exit, Cricket is something which i can talk about..... I can't say whether he was my favourite or not..... Actually, i don't have any favourites in anything....

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, the Royal Bengal Tiger, needless to say the most successful Indian cricket captain ever..... Adjectives fall short for a guy like him.... Sourav Ganguly has been a cricketer like none other.... a batsman with elegance, charm and God of Off-Side..... an extraordinary captain with extraordinary aggression.... a fierce competitor.... a man who proved his critics wrong countless number of times throughout his career..... a man known for his comeback..... real fighter..... As i said earlier, words and adjectives always fall short to describe such a wonderful personality..... I'm still passing sleepless night..... wondering why the hell did he retire when he still had at least 2 years of cricket left in him......??? Well it was his decision.... And there are some decisions which you can't control.....

Dada..... u rule the hearts of the people..... You can't be replaced..... Nobody can ever achieve the feat you have achieved..... As you leave after stamping your class on the grandest stage..... against the self-tagged World Champions..... these lines still come up in my mind.....

"Abhi naa jaao chhod kar,
Ke dil abhi bhara nahi....."

DADAgiri never ends....

"All good things come to an end...."

Maybe it was poetic justice. All thought Sourav Ganguly's final Test innings had passed. All were disappointed that he didn't get a hundred as he poked tamely to Michael Clarke at slip. It looked the game will end in a draw. Maybe it was okay. Obituaries had already been written. It was a sad end indeed. A century would have been a fairytale ending. Even the BCCI had felicitated him.

But two days later he was back. This was his moment, to set right the error committed in the first innings. But there was a rider: the first innings was emotional, in the second India were in trouble. There was no time to look around to find familiar faces in the crowd. A series win was on the cards.

He ran out at the fall of VVS Laxman's wicket. The rousing reception was befitting of the figure, thin attendance notwithstanding. Even the Australians lined up to applaud. Ganguly acknowledged and walked up to Sachin Tendulkar for a brief chat, then walked back to take guard. It was the same bowler who cut his fairytale short in the first innings. Jason Krejza was on debut. He turned his bat too early. Krejza completed the catch. Ganguly was out for nought, first ball.

It reminds you of the Aussie cricket great Don, Sir Donald Bradman. He was out for a duck in his last innings. Those who saw him say he was teary-eyed. He needed only four runs from his last knock to bow out with a batting average of 100. It would have been perfect, an ode to his prowess that was on display on either side of World War II. Yet, he finished on 99.94. Some say this is the very reason the Don lives on for generations. Maybe it was a fitting end. He was human. Even he wasn't perfect. The comparison ends here.

Over the years, Ganguly was increasingly revered for his captaincy. His batting, although not forgotten, had been eclipsed. His aggressive batting was not as talked about as his firebrand personality. He made a triumphant return to the side two years ago. He scored all the runs. But even his colleagues paid tributes to him as the leader who changed things for them.

Even his one-day career ended without prior notice. Someone with more than 11000 runs was done away with at the start of the year. It was not a fitting end. But he wanted to go out of Test cricket by himself. By his own admission, he might have never returned if a new selection regime had not taken over.

Ganguly was never perfect. He was all too human. His triumphs are entangled with failure. His rise has been riddled with ridicule. His setbacks were trumped by his comebacks. There was conflict in every aspect of his cricketing career. He scored a hundred on debut. There was no way he could end with a century. Maybe it was a fitting end. He was no Bradman. He could never have been Bradman. He was Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, our very own Dada....

A great captain he was, not seen of his likes anytime anywhere in India.... He was the one.... the chosen one !!!

He could have played more.... But lets stay away from controversies, he made his own decision.... the final decision.... and a decision which was complemented by an emphatic 2-0 series win....

India & Cricket will miss you DADA !!! and nobody can ever forget that scene from the NatWest final at Lords.... Indian captain fluttering his jersey in the air.... Its only YOU who can do it....

Dada might have said adios to international cricket.... but DADAgiri never ends....!!!

Random Thoughts

I am bored..... very much bored.... I've got an exam tomorrow and here I am.... writing a new post for my blog..... I dunno wat to write.... No topic in my 1688 cm³ brain (yes i had to use MS-Word's Insert Symbol option to get dis CUBE symbol '³'.... its 'Alt+0179'....) I got the size of brain when i played 'Who Has The Biggest Brain?' on Facebook..... Huh ! as in those guys got into my mind and took the measurements and size of my brain !!! As per them, I am a GEEK(n : an obsessive enthusiast)....

Fuhget it.... Its just meant for timepass !!! What else....

Lets talk something more serious.... Politics??? Many of you will have decided to stop reading this post after you came across the word 'Politics'..... Nobody's interested in it... But I dunno why I'm so much interested in the so-called 'dirty' politics of our country....

Talking in general terms.... India has lost much since Independence in 1947.... First it was Pakistan.... then Bangladesh (ya.... if we wanted, we could have taken over Bangladesh that time, but we decided to let it become a new country....)..... More recently, we have lost half of Kashmir, what we called the 'Crown' of India.... Half of that 'Crown' is not a part of India !!! Bizzarre.... Aint it??

Today, every state in India is independent.... has its own government..... has its own leaders.... has its own language..... But with more than 7 national & 60-plus reqional political parties, we can not develop.... Every other damn politician who is denied a ticket from a particular party either changes the party or forms a new one..... the latter option being used more often.... While changing parties or forming new ones, these guys do not care about what is their political view... Their ultimate aim is to be in the limelight and to be in power.....

The guys who, at the time of elections, accuse each other suddenly become friends.... This is a major drawback of the Indian democratic system.... 'Coz nobody can work towards development in this era of coalition.... One party has to take care of the other.... Everybody must be politically correct.... so that the other coalition member support the government....

Every other day, there's a news of a blast in India.... But has anyone thought that what is the root cause of this problem??? I can hear somebody saying.... Kashmir issue.... Pakistan..... OK, just for the time being if we assume that these are the cause of the terror attacks in India, let me ask What these politicians have done to to eradicate this problem..... NOTHING....!!!

Put the terrorism issue aside.... thats too big an issue to be discussed..... What about internal security issues like Naxalism???? There's a parallel army which is fighting with the Indian army in India..... This issue is entirely dependant on the government.... No external pressures.... Its not an international issue.... If the people in power wanted, they could have solved it much before....

The question arises that if all the politicians are corrupt or inefficient, who should we choose??? Should we not vote at all??? My answer would be 'NO'.... I haven't voted till date.... This will be my first election (no no no..... i'm not contesting it.....) According to me, we should vote, keeping the religious sentiments aside, keeping parties aside (party should be secondary).... The guy with a tainted criminal background should not be chosen....

I dont know if I am right, but thats what I feel....

Cheers !!!

Long live India.... A peaceful India !!!

Amen !

Kyunki.... it was sooooo BORING !!!

Kyunki.... it was sooooooooo BORING.....


Kyunki.... the plot was always UNREAL !!!


Kyunki.... it was TORTURING the viewers (mostly males...) from EIGHT long years....


Kyunki.... BAA was almost 300 years old.... almost IMMORTAL !!!


Kyunki.... TULSI wasn't really the IDEAL BAHU....

These are just a few of the answers of the question :

"WHY... WHY.... WHY.. WHY DID THEY STOPPED AIRING 'KYUNKI SAAS BHI KABHI BAHU THI'???"

By now, you must have understood that I wasn't a big fan of the mega sob-soap with almost a kilometre long name.... Calling it a SOB-SOAP won't be wrong.... I can hear people saying 'YES'.... Guys ! This show has been on the idiot-box for more than ONE-THIRD of my life (till now !!)..... Yes, KSBKBT (short for :: Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi..... wow !! more than a kilometre...) has been on air since July 2000 with 1800-plus episodes been aired..... Balaji Telefilms became a mega production house with the success of this soap opera.... I'm glad that this has ended.... Really !!!

November 6, 2008 would be remembered as the Independence (from the mega Saas-Bahu Sob Saga) Day in Indian Idiot-Box Industry (read :: Indian TV Industry)... This serial was the seed of all the Saas-Bahu serials on TV today.....

Ekta Kapoor called it her 'CONCEPT' !!! Huh...!

In most of the Indian homes, the War-For-Remote will end now.... This show gained popularity since it was first aired.... and the protagonist Tulsi and the Gujjus (read :: Gujaratis) from the Virani family became household names....

Ekta Kapoor believes in re-birth.... This show was the first where she tried the 'RE-BIRTH' formula.... With the death of Mihir Virani, there was uproar in Indian households.... The ladies cried for days.... (CRAP !!!) And eventually Ekta had to change the plot of the serial..... Then she used this formula in almost every other soap several times....

Viewers were bored of this sob-saga... and the TRPs were at all time low.... So Star Plus, the channel which aired it, decided to terminate the airing of KSBKBT !!! Ekta and Balaji Telefilms (the production house) challenged the decision in Mumbai High Court.... The Honorable Court upheld the channel's decision (Thankfully...!!!)

Adios Tulsi.... Adios BAA... Adios Virani Family.... Adios SOBS n TEARS !!!

Hoping to see something FRESH on the IDIOT-BOX (yes.... you guess it right... TV) !!!

My Co-Passengers

:: WARNING : Long Post Ahead ::

With havin travelled a lot (and with never having got a good company.....) i think i could jot down the types of co-passengers i observed and anyone would encounter on the journey.....

As i said earlier, i've never had good company en route.... Company doesn't matter when you are travelling with friends or family..... But it does matter a lot while travelling alone..... And lemme tell u, i haven't been lucky as Chetan Bhagat said he was in 'One Night @ The Call Center'..... Not even once..... Huh !!!

Lets recall the 'species' (yeah.... generalising is a bit better..... Blogiquette....) i've come across while travelling.....

1. THE CHATTER BOX :
This species of co-passengers is the most common of all...... Mostly of the feminine types..... Males of these species either do not exist or have extinct.... They start talking at any topic any time for hours..... Most dangerous when two of the same species get together..... They don't know the meaning of the word 'Strangers'..... As they are most common, consider yourself lucky if you don't get this kind of co-passengers.....

2. THE BORN-TO-SLEEP TYPES :
Born to sleep..... The name describes it all..... These people don't get to sleep in their everyday life..... They lay down on the berth as soon as they find one and sleep throughout the entire route..... Most boring of all the species....

3. THE CAN'T-STOP-EATING TYPES :
These people would die if they stop eating for a few minutes..... Need something in their mouths in regular intervals..... This species is quite common..... You can't help but suffer their eating desire as they gobble up anything.... almost anything.... and create a mess where they sit.....

4. THE MUSIC LOVERS (???) :
This species is not Music LOVERS actually..... In fact, they want to show off their multimedia cellphones and portable music players..... My humble request to the members of this species is 'USE THE HEADPHONES THAT COME ALONG UR MUSIC PLAYER'..... Playing music loudly at public places and public transport is a sign of showing off..... Nobody stops you to listen to your favourite music..... But why do you want others (who might not like it) to listen to them..... The 'Born-to-Sleep' species gets most irritated by them (* the reason is most obvious....)

5. THE IRRITATING KIDS :
I love kids.... (though i don't have mine....) Yet some of them are of this species..... They throw tantrums all the way long..... Start crying when you least expect.... at might.... when you are talking on cellphone..... when others are sleeping (*i said others coz i don't get to sleep while travelling)..... And the worst part is that you can't scold them and you have to keep smiling..... When their parents 'pretend' to get angry on them, all you can say is 'Let him/her do, (s)he's just a kid....'

6. THE CHAI-WALLAHS AND OTHERS :
Though they aren't exactly co-passengers, but since they torture you with their monotonous voices, i thought they can also be included in the list..... 'Chaiiiii-ya..... Chaiiiii-ya..... Chaiiiii-waleya..... Chaiiiii bolo Chaiiiii-ya......' thats a typical dialogue you'd hear in any Indian train..... Once you give them a glance, they'll irritate u as if they're forcefully selling u their 'Chaiiiii-ya'.....

7. THE TRANS-SEXUALS :
Just a better name for (ahem ahem....) 'chhakkas' or eunuchs..... Again not co-passengers, but a part of the journey !!! I hate it when they touch u.... I never give them a single penny..... Instead i give them a wierd look.... to shoo them away.....

These are just some of the species..... there are many more of them you'll come across.....

So before hanging up, lemme wish u 'Happy Travelling'.....!!!

A Crowded Day

:: WARNING : Long Post Ahead ::

Mumbai.... 8.15 pm

Yes i've reached Mumbai.... and most of the last twenty-four hours have passed with what we get in plenty in India - the crowd.....

Yeah.... With the festive season just completed, crowd is what you get anywhere you go.... The trains from Rajasthan to Mumbai are always jam-packed, no matter what point of time it is..... But during the time of festivals and weddings, they are just a bit better than Indian jails.... You don't even get tickets in the TATKAAL SERVICE (meaning Emergency Service.... the booking starts 5 whole days before the date of journey..... Crap !!! Emergency doesn't tell you that I'm coming after 5 days.... Get your tickets ready.... Wow !!! What if it did....) So its the dalaals (read :: ticket agents) who make all the money out of it..... So i visited one of the dalaals to arrange a ticket since i had to go to Mumbai with my sister's son..... He came to my place to celebrate Diwali.... Somehow a ticket was arranged.... But it was booked with some random name and some random age....

Rahul.... 21 yrs.... That was going to be my identity in the train..... That agent made me a year elder..... He gave me a new name..... And he charged 250 bucks extra on a 300 bucks ticket.....

I had to get a general ticket for my nephew and say a penalty inside the train..... as there was 'NO ROOM' (read :: no more booking permitted, not even wait listed tickets) in the train.....

We got a general ticket and boarded the 9:54 pm Suryanagari Express..... I got a 'Side Middle' berth.... (* who told Lalu Yadav to apply his brains here.... This is the most uncomfortable berth..... One person can't sleep there comfortably and we two people had to adjust in there....)

Fortunately, there was a family in the same compartment whose one seat was in another coach.... I dunno whether I was fortunate or they were..... I agreed coz it wasn't a Side berth..... We moved our luggage to the other coach and got settled there....

Damn !!! It was crowded like hell.... All one could see was either people or luggage..... People were sleeping or sitting everywhere.... in the passage, in the space between the berths on the floor and even near the toilets..... I would cancel my journey rather than travelling this way.....

There was hardly any place to move comfortably..... We still had to..... There were 14 people already present in the compartment meant for 9 guys.... And we two made that figure to 16.... That meant almost 2 people per seat.....

Honorable (is he....???) Railways Minister Lalu Yadav should've increased the number of trains rather than increasing the number of berths in a compartment.... (dumb guy....!!!)

I can't sleep in train.... I rarely sleep.... So i made my nephew sleep..... He slept within no time.... I decided to lay down in that cramped place rather than getting bored sitting idle all night..... I couldn't sleep.... Only i know how i passed the night.....

The time passed very slowly..... There's a morning after every night..... There was still around 6 hours of journey left..... The day isn't as boring as the night.... Even if you don't have good company (* not necessarily girls.....) its easier to 'kill' time during the day as you get people to talk to.....

The time passed away.... Soon i got down at Borivali.... Again to board another train..... This time it was the local train to a suburb where my sis lived..... Crowded it was again..... When will the Mumbai locals get crowd-free....??? After a few hours, it was time to get back to Mumbai..... Another train.... Yuck !!! I hate this....

I left two trains.... I was wasting time.... So i decided to get into the next one, no matter how crowed it was..... I did the same.... It was crowded.... Yet i managed.....

After some time, i'm getting bored and tired of the train experience.... So i decided to blog it.... And here i am.... typing this piece of blog on my cellphone.... (* ya.... believe me, i'm doing it on my cellphone....)

Tomorrow, i've to go back to my place.... Yeah...!!! You guessed it right.... BY A TRAIN....!!! This time i got the ticket using the TATKAAL SERVICE..... I'm going to travel on my own name and i'll be of my own age..... But i expect a less crowded train and some good company in the train.....

Here i hang up.... (* remember.... its my cellphone....)

So guys.... Wish me a Happy n Less-Crowded Journey....!!!