Photos of Andaman

My elder cousin Hrishikesh Keskar went to The Andamans this october with his wife on a holiday. The Andamans are an abode of mother nature. The under water photos which he clicked reflect my statement.
I visited the Andamans a long back in 2001. These photos made me remember my sojourn once again.

Keep Away Mr. Jethmalani

After Pridarshini Matoo's rapist and murderer was sentenced to death we all felt that finally the Indian Judicial system has waken up to the sense of justice and finally after all criminal tendencies will be inhibited by the fear of punishment. But we were wrong because the existence of one man stops India from being a crime free state. Guess who is that person?
Ram Jethmalani. Jessica Lall's murderer comes to the court smilingly and his face bears no sign of shame. The reason - He knows that Jethmalani is behind him.
Jethmalani has many other dubious distinctions other than this case. Everytime a prestigious family is involved in heinious crimes like Dowry death, murder, rape, scams etc Jethmalani appears from nowhere as their saviour. The latest example being this. This should stop as early as possible. We should all protest against the octogenarian lawyer. Otherwise who knows how many other criminals will roam free in the future.

INDIA BITE THE DUST ONCE AGAIN

India have yet again lost a cricket match. Even 'Pathetic' is the most pathetic word to describe this performance. The Aussie outplayed us in all departments of the game. Although this is no new news for the Indian cricket fan, this loss brings forward a lot of unnoticed defects which cannot be ignored on the eve of the World Cup.

1. We do not have a reliable opening batsman other than Sachin. Relying on Sehwag is very dangerous and self destructive. The inclusion of Gautam Gambhir may help.
2. Our middle order is weak as this was highlighted by the difficulty with which Raina managed to score runs in the abscence of Yuvraj Singh.
3. We do not have a single world class new ball bowler other than Agarkar. The decision to drop Sreesanth may have cost us the match against West Indies.
4. We cannot score runs at will against a disciplined bowling attack.

We cannot overlook these shortcomings when the world cup is so near. Also Mr. Chappel must get over with his love for experiments. Otherwise the world cup will be the same old story again.

It is a Ball Game!!!

It is a game of football but it seems that these dudes are interested in some other kind of balls!!!

Books I want to read

I like reading very much but the time factor always creates problems. Here is a list of books which I want to read:

1. The Line Of Fire - Pervez Musharraf
2. Sacred Games - Vikram Chandra
3. Veronika Decides To Die
4. The Zahir
5. Like The Flowing River
6. The Pilgrimage - all by Paulo Coelho ( I am a fan of his style of writing)
7. The Loss of Inheritance - the latest booker winner by Kiran Desai
8. And many more.................

I think I will get the time to read these books next year only.

Of Pervezs and Afzals

This post has been due for a long time but I did not have enough time to dedicate it to blogwriting. I am writing this post in carved out time. I had always wanted to discuss topics like Musharraf's book and Afzal Guru's appeal for lieniency when they were hot. I do not like cold coffee but I have no other way out than to drink it.
To start with let us walk into 'The Line Of Fire'. I wanted to read the book badly but so much has been written in the newspapers that there seems to be no need to do that so. It seems that Pervez Musharraf has been faithful to his legacy of flip-flopping. I do not think that the book has much of a literary value. The Pakistani President is using it to enhance his ever declining reputation among the Pakistani public. What is the use of digging old topics like the Agra summit and declaring otherwise that the Kargil war has been won by Pakistan when all of us know what happened? We wish that the book succeeds in it's motive because it is in our interest that Musharraf stays in power. If otherwise power falls into the hands of fundamentalists there lies a great danger of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into their hands and they using it against India.
Human rights organizations always think that punishment to those who commit heinous crimes is a crime in itself. Therefore they surface to the forefront when a mass murderer or a persom convicted with treason of the highest order is being tried or is being given his dues back; which in most cases is called execution. Otherwise plotting against the heart of Indian Democracy is okay for them. Afzal's family asking for lienency is perfectly understood but what is not is the protests held by politically backed Human Rights Organizations. Afzal deserves punishment of the highest order for plotting the parliament attacks. This will give out a clear message to members of the anti India community that no one dares to wage war on the Indian state. The only way to crush terror is to deal with it by force. Indira Gandhi did it in 1984 and we must say that she was successful. We hope that the current Indian government too realises it by the earliest.

MAGICIAN NO MORE

Day before yesterday our great Bismillah Khan died. He was one of the very few musicians who could be called magicians. I had the fortune of listening his shehnai on one fine auspicious Diwali morning. It was a once in a lifetime experience(DD comes up with good programs very rarely). I was entharlled by the reverberations of his shehnai which I think are holy. Listening to his shehnai on the dawn of Diwali was one of the most fulfilling experiences in music. I will always savour that moment in my life. I will surely miss him.

Music as (not) understood by me

Sorry. I have been a bit too irregular lately. These days I had some guys and gals asking me some questions about music (they discovered lately that I manage to play the harmonium and came to the conclusion that I know too much about music). But I honestly say that I have not at all understood music. I tried to think about it and finally came to the conclusion that music is the outlet of an artists expression, of his feelings. We are bound to like any particular music track only if we believe fully in the philosophy of the musician who creates it. It is like this: if there are two musicians 1 and 2 having different thought on two issues for example 1.social issues 2. love. And suppose you share musician 1's feelings on socials issues and 2's on love. If there comes a time when they both release their albums on both these issues you will like musician 1's music on social issues and 2's on love even if you do not know any of them as individuals personally. It happens every time. It is the sole reason why we enjoy heavy metal as well as classical music at the same time even though they are vastly different. I believe that any person who says that he loves just one kind of music and not anything else is not at all a true music lover and does not know anything about music. This is because no two people ( musician and the listener) can have exactly same thoughtline. Music is of two types. 1. that just makes you dance and enjoy and 2.that which makes you fantasize about it. Music of type 1 is hear and forget. You come across this almost everyday. Music of type 2 is the one which you remember for the rest of your life. When you fantasize about it you make it a part of your life. It is this kind of music which invokes respect. Nowadays I am listening to good old rock music of the 60s and 70s. I have found it better that today's rock and metal music. Another important thing I found out was that I got a deja vu feeling many times while hearing that. I was not able to remember where I had heard that before but I was sure that I had heard that somewhere. Then this site came to my help. http://www.itwofs.com. Here you will find all bollywood songs that you like and also find that on which all foreign songs they are based on. For some not so uncommon cases you will find that my word 'based' is too moderate and the songs have been copied note to note. This has increased my dislike for newage Bollywood music.
Expect some more on this from me in the next few days.

I could not keep writing what I had wanted to write because there was some problem with my blog. Bad Bad Blogger! I wanted to share many things but I could not keep up with the pace of events occuring. So now expect something rather stale from me.
Here goes the first one.
Here are some snapshpts from the world cup which touched me.

David Beckham after England

lost a match they should have won.

The German captain....and coach. They almost made me cry.

The Portuguese could not stop themselves. Ronaldo too.

France too consoled each other

One legends farewell to another.

And the final one.... log chlormint kyun khate hain?

DUBARAA MAT POOCHNAA

A joke told to me by a friend: what did Materrazi said to Zidane that the latter got animated and head butted him?
think........................
think........................
think........................
he asked, " log chlormint kyun khate hain?".
Dubaraa mat poochnaa!

Today I finally got my quarterly season ticket which again eluded me for a consecutive fourth time yesterday. I think that it is jinxed. So I have kept it now as a prized posession. I hope that it does not cause any trouble to me in the next 3 months.

Today I have to get myself a season ticket for the journey I have to make to college everyday. It is a long awaited moment as the pass has avoided me everytime I came close to clutching it. I get a concession and travel by 1st class. But yesterday I decided otherwise. All the blasts had been caused in 1st compartments and I contemplated whether it would be safe to travel by 1st class anymore. But then I realised what a big mistake I am making. This is just exactly what the terrorists want us to be ; frightened. Are we going to let them enjoy the feeling that we Mumbaikars are scared? Not at all. We are not afraid of anybody. I will get my pass and travel by train. Come what may!

DON CANNAVARO STEALS THE GOLD!

I was little unhappy about the result. France were the better team. Italy played unsportingly. They faked injuries, commited fouls and still got away. Zidane's outburst was justified. He too could not stand biased refreeing. Sadly the French could not win the title they deserved to win.
And now more about the world's best goalkeeper!
I am not taking potshots at him but this is what I feel.
During the penalty shootouts, even if Barthez could not stop any, he picked up the correct side 3 out of 5 times. While the World's most expensive goalie did a cheap job. He got it all wrong at all times. You get 9 men to defend the goal post, opponents manage to get only 2 shots at your goal, you some how save them with some luck proudly showing your athleticism every time you do that and you become the world's most expensive goalkeeper? Dammned be Buffon. Exposed when you are left to defend the goal all alone?
Italy are only a bunch of mafioso. Matchfixers! They want the media to observe the omerta now? May all of them get demoted to serie B, C, or Z whatever.

World's best Goalie?

Wow. I am exited. World's Best Goalkeeper! fooled by Zidane.

BAD LUCK

I felt very bad yesterday when Germany lost. They were really playing well. I was shocked when Grosso hit a goal in last minute of extra time and was shattered when Del Piero hit the last. Italy just did not deserve to win. What can you say of a team that needs more than 5 men in the defence to stop the opponents and can score only when the opponents are tired. I have always felt natural inclination for Germany. I will go against them only if (in chance) they ever play India. I could myself feel for the weeping German fans. Now that Germany are out of contention, I am rooting for anyone who will defeat Italy. I am looking forward to enjoy todays match. Anyone wins, I wish them best of luck. In the end they must defeat bloody Azzuris.

VERY HEAVY RAINS

Today very heavy rains lashed Mumbai. Memories of the fateful day of 26th July 2005 (also called 26/7 like 9/11) were brought back. Water flooded the streets and I nearly would have had another 'swimming pool in my house' experience had Rain Gods not stopped the deluge in time. Being caught in the floods is a really terrible experience as I have experienced it in the past. All your contact with the outside world is broken. All phones are dead, power is missing, if the situation is as bad as 26/7, worst no papers too. The worst part of this is that you feel that the calamity is localised and after a couple of days you come to know that the entire city suffered. All food is washed away and you are left starving (even the shops dont have food, so no question of buying). This problem will continue as long as the nullahs (they are supposed to be rivers. Yes proper rivers like Yamuna, Ganges although not as big) are not repaired. They will conyinue to flood Mumbai. And this is just the beginning of monsoon. I wonder how will the people pull through the whole 3 or 4 months.

IT HAS FINALLY ARRIVED.........

Today the rains have finally arrived after making us wait for a long time. Although they were not as the one which drenched Mumbai in May end, they were much like the Mumbai rains which we are used to. All these days Mumbaikars were in an awkward position. They could not ask for rains fearing what would happen if the rain god would become too generous like last year. They could not ask for the scorching either. This rain ahs solved our dilemma.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Within a few minutes I will celebrate my birthday; or I will not celebrate my birthday.
I have decided not to celebrate my birthday henceforth.

RUPEES 4

That day i had been to my college for my FYJC results. I was exited as I was going to meet my friends after a long time. For the results we were supposed to bring along with us a receit worth RS. 1000 which had been given to us by the college for charity as it had turned a 100 years old. I had completely forgotten about that. when I reached the college my friend reminded me about that slip. We decided to turn back and get the slip. As there was much rush and there wasn't much time to lose, we decided to skip buying tickets. We somehow managed to save ourselves from the eyes of the TTE. Later we took the slip and went back to college and all was fine. A couple of days earlier I had made a decision that I would make an extra effort to save money. So at the end of the day I was hapy that I had managed to save RS. 4(that means an extra cup of coffee for me). While coming back I decided to take the bus route. Just as I got down from the bus I don't know what happened but I had an immense feeling of guilty. I had cheated my own goverment just for rs. 4. I felt ashamed of myself. I decided that I would give RS. 4 to a beggar that day(something which I was never used to doing). Incidentally the very next moment I met an old man who came up to me and told that he had lost his money in an accident and needed some money for bus fare(generally it is RS. 5 or 6). I promptly handed him the money and eased the burden on me. That day I travelled ticketless(I have never ever done that and I strongly despise doing that), I decided to come by the bus route back home(I rarely do that as I believe train saves time), I had pangs of guilty(I am a very shameless person) and I found someone to hand over the money. Was it coincidence or was there a divine hand involved?

PRAMOD MAHAJAN NO MORE........

Senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan passed away on May 3 after battling death for 12 days. Like everyone else I too felt sad. I felt a sense of emptiness on that day. It was strange as I have never ever have been even in 100 metre radius of Mahajan nor he has influenced my life in any way. But somehow I felt lost when I saw his remains being consigned to the flames. India lost a young leader. This loss is irrepearable. Mahajan was a charismatic leader who had the capability of leading the BJP again to glory. His organizational and PR skills were unquestioned. BJP will find it hard to fill the void that is created due to his demise. Today a leading marathi daily published in its editorials that when there is a vacuum in air, air rushes from all sides to fill it. So going by this rule, the BJP shouldn't worry about replacements for Mahajan. They will come by their way. But what I want to point out that when this happens there brews a cyclone and the storm blows everything away. Is the BJP ready in case such a storm arises? Can the BJP find a leader who can brave all storms and lead the party to its final destination? I feel sad for the children of both the Majahans in question. Their lives have forever been changed for no fault of their's. Most appaling was the manner in which Mahajan died. He certainly didn't deserve to die at the hands of his own brother. We are nowadays seeing so many cases of sibling rivalry. Mukesh-Anil Ambani, Raj-Uddhav Thackrey and now Pravin-Pramod Mahajan. Will Ram and Laxman be the only siblings in history of India who lived with camarederie befitting for blood brothers?