Elections 2009: Results OUT !!!

I was in the 3rd AC of a train when counting commenced saturday morning and the results started pouring in (went to Raipur for Piyush's wedding). Would have simply loved to be glued to TV for those 3 - 4 hoours.

Definitely, UPA is back, NDA is out. Now I am no political Pundit/analyst. But I want to make a few comments:


1. A clear mandate was the LAST thing anyone expected in thes elections. And bhaartiya janta stumped everyone. Yippie !!!

2. This Election was not only engaging, but so much fun !!! Our Electronic media has quite come of age, and they made it a spectacular event, from campaign tracking to post-poll analysis ... Kudos to them.

3. The LEFT Parties got their ass kicked and I loved it. But not really sure if TMC would be any better.



4. Farewell Mr. Advani. I heard people say on Media that you will be remembered for demolishing Babri masjid. But I will remember you for something else; your Rath Yatra created the only viable non-Congress option in India. There was none before that. The regional parties were either the offshoots of Congress itself or a product of the Jay Prakash movement. Not commenting on what the BJP is today, it will most likely remain that thorn which will keep a check on Congress. Thanks to you, the Indian democracy stopped being a Congress Monopoly.

5. Glad that Mayawati, Mulayam, Lalu, Paswan got thrashed. They represent regressive caste politics and backward politics (SP manifesto proposed banning english and computers).




6. We will again have a Prime Minister which Indians feel proud of having. I remember when I watched the joint press conference of Dr. Singh and President Obama at theG-20 summit, I felt in my heart 'Damn, it feels good'. He is decent, clean, educated man. Dr Manmohan Singh, your political legacy as of now can be summarized in two things: Opening up Indian economy in 1991 and the Indo-US Nuke deal in 2008. I sincerely hope that you top these in this term; especially when the people of India have given a mandate which ensures you won't be hamstringed by allies again.

7. I felt the market would jump 700 - 800 points. It broke the upper circuit twice !!! More than 2000 points gained today.

Ladies from the SITCOMS

I'm a big fan of Sitcoms on Western TV ... The fad really started in college ...
I started with the mother of all SITCOMS, F.R.I.E.N.D.S ... and since then, it has never really stopped ...

The level of script writing, production quality and acting has often made me wonder how can the aam janta in India bear with the Saas bahu saagaas ...

Anyway, this one is about the female leads ... so, I list my favourites below ...

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Well, I just couldn't post a pic of Monica, rachel and Phoebe alone .. I just could not do it. Frankly, it is hard for me to think of them without the guys.



SEINFELD

She holds her own amidst the wild trio - Jerry, Kramer and George.
Elaine Benes .. Great Actor ...



The OC

Now, I watched this purely for the girls ... there is nothing new or good in this teenage drama ... except the girls. Of course, the other things like the beaches, the bunglows, the cars, the parties ... they all merely add to the main thing.
Hats off to Marisa Cooper and Summer Roberts; not for acting, but for looking so hot.



LOST

This is a series I cannot praise enough. Just watch it if you are into Sitcoms ...

I have chosen seven beauties from this huge starcast ... Cynthia Watros as Libby, Elizabeth Mitchell as Julia, Emilie de Ravin as claire, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Maggie Grace as Shannon, Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia and Yunjin Kim as Sun.






















SCRUBS

Jordan and Elliot ... former is hot and latter is cute ...







BOSTON LEGAL

Another TV series I highly respect ... and the galz are goood. The best is Julie, followed by Rhona Mitra. Marisa is awesome as Alan;s secretary, and of course, the British chic Tara Summers has awesome British accent.
















GILMORE GIRLS
A shitty TV series ... but the kid daughter (Alexis) is WOW !!!



How I met your Mother

Cobie Smulders is a smokin gal, as Robin, she brings the oomph factor. This is the recent most addition to this list ...




Well, there were others as well without any female lead, like THE APPRENTICE, FULL HOUSE and WONDER YEARS... along with animated series THE SIMPSONS and SOUTHPARK.
And then there is a laugh riot ""The Coupling, where none of the females are particularly awesome.

There goes my list ... And I am sure more will follow.

To Movies and Moments ...

I saw "Good Will Hunting" (again). Boy. Some movies just grow on me. Each time I see them, I discover something I hadn't yet noticed. And this movie always reminds me of someone.

It reminds me of a college friend. He called such movies as "Talking Movies". I remember once, after a particularly heavy booze night, when he had puked and I was starting to get sober after being wild for quite some time, we decided to see "Good Will Hunting" and go for a Night-Out; and then crash in our beds after a particularly hot morning chai from Ramdhani.

That Friend is Sayantan Bhowmik aka bhoshi aka Shaitan.

Now he is in US, I am in Mumbai, last time I met him was way back in 2008. I don't recall him like ever, but when I do, I sure miss him.

Here below is the scene from that movie, which we saw repeatedly 2 - 3 times that night. I don't recall it happening exactly, and I am sure neither Bhoshi can ... but I know it happened coz it is there in my next day's diary entry.



Sean: Thought about what you said to me the other day, about my painting. Stayed up half the night thinking about it. Something occurred to me... fell into a deep peaceful sleep, and haven't thought about you since. Do you know what occurred to me?

Will: No.

Sean: You're just a kid, you don't have the faintest idea what you're talking' about.

Will: Why thank you.

Sean: It's all right. You've never been out of Boston.

Will: Nope.

Sean: So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You're an orphan right?

[Will nods]

Sean: You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don't give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you, I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't want to do that do you sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS: Hope to see you soon Bhoshi ...

Incredible

I'm not an avid tennis follower. I do watch tennis. Never been into the game though, except perhaps an odd match featuring Maria Sharapova, or when Paes-Bhuapati-Sania do something. But something happened last year which made me more curious about tennis; Men's tennis to be precise.

Wimbledon 2008 had just ended. I was in Germany. First Onsite, I was trying to make the sweet talk with the client, and he said, "Something has happened to these Spaniards". I promptly started the conversation along the lines of Germany's loss in the 13th EURO cup final, complementing the German players. But few minutes into the conversation I figured he was primarily referring to the OTHER Spaniard.
Rafael Nadal.

He went on and on about the final, and the loss of Roger Federer. Back in India, I knew something fascinating was going on in Tennis, but was too preoccupied with my preparation for the trip. I just sat there, looked in his eyes, and nodded, providing the inconsequential fillers as the discussion carried on and others joined in.

As soon as I got time, I looked it up over the Internet, and BAM !!! I knew history had been created as I read the first partial line that GooGle threw up;
"...Wimbledon defeat that ended 9-7 in the fifth set".

Boy, I was so excited that FedEx was defeated on a grass court on the verge of his
14th Grand Slam.

I read all that I could about it, I found how oblivious I was to the the arch rivalry that had gripped the world of men's tennis for five years. This is how this Cricket crazy nation hammers down our psyche, the latest strike being the blockbuster IPL.

I made a vow then and there, that I would make amends.

And yesterday, I got my chance for redemption. The clash of the titans was to happen down under.

Setting aside my books for GMAT, I tuned in to Star Sports at 2 pm IST. And a desperate wish left my heart; "Please, let it be worth the wait".

The odds were evenly balanced; even though Nadal had proved to be Federer's nemesis for the past year, he wasn't well rested like the Swiss, who had an easy Semi-Final (avoided defending champion Novak Djokovic) and a day's break before the final test. Nadal's knee wasn't in the best shape either.

First set into the match, and I felt that today Fedex will equal Sampras. After all, despite the high octane tennis, he was leading 4-2.

However, as Nadal thwarted 6 break points in the third set (a tiebreaker), I knew my wish had been granted.

Although I am unaware of the technicalities of tennis, I can say Federer played a horrible 5th set. He looked and moved bad. Commentators kept saying how Nadal was displaying his nerve similar to Wimbledon 2008. Federer wilted in the 5th set, and I watched Nadal collapse to the floor in delight. I felt what millions must have felt in that moment; the height of joy and grief in a single moment. The world No. 1 had won a classic Australian Open final to secure his first hard-court Grand Slam title in style.

I was speechless. Too much in awe of the battle just concluded. And the presentation ceremony began ...

I later learned that 3 years ago Roger FedEx wept in the arms of his icon Rod Laver as he accepted the winner's trophy at the Australian Open.

He was brought to tears once again. I felt a lump in my throat as FedEx faltered to speak, unable to contain himself.

"God, it's killing me. I love this game, it means the world to me and it hurts when you lose."
"In the first moment you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad, then all of a sudden it overwhelms you," Federer said. "The problem is, you can't go in the locker room and take it easy and take a cold shower. You can't. It's the worst feeling."



It is moments like these which capture the greatness of sport. To see an all time great writhing in agony, unable to control his feelings. And Nadal responded as a true Sportsman should...

“Sorry for today,” Nadal told Federer. “I know how you’re feeling right now. It’s really tough. But remember you are a great champion, you are one of the best in history and you’re going to improve the 14 of Sampras.”

In the end, "jo jita wahi sikander"

It was such a contrast to the women's Final, where Serena Williams demolished Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 within an hour. I can't help asking "How the hell could Nadal recover from the 5 hour gruelling semi-final with Fernando Verdasco"? 10 hours of Tennis in 3 days! Never did I feel in any of the long rallies that Nadal showed signs of fatigue.

I guess when Nadal overpowered Federer last year at Wimbledon, he broke his heart. Till then, Nadal had been the God of Clay, and Federer the God of grass courts. Unlike in 2006, when the Swiss overpowered Nadal in the Wimbledon finals after straight four losses, Nadal won in an epic battle, said by most analysts to be the best game of tennis ever.

Nadal ended Federer's record streaks of 5 Wimbledon titles and 65 wins on grass.
It was like we say in hindi, "Ghar me ghus ke maarna" (to beat someone in its own backyard)

Nadal had tasted the same frustration in the Hamburg Masters in 2007, where his 81-match clay win streak spanning over two years was brought to a grinding halt by Federer. Incidently, that is the only time Federer has defeated Nadal on clay till date.

FedEx is a champion. And champions dont like to loose. Period. Looks like the July 2008 defeat left a lasting scar on Federer's psyche, which seems to have grown in a mental block. Everyone is talking about it. Federer looks all too shaken up.



This IS the era of Nadal and Federer. They have ruled Men's tennis for so long now. The signs of an ultimate showdown had begun to appear in Wimbledon 2007, when Nadal made Federer uncharacteristically lose his cool and complain to the umpire about the Hawk-Eye line calling system. Their differing personalities and playing styles have made the rivalry such a compelling one to follow. That is the beauty of their rivalry.
Yesterday, everyone wanted Roger to equal Sampras as much as they wanted Nadal to prevail. In the end, the true winner turned out to be Tennis.
Champions rise to great challenge. These two spur each other and churn out the unbelievable in each other.
Taking a cue from movies, the current Heavyweight champion Mason Dixon in "Rocky Balboa" wasn't considered great despite being a superb boxer simply because he had no worthy opponent to give him a fight. In "MI-2", the deadly virus Chimera was purposefully developed to make use of a wonderful antidote Bellerophon which was discovered first. Batman in The Dark Knight shined brighter in heroic glory because of The Joker.

In the past few years, the duo's dominance has been challenged in some measure by Novan Djokovic, who emerged in the summer of 2007, and has been in the fray ever since. I can't help but recall his impersonations of Sharapova and Nadal.

On top of it, Federer and Nadal are true sportsmen in the real sense; whom kids need to follow and get inspired. They are better than the Wayne Rooneys and Gautam Gambhirs of the world who wear their lack of discipline and arrogance on field with pride under the cloak of aggression.

How will this rivalry pan out in years to come? Well, Nadal is certainly an incredible player, but the huge role that raw power and stamina play in his game makes me wonder how long will it be before his body breaks down? He is 22 and already has problems with his knee. Federer is a seasoned pro and a champion at heart. Nobody can deny his return, which will be tough, considering the next Grand Slam is the French Open.

I also feel we need more variety of sport in India. Our Cricket team has let us down several times, too long we have been desperate to have a champion team worthy of the fan following it has. It isn't right that our cravings be served by one sport. I will never forget the image of Nadal's arm around Federer after the match. The nearest one in Cricket that comes to my mind are a bare chested Ganguly in the Lord's balcony and the T20 world cup winning team in Johannesburg. We need more such enduring images across the sporting spectrum. We need more like Gopichand, Yuki, Abhinav Bindra, Saina, Vishwanathan Anand, Vijayendra and Geet Sethi.
Cricket being a team sport can't provide certain thrills that those like Tennis can, where greats are crowned as they scale the Everest all by themselves. Besides, more sport would make us better as a society; we need the inherent sporting qualities like diligence, patience, focus and hard work to be imbued in our children and youth.

I believe this has been one of my most passionate blogs. I see I have written a lot as always, but I have done it in one sitting. I am out of ideas and opinions, but I still want to write more. I just can't have enough of it.
That is what sport does to you...

May the saga of Rafa vs Roger continue in days to come.

Hallelujah.

When they talk, LISTEN

I always like to meet new people. Always. And better, it is far more interesting and far more fruitful to get to KNOW new people. I am talking about getting to know others beyond the courtesies of Hello, Thank You and Goodbye. It is about getting to talk to them. Hear them out, what they have to say.

Everyone has his/her own perspective of life. I have, you have. A very insignificant number of people really KNOW what their perspective is. Those are the ones who are sure of what they are doing, why they are doing it. Most of us know WHAT we want. But when we have to decide at crucial junctures about the "How I want it", we all go primarily by our instinct. We decide on the spot, then and there, considering the ramifications; either thinking logically or just following our heart. However, the blurred idea of our perspective of life that we cling to in our subconscious mind is always guiding us.

I have an inkling of what my perspective is. I am unable to put it into words yet. I know it is evolving. It is something which none of us can rush through as we live each day. It gets shaped by every moment one lives.

So, when I really get talking to someone, I hear out the person, and try to sample out the few, discreet words and lines , backed by their expressions and body language. I don’t judge others this way. The only objective here is to help me restore meaning to life, looking at it through the other’s eyes.

I believe everyone finds their anchor before they die. Towards the end of life, the wisdom gathered over years of experience has to sample out what was truly important to them for all these years. And then in retrospect, everyone comes to comprehend the true force behind their actions, their decisions.

I don't know when the moment of truth will come for me and what will it will be like. I am not even sure whether there really will be a moment of truth. All I am aware of today is that I don’t want to wait to get there. I am unwilling to find about it as life takes its course.

The limitation is that I have only one life to live (to hell with re-incarnation), and only 24 hours in a day, just as every other person. So, the only way out is to share the experiences of others. Or should I say, to share the life of others... So that you will get closer to knowing who you are.

Is it unnecessary? Am I doing all this merely for my intellectual appetite? Is this just a quest to satisfy my ego? I don’t know. I know only one thing; that I need answers, even if the answer turns out to be that it was all irrelevant, and I want it as soon as possible.

Upcoming Blogs ....

It's been a long time since I posted anything... But that doesn't mean I have stopped writing..
I have written a crude draft of quite a few posts. It's just that it feels as if something is missing ...

Anyways, there will be a few of them in short while ...

1. The book MAXIMUM CITY ...
3. First Diwali at home after 6 years ...
4. Obama comes ...
5. Terror Attacks on Mumbai, 26/11.
6. Poems (Tentetive)
7. The drive on Mumbai Pune Expressway
8. Cousin's Engagement ...
9. A new way of life ...

And many more ....

Last fifteen Books I read ....

The most recent one is at number fifteen ......


1. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy, and science, using a distinctive German language style and displaying a fondness for metaphor and aphorism.
All in all, I started reading this book for only one reason: Jim Morrison was highly influenced by his writings.... But as I read along, I loved the way he blasts every convention out of the way; moral or philosophical. The book is a sequel to " Thus Spoke Zarathustra", which I intend to read pretty soon.

2. The Client by John Grisham
This was my first John Grisham book. Prior to reading, all I knew was that he wrote novels related to law ... He is one of the few writers quite a lot of whose books have been made into movies. After reading this, I got so taken by his style of setting thrillers in a legal backdrop (always in the state of Memphis) that I ended up reading back to back three of his novels ...

3. The Firm by John Grisham

4. The Chamber by John Grisham


5. God's Debris by Scott Adams
Now, I knew Scott Adams is a name quite familiar with people, even those who aren't avid book readers, because of an ensemble of toon characters from his strip DILBERT ...
Adams' fame as the author of the Dilbert comics made publishers wary of this new book without Dilbert, so they refused to publish. Adam went ahead and released it as an e-book. Word-of-mouth publicity then ensured it's quick release in hardcover format as well ....
It tells why would God want to live at all, if he is omnipotent and omnipresent ?
Thanks to boredom at office and Chetan, who gave me the eBook ...




6. The Religion War by Scott Adams
A sequel to the previous book, where the man carrying the parcel in God's Debris is now the Avatar ... A brilliantly simplistic view depicting a future clash of civilizations between Christians and Muslims ...

7. 3 Mistakes of my Life by Chetan Bhagat

Well, his 5 point someone has ensured that I will always read any of his books; and thanks to him, many first time readers are starting of with his works rather than Sidney Sheldon. His simle language, small size of the book and low price has ensured a niche market for him. As for the book; a major improvement over the last one, One night @ the Call Center.

8. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

Now, this book was heavy stuff... I wanted to read it simply because there are always questions in any quiz related to this book (Quizzing is my part-time hobby as well)
It describes the two extremes in the kind of people around us ... perfectionists and believers in destiny ... all in the backdrop of a motorcycle ...

9. Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend by Stephen Davis

No words for this person. I mean, how could it be that such a vulnerable, clueless, self destructive person end up creating a persona that inspired many; and unleashed a phenomenon ...

His poems were way ahead of his time; he was the prominent catalyst of the counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s in the United States; a reaction against the conservative government and social norms; further intensified by the Cold war and Vietnam. He was the icon of the confused and restless Baby Boomer generation ..

Just too sad that he died at 27 ...

10. Dragon Rising: An Inside Look at China Today by Jasper Becker

I picked up this one out of curiosity, not knowing the author either. I was attracted by two things; a dazzling array of glossy pictures from allover China and the publication by National Geographic. After reading it, I know of China, or rather, I understand the phenomenon called China much better now ... Qing Dynasty, Opium Wars, Chiang Kai Shek, The Great Leap from 1958 - 1962, Mao Zedong, Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping, Tiananmen Square, SOEs, SEZs, China's military appetite, it's territoial claims from Vietman to Tibet ...

All in All, it made me glad I live in a shitty noisy clumsy democracy ... made me feel proud of India

11. Joker in the Pack : An Irreverent View of Life at IIMs by Neeraj Pahlajani (IIM B) and Ritesh Sharma (IIM L)

I read it when my roommate Nishant gave it to me; and later i learned from others that it was to IIMs what 5 point someone was to the IITs. Now, being an aspiring IIM student (this will be my 4th straight CAT), I had to read it .... to be succint, it was entertaining and enlightening. What goes inside one of the biggest educational brands acriss corporates.

12. The Black Cross by Greg Iles

I started reading it simply because I had no other book available. But it turned out to be quite an entertainer ... set in the backdrop of World War II in Germany, full of commando action, mass killing of Jews, Chemical weapons (Sarin and Soman), covert operations .... it's a good thriller.

13. It happened in India by Kishore Biyani
I've read plenty of stuff on retail , most notably being Made in America by Sam Walton and other stuff by Jack Trout; but India is India .... and that is what this book really brings to the table; that retaling in India is an alltogether new ball game. Also was nice to know about Kishore Biyani.

14. The McKinsey Way by Ethan M. Rasiel

McKinsey ... the name rings bells. Dream job out of colleges belong to this firm. McKinsy represents something for everyone; especially to every outsider aspiring to become a McKinsey insider...

A truely delightful account of what is done at McKinsey, How it is done at McKinsey and Why it is done at McKinsey .... full of real examples ...

15. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
I am totally taken in by the Fantasy-Adventure genre. So, an ardent follower of Lord of the Ring and Harry Potter, I had to go for the 3rd offering of the Inheritance trilogy (not anymore, a fourth one will be coming). Maybe not in the same league as those mentioned above, but certainly engaging and worth reading. Basically, according to me, the very genre rocks !!!