Sunday, October 26, 2008

Ganguly's swansong

I really liked the way Ganguly celebrated after he got his 100 in the 2nd Test at Mohali....The joy of the man who knew that he was not going as a sore loser but on his own terms.

He is certainly not the unfit (atleast not as much as Laxman and Kumble currently) but still he had so much to prove to all...and that he did

I read some days ago on how India lost out on 3-4 years of Javagal Srinath in his youth, just because Kapil wanted to retire after getting to Hadlee's record...that is still happening with the current Inidan team...I only hope the careers of people like Mishra, Gambhir and Co go don't go that way.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Most memorable train ride of my life

I was waiting at the Thane railway station, for my train to Mangalore. It was the start of a 1 week break from my work, and i was eagerly waiting to meet my friends in Mangalore and kickstart the vacation. Only one thing was in between - the boring train ride.

What??? Boring train ride does not match with the title of this post? That's cos even before I could settle down in the train I heard a voice call out ''Hi, are you Gary?". I saw this pretty bespectacled face look up to me with a kind of unsure but friendly smile. The face was partially hidden under a fat book (I am not quite sure- I guess it was a non faction book on Ratan Tata) she was holding unto her face. I was quite unsure how she knew my name , and asked if we had met before. She smiled back at my seemingly ignorant question, saying that she and her sister (who had come to leave her on the train on the earlier station ) had read the reservation charts. I later came to know that they had imagined my as a 80 year old man ! (c'mon, girls - I am sure that an age column would be around somewhere :)

Anyways, I introduced myself back and then settled down on my seat. The next 5-10 minutes were spent in knowing each other's backgrounds and instantly I knew that there was some kind of 'Kismat Konnection' between us. There was definitely some chemistry between us (she had done her Grads in chemistry). We were both kind of very happy to have found just the right kind of company in that train. She soon put her book down and got lost in our conversations.

It seemed we knew each other from kinder garden and not from a few hours. She shared with me many stories from her college days, about her family, her hobbies. She was quite different in the sense that she wasn't a TV or movie freak, she spent her time developing other skills like cooking, driving , teaching ...the list is amazing.

I was amazed by her personality and various instances she narrated about her life. The journey I wanted to get done with earlier - now seemed like i wanted it to last a little longer. Her love for food, her phobias of public restrooms, her limited knowledge of the Indian railways, her anxiousness about getting a return ticket back to Mumbai ...everything was so cute.

We exchanged numbers and mail ids promising to get in touch later. We are to let each other know if the return journey was as exiting (both of us are travelling alone by train ..again...but from different locations on different days) I am sure there would be more meetings . talks and interactions with her, but am sure it will be difficult to beat this experience of the first meeting.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Dark Knight - A review

The Dark Knight

Rating 4/5

One of the best superhero movies recently made (sorry for putting Batman in that genre - as Batman has no superpowers), this one is a thrilling ride all the way.

The opening few minutes , where the Joker and his bunch of cronies are robbing a bank is just the perfect setting for 2 1/2 hours of great entertainment. The script is the real winner - the characterizations of the major characters - specially Batman / Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent, and the Joker are so detailed, that you actually feel like you are sitting inside the mind of these characters - as they go about their business on screen.

This is a Batman movie, and as in most Batman movies, the bad man (Joker) gets the meatiest role. The way the character is portrayed by the late Heath Ledger is simply remarkable. His interaction with Batman - in the interrogation room and with Harvey Dent = at the hospital , are scenes which are simply out of this world.

The movie is a bit long by Hollywood standards, but you wont get bored even for one bit. In fact the intermission, a sad compulsion in Indian cinema - was the only point when i got irritated.

The Dark Knight has already set records for the opening day in the U.S., with some predicting that this movie may well turn out to be the highest grosser of the decade.

Go catch it before it is taken out of the cinemas to make way for some mediocre Bollywood movies.