Sachin Tendulkar

There was a time when television sets were switched off when Sachin got out. In those days, i used to sit with such attentiveness, as you would normally expect from a kid in a classroom but in my case it was in front of a television,  because any ball could have been end of the match but in reality more often it was met with a with a stroke so delightful that my heart used to say "kya baat hai!"

The Image lingers on. Follow through of the bat after a cover drive - a small sized Tendulkar standing absolutely erect with the bat pointing in the direction of the ball, ball which has raced towards boundary piercing a 5 member vanguard meant exactly to stop that. With every year as i grew, i remember less and less about my adulthood but i am confident that these would remain with me.  Fast paced bouncers outside offstump were one of the most difficult deliveries to play to until Tendulkar showed that you can simply glide them over the slip cauldron and suddenly they were freebie sixes. A leg spin delivery, pitched outside leg stump spinning into the right hand batsman was considered to be lethal on a spinning track until the little master invented "paddle sweep".  Yes, a six gives more runs that a four but what about the joy coefficient? The straight drive by Tendulkar, irrespective of whether he was in form or not, gave so much pleasure that i will trade it anytime over his sixes.

One of my fond memory comes from Australlia's tour of India. During a test match, Glen McGrath runs up to bowl to Sachin and just before the ball is released Sachin raises his hand and says No.  Glen is furious and as he asks what's going on, he comes to know that Tendulkar was not happy as people were walking close to the side screen. This will now continue to happen atleast 3-4 more times when McGrath, now even more furious than before, walks up to him and using hand gestures tell him -  Why don't you ask the entire stadium to sit calmly?  Sachin just shrugs and ignores him. Mcgrath smiles and goes back to bowl.

Critics criticize while doers do. Around 2001-2002, Sachin Tendulkar was labelled as only a first innings man. "He can't handle the pressure of a chase" slammed the critics. To a degree they were right, his first innings average was above 50 while his second innings average was just shy of 30.  But data does not speak for circumstances. If wickets at the other end are chipping off, which happened most of the times in mid 90s, Sachin was forced to carry one billion expectations alone and his improvisations didn't work as much as he would have liked. The one inning that put all such accusations to rest was his 98 against Pakistan at the 2003 World cup quarterfinal match. Pakistan has scored 273 which was a fighting total on that pitch and Pakistan's bowling attack was at its prime during that time.  This is also perhaps my favorite innings from the little master. On that day, Tendulkar came up with a new strategy to counter the attack. At the last moment before facing a delivery, he would shuffle at his crease towards off stump just a little bit. Now suddenly the corridor of uncertainty, the patch just outside offstump where a batsman is confused on whether he should play the ball or not, became straight for him. Any ball directed towards middle stump was almost on his pads and was played cozily on the leg side. India had scored about 100 runs in first 12 overs and Pakistan were out of their wits on what is going on.


Sachin was always a favorite, India adored him and rest of the world respected him. But the conversion from this to a God-like adulation, from opposition's respect to fear, happened at the Coca Cola cup at Sharjah in 1998 when he stroked back to back centuries and single handedly won the series for India. The assault was brutal and that too against the best ODI side at that time.  Evidently, not many people write about it now, even though Sachin scored a century (actually 143 out of India's 250) India lost the qualifying match against Australia but had managed to qualify for finals. After the match, Sachin was actually upset at himself for loosing it. Such was his expectation from himself. For many of us, this has been a regular show - a lone Sachin trying to battle alone. During the 1999 test match between India and Pakistan, the first test match between the two rivals after nine years, India lost to Pakistan by 12 runs. India had scored 258 out of which 136 came from Sachin and 36 from extras. At the post-match press conference, media asked whereabouts of Sachin to Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur, then BCCI president, to which he replied that Sachin is crying in the dressing room. And so was I in front of my tv set. My tears were partially there for the lost match but mostly i was sorry for Sachin who had given everything that day.


We were happy for him when India won the 2011 world cup. It was only fitting for the Indian team to dedicate the cup to him. It felt justified as if all the wrongs for all those past years had been corrected with this victory. But personally deep down, i always held the regret that we should have won the 2003 world cup. That Indian playing XI inspired true cricket for a fan like me. Plus, we reached the finals in an overseas pitch,  something that is very difficult to achieve.

But after world cup came the disappointment period. If truth be declared, i wanted Sachin to retire then from both forms of cricket. There was nothing else for him to prove anymore. The 100th century media pressure appeared superficial to us. For people like us, 10K runs or 100th century never matters, these are by-products, the filings that you get as a stone is carved into sculpture. What matters to us is the class and the grace of those scored runs.

There was disappointment as it took him such a long time to achieve his 100th hundred but what followed after that was even more frustrating. Sachin, who had been so private in his victories, was paraded like a Miss Universe winner. The Ambani party proved such a big farce.  It was like a marriage ceremony where unknown friends and  relatives dance while you are just standing and watching them from a distance, unable to share any merriment. We felt betrayed. The media circus that followed was trying very hard to make it into a climax of a masala bollywood movie.And us, the indie art house lovers,  could not do anything about it.

Deep down, we knew that it is time for him to step down. But who would bell the cat? Everybody hesitated and punted it back on to him - "Only Sachin can decide when he should retire". Harsha Bhogle thought different and articulated intelligently through this article.

As i heard news of his retirement,  the inevitable had happened, a feeling of satisfaction took over soon followed by a sweet nostalgia. 10 years ago, me and my friends would often discuss this - what would Sachin's stats look like when he retires? I do not recall what our estimates were but a world cup win did feature in it.

 Looking back, if Dravid is remembered as the Wall - thou shall not fall, Sachin would be remembered as a lone Samurai who never gave up hope even if circumstances around him were not optimistic.  The man who stood his ground based on the strength of his convictions on his ability, the man who forced everybody else to see things his way, the man who gave a sense of belief to an entire nation. I learnt the meaning of "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going" from him. In future, experts will sing glories of his statistics, teach his shot inventions to youngsters and talk about his long career but they will still be holding back his true impact on this sport, on this nation. Our lives have been shaped by this genius, we the nation owe a big debt of gratitude to him.

Forrest Gump

I do not remember what was my reaction after watching Forrest Gump for the first time. All i recall is that i liked it. Especially Tom Hanks. Forrest Gump was also one of my early movies when i realized how powerful this medium can be. Over the years, i have watched Forrest Gump multiple times. There are so many favorite scenes in the film,  so many concepts that strike at heart. For example - The one when Forrest starts running  just like that, or the one where Lt. Dan joins Forrest on his  shrimp boat and the scene where he is challenging the storm. The one when he meets Jenny at Washington, and the one when he realizes that he has a son. The movie is layered with scene after scene that just makes it a treat to watch. But the one scene that stays with me even after the movie, long long time after the movie is this one -



Jenny is on her deathbed and is afraid of her dying. She asks Forrest if he was scared in Vietnam. Forrest answers it and so naturally transitions on to a broader theme of beauty in this world. This scene epitomizes the genius of this movie. To start with, it summarizes the essence of this movie - the beauty and the goodness.

What is Forrest Gump about? What is its genre? Wikipedia describes it as Romantic-comedy-drama film. It is and it is not. It has all the three elements in it but it is not like any other rom-com movies of this genre. It is a very difficult feat. to genre-ify this movie. It is not a biopic as it does not cover a true person, yet it is a biopic. As a novel (which i have not read yet ) it must be an incredible piece of fiction. But to take the story on paper and convert it into this kind of film is brilliance. (PS: Forrest gump - the novel is going to be my next book.)

But coming back, what is Forrest Gump about? Is it about a fantasy story of an autistic boy? Is it about the purity of heart and soul? Is it a feel-good movie with a message that hard work pays?  Is it about the recent events in American History ? Its about all the above  and more. To take the historical events and marry them with the plotline gives an epic feel. Most novels or movies take one or two events (like World war 2 or 9/11)  and create plots around/after it. But to show a journey of time through the lens of an individual and that too in fiction is quite a rarity. The only other instance that i know where its done is Midnight's children by Salman Rushdie. And i liked that novel as well.

Coming back to that scene, in those few seconds we get the entire gist of the movie. Yes, the movie is about the beauty and the goodness. But there is a lot going on there. The movie is also about loneliness as well. Forrest even despite his best intentions does not have many friends. He is lonely and often wonders why. In the shot of the Bayou, it is not only the shot of Sun setting down but it is a shot of a lonely Forrest enjoying the natural sunset all by himself.  But, and here lies the masterpiece, the movie does not pity loneliness. The final two words of that scene "You were", quickly fills the void created by a lonely Forrest.

Often, i have wondered the practicality of the running scene. Is it doable? Where was he eating, how he kept himself hydrated? Being a little bit of runner myself and knowing the joys of running, i can feel the escapist pleasure in doing so but the practicality of it is questionable. It is interesting to observe that i do understand that Vietnam, Ping pong, Shrimp boats are all fantastical elements but somehow i want this running episode to be real.

In that scene, the background sound also changes, i do not think that it is an OST but that sound-byte adds another dimension. The music is there when needed.  Alan Silvestri's score has a powerful effect of slowing down time, it gives breathing room in a movie where so much is going on all the time.

Rahul Dravid

Now that all the news of Rahul Dravid's retirement has settled down, let me write my views as well.

Cricinfo link - http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/28114.html

Article by his wife after retirement - http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/556979.html


Harsha Bhogle - http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/556769.html


Guradian take - http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/mar/09/rahul-dravid-india-genius-boundary


I think the above links tell more about the man that i could ever write with my knowledge of literature.  But here is my version of things  -


Whenever i see an Indian match and India is batting, no matter how good or bad is the opposition, i always have an uncertainty in my heart - at every ball, i believe that it could be a wicket-taking ball and any batsman, howsoever he is set at the crease, i believe that he could get out.  That batsman could be Sachin, Dhoni, earlier Ganguly and more so if he is Sehwag. But the only exception to this feeling has been Rahul Dravid. If he is there, i was always confident that the wicket will not fall on the next delivery. I dont know who gave him the title - The wall, but it has been so appropriate.  "Thou shall not fall" that's what i think.

When you look at Dravid's batting, one realizes that he is not the most gifted player, he is not stylish or anything but there is one adjective that is always present - determined. He is simply determined to face the next ball and it is his determination, the "never give up" attitude that makes him a delight to watch. I forgot the fact that he was also a keeper. It is quite sad that the Dravid-era of captaincy was bad for Indian cricket but at that time nothing was working. And plus we were also playing overseas for the most part :)

Dravid's off field behavior is to admire and respect. In his retirement speech, he said that so far he has been living in a cocoon, in an un-real world..... I wonder these days who would make such a statement. Honesty kehte hain isen.

Also, Dravid is very special to me because his career coincided with my hay days of cricket watching. My cricket memory starts with 96 world cup and i remember Ajay Jadeja, Robin Sinfh, Srinath, Prasad and Raju very well from those days. But it all fell apart and it was 4 years of frustration because even though the talent was there, the team overall was not winning. But yet, the brave persisted. Genius comes in many forms and to Indian cricket it was Sachin, Dravid, Kumble and Ganguly who shaped it. These were the guys who just stuck at it, even with all defeats they wanted to build games on their own shoulders and always were trying to prove a point. And comparatively speaking it was the hardest for Dravid because all he had in his defense was a sportsman's grit and on that alone he has built his career. I still believe that 2003 world cup team was the best Indian team in the last three decades and that was the team that deserved to have the seat at finals. So when Dravid retires, it is like one school friend is saying good bye and we both know that this is the last time that we are meeting.

I will always remember Dravid as the example he has set before us. Whenever there are things that are not going in my way, whenever this world feels full of problems, whenver i am about to give up, i think i would just need to remember his face and there will always be a solution that he has taught me - Persist and it will happen. 

Thank you Rahul Dravid.

Corita Kent Rules

Rules : http://hi-and-low.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/a-new-year.html

Rule 1
FIND A PLACE YOU TRUST AND THEN TRY TRUSTING IT FOR A WHILE.

Rule 2
GENERAL DUTIES OF A STUDENT: PULL EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR TEACHER. PULL EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS.

Rule 3
GENERAL DUTIES OF A TEACHER: PULL EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR STUDENTS.

Rule 4
CONSIDER EVERYTHING AN EXPERIMENT.

Rule 5
BE SELF DISCIPLINED. THIS MEANS FINDING SOMEONE WISE OR SMART AND CHOOSING TO FOLLOW THEM.
TO BE DISCIPLINED IS TO FOLLOW IN A GOOD WAY.
TO BE SELF DISCIPLINED IS TO FOLLOW IN A BETTER WAY.

Rule 6
NOTHING IS A MISTAKE. THERE'S NO WIN AND NO FAIL. THERE'S ONLY MAKE

Rule 7
THE ONLY RULE IS WORK.
IF YOU WORK IT WILL LEAD TO SOMETHING. IT'S THE PEOPLE WHO DO ALL THE WORK ALL THE TIME WHO EVENTUALLY CATCH ON TO THINGS.

Rule 8
DONT TRY TO CREATE AND ANALYSE AT THE SAME TIME. THEY'RE DIFFERENT PROCESSES.

Rule 9
BE HAPPY WHENEVER YOU CAN MANAGE IT. ENJOY YOURSELF. IT'S LIGHTER THAN YOUR THINK.

Rule 10
"WE'RE BREAKING ALL OF THE RULES. EVEN OUR OWN RULES AND HOW DO WE DO THAT? BY LEAVING PLENTY OF ROOM FOR X QUANTITIES": JOHN CAGE.

HELPFUL HINTS: ALWAYS BE AROUND. COME OR GO TO EVERYTHING. ALWAYS GO TO CLASSED. READY ANYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON. LOOK AT MOVIES CAREFULLY OFTEN. SAVE EVERYTHING - IT MIGHT COME IN HANDY LATER.

THERE SHOULD BE NEW RULES NEXT WEEK.

India media

During this India trip, i found a new respect for Indian media. They are actually doing a good job in making the govt. accountable for its actions. It is doing the function of an opposition party.

For example, it brought out issues on Bhopal gas tragedy, honor killings, physical punishments in schools etc. I was very impressed with the local newspaper Prabhat khabar in ranchi which was doing a great job in exposing corruption in ranchi govt. offices. Incidentally its motto is Akhbhar nahin, Aandolan.

The American media, which is either leftist, or right or trying to be both. Often American media has failed to question the govt. decisions, it generally affirms the govt.'s point of view and after reading Manufacturing consent by Noam Chomsky, i agree with him that American media helps the govt. a lot in pushing forward its policies, justifying their actions. So much and so that Jon Stewart's satire show is the source of news for many people here.

Compared to the American media, India media atleast questions the govt. Ofcourse there is a lot more fool hardiness in Indian system but atleast the media is taking a stand. The journalists are risking something for such news. Along with Indian judiciary, i felt grateful for Indian media. Way to go.

But there are many areas for improvisation in Indian media. My main issues is that Indian media is largely driven my middle class issues. It can be understood as most of the journalists and reporters are middle class people and only identify to middle class issues. For example, honor killings is very prevalent in lower sections but it never made headlines until it happened to an industrial family in delhi. The lower class also needs representation at national level media. Ofcourse, the local media does bring up local issues which includes lower sections but it is not enough.

I no longer have any comments on Indian news's idea of sensationalizing every bit of news. Nor do i hate that idolatory attitudes towards celebrities. These are just part of the parcel and they also have to make money. I am sure time will pass and these things will be not a norm.

Fatih Akin

Gegen die wand (Head on), Im Juli (In July) and Auf der andered Seite (On the other side)

This is how my watch list looks like of movies made by Fatih Akin. And I like them in the order that i have seen them with Gegen die wand as my fav.

Fatih Akin is a German but with Turkish background ( comparing it with ABCD, it will be GBCT, bad joke anyways). And in his movies as well there is a mix of both German and Turkish cultures. His movies are stories adapted to screen, stories that are unpredictable and move fast.

However, in all of his movies, there are some common traits for which each one of them is a delight to watch. To start with, he uses music a lot especially Turkish music and it is very pleasant to hear. Second, there is atleast one character who will do what he/she feels like doing, with no worry about consequences , about money, security etc. If films are meant to show what we can not do in real life, if they are meant to show our dreams, our fantasies to us, Fatih Akin does exactly that. And its all done in a realistic fashion.

In a story which is unpredictable, there are generally two ways - (a) The viewer is watching everything for the first hand and each development is a revealation to him, and (b) The viewer knows the end but is missing on the "How" part and at every step he hopes that this will be the means to reach the end, sometimes it turns to be true but mostly not.

Fatih used the former technique in his previous films but in "On the other side" he has used the latter technique and he has done it quite brilliantly. He was also awarded screenplay for his depiction at Cannes.


And in all his movies, there is a journey involved, there is self realization, there is past guilt and repentance. There is tradition, religion but with independence going in parallel. In short he makes one of the best fiction drama movies, the kind that i like the best.

His movies are not foreign lang oscar winner level but they have their own beauty and taste. His movies are worth putting in a collection.

Anil Kumble

This is not a yet another tribute to Kumble. This one is going to be different.
Yesterday, almost every paper wrote about him and everyone had the same - keywords Underrated, modest, humble, respect, admiration, dignity, integrity. (PJ: If i apply a machine learning algorithm, it will tell that each article is plagiarized from another with 95% confidence) Yeah, Yeah, i have read all articles out there. But this is not what i have in mind.

This post is a letter to you, Anil. I am not done with you so you can not just walk out. If you are thinking that you have already done so much for the country, the team etc and what does this blogger want now, then you are in for a surprise.

I want more. Yes Anil, if you are reading it, you have read it correctly. As simple as that. I want more from you and it does not matter to me if it is related to cricket field or not. Well, if you want to be a coach/commentator, then its fine by me but then that's not what i want. I want to know more about you, what you are going to do. Here is what i need you to do

1. Start maintaining a blog. Write what you feel like. Even if it is only a line like "Only one team played in the spirit of the game" . That one line will be enough to read the whole media coverage. And not just about cricket, write in general.

2. Write a book, your autobiography. I want to read it. Write what you think of Indian cricket, its good things as well as bad and esp the ugly, your experience and your take.

3. Just do not walk away from us like Javagal Srinath. It was good to see Srinath come and do some commentary in between but after than he never returned. Kumble sir, your opinions, suggestions , thoughts are extremely valuable. We may not reply back, we may not write about you, but there are still readers in this world who follow you closely, who respect your opinion.

You see, we are not the kind of media who will tent outside your house to track all your moves. But we will have our ears and eyes open to see what is happening. And we are the genY media - aka we also want our life to be easy, so we want you to inform us about your blog/book etc.

And before i end, i just want to say "Thank you". We are grateful for what you did in the game but we are more grateful for reminding us what the game is about.

Also your name is now included in the "saare gunah maaf" list.

Barack Obama

5 days to go to US general election and i have to post about Barack Obama.

I do not have a right to vote and so does many of my Indian friends in US but over the past 12-15 months we have followed US elections, observed it from a distance and felt it. And without a doubt, the reason for our sustained interest has been Barack Obama.
Before i reason it out for myself, here is a thing shared by my roommate Aninda:

"Watching Barack Obama, I feel like i should be able to vote. I have never voted in India, but just seeing this man, i want to vote"



Why i like Barack Obama:
1. He is an exceptional orator. His speeches inspire many including me. His speeches connect with me, addresses the main points and he delivers them brilliantly.
2. He openly says that he is not going to be a perfect president. He is going to be a good president. He looks calm, and even if he does not have an answer, he is ready to work with people who know the correct answer.
3. His health policy. Economic crisis is new and transient (hopefully!). But health care has been a concern since ages and still is. His view has been correct since beginning.
4. His foreign policies - willingness to sit with third world countries, correct attitude towards Pakistan (namely to ask questions and demand answers), ending the war etc.

The charm about Obama is he is dynamic, energetic and willing to adjust to new things. His use of technology is excellent. I have no experience in past US political campaigns but still his campaign so far looks decent. It has not been a perfect one but considering the things that has happened, i think it has been good.

One thing that Obama understands that if you point one finger, there are many fingers that point back at you. He has criticized McCain but mostly on policy issues. He has not given one single negative word against Sarah Palin (when asked about Palin, he brilliantly answered - let the public decide). He has not used race at all in his speeches (which gave Larry Willmore from Daily show to present two exceptional pieces). Moreover, he use a very effective website, and his use of technology has been amazing (all credit to his team).

Lastly, during his campaign, there have been his speeches acting as milestones. Genesis happened at 2004 Democratic National Convention, then his "Yes we can speech" after winning New Hanpshire primary, then the one given after Jeremiah Wright controversy, and then after clinching the democratic nomination at the convention . And today, an hr earlier, there was the 30 minute obama infomercial on tv across 7 channels (video not available at the moment). Each one has been special and inspiring.

Things that i don't like:
1. I think one blot that will remain on Obama would be his decision to take public financing after pledging that he will not do so. I do not know the exact reason but still something is unexplained.
2. Giving tax benefits to middle class, first it was a million, then 500K, then it became 250K and today 200K. He still does not explains how he will prioritize between thousand promises that he has made.

Before i end, some words about his opponent:
McCain should be respected for not bringing Wright in final elections. He should be respected as a U.S. soldier, as an experienced man, as a man with good fundamentals till 2004 election. But his performance during this election has not been good at all. Bringing Bill Ayers,, suspending campaign over economic crisis, calling him a socialist, giving 5000$ for health care were all very bad moves. But the worst would be his VP choice.

And that brings up to Sarah Palin. One thing that Sarah Palin did was to energize an old, dull republican campaign, but the question will always be - at what cost? Frankly, i thank Palin and McCain for his choice for giving me some of the best comedy shows in recent past. Tina Fey's imitation had been spot on, she nailed Palin over and over again. But all credit should go to Palin alone, as her interview were so damn hilarious that my jaws dropped out. Foreign experience because you can see Russia from home will go in annals of history as the best joke of 2K8. Palin has not only degraded the republican campaign but her attacks on Obama made her reach new lows. Bottom line - she is not ready/capable.

So, with 5 days to go, i do not know who will win. No points in guessing to whom i am backing. But the important point is that whatever the result is, it matters to me, to us and to many. I am no longer saying - i do not care. I care and i want to care, because it matters.

Finally, a big thanks to Jon Stewart for giving good shows over the past 10 months. You really rock!

It started as a homage to Quentin Tarantino. But soon it got devolved. Maybe i should have chosen a less meaningful topic, a topic with less impact. (The waitress tip topic is awesome).
Anyways, but soon it had to bear a stamp and so it was. Everyone has his own way of doing things.
Warning: Some people may find the language offensive. This article is not meant for them.


http://mister-naman-ki-duniya.blogspot.com/2008/07/mr.html

100!

Yay! This is the 100th post on this blog!

Many say that numbers don't matter, many believe that numbers don't matter and many think that numbers don't matter and the rest understand that all the above three are true.

I have no idea why important things in life are dedicated to anybody or anything. Is it to say thank you? If yes, then why don't you say it. I remember Aman came with the idea of dedicating out btp thesis to our parents respectively. He even got it printed neatly on a separate page. That thesis which they wont even read, and even if they try to read will not understand anything more than the abuse of english words and greek symbols in a fashion otherwise known as mathematics/theory.
I got to write the acknowledgment and i acknowledged Donal Knuth in it for inventing Latex. (Question: Who is a bigger thass amongst us?)

SPICMACAY dedicates its series to well known artists, often to someone who had passed away recently. I guess they are waiting for artists to die before they can dedicate.( bad/sad joke, i agree, but there are no counter examples).

But since we are at the topic of dedicating, i dedicate the first 100 posts to someone who are mentioned in this blog never or very less but to whom i owe a lot. Justin has got a beautiful "Therefore i am" section which is a brilliant idea, something that i had wanted to plagiarize for a long time but a guy with "hazarron khwaishein aisi" can not have less than a 1000 names. So on the 100th blog post, today, here is a partial list of people who have influenced me in more ways than 1:
(Not in any order)
1. Douglas adams : What satire in hitchhiker's guide!
2. Quentin Tarantino: A guy(Madsen) offers a drink to someone and says: "Wrap you lips around that". Can anyone write more cheezy than that?
3. Woody allen: If his movies are hilarious, you should read his novels. An example:

Q: How long do you think a man's legs should be?
A: Long enough to reach the ground.

4. Italo Calvino: The man behind Mr. Palomar. Its funny, i just read one story by him and i knew that yes, this is the model that i want to plagiarize. That story was : The Naked Bossom. The idea of Mr. Naman came out after reading this story.
5. Roger Waters: The man who made me understand the psychedlic jargon. Vera, Vera, what has become of you?
6. Naseeruddin shah: jaadu hai inki adakari mein!
7. Ghalib: The man behind the name of this blog and why i get so much hits everyday.
8. Gulzar: He is the reason why i want to read hindi books now.
9. Seinfeld: How can i forget this guy! "People! they are the worst", extracting humor out of day to day activities.
10. George Constanza: Purists may argue that Constanza is covered in Seinfeld but i disagree. A character in himself. The best character ever on tv for me.
11. Scott Adams: Even though i am over Scott for quite some time now, but he is something!
12. Bill Waterson: I love him but i respect him more. Genius. No more words are required.
13. Rehman: The man behind swades ost. Period.
14. Ayn Rand: She, who has written the best fiction for me.
15. Yudhishtir: The eldest brother who lived by dharma throughout his life and was requested by God himself to lie and had to spend some time in hell for that. A perfect example that there is a flaw in the concept of GOD.
16. Robert Frost: One poem is enough for me to always remember him.
17. Abida Parveen: There is only 1 cd with me and that is Jahan-e-Khusro by Abida Parveen. Too bad i am a Hindu, i cant even say - I will take it to the grave with me. (There is satire in everything!)
18. Harper Lee: One novel, one story a gift to humanity. To kill a mocking bird.
19. Joseph Heller:The joke about numbers above is inspired from Catch 22 by him. My fav quote from it was:

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three

I guess thats it at the moment. I have intentionally left out people whom i have met and those who have inspired me. Why i did what i did above? Well these are names that are often not mentioned in my blog but they are so much in me that its difficult to write about them regularly.


And thats another wish taken care of!

Ode to Kimya Dawson!

Well, i love the genre of Kimya Dawson. This is an attempt to write a song in a way she writes.
Recommended: Do not just read it, sing it along the tune of "Tire Swing".

Crazy girl

She is the craziest girl i have ever seen
goes to places no one has ever been
Wears her jeans with laces on them
Ends all her speech with ahem! ahem!

Calls up her father at the middle of night
says hi and hangs up by saying good night
Teaches her six year old brother about Rock n Roll
and teases her god-fearing mother on selling her soul

Drinks tea from saucer instead of the cup
Sleeps anytime, sometimes even standing up
Watching romantic movies flares up her ire
Has a secret crush on Frodo, of the Shire

Votes every time to see how much it can get worse
Writes poems while rhyming every verse
Goes to plays but never goes to a multiplex
Keeps friendship with everyone even if he's an ex.


But thats not everything i have on my mind
She is actually very very kind

She's the girl who can make anyone cry
Never quits anything before giving it a try
Turns off the lights before leaving her room
And is seen at public gardens carrying a broom.
Acts on issues which no one else care
She's my friend, be it truth or a dare!
She's my friend, be it truth or a dare!