Bruised, Battered, Shattered..

Over the last few weeks, India has been gripped by two very disheartening and unpleasant events.
One has been on the cricket field (the recent debacles against England), the other has been on the streets of the National Capital.

I have lived in Noida and Delhi pretty much all my life, and I am ashamed to state that this is not the only incident. We have had gruesome, morbid, sickening reports of suchlike earlier too.
But perhaps what has got even the typically immune, impervious NCRite seething and agitated now, is the gross callousness and contempt with which such a case has been handled.
I believe there is only so much a cop can do - such as were we expecting, with the benefit of hindsight - that the cops should have been peeping into every moving bus?

Certainly not, if the screams of the unfortunate victim would have been scuffled by those hooligans, who were filled with nothing but lust all over themselves.
However, what was possible, was prompt action - what was possible was an exemplary punishment that wold forbid any such sick mind to think twice, thrice, heck even a zillion times before even having the gall to commit such a reprehensible act.

And this is where the problem lies - there have been far too many cases which have been found wanting for timely action, and where even if the culprits have been apprehended, they have begun to roam free again though bail, while the victims are maimed for life.
Another reason why people are fuming is because given the events of this case, many people believe that it could easily have been them.

9-9.30 is not an unearthly hour, not was the woman in any way in 'unsafe' territory, using public transport in the heart of the nation's capital. Which is why, the depravity of the act has hit even harder.

On the other hand, there is the small matter - I had written earlier about how India was as invincible as England and Australia have been in their dens (if not more). Well, 2004 has happened again.
Just as Australia took the series away in '04, we have had a walloping after Ahmedabad, and it's England now, who have turned the corner, and been deserving winners.
Well done, England!
However, I have hopes that the Indian fan will get more reason for cheer than doom in the coming years, as the team prepares itself for life without its Ram, Laxman, Bharat...I just hope this ushers in a new Ramayana, not a Mahabharata!!
Happy 2013 in advance!!

What A Wednesday!

Year: 2008.
Date: September 5 (Teacher's Day)
There came a movie, which truly taught me a lot about a gripping, thought-provoking story without being too preachy about terrorism.

Unfortunately, a few months later, there came along Ajmal Kasab, on November 26, unleashing terror on the streets of Mumbai, in one of the deadliest and most horrific terrorist attacks.

Year: 2012
Date: November 21
As luck would have it, Ajmal Kasab has been hanged to death, on yes, A Wednesday.

While there is never any joy in celebrating any individual's demise, this day is a day for some (mind you, only some) recompense for all those who have suffered through the hands of terrorism.
This is a day that shall help us believe that even if we were a few years late, justice was served, finally.

Let it be known that even if it is late, we can bring the perpetrators of such dastardly acts to book, through the oft-circumvented legal route too.

Most importantly, let it be known that India is not to be seen as a convenient, free-for-all place for any mischief-monger to wreck havoc on our soil.

Goodbye Ajmal Kasab, and Goodbye to all the Biryani jibes, and the Thankyou-Dengue-Mosquito jokes!

Jai Ho!

These are really interesting times in the Bollywood landscape.

Of late, a spate of meaningful, funny, and thought-provoking movies have come up. The last few weeks have given us Barfi!, Oh My God, and English Vinglish - pretty much one week after another.

A Truly Oh My God Collection

Now I am a no-holds-barred stickler for a witty, engrossing script. The last few movies (mentioned above) have been low on hype and high on output, thanks to their wonderful script, fluid screenplay, brilliant performances, and impeccable direction.

The fact that I have not even counted GoW I and II in this list, and have discounted the not-so-universally liked Heroine only shows that there have been enough big-ticket movies around within a couple of months.

Now that the audience has been introduced to such riveting and sumptuous fare, we are pining for more such movies coming our way.
Hopefully, Talaash should not disappoint, and I am still rooting for the SRK-Kat jodi onscreen in JTHJ (despite its rather thanda title).

Thankyou, Bollywood for coming of age and for producing so many likeable, truly 'different' movies with such disarming regularity of late.

This is just a post and a humble way of saying keep up the good work, from an interested and appreciative audience.
A special note to the Censor Board too, for passing a potentially sensitive and touchy movie like 'Oh My God' without much fuss.
Dear 'different' filmmakers and wondrous, creative storytellers - well done and more power to you!
Well done, and Jai Ho!

Dear Heart of Sai Baba, fare thee well!!

Profuse apologies for the really poor joke as the title of this post.
However, I am sad today and I would make up any PJ on this universe, to get even a whiff of any radical emotion other than disappointment.

I am sad to see an outstanding umpire's career coming to an end. Simon Taufel, take a bow sir - you have elevated the role and skill-level of an umpire to much better standards through sheer dint of your impeccable conduct and deportment.

It was painful to see Mark Boucher go the way he had to, a few months ago.
Many editors and journos have long been ready with their oft-rehearsed farewell lines for one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. It's another matter that the Little Master might keep them waiting for a few more years, even now.
There was a void when the great Kapil Dev left, and one struggles to remember a genuine Indian all-rounder, before or after him.

However, the departure of this non-sportsman on the cricket field seems truly sad. No one has dominated the world of cricket umpiring with such unparalleled competence than Simon.

Before Simon, cricket has been blessed with some illustrious umpires - from Dickie Bird to David Shepherd to Rudi Koertzen.
However, the bright talent that this 'young' gem is and has been, will be hard to find.

Achieving so much at such a young age in the umpiring world, is not easy at all.
In fact I reckon Simon Taufel is the Sachin Tendulkar of umpires - started young, excelled in all conditions, vanquished pressure and the perils of stardom, achieved just about everything possible in his field, and became a living legend with great competence and insight.

Among the many admirable qualities he has, there are two things that truly made me a Simon fan:

Focus and Decision Making
His ability to read the length, trajectory and angle of the ball in determining LBWs is exemplary. The focus in identifying close nicks, and knowing when not to give a batsman out, was fantastic.

Positioning and Self-Confidence
The way Simon used to run in time adjacent to the stumps in perfect preparation of adjudicating a run-out is something fantastic, made even more commendable by the fact that umpires today do not bother to do any such stuff because they can always fall back on the safer, easier and more convenient option of going 'upstairs' to the 3rd umpire. Despite this, Simon never flinched from taking a tough decision, relying on his ability, knowledge and confidence on his decision-making abilities.

It is easy to overlook the fact that today, we live in an age of stumpcams, microphones, third umpires, decision reviews, and hawk-eyes. These are times when even an iota of error is magnified and played over and over again.

To remain pretty much unblemished in even such times, and to be able to trust oneself to give decisions instead of relying on the easy, safer option of simply calling up the third ump, has been truly commendable.

And now, he bids goodbye to help groom other umpires (if even a few of them can come close to him, it's job well done).

As the Word T20 ends, one country will win.
But the whole world will be at a loss - of a great umpire, whose expertise, equanimity, and faultless decisions shall remain etched in the memory of all his fans.

Fare thee well, Simon!!