Sour Grapes..

One thing that I didn't envisage when the Indian Cricket Team won the T-20 World Cup was the opposition that their treatment would get among other sports persons. The hockey team has taken exception to the vast amounts of money given to Team India. At first, I actually thought that they were right. Now, though, I have very different thoughts.

Last year during the Hockey World Cup, the Indian team was ignominiously dumped out in the 1st round after being placed 11th (12 teams in all). So, how many effigies of hockey stars were burnt? How many hockey stars resorted to the back door of airports in fear of a backlash from fans? None. These guys could barely beat South Africa, who were the minnows of the World Cup 2006.

The Indian Cricket team's fortunes were somewhat different. They lost, played poorly in the World Cup 2007. Effigies of pretty much every player were burnt on the streets of every city. The players returned home through the back doors of airports. It was a poor performance met with the anguish and embarrassment of the 'stars' in public. The media pretty much hung them out to dry as well.

Fast forward to the present… The hockey team won the Asia Cup in Chennai and in style. The media was more than appreciative. Yes, the government did very less to show their happiness. The T-20 team's win though has been treated with a great amount of happiness as well. This was a World Cup, not an Asia Cup. The BCCI is the richest sports body in the World. They can afford to give out 80 lakh rupees to their players. It is not their fault per se.

The fact is that when the cricket team lost, they were taken to task. When they won, they were glorified. The hockey team had the luxury of coming back home to a stable environment even though they lost pathetically in 2006. We all know that hockey is India's 'National Sport' for practical purposes only.

We're all Indians. We should enjoy these moments when our sports teams are achieving great things. Yes, one sport is more important than the other for obvious reasons. Cricketers are more popular and they deal with a lot more pressure. People seem to be forgetting that point! As for the hockey players - don't be disheartened. If you guys win the World Cup, I'm sure that there will be a victory parade for you as well.

Otherwise all this nonsense of the cricket team getting more attention just sounds like sour grapes to me. That has been happening for the past 2 decades and nobody has had problems for so long, so why now?

T20 - Here to Stay.

I wrote an entry slating cricket a few months back. That might have been a scathing entry about a sport which was dying then. I cannot and certainly will not say anything of that sort today though!

Twenty-20 cricket has been a real breath of fresh air. This advent has brought a lot of exciting matches and some breath taking shot play. I have never been so excited about cricket for a long time. India is winning its matches as well and a final against Pakistan beckons, so why should I be unhappy?

I saw a lot of cricket commentators worried about the introduction of this format of the game. They were concerned at the fact that this would overtake test cricket in terms of viewer ship and interest. Who are you kidding? I don't think anyone has the interest to sit and watch 5 days of cricket continuously. We were all interested in ODIs in any case and that was beginning to bore us all!

As for bat dominating the ball - that is not true. The bowlers can learn how to bowl in the slog overs in a 50-50 game. They bowl positively. Batting also becomes positive. So, how can positive changes be negative?

We get to see the exciting side of the game in this format. We don't see guys just standing around, looking at the sky or wondering about what's back at the hotel for dinner. We have full fledged, hardcore cricket. The commitment is there, and so is the excitement - for me that is what should define sport. Cricket was fast becoming a game of the last century. This has been a renaissance of sorts for the game.

I never thought that I would see a day where I would be saying "I'm looking forward to a cricket match". Well, I am! Many people were questioning India taking a young squad. I praise them for that. It was a gutsy move and one which has paid off. We're no longer going to have to put up with 35 year old imbeciles who think too much of themselves and are not physically fit.

It is no coincidence that the 2 teams with lower average ages have made it to the finals then. Whatever loss the ICC made with the Caribbean debacle has certainly been made up here. I just hope that this transforms the sport into a spectacle, something which it has been lacking for a considerable amount of time. The T20 revolution is here to stay!

Indian Idle

Life is probably the most unfair thing to live through sometimes. I certainly saw first hand what that means yesterday. The Indian Idol turned out to be nothing more than a farce and the winner was one who won not because of his talent, but because of where he hails from.

You would think that after 60 years of democracy, Indians would understand the concept of voting. You would think that most people who voted actually had 2 ears to listen to what and how the contestants were singing. Considering that the process spanned 7 and a half months, results should have been announced sooner. The finale by itself was a 3 hour drag at the end of which I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth.

It just goes to show that in India, you can't achieve too many things by voting. Many people are losing their faith in the voting process as it is. The only way this could have been fair for us was if we had let the experts decide who can win and who can't. Would Donald Trump hire somebody on Apprentice because he/she has got more votes than the other?

I don't think that Prashant should have been in the top two in the first place. There were 2-3 singers ahead of him - and they were quite a distance away from him in terms of quality. Emon, Deepali and Chang would have driven Amit Paul close but make no mistake; Amit Paul deserved to be Indian Idol by a zillion miles.

You can only determine a good singer on the basis of his/her voice.. not his memory or his/her ability to remember lyrics. A slip in lyrics means very less. I remember the lyrics of a lot of songs; does that make me a good singer? I invite you to come and listen to my voice and decide for yourself (if you're alive after such an experience!).

It is frustrating when there is injustice in this world. It is frustrating when Bollywood stars get bail for a stonewall jail term. It was hard enough to keep your eyes open after a 3 hour snooze fest and at the end of it I felt like throwing stones at my TV.

We've been a democracy for 60 years and considering that all our politicians turn out to be utter flops.. I cannot fault the Indian public for not bucking the trend. As for Amit Paul, he is the true Indian Idol. Prashant may be a good human being, but he should be counting his lucky stars – which means that he should count every single star in the universe.

The Reasons...

I am not a defensive person, far from it. I don't like to explain why I did what I did. Being defensive, in my opinion, is a sign of weakness. That said I am in a situation where I have to defend myself!

I had a very stupid argument with my sister a couple of days ago. While I respect her opinions and take them into account, I cannot agree with whatever she says. I don't blog as consistently as millions of people in the world do. I don't read other people's blogs - let alone comment on them. My exposure to blogs is minimal; my blog's exposure is therefore minimal.

I started this blog to get a better grip on writing. I needed to get some control over what I wrote, in terms of length and precision... and believe me; I still need to get some control over those things! While I have noticed improvements, I have a long way to go. Yes, I haven't been altogether committed to blogging off late. The reason for that is - I do things when I feel like... or when I can. When I can't do something or don't feel like doing it... I don't do it! Same applies here.

I have great respect for public speakers. I feel that they're really brave people, facing up to loads of people. For me, writing about stuff is easier. I find writing comfortable. I feel that on stage and in front of people - I wouldn't be able to talk as fluently as I can write. Writing, for me, is spontaneous. That doesn't mean I look down upon blogging. That doesn't mean that I want to become a public speaker either!

For me, blogging is something which people do openly and notoriously. Whether people are writing things about their private lives or about various public issues - they're writing on the internet. While I don't have a problem with personal issues being written on blogs, some of the responses which these experiences get are odd. It’s almost as if there is a parallel community on blogs, where people discuss their lives with others. I find that strange. Why? For me, whatever happens in my life remains just that. Maybe I don't have the bottle to write about those things here... maybe I just don't want to because I feel that it is private.

Only after the argument with my sister did it strike me that the "blogosphere" is now very much a society. People write about stuff when they're ecstatic, distraught, jumping with joy or completely depressed about something. It is an outlet, a place where people vent. There is this Indian myth that there are 3 people who look like you in the world. That could very well be a myth, but why can't people have similar experiences to the ones that you've had? Well, that was the question that I wasn't able to answer.

I will continue to blog. I enjoy writing about stuff, so why should I stop doing something that I enjoy? Blogs don't only teach you to write better, they teach you about respecting people's private spaces and opinions. Perhaps I haven't learnt to do any of those things yet.

Cocktail..... Part 1

Well... if there isn't a single thing to write about, I figured that I should write about a lot of things.. I had a couple of outstanding posts. I must admit that I didn't even have the slightest inclination to complete them, until I completed the last one. I feel that writing about more than 1 issue in one post is not all that bad - so when I'm suffering the now proverbial "blogger's block", you're going to see a "Cocktail"!

The dog is man's best friend, there is no question. That said, I don't think that any of us would leave 12 million dollars behind for one. I think the late Leona Helmsley would disagree. She left the largest portion of her fortune after her death to her dog! I had to bang my head on the wall a couple of times before I read the amount mentioned and who it was going to. How is a dog going to make use of 12 million dollars? Get some accessories? A mani-pedi? I don't even know what I would do with that much money!
You know what the irony is? The dog's name is Trouble. So, her will must have read "I leave 12 million dollars to Trouble"!

I haven't written about football for a variety of reasons. This is worth writing about though. Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal has signed a new deal and this is like an insurance policy for the club. This man, despite all the criticisms thrown at him stays loyal to the club and to his principles. I love that about him. If there's anyone I want to meet and have a good talk with in the world, it would be him. He's a genius and a modest one at that. Arsene knows!

Indian Idol 3 has been a superb 'talent finding show'. The problem is that the concept of voting for who you like doesn't work in India. Contestants get votes for their state rather than their talent. So, it was no surprise when a girl from Uttar Pradesh - one of the larger if not the largest state in India reached the top 4 (totally undeserved in my opinion). The bottom line is simple though, Amit Paul is going to win. He's simply brilliant. He's got a voice which is indescribable. A great find - so most of the people who voted have some music sense.

Another football issue which is in every way disturbing is that Antonio Puerta, a Spanish footballer, 22, died of a heart attack late last month. This was after a 17 year old footballer in England collapsed in training and died as well. I don't know if there was a sequence of events for these deaths but it just goes to show that life is so fragile. We're here one second and could be gone the next. When people die so young, it does bring tears to the eyes. I hope both of them Rest In Peace.

I hear that R.G.Verma's Aag is a failure. That is why the so called great hits should never be re-made. He's a good director and I think that he should avoid wasting his energy and the producer's money on such lousy remakes. For a man who seemed to pride himself on original, innovative scripts - I am surprised that he wanted to remake Sholay (copyright G.P.Sippy).

I guess that I've covered everything that I can think of for now. Hopefully I'll come up with a single thing to write about next time!