Learning French III : Oui, Non, C'est la Vie

Two very important words in any language are "YES" and "NO".One will always require these two words to make small conversations. Even if you do can not speak a language, just understand it little bit, you can make workable conversation by just using these two words. French translations for these two words are:

YES = Oui

NO = Non

As I mentioned in earlier post, if a word ends with a consonant  then that consonant is not pronounced in French. So, Non is pronounced pretty much like "NO" in English. I would advice to use Google translator to understand the pronunciation for "YES" i.e. Oui. To end the post I would introduce to a sentence that is very well known around the world.

C'est la Vie = That's life

Here, C'est = that is

and Vie = life

la used before vie is an article like English has "a" or "The"

Hirarchy

IPL Teams: Pune Warriors

IPL season 6 is half way through. All the team have played around 8 matches by now. This year I tried following some of the matches. I viewed one or the other match of every team. Since for the first time I closely followed IPL matches, all different teams made a kind of impression on me. Nothing serious  about it, but I unknowingly tried to weigh different teams and made some conclusions. Through my posts I will share these impressions of different teams one by one. 

Since I come from Pune, obviously Pune Warriors automatically becomes my home team. PW is the most recent entry in the IPL race. Now there are few things intriguing and interesting and surprising I feel about this team.

First, it is the most costliest team among all the teams and team made doesn't seem worth.

I was very happy when Saurav Ganguly was included as a part of the team. That made it one more reason for me to favor this team.Unfortunately, even Pune Warriors management also started following the same footsteps as KKR and rumors about Saurav not playing some of the later part of IPL5 matches started emerging. But Saurav is Saurav.  He is one of those people whose presence or absence make equal and loud sound. His dramatic run after taking a wicket and leading PW to win that match reminded every body of Lord's Shirt swinging moment once and it turned out to be one of the memorable sights of IPL5.

PW has been unfortunate with the foreign players. They tried to bring big names for the team but nothing ever clicked for them. I am not sure who make suggestions to PW but the names that connect with PW surely do not carry that aura of 20:20 expert with them. May then it be Graham Smith from SA, Michael Clarke from  Australia or any body else. They don't have Mr. Dependable.

The bowling attack is very weak. I wonder if it even exists. Except for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, there is no sensible bowler. Taking Donald as Bowling coach is not going to help if he has nobody good to groom and teach.

One of the most talked about player in 20:20 format, Yuvraj Singh is a part of PW squad. Last year unfortunately, he could not play because of his ailment. This year he did joined, but has not been able to make a mark he is known for. Plus there has been some issue surrounding him regarding Captaincy that has been surfacing again and again.

One of the major drawbacks with PW is the Captaincy issue. This year they have already tried three different captains in eight matches. The situation is so worse that even a one game hero and otherwise hardly known Finch is rewarded Captaincy and favored over other better and experienced players like Ross Taylor and Angelo Mathews

When IPL started, one thing that was advertised prominently was it will help to groom some local talent as they will get a chance to share the dressing room with big-wig players and learn from them. I see almost all the other teams except PW following it. They all have at least one to two local players. But I don't any such thing with PW. How does one consider it as a representative of Pune or rest of Maharashtra then. Guess PW team is purely professional without any sentimental connection with the Pune city it is representing.

Well these are just some impressions I made over the time. They are bound to be temporary and might change totally as the season progresses. So, do not take them seriously.

In the next post I will talk about another team participating in the series.

An Indian village

Village Velhe @ Fort Torna base near Pune city

How to measure the success of your blog?

How does one measure the success of his blog?

Depending on the motivation behind writing the blog, there could be two ways to measure it.

1) How many people visit your blog and read the content.

2) How much money your blog makes.

Depending on what is your motivation behind writing a blog, one of above two reasons would become a feel good factor. If your sole reason is just to communicate to people, your views on a topic then factors like how many people visit your blog, how many page views you get, how many of them go through your content seriously and how many comment on it become important. Going a step further if you create followers, that is an achievement. And based on these, if your blog starts getting listed on different blog lists, you become important. Perhaps if your interviews start appearing on different sites, you add a feather to your cap. And probably this journey comes to an end when your blog content is converted in to a book which is well read. Then you change from blog writer to a writer. Even though you continue with blog, your impression among people is changed now and no body would refer you by your blog but by your book. This is one way of measuring the success.

Another way is to keep a check on the money your blog is making. When one starts writing a blog irrespective of what is the intention behind, he surely comes across the concept of monetizing the blog. Earning some easy bucks with out taking any extra efforts, just out of your sheer interest of writing a blog. Why not? So, you enroll with Adsense. Hoping to see few dollars trickling down initially that probably would convert in to a big dollar fall ( aka water fall) as the blog grows. But then Adsense disappoints. But you are already on the path of making money and difficult to give up the idea. So, you explore more, try to add some more advertising stuff which may help you make money. It requires lot of trial and error. And then you generate a model that starts working for you. You start seeing those trickles. From there how your blog grows into successful one could be a story one can write about in his own blog.

These probably are the ways one can use measure the success of their blog. Recently my blog achieved one such mile stone which I had never expected and imagined. I realized that my blog has gained visitors from as good as 100 different countries. This has happened during IPL days and that on the day Gayle hit century. This century counts a lot for me. This is an achievement for me. Probably many of these visitors reached the blog by mistake never to revisit. But it means for me that my blog is appearing some where in people's search. I tried to go through the list of countries and I even do not many of these countries. 

This has given me a reason to continue with my blog. If the numbers are to be believed, there are around 196 countries on earth. It means I am half way through already and there are only 96 more country flags remaining to be collected. My blog has succeeded in reaching more than half of the world with lot more remaining to be achieved.That's the measure of success for my blog. What about yours?

Lake Geneva or Lake Léman

Gayle Storm

What happened yesterday can either be called a treat to the eyes or a shock treatment. I am talking about the way Chris Gayle butchered Pune Warriors bowlers during his 175 not out knock. It was a treat for those who just enjoyed Gayle's batting, shock for those (like me) who have connections with Pune and in spite of all odds somewhere wish to see PW winning.

I wrote about Chris Gayle earlier and yesterday he gave me another opportunity to write again about him. It was a phenomena that happened yesterday in Bangalore.  People called it Gayle storm. He once again proved that he is in a different league than all other cricket players when it comes to twenty:twenty matches. He in a complete package in himself. Let it be then his batting, bowling, dancing or appealing to umpire. He himself  is enough to write history. People are even modifying the name of city Bangalore to Bangaluru to Ban"Gayle"uru. 

Yesterday he took away the match out of the PW's hands in just 30 initial balls he faced. The fastest century in the cricket history. I just kept wondering, is it so easy for him to keep hitting up to 3-4 sixes in every other over he faced? 

I tried to analyze whole match to come to some conclusions about what happened yesterday.

Gayle surely is one of the best hard hitters we have seen in years. I wonder why some times he is so brutal as yesterday and otherwise relatively soft as with Rajasthan Royals (49 of 44 balls). I guess the difference lies between the bowling attack.

I feel Pune Warrior has one of the worst bowling attacks we have ever seen. They basically have no bowling attack. I wonder what Donald must be doing in PW camp with no bowler to train. Except for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, there is no sensible bowler in the team. Out of 263 runs showered by Pune Warriors bowlers his contribution was hardly 23 runs. Out of 24 balls he bowled, Gayle surely faced few. He should be appreciated for his efforts with ball on such  an odd day for bowlers.

Other bowler in the squad is Dinda who is very passionate and mostly try to ball faster and faster balls.When he gets his yorkers right, they are fantastic but mostly they end up full toss balls. 

Then PW have bowlers like Mitchel Marsh, Luke Wright who are not known to be regular bowlers as far as my knowledge in cricket goes. Best spin attack PW has is Rahul Sharma who fortunately (for him) did not play yesterday.

If reports are to be believed, yesterday's Gayle knock has a lot to do weak attack from PW. Gayle hardly faced any difficult ball. Fast bowlers were giving him good length bowls to hit longest sixes known and since it rained, spin attack was bound to get effected.

Third important thing to know is the captaincy issue. PW has hardly played 6 matches and they already have 3 different captains. I am not sure who is planning for PW, but he surely doesn't seem to have any clue about cricket and leading a sports team.A captain should be a figure who rest of the players would like to follow. Either by experience or by game, he should be one step above rest of the squad. PW don't have much options there. I hardly have heard about Finch as a player. Just because he played one game winning knock he shouldn't be entitled Captain's cap. Yesterday he was clueless and apparently just wanted to get through the overs. I wonder why he did not bring Pandey again in attack. Why he did not tried Nayar when every body else was tried and failed. In batting line up, he had no strategy to go for such a big chase. Am really not sure why Angelo Mathews and Ross Taylor are out of team. At any time, Mathews could prove much useful player than Finch or for that reason even Mitchel Marsh. Ross Taylor has experience. It was his plan of giving Nayar a chance to bowl that worked in one of the earlier matches.  Taylor can still come good with bat playing useful knock. PW should stick with one of these two players as a captain for rest of the season.

No doubt Gayle's inning yesterday was one of the best knocks in the history of cricket and there was no chance PW or any other team could survive an  attack as brutal as yesterday. But it is a fault on PW bowling and captaincy which allowed his attack to turn this big. Gayle is difficult to manage but surely not impossible  if you have a strategy for him. 

Bremen Tram route

Terrorists caught: situations in US vs India

If you are following the news, you must be aware of the current status on bomb blasts in Boston and Bangalore. People responsible for the blast in Boston marathon have been caught with in a period of one week. The investigations were so quick that by now whole world knows what kind of bomb was used, how  was it prepared, who was responsible and what was the motive behind the blast. Out of the two guys responsible one is already dead while  other one is in custody and soon a proper justice will be done. Since the blast took place last Sunday, it has been in news all the time with every small development revealed from time to time. Police even used twitter to convey message that the culprits have been caught.

Now compare the situation with a similar incident that happened in Bangalore on following Wednesday. A bomb blast took place in Bangalore that injured around 15 people. The situation after six days of incident is we have almost  forgotten about the incident. All the information that is available is it is not an internal activity keeping upcoming elections in mind and there was a bald guy who left the bike at the place some 20 minutes before the blast. That's all. We do not know who planted it, why the blast took place, who was the target and when will the culprits be behind the bars.

Even if the culprits are caught, it will take ages to bring them to justice. 1993 bomb blast cases are now towards the fag end after some 21 years.  2009 Pune blast decision were given recently after some 5 years. And there were many other blasts in between which are now totally forgotten.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday

Bisleri 500 : Kiss to drink

With the summer heat picking, one thing no one can avoid is water. And so, the commercials for different packaged water bottles are a new set of advertisements to look out for. Bisleri with 500ml water bottle has started airing couple of funny ads motivating people bye their own water bottle.

In these commercials, there is a shy college girl/a newly wed bride/an old lady whose purse is stolen by a thief. Another character in these ads is a popular guy among girls/the newly wed groom/the Superman who helped the old lady by catching the thief. These female characters have no problem in sharing their water bottle, but they have a strong objection when one drinks water from bottles by touching it to their lips. An aggressive reactions erupts saying "Kiss karke pina hai to apni bottle kharid". Even Superman could not avoid this assault.The commercials have turned funny and surely make you check it again. Few things that hit my mind after watching these commercials.

One thing is sure that the kind of content feeling you get on drinking water by touching it to lips can not be obtained by any other ways even if the water is too good and ample. Surely, that is something you can not get if you are sharing some body's water. The ad makers just picked up this to make the central them of their ads.

These ads though have ruined the romantic idea behind "Kiss". In Hindi, people normally say, "Muh laga ke mat pina" means, "Don't touch it to mouth while drinking". While trying to have an attractive tag line for the ads and also funny, they have used the concept of kiss in a very bad manner.

Bisleri surely has become a reference for packaged water. Like Xerox is for photo copy, Bisleri is a synonym for packaged drinking water. People generally don't desperately search for Bisleri. Any packaged water bottle available around that is bought is termed as Bisleri.

I am not sure whether Bisleri really require such ad campaigns and if these ads will work for Bisleri.

But surely these ads have brought some new meanings (or demean) some words known for other reasons.

Layers of Colors @ Fort Torna

USHA Fans: Air experts

In the series of commercials for Fans, USHA has brought a commercial that may catch the eyes of the viewers. It is an interesting commercial based on a theme, "At USHA, we don't just study air, we play with it." The commercial shows a so called USHA airlab where research on air and fans is going on. One of the Scientist then gets in to the mood of playing and tosses a ball in air. The commercial then goes on to show in playful manner, the varieties in USHA fans and how they can be used in different ways.The scientists play a game using fans and cooler to put the ball in a basket with out allowing it to fall down on floor.

First of all it is heartening to see such an efficient and modern lab dedicated for a mere fan that keeps rotating on your head all the time. I wish it is true. Second, it shows a lot of varieties that USHA has under its belt. I liked the simple ways by which different functions of USHA fans and coolers are used in the commercial. I specifically would mention here about the functionality where USHA fans can suck air in contrast to its regular function of blowing air.

The commercial has turned around to be a good one to watch.  I was just wondering that the commercial missed a basic observation. When so many fans are running around and so much air is flowing at a speed to keep a ball floating in air, how it does not blow any of the scientists hair. Expect for the bald scientist, I would expect some movement with people's hair. But then such minute details doesn't matter. The commercial is good  to watch but I suspect it will pull any crowd for USHA fans in the shops as in India people do not go to buy fans after watching a commercial. It mostly depends on whatever brand is available in the shop at the corner and how much shopkeeper is ready to reduce the price.

Children's Playground, Paris

Boston Bomb Blast

And they are back again. But this time in foreign land. Just few months back, I wrote a post on Bomb blasts that happened in Hyderabad and now so sooner I am writing one again. This is sad. One fine Sunday, when people are out to enjoy the off day with their family and friends, participating in activities and expect just to have some good time, you come across some such uncalled incident you don't want to be a part of. Yesterday,  people of Boston were out of their houses for a similar event in their city a marathon race which is pretty famous across the country and the world. It was all going fine till the people near finish line experienced this horrific incident. A series of 5 bombs were planned to blast. Three did their job but two others were diffused in time. By this time 3 people fall pray to these blasts including an eight years old kid and more than 140 people are injured with 15 of them critical. 

As the sources say, these blasts were not strong and their main intention was  to spread terror among people.Unlike us, US citizens are probably not used to such terror activities happening  regularly in their back yard and so it might actually affect them. And so, the US government will take extra measures on the security of their city here on wards and also to find the culprits behind these attacks as soon as possible. I am actually writing this post to keep a count of days/months/years/decades, it will take them to reach up to the collars of the culprits and bring them to punishment.

In India we are more used to Bomb Blasts. On an average we come across news of serial blasts once in a 2-3 months. People now don't really care about the terror it might spread among people. Do you remember when the latest Hyderabad blasts happened and if the culprits are caught. I am pretty sure nobody remembers it by now. In places like Mumbai, it has become a ritual to just confirm the place where blast took place and if it is in their way, change the route so as to avoid the traffic jam. Under the name of spirit to go ahead and not terrorized by such incidents we have actually become senseless towards such incidents and don't realize how many lives are effected by these blasts. Many of us end up joining a candle rally at the most. But then we forget, because we have a lot more to worry about and we know its going to happen soon and we either will fall pray to some such incident or we will join another candle rally.

I don't understand why these things happen. Why someone wants to kill people, that too by exploding them. What will one gain by killing so many people. Even if somebody achieves something out of this, can they forget that they are sitting on a pile of so many dead people. Avoiding every such incident is not really possible. I guess some other ways that will help to change the mentality behind such attacks should be taken up to remove the problem from its roots.

Precaution is better than Cure but time has come to eventually find a cure to completely remove the disease.

Hamburg Railway Station, Germany

Havells Fans: Hawa Badlegi

Summer is here and so are the commercials for Fans. A set of good ads from Havells has started airing on TV that catches your attention. With its simple message of "Hawa Badalegi" it tries to convey a lot more than just advertising for their Fans. In today's time when one would watch the ads for AC with Katrina Kaif in it, these commercials stand out and makes you think not just about the fans you might buy this season, but also about the social message they convey through these ads.

The moments captured in these ads are from day to day experiences. But they make you realize how a small change in your attitude can make life better for some one around you. Whether it talks about the equality for women by abolishing the norm of keeping Husband's Surname and changing Wife's one or allowing the servant to share your table for lunch.

The commercials are beautifully planned and it conveys the message perfectly. The expressions on every persons face speak a lot more than words. Do watch these commercials for they might tweak  a little your way of thinking for the betterment of some one around you.

Garden view behind Chateau de Versailles (Panoramic)

Chateau de Versailles is one of the beautiful places to visit near Paris. You need to take double decker train on route RER C to reach Versailles. Its nearly one hour journey from the station near Tour de Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). Its a place where Louis XIV was living some time around 1680's. There is a very big garden behind the Chateau. It is such a big garden that you can not see where it ends. You need to hire a vehicle to take a tour of this garden and even that takes a minimum of 2 hours. On week ends there is a musical fountain show which makes you pay for entry in the garden. On other days, it is free. So, best days to visit the Chateau are week days. Personal opinion is to spend more time in the garden than visiting the Chateau which costs you some where around 13 euros.

Please click on the picture for better view

IPL6: An intriguing observation

Its been over a week now since IPL has started. All the nine team have played around 2-3 matches each. While watching these matches, something peculiar caught my attention. Comparing that with the earlier observations intrigued me about the way we Indians think and react.

Take a look at these player:

Adam Gilchrist (42) : Retired from active Cricket many years back but still not just playing but Captaining Kings XI Punjab.

Bret Lee (36): Retired due to injuries, but always fit to play in IPL.                                               

Ricky Ponting (38): Retired from all forms of International Cricket. Playing and Captaining Mumbai Indians.

Muralitharan (~40): Retired but now an integral part of Royal Challengers Bangalore.                               

In contrast take a look at these players:

Saurav Ganguly (40): Pushed to retirement from all formats of Cricket. IPL career remained always controversial and struggled to continue playing in IPL for odd reasons.

VVS Laxman (38): One of the finest batsman of India. Retired in controversial manner from international cricket. Unlike Rahul Dravid, could not get another opportunity to adjust to new format of 20:Twenty,vanished. 

I remember the way players like Ganguly, Jafar, Laxman, Dravid were always in news during earlier IPL series. They were criticized for being greedy and trying to extend their cricket career while they don't fit in the format. They all were shown the doors because of their growing age giving suggestions that 20: Twenty is for young generation. 

I don't hear a single such word for the old foreign players. How is their playing justified. Are they doing some sacred service to cricket by playing in IPL even after their retirement. Are they not greedy at all ? Interesting thing is even they are really performing any good on the ground.

I also remember people in past were all praising Anil Kumble for retiring from IPL saying he is not greedy for money as his fellow players like Sachin and Ganguly In this context, I would like to add a name here. South African player Morkel who at the age of 32 has made it clear that he won't even try to qualify for his national team and is happy to play for CSK in competitions like IPL. But Morkel is going to be one hell of a famous player in IPL.

Gudhi Padwa

Gudhi Padwa is a festival celebrated by Maharashtrians as a beginning of new year. The neighboring state Karnataka also celebrate this day as new year beginning. 

As well mentioned in Wikipedia, "On Guḍhī Pāḍavā, a gudhi is found sticking out of a window or otherwise prominently displayed in traditional Maharashtrian households. Bright green or yellow cloth adorned with brocade (zari) tied to the tip of a long bamboo over which gaathi (sugar crystals), neem leaves[citation needed], a twig of mango leaves and a garland of red flowers is tied. A silver or copper pot is placed in the inverted position over it. Altogether, it is called as Gudhi. It is hoisted outside the house, in a window, terrace or a high place so that everybody can see it."

Visit the wikipedia page to know the significance and importance of the festival.

Bed of Clouds

Narendra Modi at FICCI and the biased media

While browsing channels yesterday, I happened to come across an event organized by FICCI. It was centered around Women Entrepreneurship, Women empowerment. What made it such  a talked about event is the presence of Narendra Modi as the speaker.

I have never really heard him talking before. So, I did not know what to expect. Right from the way he stands on the podium to the way he talks and how he talks, everything is pretty much first time experience. Also, I started watching the event somewhere from middle, so, I do not know the over all impression of his talk.

After listening him, my immediate impression was positive. He is a good orator. He knows how to keep audience connected and interested in his talk. He makes people laugh at regular intervals. He also leave any chance to take a dig at the opponents. But he also talks sense. He sounds knowledgeable. He perfectly  follows the basic trick of a successful talk. He makes a comment. Elaborates. Supports it with a relevant example with all technical detail and again reminds you of the basic statement to complete the point.

 I was pretty much impressed by his talk (part that I heard). Forget any other Chief Minister, I have not seen any Central Minister or even Prime Minister making a comment full of all the technical details,explained  in simple words understandable to a normal person with out referring to any written note. I guess that's the reason why I did not feel like changing the channel that I otherwise do and listened him.

Well that was my impression about his talk. I did not know his talk is so much talked about by the media. Almost all the news channels had a panel ready to discuss Narendra Modi's talk and rate it on points basis. I was little surprised initially and later disgusted to see the way these Panels were discussing his talk. Almost all the panels were criticizing him and rating his talk as average. I would understand the criticism if it is based on proper and detailed analysis on every point he discussed or  new  reforms he introduced to make women's situation better in his state. But that was not the case. 

I found that the approach of these panels was just to criticize him. There was a guy on ABP news who pointed out that what Narendra Modi said, he could have said it more precisely and in simple and short way. According to him, Narendra Modi spent too much time making a point. Funny part is the person criticizing himself took more that 5 minutes to make this point. Finally, the anchor had to intervene by stopping him abruptly and summarizing his point to move on to next person.

There was another guy on some panel who said Narendra Modi unlike Rahul Gandhi stood at a place all the time while delivering his talk. According to him this is old fashioned unlike Rahul Gandhi's modern way of taking mic in hand and walking around. The person making this point himself was sitting in chair railing behind for the support with out any other movement  than his wagging tongue.

A lady enterpreneur who attended the talk was disappointed because Narendra Modi did not talked about any other issue than what was specific for that podium. I guess he was given  a specific topic to talk and he knew the target audience is Women. I don't know what that particular lady was expecting to hear because she herself did not pointed out a single issue that she wanted Narednra Modi to talk about.

Apparently, Narendra Modi started his talk (which I missed) by talking about word "Matru" to make a foundation for his talk. I did not hear it so really don't know what his direction was, but I am surprised how one of the anchor herself and a guy on her panel tried to analyse his usage of word "Matru". They some how managed to connect his views behind word "Matru" to treating women in old fashioned way where women means house hold work and nothing else.

 On the contrary, when same TV channels tried asking some of the women entrepreneurs who attended the talk about their impression, they were all pretty happy with it. Some of them said initially it sounded like a "Pravachan", but later on he took a good grip and talked sense. I even remember the lady I mentioned earlier initially criticizing Narendra Modi for not covering the Broad Canvas (probably the reason why chosen for the panel discussion), but when another lady standing next to her was all praise for Narendra Modi's talk, she changed her tone and tried to make it sugar coated.

I am not giving any impression about Narendra Modi here. My reason to write this topic here is the apparent biased media. Media is trying to paint a picture which possibly is not true. They should try to be neutral and put the real thoughts in front of the audience. Make a sensible analysis  rather point out how one talks and how one stands.

Extra Burden on Responsible Hands

Domino's Pizza Mania: Party badi honi chahiye

An interesting commercial for Domino's Pizza has started airing on TV since last couple of days. The commercial is very simple but at the same time conveys message. In the commercial a guy takes up a job of being a dinosaur in a zoo. On his first day at the zoo, he goes through many difficulties, mostly the humiliating incidences. But he still keeps his spirit high for the whole day and does his job well. After the duty is over, he receives his first salary that makes him happy and he decides to celebrate. Now, the kind of salary he receives is possibly not enough to celebrate or to throw a party otherwise. But Domino's solve his problem with their new offer that starts at a minimum of Rs. 44. Domino's makes his day and gives him and his friend party at cheaper way to party.

The ad is simple and pretty much self explanatory. What makes it more interesting is the back ground music that keeps you glued to the ad and suits the movements of a funny dinosaur roaming around in zoo. The expressions of the guy are fantastic when he receives his salary. Reminds of our first salary and the feelings associated. Domino's minimum though reduced to Rs. 44, it still is way above the limit of Rs. 32 decided by the government as an amount suitable for one to live comfortably. In that regard, KFC and McDonald are one step ahead. Though their servings are different, but still.

I am not sure if visiting Domino's is a good idea or not, but watching this ad surely is.

Berlin Railway Station (Berlin Hauptbahnhof)

A three stories Railway Station with Rail routes on each floor

Gayle: a thunder

Did you watched yesterday's Bangalore Vs Mumbai IPL match? If not, may be you missed something. 

What? 

A thunder called Chris Gayle. 

When the match started, things were looking pretty much in control of bowlers. Mitchell Johnson's first over was amazing. His first bowl itself made it clear, its not an easy track. Even Gayle could not resist and tried to laugh it off, how he could not read that first ball. Dilshan was pretty much clueless of what's happening with the ball. When Mitchell returned in the third over, he made Dilshan's job easier by bowling a superb delivery falling on the wickets. Gosh, what ever we decide, not to waste time watching cricket or IPL for that matter, such balls make you think, oh what the hell, lets watch it.

Anyway, Gayle was quiet for all this time trying to understand the pitch. He hardly scored 10 runs in 17 deliveries he faced. But then the thunder struck. Things changed suddenly and we once again realized what Chris Gayle is. He hit 5 sixes. I distinctly remember one six he hit to Harbhajan Singh. It was pretty much a brutal attack on Harbhajan.  That shot made Harbhajan look like an inexperienced and easy bowler to play. 

Gayle's presence in the team has created an aura around Bangalore team. Its worth giving a thought to imagine Bangalore team without Gayle and then supporting. Don't miss Gayle's batting, if you wish to see some awestruck moments. 

Rain drops on Leaves and Sun rays

Jab Sath ho 7up: I feel up

Have you seen these new commercials for 7up. You possibly must have seen, but if not take a look.

 The girl in the ad waiting for somebody or the boy going for the Mumbai local train are little down and restless when a guy in Kathakali outfit / woman in Kimono respectively offers them 7up. Then unlike one expect them to dance on Kathakali/ Japanese traditional music, they start dancing on offbeat and funky music with unorthodox dance moves. This appears hilarious to surrounding people and makes the environment lighter and ups every body's mood. This is the theme behind these ads where 7up ups every body's mood by offering something unexpected."Jab Sath ho 7up: I feel up"

Though the theme is interesting, somehow it doesn't seem to be working. First of all, it doesn't appear from the body language of the girl/guy that they are down and they require something like 7up to cheer them up. Second, whole scene doesn't look natural but looks more like part of flash mob. Third thing is about the attire of the dancers. Though the attire of Kathakali/ Kimono is a requirement of the theme, but somewhere it disappoints and feels bad to see funky steps in those attires. I always have found kind of respect for the Kathakali dance and dancers. When you see a Kathakali dancer, you expect a grace that comes with that whole costume. Same is the case with Kimono. It somehow does not well on eyes.

I used to look forward for 7up's ads. Its Fido Dido is one of my favorite characters. These ads are pretty much disappointments compared to that.

Overall these ads doesn't rise to its earlier standards and are more or less forgettable after first watch. What do you think?

A Path To Remember : Chateau de Versailles

Good Knight Low Smoke Coil: Machhar Mila Kya

I came across these series of interesting commercials for "Good Knights low smoke coil". These ads have turned out well and gives you a reason to smile. The commercial series revolves around an old couple. According to the lady there is no mosquito in their home. The old guy challenges this proposition and on bet is his chair which the lady would get if he can not find any mosquito and if he manages to get one, he will be entitled to 2 spoons of sugar in his tea.

The series follows different scenes how the old guy tries hard to find one mosquito at home. Instead he keeps getting other lost items that reminds him of his college days or their honeymoon days.

And later on when he could find one mosquito, to avoid embarrassing defeat of the hands of his wife, he tries to get one from neighbor's home. 

The series has turned out be very good. The actors have done great job and look genuine in their roles.

I am not really sure if Good Knight Low smoke coil is this much effective or not but this ad series has been effective in reaching the households and steal viewers 30 seconds in the break

Student residence, Cité internationale universitaire de Paris

IPL 6 - Sirf Dekhne Ka Nahi

IPL 6 is round the corner. Today is its opening ceremony. Tomorrow onwards for  a period of almost 2 months, Indian Cricket fans will have something to look forward every evening. If I remember correct, DLF was major sponsorer till IPL-5, but IPL-6 is sponsored by Pepsi. 

Many other things have also changed while moving from IPL-5 to IPL-6. One major change is the team itself. Earlier Deccan Chargers doesn't exist any more. Though Hyderabad is still one of the host places, but the team owner has been changed. New team is owned by Sun group and the new team name is SunRisers Hyderabad. There was some issue with Pune Warriors also about the venue located in Pune. Apparently it was about to be moved to Kanpur, but then it was settled down and Pune Warriors is still in the run.

Many of favorite players are out of the competition. One prominent name is Saurav Ganguly who was a big reason why KKR and later on Pune Warriors were able to attract the crowd. Another interesting development is the inclusion of Ricky Ponting in Mumbai Indians as a Captain. It will interesting to watch Ponting and Tendulkar play together. A major blow I guess came to Delhi Dare Devils when one of their players Jesse Ryder got in to a brawl and went in to coma. 

On advertisement side for IPL-6, somehow it appears little cold. Except for Chennai SuperKings I did not came across any advertisements for any other franchisee.  There are some commercials making rounds for IPL -6 in general with Farah Khan at the center teaching people of different backgrounds like office people, family, kitty party ladies, how to celebrate when ever there is any instant of cheering like somebody hitting boundary or six or a wicket falls. These ads are not as novel as they were for earlier IPL seasons but still Farah Khan in her style has pulled these ads. With these ads she is introducing a music piece, we are going to keep hearing for next two months and a set of funny steps which I am not sure how many people are going to follow in stadium. It will be fun to watch if all audience perform that step together.

IPL-6 is taking off today followed by first match tomorrow between Kolkota Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Dare Devils (DDD). This is the last season of IPL where all players remain with their home teams. For next IPL season, all teams will be dissolved and fresh teams will picked through new auctions. So, if you follow a team because of a particular player, this is the last chance to cheer for him. Probably, he won't be playing next season or may be for a rival team.
Follow these links for commercials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j19L_EiD1VA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYnOxwU7Gdk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MQ4Jbb_nns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U53z17c88mU

Good Morning: Rajasthan

BlackBerry Z10: Built to keep you moving

This is one awesome commercial brought by BlackBerry for its new product Z10. 

Z10 is apparently BlackBerry's first touchscreen phone. It comes with some nice features like BlackBerry hub to save your messages and a unique feature of time shift which allows users to get perfect pictures avoiding ones where people close their eyes. It allows the user to keep  a balance between their professional and personal life by keeping all the data together  and thus helping make a quick shift from professional and personal life.

The commercial goes on to show these features and how easy it is to swing between personal and professional life. Best part of the commercial is the back ground music and the song "Elephant" by Rock band "Tame Impala". The song is really beautiful and worth giving an ear to it.Not whole of the song is used for the commercial and it has been little mixed up to suit the graphics of the commercial. You can find whole lyrics at the following link:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tameimpala/elephant.html

But the part that is used in the commercial is here:

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He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac,

'Cause he doesn't like it looking like he looks back,

He talks like his opinion is a simple fact.

Too bad your chances are slim.

And it's not like mister shook to get shy when they ask him who is under,

There must be something deep down in the middle down there,

He's not too easily scared.

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