India's Capital

While browsing I came across this video on youtube:

What do Americans know about India? Find out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crDDl0BTn0Q&feature=related 

I am not sure, but I did not liked the use of National Anthem in the beginning score of the video.

Anyways, two answers in the video which caught me off the guard and stumped me were:

Q: What is the capital of India?
A: Bangladesh

Q: What is Bollywood?
A: India's Capital

Well, not knowing other country is quite normal,so, nothing wrong there.

But the above two answers were way out of my imagination.

Enjoy the video. Well, not really.

Ajmal Kasab

One news today morning took every Indian by surprise. Ajmal Kasab was hanged till death in Pune's Yerwada Jail today early morning around 7.30 am. There was nothing in air about this incident to happen in near future,so when people heard this news today, it changed the mood altogether.
Who was Ajmal Kasab?
He was member of terrorist group who attcked Mumbai on November 26,2008. He was the only terrorist captured alive out of the 10 who attacked different places in Mumbai. His main target was CST and the neighboring places.
It was one of the biggest terrorist attacks on India since 1993 bomb blast. 166 people lost their lives. These terrorists started firing blindly at anybody and everybody who came across them. Apparently one of their main targets was the Taj hotel which is known for hosting foreign tourists mainly from USA and European countries. But at the same time they also targeted   public places like CST. It only suggests there was no discrimination and only intention was to kill people, as many as possible.
It was one of the shocking day in the history of India. Every Indian felt this  attack. Those who lost their beloveds in this attack were totally devastated. Those who experienced  the situation still feel tormented. All others who witnessed it from long distance are still full of rage. It took almost 4 days to bring situation under control. Many policemen and defense personnel lost their lives. Only 10  terrorists carrying AK-47 and other weapons held Mumbai on gunpoint.
Ajmal Kasab was of those 10 who opened firing at CST and went on rampage with AK47 in his hand. Probably he was not content with the number of people killed there, so, moved out of CST and started firing people in open, on a near by hospital, policemen coming across and what not.
Police managed to catch Kasab alive while his partner was killed in counter attack.
It took 4 years to put charges on him, prove them,  again prove them in higher courts, finally get consent from President against his mercy appeal and then hang him till death on this very day.
People were getting more and more anxious with every passing day and started condemning the Government for the delay blaming it of  doing Vote bank politics. They lost the confidence in Government over this and were sure that Government will never take this big step. Even today when the news was disclosed, they started claiming that he must have died of Dengue fever and just to save their skin, government is declaring that they hanged him.
On internet, people openly appreciated the move and congratulated in spite of the fact that it actually involved a death of a person, which normally is not a case with Indians.
This is a big day in every Indian's life. Though, the news has been followed by some counter warnings from some terrorist outfits. I hope India learns its lesson from the mistakes it made 4 years back and remain prepared for any such attack, so that Indians won't have to turn blunt enough to celebrate the death of  a person.

BalaSaheb Thakre: End of an era

BalaSaheb Thakre died yesterday afternoon. His death made us realize that he was not just another politician, but a phenomenon that had a much bigger effect than one can expect.

Personally, I hadn't experienced much of his effect. I grew up outside Maharashtra and in days when either newspaper or Doordarshan were the source of information. The local newspaper had no reason to print news about him and Doordarshan news were never interesting enough to sit and listen unless it mentioned Cricket. By the time, I became a part of the Maharashtra and started understanding the regional politics, I guess, Balasaheb had started handing over his power to the subordinates and his Son.

All I know about Balasaheb was he was a very good Cartoonist, an artist at his heart and a very great Orator. I never heard him but I see a glimpse of what he must have been when I see Raj Thakre talks who accepts Balasaheb Thakre as his mentor.

He started his political career in a time when there was no one to listen to what middle class and lower middle class Marathi people are complaining about. He gave a voice to these people and talked about their problems. And when people realized that there is somebody who is speaking exactly those words which they have in their minds and hearts, they unknowingly started following him. That is how, Balasaheb Thakre started creating base of his political party. He plucked the right chords at he right time and that made all the Marathi people his Fan.

Two things which are openly told about him were, he never did and never supported any Caste based politics and he never restricted himself to his party. At times he even supported the decisions of an opposing party leader. Recently, he openly supported the candidature of Pranav Mukherjee for the President position although his allies of NDA had their own candidate.

It was surprising to listen to the comments of some of the politicians who sound quite genuine while sharing their experiences with Balasaheb Thakre.

Outside politics also, Balasaheb had a big impression over people. Then they may be singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Businessmen like Bajaj, Actors like Amitabh or Sanjay Dutt or players like Sachin or Harbhajan.

I experienced his effect over people in last two days, when there were people openly crying and trying to wipe their tears on listening the news of his demise. It gives you goosebumps when you read that within 24 hours, almost 2 millions or 20 lakh people gather to participate in his funeral without invitation.

I had known about only one another Indian politician who made such a mark on Indian people and that was Mrs. Indira Gandhi. I believe after Indira Gandhi, its only Balasaheb Thakre who has reached such a stature. May be there is some leader in South India like Karunanidhi who is respected and followed to this extent, but otherwise, I do not see anybody anywhere close to this level to move people after they stop living with them. May his soul rest in peace.

Son of Sardar

Two movies Son of Sardar (SOS) and Jab tak hai Jaan (JTHJ) were released on the same day, recently. There was some controversy over the booking of theaters by Yashraj films producing JTHJ. But that is not the topic being discussed here.

Over the weekend I wanted to see a movie and it was a big question which one to go for. On one side JTHJ is produced by big banner Yashraj films, with it becoming the last movie directed by Yash Chopra, on the other side, all I know about SOS's director is that his last movie was Atithee kab jaoge.

While the star cast in either movies is strong, the story of JTHJ was known to be a romantic but there was no clear idea about SOS's story. I used to like Shahrukh Khan's movies earlier, but none of his recent movies have done well to impress me. I have never been a fan of Ajay devgan's movies. Although some of his movies have been hard hitting with an impressive acting, but I could never blindly follow his movies.

In spite of all the facts, I don't know what inspired me to choose SOS over JTHJ. And I think my decision never was so right earlier. It was totally a fun time watching SOS. Agreed it faltered a lot on the laws of sensibilities and also physics, but who cares if the movie entertains you. Moreover, after a long time I guess, a movie can be considered as a family movie. It will be really difficult for one to find an awkward scene in the movie.

To begin with, Ajay Devgan fits perfectly as a Sikh guy. I think after Sunny Deol, his portrayal of Sikh was believable. He pulled very well different aspects connected with Sikhs like being very strong and at the same time very funny. The scenes like him helping Sonakshi getting in the train, or in the scene trying to get the Coconut inside window, have turned hilarious.

I am not sure what is it with his entry in a movie always, that many a times he has been shown arriving as standing on things, either 2 bikes, 2 four wheelers or on 2 horses as in this movie. I don't know about Ajay, but the two horses appeared little uncomfortable running parallel and so close to each other. All the time of Ajay's entry, I was only watching at 2 horses.

Cameo by Salman Khan was unnecessary, or may to pull some of his fan crowd to movie, or to justify his appearance in end of movie song “Pon Po Po Po Pon'.

Sonakshi Sinha was OK in the movie, nothing great to act in the movie for her. But she has overused the words like “Chal Jhuta” or “Kutte Kamine” in the movie and after an interval starts irritating you. I am not sure if she on her own did the bike stunt, but she appear to be fit to do that stunt.

Most interesting make over in the movie is of Sanjay Dutt. He has really pulled off a fantastic character once again in this movie. I never liked him as a hero, but since the time he has shifted towards doing other roles, he appears to be doing great job. Whether it is the “Kancha China” of Agneepath or the character played in this movie, his get up has been awesome and he really made those characters look actual and real. I believe, Sanjay Dutt has now started growing as an actor and he should really explore more of such diverse roles.

Another interesting character in the movie is Juhi Chawla's. She seems little old here, but still looks beautiful. It was good to see Juhi in this movie.

Overall the movie was well made. It makes you laugh. Though the stunts are way over real to believe, you won't mind. You know that a back sack carrying some property related documents is not a good weapon to hit people hard enough to throw them in air, but, that's OK. 

Songs are OK probably, may be listenable, but I did not took efforts to give an ear to those. There was some cry over the song “Pon Po Po Po Pon” I read about. But it was OK, considering it was at the end of the movie, with no connection to movie, and with Salman Khan appearing as main act, who normally pull off such songs with some ununderstandable acting skills.

At times,the movie slightly reminded of another Punjabi family related movie “Jab we met”. Other characters like Tanuja, Vidhoo Dara Singh and Mukul Dev also take credits for some good moments in the movie. Overall, the movie is refreshing and enjoyable. I would suggest, although it can be a family watch movie, it will be more interesting to watch with friends in theater.

London Paralympics: Girisha

Well it is more or less unnoticed event taking place in London at the moment. After all hum-drum about London Olympics faded, people (including me) forgot that there is paralympics staged at the same venue.

Surely news were appearing but they were occupying relatively small corners of the newspapers.

Yesterday, though was little bit different. It caught eye of many Indians. Although it doesn't appear gaining that much popularity as our Olympic winners got, but Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda came into highlight when he won the silver medal in high jump event.

 He was competing in a group that comprise of sportsmen with disability with their hands or legs. Girisha has a disability with his left leg. Now, legs are I believe the most important part of body that helps you to push yourself high up away from ground.
In spite of that, Girisha managed to bring the best out of him to make his career best effort to cross the mark of 1.74 meters.

Can a normal non-athletic man do that easily? I doubt that. Even the Indian female contestant in London Olympics last month hardly managed to cross the height of 1.8 meters.

I think, bringing the best out of you at the big stage is a task that most of us and all Indian sportsperson fail to do. Girisha is an inspiration who should be respected and treated as well as our other Olympics winners.

Laxman: A not so sung hero

This is my 100th post on this blog. I had earlier planned a post on different subject, moving away from sports since my previous 15-16 posts were all related to sports -  Olympics and India.
But a news today morning changed everything.
This post is dedicated to one of the great batsman and a not so sung hero of Indian cricket - VVS Laxman.

VVS Laxman retired from test cricket today with immediate effect. He was selected for the forthcoming New Zealand series but he decided to retire without playing it.
It came as a surprise to not a few but I guess to all the followers of Cricket.
Some might have expected him to declare his retirement after the end of this series, but nobody must have expected that he will retire in such a haste.
If someone is asked what is the complete name of Laxman, the answer will be VVS Laxman.
But nobody would be able to tell what VVS means, because all they know is Very Very Special (VVS).That is his identity.
But, he was I guess the most unfortunate of the 5 gems of India.
These 5 gems can again be categorized in 3 levels

1) Sachin and Ganguly
2) Kumble and Dravid
3) Laxman

While Sachin is all time and every body's favorite, Ganguly with his aggressive attitude has earned this status close to Sachin.
Kumble and Dravid, being quiet couldn't reach that high altitude as first two but still they created a high status for themselves.
This leaves Laxman alone behind who in spite of making unbelievably great contribution to Indian cricket was lost in front of the 4 stalwarts.

Kumble- though was mostly ignored/ less considered player initially, made his mark in his fag end of the career. While retiring (the first among five) from cricket, he actually retired like "Jumbo" the name that was stuck to him. He made a grand retirement. Since he was the first among five to retire, that added a new dimension to his retirement.
Ganguly -  Though Ganguly's retirement was controversial and almost forced onto him, he took it in his stride. He made everybody  realize that he has earned it.
Dravid - Once again surely a case of forced retirement did not made that big buzz as previous two, but still he had his share on TV, newspaper, Internet media. All the applauding and saluting words related to " The Wall " were making rounds for a long time after his retirement.
Sachin -  He has gained that stature in Indian Cricket, which no other player has ever achieved. No body can force retirement on him. He will retire when he wants and now with added glory of a Rajyasabha member, will someone dare to force him into retirement. Some people may indirectly try to suggest, but all such efforts will always be futile.
This leaves Laxman as the only case who retirement did not recieve much accolades. Few words were said by Sachin and Ganguly but otherwise it was a quiet business.
He surely must have been to asked to announce his retirement after this series. He must have been offered a  condition where he retires after the series and he will receive a grand retirement and as one of TV anchor on NDTV said, all other players will take him on their shoulders and make a round of the ground and then give comments that how India has lost one great player and how the void that has been created with his retirement can not be  filled easily. BCCI will throw a party where all great liars of Indian cricket will come and brag about how Laxman was very very special.
             I liked the way Laxman instead chose and decided to retire without accepting this fake send off which none of those actually felt. In his famous way of fighting against the odd instead he chose to hang his boots immediately and without accepting their bribe. He surely has sent a message that the way they treat their senior players is not right.
           If the Indian cricket feels that a particular player is not fit to play in spite of what is his experience, they better don't choose it and ask them to prove themselves to be fit to be in the team. That will go well for the players instead of this decide the date method. Also every player is aware if he is still fit to continue playing or should he stop.
           It sounds ridiculous when people around keep suggesting that a player should retire. I was dumbstruck when people started suggesting Bindra, that he should retire, because he could not repeat his performance and could not win gold in Olympics. I was left with no words when people started suggesting  Sachin to retire giving example of Phelps who retired after a career of 4 Olympic season winning 22 medals.
           Coming back to Laxman, he was the most ignored gem of the set of 5 who actually played an inning that  changed the way Indian players started thinking. His knock of 281 runs in Kolkota against Australians in partnership with Dravid  was responsible for India snatching victory from Australians coming out of a follow on. I doubt Indians had ever done that before and his knock made it possible for Indians to think that they are a strong force who can not only stand against a strong team like Australia, but also dream of winning  over them.
It was Laxman who built this confidence in us. He repeated similar action many times in later matches and helped India win while all the other great players were getting out cheaply. People mentioned Dravid as a player who is ready to take up any responsibility, but Laxman is the only who was ready to play in any position. He is the only player who has played in all the position except 9th and 10th position.

In spite of such a great contribution, this hero is mostly ignored today after his retirement with people breathing a sigh of relief for he finally retired and making way great  emerging players ( read Rohit Sharma!!!!!).

I wish him good luck.

India at Olympics 2012 - Final day

                          On the final day, India had a last chance to update the medal tally. Two participants representing India, one in Marathon and other in 66 kg category free style wrestling.
                           From Marathon not much was expected, as accordingly Indian runner stood 78th in overall ranking. He could not repeat his performance given for Olympic qualification and took 14 minutes more to complete the race.
                           This brings to our last and one of the biggest hope in the form of Sushil Kumar. Even before Wrestling events started, Sushil Kumar had commented that he wanted to change the color of his medal. To add to that the previous day, Yogeshwar Dutt bagged Bronze which surely must have boosted his moral while going into the bout.
                            Interestingly, in first ever bout itself he had to fight with last time Olympic gold medal winner. I didn't know that. It seemed difficult to me for Sushil to make it to the next round. The opponent was looking too strong and at times it appeared that Sushil Kumar won't make it. While watching the match, I thought like all other talkers, even Sushil Kumar's words are going to go in air. But some how he managed to save the match and move on to the second round.
I was not sure that Sushil can go much ahead until I read about his opponent. By winning his first bout against last time gold medalist, he proved that he is stronger than last time and can actually go a long way to look for gold.
                            Next two matches looked relatively simple than the first match. While in quarter final he had an upper hand all along the bout, in semi final, things were going against him and he was almost on the edge.
                            With 1-1 set level in semifinal, the opponent had already scored 3 points in first 30 seconds itself. Filling up a gap of 3 points is very difficult knowing that the opponent now will not take any risk to loose the lead. Then Sushil started scoring points. At one point, there was an issue. It appeared as if Sushil bit his opponents ear. The opponent also had immediately complained about it to the referee. But there was no clear visual to confirm it. I do not know what happened next but the appeal was considered ahead and the bout was continued. It was a dubious situation and really difficult to confirm what exactly happened and why the opponent's ear started bleeding. Anyway, moving away from the controversy, Sushil regained his control over the bout and at one point he picked up his opponent, stood up and almost threw him down on mat. He won the set and the bout and entered finals confirming a medal for India.
                          Finals did not go well, possibly because of him not being fit physically at that moment. The Japenese wrestler had a cake walk to the Gold and Sushil had to settle down for the silver.
                         It brought India's challenge to an end in Olympics on a high note.
India could not win a gold this time, but it surely has doubled its medals than last time. This actually is a great news. It shows that India's power in sports is increasing. Some of our players lost their events missing out closely on medals. We actually could have crossed 10 medals in this season. But apparently, little more hard work is still required to make it larger.
I am pretty sure this development will surely encourage the young sportsperson as well as the governing agencies to give more attention towards sports. Things have started to move and it will take better shape by the time 2016 Rio Olympics arrive. This time we had some very young sportsperson like Deepika Kumari, Amit Kumar who still have age in their hand and now they also have experience with them. We doubled our medals tally this year from 3 to 6. And I am pretty sure, with this new young experienced bunch of sportsperson, we will surely cross 12 medals mark next time