winning is a habit, so is losing

As knight riders lost their match to royal challengers, my heart went out to them. Although I supported the RCB team, I still thought that KKR might pull it off because 174 is a huge target.

KKR played very well till the 16th over, but then they could not hold onto the advantage. They fiddled away their chances as Ross Taylor belted a superb 81 off just 33 balls and saw RCB home comfortably.

KKR are low on confidence, have lost the will to win; a side in disarray with no one to show them the path. And KKR have made it a point to lose matches even from winning positions. They pull defeat out of the jaws of victory. Just as winning is a habit, so is losing.

a book launch, a movie release and a few updates

Yesterday , while I was surfing through the channels [because the IPL match between Bangalore and Punjab was so damned boring] I came across two news items which caught my attention immediately.

In one of the news channel I caught Chetan Bhagat being interviewed, where he spoke about his latest book 'the 3 mistakes of my life'. I am not a fan of his writing style, nor of his story-telling; but what I like is the fact that he is an IIT-IIM product who works as an investment banker in Singapore and still churns out books which are worth a read. His writing style gives me an insight into what kind of reading habits are acceptable to the semi-literate Indians. He does not use big words, technical jargons [unless required]; he sticks to what the common man can make sense of. If some budding writer out there wants to make an impression on the youth of the country then they should adopt his style of writing, or Shobha De's style of writing; and not Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie.

By the way, Chetan also mentioned that all his books would start with some numeric value, like 'five point someone' and 'one night at a call center'; and now 'the 3 mistakes of my life'. His latest book is priced at Rs.95/- and will be launched soon; to be available in all stores from 8th May,2008.

On another news channel I caught Manoj Night Shyamalan talking about his latest movie 'The Happening'. Presently he is in India to receive the 'Padma Shri' award for his contribution to world cinema. He is the only movie director of Indian origin to have received an Academy Award [Oscar] nomination for Best Director.

“It is an extremely scary movie. This is meant to scare you,” Shayamalan told the curious reporters in Mumbai. “The emotional center of the movie is if you knew you were going to die, if that was a fact, what would your conversation be like? What would be the last thing you would say to your loved one?” Shyamalan said. The movie is to be released on 13th June,2008.

I have loved all his movies, including the ones that did not do so well; like 'The Village' and 'Lady In The Water'. His ideas are amazing and innovative; and his visual imagery in film-making is just wonderful. Though he has not been able to match-up to the brilliance of his debut movie 'The Sixth Sense', I am sure that he will come back to his own.

Since I mentioned Shobha De and her writing style, here's an update on her. Her new book titled 'Superstar India' was unveiled by Amitabh Bachchan on her 60th birthday. The book is a collection of her views and opinions on lots of topics. The book reflects her understanding of middle class ethos, competitiveness, killer instinct and the vanishing traditional values in the face of globalization. According to her book, India has always been a superstar but unaware of its potential and the special status. She goes on to suggest that the comman man's tolerance of bad governance, indifferent administration and corrupt officials are responsible for holding us back. The book also touches upon controversial topics like sex education, gay movement in India and sexual liberation among today's youth. Do get your hands on the book and read the interesting bits.

In another update, the WWE wrestler Khali is back in India after a three year stint in US as a part of the WWE team. He was mobbed at the airport by reporters and journalists. If those reporters are to be believed, then he will soon be making an entry into IPL matches and try to woo the crowd. He has also been approached by movie makers who have signed him on for a couple of movie offers.

That's all the update I have. I am pretty sure that I will be reading both the books I have written about, as well as watching the movie. Make sure you do so too.

Sachin Tendulkar ... Who Said What About Him

Last week Sachin celebrated his 36th birthday on 24th of March. I wanted to write a tribute to him but did not find much time. I will probably do that when he hangs-up his gloves and bat. For now, all I can say is that its a real shame that we are not getting to see him bat in the current IPL T20 season else Mumbai Indians would have been in much better position in the points tally. I just pray for his speedy recovery and hope he gets back to the field as soon as possible, and entertain the crowds as he has been doing for past 19 years.

For the time being, as a tribute, I have a listed a collection of quotes on Sachin. Read them and enjoy !!!

• K R Wadhwaney: "Batting has been God's gift to him. Candidly, Sir Donald Bradman, a boy from Bowrel, had not been as gifted as India's little young man."

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• Mohinder Amarnath: "A complete batsman- he's the best in the business."

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• Lalchand Rajput, Former Mumbai captain: "Even as a teenager he always seemed very focused and alert on the field. He learnt his lessons fast."

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• Prof. R. Shetty, Secretary MCA: "We are proud to possess him due to his commitment to Mumbai and Indian cricket."

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• Harsha Bhogle: "There's no better sight on the cricket field than watch Tendulkar bat."

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• Raj Singh, Former President Indian Cricket Board: "I was very impressed the first time I saw him bat as a little boy at the Cricket Club of India."

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• Don Bradman: I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel!

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• David Boon: "Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will".

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• Jeff Thompson: "Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him."

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• Shane Warne: You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway. Kasprowicz has a superior story. During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, he went to Dennis Lillee and asked, "Mate, do you see any weaknesses?" Lillee replied, "No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that's all you can do."

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• Mark Taylor: "He's a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundries, for then he doesn't stop."

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• Ian Healy: "Tendulkar is the most complete batsman I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him - he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I've seen him against Warne too."

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• Ian Chappell: "Harder he works, the luckier he gets."

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• Richie Benaud: "He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling."

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• Mike Coward: "Sachin's the best. I've had this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992. He's the most composed batsman I've ever seen."

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• Paul Wilson: "He's better than Ben Hur.

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• Mark Waugh: "The pressure on me is nothing as compared to Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin, like God, must never fail. The crowd always expects him to succeed and it is too much pressure on him."

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• Glenn McGrath: "I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara"

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• Sir. Gary Sobers: "He is currently the best batsman in the world."

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• Brian Lara: "He's a genius. I'm a mere mortal."

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• Micheal Holding: "Sachin's undoubtedly no.1 today but I wouldn't start comparing him with Viv Richards till he scores hundreds against quality fast bowlers on fast pitches."

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• Vivian Richards: "He's 99.5 percent perfect. I'd pay to see him."

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• Wesley Halls: "The only way to stop him is to keep him off the strike."

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• Vivian Richards: "He's always ready, it's a mental preparedness thing. I too focused on being aggressive. But Sachin has something special. He's blessed."

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• Clive Lloyd: "He is a tremendous cricketer. He is young and has got a lot of ability. He's got his own style. He has got the temperament for big cricket and I hope that he goes from strength to strength."

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• Brian Lara: "He is a very good batsman. Perhaps he is the best in the world now. If he plays consistently he will go down in history as a great cricketer."

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• Tony Greig: "He is cool, has magnificent temperament, and is so mature you tend to forget his age. I can't think of any other example of a player who has so dominated the world before the age of 25."

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• Ted Dexter: (who chaired the panel, the Coopers & Lybrand award as the International Test player of the year) "This year Tendulkar has been the batsman nobody wanted to bowl at. He took Shane Warne apart in India, which illustrates his genius."

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• The Rev David Shepherd: "Sachin Tendulkar! If he isn't the best player in the world, I want to see the best player in the world."

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• Tony Lewis: "He has a most competitive temperament. He has not needed special coaches to teach him how to compete. It is inbuilt."

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• Adam Hollioke: "In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another one?'"

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• Tony Grieg: "There's no doubt about it. He is the best."

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• Geoffrey Boycott: "Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow - nothing is a problem."

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• Peter Roebuck: "Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it."

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• Kieth Fletcher: "A little genius. Reminds me of Sunny Gavaskar."

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• Eddie Barlow: "He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards."

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• Barry Richards: "Destined to be a great."

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• Paul Strang: "What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars."

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• Dave Houghton: "Other players might keep India in business in the '99 World Cup but victory shall only come through his bat."

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• Wasim Akram: "He has everything a top batsman needs. Tendulkar is a classic example of a player being so good that his age is an irrelevance"

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• Asif Iqbal: (after India won at Sharjah) "He has given a new dimension to batting. Such dominance can break the heart of the best of bowlers. I was never tired of watching this wonderful batsman."

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• INDIA TODAY describing Sachin's 155* at Chennai, 1998 vs Australia: "There is no way to tell it. The art of fiction is dead. Reality has strangled invention. Only the utterly impossible, the inexpressibly fantastic can ever be plausible again."

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• Garth Jones (Scorer for the press in Napier, NZ): "We know a big innings from the prodigy means a definite loss for New Zealand, but it is worth it."

Let me end the post with these words: Cricket is religion, Sachin is GOD.

Prostitution Of Cricket

Let me declare at the very outset that I am a huge cricket buff. I have been watching cricket for 20 years now; every knock of Tendulkar gives me a reason to smile, every catch of Yuvi/Kaif raised my hope of winning, every inning of Dravid made me feel solid.....I can go on, but thats not the point here.

What I am trying to get to is that, inspite of my love for the game, the recent auction of players for the IPL [Indian Premier League] has left me dazed and confused. The astronomical amounts that the franchisees have gutted out is incredible. And in all this trade and commerce, the game has been sidelined. In a bid to cash-on in the name of the game, we have lost the essential meaning of cricket. Its turned into a milch cow for the entertainment industry.

India no doubt has only two passions - bollywood and cricket. And when these two big forms of entertainment join hands then a whole lot of revenue can be generated. You may then ask me what's the harm ?? Well, it's gonna hurt the game. We will have a whole lot of cricket but no real sports.

Anyways, what I detest most is the fact that the players were auctioned. That's so demeaning for the players, what is this .... a whorehouse?? Why couldn't they do this in privy and just make an announcement that 'x' player was signed up for a contract of 'yz,000,000' amount. Wouldn't this show the players and the promoters in good light?? But no, they wanted a 'tamasha' to display money power and do some body-shopping.

Now, the consequence would be that....the players will feel like they have been a part of major flesh trade racquet and they will have to perform out of their skins to justify the amount for which they were 'purchased'. If this isn't akin to prostitution then what is it ?? What's worse is that, they will be forced to give their best here and this will result in a below-par performance when they will be representing the country in international test matches and ODI's. We have already seen that in premier leagues involving other sports like baseball and football, players refuse to play for their home country and/or fake injuries so that they can keep themselves fit for the club they have signed-up to play for. They put their mouth where the money is.

Enough spoken about the game, now let's take a look at bollywood which indulged a great deal in the auctions. SRK had to dance half-naked to 'dard-e-disco' and he did a whole lot of gymanstics to sell his movie OSO whose production value was 60 crores. Now that he is putting 400 crores just imagine how much of heavy advertising and promotions he will have to do. He may have to sell himself or dance naked in the stadium to attract the spectators and boost the sales of tickets. And he is not the only one who will be doing so. He will bring a bevy of stars along with him. Then, there's Vijay Mallya who will bring in the glamour quotient with all those kingfisher calendar girls. Mukesh Ambani will also rope-in some bollywood stars and politicians because even he needs to generate profits.

The recently concluded ICL [Indian Cricket League] series was a small trailer of what's in store ahead. We saw a little bit of cricket a lots of item songs being performed by bollywood starlets at the beginning of the match and during the lunch session. ICL had lined up all the popular 'item' girls to perform and we could easy guage that the audience were more enthralled by the stars' performance than the cricketers. And this trend is going to continue.

So, be prepared to see some 'nautanki', some staged dramas, popular dance numbers, lots of lucky-dip winners, sales, promotions, meaningless ad campaigns, skimpily clad cheer-leaders and ramp models, tv stars, of course filmstars and bollywood personalities. And if you are fortunate enough, you will catch a little bit of cricket too.