20 years of GODSmanship- An Ode to the GOD!

It has been 20 years, yes you read it right 20 long years since this man has kept us all mesmerized by not only his magical cricketing skills but equally so by his humbleness, modesty and innocence too. The impact which this man has on the way the entire country conducts itself is unbelievable, because when he is playing well, he puts smiles on billion faces, people everywhere seem to be far more friendly and accommodating, they don't even mind if you step on their feet and hurt them painstakingly, they won't even mind if the tea vendor serves them a horribly distasteful tea, and even the ever so disgruntled bank cashier serves you with a smile. Such is the impact and this magician is better known as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!

Over the span of 20 years people have made constant comparisons between the inform batting heroes of that season, but one name has always remained constant out of the two guys who are being put under the scanner, other name though have been changed from Inzamam ul Haq to Mark Waugh, Brian Lara to Saeed Anwar, Sanath Jayasurya to Ricky Ponting , but Mr Tendulkar has always been so very consistent not only with his batting skills and performances but also with his temperament and with the way he handles this huge amount of success with such a great degree of poise. Absolutely exemplary!

Such are the expectations from this man that people expect him to score a century every time he walks out to bat. And I personally feel people are not wrong in expecting this from the great man. When you have hit close to 90 international centuries against so many formidable oppositions, the expectations are bound to be so high, so he is himself to blame for thatJ. On a serious note, such has been our mindset over last so many years that even if he scores a 37, 40 or a 46 we treat it as a failure and we start talking about the fact that Sachin is out of form, on the contrary if a certain Suresh Raina or for that matter Virat Kohli hits 35 odd runs we classify that as an impressive performance. Such is life in his case, right? Now consider how do you feel if you are asked to sing in front of 4 of your close friends??? Or imagine how you felt when you were in class 5 and your parents expected you to do well in each and every school test??? Or just give a thought that you are working in your office with your team and all the team members have their eyes set on you to deliver something on a set deadline??? You feel PRESSURIZED! Right??? Now just spare a thought for the man who is answerable to more than 100 crores team mates, friends or parents for over 20 years to do good, better or best and where even an average performance is treated as a failure. Isn't that some real pressure? JBut that's what makes the man GREAT and separates him from his contemporaries like Ricky Ponting who plays for only 1/10 th of the hopes and for a nation where the primary sport is Rugby and not Cricket, Kevin Pieterson who plays for a nation where his fans and followers are far more considerate and accommodating and again where the primary sport is soccer, Inzamam Ul Haq who played for a nation which only cares about their team not losing to India and where the primary sport is again not cricket but is Terrorism. So the amount of pressure and expectations are immense, and hence this consistency and poise is worth appreciating beyond words even in his rare moments of lows. But we have hardly given it a thought and I am sure we will never give it a thought in future too. Ofcourse his is the most analysed career in the history of the game.

Another cribbing point for people has been that Sachin never plays in key encounters, be it finals, be it qualifiers or be it any crucial tie. But the facts and statistics defy all this and for those who still act smart by saying that what's the point of accumulating so many runs and achieving so many feats when you never play when required, here is an eye opener. Sachin has been a part of a final/decider/crucial tie for 38 times and he has hit 6 centuries and averaged a staggering 56 in those encounters which is way above his career average of 44. In all, Sachin has scored 1833 runs in finals, which is easily the highest- Sanath Jayasuriya is next with 1613. Sachin also ranks very high in terms of all-time- averages in finals: among those who've scored at least 500 runs in finals, only three have a higher average. One of them isIndia's current coach, Gary Kirsten - in 20 innings, he scored 1019 runs at an excellent average of 69.73. Sachin 's stats are very similar to those of Viv Richards, who averaged 55.73 at a strike rate of 84.78 in 17 finals. Brian Lara, on the other hand, whom people consider as one of the best finishers and a man for the big occasion has struggled in finals, averaging only 28.16, more than 12 runs below his career average. Infact Brian Lara's one century and two fifties all came in his first four innings; in his last 14 finals, his highest score was 35. But even then people believe Sachin plays for his own records, I can't understand can anybody cheat himself, his team mates and his countrymen so smartly and so consistently for 20 long years??? Ridiculous!

A group of smart heads also believe that the great man chokes under pressure, he can't finish matches, he can't hit the winning runs and hence the real match winners are the likes of Bevans, Husseys, Yuvrajs and Dhonis. Well with all due respect to these gentlemen who have also done very well for their country over a long period and have well and truly won many a matches on their own, isn't it unfair to tag a 120 something made by Sachin as a failure, while chasing a target of 260, where he gets out with his team needing only 30 odd runs and rest of the team fails to score even these many runs. People tend to hail those guys who hit a 40 something and take their sides to victory and rather abhor and detest a 100 something contribution of Sachin, just because he has not hit the winning shot. Absolutely illogical! How can one discount that Sachin comes in to bat as an opener, bats for around 40 overs and takes his team to a situation where the guys to follow can actually think of winning, in contrast we give more importance and credit to a guy who has batted for just 10 odd overs and just because he has hit the winning run, he becomes a match winner or a finisher. But people never give a thought that what has actually allowed this finisher to hit that winning shot is nothing but that solid, full proof batting of the master himself for 40 odd overs, unless otherwise we couldn't have been in a situation to even dream of a victory. That's why for those lost matches, many a times I feel Sachin should have got out cheaply rather than scoring a century, because nobody would have blamed him or even remembered him in that case, but yes such is our psyche. And for those who believe Sachin is a curse and India loses every time he hits a ton, on record 33 out of 45 times, his century has taken our side home victoriously. Need we say anything more??? But we do speak a lot, 1 2 3 and the 4th time he fails in succession, people start talking about his retirement plans, that's really hilarious, isn't it? But the guy still plays on without saying a word, not because he is dumb, not because he is at fault, but only because his bat does all the talking and he invariably hits a ton in the 5th match to silence these dumb heads. A routine activity for him I guess...

We can go on speaking about the great man's laurels, achievements, feats and accomplishments, but we will fail every time to scale them up through our words. When legends like Don Bradman, Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, Sunil Gavaskar and many such all time greats have hailed our beloved little master for his excellence and raise their hats in true admiration of his unmatchable abilities and saluted him out of respect, we are just mere mortals to talk about this 8th wonder of the world. Because this guy won't be remembered for chest thumping, air jumping and abusing every single person present on the ground after hitting a hundred (much like the likes of Yuvrajs and Kohlis do:)), but he will always be remembered for the grace, exuberence and that ever so infectious childlish smile of his with which he has played all his life. But if I am allowed to express my selfish desires, I would dearly love to see Sachin score 100 international centuries (needs just 13 more), I want him to score 15,000 test runs( needs 2000 something more), I wish him sitting atop 20,000 ODI runs(needs only 3000 runs more) and last but not the least I want all his contemporaries and team mates to fulfill one dream of his, that is to help him in lifting up the world cup before he hangs his boot. What an icing it would be on an already well baked cake, if he gets an opportunity to hold the coveted trophy that has eluded him from 20 odd years, in front of his home crowd and birth place, on the historical Wankhede stadium. That really would be a fairy tale finish to this great man's illustrious career.

I still fear and dread of the day when he will hang his boots, I can't imagine how our lives would be without him on the cricket field, it will be almost impossible to accept that moment and I wish that day never comes and he keeps on playing for ages, not because I want him to further strengthen his records but I want him to make me and my life so very beautiful, friendly and accommodating. He has been a GODLY figure for his flawless artistry and remarkable mannerism and he will always to continue to be my GOD till the day this game is played and may be beyond that too .Let us all Salute the little champion for all the selfless moments in which he has served our country and made us smile and feel proud, it is a real moment to celebrate 20 years of GODSmanship. Cheers to the CHAMPION!!!

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The new found pastures of Austerity!!!!!!

The buzz word doing the rounds in the cauldrons of our country is not Ajmal Kasab or Rakhi Sawant or H1N1 but it is the new found phenomena of Austerity. The incumbent politicians are so hell bent in adopting this new phenomenon that it has left the entire nation in a state of bemusement. And what makes the entire soap even more interesting is the fact that, the opposition parties who can make a large hue and cry out of anything and nothing have kept mum so far. I am still waiting for a statement from any of the non incumbent ministers stating a hidden conspiracy and gimmick out of this austerity drive. And I am sure sooner or later it is bound to come, what is going to be interesting to see will be the form in which it comes outJ. On a serious note, the initiative taken up by the current breed of ministers is worth lauding, unless and until we come to know about any intrinsic motto behind this. Never in my life have I seen any potbellied neta renouncing even an ounce of these luxuries for the sake of humility, leave apart the thought of saving nation’s wealth, rather they aim to suck it by all possible means, and make the most of this golden opportunity. One can feel that what was the point of asking the external affairs ministers, Mr Shashi Tharoor and Mr S M Krishna, to vacate those luxurious suits in the most expensive 5 star hotels of the country, when they were bearing the cost of that princely lifestyle on their own, but the message was loud and clear. If you are serving the nation, whose major chunk of population still lives below poverty line, where a huge mass has lost their jobs in the past 12 months, courtesy global meltdown, where around half of the nation is struggling with a drought like scenario and a quarter of it battling against massive floods, you ought to take some responsibility, you ought to lead by example. It might have been a bit embarrassing for Mr Tharoor and Mr Krishna to handle the situation, even though they were splurging on from their own wallets, but the message being sent by the likes of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, Miss Mamta Banerjee and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi by adopting the economic means rather than the business or executives ones while traveling is honestly worth applauding. What is even more refreshing and makes us believe that all this is genuine is the fact that general elections are four and half years away, so this is most definitely not a political gimmick at this point. But these new good boys/girls of Indian politics who seem to have undergone an extensive rehab program should keep this in mind that they shouldn’t over do it, as it happened with Rahul Gandhi’s austerity train drive to Ludhiana, he sent a very good message by that gesture of his, but that was at the expense of the comfort of the common man who was also traveling in that train. Most of them complained that they felt so crippled by the extensively tight security in the train that they will never ever travel in the same train in which any of the austerity driven minister is traveling( so will they take the air route???? the executive oneJwish they could have). On a serious note the political circle should keep a check on this, not only keeping in mind the comfort of the common man but also for the sake of their own security, because these drives give ample and easy opportunity to the miscreants to harm these high profile men so very easily, which neither they themselves can afford nor can our nation. So there has to be a fine balance while exercising this revolutionary practice. But as long as they don’t bring this issue up 4 years down the line in their election campaign by statistically demeaning the opposition by begging for votes on the account of opposition’s extravagant expenses in their tenure compared to the incumbent minister’s frugal expenses while being in office, it is most definitely a JOB WELL DONE! And we all should feel good and proud about this noble initiative.

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GOD, Fed vs RAFA, Punter-- Battle of Artistry against Perseverence!!!

I often have some very heated altercations with my close pals whenever it comes to discussing matters of sports and champion sportsmen. And often they get really dirty, but trust me I honestly enjoy all such moments, infact I always cherish the company of those people who actually are as passionate about sports as I am, who actually get involved into sports as much as I do and who understand and read the sport more than for its statistical importance and connotations. However, the prime time for such joyful discussions are during the grand slams of tennis or amidst any highly hyped cricket tournament, irrespective of India being a part of it or not. And the main artisans around which these discussions revolve around are the likes of Roger Federer(Fed), Rafael Nadal( Rafa), Sir Sachin Tendulkar(GOD), Ricky Ponting(Punter) or any in form cricketer or sportsmen of the season. And honestly there is nothing more heartening than discussing, arguing, shouting and abusing on your best of pals for hours on these exhilarating topics. Its real Bliss!!!On a personal note I am a huge GOD fan, I literally idolize him, I am also a big Fed fan, I just can’t see him losing, and above all I am a big bigger biggest follower of both these sports. So anybody talking loose about these sports or about these great men, I just cant stand it, or anybody arguing on these things without actually being aware of the real facts, irritates me to the limits. Obviously everybody has his/her own favorites, likes and dislikes, and one should always respect that and unless people have varying interests and favorites, their hardly exists any fun in the argumentJ.

But the hottest debate of the season for my circle again happens to be the Fed vs Rafa one. Though they haven’t faced each other of late, but then there are two clear gangs amongst us, one routing for Fed and the other backing Rafa, I am obviously in the former. And the debate hovers around the fact that who is the better among the two. The Rafa gang proclaims that Rafa is the better pro and by the time he plays as much as Fed has already played he will surpass him in all aspects, on the contrary the Fed cheerers feel that he is the best, and the feats which he has achieved and is still achieving are improbable to be surpassed by anybody and by any means, atleast never by RafaJ. Now being a diehard Fed fan, I also advocate the same thoughts but with a tinge of difference. I personally feel, whosoever has played at the top level is by default a Good sportsman, whosoever has won even a single match at the top level is a Winner, whosoever has claimed even a maiden championship at the world stage is a Champion but there are very few who eventually qualify for the tag of Greatness and for me the likes of Fed, GOD, Woods & Schumi are amongst them. Not because of the number of world records they hold, not because the feats they have achieved in their sporting career but because of the style, charisma and grace they have exhibited and won not only those innumerable trophies but also the hearts of the millions.I totally acknowledge, praise and respect the talent which Rafa possesses, but his dependence on the power game is just too much, and that wont take him the distance and will eventually drain him down in the longer run.There have been arguments that Rafa has outplayed Fed in the grandslam finals, but statistically a majority of those wins have come in clay, and that by no means makes him a complete player, though he has won an occasional Wimbeldon and Australian but that seems too little in comparison to the alround wagon wheel of Fed, who has excelled on almost all the surfaces( though frankly not that much on clay).Rafa might out power his opponents by his sheer power game, he might even out number the no. of grand slams which Fed may end up with, as he has the age on his side, but he can never match the artistry, class and deftness with which Fed operates and demolishes his opponents and wins over his fans. Its truly unmatchable, and this comes naturally.One can work hard and become very accurate and consistent by means of perseverance but there are certain traits which are god gifted and one should always enjoy and cherish those moments of magic. This is what makes these greats stand apart, be it Fed or Rafa, be it GOD or Punter or be it Schumi or Woods. Without discounting the feats of these good players, I thank to the almighty for sending me to this world in the era in which these sporting greats are spreading their magic with lots of fervor!

Salute to all of you and thanks for all the entertainment....GOD, Fed, and all the greats...YOU ROCK!!!

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Detention of KHANS or Retention of AMERICAN PARANOIA????

The news item which has engaged the entire nation into a debate is SRK's detention and frisking in US last week. Now there are various school of counterviews coming into this fiasco and why not, when the cynosure is the the man who draws the maximum attention of his countrymen after Amitabh Bachhan, Sir Sachin Tendulkar, The Prime Minister and the ever so happening Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav. Its not that he is garnering so much attention because of the fact that he is the Numero Uno entertainer of the country but its also because a huge mass of population loves to hate him too, attributing it to his overacting stints, extremely arrogant mannerisms or for his irritating die hard penchant to be in the news all the time. All in all the entire nation takes a keen note of his moves and life for reasons ranging from love, hate, extreme fan following to criticism of the highest degree. But strangely enough, what's interesting to note in this episode is, he himself is not the one who is calling all this attention, but its the media and the common people who are blowing the issue out of proportion. Mr Khan has categorically said that he neither wants an apology of any sort nor he wants a tit for tat with his contemporaries in Hollywood, rather he mocked the entire incident saying that, yes he was a bit disturbed with the entire Quizzing session, as any normal human being would have but he laughed it off by saying that if given a chance he would love and cherish to frisk Anjelina Jolie and Megan Fox for over 66 minutes to have the time of his life.

In fact if it would have been any celebrity much smaller in stature to him, he/she would have done the same thing too, by calling up the Indian Consulate and asking for help. I don't think Bobby Darling would have done anything different to what SRK did and even that would have drawn the same media coverage. But what's disappointing is the fact that people are blabbering their outrage and disliking or support and solidarity for the man just based on their personal affinity for the star, and in turn terming it an unfortunate incident or a publicity stunt. Now factually speaking does he actually need to do all this cheap stuff to gain publicity??? A man who has given the biggest hits in the history of Indian cinema, so what if he has broken all the records of overacting and repeatedness in all his roles, a man who is anyways always in the news be it because of his star studded cricket team, so what if his team has got badly butchered and battered by even the teams of the likes of Chinchpokli Mohalla Eleven. I don't think he needs to do all this to be in the news, its absolutely rubbish! Now how the entire matter should have been dealt is an altogether different issue, that whether the government intervention and their press notes were actually called for or not. But what has happened over last few months in terms of frisking and detention, be it with SRK or be it with his highness Mr APJ Kalam, is seriously worth giving a thought.

Now personally I feel there are two aspects attached to this, which people are intermingling as per their convenience or as per their liking or disliking for the stars involved in these fiasco. One of the aspect is, 'When it comes to security and safety checks, should be treat the VIPs and V VIPs with the same yardstick with which a common man is treated?' and the secondly ' Is it true that United States of America has actually crossed its limits and have exhibited the highest degree of paranoia when it comes to dealing the Muslim or Asian people?'. Now there is a very thin line between these two aspects, which media is overlooking for its benefit, understandably so to increase its viewer ship and revenues. And the common man is overlooking this demarcation to show their loyalties or hatred against its star, as the case may be, without actually understanding the situation in terms of practicality. Now if we talk of the 1st aspect, which argues about the special treatments being given to the celebs in terms of security and safety checks, there is nothing wrong in treating them at par with the common man, and I believe no celebrity who has got even an ounce of brain will object to it. But if we talk of the second aspect which actually frisks the travelers all the more just because of his nationality or his faith, it is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS! A Hindu, Catholic or a Sikh traveler should be frisked and cross examined with the same rigorousness with which a Muslim traveler is being frisked. Because if Muslim envoy can cause a 9/11, even a Hindu contingent can demolish the sacred Babri Masjid. Though America has been successful in avoiding any untoward event after 9/11 due to its excellent and tight security measures but by crossing these lines every time, they are doing nothing but inciting the islamic radical groups and outfits to act against them. They are by no means lreducing the hatred which the middle east and far east extremists carry against them, but they are only catalyzing the hate process even more. On the same lines, the media and the common man should also show some restraint and express their outright views on such contentious issue with utmost caution.

And abhorring a man only because one dislikes him in other walks of life and so whatever he does needs to be criticized is absolutely unfair and so is the fact of blindly appreciating him just for the simple reason that he is a heartthrob, and whatever he does is worth a clap. We need to behave maturely now when it comes to alienate between our personal choices and the macro issues, otherwise we are doing no good to ourselves but just frisking our minds unnecessarily. Very much the AMERIKAN style:)!!!!

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Are we really proud of being INDIAN???

Why is it so that we tend to get this patriotic feeling only twice in the year, once on 26^th January and once on 15^th of August? I guess that too is mainly because of the fact that the media, be it print media or electronic media makes a lot of hullabaloo about it by showcasing special shows and documentaries on patriotism and greatness of Indian nation. Otherwise we spend the entire year cursing and cribbing about our nation by comparing it with the more developed western nations. And those people who have been to those countries continuously lament by giving instances like, that particular country is so damn clean that even if you throw a banana waste anywhere other than in the dustbin, you ought to pay a very heavy fine, but if we see the case of our great Indian nation, people make it a point to throw there waste everywhere but in the dustbin. Agreed it is not acceptable and people should take some responsibility for the society and the nation, but ever wondered if somebody slips and meets with an accident by the virtue of that banana waste on the street, dozens of strangers come to your rescue selflessly, which is in total contrast to you being on your own in a similar situation in any of the those tidy developed country. Yes it’s a fact, and that’s makes our country so different, and that’s how you identify with that feeling of being Indian, so cared and so loved! Similarly we have this habit of cribbing that the standard of movies being made in Hollywood is much higher and technological advanced in comparison to the ones being made in India, there is no denying this fact too, that those movies are notches up when we talk of quality and technology and we have to do a lot of catching up, but what is painful is whenever we happen to make a really good movie, be it Lagaan, be it Slum dog Millionaire or be it Swades, which are being appreciated worldwide for its excellent showcasing of Indian culture, we are the ones who eventually end up criticizing them by cribbing that those movies portrayed poverty, illiteracy slavery to Englishmen etc etc, I am not arguing that just because of these few movies we are at par with the ones being made elsewhere, but at least we should respect and feel proud about our creations too, after all all the Indians are individually and collectively the ambassadors of Indian culture and its values and we should feel proud about being a part of these success stories. Similarly there have always been instances, where our players who represent our nation in various sports, when they travel abroad are subjected to racial discrimination and abuses just because for those countrymen, our sportsmen belong to a third world nation, their talent, their skills all go for a toss, but on the contrary just think, how do we treat any foreign contingent coming in India for any sporting or for any activity, we treat them we all the love, care and affection irrespective of the ill-treatment we might have received in their homeland, this is because we follow the principle of ‘Atithi Devo Bhav’ (guest is god). And this particular treatment is unique in itself and makes our country stand apart, we should all be proud about this inherent quality in all of us. There can be many such examples which one can actually make us realize these things and compel us to feel proud about ourselves and our nation. But the fact is we don’t need any particular dates or occasions to feel proud about our nation and our Indianness, we should feel proud about our nation, its legacy and its values all the time. Though we need to constantly strive for improvement but it should never be at the expense of weakening of our strengths or with a feeling of dejection or belittlement. Because at the end of it we don’t always need to win an Olympic gold or climb Mount Everest to make our nation feel proud, we can be ourselves and just follow our inherent values wholeheartedly to feel proud about ourselves, our nation and our Indianess.

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WADA or erstwhile TADA!!!!

If you were not entertained enough with the twists, turns and drama which Rakhi Sawant provided to the entire nation, then there is no need to get disheartened. The latest deadlock between BCCI and WADA(World Anti Doping Agency) is giving enough food for thought to keep our voracious appetite for such entertaining news fulfilled. Now the clause which is causing this major ruckus is something like this-

“Players should inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. If a player changes his/her schedule in between, then he/she needs to update the whereabouts information to the nodal officer either online or even through SMS. However, if the player is not in the location at the time specified, he/she will have a strike recorded against his name. Three such strikes and the player will have breached the code and can face up to a two-year suspension from the game.”

I really can’t stop laughing reading this hilarious clause which has turned out to be a bone of contention for Team India and BCCI, so what this means is that if unfortunately in the middle of any quarter Yuvraj Singh suffers from loose motion and he is forced to visit the loo more frequently than his routine morning call, then he will have to immediately inform the officials about this, otherwise if he is unable to answer their calls thrice because of being in such a bad state, he will be suspended from the game for 2 years! Hahahahahahaha…Goodness me! Or for that matter if Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s manages to have a new girl friend and plans a date with her, so he will have to inform the officials about the reasons for choosing this new chic and what led Mahi to choose for a particular dating spot, and may be what all Mahi did on that date! Utter stupidity…I really don’t understand the rationale behind this clause and infact I am myself unaware of any individual who knows everything he is gonna do for next 3 months.

Now the logic which is being given against Team India and BCCI is, that 571 sporting bodies across the world have already accepted it, so why the heck are you not accepting it. Now I don’t understand 1 simple thing, that if 571 odd people or group buckle down to a stupid clause, does it become a Universally acceptable fact??? And how many of those who have already signed this clause are actually fine with it, the answer to this is NONE, if not some. Nobody wants to have a public display of their lives, and if you are a celebrity you are bound to safeguard your personal life even more. Now the argument put forth behind this is, even players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have signed it so what’s the fuss with Men in Blue? But the flip side remains that even these super stars have raised their concerns against this draconian law. Now another truth of the fact is, most of sporting bodies amongst these 571 sporting bodies are not the ones who administer Team Sports but are the ones governing individual sporting events, like archery, athletics, swimming, tennis etc, mostly the Olympic games. So an individual sportsperson is more liable to succumb to these laws than a team as a whole, because otherwise his survival is at stake, but a team on the other hand can take a collective stand and actually raise their voice against anything they find objectionable. Agreed that players like Federer and Nadal are too rich to actually succumb against untoward pressures of any kind, but at the same time, the governing bodies under which they perform aren’t that rich as BCCI. So they don’t enjoy the same support and backing of their administering bodies, hence they have no option left but to adhere to these norms.

Also, the main objective of WADA is to have an environment which facilitates fair play, free from all sorts of cheatings related to drugs and dopings. And Team India and BCCI have never opposed to any form of tests at any point, infact BCCI was among the first cricket boards to actually become WADA compliant. Their simple argument is, Team India plays for over 9 months in a year, so they are open for any tests for 265 days, now what they are asking for is just some space for themselves for 90 odd days. And even in that period they are ready for any tests and investigations as and when notified by the officials, so what’s the point in disclosing an hourly detail well in advance when the players are themselves available for any tests at any point of time with some prior notice, be it their playing season or be it their non playing season. Now the funniest aspect in all this are the people involved in moral policing of Team India, Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra, Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi to name a few. Now with all due respect to these sportspersons who have done lots for Mother India and made us all proud time and again, the simple question against this argument is, Do they play as much of their sport in the year as Team India plays??? Statistically the answer is NO, but even if some say YES, that even they also play as much as the cricketers do, then the counter question is, Will their sporting body ever support them, if they go in the lines of these cricketers??? The answer would again be NO because none of the supporting body is as cash rich as the BCCI is, so they can’t even think of going against anything, even if they know something is wrong. Now one last question to those eminent and great sportsmen, Does anybody with the name of Dawood Ibrahim or Hafiz Muhammad Saeed(Lashkar-e- Taiba chief) even knows them, leave apart threatening them for life??? I am sure the answer for this will also be a sure NO. So why on earth people aren’t understanding this fact that the concerns which Indian Cricketers are raising are not just confined to safeguarding there personal lives but they are also for there safety and security which is under a constant threat from various quarters, because of the huge fan following and mass appeal which these people and this Game enjoys in this part of the world. Infact the threat which these people face is much much bigger than what other prominent sportspersons face who are even bigger in stature and talent than these cricketers.

The common cause of dissent among all is the fact that BCCI is misusing its financial might to maneuver things as per its convenience. And I totally agree with this, that if BCCI is in a position to call its shots the reason behind that is definitely the financial supremacy of BCCI over all its contemporaries. And what’s wrong in that, rather than being ruled by white men in every sphere for ages, it should be treated as a welcome change, and we all Indians should relish this, that atleast somewhere we are in a position to dictate terms. If we talk in practical terms, BCCI might also adhere with these controversial rules, may be with some minor tweaks, but the truth of the fact will always remain that if you have the power FLAUNT it and USE it, because in this competitive world you wont get many such opportunities to use your power to your own advantage, even if you are fighting for a right cause, be it WADA or its erstwhile equivalent TADA!

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Reality Shows or Morality No Nos????

The hottest topic these days among my colleagues during lunch hours invariably happens to be the discussions on the mega successful shows Rakhi ka Swayamvar (RKS) and Sach ka Saamna (SKS). Though I have been watching SKS from its inception, I purposefully kept myself away from RKS, for the simple reason that I just can't stand that lady who seems everything but REAL. But I use to hear so much about her weirdo drama and about the bunch of morons involved in the bid for their prized catch, that it compelled me to have a look at the show once. And funnily my first rendezvous with this mega irritating aka mega successful show happened while watching one of the 24*7 news channels, which believes in telecasting all the rubbish stuff except some really useful and meaningful news items, obviously so, because the real meaningful stuff hardly fetches them any moolah when compared to the revenues earned from these melodramatic soaps.

So while watching the RKS for the first time I found it so genuinely fake, irritating and made up that it well and truly compelled me for a second watch. And there on I started following RKS religiously, not because I was mighty impressed by the concept of the show or for the fact that I am a big Rakhi Sawant fan but for a simple reason that it so highly dramatic, unreal and disgusting that it makes you laugh on the stupidity of the characters involved. And the funniest aspect for me still remains the fact that the entire lineage of all the grooms are involved in this drama, but not a single mention or a glimpse of the bride's parents has been shown yet, as if they are pretty sure that their daughter is fooling on with the entire nation J. It really can't get any HILARIOUS than this. But no matter what, I believe if it is consistently making you laugh, for whatever reasons whether for its magnificence or for its stupidity, for me it qualifies for entertainment.

Now if I talk about another chartbuster reality show Sach ka Saamna which is actually the desi version of Moment of Truth, I believe it is doing particularly well, however it is not as good as the master copy but still if we rate it in terms of shows on Indian Television I feel its a wonderful and a very fresh concept. Though it is quite evident that the makers of the show are leaving no stone unturned in attracting maximum attention and hype, be it starting the show with not so popular Mr Hussain who would have spent more time of his life in establishing all possible untoward relations with whosoever came across in his life, as long as that person qualified to be of the opposite sex rather than doing something productive in other walks of life or be it fabricating and highlighting Mr. Kambli's angst against Sir Sachin Tendulkar for not doing enough to save Mr Kambli from self destruction or be it hyping the show on the basis of Ms Urvashi's Dholakia's expulsion from her college for the reasons of being pregnant as a minor girl. Now with this sort of spice, frenzy and masala the show was got to be nothing but successful. And for me it again qualifies to be an entertainer for the simple reason that it gives me enough masala about which I can chit chat with my friends,colleagues and enjoy.

But there has been a major ruckus going on in various quarters including the esteemed houses of Parliament, questioning these reality shows esp SKS on the grounds of ethics, morality and traditional values. There have been umpteen no. of talk shows where many prominent personalities from various corners gather up and root for an immediate ban on such reality shows, on the grounds of serious obscenity, vulgarity and breach of our traditional values. Now I don't understand what problem these intellectual people have when neither the participants involved have any problems nor the viewers following these shows have any hassles watching these shows. After all the participants come into these shows with their own consent, they disclose all the controversial aspects of their lives with their own wish and only those viewers watch these shows who find them entertaining and worth watching. So by no means there is an imposition of any sorts on any individual or group to participate or watch the show. And as far as the arguments on morality and vulgarity are concerned, I feel these people are no moral police to pass on their judgement, asking for a ban on these shows, also they should be well aware of the fact that today’s youth enjoys an easy access to lots and lots of obscene and vulgar stuff in the form of truck loads of pornographic material of all forms freely available on the internet. So these arguments of breaching the traditional values are absolutely rubbish. Though I agree there can be some sort of regulation which can be enacted on these sorts of controversial shows, but imposing a ban just because a select bunch of self proclaimed intellectuals feel that it is detrimental for the nation’s culture, is actually preposterous. And when you question about the genuineness aspect of these reality shows, I agree they can be framed up to a good extent for the sake of TRPs, but they are still much more real and at least watchable when you compare them with the age old Saas Bahu series in which the characters marry 4 times, reincarnate umpteen no. of times, live for over 120 years, go for plastic surgeries in heaps and do all the unbelievable attics which might even make a ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’ contestant feel shy.

I would just say to those intellectuals that get a life guys and if you can’t do that, than you always have a gadget called REMOTE CONTROL to switch over to more ethical, moral and meaningful stuffs!

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Stock Market or Shock Market????

It all started around 5 years back with my 1^st salary and it was undoubtedly the 1^st time, when I earned anything substantial in my life, so the urge to make more money from that amount was very much there. And what better, easier and a more convenient way to make money than the stock markets. But the truth of the fact remained that I had absolutely no knowledge about the dynamics of the stock markets. So I thought of a wise way of learning about it, I collected the newspaper of last 1 month and started picking stocks which are cheap to buy, which are far away from their 52 weeks high and much closer to their 52 weeks low, and the stocks whose name I have either heard or seen somewhere in my lifeJ. Now technically speaking this is the probably the worst way to pick a stock for investment, but at that point in my investment career I found it to be very prudent and felt proud of my 3 point approach. But unfortunately I can never pick a stock for investment based on these parameters, eventually I gave up. Then I shared my desire of investing in stock markets with some of my friends who were already in this dirt and they advised me that investing in stocks is not at all safe, so its always better to invest in Mutual Funds. And by investing in Mutual Funds you are eventually investing in stock markets with a minimum return of around 30-35% per annum, I immediately did some maths and found out that if I invest 10k it will become 13k in a year and similarly if I invest 1 lakh it will become 1.3 lakhs, a clear cut profit of 30k, and that sounds HUGE man and that too without much risk. I felt such a sense of accomplishment with that idea as if I have found out the 'Sanjeevani Booti' and at the same time I felt the biggest fool on earth are the guys who bloody invest in stock markets:D! So eventually I fell into this trap and invested a good chunk in 2 of the best performing Mutual Fund schemes of that time, anticipating a fat return as per my maths but much to my misery the markets crashed badly and so did the NAVs of my MFs and my portfolio literally got battered. But the assurance which I got from various quarters was to remain patient, as MFs always give good returns in a long term horizon, I waited for 6 months on this premise and eventually gave up by selling my funds at breakeven, with lots of frustration. My lesson from this investment being ‘ Never invest in MFs, as they lose the maximum from a bearish market but they gain the minimum from a bullish market’.

But that wasn’t the end of the road for me, I once again stood up strong and started researching about good stocks to invest in, this time around the idea was to stay invested for a long term. The plan this time was to invest, say Rs 40 thousand in very good stocks like Reliance, Tatas and NTPCs and forget them for ever, then may be look at them say after 10 years when there worth will be 15 lakhs, that’s again HUGE by any stretch of imagination, and after all this is what the likes of Warren Buffets and Rakesh Jhunjhunwalas do. So I made a very well diversified portfolio including all the good stocks and kept a very close watch on the portfolio, but after around 6 months I found the portfolio value is still the same way off my 15 lakhs dream figure, that again added to my frustration and I sold off my entire portfolio in mere disgust, marginally below my investment amount. Now the lesson this time being that ‘ Even a bank FD gives more returns than the stock market investments’.

Then soon after this debacle I came to know about another art of making quick money and that was Intraday trading, so no need to make a portfolio, no need to wait for long intervals, just pick a stock, invest everything in that for that day and its sure to show a swing of 2-3% in the day, just book the profit and come out. The idea was not to be greedy and earn just Rs 500 every day, as 500 everyday will mean 500*20=Rs10,000 for the month, that will increase my salary by 25% even without switching my present job;). Oh man that is the best way to make money, what a big fool I have been all this while. So I started being an intraday trader and it worked very well for me initially but after a while I consistently started to be on the wrong side and made huge losses in this quest. So my dreams of inflating my salary by Rs 10000 every month eventually ended up by denting it by as much as 50%. So the lesson learnt from this debacle was ‘ Whatever you do market will always traverse the opposite path’.

But even this setback was too small to deter my spirits of making big bucks from the market. The next mode which I chose was of investment in IPOs, the optimistic premise behind this investment was the lure of making big money on the listing day. I invested in 2-3 IPOs but got disappointed every single time as the no. of shares which got allotted were so less that it hardly matched upto the initial euphoria. But the biggest shock of all times came up with the Reliace Power IPO which was said to be the mother of all IPOs, the hoopla surrounding this IPO was so huge that people were opening multiple DEMAT accounts just to subscribe for this IPO, people were even breaking their FDs to invest in this opportunity of life time and I was no different and I fell in the same bracket too. But what happened eventually was the biggest letdown of the Indian IPO history and unfortunately I was a part of this tooL. So the lesson learnt this time was ‘ There is no point blocking such a huge amount of money in an IPO for about a month where the probability of making profits is far lesser than gaining ultimately nothing’.

But even this lesson failed to keep me away from the markets, as the biggest debacle was yet to happenJ. It was the time when I learnt about the derivatives instruments and these instruments are the ones which even the experts dread to trade in. But as always my risk appetite had no limits and I made up my mind to try my fortunes in this avenue too. Now whatever you call it, the boon or the bane with the derivative trading is the fact that you have to trade in lots, you can’t trade 1, 2 or say 5 units of any share, so suppose if you are trading a lot of IFCI share you have to buy a lot which has around 8000 shares, so even with a 1 Re movement you are sure to earn a profit of Rs 8000. So this was the time for me to make it big and make up for all the losses I have made in my life, expectedly I fell into the trap and started trading into Futures, with the optimistic belief that profits are unlimited in Futures but I never cared about the flip side that even the losses are unlimited and eventually my quest to make huge profits ended up into disastrous losses amounting to the sum which I have never lost till date. But I always knew if I can make huge losses I can also make huge gains too, I just need some luck and some right market moves can do it for me, so I opted for a wiser approach by trading in ‘OPTIONS’ where losses are limited but profits are unlimited. But even there I secured the distinction of making unprecedented losses and kept my red flag flying highL. So the lesson learnt with this devastation was ' No matter how big or small my margin of trade are, I will always be on the wrong side of the coin'.

But one thing which still remains after these string of failures is a HOPE to still make money from the marketsJ. There have been umpteen no. of cases where I have found myself on the wrong side of the tide, some of them are so weird that even my closest friends and experts of the market find it hard to believe. The latest one being my anticipation of a market crash post the loksabha election results, as every single creature on this planet was dead sure about a hung assembly post results and there will be a big tussle to form a government. And attributing this as a big enough reason for an instability, markets were sure to crash big time. Thinking on the same lines I went SHORT expecting huge gains from the crash post election results. But what happened post results is history now, I literally got butchered and I strongly believe that Dr Manmohan Singh should thank me for this turn around, because if not for my investment, markets would have never surged, and if markets would not have surged they would have crashed, and the reason for that crash would have been nothing else than a Hung Assembly thereby shattering Dr Singh’s dream of enjoying a 2^nd term.

The diversified ways with which I have lost money in the markets are so many, that I can write a book on the DONTS of share market investments. However at this point, probably I know all the intricacies of the market mechanism, the various ways of trading in different instruments, how a particular policy impacts the market movement but 1 thing which I still don’t know is the ‘ art of making money from the market’. For me the biggest lesson all this while has been- “No loss is also profit J” and “ The best and the most successful days are the ones in which I can resist myself from doing a single tradeJ”.

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Latif Moti & IPeL Tamasha!!!

“This is a work of fiction - any resemblance to actual persons or event living or dead is purely coincidental”

This is a small behind the scenes story about the Biggest Drama which has spell bound the cricket crazy nation- IPeL. The characters involved in these conversations are-

Mr Sanak Power- The Big boss of Be Ce Ce I and a shrewd veteran politician.

Mr Nandan Sah- The Secretary of Be Ce Ce I.

& the man himself Mr Latif Moti- The Mastermind behind the entire soap opera.

Excerpts

Moti: Power Saab, are you aware what is happening?

Power: What happened bania, why are you so disturbed?

Moti: Saab this Suhas Chandra of Jhee T V is launching a cash rich Twenty Twenty league ICeL, cashing on India’s world cup triumph and he is roping in the major international players from all the countries.

Power: hmmmm..

Moti: So we need to do something to stop this otherwise this will ruin our plans of minting millions from the wave of world cup hysteria. We need to loop in the ICeCe and stop the major players from entering into this ICeL, otherwise a threat of lifetime ban should be imposed on those players.

Power: Don’t worry bania, we’ll address a press conference tomorrow and announce our league and various rules and traps restricting other miscreants dreaming to reap on this:).

Moti: That’s the way to go sirji. Hahahahaha…!

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Be Ce Ce I announces the birth of the most cash rich T20 league ‘IPeL’, on the lines of English Premier League with the concept of Home and Away matches, with eight teams battling it out for the biggest prize money in the history of global cricket. The teams will be chosen by an auction process where the interested parties will bid for their favorite players. The league will be played under the supervision of ICeCe and players participating in any other league will be banned from international cricket for life.

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The bidding process opens up with a bang and becomes a straight away hit with the involvement of bollywood bigwigs and corporate honchos. And Moti clearly positions IPeL a class apart from the rival ICeL, much to the anguish of former greats of Indian cricket who were backing ICeL. But then the irony of ‘Money Dictates’ works again.

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Sah: Bania, you have done an excellent job and it has already created ripples all around. You have roped in all the big international players apart from getting in the biggest name from the world of glamour and entertainment. And the concept of Home/Away matches and Sexy Cheerleaders is a runaway hit.

Moti: Its all about money sirji. You keep feeding people with the green paper and they keep on serving you like slaves. Hahahahaha…Now just wait and watch how I pull up the strings and manipulate the entire drama like a circus, to generate us unimaginable moolahJ:)

Sah: Bania you are just too shrewd. But on paper teams like Dhakkan, Dilli and Chunni are the favorites and your own home team of Registaan Royals which is incidentally also the poorest team both in terms of monetary value and player talent, is very surely gonna end up being the bottom most team of the lot making a big mockery of your own home team the Registaan Royals…hahahaha..

Moti: :) Just wait and watch the entire drama unfold sirji, and you will see the Registaan Royals as the champions of the 1^st edition of IPeL.. :)

Sah: You mad or what bania. If you manipulate it to this extent nobody will believe this and it will only invite more controversy.

Moti: Sah saab, more the upsets in the tournament, bigger the success for us and 1^st edition should be won by my home team only. After all I belong to that place and I owe this to my people out there:):):)

Sah: Bania I ‘ve never seen a dog like you.. :)

Moti: But this dog is making you fatter too, so keep quiet and enjoy the show:)

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Registaan Royals goes on to win the 1^st edition of IPeL without any eyebrows raised rather the innocent nation goes on to salute the bunch of not so famous guys and the so very great captain of Royals Shame Warn. And the teams like Dhakkan Chokers, Bambai Idiots, Kalakutta and Dilli Dher Devils, all with the biggest names of the game in them, flop miserably.

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Sah: Congrats bania your home team has done wonders and our event is a big hit.

Moti: :):):) Its only gonna get bigger from here sirji.

Sah: But bania what about teams like Dhakkan and Bangmemore, they are right at the bottom, why will people support these teams now and how will they generate revenues?

Moti: Every team will have their share of glory sirji, in the next season they will be at the top. I wont let any team dilute its brand value and fan following. It has always been a fair game and I will try my best to keep it fair:). Every franchise will have their chance.hahahahahaha…

Sah: You mad or what? If the teams who have just won 1 or 2 games out of their 14 games last season, reach at the top, it will be too hard to digest. Bania aren’t you taking too much risks.

Moti: Relax saabji, everything will be staged in such a way that it will all appear real. And don’t forget even the bookies won’t rate them highly, so such a major upset will again generate lots and lots of popularity, TRPs and revenues:):):)

Sah: Bania I ‘ve never seen a dog like you.. :)

Moti: But this dog is making you fatter too, so keep quiet and enjoy the show:)

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After a lot of drama over the staging of IPeL-2 in India due to elections the venue shifts to South Africa with most of the teams roping in bigger names which were not around last time. So the second edition seems to be even more glamorous, much more hyped and bigger than ever.

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Sah: Bania don’t you think with so much hype surrounding the Kalakutta team and its hyperactive owner Show Ruk Kaun, it would be a great idea to see them at the top, it might create more drama and moolah for us.

Moti: Sah saab you have to act smart, just think if the teams like Dhakkan and Bangmemore perform badly again they will turn into dead assets and there survival from the next season would be tough. But we don’t want any of the teams to lose grounds. Hence it is important for those 2 teams to perform well. And anyways Kalakutta can wait for next season because their owner Show Ruk Kaun wont let the interest of the people go down and he will always do enough off field drama to make our task easier…hahahahaha..

Sah: And what about Bengali Susubeing sacked from captaincy and their coach creating havoc?

Moti: Oh sirji comeon!!! Apply some brains, that’s all planned. We want Kalakutta to perform badly this time so that teams like Dhakkan and Bangmemore can go up and we can’t have Kalakutta perform badly under the captaincy of India’s most successful captain, that might invite controversies, hence the entire plot:)…and don’t worry the man will be leading again in the next season, and also don’t worry as their Show Ruk Kaun will take care of the rest..hahahaha…

Sah: Bania I ‘ve never seen a dog like you.. :)

Moti: But this dog is making you fatter too, so keep quiet and enjoy the show:)

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IPeL-2 turns out into a bigger hit with everything going as per Moti’s script. Lots and lots of upsets and drama, making everybody happy right from team owners to bookies and players to audiences, everyone, except Bambai Idiots and Kalakutta team.

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Sah: So you have done it again bania! What is the script for the next season:):)?

Moti: As I say, every team will have their moment of glory. Next time it will be Kalakutta and Mumbai Idiots at the top, as the 2 stalwarts of Indian cricket Bengali Susuand Sachin Waghmare(Idea fame sirjiJ) also need a taste of this glorified pie, after all they say, these 2 have done a lot for Indian cricket…hahaha….and also I guess the next one will be their last IPeL. So IPeL-3 will be their moment of glory:):):) hahahahahaha…

Sah: Bania I ‘ve never seen a dog like you.. :)

Moti: But this dog is making you fatter too, so keep quiet and enjoy the show:)

And the script goes on….. :)

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Brand SRK!

I was watching SRK’s interview on IBN last night and the gorgeous host started the show asking him- “ So Shahrukh how are your preparations going on with only 4 days left to the grand start of IPL season -2? To this his reply was- “ Well they are going on pretty well, today the guys were involved in the fielding drills under Andrew and Peter, unfortunately Riddhiman Saha has hurt himself and will be out of action for the initial stages but we are expecting him to join in from errrrr..... 4^th game. Also Gayle and Mc Cullum will be joining the squad today at around 2.30 am, so we are excited this time around, as we will be playing a full strength team for most part of the tournament unlike last time.” Watching this I was mighty impressed and rather surprised to see the level of involvement the guy has, being a part of every nitty-gritty in spite of the fact that he doesn’t belong to the cricketing world, this speaks of the level of energy and commitment he has as a human being in whatever he does in life. All this might seem to be an exaggeration or rather the feelings of an avid SRK fan, which I am right from my early days and rather his staunch critics might also say that anybody would have done this with so much moolah at stake, but I don’t think that the likes of Vijay Mallaya, Priety Zinta and Shilpa Shetty are a part of their teams or their involvement level is so huge other than those odd screams and signs of jubiliation which they exhibit when a batsman from their team hits a maximum or a bowler gets a wicket. But that’s not all, though SRK’s TEAM ended up in the bottom half of the tables in the last season, his was the enterprise which made the maximum profits, where almost all the teams ended up making losses, this was all undoubtedly thanks to the superb marketing strategy adopted by SRK, right from his promotional song ‘Jeetbo Jeetbo…’ to his presence in every match cheering his team ebulliently like a kid, or from roping in all his star team mates in the brands which he endorses, like bringing in Ishant Sharma, Ricky Ponting, Dada, Mc Cullum in Nokia and Airtel’s ads or for that matter bringing in all his fellow actor friends to cheer his team for every match, thereby increasing the glamour quotient and hence the viewership for every match. So eventually what happened last season was, people not only watched Kolkata’s matches for cricketing reasons but more so for the masala and hoopla associated with every match being created by SRK,the man himself. He almost did everything to sell his product, and outthinked all his contemporaries. Even the leading advertising wizards and marketing gurus hailed SRK for his shrewd marketing tactics. Even this time around he has launched a reality show 'Knights and Angles' to select the cheerleaders for his team, though the show is one of the most boring and non sensical shows ever being aired on television but then he has kept his team in the news much before the commencement of the game 1 and he has promised his fans much more if not from the cricketing front,atleast from his front to keep his fans entertained. IPL is not the only arena where SRK has shown his exemplary marketing or selling skills, he does this with every things he is associated with, be it any of his new movies, be it any of his television shows or be it any of the brands which he endorses, he makes it a point to cross sell each of the entities in his portfolio in whatever platform he gets. It can be promoting Airtel in KBC’s ‘Phone a Friend’, asking the contestants to hum the Airtel’s tune, it can be driving a ‘Santro Car’ in Rab ne bana di jodi or it can be gifting ‘Tag Heur’ watches to the contestants in KBC, he is undoubtedly a master marketer. The man has all the prestigious awards in his kitty, he has the biggest hits of Indian film history against his name, he has worked and still working with all the notable names and technicians of the country, he has the probably the biggest fan following and he also makes it a point to remind the media that he is the best, he is the king and he is the No. 1, much to the irking of his fellow actors J. But whatever you may call it be it a great sense of humor, over confidence, arrogance or under estimating his colleagues, making a constant dig at them, the man has an excellent sense of timing and he knows how to make the most of any opportunity. He has always been a man with very limited resources at his disposal, be it his very ordinary looks, be it his stammering accent, be it his just above average dancing and action skills or be it his not so great acting credentials, which I also admit, though I am one of his great admirers, that he overacts in almost 90% of his ventures and so one really wonders what is that which has made him come such a long way and become a phenomena for close to 2 decades now. What is that which keeps him at par or may be ahead at times of some really talented thespians like Amitabh Bachhan, Aamir Khan or Hrithik Roshan. I think that he is a complete package, he knows to entertain people by making fun of himself more often than not, he knows the art of public speaking, he makes you listen to him even if you aren’t his admirer, he has an exceptional sense of humor,he has built up his empire brick by brick, all on his own without any godfather and he very well knows the value of what all he has achieved in life and makes sure not to hurt anyone on course to his journey upwards. People may say that he is irritating, he is not worth a penny, he overacts, he is arrogant and he has achieved all this by virtue of destiny but then even fortune favors the brave and you need to have that mettle in you to sustain your destiny for such a long period of time, with such a spell bounding aura and charisma which binds one and all. You can love him you can hate him but you just can’t ignore the man.HAIL SRK!

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Circus Time!!!

Its easily the most exciting, happening and buzzing time of the year. Undoubtedly the months of April and May are going to be the most important months not only for India but also for the enitre world because of the magnamanity of the 2 events taking place at the same time in bigger than ever form. One being the general elections of the biggest democracy of the world, which will see more than a billions voters turning up to vote for their man, their party and their government and on the other hand the staging of IPL-2009 which is only gonna be bigger and better with every passing season. There was quite a tussle between the two events, mainly on the staging and clash of dates of the two, though the election are a much bigger and important event by any standards but the governing body of IPL wasn't ready to compromise on their cash rich event, which is richer and more popular than the most high profile test series or odi tournaments between any top teams in world cricket.
If the Indian political circle has Mr Narendra Modi to add to the charisma and spice to the political circuit the IPL has Mr Lalit Modi with all his might and shrewdness to combat any obstacle on his way be it demotivating the rival ICL compatriots, be it convincing the most stubborn cricket boards to change their itinerary or be it the Indian Government itself for the scheduling of the tournament as per the decided schedule. Mr Lalit Modi tried all his skills in cajoling the various state governments to provide extra security beefing for the high profile event but it came out as a sheer coincidence that all the BJP governed states readily agreed to provide any level of security but the ones which were being governed by the Congress or the allied units straigtaway refused to provide so, stating that by no means they want to compromise on the security between this two high profile events, probably because the UPA government dont want a repeat of Mumbai terror attacks or Lahore Attacks on Srilankan players which very nearly cost them their government, so they didn't want to take any chances which might by any means hurt their reputation and on the other hand NDA and BJP led alliance is trying to make the most of it as they are not at the helm of things. No matter what but Mr Modi tried his best by coming up with many modified fixtures but eventually he had to move the tournament out of India because by no way he wanted to cancel it, missing out on the golden eggs which the cash rich Hen yields.
I wonder how much the guys from pretoria and johannesburg will understand and enjoy the rivalry between KOLKATA Knight Riders and CHENNAI Super Kings but then the stats say only 2 % of the people and revenues comes up from the spectators present in the stadium and the rest 98% comes up from the TV viewership and television rights and with the tournament being scheduled at the prime time slots of 4 pm and 8pm IST,its again gonna top the TRP ratings. But there isnt a surity that IPL ratings will be the sole winners, with so much drama, glamour and technology involved in elections this time around. All the major political parties have comeup with their promotional songs claiming lot many things which i actually doubt they have done and promising far lot many things which i am sure they can never do. They have also roped in personalities from the world of movies, sports and every corner possible to actually campaign and stand in elections thereby increasing the glamor quotient and temperatures during elections this time around. So when you see Priety Zinta, Salman Khan, Md Azharuddin, Sanjay Dutt, Madan Lal, Shilpa Shetty preaching you to vote in elections or emphasizing on the fact that why they should vote for a particular party don't mistake it with a film shoot or film scene, they are actually a part of some polictical party. With new demigods like Varun Gandhi, Raj Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi the heat is only gonna increase, and with pettier and nonsensical issues as their agendas to woe the voters, i pity on them what good they are doing to themselves or to the nation by such gimmicks but they are certainly giving lot of frenzy and readymade food to the news channel to reap upon. When the political arena will see these new faces playing there cards in such a high profile fashion the world of IPL will also see some charismatic and most expensive performers in the world of cricket in the form of Kevin Pieterson, Andrew Flintoff and J P Duminy. How these heavy weights actually fare in their respectve arenas is a different outlook altogether but the frenzy and the hoopla they are gonna create is going to be HUGE!
No matter who wins or who loses, 2 things are very clear, first being the fact that all the high profile celebrities who are actually preaching us the importance of a voting and the true and honest intent of their respective parties, wont be a part of this electoral process as they will be busy holidaying in South Africa watching the IPL matches and secondly Indian Masses will be the sole winner in this action packed period of 2 months with so many artisans performing in the grandest of circuses ever held in the history of mankind!

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