Biggest B'day party in HYD !

Last Sunday, 24-04-2011, I have been to the biggest party in Hyderabad ! A birthday party celebrated by close to 45k people in a cricket stadium at Uppal, Hyderabad. Sachin Tendulkar turned 38... But SACHIN IS IMMORTAL ! As they say "age is just a mind over matter, if you do not mind it doesn't matter!!". This is definitely true in Sachin's case.. His passion for the game is unmatched...



Huge banners said it all... crowd cheered every run that came off his bat, yelled every time the ball went to him while fielding... gone mad for a few seconds when he fielded at the mid wicket boundary fence for a ball (I repeat - only for ONE BALL)... roof would have blown away with the noise made when he dived across to stop a single!!... sang birthday song... took snaps...






Majority of the crowd supported Mumbai Indians!! such is his charisma. I doubt if any other cricketer (or any other sportsman for that matter) has such huge fan following where ever he goes. Since I don't really believe in the existence of god, I hate when somebody calls him god. But yes... I do believe in his supernatural abilities & skills !! Really happy to have watched the master bat for over 8 overs and score 28 off 24.

A lot has already been said and written about this great man... and a lot more will be for sure in future... but, the more said, the less it will be !!

Anna Rocks !

How many of you heard about Anna Hazare? I would be lying if I say that I know who Anna Hazare is before April 5th 2011 !! But, after reading stuff about him, I now feel he is 'something' !

Mr. Hazare (73), is now easily the most respected person in India (may be more than the likes of CWC heroes Sachin & Dhoni). He is much touted as the modern day Gandhi for his silent yet aggressive stance on 'Jan Lokpal bill'. As I write this post, he entered the 4th day of his hunger strike ( fast unto death!) at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. Finally, somebody has stood on his toes to fight against the biggest menace for our society. Hats off Mr. Hazare !

Corruption has penetrated into the roots of our nation - from municipality to assembly and traffic police to CWG ! Almost anything (and anyone) can be bought these days - this has become a way of life (Indian life). The well known fact is people (specially govt. officials) do not move an inch if they are not bribed. Dozens of movies were made with corruption as the back drop... but we forget them the moment we step out of the cinema ! So much is being said all the time but hardly anything was done.

Glad that the youth of India is behind Hazare and trying their bit to change the nation. Overnight, this grandpa has become an icon (Note: By saying 'overnight', by no means I'm undermining what Mr. Hazare has done to this nation). Long live Hazare...

Peace out !

With the much hyped Ind Vs Pak semifinal match tomorrow, it is going to be a record breaking TRP event for sure. Students are planning give the classes a miss, working pros are planning to bunk the offices, in fact our company is organizing a live screening of the complete match ! little to do with the associate's interest though (more to make associates come to office!! win-win situation u know :P)...

All most all TV channels have made any news/info related to this match a headline! How many of you watch 'Headlines Today'? well for starters let me tell you, this is the English version of 'Aaj Tak' (on a serious note, both these channels belong to 'India Today' group! & hence those similar 'malasa' characteristics). I have been desperately watching Headlines Today over the past 4days just to see if there is any other important news than Ind Vs Pak semifinal ! Believe me... there was none!(at least to Headlines Today's knowledge :P) Cricket is & was the only headline.. all their shows are filled with news, views & debates on cricket... shockingly they have started showing highlights of all four previous Ind-Pak world cup encounters! something which Star Cricket does!! Headlines Today for sure has become everything else except a news channel... huh...

Anyway.... with Manmohan Singh inviting his Pak counter-part for the match & Mr. Gilani gleefully accepting the invitation, the game is not just a game anymore. In the sense, we are again going to start the 'Peace talks', 'Cross border terrorism' etc., These two bitter rivals, who used to celebrate when something bad happens in the other region are showing signs of friendship again! Relations have deteriorated from bad to worse over the past 4 years or so, with a series of bomb blasts and the infamous Mumbai hostility event. But it looks like cricket is going to reignite the talks between both nations, which is actually good. Lets just hope things progress +vely from hereon. But deep within still every one has a pinch of hatred for the other nation! & it cannot be wiped off with just game called cricket.

I read an interesting article in the morning. All hotels are running full in Mohali and cross borders visitors(call them spectators) have no accommodation. So, people of Punjab have shown amazing courtesy & offered accommodation in their very own houses !! I was awestruck when I read this ! When it comes to patriotism (call it hatred for Pak), two Indian states stand well ahead of the rest - Punjab & West Bengal !! But this time around people in Mohali are really acting as wonderful hosts - Hats off, take a bow Mohali !!

Media termed this match as the mother of all battles... Yes, it is against Pakistan but the truth is that it is just another match & it cannot be deemed bigger than final. There will be only one winner tomorrow - Cricket !

M for Marriage !

Over the past 6 months, one thought is drooling in my mind & it is about marriage. No, not mine... But people around me, colleagues I look at every day, friends who give me company on weekends.. every one, literally every one is getting married or at least thinking about it !!

Oh c'mon, I am hardly 26 and so are most of my friends.. few are a few months younger than me !! There are quite a few things that I did not understand so far in my two and a half decades of life. Marriage is one of them! What seemed fine till y'day changed drastically in less than 6months. 6 of my close friends got married in the last 4 months) and few more are in Pipeline. I'm struggling to find some proper company to hangout in free time. People who are married are busy setting up a new home... and people who are about to get married are busy going around their fiancees :P The only past time left for me now is to watch movies at home. Have to quickly find a way out to kill this boredom before it kills me...

Don't know what's happening, but whatever is happening not at all excites me ;-) am I weird or is it just the world around me? huh... what am I talking .. Good Night and Good Luck !

Bang Bang Begining

Cricket world cup 2011 has just begun and the men in Blue have started in style. After the 2007 world cup debacle, this was like the 'revenge of the fallen' ! and the revenge indeed is sweet !

Sehwag did exactly what he said before the tournament begun.. he said that he wants to spend all 50 overs at the crease and he almost did so. Good for the team.

Anyway.. the purpose of writing this is to post something very interesting that happened a week back. A day before I returned to Hyderabad (approx 10days back), I was chatting with Nikhil, a good friend of mine, over the office communicator. His predictions are mostly fluke but they sometimes turn out to be bang on ! The topic slowly moved to world cup and I asked him to predict the score in the inaugural match between Ind and Ban ... below are his predictions...

India - 378/4 (50 overs)
Sehwag - 176

and today I wish I had copied that conversation ! damn.. he is again so close ...!! I watched the India innings at his place today afternoon and we both burst into laughter on many occasions thinking of the chat and predictions we made. He is like the Emraan Hashmi in Jannat !

Next match is against Eng and there is more than a week gap. Will ask him to predict that match... u all readers can 'bet' with his help. Good Luck !