P A R T I N G

Parting is painful, to say the least.
Words, its seems, are getting paralyzed by this emotion.

Meanwhile, I will just borrow these and get solace from them:
The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.

separating,
Neo

Vision Twenty20? - Yes Y Not!!!

Honestly speaking posting, I was not a supporter of Twenty20, the new short format of cricket. It’s natural to have resistance to change. Probably, the “purist” in me was not ready to accept the change. When the game changed last time – from 5 day looong format to One Day – am sure there must be disbelievers. I can now feel their resistance then. But One Days are now as traditional as the Tests.

I started in to the Twenty20 World Cup Tournament as a disbeliever in the format. Mostly thinking, the game has unfairly tilted towards the batsman. But as the series have progressed, I have to admit that my views have changed. We had matches where bowlers have done a fine job and were instrumental in winning the match. The batsman is now under pressure to perform a feat of fours and sixes and a strike rate of 100 is just average. The bowlers tend to be at the receiving end in this blitz striking of ball but then even one dot ball turns the game.

Finally, it’s not about bowlers or batsmen as much as it is about the format. I have really warmed up to the format. The most appealing part of the format is the huge unpredictability which it comes with. Cricket, I think so, is one of the few sports which has historically involved in it a great deal of uncertainty – which is a trademark glory of Cricket. How many times we have heard commentators uttering trite words – “The game is not over till the last bowl is bowled”. Twenty20 has made the game extremely fickle, making it swing either ways and in the event makes it one of the most entertaining to watch.

More than the format, it was the need to innovate the game of cricket. Times are always changing and more importantly; change is the order of new time. Test Cricket, the purest and premier form of the game, is archaic. One-days too have lost their charm mainly because of a day long match, many times resulting in one sided contest. The boredom of sluggish middle overs was another major turnoff. With other sports offering an entertaining and short 3 hours to the very time strapped youngsters, Cricket needed a surgery to become trim and lean. After all, we are a “2-Minute” generation.

I have my frustrations too. But they are not on the format. I want to shout when India takes a wicket, pump up the volume and celebrate with the team; instead I am forced to face a disconnected ad which just makes me feel like making a ball of the telecaster and bash him with my bat. (I think so) The poor guy has his reason. The telecasters now have 40 overs to beam instead of 100. This is a perfect yorker on their ad sales and don’t want to miss the minutest minute to bombard you with ads.

Will Twenty20 become the order of the day by burying Fifty50? I won’t go against the Gods by predicting. Meanwhile, Cricket has become something which it never was - Fast, Exciting and Entertaining.

Converted,
Neo

Miss-ing You!!

Restaurants' yell "The food's here but where's the taste"
The beach squalls "The sand's here but names have erased"
New Beauty cries "I have lost my charm"
Hand mourns "There's none in my arm"
Cellphone squawks "I don’t ring much"
My friends say "Solitude is such"
24 Karat whines "I have lost my shine"
Methinks I have lost a part of mine
The winds which blow Westward
Your name, it seems, they have whispered
Sky's bright but am all blue
The least I say is "I Miss You"

lonely,
Neo

Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag Review: RGV ki (r)Aag

I am a movie buff who loves to watch movies and discuss the art of cinema. Till date, I have written reviews for movies which have moved me. This time too, it’s not going to be any different. Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag is indeed a moving film - It moved me out of the movie hall within 90 minutes. Flat.

I am was an ardent RGV fan because of this style of movie making. The self proclaimed maverick has more than impressed me in the past with his movies. But of lately, he is on a different high which is more than evident in the movie’s self indulgent title. From the title to the promos and trailers, the movie perfectly fits a b-grade category. And watching the movie confirms the category.

Given the classic Sholay, any one would make atleast a watchable film if he copies frame to frame. Such is the charm of the original. RGV deserves to be punished for carrying out a "Cinematic Rape" of the original Sholay. Just a quick read on the reviews will make a strong case against RGV for a rigorous punishment.

But unlike other reviews, I would like to highlight the "'highs" (pun intented) of the movie:

• The movie tests your endurance. It teaches to you be patient and increases you torture bearing capacity
• The movie boosts sales of the likes of Anacins and Crocins
• The movie cures Insomnia
• The movie teaches you to enjoy sadistic pleasures of life
• The movie helps you value the original Sholay more than ever before
• The movie will might ground RGV

Ending Note: This movie doesn’t even deserve to be written about. But I am earning my karma by saving someone's hard-earned money and rescuing him from an extreme mental distress.

Zonked,
Neo

The Man who moved a Mountain.....Literally!!!

No! It’s not an idiom for someone who toiled through the day and slogged in the night to achieve success. But about a man who actually moved a mountain!!!!!!

Outlook covers the story of Dasrath Manjhi, who single handedly cut a road through the huge mass of rock - massive 360 feet long, 25 feet high and 30 feet wide rock.

Every morning, for 22 long years, a frail, diminutive man, barefoot and clad in a loin cloth, would trudge two kilometres to a hillock of solid rock and chip away at it with a hammer and chisel.

Of course, the first question to hit our minds is why does he have to do that?

Dasrath eked out a living as a farm hand, toiling in the fields of local landlords on bare subsistence wages. One day, in the early '60s, his wife Phaguni fell ill and Dasrath set off with her to the nearest hospital. She died on the way. If only there was no hill blocking the road to the town, Dasrath would have made it to the hospital in time, and perhaps his wife's life would have been saved.

The villagers of Gelau, where Dasrath lived, had to take a circuitous route and travel 19 km to Wazirganj, the nearest district town with a hospital.

Dasarth - challenged by Nature and given his humble background – could have resigned to his fate. But the irony fate is; Dasrath decided to create history by changing the geography of his land. Armed with a mere chisel and hammer, Dasarth decided to cut a road through the huge mass of rock.

After 22 years - from 1962 to 1984 - of toil, Dasrath paved the way. The once long route of 19 KMs was now reduced to bare minimum of 6 Kms. The road stands as a memorial for her wife and an example of grit, determination and a will to make the world a bit better.

Dasrath Manjhi was building a memorial to his wife Phaguni Devi—one that won't ever find a place in hallowed global must-visit lists, but can well be passed down from this generation to the next as a monument of love. A poor man's Taj, literally. Not for its aesthetics, but for the way it symbolises the human spirit's capacity to endure, its indomitability.

So true, that these stories, probably will, never find a place in history. This post is a tribute to the man - Dasrath Manjhi (1934-2007) – who stood against all odds rocks.

Invigorated,
Neo