justdecemberthat

MOURNING RAGHUVARAN

2008-03-25T01:09:00.004+05:30

Actor Raghuvaran's death last week brought back memories of a conversation at Chennai's Besant Nagar Beach. A friend was reminiscing about a booze party with his college gang at night a few years ago. A lone stranger passing by starts chatting with them and says in a reflective mood, "don't indulge yourself too much or you will end up in the same mess like me."

That stranger was Raghuvaran, who, when the fancy took him, effortlessly breathed life into ill-etched roles. The tall figure was mostly confined to villain roles, but stood out especially in Ram Gopal Varma's Shiva as the counterpoint to Nagarjuna. Come the 1990s, overcoming Raghuvaran's compelling presence in Baasha propelled Rajinikanth to superstardom. And then there was the corrupt Chief Minister in Mudhalvan.

It was not just snarls though. Raghuvaran did get the occasional chance for tears, memorably as the hapless father in Anjali. Also sticking to my mind is the oh-so-brief but suave turn as Tabu's understanding boss in Kandukondein Kandukondein.

Pity he didn't do too many Malayalam films. But a couple of them stand out. Sangeeth Sivan's watchable action thriller Vyooham (1990) featured Raghuvaran in the lead as a conscientious customs official. And in 1992, he looked and acted the part of Father Alphonse, a character who drowns himself in drink after the French left Mahe, in Lenin Rajendran's Daivathinte Vikruthikal based on M Mukundan's book. A performance which got him his share of awards.

THE FALL OF FEDERER

2008-01-26T11:49:00.000+05:30

Novak Djokovic shows Roger Federer the exit door at the Australian Open semifinals, that too in straight sets. The harbinger of a change of guard in men's tennis or a slight blip in the path of a genius? Does this mark the beginning of the end of the Federer stranglehold over men's tennis?

Federer has dominated and enchanted the past few years with the game of a chameleon, with his genius adapting with supreme ease to opponents and surfaces. The likes of Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick have been reduced to rubble, with Federer making short work of them match after match. Marat Safin once showed Federer is not invincible (Australian Open 2005 semifinal), but the Russian has been too busy battling his inner demons and injuries. Clay court supremo Rafael Nadal has shown repeatedly that he can give Federer a tough fight outside the comfort zone of clay, but the Spaniard is a one-dimensional player.

I first noticed Novak Djokovic last year at the US Open, where he took on Federer in the final. The 20-year old Serb had a booming serve and oddles of power, reminding me of his countryman Slobodan Zivojinovic of the 1980s (1986 Wimbledon semifinalist). He had come into the US Open fresh from stunning Federer to clinch the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Djokovic lost in straight sets (7-6, 7-6, 6-4), but in the first two sets Djokovic stretched Federer to a tiebreak. The youngster had his chances to put it past Federer, but the big match temperament was missing.

Djokovic had arrived though, becoming the first Serbian to reach a Grand Slam final. Come January, Federer was to realise the power of the Serbian brigade. Round three of the Australian Open, Janko Tipsarevic came perilously close to packing off Federer.

A small blot in the copybook, or so it seemed, when I switched on the television to catch up on the Djokovic-Federer semifinal. And my eyes literally popped out on seeing the scores. Federer was two sets down, struggling to survive. The world number one was clearly not at his best, with one sublime passing shot followed by two unforced errors. The third set was still evenly fought, with Federer unwilling to surrender. But the Djokovic of January had the nerves to match his shots, when confronted with 'set point Federer'. Unlike the US Open, Djokovic's booming serve saved him when the chips were down.

Federer still remains peerless but there is nothing like a big defeat to give a fresh impetus to others. The 1986 World Open in squash saw the end of Jahangir Khan's five-year unbeaten run, which covered over 500 consecutive wins. New Zealander Ross Norman's upset triumph opened the floodgates, and a year later Jansher Khan had become a constant thorn in Jahangir's flesh.

So will Djokovic go the Jansher way or remain a one-title wonder like Ross Norman? In tennis, there is the case of the 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, who dismissed a Pete Sampras in his prime in the quarterfinals in straight sets. But the talented Dutchman simply faded out, never living up to his billing as a potential challenger to the Sampras throne.

Federer is closing on Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles, with 12 slams already. But it is better for the game if Federer is made to sweat it out for those titles. Whether it is Federer vs Nadal or Federer vs Djokovic tennis needs rivalries. A genius casting his spell across the court may be a pleasure to watch, but the game needs rivals up to the challenge. Rivals who can force Federer to push the envelope further.

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WHO'S THE GREATEST?

KUMBLE: 600 AND STILL COUNTING

2008-01-17T18:02:00.000+05:30

Yousuf Sale may be just a footnote in the history of first-class cricket. But a few horizontal movements of this first-class umpire's hand in 1988 changed the face of Indian cricket. Sale had noballed a schoolboy bowling medium pace for chucking. The schoolboy switched to legspin. Circa 2008, Anil Kumble is 600 wickets old.

I read about Kumble first in 1989 as an under-19 player who slammed a century against his Pakistani counterparts. He seemed a batsman who could bowl a bit. Somebody who could be a useful bits-and-pieces player in the one-day game. A year later he made a tentative test debut against England. The accurate leg-spinner who did not spin the ball was out after a few onedayers. The unassuming youngster wearing glasses I thought would end up a fringe player.

Cut to 1992. Maninder Singh was having a good domestic season and seemed a strong contender for the South Africa series. It all boiled down to the Delhi vs Rest of India Irani Trophy match. Maninder was thrashed for 218 runs, emerging with three wickets as Rest of India amassed 638. RoI followed it up by reducing Delhi to oblivion - winning by an innings and 122 runs. The chief architect - Anil Kumble with a rich haul of 13 wickets. There was no turning back after that.

Four tests in South Africa produced 18 wickets. And back in India, Kumble became the spearhead in the Azharuddin-Wadekar formula of victory after victory on slow designer pitches.

Dubbed as a seamer masquerading as a spinner, Kumble's relentless accuracy and bounce fetched him a bagful of wickets, and with time there was more spin too. In ODIs the accuracy meant it was difficult to get runs off him.

It was a different story outside the country though. Kumble had inspired India to a test victory over Sri Lanka in the early 1990s (India's only win abroad in the entire decade). But Kumble lacked bite when it came to tests in Australia, West Indies, England, New Zealand and South Africa through the 1990s and the early 2000s.

Even at home in the early 2000s, Kumble was no longer indispensable. In 2001, Harbhajan Singh was in the forefront, with a mind-boggling 32 wickets in three tests against Steve Waugh's Aussies, while an injured Kumble missed the entire series. Kumble did return and remained a certainty in the test side but an ODI spot was slipping out of his grasp. The highest ODI wicket-taker for India (he still is) missed out on the final XI for most of the 2003 World Cup matches.

Later that year, Harbhajan was preferred over Kumble in the Brisbane Test against Australia. The World Cup and now this, Kumble was becoming increasingly peripheral in then skipper Sourav Ganguly's scheme of things. But soon after Brisbane, it was an injured Harbhajan's turn to return the favour (of 2001 when Kumble's injury had given Harbhajan a place and 32 wickets against Australia). Kumble grabbed the chance with both hands, churning out 24 wickets off three tests. Nobody could label him a paper tiger abroad anymore

The much-hyped test series in Pakistan was next, a country where India had never ever won a single test, forget winning a series. Kumble was in his elements, striking at regular intervals as India pulled off a historic 2-1 triumph. By now, he was employing guile as much as his time-tested tool of accuracy.

Kumble did get to captain in an ODI against England in 2001-02 (with both Ganguly and Dravid missing) . But that seemed just a matter of trivia, for an unsung hero who was far away from the ad-mad world. Conventional wisdom (in India at least) had it that only a batsman made it to captaincy (the last bowler being Kapil Dev who was removed in 1987).

The BCCI does deserve some credit for not getting swayed by the Twenty20 heroics of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and opting for the veteran soldier Kumble, after Rahul Dravid stepped down.

There's been method in Kumble's leadership, just like his bowling. And the air of dignified articulation made the world sit up and listen, when he announced after the Sydney Test that only one team played fair. The same words from Sourav Ganguly would have sounded very different.

Guts Kumble has in plenty. No words can describe him dismissing Brian Lara, bowling with a bandaged face in 2002.

And he can think out-of-the-box too. December 2007 against Pakistan at hometown Bangalore , Kumble lit up the final day of the test with a surprise return to his bowling roots. Unleashing medium pace to extract full capital out of the unveven bounce, Kumble's five-wicket haul nearly propelled India to victory. Wonder what one of the spectators thought of this foray into medium pace. A certain Yousuf Sale.

INDIANS HIT THE ROAD AMID ELEPHANTS?

2008-01-13T11:03:00.000+05:30

Here's the venerable The New York Times proclaiming loudly 'Indians Hit the Road Amid Elephants'. Elephants prowling on Delhi roads? I have seen my fair share of cows, but elephants? Looks like an enthusiastic desk hand let his imagination run riot.

As you read the piece there's more. At least this morning there was no elephant chewing bamboo in the fast lane, as there sometimes is. I've been in Delhi for eleven years, and I have still not been privileged enough to bump into an elephant on the roads.

The article has raised some relevant points, but falls into the trap of stemming from a pre-determined conclusion, giving full scope for sprinkling it with the masala of cliches.

Elephantine traffic jams though are very much part of the plot in Delhi. But it is unfair to lay the blame only at the door of poor infrastructure. Narrow roads are part and parcel of most Indian cities, but that is one charge which cannot be levelled against most of Delhi. The capital city has the widest roads in the country, has the maximum number of flyovers. On the other hand, the reality is that the number of vehicles are simply too large.

Along with the sheer number, drivers and pedestrians alike have scant regard for traffic rules. Half the accidents could be avoided if they can resist the temptation to be there first as well as fast. More of discipline and less of jugaad would help matters considerably.

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NANOMANIA

FRIENDLIER BUSES IN THE CAPITAL

NANOMANIA

2008-01-12T12:41:00.000+05:30

From Nagpur to New York, the Nano has been making waves across the world. Undoubtedly a one-lakh car is a fantastic achievement and media hype is in overdrive mode.

It is a different matter though, when you are at the receiving end of Nanomania. I cursed my stupidity on Friday evening for travelling via Pragati Maidan en route to Connaught Place. While the media and the visitors to the Auto Expo in Pragati Maidan raved about the Nano (including the visiting Greek Prime Minister), there were thousands stuck in the crossfire, with cars waiting from Pragati Maidan to Connaught Place.

Add to this cacophony, a few thousand nanos replacing the horde of scooters and bikes, with the size of the roads remaining constant.

Autorickshaws too may go the Nano way. After all, a new autorickshaw costs around 1.2 lakh rupees. In terms of fuel efficiency, Nano gives around 20 km per litre. Not suprisingly, autorickshaw owners in Mumbai are seeking permits allowing the use of the Nano for public transport. A more comfortable ride is in store, only that you might have to spend longer time on the road.

The roads may get choked with Nanos, but we have no business pointing fingers at the Tata Group. The Nano is undoubtedly the stuff of dreams, appealing not just to the middle-class metro Indian but also catering to the aspirations of the small town Indian. With better infrastructure, Rata Tata's small car could well reach out to rural areas too.

Dr R K Pachauri of Nobel Peace Prize fame has suggested that the Tatas should better concentrate on investing in public transport.

Quoting Ratan Tata, “I agree that India lacks public transport but you are at the wrong press conference. We are not responsible for public transport.” He's right - that's the government's domain. The cities are crying out for better public transport, be it metro or buses. The metro has covered considerable ground in Delhi, and by 2010 most of Delhi (not to forget Noida and Gurgaon) will be accessible through the metro. One hopes that buses will also keep pace, with the rickety and menacing bluelines given a well-deserved burial.

Incidentally, the new sleek low-floor buses plying on Delhi roads are made by Tata. Buses which could well be the harbingers of comfortable travel.

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FRIENDLIER BUSES IN THE CAPITAL

THE BUCK STOPS HERE

2008-01-08T11:17:00.000+05:30

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Steve Bucknor has no business officiating internationally ever again, and it's not just about the Perth Test. The BCCI was right in flexing its muscles and now should ensure that Bucknor is given the marching orders from umpiring international matches.

Why does cricket have 'neutral' umpires from a third country? Precisely to avoid incidents like Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana badmouthing each other on the field. But it is not the first time Bucknor the so-called neutral umpire, once among the very best, has given India the rough end of the stick. When India was in Australia in 2003-04, Sachin Tendulkar was wrongly given out. Making mistakes is one thing, but what if you in addition, rudely dismiss senior players with rude gestures? In 2008 history repeats itself. And only one team is on the firing line. It is difficult to regard Bucknor's glaring errors against a particular team as mere coincidence. A biased neutral umpire should not be standing on the field.

Besides the bias, there is the age factor. The 1990s Bucknor was a respected figure, the 61-year old Bucknor of 2008 is incompetent. He was part of the blunder at the rain-hit World Cup final in 2007. In 2006, he even had the temerity to suggest that television production companies doctor images to make umpires look bad and key players look good. Without getting his basics right, who is Bucknor to crib about television replays?

It's high time Bucknor admits to the ravages of age, and come out of the arrogance of past reputation. He's already set his records (the only umpire to offciate in over 100 tests) and rendered a wonderful service to the game. Now the ICC should say 'thank you'.

In an era of all-pervasive technology, an umpire who is suspicious of using technology and claims technology portrays him in a bad light has no place. The man reeks of arrogance. I remember Bucknor's tall claims before a 1992-93 test series in South Africa that he did not need a third umpire to help in runout decisions (this was the first-ever test series with a third umpire). The second test, South Africa struggling at 26 for 4 and Jonty Rhodes is clearly run out. A decision which cried out for a third umpire. What does Mr See Everything Bucknor do? He refuses to refer it to a third umpire, ruling not out instead. The result, Jonty Rhodes scores 91 and lifts up South Africa. Who was the hapless fielding side? No prizes for guessing (Though on that occasion it was arrogance and not bias). Bucknor was lucky this incident happened in a quieter age when there was no TV news media in India.

A TRIUMPH OF CHARACTER

2008-01-04T01:59:00.000+05:30

At one end, a Van Gogh with his sublime brush strokes, enchanting a world dominated by straight lines. At the other, the master artist who honed his skills to perfection through years and years of dedication, struggling to draw even the straight line. V V S Laxman enchanted, while Rahul Dravid exasperated. The product of the union - a 175-run stand giving India a semblance of hope in the Sydney Test.

This was a Dravid struggling to put bat to ball, and leaving or patting away balls which would have sped to the fence on a normal day. He led a charmed life, caught off a no-ball once and dropped on another occasion. For somebody who had eked out a painful 5 off 66 balls and 16 off 114 balls in Melbourne, every single run seemed to be a cause for celebration.

The final output from Dravid's blade - 53 off 160 balls. A mediocre effort by any definition of class, but still worth its weight in gold. He had stayed long enough to craft a 175-run partnership with Laxman. And soon after Dravid's exit, Laxman was gone too.

It is easily forgotten that Dravid is performing a role he clearly is not comfortable in. Here's a man who inspired India to triumphs abroad from number three at Adelaide (233* & 72*), Rawalpindi (270) and Kingston (81 & 68). One can argue that a player of Dravid's calibre has no business having a block when it comes to opening the innings, but a long-time success story at number three deserves better than such tinkering with his position

Even at number three, Dravid has struggled to strike a rhythm this year, the nadir being the 12-run crawl at the Oval off 90-odd balls, when the team was pushing for victory against England (under his captaincy). Is throwing Dravid into a position where he is not comfortable the right step, when the batsman is striving to get back into form?

It's not the first time Dravid has become a victim to the pressures of 'team balance'. The early 2000s including World Cup 2003 had Dravid double up as the wicket-keeper too, so that India could bat deep. Never a specialist keeper, Dravid was far from the ideal option, but he still acquitted himself well.

It is a tribute to the man that he held on grimly at Sydney. He may not have defeated his inner demons yet, but on the crease he showed the willingness to battle those demons and stay put. Character is also about surviving in a hostile environement, where the fans and the media are baying for your blood.

MODI ALL THE WAY

2007-12-23T18:14:00.000+05:30

Narendra Modi is firmly back in the saddle for another five years. An expected verdict, though the scale of it exceeded the forecasts of most election pundits. After the triumph, Modi did not forget old wounds. So no one-on-one interviews with any news channel which aired the Tehelka sting. The winner takes it all, they say.

Here's a man who virtually singlehandedly propelled the BJP to power in Gujarat yet again. Narendra Modi weathered RSS and VHP displeasure as well as the wrath of the numerous party rebels. The likes of Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta (both former BJP Chief Ministers) have been exposed as political has-beens.

Modi mastered the art of rhetoric - be it soundbytes or provocative speeches. But would his formula of asmita (pride) and development have worked to this extent if the Congress had not played into his hands?

Sonia Gandhi did exactly that, by calling Modi as a 'maut ka saudagar'(merchant of death). Right on cue, Modi, who was talking of 'development' till then, was suddenly harping on terrorism and Sohrabuddin Sheikh. The Congress would have been better served, had they been able to project at least one local leader. The TV screen only showed the imports from Delhi - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The party had nobody to project at the local level, trying to counter Modi's claims of development. The Arjun Modhvadias and Bharatsinh Solankis remained anonymities while former BJP man Shankersingh Vaghela's influence was limited.

It is now forgotten that Modi got a shocker three years ago in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Defying predictions, the Congress had inched close to BJP with 12 seats and a 45.1 per cent vote share, while BJP had 14 seats and 47.4 per cent share. The Congress had enough and more time to corner Modi, only to surrender to rhetoric instead of getting their organisation right. A Congress leader said on TV that election verdicts are becoming 'geographically separated'. Against a well-entrenched local leader waiting for a pretext to polarise sentiments in his favour, grandiose accusations after flying down from Delhi simply did not work.

Modi the winner may have taken it all, but for the BJP the victory is a mixed blessing. The pundits on TV were interpreting BJP President Rajnath Singh's body language after the victory as 'glum' and 'graceless' in acknowledging Narendra Modi's overwhelming role. The party has the challenge of reconciling Modi's image with a moderate face they would like to convey to allies in future NDA coalitions. It was significant that the BJP chose to anoint L K Advani as their Prime Ministerial candidate, just when Modi was at his rhetorical zenith during the Gujarat campaign. Modi may have been able to hold on to his regional turf, despite enemies all around; but the national platform may be a different ball game.

Come Prime Time on Gujarat result day, Narendra Modi did have one competitor for screen space. And Rakhi Sawant's cries of 'dhokha' at losing out in the Nach Baliye final did turn the spotlight away from Modi on some news channels. A mixture of righteous indignation and copious tears, Rakhi was as dramatic as ever. Her latest publicity splash came as some relief to all those tired of the Moditva phenomenon.

ALL-TIME HIGH

2007-12-21T22:03:00.001+05:30

The ink is not dry yet on my previous post, but it looks like our Christian Brothers too will plump for more of the brandy (Christian Brothers aka CB being a popular IMFL brand in Kerala)

This IANS piece estimates Kerala liquor sales to hit an all-time high Rs 23 billion during Christmas, despite the Church call.

DON'T DRINK, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE

2007-12-19T18:18:00.000+05:30

God's Own Country is on a high, literally. Along with high literacy, Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country. And come festival time, be it Onam or Christmas-New Year, the tipplers are in overdrive mode. Onam this year saw sales of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) flow past the Rs 100 crore mark (we haven't yet counted toddy consumption). As we approach Christmas and the dawn of 2008, further record-breaking feats are expected.

That's the climate in which Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mar Varkey Vithayathil, exhorted his flock to desist from alcohol on Christmas. Vithayathil's Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese says they are sending letters to over one lakh Catholic families, besides awareness campaigns and Sunday sermons on the evils of booze.

It may be a small step, considering Christmas is just one day out of 365. And the Archbishop has not ventured into the other big booze-guzzling day - the dawn of the New Year. But it's still a laudable effort, in a state where the government's steps have been mostly restricted to heavy taxes. Only that increased taxes lead to greater revenue for a government which complains of being perennially cash-strapped. Hooch (illicit liquor) tragedies, ranging from Vypeen in the 1980s to Kalluvathukkal in 2000 have caused the occasional jolt, but tipplers continue to go strong.

There's religious tradition too backing alcohol, in parts of Kerala. The Malabar region has the Parassinikadavu Muthappan Temple near Kannur, where it is customary to offer toddy to the deity Muthappan (a form of Shiva)

Public figures haven't helped matters, failing to come to the forefront expressing concern. Some of them instead have gone to the other extreme, such as Mohanlal and this controversial ad campaign for a whisky brand.

Does a celebrity with mass appeal in Kerala like Mohanlal need an explicit liquor ad for some extra pocket money? Sadly this image of Mohanlal is very much in synergy with many of his recent 'male machismo' films.

The Archbishop's call for a 'dry' Christmas may just remain a cry in the wilderness in a state where his followers quote Jesus Christ turning water into wine to support their thirst for liquor. But the Syro-Malabar Church's concerted campaign is a good beginning, as long as it remains a campaign and not a diktat.

DUS TO DUST

2007-12-08T17:24:00.000+05:30

Ten different stories, using six different directors. Dus Kahaaniyan chose to take the road less travelled by, prompting me to catch the series of short films on day two of release.

We were welcomed by a near-empty hall. And a group of kids who were eagerly awaiting the Sanjay Dutt episode left after a while, unable to take the long wait.

In the end, they didn't miss too much. While we ended up watching utter no-brainers like High on the Highway (Jimmy Shergill's junkie act), Sex on the Beach (a lot of flesh and a horrible horror flick) and Zahir (The almost-invisible Manoj Bajpai trying to radiate intensity). Strangers in the Night and Lovedale had interesting twists in the end, but both stories as well as the execution fell flat.

The finale, with Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty as underworld dons, reeked of Sanjay Gupta. All style and no substance, the only thing which stood out was the quick intercuts between Dutt and Shetty and the two kids with a supari to kill Dutt's character. Deja vu was written all over Dutt's don, which has seen Kaante, Vaastav, Khalnayak and countless other flicks. A shootout or two does not make a Quentin Tarantino.

Dus Kahaniyaan wasn't all downhill though.

'Gubbare' may have been a predictable story, but Nana Patekar got it right as the loving husband.

Shabana Azmi gave a riveting performance as the prejudiced Tamil Brahmin in Rice Plate. And so did Naseeruddin Shah who conveyed so much without actually saying much. The plot though, is suspiciously similar to the 1989 short film The Lunch Date

And the pick of the lot - Meghna Gulzar's directorial short Pooranmashi, showcasing Amrita Singh as a Punjabi mother, whose extra-marital fling ends in tragedy. Gulzar's daughter had rich material to work on, a short story by renowned Punjabi author Kartar Singh Duggal.

But all in all, just style quotient does not an experiment make. One prefers a smooth line to curves with too many deep troughs and too few crests to savour. A common theme would also have helped matters, giving the series a sense of purpose.

For redemption I will need to watch Paris J'et aime , Life in a Metro or Adoor Gopalakrishnan's latest Naalu Pennungal.

LOOKING FOR THE GAME

2007-12-07T01:07:00.000+05:30

An India-Pakistan test series where the on-field action is reduced to a sideshow? The ongoing series has achieved this dubious distinction, with reams and reams of space cornered by the likes of Dilip Vengsarkar and Gary Kirsten.

The headlines kept shifting inch by inch. One day Vengsarkar was angry, soon he felt humiliated and then the buzz was that he would throw it all away. Only to end up with blurbs of 'Vengsarkar relents', with the Colonel still holding on to his job as Chairman of Selectors. An uneasy calm for now, but it seems just a matter of time before further twists in the tale.

And then Gary Kirstem popped up out of the blue as the coach-in-waiting. One operation BCCI carried out stealthily. But could suspense be far behind? The 'will he, won't he' question arose after reports (conveniently fed by relevant sources?) that senior players were unhappy. This conundrum was solved in public by Kirsten, when he conveyed over the phone to news channels that he was on board.

Despite all this, the team's done pretty well on the field. Probably because BCCI, Vengsarkar and Kirsten diverted the media.

Things were quiet with Pakistan initially, with Shoaib Akhtar not coming up with any tantrums on the field. Rather, he was playing the prima donna when it came to Bollywood offers. It was just a sorry tale of a weak side futher crippled by injuries, and struggling to field 11 fit men on the field.

But now as the third test approaches there is more than a hint of drama surrounding stand-in-captain Younis/Younus (there was a big debate over his spelling in the newsroom) Khan. If you want it straight from the horse's mouth, it's Younus.

Younus Khan is now apparently refusing to lead the Pakistan side, if he does not get the side he wants. All that was missing was some action directly to do with the teams. Now we have it.

There is the blast from the past too, for good measure. Javed Miandad's claim that Imran Khan had faced a player revolt during the course of Pakistan's World Cup triumph in 1992.

Cricket's been reduced to a carnival of big egos, verbal spats and controversies. It doesn't hurt the cause of news one bit though.

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THE AUTUMN OF THE PATRIARCH

2007-12-05T02:14:00.000+05:30

An aggressive bunch armed with sticks throwing chairs all over the place. After the mayhem they make good their escape, save one. And the one aggressor who was unlucky enough to be caught is beaten black and blue, as news channels have a field day. The women shown in the images are no less active, using their chappals to devastating effect, as the former aggressor takes blows all over.

These are not visuals of mob violence from Bihar or the Hindi heartland. Instead they come straight from urban Kochi in Kerala. The protagonists being two marginalised political groups - one being the supporters of an ageing father past his prime and the initial aggressors apparently supporters of his 'estranged' son.

K Karunakaran and son K Muraleedharan have been at daggers drawn in public the past few days. The father talking of a return to the Congress, while the son rejected the idea. The Kochi melee merely added violence to the war of words.

It's still difficult to believe that the 89-year old politician who's striving desperately to come out of political irrelevance, and his son, who he's tried desperately to prop up all these years, are at loggerheads. It's not the first time they've spoken in different voices, publicly at least, only to come together. Net result of the violence, Karunakaran's got some attention while some foot soldiers got a few hefty blows.

It's sad that the 'Leader', who once reigned supreme in the state Congress, is reduced to such a pitiable state that he has to invite himself back to the parent party. And the Congress is not exactly welcoming him with open arms.

And son Muraleedharan, whose advances in politics coincided with the decline of his father's influence, has been pushed to a corner. His last few electoral attempts have left him red-faced and he seems condemned to the fringes as no more than a bit player in either the UDF or the LDF. Unless of course the father manages to get him back to the parent party. For inspiration, Karunakaran just needs to look up on an India map. He'll find a certain H D Deve Gowda right above his state.

JUST DECEMBER THAT

2007-12-02T00:46:00.001+05:30

The first day of December and what do I see on TV in one of the Malayalam channels? Suresh Gopi alternating between words and fists in the 1994 blockbuster Commissioner.

Cinematic brilliance is not something Commissioner can boast of. But here was an actor spouting tongue-twisters in the English language non-stop, slamming politicians left, right and centre. Scriptwriter Ranji Panicker gave full expression to his formula of long-winded and loud dialogues, peppered with subtle and not-so-subtle references to contemporary events, politicians and scams. And the 'villain' characters had shades of real-life political figures. Grist to the mill for a Malayali audience which laps up any kind of news, gossip and references to politicians and scams.

Armed with an MA in English, there was no looking back for Suresh Gopi, as he hollered away to box office glory in many a film, loud cop or otherwise. Gopi's trademark sheeeeeeeeet (shit) became a war cry not just for him, but also for hundreds of mimicry artistes. English swear words became hip.

And Gopi reached new standards in comic delight (albeit unintentional) with his unforgettable gesture of breathing defiance at the villain in 'Mafia'. Left arm folded and lifted up, a powerful tap on the elbow using the palm of the right hand and right on cue, a powerful 'Up Yours'.

A few years down the line, Gopi also decided to try his luck with Hindi too. I still vividly remember watching 'Mahatma' around 1998, where he suddenly was talking to somebody in Hindi and I heard him say 'paincho'. It took a while for me to realise what he was actually trying to say.

But nothing like Commissioner. Sample this killer dialogue , an inspiration to a whole generation of mimicry artistes. Thanks to them 'Just Remember That' became 'Just December That'.

And a blog title was born, despite hints that the title was a bit too camp.

DANCING TO THE WRONG LINES

2007-12-01T03:37:00.000+05:30

Walk in to office eyeing a peaceful night shift, what do you get? A few Dalit organisations have figured out that Madhuri Dixit was dancing to the wrong tune or rather wrong lines in the title song of Aaja Nachle.

On release day they suddenly seem to have realised that the line 'Mochi chala banne sonar" (cobbler tries to turn goldsmith) is offensive and derogatory. Udit Raj and his Indian Justice Party says the filmmakers are trying to say that a cobbler is the lowest in the society. He may have a point, though the lyricist as well as the Censor Board missed the potential for 'social implications.'

But where was Udit Raj and his group all these months? The song's been playing repeatedly for quite some time. But then when it comes to protests, timing is everything. Without a cinema hall screening the film, where's the space to protest?

In no time, Mayawati's stepped into the act and banned the film in UP. And wants a ban all over the country.

As for makers Yash Raj, they are quick to switch to damage-control mode by snipping off the offensive part. And life goes on.....the Indian Justice Party's got its protest visuals screened across the country and more attention and curiosity surrounds Aaja Nachle.

But lyrics, dialogues and film titles do have the potential to offend, especially in communities sharply divided on caste lines. Read Dalit outfit Puthiya Thamizhagam leader Dr S Krishnaswamy's reasons for opposing the Kamal Haasan film titled Sandiyar (Rowdy). The film was ultimately released as Virumandi.

SRK AND MEGALOMANIA

2007-11-29T08:57:00.000+05:30

He's here, there and everywhere. The box office is chanting Om Shanti Om and every sporting triumph is accompanied by the Chak De India chorus.

Shah Rukh Khan is all over the place like never before. A hockey triumph at the Asia Cup and news channels make a beeline for SRK's comments. The Twenty20 World Cup fnal, SRK is there to celebrate victory along with the cricket team.

It's not enough being a mascot for sporting triumphs, come Om Shanti Om and the 40-something icon's six-pack abs are out to mesmerise. Sureshot material for magazine cover stories on men and the body. And then the publicity blitz for Om Shanti Om - be it soundbytes, interviews, cricket matches and Dard-e-Disco contests.

The film itself did not have much of a storyline to boast of, but successfully evoked nostalgia and retro with mostly enjoyable digs at the past. And ended up being a celebration of SRK megalomania. What else, with over 30 leading stars from the past and present jiving to the beat of Om Shanti Om.

Manoj Kumar's rant at being 'insulted' in the film only served to pump up the publicity. Add a dash of controversy over SRK's thumbs-up for smoking leaving Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss displeased. And the number one headline over BCCI comments that SRK was attending cricket matches to garner attention to his films.

Early this year one thought Amitabh-Abhishek-Aishwarya would be numero uno in Bollywood. But all the Big B's managed are disasters like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. Worse still, the Samajwadi Party's electoral rout in Uttar Pradesh, with people showing scant regard for his 'UP mein hai dam, kyunki jurm yahan hai kam' ad blitz. And the flak he got for the Barabanki land deal in UP. Busy doing the rounds of temples, a better 2008 is all they can hope for.

Meanwhile, leading British-Asian paper Eastern Eye's list labels SRK the Sexiest Asian man in the world in 2007.

KIRSTEN & THE COACH QUESTION

2007-11-29T01:35:00.000+05:30

Looks like Gary Kirsten will be coaching the Indian cricket team. Who knows, there might still be further twists before the official announcement. But at least this time the BCCI made its moves quietly, shielding their latest interviews from the media gaze.

Kirsten made his name as a gritty, hard-as-nails South African opener over the 1990s and early 2000s, and has battled it out in the field against the Indian seniors like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid and Kumble. But unlike a John Wright, who had made a mark as Kent coach, Kirsten does not have enough coaching acumen to talk of. It's been just about four years after he played his last test. A stint as Cricket South Africa's high performance manager, and a privately-run Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy does not say much. All in all, a battler as player but an unknown quantity as coach.

Is it worth the risk going for an 'unknown' like Kirsten at the expense of desi contenders like Lalchand Rajput, who's given results during his ongoing stint as coach? A Sandeep Patil, who coached Kenya to a surprise semifinal appearance in the 2003 World Cup, was unwelcome. And he's now cast his lot with the ICL.

Getting a John Wright did make a positive difference to the fortunes of the national side, and Greg Chappell did have his share of good ideas (the Rajasthan state board is now using his expertise). But does it justify a blind belief that only a foreign coach can take Indian cricket forward?

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DEFINING THE WORD EXCLUSIVE

2007-11-28T01:41:00.000+05:30

6 am Wednesday. As the day breaks it's 'General No More' Pervez Musharraf who opens the news channel headline pack. As the stories unravel, Nawaz Sharif appears on one, then the next and then a third. In no time the quote-happy Sharif is holding forth on all three channels.

Two of them do have Sharif at the other end, while the third tries to cover up the fact that they got Sharif only on the phone with snazzy packaging. Besides getting the same man, what's common across the three channels? The word 'exclusive' blaring out on the screen.

Dictionaries say something 'exclusive' is not divided or shared with others. In the context of journalism a piece of news, or the reporting of a piece of news, obtained by a newspaper or other news organization, along with the privilege of using it first.

Did all three speak to Nawaz Sharif exclusively? If so, the English language is an ass. And the few (?) who may have switched on the telly early in the morning (that too to figure out news) easily impressionable.

To us not to reason why. Just fire the exclusive band before the competitor.

KERALA AND CRICKET

2007-11-19T21:02:00.000+05:30

Sreekumar Nair scoring a triple hundred in a Ranji Trophy match last Friday. An obscure footnote on sports pages.

But not if you are a Malayalam newspaper. There it's another 'Sree', another 'Shobha'. A milestone for a state not known traditionally for its cricketing prowess. A marathon achievement for a team whose batsmen struggle to get hundreds on a consistent basis.

As it is, Kerala's had too few batsmen to boast of. Balan Pandit in the 1950s and 60s whose record of 262 not out Sreekumar Nair broke. And K Jayaram in the 1980s, who struck a purple patch in the 1986-87 season, with four centuries out of five matches. That season 'minnow' Kerala did not lose a single zonal match, grinding out draws against bigwigs Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the first time ever. There's also Kerala's all-time top rungetter, Sunil Oasis from the 1990s and 2000s

Kerala's had better luck with its bowlers, especially in the last few years. Tinu Yohannan began his test career in style against England in 2001, with a wicket in his very first over. But two more tests and he found himself out in the cold. Tinu may never get a national call-up again, but he will forever remain the one who opened the floodgates. The first-ever test cricketer straight from Kerala (Abey Kuruvilla from Mumbai does not count)

And Tinu's emergence also had a sense of transition from Kerala's sports strengths like atheletics and football. Tinu being the son of the legendary T C Yohannan, Asian Games long jump gold medallist in 1974, Asian record holder for more than a decade and national record holder for three decades. (For more on T C Yohannan read this article)

Nearly a year after Tinu played his last test match (December 2002) two raw seamers were tired out in a practice match against the touring New Zealanders. Those days, Munaf Patel was billed the fastest bowler in the country and the hype around him overshdowed Sreesanth, who showed promise in that match. It didn't take too long for Sreesanth to make that leap into the big league.

Before them there was the promising seamer V Hariharan in the 1970s and 80s, who's now Kerala coach.

The 1990s was dominated by the unlucky Ananthapadmanabhan, who kept scalping wickets with his legspin season after season, and ended up with a tally of over 300. But he didn't have that big match at the zonal level, and in the era of Anil Kumble fell short of the big leap to the national side.

It was in the 1990s that Kerala broke the glass ceiling for the first time, qualifying for the knockout stage from South Zone. Kerala's never sizzled yet in the later stages, but after topping South Zone the team realised they can hold their own at the highest level.

As for now, the bowling attack has bite, but Kerala still awaits the batsman extraordinaire who will go all the way to Team India.

Let's not count Robin Uthappa from Karnataka, who was given three lakh rupees by the Kerala government after the Twenty20 triumph, while Sreesanth got five lakh. Well, Uthappa is half-Malayali, which seems to be why the reward is half of Sreesanth's.

Here's an earlier piece by Ramachandra Guha on Keralites turning the corner in cricket.

NATAKA UNLIMITED

2007-11-19T17:12:00.000+05:30

It's been just one week. CM Yeddyurappa has already become past tense.

With a restive Deve Gowda around, the 'Karnataka politics' headline was expected to change in no time, but don't the people of the state deserve a break from this non-stop drama? Even we news channel foot soldiers deserve a break from Gowda's machinations.

A BJP in a desperate hurry for the symbolic value of a Chief Minister down south. But even if you are itching to bat (after bowling and fielding for a while, as Yashwant Sinha said), it's a better idea to ensure an even-paced wicket to bat on rather than an underprepared minefield. Especially if Deve Gowda is turning the ball square with his wrong 'uns. It's impossible to tackle a former Prime Minister (we are talking of India, not Karnataka) whose motto is 'either my son or I am a secular humble farmer.' The party's been forced to realise that a hurried 'Twenty20' approach could also mean 'do and die'.

As for Yeddyurappa, the man in a hurry to be CM, it's difficult to feel any sympathy, though he's been betrayed by the JD(S) or rather the Gowda parivar. He could take some scholarly advice from Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose first government (1996) lasted just 13 days. And it wouldn't be bad idea to get back to his astrologer's drawing board, and chart out a new spelling.

Yeddyurappa (formerly Yediyurappa) may just ride on sympathy. And the Congress would do well to fight an election without help from the humble farmer and son.

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CHAPPELL'S RACISM TIRADE

2007-11-14T09:24:00.000+05:30

Igniting controversy is something Greg Chappell never seems to tire of. Be it making brother Trevor bowl underarm against New Zealand to ensure victory for Australia or leaked emails and revelatory soundbytes/interviews during his tenure as Indian cricket coach.

Now he's joined the Australian racism chorus against India, claiming in a forthcoming TV interview in Australia that an attack on him by a crazed fan in Bhubaneswar in January this year was because he was a foreigner. A white-skinned Chappell discriminated against in India of all places? That's laying it a bit too thick.

Chappell seems to have forgotten that he wasn't very high on the popularity charts in India those days. And news channels were having dig after dig at Guru Greg and his laboratory. Unfortunately for him, his declining stock came in the way of any possible outrage.

He does have a right to feel outraged that the BCCI played down the incident. But comparing his plight to Andrew Symonds is just not on.

Not surprisingly, Chappell on Indian news channels was trying to steer clear of the controversy. After all, he is not yet fnished with Indian cricket, with a coaching assignment in Rajasthan.

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FRIENDLIER BUSES IN THE CAPITAL

2007-11-13T11:31:00.000+05:30

Diwali day - Delhiites zipping by in their swank cars stopped and stared, treated as they were to a spectacle of green on the roads. At long last, here was public (road) transport in the capital city which made you say, 'wow' on the face of it. A dozen sleek green buses had made their debut.

As a veteran of many a hair-raising Blueline ride, I simply had to assure myself it was indeed possible to undertake a bus journey with some degree of comfort. So Saturday afternoon I landed in Sivaji Stadium terminus in Connaught Place, waiting for the dream bus.

It was a bit of a wait, but the Tata-Marcopolo bus lived up to expectations. Here was a low-floored bus which women, children and the physically challenged could board easily. Automatic gear system, GPS - drivers have the latest technology in front of them. And speed governors are firmly in place to halt the drivers' adrenaline rush.

And all those macho males can no longer cling on to the footboard, because the door has to be closed before the bus moves.

But sleekness can also be a double-edged sword. The day I was travelling the bus crew was all at sea grappling with a GPS system which had to be activated for the bus to move. Technology is great, but what if the end-users don't know how to use it? Also with so many poor stretches of roads, are these buses too delicate to survive? Three buses reportedly broke down on day one.

It's a pity that the Delhi government needed to quote the 2010 Commonwealth Games to move forward on basic transport infrastructure. The capital city of the country should have acted long back. That said, here's to a green future without the rampaging bluelines.

WAITING FOR THE DEPUTY

2007-11-11T22:07:00.000+05:30

We are familiar with tales of intrigue and breathless suspense when it comes to deciding on a Chief Minister. But how about prolonged suspense over a Deputy Chief Minister, with the CM decided and all set to be sworn in? Even though the choice is almost a foregone conclusion.

Janata Dal(Secular) or Deve Gowda and Sons Ltd has refused to announce its Deputy CM in Karnataka just yet, preferring to wait till the vote of confidence on November 15. Till then, we also won't get to know who their ministers will be. Pragmatic, considering Deve Gowda and Sons Ltd has a restless bunch of legislators who are willing to swing from one perch to the other at the first hint of trouble.

In corporate lingo, by staying in power all of them might have got confirmed in their job. But then if only some get a bonus (ministerial berths) before the vote of confidence, the others might get too restive a bit too soon. The solution - announce the bonus only after weathering the first big hurricane.

In a world of no permanent friends or enemies, it was no surprise that the latest JD(S) headline package was announced by M P Prakash, the very person who was so near to splitting the party and allying with the Congress.

This mixture of caution and farce should come to an end by the end of the week, with H D Kumaraswamy being the odds-on favourite to be Deputy CM. But then Deve Gowda has a problem of plenty - two equally ambitious sons. H D Revanna wouldn't mind the chair himself and the 'humble farmer' has the unenviable task of meeting both aspirations. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu's DMK strongman Karunanidhi can vouch for the fact that it's a tall order keeping both Stalin and Azhagiri happy.

As each day passes and tidbits of information sneak out, the headlines will keep rolling. Fodder for news channels but frustration for the people. The hapless denizens of Karnataka who have ended up seeing as many as three CMs from three different parties in three years. (without any election after 2004).

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KUMBLE'S COMING, BCCI'S GOOGLY

2007-11-09T16:22:00.000+05:30

It's good to know that there are occasions when the BCCI acts sensibly. And steals a march over news channels, bamboozling them with the perfect googly - one Anil Kumble would have been proud of.

Yesterday, all the test captaincy speculation was centred around Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Some channels were absolutely sure Dhoni would be made captain, with generous doses of 'information' from reliable 'sources'. And Dhoni profile stories were already on overdrive - small-town boy, long hair, his Bollywood fans, Musharraf's tongue-in-cheek comment on Mahi's long locks and last but not the least his test career statistics.

But as day turned to night and Younis Khan flogged the Indian bowling at Mohali, anchors began to seek refuge in doubt, and wary speculation replaced confident bluster. Dhoni still remained frontrunner but a cloud of doubt hung over the headline.

The Anil Kumble star was clearly on the ascendant and by the time India hurtled to defeat, 'information' trickling in was pointing towards Kumble. And the BCCI chose to break the news in a written statement as the clock wound its way to midnight. India may have been lurching to sleep, but the world of TV news and its denizens were wide awake. Caught napping, with all speculations laid to rest. It was time to wake up to Kumble profiles - gentle giant, India's highest test wicket-taker (and ODI too), 10-wicket haul in an innings against Pakistan and trapping Lara lbw with face heavily bandaged.

Sensible choice by BCCI in the dead of night, catching the media off-guard. For all his skills, Dhoni is still not ready for leadership in the five-day game. And it's good to have an experienced and level-headed mind at the helm, ensuring a smooth transition to the younger Dhoni later. It's also the ultimate reward for a loyal soldier, who's won far more matches for India than ad contracts.

It also helps that Kumble's shadow won't be looming over Dhoni in ODIs , the leg-spinner having already bid adieu from the one-day game.

But the intruding cameras will remain trained on the flashy Dhoni, rather than the scholarly Kumble. Today a news channel ran a story on Dhoni going to watch Om Shanti Om. The cricket correspondent was busy describing Dhoni's Om Shanti Om trip over the phone. Amen to mindless entertainment and celebrity-gazing.

Suits the unassuming Kumble just fine.

BJP's POWERFUL DEEPAVALI

2007-11-08T21:35:00.000+05:30

No more President's Rule and Yeddyurappa (formerly Yediyurappa) is within touching distance of being Karnataka Chief Minister. The BJP can now strut around chanting Karnataka to all questions about them being a North India/Hindi heartland party. It also helps that the BJP has a Chief Minister in a southern state, soon after its war of words over the Ram Sethu with the self-appointed champion of Dravidian ideology, Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi.

But does the party really understand the South? In the 2004 elections they didn't do their homework well except in Karnataka, ensuring an unexpected defeat at the Centre. And now, this laboured limp to power in the only southern state where they got a foothold three years back, could well chip away at that foothold (for the next state election at least). Poor Yeddyurappa ended up expressing happiness in faraway Delhi in his faltering Hindi, a language he is far from comfortable with.

And BJP President Rajnath Singh had the gall to thank the people of 'South India' for giving them the opportunity. Firstly, Mr Singh, the people of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had nothing to do with this deepavali 'gift'. And secondly and more importantly, the people had no choice over this alliance, imposed on them by a majority of legislators.

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THE ADULT HARRY

2007-11-06T22:32:00.000+05:30

An adult wizard grappling with the abnormal interrupting a normal world, that's Harry Dresden for you. He thinks and talks like a wisecracking world-weary detective in the Philip Marlowe mould. But he stands out by being the only one of his kind, a wizard private detective sniffing the mean streets of Chicago.

Thanks to HRV's book investigating skills, I got to devour the first book in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. It was a good change to read a fantasy novel populated by adult wizards, after Harry Potter, Narnia and the Dark Materials trilogy. And the murders are as brutal as it can get, starting with two human hearts ripped off their bodies.

Dresden's special powers make him the archetypal misfit. His magical power ensures that modern implements quail at his touch, ranging from telephones to elevators. The flip side, he struggles to use them when most needed. The police take his help, but regard him with a mixture of suspicion and disdain.

Too involved in human concerns, Dresden does not cut much ice with the wizard world too. All in all, it's a tightrope walk throughout.

But in a cruel and cynical world, Dresden keeps humanity alive.

The successful book series was spun into a TV series earlier this year but failed to make a mark. Harry Dresden's role is essayed by a certain Paul Blackthorne (remember the arrogant Captain Russell of Lagaan)

PROSPERING ON NOSTALGIA

2007-11-02T01:21:00.000+05:30

He's at a loss when it comes to geeks and gizmos. But when it comes to the crunch, it's John McClane's old-fashioned virtues of wisecracks and punches, along with shooting skills and furious fists which win the day. The latest film in the Die Hard series Live Free or Die Hard has McClane of the old world carving a space for himself in the new.

Bruce Willis' cult character gets a lot of help from a cyber geek, but manages to preserve the charm of the old-world action hero out to save America with his guns and fists. It's a pleasure watching him relish the 1960s vintage Creedence Clearwater Revival music on screen, in front of a young geek fed on hip-hop.

But this could well be among the last such films, as the all-action heroes of the 1980s and 1990s disappear into the sunset. They may not have won top prizes for acting, but the likes of Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger entertained audiences across the world with bone-crunching action.

Arnie, the Governor of California, has moved on but the others are still around, trying to extend their sunset period. But with nothing new to offer, the surefire formula to hold on is nostalgia.

Thus Bruce Willis taps into memories with the fourth Die Hard instalment. Schwarzenegger signs off with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines before taking over as Governor. And Sly Stallone reprises Rocky Balboa for the sixth time, the very character who jumpstarted his career from obscurity more than three decades ago. Following the success of Rocky Balboa (2006), the 61-year old Stallone is now aiming to make box office capital of his 198os relic Rambo for a fourth time. The 2008 release comes a staggering two decades after the third version.

Old heroes may not be a patch now on their former glory. But with nostalgia abounding, they simply refuse to fade away.

GOWDA BENDS, BJP RISES

2007-10-28T10:09:00.000+05:30

This was one development I didn't bargain for, that too so soon. After treating the BJP with utter disdain and making grandiose statements about their commitment to secularism, Deve Gowda and son have handed over the Karnataka Chief Minister's chair on a platter to the BJP. And the BJP is all set to have their first-ever CM in a southern state.

Gowda and son Kumaraswamy may have made successful even if cosmetic overtures to the semi-urban and rural electorate, but they forgot the basics when dealing with impatient and insecure legislators looking for a way out of President's rule. Faced with the prospect of a split in the JD(S), it was all about clinging on to scraps of power, with arrogance thrown out of the window. But then, at the end of the day, there's still power to wield.

Meanwhile, the man all set to be CM has gone the Jayalalithaa way. He's now Yeddyurappa, an 'i' short of Yediyurappa. Eyeing power without the i.

So no more 'Karnataka Crisis' headlines till Gowda allows the pride he's swallowed to slip out. And the opposition Congress knows that whenever elections come, they can only do better.

LEFT AND THE PRACTICE OF RHETORIC

2007-10-27T05:27:00.000+05:30

It's been a while since the CPM and the rest of the Left parties began their 'we'll pull the plug on the UPA government if they go ahead with the nuclear deal' talk. And with the UPA agreeing to put on hold the operationalisation of the deal, the Left is now on their high horse.

There are whispers of new alliances, with the CPM making overtures to old pals Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandrababu Naidu. The term 'third front' is again being polished and brought back from the graveyard.

We are seeing a UPA government in paralysis, a Congress pushed to the wall, unsure whether to rally behind the Prime Minister. And Manmohan Singh continues to reflect the perils of being a politician by accident.

Nuclear deal or not, life will go on. Isn't it high time the Congress either unequivocally stood by the deal or jettisoned it to keep the government alive? As for the Left, they seem all the more keen to increase the decibel levels of their bark.

But what about the bite? The Congress may have blinked this time but is the Left ready for the prospect of polls? Electoral arithmetic clearly advises that biting would have uprooted a few teeth for the Left.

Starting with Kerala, the LDF government has been on an alienating spree. Any election would mean a rout, with the opposition Congress gleefully gaining.

In West Bengal, the Left Front will hold fort, but faces erosion in their mass base. The scars of Nandigram are still fresh and the recent ration riots are also an ominous signal.

Any election and the Left faces the prospect of being a less influential pressure group. The best option - cosy up to Mulayam and Naidu and drop hints of a third front.

As for the nuclear deal, there was a lot of hollering but was there ever a debate? Did we hear much more than neo-colonialist and imperialist US and George W Bush? All the statements sounded more like election speeches at Delhi's leftist bastion Jawaharlal Nehru University. The anti-US tirade resembled the enthusiasm with which the JNU Students Union removed a Nestle outlet inside the campus a few years back (being a multinational conspiracy invading JNU)

Not surprising, since Comrades Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury are both former JNUSU Presidents, and that's probably the last time they ever faced an election. It's shocking that theoreticians who have never faced an election in their life (I mean panchayat, state assembly, Lok Sabha etc) are deciding whether an elected government should survive. It also takes theoreticians to talk endlessly over an issue which does not affect a vast majority of the Indian people.

Other than Prakash Karat, who has never even been a Rajya Sabha MP, there is only one prominent politician who's always shunned elections, preferring to lead by remote control. None other than Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray.

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OF ANNIVERSARIES AND BIRTHDAYS

2007-10-25T10:14:00.000+05:30

October 2007 marks the 75th anniversary of the Bodyline series. Yet another pretext for reams of articles (including yours truly) and sureshot headlines. As it is, anniversaries are grist to the mill, ranging from 100, 75, 60, 50, 25, 20, 10, 5 and many a time one (one year of the Manmohan Singh government, for example).

It could encompass 50 years after the EMS Namboodiripad-led Communist government came to power in Kerala (1957), 50 years after Roger Bannister ran a mile in less than four minutes (1954) and 60 years after the creation of the bikini (1946). There is nostalgia, there is history revisited and reinterpreted and titillation too (can't forget the infectious enthusiasm at the top level for a special show on bikinis).

Then there is the 'coinciding date' which juxtaposes an incident in the immediate past with another in the distant past. When there is a supreme irony nothing like it, for a two-pronged headline and a discussion on TV. September 11 may be just a date, but it's difficult to imagine that Mahatma Gandhi's first non-violent satyagraha in South Africa was on September 11, 1906. The irony was brought out clearly last year, the 100th anniversary of Gandhi's first satyagraha.

'Anniversary' headlines may ensure that the dust is shaken off the pages of history. But what about 'birthday' headlines? A preserve of film stars and cricketers. Here if you are a reigning idol, it's not just about numbers like 30 (mature actor), 40 (still dapper despite stepping into middle age), 50 (aeging but still hanging on) and 60 (evergreen). Any number, from 30 to 70 to the very end are good enough for 30-minute specials with the same visuals and the same thing said over and over again. Especially if you are Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth or Lata Mangeshkar, just to name a few.

The TV birthday explosion was kicked off by the Big B turning 60 in 2002. There weren't too many players then, but the birthday cult and fans swaying to TV cameras had made their presence felt. Rajini had a major 50th birthday bash in 1999, but he didn't get countrywide attention. (Those were the days when there was only one English-oriented news channel and there was no comprehension about the huge English-speaking 'South India' market)

A dash of trivia helps in no small measure. Rekha's birthday happens to be October 10, a day before the Big B. The perfect excuse to showcase song after song with Amitabh and Rekha ad nauseam (Salaam-e-Ishq meri jaan, Rang Barse, Dekha Ek Khwab etc)

The following years saw the Khans, Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman all crossing 40 and this year Akshay Kumar too has done it. But now 40, 41, 42.......every number is an excuse for a headline and half-an-hour of interviews, film clips and camera-friendly fans swearing undying devotion.

If Bollywood's there, can cricket be far behind? 2003 marked 30 years of Sachin Tendulkar and thereafter every year every Sachin birthday has made it to the headlines. Depending on their form. Dravid and Ganguly too got a look-in. Now it's Dhoni's turn.

And if you need a crash course in how to say the same thing in five different stories spread over 30 minutes, the answer is to celebrate a celebrity birthday.

It's a sign of the times that Rakhi Sawant's birthday can create hysteria among some news channels. She gets her publicity, the channels get (or think they get) their eyeballs.

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75 YEARS AFTER BODYLINE

2007-10-25T07:01:00.000+05:30

The late 1980s. I was hooked on to cricket and vaguely heard about a Don Bradman way back in the past with an average that was well, Bradmanesque.

Then Doordarshan stepped in and the word of Bradman was made flesh and dwelt among us in our living rooms. Only that it was a Bradman shorn of myth and instead facing mortal peril. The stage being the infamous Bodyline series of 1932-33.

The objects of hate to my impressionable eyes were the sinister-looking English captain Douglas Jardine and his instrument of doom Harold Larwood. The two villains with the motive of stopping Bradman at any cost. And Larwood pounded the pitch with scary thunderbolts aimed at the body, with a clutch of fielders behind the leg stump. The Australians wilted, their captain Bill Woodfull hit on the chest by Larwood and Bradman managing just one hundred. The result: 4-1 England.

Another enduring image is of an England batsman badly sick and struggling in the dressing room, while the England innings was collapsing. Jardine virtually forced him out to bat and there he was, scoring runs aplenty and bailing England out. Much later, I realised the batsman was Eddie Paynter.

Paynter owed a lot to the 'conscientious objector' to Bodyline, the Nawab of Pataudi. Pataudi started firmly with a century in the first test, but as the Bodyline clouds enveloped the field, he was shown as opposing Jardine's plans. Which meant Pataudi took an early bow.

The serial ended with images of what happened later to the principal players. I remember feeling gladdened by the fact that after the 'vile triumph' Jardine faced brickbats in England, and didn't play too much after. Harold Larwood never played international cricket again, and in the ultimate irony, ended up settling in Australia. And Don Bradman went on amassing runs unhindered, to reach the Bradmanesque average of 99.94.

But now, 75 years after October 1932, when the English touring party landed in Australia, it's time for less outrage and a bit of grudging admiration for Douglas Jardine. Inhuman as it may have been, Bodyline was a tactical masterstroke which achieved the twin objectives of an Ashes victory and containing the rampaging Don.

And how can you not conceal a sense of admiration for someone who never flinched when given a taste of his own medicine? In 1933, Jardine made his only test hundred at Old Trafford against the West Indies , grinding out 127 in five hours battling Bodyline tactics employed by Learie Constantine and Manny Martindale.

Let's also spare a thought for Harold Larwood, the former coal-miner, who refused to apologise to a holier-than-thou administration and hence never got to play for England again.

As for Pataudi, he kept a distance from the fledgling Indian side of the 1930s and captained India much later in 1946 (in England) when he was way past his prime.

Leg theory was banned but intimidatory fast bowling continues to mesmerise and horrify. From Lillee and Thomson for the Aussies to the West Indian pace quartet of the 1970s and 1980s, the legacy of Bodyline lives on.

And here's a trivia question gauging the impact of Bodyline.

Q: The publication of the first supplement of the Oxford Dictionary was postponed for one particular reason. What?

Hint: It was published in 1933. The delay was to include the definition of a new word (a cricketing term)

INDIA AND RACISM

2007-10-18T17:09:00.000+05:30

Following the 'racist' gestures aimed at Andrew Symonds in the Mumbai onedayer, a natural reaction is, "These Aussies are so racist. It's high time we give them a taste of their own medicine."

Yes, Australian cricketers have been guilty of overt racism, be it Dean Jones referring to bearded South African Hashim Amla as 'looking like a terrorist' on air, or Darren Lehmann hollering black c***, aimed at the Sri Lankans. And then there's covert racism, where Indian and Sri Lankan players are also no angels. Racist abuse has become part and parcel of sledging, regrettable as it may sound.

But the 'monkey gestures' of the Indian fans at the Wankhede Stadium reinforce the very premise of racism - target only those who can be painted as inferior and primitive. So Andrew Symonds with Aborigine roots is the butt of ridicule. A mirror to a society with deep-rooted caste and religious prejudices.

Indians across the world would be happy to be associated with whites, but when it comes to blacks it's suspicion and disdain. Ranging from South Africa to Uganda, Black Africans have been wary of Indian-origin people, who from the colonial days considered themselves higher in the social scale. Some day I would like to see a film on an African-American in love with an Indian and how the parents react. The one such film I had seen, Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala had given the 'Indians driven out of Idi Amin's Uganda' context to explain the dislike.

The Australian media may have overreacted with ridiculous statements like 'Mumbai fans have a reputation for racist abuse towards visiting players' but the incident and the selective targeting of Symonds can't be washed away. Poking fun is one thing (extending even to calling Inzamam aloo) but creating notions of superiority and inferiority is something else.

STING IN THE TAIL

2007-10-18T00:49:00.000+05:30

Zaheer Khan clouting Brett Lee for a six. It seemed a faint flicker of resistance before the inevitable surrender. But at the Wankhede Stadium, the flicker expanded its glow run by run, edge by edge, four by four, till 52 runs were added and the target was achieved. Zaheer and Murali Kartik's deeds a far cry from the archetypal surrender the Indian tail is used to. One of those rare moments to savour, when Indian tailenders turn certain defeat into improbable victory.

For a similar ODI moment, one has to turn the clock back 11 years, when Srinath and Kumble put together an unbeaten 52-run ninth-wicket stand in Bangalore to nudge past Australia. After Srinath forgot his batting skills by the mid-1990s, rarely has the tail wagged. Nobody expects the tail to shore up the batting in a big way, but they are also supposed to put a price on their wickets. Over and over again, discipline got lost in either tentative prods or airy-fairy shots.

There have been occasions when the tail capitalised on already huge totals, prolonging the agony of the opposition, such as a Kumble hitting his maiden test hundred at the Oval out of a humungous 664. But a constant ability to irritate and get under the skin of the opposition, the Indian tail has always lacked.

There are cherished individual moments - the outrageous swings of a Harbhajan Singh blade, which are not found in any coaching manual, 'smiling assassin' Lakshmipathy Balaji wading into Mohammad Sami and sending the ball into the stands and Sreesanth's break dance aimed at Andre Nel.

But when individual dazzle and collective will seek out each other, it's victory as Zaheer and Kartik proved. It's time the Indian tail stands up to be counted more often than not.

COMMUNISM AND TAMIL NADU

2007-10-17T03:36:00.000+05:30

Muthuvel Karunanidhi is among the many Tamilians who have at least paid lip service to Communism by naming their son Stalin. In fact, Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala are two states where you find many Lenins and Stalins. Socialist-sounding sops have also helped the grand old man in his rhetoric. Remember last year's electoral promise of rice at Rs 2 per kg.

Which is why it's not surprising that the canny politician recently spoke about his belief in Left ideology to Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta. He even went on to say he would have been a Communist if not for Periyar and his Dravidian movement.

It may sound a grandiose statement now from Karunanidhi, but more than five decades back, history did throw up possibilities for Communism to cast its spell over the then Madras State. It's now easily forgotten that the Communists nearly formed the state government in 1952.

Out of 375 MLAs the Congress had only 165, agonisingly short of a majority. Even though the Communists had only 62 seats, they were in a position to cobble together a majority with other socialist outfits. Also the fledgling Dravidian movement was inclined to support them.

The New York Times dated January 24, 1952 shouted, "SOUTH INDIA'S REDS GAIN IN ELECTIONS; 3 Provinces Indicate Trend (Madras, Hyderabad, Travancore-Cochin)-- Nehru Calls Top Party Group to Study Menace.

The Congress wasted no time in their efforts to shut the 'menace'. Madras Governor Sri Prakasa invited the Congress to form the government, despite the party being in a minority. And guess who a panicky Congress sent all the way to helm the state, and negotiate for the extra numbers. C Rajagopalachari, who had been Governor-General of India till 1950, assumed charge as CM. Something like A P J Abdul Kalam becoming Tamil Nadu CM now.

A year later Andhra became a separate state and after the 1956 reorganisation of states Malabar became part of Kerala. Which in turn led to a drastic fall in Communist numbers in the Madras Assembly. But having said that the course of Tamil Nadu could well have been different if the Communists had come to power in 1952. Aspiring to a similar vote bank, being in power the Communists could have checked the rise of the DMK.

Instead the Congress was firmly in power and failed to gauge the emotional appeal of the Dravidian movement. Communism was reduced to a footnote with some pockets of influence, for example industrial hubs like Coimbatore and Tiruppur. (Kalanemi writes in his blog about growing up in hammer and sickle town Tiruppur).

And their ideals were reduced to props in DMK speeches and films, with MGR the underdog majestically trampling over all the odds in film after film.

FAREWELL INZAMAM

2007-10-13T09:02:00.000+05:30

World Cup 1992. Pakistan vs New Zealand semifinal. It's morning in Thiruvananthapuram and far away in Auckland, Pakistan looks shaky chasing New Zealand's 260-odd score. Coming in at number three, skipper Imran Khan does strike a six, but does not seem to be in a hurry to force the pace. As I head for school, the tactical maestros of the World Cup, New Zealand, looks right on top.

Lunch break time, news trickles in that Pakistan's won. And that somebody called Inzamam had turned the tables. Highlights in the evening, I get to see a baby-faced youngster clouting the ball nonchalantly all over, while smashing 60 off just 37 balls.

Four days later, it's mayhem in the slog overs, Inzamam slams 42 off 35 balls, as Pakistan reaches a challenging score. Again I am in school, missing out on the fireworks. Pakistan wins the World Cup and a legend is born.

The flip side of the legend too is out in the open in the same World Cup. Before the semifinal exploits, the first memorable (not to him though) freeze frame of Inzamam is the hapless batsman caught unawares while an airborne Jonty Rhodes shatters his stumps. In the very semifinal where he packed off New Zealand, it's a run out which sends him back to the pavilion. The first glimpse of a fatal flaw in running betwen the wickets, which haunted him throughout his career.

But there were many delightful occasions, when the lazy elegance meshed with nerves of steel, notably in an unbeaten 58 against Australia (Karachi Test,1994) . His last wicket partnership of
57 with Mushtaq Ahmed ensured a nail-biting one-wicket victory.

In the topsy-turvy world of Pakistan cricket, it's a tribute to his consistency that he was a permanent fixture for over a decade. But come 2003, the same World Cup stage where he had announced his arrival so emphatically, turned out to be a nightmare. A total of 19 runs in 6 matches, Pakistan's disastrous early exit and a scuffle with Younis Khan, Inzamam's stocks hit an all-time low.

The 2003 home series against Bangladesh was tipped as a make-or-break affair for Inzy. Two tests and the first innings of the third, Inzamam was clearly travelling on the exit lane. But one epic knock changed all that. Third test, second innings, for the second time in his career Inzamam's heroics ensured a one-wicket victory. 138 not out in 262 for 9, Pakistan just about averted a humiliating defeat to minnow Bangladesh.

A day later, skipper Rashid Latif was slapped a five-match ban, after being found guilty of faking a catch. The very next day (September 8) Inzamam was captain. A man who was just a whisker away from being dumped, now had the top job. A synthesis of luck and pluck.

Never known for his communication skills, he did not sit easily on the captaincy chair. Ever mercurial, Pakistan cricket veered towards the mediocre more often than not. There was the occasional century, but the carefree youth of old was lost forever. And another disastrous World Cup sounded the death-knell.

But unlike many others, Inzamam did get to choose his own farewell. Pity he finished just two runs short of Javed Miandad's record of 8,832 test runs, the most by a Pakistan player.

As the genial giant bids adieu, let's also not forget that he had a safe pair of hands at slip.

FROM COUCH POTATO TO GROUND REALITY

2007-10-10T12:00:00.000+05:30

Opinions, debates, number crunching, conspiracy theories, a bit of reporting, producing shows for Headlines Today - cricket's entertained and exasperated me over two decades. Two decades of watching cricket matches lazily lounging in the confines of living rooms, or a bit more actively in office and hostel tv rooms.

Just one thing was missing - the feeling of watching a match in a stadium, seeing a Tendulkar in flesh and blood. TV with its innumerable replays and closeups dissects everything for the viewer, but despite being able to wax eloquent on the game I could never say, "I was there."

So here I was heading for Chandigarh on a Sunday night for Monday's India-Australia clash. Not as a mediaperson but as a cricket fan. Early morning we are in a hotel right next to the stadium, and from our room we get a sense of the crowds. A swarm of people heading in one direction armed with loads of posters and banners.

This army brings fear in its wake too. What if the Haryana Cricket Association issued far more passes than seats in the stadium? Ticket scams are something fans are familiar with. Yet they make the long trudge, ever hopeful.

We've got VIP passes and we head towards the Sector 16 stadium, which is staging its first international match in nearly 15 years (Mohali's prospered as a cricket venue over the past decade at the expense of this stadium). Entry point, the cops say no cell phone. The magic word 'media' does not ring any bells for them. The refrain is, if you are media, go to the media section. But then we've already heard there are 300-odd accredited media people aiming for 80-odd seats. The cell phones go straight to the OB van.

I imagined a VIP pass meant that there would be a roof over our heads. Only to realise I was completely out of touch with reality. Here was a small stadium where only the media enclosure and the players' dressing room had roofs. And the sun was in its elements.

Our section had one big tree in the middle, and the early birds had gravitated towards its catchment area. After a short spell in the heat, we too headed for the tree zone. First sitting on the steps and slowly and steadily getting promotions.

In the meantime, Ganguly and Tendulkar too adopted the slow and steady approach. It was like watching a one-day game of the 1980s where 40 for 0 in 10 overs meant a great start. The crowd did not get too much to shout about, with Sachin grinding out only the occasional single while the powerplay was in progress.

We at least had the tree's comfort, sitting in the VIP stand. But what about the thousands who wait for hours to get tickets and are relentlessly exposed to the crushing gaze of the sun? I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.

Vendors arrive with refreshments. Four Tropicana juices and we are poorer by 120 rupees. Prices have indeed shot through the roof when it comes to the cricket fan. Lamb to the slaughter.

While we promoted ourselves from the steps to seats, the runs started flowing. Sachin played a quiet, sheet anchor knock without taking risks. And every single batsman did his bit in keeping the score ticking. And then came the charge, courtesy Dhoni and Uthappa.

I need to concentrate on every ball to savour each moment. Sitting in the stadium, you don't have the luxury of rewinding to what you missed. Replays don't always appear on the big screens there.

The Aussies start their chase. Our focus on the match is interrupted by a verbal altercation. All eyes move to an old man who's furious with some youngsters. Cops step in and one of them sits between the warring groups.

Another flare-up with the old man all agitated. But then Gilchrist falls, and the resulting cacophony drowns out the old man's aggression. A fight stopped in mid-stride.

HRV says Hayden has a penchant for uppish drives, which is why India has a fielder at short cover. The very next ball, Hayden drives and the ball tantalisingly falls just short of the fielder.

There are lots of empty chairs close to the boundary line. Inspiring yet another example of the Indian virtue of jugaad. Some enterprising characters collect chair after chair, one on top of the other, and lo and behold, they are watching the action at a higher pedestal. The cops aren't too pleased though, and eject some of them.

Hayden's on a roll and the shoulders are drooping. But then Ponting falls and the banners are back. There's this enterprising gentleman whose bugle propels the cheering. And Punjabi jokes abound, most of which I can't figure out.

As Kartik and Harbhajan apply the brakes, the cheering becomes louder. I am part of all-encompassing Mexican waves as the buzz of victory gathers steam. Robin Uthappa makes fielding look so easy at the deep, repeatedly picking up and throwing the ball in rapid-fire motion, reducing twos to ones.

And sitting on the stands, you notice sledging, both subtle and obvious, done by both sides. But sitting where we were, we missed out on most of the number one incident, when 12th man Sreesanth taunted Andrew Symonds as he was returning to the dressing room after a defiant 75. We caught on to a bit of it, with all eyes by then pointed towards the dressing room side.

Sreesanth's childish antics I must say are an insult to the practice of sledging. It's part and parcel of the game now, but there is a subtlety to it. A Matthew Hayden can sledge with a smile while half of Sreesanth's energy is wasted in verbal misadventures.

India wins by 8 runs and as HRV said, we witness a footnote in history - India's first ODI win over Australia in over three years (after early 2004).

But all is not hunky-dory. Our cab driver's obstinate certainty takes us to the Himachal Pradesh border late in the night, and we painstakingly retrace our steps. He nearly runs over a couple on a bike, instead of slowing down and asking them the way. And pitches for speed ahead of safety, forcing HRV to ask, aap apne liye ya hamare liye gaadi chala rahe ho.

Even in the cloud there is a silver lining. Immediately after we enter the National Highway and out of the maze created by the driver's penchant for the short cut, we sight Prince dhaba.As their blurb said it is 'good food chew fully'. Only that we couldn't satisfy the 'sleep well' part of the blurb, thanks to the rampaging driver.

The next cricket motto for me is the other blurb which the dhaba had. No 50 50 ask 100 100 Prince's biscuit. Now that Fifty50's been savoured, it's time to watch a test match.

THE SPORTING SIDE OF CHE

2007-10-09T11:55:00.000+05:30

He was an avid rugby player despite an asthma handicap and earned himself the nickname Fuser — a combination of El Furibundo (The Raging) and his mother's surname (Serna) — for his aggressive style of play.
He also founded a rugby magazine, called Tackle. He wrote the entire contents under either his own name or a code name, Chang-Cho, which is apparently a play on one of his nicknames, the Pig.

This question was asked at a quiz I went for a few weeks ago. I knew Albert Camus had played football, Hemingway had a passion for bullfighting and that Conan Doyle and Wodehouse had a yen for cricket. But this was unfamiliar trivia. It had to be somebody with a Spanish language connection but Spain or Latin American countries had no rugby tradition to boast of. Our tame guess was legendary Argentine footballer Alfredo Di Stefano.

The answer turned out to be another Argentine, none other than Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. And 40 years after his death, there is a rugby footnote too to the myth of Che the revolutionary icon. The Telegraph has an evocative piece with a photo of Che the rugby player, who's now emerged as an unexpected icon of the Argentine rugby side.

And it's fitting that the 40th anniversary of Che's death coincides with the Pumas' (Argentine rugby squad) surprise entry into the ongoing Rugby World Cup semifinals. A year the outsider breached the inner circle.

ADVANTAGE GOWDA & SON

2007-10-07T01:26:00.000+05:30

It's been over a week now that `Karnataka Crisis' has been an integral and inalienable part of the list of news channel headlines. Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy relentlessly kept the pot boiling, with clear hints that they were in no mood to give way to the BJP demand for transfer of power. Gowda senior made the BJP wait, repeatedly postponing his meeting with BJP Karnataka in-charge Yashwant Sinha.

BJP did bend to begin with, eager as they were to install the first BJP Chief Minister in the South. As Yashwant Sinha said, the BJP had bowled and fielded and it was time to bat. Fielding and bowling isn't fun when you are the single largest party with 79 MLAs, and you are propping up a JD(S) batsman with 58 MLAs. By the power-sharing agreement decided 20 months ago, Kumaraswamy was supposed to hand over the baton to deputy CM Yediyurappa by October 3.

But they had not reckoned for Deve Gowda and son, who remained steadfastly defiant, even to the threat of withdrawing support. And it was not just sheer bravado or sheer love for the son on Gowda's part. The former Prime Minister had done his homework, before reclaiming his secular label and labelling the BJP a communal outfit.

Last month's local body polls in the state saw the JD(S) topping, winning the most number of wards, while the BJP ended up third after the Congress. And that clearly was not an accident, considering Kumaraswamy's well-publicised and populist ploy of visiting village after village and staying overnight at Dalit homes. (An article in a recent EPW issue has more) It may have only brought about minor cosmetic changes to those villages, but perception's been the clincher for the Gowda family.

Kumaraswamy is also looking at getting his slice of the air waves, with the Kannada TV channel Kasturi managed by his wife launched this August. Interestingly, it's the first Kannada channel owned by a Kannadiga (after Udaya TV owned by Sun Network, ETV, TV9, Asianet Suvarna, Zee Kannada and Doordarshan's Chandana).

The Congress is wary of fishing in troubled waters, after the struggle faced by the earlier Dharam Singh government, with then allies Gowda and Kumaraswamy snapping at their heels all the time and ultimately pulling the plug.

As for the BJP, they are reduced to licking their wounds and find themselves worse off than three years ago, when they emerged the single largest party in a three-cornered state election (whose verdict had been famously labelled as too close to call by pundits and psephologists). But the BJP being in power has also coincided with increasing saffronisation and communal polarisation, an example last year's Mangalore riots. The BJP will remain a force to reckon with.

SEEING RED OVER WHEAT

2007-10-06T03:35:00.000+05:30

CNN-IBN's special report on substandard wheat being imported from Australia has come as a shocker. Going by this, an Indian peasant is fit to eat what is edible for an animal in Australia.

Australia happily exports animal feed for human consumption, that too a country which 'protects' its people with very strict laws on food and imports. A country where a greeting card with a leaf extract from India did not reach the recipient precisely because the leaf originated in foreign shores. Imagine that in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, equestrian events were held in distant Stockholm in Sweden, because foreign horses were not compatible with the country's strict quarantine laws.

This Australian hypocrisy fits in with the French attempt to dismantle the ship Clemenceau, riddled with toxic waste, at Alang in Gujarat. But then a developed country giver needs an underdeveloped/developing country taker too. It's worse that the Indian government is content equating the poor with cattle.

CAPITALISING ON DEATH

2007-10-05T01:46:00.000+05:30

Leftist intellectual M N Vijayan is dead. Front page news on Malayala Manorama Thursday morning. There are four pictures splashed across the page. The first shows Vijayan feeling uneasy while holding a press conference in Thrissur. The second - Vijayan is drinking water. the third - Vijayan is back to the mike, all smiles. And the fourth and final picture - Vijayan is collapsing - eyes and mouth wide open as he helplessly slips into death.

A shocker of a picture to start the morning. Was the fourth picture necessary? Is the market the newspaper believes it is pandering to completely insensitive? I am told Malayalam news channels were careful with the visuals but India TV, a Hindi news channel which normally doesn't give too hoots for a story from Kerala in the distant south, played up the visuals over and over again. The entire sequence of Vijayan's collapse was played out, with an 'exclusive' tag to boot. A lesson in how to grab eyeballs out of a tragic death.

This was pure shock value and not even about social outrage, which is invoked by visuals of somebody being lynched to death or mob fury. In such cases too it's about getting there first and creating the maximum impact, with hardly a thought about what images could be disturbing.

And when it comes to breaking news of a bomb blast (Delhi 2005, Mumbai 2006 or Hyderabad 2007) things go haywire. The pressure to show visuals as soon as possible ensures caution is thrown to the winds more often than not. Contrast this with the extra-careful way the American media covered 9/11.

It's no justification but TV news is still evolving in India and there is no maturity or consolidation yet, with so many players competing for their slice in the pie (as well as expanding the pie). But what about pillars of the print media who've been around for ages? Are they falling prey to the sensationalism and shock value encouraged by TV? The market may be king but we could do with a little more sensitivity.

FROM ROSES TO RAGE

2007-10-03T00:37:00.000+05:30

Gandhi Jayanti 2007 has been worlds removed from Gandhi Jayanti 2006. Last year the media discourse centred around Lage Raho Munnabhai, and how the film desmystified Gandhi for the masses and the youth. Gandhigiri was the buzzword and there was story after story about peaceful protests with flowers. For that matter, any kind of peaceful protest was likened or twisted to a show of 'Gandhigiri.' To be precise, what 'Chak De' is now, Gandhigiri was then.

A year later, forget Gandhi and what he stood for, the 'instant noodles' Gandhian message of Lage Raho Munnabhai has been relegated to history. If Munnabhai was a redemption song for Sanjay Dutt, the actor was behind bars for a while this year after being sentenced in the Bombay Blasts case, and awaits an uncertain future. The last few months have seen a spate of incidents of mob fury, ranging from Bhagalpur to Siliguri. And news channels and newspapers are agog with road rage deaths.

Gandhi would have been shocked by Muthuvel Karunanidhi's vituperative outbursts against Ram, as the DMK supremo anointed himself as the Head Priest of atheism. The soundbyte-happy Ram Sethu debate has been all about disrespect and intolerance. And even more shockingly on Gandhi Jayanti eve, when the DMK's hunger strike call turned into a virtual bandh in Tamil Nadu, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had the gall to say that by going on hunger strike, Karunanidhi was only respecting the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and non-violence. Karunanidhi would have emerged with more dignity and no Supreme Court censure if he had restrained his followers from extending the definition of a hunger strike.

This is also the year of an introspective film 'Gandhi My Father' depicting the difficult relationship between Gandhi and his eldest son Harilal and how the Father of the Nation failed to understand his son. Depicting Gandhi the fallible human being seems painfully appropriate in a year which reminds me of the Julius Caesar line, "O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason." A year when a news channel airs a week-long series called 'Murdering the Mahatma.'

Also the year when the Government of India is a mute spectator, while non-violent protests by Buddhist monks are ruthlessly crushed by the ruling military junta in neighbouring Myanmar.

HINDI TAMIL BHAI BHAI

2007-10-01T02:26:00.000+05:30

Jab Hindustan hai desh hamara
Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai
Aapas main hai bhai bhai

A paean to secularism recited in Hindi at a joint meeting of the ruling alliance in Tamil Nadu on Sunday evening. And who trots out these lines flawlessly in a thick Tamil accent, without consulting a piece of paper. None other than Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the head of the DMK, whose party came to power for the first time way back in 1967 on an anti-Hindi platform.

Listening to the Kalaignar's ode to secularism in the very language he has openly despised, presented mixed emotions - of mirth as well as admiration. The man has tirelessly stuck to 'Tamizh Tai' as his medium of expression, and has rarely spoken in English in public, forget Hindi. (The only time I've heard a near-English soundbyte of his was when he read out some report on the Cauvery issue in English)

Karunanidhi is in no mood to give way on the Sethusamudram project, a long-cherished dream of Dravidian ideology. And at the same time wants to show off that he's part of a secular India and not just a regional politician. A shrewd publicity gimmick stimulating his cadres and creating a talking point for the Tamil public. And an indication to the BJP that two can play the game of whipping up sentiments.

The perfect launch pad for the hunger strike DMK leaders plan on Monday, after the Supreme Court's special sitting on a Sunday restrained them from organising a bandh. No bandh, no food - that's the motto.

The AIADMK may have prevented a bandh by going to the Supreme Court, but Karunanidhi's Plan B was undoubtedly poetry in motion. And Amma has to tread carefully, with the seasoned veteran already invoking Tamil pride.

At 84, the veteran scriptwriter continues to surprise us with new layers in the plot of power. Ever the artist, the Kalaignar.

Related posts

TALKING HEADS AND RAM SETHU

JOHNNY G AND THE 1970s

2007-09-30T16:29:00.000+05:30

As the credits roll, Eastman Colour is plastered all over the screen. You are reminded of an era where running trains formed the perfect backdrop for murder, an era when Vijay Anand sizzled with his intricate whodunit plots, double crosses and elegant song picturisations (Teesri Manzil, Jewel Thief and Johnny Mera Naam).

Johnny Gaddar deals with a bunch of crooks planning a huge joint venture and the lure of the lucre, inspiring the double cross. One murder leads to another, as the players are bumped off one by one through a combination of design and accident. It is not a whodunit for the viewer though, as the identity of the gaddar is clear at the outset. But at the same time, the viewer is encouraged to think, as the gang tries to unravel the mystery behind the killing of the imposingly strong Shiva during a train journey.

Director Sriram Raghavan uses film channels on TV to further his plot....as they relentlessly show 1970s flicks like Johnny Mera Naam and one less-known Amitabh Bachchan film of the early 1970s before he became a superstar (This film used to be the one answer to an Amitabh trivia quiz question before the days of Aankhen and Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag)

Wonderful first half though gang leader Seshadri (Dharmendra) didn't sound too comfortable mouthing English punchline after punchline. But Garam Dharm at 70-plus effortlessly oozes charm. As he says, "it's not the age, it's the mileage."

The second half though was a bit of a stretch and could have been tighter. And a self-indulgent director/writer leaves some loose ends.

Great performances from the gang members, Vikram (debutant Neil Mukesh) , Prakash (Vinay Pathak) and especially Zakir Hussain (Shardul).

Fittingly, the film is dedicated to Vijay Anand and James Hadley Chase, a regular companion of many a long-distance train journey (including Johnny Gaddar).

Rediff has Sriram Raghavan's own list of inspirational films. A Who's who of capers.

MORE THAN AN ARABIAN TALE

2007-09-28T19:21:00.000+05:30

Tightfisted ideological purity confronted with the reality of slogging it out for a living outside home soil. In a nutshell, that's the tale of Malayalam film Arabikatha (An Arabian Tale)

'Cuba' Mukundan's travails seemed to have struck a chord in a Sunday morning show at Delhi's Sangam, as I watched the film in a full house, along with hordes of expatriate Malayalis.

Sreenivasan's Cuba Mukundan is the dyed-in-the-wool communist who would break Coca Cola bottles from George Bush's America, organise agitations against computerisation because it means less people will get jobs and destroy structures built on what was once farmland, in the name of a return to peasant farming (A pet theme of Kerala Planning Board vice-chairman Prabhat Patnaik).

At the same time Mukundan idolises Cuba and China. Wonder how he would have responded to 'Made in China' toys with way too much lead for comfort.

Mukundan in his zeal even ensures that his father 'Society' Gopalan (Nedumudi Venu) is suspended from the party, after allegations of embezzling funds. Gopalan dies, after which Mukundan takes it upon himself the responsibility of returning the money.

Off he goes to the Gulf in search of some quick money, armed with a notebook too, to study how labourers are being exploited over there!

The penny drops before too long. Confronted with the reality of serving Coca Cola in a restaurant and made fun of because he has no clue about computers, Cuba Mukundan realises the futility of rhetoric. It takes a while, but in the end he figures out that his father had been framed by another power-hungry comrade.

And then there is the China connection, which was the one reason the film was a headline on a few national news channels much before its release (Chinese heroine for the first time in an Indian film). Mukundan falls for a Chinese girl and the wide-eyed communist asks all sorts of questions to her about his land of milk and honey, China. It's chastening for him to realise that she is a victim of the Communist regime.

Arabikatha's wonderful first half laced with biting satire makes the film a must-watch. The second half though did not live up to the first, with a few contrived situations (like Indrajith's character one fine day taking off to the interiors and who does he bump into on the way - the long-lost Mukundan).

Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan did see the film. But his saga of flip-flops and holier-than-thou statements continue, be it Munnar or Ponmudi. Like Cuba Mukundan, the lack of experience in a responsible position (other than in the party) is glaringly evident. After all, VS has never even led a Panchayat, forget about being a minister. All sound and fury without a remedy to offer.

What Kerala needs is more pragmatism and less rhetoric. Not an administration which trumpets a state ban on the evil multinational monopoly Coca Cola as one of its biggest achievements. And greedily accept funds from the diaspora to sustain its economic model (Kerala model of development).

TALKING HEADS & RAM SETHU

2007-09-27T17:49:00.000+05:30

One of the most nightmarish things to deal with in a newsroom is a Karunanidhi soundbyte. Expatriate Tamilians shudder when asked to translate the Kalaignar's words into English. The man's subtle utterings have layers of meaning, rhetorical flourishes and some poetic licence too.

Thanks to Sethusamudram and Ram, the Kalaignar's been a recurring nightmare for the newsroom over the past two weeks. And the man has brazenly stood his ground, precisely because his state is hardly bothered about Ram.

The VHP started off the fireworks with a nationwide chakka jam, which created traffic snarls in faraway Delhi, while Tamil Nadu (where the Ramar Sethu is) casually shrugged it off. But the BJP and the VHP got the opportunity they craved for, with the Archaeological Survey of India affidavit denying the existence of Ram. The saffron outfits went on the offensive, leaving a shame-faced Congress groping for answers.

For the BJP, the Ram controversy came at the right time, as Gujarat heads for elections. And a marginalised VHP had something to talk about, more than a decade after the Babri Masjid demolition.

But this time round, the saffron parties were pitted against somebody who could match them threat for threat and shrillness for shrillness. And it was a win-win situation for both the BJP and Karunanidhi. For the BJP a chance to whip up some fervour in the Hindi belt and for Karunanidhi the perfect opportunity to wax eloquent on Dravidian pride and the 'Brahminical and Aryan' God Ram. The Kalaignar's first chance to harp on Dravidian identity after the heady days of the anti-Hindi riots and DMK's entry into power.

Here's a state where the arrest of the Kanchi Sankaracharya creates hardly a murmur (except for the 2-3% Brahmin population). The BJP and the VHP had made a hue and cry about the arrest of a seer who was involved in the Ayodhya movement, but that didn't deter then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. And in the 2006 Assembly Polls, Sankaracharya's fate did not figure anywhere in the polls, not even in his headquarters, Kancheepuram.

As for Ram, he is regarded a Brahminical, Aryan God, revered by the 3% Brahmin population, which had during the British colonial regime reigned supreme in the caste hierarchy, and a stranglehold over government jobs. The intermediate castes were all classified as sudras, leading to Periyar's Self-Respect Movement and later the DMK. Local gods are now worshipped with renewed fervour by various 'intermediate' castes and anti-Brahminism has spawned a massive 69% reservation. Also this is the only state in India where kids are happily named Ravanan. So where is the space for Ram?

Things came to a head literally, with VHP leader Vedanti's call for a reward for taking off Karunanidhi's head. The undaunted patriarch responded with his customary flourish, whipping up enough emotions to charge up DMK workers to an orgy of eulogy, in a state notorious for personality cults.

Even the BJP realised the war of words had gone too far, and made conciliatory statements about being opposed to the present alignment, and not the Sethusamudram Project per se. After all, the project was initiated when the BJP-led NDA was in power at the Centre (DMK was a coalition partner). DMK's current Shipping Minister T R Baalu claims that 'no less than six BJP ministers were involved in the final selection of the present route.'

The VHP can still be strident, but the BJP knows the golden rule of politics. Foe today friend tomorrow. And Karunanidhi may again make peace someday with the 'Brahminical' BJP, if pet peeve (in fact his only peeve) Jayalalithaa makes peace with the Congress.

As for Amma, she was sent packing to her Kodanadu estate in Nilgiri district, facing threats of demolition of 'illegal' construction. Amma is now directing protests from Ooty, rooting for Ram only because Karunanidhi is against Ram.

While the verbal duel rages, will anybody spare a thought for the two human beings who were charred beyond recognition by the burning of a Tamil Nadu bus near Bangalore? But then in Tamil Nadu politics, where self-immolation is a virtue, the leaders may be touched by this. But horrified.......never.

CHUCK DE, PLEASE

2007-09-26T18:02:00.000+05:30

You switch on a news channel and all you hear or see on the screen is Chak De India. Granted it's a catchy song with an anthemic quality, a We will we will rock you embellished with dollops of pop patriotism. And it's the ultimate sports film, picking up a sport in the doldrums and celebrating the triumph of the underdog.

But heard and seen day in and day out, even a good thing grates on your nerves. And the song itself has been hijacked by the very game the film Chak De India raised its voice against - cricket. Shah Rukh Khan was heard on news channels after India recently won the Asia Cup hockey tournament in Chennai, but then he was seen (at the Wanderers) as well as heard after the Twenty20 triumph. Therein lies the rub.

As the media circus rolled along with Team India, hockey coach Joaquim Carvalho decided to stick his neck out with hockey's familiar theme - Big Brother Cricket. Carvalho castigated a Union Minister and four state governments for ignoring their Asia Cup triumph, while showering cricketers with praise and more importantly big bucks.

Yes, Carvalho is right if he feels hockey ends up playing second-fiddle and politicians bend over backwards searching into the state coffers to reward cricketers. But then Asia Cup is one thing and the World Cup is something else. And it's not as if the Asia Cup triumph did not get its due share of importance. For starters, Chak De and its offshoots were all over the headlines of news channels and newspapers.

As Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy hinted, it's time for Carvalho to stop cribbing and think about the World Cup, Olympics, Champions Trophy etc. After all, nothing succeeds like success.

EKLAVYA AND THE OSCARS

2007-09-26T01:57:00.000+05:30

It's the world's biggest and most vibrant set of film industries. The sheer numbers make it hard to believe that Eklavya is the most accomplished film around in India for a shot at the Oscars.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film does start promisingly, but in the end leaves you dissatisfied, trying to imagine what it could have been. Incompletely-etched characters and a profusion of style over substance. Hardly Oscar contender material, forget about the prize itself.

The selection procedure is organised by the Film Federation of India, an anonymous organisation otherwise. And their jury this time comprises of Sudhir Mishra (director), Jalees Sherwani (writer), Nadeen Khan (cameraman), Anil Sharma (director), Bijoy Kalyani (producer), Ravi Kottakara (producer), Ravi Sharma (music director), Shahid Amir (costume designer), Ranjit Bahadur (film editor), Jagdish Sharma (producer, director) and Vinod Pande (film-maker).

The need to attach designations give the story away. For many of them that's the only way you get a fix on who they are in the first place. There is a Sudhir Mishra and and Anil Sharma but where's a familiar name from the many regional film industries?

Take a look at the films in contention. Guru, Chak De India, Gandhi My Father and Dharm. It's just a handful of films and all from Bollywood. Difficult to believe that not even a single regional film made the cut. An Arabikatha or an Ore Kadal in Malayalam or a Mozhi in Tamil weren't good enough to even make it to the list of contenders?

Even if it's just a Bollywood race, Guru or Gandhi My Father deserved a look, definitely not Eklavya.

And we haven't even discussed Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner and auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan's latest offering Naalu Pennungal (Four Women), which was screened at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month.

Mainstream Bollywood has dominated the race for the Oscar nomination, especially after Lagaan made it to the final shortlist in 2001. The very next year we showcased the garish Devdas and now the toothless Eklavya. Forget regional cinema, even the best of Bollywood gets sidelined. It's small consolation that in the pre-Lagaan days, an atrocious potboiler like Jeans (1998) was sent as the official entry.

An Oscar nonination is something Vidhu Vinod Chopra is familiar with. His 1978 short film 'An Encounter with Faces' was nominated for the Documentary Short Subject category. And in 1989, Parinda was the official Indian entry. But those efforts had spunk. Will he ever direct a Khamosh again instead of the likes of 1942-A Love Story and Eklavya?

WHAT WAS THE POINT?

2007-09-25T20:55:00.000+05:30

"First of all I want to say something over here. I want to thank you back home Pakistan and where the Muslim lives all over the world."

Thus spake Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik after losing to India at the Twenty20 final, adding he was sorry he had let them down.

Malik's let down Muslims all over the world? He's let down India's man-of-the-match Irfan Pathan and his brother Yusuf? Are Muslims all over the world one homogeneous entity? Forget different countries, is a Malayali Muslim and a Bengali Muslim the same?

The new skipper may have been playing to the gallery, a naive bid to stem any possible resentment back home. But it's shocking that his defence mechanism was irrelevant pan-Islamic rhetoric.

Would have liked to remember this Pakistan side as a younger, hungrier lot with nothing to lose and not carrying forward religious baggage of the Inzamam days, the last phase of which seemed to have more of prayers than practice.

I for one had enjoyed as a cricket fan the impetuosity of an Imran Nazir, the poise of Shoaib Malik the batsman and the long handle of Misbah, as well as the wicket-taking skills of Asif, Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir. Relished it, as Pakistan overturned the form book to enter the final. And yes, there is a tinge of disappointment that Pakistan lost.

But going by Shoaib Malik, there is no space for disappointment if you are not a Muslim. Saddening.

SALUTING THE VANQUISHED

2007-09-25T03:38:00.000+05:30

Initial exhilaration about an Indian victory is now tempered with the sheer pleasure of having witnessed a heart-stopping match, where the momentum swung from one side to the other with dizzying regularity.

Pakistan ultimately came second best because the middle and lower middle-order this time round could not cover up fully for the inadequacies of the top order. But then they went all the way in the first place because of the unexpected brilliance of the middle-order. Along with their bowling - Mohammad Asif's swing, Shahid Afridi's accuracy. surprise new seam sensation Sohail Tanvir's sheer unpredictability and the joker in the pack, Umar Gul, coming in effectively as fifth bowler for the first time.

Here's a team even more humiliated than India in the ODI World Cup in the West Indies. A shock defeat to unknown Ireland (far more unknown and inexperienced than Bangladesh, whom India lost to) and a first-round exit. Worse still, the mysterious death of coach Bob Woolmer and zillions of conspiracy theories and suspicion surrounding it.

Soon came a major churn in the squad, with Inzamam-ul-Haq shown the door and the man who thought he was heir apparent, Mohammad Yousuf, left high and dry, with a younger Shoaib Malik handed over the reins. To add insult to injury, Yousuf does not make it to the Twenty20 squad. And immediately decides to pitch in his lot (along with Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat) with Zee's ICL.

Who got the nod for Twenty20 ahead of a giant like Yousuf? A Misbah-ul-Haq, somebody on the wrong side of 33, with only five disastrous tests and 12 ODIs to show for six scrappy years of international cricket. Yousuf on the other hand was somebody with a humungous appetite for runs - the record for most test centuries a year and most runs a year in 2006 being the crowning glory.

But it was this unknown batsman who made the middle-order stand up to be counted, match after match. The first India-Pakistan match at the group stage, 42 runs to win for Pakistan with three overs to go. The last big name Afridi is gone. India seemed to have wrapped it up for all practical purposes, only to get an almighty scare from Misbah's 35-ball 53. Misbah had to setttle for a tie here but for Australia, there were no comebacks.

Coming in at a precarious 46 for 4, what does he do? Whack an unbeaten 66 off just 42 balls before the world champions knew what hit them.

At the biggest stage, the final, Misbah believed when the rest of the team fell at regular intervals. And having got within touching distance, he tried to shake off the overwhelming burden with a cheeky shot. Sadly for him, he may have been better off whacking the ball straight, instead of being too clever-by-half with a scoop.

Along came a hero from obscurity at a ripe old age, that's the tale of this Twenty20 hero. This may be a faint flicker before a return to anonymity like David Steele in the 1970s, or a harbinger of great things to come. Let's hope it's the latter. Pakistan cricket needs a few lasting heroes and not blow hot, blow cold prima donnas like Shoaib Akhtar.

TEAM INDIA IN WONDERLAND, WELL AND TRULY

2007-09-24T21:32:00.000+05:30

Sachin Tendulkar giving a phono (phone interview) to CNN-IBN sitting in Mumbai, right after India pulled off a stunning triumph in South Africa. Sourav Ganguly giving interviews cheering the team sitting in distant Kolkata. The greatest Indian cricketer of his generation and the aggressive captain courageous were sitting at home twiddling their thumbs, while a young, inexperienced team with a brand-new captain became World Champions.

Hope it's not a flash in the pan and instead is the shape of things to come in a future without the 'golden generation.' And it's wonderful to be proved wrong. Along with experts and pundits, advertisers who were initially lukewarm and bookies who may have found the twists and turns too sudden to make predictions.

It certainly helped that Dhoni and company headed for South Africa, without any baggage of expectations. There were no news channels drumming up 'good wishes' soundbytes from across the country and I don't remember pop singers/bands coming out with their World Cup 'anthems. ' The only effort being the Sreesanth-written song Jaago India which did not create much of a buzz (it was planned for the ODI World Cup earlier this year but remained in the cans due to India's early exit).

This unheralded young team had nothing to lose, just like the 1983 World Cup team. And who do they meet in the final, another unheralded young side, a Pakistan down in the dumps and worse off compared to India.

There's one thing though that I can claim to have judged correctly. The eternal underachiever Ajit Agarkar should not have been part of this World Cup party. And it's high time he is shown the door forever.

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TEAM INDIA IN WONDERLAND

BOOKIES ON THE BACKFOOT

2007-09-22T19:53:00.000+05:30

Twenty20's frenetic pace has left bookies gasping for breath, according to CNN-IBN. It's become difficult to predict how many runs will be scored in an over, the total score, how many runs a batsman will score etc.

"None of the players stick for too long in Twenty20 matches. They either score or get out. In a 50 over game, the player takes at least a few overs to settle down," says a mournful bookie.

In short, they need to tone up on their reflexes. But in an era where batsmen happily smash six sixes in an over, bookies should be getting wiser sooner rather than later. Wonder what new formulae they will devise.

A COMMAND PERFORMANCE

2007-09-21T01:44:00.000+05:30

8.45 pm IST, with just about 45 minutes left for the crucial India-South Africa match to begin, there is a whiff of breaking news. Yuvraj Singh, the sultan of sixes, has an elbow injury and is a doubtful starter. In no time, the news is confirmed and gloom pervades. News channels throw out their sleek preview stories, which were all set to be unleashed on the dot at 9 pm prime time.

Rumour mills and conspiracy theories are on overdrive (though not on air), inevitable in a cynical era still not fully recovered from the match-fixing controversy. So is the injury all about Yuvraj the vice-captain trying to put down Dhoni, his captain though junior to him, by backing out at the crunch? The one question to trigger passionate debates.

Remember the 1996 World Cup and the fate of then Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, who pulled out of the crucial India vs Pakistan quarterfinal citing injury. India emerged the winner and doubting mobs at home stoned his house and burned his effigy.

It doesn't help matters when India lose three early wickets. But cometh the hour, cometh the newcomer. Rohit Sharma delighted with his unbeaten 50, a combination of sweet timing and judicious hitting.

Sharma gave an encore on the field too, with a stunning direct hit. And got the man-of-the-match award for his brilliance.

But wasn't there a more deserving candidate for man-of-the-match? A spell of 4-0-13-4, out of which two found their stumps shattered. Moreover, RP Singh conceded less than four an over, that too in a Twenty20 match.

Test cricket's cliche of 'bowlers win matches' undoubtedly applied to India's performance. And RP was the spearhead, first packing off Gibbs and Smith cheaply, then bowling Shaun Pollock for a golden duck and later yorking a defiant Albie Morkel.

Fantastic show by the newcomer with the bat in a pressure situation, but the bowler deserved his due. Wishing that the bowler should at least get some crumbs in a game tailormade for batsmen remains just a lament, a lament for the unsung.

Eventually though, it's a minor quibble in a major success.

YUVRAJ'S SIXY FEAT

2007-09-20T02:56:00.000+05:30

It was Twenty20 at its wham-bang crescendo. Yuvraj Singh smacking Stuart Broad for six consective sixes in an over to equal the world record in international cricket.

It's a pleasure and a relief to see that such a feat has come in a match between two quality sides, and not a boring, hopelessly one-sided South Africa-Netherlands clash in the recent ODI World Cup. Herschelle Gibbs had smashed his way into the record books, against a hapless bowler by the name of Daan van Bunge .

For Yuvraj the sense of achievement would be tinged with relief. After all it was the same Yuvraj, bowling the last over, who had been whacked for five sixes off his last five balls by an English cricketer - Dimitri Mascarenhas very recently. This was the only way he could wipe off that stigma, as he indicated in the post-match interview with Ravi Shastri.

It may have been coincidental, but it was fitting that Shastri posed the questions to Yuvraj, considering Shastri himself slammed six sixes off Baroda's Tilak Raj in the mid-1980s in a Ranji match. The first to achieve the feat being the peerless Sir Garfield Sobers, for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in 1968.

As for Yuvraj's record 12-ball 50, it's the shape of things to come in cricket, with Twenty20 making the game more and more a paradise for batters.

NOSY PARKERS?

2007-09-19T20:04:00.000+05:30

A multiculturalism overkill seeking a uniform secular pattern or insensitive corporate standards? The sacking of Heathrow Airport worker Amrit Lalji for wearing a nose stud seems to be more of the latter.

40-year-old Lalji, who worked for caterers Eurest, said she wore the tiny piercing as a mark of her Hindu faith. But Eurest says, "Jewellery can harbour bacteria, create a hazard when working with machinery and find its way into the food people eat."

Even if jewellery worn on the hands is banned, considering it's in close proximity to the food, clamping down on a nose ring up above is laying it a bit too thick. A wedding ring could have bacteria, and that's really close to the food. Bacteria could also float down from a long, flowing beard just like a nose ring.

It's small consolation, but it's not merely immigrants who are caught on the wrong foot by this vicious combination of secular fundamentalism and corporate standards. Last year, another Heathrow worker Nadia Eweida was suspended by British Airways for wearing a cross, only to be reinstated following condemnation by clerics and politicians.

How weird is "Merry Christmas" being replaced by "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings? Exactly what's increasingly happening in the name of multiculturalism in countries like the US, Canada and the UK. Are other communities so hypersensitive a judge should order the removal of a Christmas tree from the lobby of a court?

And we haven't even come to banning Muslims from wearing headscarves or asking Sikhs to take off their turbans.

Shouldn't multiculturalism be about celebrating diversity and not being afraid of it? And corporate practices also about being sensitive to the local while being global.

WHO SHOULD SUCCEED DRAVID?

2007-09-16T04:19:00.000+05:30

'Sources' say BCCI has approached Sachin Tendulkar to take over the mantle of captaincy. If he accepts, it will be his third stint as captain. A stop-gap arrangement with the younger lot either not ready like Yuvraj and Dhoni or in the doldrums like Sehwag and Kaif.

But is Tendulkar the right stop-gap choice? Somebody who was a disaster in his last two stints as captain and walked away because he found himself unequal to the pressure. And the spectre of injury is a clear and present threat unless he plays only selectively. But can a full-fledged captain cut down on his ODI appearances? The only way to get around it - make Tendulkar test captain and Dhoni the ODI/Twenty20 captain.

If BCCI is looking for someone who can handle both ends the first choice should be Sourav Ganguly. At least he has the combative nous and was a successful captain. His batting, which was in shambles towards the end of his earlier captaincy, has regained its sparkle. Full marks for battling back from nowhere, after everyone (expect Bengalis) had written him off.

As Ganguly may not be palatable to the powers-that-be, why not the last of the so-called Fab Four - VVS Laxman for tests (with Dhoni for ODIs). He's got a raw deal over the years, from losing out on the 2003 World Cup to being stuck at number six in the test batting line-up. A man who regularly is being projected as one match away from being dropped. Pity somebody who was vice-captain on last year's South Africa tour doesn't figure in any opinion poll.

CAPTAIN'S CURTAIN CALL

2007-09-16T00:03:00.000+05:30

A billion expectations weigh upon Rahul Dravid, announced Michael Atherton in his Sunday Telegraph article two weeks back. Dravid is quoted a saying, "What I find hardest is the absolute lack of proportion. It makes it very hard to build a team when two or three bad games provoke such an extreme reaction."

A few bad games and an exhaustive media trial, all it takes for real and manufactured (in time for the cameras) frenzy. With effigy-burning and stone-throwing doing the rounds, players become mujrims or culprits. A post-match cricket show on a news channel was called Match Ka Mujrim in which the culprits for failure were identified. What more provocation for 'fans' to go on the rampage?

What if even when you are winning, an error of judgement is dissected to death and made into a national calamity? Rahul Dravid's decision not to enforce the follow-on may have turned out to be a mistake, but how can you fault a captain for playing it safe when you have the series in the bag? If India had not lost those early wickets and instead scored at a frenetic pace, Dravid's decision would have been viewed differently. After all, there are occasions when Australia does not enforce a follow-on.

Lack of proportion, pressure, Greg Chappell, senior players who were on a different wavelength, Rahul Dravid's cup of woes was full. But it is to his credit, as Ian Chappell says, that he decided to sign off when he and his team was on a high, following a test series victory. Very few either choose to or are allowed to leave the hot seat on a high in Indian cricket. Gavaskar may have, but the likes of Wadekar, Kapil Dev, Azharuddin, Tendulkar and Ganguly all could not.

Let's forget Dravid the captain and welcome Dravid the batsman. And await future versions of a 148 (Headingley-2002), 233*(Adelaide-2003) or 270 (Rawalpindi-2004) - all before becoming captain

SUDDEN DEATH IN CRICKET

2007-09-15T01:58:00.000+05:30

Bowl-out......another term added to the cricket lexicon as the Twenty20 World Cup captures our imagination. A slam-bang opening match between West Indies and South Africa, Australia caught napping by Zimbabwe in a thriller, Bangladesh showing West Indies the door and now the India-Pakistan clash bringing bowl-out into public consciousness.

Here's excitement and uncertainty, so lacking in the disaster of a World Cup earlier this year in the longer version of the game (yes, it's time to do unto one-day cricket what ODI did for test cricket). The shorter duration does make it more of a level-playing field, as weaker sides don't have a mountain to climb and can topple a bigwig in a short burst.

It may be more of entertainment and less of cricket, more of power and less of elegance, more of instant action and less of endurance - in short, hit and giggle cricket, with a penalty shootout thrown in. But the bottomline is - it's quick-fix viewer-friendly entertainment and takes away the predictability of a 50-over match in the middle overs, with the field spread out and the batsmen ekeing out singles.

As India and Pakistan sparred in the bowl-out, it was just like a France vs Italy World Cup final or the India vs Australia final in Chak De India. The one difference, nobody to block the ball from hitting the stumps, like a goalkeeper in hockey or football. It seemed like a weird joke at first glance, but an enjoyable one.

Only that the joke is on all the three Pakistan bowlers who failed to knock down a set of open stumps. It's no consolation, but those who shied at the stumps in the only other bowl-out instance fared worse. Shockingly in the 2006 clash between New Zealand and West Indies, the first six bowlers - 12 balls - failed to record one strike.

THINK GLOBAL, SPEAK LOCAL

2007-09-14T03:02:00.000+05:30

The Twenty20 opening match had started. And Chris Gayle launched into the ball, swatting it to the stands. Sitting at home in Delhi, what do I hear? Pramaadam shot....aaru run. I sharpen my ears, realise the commentary on Star Cricket is in Tamil. This continued for 3-4 overs, till the cable operator switched it to Hindi.

Perhaps the first time in a cricket telecast that the broadcaster organised commentary in a regional language. When Narain Karthikeyan made it to FI in 2005, Star Sports suddenly brought in Tamil commentary in a sport which does not have Hindi commentary, considering the urban, upper-middle class profile of followers.

But that was sparked off by an individual and not by mass following for the sport. Cricket on the other hand is a sport with a mass base in India. And it's high time sports broadcasters further explore the potential of regional languages to expand their audience. There is a market clueless in Hindi and not too comfortable with English. Fans will remain fans irrespective of the commentary, but if they can relate to the commentary, they certainly can have a better illusion of participation. And yes, we need to celebrate our diversity with such subtle, albeit market-driven acts.

What next, Malayalam or Bangla commentary for the next Football World Cup?

BANG FOR THE BUCK

2007-09-12T01:23:00.000+05:30

Twenty20 has arrived and there is hype, though mercifully there is no frenzy as a young Indian side is not considered much of a contender. Newspapers and news channels have already given a Twenty Questions crash course on what's what.

And the action on day one of the World Cup was in keeping with the format. Bang, bang, bang with the bat doing all the talking. It rained sixes and fours galore, Chris Gayle leading the way with a sizzling century and Herschelle Gibbs returning the favour.

Instant noodles cricket is enjoyable. Dugouts for the teams like football and hockey, cheerleaders and one needn't spend the good part of the day or night watching cricket.

But what about the hapless bowler as brute force holds forth? Even a leading bowler like Shaun Pollock was reduced to repeatedly looking over his shoulder as Gayle's swings sailed past him. The ultimate insult - a no-ball means the next ball is a free hit for the batsman (he can only be run out). Which means a batsman can be caught off a no-ball and caught again off the next ball, but still remain in the crease.

Doesn't the bowler deserve some crumbs of comfort? The lines between a batter in cricket and a batter in baseball are increasingly blurring. Soon we'll see some baseball figure emerging as a team's batting coach. And 400-plus scores in the 50-over game too may well become the norm rather than the exception.

Love it or hate it, Twenty20 is here to stay. The 50-over ODIs not only pioneered cheeky batting shots and underlined the importance of fielding and fitness, but also brought greater urgency and sense of purpose to 5-day test cricket. Twenty20 will certainly raise the bar for batting standards in ODIs.

As for bowlers, they have to figure out how to be more disciplined and accurate. And embrace subtlety to tackle brute power. Just like Shaun Pollock deceiving Chris Gayle into ducking in anticipation of a bouncer, and delivering a well-disguised slower ball. Pity it was not a wicket-taking delivery.

TEAM INDIA'S PLAYER OF THE YEAR

2007-09-11T01:12:00.000+05:30

There is an Indian name in the ICC roll of honour at the award ceremony in Johannesburg. But it's none of those household names. In fact not a single male cricketer was shortlisted.

The honours went to Jhulan Goswami, declared Women's Player of the Year. I've vaguely heard about this lady, and know that she is a fast bowler. Time to explore further.

I get to know she is the fastest woman bowler in the world. An Indian leading the fast lane, operating at 120kph. With some help from Dennis Lillee at the MRF pace academy.

She's already a headline story for the morning. A rare opportunity for an unknown bunch of cricketers to come into focus. How many remember that the women's team made it to the final of the last World Cup in South Africa (in 2005)? It's another matter that the same fate befell them as the men's team (a rout at Australia's hands)

The women's game is still dominated by the white nations, with all the World Cup crowns so far being divided between England, Australia and New Zealand. And only recently has India come into its own in the one-day game.

1997 summer I was at home and I lazily watched a few World Cup matches (India was the host) but the pace of the game was too slow. There was hardly any media interest, and India on home soil failed to impress. It also witnessed big sides piling up humungous scores against minnows. Case in point, Australian captain Belinda Clark's unbeaten 229 against Denmark.

I'm assuming standards have improved in the last decade, and so has the official treatment of women's cricket. But visibility remains low. In Headlines Today, when news came that India had reached the World Cup final in 2005, we were caught on the wrong foot. How does one mount a special programme without footage? Nothing of them playing, and no practice footage either. How would there be if we had never bothered to do any story in the past which dealt with women's cricket?

Jhulan Goswami has given us a hero. And one who storms into the crease. It feels good to bring to limelight the unknown faces of cricket. An opportunity to remember a generation of women who battled it out in the field without no public recognition.

Next step - a World Cup triumph.

STINK IN THE TALE

2007-09-08T20:08:00.000+05:30

The outrageous stink operation in the capital, framing a school teacher, should make us hang our heads in shame. It may have been the handiwork of a Hindi news channel on the fringes, which needed a big stunt to bring attention. But what about the outbreak of violence outside the school which followed?

Was it a spontaneous public reaction or did the mob chew on generous dollops of footage and vox pops (reactions taken from the person on the street) relentlessly fed on TV? Of course, relentless violence is standout headline material.

Broadcasters urgently need to formulate a code of conduct without being pushed by the government. The last thing we want is a broadcast bill with the government and its content auditor (one per news channel) breathing down our neck. But with such wanton acts of headline-manufacturing, the media's moral high ground of protecting its independence looks more and more shaky.

I've come across meticulously planned and executed sting operations. A case in point being Aaj Tak-Headlines Today's Operation Duryodhan which exposed MPs accepting cash for raising questions in Parliament. Some senior editorial figures and video editos were missing for weeks, while the official word was that they were ill or on vacation. And all the extensive background effort showed in a watertight expose.

But then it was a sting operation dealing with Big Fishes and nothing could be left to chance. Editorial rigour goes for a toss when it comes to exposing small fry.

Will news channels, especially those of the Hindi ilk, unite and ensure there is a rigorous internal screening exercise confirming the veracity after a sting operation is carried out? Once something is aired, it takes ages to come out of a damaged reputation, even if the story has a faked conclusion thanks to clever camerawork and even cleverer editing. In the recent case, Uma Khurana may not be entirely innocent, but has certainly got a raw deal.

The other increasingly emerging danger to law and order is stringers (local reporters who are paid per assignment and not regular employees) eager to make a fast buck by selling footage, preferably violent clashes between groups and incidents of mob fury against wrongdoers, real or imagined. Covering and faithfully recording such incidents is one thing, but what if these stringers themselves incite mobs and encourage them to persist with their violent acts? I've seen a lot of unedited footage which looks staged, with the 'agitated' crowd looking more like performing to the moves of the camera. We have dropped many such 'doctored' headlines but some have regrettably passed editorial scrutiny, riding high on the quest for fresh headlines.

Images from Bhagalpur, when a man was beaten up by a mob and dragged behind a bike by local policemen, caused nationwide horror recently. Undoubtedly shocking and deplorable, but I can't help asking whether the stringer who shot the visuals played his part in encouraging the mob frenzy.
The electronic media is galloping at a frenetic pace with each and every player looking for 'breaking news' to stand out. It can be argued that sensationalising is a necessary evil in a young industry, but what if news is manufactured? Let truth remain stranger than fiction and not the other way round.

IT'S ALL ABOUT TIMING

2007-09-06T19:26:00.000+05:30

Number one headline....flyer....Vinod Kambli rises from obscurity to wax eloquent on his school chum......the media is abuzz . All thanks to Sachin Tendulkar's emphatic denial of rumours that he's set to retire from one-day internationals.

But who started these rumours in the first place? Media reports quoted 'sources close to Tendulkar', who apparently said 'he was inclined to announce his retirement on this tour of England but had been persuaded by friends to do so at home.' Which is, after the ODIs at home later in the year after Australia and Pakistan.

Build up hype about impending retirement, follow it up with top-class performances and then make the media ask Why? And respond to the media oops public with a denial. Fantastic PR exercise, whether by accident or design.

If the same Tendulkar, looking world-weary and in atrocious form as India sunk to dismal depths in the World Cup had called time to ODIs right after, the public would not have batted an eyelid.

It's been fantastic to watch him fire away on all cylinders in England, but for how long? In the later stages of his Oval masterpiece, Tendulkar was hobbling. And one attempted pull shot left him distressed. As it is, he's been walking wounded the past few years, crippled by injury after injury, along the way making us aware of the intricacies of a tennis elbow.

As the master nears twilight, the ideal way to prolong his career is to pick and choose his appearances for India, especially in ODIs. And Tendulkar has achieved everything possible in the one-day game, both in terms of entertaining the public and statistics.

Should Sachin choose to play to the gallery with more and more ODIs or look seriously at erasing the one big blot on his career - his inability to be a match-winner in a test match since the 1990s. Will we ever see again a commanding Sachin display in a test match propelling the team to victory, like his annihilation of Shane Warne in Chennai in 1998?

Tendulkar may have got his timing right now, but will he time his eventual retirement to perfection? Memories are savoured better, if a sporting icon calls it quits when fans ask `why?' and not when they ask `why not?'

Sachin has a choice....quit like Sunil Gavaskar when the going is good or wait till forced to quit...like Kapil Dev who was booed to retirement after being whacked all over, that too in Faridabad in home state Haryana.

THE ENGLISH SUMMER

2007-09-06T01:55:00.000+05:30

It started as a battle for supremacy between two also-rans of limited overs cricket.

An England trying to get its act together with a young team under a new coach, after a disastrous World Cup. A team which bears hardly any resemblance to the side which held Australia to a nail-biting tie in the Nat West Series in 2005, just preceding the Ashes triumph. Also only four remain from the team which pulled off a surprise triumph over Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Series early this year. The common factors being skipper Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

As for India, they were here with a stop-gap coach, seeking confidence after World Cup humiliation. Veterans Tendulkar and Ganguly had to prove it was too early to put them to pasture, while a few remains (Yuvraj, Zaheer) of who were once thought to be the core of the future needed to make their presence felt.

With two equally matched opponents (considering recent form and not reputation), it's been absorbing cricket. England's rediscovered Owais Shah and discovered Stuart Broad and Dimitri Mascarenhas, who should be getting a ticket for the Twenty20 World Cup now that Ravi Bopara is injured. And Ian Bell has been severe with the willow.

Ever the sluggish starter, India lived up to its unenviable reputation this time too. In the test series, rain at Lord's saved India the blushes. But when it came to the ODIs there was no hiding. And Jurassic-era fielding standards haven't helped matters.

That said, there is another dimension to saying things remain the same. They may be approaching the twilight of their illustrious careers, but Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly showed why they are among the most feared opening combinations in ODIs. Tendulkar 's 94 at the Oval had blasts from the past like the paddle sweep, inside-out drive and the best of the lot - the nonchalant flick from middle to the leg for four.

The old guard stands up to to be counted, as they near sunset point. But the worrying part is that their reunion happened because the swashbuckling Virender Sehwag, once vice-captain, finds himself without a spot in the team. From the generation which followed the Tendulkar-Ganguly-Dravid-Laxman-Kumble, the likes of Kaif, Harbhajan and Sehwag are out of sight and so is Irfan Pathan.

Youthful exuberance is now the property of leggie Piyush Chawla, who's been a treat to watch. There's Dinesh Kaarthik, who's combined youth with grit. And after the Oval thriller, there is the Robin Uthappa scoop to fine leg to savour. Yes, there is hope.

Claps and shouts boomed all over my office after the nail-biting Oval triumph, chasing 316. I too felt the urge to clap, to honour a team which had bounced back in the eyes of fans, erasing the atmosphere of cynicism which followed the World Cup humiliation.

Time to applaud Indian cricket for giving us moments of pleasure, in between exasperating us with their inconsistency. And proving that matches can be won by sticking to the basics, without the help of a sophisticated foreign coach. Has BCCI got the message?

TWIST AND SHOUT

2007-09-01T14:23:00.000+05:30

This morning we picked up an incident in UK, where two local churches in Taunton refused permission for yoga classes in their church premises. The priests argued that yoga was part of the Hindu ethos and impinges on Christian spirituality.

Good tabloid story considering the concept of yoga has grown beyond religion and is tremedously popular in the West. Church classrooms and auditoriums hold yoga classes and there's even a move to localise yoga in parts of the US in tune with religious beliefs.

But we fell prey to the charms of sensationalising and the news channel habit of presenting a micro picture as the macro picture. Yes, it is a headline but it's not the first headline overriding the outrageous decision by a village panchayat in Haryana to separate a child from his parents because the elders opposed their marriage.

And then we screamed, "Church Bans Yoga." Utterly ridiculous and a dangerous line, since we were talking about two priests from Taunton and not the whole Anglican Church or Baptist Church. It was an individual view and not the 'Church view'. Moreover, the Church is not one monolithic entity, with zillions of deniminations following different practices.

Soon follows reactions over the phone from leading figures in the Roman Catholic Church in India. What can they say sitting in India, on an action taken by priests who interpret Christianity differently from them in the first place.

It should have been dealt as a `local' and not a 'global' story with reactions from England, be it yoga enthusiasts or the Hindu community. Not Baba Ramdev pontificating on whether yoga is scientific or not.

We might have toned down the pitch later, but news channels are increasingly leaping into sweeping conclusions at the first hint of breaking news.

Also opposing a decision is one thing but painting it black is something else. That too, when it is a matter of faith. Priests in Guruvayur temple in Kerala are well within their rights to disallow non-Hindus from entering the temple. The punyaham or purification ceremony in Guruvayur temple after Vayalar Ravi's son visited on the other hand was a big story, because Ravi and his son both are practising Hindus. The punyaham was conducted just because Ravi's wife hailed from a Christian family. Here too, an issue of dogma within the Hindu fold was magnified into that of non-believers not being allowed to enter.

Similarly, a priest in a Taunton church is free to ban yoga within the church premises. There could be many believers in that parish who oppose yoga because they are uncomfortable with what they perceive as religious implications.

Tabloid headlines whet our appetites for curious tidbits, but it's dangerous when the Church itself is shown, albeit briefly, as taking up cudgels against yoga.

MAKING SENSE OF NEHRU CUP WIN

2007-08-31T01:19:00.000+05:30

August 29 was one day football grabbed the headlines for a change. That too Indian football and not the deeds of a Real Madrid or a Manchester United.

The Nehru Cup triumph is undoubtedly celebration time for a country who is deep in the abyss as far as football is concerned. Just the dose of confidence the team needs to aim for taller deeds in the international arena.

The victory was all the more sweeter because it came against Syria, ranked 112 by FIFA compared to India's abysmal 151. An upset to savour, though it was a young Syrian side without six key players. Something more credible than occasionally winning SAF (South Asian Federation) tournaments against the likes of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Does this victory herald a new dawn for Indian football? After all, the other teams in the fray were Kyrgyzstan (ranked two places below India at 153), Cambodia at 173 and Bangladesh at 176.

Far too early to say but coach Bob Houghton has generated hope. The triumph may result in more corporate interest and more money pumped into the game, but as long as it is not channelised properly, it will be curtains. A host of foreign coaches, from Ciric Milovan in the 1980s to Stephen Constantine recently have thrown in the towel, faced as they were with a brick wall.

Also there is less awareness about domestic football, especially in urban areas. Kids may have heard of Bhaichung Bhutia but that's about it. And Bhutia has been around for more than a decade. One hears people waxing eloquent about Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Man U, Barca et al, but when it comes to Indian football, it is a blank.

A strong, well-marketed professional league is a must. If the Nehru Cup in Delhi witnessed good crowds and if Malayalis all over Delhi could descend in droves on the Ambedkar Stadium for the Santosh Trophy final in 2004 to cheer Kerala to victory, Indian football certainly has passionate fans. It's all about giving them competitive clashes to fuel their passion.

Morevoer, local players badly need to play abroad. Corporate support and club tie-ups which enable them to get stints overseas will go a long way in bolstering Indian football.

Here's wishing for a day when we get to see bigger teams in the Nehru Cup (like in the 1980s) and India stands up to their might and does not get thrashed black and blue (like in the 1980s)

HOT CHICKS

2007-08-21T12:47:00.000+05:30

"It has been approved here (in Washington, DC) by the President, and there (in New Delhi) it's been approved by the Indian cabinet. So why do you have all this running around like headless chicken, looking for a comment here or comment there, and these little storms in a tea-cup?"

Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen on rediff.com

Distorting a story is an art we have perfected, we are adept at editing soundbytes to suit our headline and we know how to blow up Shilpa Shetty into Big Brother champ. Being journalists and spin doctors, we can recognise a barb at us when we see one. It's as clear as daylight that Ronen Sen's `headless chicken' quip was directed at our byte-hungry tribe. Who else could be "looking for a comment here or comment there?"

But then our venerable MPs (opposition BJP as well as ruling opposition Left) had predetermined that they should count their chickens before they hatched. Probably some journalists had presented them with a selective version of the quote.

Presented a convenient tool to create a furore over the nuclear deal, they promptly lost their head and created a ruckus in Parliament. In their tit-for-tat world, if they were headless, the aggrieved MPs wanted Ronen Sen's head. Unprecedented, MPs taking up cudgels on behalf of journalists, albeit unwittingly.

While MPs ranted about recalling the hapless Ambassador, there were people putting things in perspective on air. Who else but we headless chickens, the object of Ronen Sen's ire.

Comrade Prakash Karat thundered, "Our ambassador in Washington is working not for us but the US." Comrade, you may oppose the deal but stop this intolerant approach. It's unfair casting such aspersions on somebody who played a key role in complex negotiations, which resulted in India getting a respectable deal. Criticise the deal, but it does not become you to stoop to the level of George W Bush by speaking in ' either you are with us or against us' terms.

The Left has all along given the impression the deal is bad because of their blind anti-American stance. Can we get a well-reasoned critique from them? Wonder how they would have reacted if it was a deal with China. After all who said not too long ago, 'China's Chairman is Our Chairman.'

As far as the BJP goes, the same party would have bent over backwards to accomodate the nuclear deal if they were in power. But then they have to live up to their name of the principal opposition party.

The one parallel I can think of is from my hometown Thiruvananthapuram, where you can see a few pillars in Bakery Junction, meant to support an incomplete flyover. The LDF government simply had to halt the project, as it was initiated by the previous regime of the Congress-led UDF. Net result, the flyover remains a headless chicken.

ICL AND AFTER

2007-08-21T10:31:00.000+05:30

The Indian Cricket League has displayed its colours, with a line-up of former internationals and a few domestic players. The common thread - all of them have little or no chance of making it to the national side. Same with the line-up from abroad. The likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Lance Klusener and Chris Harris are on the wrong side of their careers. The only consolations being the mercurial Brian Lara and Mohammad Yousuf, who only a year ago was on a record-breaking spree in test cricket.

In the ICL there is no single feaure attracting fans to a particular team, with all the teams being artificial creations. There is no nationality basis, no regional basis and no city/area basis from which sprang a Manchester United fan, a Los Angeles Lakers fan or a New York Knicks fan.

Will this declining army shake the foundations of world cricket? Three decades ago, another TV magnate did exactly that. But Kerry Packer had USPs galore. Money for the players and innovations like coloured clothing, white balls and night cricket. All of which are here to stay.

The lure of the Packer lucre attracted most of the leading players of Australia, England, West Indies, Pakistan and South Africa. But Subhash Chandra and the ICL does not have a single USP to boast of. Also, unlike then, the 'official' side has enough financial muscle.

The BCCI this week declared a net profit of Rs 232 crore for the previous financial year. So why is it running scared? Just plain fear that their authority will be eroded and the bottomlines slimmer.

BCCI could easily have co-existed with ICL, considering the 'rebel' league simply does not have the wherewithal to compete with international cricket, especially if it involves India. If there is a clash in timings, it's just a matter of BCCI making it clear to the players where their priorities lie. And of course, the money is where Team India is.

Even if the Board was so intent on banning the ICL stars, they could easily have come out with more moolah for domestic cricket and better marketing initiatives much earlier. We already have one-day tournaments and it's not too difficult to come up with Twenty20 events.

ICL had raised its head in May, giving the world's richest cricket body enough and more time to chart out a detailed counter-strategy. But in their quest for money, foreign coach and President Sharad Pawar's bid to be ICC President, domestic cricketers were nowhere on the radar. Out of their 232-crore booty, if the Board had acted faster on pumping more money into domestic cricket, some of the 'rebel' cricketers may not have taken the plunge.

The ICL launch is a necessary wake-up call for this profit-grabbing club, and if this lessens the huge gulf between international and domestic cricket, Indian cricket will be the beneficiary.

As for Kapil Dev, the board sacked him as National Cricket Academy chairman saying,"You can't have a foot in both camps."

One can argue Kapil was busy plotting for the ICL, while he was supposed to groom talented youngsters. But instead of harping at the speck in Kapil Dev's eye, will the BCCI ever look at the plank in their eye?

Shouldn't an organisation with such humungous funds be more accountable? How about running it professionally like England, Australia or New Zealand? And more importantly, shouldn't Sharad Pawar be paying more attention to the Agriculture Ministry? How about devoting more time to finding a lasting solution to farmer suicides in his own state Maharashtra?

DEFINING TAMIL FILMS

2007-08-20T10:08:00.000+05:30

Here's my verdict in response to Zakster's bid to zero in on the 10 most defining Tamil movies ever made.

Chandralekha (1948) - Did roaring business across the country, both in Tamil and Hindi. Gemini boss SS Vasan spared no expenses for this costly spectacle. Remembered for the elaborate drum dance

Velaikkari (1949)- based on CN Annadurai's play, scripted by Anna. The film's release coincided with the founding of the DMK, and dramatised the fledgling party's anti-caste, anti-Brahmin ideology

Parashakti (1952) - Sivaji Ganesan's stirring debut. Karunanidhi pens long-winded Dravidian ideology dialogues, in line with DMK policy

Nadodi Mannan (1958) - Produced and directed by MGR. Period adventure fantasy with DMK symbols thrown in.
Commercial success was followed by a public reception for MGR by the DMK, taking him in procession in a chariot drawn by four horses, thronged by people. The chariot had the background of a rising sun on a lotus.
There was no turning back for the future Chief Minister

Apoorva Ragangal (1975) - Radical theme with an older man falling for a much younger woman and a younger man having a relationship with a much older woman. K Balachander gave Kamal Haasan his big break as a lead actor and Rajinikanth his first-ever film role

Nayakan (1987) - Mani Ratnam's Godfather saga with Kamal Haasan. Made it to Time magazine's list of top 100 films. Ratnam's imaginative song picturisation skills in evidence (honed to perfection in his later films) especially in the Holi song. Great music by Ilaiyaraaja

Roja (1992) - Breathtakingly simple and beautiful, Vairamuthu's lines Chinna Chinna Aasha struck a chord all over. The A R Rahman star was born, marking the end of Ilaiyaraaja's overwhelming dominance in film music. Ilaiyaraaja never composed for Mani Ratnam again. After the days of Chandralekha, the first Tamil film to grip the entire nation. A well-crafted drama coming in the wake of high-profile kidnappings in Kashmir.

Kaadhalan (1994) - Prabhudeva's dancing skills in Chikku Bukku Chikku Bukku (Gentleman) had already gripped the South. Here was the rubber man as a hero for the first time. With Rahman's music and Prabhdeva's twists and turns, Kaadhalan was a rage. Director Shankar's formula of extravagant song sequences and massive budgets took firm expression

Baasha (1995) - Loosely inspired by Amitabh Bachchan's Hum (also starring Rajini), Baasha's stupendous success ensured Rajinikanth became a demigod from just a superstar. Each Rajini release thereafter was a gala event in itself. He could afford to take his time, carefully choose his films and needed to have only an average of one release in two or even three years.

Kaaka Kaaka (2003) - Signature statement of the brave new world of Tamil cinema, as the post-Rajni and Kamal generation stood up to be counted. A brutal and gritty cop film which resisted a conventional end. Surya made his mark, amply backed by technical finesse and slick editing

This is my list of the 10 most influential Tamil fims, and they need not and will not match with the best 10 Tamil films ever made. Here I submit that I haven't seen enough Tamil cinema to come up with a rating of the very best.

A PIECE OF CAKE

2007-08-19T17:40:00.000+05:30

Rising India, Emerging India or India Shining. Spin it whichever way, there's money to flaunt and splash, as a burgeoning middle-class lets itself loose.

In an EMI-driven era, getting a housing loan, car loan or a personal loan has become a piece of cake. But what took the cake for me today was an Indian Express story which said banks have started giving loans to doting parents for kids' birthday bashes. Marriages, it's easy to relate to, but bank loans and EMIs for birthdays!

Parents are free to indulge their kids, using their resources. But bank loans for birthdays? Seems more like the outcome of peer pressure for both parents and kids. And a means to network for both parents and guests.

Here's more courtesy Washington Post

Being in India, one is used to the dichotomy of grinding poverty and staggering affluence. But in this India of opportunities for the middle class, the gap between the kid blowing up three lakhs on a birthday and the kid doing cartwheels and twisting her body while begging near Connaught Place is clearly widening. Emerging India is indeed appealing and scary at the same time.

RIGHT-WING LAMENT ON LEFT-HANDERS DAY

2007-08-13T17:06:00.000+05:30

Today's World Left-Handers Day, an event to celebrate for the likes of Bill Clinton and Bill Gates, along with a galaxy of sportspersons - Sourav Ganguly, John McEnroe, Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors, Brian Lara. And last but not the least HR Venkatesh.

The word 'gauche' which means clumsy/awkward has its roots in the French word for left-handed. 'Sinister' happens to be the Latin word for left hand. And we have phrases like like left-handed compliment, which is indeed an insult masquerading as praise for left-handers. Not to forget the traditional Indian habit of using the left hand to clean your bowels.

Mihir Bose's History of Indian Cricket (published in 1990)advances the theory that a major reason India rarely produced great left-handed batsmen was because society considered it unclean, a hand to be used for cleaning bowels. Six years later, Sourav Ganguly put his best hand forward, challenging the theory. And later emerged Yuvraj Singh for good measure.

But will the unrelenting gaze of society allow somebody to put the left foot first at an auspicious occasion? Or eat with the left hand? Tough going in a society where the word 'right' is a synonym for being correct.

Though a right-hander, I too have closet left-wing sympathies. And sometimes it comes out of the closet, like bowling and throwing the ball with the left hand. Being the son of a left-handed father, I too inherited 'leftist' traits. But then my natural inclination to write with my left hand was not allowed to flourish, because of a belief that a left-hander would be slower in writing, among other things.

Mercifully, I moved from left to right without too much trouble. At least I got to throw with my left hand. A sea change from what I've heard an earlier generation of natural left-handers had to endure. As kids their left hand was physically punished, so that their left-wing sympathies were clipped forever.

At least one area where left-handers are not merely accepted but also feted is sports. Being a minority here does make you unpredictable. Facing a left-hander serve in a tennis court can be unnerving just because you are not used to his angles. In cricket, Indian batsmen have traditionally struggled against left-handed pacemen.

The Right is overwhelmingly mighty, and the Left may not be able to shake off all prejudices. But then might is not always right.

And is there space for a right-leaning centrist like me? If Sourav Ganguly can bat with the left hand and bowl with the right, there is hope for the ambidextrous, irrespective of which side of the right-left divide they are on.

TEAM INDIA IN WONDERLAND

2007-08-07T23:08:00.000+05:30

There is not too much to quibble about the Indian squad for the Twenty20 World Cup, even without the big three - Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. After all, with or without them it's a foray into the unknown. Not just for the team but also for the cricket-obsessed public.

It's a peep into the future with Dhoni as captain. Even Sehwag and Harbhajan of the old guard who fell from grace, are not on the wrong side of time and can look at redeeming themselves. But one irritant remains that eternal enigma Ajit Agarkar, who's repeatedly teased only to exasperate.

The bigger worry though is inexperience, stemming from BCCI's tardiness in waking up to the Twenty20 concept. Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand are far more adept at this form of the game. As it is, the likes of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have moved ahead in brute slam-bang power in the 50-over game, which will serve them well over 20 overs.

Even Sri Lanka and Pakistan have played more Twenty20 international matches. India's lone match was in South Africa last year under Sehwag's leadership, when they scraped through to victory over South Africa with just one ball to spare. But mind you, India got those crumbs after being thrashed in the ODI series. And while chasing, there was no Pollock, Ntini or Nel to deal with.

Ironically the combined Twenty20 first-class experience of Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid does not add up to that of the most experienced Twenty20 campaigner in India - Dinesh Mongia who's the only one to play more than 30 such matches. Seems strange for a cricket-obsessed nation, considering Twenty20 emerged in English county cricket first in 2003.

But then the BCCI's never needed Twenty/20 to set the cash registers ringing so far. Which means players hardly got an exposure. It was finally in April 2007 that the BCCI belatedly organised an inter-state Twenty20 tournament with leading stars, keeping the World Cup in mind. But it passed by with hardly a ripple.

And for the Board to shake off its slumber, Twenty/20 needs public frenzy. The lack of which also explains why there was hardly a murmur after the team selection. Public interest can arise only through more international cricket, which can be propelled only by success in South Africa.

But then India is notorious for responding slowly to innovations in the game. Remember the humiliations of the 1975 and 1979 ODI World Cups, remembered for Sunil Gavaskar's notorious 36 not out in 60 overs (1975) and the loss to Sri Lanka (1979) who was then not even a test-playing nation.

All the same there's no saying what one can achieve, away from the limelight. India has history on its side. After all, there is that stunning upset win over the formidable West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final. If a repeat act does happen, then Twenty/20 will emerge as a rival to the 50-over game for fans' affections.

All Dhoni has to show from Twenty/20 is a second-ball duck against South Africa last year. He has miles to go, if he's to be the torch-bearer of Team India's future. And also for India to find its space in the future of international cricket too.

THE ART OF OSAMU TEZUKA

2007-08-05T01:45:00.000+05:30

All I knew about Japanese comics or manga was that they were violent, with blood spilt left, right and centre. Something very `underground'. And a breed of violence which could also be balletic in its execution. Sample Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill and O-Ren Ishii or Cottonmouth, played by Lucy Liu, in the first part.

And then came the Buddha, an eight-part graphic novel series by Osamu Tezuka. An epiphanic experience for me, who had thought Japanese works were all about blood. Here was the life story of the Buddha told for an adult. A giant leap from the world of Amar Chitra Katha, my previous window to Buddha. And figures from history made the transition from black or white to grey.

Tezuka depicts a Siddhartha battling with himself and striking free of his inner turmoil, while carving out His Path. And his teachings are visualised beautifully, through tales such as Sebu the Ox.

Unlike an Amar Chitra Katha which condensed into one Buddha's life and teachings, eight long parts gives enough and more space for other characters to stamp their presence. And Tezuka brazenly takes liberties with history, fictionalising the journey of known characters like Devadatta, Bimbisara and Ajatasatru and bringing in his own creations like Chapra, Tatta, Bandaka and Migaila. Animals too make it as flesh-and-blood characters.

At the same time, violence too finds a place with different characters either succumbing to it or overcoming the need for it. And the author reminds us of the Asterix series by making his characters spout contemporary references. There's also the occasional four-letter word. Tezuka also tries out self-deprecatory humour, with digs aimed at himself.

So far, thanks to an indulgent friend, I have got my hands on the first five and I am keenly looking forward to the remaining three.

Going further I hope Buddha is just the beginning of my tryst with Osamu Tezuka. I came across another work of his - Phoenix: A Tale of the Future. And it's one of 12 volumes in his Phoenix series (all self-contained stories). Was a trifle disappointed there as I felt Tezuka let his charcters disappear into the background as he searched for the meaning of life.

Here are two 'magnum opus' works, Buddha and the Phoenix, but stunningly, this amounts to only a small fraction of the output of a man dubbed Father of Anime (Japanese animation) and the God of Manga.

According to wikipedia, the Complete Manga Works of Tezuka Osamu (published in Japan) comprises some 400 volumes, over 80,000 pages. Even this is not comprehensive. His complete body of work includes over 700 manga with more than 150,000 pages. The vast majority of his work has never been translated from the original Japanese and hence remains inaccessible to us.

Japanese Emperor Hirohito, who was in power for more than 40 years, and Tezuka died within a month of each other in 1989. But it is said Tezuka was mourned far more by the people than the long-time Emperor. Suffice it to say Walt Disney can be labelled Osamu Tezuka of the US.

RED'S THE COLOUR OF MONEY

2007-08-02T18:21:00.000+05:30

A demolition drive gone awry(what else do you expect when the hunter becomes the prey), the Chief Minister and the state CPM secretary bad-mouthing each other in public, a professional college education policy which is an almighty mess, all this while Kerala is reeling under the monsoon, chikungunya et al and its commercial capital Kochi is a stinking mess with mounds and mounds of garbage.

What does the CPM have to offer? More grandiose words. CM VS now wants to fast outside the Prime Minister's residence. The only thing you can say is that it is " good television" visually and makes for a great headline. And you can count on VS to give expressive and long-winded soundbytes. On the flip side it's a nightmare editing his soundbytes as he takes his own time while uttering each word.

To sum it up, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

But there are reasons for us to be grateful to him because of his "shooting from the hip" style. Would the revelations about CPM and CPI offices in Munnar being on encroached land have come to light? Not that he spilled the beans but at least his actions set the ball rolling for the media.

But he's still been an isolated voice, while the CPM's busy making itself a corporate giant. Kairali TV has three channels already, with a slew of promoters and shareholders including Mohanlal and Mammooty. No problem with making money, but what if responsible people in the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani take one crore rupees to help out a chit fund company facing a probe? And hobnob with lottery kings, while gobbling up two crore from him. And if this comes out in the open all the party secretary comes up with is "I'll fix you" to the Mathrubhumi (who exposed the story) editor. The Chinese approach to guided democracy, one supposes.

Now there are reports of their state headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, AKG Centre, having encroached on Kerala University land.

The ironic thing though is that disribution of wealth is considered far more uneven in the CPM than in the Congress when it comes to Kerala. Bribes apparently go straight to the very top unlike in the Congress where every level has to be placated.

Here's a scathing open letter to CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat published on ibnlive
http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/rajeshkumar/388/2211/any-jobs-in-cpm.html

MUCH ADO ABOUT SHAMBO

2007-07-27T02:42:00.000+05:30

Finally, it's all over for Shambo. UK law has prevailed, with the `sacred' bull taken from the South Wales temple for slaughter. End of all the outrage and indignation which turned the whole affair into a bull run on the media.

Was it right to put Shambo to death? Bovine tuberculosis has been a raging problem for farmers in the UK and there is a clear policy that if a bull/cow tests positive it should be slaughtered to prevent spreading of the disease. Bringing religion and multiculturalism into the picture in trying to cling on to a diseased animal is ridiculous. The law of the land should apply to everyone.

Shambo's `protectors' were harping on the sanctity of all life. Does sanctity apply to only this one bull? Forget Spain and bullfighting. Check out Tamil Nadu and the rural sport of Jallikattu, part of Pongal celebrations. Here macho men are supposed to take the bull by its horns (literally). The bull is not killed here but the brutal sport can gore these men to death. It doesn't help that the bull here is given a generous dose of alcohol. But will Shambo-protectors question the `sanctity' of tradition?

There are better things one can do for the community, instead of wasting time and breath over a bull. Taking a life is hard, but it was a necessary step here.

No more Shambo headlines now. Shambo Mahadeva, as Mohanlal's punchline goes in the film Aaram Thampuran.

2007-07-22T20:15:00.001+05:30

Hamid Ansari vs Najma Heptullah vs Rasheed Masood. For the first time in Independent India all the political groupings have come up with candidates from the same community for a President/Vice-President poll. Works as a CBM (Confidence Building Measure) in the light of Indian citizens coming into the terror focus for the first time.

At the same time, it's sad that all the choices offered are from merely one community. If the idea was to reiterate faith in the Muslim community and dismiss the terror attacks as the act of a misguided few, all parties should have got together and formed a consensus.

The fact that only one community can contest a Vice-President poll is a dangerous trend. The President election this time, despite all the controversy, was not so `exclusive', where one had to belong to a community. But next time, the Vice-President poll trend may well replicate itself in the Presidential polls. Dalit candidate vs Dalit candidate, Muslim candidate vs Muslim candidate, OBC candidate vs OBC candidate.

As far as stature goes, former diplomat Hamid Ansari seems the best bet. And he is not a career politician, in the Kalam mould. But then by the Left's wierd criteria of `political' President and`non-political' Vice-President, he has no business being in the picture when the next Presidential election comes up five years down the line.

Najma Heptullah has enough reasons to kick herself. If she had not hitched herself to the India Shining bandwagon and joined the BJP close to the 2004 elections, she might have ended up in Raisina Hill now and not Pratibha Patil. Now Maulana Azad's grand-niece is destined to contest and lose.

FIRST CITIZEN

2007-07-19T20:01:00.000+05:30

What a letdown! Anointing a colourless lightweight as President. My first reaction after Pratibha Patil's nomination for the Presidential poll. A consensus candidate conjured up from desperation, only because the Left did not have the occasion or need to cross swords with her in the past. Being in the political wilderness for long helped, as she had no opportunity to rub anybody in the UPA the wrong way.

But then Patil was the first woman in India to come into the presidential picture (Captain Lakshmi may have contested against Kalam, but hers was a lost cause at the outset). Positive tidbits about Patil appeared all over the media.

She must have some calibre in her if she became an MLA at the young age of 27 in 1962 when she was not even married (She got married three years later). A single woman at a young age becoming a legislator from interior Maharashtra more than 40 years ago is undoubtedly commendable. And educational institutions galore established over the years. Malayala Manorama's wonderful headline 'Pradhamam Ee Pratibha' ( first, this talent) said it all.

But the cookie crumbled with breathtaking speed and the slide was initiated by her. A public speech and what does she come with - a silly line about the Mughal invasion having led to the purdah system to protect women from the invaders. Muslim groups and historians cried foul.
Wonder what her campaign(image) managers were doing?

The media and the BJP smelt blood, and what does Pratibha do? Plays into their hands with her revelations about talking to spirits. It was only a matter of focussing on Maharashtra's sugar belt, her home turf. And skeletons started tumbling out with alarming regularity.

Maybe she is not directly involved in any of the scams. But what does it show? A weak-kneed person turning a blind eye while her relatives make merry. Coming back to the `lightweight' point, has she done anything of note as a politician in her over 40 years of public life? India is stuck with a yes-woman (unless the NDA comes to power at the Centre).

That said, the BJP must take the blame for initiating a sustained dirty tricks campaign against Patil, making it sound like a college election full of tabloid masala about rival candidates. The Congress too did not cover itself with glory, with its attacks on Shekhawat.

A news channel had the SMS question, "Has the public lost faith in the Presidency?". Here is an election where the public does not get to vote and what do those they elect present them with? A no-holds-barred slanging match.

The perfect breeding ground for cynicism.

GOD'S OWN CHAOS-II

2007-07-17T18:44:00.000+05:30

For once, sense or rather a sense of shame has prevailed. The Congress-led UDF has put off its call for a hartal tomorrow (Wednesday) in protest against the LDF government's `failure' to tackle the chikungunya and viral fever outbreak across the state.

First time in my memory such a thing is happening in hartal-happy Kerala. But this time the hartal announcers went way too far. Announcing it just when the state needs its entire infrastructure in running condition to help people battered by fever. Add to it heavy rain. Public and media distaste was too overpowering.

But will the hartal culture ever come to an end? The ruling Left has to change it spots for that. A mentality which goes ahead with a complete shutdown and acts of vandalism just because Saddam Hussein was executed in faraway Iraq does not help at all. The act may be worthy of condemnation, but not at the cost of the functioning of the people and the economy.

GOD'S OWN CHAOS

2007-07-16T12:36:00.000+05:30

Kerala or rather its politicians have an insatiable appetite for bandhs and hartals. But the latest hartal announcement takes the disease to ridiculous levels. The opposition UDF has called for a bandh tomorrow (Tuesday), to raise its voice against the LDF government's failure in containing the mass outbreak of chikungunya and viral fever across the state.

Here is a state where even though health facilities are better off, the infrastructure is struggling to cope with the sheer scale of the diseases. Consider the statistics, around 25000-30000 cases reported every day and around two lakh people affected since January. Not to forget a battered economy, with major money-spinners like rubber cultivation suffering because the tappers are too sick.

At a time when people need their basics and infrastructure functioning properly, all the opposition can come up with is a hartal. Denying them the very access they badly need. The UDF could easily have been more pro-active in the state assembly. But then everybody was busy with Munnar and whether Tata's board should be removed. Talk about missing the wood for the trees.

The ruling LDF is predictably crying foul and mocking the UDF, but the fact remains that if the UDF had been in power, the Left would have made life miserable with their cadre gleefully going on a hartal trip. And the Left has always been far more vocal.

And what have VS Achuthanandan and company been up to? A demolition drive which looked more like a one-upmanship bid within the CPI-M. While Munnar and the Deshabhimani bribe scandal dominated the headlines, fever got pushed down. The LDF was too busy attending to its internal troubles to wake up to the mess.

Even with the chikungunya threat such a potent one, Kerala's commercial capital Kochi was struggling to find a place to dispose off its garbage. The perfect recipe for mosquitos to breath (breed) easier.

God's Own Country has turned into God's Own Chaos.

TINTIN AU CONGO

2007-07-13T19:33:00.000+05:30

There's suddenly furore in the UK over Tintin in the Congo being racist. What's so new about it? It's an out-and-out racist work with blacks portrayed as imbeciles and the white man's burden (here the Belgian colonial regime). That's why the colour version came out in English only as late as 2005, that too to satisfy Tintinophiles.

Forget the racism bit, Tintin in the Congo is crap. The jokes are crude and not funny in the least. And there's enough for animal rights activists to holler. You'll see a heap of antelopes killed by Tintin and a rhinoceros dynamited to death among other things. In short, it's only of archival value for devoted Tintin fans.

Also it was one of Herge's early works, in fact his second, when he was still a greenhorn. And Herge was not free of the colonial perjudices of Imperial Belgium. A product of its times, emabarrassing now. Herge himself disowned the book, calling it a sin of youth.

It's a flawed product in every respect which should be ignored and forgotten. Instead there is hue and cry.

But keeping the book in the children's section is just not on. It's meant only for Tintinophiles and should be consigned somewhere in the adult graphic novel section.

When I was in school I read an article in The Week about a new book "Tintin in the New World" by Frederic Tuten. Tintin got married to somebody called Claudia and he has an increasingly fractious relationship with her. Lo and behold, when I went to a lending library in Thiruvananthapuram soon after, what do I find? The same book, lying with the other Tintins.

I wasn't daring enough to borrow it though I knew the content. I planned to pick it up in my next trip but I did not find the book. And never again did I find that book in the library. Some agitated parent's doing I am sure.

The point I am trying to make is, instead of raking up the issue, just remove Tintin in the Congo from where it is not supposed to be - the children's section. Let's not judge a book written in 1930 by today's standards. Just ignore it.

SMART CITY STINKS

2007-07-11T18:03:00.000+05:30

Kerala's commercial capital. Tourist hotspots in and around. Where you find all the latest car models zipping past. And the venue of the proposed Smart City project.

But at the same time a traffic nightmare. Last December, a trip from one end of MG Road to another took me around 40 minutes. I have similar memories from seven years back. With Smart City and hordes of cars to join the traffic in the not-too-distant future, where's the city headed? Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan waxed eloquent about bringing the metro to the city, after a trip on the Delhi Metro, but is it feasible for a small place like Kochi? As it is, the Left government is only about rhetoric.

But the bigger crisis now is that the city stinks, literally. The city does not have a proper dumping area for its tonnes of garbage. Kochi has tried to palm it off on neighbouring villages, but in a densely-populated state like Kerala with settlements all around, the villagers were bound to react. Finally, the authorities had to change their tune, after residents of Brahmapuram protested against dumping waste there. A solid waste treatment plant is coming up at the same place but then this should have been operating years ago.

An irate High Court too is a victim of the stink, pointing out recently that its functioning was paralysed for an hour because of the stench from the garbage lying on the nearby road

The administration, be it officials or politicians have been slow, but can't help feeling that the residents too should have woken up much earlier. Too much easy money and rampant consumerism and these issues are simply swept under the carpet.

Breeding spaces for mosquitos and chikungunya, tonnes of garbage is a scary prospect.

A photo I saw in a Malayalam newspaper last December said it all. A poster for the Suresh Gopi starrer "Smart City" pasted on a wall, while the area was strewn with garbage.

The wake-up call has been sounded, but Kochi simply cannot afford any let-up.

WHO'S THE GREATEST?

2007-07-09T16:57:00.000+05:30

The man's a chameleon. Roger Federer's the man for all surfaces. Be it serve and volley or slugging it out from the baseline, Fedex can change his colours at the drop of a hat. He's closing in with supreme ease on Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles. By now, he would have won everything in sight, if not for a Spaniard who's just too good on clay. But is he the greatest in the Open Era? (after the Grand Slams were thrown open to professionals in 1968)

For all his genius, Federer's had a free run for years without a worthy rival. Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt were humiliated time and time again, exposing them as one-dimensional, limited players. Marat Safin once showed he had it in him to oust Federer (2004 Australian Open semifinal) but then the temperamental Russian is his own biggest enemy. Age had caught up with Andre Agassi, by the time Federer displayed his wares on the big stage.

Only now has Federer found a rival who's here to stay. Rafael Nadal is the first Spaniard in the last three decades who's made the effort to prove he's not just a clay-court bully. Nadal this time proved he is serious competition to Federer even on grass. His sharp angles and net charges left one spellbound. The one drawback being the lack of a killer serve, with Nadal coming up with just one ace compared to Federer's 24.

Nadal's just 21 and a great rivalry is in the offing, with Federer yet to win the French Open and Nadal still awaiting his first Wimbledon title.

Cut back to 2001. Wimbledon 4th round. A talented Swiss youngster halts Pete Sampras in his tracks. At a time when Pistol Pete was unstoppable on grass, with seven Wimbledon crowns already. And he was poised to equal Bjorn Borg's feat of five successive Wimbledons.

The one and only time Roger Federer and Pete Sampras faced each other. The beginning of sunset for Sampras, who never won another Wimbledon. Fittingly enough, the man who scuttled Sampras' plans to emulate Borg's feat, has now achieved exactly that. Pity Sampras and Federer straddled different decades.

Coming to Sampras, did he have a worthy rival who pushed him all the time? Andre Agassi had an all-court game, but he discovered consistency only by the time he was pushing 30. And he couldn't hold a candle to Sampras on grass. Edberg and Becker were on the decline by the time Sampras won his first Wimbledon in 1993, Goran Ivanisevic was far too often consumed by his inner demons and Pat Rafter could have done much more though his serve-and-volley game was a treat to watch.

Federer scores over Sampras, thanks to Sampras' feet of clay when it came to Roland Garros. Only one semifinal appearance in so many attempts does take away some of the sheen from his legend status. For Federer too, the French Open remains a mystery, but that's not because he's failed to come to grips with clay. Just that he has to contend with a formidable rival, who's just too good.

So who's combined Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer year after year? Six titles on clay and five on grass, that too operating from the baseline. The answer is the Ice Cool Swede Bjorn Borg.

Borg consistently managed to be first among equals in a bad-tempered, colourful and competitive era. And it was quite a feat to remain ice cool pitted against the likes of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Illie Nastase at their nasty worst.

Borg was supreme on clay, but when it came to Wimbledon he had to fight every inch of the way.

One side there was Jimmy Connors, who barked after losing to Borg in the 1978 Wimbledon final, "I'll chase that son of a bitch Borg to the ends of the earth." When it came to the US Open the same year, Connors thrashed Borg in straight sets.

At the other end, the sublime touch artist John McEnroe, who saved matchpoint after matchpoint to clinch a dramatic fourth set tiebreak in the 1980 final. Only for Borg to bounce back in the final set.

Five successive triumphs with Connors and McEnroe breathing down his neck is no mean feat. But then Borg too had one achilles heel, the US Open, where he reached the final four times, never to win.

The sheer versatility in his game enables Federer to score over Sampras and Borg. But when it comes to competition, Borg had a tougher time. It's thus stalemate between Federer and Borg.

So who's the greatest in the Open Era? It's still Rod Laver, who won the Grand Slam in 1969 at 30-plus.

SIVAJI - THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

2007-07-05T18:48:00.000+05:30

Finally got around to watching Sivaji, that too in a half-empty hall. And I got exactly what I expected from a Rajini flick.

Only that this time we saw a tech-savvy superstar, thanks to his alliance with a director who makes it a point to pepper the screen with special effects and technical wizardry. Be it a voice-recognition password or MMS, Rajini bridged the digital divide in style. And the style mannan had a `cool' catchphrase to wash away the wrinkles of 57 years.

Style, yes in abundance. But what about substance? Director Shankar is known for his vigilante justice films where the medium(hero) is driven by the message - be it Kamal Haasan in Indian, Vikram in Anniyan or Arjun in Muthalvan, all battling corruption. But with the superstar it's all about the medium and his antics, the message is incidental.

Well, big deal. That's exactly why Rajinikanth is the superstar. One razor-sharp punchline, a witty repartee, a twirl of his fingers, a flip of the coin (he's become more genteel now with cigarettes uncool) - fans are ready to lap it up. Forget story, forget script, it's all about weaving together sequences pandering to the hero's demigod status. Also finding prominent space are sequences depicting Rajini as a do-gooder, donating generously to the poor.

And sycophancy is there all around. Song lyrics extolling the hero, the heroine/sidekick singing his praises, it's all there. Even the AR Rahman soundtrack is subservient to his movements and style. Which means, one identifies the soundtrack as that of a Rajini film first and then only the Rahman identity crops up.

Being a cult figure also means paying obeisance to past icons. At one point Sivaji refers to himself as Parashakti (Sivaji Ganesan's debut film scripted by Karunanidhi) and later he is back as MGR (M G Ravichandran) after a miraculous escape from death. MGR too made a comeback from death's door in 1984, and stunningly orchestrated an election victory in absentia, while recovering in a New York hospital.

So Rajini has to show that he is a worthy inheritor to the MGR/Sivaji mantle. And check out some of the song lyrics.
"Annan vanda Tamil Nadu America" - If Sivaji comes to Tamil Nadu, it will become America
"Kaveri Aaru marakalamah" - Can we forget the Kaveri River?

Kaveri's one emotive issue the superstar has to highlight. After all, he has to be more loyal than his loyalists considering his Bangalore roots.

There's toilet humour and it's loud. But the man still carries it off, as nobody else can. And he's always got great comic timing.

Sivaji also has its ode to Rajini's Japanese fans, with the bald MGR/Sivaji fight sequences at the end bearing the unmistakable stamp of manga comics.

So there you go, Sivaji's cool, finish, repeat for Rajini fans. Though I did not find a killer dialogue as in Baasha or a killer sequence as in Padayappa (Rajini hoisting himself to a higher pedestal than Ramya Krishnan)

In school, we used to poke fun at Rajinikanth with the tale about him using a blade to split a bullet into two when the gun was fired. Now it'll be sheer pleasure to watch him doing that on screen. It's all about making the absurd endearing.

By the way, it's ironic that for a film which takes up cudgels against black-marketeering, people end up paying more than 1000 to buy a ticket in black.

2007-07-02T21:50:00.000+05:30

Dilip Sardesai is no more.

All I have seen of his batting is from highlights packages of the historic 1971 India-England series. But his greatest contribution to Indian cricket was certainly in the previous series the same year. His 642 runs in 5 tests played a crucial role in India clinching the series against the West Indies.

The series though is remembered more for Sunil Gavaskar's phenomenal debut - 774 runs in 4 tests. But the backbone of the batting was clearly Sardesai in the middle order, who was always there to bail India out of trouble. Remember reading a Sportstar article long back labelling him the forgotten hero of the 1971 series.

First test - Batting first, India was five down for 75 only for a crucial partnership between Sardesai and Solkar. Sardesai's contribution being a monumental 212, which was more than half of the Indian score of 387.

The West Indian innings folded up for 217. And Indian captain Ajit Wadekar stunned the Caribbeans, walking up to skipper Gary Sobers and asking him to follow on. A shocked Sobers had forgotten that the match had been reduced to four days, since no play happended on day one. In a four-day match 150 runs behind meant a follow-on and not 200. India dominating abroad against a big side for the first time.

The West Indies did save the test but the second test (Sunil Gavaskar's debut) saw India emerging triumphant. Gavaskar did contribute 65 but the man who shored up India's innings yet again was Sardesai with 112 out of 352. India had a 138 run first innings lead, setting the stage for victory.

Fourth test - West Indies declares at a mammoth 501 for five. India is staring down the barrel at 70 for 6. Enter Sardesai with a 150 and another crucial partnership with Solkar. India was out of the woods.

Don't think there's any video of this series. What a pity!

Two double centuries and over 2000 runs in tests. Maybe he could have done more but Dilip Sardesai was never a regular fixture in the side during his 11 year career. Unlucky not to be remembered but undoubtedly an achiever.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

2007-07-02T01:45:00.000+05:30

(This piece is all thanks to a sleepless film buff flipping through the idiot box last Saturday night. Could resist everything except the temptation to watch Thazhvaaram a second time)

A wide sweep of rugged terrain, followed by an unshaven Mohanlal trudging determinedly up the hill. And a bird of prey looking down. Thazhvaaram (The Valley) begins on an ominous note. A Western transplanted to somewhere in the Western Ghats.

There is a brief flashback but without too many words it's clear that the hero is out for revenge. He finds a landowning settler from the plains Nanu (Shankaradi) and his daughter Kochooti(Sumalatha) and staying right next to them is his quarry Raju who's now become Raghavan (Salim Ghouse in his Malayalam debut). Raju though is not at home.

Balan (Mohanlal) goes down the hill in search and encounters his prey. He pins Raju down, and a kneeling Raju begs for forgiveness. But in the next instant, the deceitful Raju's pulled the rug from under Balan's feet. He is on top of Balan but voices nearby prevent him from delivering the final blow. Raju then pushes Balan down a treacherous slope.

Here's an all-too human hero who fails to learn from the mistakes of the past. A wounded Balan is discovered by Kochooti and is brought up to her house. As a limping Balan slowly recovers, the cat-and-mouse game begins between the two antagonists.

With an injured Balan on the defensive, Raju steps up his efforts to kill him. But luck and pluck continues to thwart him. In between, small flashback capsules bring back the past, where Raju murdered Balan's wife, when she saw him stealing money from their home. That too on their wedding night.

Cut to the present, Raju reveals his true lecherous colours to Kochooti. Eventually leading to Balan revealing the past to her. But an unaware Nanu continues to swear by Raju and Raju also succeeds in poisoning his mind against Balan.

A romantic attraction between Balan and Kochooti is subtly hinted at. But the only overt display fo affection between the two in the entire film (when Kochooti holds Balan's hand) is seen by Nanu, leading to an explosion.

Raju now has all the aces and matters are not helped by the fact that Balan is caught holding what is actually his money, which he found at Raju's hut.

But Raju knows things are getting too hot for him and when he sees jewels lying in Kochooti and Nanu's house, greed simply takes over and he runs with the booty. Only to confront a waiting Balan.

Unlike the usual Indian film though, hardly anything is said during the finale. It's matter-of-fact revenge, in a laconic Clint Eastwood-esque fashion. The vulture too is back, scenting prey.

And there's no embracing the heroine, with the hero silently making his journey back, away from the heroine and her father.

Thaazhvaaram talks to the viewer through visuals and actions. Dialogues are there only when it's absolutely necessary. But tension simmers throughout and at no point does one wish things could go faster. The background score also never intrudes. And yes, there are a couple of songs.

Also it's a brooding tale of isolation. Father and daughter isolated in a rugged, hilly terrain eagerly accepting the company of Raju. And Balan without his wife looking for deliverance from a sense of guilt, having been blind to his former friend Raju's vices. Just four characters fill up most of the frames crafted by director Bharatan and scriptwriter M T Vasudevan Nair. Two legends uniting to craft a visual masterpiece. Helped in no small measure by first-rate performances from the cast.

I would say this 1989 flick is the best and the most subtle revenge flick made in India. And full points for the way Thazhvaaram evoked a Western flick. And the way it depicted violence. There are killings, but without a blood-and-gore show. And no rape/molestation in the flashback sequences, which is standard staple for revenge dramas.

Just for the record, second and third in my revenge drama list would be Kamal Haasan's Chanakyan (Malayalam) and Amitabh Bachchan's Aakhri Raasta. Both do have rape/molestation in the flashback sequences (expectedly)

CELEBRATING RD

2007-06-26T21:42:00.000+05:30

News channels are scrambling to deify RD Burman on his 68th birth anniversary. Truly well deserved for a man whose work wasn't given its full due during his lifetime by a fickle Bollywood. As it is, the remix industry revolves around his beats, keeping RD alive for posterity.

But then SMS polls for RD's Top Ten can never come to grips with the entire sweep of his work. The foot-tapping and soulful numbers from known films get pride of place. Doubtless they are brilliant but then you'll find a hundred obscure RD soundtracks with brilliant scores, which remain unknown.

After a long time, decided to listen to a couple of RD CD's yesterday night. Here I must admit that though I had bought those CD's more than two years ago, I had never listened to them. In no time wafted in "Aisa Kyon Hota Hai" from a film called Ameer Aadmi Garib Aadmi, followed by Kishore Kumar singing "Ghungroo Ki Awaaz". RD never ceases to stun you with the range of his output.

Here's a list of ten obscure RD gems in no particular order

Ae zindagi kuch bhi sahi par ye mere kis kaam ki (Romance)- In His own voice. From a Kumar Gaurav starrer. It's nowhere near a cabaret number. Instead it's the maestro at his soulful best

O maajhi teri naiyya se (Aar Paar)- Again in His own voice. Yet another soulful solo number.

Kya Bhala Hai Kya Bura Hai (Libaas) - The only RD duet with Lata Mangeshkar. Sadly, the film was never even released. Remember seeing this song once in Superhit Muqabla on DD Metro. Libaas has a brilliant soundtrack with Khamosh Sa Afsaana Paani Se Likha Hota and Sili Hawa Choo Gayi

Aasman se ek sitara (Rahi Badal Gaye) - RD with Asha. Fast-paced, foot-tapping number

Tum Rootha to main ro doongi sanam (Jawaani) - Asha and Amit Kumar. Disco written all over it. Picturised on a forgotten chap called Karan Shah along with Neelam (her debut)

Ae Zindagi huyi kahan bhool, jiski hamein mili ye saza (Na Mumkin) - Kishore this time. All I know is Hrishikesh Mukherjee made this film. The other songs in this film too are pretty good.

Bindiya tarse kajra barse (Phir Wohi Raat) - Lata Mangeshkar. Mixes two tracks with finesse. This was RD's first stab at mixing twin tracks and not the popular Katra Katra in Ijaazat

Kabhi Palkon Pe Aansoo hai (Harjaee) - Kishore song etched with pathos. Harjaee had a great soundtrack with Tere Liye Palkon Pe by Lata also standing out.

Tumse Milke Zindagi Ko Yun Laga (Chor Police) - Lata. Amjad Khan's directorial venture

Hum Na Samjhe The (Gardish) - S P Balasubramanyam in the nineties.

Dev Anand's Anand Aur Anand, Sunny Deol starrers Samundar, Saveray Wale Gaadi, Sanjay Dutt's Jeeva (the sublime Asha-Amit Kumar song Roz Roz Aanhon Tale), Zameen Aasmaan....... the list goes on.

This is just a random list of 10 and am certain I have missed out songs I have liked at some point. But what's the common thread running through these films?

Most of them were made in the infamous 1980s (two in the early 1990s) and all were box-office duds. Net result - the songs were consigned to the dustbin of history, unhonoured and unsung. Flop after flop ensured that RD was struggling to get work by the end of the eighties, despite producing gem after gem.

To sum it up, "Full many a gem of purest ray serene, the dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear."

Returning to news channels, just can't relate to RD suddenly called Boss, just because of a film called Jhankaar Beats. Before the film I've never heard RD or Pancham labelled the Boss. Let's leave that title to Bruce Springsteen.

THE CRACK OF DOOM

2007-06-25T18:50:00.000+05:30

It's exactly 75 years after India (known then as All-India) stepped into the field at Lord's, against a formidable English squad. When it came to the business end of things, mercifully C K Nayudu was leading the side and not tour captain Maharaja of Porbandar, of whom it was said, "He owned more Rolls Royces than he had made runs."

As Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe entered the crease, England must have been expecting to roll over their minnow opponent. But 3 down for 19, the hosts were running for cover. The top order had been run over by a paceman named Mohammed Nissar.

Dropped catches and inexperience combined with the tenacity of the English skipper, a certain Douglas Jardine, saved England the blushes. But even in defeat, the newborn test side emerged with its head held high. And All-India had its pacemen to thank for the shock waves.

Mohammed Nissar and Amar Singh could indeed set wickets rattling. England great Walter Hammond described Amar Singh's bowling thus, "He came off the pitch like the crack of doom."
It is said pacemen always hunt in pairs - be it Miller and Lindwall, Trueman and Statham, Hall and Griffith or Adcock and Heine. Imagine India had a potent pace duo operating in tandem in the very beginning, ironic considering they have always struggled to have a consistent duo operating together in later eras. The best of the lot - Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath - never had a regular partner to share the burden.

When India played the Lord's Test, both Amar Singh and Nissar were only 21. Young and restless, they could be counted on to play tests galore. But then India was only a fledgling test nation and the 1930s saw them play a mere seven tests, all against colonial master England. And the Second World War meant a premature end to the pace duo.

Amar Singh could pack a punch with the bat too, smacking 51 in even time in the second innings at Lord's as India was sliding to defeat. Here's a description by Neville Cardus, "His batsmanship had a beauty which had its own mysterious axis and balance. His off-side strokes were like shooting stars - all wrong in our English astronomy, but all right and splendid in some other dazzling solar system. Most cricketers in the same situation would have gone into protective sheaths."

That's not all. His fielding too had its share of admirers, with comparisons to the West Indian great Learie Constantine. All in all, a complete all-rounder. The perfect recipe for one-day cricket.

A complete entertainer and free spirit, Amar Singh had his problems with the disciplined C K Nayudu. And played his part in the oust-Nayudu-from-captaincy intrigues. Pity the team of the 1930s was always weighed down by internal dissension. Who knows what India could have achieved if more energy had been diverted to on-field action.

So here are two supremely gifted pacemen, Amar Singh and Nissar, whose talent resulted in feats of individual brilliance, but was never part and parcel of a collective will. Nissar took 25 wickets in 6 tests while Amar Singh scored 292 runs and claimed 28 wickets in 7 tests.

Nissar died in Pakistan much after Partition while Amar Singh tragically died of typhoid in 1940, when he was only 29.

Putting their exploits in perspective is the fact that it took more than 40 years for an Indian paceman to make his opponents hop around. First test, late 1978, India vs Pakistan. Pakistan opener Sadiq Mohammad asks for a helmet from the pavilion after being peppered by an Indian debutant - Kapil Dev.

FORD FIASCO

2007-06-15T11:10:00.000+05:30

So Graham Ford turns his back on the offer, after all the manoeuvering by the senior players in his favour.

The richest cricket board in the world and the BCCI cannot even command a coach? Ridiculous.

All they have to fall back on is a 70-plus veteran past his prime. Chandu Borde has lived a full cricket life - be it a player, chairman of selectors, manager and curator. But expecting him to effect a turnaround is a bit too much. The only consolation being that he is just filling in for now.

FORD IN DRIVER'S SEAT

2007-06-10T03:14:00.000+05:30

So Graham Ford is the Indian cricket coach. No suprises there. John Emburey was anyway just the BCCI's way of prolonging the suspense.

Ford's appointment is a first for the BCCI, being the first time someone without a playing background to boast of, making it to the helm. Here's hoping that a non-player like him is more likely to listen and less prone to dominate, making things a two-way process. He didn't do too badly for SouthA frica during his tenure, only unlucky to get the sack in the revamp which followed the match-fixing scandal.

In India's case at least, the quieter ones have been more successful as coach, be it Ajit Wadekar or John Wright. And those with the most distinguished career records have been disasters, like Bishen Bedi, Greg Chappell and Kapil Dev. Bedi's quip about throwing the Indian team into the Pacific Ocean after losing to Australia in a 1990 onedayer did not help matters one bit. As for Chappell, he failed woefully in man-management. Also, one cannot be a coach banking on instinct alone like a Kapil Dev. It's about science too.

What India needs is a backroom player who blends with the team and not a quote-happy (and email-happy) dominating force. A team united behind the coach is needed for starters, considering Team India is now light years behind the Australias and the Sri Lankas.

And yes, the most successful coach around was only a club-level cricketer with only seven Sheffield Shield appearances for Queensland to boast of. A certain John Buchanan.

Wishing the second import from Kent all the best. Hoping he can also provide the Wright medicine, just like the New Zealander who came to India in 2001, helped considerably by Rahul Dravid's successful Kent stint in 2000.

EMBUREY AS COACH?

2007-06-07T01:38:00.000+05:30

It's a long shot, but John Emburey coaching India? Ironic, considering it was India who finished his international career.

My first memory of Emburey is the nagging spinner, who played his part in the victorious Ashes campaign of 1986-87. Saw a lot of him in action during the 1987 World Cup. And he could hold fort with the willow too, coming up with useful knocks in the lower middle order. He captained England in two tests in 1988, and got battered by a rampaging West Indies both times. A year later he had become a banned cricketer, heading for South Africa with Mike Gatting's rebel side.

But that wasn't the end of his international career. Towards the end of 1992, an ageing Emburey, leaning towards 40, was back. Graham Gooch's England wanted to keep a tight leash on Indian batsmen in their den, and decided to bank on his experience.

Navjot Singh Sidhu was lying eagerly in wait though. After missing the 1992 World Cup and the South Africa series, he wanted sixes aplenty in his name. And Emburey was his hapless prey. The veteran turned his arm over, only for the ball to disappear into the stands. Sidhu seemed to be licking his lips at the sight of Emburey bowling and the battle-hardened veteran was reduced to a nervous wreck. For a schoolboy like me, he had become an object of ridicule.

Only Sachin Tendulkar is left from the side who buried Emburey the player. Though Emburey the coach may be a different proposition altogether, it's strange to imagine a player hounded out by Indian batsmen returning to coach them.

2007-02-09T00:03:00.000+05:30

Watched Mani Ratnam's Guru and I must say it was an enjoyable experience. Guru is purportedly a work of fiction but the parallels with industry icon Dhirubhai Ambani are hard to miss. Starting with being a schoolteacher's son, migrating to Istanbul and working in a gas station to the fitting finale, where Guru addresses shareholders in a cricket stadium. Reminded me of Reliance being the sponsor of the 1987 World Cup, the first time the event was held outside England.

I also appreciated the fact that some of the songs were used to carry forward the narrative and were not just mere fillers. Though in a Mani Ratnam film, usually the songs in themselves are a treat to watch.

What was jarring though was Guru being made out to be a hero. A man of the people who cannot speak English, victimised by an English-speaking elite who wanted to let the old order remain. Helped with a generous dose of Mahatma Gandhi and hints of the prosecutors behaving like British colonists, public opinion had to swing in favour of the 'victim' hemmed in from all sides.

But then a dramatic speech spells success more easily than depicting an industrialist's carrot-and-stick approach to deal with trouble.

I walked home with the satisfaction of having seen a good biopic (or at least resembling) of a contemporary figure (by contemporary here I am alluding to post-independence icons). I racked my brain but could come up with hardly any name when it came to such biopics. Ancient, medieval, Independence movement figures have inspired biopics aplenty, be it in Hindi or regional languages like Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam. Underworld dons too have found their place in the sun including a female don, with Godmother loosely inspired by Santokhben Jadeja.

But offhand I cannot think of any other industrialist or somebody who made his/her name with some daredevil act, or real-life rages-to-riches stories, which inspired a commercial film. The only other name which came to my mind was Iruvar in 1997, again by Mani Ratnam, with Mohanlal's character resembling MGR and Prakash Raj Karunanidhi. And Iruvar turned out to be a box-office dud.

But now Guru's success seems to show, if packaged well and involves a colourful personality, biopics can reap a rich harvest, with the urban multiplex crowd and the overseas market lapping it up.

2006-06-28T04:31:00.000+05:30

For the umpteenth time Spain flattered only to deceive. A young side brimming with zest and talent - after seeing them bulldozing their rivals in the group stage I thought Spain's moment of glory was finally round the corner.

I do have a soft corner for them, being a bunch of hugely talented individuals who just never seem to be able to put it together at the big stage. But then for once when the whole was equal to the sum of its parts, Spain ran into a bunch of players determined to coax victory out of a creaking reputation sullied by age.

Spain did show that their sheer pace could catch France on the wrong foot, but then those ageing French legs closed ranks and youth simply could not penetrate their way for the final thrust home.

The 1998 stars were very much in evidence - Patrick Vieira and the talisman himself Zinedine Zidane, with both helping themselves to goals. But can those ageing legs go all the way - with Brazil lined up next?

The French workhorse who impressed me though was Frank Ribery. He was certainly the livewire, slotting in the equaliser, busying himself creating chances and yes, he is one of those who has age on his side.

It's still advantage Brazil in the quarterfinals, but Ronaldo and company had better beware of a team which seems to be slowly inching towards its peak. And France has tons of experience to bank on, to see them through at the crunch. For Zizou it might just be sunset on his own terms, as he conducts the French orchestra.

AGE-OLD BLEUS

2006-06-27T02:37:00.000+05:30

Was watching France in action during the weekend. The Les Bleus hardly inspired confidence - disappointing draws against Switzerland and Korea, and they seemed to be carrying the baggage of age. Which other team has so many ageing remnants from a moment of glory, eight long years ago? And the talisman, Zinedine Zidane was a pale shadow of his old self.

Zidane's suspension, forcing him to miss the Togo match in a way was a relief to me. Tired as I was of an ageing side clutching at an equally ageing conductor, I was longing to see the younger lot try their luck at being playmakers.

No Zidane, and Patrick Vieira stood up to be counted. Responsibility seemed to have brought out the best in him. Also it was a pleasure to watch the likes of Frank Ribery playing a pivotal role. Not to forget throwing in David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry together.

Come Tuesday's Spain clash, and Zidane should be back. But the Zidane game is no match for the Zidane name now. Maybe, just maybe, a big occasion and a formidable rival could bring out those dormant seeds of genius.

Mind you, I am not a big fan of the Les Blues. But I wouldn't like to see a once-proud side limp into the sunset with its icon cutting a sorry figure. Especially after having followed the French through the euphoria of World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000.

2006-03-16T17:08:00.000+05:30

Had the masochistic pleasure of watching the ageing Vijaykanth mouthing politically charged punchlines in his latest potboiler Sudesi. Didn't get to see the entire film - just the relevant clips which were sent to us for a story. But one thing was clear even with my limited grasp of Tamil - the Captain is no Rajnikant.

The scenes were so ludicrous - making it one heck of a hilarious experience. The camera angles et al...just forget it. The crowning glory is of course the ear-blowing title music....with Sudesi Sudesi chanting in the background as our demigod takes his measured steps.

I confess I am not too familiar with Vijaykanth the actor but he simply cannot hold a candle to Rajni. Age isn't exactly on Rajni's side either, but last year in Chandramukhi he showed he was still right up there. And all those impossible gravity-defying antics of his may be silly at one level, but then comes with the stamp of class. I still can't stop raving about the Ramya Krishnan-Rajni chair hierarcchy sequence in Padayappa. Male chauvinism at one level but what a riot!

Wonder how Vijaykanth deals with comedy - as I haven't sat through a full Vijaykanth film yet. But from what I have surmised - a Rajnikant-Vijaykanth comparison is just a case of class mediocrity versus crass mediocrity. Simply cannot imagine the Captain conquering Tamil Nadu on his own steam. Comparisons to MGR and NTR...ridiculous.

A certain two-bit actor dubbed the Errol Flynn of B-movies did become the President of the USA. But I simply cannot imagine Ronald Reagan being replicated by this poor man's Rajnikant - his right man at the right time spiel in Sudesi notwithstanding. Let's leave the last word to Rajni -or rather his punchline more than a decade ago in Basha - nann oru tharava sonna, nooru tharava sonna mathiri (My saying once is like saying a 100 times) .

2006-03-14T17:13:00.000+05:30

14th test defeat out of 16! Heard with resignation that West Indies had tumbled to yet another loss against New Zealand. That too after being 140-odd for no loss at one stage. Just over 100 runs to win with all 10 wickets in hand and still the Caribbeans couldn't hold their nerve.

Contrast this abject surrender with Caribbean Kings on ESPN. Clive Lloyd's pace battery in full pomp in 1984 sending England scurrying for cover. The impossibly tall Joel Garner, 'Whispering Death' Michael Holding and the relatively short but menacing Malcolm Marshall. Not to forget those rasping square-cuts of Gordon Greenidge, the swagger of Viv Richards and the calm of Larry Gomes.

When I started following the game in 1987 the Windies were still tenuously clinging on to their number one mantle in tests. ODI supremacy they had lost out on by then but they did eke out their share of wins.

And the pacemen were still being churned out. Patrick Patterson, Winston Benjamin, Tony Gray all emerged with the hint of promise. Holding and Garner had quietly faded out but Marshall was still there. And in England in 1988 Marshall's incisiveness was very much in evidence as he gobbled up 30-plus wickets.

Of course Ambrose and Walsh became a potent force and equally menacing was the Bishop with no hint of mercy - Ian Bishop. The cup of pacemen still seemed filled to the brim.

But the cookie crumbled and how! As the years flew past, it became just Ambrose and Walsh. Leaving me with a lot of what ifs. If only Ian Bishop had not been ravaged by injury. If only Patrick Patterson had lived up to his promise and taken much more than the 90-odd wickets he ended up with. If only Winston and Kenneth Benjamin had not been swallowed up by their volatile temperaments. And much later, if only Franklyn Rose had carried on with the form he showed against India in 1997.

What do we get to see now? Military medium operators like Ian Bradshaw plying their wares, hoping for some crumbs. It's painful to see a popgun attack getting mauled by all and sundry. Maybe India might still oblige them this summer with yet another inexplicable collapse abroad. Four years back, the likes of Mervyn Dillon and Pedro Collins had pummelled India into submission. For all you know, India might just be what Fidel Edwards needs for a welcome boost of confidence.

The return of pace may not be the only answer to the ills plaguing West Indian cricket. But it will be a pleasure to view once again speed merchants at both ends making life miserable for the batsman. Hoping against hope that I won't be reduced to banking on Caribbean Kings to view a West Indian pace battery operating.

BEYOND BOUNDARIES

2006-03-13T14:44:00.000+05:30

Sitting through Australia vs South Africa was not exactly part of my Sunday agenda. Dip in dip out was the idea as I lazily looked at Ricky Ponting batting. But what do I see - 200 odd in about 30 overs and no sign of a let-up in the assault. I sat glued as Ponting and company blasted their way to a record 434.

Record achieved. End of story I thought as Dippenaar fell cheaply. With every intention of going out for a film in the evening I take one final look at the scores. What do I see now - Gibbs blazing away.

I dismissed this charge as the boy standing on the burning deck delaying the inevitable. But I was hooked enough to stick on with the match. And I did enjoy every moment of history being created and undone.

But the pleasure came with a tinge of sadness. Whither the bowler?

I started watching cricket in early 1987 - when 250 was considered a good score and 300 was considered Mt.Everest. I still remember agonising when India ended up one run short of 300 in an ODI against Sri Lanka (it was a 40-over match though). That was an exceptional match in those days, with Sri Lanka replying with 289. Roshan Mahanama and Asanka Gurusinha scared the daylights out of me with their batting.

That was a time when pinch-hitting was a concept unheard of - though we did have Srikkanth twirling his bat around . 40 for 0 in 10 overs was considered runs made at a fast clip. Bowlers' confidence levels were stratospheric defending 250-odd.

1996 World Cup, Sanath Jayasuriya and after - one-day cricket got more exciting. But it was runs, runs all the way and the bowler an instrument to be pummelled.

Surprisingly, India had still not achieved a 300-plus score even then. But the same year even that psychological barrier went for a toss - with the team scoring 305 against Pakistan at Sharjah.

Even then once 300 was achieved chasing was still regarded a distant dream. But in the subcontinental pitches it didn't take long for that fear to crumble too. Bowlers were just there, delivering the ball for the batsmen to whack and the crowds to cheer.

In a way it does make the game exciting but what about parity? Things have come to a stage when an absolute flat track is referred to as the ideal one-day wicket. And I, who used to get so excited at one stage about sides reaching that magic 300 figure would say 'big deal'.

The Wanderers batathon left me wondering. Where does the bowler hide? Is it merely mediocre bowling or an ultra-flat wicket? Mind you, the mayhem did not happen on a small subcontinental pitch. One can argue that there was no McGrath or Warne or Pollock - but how much could they have done?

The game may be touching new frontiers but at the cost of fond memories with which I grew up. A six is a pleasure but the ball rattling the timber (not just due to a missed slog) is an equal pleasure. Not to forget the ball beating the bat. Wonder how much of that we will get to see in a belter-heavy future.