The Emperor gets back his Crowns!

Just a month after winning the Major Title(French Open),which eluded him for such a long time,Roger Federer wins another Grand Slam Title of the Year and thus get back the Two Crowns which held for a very long time till he lost it both to Rafael Nadal last year-The Wimbledon and the ATP No.1 ranking!

With a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title win,The Swiss Superstar just crushed innumerable records,showed various forms of his Genius,ending with a Great Mtach at the Final!

Thanks to the Holidays,for the first time,I got a chance to watch almost all the Wimbledon matches(Singles,Doubles,Mixed Doubles all of them.) telecasted by the Star Sports!It was fun watching many talented players fighting it out and watching Federer at his best again after one and a half years.

Just a look at Federer's play till his run-up to the Finals!

1.1st Round:He looked a bit rusty initially in the first Set,but came back well to win the set and the remaining 2 sets,almost with his eyes closed !

2.2nd Round:Here,Federer just crushed his opponent merilessly.There were a lot of magical Forehand shots hit by him.

3.3rd Round:Another one sided match,where Federer just wins it easily in 2 sets,got a bit careless in 3rd set,but smashed his opponent again winning the 4th Set 6-1.

4.4th Round:Faces the 1st Real Challenge from an improved Soderling,Soderling fights well;but not well enough to prevent a Straight Sets win fro Federer.
5.Quarterfinals:Now,he showed why he's the Greatest player.Facing Ivo Karlovic;the 'Ace Machine' whose long serves couldn't be resisted by most of the players;but Federer broke his serve Twice;hit some 'Miraculous' Shots which just couldn't be read well by Karlovic,the Swiss Ace just burned the 'Ace Machine' to Ashes!
6.Semifinals:Meeting another 'improved' player Tommy Haas,Federer showed his class not only in his Serve and Forehand returns,but also in Awesome 'Backhand Sliceshots' and many volleys;it was another 'Complete' Match for Federer who showed his Class in all forms of the Game(Forehand,Backhand,Slice,Dropshot,Serve-and-Volley,athleticism.) and just Outclassed his opponent winning in Straight Sets!

7.Final:After disposing 3 'Potential Threats',so easily and looking at the way,Andy Roddick somewhat struggled quite a lot to win against Hewitt and Murray(Offcourse,I observed he indeed improved amazingly.),I thought it'll be a straight win for Federer and the match will end up within 80-90 minutes,despite his 'new revelation'.But,I and almost every Tennis-viewer was shocked when it appeared that Andy Roddick was equally determined to win it!He broke Federer's serve twice in 1st set and 4th Set;while Federer though brought many of Roddick's service Games to a Tie-break,he just couldn't convert it into a Break Point!While Roddick was at his best form,hitting well at Backhand returns too and some marvellous dropshots,Federer did the best thing by hitting maximum points on his Serve,firing nearly 50 ACES!

Though not at his prefect form in the Finals,Federer indeed showed flashes of his Brilliance and Grit,when he came back down from 1-5 to 7-5 in the Second Set Tie-breaker,which was a turning point of the match!And then came the 5th Set,with Federer holding the Serve of the Opening Game.At that time,both were equally poised in all manners(Winning 2 sets each,hitting many aces and winners.)

Both looked extremely determined,if Federer dominated in his Serve,so was Roddick in his!If Federer was up then 9-8 Roddick came back to 9-9,like this it went on till 14-14.

My father too was irritated,wondering whether this match will go on till late Midnight!I thought one of the 2 who gets exhausted playing for 4 hours continously,may give up;but none seemed to give up on their serve,they didn't show any signs of Tiredness or Fatigue.That was absolutely amazing,a kinda Superhuman stuff from both the players!But,in the 30th game,Roddick committed 2 errors in the same manner(Wrongly judging the return by hitting on ground and thus the ball leaping over the Court!),with Federer finally breaking Roddick's serve for the First time in the Match and thus winning the Championships for the 6th time!The match lasted for 4 hours and 16 minutes,never looking one-sided at any moment!

It might not be the Greatest of the matches for a Purist,who expects more of rallies,playing closer to the net,serve and volley(It was more of an Ace Marathon dominated by Service points win.);but indeed a Great match of it own League to show how a Duel would be,when one Man wants to show that he's made a REAL Comeback and another wants to get Past the Ultimate record!

Well done Andy Roddick!I don't know how much you're praised when you won your lone Grand Slam title at US(2003);but you surely deserve a great;thunderous applause despite your dignified defeat this time!(The fact that the Britons forgot that Murray's hopes were dashed by this very Roddick and yet cheered a lot for Roddick during the Final Presentattions,showed how great he played on that day!)I believe Roddick may win 2-3 more Grand Slam titles later on,if he's patient enough and has gained confidence from that Amazing run to the Wimbledon Finals.

And for Federer,reaching Greater Heights will not be easy.That's why he had to struggle early in the French Open(2 Five-setters in 4th Round and Semifinals.) and then gain an easy Victory at the French Open,while he started it great winning all the 6 matches easily;but had to struggle for 4 hours in the Finals to finally get Back the Wimbledon and also the No.1 Ranking!

The Great Man had started his lonely journey in a path reached by none in the Past,reaching his first Landmark on the way;let's see How many more will he cross in this Path of Greatness!He started with an Alpine Conquest in 2003.And now,he's Reached even the Everest!(Is there anything Bigger than that?:D)

And it was great to see Sporting legends like Pete Sampras(Who got his Biggest record broken finally),Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver watching the match(Reminding us of 'Gods coming down to witness the Great Trojan War or Mahabharata:D) to see another Legend surpassing their Achievements.

And I was glad to see Sachin Tendulkar too in the Stadium.

That's just Awesome!

Winning 15 of his last 25 Majors is just Awesome,showing the Monopoly which Federer holds over the Tennis ,despite the presence of many Talented players! Offcourse,Luck favors him at times,but that's only because he has the determination and burning desire to Win constantly at the Major Championships!

Federer's 15th Grand Slam-A statistical assessment.

Apart from the well-known records beaten/extended to by Roger Federer on his way to win his 15th Grand Slam Title and 6th Wimbledon Men's Title(Like reaching 21 consecutive Major Semifinals,20 Major Finals,7 Consecutive Finals@Wimbledon .);there were some other interesting records/trivia associated with that win.

Just my Findings:

1.Fun with no.2 and 4:This is the Fourth Time Federer has won a Major title as a Second seeded player.(04 AO,08 US,09 FO,09 Wimb).

This is the Fourth time Federer had defeated Roddick in Wimbledon(03 SF,04 Finals,05 Finals,09 Finals).

This is the Fourth time Federer had defeated Roddick in a Major Final.(04 WIMB,05 WIMB,06 US,09 WIMB)

This is the Second time Federer jumped from Number 2 ranking to Number one in ATP Rankings after win a Major title.(04 AO,09 Wimb.)

Federer is only the Fourth male player of the Open Era to win both The French Open and Wimbledon in the same year(Bjorn Borg,Laver,Nadal being the others to achieve this feat.

The Final match was lapped within Four Hours and Sixteen minutes!(Both 4,16 are multiples of FOUR.)

This is the FOURTH Five Set Final match Federer(07 WIMB,08 WIMB,09 AO,09 WIMB) had to face in a Grand Slam event,with Federer winning TWO of them!

No More!

No more Thrilling moments,
No more Dangerous dances,
Michael Jackson has become History,
The Invincible has become invisible!

The one and only pop Megastar has passed away!It can't get so BAD,when every fan of you was eagerly awaiing your last concert at London!
But,your music and dances will be remembered Forever,Michael!!!!

T-20 World Cup 2009.

The T20 World Cup continues to be quite unpredictable again with Pakistan,not getting a chance to play so many International matches in last years,winning the Championship this year,with the favorites Southa Africa and Srilanka being comprehensively defeated by the Pakistanis in Semi finals and Finals respectively,thanks to their excellent bowling attack(Especially Umar Gul.) and with Afridi making a surprisingly match winning comebacks in the Semi-final and Final.
And the Indian cricket team which won the previous World Cup were out of the Tournament in The Super Eights itself,not able to defeat even England,nor able to score a meagre 130 against South Africa.
Not that Surprising!
While the Indian team in the First Edition was not an extremely powerful sureshot winning team,there was a better team-effort and every talented player contributed when it mattered at different stages(Yuvaraj against England and Australia,Rohit Sharma scoring against South Africa,Gambhir scoring well in the Finals.),with the batting being aided by a good bowling attack(Esp. R.P.Singh) to defend the Indian scores.And add to it,luck favored in a couple of occasions(Like using the trump card Joginder Sharma.)to the brave team.
While I felt the hype given to the Returning team then wasn't that deserving,but it was good that it India atleast one a World Cup in T-20 format,having lost badly in the ODI format in 2007.And it seemed to have given the team,a sort of confidence to be on top resulting in Victories against all the best Teams like Australia,Sri Lanka,New Zealand in Tests and ODIs too.
But,what went wrong with the 2009 Team was that,many of the players appeared to be out of form;with Gambhir not playing well in IPL,Zaheer Khan too not in good shape,Virender Sehwag injured.Add to it,the remaining players who had some talent were not placed in the order where they can play well.Rohit Sharma,who played really well in IPL for Deccan Chargers in the Middle Order,couldn't bat well at the Opening slot,and suffered against short-pitched deliveries.Gambhir just seemed to have lost in touch with T20,having scored some match-saving 'slooooooooow' innings in the New Zealand Tests.Yuvaraj,the only in-form batsman wasn't sent at the right time while batting against England.Dhoni,who hasn't played a good innings in last 2 years,managed to be a celebrity though as he led a good team,which won many matches in India and Overseas;but this time he seemed to have declined sharply as a batsman and also as a Captain too,he just appeared to be lacking the Competetive Spirit this time,it was surprising that this very person who scored too many Sixes in innings 148 and 183 in ODIs 3-4 years ago,is just struggling to even hit a single properly,making one wonder whether everyone managed to find his faults.
While,I don't think T-20 results must be taken so seriously(As T-20 matches are yet to be played regularly.);still I believe Dhoni must improve his batting,some might quote he has the best ODI avge. at 49.92,but do you know why?He has been not out for 25% of his ODI Innings(30 out of 120),just rotating the strike when the batsman on the other end plays well(Gen. Sachin or Yuvaraj) and finally notch up some 30-40 playing for a long time.And his strike-rate has declined drastically from 125+ 2-3 years ago to just 90,which means that in last 2 years he's just been playing at a strike rate of around 70,even as other team-mates having been firing at a rate of 90+(Sachin,Sehwag and Yuvaraj).
This is surely because of Dhoni's decline in batting and not due to change in his batting style from aggressive to responsible.(Scoring 11 out of 24 is a responsible innings???)Even in the IPL,he played well on just one or 2 occasions out of 15 innings,while it was Hayden who consistently top-scored followed by Raina.
I heard a commentator telling that Dhoni is a wristy player,but in my opinion;he's become a pure RUSTY player!
Just look at the way,he struggled to hit a Boundary and at times even a single;it appeared to be laughable and pitiable!
Seriously,more than finding faults in other players of the team,Dhoni must think about improving his own form,as an improved Captain will surely inspire the other Players to excel.Can Dhoni improve??

Federer equals and exceeds finally!

More than 2 years ago,when my friend posted a blog article claiming whether Federer is the greatest Tennis player ever,he received a comment from someone who said that he's yet to win a French Open Title to be called as the greatest ever,then I made a statement that Roger will win that soon,really soon.
But,after losing in his Bastion(Wimbledon) in 2008 and also Australia Open in 2009 to his arch-rival Nadal and even losing his long held-No.1 ATP ranking,I wondered whether he would ever win the French Open and more defeats in recent times to even Djokovic and Andy Murray made me wonder what really went wrong with him.
But,after such a steep and drastic decline,hopes came alive for his fans when he finally won a Title in Madrid defeating Nadal too in that Final.(Well,Nadal was reportedly feeling tired while playing the final immediately after a long Semifinal the other day.)
And when Nadal made a shock exit in the Fourth Round to Soderling,I was shocked and then waited to see how Federer will make use of this Golden Opportunity.Next day,when Federer was 2 sets down to Tommy Haas in 4th round,I wondered whether he'll not win this time too,but he came back winning the last 2 sets comprehensively.
Then,I understood,this year's Winner will be Federer merely for his iron will and perseverence.We saw that again in the Semifinls,when he appeared surprisingly nervous against del Petro in first 3 sets,and once again rallied back to win the last 2 sets.
But,in the Finals,Roger played like as if he meant nothing but business,wanting to finish off the match soon and Touch the Cup which eluded him for a long time,though he desrved it.He just thrashed Soderling away in the First Set,then in Second Set,Soderling seemed to give some fight(Offcourse,Federer was partly distracted by an unruly fan's action),but he almost seemed like he gave up in the Third Set,with Federer finally winning his 14th Grand Slam Title and First French Open Title.Truly,it was Federer's best victory in last 2 years!
With this,Federer equalled Sampras' record of winning 14 Grand slam titles and also exceeded him by winning the French Title,which Sampras couldn't.(Sampras just reached the Semifinals once.)Thus,all debates regarding who's the greatest Tennis Playere ever have been put to rest.(As acknowledged by the great Sampras too.)The ATP ratings rate you currently at Number 2,but History will always regard you as the Ultimate Number One!
WHAT A COMEBACK!
There might be arguments that Nadal's early exit made it easy for Federer to win it,but then only a great player,possessed with grit and grace,can make the best use of luck and destiny.
20 Consecutive Semifinal appearances(In Grand Slams) is not because of lack of better competitors to Federer than those of Sampras era/Bjorn Borg-Connors era;
but only because of a man's obsession to stay on top and play at his best consistently,having reached the top in 2004 for the first time.
And I hope Federer finshes with 16 titles this year and even cross 20+ by the end of his career.
And I believe,he need not be tensed anymore and can play more peacefully,because he has nothing more to prove after winning in Rolland Garros too;we would just like to see you overtaking your own records again from now onwards.
Records Beware!
Everytime Federer won a Grandslam title,one record or the other just broke and many more were created by the artist called Federer.Then,the artist's strokes got partly blunted for a year,but with this 14th title,he's here to stay tormenting the Record Book for more years to come!All the best Federer!Everyone loves you playing at your best!
P.S:1.Wonder what made Nadal comment that Federer is more likely to win this year's French Open than him(That too in February,when in his peak.).Probably,a sort of instincts or gut-feeling.

2.For the 4th time in a row,it's a No.2 Ranked Male player who won the French Open.Quite funny.

3.While Federer joined pretty late to the club of 'Career Grand Slam winner',he crossed thair total Grand Slam wins long ago!

4.By the way,Soderling defeated Four-time French Open Champion Rafael Nadal in Fourth Round in Four sets!

Ghilly,I'm your new fan!

Right from the age of five, I regarded only one cricketer with the highest esteem, and he is Sachin Tendulkar(McGrath,Dravid were a distant 2nd/3rd in my limited list of favorite cricketers.)
But, then there was another guy too for whom I had high regards when he was playing for the Aussies,he is Adam Gilchrist.I liked the way he turned around the game for the Aussies with his terrific opening stance and wicketkeeping; but the admiration wasn’t that high till he retired and then started playing in IPL.

More than Tests and ODIs,he appeared to be more ferocious in the IPL,and I started admiring more and more since last year,even though Deccan Chargers lost badly then,and I hoped Gilchrist gets the right combination this time and give his best.And yes,he did and I too added Glichrist in my list of 5 all-time favorite players.
What I liked the most is ‘the obsession’ he has for hitting a Six every match,unless he gets out in 1st ball(Like against the CSK once.);there's no question of him leaving the ground without hitting a Six,and they almost soar over a distance of more than 100 metres most of the times,and add to it the way he treats his bat like a blade to hit boundaries,that's sheer delight;he just entertains us like anything with his Batting talent.And as a wicket-keeper,he has no peer in my opinion;his reflexes are so quick,remember the match against the Rajasthan Royals,when a catch appeal was denied by the Umpire,Gilchrist quickly removed the bales off the stumps,when the batsman ran out of the crease.
And finally,a collection of some of my favorite shots of Ghilly in this IPL:
1.Gilchrist scorecd a masterpiece of 64 in 32 balls in the 2nd encounter with Delhi and almost managed to help the Deccan win.So,superb were those shots played against one of the best bowling team(Nannes,Nehra,Amit Mishra)

2.This is probably one of the longest sixes of the IPL,hit against the KKR in the 2nd encounter.

3.The 25th six:I had decided to write this article after Ghilly scores his 25th six(of IPL-2009) and waited for him to fire it against Royal Challengers,which he didn't,but luckily he scored it against the Delhi Daredevils and thus dedicate it to a noble cause.

5.The other sixes of the Semifinal:After a long time,I watched a match where one blockbuster knock just made a reasonably big target look so small and the opposition, despite trying their best vareities of bowling,couldn't prevent The Thunderbolt called Gilchrist.When Ghilly was blasting in off-side,Sehwag placed more fielders there,next ball he scored a Boundary in the Leg-side;but then where can you place the fielders when Ghilly was dispatching the ball outside the stadium through his huge sixes?That was sheer massacre,showing little regards for the bowlers' reputations!I bet that Gilchrist would smash the very Sangwan,against whom he got out in the 2nd league match against Delhi and yes,he made my words come true on the Semi-finals,when it mattered most.He showed how a six can be hit in 5 ways and how a boundary be scored in 10 different ways!

To Gilchrist:

I would remain to be you die-hard fan regardless of today's fate in the Finals.

UPDATE:

Thank you for not disappointing your fans as a captain,though you let us down by getting out for a duck,you made a determined effort on the field to make the Deccan Charger win the IPL-2009 FINAL.Congrats for the great victory and a peerless performance overall in the tournamaent.

Some of the best sixes of the IPL-2009

Two West Indian Batsmen Dwayne Smith(Deccan Chargers) and Dwayne Bravo(Mumbai indians) seemed to be at ease while hitting sixes which surprisingly cross the Boundary fences by a big distance,even though they seemed to have hit the ball so lightly.
These are some of my favorite hits from them:

1.They say it's a typical 'Carribean shot'(Flick shot,where the batsman just flicks the ball the on-side.).Quite awesome!

2.Finally Dwayne Bravo played well in this Year's IPL yesterday,with sixes being a feast for the audience.

Pictures from my mother's Brthday party.

On March 11,we celebrated the 44th Birthday of my mother at home.Here are some of the pictures taken on the occasion:

1.The glittering cake:

2. Another pic of the glittering cake:

3.My mother cutting the cake:

4.My brother-Quite luckyto be fed by a mother even at the age of 16.:D

Recording a boundary

This is my first attempt at uploading a video to the net through the
video and I found it fit to record today's first misfield by
Punjab,which resulted in Gibbs getting a four in today's IPL Match.

Will improve the quality of recording in my future attempts.Here's the youtube link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blXcFLPLjNU

Mobile blogging.

This is my first attempt at blogging through the mobile,having bought
a new mobile cdma handset (samsung sch-f309) which has better features
than my previous mobile handset. I hope to make the best use of the
features for my blogging,in future.

The day when I met the Prince

I asked my friend Kanak(A good friend of Director Trivikram and also a Mahesh fan) once, if he could help me meet Mahesh Babu,he said we'll meet him after the shoot commences.
Then on Saturday(25th April),I got a call from Kanak and my another friend Ravi Nemana(Who too enjoys a good rapport with many of the technicians and also Mahesh)asking me to come soon to Somajiguda from where we'll head to the Shooting spot at 11:35 am.Then,I immediately headed to the spot from where we went straight to RFC,which was a 2 hour journey.And then,thanks to my dear friend's influence,I along with 3 others were allowed to visit the shooting spot,first we had our lunch there,then I observed the spot where both Mahesh and Anushka's caravans were located.(Quite pampered the stars are!)
I've seen all of the major technicians involved with the film like Trivikram(Direcor),Raju Sundaram(Choreographer),Make-up man,Anushka(Heroine) but not yet Mahesh,finally he came out of the caravan at 2:40 pm.Was just surprised to see him stand in front of me,he was stunning wearing a Creamy white shirt with the words 'MAVERICKS' and a blue jeans.He headed straight to the sets and then his wife Namratha came few minutes later and asked the Security people to allow us into the sets for few minutes.
Finally, when I indeed met him, I was surprised that he looked so friendly while meeting us and felt he wasn't that taller than me(Must check my height.).Next,I just didn’t know what to say. It was obvious that he would feel bored if I say you look handsome (As everyone knows it and accepts that he is one of the most handsome stars.) and I thought he might not be much impressed with the redundant chats regarding records and collections.So, I preferred to ask the questions which were in my mind since a long time.
1.First I asked him to give another Silver Jubilee at Sudarshan 35mm.He said “We’re trying our best in our efforts. We’ll not disappoint you.”
2.Then I asked “Will you come to CBIT if we invite you?”
I was surprised that he wasn’t aware of CBIT, and then one of my 2 friends reminded him that it’s near the place where the ‘ARJUN’ set was erected. He just laughed at it.
3.And then, I asked whether he’ll try for a National Award winning role/or a film which will truly make TOLLYWOOD proud,
He shaked his face with a mischievous smile (Indicating that ‘You’re expecting too much from me.’)
4.Lastly, I asked if he was ready for a multi-starrer with my another fav. Star Venkatesh, he just laughed out loud! (Off course to say, that I was dreaming too much!)
5.And finally, I shaked hands with him(Just to confirm that it was truly Mahesh and not a dream.) and told him ‘All the best anna!’
6.Then,I even hugged his lovely son Gowtham.
Atlast,it was like meeting a dear friend after a long time.
P.S:I've not complained of the delay,as I felt a better finished product might justify them.Mahesh even told us about the upcoming schedule of the film.Quite a good romantic song was being picturised when we came there,wish that song becomes a Chartbuster.),I hope Mahesh,Trivikram and the team will indeed deliver a good entertainer.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

It’s an autobiography of a man who worked with the evil much against his conscience and finally found it fit to reveal the truth and unmask the so-called Compassionate and Saviour of the World.
It’s an insider’s account of how the US Govt., in its quest for finding Oil and finding jobs for its Construction Companies, manipulates the political situations in many countries,
By bribing the Officials and the few-rich families of those Third World countries in their favor and then exploit the lands for Oil and not minding destroying the natural resources and driving most of the citizens to poverty and the final option being by wars(In the name of Anti-Communism in the past and now the anti-Terror) if the nation does not bend to its whim and then award contracts to its favored ‘Construction Companies’ for reconstructing the war-ravaged countries with World Bank offering loans on behalf of the nation; thus making the nation eternally indebted and placing of puppets in the Head of State’s position who would bow to the wishes of all the Big Corporates and MNCs.
And in Third World countries where Oil is not what is highly available, they would find it as a good resource for Money minting for its Companies by offering them to build Hydro-electric projects; town-planning etc. but inflate the costs involved to finish the project so as to make more money and make the country be more indebted to US and International Banks like World Bank, ADB etc. and if the country has good man-power; then make use of them for doing jobs for the American companies which Americans find it too dirty to do and also manipulate the economic policies of those countries so as to make the MNCs find a good market in the public there to sell its products.
He portrays the American Administration as just an agent for the MNCs who would make use of all its influence and military power to serve their interests and how these corporates in order to serve their interest destroy the entire World robbing the Third World countries of its natural wealth and impoverishing the larger majority.
As old as Empire?
The author says that the Economic Hitmen (John Perkins himself was one) are professionals employed by the Companies, who have the help of many in the US Administration too, who do the groundwork for all the exploitative works(Mentioned in the above paragraphs) in the Third World Countries by showing fake forecasts of Development, and bringing the Officials into their fold through means of money,sex etc. to get the work done.
He claims the EHMs play a game ‘As Old as Empire’; but the one which closely resembles this American Imperialism is rather the British Strategy of conquering India in 18th and 19th centuries. Just for comparsion:
The Subsidiary Alliance
As per this alliance,the British East India Company provided its Indian king(Who signed the alliance),security and protection against other kingdoms,on a condition that they must place a British Resident in the Court and allow them to collect taxes to maintain its Army.
Here, the US gives special status to its ‘Ally’,who would get many weapons too, in return allow their country for USA’s military use and in many cases, however, it’s the Head of the nation(Many cases,a dictator) and his family who makes most of the money which they get in the form of Aid/rewards, while the rest of the nation suffers under extreme poverty.
Creating many princely states:
The British for their convenience created 563 princely states out of 5-6 big kingdoms of the past by changing 10-12 villages as a kingdom and converting its Jagirdar/Zamindar as a King of the state(There’s one case of a princely state which had just 10 citizens!)
And here,there was one instance of USA attacking Colombia and carving a country called Panama and thus help its Panam Canal constructed with the help of a puppet govt. installed in the newly created nation.
Education for Clerks:
The British set up an Education system in India so as to groom in educated Indians as clerks for the British Offices in India. And now, we’ve many graduates from South-Asian countries working as ‘Software Coolies’/cheap Consultancy jobs for Big American Companies, which are perceived as ‘Highly-paid’ lucrative jobs in a Third World Country.
Hero out of Zero:
Many people belonging to the traditional ‘robbery’ caste suddenly got relegated to princely status as they supported the English in the wars against Indian kingdoms.
Here, we’ve the American media giving titles like ‘Dynamic leader’,’Bright Head’ etc.
To those leaders who support the US policies and their MNCs.
A major difference:
The English Governor Generals were never apologetic , here atleast there’s one EHM (The modern version of Governor Generals of the past.) who seemed to be repentant and has revealed all the truth behind this so-called Human face of a Terrible Imperialist.

I've changed.

1.3 years ago,I wrote a letter to my English teacher(Of Inter 1st year) claiming that I'm not really a good person which she and many others imagine me as.
Now I said to my English Madam(Engineering.) that I want to emerge as a good human being finaly.
2.2 years ago,a person commented that you're blog has no good stuff;I responded saying "Yes,my blog is not well-written,I've not posted anything interesting because I get few visitors."
Now "I atleast try my best to improve the quality of my blog,regardless of how many visitors I attract."
3.More than a year ago,when I was asked what was one of my negative qualities(In the NDA SSB Interview),I said I'm quite lethargic,that I take a long time to start anything fresh.
Now,I atleast seemed to have reduced the gap between the time when I thought of starting a new work and then the time by which I've executed my plans.
4.A few months ago,I wondered whether I can try anything new,think different from others.
Now,I atleast try to make an attempt to think different and aim to bring in some truly innovative stuff soon.
I've changed.My approach has changed,I'm improving.

Arundhati-Awesome Blockbuster.

Looking at the rush in the initial weeks,I thought it'll be better to watch it 50 days later on a Weekday in my favorite theatre Sudarshan 35mm.But then,it ran full yesterday too,and I just managed to watch it buying a Rs.10 ticket,siiting in the Front bench!Anyway,it was an awesome experience watching in a wonderful theatre.After Pokiri and Bommarillu,it's for this film that I had witnessed so much of rush for the tickets even after 50 days.
PLOT:
I remember reading a story in Amar Chitra Katha,where Indra got a Vajrayudham,made from Dadichi's Backbone to kill Vritra,the Asura.Now this film's plot too is built round it,with Arundhati in Indra's place,the 'Kama pisaachi' Pasupathi(Sonu sood) in Vritra's place and the weapon here is made from Arundhati's body itself,err,an Arundhati who died 80 years ago.And woven around it is a tale of scarifice by 2 sisters to kill Pasupathi and Save the Kingdom of Gadwal.Will Arundhati who is reborn much later,kill the Evil spirit of Pasupathi or not,and how does she manages to do it?That forms the rest of the plot.
What I liked:
1.Style of Narration:More than the story,I liked the way the plot was handled without any unnecessary comedy track or anything,i.e,lack of a stale formula called 'MASALA'.And,it was a film where we had the Heroine in the key role after a long time
2.The characterisation of the Queen Arundhati was awesome resembling those of our great queens of the past,portrayed as powerful,beautiful, and royally majestic.I was very much impressed with Anushka's look in those Grand saris resembling that of Ravi Varma paintings.
3.The role of Manoramma and Shayaji Shinde as the Fakir too were good,though Shayaji Shinde dealing with the 'Spirits' looked more like the way he beats the Criminals and shouts at them as a Police Officer in POKIRI!
4.Though I was prepared not to get scared ,despite that I got scared looking at Sonu Sood's ugly get-up as an old lady(Horrible look,obviuosly to make us fear) and also in the climax scene where Arundhati searches for Pasupathi to be beaten but couldn't find him and suddenly he springs from behind.
A small flaw:
1.In the first scenes,I do wonder what made the new Arundhati to assume that her lover Rahul might have called to her to come to such a dilapidated palace at night time,when he could have arrived at her home instead in Gadwal.
Finally:
I don't believe in the existence of Ghosts and spirits in the way,the film has portrayed,but preferring to watch it just as a movie rather than some realistic happenings,I indeed found it enjoyable,gripping,without any tacky scenes(Despite being a Graphics film for most of the time.).Altough,I wasn't so horrified while watching,unlike my friends,I indeed felt like admiring the grandeur being displayed in each and every scene rather and I enjoyed those clash moments and the end though predictable looked awesome for me.
Rating:7.5/10(Extremely enjoyable.)

A Dream Diary

I do believe dreams(The one we get while sleeping/not when we're awake) are not indicates of what might happen in future,they're rather how our mind wants the future to be over an issue where we get immersed too deeply.(For eg., if we’re too tensed about the forthcoming exams,sometimes in a negative manner,sometimes positive,we get dreams where we find the paper completely tough,the answer paper to be blankly submitted kinda weird dreams.)
What’s funny is the way our mind in subconscious state creates funny stories in tune with our anxious thoughts,aspirations and fears,which appear to be more innovative and incredible than the stories we get in our mind while we’re awake!
But the problem being that we don’t remember much of what we’d dreamt last night after a few hours.
A better solution:
So,how about keeping a pen and notebook along with us while sleeping,so that the moment we wake up,just write immediately what was the kind of dream we experienced,because I believe we may atleast retain 75% memory of what we’d dreamt last night during 10 minutes after we wake up,and it seem to rapidly shrink to 20% within 6 hours after we wake up.
So,first I would try maintaining a DREAM Diary to compile what all dreams experienced everyday and just observe how funny those turn out to be!

Some crazy imaginations of mine!

1.How about man creating a new planet with all the ingredients required for the human beings to stay comfortably?(Afterall,we tried artificial satellites,why not planets?)
2.Trying to clone thornless Rose plants.
3.A house on train?(Or did anyone already created such a train with all the facilities of a luxurious house?)
4.Is it possible for Fertilization of the deserts?
5.Railway Connections across the Oceans?
Would like to see how far can these be possible and even I would try my hand in making them possible if I'm given a chance!

Nadal conquers new heights!

After French Open(2005-08) and Wimbledon(2008),Nadal has defeated Federer in yet another Grand Slam Open and now,it's Australian Open(2009).
The match yesterday was a really thrilling one,I guess every serious watcher felt pretty tensed while watching the match,as neither Federer nor Nadal preferred to give up the match,with each fighting their level best,running fast along the court to hit the ball back.
I guess it was the victory of the person who did not feel too tired and exhausted during the last set(I mean Nadal) of the 4-hour long match and thus won the Title.During the first 4 sets,both Nadal and Federer looked equally poised to win,but in the last set,Federer seemed to give up and Nadal just proved to be too powerful!
Thus,US Open is just the only major Title yet to be won by the New number One Rafael Nadal.
End of Federer's era?
Having dominated the Male Tennis field for more than 5 years,suddenly Federer finds Nadal pouncing upon him everywhere,first in only Clay,then Grass(Wimbledon )and now Hardcourt too!
While Federer's aim to win the French Open title just remains to be a pipe-dream,Nadal is just growing powerful everywhere.
But,I believe Federer being a talented player can still bo unce back,but he'll not be sole dominator as he had been in the past(2003-07),rathe r it'll be an era of Federer versus Nadal fighting for the supremacy,as long as Federer does not give up the fight!
I believe the rivalry will bring in better clashes than those of the Sampras-Agassi era and help us watch the best performances of both these Legends!

The excellent Book called 'The Alchemist'.

I’ve heard the title 3 years ago when my Intermediate 1st year English madam referred to the book’s name while referring to the term ‘Alchemist’, saying it does not have much to do with science but more about a person’s determination and ambitions.
I was curious to read it someday and finally found the book and read it all 2 weeks ago.
I started reading the book,the title character (Alchemist) appears only after I’ve finished reading 60% of the book’s contents! And realized that he’s not even a protagonist. At the end, I completely understood everything regarding the protagonist (A shepherd from Spain), how one man’s tryst with destiny gets interlinked with those of the others (Like the crystal merchant, the Oasis tribesmen etc.)
What I’ve understood from the book is that one must not just get satisfied with our modest achievements and comfortable status, take risks which may prove disastrous at first but fruitful towards the end. By the way, the last page of the book reminded me of the saying :
“Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't have to go anywhere. All we need to do is recognize it.”
But, on the way to realize that, our protagonist moves through places which he never met before (Africa), got an opportunity to meet his lover (Fatima) and a wise alchemist, sold his flock of sheep ,lost the money to a cheat on the way, only to gain more later, but forced not to settle down with those(Promised a treasure near the Pyramids by a Salem King) ,he travels more and finally unites with the Soul of The World, meets an Alchemist who made him look more wiser.
The most impressive quote was:
"And, when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."
It’s true, I indeed experienced it in the past and I realize and understand the same better.
I observed that the book even has many quotes related to the Bible like
1.The Englishman’s comments "Not at all. It was shepherds who were the first to recognize a king that the rest of the world refused to acknowledge. So, it's not surprising that kings would talk to shepherds." Obviously referring to Jesus Christ.
2.And a reference to Joseph who rescued Egypt from Famine.
The author asks us to go and realize our bigger dreams, do not get distracted with the smaller ones, as even those smaller ones get realized when we go on our way to realize our bigger dreams(The way the shepherd found his ladylove, on his journey to find the treasure.)
There’s a quote “Because the desert tests all men: it challenges every step, and kills those who become distracted."
I believe it’s not desert , it’s rather destiny!
The book is the best counseller for boosting your Self-Confidence,that's the best thing I can say or think about it!

And now they bark on IITs!

After posting too amany advertisements aimed only at tarnishing IIMs' image and telling that they're better than the IIMs,now they've started campaigning against IITs in their ads(Think beyond the IITs).What I know is that there is no right for any Company/Business Organisation to criticise/promote negative campaign against a competitor publicly and in an open manner.But,IIPM just seems to criticise IIM in almost every ad they publish and surprsingly I did not find IIMs or IITs reacting sharply to these ads.Probably because they're State-supported Institutions which prefer to ignore these things,or they prefer to maintain the attitude 'When elephant walks on roads, dogs usually bark, but elephant keeps walking in a majestic way.'Anyway,these are just some of my doubts:
1.If he thinks that IIPM is way ahead of IIMs,then why is he constantly posting 'Dare to think beyond the IIMs',so he admits that IIM is the best Management Institue of India in the people's perception or the ultimate destination for many Management students in India!
2.According to their 'Management Guru(???)'
The apparent justification is that engineering and MBA make a better combination. Nothing can be a bigger myth or further away from truth.
By the time students pass out of an MBA course, in any case, they don't remember much of what they learnt in engineering; and their typical post-MBA career preferences like investment banking, human resources, etc. clearly reveal that after being exposed to the dynamic and glamorous world of management education, rarely does a student ever want a career that has anything to do with his past engineering education.
Then does he mean that by the time a student passes out of Class 12TH,he won't remember much of what he learnt in Class 1st?Good solution then,why not make a Student learn final year courses of Engg./Management the moment he gets admitted into the school(At age of 5 years!Lol)?
3.Just wondering the crores of rupees they(IIPM) might lose in a defamation suit if they post ads like 'Dare to think beyond BITS/VIT/CBIT/Manipal or say XLRI' and post some negative statements/facts regarding them!
4.I would be happy if the newspapers atleast reduce the size of the cliched ads published by them!:(
(..To be continued.)

Year end polls.Part-2

India

Will India become a devoloped country by 2020? Yes. No. The ones who promised a great 2020 themselves may not be alive at that time. Depends on the youth of the future. Current Results

Bollywood

Which was the best film of 2008? Ghajini Singh is Kinng Aamir Dostana Jaane tu..Ya..Jaane na Rab ne Bana di Jodi Welcome to Sajjanpur A Wednesday Current Results

I N D I A N C R I C K E T

Who'll replace Sachin in the long run? Virender Sehwag Yuvaraj Singh Gautham Gambhir Some debutante No one can replace Sachin! Current Results

Telugu Cinema

Which was the most disappointing biggie of the year? Okka Magadu Pandurangadu Bujjigadu..Made in Chennai Neninthe Jalsa Kantri All the biggies of this year were disappointments! Current Results