Greatest Sportsmen of all Time

I have listed the top five sportsmen of all time(in no particular order).These are people whose fame has transcended their sport and are the
most recognised celebrities.They are accepted as true champions across nations and even by people who do not follow their sport.And yes they are legends in their respective sports.

1. Michael Jordan - Ask anyone anywhere ,every body knows Michael Jordan.In India where NBA coverage came only in the mid 90s Jordan was already a star and very easily recognizable.His basketball skills are legendary and has been recognized as a true champion.
2. Michael Schumacher - The name Michael Schumacher has become synonymous with Formula 1.Schumacher is the face of motor sport and even in countries like India where motorsport is not very popular he has attained legendary status.
3. Tiger Woods - Another superstar who has wowed even the Golf ignorant world.Woods is to golf what Schumacher is to F1.
4. Mohammad Ali - Probably the greatest champion of all.He is known world wide even by people who have not watched a single fight of his.
5. Lance Armstrong - One man against all odds,he has captured the imagination of the world like none other.A champion par excellence.

Another name to just miss out of my list is Nadia Comaneci the first gymnast to get a perfect 10 score.

Back to the future - Remakes ka Zamana hai

"Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin na mumkin hai"....as Shahrukh hams these immortal lines the front benchers in Sangeet theatre show their consent by a loud round of sonic whistles.Nope this is not a scene from a shady CD theatre in the by lanes of the old city but the reactions to King Khan's latest venture's promos being screened in a popular Hyderabadi theatre.Remakes,like item numbers, have become an integral part of Indian cinema.Ever since Shahrukh stammered and hammered his way to box office success in Devdas ,Bollywood directors have been flocking to the classics to remake them.So we have Ram Gopal Varma's Sholay,Farhan Akhtar's Don and very recently Jai Santoshi Maa. Waiting in the wings is the ice maiden(you will agree once you see her acting) Aishwariya Rai giving us her version of Umrao Jaaan.The Khan brothers,Sallu,Sohail and Arbaz are planning to make Amar Akbar Anthony,Anil Kapoor is trying to reincarnate Mr. India and Subhah Ghai is remaking Karz.

I am not against remakes but what I am definitely against is an excess of them.I already shudder at the prospect of Mithun Da re making all his movies.Bollywood like everything else in India always tries to take the easiest way out.If a love story is a hit we have a deluge of love stories ,if an action film is a hit we have bare torsoed heroes chasing rowdies ,if a sequel is a hit we have sequels galore and the list continues.What avid movie lovers like me want are good movies like Dor,Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Rang de Basanti.It was an Herculean effort to grow out of the eighties nineties' formula movies ...making an entire generation endure the pain all over again is not only unfair but down right cruel.As I type this my roomie tells me that Dev Saab is planning to re make The Jewel thief with himself in the lead....what next Rajnikanth remaking all his Tamil movies in Hindi?God save Bollywood.

Numbers Game

Nature has an affinity for certain numbers and unknowingly they become a part of our life. There are two numbers which play a prominent part in our life and rarely do we think twice about them. One of them is three.From the holy trinity to the third umpire; three is a number which is as frequent as the strikes in Bengal. Christianity swears by the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Hinduism has its Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and the "Three Lokas".Lord Brahma has three faces whereas Lord Shiva has three eyes. There are the three Musketeers and the three stooges, there’s the Good the Bad and the Ugly. Baseball has three strikes whereas basketball has a three pointer, cricketing decisions are referred to the "Third umpire" .Even Charlie's Angels are three in number. We have three dimensions. Newton postulated three Laws of Motion (even Asimov postulated three laws of robotics).Even the greatest epic of the 20th Century, Lord of the Rings was in three parts. Our national flag is the Tri color. Counting to three is common in situations where a group of people wish to perform an action in synchrony: Now, on the count of three, everybody pull! Have you heard of a three piece suit and what about the third finger gesture? India is a third World country, S.O.S is also in three. The most glaring example of "three" is our planet Earth; it’s the third planet from the sun. The three blind mice, the three men in a boat, the three wise men,land-water-air,examination durations are of three hours, any Tom,Dick or Harry the list is endless. So three cheers for "three". The other number is seven. We have the seven seas, there are seven colors in the rainboow)remeber VIBGYOR) and seven musical notes. We are in seventh heaven when we are happy. A week has seven days and who hasn’t heard of lucky seven? There’s the seven year itch and what about the seven deadly sins. There are seven continents on planet earth and according to Shakespeare Seven Ages of man. The Harry Potter Series has seven books, Lord Voldemort has split his life in seven horcruxes and we have the Magnificent Seven. The greatest of them all James Bond zero-zero- seven. The number of openings into the human head are seven(mouth, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils).In Hindu weddings the bride and groom take Seven "Pheras"(rounds) around the fire and if you are an amateur astronomer all you have to do is gaze at the sky and you will spot the seven sisters. The world has threes and sevens galore, so dear friends give these numbers a second or should I say a third thought .Life indeed is a numbers game.

Hate - A Short Story

The silence of the cold winter night was punctuated by her incessant sobs. She lay at my feet, at my mercy, like a lamb at the butcher's shop. I looked at her, she must have been twelve or thirteen, and her face was covered with blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. "Mujhe Chhod do Sahib"(leave me Sahib) she pleaded. Her innocent eyes stared into the depths of my conscience. My finger on the trigger hesitated. What was I doing? She was an innocent young girl, neither did I know who she was nor had she done me any harm. I lowered the gun and she started sobbing loudly. The distant chant of "Jai Bajrang Bali" and "Jai Shri Ram" was slowly growing louder. The Eastern sky was had a strange twilight from the burning huts.I looked at her and for a moment felt pity for her and for a fleeting moment was ashamed of myself but it was only for a moment. Suddenly images of my room-mates being butchered in cold blood, my girl friend being raped before my own eyes, my hostel being burnt flashed past my eyes. There we were at MG Road watching the procession when someone threw stones at it and all hell broke loose. In fifteen minutes from a model of religious harmony, Tumkur became a cauldron of hate. The girl looked at me and pleaded "Mujhe jaane do saab"(let me go).My eyes met her and we both knew immediately what the outcome of this encounter would be. She stopped crying for the very first time, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and squeezed the trigger, once,twice, thrice. She fell down silently but she wasn’t the only one I had murdered that day, I had murdered the last living trace of humanity left in me.Tumkur burnt in a furnace of hate and so did I.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee - A Legend

Hrishikesh Mukherjee , one of India’s greatest directors passed away on Sunday. He had been battling ill health for the past couple of months and breathed his last at Mumbai’s Lilavathi hospital. It is a great loss for millions of fans like me .Hrishi da has given Indian cinema some of its best films. He never succumbed to making films with vulgarity or crime. His movies were simplistic and explored human relations.
Chupke Chupke and Golmal are the most watchable films ever made. Hrishi da though was not limited to comedies. His Abhimaan was a movie way ahead of his times and very relevant in today’s DINKS (double income no kids ) generation. The entire country wept for Anand and , Guddi became India’s darling. He also produced one of the most heart rending movies , Sadma .The list is unending but no movie has made more impact than his Raj Kapoor starrer Anari .His bittersweet romances have made millions laugh and cry . Hrishi da you will be sorely missed.

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Pluto: An obituary

For years the ninth rock from the sun of had clung on bravely to the outer edges our solar system. The puny planet, which for decades has been confused with a cartoon dog, has been demoted to a “dwarf planet”. 2500 astronomers from 75 nations have decided that Pluto doesn’t match up to the other members of the solar family (who says size doesn’t matter). Pluto lovers across the world are greatly aggrieved but breathing fire are astrologers who ply their trade on the premise of the nine planet theory. This sudden change not only endangers their livelihood but also questions the basic tenets of astrology. Pluto named after the God of the Underworld has been on the brink for ages and is the latest celebrity to be red carded from the playing field. As the debate over this demotion rages on, the ninth rock from the sun keeps doing what it does best – being eccentric.

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Arjun Singh - Quota King

Just when India seemed to be heading towards El Dorado,just when everything in India was touching unprecedented heights - from the sensex to the Indian cricket team,Arjun Singh happened.In true Congress style he pulled the cheapest trcik of them all- QUOTA.

A secular country is one where any discrimination based on caste ,creed or sex is non existent.Quota is a slap on secularism.It will not only hamstrung India's progress but also divide the country like never before.The sad part is that Dr.Manmohan Singh ,a hero for the entire youth of India,has succumbed to the lucre of power and become a mere puppet in the hands of dirty Congress politics.

India should burn,India will burn.I am doing my tuppence protesting against such dastardly ,divisive policies.I fore see an India where a new wave of naxalism will emerge..the only difference this time would be that the new age naxalites will not be some down trodden tribals but doctors and engineers of this country.

I will never vote for Congress ever again and I wish anyone who reads this post does the same.The Left parties have been the biggest roadblock to India's success.I sometimes feel that the Communists are anti nationalists .Their contribution to India has been a big zero.

Arjun Singh will one day meet the most hideous end ever imagined.He has challenged the youth of India and he ill get a very fitting reply.Kudos to all the doctors and Engineers agitating against Mandal II .We are united in this battle ...if we could get freedom from the British am sure we can get freedom from a bunch of unscrupulous politicians.

Opal Mehta and Kaavvya Vishwanath - Kiss and Tell

Deja Vu....thats what a person feels when he reads the lines he has written but published under someone else's name.Then realization dawns that the lines have been nicked.Kaavya Vishwanath's book How Opal Mehta Got Kissed,Got Wild and Got a Life has opened a can of plagiarized worms.Her defense that she pinched the lines out of reverence to the author is as weak as George Bush's claims of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.The controversy though has helped Kaavvya a lot and "Opalgate " will definitely give the book sales a boost.As for the book ,well I wish the entire book had been plagiarized.An amaeturish attempt to write a story has been passd off as a book.The style is very ordinary and its books like these which make the likes of me dream of becoming future writers.If you have seen the teen movies,if you have seen the Desi movies well you just about know what's in store.
One good thing about the book? Well ...well.....the picture of Kaavvya on the back cover.
This new trend of creating controversies to sell ,be it the wardrobe malfuntions or plagiarizing specific paragraphs leaves a bad taste in my mouth .In the 21st century quality doesnt sell , controvery definitely does.

Sania Mirza - Miles to go...

We Indians have a long history of celebrating mediocrity.Unlike the Japanese who pursue excellence we pursue "averages".Sania Mirza is another example of the nation rejoicing in mediocre achievements.I agree Sania has done a lot for Indian tennis.She has many "firsts" to her credit but in terms of achievement she has miles to go .

Sania deserves the accolades that she has got but giving her the Padma Shri is going overboard.The advertising agencies across India have grabbed the opportunity with both hands.That she is young ,successful and pretty makes her the perfect"model" to sell products.But the fact remains that after her initial triumphs Sania has struggled on the courts.Whats even more worrying is that she looks plump and out of shape.She has needlessly got into controversies off the court and they seem to be distracting her.

WTA's best newcomer award has further boosted Sania mania in the country but her defeat to a 1000 odd ranked wildcard in the Miami Open has made it evident that Sania Mirza is fast on the decline or she was never the world beater we all made her to be.Sania Mirza is another case of a mediocre player being given god like status.Its high time Sania pulled up her socks and concentrated on her game or else the same media which has made her a queen will rip her apart..if she doesn't believe me she can always call the erstwhile God of Indian sports ,Sachin Tendulkar and get some advice.

Mallika Sherawat - An Inflexion Point in Indian Cinema

Mallika Sherawat has changed the way movies are made in Bollywood.If flowers and bushes in Hindi movies have become extinct, she is the culprit.For years audiences in cinemas across the length and breadth of the country had been dying to see onscreen kissing.But all they got was two flowers bumping into each other or the shaking of bushes.Then Mallika happened.

Nowadays "bold"scenes have become as common as songs in Hindi movies.Every heroine in Bollywood is in a kissing frenzy.The industry is overflowing with wannabe Mallikas and the quality of cinema has fallen a level.The lines demarcating good and the really bad movies have blurred.Nowadays 99% movies are bad with wafer thin story lines and minimistically clad heroines.The "Ghar ki izzat","sati savitri" image of heroines has gone for the proverbial toss.INdian cinema at its all time crassy lowest.One day when analysts sit down and analyze how the great Indian film empire collapsed,the first point they will write down would be "Mallika Sherawat"and her"Kissa kiss ka".

Quotes from Ayn Rand's Fountainhead

Here are some of my favourite quotes from the best book ever written.

Keating: "How do you always manage to decide?"

Roark: "How can you let others decide for you?"

" I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the half-way, thealmost, the just-about, the in- between."

Roark: "Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value.What a man is and makes of himself-- not what he has orhasn't done for others."

"Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."

"Kill reverence and you've killed the hero in man."

"It had to be said: the world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrifice."

"Man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress."

"Great men can't be ruled."

"I do not recognize anyone's right to one minute of my life."

"Self-sacrifice?... It is precisely the self that can not and must not be sacrificed."

"Don't work for my happiness, my brothers--show me yours--show me that it is possible--show me your achievement--and the knowledge will give me courage for mine."

Ricky Ponting - The God of Sad Things

It was a One day but provided two miracles.South Africa chased down an improbable target of 434 to down the Aussies and win the ODI series at the Bull Ring.Ricky Ponting is a great batsmen probably the greatest at present but as a captain he has many dubious records,Sunday was just another addition to his long list.

He became the first captain whose team couldnt chase the lowest total in test cricket(103 aginst India in Mumbai ).

• First Aussie captain to lose the Ashes in the last decade and a half.
• First Aussie captain to lose to Bangladesh in an ODI.
• He couldnt bowl out SouthAfrica in over 130 odd overs , first time it has happened to an Australian team in the last 20 years.
• Couldnt defend 331 against New Zealand and 434 against South Africa.
• First captain to lose a ODI series to South Africa.

The way things are going he may become the first captain to lose a test series to the Proteas and who knows maybe even a test to Bangladesh.

Cricket and Racism

The recent South African tour to Australia has revealed the ugly side of racism.The Proteas had a torrid time facing the racial taunts hurled at them.To many it may have come as a surprise but I am very sure that racism is very much a part of the cricketing world.

Take County cricket for example.The world has seen great colored batsmen from Weekes to Lara but there are very few top class batsmen in County cricket.The reason - The age old feeling that a black man can only bowl fast,hence you have the Devon Malcoms and Chris Lewis' reperesenting England as bowlers but no black batsmen.At the grass root level itself the divisions are made,if you are from the subcontinent then you are suited for batting or spin bowling ,if you are colored then fast bowling and if you are fair skinned well you can do whatever you want.

Take the case of match referres ,the Chris Broads and the Mike Dennes' of this world suspend the likes of Ganguly and Ranatunga for "excessive" appealing whereas the likes of McGrath get away even after finger wagging and mouthing profanities.

The crowds in Australia have once again proved the hypocrisy of the country.The Aussies always preach something but do just the opposite.Hence we have the Aussies accusing Chinese swimmers of using performance enhancing drugs and claiming to be on a moral high ground .But when Shane Warne tests positive all he gets is an year's ban and no one says a thing.The abuse hurled at Muralitharan is another example of the underlying racist currents in Oz.Racism is a monster that is slowly but surely dividing the cricketing world.

The New Marketing Mix

For decades McCarthy's marketing mix - the 4 Ps(Product,Price, Promotion and Place) have ruled the roost .The first thing an MBA learns in marketing are the 4 Ps.The entire marketing fraternity swears by these time tested fundas. But now these concepts have come under severe criticism.

Management guru Prof Jagdish Seth has not only questioned the relevance of the marketing mix in this age but has also come up with the 4 A s of marketing - acceptability, affordability, accessibility and awareness.According to Prof Seth marketing today has more to do with what customers actually require rather than the product-centric world that companies think they require. "The consumers' is gaining power. There is excess supply and it has become the buyer's market."

In this cutomer centric world the 4 Ps may soon become extinct.

The Empire Strikes Back

The brilliant performance by the Englishmen has left the Indians shell shocked.As in Pakistan,Rahul Dravid's captaincy left much to be desired.He is turning out to be the Ricky Ponting school of capataincy rather than the Steve Waughish school to which Sourav Ganguly belonged.I am very sure that India will lose this series and after my previous post where I predicted a 3 -0 sweep for the Indians will have to eat my words.It is really disappointing to see India wilt away the way they have.Kudos to the Englishmen for proving crictics like me wrong.

The Empire Flies Back

The English cricket team to India had come with a lot of fanfare and the cricket loving crowds were expecting a keenly contested series.One week into the tour and the Englishmen have turned turtle without a ball being balled.Half the team is on the injury list.Skipper Vaughan is out,Trescothick is home,Simon Jones is injured(whats new??) ,and if rumours are true even Duncan Fletcher is not well.Well two things come out from this ,one - How in the name of Christ could England send such an unfit squad and two,we are in for another "Brown wash" .I am betting my last ruppee that England will lose 3 - 0 .I am waiting for the series to begin and see the Indian batsmen wallop the English attack and our spin twins wreck havoc in their batting line up.This series will see India lay claim to be the true challengers to the Untouchable Aussies.The only good thing about the Poms is that my favourite player Andrew Flintoff gets to lead the side for the first time. Way to go Freddie!!!!!

Jessica Lall - Blind Justice

The acquittal of all the nine accused in the Jessica Lall murder case is a slap on the face of not only justice but on the fabric of society.How can anyone get away with murdering a human being in the presence of nearly four hundred people?It is really sad that nearly 140 witnesses turned hostile and equally sad that even in 21st century India, Law and Order remains a bed fellow of the rich,mighty and powerful(read politicians).It is truly a black day for justice.

Petition for Retrial

www.petitiononline.com/retrial/petition.html

A Few Interesting Facts

A good samaritan forwarded these facts to me.I cannot confirm the veracity of these but definitely are interesting.

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented It was ruled
"Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David

Hearts - Charlemagne

Clubs -Alexander, the Great

Diamonds - Julius Caesar


If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.


In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month .which we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Amul's Latest Offerings

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Peter Benchley - A tribute

Peter Benchley the famous author is no more .Benchley's best selling novel,"Jaws" introduced a new term to Hollywood - Blockbuster.A whole new genre of movies featuring creatures going berserk can be attributed to this novel.The seventies were the peak of Jaws mania and the great white shark became the most feared predator till Spielberg introduced us to the T Rexes in Jurassic Park.Peter Benchley will be sorely missed by fans like me.The world has lost a literary jewel.