January 28, 2012
Adulteration Check
Adulteration of food products of daily use has become very common especially in India. Here are a few tips given to check some adulterations. Source: Hyderabad Times (9p 30) of today’s Times of India. You may click here for the tips.
Jaipur Litfest
It is good that we hold literature festivals. They are relatively inexpensive, educative, motivating and also inspiring. you may click here for some exciting photos. We also draw your attention to a meaningful article in today’s Times of India by Chetan Bhagat.
Indian Cricket and Successive White-washes
India had many great cricketers but not considered a great cricket team for long. With the advent of the spin-trio of Prasanna-Bedi-Chandrasekhar, the team could creat fears for the first time in some great teams. Gavaskar, Viswanath and Kapil Dev took the team to great heights to deserve team India some valid recognition. And then Sachin Tendulkar is a phenomenon for Indian cricket. Dhoni entered the scenario at the right time to win the first 20-20 world cup and the 2011 50-50 world cup. He also earned the team the coveted number one status in test cricket. Great players like Dravid, Sehwag, Lakshman and Zaheer too are also responsible for this status. In 2011, we went to England as the number one cricket team. We were whitewashed by the English men in tests and one day internationals. Then we went to Australia as a formidable team. Australia was a struggling team and considered not formidable. By January 28, 2012 we were whitewashed by the Australians too. In between, England, South Africa and Australia suffered ignominious defeats sometimes with shockingly low scores of fewer than 100. This is a global phenomenon in test cricket now and is attributed to the rising popularity of the shorter versions of the game. 20-20 is a money spinner and 50-50 offers more thrills compared to the 5-day format. In the recent tests against India, Australia did not perform as a great team but for a few individual batting performances. One match was decided just by one Warner’s 20-20 style batting. That needs luck also and luck favors the brave. India never looked brave in the series. Another two batsmen, who decided the fate of the series, were Captain Clarke and veteran Ponting. Interestingly many questioned the wisdom of Ponting’s inclusion in the national team, based on his dismal performance in tests prior to this series. For India, Sehwag did not click, Dravid could not be the wall he used to be, Lakshman was disappointing and Sachin underperformed in batting. In bowling, Zaheer was good but without support at the other end< Ishant was not good enough, Yadav was inexperienced and Ashwin was still learning.
Ours is a poor nation. Unfortunately we pay attention not to poverty of the fellow-beings but to cricketers, film stars and politicians. They all make much more money than they deserve. Easy money through endorsements may ease the motivation of sportsmen at higher level. If our cricketers lose their brand value, it is good for Indian cricket. We are good in chess due to Anand, Tennis due to Paes and Sania, Badminton due to Saina and in many other events due to some performing individuals. In cricket too we are good to that extent only. Keep the cricketers in their right place and perceptive.
England and South Africa were great cricketing nations for some time. West Indies was unparalleled for about 2 decades and Australia was formidable for a longer time. India too held the top position for a brief period. However, performance abroad was always a deterring factor in its quest for supremacy. One possible reason was the lack of sporting pitches in domestic cricket. This was long recognized but comes to the fore only at the time of glaring defeats and then quickly forgotten. It is the same old story for Indians in all fields- enjoying exhaustive analysis without executing any action plan.
If India is great in cricket, so are some other nations. If victory is predetermined for India, play becomes irrelevant. Let us hail our victories and avoid despair in defeats. Sure, our team will bounce back and entertain as usual. But let us concentrate more on our less privileged citizens. For that, we need to concentrate less on the shortcomings of our cricketers and more on the erring politicians, who can frustrate even a determined Anna Hazare camp.
January 24, 2012
Recent Lit Fests in India
Literature is for understanding, entertainment and fearless expression in an intellectual way. Freedom of expression may often lead to controversies and many noted literary personalities could be controversial. However, controversy can never be the theme for any eminent literary personality.
Once for information and entertianment, media now mecame big business and is thriving mostly on controversies. Recently we had two literary festivals- one in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and the other in Jaipur (Rajasthan). They are supposed to be the meeting point for literary giants but media was more keen on the controversies regarding participation, organisation and conduct. Salman Rushdie’s non-participation became more important than the paticipation of some extraordinary literary personalities. One should note that people are important and issues are also important but not more than the event itself.
barring controversies let us have a glimpse of the happenings there at Jaipur. Here is the link for the one at Hyderabad. We especially thank Sri Harikrishna for the first hand information provided to us on the HLF 2012.
Players- Moview Review
Vinod Khanna was a criminal in jail. He was respected by police for his advice on the moves of criminals. His daughter Sonam Kapoor is pious and inspires her father for change. Khanna did change and wishes to build a world-class home for orphans. He plans to raise the funds through a robbery of gold worth ten thousand crores and located in Russia. For this he identifies skilled players: Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Sikander Kher & Omi Vaidya. The team accomplished this almost impossible feat with such ease to tempt even a novice to venture such missions in Russia. The players faced no external threat either from the Russian Government or Army but they had an internal problem. Neil Nitin cheated them and escaped with all the loot to New Zealand to bring the intermission. How the other players 9now Sonam joins them to add to the number and supposedly glamour too) chase him and get back the loot forms the later half of the movie.
Minus into minus to make plus is the central theme. The story is funny and would have been convincing had it been a comic flick. Unfortunately the movie is considered to be an adventure plot and also the remake of the Hollywood ‘Italian Job’. Abhishek was unimpressive, Bobby looked unwanted and Neil Nitin seemed uncapable in their roles. udience may not mind the ‘body present and mind absent’ siuation for Bipasa. Sonam looked cute but certainly seemed a misfit in seductive scenes. Vinod Khanna looked older than his age but not golder for such roles. Old is for gold is valid for the theme but not for his talent. Songs and music may not be remembered beyond the theatres but exclusive audio at home may renovate some interest later.
Photography was excellent. Narration might defy logic but was breathtaking. Experience of the Director-duo Abbas-Mastan was felt all through the film, but their imagination was vey disappointing.
India is a poor country. People having enough money may as well share part of their wealth straightt away rather than throwing their lot to them in the name and shape of pure entertainment.
To sum up Players- it is just playing with money and with no purpose!
