Bannerghatta 18th km.............vroooooom

Last evening I kickstarted my 135 cc engine to do something that's quite uncharacteristic of me. Yes. Biking. It was agonisingly boring at home after having spent roughly 3 hrs reading insightful articles on the web. Sharply at 7.30 sundown, I stepped out without having a preset destination in mind. Finally decided to burn some rubber on Bannerghatta road and also pay a visit to my alma matar, which is at the 18th km on Bannerghatta road. Well, I must admit, I had another reason. Just wanted to go past the hallowed campus of IIM Bangalore as well.

After going past IIMB and Accenture, I was expecting the remaining stretch to be peaceful, dark and free of any sort of commercial activity. It had been more than a year since I commuted on Bannerghatta road and much to my amazement, I found condominiums and glitzy office buildings occupying what were once vacant sites. Only sidelight to this is that the road has been bettered. However, lots need to be done going by the phenomenal increase in the activities.

As I crossed this busy part of the stretch, I could feel the cool breeze blowing through my porcupinish hair. It was blissful as nature caressed me. Starting at the 16th km on Bannerghatta, a one-km strectch is what I savor the most as it was dark and the road had a couple of bends and a jungle-road-look-alike-and-feel. I thought I would get to see or experience some strange things but seldom do thoughts come true.

Just when I was able to see my alma matar signboard as I rode past a curve, I was surprised to see a dim light outside my college. I was quick to realise that it is from the shop we used to visit during session breaks. I had a small conversation with the shop owner and had a look at my college. It was dimly lit and highly unrecognisible.

I was to get back home early and since I had had a pleasureable ride I was more than satisfied. It was nice getting away from the hubbub and chaos of urban life. I am but forced to get back to the same chaotic world at the end of it all. However, some rides like this would bring some respite into my life.

Australia, down …under…but not out

It was shocking as hell to watch the mighty Aussies lose to an inexperienced Bangladeshi contingent. Came home late last night and picked up the TV remote only to see lines of frustration on Ricky Ponting’s face, clear with an intended disguise but futile. The opponents danced their legs to blisters and why not? They beat the three-time world champions on an even soil. Needless to say, the Bangladeshi supporters cheered to their hearts’ content.

However the team in question and at the receiving end is Australia. Nothing seems to have gone right for them from the start of the tour. A measly 79 in response to a Herculean total posted by the English side in a one-off Twenty: 20 encounter, and now a mortifying defeat, an occurrence, which indubitably is a windfall to any sports journalist. And much to the chagrin is a back-to-back match against England leaving the Aussies with barely any time to look back and recuperate.

In the following days there will be much to read about this infamous defeat. Some journos writing them off and many more vehemently voicing that the Australians’ cockiness is vanquished to smidgens. Notwithstanding, the Aussies have to take this on their chin, as being a champion also means being able to silence the critics by way of bouncing back, which they have time and again. In a game dominated by bats, there is no short supply of brickbats either.

One thing’s for sure. Australia is not a team to be seen as dwindling in their potential for everyone has an off-day. And for Bangladesh this could just be the trigger they were waiting for. I wrap this off abruptly as I am in dire need of sleep (Something I am not blessed with). But waiting to watch the encounter later in the day. Join the action live on ESPN!!!!!

Twenty: 20…………the way to go!

The word Twenty: 20 has taken the cricketing fraternity by storm by way of frequenting TV news, newspapers, websites, and blogsphere and also doesn’t quite seem to leave the vehement vocal chords of diehard cricket fans around the world. Whether or not there is an imperative exigency on the part of ICC to fill flesh and blood to this new found format of Cricket is to be mooted.

Well, the opinion on whether to introduce this format in India seems to be divided. I for one feel the need for a change in the way this game is being approached. With most of our so-called star performers failing on home soil and needless to say foreign soil as well, cricket in India has become nothing but predictable, be it a test or a one-day. Also with recent reports on Indian cricketers losing out to Bollywood entertainers in the mad-ad world of endorsements, though it is premature to say, cricket in India is on the verge of losing its carefully crafted image. Having said this, I still am for preserving the primordial values of cricket.

Let us draw from an example set by the hockey federation in India. Hockey being the national game was suffering from lack of viewership. By introducing a new format called PHL (Premier Hockey League) the federation to a certain extent has rejuvenated the game and given it a new look. It will be unfair if ESPN-Star Sports is not given the due credits for what it did in giving the game a much-required facelift, driving viewers to stadia and also increasing viewership on TV. And now with the ever-savvy Harsha Bhogle having taken up commentary assignments for Hockey matches, there are no qualms about his charm working some wonders on this game.

Twenty: 20, by the very nature of its game, will bring flamboyancy and exhilaration into this part of the cricketing world where cricket is just another religion. There is a dearth of mighty bench strength in the Indian contingency and this new format, for all you know can come as a panacea to this plaguing predicament. This format will bring in a lot of teams from different parts of the country and thereby will lead to hunting down new and unheard of but potential players. This game also entails a framework; 20 overs to score as many runs as possible. Batsmen are under duress to keep the score board ticking and set a mammoth total. Spectators will get to hear the white ball whiz past their ears more often than in one-day cricket and the bowlers are under constant and niggling pressure to bowl on target. Isn’t this a wonderful learning experience? These pressure cooker situations are what Australians are good at handling which has made them the champions of this game and without much ado I confess that they are my favorites as well.

Twenty: 20, being a short duration game can be played in the evenings, which in turn can draw huge crowds with working people not requiring skipping work to watch a game, as is the norm. This will most definitely come as a new kind of entertainment and has all the potential to supersede movies as an entertainment sought by most people today. This format has a lot to offer on its platter than take away from the existing game, if only the BCCI wakes up to this heavily sounding alarm and gets its acts together as viewership is what matters to a game and what’s a game without viewers and patrons.

Vishwas Bharadwaj

Fast march forward in time…

Changing times,
The city is abuzz with strangers and stars
I hear chaos in silence.
Lives in sealed oily jars,
look through the hazy convex glass.
Superficial imagery of existence meets the eye,
and a new sound surrounds every fortnight.
Lads and lasses and their pals,
strut their stuff under shimmering lights
in city pubs and super malls
But the hawker living on the boulevard,
pushes his barrow and toils hard.

We have got sex, drugs, rock and roll
We have got money,
and records of crime
We have got politics to cajole
and warehouses of cyber slaves
on a life consuming payroll
We have got everything to make life awry
and no frame to skirt this picture,
as we fast march forward in time.

The rabble rides its unbridled wish horses,
from far and wide,
through dark and dawn.
Fast cars are too fast on neon lanes.
What to say and what not, the newspapers decide
and the paperboy is amused by page three.
Telephone calls from the west,
have buzzed this place into a youthful spree.
The pursuit of intellect is mere commercial.
Bought and sold by winds of dollars and pounds
Unanswered prayers in piles and mounds.
Here’s more room for what is so unreal.

We have got sex, drugs, rock and roll
We have got money,
and records of crime.
We have got politics to cajole
and warehouses of cyber slaves
on a life consuming payroll.
We have got everything to make life awry
and no frame to skirt this picture,
as we fast march forward in time.

VISHWAS BHARADWAJ G

(Inspired by Roger Water’s song Amused to death)

Promise -The last step to glory.

More often than not, promises are not kept and it comes as no surprise even when it is made on a high TRP channel once in a year. Yes, I am referring to the hunt for the three beauty queens of India who indeed would be vying for the most coveted diamond studded crown along with hundred other contestants hoping not to wipe out the image that India has acquired in the last decade at these global platforms.

Let’s go back in time and rummage our chaotic minds for the promises these young lasses had made. Unfortunately, I can’t recall any as I haven’t read or seen anything about it after the promises were made. Citing a few generic promises wouldn’t be a problem though – lending a helping hand in the upliftment of the girl child, poverty stricken children, fund raising initiatives for cancer patients, life enhancement programmes for slum dwellers, AIDS awareness campaigns and many more to say the least.

What’s happening to all these promises made by innumerable Miss India crown winners? In fact they are frequently in news for satisfying their commercial objectives. Just a little while ago, I saw on one of the news channels, Tanushree Dutta, Miss India – 2004, endorsing TATA Indicom Handsets and also speaking at length about three movies, which she has pocketed. This clipping moved me to key in my opinion. I do agree that success begets fame. But as a keeper of some promises, that to a wee extent might have gotten them so far, don’t they owe it to the society around them? We have witnessed many such irresponsible acts yet the state of affairs still remains the same. From all that we have seen so far, it indeed is very apparent that they don’t have any compunction.

But there are many questions that remain unanswered–Is the Miss India contest just another bridge to Bollywood or famedom? Are they bringing out humanitarians? And what are the checks and balances undertaken by the supreme body of Miss India to ensure that these beauty queens live up to their promises?

Mettle of the mindful

Solstice to solstice in certitude,
will transpire an inexplicable fortitude.
For all that's to come and leave,
there's your quiver replete with what you believe.

What's new will come,
what's insuperable will be hard won.
Unmindful of revisiting the twilight zone,
in its stead, head straight to seize a place in the sun.

This is the moment of truth,
an univocal halo beyond the horizon.
On a daylight crisp canvas, a place that's beckoning
to be painted with no sinuous touch.

A seemingly michiavellian battle is incited in the mind,
for only the mindful to wash in black and leave behind.
Beyond what you can lies what you should,
and before you lies your endurance attuned.

There's an ineffable silence that summons thee,
in what lies thy triumph and its numinous key.
All that you yearned for, is not all too far,
in two quick paces it's there for what you are.