SRT10 - A timeline

The greatest batsman, after Sir Don Bradman, the most worshipped cricketer ever, will exit the stage after 24 years (almost to the day, depending on when his last test match finishes). Few men have....wait, no other cricketer has ever commanded the sort of adulation, respect, love and frenzy, which the little master has commanded.

A summary of his cricketing journey, from a boy who was first exposed to cricket with the word "Sachin".

Pre-1993: Too young to remember anything

1994: Yaar, Sachin kya khelta hai

1996 World Cup - Sachin lost us the match....he was dismissed on 90. (Ind - Aus match, Brabourne Stadium)

1996 World Cup - Semifinal: Sachin scored 65 out of 120 runs...the team is useless.

1996-Titan Cup - Sachin, what a captain, what a batsman!!

Early 1997 - India's tour of SA.

Sachin is as amazing as usual, it takes a catch like this to dismiss him. He is the best, by far, in this team. But wait, this lad called Rahul Dravid seems suited to test cricket.

1997- Independence Cup: The team is no longer playing well. Sachin is not a good captain.

1998 - Silver Jubilee Independence Cup, Dhaka

The captaincy is gone, the master is back. He bats like a dream, he bowls well, he fields like a terrier.

1998 - Australia's tour to India: Chennai

The master is in full flow....takes Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson to the cleaners. Subsequent talk of nightmares for a worn-out Warne.

1998 - Sharjah - Desert Storm.

_/\_ is all I can say.

1999-2000 - Captaincy 2.0, A not-so-savoury experience, leading to a premature resignation

                             Glenn McGrath conjuring a new dismissal, ABW - Arm before wicket.

2001-2002: A crucial contributor in India's newfound resilience abroad. By this time, Rahul Dravid, VVS and Dada, the Captain have stepped in to share the workload.

2003 World Cup - The top scorer, 1 century, 6 scores in the 90s, player of the tournament.
And of course, those two sixes against Caddick and Shoaib.

                                     

2004 - Restrained batsmanship, but no less effective.

                                 (i) SCG 2004 - Sachin Tendulkar 241*, VVS Laxman 178

                              (ii) Multan 2004 - Sachin Tendulkar 194*, Virender Sehwag 309

Late 2004-Late 2007: The years of the slide. Injuries took their toll, his form was inconsistent, Greg Chappell also had a part to play. And all of us believed at that point that Ricky Ponting has to overtake the Master Blaster.

How wrong we were! :)

                             (i) SCG 2008 - 154* against Australia, albeit in a losing cause

                     (ii) 163* (Retd. Hurt): This may have been the first ever double century in ODIs;
                     
                                                Never Mind, that moment wasn't far away

           (iii) In IIMB, 90% of the students had bunked their classes to watch this match.
                                                  The canteen was, well, in delirium.

                             (iv) Dale Steyn vs. Sachin Tendulkar: A battle for the ages.

World Cup 2011: Well, everyone won the World Cup for him. Richly deserved for the greatest ODI cricketer there ever has been, and there ever will be.

After World Cup 2011, the path hasn't been as glorious. Maybe, you may have retired a few months earlier. Having said that, we do have the joy of watching you twice. Hope you give us a parting century Sir.

There may be allegations placed on him, such as playing for records, not rising to adverse circumstances and 4th innings chases, non - payment of taxes on the Ferrari (which, by the way, was gifted to him, and not purchased. This is why he had asked for the waiver).

Sachin, while being close enough to godliness, still is a human being. Everyone would cherish a century, or a landmark, such as playing 200 tests. What matters is that he played for the team. And speaking of not playing under adverse circumstances, one can only count the number of occasions, when he has laid the platform for his teammates to score, only for them to collapse like a pack of cards, once he is dismissed.

Above all, his style of play, an all round game comprising all the shots in the book have provided joy to innumerable Indians for a quarter of a century. And all this has been achieved with utmost grace and humility. Guys like me first heard the name "Sachin" in conjunction with the game of cricket.

Thank you SRT for all the joy and memories, and farewell!

"No No Lungi Dance"

Further to my previous post on the Chennai Express, I still fail to understand why SRK had to add a "Thalaiva tribute" at the very end. Is it because:

1) The movie is named "Chennai Express"?
2) He is simply making fun of the Phenomenon?
3) This is actually an earnest tribute gone wrong?
4) None of the above. 

The song goes as follows:

"Moochon ko round ghumaake" (Now, when did Rajini do that? That can be done by "Gaptane", and "Gaptane alone")

"Anna ke jaisa chashma lagake (Ok, part of Rajini's mannerisms, but why "Anna"? Standard male south Indian name?)

"Coconut mein lassi milaake....... (Need I say more? How do you mix a coconut with lassi? Or do they mean coconut water?)
.....................

All you Rajni fans, don't miss the chance...........Lungi dance (x100)

"

"Facepalm"

Rajini is widely perceived to be the Indian Chuck Norris (though he has recently been usurped by HRH 10008 Sir Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja), who can kill 2 goons with one bullet, prepare class notes now called Wikipedia blah blah. While his mannerisms, (the swirling of the cigar/chewing gum, the salute, the raised index finger) form a core part of his acting, he is more than just his mannerisms, and has a great volume of good movies to show for. I may have hardly seen a few of his classics, but would recommend "Thalapathi" to everyone (with subtitles for non-Tamil speakers"). He stood his own ground in the movie, in the presence of stalwarts such as Mammootty, Anupam Kher. He has a strong background in theatre, and has, in the past, acted in comic roles, and also as a negative character in his first few movies.

Rajini Sir is by a fair distance the most bankable star in India, you wouldn't see tickets pre-booked for 2 weeks in advance for any other movie anywhere in India, or for that matter, the world. This level of adulation is down to portraying a relatable character on-screen, amazing screen presence (better than any current actor, in my opinion), energetic performances (better than most 20-30 year olds on screen), together with his occasional mannerisms. In cinema-crazy TN, where cinestars are worshipped, it does help that he has remained humble, down-to-earth, appreciative of fellow film star.

I am a recent convert to the Rajini cult. In fact, I wasn't even willing to watch "Sivaji the Boss" in Telugu (I was in Hyderabad then), and was forced into watching the same by Mandu. It didn't matter which language I saw the movie in, the effect remained the same. That's the charisma of Thalaiva.

SRK has some distance to go before attaining the levels of adulation of Rajini Sir (relative levels of course).  There is quite a bit scope to make it large. Using the lungi dance, coconut lassi, and other such gimmicks as a "tribute" to Rajini Sir, simply ain't funny.

Movie Review - Chennai Express

The best part about this movie is that I had gone in with sub zero expectations, that it will end up blatantly using every other stereotype about tamilians/south Indians. The presence of Kathakali dancers had prepared me for 'sab south hai yaar' stereotype. Thank goodness that the movie did not resort to any such gimmick, and the kathakali was just a 5 second sequence in some song. You cannot feel let down with such low expectations, an exception being the movie 'Shaadi No. 1'.

The good thing was that the tamilian actors spoke in Tamil, and not Mehmood-ian Hindi. Having said that, sub titles for the Tamil portions were definitely required.

The only person actually speaking Mehmood-ian Hindi was Deepika, and it was atrocious. No, atrocious is an understatement, though it did improve towards the ending portions. Surprise, surprise, her Tamil lines were decently delivered (without dubbing). And yes, she did look gorgeous. Wonder why Karan Johar chose Alia Bhatt for playing the role of a tamilian girl in the movie adaptation of '2 states'. Deepika looks more intelligent, more like a Tamil girl, and can pull off Tamil lines too.

That apart, nothing exceptional about this movie. Typical Rohit Shetty-keep-your-brains-at-home timepass movie, with cars being blown up, ruffians being roughed up by an idealistic hero blah blah, and the aruval being added to the mix. The storyline was evident from the trailer itself, so no rocket science there. And some SRK PJs delivered by SRK himself.


The worst bit about the movie is the ending 'Lungi Dance': pathetic and unnecessary. Rather than being a tribute, it pokes fun of Rajini, saying things like 'moochon ko round ghumake', 'coconut mein lassi', which are 1) not characteristic of Rajini, 2) sound excessively stereotypical. What else could you expect from Honey Singh though? He gets lesser respect than Tusshar Kapoor, which is an achievement in itself.

On a parting note, has SRK joined some citizen's forum? During the course of the movie, he says : 'Never underestimate the power of the common man.' at least 240 times. 

Anarchy

As I sit here in an auto at the bandra Kurla complex (Read: Mumbai's New business district) signal for 30 minutes now, I can't help but liken the traffic situation to a noisy classroom gone fully out of control. Refer to this video
In so many ways, the traffic refers to the chaotic manner of functioning Indians are used to in general. While thriving in chaos is a positive on your cv, it doesn't imply that we should face chaos and only chaos in order to thrive.
Picture this: There are the traffic lights, which are of no consequence in the morning rush hour traffic, as policemen seek to stamp their authority. Unfortunately, those who cannot see the policeman in control assume that the traffic lights have been breached, and start honking. (A typical disease we are afflicted with). As they near the signal itself ( close to 20 minutes for a 50 m distance), they understand the reality, and honk even more, (in order to force the guy to crash into someone).
However, there are 2 policemen here, giving absolutely contradictory instructions. In fact, each guy is allowing vehicles from 2 perpendicular roads to move on. Note that there is no confusion, simply because the vehicles being asked to move don't simply care about what's going to (or can) hit them. I am astonished that such a thing hasn't happened so far.
No point blaming the policemen though, or for that matter, the few Samaritans who care to help in major traffic milieu. It's somewhere a general lack of respect for the fellow citizens and for the rules, which leads to the absolute anarchy on Indian roads, and causes / can cause accidents, deafness, roadside fights with abuses galore on the female relatives, and loss of peace of mind.
Hoping that someday, the people can show some sense, traffic order can be maintained, even in the midst of a large number of vehicles.