January 2010

There were 13 posts published in January 2010 (this is page 2 of 3).

How Cricket unites India?

Wah Taj!! Wah Cricket!!

India is a huge country, and not only in terms of area and population, but also in languages spoken, cultures followed, religion, and caste. The various castes, subcastes and languages make people living within these divisions very different in the way they live their lives. The festivals are different, rituals are different, food is different, language is different, and so on…

As you travel across this vast country of ours, you will find Pahadi people in J&K, Himachal and Uttranchal, Punjabis in Punjab, Haryanvis, Jats, Rajasthanis, Biharis in the north all speaking different dialects of Hindi. You will find Bengalis, Oriyas in the east. There are Gorkha’s in Sikkim, in the north east you will again find different kinds of people. Going down, you will find Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu speaking people in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, respectively. Within these states, again you will find more languages and dialects within smaller communities.

However, there is one thing which is almost constant across the depth and breadth of India. You will find children playing cricket almost everywhere on streets and open grounds. Cricket stars are treated like heroes similarly by the different kinds of people. Big or small, hindu or muslim, north or south indian, you can always play cricket together.

Hailing from Delhi, I don’t know any of the South Indian languages. I sometimes face problems when I have to interact with the locals who don’t know Hindi or English. Recently, I went to Bandipur / Mudumalai wildlife sanctuaries. They are on the border of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka so Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada, all languages were spoken by the people there. It was difficult to communicate there, but in the evening when people started playing cricket, everybody could play irrespective of the language. Because whether you know any language or not does not matter, being an Indian you certainly know the cricket language. You know the rules of the game, and can communicate with other players by using just that. It is amazing how people who don’t even know each other and are different in the languages they spoke, and the lifestyles they live, can play together as a team without any issues.

A game connecting a billion people looks amazing just in saying. How cricket unites India is an example in itself… In a nation that is divided by language, religion, caste and what not, cricket has proved to be a glue holding together Indians. It is a great sight when you see people cheering a Sachin Tendulkar shot or a Harbhajan Singh delivery, not caring about the state they come from or the language they speak. Sehwag is a huge star even in Karnataka and Kumble is cheered even in Delhi.

Cricket has something which is helping keeping this country together. Nothing binds India together as well as cricket. It does not matter which crop is grown on the soil of Punjab or Kerala or Bengal, you will always find a common sight, kids playing cricket over it!!

Five Point Someone and 3 Idiots

3 Idiots is on its way to break all box office records and the sale of Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone (buy on Flipkart or Amazon) has also increased since the controversy. Well, as they say it, no publicity is bad publicity. And a controversy always helps both sides. Having read the book as well as having watched the movie, I am sharing my views about how much of the movie is based on the book.

For any movie which is adapted from a book / novel, there has to be some changes. Writing a book and creating a book are two different things altogether. Converting a book to a movie scene by scene will never work, and the same is true for converting a movie to a book. A book will always have more details of scenarios compared to movies as a movie need to finish in 2-3 hours. So in comparing the two, one should not consider changes like this. You cannot say a movie is different from the book because the book did not have the songs :O

So here goes my take, I would say the movie is 50-60% taken from the movie. And if you take the crux of the movie, the characters, the twists and turns, it is 80% from the book. To justify these numbers, I am going to list all the similarities and differences I found. I would like to state that I am not related / contracted / hired by either Chetan Bhagat or the 3 Idiots team. Just giving my own personal opinion below.

The similarities are below-
• The characters of Farhan and Raju and their middle class and lower middle class family details are from the book.
• Raju’s sister character, the groom asking for a Maruti 800, his father’s paralysis, his mother’s constant cribbings is from the book.
• The main theme of the film, the problems with the education system is from the book.
• Chatur’s character is also from the book
• Ryan / Rancho being good at engineering and making innovative devices is from the book.
• Three friends meeting at ragging, where Ryan / Rancho takes the fight back to the seniors is from the book.
• Raju leaving for go with Chatur and then coming back is from the book
• Professor “Virus” as the director (HOD in book) is from the book
• Narration of the movie is done by Farhan, same as in the book where it is done by Hari
• Drinking rum of the college roof is from the book
• Raju jumps from Virus’s room in the movie while he jumps from the roof in the book
• Virus’s son dies from falling off the train, which is a suicide, is taken from the book too.
• All 3 go to Neha / Pia’s house in the middle of the night is taken from the book
• Stealing the paper from Virus’s office, the phone call getting them cought is also from the book

The differences are listed below too
• The beginning of the movie, 2 friends in search of the 3 friend is original
• Farhan’s faking illness to stop the flight is original
• The Sept 5 bet to come back after 10 years is original
• The Chamatkar / Balatkaar speech is original
• Rancho making a device to electrocute the urinating senior is different from the book where he breaks a beer bottle to fight back.
• Rancho / Ryan falls in love in Pia / Neha in the movie while Hari / Farhan falls in the book (demand of bollywood cinema)
• Hari / Farhan steals the keys from Pia / Neha in the book while she hands it to Rancho in the movie
• The character of Suhaas is only in the movie
• In the book, Ryan / Rancho gets bad grades like his friends while he is a topper in the movie
• There was no sister of Pia / Neha in the book
• “All izz Well” concept is original
• The delivery of Pia’s sister is original and the story around her
• The events associated to the wrapper of the story – 2 friends going to find the 3rd, Pia running from the marriage, Rancho becoming a scientist is original

Considering both the lists above, you can decide for yourself the extent the movie is based on the book. I would call it more than 50%. There are many differences too, but the main crux of the story, the characters, the theme, the twists and turns are all from the movie… You can leave your comments below, but remember, only leave your comments if you have read the book and watched the movie….

Whatever my opinions might be, I am not taking any credit from the cast of 3 Idiots (specially Aamir Khan) and its director Rajkumar Hirani who have done a wonderful job and produced a great piece of entertainment.

5 Tips to Keep yourself motivated

Want to wake up early for a jog, want to write on your blog more frequently, want to change a job, or want to learn something new. Motivation is one thing you will need the most to get you started and then to keep you going. So how to keep yourself motivated, day after day, and week after week.

There are some rules which have worked for me over the years to keep yourself motivated. I am going to mention them below :

1. One Liners – Motivational Quotes have worked wonders for me. You can find them around me everywhere. I have a quotations booklet at home, there is a one liner as my status message on chat networks and social networking sites, I have registered to many RSS feeds of motivational quotes and one liners. One Liners are great to say and make a great example to follow. Just read a book of motivational quotes when you are down and you are pumping again… This has worked for me for the last 5 years now and continues to work wonders..

2. Goals – Set yourself goals, then break them down into smaller goals and go after them one by one. When you finish your mini-goals, you get the motivation and belief to go for the bigger goals. Take these goals as a challenge, and go after them.

3. Don’t Quit – Once you start a task, don’t quit. Winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win. Another one-liner but conveying something very important. Keep trying your goal until you complete it.

4. Find a supporting friend – Find a supporting friend who understand you and keeps you motivated. When you feel down and out, you discuss with your friend and he/she will motivate you back to track. This friend should be someone who knows you well. It could be a sibling, your spouse or a colleague. The point is: surround yourself with positive people who won’t let you get demotivated.

5. Take Risks – Take risks, learn something new everyday. Understand that there will be failures along the way. No one succeeds without encountering some failures. Treat every setback as an opportunity to learn and strike at the problem again, but better prepared this time.

Dreams of childhood

“Bade Hoke Kya Banoge?” is I think the question kids have to answer the most. Childhood is the time when you can imagine and dream of anything. Nothing seems out of your reach and everything looks possible. And better still, nobody frowns at you when you state your wish.

I too dreamed of becoming an astronaut, a scientist, a cricketer, a police officer, and who knows what!! Of course, nobody told me the kind of physics you need to master to become a scientist. I could not handle the physics of class XI alone and my scientist dreams went down the drain. Astronaut is something which I think most kids dream of becoming. But you need to be a scientist first to do so, and you might have to wait all your life for an opportunity to actually go into space. Things look so good and easy on TV…..

In India, who does not dream of becoming a cricketer? So did I. And I was quite serious despite being a pretty poor player. I used to go play on weekends apart from street cricket almost every day. I tried for trials once for the school team but could not get through. I tried for cricket coaching at a sports complex near my place, but could not continue after a few days due to studies and all…

Indian movies sometime wants you become a police officer, not knowing police officers in India are the bad guys and not the good guys as shown in movies. Well, such are childhood dreams. Wild in imagination and endless in possibilities. For most students, these wild dreams change to more realistic dreams of becoming an engineer, a doctor or a CA during the last years of school.

Share with me what all you wanted to become as a kid. How wild were your imaginations?

Best Match I have ever seen

Australia had their best team ever in 2001 under Steve Waugh. They had won the previous 16 test matches on a trot, including the 1st test against India at Mumbai. The 2nd test match was to begin on 11 Mar at the Eden Park, Kolkata and Steve Waugh was finally going to conquer the final frontier. Australia batted first and started in trademark fashion, reaching 193/1 at tea in 53 overs. But a very young Harbhajan Singh had other plans. After tea, his deliveries were like bombs for the Australians. Ponting, Gilchrist and Warne fell in successive balls, giving Bhajji a hat-trick and Australia slid to 291/8 at the end of play.

India would have thought (and wanted) to get them out early 2nd way, but Steve Waugh, the captain was still batting with Jason Gillespie. India’s hopes faded out soon, as Waugh got to his century and Australia to 400. He kept full confidence in Gillespie and McGrath and rotated strike with them, unlike other players who try to take full strike with tail enders. The partnership of 133 for the 9th wicket and 43 runs for the last wicket showed the world his confidence in his men. Australia finally finished at 445 with Bhajji taking 7.

India started in trademark fashion, losing their first wicket with no run on the scorecard. Those days Dravid was an opener who did not open in most of the matches he played. The conquering Australians had McGrath, Gillespie and Warne and India’s score of 128/8 at the end of day 2’s play was no surprise. Australia were looking at their 17th straight win and a test series win in India after some three decades. On day 3, India folded out of 171, and as expected, Australia imposed the follow on, unaware of what awaited them. India finished day 3 at 254/4, still 20 runs behind Australia’s first innings total and their last recognized pair at the crease.

Walking off after batting the whole of Day 4

Walking off after batting the whole of Day 4

March 14, 2001 would be the longest day in test cricket for Australia. For, India finished day 4 at 589/4. 90 overs, 0 wickets, 335 runs. Well, the last recognized pair of India have batted the whole day. Laxman made the highest individual score by an Indian going past Gavaskar’s 236. Dravid gave him able company at the other end. Both played some exquisite shots all round the park that day, and even McGrath and Warne were seen helpless. Laxman’s wristy strokes and Dravid’s class eroded Australia’s pride in that one day like a desert storm. Atleast India would get a draw now, the whole country was hoping.

On day 5, Ganguly declared India’s second innings at 657/7, giving Australia a target of 384 runs. Whole India and the cricket experts thought why did not he just bat till draw was the only outcome possible. But the south paw had other plans, he was thinking of winning the test match after following-on. Only 2 times have that happened before in the history of test cricket, and guess what, Australia have lost against England both the times. Some 75,000 people have turned up at the Eden Gardens on the final day to watch history being made. At tea, Australia were 161/3 in 43 overs, will all 3 results still possible. After tea, Harbhajan removed Waugh and Ponting in quick succession. The score read 166/5. Enter Tendulkar, with his off breaks, leg breaks and the occasional seam delivery. Gilchrist, Hayden and Warne just could not figure out what was happening, with all three falling lbw to Tendulkar. The score now read 174/8. Bhajji completed the formalities and Australia folded out of 212, handing India a victory by 171 runs.

Bhajji’s 13 wickets in the match (including a hat-trick), Laxman’s 281 and Dravid’s 180 in a partnership of 376 runs for the 5th wicket, and Tendulkar’s 3 wickets in the final session, all played their part in triggering the Australian collapse when they lost 7 wickets for 46 runs. Whole of Kolkata and India was celebrating like they have won the world cup. And Steve Waugh was given a high voltage shock by the Indian Team led by Ganguly. They went on to lost the final match in Chennai and the final frontier remained unconquered for Australia and Steve Waugh.