Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Samiti Nemliy, Vichar Chalu Aahe...
The classic Indian "chalta-hain" attitude is aptly demonstrated by appointment of a commission of inquiry. A probe is on. so the government can always says the case is subjudice till it is on. Once the report findings come, the government still has the powers to reject its findings, like the Shiv Sena-BJP government did to Justice Shrikrishna Commission report on inquiry into the 1992-93 Mumbai riots. For years, successive governments irrespective of the ideology have done this, and as people, we are never outraged. "Samiti Nemliy, Vichar Chalu Ahe" (commission appointed, we are thinking", a classic line in Marathi says.
For whatever it is worth, here is a link to the Liberhan Commission report tabled by the government in Parliament today along with an Action Taken Report. I have never understood what purpose this Action Taken Report ever serves. Because action has never been taken - whether Mumbai riots, Gujarat riots, or Sikh riots.
Report of Liberhan Commission of Inquiry into Babri Masjid demolition
For whatever it is worth, here is a link to the Liberhan Commission report tabled by the government in Parliament today along with an Action Taken Report. I have never understood what purpose this Action Taken Report ever serves. Because action has never been taken - whether Mumbai riots, Gujarat riots, or Sikh riots.
Report of Liberhan Commission of Inquiry into Babri Masjid demolition
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The first cricket Test in India
This is an unpublished story I wrote for The Telegraph on the first ever cricket Test match on the Indian soil.
On a winter morning in December 1933, two giants of the game walked onto the turf of a British-formed gymkhana in Mumbai at 10.25 am. The toss that captain Col CK Nayudu won started Indian cricket's historic journey in India.
At 10.30am, the English side lead by wily Douglas Jardine, who had returned from the infamous Bodyline series in Australia a few months ago, did warm up exercises for 15 minutes. At 11 am, umpires Frank Tarrant and JW Hitch stepped on to the open ground at Bombay Gymkhana.
English fast bowler MS Nichols, who eventually picked up 108-8 in the match, sent down the first ball to the opening Indian pair of S Wazir Ali and JG Navle. India lost the match and the series 2-0, but began a journey that has eventually made it into the financial nerve centre of world cricket.
Memories of this historic match and 75 years of Indian cricket will be revived by the Bombay Gymkhana through year-long celebrations that began today. Former India captain Nari Contractor unveiled a specially designed logo at the 132-year-old gymkhana at Azad Maidan in the presence of former Test players like Jayanti Lal, Yajuvendra Singh. Vijay Nayudu, the grandson of India's first cricket captain Col Nayudu was also present on the occasion.
The first Test on Indian soil was part of a fortnight-long cricket festival. The visitors led by Jardine played four trial games during the period culminating in the four-day Test played between Dec 15-18, 1933.
Indian first innings folded up on 219, as English bowlers Nichols, H Verity and J Langridge each picked up three wickets. Jardine's team then piled on 438 with the experienced captain and CG Walters contributing 60 and 78 each, and debutant BH Valentine scoring 136.
In the second innings, India was reduced to 21-2, with EW Clark removing both the Indian openers. Then came together debutant Lala Amarnath, and Col Nayudu, and took India to 207, just 12 short of the first-innings deficit of 219 runs. Amarnath, who hit 118 in his debut test, was caught by Nichols at fine-leg off Clark. Nayudu bravely battled on and scored 67. But, India slid to 258 all out, with England needing just 40 runs for a win. Batting legend Vijay Merchant also made his debut in that Test.
The trial games before the Test had created an excitement about the England tour. "Thousands of spectators were turned away. Yet 20,000 managed to watch the match in the shamianas erected here. The tradition of fans rushing into a cricket ground and garlanding their heroes started with two fans who ran in when Lala Amarnath completed his century." said Yajuvendra Singh Bilkha, a former Test player who holds the Indian record of five catches in an innings and seven in a match.
Two other highlights of the first Test on Indian soil were the lavish praise bestowed on fast bowler Amar Singh by Jardine, and Mohammed Nissar's five-wicket burst in the England first innings. Nissar, who died recently in Pakistan, took 90-5. "Jardine praised Amar Singh stating he had not seen a better bowler than him," Bilkha said.
Nari Contractor credited Col Nayudu for making him the Indian opener. Recalling a dressing room chat with Nayudu, who was a selector for a university team in 1952, Contractor said, "He asked me why I don't open the innings. I said I have always been a no 3 or no 4 batsman. `Won't you have to open the innings if the bowler gets first two wickets in two balls?' he asked" Years later, regular opener Vinoo Mankad was unavailable for the second Test against New Zealand, and Polly Umrigar asked Contractor if he would like to open. "I remembered what the Colonel had told me. I said yes, and that's how I became an opening batsman," said Contractor laughing.
Vijay Nayudu, grandson of Col Nayudu, said the first Indian captain made his debut at the Bombay Gymkhana in 1916, and personally cherished the first official match at the gymkhana in 1926 between the Hindus and the MCC. The three-day match saw JF Earl scoring 130 runs for the MCC with 8 sixes and 9 fours, and a befitting reply from the Hindus who scored more than 300 runs. "Col Nayudu hit 11 sixes, and 14 fours in his 155 made in just 90 minutes. That match was somehow closer to his heart," Nayudu said.
So impressed were the MCC players by Nayudu's spectacular knock that they presented an autographed silver-coated bat to him. Contractor and Bombay Gymkhana president Narendra Bubna displayed the bat while unveiling the logo. "The knock is also believed to have played an
instrumental role in India winning the Test status ahead of Ceylon and other countries. India was soon invited to play the first test at Lords in 1932," Bilkha said.
On a winter morning in December 1933, two giants of the game walked onto the turf of a British-formed gymkhana in Mumbai at 10.25 am. The toss that captain Col CK Nayudu won started Indian cricket's historic journey in India.
At 10.30am, the English side lead by wily Douglas Jardine, who had returned from the infamous Bodyline series in Australia a few months ago, did warm up exercises for 15 minutes. At 11 am, umpires Frank Tarrant and JW Hitch stepped on to the open ground at Bombay Gymkhana.
English fast bowler MS Nichols, who eventually picked up 108-8 in the match, sent down the first ball to the opening Indian pair of S Wazir Ali and JG Navle. India lost the match and the series 2-0, but began a journey that has eventually made it into the financial nerve centre of world cricket.
Memories of this historic match and 75 years of Indian cricket will be revived by the Bombay Gymkhana through year-long celebrations that began today. Former India captain Nari Contractor unveiled a specially designed logo at the 132-year-old gymkhana at Azad Maidan in the presence of former Test players like Jayanti Lal, Yajuvendra Singh. Vijay Nayudu, the grandson of India's first cricket captain Col Nayudu was also present on the occasion.
The first Test on Indian soil was part of a fortnight-long cricket festival. The visitors led by Jardine played four trial games during the period culminating in the four-day Test played between Dec 15-18, 1933.
Indian first innings folded up on 219, as English bowlers Nichols, H Verity and J Langridge each picked up three wickets. Jardine's team then piled on 438 with the experienced captain and CG Walters contributing 60 and 78 each, and debutant BH Valentine scoring 136.
In the second innings, India was reduced to 21-2, with EW Clark removing both the Indian openers. Then came together debutant Lala Amarnath, and Col Nayudu, and took India to 207, just 12 short of the first-innings deficit of 219 runs. Amarnath, who hit 118 in his debut test, was caught by Nichols at fine-leg off Clark. Nayudu bravely battled on and scored 67. But, India slid to 258 all out, with England needing just 40 runs for a win. Batting legend Vijay Merchant also made his debut in that Test.
The trial games before the Test had created an excitement about the England tour. "Thousands of spectators were turned away. Yet 20,000 managed to watch the match in the shamianas erected here. The tradition of fans rushing into a cricket ground and garlanding their heroes started with two fans who ran in when Lala Amarnath completed his century." said Yajuvendra Singh Bilkha, a former Test player who holds the Indian record of five catches in an innings and seven in a match.
Two other highlights of the first Test on Indian soil were the lavish praise bestowed on fast bowler Amar Singh by Jardine, and Mohammed Nissar's five-wicket burst in the England first innings. Nissar, who died recently in Pakistan, took 90-5. "Jardine praised Amar Singh stating he had not seen a better bowler than him," Bilkha said.
Nari Contractor credited Col Nayudu for making him the Indian opener. Recalling a dressing room chat with Nayudu, who was a selector for a university team in 1952, Contractor said, "He asked me why I don't open the innings. I said I have always been a no 3 or no 4 batsman. `Won't you have to open the innings if the bowler gets first two wickets in two balls?' he asked" Years later, regular opener Vinoo Mankad was unavailable for the second Test against New Zealand, and Polly Umrigar asked Contractor if he would like to open. "I remembered what the Colonel had told me. I said yes, and that's how I became an opening batsman," said Contractor laughing.
Vijay Nayudu, grandson of Col Nayudu, said the first Indian captain made his debut at the Bombay Gymkhana in 1916, and personally cherished the first official match at the gymkhana in 1926 between the Hindus and the MCC. The three-day match saw JF Earl scoring 130 runs for the MCC with 8 sixes and 9 fours, and a befitting reply from the Hindus who scored more than 300 runs. "Col Nayudu hit 11 sixes, and 14 fours in his 155 made in just 90 minutes. That match was somehow closer to his heart," Nayudu said.
So impressed were the MCC players by Nayudu's spectacular knock that they presented an autographed silver-coated bat to him. Contractor and Bombay Gymkhana president Narendra Bubna displayed the bat while unveiling the logo. "The knock is also believed to have played an
instrumental role in India winning the Test status ahead of Ceylon and other countries. India was soon invited to play the first test at Lords in 1932," Bilkha said.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Top 10 world cinema films
British magazine Sight and Sound has its place in the history of cinema. The magazine had the most authoritative critics contributing to it in its hey days. It had beautiful layouts, and some of these volumes are in Prabhat Chitra Mandal's library for any of you to read. The magazine still exists, and every 10 years, it asks a panel of film critics to select the top ten films of all time. The last top ten survey was done in 2002. I checked the list, and was disappointed not to find Bicycle Thieves, Rashomon, or La Strada in the list. Then I checked what the directors voted as the top ten and was pleasantly surprised at least two of them. Both lists have placed Citizen Kane on the top. Do you agree?
Check both the surveys. Interesting preferences between critics and directors.
Critics' Top Ten Poll
1. Citizen Kane (Welles)
Dazzlingly inventive, technically breathtaking, Citizen Kane reinvented the way stories could be told in the cinema, and set a standard generations of film-makers have since aspired to. An absorbing account of a newspaper tycoon's rise to power, Orson Welles' debut film feels as fresh as tomorrow's headlines. And he was only 26 when he made it.
2. Vertigo (Hitchcock)
A gripping detective story or a delirious investigation into desire, grief and jealousy? Hitchcock had a genius for transforming genre pieces into vehicles for his own dark obsessions, and this 1958 masterpiece shows the director at his mesmerising best. And for James Stewart fans, it also boasts the star's most compelling performance.
3. La Règle du jeu (Renoir)
Tragedy and comedy effortlessly combine in Renoir's country house ensemble drama. A group of aristocrats gather for some rural relaxation, a shooting party is arranged, downstairs the servants bicker about a new employee, while all the time husbands, wives, mistresses and lovers sweetly deceive one another and swap declarations of love like name cards at a dinner party.
4. The Godfather and The Godfather part II (Coppola)
Few films have portrayed the US immigrant experience quite so vividly as Coppola's Godfather films, or exposed the contradictions of the American Dream quite so ruthlessly. And what a cast, formidable talent firing all cylinders: Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Keaton, Duvall, Caan. Now that's an offer you can't refuse.
5. Tokyo Story (Ozu)
A poignant story of family relations and loss, Ozu's subtle mood piece portrays the trip an elderly couple make to Tokyo to visit their grown-up children. The shooting style is elegantly minimal and formally reticent, and the film's devastating emotional impact is drawn as much from what is unsaid and unshown as from what is revealed.
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
One of the most ambitious Hollywood movies ever made, 2001 crams into its two-hour plus running time a story that spans the prehistoric age to the beginning of the third millennium, and features some of the most hypnotically beautiful special effects work ever committed to film. After seeing this, you can never listen to Strauss' Blue Danube without thinking space crafts waltzing against starry backdrops.
7. Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein)
Eisenstein's recreation of a mutiny by sailors of the battleship Potemkin in 1905 works as daring formal experiment - which pushed the expressive potential of film editing to its limit - and rousing propaganda for the masses. The Odessa Steps sequence remains one of the most memorable set-pieces in cinema.
8. Sunrise (Murnau)
Having left his native Germany for the US, F.W. Murnau had all the resources of a major Hollywood studio at his disposal for this, his American debut. What he produced was a visually stunning film romance that ranks as one of the last hurrahs of the silent period.
9. 8 1/2 (Fellini)
Wonderfully freefloating, gleefully confusing reality and fantasy, 8 1/2 provides a ringside seat into the ever active imaginative life of its director protagonist Guido, played by Fellini's on-screen alter-ego Marcello Mastroianni. The definitive film about film-making - as much about the agonies of the creative process as the ecstasies - it's no wonder the movie is so popular with directors.
10. Singin' In the Rain (Kelly, Donen)
Impossible to watch without a smile on your face, this affectionate tribute to the glory days of Hollywood in the 1920s is pleasure distilled into 102 minutes. With Gene Kelly dance sequences that take your breath away and a great score by Brown and Freed, this is the film musical at its best.
*****
Directors' Top Ten Poll
1. Citizen Kane (Welles)
Dazzlingly inventive, technically breathtaking, Citizen Kane reinvented the way stories could be told in the cinema, and set a standard generations of film-makers have since aspired to. An absorbing account of a newspaper tycoon's rise to power, Orson Welles' debut film feels as fresh as tomorrow's headlines. And he was only 26 when he made it.
2. The Godfather and The Godfather part II (Coppola)
Few films have portrayed the US immigrant experience quite so vividly as Coppola's Godfather films, or exposed the contradictions of the American Dream quite so ruthlessly. And what a cast, formidable talent firing all cylinders: Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Keaton, Duvall, Caan. Now that's an offer you can't refuse.
3. 8 1/2 (Fellini)
Wonderfully freefloating, gleefully confusing reality and fantasy, 8 1/2 provides a ringside seat into the ever active imaginative life of its director protagonist Guido, played by Fellini's on-screen alter-ego Marcello Mastroianni. The definitive film about film-making - as much about the agonies of the creative process as the ecstasies - it's no wonder the movie is so popular with directors.
4. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean)
Filmed in the desert in lavish widescreen and rich colours, Lawrence of Arabia is David Lean at his most epic and expansive. You can almost feel the waves of heat glowing from the cinema screen.
5. Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick)
A black comedy about impending nuclear annihilation that was made at the height of the cold war, Dr. Strangelove is perhaps Kubrick's most audacious movie and certainly his funniest. Peter Sellers has never been better, and provides good value playing three roles.
6. Bicycle Thieves (De Sica)
Mixing melodrama, documentary and social commentary, De Sica follows an impoverished father and son treading the streets of post-war Rome, desperately seeking their stolen bicycle. Deeply compassionate, this poignant film is one of the outstanding examples of Italian neorealism.
7. Raging Bull (Scorsese)
An unblinkingly honest biopic of Jake La Motta - a great prizefighter but a deeply flawed human being - this catches Scorsese in fighting fit form. The boxing sequence are both brutal and beautiful, and De Niro, who famously put on weight to play the middle-aged La Motta, gives one of the performances of modern cinema.
8. Vertigo (Hitchcock)
A gripping detective story or a delirious investigation into desire, grief and jealousy? Hitchcock had a genius for transforming genre pieces into vehicles for his own dark obsessions, and this 1958 masterpiece shows the director at his mesmerising best. And for James Stewart fans, it also boasts the star's most compelling performance.
9. Rashomon (Kurosawa)
Offering four differing accounts of a rape and murder, all told in flashbacks, Kurosawa's 1951 film is a complex meditation on the distortive nature of memory and a gripping study of human behaviour at its most base. Mifune Toshiro is magnetic as the bandit Tajomaru.
10. La Règle du jeu (Renoir)
Tragedy and comedy effortlessly combine in Renoir's country house ensemble drama. A group of aristocrats gather for some rural relaxation, a shooting party is arranged, downstairs the servants bicker about a new employee, while all the time husbands, wives, mistresses and lovers sweetly deceive one another and swap declarations of love like name cards at a dinner party.
Check both the surveys. Interesting preferences between critics and directors.
Critics' Top Ten Poll
1. Citizen Kane (Welles)
Dazzlingly inventive, technically breathtaking, Citizen Kane reinvented the way stories could be told in the cinema, and set a standard generations of film-makers have since aspired to. An absorbing account of a newspaper tycoon's rise to power, Orson Welles' debut film feels as fresh as tomorrow's headlines. And he was only 26 when he made it.
2. Vertigo (Hitchcock)
A gripping detective story or a delirious investigation into desire, grief and jealousy? Hitchcock had a genius for transforming genre pieces into vehicles for his own dark obsessions, and this 1958 masterpiece shows the director at his mesmerising best. And for James Stewart fans, it also boasts the star's most compelling performance.
3. La Règle du jeu (Renoir)
Tragedy and comedy effortlessly combine in Renoir's country house ensemble drama. A group of aristocrats gather for some rural relaxation, a shooting party is arranged, downstairs the servants bicker about a new employee, while all the time husbands, wives, mistresses and lovers sweetly deceive one another and swap declarations of love like name cards at a dinner party.
4. The Godfather and The Godfather part II (Coppola)
Few films have portrayed the US immigrant experience quite so vividly as Coppola's Godfather films, or exposed the contradictions of the American Dream quite so ruthlessly. And what a cast, formidable talent firing all cylinders: Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Keaton, Duvall, Caan. Now that's an offer you can't refuse.
5. Tokyo Story (Ozu)
A poignant story of family relations and loss, Ozu's subtle mood piece portrays the trip an elderly couple make to Tokyo to visit their grown-up children. The shooting style is elegantly minimal and formally reticent, and the film's devastating emotional impact is drawn as much from what is unsaid and unshown as from what is revealed.
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
One of the most ambitious Hollywood movies ever made, 2001 crams into its two-hour plus running time a story that spans the prehistoric age to the beginning of the third millennium, and features some of the most hypnotically beautiful special effects work ever committed to film. After seeing this, you can never listen to Strauss' Blue Danube without thinking space crafts waltzing against starry backdrops.
7. Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein)
Eisenstein's recreation of a mutiny by sailors of the battleship Potemkin in 1905 works as daring formal experiment - which pushed the expressive potential of film editing to its limit - and rousing propaganda for the masses. The Odessa Steps sequence remains one of the most memorable set-pieces in cinema.
8. Sunrise (Murnau)
Having left his native Germany for the US, F.W. Murnau had all the resources of a major Hollywood studio at his disposal for this, his American debut. What he produced was a visually stunning film romance that ranks as one of the last hurrahs of the silent period.
9. 8 1/2 (Fellini)
Wonderfully freefloating, gleefully confusing reality and fantasy, 8 1/2 provides a ringside seat into the ever active imaginative life of its director protagonist Guido, played by Fellini's on-screen alter-ego Marcello Mastroianni. The definitive film about film-making - as much about the agonies of the creative process as the ecstasies - it's no wonder the movie is so popular with directors.
10. Singin' In the Rain (Kelly, Donen)
Impossible to watch without a smile on your face, this affectionate tribute to the glory days of Hollywood in the 1920s is pleasure distilled into 102 minutes. With Gene Kelly dance sequences that take your breath away and a great score by Brown and Freed, this is the film musical at its best.
*****
Directors' Top Ten Poll
1. Citizen Kane (Welles)
Dazzlingly inventive, technically breathtaking, Citizen Kane reinvented the way stories could be told in the cinema, and set a standard generations of film-makers have since aspired to. An absorbing account of a newspaper tycoon's rise to power, Orson Welles' debut film feels as fresh as tomorrow's headlines. And he was only 26 when he made it.
2. The Godfather and The Godfather part II (Coppola)
Few films have portrayed the US immigrant experience quite so vividly as Coppola's Godfather films, or exposed the contradictions of the American Dream quite so ruthlessly. And what a cast, formidable talent firing all cylinders: Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Keaton, Duvall, Caan. Now that's an offer you can't refuse.
3. 8 1/2 (Fellini)
Wonderfully freefloating, gleefully confusing reality and fantasy, 8 1/2 provides a ringside seat into the ever active imaginative life of its director protagonist Guido, played by Fellini's on-screen alter-ego Marcello Mastroianni. The definitive film about film-making - as much about the agonies of the creative process as the ecstasies - it's no wonder the movie is so popular with directors.
4. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean)
Filmed in the desert in lavish widescreen and rich colours, Lawrence of Arabia is David Lean at his most epic and expansive. You can almost feel the waves of heat glowing from the cinema screen.
5. Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick)
A black comedy about impending nuclear annihilation that was made at the height of the cold war, Dr. Strangelove is perhaps Kubrick's most audacious movie and certainly his funniest. Peter Sellers has never been better, and provides good value playing three roles.
6. Bicycle Thieves (De Sica)
Mixing melodrama, documentary and social commentary, De Sica follows an impoverished father and son treading the streets of post-war Rome, desperately seeking their stolen bicycle. Deeply compassionate, this poignant film is one of the outstanding examples of Italian neorealism.
7. Raging Bull (Scorsese)
An unblinkingly honest biopic of Jake La Motta - a great prizefighter but a deeply flawed human being - this catches Scorsese in fighting fit form. The boxing sequence are both brutal and beautiful, and De Niro, who famously put on weight to play the middle-aged La Motta, gives one of the performances of modern cinema.
8. Vertigo (Hitchcock)
A gripping detective story or a delirious investigation into desire, grief and jealousy? Hitchcock had a genius for transforming genre pieces into vehicles for his own dark obsessions, and this 1958 masterpiece shows the director at his mesmerising best. And for James Stewart fans, it also boasts the star's most compelling performance.
9. Rashomon (Kurosawa)
Offering four differing accounts of a rape and murder, all told in flashbacks, Kurosawa's 1951 film is a complex meditation on the distortive nature of memory and a gripping study of human behaviour at its most base. Mifune Toshiro is magnetic as the bandit Tajomaru.
10. La Règle du jeu (Renoir)
Tragedy and comedy effortlessly combine in Renoir's country house ensemble drama. A group of aristocrats gather for some rural relaxation, a shooting party is arranged, downstairs the servants bicker about a new employee, while all the time husbands, wives, mistresses and lovers sweetly deceive one another and swap declarations of love like name cards at a dinner party.
A Few Good Men
Sachin Tendulkar's 45th hundred was a delight to watch, and the master showed the same aggression and brilliance of his younger days that appears to be showing up increasingly rarely these days. So, when he was playing, I was hooked to the TV till his dismissal. His two sixes to spinner Nathan Hauritz were simply sublime to watch.
But there was absolutely no need to play the stupid shot that got him out with India just 19 runs away from victory. Knowing the fragile temperament of Indian lower order in crunch situation -- do you remember the Eden Garden collapse when Vinod Kambli went back to pavilion weeping? -- Tendulkar should have clearly avoided that shot. It is easier said than done obviously, but how many times do we see a brilliant innings from the master, and then players start behaving like little children running helter-skelter, which is actually quite comic to watch. They just can't think straight.
I thought Brian Lara had a phenomenal focus during "fightback" matches. Statsguru, a brilliant application on cricinfo, threw up a comparison between Tendulkar, Lara, Steve Waugh - that great stubborn Aussie - and Ponting. There cannot be a fair compairson because Tendulkar just towers over all of them in the sheer number of matches and hundreds he has hit. So, it is a bit unfair to do comparative percentages.
But, it is interesting to play the numbers game. I searched for Sachin's hundreds, and in how many did India win. Stats showed that he hit 45 hundreds in 435 matches, and India won 32 of them. Lara played 299 matches, hit 19 hundreds of them, and West Indies won 16 times. Steve Waugh played 325 matches, hit hundreds in three of them, and Australia won twice. (For Waugh, we will have to calculate how many times his captaincy and some of those 45 50s won matches for Aus.) Ponting has played 329 matches, hit 28 hundreds, and Australia won 24 times.
Another side stats this search revealed was that Sachin took almost four years to hit his first ODI ton, Lara took three, Waugh took ten (!) and Ponting was the fastest hitting a ton a year after his 1995 debut.
As I write this, India has lost the seven-match ODI series against Australia. That shot was too costly Sachin.
But there was absolutely no need to play the stupid shot that got him out with India just 19 runs away from victory. Knowing the fragile temperament of Indian lower order in crunch situation -- do you remember the Eden Garden collapse when Vinod Kambli went back to pavilion weeping? -- Tendulkar should have clearly avoided that shot. It is easier said than done obviously, but how many times do we see a brilliant innings from the master, and then players start behaving like little children running helter-skelter, which is actually quite comic to watch. They just can't think straight.
I thought Brian Lara had a phenomenal focus during "fightback" matches. Statsguru, a brilliant application on cricinfo, threw up a comparison between Tendulkar, Lara, Steve Waugh - that great stubborn Aussie - and Ponting. There cannot be a fair compairson because Tendulkar just towers over all of them in the sheer number of matches and hundreds he has hit. So, it is a bit unfair to do comparative percentages.
But, it is interesting to play the numbers game. I searched for Sachin's hundreds, and in how many did India win. Stats showed that he hit 45 hundreds in 435 matches, and India won 32 of them. Lara played 299 matches, hit 19 hundreds of them, and West Indies won 16 times. Steve Waugh played 325 matches, hit hundreds in three of them, and Australia won twice. (For Waugh, we will have to calculate how many times his captaincy and some of those 45 50s won matches for Aus.) Ponting has played 329 matches, hit 28 hundreds, and Australia won 24 times.
Another side stats this search revealed was that Sachin took almost four years to hit his first ODI ton, Lara took three, Waugh took ten (!) and Ponting was the fastest hitting a ton a year after his 1995 debut.
As I write this, India has lost the seven-match ODI series against Australia. That shot was too costly Sachin.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Raat Aadhi...
If you are a Bachchan fan, and not heard it, I strongly recommend the album, Bachchan Recites Bachchan. Many compare these recitations with the dialogues of Silsila, but when you listen, you have to remember that these are not dialogues, but poetry written in chaste Hindi of Harivanshrai Bachchan.
I have several favourites in the album, but Raat Aadhi is beautiful. Though this album is produced in 1970s, Bachchan, despite the fever, weaved magic when he recited these poems under that huge dome of National Gallery of Modern Art. It was an unforgettable evening for those who witnessed it.
Raat aadhi
kheench kar meri hatheli,
ek ungli se likha tha...pyaar
tumne...
faasla tha kuch hamare bistaron mein
aur charo aur duniya so rahi thi
tareekain hee gagan ki jaanti hain
jo dasha dil kee tumhare ho rahi thi...
main tumhare paas ho kar door tumse,
main tumhare paas ho kar door tumse
adh jaga sa aur adh soya hua sa
Raat aadhi
kheench kar meri hatheli,
ek ungli se likha tha...pyaar
tumne...
ek bijli choo gayee sehsa jaga mein
ek bijli choo gayee sehsa jaga mein
krishna pakshi chand nikla tha gagan mein
is tarah karvat padi thi tum ke aansoo
beh rahe they is nayan se us nayan mein
main laga doon aag us sansar mein
hain pyaar jismein is tarah asamarth kaatar
jaanti ho kya us samay kya kar guzarne ke liye
tha kar diya tayyar tumne
Raat aadhi
kheench kar meri hatheli,
ek ungli se likha tha...pyaar
tumne...
praat hee kee aur ko hain raat chalti
praat hee kee aur ko hain raat chalti
aur ujale mein andhera doob jaata
manch hee poora badalta kaun aise
khoobiyo ke saath parde ko uthata
ek chehra sa laga tumne liya tha
aur maine tha utara ek chehra
woh nisha ka swapna mera tha kee apne par
gazab ka tha kiya adhikar tumne
Raat aadhi
kheench kar meri hatheli,
ek ungli se likha tha...pyaar
tumne...
aur utne faasle par aaj tak sau yatna karke bhi na aaye phir kabhi hum
aur utne faasle par aaj tak sau yatna karke bhi na aaye phir kabhi hum
phir na aaya waqt vaisa, phir na mauka us tarah ka, phir na lauta chaand nirmam...
aur apni vedna main kya batau?
kya nahi yeh panktiya khud bolti hain
bujh nahi paaya abhi tak
us samay rakh diya tha haath par angaar tumne...
Raat aadhi
kheench kar meri hatheli,
ek ungli se likha tha...pyaar
tumne...
The Mask of Big B
Amitabh Bachchan's new "bald" look in the R Balkrishnan's new film, Paa, is in the news. You can't recognise Big B quickly except for his tall frame. At least in the promos on air. I am not sure if I want to watch this avatar of Bachchan, but the transformation of the Bollywood star is interesting to watch.
I personally like films in which Amitabh played the angry, hurt poet than the dishoom-dishoom angry young man. I like his roles in Kabhie Kabhie or in Faraar or Babumoshay in Anand or in Guddi. I can still watch them again and again, dialogue for dialogue.
I wish I had met him during the days of his superstardom, but I saw him closely for the first time around 1998-99. Bachchan's films had started flopping miserably, and age was clearly showing on his clean-shaven face. That's when Krantiveer-fame Mehul Kumar cast Bachchan in Mrityudata and Kohram. The second one with Nana Patekar. I remember covering a launch function where Bachchan and Patekar were present together. Bachchan looked a bit jaded. I kept observing him, and I felt that he was weighed down by the heavy crown of superstardom on his head. Given a choice, he would escape this prison of his "image" and throw away the mask that he has to wear all the time.
My next interaction with him was at his bungalow Prateeksha around 1999-2000. The British Council had brought a wonderful, comprehensive exhibition titled Enduring Image to the National Gallery of Modern Art, and they had invited Bachchan to recite poems from Madhushala, Harivanshrai's evergreen poetry volume. I had already heard Bachchan's recitations in an 1971 audio tape called Bachchan Recites Bachchan, and was a fan of both the voice and the words. So, on the eve of the poetry reading, I got a chance to interview him. Though Bachchan had fever, he graciously agreed to give me 15 minutes after Bombay Times editor Malvika Sanghvi spoke to him.
In the interview, he spoke passionately about the poetry gatherings in Allahabad and Lucknow when thousands of people would listen to poems of his father. He said he missed those times when poets were so respected, and large crowds stayed all night to listen to poetry. Later, he brought Babuji on a wheelchair for the photo-shoot.
After the photo-shoot, something amazing happened. Bachchan led us - Photo editor Pradeep Chandra and I - to the huge gate of Prateeksha. It was a Sunday evening around 6 pm. As we entered the courtyard of the bungalow to go to the maingate, Bachchan's baritone boomed -- "Haan Khol Do Bhaiyya". It was aimed at the security guards, who slowly opened the gate about two-three feet wide. As we watched, that opened space was full of hundreds of fans standing outside for their favourite star's darshan. Bachchan did a namaskar, and waved to the fans for precisely a minute. The crowd was delirious. He asked if we shot the pictures. The whole thing took us by complete surprise, and Pradeep Chandra had, unfortunately, finished his roll during the interview.
Bachchan said, "No problem. Come again to shoot this, and come on a Sunday evening." By the time, we stepped out the crowd outside had melted. They knew the exact time of this whole "darshan" excercise, and I wondered how many years has Bachchan been doing this. Almost three decades?!!!
Cut to Year 2000 when Kaun Banega Crorepati was launched. KBC allowed the superstar to be human, and interact with the audience that adores him. Strangers telling him how they love him, watch his films both on and off air. The popularity of KBC not only offset Bachchan's debts, but perpetuated the French beard on his face which somehow looked better than his clean-shaven face.
After KBC became the superhit, I covered two functions where I got a chance to observe him. The first was an art exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, and the other was the launch of a French perfume named after him. At both the functions, his fans interacted with him closely, asked him curious questions, and I saw the star interacting with them at a human level. He looked more happy to be that way. He graciously signed all autographs, and even posed for keepsake pictures with anyone who requested.
After that point in time, Bachchan has never looked back. He has been boldly experimenting with roles. Black, The Last Lear, Cheeni Kum, Bunty Aur Babli, Sarkar, Nishabd, Laksh, Virudha and so on. I would love to see Bachchan doing what Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, or Clint Eastwood do in Hollywood.
During this period, Bachchan did another important thing for Indian cinema. He very seriously pursued the globalisation of Hindi cinema as the brand ambassador of IIFA awards, and helped it reach out to a larger canvas.
He could have been wiser than signing Ram Gopal Varma ke Sholay, but I am glad that Bachchan has shed his iron mask. Forever.
I personally like films in which Amitabh played the angry, hurt poet than the dishoom-dishoom angry young man. I like his roles in Kabhie Kabhie or in Faraar or Babumoshay in Anand or in Guddi. I can still watch them again and again, dialogue for dialogue.
I wish I had met him during the days of his superstardom, but I saw him closely for the first time around 1998-99. Bachchan's films had started flopping miserably, and age was clearly showing on his clean-shaven face. That's when Krantiveer-fame Mehul Kumar cast Bachchan in Mrityudata and Kohram. The second one with Nana Patekar. I remember covering a launch function where Bachchan and Patekar were present together. Bachchan looked a bit jaded. I kept observing him, and I felt that he was weighed down by the heavy crown of superstardom on his head. Given a choice, he would escape this prison of his "image" and throw away the mask that he has to wear all the time.
My next interaction with him was at his bungalow Prateeksha around 1999-2000. The British Council had brought a wonderful, comprehensive exhibition titled Enduring Image to the National Gallery of Modern Art, and they had invited Bachchan to recite poems from Madhushala, Harivanshrai's evergreen poetry volume. I had already heard Bachchan's recitations in an 1971 audio tape called Bachchan Recites Bachchan, and was a fan of both the voice and the words. So, on the eve of the poetry reading, I got a chance to interview him. Though Bachchan had fever, he graciously agreed to give me 15 minutes after Bombay Times editor Malvika Sanghvi spoke to him.
In the interview, he spoke passionately about the poetry gatherings in Allahabad and Lucknow when thousands of people would listen to poems of his father. He said he missed those times when poets were so respected, and large crowds stayed all night to listen to poetry. Later, he brought Babuji on a wheelchair for the photo-shoot.
After the photo-shoot, something amazing happened. Bachchan led us - Photo editor Pradeep Chandra and I - to the huge gate of Prateeksha. It was a Sunday evening around 6 pm. As we entered the courtyard of the bungalow to go to the maingate, Bachchan's baritone boomed -- "Haan Khol Do Bhaiyya". It was aimed at the security guards, who slowly opened the gate about two-three feet wide. As we watched, that opened space was full of hundreds of fans standing outside for their favourite star's darshan. Bachchan did a namaskar, and waved to the fans for precisely a minute. The crowd was delirious. He asked if we shot the pictures. The whole thing took us by complete surprise, and Pradeep Chandra had, unfortunately, finished his roll during the interview.
Bachchan said, "No problem. Come again to shoot this, and come on a Sunday evening." By the time, we stepped out the crowd outside had melted. They knew the exact time of this whole "darshan" excercise, and I wondered how many years has Bachchan been doing this. Almost three decades?!!!
Cut to Year 2000 when Kaun Banega Crorepati was launched. KBC allowed the superstar to be human, and interact with the audience that adores him. Strangers telling him how they love him, watch his films both on and off air. The popularity of KBC not only offset Bachchan's debts, but perpetuated the French beard on his face which somehow looked better than his clean-shaven face.
After KBC became the superhit, I covered two functions where I got a chance to observe him. The first was an art exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, and the other was the launch of a French perfume named after him. At both the functions, his fans interacted with him closely, asked him curious questions, and I saw the star interacting with them at a human level. He looked more happy to be that way. He graciously signed all autographs, and even posed for keepsake pictures with anyone who requested.
After that point in time, Bachchan has never looked back. He has been boldly experimenting with roles. Black, The Last Lear, Cheeni Kum, Bunty Aur Babli, Sarkar, Nishabd, Laksh, Virudha and so on. I would love to see Bachchan doing what Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, or Clint Eastwood do in Hollywood.
During this period, Bachchan did another important thing for Indian cinema. He very seriously pursued the globalisation of Hindi cinema as the brand ambassador of IIFA awards, and helped it reach out to a larger canvas.
He could have been wiser than signing Ram Gopal Varma ke Sholay, but I am glad that Bachchan has shed his iron mask. Forever.
Monday, November 02, 2009
How the Right to Info battle was won
In a historic decision, the Supreme Court Of India has today uploaded the assets and liabilities of 21 Supreme Court sitting judges including the Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan on its website. It is another huge step for the Right to Information Act revolution in the country.
Take a look at how the RTI battle was won, blow by blow over a two-year period:
Nov 11 2007: Right To Information Act activist Subhash C Aggarwal files petition before the Supreme Court seeking information about the judges assets.
Nov 2007: Information is denied to him.
Dec 2007: Agarwal files an appeal before SC's registry.
Jan 2008: SC's registry dismisses the appeal.
Mar 2008: Aggarwal approaches the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC)
Jan 2009: CIC asks SC to disclose information stating that Chief Justice’s office comes under the purview of the RTI Act.
Jan 2009: SC moves Delhi High Court against CIC order.
Jan 19, 2009: Delhi HC stays CIC order and asks constitutional expert Fali S Nariman to help it decide the legal issue. Nariman refuses to assist the court stating that he could not be impartial in the case as he firmly believed that judges should declare their assets voluntarily.
Feb 26, 2009: SC says judges cannot reveal personal information like assets under the RTI Act to the Chief Justice of India
Mar 17, 2009: SC says its judges are not averse to declaring their assets and suggests that the Parliament could enact a law regarding such a declaration and that it should not be misused by the executive.
May 1, 2009: Delhi High Court Bar Association moves plea in HC stating that judges should voluntarily declare their assets.
May 2009: SC warns that such transparency could affect its independence.
Aug 28, 2009: Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan says judges have agreed to declare their assets voluntarily, and the information would be put on apex court website.
Sep 2009: HC rules that Chief Justice’s office falls under the ambit of RTI Act and details of assets could be made public.
Oct 2009: SC challenges HC's order before a division bench.
Nov 2, 2009: SC registry put on its website details of assets of CJI and 20 other judges including a retired judge.
Balakrishnan, by the way, owns a Santro car, has no fixed deposits, and does not hold any investment in shares, according to the document on the website.
You can now access the assets list on Supreme Court website
Take a look at how the RTI battle was won, blow by blow over a two-year period:
Nov 11 2007: Right To Information Act activist Subhash C Aggarwal files petition before the Supreme Court seeking information about the judges assets.
Nov 2007: Information is denied to him.
Dec 2007: Agarwal files an appeal before SC's registry.
Jan 2008: SC's registry dismisses the appeal.
Mar 2008: Aggarwal approaches the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC)
Jan 2009: CIC asks SC to disclose information stating that Chief Justice’s office comes under the purview of the RTI Act.
Jan 2009: SC moves Delhi High Court against CIC order.
Jan 19, 2009: Delhi HC stays CIC order and asks constitutional expert Fali S Nariman to help it decide the legal issue. Nariman refuses to assist the court stating that he could not be impartial in the case as he firmly believed that judges should declare their assets voluntarily.
Feb 26, 2009: SC says judges cannot reveal personal information like assets under the RTI Act to the Chief Justice of India
Mar 17, 2009: SC says its judges are not averse to declaring their assets and suggests that the Parliament could enact a law regarding such a declaration and that it should not be misused by the executive.
May 1, 2009: Delhi High Court Bar Association moves plea in HC stating that judges should voluntarily declare their assets.
May 2009: SC warns that such transparency could affect its independence.
Aug 28, 2009: Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan says judges have agreed to declare their assets voluntarily, and the information would be put on apex court website.
Sep 2009: HC rules that Chief Justice’s office falls under the ambit of RTI Act and details of assets could be made public.
Oct 2009: SC challenges HC's order before a division bench.
Nov 2, 2009: SC registry put on its website details of assets of CJI and 20 other judges including a retired judge.
Balakrishnan, by the way, owns a Santro car, has no fixed deposits, and does not hold any investment in shares, according to the document on the website.
You can now access the assets list on Supreme Court website
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