Kumble - A(nother) legend

A sensitive topic from me to write about this time round

It is about the retirement of the greatest leg-spinners of the world – Anil Kumble. I happened to see the finals of the Hero Cup way back in 1992 or 1993. It was then that my interest in cricket was beginning to show up. There was this one person who did exceedingly well in the then Calcutta. It was a person from my own city, my school supposedly and garnering national glory. Since then there was no looking back. If there was a reason for me to watch cricket, other than Sachin Tendulkar (then) of course, it was the strong Karnataka contingent in the Indian bowling squad. Srinath and Kumble were the two pall-bearers for the Indian bowling, later to be joined by Venkatesh Prasad. There were three others who did make a mark – Doddanarasaih Ganesh, Sunil Joshi and David Johnson, but were soon overshadowed by other bowlers.

Anil Kumble was a person that couldn’t be paralleled by, yet Shane Warne – another legendary spinner was probably the only person that he could be compared to at that time.

The two bowlers – Srinath and Kumble made me watch cricket, or in other words as in the Coca-Cola ad then – Eat cricket and Sleep cricket. The 1996 World cup in the Indian sub-continent was a showcase for them. I still remember the time I used to write captions from the ads then on my cricket bat, and stick the cricketers’ stickers on my bat. I used to think, these guys would play for India forever! How I wish it was true! I also happened to see him once for a school sports' day function. He was really polite and humble!

A 10-wkt haul is something that every bowler would dream of. But not many achieve it. This great spinner was the only one in 50 years to achieve it. His last test was at the same venue he achieved it, what a great way to wrap up an illustrious career. But the only disappointment was that he didn’t have a hat-trick. Also, I guess the BCCI pressure must have forced him to call it quits from the tests.

In lighter vein, for people who don't know him too, the Anil Kumble Circle (on MG Road near BRV) should strike a thought in their mind :)

Kumble's circket will be missed by everyone, and by one of the many fans who watched cricket solely for the competitiveness and by the people who played for the team and not for themselves.

(Incidentally, cricket these days doesn’t interest me much, after the match-fixing scandal and the neglect shown to the game by the cricketer’s after getting brand endorsements!)

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Mere thoughts

While another month draws to a close, I have not found time to write a blog this month at all, thought I have had quite a few topics to write on.
It was a good Diwali, a taxing month in terms of work, good weather in Tempe (alternately hot and cold), a not-so-healthy month for me!
Another blast in Assam - I pray for their souls to rest in peace!

Will post more soon!

Happy Halloween!

Kannada rAjyOsthavadha shubhAshayagaLu

Rest in peace!

As the month draws to a close, and looking back at September, it has been a sad month for India due to the bomb blasts in major cities. I sincerely pray for the blast victims and their souls to rest in peace. Also, the poor victims of the unfortunate stampede in Chamunda temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, let their souls rest in peace.

Good audio, bad video

It hurts to see songs really soothing to the ear, picturized in a non-imaginative way. Especially with the graphics taking over most of the background in the songs these days, it’s been long since one saw a natural picturzation of a good song.
The first one on my attack list would be the ever-refreshing – Kangalal Kaithu Sei, which was a gem of a sound track. But the bad picturization ruined it all, I will never forgive the artistes, choreographer, the director, and above all ARR for not having a peek into the video.

Now, the trailer of the Sakkarakatti (whose music I crave for, despite the very ordinary lyrics) shows another sad tale of a good music slaughtered badly in the video. The two minute clip on Youtube! (also echoing reactions from the audience) is such a sorry video again. The Chinnamma Chilakamma song in M. F. Hussain’s Meenaxi, though shot in a brothel, was picturized very aesthetically. But that is not the case of its Tamil counterpart, which looks like an 'ambulimama' song. The Taxi Taxi song, apparently re-shot to cater to the taste of the urban audience is still worse. I have no idea why there is such a sad end to these melodies. The only hope is on the picturization of Marudhaani, which should complement with the non-sensical lyrics – I hope the use of such lyrics is justified in the video.

Ganesha Chathurthi

Ganesha Chathurthi or Vinyaka Chathurthi or Pillayar Satthi - however you call it, is a big festival in India. Especially in the states of Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Maharashtra it is indeed one of the biggest festivals, with huge idols of the elephant-faced lord placed all over the city, all month long.
In the past few years in AZ, I used to go to the temple and take part in their celebration also called the 'puja'. This time round, while I was vacation in the NE, I saw a Ganesha idol in one of the grocery stores there. I though, my good old AZ must have it as well, and let me see if I can celebrate the festival. Also a friend of mine called me over for the Gauri habba - the festival of Ganesha's mother. This gave me more motivation to do it different this time.

And there I went on to do the Ganesha Chathurthi at home, inviting a lot of people. It was a good one, and I felt happy doing it! I also made prasadham (kala channa sundal, vermicelli payasam, and aam vade)

A lazy holiday definitely helps!!!

For a not-so-outdoor person like me, a holiday indoors but away from the stress makes so much of a difference. Especially if it is in a much cooler city than the good-old Tempe, it is even better. Tempe apparently had thunderstorms and hailstorms, but I don't care since I was rejuvenating under the not-so-hot and not-at-all humid weather on the other side of the country.

This lazy five day holiday with relatives did help a lot in preparing for another semester of coursework, research and teaching. Hope to have another good semester! :)

More medals!

Two more medals in the Olympics!

For a contingent of 54 people, and the step-motherly attitude shown by the government and the people towards other sports, 3 medals is a great thing!

Great work by Abhinav, Sushil and Vijender! They have shown that in the country that eats and sleeps cricket, - these three stars wrestled, shot and boxed their way to the Olympic medal. Not only that, they probably worked their way against the ever-suppressing politicians who want athletes from their state to represent the country.

Good work by Saina and Akhil too, and hopefully their effort is recognised too!

Hopefully this is a great incentive to the uplift of other sports! While a cricketer gets a chance every 2-3months to prove his worth, these athelete get one in 2-3 years, like the Olympics, Commonwealth games and may be the world championships.

What more could the country have asked for in the independence day month? :)

Music still rejuvenates

An addendum to an earlier post about musical rejuvenation, or call it a sequel. The quality of Indian film music has mostly seen a downward trend these days, with most movies having soulless music, but there are a few movies with really good music. I list a few songs which I think are a class apart from the run-of-the-mill stuff.

A classical composition in Reethigowla raagam - Kangal Irandal from the movie Subramaniyapuram, is a sure shot on the list. Apparently the movie is refreshing too, so is its music. Two new singers with a classical background have made a big difference to this song. Takes you back to the good old feel of 1980’s (not that I know how it was!)

‘Ada – The way of life’ is a a long-delayed project of A. R. Rahman, and I feel it is the album of the decade with the class of songs varying over a decade. ‘Meherbaan’ by the Mozart of Chennai is a classic, and Gum Sum, a simple number is my next favorite.

The audio release of Ada was on the same day as that of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, I guess only Rahman can give two albums with different themes at the same time. Ada is a long-term classic, while Jaane Tu is an instant classic. One shouldn’t compare the two albums ever.

While I have written a lot of not-so-good things about the song Marudhaani in Sakkarakatti, this song along with all the other songs in the movie is my favorite. I miss you da is the best one, (even though people have mixed opinion about it) followed by Taxi, Chinnamma, and Elay. I am sure, I will have my girlfriend sing ‘I miss you da’ in the same cute way, or better – even cuter.

The title track of U, Me Aur Hum by Shreya Ghoshal and also by Vishal is one more of the good stuff in recent times, and surely suited the tempo of the movie as well.

The Konjum Mainakkale of 2008, ‘Mukundha Mukundha’ is something that made me wonder if Himesh Reshamiya had actually composed the song. A good devotional song sung by one of my favorites Sadhana Sargam, had a bad rendition on-screen with an over-acting Asin. A good work by HR, the lyricist and the singer too. Only if she had not sung Varam thaa as Varam dhaa, (at times I felt it would become Verandah :) ).

While all the songs in Jodhaa Akbar had good music, my favorite is In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein. Flawlessly rendered by Sonu Nigam and Madhushree, it indeed is a definite addition to the top romantic melodies of all time. And one more good thing about the movie is that all songs were picturized well in the movie (Hrithik in the state of trance in Khwaja Mere Khwaja was ……..)

Minnal Koothadum from Polladhavan is a good one too, with Bombay Jayshree giving her best again.

I also heard the songs from Dhaam Dhoom and Saroja, and am beginning to like a few. But not enough times as Sakkarakatti or Ada or Jaane Tu, to write about it.

As usual, ARR songs form a major chunk in this list. Plus, I am back to the habit of writing long blogs. Wonder who reads them though :)