Boredom

Many a times I have revisited the vignettes of Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock from pre-apartheid period of SA Cricket (on YouTube and ESPN) smashing their way to announcing their presence in World Cricket. I just wonder how much we lost on the extravagant talent and extraordinary gift of these once in a lifetime players such as Barry Richards, Graeme and Peter Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Denis Lindsay, Ali Bacher, Mike Proctor and co. A historical injustice in the form of apartheid just cost us these prodigious talents. The 1969-70 series between South Africa and Bill Lawry's Australia was termed the 'World Championship of Cricket' and proved to be a high water mark in history of SA Cricket before the pall of apartheid gloom enveloped it. Australia lost 4-0 that series....they had never been humiliated in such a manner before...even the Douglas Jardine wasn't able to score this feat in the much maligned and infamous, Bodyline series of 1932-33. What an era, what dominance...

My sister cannot be called a movie connoisseur by any means. However, two days ago, she turned into one. The reason being Anupam Kher's screen debut 'Saraansh' and very truly, the reason being for whatever Anupam Kher is today in Bollywood. To be very honest, I had it in my hard disk for 6 months. I didn't watch it but in between the time elapsed, did suggest it to countless people. So she begged me to watch it. I have never been a big fan of art-house or 'mid-of-the-road' (content+commercialism) cinema plus among all the art-house greats of 70s and 80s, Anupam Kher was my least favorite (Pankaj Kapoor being the most). Very frankly, Mr. Kher never reached the high of 'Saaransh' again in his career which was later fraught by so many lopsided choices that I almost dislike him now. I obviously gave in to my sister's choice and didn't regret it for this movie is an exceptional amalgamation of hard-truth and headstrong emotions. Immortal performance...

Sir Vivian Richards, when approaching the end of his storied carrier, was asked by a report of how he would like to be remembered once he hangs out his boots. He said, 'with a bat, I was a soldier'. And he indeed was. Not a soldier bit a gladiator. Jonathan Trott announced his retirement from International Cricket couple of days ago. A natural stroke-player, he was pure elegance at the crease with beaming assurance. The Oval, 2009, Second Innings, he hit the century on his debut in ASHES. Brisbane, 2013, First Innings, Mitchell Johnson exploited his weakness against short-pitch bowling brutally and ravaged both his mind and body cruelly. His confidence plunged to an all time low. His batting technique, meticulously honed at Warwickshire for more than a decade and bringing him plenty of runs, was facing serious questions now. Batting averages of more than 50 in both forms of Cricket was a glowing spectacle of his career till then but failure in recently concluded WI series, 2012...

'Gunahon ka devta' was one book that I wanted to have my hands upon for eternity. I finally managed to find it in Delhi Book Fair- 2014. This celebrated work of Dr. Dharmaveer Bharti has gained a 'cult' following over the years with young, Hindi readers. You can find its synopsis on Google, so I won't go into the plot details but I have observed some novelties in it. Here they are: A) This is the only book that can help you draw a fine line in 'spiritual love' and 'physical love'. Although the spiritual aspect has been celebrated more, but it certainly doesn't degrade the 'physical' aspect either. Superlative effort by Dr. Bharti. B) The book discusses a family established in Allahabad in pre-independence era. Dr. Bharti has written extensively about 'sex' in the book and explicitely (and quite liberally) mentioned the word numerous times in it. The characters very openly talks about giving the readers the fair idea that SEX h...

This appreciation post is dedicated to all the actors-cum-directors of Hollywood and in particular, shall single out Warren Beatty's REDS for being its catalyst. Warren Beatty, Woodie Allen, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Sean Penn, Robert Redford and Tim Robbins are very renowned and established directors in Hollywood though we recognize them as actors more. Warren Beatty has always been a maverick and very outlandish in both his acting and directing, Kevin very sedate, Clint like 'ain't no sunshine kid when you are at the wrong side of a loaded barrel', Tim and Robert very conventional, Woody, very unconventional and moody and Sean, mysterious and dark. They are prolific as both actors and directors......Clint is now aged 80+ and still making Oscar-worthy cinema, watch this year's The American Sniper for reference. This post is a tribute to their craft and undeniable passion and zest for quality cinema. Now returning to the enigmatic Warren Beatty, one of the fa...

The very first time I held a sight of great cricket statistics, sometimes back in year 1999, I was swelled with pride. Both the all time records for highest run scoring and wicket taking belonged to us Indians......the ever-so-slugger of International cricket. Sunny Gavaskar holds a distinctive place in my cricket books for he was a genius, the ultimate copy-book cricketer from yesteryear and certainly the hardest to dislodge for opposition bowlers be it Lillee, Wes Hall, Andy Roberts, Holding, Wasim Akram or Marshall. Kapil Dev's record though meant more to me for he was a medium pace bowler in INDIA (see the caps lock for extra emphasis) whose tireless, backbreaking work put him to the summit of International cricket. Couple of years later though, I took upon myself to analyse the statistics of no. 2 and 3 in Kapil's distinguished list. Sir Richard Hadlee was no. 2 in the list while Sir Botham at no. 4. Both were accorded the knighthoods by Queen of England for a reason. They...

Continuing with the second part of story about 'The Killing Fields', Dr. Haing S. Ngor who essayed the role of The New York Times Photojournalist Dith Pran was a renowned gynaecologist in Cambodia. Khmer Rouge, in the wake of Vietnam War, initiated an opertaion called 'Year Zero' that targeted the intellectual banishment and slavery in Democratic Kampuchea. Dr. Ngor had to hid his identity as a Doctor and instead act as an uneducated taxi driver in order to save his own as well as his wife's life. Her wife died because of pregnancy related complications in one of the labor camps. She needed a ceasarian operation for giving birth to their first child but Dr. Ngor could not give up his real identity in order to achieve the parenthood. He feared the death of all three if Khmer Rouge found about his actual identity. Little did he know that consequences to follow will lead to an inevitable death to his wife anyway. He decided at that very moment that he had to continue l...